Mama J

This weekend was SO needed! My mommy came to town! Remember, she lives in Saudi Arabia so getting her to Logan UT is no easy task! I just took her back down to Salt Lake City and I already feel like I need my mommy! She is one special lady :) We got to show off our house to her, we went to the temple, I took her shopping, and she did secret little chores around my house to help with the move. It was also 80 degrees out this weekend  so it was beautiful here. I got a baddddd cold so I hope she doesnt get that and take it back to Larua's cute new baby! Here are some pics of our new home that we LOVE!

April Showers Bring: wonderful things we hope!

It's here again...Spring is on it's way (kinda, remember I'm in Logan), school is almost done, and big decisions need to be made at some point, but you don't know when because nobody knows yet. Some big changes coming our way are
1) moving! I finally convinced the hubby to move outof good ol' Aggie Village. This apartment has been great for our first 3 years of marriage, but it's time to move on
2) a furry new friend! we are expanding the family to 3! once we move we are going to adopt a puppy from the Cache Humane Society :) we're super excited!
3) jobs and such! Paul will get a job after this semester and I don't really know what's going on with either of mine yet so we are playing the oh so fun WAITING GAME! ***note sarcasm***
So as we pray and wish the best for many of our friends in the same waiting game situation, cross your fingers for us as well. For the next month we have to get ready to move, find a pet friendly apartment, pay a higher rent, find Paul and job, and figure out my job status while I work full time until 7pm and Paul has his Art displayed in SLC and such. SO whelmed, SO excited :D

A Good Read

Ok...so I just read a book that I finished in one day and cried almost the whole time! Nerdy I know but wow. Delivering Hope. It's an LDS author who talks about hope and the Savior through two women's very VERY difficult times. I would recommend this to EVERY woman. Even if you've never dealt with infertility or unplanned pregnancy it's important to see how unintentionally cruel people can be.I can't tell you how many times people have tried to say something helpful only to sound ignorant or hurtful. I only stumbled upon it because a 1st grade teacher at my school edited it and told me I HAD to read it. It was like Holt read my mind as she wrote it. It's nice to know you're not alone. Never ever alone.

Oldy Moldy

Wanna know a secret? I'm getting OLD! I just turned 24 on Thursday. YIKES! I have all the symptoms of getting old: aching knees that can tell the weather, loss of memory, back pain. The good news is my best friend and husband makes getting old worth while :) He took me shopping, pulled the mattress out and watched movies, and helped me pick out our new bed! He took me out for Mexican food and made my my favorite milkshake. We also just played in a volleyball tournament together with my bro-in law and had so much fun! We took 4th place and beat out a lot of really good teams. So cool that I can do that with my family! Here are some of my new goodies ...

A One Word Year

So instead of making a million wonderful and short lasting resolutions (like I always do), I decided have just one and to make it one word so it's simple. Simplifying our lives is not only counsel from our Prophet but what is going to save my sanity. This year's word is FAITH. Simple but so incredibly deep at times. I need more if this, I need to use more of this, and I need to help others use it too. Most resolutions I would ask for luck, but Faith is not lucky. It's work, trust, patience, and giving your heart completely over to the Lord. So wish me Faith!

Sand Between My Toes

I am long overdue to post about Christmas, our Anniversary, and the beach! The pictures finally came and I have been grinning going through all of these :) WARNING there will be lots of pics!
So we flew out to North Carolina and got to see my whole family (including parents and sister from Saudi Arabia). Even Laura and her family could make it out! We stayed at a 3 story beach house with fireplaces, wood floors, the beach front in our backyard, hot tubs, and windows everywhere! It was breathtaking! We played lots of volleyball, tennis, card games, and found out UNO can cause trouble. My sisters and I stayed up until 6am one night talking, giggling, and YES, almost peeing our pants. We got to do something that we had not done since I was 5. We acted out the Natvity! We also sang Christmas charols on the beach. It was so breathtaking and special I never forget the stars as we sang.
There are tons of dolphins in the winter, we even witnessed some jumping around in the waves! We went to the aquarium, out for seafood, made glitter candles, and ate so much food we probably put on the Johnston 15 haha! My husband and I celebrated our 3 year Anniversary too! My family sang to us, we took pictures, and my Mother took us out to Ben & Jerrys. The last night we were there we all ordered pizza back in Raleigh and played games. I'm surprised we were not asked to leave the lobby as we were laughing so hard the entire night. I already miss waking up to the sound of waves crashing, and Paul and I cannot wait to be with family again. What a way to end and start a year!

Turkeys in Disguise and Blingin Candles

Yes! My favorite time of year is here! I love all the Holidays, music, and decorations. Paul and I just spent Thanksgiving together. We made our first roast and 3 pies, it was DELICIOUS. We got to talk to our families, put up  our Christmas tree, and Paul even went Black Friday shopping at 2 am by himself haha! We cannot wait for Christmas! We are going to NC to a beach house for a week with my family...excited is an understatement!
In art, my students are learning about 3-D shapes. The 3,4, and 5th graders made planets and shaded with chalk to create the 3-D effect. I thought they turned out neat! For Thanksgiving I wanted to try Turkeys in Disguise. They eached traced and cut out the naked body and then got to disguise it as anything they wanted so it wouldn't get eaten for Thanksgiving. My favorites? the pig, professor Lupin, Repunzel, ninja turkey, and Santa. So clever!

So I attempted another Pinterest craft and it turned out great! What would I do without you Pinterest?? I wanted to decorate some candles. To add some glitter, Pinterest had the idea of using double sided tape.I used a small paintbrush to brush off excess glitter. It was great because it kept a sharp clean line and I could do different designs easily. It literally took me less than 30 min.