HAPPY

I wish that every day were like yesterday.

At first I couldn't tell you why it was so great - I was just HAPPY.

Its not like it was an easy day, it was actually a harder day.  Nothing magnificent happened. So I didn't know why it was so great.  But when I went to bed I realized what had made it such a good day.  If I somehow knew when my last day on this earth was, 

I'd want it to be like yesterday. 

It was one of those days when I fell asleep even more in love with my hubby than when I woke up that morning.  Not because he brought me flowers, or whispered sweet nothings in my ear.

I just felt grateful for him. Grateful for all the little things he does each day that make my life a little easier.  Grateful for someone to talk to. Grateful for someone to laugh with.  Grateful for the chance we had to make dinner together, and cuddle on the couch together.  Grateful for someone to start a family with.

grateful for someone to spend 
ETERNITY with

When you count your blessings, you realize how much you have. Then the sun shines a little brighter, the sky looks a little bluer, and anything is possible. My day was so great because subconsciously I chose to count my blessings. And it made me HAPPY. Sometimes its hard to see all the blessings we have, 

but we each have many things to be grateful for. 

And when we choose to look for those blessings we will be 

{HAPPY}

Patience

I can't explain how hard it is to have a person growing inside you, and not know what they look like and who they are and will become.  I'm constantly wondering if Madeline is going to look more like Daddy?

Or Mommy?

Or what a perfect blend of those two is.  I kind of secretly hope she has a little tuft of dark hair like her daddy, 

at least when she's born, so she doesn't have to be bald 

until she's one and a half like me. 

I want to know what kind of a person she'll be.  I know I'll love her no matter what. But is she going to be thoughtful and shy, gabby and sassy, or just delightful and charming?

I can't wait to be her mom, and watch her grow and see who she becomes. But at the same time I want to know right now! {I'm impatient I know} I guess I'll just have to wait and let her surprise me a little bit every day.  Only 60 days til her due date! 

{I'm still hoping she comes a week early, 

but its probably not going to happen}

So here's to patience - or trying to be patient.  It is definitely a lesson I'll never be done learning.

kluvyoubye

Its {one of the} most wonderful times of the year!

It's FALL!!!

{officially last Friday... but its okay}

And of course now Utah decided to throw some 80 degree weather at us - come on!

I'm so ready for beautiful crunching leaves beneath my feet

For apple cider in the cool, crisp air

I want to put on a ridiculous costume

And eat a pumpkin spice donuts from up on Green Bluff

 Carve a pumpkin

Have a baby {not your typical fall activity, but its on the list this year}

Celebrate Thanksgiving

Have even more pies than last year

Kiss my husband in the first snow fall

Set up Christmas Decorations

See the lights at Temple Square

And be home {Spokane} in time for Christmas

Last night Jeremy and I made cookies and listened to Christmas music.  How is it that Christmas is so magical and so wonderful? I can't wait to celebrate it with our little family this year! Less than three months til December 25th!

But for now lets just enjoy Fall - 

{One of the} most wonderful times of the year!

Imperfection

Recently I was called as my ward's Choir Director.  At first I couldn't help smiling I was so excited! I've grown up singing in choirs, and I always thought that it would be a fun experience, but now that I'm here, I have been really humbled.  I didn't realize how many cues, and different components were involved as a choir director.  There are some really talented people in my ward, people who are way more qualified than me... and its intimidating! But last night President Uchtdorf reminded me in the General Relief Society Broadcast that I'm not perfect, and Heavenly Father knows I'm not perfect. 

I've never thought of myself as a perfectionist, but its hard to be a leader at something new you've never done before. I don't know, I guess I'm just kind of freaking out haha but it feels good to know that Heavenly Father wants me to be here, and he wants me to learn from this calling, and He'll be there to strengthen me and help me invite the Spirit to our Sacrament meetings once a month.

I guess I'm not accepting Imperfection as much as I am accepting that I'm not going to be perfect in this life. I can only do my best and rely on my Savior to do the rest. 

Its still hard... but I'm trying to roll with the punches and do my best!

Happy Birthday Peter

Today is my little brother's 16th birthday - only he's not so little anymore.

Peter is a smart, giving, genuine, talented, handsome, amazing kid!

He gets straight A's {in all of his classes - some of which are pretty advanced}, plays the piano and drums {exceptionally well}, and just excels in everything he picks up!

{The man is a stud}

Is 16 a man? Guess it depends on the kid huh

And just for fun here are some pictures of my brother Peetah!

 Letting me practice cutting hair - nobody else would...

Outside the MTC 

The veil stayed on him better than me..... 

Spikey hair ha 

 woah!

Wish I had some cute pictures of when he was little and he the cutest chubbiest little cheeks! 

But I don't... so you get that!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETER!!!!!!!!!!

Love, Sarah

You have to check this out!

Recently I've gotten into finding/stalking/druling over random photography sites I've found around the internet. There are some really talented people out there!

One that really caught my eye was an amazing woman, Andee, at Crave Photography.

She just did a shoot capturing the magical sensation of the woods with three beautiful girls.  One of the things that really makes Andee stand out is her very impressive editing skills you can see some before and afters here or just enjoy her beautiful Into the Woods shoot here. Both are definitely worth your time, especially if you are an aspiring photographer like moi. 

{I might have been to her sight like 20 times in the past 24hrs haha}

{Enjoy}

Bran Muffins that'll make your life easier

Let's be real, sometimes its hard to get a good breakfast every morning when you're running out the door.

Its hard to make yourself something good that's not just cold cereal, you know? 

Well I have a solution for you!

Introducing 6 Week Bran Muffins

I came across a recipe that makes a lot of muffins and that you can keep in your fridge for up to 6 weeks!

That way you can just cook them while your in the shower, or you can microwave cook them - still working out the kinks on the last one, but so far so good not too bad. 

Okay here's what you'll need:

2 C boiling water

4 C Kellogg's All-Bran Cereal

1 C plus 2 Tbsp. shortening

2 C sugar

5 C Flour

2 C 100% Bran Flakes Cereal

1 tsp salt

5 tsp baking soda

1 qt. buttermilk (substitute: add 1 T vinegar to each C whole milk; let sit 5 mins)

4 eggs

Instructions:

Pour boiling water over All-Bran. Cover and let stand. In a separate bowl, cream shortening and sugar; add eggs and buttermilk.  Add Bran Flakes and moistened All-Bran and let stand while you sift flour, salt, and soda. Blend dry ingredients into wet. Fold in raisins if desired. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake at 375* for 15-20 minutes.

-- Recipe compliments of my Aunt Alice Marie. {She's pretty much the bomb.com nbd...}

Microwave instructions: Spray a minimal amount of pam into the bottom of a glass mug. Fill mug with 1/3-1/2 cup batter. Microwave on high for a minute and a half. Pour muffin out onto plate. Enjoy your hot muffin! When we did this the muffin was really fluffy - but Jeremy said it wasn't bad. We'll keep messing around with it and let you know if we come up with something better. 

So there you have it folks! An easy breakfast that you can just grab out of the fridge and cook each morning! I'm thinking I might load up a little muffin tin and let them cook while I'm in the shower. 

OH I also cooked mine with a little brown sugar on top -hehe. I like a little sweet with my healthy, you know? And I love my bran muffins with raspberry jam! It's so good!

{sorry... I always forget to take pictures... so you'll just have to try them out yourself to see!}

BON APPETITE!

Good Morning!

Alright technically its afternoon, but I had a GOOD MORNING, hence the title of this post :)

Plus who doesn't love that wonderful tune from Singin' in the Rain?

{CLASSIC}

Just as a reminder, on Mondays I don't have classes.  I usually sleep in, procrastinate my homework til the last possible second, you get the idea... but this morning I got up at 7:30! Woah! {That's pretty good for me when I don't have to be anywhere} I made some yummy bran muffins and they were ready before Jeremy left for class! Go me! Well actually... I made them because I heard you could microwave some batter in a glass mug for a minute and a half and you have a fresh hot muffin every morning. So we did that. It was fine, but kind of fluffy in a way that you don't want your muffin to be... I baked some after Jeremy left and they were much better :) 

{see next post for recipe}

Then I finished my homework for one of my classes {still have some homework for tomorrow} but I got some done. And I did some dishes and took a shower and got a flu shot! I am good! It's been the most productive morning I've had in a long time, and it feels good :) Only I'm kind of tired... I'll probably take a nap later today... but hey! I'm 7 months pregnant - I deserve it. Right? Right.

kluvyoubye

Do babies need coats?

DON'T CALL CPS! 

I realize this sounds like a really dumb question... but in all honesty I can't think of a single newborn I've ever seen in a coat! Is that weird?  I mean it makes sense that they would... but do you just bundle them up in blankets and hope a hat will suffice? Or do you spend 40 bucks on a little coat that won't fit them through the whole winter? 

I've been thinking about that lately, and I'd LOVE your thoughts and advice. 

Please don't mark me off as an idiot - I seriously want to know!

Thanks guys :)

P.S. isn't the picture just p.r.e.c.i.o.u.s!

kluvyoubye

Awkward/Awesome Thursday

Awkward

- Having the person next to me during school devotional do a double take because it looked like a raquet ball had just been released in my abdomen.... Thank you Madeline...

- 2 ply toilet paper that isn't aligned. Like I just wanted to try and get some toilet paper that was slightly cheaper, and look what they do! you rip and you get a whole top sheet and half of the ply underneath. {Reminds me of The Office episode when Dwight un-ply's the toilet paper, haha}

- Getting a nice kick in the bladder while trying to empty out my bladder. Baby - I can only pee so fast!

- {Apparently I'm on an awkward-bathroom spree... sorry. I'm in there a lot lately} But anyhoo, at the doctor, giving them my usual urine sample in a cup, putting the cup in the little trap door... there's another cup in there. What the heck? And they're in like little drinking cups {seriously would it kill you to get cups with lids and labels?} So then having to explain that my pee is the lighter yellow on the left - her left, not mine. So awkward!

- Going in to brush my teeth last night, noticing my brush sitting on the edge of the counter, thinking it'd be good to move it so it doesn't fall on the floor, but doing nothing about it.  Dropping the toothpaste into the sink and catapulting my brush right into the...

toilet... Don't worry I used a glove to get it out and threw both the glove and the brush away immediately.  We're good.

Awesome

- Oh man now I gotta think of some really good awesomes.... Um the fact that it's finally cooling down! hurray!!! Seriously it hasn't been over 80 lately and we've been having rain :) I love rain!

- The fact that I'll be 30 weeks pregnant on Saturday! I feel like we're almost to the home stretch!

- Writing a pretty decent paper in like an hour! wah-bammm!

- The fact that my awkwards end in '...' and my awesomes end in '!'

- Getting to start my new calling as Ward Choir director on Sunday! eek! I'm excited, but nervous too :/ It's gonna be fun!

Well I in all honesty am now officially running late to class... so I should probably go like blow dry my hair hahaha 

kluvyoubye

Spontaneity

This morning when I woke up I decided I wanted a poppy-seed muffin with lemon glaze oozing over the sides. Sounds good, right? So instead of taking the time to be a responsible part of human society and shower, I made myself some muffins before running off to class.

Unfortunately, they were not only not that good looking, but not that great tasting either. 

Perhaps being in a cooking class is having the opposite affect on my cooking skills than I was hoping for... But that's alright, right?

I believe that spontaneity is good for the soul! It mixes up life a little and helps us appreciate the good days :)

Oh, also - I started a countdown to Madeline's due date!

72 days baby! 72 days....

kluvyoubye

I wanna hold this baby!

I've gotten to the point that I feel our little baby all the time. I feel her kicking, and moving, and I just want to hold her so bad! I want to watch her move and see her little fingers close around my finger. I love her so much and I'm so ready to cradle her in my arms :) 

I keep going into her room and going through all her clothes. Deciding what outfit I'm going to bring to the hospital for her to wear home. I really want to start packing my hospital bag, but Jeremy insists that I wait til at least November.  I suppose that's reasonable... seeing as she's due at the end of November...

But gah the next two and a half months seem like they're gonna take forever! And I want her to go full term, obviously, but I'm just getting antsy to hold her and look at her and meet her and see what she's like! To watch her grow up and put flowers and bows in her hair and just gah I can't wait!!! 

Ok, just wanted to share that with you... and now I'm going to bed, because I'm exhausted... 

kluvyoubye

When it is dark enough...

"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

 {Photo taken by my Dad when we were in the Grand Canyon a few years ago}

Sometimes life gets hard, and when you're having a hard week, its an amazing thing to go to church and find out the entire theme of the day is just what you needed to hear! No joke! The Relief Society lesson, the Sunday School lesson, the talks in Sacrament meeting, and the special words the Bishop randomly decided to share with us all were just what we {husband and I} needed to hear.  

What a testimony builder that Heavenly Father really is there for us.  He knows us, He knows what we need, and He wants to help us. I feel so grateful for all that He has blessed me with. Christ really did suffer for not only our weaknesses and imperfections, but for our pains, our sufferings and the trials we face. He knows what we've going through and when we rely on Him as our Savior, He is there for us. I am so grateful for the Atonement. 

I'm inspired by Emerson's words at the top. They really clicked for me when I heard them yesterday. It means that if the sun is always shining, you don't get to see and appreciate the beautiful stars that are always in our lives, even if they're not always visible to us.  I rediscovered some of those stars that are in my life by being reminded of the love of my Heavenly Father, and His son, Jesus Christ. What a blessing trials are in our life.  They help us to refocus on the things that matter most, and learn the lessons that  we need to for the particular phase of life we're in, right now.

Thank you Heavenly Father for knowing me well enough to choose what's best for me, even if that means a trial I think I can't handle. And thank you for loving me enough to give me these trials, and help me through them, because only through you can I accomplish them. 

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me"

Philipians 4:13 

Dear Madeline, we love you!

Dear Madeline, 

I hope you know how much you are loved.  Your fake aunts and uncles love you, your real aunts and uncles love you, your grandparents love you, but most of all your parents love you :) We love you so much! We love watching you kick, and feeling you move around.  We love your presence in our life, and we have a story to tell you to show you just how much we love you!

Abouta month ago? Maybe just three weeks, we ordered you a cute lil crib to put in your nursery! We've been anxiously awaiting it's arrival {not as anxiously as we're waiting for you though}.  So finally the last possible day arrived for it to get to Walmart so we could go pick it up! And then it was delayed another day... so then today was the day! So after we finished our classes we headed off to Wally-world to get that crib! Of course we missed the part in the email that said we need a confirmation code... And for some stupid reason the irritable lady didn't know how to pull up our names in connection to the order... gah... So thanks to your loving Grandma for logging into my email and getting the code, we finally got it pulled up! She went to the back and got it, turns out the size description on the internet wasn't quite the actual size of it... it didn't fit in our car.  Everyone we knew that might possibly be able to fit it in their car was busy, so we broke down and spent the $22 to buy straps to strap your crib to the roof of our car! And then it started to rain... Luckily it was in a cardboard box, and luckily there was only kind of minimal traffic on University Parkway, so the crib survived! Hurrah! And your daddy set it up so stinkin fast! Wow... he's awesome! Can't wait for you to meet him :) 

{And just to make sure you believe our whole ridiculous charade of a story, we took a picture!}

Long story.... really long... we want you to know we love you! Also, we're watching The Office right now, the episode when Jim and Pam have their baby, and we just can't wait to have you!

Love,  Mommy and Daddy

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Let's play a game!

The name of the game is guess the superhero!

Last night we watched a classic superhero movie - quite fun! I must say

{I'm so glad technology is always improving haha}

Anyhoo... I'm gonna give you a quote from the movie and you get to guess what movie we watched!

"He is 6'4", black hair, blue eyes, doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, and never lies!"

Any guesses?  Is it:

(A) Batman

(B) Superman

(C) The Green Lantern

(D) Spiderman

If you guessed B you are right! {did you cheat and look at the picture...?} Miss Teschmacher gives us this line as she swoons over how unbelievably perfect Superman is.  Does sound pretty good, doesn't he.  BUT, I made my own little observation.  There's a guy I know that's 6'4", has black (dark dark brown if you ask him) hair, blue eyes, doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, and never tells a lie! Any guesses on that?  This one should be easy... I'm married to him :D 

That's right, my hubby is SUPERMAN!!! Seriously guys... he's the best! Only difference between the two, the real superman weighs 225 and Jeremy weighs... less than that ha. I like my men skin and bones not 225 lbs of muscle - pssh... who likes that? 

When I got married I thought I knew everything about Jeremy Wells. ha ha. HA. I know, I know... lol Truth is I knew Jeremy was amazing when we got married, I just didn't know how amazing. He teaches me things everyday that help me to be a better person. He's so patient and giving, and I honestly can say that I don't deserve to have him as my own.  I love that he's the father of my baby and that I can trust him with anything.  Jeremy is without doubt the best thing that has ever happened to me!

and I love him!

Well that's probably enough ragging about my awesome-possum hubby :D

kluvyoubye

Awkward/Awesome Thursday - Animal Style

Awkward

- The picture below reflects very well how I'm feeling these days. I'm six months pregnant.  I look like a hippopotamus surrounded by young, cute, stylish, skinny birds {other college students}.  Lets just say its a good thing I'm already married. I've come to the conclusion that I really should stop wearing gray; it just makes the whole hippo thing a whole lot more real than it should be.

- I had to look up how to spell hippopotamus... no comment...

- Maybe I'm just really immature... but reading about the castration of the mythical god Uranus by his son while his parents were doing it just wasn't really my favorite.  I know, immature.

- Calling and getting mad at my doctors office {verge of tears people} for not getting my records faxed in time only to find out it takes 15 days and I only gave them 3 days notice... oops : /

- Walking into every class panting and sweating, because a mile and a half walk to class is kinda a lot to ask of me at this point; especially when its like 90+ freakin degrees outside! Thanks Utah.

- Feeling like I'm walking so fast and doing so well walking fast to campus, only to be passed by like 5 people right after.  Happy thought gone...

Awesome

- I can't believe I'm saying this, but school.  I've missed it.  And it feels good to have something to do everyday :) 

- Maybe slightly contradictory, but the fact that I don't have classes tomorrow: hurray!

- Seeing/hearing about other super pregnant women who are going to school full-time this semester too!

{you have no idea how good that makes me feel! Now to find one of them and become friends...}

- If I am a hippo, Jeremy is my giraffe. My tall, handsome, sexy giraffe. He has been the most amazing giraffe you can ever imagine.  Drying countless tears, driving his blubbering wife to campus so she doesn't have to walk, cleaning our kitchen even as we speak, and making dinner {for the record, I offered and he said no I didn't have to!}, telling me I can do it, and giving me pep-talk after pep-talk. I guess what I'm saying is, he's just kinda amazing... and I really don't know what I'd do with out him! 

kluvyoubye