Happy Birthday!

I am at the hospital right now. Baby Edmond (my brother Knowlton and sister-in-law/best friend Jasmine's baby) was born at 1:41 am. He weighs 7 lbs. 14 oz. and is 20 inches long. He is adorable! I'm trying to let my brother and sister-in-law sleep while I cuddle with the cute new baby! :) I am in love!






















Is that not the most adorable, bright red angry face you've ever seen?!








Edmond is probably already noticing that Aunt Emma is weird. Haha. Photoshoot!!

Phone Photos Episode Three

Photos from the new iPhone 4! {Did I even tell you guys I got a new phone?! Well, I did and I'm loving it! I got it about two weeks ago but the earpiece didn't work and I was having to use speaker phone or my headphones to talk on the phone which was super annoying so I exchanged it and yesterday I got a phone that actually works!! Wow, long ramble. Now onto the pictures!}

Baby Madison makes the best faces! {And I just learned about this app PicFrame that I love!!}









Baby Ella with Race and I. Race and I have Ella, her two sisters, her brother, and her parents for Christmas this year and I am having so much fun gathering gift ideas on Pinterest!!









I give Race head massages when he haves headaches. It's amusing for me and probably more annoying than helpful for him. Especially since I was making him take his own picture. :) Teehee!









Race and I went to YogurtU, the only self-serve yogurt place in Flagstaff. it was delicious, fun, and such a cute little place. Next time I'll take pictures of the inside. I didn't this time because it got all busy right when we got there.





























These are just awkward pictures of me. Haha. The first one is right after I woke up the other day and the second one is just me being weird and bored.









This is a sneak peak of an outfit I wore a week or so ago. Cute, eh? Haha. Just kidding. I doubt you can see it!









Here are some awkward Photobooth photos. Race and I are weird. {Photobooth is the first app I bought once I got the iPhone 4 with the forward facing camera}









How cute is this bow under your bun hairstyle?! I saw it on Pinterest, tried it, and loved it! Now I want to buy more bows!









I'm a creeper. This little girl was at the bus stop with her mom and she was so cute I had to sneak a picture! I don't know if you can tell how TINY she is but she was itty bitty but walking and talking and it was adorable!









Finally, one more picture of me and a baby! :) This is baby Ella again. My sister-in-law Amber took this picture and I love it! I'm in love with sweet babies! And it's my favorite when they fall asleep on my chest/shoulder like this!









Okay, more Phone Photos another time! Have a wonderful day everyone!!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" is a song I used to {goofily} sing all the time {with my best friend/sister-in-law}. In fact, we sang it in front of Race the first time I met Race. Haha. Good time! Anyway, later it turned into a phrase I doodled all over my notes in school. When I doodled it all over things it would make me think of all the things I am looking forward to in the future. Things that are "over the rainbow". This phrase has come to mean so much to me and has come to encompass all of my dreams and wishes.

Here are some of the things that I am looking forward to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow":

Graduating college {oh so close!}

Having more time {okay I don't know if this one ever really happens...someday!}
Raising cute babies!

Buying a house and making it our home.

Taking the time to teach our children the gospel.

Learning to SEW {totally working on this one now!}

Learning to cook healthy meals for my family {and ones that Race actually likes even though they're healthy}.

Buying a cute dog to be best friends with Race, me, and our children.

Going on vacations with Race and with our future children.

Making memories together {we are definitely already doing this}.

Being pregnant and wearing cute maternity clothes with a cute lil belly {Is this a weird one? Haha. Probably but since I haven't experienced it yet I can be excited for now}!

Going to a live temple session in Manti or Salt Lake City.

These are just some of the many wonderful things

I look forward to in our future. But for now I

will enjoy our simple, school filled lives.

Being married is a blast. There is so much

fun now and so much fun to look forward to.

What a wonderful time to be alive!

What do you all look forward to Somewhere Over the Rainbow? And what are you enjoying in your lives now?

Double Rainbow anyone?!

Thank Goodness for Pinterest!

I am sure that I would have come across this blog eventually but thanks to Pinterest {and Kylie} I came across it tonight!

Now I am going to get my house organized and get rid of lots of stuff I don't need.

I have been needing to purge and organize for a while {you can ask my husband} so I am so happy to have found this blog that is helping me get motivated!

If you all know of any other organizing blogs you should definitely let me know because I need some major help! Our house is a mess and it is driving me crazy!

Oh, and if any of you has advice on how to sell things on eBay or Craigslist that would be great as well! I'm not sure yet if any of my stuff will be sell-worthy but if it is it would be nice to make a little bit of money off of some old things. :]

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! We did! :] We relaxed, cuddled, watched lots of The Cosby Show {Does anyone else love this show? If no one else does you should all check it out on Netflix}, got some visiting teaching done, worked on homework, hung out with family, etc. Oh, and I made homemade s'mores inspired by Katie from this post, and Race got lots of bloody noses {sad story}. Oh, and Race made about a thousand chocolate chip cookies {he is a skilled cookie baker}.

Well, tell me about your weekend, give me some organizing/selling tips and then have a fabulous week! :]

Random BlogWorld Stuffs

I am fairly new to the world of blogging. I started my blog a while ago but I decided to really post on my blog every day, read other people's blogs, and comment on other people's blogs about a month and a half ago. It has been so much fun getting to know people and finding so many fun blogs! It's so fun to read people's blogs and relate to them through things that we have both been through as well as things that we are going through right now. It's fun to get ideas from people's blogs and it is so much fun to look forward to having kids, being done with school, and so much more through reading people's blogs who are at this point in their lives. 

Recently in blogland I have had some super sweet people give me awards and it is so exciting to know that people read, and like my blog! So today you all get to hear seven more random facts about myself because I got another Versatile blogger award {see first one here} from the sweet Jessica of her blog Live Laugh Love {Thank you Jessica! And everyone else, please go check her wonderful blog out! I love reading her random thoughts and she is a very talented writer. :]}. I was also given the "I Dig Your Blog" award. That one was from the wonderful Gentri Lee. I have been reading Gentri's blog for quite a while and I always love her sweet comments and her sweet responses to my comments on her blog. She is lots of fun, super stylish, and is throwing a Utah blogger meet-up with some other Utah bloggers that any of you in Utah should check out. {I wanted to go so badly and even looked into flying out there but school is just not that nice to me!} Finally, I was tagged in a fun blog game by Ashley from her blog Sloanbook! I love Ashley's blog all about life with her husband and her adorable dog Katinka {You should check out her most recent post and see where they got that name from! I love the story!}

So, first, thank you to all the wonderful ladies that sent me these fun things!

Now, here are seven {more} random facts about me:

1. I am in the process of starting another blog with a couple of my sisters-in-law. My sister-in-law Jackie had this great idea to do a blog with some of the gals from the family where we post about affordable style, crafty things, sewy things and the like. We are in the process of making the blog cute {thank you to my skilled sister-in-law Nikki} and getting some posts up for everyone to read! I can't wait to tell you all about it in a few days! 
2. I just started an on-campus job that I love! I work in an office answering phone and dispatching messaged to General Maintenance Managers across campus. Sounds cool, eh? Haha. 
3. I used to meditate every day. And no, not the mmmmm...mmmmm...hands in the air, legs crossed kind of meditate. I would simply find time every day to sit, relax, and not think or stress about anything. I would just be for a few minutes. I think that I am going to start this again because it made my days so much more manageable. 
4. I dream of having a piano in my home someday. I am not by an means a good pianist but I love to play the hymns and primary songs. It's calming and I really want my children to grow up around music. 
5. I love babies and can't wait to have my own someday. Want to know a guilty pleasure my mom and I have? {Yes! I knew you would!} My mom and I both love to buy baby clothes for my future children. I already have a drawer full of adorable clothes for my future adorable babies! 
6. I want to learn to sew so that my kids can have the coolest Halloween costumes ever! 
7. I am already planning Christmas presents thanks to this post by Yours Truly, Madison! I am SO SO excited for Christmas! :]

Now on to people I nominate for awards {these are the people I am also tagging for the little blog game!} 

Nominations for The Versatile Blogger Award:

Autumn of Stay Gold, Autumn

Alexis of Alexis Laughs

Courtney of Eric & Courtney

Kari of Know-It-Not-So-Much

Katie of Sparky
Mary of Mary Plus Vince

Nominations for the "I Dig Your Blog" Award:

Kara of Not A Couple's Blog

Anna of Dear Prudence

Leann of A Glass of Leannade

McKenzie of Lady of the Sunshine

Katie of Scruples

Jessica of Live Laugh Love
Madison of Yours Truly, Madison

Congratulations everyone! And pass on the love! 

Disqus

I have had Disqus for a few weeks now and this is what I have decided:

Likes:

• I really do like that you can respond to comments right on the blog.

Dislikes:

• I am pretty sure that anyone not registered with Disqus does not get my responses {you can correct me if I'm wrong}.
• It doesn't work well with iPhones {which is what I have so it's kind of important that it works well with them}
• I do not like that I can not find other people's blogs through their comments unless they leave a link. This is especially obnoxious when I get a comment from a new reader or someone who just stopped by and is not a follower. I always want to go check out all of your great blogs and was sad that sometimes I couldn't because of Disqus.

Well, that's all I can really think about that actually matters to me. But, I am getting rid of Disqus for my blog {This might take me a couple of days because I need to figure out how to import Disqus comments to blogger and do some other maintenancy type things}. I plan on keeping the account to use when commenting other people's blogs because I love having one place to look at all the comments I have made and see the responses from the blog authors.

I do love getting email responses from the normal blogger commenting and that is how I will be responding to all of your comments from now on! So check your profile to make sure that your email is not set to private so that you actually get my responses to all of your sweet comments!

Thanks for testing Disqus out with me and telling me all of your opinions on it! I definitely do not think there is anything super bad about it and I may very well switch right back once they get the app for the iPhone figured out! Have a wonderful day!! And let me leave you with a fun picture! :] Have a wonderful day everyone!

{Banana+Nutella+Cracklin'OatBran=WonderfulDeliciousGoodness} Tutorial

This is one of my favorite snacks that I wanted to share with you all!
Here's what you'll need:

• 1 Banana
• Nutella
• Cracklin' Oat Bran Cereal {or something else yummy and crunch like granola}
• Butter Knife
• Plate
• A hungry tummy!

Here's how you make this scrumptious snack:

1. Assemble supplies.
2. Peel your banana.
3. Break your banana in half {breaking is better than cutting for the next step}.
4. Take one half of the banana and gently squeeze until you see the top third of the banana separating from the bottom two thirds.
5. Take off the top third of the banana and set aside.
6. Repeat steps 4 & 5 with the other half of the banana.
7. Spread Nutella on the larger parts of the banana halves.
8. Add some Cracklin' Oat Bran cereal pieces on top of the Nutella.
9. Replace the tops of the banana halves.
10. Enjoy you yummy snack! {"Yummy yummy! In my tummy!"}

Pictures for steps 1-4:

 

 Pictures for steps 5-8:

 

 The Final Product {aka Deliciousness in a Banana}:

 

So, did that all make sense? I hope so! Do you all have any tutorial tips for me? I wanted to do this mini, easy tutorial to practice for future, more complicated tutorials so I'd love some feedback! I'd also love to hear if you try this and love it! Enjoy your yummy snack and have a wonderful week!

Also, head over to my last post and tell me a little bit about yourself and your blog! Also, check out some of the other cool readers! There are some funny stories in the comments. :]

Have a wonderful week everyone!

"Getting to Know You! Getting to Know All About You!"

Anyone know what that's from?! {The answer will be at the end of the post if you don't already know.}

Moving on! Today I want to learn all about my readers! I read all of your blogs {and love it!} but I wanted to know some more about you and I would love for all of you to get to know each other. {So make sure to link up your blog to your comment.}

Here are some questions I'd love for you to answer {you can skip any you don't want to answer of course}:

1. What is your blog all about?
2. Where are you from?
3. What are you? {Student, wife, engineer,hairdresser, fashionista, mother, all of the above?}
4. What's a funny story that your family always tells about you?
5. Anything else you want to share with {Race & Emma} readers!

Now put a link to your blog in the comment and invite other people to come tell us some random facts about themselves!

A couple posts down the road I plan on answering all of these questions myself and then letting you guys ask me anything! So start thinking of fun questions you want to know the answer to!

I'll leave you with this gem of a picture :)






Have a wonderful week everyone!

Edit: I forgot to tell you what the quote is from. Haha. It's from The King and I. Who has seen it? 

Quick Update!

I'm in Thatcher, AZ right now enjoying spending time with cute nieces and nephews, cousins, and my in-law family. :) My nephew Austen was baptized today! I am loving spending time with family and cuddling two of the cutest baby girls ever!!

Baby Madison





















Baby Ella











And my outfit/favorite comfy shoes ever {...maybe. I have lots of favorite shoes}









Here I was trying to get a picture of how many people are sitting on the couch but this is only showing 5{ish} of the 8 people on the couch!




Have a wonderful weekend! Relax, read a book, go on a date, take a nap, and then come back and tell me all about how awesome it was!

{Random: I'm halfway through Divergent right now! You should all read it. :)}

Outfit Post #9

ANOTHER "outfit-y" picture I found. Goodness. I hope these outfit posts aren't boring any of you! They're getting me all excited and making me feel stylish or something. Haha.

I wore this outfit to present my group's research project that we did for our Junior Level Writing class for my Psychology major. I also got complimented on it while there. Apparently some girls were giggling and pointing at me while my group got our awards{I didn't notice} and one of them came up to me afterwards to assure me that they were just talking about how cute I looked. I hope she was telling the truth!  

Anyway, here's the breakdown: 

Shirt- Anchor Blue, I believe?

Cardigan- Old Navy 

Belt- Nordstrom's Rack 

Skirt & Black undershirt- Forever 21 

This outfit totally won me this award! {Just kidding, my group's awesome research project won the award.}

Anyway, I am glad that I actually look nice for the important things in my life {since I don't bother to look good on normal days...usually}. And I love red and yellow together {wedding colors!}. :] Also, once again don't mind my mess of a house!

Once Upon a Time

I was checking some comments on my blog when I came across a comment from Daryl of her blog Roots, Wings, and Other Things. In this comment she told me that she had nominated me for my first ever blogging award! The Versatile Blogger. :] Yay for first ever awards in blogland and thank you so much Daryl for nominating me! {You should all head over and read her post about her nomination. It's cute! As are all of her posts! And if you ever need some ideas for DELICIOUS meals you should look there as well!}

Anyway, the rules of this award are as follows: 1. I must thank the award-giver and link back to them in my post. {Check!} 2. I must tell you wonderful readers seven things about myself. 3. I must give this award to up to 15 recently discovered bloggers. And 4. I must contact those bloggers and tell them the exciting news!

So now I will begin to cover numbers 2-4!

Here are seven random things about myself:

1. I am in love with the family in The Cosby Show. I have mentioned this show before because Race and I watch it ALL. THE. TIME. but I am seriously obsessed with that family. I want to have a family dynamic like them someday. And you should all watch the show to see what I mean!
2. Lindt chocolates are my weakness. {If you've never had one go out and try them. I like the red packaged ones. And...if they become your weakness as well I am sincerely sorry...kinda.}
3. I bought an iPhone two years ago and it may not have been the most financially smart decision but I am in love and don't think I could ever go back. {If you know of any awesome apps you must tell me about them!}
4. In high school I joined the dive team although I had never gone off the high dive before. Smart, eh? Now that I'm done with diving I am once again afraid of the high dive.
5. I am short. {5'1/2" to be exact} I don't know if you all knew that or not...I am not sure how well shortness comes across in writing. Haha. Just kidding. I don't know how well it comes across in pictures though.
6. I adore Zooey Deschanel. I am so excited for her new show to come out. {T-minus 5 days...I think.}
7. I am quite skilled at doing hand stand walking. Also, I can't lick my elbow. Not at the same time of course. Although maybe I should work on that! Race came up with those last two for me that's why it turned into two rather than just the one. :]

Now for some nominations! {If I renominate anyone I am really sorry! I don't know how you are supposed to know if someone has been nominated before or not...}
1. This is not a recently found blog but I have always loved my old roommate Kylie's blog. She writes about life as a newlywed, yummy recipe she makes, cute crafts she makes, and she has an adorable etsy shop where she sells cute headbands and belts {made by her best friend}. Of the many blogs that I read I often save Kylie's for last partly because I know her but mostly because I always love reading her posts. They are cute and profound and just overall awesome!
2. Kaycie of the blog {Redhead} Memories. Kaycie was my first guest poster ever on my blog! And I love visiting her blog. She is a newlywed {like me!} and is living in Las Vegas with her husband. She blogs about taking pictures, yummy recipes, being a newlywed, and other fun things! I learned how to properly wear my towel on my head after showering from her! Haha. Super random but also super good to know. Kaycie is really fun and just about the cutest redhead I've met in blogland! Go and check her cute blog out!
3. Finally, for now I would like to nominate Ashlyn of Fowliters Forever. I love Ashlyn's blog. She posts about WHATEVER catches her fancy. Whether that happens to be yummy food she makes, her adorable outfits, adventures with her husband {and other awesome people in her life}, literally anything that she deems interesting. I love that about her blog! And I just happen to find everything that she finds interesting/funny interesting/funny as well. So I guess that helps! Go over and check her cute blog out!

Now I'm headed out to tell all these pretty ladies that they won an award! Yay for fun blogging awards and spreading the love!

First Guest Post Ever!

This time I'm talking about my first guest post on someone else's blog rather than other people guest posting on my blog. Excited, aren't you? Today I am guest posting at Yours Truly, Madison. I talk a little bit about my blog and then lots about why sisters are so awesome. You should all go check it out and then go exploring on Madison's blog because she's awesome. She writes about life in Bush Alaska {read the Bushy Brunette Women Week series. It's awesome}, running {that's what she's up to while she's away this week}, and her family which often includes her sisters {and of course tons of other awesome stuff}. Anyway, she's super fun so go enjoy my little post and then have fun exploring her blog!

Wonderful Weekend

This weekend was great. My parents came up to Flagstaff to visit Race and I so we hung out with them and I got to chat with my mom for three days straight {usually I just call my mom thirty times throughout each day}. I love my parents. In fact, a year ago on Sunday my Facebook status was, "I love talking to my parents." I told my dad that and he asked me if that is still true. I said, "Of course it is!" Does anyone else just love talking to their parents? Sunday was dubbed wear-a-fancy-hat-to-church day so Teal {Race's sister}, Ellie {Race's cousin} and I went hat shopping and didn't buy any hats because we're cheap and didn't really find anything we loved. But I did get three shirts and a really cute watch! I am loving my watch and hearing the itty bitty tick of the second hand. I know, random. I got some Nutella and have been eating it with bananas and Cracklin' Oat Bran cereal all weekend and all week so far {I'm actually going to do a tutorial on how to make my little banana, Nutella, Cracklin' Oat Bran creation. Mostly it will just give me a good way to test out the "tutorial waters"}. My dad and I played some Michael Jackson: The Experience on the PS3 Move. It was awesome. I love that game. And it may or may not have been some of the only good exercise I got all week. Yeah, I need to work on that. Anyway, it was a wonderful weekend. How were all of your weekends? What was the most exciting thing you did?

Race and I eating Panda Express/Chipotle

Race and I posing for my dad to take pictures after church. {My dad takes pictures of EVERYTHING to send to my brother who is on his mission in Bulgaria}

My mum and I before they headed home. {I love love love my mum. I wish she could come and visit me every weekend!}

A new shirt. 

"I'm like a bird. I wanna fly away!"

My new watch that I LOVE.

The only picture of my dad since he was taking all of the other pictures. My parents went on a hike while I went hat shopping with Teal and Ellie. They found a super cool horned toad lizard thing and a thunderstone!

It was a good weekend. :] Now don't forget to tell me all about your weekend!

Linking Fun!

I am linking over at la vie petite. Showing off this outfit that I put together for super cheap! You all should go link up your cute, good deal outfits as well! :]

Outfit Post #8

I found ANOTHER cute outfit while going through photos...I am so surprised at myself. And I had forgotten about these outfits so now I get to wear them again! {Random sidenote: I've been thinking that I need to come up with a cooler name for my outfit posts than just Outfit Post # blah blah blah. Any suggestions?}

Breakdown: 

Shirt & Skirt- Target 

Cardigan & Belt- Old Navy 

Slip- Made by my Mum

Has anyone noticed that basically everything I own is from Target and Old Navy? And just so you know I'm cheap it's not just all from Target and Old Navy it's all from Target and Old Navy clearance. Old Navy is my favorite because they have their 50% off of clearance clearance {did that make sense?} and it's the best. I got that belt for probably .$98 and that cardigan for somewhere around $2.00. Also, I just applied for a job there. I would LOVE to work there but all of my money would end up right back at Old Navy rather than home paying bills so maybe it will be a good thing if I don't get the job there! Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this little outfit. And someday I'll convince Race to take all of my outfit pictures so that they're not mirror pictures that show my messy house!  {I'm not sure if that would be more for me or for all of you guys??}

An Emotional Morning

It's been a crazy morning: I have cuddled in bed with my husband, gotten in a fight with my husband {like I've said our marriage isn't perfect}, made up with my husband, gotten a call about a job I applied for, rushed to an interview before class, got the job, missed my class, realized the job will not help cover all of our expenses, gotten really emotional and cried, recognized the hand of my Heavenly Father in my life, prayed, cried some more, called my husband with good news, cried some more, prayed some more, read my scriptures, and then decided I needed to share my experience {that's where I'm at right now}.

Now all of that in a little bit more detail:

Over the summer I quit my job. It was stressful, too many hours, and my boss was emotionally abusive. It was a good thing. I had worked really hard for the past year and come home crying about the way I was treated as well as the way the children I was nannying were being treated by their mom, my boss. It was a very good decision to quit my job and I don't regret it. However, I HATE job hunting and did not try very hard over the summer to get a job. I worked for about a month nannying/babysitting various families in Flagstaff and it helped to keep us afloat. Race worked a TON over the summer at his on campus job and cleaning and that's what really kept us afloat.

Cue school starting. As I've mentioned before school is stressful and hard and makes my life a lot busier {it has been getting better though}. Since school has started I have actually been doing better about applying for a job and job searching but nothing had come of it...until today.

Earlier this week I took an application into the office that Race works in because he had said that they were really busy and needed the extra help. When I talked to his boss it sounded like they needed someone to cover times other than when I was available so I didn't think anything would come of it. She did say that she would pass my application on to other offices in the building. She did and yesterday I got a call while I was in class asking if I could work Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12-5pm. I called back as soon as I got out of class and left a message saying that I had class until 12:25 so I couldn't start right at noon but I would be able to get there by 12:35 at the latest if that's when they needed me. I got a call back this morning.

This was after getting frustrated with Race about money stuff and how stressed out he's been. Who gets frustrated at someone for being stressed...when they're stressed?! Apparently I do. I was being ridiculous and mean and not appreciating Race for all that he does for me and for our little family. I wanted him to just be happy even though things have been really stressful for him. I wasn't being understanding at all. {I feel like I should edit all of that out but I am not going to because it was part of the emotional morning. Please don't hate me for being a crazy lady though!}

After getting frustrated at ridiculous things I apologized to Race, drove him to work, and we went to look for the guy {George} who had called me on the phone so that hopefully I could meet with him and convince him that I deserve the job. We couldn't find him so I headed home after giving Race a kiss. About an hour later is when the call came. George asked if I could meet with him right away for an interview. I headed straight over to Race's work {40 minutes before my class was supposed to start} and  met with George. And I got the job! I was really excited. I dropped by Race's office and gave him a thumbs up signaling I had gotten on the job. He was on the phone so we didn't get to talk.

On my way out the door I looked at my watch to see that I had ten minutes to get to my class that is all the way across campus. That's a twenty minute bus ride plus a ten minute walk. There was no way I was going to make it on time. Especially not on time for the quiz at the beginning of class. I super stress about being late so instead of rushing to make it I gave up...{I know...bad me}. Anyway, as I was walking to my apartment instead of rushing to my class I decided to calculate about how much I'll be making a month at my new job. I was only guaranteed 8-10 hours a week at minimum wage so that put me at not very much money and much less than we need to pay for rent and our phone bill and food and other important things. I started crying. I had missed class because of an interview for a job that wasn't even going to cover everything that we needed. I was upset and mad and really frustrated.

I got home and called my mom {because that's what I do when I'm frustrated}. I talked to her and she reminded me {like she always does} that this may be a blessing in disguise. That we may need to learn from actually having to scrimp when it comes to money {we never really had to do that with my old job}. While I was on the phone with my mom I decided to check Race's NAU student account to see if he had received his financial aid yet {he had to redo our taxes so he was way behind of receiving financial aid and was convinced that he wasn't going to get anything}. I have been checking every day since school started to see if he has gotten anything. He has been thinking that I am ridiculous because nothing was going to come. But, lo and behold, today, in his account sat a $5550 Pell Grant {plus some other loans that we declined}. This was exactly what we needed. It was exactly what I needed today. I told my mom and told her that I needed to call Race. She reminded me that before I did ANYTHING else I needed to get down on my knees and thank Heavenly Father for this blessing. So I did. And I cried. I do not know how Heavenly Father knows the EXACT right time to give us the things that we need but he does. His timing is absolutely perfect and I am so grateful for a Heavenly Father who shows me that he is watching and he cares about ME and my husband and our itty bitty family. It was such a nice feeling to call Race and let him know that we are going to be okay and that Heavenly Father notices us. His response: "We need to double up on our scripture reading and praying!" I love my husband. And I assure you that we will be doubling up on all of that and more!

I just prayed yesterday that I would be able to recognize Heavenly Father's hand in my life every day and I think today was a really good start. :] I know it's not always things as big as $5550 but I know that Heavenly Father is taking care of us every single day and if we look for his hand {whether it comes in the form of service from others, personal revelation, or anything else} in our lives we will see it.

I am grateful for this emotional morning.

Loving the Married Life {Happy Anniversary! Post}

Race and I have been married for one year {and six days, our actual anniversary was September 3rd}! Our marriage isn't always perfect {is anyone's?} and it isn't always easy but it has been the most wonderful thing for both of us. This past year has been INCREDIBLE. {I'm speaking for Race but I'm sure that he agrees!}

On our anniversary mini-vacation  Race and I talked about all the things that we love about being married. Here are some of the things we came up with:

• We love cuddling all the time, giving each other "bum squeezes"*, waking up next to each other every morning. 
• We love seeing TONS of movies together {we got to basically every midnight showing}, finding new shows together, reading books together. 
• We love decorating our home{s} together, cleaning together {let's be honest we don't love cleaning but together is better than alone}, and moving from apartment to apartment together {and eventually into a home}. 
• We love celebrating holidays, birthdays, and accomplishments together. 
• We love planning for the future while enjoying every moment of the present. 
• We love  supporting each other 100% in all that we do. 
• Most importantly, we love that we never have to be alone and we always have someone to talk to about the good, {the great!}, the bad, and the ugly in our lives.

One year has flown by. {Less than} a year from now we will both be graduated with our Bachelor's degrees and trying to figure out where we're headed next. Graduate school? Law school? Jobs? Babies? New town/city? New car? New home? There are so many unknowns but we can't wait to plan and change plans as our lives change. And the best part is we get to do it together! I love being married to my best friend. And I love that it is for eternity.

Here are some fun pictures from the last year of our marriage!{Also, in trying to find posts about things that we did this past year I realized that I didn't post about SO many things! I might have to write a list of posts to catch up on so that I can have these memories somewhere other than in a folder of pictures on my computer.} Sorry for the picture overload. Oh, and I don't think any of them are edited {other than some Instagram} because my computer decided not to save my edits...Oh well. Also, they are not in chronological order although I did try to somewhat organize them...

September 3rd, 2010

We enjoyed lots of kisses in the past year.

We made lots of goofy faces! 

 We enjoyed going to church together {in various wards since we rarely stayed in town on the weekends}

We enjoyed nature together.

We enjoyed date nights.

We enjoyed moving into and decorating two apartments together.

First TINY apartment:

Second larger apartment. :]

We enjoyed romantic dinner dates at home and at restaurants.

 We enjoyed dressing alike {okay this probably really only happened this once}

We enjoyed being silly together.

We enjoyed celebrating holidays and birthdays together and carrying on traditions as well as creating our own traditions.

We enjoyed vacationing together. 

We enjoyed welcoming lots of cute nieces and nephews to our family.

We enjoyed going to midnight showings of movies together.

That was a weird one to end on but it was hard to get those all organized so that's the way it's going to stay! So I'm sorry for the TONS of pictures. I hope you weren't too bored. There are so many more that I want to post but I think I'll just split them up into posts of things that I missed writing about in the past. Anyway, enough rambling! I love looking back on our year and seeing how much fun we have had together. Having someone to do big and small adventures with all the time is the best! I'm excited to see what this year brings and can't wait to share all of our adventures with our new blogging friends. :]