A Quick Visit.

Remember when Kylie had her baby 5 months ago? I finally got to meet her this week! I went up to Kylie's parents' house for a quick visit while she was in town for the holidays. It was so good to visit with her family, see her cute face, and play with her little one. 

Gray and yellow.

I've been all about gray and yellow lately. I even convinced my mom it was an acceptable color scheme for the family pictures we took before Jake left on his mission. 

They turned out pretty dang cute.

(I wish JD and I were standing a little closer in this one.)

So grateful for these guys! I love them dearly.
And I do have to say, we have a pretty good-looking family :)

Wedding and burgers.

This weekend one of JD's favorite mission companions got married. We were able to attend their temple sealing. It was a sweet and sacred ceremony, where they promised to love and take care of each other forever. The feelings of love and devotion in that room reminded me of when I made similar promises to my husband and to God. In the hustle and bustle of everyday, I sometimes forget to honor and respect my marriage relationship. JD's super-de-duper important to me (obviously!), but I could be better about telling and showing him that. I'm thankful we were able to go to the temple this weekend with his newlywed friends so I could feel this giddy happiness again and re-commit to having a rockstar marriage with my husband! 

We got burgers at In-n-Out on our drive back home. I'll never understand why JD needs to order a double-double when we go there. . . but, I guess part of making marriage work is learning to pick your battles. 

 I let him win this one ;) Happy Monday!

Little boy birthday.

When our old neighbor sent us an invite to her son's 2nd birthday party, I knew I wanted to make something special for him. I searched all over the internet for the "perfect" little boy quote, but couldn't find anything I loved. So, I just put together ideas and thoughts I hope my own children will live by someday. "Be grateful. Obey your  parents. Forgive quickly. Laugh a lot. Share with others. Tell the truth. Say your prayers. Speak  kindly. Love the Lord." It turned out really cute and birthday momma loved it. To me, giving  handmade gifts  is one of the life's very greatest pleasures :)

Ps. Don't worry- we also gave this active toddler a big bouncy ball and toy car. I know he doesn't really care about painted canvases!

Pps. If you do care about painted canvases and/or want one for yourself,  I take custom orders.   

We sure do love you and your family, little guy! Happy, happy birthday.

All six.

I've talked about them lots of times. We've lived together, celebrated birthdays and holidays, gone to basketball and football games, talked a lot, traveled together, celebrated love, spent time in the sun and snow, and made oodles of memories. 

It was weird when Stefanie bought a house, but it was okay because it was still in Utah. It was weird when Kasidy left for Argentina, but it was okay because we knew she'd be back. Now Kylie is moving to Las Vegas, which is weird to think about, but also exciting. Way to go on being a grown-up and stretching your wings! 

Cory put together a little surprise party for Kylie on Sunday and invited all of her friends. So glad all six of us could be there!! Love when that happens :)

Dollar skate night.

I usually work on Thursday nights at New Haven, but yesterday I took the night off to go Christmas caroling with the eight to eleven-year old girls from church (I just got a new calling, or assignment, to serve as a leader for activity days!) After we were done singing and dropping off goodie plates, I hurried home so JD and I could go skating at the Classic Fun Center in Orem. I knew Thursdays were dollar skate night because I'm the rec night coordinator at work and have looked up tons of information about fun, inexpensive things to do in Utah County on Thursday nights. It's a rare occasion for BOTH of us to have Thursdays off so we jumped on the chance for some good, old-fashioned fun! 

It was all fun and games until my skates failed me and I took a hard fall on my tailbone. I could hardly move and had to use all my willpower to avoid tears. JD helped me take off my skates and I limped out, trying to hold my head high. Ha! My tailbone is still aching majorly today, but I would do it again anyway. Can't beat four bucks for date night!

"Don't let a bad day make you feel like you have a bad life."

I read that quote today and it was exactly what I needed.

I had a terrible, rotten, no good, very bad day today. . . and for no reason in particular! I've been cynical and grumpy and bashing on myself and my life. I slept more than I should have, cried more than I needed to, and sat around doing absolutely nothing. I found zero motivation to make stuff for the shop, work-out, get out of my pajamas, work on Christmas projects, or read my scriptures (all things on my to-do list).  It's 7:30pm and all I did today was edit a research paper for JD, huffing and puffing the whole time about how I wish he didn't procrastinate and bashing on his writing skills. I was terrible and I've already apologized excessively.

My life is usually pretty bright and happy. I don't get upset a lot. I can usually keep my head screwed on straight and maintain a decent perspective. . . like when JD gets worried and complains that we're poor, I usually rattle off some cheesy line like, "We may be money-poor, but we're rich in love, baby!" Obnoxious, right? But, helpful.

Then, there are days like today where I feel like everything is falling apart and my life is in shambles and I cry until it's all out of my system. I hate these days. But they come sometimes and I just have to remember it's okay.

I'm okay. My life is okay. Everything is a-okay.

My bad days don't mean I have a bad life. Hoorah!

Hand towels.

Excuse my absence from the blog. People are ordering hand towels from The Sunshine Space faster than I can make them! Who knew?! Seriously, running this small business is stressful and I'm overwhelmed. But it's so good for me. It's the first time since I finished school that I actually feel like I'm doing something with my days. Love that feeling!