Our Sunbeams

On Sunday, Josh and I got released from our calling as the Sunbeam teachers.  I can't believe a whole year has passed since we started teaching those darling children.  Don't worry, I only cried during half of class time and half of sharing time and tears may or may not be forming now as I write about these dear children. 

Sunbeams are such a fun age.  They come straight from nursery and Primary is a whole new world to them.  They have to adjust from snack time and playing with toys to singing time, sharing time and class time.  It was definitely not an easy adjustment for some of them, but seeing the growth in them from a year ago has been priceless.

It was an absolute joy to teach them.  I loved every minute and I know Josh did as well.  And I know those kids loved Josh!  They all loved to sit by him or give him hugs and they thought he was so "silly."  I'm pretty sure at least once during each class one of the kids would say, "Josh, you're silly!"  He is silly, but Josh is great with kids.  I am so grateful we had the opportunity to work together in a church calling.  Especially this one.  It was a great experience for us and we were able to catch a glimpse at how each of us are with children.  Wonderful preparation for the future :)

I've had a hard time letting go of these dear children.  Even though they tried our patience sometimes, I loved all 10 of them.  Yes, 10.  Sometimes our class was pure chaos, but I wouldn't trade those moments for anything.  I would keep these kids as my own and I wish I could teach them until they graduate from Primary.

I had my camera in my purse on Sunday and I had to take a few pictures so I can remember these darling faces forever.  I love them. 

(Parents of our Sunbeams-if you are uncomfortable with having pictures of your child on my blog, please let me know and I will take them down)

Me and the little darlins...Just one was absent on Sunday

 Josh and our kids

Me and my girls

Josh and his boys

I'm not going to lie, I'm kind of dreading church on Sunday because it won't be spent with these beautiful children, but their new teachers will be awesome and I am glad they are in good hands.  Josh and I were so lucky to have these children be a part of our lives.  Children are so close to the Spirit and I am so grateful we were able to feel their sweet Spirits.

Spiders

Oh my dear sweet Joshua.

I have come to the conclusion that he is just as afraid of spiders as I am. 

And here's why:

About a year ago, Josh sat up in bed in the middle of the night and yelled, "Where's the spider!?!?!"

The rest of the conversation went like this:

Allison:  What spider?  There's not a spider. (Side note:  We live on the top level of our apartment complex so spiders are a rarity)

Josh:  Yes there is!!  It's a huge one and it bit my toe and my toe really hurts!!

Allison:  Babe.  There's not a spider.  Go back to bed.

Josh:  Yes there is.  Feel my toe.  It bit my toe.  There's a huge bump on it!

**I feel his toe.  No bump.**

Josh:  I'm sorry I have to turn the light on and find that spider.  Owe! My toe really hurts!

**He turns the light on.  No spider. We turn the light off, go back to bed and laugh about it the next morning.**

So then this morning about 4 a.m. Josh wakes up and yells, "Ahh!  There's a spider on me!!"

And you guessed it.  There wasn't a spider!

haha!  Bless is heart.  He was afraid it was going to go in his mouth.

I'm thinking one of these days I should put a fake spider in the bed. :)

Thankful

I have loved reading everyone's "Thankful" posts over the past few days.  It's really made me reflect on everything I am thankful for.   Here are some of my many blessings.  I am a lucky girl. 

• I am so thankful for Josh.  He is so good to me and I love him more than anything.
• My family.  I love them all so much and feel so blessed to have the parents and family that I do.  And I have the cutest nieces on the planet!
• My in-laws.  I scored big-time when it comes to in-laws.
• Our church calling.  I love our Sunbeams so much!  I would seriously keep all of them.  I will be so sad when we get released.
• Our ward.  I was so attached to my home ward and was worried I would never feel at home in another ward.  I'm so happy that my thinking was wrong-very wrong.  I really hope we can find a house in our ward boundaries.  We don't want to  leave.
• My friends.  I love all my girls so much-My high school girls, Xi Babes, childhood friends, school friends, church friends, I love you all!  I am also very thankful for Josh's friends because they all have awesome wives who are now my good friends as well.  
• Our cute apartment.  Although I am excited to find a house, I love our cozy apartment.  It feels like home to me and I feel safe here.  My favorite place to be is at home with Josh.
• My job.  I seriously love it.  It may not be the most glamorous job on the planet, but I have been so much happier ever since I started working there three months ago.  I have learned a lot about crafts-which are something I love.  I absolutely love the people I work with and I am so glad an old friend from the U referred me to the job and has now become my good friend. Watch out, Swiss Days!  :)
• Music!  Oh I could not live without music.  
• Flannel sheets.  I love getting in bed in the winter to soft, cozy sheets.
• Cadbury chocolates.  My favorite treats at Christmas and Easter time.
• My dog.  She is the cutest little ball of fur that has ever lived.
• My cute Grandpa.  He is too cute for words.  I know he misses my Grandma like crazy but he is staying strong and wants to continue living life to the fullest.
• The Gospel.  I would be so lost without it. 
• The knowledge that I will see my Grandma again.
• My health.
• The future.  I am thankful for the things to come-whether they are good or bad.  

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Holiday Decor

I LOVE decorating for holidays.  When I was growing up, my mom always had fun decorations out for each holiday and I want to do the same for my children.  It adds such a fun feeling to the home.

I have started collecting decorations little by little and have started making several of my own.

Today I put my Thanksgiving decorations up and looking at them puts a smile on my face.

Here is the fall door hang I made.  I love that I can use it for all of fall.

 
I made these cute pumpkins that can also be up for October and November.

My cute turkey!

Fall table runner

Cute Pilgrims!

Fall frame.

 Fun figurines for my shelf.

 This has also been on our door for part of Fall.  Now I have it on our coat closet door.  It will definitely be on our door the week of the BYU/UTAH game.  Go Utes!

 I meant to blog about my fun Halloween decorations back in October, so I'm just going to blog about them now!  I LOVE my Halloween decorations so much.

 My Halloween tablecloth.

I love my Bats!

I bought this picture up at Swiss Days and I absolutely love it.  It was done by an artist named Jon McNaughton.  I also bought a beautiful picture of the Nativity as well as a picture of Christ from him.  I love his work.  You can check him out here.

My Wicked letter set.  Love it.  Anyone recognize the font? :)

Cute Halloween phrases I got at Michaels for $1.

 Fun find at the Quilted Bear

My cute Frankenstein.

 Fun plaque I made.  I'm in love with the paper I found for it.

 And last but not least....the cutest Halloween decorations EVER!  The second I saw these I knew I had to have them.  I know if I wouldn't have bought them that I would regret it every year when I got my Halloween decorations out.  I'm pretty sure they were meant for me.  :)

Oh I love the Holidays!  Now I've got to get to work on my Christmas crafts.  I can't wait to finish them and put them up!

A week and a half later...

...I am FINALLY blogging about our Halloween.

I know I would regret not blogging about it, so here we go.

The week of Halloween ended up being really crazy with my Grandma's funeral and everything else, so our costumes weren't figured out or purchased until the VERY last minute.  And when I say very, I mean we bought our costumes 20 minutes before we went to our ward Halloween party on the 29th.

We had no idea what to dress up as, but after wracking my brain a little, I remembered that Target sold these bad boys in our size:
 

So, we went as babies. 

The next night our friends, The Crayk's, hosted the funnest Halloween party ever!  We had dinner and then did a digital camera scavenger hunt.  If you've never done one, I highly recommend doing it at your next party!  It was so much fun.  I want to do it again!

But I am pretty certain that baby Josh's favorite part of the party was playing with the babies.

Everyone had GREAT costumes!  Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of all the couples, but here are the ones I got.

Sean and Ariel as mimes

Ty and Lauren as Poison Ivy and Batman.  Ty was hilarious!

Chris and Shianne as Teletubbies and Maddex as a monkey

This party was just what I needed after a difficult week.  Thank you Crayk family for the fun time!  Can't wait for next year!

What a week!

First of all, I just want to thank all of you for the love and support you have shown me this past week. Thank you for your kind words and for your prayers. I definitely felt them. I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends in my life. 

Last week was one of the hardest weeks of my life, but also one of the most uplifting.  Losing my Grandma has been so hard for me, but I have felt the Spirit so much knowing where she is now.

To add to all the craziness, I was just getting over a cold when my Grandma passed away, but after a lot of crying, all that drainage in my throat brought some of those cold symptoms back and gave me one of the worst coughs I've ever had.  Not a good thing to have happen when you have to sing at your Grandma's funeral.
 
Even though I was a little under the weather and mourning the loss of my sweet Grandma, I was able to learn so much about her.  She was amazing.  More amazing than I ever realized.  I will always look up to her and hope to be the kind of woman she was.

My Grandma's funeral was perfect.  Absolutely perfect.  Everyone's talks paid a wonderful tribute to her and the Christlike woman she was.  I learned so much about her life and her relationship with my Grandpa.  They are a prime example of what marriage is all about.

Like I said in my previous post, my Grandma had asked me to sing at her funeral.  I honestly didn't know if I could do it.  Singing at funerals is so hard, especially if the funeral is for someone you were close to.

All week I prayed and prayed asking Heavenly Father to give me the strength to make it through my song without crying.  On top of that, I had a nasty cough which made me that much more nervous.

I can honestly say my prayers were answered.  I made it through my song without crying and I think I sang it better than any of the times I practiced it.  I didn't even feel nervous and I was able to sing with the confidence I needed to make it through the entire song.  I tried to think about my Grandma and make the song as good for her as I possibly could.  I am so thankful for answered prayers.  As soon as the song ended and I headed back to my seat, the waterworks kicked in with full force!  But that was okay.  I had held in my emotions and was able to keep them in until my song was over-which was exactly what I had hoped for.

I am so grateful for my Grandma and the things she taught me.  I am thankful for answered prayers and feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends in my life.  I am especially thankful for the knowledge that death is NOT the end.  I will see my Grandma again.


On top of the funeral and everything else going on last week, my dad retired after teaching for several years. I could not finish this post without letting him know how proud I am of him.

His retirement happened sooner than we expected, but it was the right time for him.

My dad is one of my heroes.  He has been battling Multiple Sclerosis for several years now and not once has he ever complained about it.  I know he does not feel well or normal a lot of the time but he has never been one to complain or let anyone know when he's hurting.  Most people don't even know he has MS.  He has not let this disease interfere with his happiness.  He has always taken such good care of his body and I know that has helped his MS not progress as fast as it could.  His job has become more and more stressful each year, which can have a big impact on MS, and I know that his retirement will only improve his health and prolong his life.

I can't believe both of my parents are retired now!  I feel old :)

I love you dad!  Happy retirement!

My sweet Grandma

Tonight we said goodbye to my sweet Grandma.

It's such a bittersweet feeling.  Mostly sweet, but I will miss her so much.

She couldn't have gone in a better way.  She was at home, in her own bed with my grandpa holding her hand.  It was sweet and so perfect.  I wish everyone could go like that.

I grew up only five minutes away from where my grandparents live and have always been really close to them.  I am so incredibly grateful to have had such a great relationship with them.  They are the cutest grandparents on the planet.

My Grandma lived 90 beautiful years.  She was a classy woman and a wonderful example to everyone around her.  She was constantly serving her family and everyone she knew. 

She was able to spend over 64 years on earth with her sweetheart.  They were complete opposites in several ways, but had such a strong marriage.  She waited for him for four years while he was serving in World War II and soon after his return, they were married for time and all eternity.

I know my grandpa will miss her like crazy, but he is grateful she's not suffering anymore and he knows he will be with her again someday.  We are so lucky to have that knowledge.  It makes difficult times like these a little easier.

I want to write down some of my favorite memories of my grandma.  They are all so fresh in my mind and I don't want to forget any of them.

• She always had Chicken in a Biscuit crackers in her cupboard.  They will always remind me of her.
• I loved having sleepovers at her house.  My cousin Julia and I would often sleep there when we didn't have school and we always wanted to put her shower caps on.  We were so weird!  Every time I slept there, a yummy breakfast would be ready on the table when I woke up.  The meal almost always included raspberries and cream.  To this day I still buy cream whenever I buy raspberries. It's the best.
• My grandma had so many fun toys for us to play with.  Her Fisher Price castle was the best!  It had a secret passage and a drawbridge.  They just don't make toys like they used to.
• I remember her taking me to see "The Wizard of Oz" in the theaters because she knew it was my favorite movie.
• She always got her hair done(shampoo set) each week.  She had a wind bonnet and a rain bonnet that she would always wear if she was worried about her hair getting messed up.
• I remember she always had some perfume powder in the bathroom and I always wanted to wear some because I thought it was so cool.
• She was really good at pampering anyone who was sick.  She always took such good care of my grandpa during his battles with cancer and pneumonia.
• She always had her camera with her.  I am glad she did because she has a lot of great pictures that we will cherish forever.
• She was really good at the piano and played all the time until she got too shaky to play.
• My grandpa is a huge sports fan and because of that, my grandma became a big sports fan.  She loved watching the Jazz and she also had a crush on Kyle Korver.  :)
• A few years ago I was dating someone on the U of U football team.  My grandma had a major crush on him. (Don't worry, she had an even bigger crush on Josh!)  He broke up with me right before football camp and not only broke my heart, but hers as well.  She was VERY mad at him for hurting me(and her) and during those few weeks of camp, she would always say, "I never see his name in the paper so he must not be doing that well at football."  haha.  She always spoke her mind and I love that about her.
• She would always tell me that every night she would pray that I would find the right person to marry.  I am so glad she was able to be there when I was sealed to Josh.  My wedding was the last wedding she ever attended.
• She loved Josh and always commented on what pretty eyes he had.
• My grandma loved pomeranians and I like to think I got my love for them from her.  Almost 7 years ago they got Maggie and she was her baby.  My grandma spoiled the heck out of her!  When they first got her, my grandma would say that she liked to sing the song "You Light Up My Life" to Maggie and that every night she would kiss Maggie on the forehead before bed.
• My grandpa doesn't believe in spaying or neutering, so they bred Maggie about four times and she produced the most beautiful puppies.  I spent lots of time at my grandparent's playing with each litter and because of that, I grew even closer to both my grandma and grandpa.  I am so glad some of those puppies have stayed in the family.  It's no secret how much I love my little Elle.

I know sweet little Maggie will be lonesome for my grandma, but I will visit her often and try to keep her happy.  I know my grandma will like that.

Per my grandma's request, I will be singing at the funeral on Friday.  I am scared out of my mind.  I love singing and performing, but singing at funerals is a whole different ball game.  Please pray for me that I can make it through my song without crying.  I want it to be beautiful for my grandma and I want to make her proud.  Hopefully I can get all these tears out before then.

One of the last things my Grandma said to me yesterday was, "Alli, are you still singing?" and I said, "Yes, Grandma, I still sing."

Grandma, I will sing for you forever.  

I love you so much, Grandma!  I will never forget the things you taught me and I will carry on your legacy as best as I can.  We will take good care of Grandpa and Maggie.  I know I will see you again!

Girl's Night Out!

Hey girls!

If any of you are looking for something fun to do while the men in your life are at the Priesthood session on Saturday night, you should check out my friend's Girls Night Out.

My good friend Brittany and her mom own an amazing wholesale home decor business and are having a fun little event this Saturday, October 2 from 6-8 p.m.

Brittany has also started a little clothing business and she has the cutest stuff!  And most of it is $40 or less! You should check out her clothing blog at http://pearandpeonies.blogspot.com or join her fan page on Facebook by clicking here.

If I could describe Brittany in one word, it would be "CLASSY."  She has amazing taste and has an eye for what looks good.  I want to learn her secrets. :)  I know you will love her stuff.

Here is the address for the event:

6567 S. Cottonwood Street(300 West)
Murray, UT

They will have clothing, jewelry and home decor.  You will love it all!

Total GLEEK

There are no words to describe how excited I am for this tonight!!

I can't wait for the music, the guest appearances, Sue Sylvester's hilarious comments and lots of Mr. Schuester.  I may or may not have a crush on him.

Oh and Josh is excited as well.  He may not admit it, but he is a total GLEEK!

I hope you all watch!

p.s.  The Office starts on Thursday!  YAY!  Michael Scott's final season on the show.  :(  It won't be the same without him.
It's a great week in television!

My alter ego

I need some advice.

I sort of have an alter ego.  Some of you are aware of her...haha.

Over the past several months, I have done some Cinderella birthday parties for some of my good friends.  {You can read more about those here, here or here.} Being a part of these parties is the cutest thing ever. Really, I wish every single one of you could go to a 3 or 4 year-old's birthday party as a Disney Princess.  It is so rewarding.

I have had a blast helping out at these parties.  Partly because I have always wanted to work as Cinderella at Disneyland, but mostly because the reactions I get from these darling little girls are priceless.  I know it's not "Allison" they're excited to see, it's Cinderella!   I would've loved to have a Disney Princess come to my birthday party when I was young, so I love being able to help make their birthday's more memorable. 

Anyway, I have had quite a few inquiries from random people about doing a princess party for their daughter or someone else they know.  In fact, I am in the process of booking another party for a friend of a friend.  Because of this, I am considering doing princess parties on a regular basis. 

It would be a fun way to make a little extra cash and I am thinking (and hoping) it could be sort of successful.

Now here is where you come in.  I don't feel like I could advertise this on KSL or something like that because it could easily attract some nasty perverts out there.  I feel like the best way to go about this is by word of mouth.  I think I will create a blog all about the parties and include information, pricing and contact information.  That way, if any of you lovely friends of mine happen to suggest it to someone, they would have a place to go see all of the information.

Do you think that's a good idea?

My next piece of advice that I need is pricing.  So far I have only done it for good friends, and I could never  charge a good friend for something like that so I have absolutely NO idea what to charge people. 

I have heard of people charging around $150 for a "princess" to come to their child's party!!  Are you kidding me?  That is WAY too much for something so fun and rewarding.  I want to make this affordable for people and $150 for a 3 year-old's birthday party is ridiculous.

I want to know what you think is a fair price.  If you were having "Cinderella" come to your daughter's birthday party, what would you pay for something like that?

I am thinking somewhere around $50 for an hour and $75 for an hour and a half????

I don't know how to figure it all out.  It does take some effort perfecting the Cinderella updo, and I have to drive to wherever the party is at, so I just need to come up with something reasonable for myself and the parent throwing the party.

Anyway, I would love your input!  And please be honest!  I want to know if you think this whole princess party thing could be successful and if so, what I should charge. Also, if it does get a good response, I am considering making a Sleeping Beauty costume because I think I could possibly pull her off as well.  That would give people two different options.  I also have a friend interested in being Belle, so there could be the possibility of having two princesses at one party!

I love helping a child's dream come true. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for all of your help!  I love you all!

 Love,

Cinderella

Our night at the ER

Josh and I have had quite an eventful weekend.

Yesterday afternoon Josh called me at work saying he was in a lot of pain. {in his groin of all places-probably the worst place to be in pain! (sorry if that is too much information!)}  I told him he should try and find a doctor's office that was open on Saturdays or at least go over to Instacare.

Being the hard worker that he is, Josh finished mowing all 10 lawns and came home feeling miserable.  He quickly showered and we headed over to Instacare.  Thankfully, there wasn't a long wait and he got right in.  Unfortunately the doctor only spent about 3 minutes with him and hardly looked him over.  She determined he had some type of infection and prescribed an antibiotic for him.  We left feeling discouraged that her time with Josh was so brief, but we went and got his medication, grabbed some dinner and headed home to relax.

We went to bed just after 10-which was shocking because if you know Josh, you know that he is a NIGHT OWL!  I love going to bed early, so I was totally fine going to bed at that time on a Saturday night.

Just after 2 a.m., Josh woke me up and was moaning and groaning and saying he was in so much pain.  He said the pain had moved up into his side and that he had never been in so much pain in his life.  He got out of bed and paced around the apartment and would crouch into a fetal position every few seconds.  I kept asking him if he wanted to go to the emergency room, and he kept saying, "No, no I'll be fine. I just need to relax."

After a few minutes, he finally said, "Hurry!  Get dressed!  We have to go to the emergency room now!"

We hurried down to the car and sped over to the ER. (If you ask Josh, he will claim that I wasn't speeding, but trust me, I was!)

We got to the ER around 2:45 and were relieved to find it quiet and empty.  Josh was immediately taken back to a room and they began evaluating him.  We had to wait a while in between the nurses taking his vitals and drawing his blood before he was seen by the doctor.

We kind of got two for the price of one as far as doctors go because a third year medical student came and examined him, and then he was also evaluated by the ER doctor.  They both had the same suspicion on what was causing Josh so much pain- Kidney Stones.  They were positive he didn't have the "infection" he was diagnosed with at Instacare.  After they both examined him, they said a nurse would be in to pump some medicine in his IV to help with the pain. While waiting for the nurse, my cute husband looks at me with lots of pain in his eyes and says, "At least I can stay home tomorrow and watch a lot of football."  haha.  Even in excruciating pain, he still lets his personality shine through.  I love him.

After some morphine, Josh started feeling like a million bucks.  :)  The med student came back in and said they were going to give Josh a CT scan, but that it could be up to 3 hours before the scan happened.  YIKES!  Somehow we got lucky and no more that 15 minutes later, a man came to get Josh for the CT scan.  If we would've arrived at the hospital any later, we would have been there twice as long because while Josh was getting the scan done, 4 trauma patients were admitted to the ER.  I feel so grateful that the timing happened the way it did.

A little while after the CT scan, the doctor and medical student came in to say that the Radiologist was really busy and wouldn't be able to evaluate the results of the scan for a few hours.   Luckily they said they had both looked at it and were certain it was a kidney stone and it would be okay if we left the hospital.  The doctor said he would call if the radiologist thought the stone was too big or anything like that.  He wrote Josh a few prescriptions and we were home at six o'clock this morning.

Now Josh has to drink lots of liquids and hope that this thing passes soon.  It does not sound fun at all.  I have heard they are miserable!  But I guess the good news is that he will be very sympathetic when I am in labor someday.  :)

I hate seeing Josh in pain, but I am so grateful it is not something worse.  He is tough and I know he can handle this.  I am also grateful for the amazing ER staff at IMC.  They were all so great to us.  Every person, nurse and doctor we dealt with was so nice and spent time answering all of our questions and never made us feel rushed or last priority.  If the maternity staff is as great as the ER staff, then I will definitely want to have my babies there.  :)

Oh and lesson learned- Instacare is now referred to as InstaCRAP in my book!  I want our $40 copay back!!

One year already?

Two weeks ago we celebrated our one year anniversary!
{I know I am behind, but we were without a computer for what seemed like an eternity.  :) But better late than never, right?}

I can't believe it has been one whole year since we did this:

And went here for our honeymoon.

To celebrate, we went to OUR restaurant, Asian Star.  I call it "ours" because as mentioned in the previous post, Asian Star is where Josh and I went on our first date, and it is also where we got engaged.

After dinner we decided to go miniature golfing at Mulligans.  It was fun reminiscing about our first date and enjoying the same activities for our anniversary.  Unfortunately, we were only able to golf about 5 holes because a huge rainstorm came through!  But it made the night that much more memorable.

We waited in the golf shop for a while, hoping the rain would let up so that we could finish our game, but the rain didn't look like it was stopping anytime soon.  We went and got one of my favorite summertime treats, shaved ice, and headed back to our apartment to exchange gifts and watch our wedding video.  It was a fun, relaxing and low key anniversary.  We had hoped to get away somewhere, but Josh's yard care business he does on the weekends makes it hard to go anywhere during the summer.  However, we are hoping to do a cruise or some sort of fun trip this fall or winter as a late anniversary trip.  Hopefully it will work out! 

What an incredible year it has been.  The time has gone by faster than I ever thought possible, but I am loving every minute with my eternal companion.  Marriage is definitely an adjustment and living with someone is very different than dating them, but it is a fun journey learning how to combine two different lives together.

I am so grateful for my cute husband and how hard he works for us. I am looking forward to spending many more anniversaries with him.  I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us.  I know there will be good times and hard times, but we will be able to get through it all because we have each other. 

One year down, eternity to go!

August 11, 2007

Three years ago today, Josh and I had our first date!!

I remember that day very well.  It was a Saturday, and I had just finished my last week of EFY for the summer that morning. To be honest, I had mixed feelings about the date for a few different reasons.  One being that this would technically be a blind date since it had been about 13 years since Josh's family moved from our ward and also the fact that this wasn't just an ordinary date.  It was going to be a date with the Josh Meadows I had been in love with so many years ago.

I had been on my share of blind dates, so I didn't have very high expectations of my date with Josh.  However, I was pretty dang nervous about seeing him for the first time in 13 years.  Blind dates didn't make me nervous, but this one was different - different because this was going to be a date with my first crush.

I'll never forget Josh pulling up to my house in his red truck.  My whole family was outside sitting in the shade and holding Ava, who was only two months old at the time.  As soon as he came into the yard, I thought, "Oh crap.  He is very attractive!"  My nerves increased and I was starting to feel a little intimidated.

We got in his truck and I couldn't get over how good looking he was.  He was just as attractive as he was 13 years ago. {By the way, some of my friends even commented on what a cute boy Josh was when they saw his childhood pictures in our wedding video :).}  I remember feeling very shy and awkward, which was very unlike me on a blind date. 

After a lot of awkward silences in the car, Josh reached in the backseat and grabbed a sheet of paper full of Chuck Norris jokes.  haha.  That helped break the ice and we laughed and laughed as he read each joke.  I love that he had a printed paper of Chuck Norris jokes in his car. Only Josh...

We had a delicious dinner at Asian Star, which also included a lot of good conversation and then went to Mulligan's to play some miniature golf.  We had a blast laughing and competing at mini golf against each other.  And for the record, I was winning the entire game until the last hole. 

When he took me home, he said he would like to do something again soon.  I was excited and happy that he would want to see me again and this date was the best one I had been on in a long time.

It took us a year and a half after our first date to fall in love, but I wouldn't change anything about our story.  We were both able to experience things, date other people and become good friends before our relationship turned into anything serious.  All of those factors helped us fall in love at the right time in our lives. 

I am grateful for Josh, I am grateful for our story and I look forward to all of the adventures ahead!

Dead.

Our laptop is dead.  A few days ago, it decided to commit suicide.  Not cool.  It won't turn on or show any sign of activity.  boo.

I have been looking forward to blogging about some fun things like how we celebrated our one year anniversary on Friday!  {I can't believe it has been one whole year already!} 

Anyway, please keep your fingers crossed that we can get it fixed and hold off on getting a new computer for a little while longer.  If we have to buy a new computer, that means we won't be able to book a fun trip we've been trying to plan for this fall. 

Please come back to life, laptop!!!

Forgiveness

Wow.  Please watch this if you haven't already.  Amazing.  Be sure to grab a tissue!

I remember so well when this happened.  The road where the accident took place is a road that I took to the U everyday.  I remember seeing the flowers and the messages to the family written in sidewalk chalk under the overpass.  They were there for months.  I remember reading the stories in the paper about how Chris Williams forgave this young boy.  What a Christ-like example he is.  I am grateful for him for sharing his story with the world.

Question...

So I recently changed my blog layout and I am absolutely in love with it!  I think it's a keeper and I can't see myself ever wanting to change it.

Anyway, I've noticed when I view my blog on some computers, the title in the header that says, "The Meadows Family est. August 6, 2009" is not centered in the little blue frame where it belongs.  I emailed the maker of the blog layout about it, and she said that some web browsers view the blog layout differently, and that is why it does that.  She said they are working on getting it fixed, so hopefully it will be normal on every computer someday soon.  (Keep your fingers crossed!)

I am curious to know how many of you are able to view my blog where the spacing is normal, and how many of you get the off-centered header.  This is a way random request, but If you could let me know, I would appreciate it!  Thanks!  Love ya!

Cabin Fever

This past weekend we headed up to Island Park, Idaho with some good friends for a little weekend getaway.  We loved having a few days to relax and not be on any type of schedule.  It was fun being up in the mountains and enjoying all of the beautiful nature-even though my allergies and nature do not get along very well.

We spent most of our time 4-wheeling, playing games and eating a whole lot of junk food.  That's what cabin trips are all about! 

I had my camera with me the whole time, but only took 3 pictures.  I need to get in the habit of taking more pictures for when I have kids!  Anyway, here are those few pictures.

Josh and I getting ready for our first 4-wheeling excursion of the trip.  I laughed when he said we should take ski goggles and bandanna's, but immediately took that back when every part of my body was covered in dust except for my face!

The Crayk Family getting ready to 4-wheel.  Isn't little Jaxon the cutest?

Jaxon was such a trooper the whole trip!  He handled 4-wheeling and the long car rides to and from the cabin like a champ.  I am determined to have a daughter that he can marry someday.  :)

Some highlights of the trip include the morning that Josh woke up and was certain it was one in the afternoon and it was really nine, the many "blonde" moments by us girls and Chris falling in the camping chair onto a pair of antlers which put a hole in the chair and his pants and his garments.  It was one of the funniest things ever-especially because it happened to Chris. 

My favorite thing about the trip will embarrass my husband, but I'm going to say it anyway. (Please forgive me, babe!)  As you can tell from the pictures, our friends James and Katie brought their one-year old son, Jaxon.  Josh has always loved Jaxon, but on this trip I really got to see just how good he is with kids.  He was so attentive and helpful with Jax and I loved seeing that side of him.  He interacted and played with little Jaxon every chance he got.  If he is that good and that cute with someone else's child, I can't even imagine what he'll be like with our own babies.  It makes me look forward to motherhood even more than I already do!  He will be such a great dad.  I can't wait!

Thank you, Crayk family for the fun weekend!  We missed the friends that couldn't make it!

Stadium of Fire!

We had a fabulous holiday weekend! We went to the Oakley Rodeo with Josh's family on the 2nd and had a blast, and then the highlight of the weekend was attending the Stadium of Fire on the 3rd.

When I heard my girl Carrie Underwood was going to be the guest of honor, I knew that this was something I HAD to go to!

I went to her concert in 2008 and have wanted to see her again ever since. She is someone I admire and look up to in so many ways. She is not only (in my opinion) the most beautiful girl on the planet, but she is classy, fun and an amazing singer! She just seems like an all around good person, and I love that.

When I first got the tickets, Josh didn't think he would want to go. As it got closer, he decided to give it a shot and he ended up having a ton of fun! I think he was singing along almost as much as I was.

Before the show kicked off, they were honoring the Boy Scouts of America and had several boys there that received their Eagle. This cute old man is currently the oldest Eagle Scout and he spoke. He is in his 90's and so cute!
One of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen! I may not care for Provo or BYU, but I must say it is a pretty campus.

CARRIE!

Come again soon, Carrie!

And the highlight of the night...Carrie singing the National Anthem. She has got pipes! I unfortunately didn't get the very start because I was not expecting her to be the one to perform the National Anthem. I am so glad I got to hear her sing that song. Now you can too :)

Stadium of Fire is a total blast! The fireworks are seriously amazing and unlike an other firework show I have ever seen....except for when some fireworks malfunctioned and shot into the audience....Besides that, the night was amazing and probably the best 4th (well 3rd) of July I've ever had!