bus ride to the county fair

we went to the county fair with our good friends patrick and mary. there is a great deal that we found out about where you park at the bus station, ride for $3 round trip and get a coupon for $2 entry to the fair. so instead of wasting our gas and paying for parking and a $10 entrance fee we opted for the "oc fair express". now i am not proud of this, but this was my first EVER public bus ride. i have taken the metro in dc & trax in salt lake, but never a city bus. i will admit, it was totally awesome. plus we had a/c, great company & we didn't have to fight traffic or find a parking spot. we got dropped off right at the entrance. it's safe to say that we will never be going to the fair any other way!

we had so much fun. we ate fried food. we drank lemonade. we did hick-ish things like watch a demolition derby & gawk at farm animals. mary and i somehow coordinated our outfits... even our toe polish matched! we saw a hypnotist. we ate funnel cakes & ice cream cones. we walked around the photography exhibit. we people watched. we ate even when we weren't hungry. we saw a creative home exhibit. thanks to patrick and mary for inviting us. we had a blast. we might just have to make this a mulroney/rex family tradition!

sometimes

i wish is was here right now.

sometimes i want to sit in the hot tub all. day. long. 

sometimes i want to eat a box of doughnuts all by myself. 

sometimes i get anxious. 

sometimes i drink peppermint hot chocolate in august and pretend it's winter.

sometimes i blast my a/c just so i can snuggle in a blanket.

sometimes the only thing that makes me feel better is snuggling with mr. rex. 

sometimes i want to lose my phone on purpose so i don't have to care about what everyone else is doing. 

sometimes i want to just drive somewhere. anywhere. 

sometimes i make an order of things i really don't need from urban outfitters and get excited for it's arrival.

my life in instagram

here i am at the start of another week. lately life has slowed down just a bit. it feels so refreshing. tyler and i have needed the alone time. just us two. it's hard to not become disconnected when jobs take us in opposite directions most days of the week. i think when we finally get into a normal routine,when the dust settles, we will look back and be grateful. i know i will. i feel like while the last couple months have been a roller coaster, they have made me realize just how precious love is. just how precious tyler is to me. 

time with just us two will only become harder and harder to come by as our family grows & life continues to change. but i am grateful for this time i have had to learn how to juggle. the time i've had to learn to make time for what is really important. as i reflect back on the past few months i can think of a lot of things that didn't go my way, things that i thought would happen, but didn't. but i don't want to think in terms of what might have been, instead i'll think of how we have picked ourselves back up and continued to have faith. faith in God, faith in life, faith in ourselves.

our weekend was nice. the county fair with mary and patrick. the jlo & enrique concert with the dicksons.  church and spending the entire day together. just us. so so so nice. we even fell asleep cuddling on the couch. oh my heart. this is seriously my favorite thing ever. laughing until your stomach hurts and laughing again. sometimes your heart just needs to feel so slap happy that you laugh at laughing. that's just what i needed. 

there is no end all for happiness in life. many times i have thought "i will be happy when ---------". i used to think that marriage was the key to all happiness in life. like it was some magic thing? i thought "once i'm married my life is complete and i'll be blissfully happy". hmmm... wrong! everyday you have to make the choice to be happy. no one or no possession can provide everlasting happiness that never leaves. happiness is a constant pursuit. it is something i will never stop fighting for. there is no perfect destination in life. i've realized that it's the moments along the way & the people who you spend those moments with that truly matter.

cheerfully charmed giveaway

cheerfully charmed is giving away a FREE necklace. head over to casey leigh to enter the giveaway! i can't decide which one i would choose. if i don't win i may just have to buy one for myself. can it be considered an early christmas gift if i order it in august???

12 months that went way too fast

 

just a "few" of my favorite photos of brylee sue

it feels like just yesterday i first saw you move inside your mama's belly. it seems like just yesterday that i was sitting next to your mom & dad in a hospital room playing scrabble and watching friends waiting for you to greet us. that was the second best day of my life so far. the day you came into this world. i remember when i first saw you all covered in muck. a goo covered beauty that would forever change our lives. the instant we saw you we knew you were a beautiful girl inside and out. i remember the moment i looked into your dad's eyes as we stood in awe. in awe of the miracle that you were. in awe that your mom & dad could create a life, a very beautiful precious life. brylee, you are a miracle. the day i saw you was the day i knew that miracles are very real and tangible. i realized that you are a blessed daughter of a Heavenly Father. 

to say that you have changed me doesn't really seem like enough. i'm sure your parents and the rest of your family would say the same thing. you are nothing short of amazing, miraculous, beautiful, and hilarious. you make me smile every time i see that little 4-toothed grin. your hair really makes you who you are, i was thinking that to try to tame that mane would just be criminal. your laugh is the most magnificent sound i have ever heard. i could snuggle you forever and ever. you've got spunk, i think it's what i love most about you. you cry when i leave your house... i kind of really love that. i love that you like me and that you like to play with your auntie. you made my sister a mama. you bring her so much joy. 

growing up i had wonderful aunts in my life who helped raise me. they were like my second moms. i felt safe when they were around. i felt loved. i still feel loved by them. i know that they would do anything for me. when i got married i became an aunt to a slew of amazing kiddos. i love them more than i ever dreamed i would. but there is something different about helping your sister after her first miscarriage, seeing her recover from that fear and try again. something about watching your sister announce her pregnancy & hear that the heartbeat was strong. there's something about watching her and her husband open an envelope to find out that they're having a little baby girl. watching the sister that guided you through life experience motherhood. it is a special thing. something very near and dear to my heart.

a year ago i realized just how it feels to have your heart love more than you thought it could. how it feels to love another as your own. i would do anything for that sweet little girl. that love is so real and so powerful. i can't even imagine how i will feel when i hold my own baby in my arms. i think my heart will burst right out of my chest. 

happy 1st birthday brylee girl. i love you to pieces and i can't wait to see what you do with this life you've been given. i am so happy that i get to watch you learn and grow.

it's the little things

with the constant rush of life it is so easy to get caught up in things that don't matter very much. for me it usually takes something simple to bring me back to what matters most. the other night while doing some research for an upcoming photo session i walked through the park by myself. i came upon this spot and decided i needed to sit for a moment. it was just what i needed. i needed to sit and just be alone. be nearer to some nature and beauty. be nearer to my self.

life is so busy lately and quality time with tyler has become a rarity. for family night we enjoyed a simple dinner at in n out. we ate our hamburgers while catching up with one another. listening to each other. talking about the future. talking about life. expressing our concerns, hopes and excitement. this is just what i needed. time with tyler. time with my best friend. time with the one person who gets me better than the rest. time with a man that continues to surprise me and impress me. i didn't want to leave. i didn't want that lovely moment to end. in that moment i wished i could make time stand still. make that simple conversation last forever.

leonardo da vinci said that simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication. i whole heartedly agree. i feel so much happier when i simplify my life. i feel so much happier when i get to spend time doing things that matter. doing things that make me happy. doing things for me, not for someone else. i am blessed to belong to a church that encourages me to be a better woman and teaches me that i need to pay attention to the things that matter most.