love

Like most women I think babies are cute & I oooh and ahhh at them when they are especially adorable. I mean as long as they aren't barfing on me or having a blow out diaper situation they tend to cause my uterus to ache a bit. Sometimes I think, "No way Amy, that will be waaaaaaay too crazy... just wait a bit longer, until you think you're really ready to give up your entire life." and then I snuggle with a sweet baby and I think, "Hey, you could do this. Maybe you could do it and be great at it. Just maybe."

I think about becoming a mother a lot. I think it's mostly because there are SO many things that go into the decision of becoming a parent and I am the type of person that wants to know as much as possible about what I'm getting myself into. Not that I expect to be able to predict all possible situations, but I do want to be as prepared as possible. And mostly, I feel that at some point I should be mentally ready for the idea of dedicating my entire life, body & home to my child.

For now I'm really enjoying the fact that Tyler and I can pretty much do whatever we want whenever we want, a luxury I'm sure I'll miss when children enter the picture. And although the aching in my uterus is usually caused by spending time with my pregnant friends & family or their children, I also really like being able to spend time with said friends and family without having to worry about a baby. Then that last thought makes me feel like a bad person... like having a baby is torture or something?

Yes, I know I really know nothing about being a parent, but watching people I know go through parenthood helps me get a glimpse of the way life could be. It seems to me that the good simply continues to weigh out the bad. Plus, I really don't think many things are better than snuggling with my sweet niece and she alone has made my uterus ache more than any other child has. I love her SO much I can't even imagine how much I will love my own little pumpkin someday.

The way her hand is holding my arm just melts my heart. Seriously. I love her.


*picture of me and my niece Brylee at our cousin Justin's mission farewell lunch

finally!!!

After a few days of listening to a nice little shuffle on Pandora... one of the stations being Christmas of course, I mean come on, this is me we're talking about here... "Last Christmas" by Taylor Swift finally came on. Let's just say I bumped my measly little computer speakers for a couple minutes of bliss during my work day.

I want to go Christmas tree shopping.

stache bash

On Saturday Tyler and I attended a 30th Birthday Stache Bash for a friend from our ward. Tyler has known about this party for months, hence the reason for him growing a beard and then rocking this horrendously cool stache for a few days. Bad news is... I really miss his beard, good news is... he won best overall mustache at the party.

pumpkins, leaves and candles

Well it looks like fall over here my friends. I can't really explain just how happy the fall makes me. I am SO excited for the cold weather and for the holidays that follow this blessed season. Although this week brought me a lovely cold I am finally feeling better & got the urge to decorate and it just makes me happy. Hopefully it gets colder soon so I can bust out my scarfs, beanies and coats.

Happy Autumn to all of you!

i'm not so sure that this is going to work

Yesterday after work I pitched an idea to Tyler. I decided we should try to not eat out for an entire week. 7. whole. days. Eating out is bad for our wallets as well as our waistlines so we thought we would give it a try and see how we handle it.

This is going to be rough. We really enjoy eating out, especially on the weekends after we've worked hard all week long. And as the head chef of the household I'm trying to keep the meals simple so I don't become overwhelmed with the task of cooking everyday. For 7 days!

Wish us luck. We started last night and we will finish monday night and probably celebrate our accomplishment by eating out that evening.

By the way, just doing this post made me seriously hungry & now I really want Yogurtland.

Great!

loving this

I'm a little grumpy as I sit here at my desk wishing it was quitin' time already.

But don't you worry about me, I am getting excited as I look out my window and see gray skies and no sunshine. Sounds depressing to some, but to me it means that fall is coming and this, for me, is very exciting.

This means I can start wearing my cardigans again (without sweating like a beast). I can also wear my boots, tights and socks again. Ahhh... I LOVE the fall. I cannot wait for trader joe's apple cider, candy corn and pumpkins.

If you're wondering, I will definitely be putting out my fall decor by September 23rd (the day Autumn begins)... but let's be real here, it will most likely happen before then.

Yesterday as I was walking to my car after dinner I got this surge of excitement and I thought "Why am I excited right now?" and then it hit me... I was snuggling into my sweater as the cool breeze hit me. Then I realized... the cold weather means the holidays are coming.



I. can't. wait.

you asked so i'll tell you

There have been a few people who are still inquiring about my crazy post from a while back. So for those of you who are still wondering what this crazy act was I will tell you.

I finally bought myself a professional level camera. Since my purchase I have participated in a workshop, done a couple shoots and gotten to know this little baby. I've still got a lot of learning to do, but I'm feeling more confident as I continue to learn more about my camera & myself as a photographer. I am SO very excited about getting another step closer to building my photography business. Now lets just hope Tyler lands a sweet job when he graduates in December so I can work less & photograph more!

malibu

We had ourselves a little sleep over at the Olsen's a few weeks back. Friday night we hit up Spitz for dinner, went to LA Live & saw Crazy Stupid Love (we also saw Bam while we were walking around... he is a VERY little man, in case you were wondering) and then Saturday morning we hiked in Malibu. It was a glorious day.

the fourth

This year for the fourth of July we hit up the Goodwin's backyard bbq... basically the largest most beautiful home I have ever been to. They put on a great party.

After that we headed to the park for fireworks.

Surprise

You may remember my brother from when I posted about his broken leg about 6 months ago. About a week before he turned 16 he broke both the bones in his leg, had surgery and was on crutches for what seemed like a VERY long time. SO, since we didn't really get to throw him a party on his birthday my mom pulled one together (once he got off his crutches) and surprised him. Here are just a few of the great photos from that party. It was really fun... we even played pin the lips on jack (notice the life size digital print of my brother in a few of the pics), that's the benefit of working for a signage/graphics company.

Anyway, I love my brother and I'm really glad he finally got to have a sweet 16.

birthday

I keep forgetting that I forgot to blog my birthday events. And since this blog is basically my journal I feel that I should finally put this 24th birthday on the record.

On my actual birthday, in lieu of Tyler buying me a gift, I got permission to get a massage & go shopping. That night Tyler brought me red roses and a card & took me out to dinner at Houstons. We ended the night with a redbox and snuggle sesh. It was an amazing day.

This was most of my birthday loot... I totally scored this year.











That weekend we decided to ride our bikes to the beach, just the two of us. It was really fun to spend that time together enjoying the beautiful weather and hanging out at the beach.

Expressions of Love

I came across this on a blog I follow and thought I should share it with you.

Whenever I read that talk or hear Elder Scott talk about his wife it gets me excited for my future with Tyler. I already cannot imagine life without him by my side and we have only been married for a few years. I am excited to see how much our love will grow as time goes on.

Hopefully we can all show our spouses a little bit more love today and everyday.

our weekend with amanda

We had a visitor last weekend. Here's what we did.

Thursday night I picked up my dear friend Amanda Carter from the airport for her weekend visit. We headed straight for In-n-Out per her request. Then we went to visit Kimmy and Brylee. Amanda gave her some super cute outfits... she's gonna have to grow into the hat.

Friday Tyler had to work, but for Amanda and I it was off to the magic kingdom. Then it was off to bj's for dinner with the Pitts family.

Saturday was an amazing day. One of the best days in a long time. I woke up, then tyler and I went back to bed for an hour and snuggled, I went on a 6 mile jog, made a killer smoothie for breakfast, we all ate together at in-n-out for lunch and then Amanda and I hit the mall. We had plenty of time to browse (no boys hurrying us along), we got a bunch of cute stuff without breaking the bank and Amanda even got a haircut. We came back to get ready for our dinner reservations at houston's. It was fantastic as expected. It was SUCH a wonderful day, one of those that isn't really planned at all yet somehow it all ends up working out perfectly... I love it when that happens.

Sunday we went to church, had cinnamon rolls with our primary kids and had a nice crock pot dinner before playing games with the Pitts family.

Amanda and I have been friends for over 20 years now. Her family lived across the street from me until they moved to Kansas after we graduated 8th grade. Most people would have lost contact with so much distance between them and time passing, but not us. We have one of those special bonds where no matter how much time has passed in between phone conversations or visits it's just like we never left each other. She came to our wedding. She graduated college and got a big job in Chicago and lives on her own in the city. A lot of things have changed. It seems like just yesterday we were playing barbies & dancing to Thriller in her living room. I cannot really express how happy it makes me that she and I are still friends. I cannot imagine life without Amanda and her family. She has taught me so much over the years and I am so grateful for our friendship. I can't wait to see what the next 20 years will bring for the two of us.

We love you Amanda. We owe you a visit and we can't wait to come to the windy city sometime soon!

the last first

Guess who?



Ya, that's my husband. He is the most adorable kid I have ever seen. And today is a very momentous day in his life.



Today, Tyler is all grown up. He is starting his last first day of his bachelor's degree. I am SO proud of him. It has been a long, difficult, frustrating, crazy road, but he has stuck with it and I couldn't be happier for him.

Tyler,

I love you more than you will ever know. You are such an amazing person and I am lucky to have you in my life. I am so proud of you for finishing your degree even when it would have been much easier to give up. You have heart. You are a strong man and I am so blessed to be with you everyday. I am so excited for our future together. I know you will continue to be a great provider for our future family. And I can't wait to see what the future will bring for our little twosome.

Love,
Your Wifey

they tri

This year Tyler and Devin decided to compete in the Camp Pendleton Triathlon once again. The weather was great. Baby Brekyn behaved. We got to see a lot of friends who competed also. And we got to hang out with the Dicksons which is always a blast.





















Good job boys! I think I speak for Shira as well when I say we are two lucky ladies! We're so proud of you two for all your manly ventures.