it's finally here, well kind of

the blessed autumn season is officially upon us, according the calendar at least. unfortunately down here in so cal summer just doesn't want to leave us. there is another heat wave headed our way this weekend and then, hopefully, we will have cooler weather. fingers crossed friends, fingers crossed!

even though the days are still warm, the nights are cooling off. i have lit my leaves candle and put out my few little decorations. next week there is rain in the forecast. rain people. rain! we are giddy about it over here in the rex household. i am already planning my outfit. will it be silly if i wear my boots, a flannel shirt, a scarf, gloves and a beanie? probably. but i might just do it anyways!

 

 

i think i need to improve my multi-tasking skills

the other night we had a little visitor. a very cute one at that. after work we watched little brylee sue for a couple hours. i attempted to make dinner and watch a fully mobile little one year old. tyler was there to help, but brylee is a curious one who loves to see what auntie is up to. i finished dinner and only burnt the garlic bread. score.

i definitely have more respect for my sister and all moms out there who take care of their kiddos while they try to get things done. not an easy task.

so at least i've had a teeny tiny bit of practice with making sure a child survives whilst i cook and chase after her making sure she doesn't jump off the couch. i was a little worried and frazzled while i tried to eat my dinner, watch her and try to get her to eat something besides my iphone. she didn't really want the apple sauce i dished out for her, i guess my plate of ravioli was far more appealing. i didn't mind sharing though. i can't really resist her cuteness. she knows i'll give her what she wants.

we don't really have any toys around these parts, but apparently all this little one needs to be happy is a tv remote, a cell phone and my lens cap. see how she's trying to snag tyler's cell phone out of his pocket as he naps? a sneaky little munchkin she is.

man! i love this girl to the moon and back.

let's sail away

a while ago tyler and his dad acquired a sail boat. it was free, but it needed a lot of work. luckily a family friend saw the love judd and tyler had for sailing and gifted tyler's dad a newer boat. with the older boat sold, this one made it's way into the family. what a treat. not much work was needed to get it up and running either, which was nice - - - for the boys, i mean i wouldn't have been much help anyway. ;)

while cousin's spencer and ashley were in town with cute little warren we just had to take the boat out. it was a must. the weather was lovely. the company was top notch and the view was just impeccable. what a blessing it is to live in such a gorgeous part of the world. the ocean really is a gift. a beautiful, relaxing and happy day it was. the boys were in heaven.

p.s. how sexy is my sailor of a husband??? love that cutie!

sometimes it's not what i want, but what i need

 

i saw this quote on a friends blog years ago. i have a feeling i may have shared it here before. but i feel like every so often life changes in ways i didn't see coming, and this quote makes it's way into my thoughts again. 

things have been different around the rex home lately. change has occurred, there will be change coming, but we don't know when. the future is sure, yet unsure.

i have always been one to plan. tyler sometimes says i need to be more easy going. i'm working on it. at least i know that i need to be more flexible. that's a plus, right?

up until now my life was pretty much planned out for me. it was all laid out for me from the day i was born. learn, grow, get to preschool. go to grades k-6, head over to middle school, experience that not so blessed american rite of passage that we call high school, graduate high school (on my 18th birthday in fact), go to college (i felt completely unprepared), pick a major, decide on sociology, meet the love of your life, get married, transfer to a university, pick a minor, decide on health science, graduate (with honors).

so a few years back, before i finished school, as a naive teenager i would have thought, well after college you're husband will find a job that will pay well, you'll quit your job and have babies, buy a house with a white picket fence & live happily, simply and easily. not. that. easy. 

in case you weren't aware, the economic situation is pretty cruddy right now. finding a good paying job with good benefits? nearly impossible. finding a good paying job that will allow your family to live on one income? nearly impossible. especially with the cost of living in southern california. i could complain. i could be upset that i sit in my office day after day hoping that someone sees the goodness in tyler that i see. waiting for the right opportunity to come along. the right job. in the right place. the right pay. the right benefits. 

even though this next part of life isn't all planned out, i am excited. this is not what i expected. i find it so very strange that i am not worried sick about what is going to happen, when will tyler find the job, where will we live, how much money do we need, when when when can we start a family?

even though i don't have everything all figured out. no plans. no idea what's going to happen. i still know that something is going to happen. tyler will find the right job. we will have a family. we will be able to live happily together. and through all this we are growing stronger in our faith in Heavenly Father and our faith in each other.

sometimes you just need a little (or a lot) of change to shake your world and make you realize that you do have the faith necessary to overcome things. maybe it's not exactly what i wanted, but i know it's what we needed. the future is bright.

i will always remember

i will always remember the fear of that day. i will never forget how terrible it was. i was young and on the other side of the country, but i was scared. i was sad. this short video touched my heart. i hope you'll watch it and see that hope & peace can come even when the worst has happened.

the sun sets

this is what the sunset looked like last night. incredible, right?

if you knew me well you would know that i don't like change very much. i know it's inevitable, but i still tend to run from it. change means that i may have to be a little uncomfortable. i might have to adjust. i might miss what used to be. but, i also crave change. i want it. i need it. for the goodness of my soul. for the progress of my life. at church yesterday i heard something simple yet very profound. 

the Lord does not expect perfection, 

but he does expect progress

i felt like the meeting yesterday was perfectly tailored to what my heart needed. i sat in the chapel as the meeting went on and tried to hold back the tears. my heart was full. i knew that although life wasn't getting any easier, the Lord is always there. always by my side. i know if you're not changing you're not progressing. progress is what we need. it's good for us. so even though the future looks bright, it also looks like there will be change. change that is a little scary. and for some odd reason i feel okay about it. surprisingly, i don't feel anxious or worried. perhaps it's because the change is necessary and will help mr. rex and i grow closer. in my heart i know that we are getting closer to what is right for us. the sun will set on a phase of life, then it is time to move on to the dawn of a new day. a new phase.

do you ever feel like you took a wrong turn? or think that somewhere you must have missed something? in my experience that "wrong turn" turns out to be the path way that leads us to what is right and good. maybe it took a little longer to get to where you needed to be, but once you've arrived you never doubt that where you are is the right place. i guess my point is, we all stumble. we all change. we all make choices. as long as we are doing our best we will end up where we need to be. not necessarily according to our timeline, but according to His. i'm glad the spirit tugged at my heart yesterday and helped me remember that.

the steelwells

if you're into really good music and a really good time, you should go see the steelwells. we love the steelwells for a multitude of reasons, but first and foremost it's because they're family. well, some of them are. the bassist, robbie is my cousin and tyler's life-long friend and the lead singer, joey is tyler's cousin. joey is also the super cool motor cycle rider in the video. the other band mates are also very cool and super sweet.

go see a show, maybe even two. i promise you wont be disappointed.

my life in instagram

 

lately life has been very full. lots of time with family and friends. busy as usual with work, but good. things aren't perfect, but we are looking forward to the future with faith. luckily we have had a lot of great things and great people to aid us in our journey to happiness. we love that our lives are so rich with love from friends and family.

some highlights from life lately:  

• seeing my cousins prepare to leave on 2 year missions for our church. i am so proud of those two guys. i will miss them, but i am so so so excited for them.
• meeting sweet little braden grochmal. we are so happy when our friends have babies and so grateful that mama and baby are healthy. we just love those grochmals.
• we got to see the steelwells play a show in the big city. we haven't been able to see them play in so long and it felt so good to stay up late in a club in LA. it makes us feel young & hip.
• seeing colton and carly chow on their ice cream cones and then kiss on command. we love bbq's with friends with kids. always entertaining.
• going to church and watching all of the kiddos in sunday school as i sit beside tyler. we pretty much giggled the entire time. i swear we saw at least 5 kids pick their nose and then proceed to stick the nose picking finger into their mouth. fantastic source of entertainment! just good clean fun.
• watching tyler and his cousin spencer play legos. the legos were a gift for spencer's 4 month old son. but who wants to wait 2 years for warren to catch on? you bet your boots those twenty something year olds busted that box right open and got to work. 
• redecorating. love it when the apartment feels so fresh and lovely. read more about it here. 
• sleeping in til 10:30 am on labor day. oh what a sweet and happy day it was.