An open letter to moms of future grade school children

Okay, so it's not that open of a letter. Seeing as it's only going to you seven people. But I just needed an outlet for this, and the blog seemed like an appropriate place...

Dear Moms Everywhere,

So you're expecting a precious, beautiful, colicy bundle of joy? What a wonderful and exciting thing this must be for you! I imagine it's somewhat like the feeling I get when I find out who is in my next year's class. (x 1000 of course, because you have to [get to, excuse me] keep this kid for life.)

Do you have plans for your kid? Do you have dreams of what they'll do and who they'll become? I hope you do. Dreams are a good thing. We should all have dreams so that we have something to shoot for.

I assume that you'll be sending this kid to school? That would probably be a good first step to making those dreams come true. I'm not going to get into the discussion of which school you should send your kid to. (That's a whole 'nother letter for a whole 'nother time.) But whether you send your kid to private school, charter school, or public school, allow me to give you the how-to on helping your kid succeed in this constantly changing and challenging world.  The list consists of two things:

1. Teach your kid to work hard.
2. Teach your kid to be kind.

I think I'll dedicate a whole 'nother letter to each of these points, but moms of future grade school children, please know this:

Students who have grit do better in life. No, not in school. Not necessarily. I can't make that promise. But students who have grit do better in life. 

And kids who are kind? They make their teacher's life easier. (And unless your kid's teacher sucks really bad, then you'll probably want to make his or her life easier.)

Thanks for reading this unsolicited advice from a teacher who just wants to give every mom (and kid) the best shot in life come grade school time.

Sincerely,

A teacher of grade school children

An infographic

We need some more action on this bloggy blog, so I'm gonna share a little secret I've been keeping for the last three and a half years... kinda. Because, well, I believe in being honest. (Ha ha!)

Shortly after we started trying I created a blog called, you guessed it, "Dear Sweet P." 

Here is the post I published the other day...

"It's funny going back and reading past posts and thinking that we would never have to do IVF. But now here we are, doing IVF and I don't know how I'm supposed to feel. I'm exhausted from being hopeful. I'm positive there is a reason for everything, I'm exhausted from being positive, but I'm happy yet numb... and I find myself just being.I guess I've just accepted this as part of my reality. Not scared, not excited. Just living. I worry I won't be excited when I find out I'm pregnant, if that were to happen. I worry to even get excited if I do get pregnant because I could always loose the baby. To be honest, having an actual baby that is mine just seems so far away and foreign to me - because it has been for so many years. I can't imagine feeling a little body moving inside of me, or going to the hospital as a family of two and leaving as three. But here we are. Closer than we've ever been, and farther than we ever thought we would've had to go. I could find out I'm expecting in less than a month.... and I just don't know how to feel."

Then last night, while scrolling through my Facebook feed, I saw this picture posted by one of my cousins. It was like a slap in the face. 

BOOM!

Anyway, I know I still am trying not to get my hopes up, but it's okay to be feeling this way and to be excited at the same time.

 I guess what I'm trying to say is there are so many things that could and can go wrong in this crazy thing we call life but there are also SOOOOOO many things that could and can go right!

Like this morning, I was about to walk out of the door and I heard Jacob SCREAM my name so I rushed back downstairs. He got an interview with his top choice school! How amazing would it be if he got in within the next month this whole applying to Medical School thing could be over with?

 So many blessings!!! Trust in Heavenly Father, he knows what he's doing. :)

Also, I'm 90% sure I'm going to be changing my major to accounting... WHO AM I!? 

my bits & pieces

It was really good to see you girls last weekend. It feels like an eternity ago... But I felt like writing (and reading) so I hopped on here.

Ok quick update: I'm not taking classes this summer, just reading and researching. Most of it I can work on from home, which is wonderful for me. I get super distracted at school and they keep the building so cold these days. I will be going to some research conferences later this month that should be cool. Travis is working full time at DOMO. He loves it. He had to get his appendix out this week so we couldn't go to Sun Valley with my family for the three day weekend which is a bummer but hooray for modern medicine right?? I keep thinking about how there was a time not too long ago (and still places in the world) where an appendicitis was a death sentence and I would have lost my husband this weekend. I cannot imagine that! It makes me so sad to think about and so grateful for this day and age we live in. And also grateful for a medical family who was able to see a weird display of symptoms and realize quick enough that a real medical emergency was going on. Luckily for us, it didn't rupture but they kept him overnight to look for infection and things. He is doing great!
And if anyone ever needs help being happy, just go buy a baby duck :) Best $8 you will ever spend!

Any good books? Movies? Things to do??

I recently read The Light Between The Ocean and I LOVED LOVED LOVED it! The movie is coming out this September so anyone who wants to read it and then go see it with me I would love that! I also loved Everyone Brave Is Forgiven. It's another WW2 book. I've been on a WW2 kick lately. I quite enjoyed the Cedar Cove series (the books and the show on netflix. But don't start watching if you can't handle a cliff hanger because they cancelled the show but ended on a huge cliff hanger...UGH). In the LDS author department, I just read Josi Killpack's A Heart Revealed and really liked it--it has a Pride and Prejudice feeling to it. Love and Gelato was a cute teenage love story and By The Stars was a true story, again a WW2 love story, but a really great LDS perspective! I also read The Girl On The Train because I couldn't help myself. It is a thriller! But no one read Who Do You Love because is it slutty and gross. I'm currently reading: The Bar Tender's Son, I Let You Go, Alexander Hamilton (The one Miranda Lin Manuel read that inspired the show, which I am still obsessed with), The Inn at Rose Harbor series (a branch off of Cedar Cove, I am on the second book), the third peculiar children book and The Summer Before The War. I just cannot get enough of reading these days!

Good movies? I haven't seen a ton of movies lately. With Travis recovering I thought we would watch a bunch of them but we haven't really. We watched Daddy's Home which was SO funny. And we watched Hail Ceasar! Which was interesting. I really liked it but I like those strange films. It's the same director as Oh Brother Where Art Thou which is a Cook Family favorite. I liked The Scorch Trials but it was so different than the book. And I was entertained by My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2. It definitely could have been more clever, like the first one. But it was still good.

TV shows. Again, I like the Cedar Cove series on netflix. It is just clean and cute and small townish. But we LOVE Better Off Ted!!!! Oh my goodness it is funny! And Ellen's wife (what is it, Portia?) is so interesting! Obviously I read more than I watch but I think that is a good thing.  

I just read Hailey's comments on my last post so I will add those books to the list (I love reading books written for younger audiences!!!) but if anyone else has any recommendations, I would love some! Books, movies, shows, restaurants, places to hike?!? I want them all!!

Happy 4th everyone! Be safe and have a great holiday!

3 things I learned in my first year

People say that those who can, do. And those who can't, teach. Well, apparently I can't do a lot of things, because I taught a lot of stuff this year. Anything from geometry to algebra and from the universe to microorganisms. 6th grade is chuck full of a lot of stuff to teach.

As much as I taught, though, I did a lot more learning. The 31 eleven and twelve year olds that I got to call mine for 9 months were chuck full of stuff to teach me. Besides them correcting me on my calculations on finding the surface area of a triangular prism, these kids taught me a lot of life lessons and things about myself. So, here are three things I learned in my first year of teaching:

1. The Dark Side is real... apparently.

On one of the first few days of school, an 11 year old named Tyler stood in the doorway of my classroom. I was sitting at my desk. (To give you an idea of who Tyler is, let me describe him this way... He is like the epitome of that emoji with no expression. Straight eyes, straight mouth. He's brilliant, but so unamused by so many things that I do and say. So, yeah... Expressionless Face emoji Tyler.) Back to the story.

Tyler is standing in my doorway and looks at me. Keep in mind that this is the first week of school and I don't know this kid too well. His expressionless face turns somewhat destructive as he raises his hand toward me and says, in the best movie-trailer voice I've heard from a child, "The power of the dark side flows within me, and now it flows within you."

It seems laughable, but I was actually terrified. (He wore a black glove on that hand almost everyday for the rest of the year.)

2. Soccer is life.

In January, I changed up the way we did Class Meetings. Generally, we would go through the agenda and, as part of said agenda, we would discuss concerns. Before January, I would be the one to bring up some concerns that we would discuss and try to resolve. After Christmas break, however, I wanted to turn some of the responsibility over to the class. I told them that, from this point forward, I was going to separate myself from the circle of Class Meeting and that they were going run the concerns part by themselves. (More on this change in the next point.)

For the first five weeks of this new attempt at Class Meeting, all that the class (or at least those who actually spoke up) was concerned about was soccer at recess. The rules, the people who played, the passing, the teams, etc. Soccer? Are you kidding me?? Like, if kids aren't passing to you, go play tetherball or 4-square or something. You probably suck anyway. (Just my thoughts that I obviously keep to myself during these very dramatic conversations.) It even came to a point where they considered taking a vote to stop playing soccer because too many fights were happening because of it. It got very serious... for them.

And then the next point happened.

3. Kids should run the country.

I gave them little to no instruction on how to do this new Class Meeting. I said that I was stepping out of the circle for the concerns part of Class Meeting and that they would have to decide how this part of the meeting was going to run.

Immediately they decided that they needed a method for who would talk and when. They figured that out.

They decided that they'd need a way to keep themselves within the time limits. They figured that out.

They even figured out that they needed to call for votes and needed to vote on stuff that they'd discussed. Like, you guys! We're talking kids who shrink in the face of the maturation talk!

During this time, they demonstrated such maturity. Saying what you feel, listening to how others are feeling about the same subject, respecting others' opinions, disagreeing with people while still being kind and respectful... The list goes on and on! They even differentiated between "major issues" (like bullying) and "minor issues" (like soccer at recess)! (By the way, the terms "major" and "minor issues" are their words, not mine.)

So, the final thing that I learned in my first year of teaching is that kids can reach such high levels of maturity if only we give them the opportunity to do so. They are capable of so much when you give them a responsibility and hold them accountable. It's incredible, really. (I wish some of our current political leaders could watch the 6th graders at work and take notes.)

There are a myriad of things that I could've written about on my first year of teaching and the things I learned from it. But, no matter what I write, it all comes back to one thing. My kids. I love them. I love teaching them. I love learning from them. And I can't wait to do it again next year and the year after that and every year forever.

It's been a while since there has been a post on here... so... 

HI!

Hi everybody!

 I love you all and hope you're doing wonderfully. 

I loved seeing our "Brokenhearted" video show up on my Time hop the other day... 

and our pictures hanging out on Kara's bed...

and spirit bowl...

and our St George trip...

and graduation pictures...

and all the things...

You all seem to be hogging up my time hop and it makes me happy.

It just reminds me I'm really thankful you're my friends.

 I'm lucky.

April fooling the 12 year olds

Guys. I'm obsessed with my kids. This is a video of the tail end of them thinking I was engaged and then me telling them it was an April Fool's joke.

Please take note of the:

• "I knew it!"
• Random comment about someone else getting married.
• The "You can't do this to us!"
• The storming out of the classroom.
• Collapsing.
• Kid about to dive at me.

Remind me to tell you what happened right after this prank. That's a story for another time. :)

So here are 10.5 happy things that have happened this month...

1. I originally signed up to take Child Development this semester because I wanted to still do school, but I wanted to be able to have a fun summer. Well, after the first day of class I realized that was not going to be an option with this class. It was going to be WAY too much work. Like, three hours of homework/class work a night - including Saturday. So... I struggled with it and prayed a lot and decided to drop that class and take a religion class instead. I've felt like I need to be reading the scriptures more so I decided that would be best. Now I am all signed up for Teaching of the Living Prophets and I can feel a HUGE weight off of my shoulders! Woohoo! Plus I got all of week one's homework assignments done in a half hour... so there's that... haha!

2. I discovered that Sara Bareilles WROTE A FREAKING MUSICAL! She recorded the whole soundtrack between her and John Mayer and it is on Spotify/iTunes and I LOVE it. It gets confusing at some parts because she's singing all the girl parts and he's singing all the guy parts and its a story that follows three waitress. It's beautiful and so clever and I listen to it on repeat every day. Plus, there is a really sweet song about one of the waitresses who sings to her baby and how the little baby changed her life because before she was really upset that she was pregnant. (she even sings a line, "my dumb baby's comin'".. yeah, she's not happy about it) Anyway, it's beautiful and its called "Whats Inside: Songs of a Waitress" and it opens on Broadway this week! If you listen to it, listen from start to finish.

3. Going on bike rides up the canyon with Jacob. I seriously love bike riding, and sharing that with the person you love is even better. Although, he'd rather be running. It makes me feel so free and invincible and it makes me forget all of my troubles. Plus, on a personal note, all the medication I've been taking these last few months has made it impossible for me to loose weight and had made me gain fifteen pounds. It's so frustrating. I can eat super healthy and do great work outs and it doesn't even reflect a tenth of a pound on the scale. Oh well, the things we do for our dreams!

4. Daisy cuddles! When ever I finally break down she's right next to me ready to cuddle. We just found her a new groomer that used to be my sisters groomer until she moved to Provo and Daisy LOVES her! Shes usually freaked out about the groomer but she couldn't have cared less when I went to pick her up. She just said, "Hi!" then went back to play with the groomers kids. It was awesome!

 

5. Daisy has also started to try sitting like a human... haha. We love her.

6. Our calling is the best. I seriously didn't think I could love 11 year old scouts. They are hilarious and think that we are the coolest thing since sliced bread. It's just been so much fun! We are getting ready to take them on a hike and few camp outs this summer and we are so excited!

7. This picture that Jacob sent me.... (you may have to zoom in on his face)

8. The fact that this is hanging up in my office... ha ha, get it? 

Office? Cause its from The Office? Ha. No? K, Fine.

9. My Niece got married! I'm so excited to go to her wedding reception this next Friday! I was so bummed we didn't get to go on the cruise, but I'm SO looking forward to Alaska next summer! I just love this picture of my brother taking her to walk down the isle.

10. I have picked up a new hobby that I am OBSESSED WITH!!! For my birthday my mom gave me a cross stitching book called "Stitch People" and it teaches you how to create your own people patterns and create little families. I guess I am more of my Fathers daughter than I thought!! Ha ha. (For those of you that don't know, my dad does super fancy and intense cross stitching patterns and creates these beautiful pictures that look like they were painted. They take him about 10 months each... not including interruptions of the mission.) But I really love cross stitching - who knew! I love creating these little patterns and then bringing them to life! It's so much fun! 

But, I'm running out of ideas... so I think I might be purchasing the animal book because look at the cute one I just finished! Haha, I haven't ironed or framed it yet, but I wanted to share! 

Otters are my favorite. Plus Zooey Deshannel named her daughter after one... so there's that.

I am also just really loving finding uplifting and helpful quotes on Pinterest.. they're the best. Any who, there's my lame update. Love you all!

Love,

Liv

Life as of 03/31/2016

Well, I figure I should throw up an update on our lives too!
We just moved to Sandy. That's been really exciting. Everything happened so quickly that we both feel this is where we are supposed to be right now. Our apartment isn't very nice, but it's huge. 1400 sq feet of bliss. It's technically the basement of the house, but it's a walk out so none of it is really underground. The yard is 100% ours. They told us they don't want to use it so our dogs can pretty much roam free. It's been such a blessing.


Our landlords are straight out of India. Okay they speak English, but if you aren't staring at their mouths, you have no idea what they are saying. They cook a lot of Indian food too, so when we turn on the heat, we get a tiny curry scent. That's been fun.


Michael is still in school at Weber State. Actually we are being forced out of the Marine Corps. Since their isn't a war, they are downsizing the amount of people they have to pay. We have ben fiddling around with the idea of joining the Army & although it isn't our first branch of the military, they take care of families a lot better than the Corps does. Michael would do ROTC & become an officer through Weber State & then we would go active Duty after he finishes PA school. So as of right now, that's the tentative plan.


I'm still at MACU & still hating it. The only thing that keeps me sane is knowing that in 16 weeks & 5 days I'm done. I really want to do a huge mic drop quit, but let's be honest. I'll probably cry for no apparent reason. Oh good! I'm glad we brought up crying. It seems that's all I do anymore. That's been the most frustrating part of this pregnancy for me. I am so 100% grateful for it & you girls know that, but I have zero control over my emotions. Frank licks my foot & I cry. Michael tells me he loves me & I cry. A member looks at me wrong at work & I cry. It's been fun... Pretty much I'm super embarrassed by it.


I really miss you girls. Michael is gone 3 nights out of the week with school or his recovery meetings leaving me home alone until 9 which isn't too bad, but as I said before, it makes me cry haha


Michael has been doing so good! I had a little panic attack once I found out we were having a boy, but I then realized who better to teach Ezra about the dangers & how to respect a woman better than a man who has overcome this same struggle!? No one. I know I feel like I always bring this up, but I just have a huge testimony of the Atonement & it's truly healing power. Not only has it healed me, but Michael.


Anyway, I'm here.
I'm alive.
I'm really happy.
& now I'm crying.


:)


I love you all!


- W A G S

Random story...

It's crazy to realize where Heavenly Father will lead your life if you let him. Three years ago I never saw myself as anything but a nanny to my four sweet little girls. Who still to this day, if I talk about when I quit that job, I cry. I never wanted to work another job... I was exactly where I wanted to be.

But, that wasn't going to pay the bills.

So I applied different places and started working at the hell hole, Utah Powder Coatings. I didn't understand why I was lead to such a crappy job. Desk jobs always came easy to me, but it was weird that I actually liked doing the bookkeeping stuff. Especially after a life of failing math and HATING it. But as I said, it was crappy and abusive. So... I started looking for a new job.

After five months of searching for a new job and loosing myself in the process, I saw a listing for Timpanogos Harley-Davidson. I knew my Sister-in-law was the Accountant and she would be my manager so I thought it would be perfect. Well, most of you know how that turned out... ha ha. Way worse. Way, way, worse. But I loved the employees I worked with and I felt like I needed to stick it out. The General Manager and Owner take care of all thier employees and make everyone feel like they are really appreciated.

When I started this job, I was surprised at how easy it was for me to pick up. Must be all the Sudoku I do.. ha ha. Or my dad.. it's in my genes. Anyway, I was in charge of Accounts Payable for Harley-Davidson, and the very basic needs of Marley's restaurant in Lindon, and in Riverwoods. Things quickly picked up and I was getting the hang of it and I ended up doing the majority of Marley's. Work relationships were straining and I hated coming to work, but I loved what I did and I stuck it out.

This last summer I was asked by the Owner to completely take over both Marley's stores. To be the main Accountant. I was scared but they believed in me while others didn't, and tried everything possible to make sure "I wasn't in charge" because I was "temporary" and "inexperienced." Those next few months were terrible, backstabbing, low, and horrible. Not because I couldn't do what I was doing, but because I was being held back in every way possible by my manager and I wouldn't stand up for myself. It is hard to do.

Around Christmas, my manager decided it was time for her to quit and find a different job that would allow her to be home more. I expected those first few weeks when it was just me in charge of the accounting for Harley and both Marley's to be insane. But they were wonderful. I felt like I was flying and I realized I COULD do this stuff. It was amazing. A new manager, Chris, was hired after a few weeks and we work really well together. It's been better than expected. I used make myself sick over having to go to work before she left, but, I haven't complained about having to go to work since. Jacob will often have to ask how work was, rather than me complaining about how terrible my day was.

It's really crazy that I enjoy coming, because I have a lot more responsibility. I now do all of the accounting for Marley's Lindon, Marley's Catering, Marley's Riverwoods, the new restaurants they just opened, Good Thyme and Roll With It, a reception center called The Balcony, and they opened another one this week, Marley's Jr (where Sammy's used to be in Provo), all while helping out with Timp Harley.

I do the accounting for eight businesses now and I'm going to school, AND I LOVE it. (The raises haven't hurt either... ;) ha ha.)

I share this because, life can be so rough and so hard and if you focus on the blessings you aren't getting, you will miss out on the many many blessings that you are. Heavenly Father knows what he's doing and soon enough you will realize you are worth more than you ever thought possible.

Also, you should go try Good Thyme and Roll With It. They are right next to Los Hermanos on Center St in Provo. It is SO good and caters to everyone, gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian, etc. And the ice cream is D-lish. I crave it all the time. I also get free food so that might have something to do with it. Ha ha.

Anyway, love you guys. Keep your chins up. Life is happy and all the great things.

books and movies and songs and all that jazz!

Hey girlies,

It looks like 2016 was a little hard on most-if-not-all of us. The other day I was driving with my mom and she was like "Ciarah, 2016 has been trying to literally murder you." And that is probably true.... it's been hard! BUT things have really been looking up lately! I think I had a Carly moment where I just decided I needed to do everything I could to make my relationship with myself and with my Heavenly Father better.

One of the biggest things we have been trying to do is find ways for me to control the obscene amounts of stress I've been feeling. So I have taken time out of every day to read, write in my journal, take pictures, weave (haha I'm no good but I'm learning and it is so fun), and get caught up on some tv shows (NEW GIRL IS SO GOOD!!! I JUST FINISHED EVERYTHING ON NETFLIX WITH TRAV AND WE ARE OBSESSED). Anything to get my mind off of....... everything else.

I thought I would share some of the good reads and things I've found lately. And hopefully we can use this as a place to share things that make us happy (like books and restaurants and songs and movies and things) so that we can come here for suggestions when we are in a slump.

BOOKS: 
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: everyone needs to read this book! It is the most beautifully written piece of work I have ever seen! And it's another one of those heart-tugging WWII stories so.... it's longer but I promise it is worth it!)

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs: I just read this on Friday (took me one day) and I really loved it. It was a little odd (on purpose) but pretty thrilling and definitely a book written for a little younger age group but enjoyable nonetheless! I am trying to decide if the movie is something I will see in theaters or wait until I can watch it at home and hide under my covers when I want to.

Miss Mike by Benedict Freedmon: I have read this book once a year since the seventh grade. It is so good! Just. Read. It.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng: I figured since I was a little anxious and depressed anyway, I would read a story about a pretty anxious and depressed teenager. I don't think it helped my happiness project but it made me think about a lot of things and it made me so so grateful for the life that I have! And the gospel! So it's a deep, quicker read if you guys want to pick up a thought-provoking book.

(By the way, I own all of these so you can borrow them if you want!)

Other good books I've read lately include:
Family Pictures by Jane Green (loved),
The Boys In The Boat by Daniel James Brown (loved! and it's a true story!),
Me Before You by JoJo Moyes (The movie is coming out and I was totally thrown off by the twist in the book that isn't really elluded to in the trailer but I really liked the book. It's a mushy romance that makes you happy, for the most part, and takes you away from life for awhile),
and I'm currently working on We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson, just because I'm on a creepy novel mystery kick after Peculiar Children.

***WHAT ARE OTHER GOOD BOOKS?? We are going on a cruise/spending a month in california this summer so I need some good reads!

TV SHOWS: 
Jane The Virgin: We just barely started this so maybe my recommendation comes too soon but it is so funny. Trav loves it because it's a hispanic family and it reminds him of his home/mission.

Hart of Dixie: I think the main girl is actually a terrible actress but I am obsessed with Lemon (Jamie King) and her outfits. It's got such a southern, small town feel that it takes me far away from all the worries in the whole world.

Parks and Rec: I balled for hours after we finished it. If you haven't given it a chance you need to but you have to get past the first season (and like the first half of the second season) before you can quite because it doesn't do the rest of it justice. And Trav bought me a mug that sits on my desk that says "Be the Leslie Knope of whatever you do" which is my new life motto

NEW GIRL: duh! I don't need to convince you.

***What else should we watch??

MOVIES:
Joy: It's a true story and has Jennifer Lawrence in it. It is a little weird so you need to be in a different mood but I really loved every minute of it.

About Time: We probably watch this every other weekend on vid angel (IF YOU DON'T HAVE VID ANGEL YOU NEED TO CHANGE THAT NOW!!!!) It is just too good!

The 33: Again, a true story and well told.

The Choice: every once in a while I am a sucker for a good old Nicolas Sparks movie, you know??

**We are always up for movie suggestions.

OTHER:
Two dots: this is our favorite game to play on our phones. Travis calls it the sickness game because when sickness hits and you spend large and long amounts of time on the loo... you play this game. Funny that he is so many levels ahead of me because i'm the one who is sick....

5 Star BBQ: definitely our favorite place to eat right now. I was put on a autoimmune diet so we can't go here at that moment but it will be the first place we go when I get the A-OK to eat normally again. So maybe let's have a party here that day!!!

Pocket Points: I know most of you are past the college thing or not currently doing it but we love pocket points. It gives you points for having your phone off while on campus and it is the greatest! We use it to get free food all the time. Again, we are saving them up while this diet is taking place but we still love it.

Sheinside.com: I'll probably never buy clothes anywhere else again... jk. But I really do love this website and how inexpensive it is. And most of the things I have ordered are actually free people or from anthropologie originally but I haven't paid over $12 for anything so far. The quality isn't the greatest, depending on the article of clothing, but I haven't had anything fall apart on me yet or wash weird although I have heard some people have. I am just really careful.

Peanut Butter: Recent studies show that losing the ability to smell peanut butter could be the earliest sign of getting Alzheimer's disease. So everyone test their parents and grandparents and spacey spouses and things! (JUST KIDDING!! I just thought it was interesting, we are definitely looking into the studies and trying to figure out if this is coincidence of correlation, but I just had to throw something related to my grueling program out there for you!)

LOVE YOU ALL! PLEASE SHARE THE THINGS YOU LOVE AND LIKE AND WANT US ALL TO KNOW ABOUT AS WELL!!

-Ciarah

a post from car

hey guys! I'm way stoked about this blog. okay I'm gonna be straight up with you guys. life has kind of been nutz o buttz o for me. a lot of insane family changes. all of my siblings are going through tough situations and I swear it's just a non stop sob fest to pep talk fest over here. so my depression and anxiety has been at an all time high. plus it's been difficult watching all of you guys progress in some major ways (ex. marriage, careers, families etc) *DISCLAIMER: i can't even put into words how happy and proud I am of all of you and in no way am I trying to be a sob story I swear. But this blog is to update on the big and small events in our lives and this feels pretty major*

ANYWAY. I've been feeling stuck. in every way possible. I've been so focused on my family that I stopped taking care of myself. in all ways. health, spirituality and my mental health. literally all I would do is work, come home, sleep, wake up and cry hahaha like so rough. so one day I woke up and I said enough is enough. I said a pray and in it I received "make sacrifices and be obedient" so I took out my double piercings, downloaded my scripture app and bought a gym pass. making time for me and for the lord has made me happier than I've been in a long long time. of course my family is still suffering so I have hard days as well. but I know we all have hard hard days. but our hard days are a blessing from Heavenly Father. if we did not struggle and feel pain we would forget to praise the good days. the good days would blend together and become forgettable. I hope I'm making sense.

I guess what I'm saying is breathe through the hard days sisters. for a new and great day is coming. LOVE YOU ALL

-Carls

Lately

Spontaneous trips are the best!

Sometimes you just need to get away, even if just for a day. Luckily we were able to tag along with Jacob's family to Florida for a week. It was a blast. Can I get an "AMEN" for tax returns?!

We went to Universal Studio's for two days, which of course meant Harry Potter world. Butter beer IS all it's cracked up to be. Don't worry, i'm officially on the fifth book... I'll get there... someday...

Then we went to Disney World for two days and the beach for one.

We've been so caught up in school, work, our calling, and doctors appointments that we've kind of forgotten how to relax and have fun. It was such a needed trip and I'm so glad we were able to go - and get away from the icky inversion.

 Now it's back to the old grind. BOO.... but, hey, it is officially birthday month!  
Hopefully that means happy days are ahead.

But if not, I've learned that it's okay to not be okay.

2016 STUFF

Yo Yo YO my beauties!!!

Here's the 2016 Life of Fran in list form(because I haven't written a full paragraph since graduating college and I intend on keeping it that way for some time)

1. Nora and I are best buds mostly because I'm obsessed with her overwhelming cuteness, and she's obsessed with my boobs(for obvious survival reasons).

2. I've read WAY TOO MANY sci-fi novels. If you saw my kindle library you would honestly think I was a 14 year old boy who, when he's not reading, is playing world of warcraft.

3. Bryan and I have mastered the art of teamwork, while one of us is on Nora duty the other one is on Everything Else duty. However, most of the time both of just share Nora duty and argue about who loves her more.

4. No matter how hard I try to stay clean there is ALWAYS spit-up, baby poop, or slobber somewhere on my clothes skin or hair.

5. I've started working at Moody Brown Law again. Which always makes me grateful for my ordinary life when I see people on the daily with REALLY messed up ones.

6. I've had to learn how to say NO in a kind way. You get really good at it when your in-laws ask you multiple times a week to see your child and you just CAN'T EVEN!

7. I've gotten back down to pre-pregnancy weight thanks to the old, ugly, but very efficient treadmill my dad got me for christmas, and being trapped under a baby for so many hours a day that I rarely make it to the kitchen.

8. I've finished The Office for the second time (which I'm neither proud, nor ashamed of)

9. I've double my photo library from the past 5 years in just two months with pictures of Nora, because for some reason everything she does kills me and I need to remember it!

10. For the first time in a really long time I'm not waiting for something. I feel so content with every day that I rarely know what day of the month it is..nor do I care. It's really magical.

THE END

and now a little bit of Nora Rose (I realize that I'm way more obsessed with her than anyone else but I just have to)

Cheetah Girls Cheetah Sisters

Cat I'm a kitty Cat

I'm obsessed with my kids

Sorry guys. But I have to share. Because I think that my kids are the funniest in all the land.

Last week, we were learning about heat transfer. There are three ways that heat transfers: conduction, convection, and radiation. After our lesson, I split the class into groups to do a skit or physical representation of each of these heat transfers. This group was assigned to do conduction. Conduction is the transfer of thermal energy through particles of matter that are touching. Abby (the girl on her knees on the left) is acting as the stove. Her ponytail is the knob that Rylie (Reggie and Holly's daughter) turns to turn on the stove. (How creative!) Just take a looksie and be entertained. Or don't. Do what you want, I don't need a play-by-play.

Thanks for watching. Class dismissed.

-Hailey

January was...

Kinda the worst. January was kinda the worst.

Okay, am I the only one who had like a pretty terrible January? No. I'm sure I wasn't. Everyone has their crap and I am not the only one. (Isn't that an EFY song?)

But like, when it rains, it poors, amirite? I'm not trying to complain, or get any sort of sympathy or pity or anything, but I just wanted to share all of the things. With one thing to say: not all of these things are my experiences, but have had some sort of affect on me.

1. One of my student's stepdad committed suicide our first week back from Christmas break. (More on that for another post.)
2. After having gotten in a wreck and fixing my car ($4000 dollars later, thank you very much) someone did a hit and run on the very bumper that I had just fixed.
3. My teammate is grumpy and everyone in the school can tell. I don't do grumpy people, right? Like, we know this about me?
4. Josh and Kristen moved across the country.
5. My friend is going through a pretty nasty divorce and pretty much has only Sadie and me to help her.
6. Sadie got in a pretty terrible car wreck. (She's totally fine and so are the other people involved, but her car is prolly totaled.)
7. Another one of my friends broke up with her boyfriend of like over a year. She has major emotional health issues that are playing a role in that break up.

Blah, blah, blah. I could go on forever. And probably so could you guys. But here's what I've learned:

1. Sh*t happens.
2. Sh*t happens to everyone. Not just you. Not just me. So like, "Get outside yourself, Hailey."
3. My heart hurts a lot for people. But I think I've just learned that I have more compassion than I thought.
4. Surrounding yourself with good people (i.e. Sadie, you guys, my family, Christ) is the only way through hard things.

I love the gospel of Jesus Christ, you guys. I love knowing that because of our Savior, getting through hard things isn't only possible, but probable. I'm grateful that, despite all the kinda sucky things that happen, there are so many great things that happen to us. Here's a video that I love if you guys wanna take a second (or 6 minutes) and watch it.

-Hailey

You guys!

I was so excited to get on here today and already see so many posts! 

Also, I love our SIXTH family Christmas photo. It makes my heart happy.

I just keep thinking about our party and how grateful I am for each one of you. 

This semester is proving to be a hard one... 6 credits and working full time... bleh. 

But I wish we could have Christmas Parties more often.. 

I just don't get to see you guys enough. 

Keep posting! I LOVE reading them! :)

-Liv

Holiday Photo

I love you girls so much! 

"They gone!"

Josh and Kris left last night. I couldn't even choke out "I love you" or "goodbye." So, Kristen, if you're reading this, I love you and goodbye. I'll see you soon.

COSTCO!

So when Michael & I first got married, we invested in a Costco membership, but ended up cancelling it due to never needing it. However, I've become so snacky that I cannot keep buying little dinky boxes of granola bars! It gets expensive! So... I'm so pleased to announce that last night we got our Costco membership back! Hallelujah! It is sad how excited this makes me.... It truly is.

Anyway, long story short, we are 200 dollars poorer, but 1,000 times more full. Is this a stupid update for the blog?  I dunno. I'm pretty pumped. Also, 12 weeks today & feeling good! Also, good luck traveling today Kristen!

~Wags

Also, I feel like this should be on here...



Welcome!

Hi guys! Welcome to our new blog! 

A place where we can all keep each other updated on the good and not so good things in our lives.

 This next year brings a lot of change for our family. 

This will help make the distance and the change seem not so great. 

Feel free to post as often {or not as often} as you would like. 

Love you all!

-liv