WONDERFUL. Plain and Simple.

What a wonderful couple weeks it has been!

 I am officially a DSU COLLEGE GRADUATE! 

 I can hardly believe it but it feels so great to be done and to have reached a goal I set for myself.

My cute mom, dad, Cec, Angel, Syd, and Aunty Tia came and surprised me the night before by decorating my house and bringing over a gift. My mom is always so thoughtful and she literally thought of everything to make me feel so special.

 Graduation day was wonderful and all my family spoiled me with love and support.

Plus my mother-in-law sat on the stand and gave me my diploma, how cool is that?

 I feel so blessed to have such an amazing family!!! They are always there for me no matter what the occasion is. Everyone came to cheer me on and make me feel special, and they succeeded because I felt like a million bucks. How did I get so blessed???

 My mom directed her last Miss Ivins Princess Pageant after being the pageant director for the last 10 years.

 This amazing woman gave up her crown as Miss Ivins Princess Pageant director tonight! She is so amazing and has always been a wonderful example of service, leadership, happiness, getting involved, and just getting things done! I am so grateful for her!

 Mothers day is always a treat, but it's especially a treat when you get to talk to your missionaries!!! Amy is doing great and is as beautiful as ever, both on the inside and the outside.

 This was the last Skype call for both Trevor and Amy!!! I can't even believe they will be back this year!!! Trevor was hilarious on his call, he is too cute and I can't wait till he is back making our family laugh.

 The way I was spoiled on Mother's Day you would've thought I was a mom, and the best one ever at that! Haha I love you babe, thanks for loving me back!

 Being a teacher at The Vault rocks, almost as much as @tiabstokes karaoke skills!

We are so spoiled at The Vault, as a teacher appreciation we were treated to a karaoke pedicure and dinner!

 My first strawberry from my garden. MMMM :)

 Happy 1st anniversary! Sorry I ate your wedding cake 😬😂😘 story told by my mom...

"You know the tradition where you freeze the top of your cake and eat it at your 1 year anniversary? Well funny story, a year ago after the wedding, Cambria and I didn't get any wedding cake and we heard it was delicious (plus we were starved from a busy day,) Cambria said, "mom the cake is disgusting after a year, let's just eat it and get a new one for their anniversary. " So we did. We brought over this cake all wrapped as If it had been in the freezer for a year, they were hesitant to eat it, then Angel told Cecilee, "you take the first bite" when she did she said, "OMG this is so fresh, it must have a ton of preservatives to taste this good after a year" so Angel dug in and had 2 pieces. Cambria comes over to have a piece and Cecilee was telling her how good it is even being in the freezer for a year. Cambria and I could not control our laughter, we spilled the beans."

Hopefully this doesn't make me a horrible sister??? Haha.

I got to hair model for Cecilee again and seriously, she is AMAZING! It blows my mind how creative and talented she is! Can you believe she got all of my hair to look like a faux hawk?

 I love this man and all his sweetness!!! He cooks more than I care to admit, laughs at all my weird jokes, constantly works to be the best husband every day, and plays guitar and sings like an angel! I love this candid picture I took of him in his element, I love how he lights up doing the things he loves!!! I love you.

Jeff, the cute dog lover, got bit by a dog this week and for no reason (he wasn't antagonizing the dog.) He had to get stitches and the doctor said it was a good bite but Jeff has been awesome about it, not complaining, still working through the pain, and he still loves all dogs. I'm a brat and like to joke around with him so I gave him the nickname "dog treat" cause he must be too tasty to resist!

 Morning after our Friday show we had our team sunrise practice and it was beautiful.

 I love this team and I'm sad that our year is coming to an end.

 Saturday night show was amazing in so many ways, we raised over $18,000 for Calum passing our $11,000 goal! There are so many wonderful people with generous hearts.

I was an emotional wreck because the spirit was so strong and it was just a beautiful night. I couldn't help but cry watching Calum (our cause) sitting on the front row, smiling, dancing, and cheering for us as we danced our hardest for him. Then when Calum's family took the stage to accept the check Calum's dad said the most beautiful words and my grandpa was felt there. Calum's dad said, "an amazing man left a legacy in the Hurricane valley and you saw some of his family on the stage tonight. I just want to say one thing, ALOHA!" It was amazing and my grandpa was definitely there.

 Blessed to have her as my role model, coach, Aunty, sister, boss, neighbor, and best friend. Whatever is thrown our way, we're ready!

 Saturday night was amazing and it was all possible because of this lady! She's amazing!!!

 I have no idea what I would do or who I would be without his love and support! He is an amazing kalamity husband who is at every event ready to cheer me on and record! I love him!

 So proud of this beautiful hermana!!! She is truly beautiful inside and out! She gave an inspiring homecoming report where she shared 3 perspective changes she learned in the mission: 

1) get out of your own way 

2) light shine bright 

3) zoom out

All three perspectives are applicable at any stage of life and it was a great reminder to me especially as I deal with my own trials.

We have another concert this Saturday for Jonah, so if you missed our Calum show you have another chance to come and support Jonah!!!!

It has been a wonderful couple weeks and as things start to slow down I am getting so excited for our Europe trip...only 20 more days!!!!! Can you believe it??? I can't!

Anyway, one last little update on the dreaded topic: fertility. Stop reading now if you don't want to hear a little bit of a rant...

7 months ago I started fertility specific treatment, I've had to take Provera every month to force a period then I've been doing the Letrezole fertility treatment and it hasn't been working for me. We've found out that I don't ovulate regularly (I actually haven't ovulated once in the last 7 months.) This last round of Letrezole I had to pair it with dexamethasone steroid to try to balance other hormones out to try to ovulate and it still didn't work. I now have been recommended to go to a specialist to take a more aggressive course and I was really bummed by that news. I know lots of women go through similar struggles but I've been having a hard time coping emotionally. The drugs I've had to take have caused me to gain some weight (even though I dance ridiculous amounts weekly,) break out constantly, feel tired regularly, act like a crazy person on the regular, and just feel crappy. I know everyone reacts to drugs differently, but they are not good to my body and the worst part is that they haven't helped me ovulate at all. I've decided I need to try to be more positive about it all and truly TRUST IN THE LORD, I never understood how hard those two things really are when you feel so defeated, BUT I know that the Lord is mindful of me and everything has it's reasons and timing is crucial. EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON. Anyway, that's my little update in case you were wondering. On a positive note I hope everyone has a great week!!!!

Too fast!

I can't believe that Christmas is already over!

I can honestly say that I am really sad...

Usually I feel like the timing was enough and get excited for a new year, but I wasn't ready for the Christmas season to be over.

BUT, I don't have a choice but to move on...haha.

For Christmas I told Jeff I wanted a thoughtful, planned out date night and that's exactly what I got (and so much more.) He planned a really sweet "walk down memory lane" date night revisiting some of our favorite dates in our history. I love this sweet husband of mine and I love our love story.

How did I get so lucky?

 Date night selfie!

After our date night we headed home where I heard an excited knock on the door to find my Aunt jumping around saying, "We're going to Justin Bieber, we're going to Justin Bieber..." 

YAYAYAYAYAY!!! Her Hot Mess Fitness group all pitched in and bought her two Justin Bieber concert tickets as a thank you gift for another great session of Hot Mess! And my nice Aunt decided to take me with her, YAYAYAYAYAY! I love the special relationship we share, she is my aunt, sister, best friend, coach, boss, neighbor, visiting teaching companion, dance teacher, example, and role model. How many other people can say that about their Aunt??? 

I am seriously so blessed and often catch myself asking, "How did I get so lucky? Like seriously, I feel like I'm living a dream with so many amazing people and opportunities."

Anyway, we are going to JUSTIN BIEBER on March 25th in Vegas!!!

 Last Wednesday we woke up to the most fog I've seen in a while, and it lasted for a good part of the day. Fog of course means pictures. Thanks Syd for being my fog model hahaha. I'm so proud of her and the good girl that she is! I'm constantly impressed with how she handles hard times in high school and friendships and how she never waivers in what she knows is right. I love you Syd!

 Christmas Eve we went to Jeff's family annual Christmas Eve party and it was great. This year they did it a little differently, they decided to have a bonfire up on Dixie rock!

 We roasted hot dogs, had smores, looked at the full moon, talked, and listened to beautiful music from my love.

 I captured this photo through the telescope with my camera! It's fun to think about how amazing God's creations are, looking at this moon I can't help but think about space and time and the moon's history. (Look at all those cool spots.)

 After the party we headed to my parent's house for our Christmas Eve traditions. To start it all off we all hung out in the hot tub! It was so nice and relaxing!

 Then we did Christmas pajamas! My mom did something new for pajamas this year, she got us nighty shirt/dresses and I LOVE IT!

 After pajamas we sat and talked, read the Christmas story, then sang along with Jeff to some Christmas songs!

 Then we woke up EARLY and opened presents! These were stocking stuffers for the guys!

My thoughtful parents got me gardening gear so I can work in style with all the tools I need!

 Then we rand over to the Hauck's to do Christmas with them and talk with sweet Amy!

 Amy was so cute and it was just really great to see her adorable face!

 Emmeline Elsa got the green Elsa dress from the short birthday clip and was SO excited, if you couldn't tell haha.

She kept calling me her Anna and I was completely fine with that. "Come on my Anna..." she is the cutest.

 Then we ran over to my parent's house to talk to Trevor!!! It was so good to see his cute face, he was even more hilarious than I remember hahaha.

I couldn't get over how cute he is, it was so good to hear his voice and see his cute face! 

I love skype days with our sweet missionaries!!!

 After skyping we headed to our family Christmas day party where we ate lots of good food! We were missing Grandma, Aunty Irene's family, Uncle Adam's family, and Aunty Tia's family.

 It was freezing cold and the clouds were heavy with snow. Although it melted before it even hit the ground, it was still beautiful!

 My uncles and cousins got these cool hover board, segway thingys and we all took turns learning to ride it. However, I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SEE MY MOM RIDING IT!!! So, of course I had to take a picture. She was actually riding it without holding on to them for a while too. Impressive!

 Then we had some fun with the camera and the sunset. This one is a work of art titled, "Down Wind Delight" hahaha. We were laughing forever about this picture hahaha.

Then I took a turn and we jumped around!

We celebrated this wonderful lady's 50th birthday Sunday and it was a special evening. Jeff had the idea of putting together a video for his mom and so he gathered all the videos from other people then I helped him put it together and I think she loved it!

She is a wonderful lady that has truly blessed so many lives and I am grateful for her and the great example she is to me. I'm especially grateful she raised such a wonderful son that treats me like a queen!

I love you Mom!

It was a wonderful Christmas season and it went way too fast! I guess that's why I don't want it to end. However, I am looking to the future and excited for what 2016 will bring!!!!

Make it the best one yet!

I can't even believe that it's Christmas week already!!!

Here's what's been going on around here, plus some things I've forgotten over the last couple weeks.

 We set up a tripod and took some family pictures to capture the stage of life we are in!

 Don't worry, we didn't forget our Trevor!!! BUT, he didn't get the outfit memo!

 I love this man, he is so handsome and sweet and funny and crazy and energetic and amazing and thoughtful, the list goes on and on!

 These were the adorable ornaments my mom got us this year, I love our ornament tradition! My favorite part is looking at the tree and reminiscing on all the fun memories made throughout the years.  The guitar was for Jeff (obviously) and the chandelier was for me (my decorating and artsy obsession.)

 Then Cec and I had this ornament made for my mom because she is a true, die hard, amazing "Missionary Mom" and I wanted her to remember this stage of life! 

She had one made of Trevor last year so I had the same lady make one of her to match!

 Last Monday night was a night of banquets, Jeff's football banquet (pictured above).

 And Kalamity and Kaos's end of year banquet! This year I got the 200% award (that's two years in a row) and I feel so honored to have gotten that award. I love Kalamity and Kaos and I truly believe in everything they do and stand for!

 Here's my fam bam!

 I found this picture in my phone from our Saturday practice before the show and I had to share this gem. I am so blessed to be able to have a close friendship and relationship with my two Aunts and to be able to learn and dance along side them. They are amazing women and I love their vibrant examples!

 This last week I went and made Christmas goody plates with my mom! I love being able to hang out with her on a weekly basis and just chill and talk like friends. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful mom that is always wanting to do stuff with me!

 Sunday night Cec asked if she could try a hairstyle on me and I eagerly obliged! Here are some fingerwave curls with a fancy S swirl detail. She is amazing at what she does and I am so proud of her. If you want to stay tuned into all the fancy stuff she is doing with hair follow her on Instagram @hairschoolwithcec

My grandparents asked my mom, Cec, and I to buy presents for some of their close friends that just suffered a tragedy and to drop them off Christmas Eve. I had TOO MUCH fun shopping for them (I almost bought myself a doll because they were so cute hahaha) and then my mom helped me wrap them all up. I'm excited to play "ding dong ditch" Christmas Eve and sneak to see their reaction. 

I hope everyone is ready for Christmas but most importantly, I hope we all remember the reason for the season! I'm so proud of my little brother and he has helped me to remember the reason for the season all month long. We got this picture from him, some members gave them this mini pink Christmas tree and the treats, he bought the Santa face and hung it on their cupboards, and then him and his companion each hung on of their socks as stockings (hahaha). How cute is he??? 

We sent him a package earlier this month and the mission home accidentally sent it to the other Elder T. Horlacher in the mission, so he still hasn't gotten it. We are bummed, but extremely grateful they have some kind of Christmas in their apartment.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! Make it the best one yet!