Shenanigans

Marriage is Bliss!

2012-01-22T01:08:00.001-07:00

Well congratulations are in order for Ally and Dan. They are officially engaged! Dan kept me pretty up to date on the whole thing which was fun for me. It made me reminise about my own engagment day. Ally and I had similar experiences of picking out the ring we wanted first (le duh) and then having it ripped from our fingers by our boos who think they need to "hide" it somewhere safe.

I remember I would get to Jon's house, run into his room, scour around until I found that beautiful box, opened it and jumped on the bed in complete glee as I placed that ring on my finger and admired it for at least ten minutes until he would make me give it back. So I can completely relate with how cray cray Ally has been since Dan got the ring. He even once called her a brat. HA. But the question has been popped and she is already on pinterest planning their day. *Date to be determined.* But its going to be in Houston in the summer which equals everyone dripping sweat the whole day.

For fun lets see a pic of my ring next to hers. Humor me.

Completely different as I am into the princess cut stones and Al likes hers round. But both are LOVELY. We are pretty loved by those boys of ours.

She is so obsessed which is adorable. I was reading one of my old journals tonight looking for some general conference notes to share with my YW tomorrow during my lesson and came across this gem that made me laugh and I had to share it with Ally.

this was before Jon proposed:

"My ring is gorgeous, I'm obsessed with it. I miss it!"

HAHAHA. Girls are crazy about their bling.

Weekend Update:

*Spent some QT with the boo last night. We went to James and Katies and played some games. Always a good time with those two.

*Went CRUISE shopping with the girls this morning. Three more weeks and we will be on the open sea headed to JAMACIA!

*Weighed myself. I have lost 20 pounds my friends. This is good news mainly because I have been working out on the regular and I feel great! Still have some more to go but the progress is coming along. Having a baby will RUIN you...beware!

*Cant let a post slip by without mentioning my pride and joy. Kingston is on the verge of crawling. He is up on those little knees rockin around. My life will be over once this happens. I need to baby proof. But I am going to be that mom that lets their kids take out all the pots and pans and bang all night. I'll even provide him a spoon for optimal sound/fun.

Well goodnight blogger world! Remember: Come What May--and Love it!

Like Father Like Son

2012-01-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

Kingston is legit obsessed with Jon. This makes me happy. When Jon gets home from work Kingston is completely DONE with Mama. He is attached at the hip to the pops. They hang out, which pretty much means Jon is throwing Kingston up high in the air or watching Mickey Mouse Club House on the ipad. (see below)

They are "best buds"-Jon.

It's Tuesday

2012-01-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

So those of you who know me know Jon works for the almighty Utah Jazz. This makes us kind of like Utah celebrities. Like for about ten minutes after someone finds out he works for them. Ha. All the questions start coming like, "Whos the nicest player?" "Why did Coach Sloan quit?" "Do the players really cheat on their wives?" In which Jon replies and then tries to change the subject...(so modest). I mean I remember when Jon and I first started dating he texted me and asked me what I was up to. I was probably painting my nails (something i rarely have time for now) but when i asked him what he was doing he said something along the lines of he was watching The Jazz practice. I was like, "yeah...right." I honestly thought he was so full of it I think I wondered, "Who is this guy?". But low and behold it was true. I thought it was semi-cool back then. I mean I never really watched basketball or anything but when I went to my first game and sat so close to the court I felt their sweat on me, I became an instant fan. I even cried once sitting in my room in Rexburg when they lost. I was just being a really involved girlfriend okay?

WHY this rant? Well I'm sitting here on the couch, alone because it's Jazz season. WOOF!

Either way I get to blog and I HAVE to post some recent pics.

Kingston is so big guys. Like on the real, he's like toddler size. I mean I love him but DANG he is HEA-VY! Now check this out.

UM. Yeah. Kingston is obvi the cutie on the left but Jon is laying there on the right. They are legit twins. Crazy! Oh how I love my boys.

Until the next post!

The Josinator

2012-01-17T21:19:00.001-07:00

So this weekend I saw JOSIE! She turned 26. This means we have known each other for eight years. This means we are getting older and older and older. Here are a couple pictures of her and I.

I literally have at least 7000 pictures of us. From our young days when we thought we were fat but in actuality we were pretty rockin, to our rainbow of different hair colors, to even our wedding days. We have been through A LOT together. I can't even write down the memories. Love her. Its weird that we are both married. But life is just like this. :)

2012

2012-01-11T23:15:00.001-07:00

Well I'm desperately trying to stay awake until my hubby comes home from the jazz game....pretty sure I'm not gonna make it. I'm also hearing words and parts of Ally and Dan's conversation in the other room. I just heard "7.99?!?" in unison. And also some Spanish coming from Dan then repeated butchered back by Ally. Now silence. Freaky.

Okay I'm done being a creeper.

Happy 2012! We made it. I thought we would be flying to the grocery store by now but I guess the car will have to do.

Today we went on a field trip to the salt lake children's theater. It was fun! The kids loved it and of course couldn't stop talking about it all day. The afternoon was shot because seven year olds can't focus after anything remotely out of the ordinary so we spent the last hour of class playing games. I'm pretty sure they thought I went completely crazy because we barely ever play games other than educational ones. Have you ever seen the list of things a first grade teacher (or any teacher) has to teach their class? There is no time to waste! But heads up seven up is one of those games that I refuse to let die with my generation. Or maybe I'm the one who can't focus.

Three more weeks until I go off track. Which means three more weeks until I'll be on a ship to the tropical locale of the Caribbean! What? That's right. A full week to sail the ocean blue with my hubby and a few of our closest friends. My largest concern? Making sure I can check up on how my baby king is doing without me. I'm that mom.

Anyway this post is long and random and my eyeballs are about to fall out so good night moon!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

This year for Christmas we are in New Jersey visiting my parents. I have to say I miss my parents living in Houston but its nice that they moved because we are able to see more family now since pretty much everyone is living on the east side of the US. On Saturday we went to Pennsylvania to my uncle Denny's house. I saw my grandma, aunts an uncles from my dads side and my cousins too. It was great!

Then we came home, opened our Christmas eve jammies and went to bed. But before going to sleep Ally Jon and I made sure Maddie heard the reindeer on the roof. She was so excited for Santa! We woke up and Santa was good to us. Its only going to get better because having kids makes Christmas awesome. I loved it.

Today I'm feeling a little under the weather. I think whenever my body knows I have a break, it decides to stop fighting all those germs that my first graders sneeze on me and lets me get sick. Thanks body. I have spent most the day laying in bed sleeping.

Now I'm just looking up teaching stuff emailing it to myself. Which reminds me, you need to watch the documentary "Waiting for Superman". Its about America's public schools. Its insane. And it made me a little crazy. But I know I am doing my best. But my little ones are fighting an up hill battle and I know that it will only get harder for them. AH! This makes me never want to quit my job. But I miss Kingston during the day too. What a dilemma!

I hope everyone's Christmas 2011 was wonderful. New Year's is next! Whooo-hoo.

2011-12-22T14:27:00.001-07:00

Well I'm sitting at the car dealership waiting for them to do the emissions on the car. I've been here for two hours. Did I mention that I already did the emissions and they "can't find it in the system"? Yeah. This is my life. Kingston is way past his nap time and I'm getting pretty cranky too.

On a brighter note, we are leaving for NJ in the morning! I'm so excited to spend christmas with my family. I am completely excited for my moms cooking. I mean I've come into my own in the kitchen putting together meals for Jon and Ally but there is nothing like eating food like my moms. She's just a great cook. I'm also excited for Christmas morning. Mainly to see Kings eyes wide with wonder at all the wrapping paper. He couldn't care less about what's in the box but he will destroy the paper. Love that little bug.

Speaking of my little bug, we are in the search for a new sitter for him during the days. Can you say stressful? Well I think I found an awesome lady close to where we live so I will be meeting with her as soon as we get back! I have never prayed harder about something in my whole life! When you're a parent your children become more important than anything else and it has been a real trial being away from him everyday. But I know that my prayers will be answered and he will be in good hands until I can stop working and stay at home with him :)

Speaking of work I spent my last day with my kids in the office with my biggest naughty because OH hold up!! No joke the lady next to me at the dealership just said "wow, she talks alot" in reference to my baby bit! Ha ha ha. And he is wearing a shirt that has footballs soccer balls and basketballs on it. Really? He's just so pretty. Anyway... I was in the office with my biggest naughty because he touched a girl on the place that is not allowed if you get my drift... The police were involved and it was rough! So my last day of school was kind of a bummer. But oh we'll now I get to e with my baby until January 3rd!

He also finally learned how to roll over. He was a little slow. Mainly because he is huge. This is what I get for marrying a 6'5" man. The dr just laughed at my concern and said look at him! He has a lot to roll over. But he's a rolling machine now and maybe it was better when he was stationary...

Well I guess I'll post this and go see what the heck the hold up is on the car. Until next time! Happy happy holidays! I hope you remember the season for the season. :)

Ally and her Busted up Pelvis

2011-12-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

This has been a crazy few days.

On Friday my sweet sweet sister, Ally, got in a car accident on her way to see her boo in Idaho. After an hour and a half of thinking she may be really hurt or even worse, dead, we finally found out she was on her way to a hospital in Tremonton, Utah. After the what seemed like 40 hour drive, we made it to the hospital to find Ally laying on a bed with a broken pelvis. She was pretty hilarious at the hospital because she was way hopped up on pain meds.

We got her home and now she is laying in bed. Dan, of course, made his way down from Rexburg and took care of her all weekend, setting his alarm for every four hours so that she could take her medicine. He was such a help and it really showed me how much he loves her. He had to go back to school to finish his classes up but will be back soon! Luckily, I still have today off of work so I'll be able to take care of her today. She is a trooper. She is in a lot of pain but she is still her ultra positive self and even made the trek from her room to the couch last night to enjoy the Kardashian family!

So heres to Ally! I wish you a quick and thorough recovery...Kingston needs his second mom! :) You are such a great girl and I am so glad you are here and kickin it!!! :) LOVE YOU SIS!!!!!

Thankful!

2011-11-25T14:40:00.000-07:00

Whoops I forgot to blog something I'm thankful for on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday so I will make up with three things this post.

I am obviously thankful for my little family. Jon is a great husband. He works really hard and loves Kingston so much. Its so ciute. He is a great dad. Kingston is the BEST. I mean I am literally obsessed with both of them!

I am grateful for my sweet first graders. I was invited over to one of my little girls house this Sunday for dinner. Her whole family is from Nepal and they cherish their teachers. I am so lucky to teach where I do and to make a difference in their little lives. I try to be the teacher you look back on and always remember. I had a dream just last night that our first day back after being off track was terrible. Like they wouldnt listen to me and they kept running away. But that never happens. They are so sweet. And Bonus? They say the funniest stuff.

I am also thankful for Pinterest. It has given me awesome ideas from recipes for dinner, dessert, ideas for my classroom, and around the house. I actually copied a cute idea from there...enjoy below!

I'm grateful Ally lives with us. She's so good with Kingston and helps me a lot with him. Its nice to have a best friend in a sister. Love her.

I am grateful that Jonathan's family is so close.

I am grateful for planes so that I can get to my family.

I am grateful for the age of retirement so that my parents can move to Utah. Ha ha ha my dad would die if he read that.

Is that enough? Ahhh the holiday season is here! Christmas is just a month away :) I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was great and you have a nice relaxing weekend! Ifts time to bust out Celine Dion's Christmas album! YESSS!!!

My Blowdryer.

2011-11-19T23:37:00.000-07:00

Like the new header? I'm glad I live with Ally. She knows all about the blogging world and I'm not so great at the pictures and the headers but thanks to a great sis and a great website (http://www.picnik.com/) my posts will be a little more legit.

Its the weekend! Its been a really good day. Kingston didn't whine to get out of bed til almost 10AM. He is DEFINITELY our child. Ally and I went to the gym this morning (after that 2008 bod over here) and then we went bee boppin around town.

Last night I went to see Twlight: Breaking Dawn. It was....interesting. There were some hardcore cheeseball parts. But overall it was entertaining. I used to be a team Jacob fan but after this movie I was kinda Team Edward. He just loves Bella so much. But its a little freaky too.

Today while browsing the PostSecret app on my iphone I came across this:

I may of tweeted it to JB. He needs to see this and he needs to fly to Ohio immediately. And then Ellen needs to go too so that it's filmed on the show so i can watch it and cry. Speaking of crying...I BAWLED watching Regis's last show. Is that normal?

Well with Turkey Day right around the corner we all should be thinking about all the things we are grateful for. For the next FOUR days I will blog daily about the things that I am Thankful for. I know you are sitting at the edge of your seat saying "WHAT? Meghan is going to blog four days straight..AWESOME!!"

Here is something I am grateful for:

The other day my blowdryer decided to only blow cold air. Did I sit in the bathroom for 30 minutes today taking it apart trying to "clean" it out so it would work again? Maybe. But the chi has seen its better days so I had to break down and buy a new one. Of course my new conair doesnt leave my hair silky like the chi but it does the job and I am grateful for it. Because without a blow dryer...I look a lot like this:

Minus any make up because if my hair isnt done, this face stays plain. Which NOBODY can be grateful for.

Well, its off to bed for me! See back tomorrow for other things I am grateful for. PEACE AND BLESSING!

2011-11-13T17:20:00.001-07:00

So ally mentioned that the last 50 of my blog posts are about how cute my baby is. So I guess that means I should talk about something else instead of stating the obvious? Ha ha I kid.

Things are going good here at the stoddards. I am off track from school for three weeks (did I mentioned I love being a teacher?) and it's the beginning of Kingstons first holiday season (Jon mentioned yesterday that we should take Kingston to the lights at temple square and take a picture and make it a yearly tradition...my hubs is cute).

I love the holidays! I'm almost ready to start listening to Celine Dion Christmas! It's going to be even more exciting when Kingston understands Christmas and I get to spoil him and blame it on Santa. Which reminds me of a sad story. So the other day at school one of my little ones was crying because another girl in class told her at recess that Santa wasn't real. I immediately told her that Santa does exist and she happily skipped away. I asked the little girl who said he wasn't real about it. She said her mom told her wasn't real because last year they didn't have presents and thought Santa forgot their house. Um how sad is that? She is six. I work in a low income area and it is hard seeing so many kids go without. It in turn makes me think of my own life and how blessed I have been. My Dad worked very hard and I can't remember ever going without something I needed not to mention things i thought i would die without (ie those dr martin sandals with the flower cut out). Then there's my hard working husband who is working hard to provide the same type of life for our son and future family. It puts things in perspective for me and makes me realize how incredibly blessed I am. I am so thankful. I hope that in any way I can I will be able to help those in need.

Onto other news, Jons sister, Allyson, is prego! So exciting to have another cousin for Kingston to play with soon :)

Okay well that's all for now...but before I go I of course will leave you with a pic of the babe...taken today while running errands with mama.

2011-11-04T22:59:00.001-06:00

I have a very cute baby. I know this may sound conceited but he could be a model. I may have looked up agencies. I'm so obsessed with him. Here is a recent pic. Eat your heart out!

Baby King

2011-10-15T19:28:00.001-06:00

Why is my baby so cute?

Hubby

2011-10-11T22:07:00.001-06:00

This post is dedicated solely to my Jon.

Can you believe it's been over two years since we met? And you asked me the 3 movies question and I got them all right and you loved me from then on? Ha ha. Cause I do.

And now we have a baby and he's perfect and we have a wonderful life with friends and family that love us. You are such a hard worker and a great example I'm so glad you are the dad to Kingston and the rest of our future family.

I know I'm crazy But I'm also cray cray about you. Thanks for being my boo.

Love you forever!

Grandma?

2011-10-11T21:59:00.001-06:00

Its 940 pm. This is late right? It feels sooo late. Hubs and I are laying on our bed. He is reading a ridiculously long book on his iPad and I am blogging. Baby is asleep. Is this what being a grown up is like?

I forgot to blog that I recently had a birthday. I am officially 26. Which is hysterical because I just had to double check with Jon to see if I was 25 or 26. No wonder my mom never knew how she was when we would ask. But I did have a good bday. Jon surprised me and took me to an arcade with some friends. I played ski ball (love it) and got to see Josie! Which was so nice since we literally live on opposite sides of the state! Not to mention Jon and I bought new cars. Not because of my bday but because Jons car blew up and mine was on it's last leg. But it was a nice bday present. So now I get ride around in a decked out suv instead of the ol jetta who's radio didn't even work anymore. May the jetta RIP. I loved that car and worked all through college to pay for it. I bought it with my own money, taught myself how to drive it (it was a stick shift) and exactly why am I blogging about my car? Enough of that.

Life is good. I am loving my class this year they are adorable and so naughty. It's hilarious. They are just six. That's all there is to it. Like they can't sit still for longer than five minutes and they get excited if I tell them they get one more minute of recess. I love being a teacher. It exhausts me but it's my life. And I love it. I get to teach children then come home and play with my own sweet boy. I'm really lucky and I don't say it enough.

2011-09-23T14:55:00.001-06:00

I downloaded blogger on my phone so I thought I would share some recent pics!

First we have baby King being oh so cute.

Then there's our friends Nikki and Trevors little one Eliza.

Then Jon with three babes at the cabin.

Then a pic of me. I have brown hair! And it's gotten so long it's crazy.

Then daddy and baby and finally to top things off another sweet picture of my four month old love bug!

Pic of the babe!

2011-09-23T14:48:00.001-06:00

Check up with the Stoddards

2011-09-17T22:22:00.000-06:00

What in the heck? Kingston is almost four months old. I haven't blogged in forever but I am one busy girl I barely have time to cuddle with my hubby. And when the choice to blog or cuddle arises I'd much rather cuddle. But I have somedown time so I'll recap the past couple months.

I started working. I love my class. Last year I started in the middle of the year so it didn't fully feel like my class. But this year has been going so great. I have tied more shoes than iever have before but that's okay. My favorite thing is listening totem talk to each other while they're coloring or doing independent work. They are hysterical. One kid saud the other day that if he wa Elvis every girl would love him. How can anyone not love six year olds? And I get to hang out with 25 of them everyday.

Since we are on year round school I worked for a month and had 3 weeks off so Jon and I decided to take a trip with baby King. We flew to San Fransiso for a few days to see our friends Brian and Jane. After that we flew to Michigan to see Grandma Mullin. Then we flew to Jersey to see my parents and Maddie. Kingston loved seeing his Nana and grandfather. :) Jon got to experience new York for the first time. His thoughts? Smelly.

We got back, moved and I started work again. And now we are up at our friends cabin watching the Utah/byu game...hence the reason I have time to blog. Football bores me.

Oh and Ally moved in with us!! Yay!

Until next time remember that you are blessed! Oh and sorry about no pics I'm on Jons iPad and I don't know how to post them on here.

Auntie Ally and other news

2011-07-06T10:59:00.000-06:00

Greetings from Salt Lake! We are surviving our first weeks of being parents. I can't believe Kingston is already over five weeks old. CRAZY! He is currently eating...his favorite past time. He's gaining like a pound a week...is that normal? He's still little but he is SO much heavier than he was when he was born. Anyway, enough annoying mom stuff.

Ally came into town last week! It was so fun to see her. We worked on our tans for a couple days which I ended up with i'm pretty sure what is called a third degree burn. There was definite bubbling of the skin so I've been avoiding the sun since. She went up to Idaho and came back in LOVE! Kingston loved her and can't wait to see Auntie Ally again :)

Now I'm just looking forward to my mom coming and meeting my little man. I also start working again in two weeks! I'm excited for a new class but I kinda wish school didn't start until September...or October.

In other exciting news, Josie, got married last weekend. She went to Mexico for her honeymoon and I can't wait to hear how amazing that was! She was a beautiful bride. Brad is a very lucky man!

We had a good 4th of July weekend as well. Gotta love celebrating our Nation's Bday! I hope everyone had a good 4th :)

Peace and Blessings!

I am a MOTHER!

2011-06-22T22:31:00.002-06:00

Oh my goodness! I HAD MY BABY!

Lets start from the beginning.

Sunday May 29th was a normal Sunday. We went to church, came home and took a little nap, then headed over to Jon's parents to do our laundry. His whole family was gone to Logan to see family and put some flowers on graves. My doctor told me I couldn't go so close to my due date. So Katie and Jaxon came over, Jon grilled up some steak and after dinner the rest of the family got home.We spent the evening finishing our laundry and watching Wild Hogs and Undercover Boss with the fam.

We got back to our apartment and I immediately got into bed to finish reading Tina Feys book, Bossypants. Ten minutes later I called Jon in to go get me some medicine because I was feeling sick. Ten minutes after that I started peeing my pants but it wasn't pee. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom legit freaking out because it was definitely my water breaking. Not to be disgusting but it was everywhere! Jon was running back and forth with his hands on his head saying "what do we do?" over and over again. After a lot of running around and freaking out we got in the car and headed to the hospital.

It was 1030PM when we got to the hospital. I started getting HARDCORE contractions around 3AM. I'm not gonna lie, they hurt so bad. It was terrible. I honestly have no idea how women have natural births. WOOF. So by 330AM I was ready for my epidural. That thing is heaven. It doesnt even hurt to get it either. I mean I'm used to giving myself a shot everyday from my odd blood disease and to be honest, that shot hurts more than the epidural did! SO then it was just a waiting game. I was FINALLY dialated to a 9 at 2PM the following afternoon. So i was trying to mentally and emotionally prepare myself to push when my nurse was checking me and then immediately started saying EMERGENCY C SECTION in her little microphone and all of a sudden I was being ran down the hall to the operating room. Two minutes later, Kingston was born. (Jon tells a gross version of the story since he saw them cutting my insides apart but I will not get into that) It all happened so fast and we ended up finding out that the umbilical cord was coming out before King's head and in turn was cutting off his oxygen supply. He came out and wasnt breathing. They had to use those paddles on him! But after all was said and done, I survived child birth and our sweet little baby came into this world (a little dead) at 2:20PM on May 30th. He was 6 pounds 14 oz and 20.5 inches long. The sweetest little thing I have EVER seen. Legit.

My sweet boy getting monitered in the NICU. He was only in there for an hour until they said he was perfectly healthy :)

Sleeping. He is so cute.

About to leave the hospital!

Kingston's first professional photo shoot. He peed everywhere and looked mad the whole time. LOVE him!

Oh my goodness, I have the cutest baby ever. And this is officially the longest post ever. I'm a mom! It's insane. I can't even believe it. But I am so lucky. He is such a good baby.

Until next time.

love,

a happy mama.

ps, Jon has created a "family blog" check it out. We will both we writing in it. The Wolf Pack

2011-05-27T15:22:00.000-06:00

I am currently sitting in the waiting room waiting to get a non stress test done, just to make sure little Kingston is doing okay! On to more important news: I am getting induced in exactly ONE week! Can you believe that? Weird. We didn't think it would be for awhile but this is our official last weekend of being child free! Jon is so adorable because he is so excited. I am not so adorable because I am completely terrified. It's like, I know I have to give birth. But I just don't want to. But Friday is going to come and I'm going to be strapped into that hospital bed and I'm going to be a mom.

My doctor also put me on bed rest so I won't be working for the last week of school. I mean I have to go in and say bye to my class but it will be nice to not have to deal with my third grade sized first grade bully for a couple days. I'm pretty sure he makes my blood pressure rise.

Well the next time I blog I will most likely have had the baby boy! Can you believe it?!

One Month/16 Days.

2011-05-10T19:44:00.000-06:00

Well I officially have one month left of being pregnant. I currently just spent at least an hour reading random stuff online about premature labor and labor in general. Being pregnant is weird because unless you have open friends and a good doctor, you are pretty much flyin blind. Everyone just says "it'll be worth it in the end". Well YEAH, its gonna be worth it, but um, hello, i NEED TO KNOW whats going to happen!

I got really lucky and got an amazing baby shower thrown for me a couple weeks ago! Katie did an amazing job preparing and it was such a good turn out! I felt so loved and blessed.

I have 16 days left of teaching! I am already having dreams about my new class. I got the roster and can't pronounce more than half of their names. One name haunts me. Se de la Be. What the heck? But I guess thinking about it, I had a hard time pronouncing most of the names of the kids I have now. I mean, there's Iragi. Pronounced Ear-ah-gee. I remember when I first started I called her so many versions of names the kids would end up laughing and saying her name over and over so I could get it. That's what you get when you mix a sheltered white girl into an inner-city school. But I LOVE it! I do love my job, I am doing what I have always wanted. It's been rewarding and I'm looking forward to a new bunch of kiddos...especially because my little first graders are turning into 2nd graders...for example today i overheard a couple of them talking about having a girlfriend and I freaked out! They are seven. Stop being old! Stop grossing me out. I told them they are not allowed to like anyone until they are sixteen. Most of them can't add up to sixteen so they think it's a lot longer than it is. Works for me!

Well I better go, Kingston is kicking me or pulling on his food cord because I havent even since lunch!

2011-04-24T21:59:00.000-06:00

Ummm is it possible that I am actually blogging from my iPhone? Wow! How did I ever survive without this dime piece of technology? It's even correcting all my misspelled words as I type! I love you iPhone.

Anyway there is something amiss with my blogging lately. I have been horrible about it. I still haven't even blogged about my trip to jersey. Wow! It was a great break away from reality. I legit felt like I was so far away from real life. Although I quite enjoy my life, it's still nice to get away once and awhile.

A few highlights:

Maddie is of course adorable and crazy as ever! My mom and I ventured into new York city which was an adventure. It's so huge it's unreal. Times Square looks so different in person. We went down to the jersey shore where I got to see te ocean and my aunts! We drank sonic drinks everyday, ate a lot of food, and even made Kingston a blanket! It was a great trip! Can't wait to go for Christmas with my hubs and our little baby!

Well that's all for tonight! Peace and blessings!

Upside Down

2011-03-28T22:15:00.001-06:00

I am currently listening to my itunes playlist entitled: County. Country makes me think of summer. It may be 30 degrees outside right now but I am trying to trick my mind into Summer Mode. I'm very excited for summer...mainly because I won't be pregnant anymore and I will have a baby to cuddle. Just gotta get through this spring hurdle.

Well, I'm bored and already packed for my trip to Jersey and Jon's still at work...so here are some random/recent pics.

Don't mind the water-heater in the back. And the awkward mirror flash. Do I even look prego?I think I just look fat. Not the best outfit for a prego belly pic but whatever...I'm huge!

I came home to Jon nesting...he put the crib up and tried to put together this baby stuff organizer thing...I had to put it together but I actually realized tonight that I put it together upside down. HAHAHA.

This is Jaxon. He loves Jon! Jon's going to be such a good dad!

I hope everyone is having a great Monday night. Life isnt the same without the Bachelor on Monday nights. I seriously didn't know what to do with myself. Dancing With the Stars does not cut it.

Peace and Blessings! Look forward to a post coming soon with Maddie pics!!! :)

Spring Break!

2011-03-26T18:55:00.000-06:00

So last week Jon and I went down to St. George with friends. It was nice to be in warmer weather for a few days. It was rough coming back home, but now I am officially on Spring Break for two weeks from school. Seriously, being a teacher is the best. I love my job, and I love the frequent breaks!

I leave for New Jersey on Tuesday to go see my parents! It's going to be nice to see them. Especially little Maddie. Its going to be SO funny for them to see me full on prego. Can't wait for Maddie to ask about the baby in my belly.

Not too long until I have this baby guys. Its just around the corner which is terrifying but SO exciting. I am so ready to see what Kingston looks like and what he's like. I mean, I know he's going to be so awesome and the cutest thing ever, but I'm just ready to meet him! Lately, he's been hurting me. He kicks pretty hard and it shocks me most every time. But oh how I love him. And I also love my sweet husband. Jon is going to be such a good dad. He talks about Kingston all the time and is so excited to be a dad. I got pretty lucky with him.

I recently bought a book called "Secrets of The Baby Whisperer". I started reading it today...its definitely making me feel a little more prepared to welcome our baby. There is a lot to know/a lot to know NOT to do with a new born baby.

Anyway, I am going to go do some organizing! I promise I'll post some pics next post. New Jersey trip/prego Meghan belly. Love!

Body Pillow

2011-02-26T13:26:00.000-07:00

Last night Jon and I went out with our usual group of friends. The best part of this group? All the girls are pregnant! ME, Katie, Shianne, and Niki are all at different stages of pregnancy but all of them have one kid already. So naturally, after spending hours at a child arcade with the little ones and getting a whoopie cushion with our tickets (typical jon and i, right?) we went back over to james and katies and ended up talking about giving birth. mainly because i'm freaking out and DREADING it. i mean seriously...ew. But after a few tears and a lot of reassuring i feel better. Thanks girls...it means the world to me. :)

SO I'm a week or so away from being 6 months prego and this means that sleep is getting rough. I can only sleep on my side, but I've been told to not even sleep on the right because of the sciatic nerve. So I've been tossing and turning a lot lately. But I purchased the most amazing thing ever....a BODY PILLOW! I mean in our queen bed, its kinda like sleeping with a small child but oh my does it work! I have slept SO much better since purchasing this gem. Its been two nights and I'm just glad someone came up with making a pillow as long as your body.

Eat Candy.

2011-02-17T21:33:00.000-07:00

It legit feels like 1AM. I am such a grandma.

I hope everyone's Valentine's Day was spent either a. with someone you love or b. eating candy of some sort. I luckily got to do both. I get to do both of those things everyday, but vday is just special. I got home from work to a home cooked meal, roses, drp in a wine glass (always classic) and a really cute hubby. Then I went and picked out my necklace I've wanted for awhile (the key necklace) and of course we wandered over to Target baby clothes section and picked out some cute things for our little King. THEN, of course, we went to Coldstone and ate some icecream. It was a perfect night.

My kids totally spoiled me at school. I got so much candy and treats it was AWESOME! I've been getting stuff all week!

Last night Jon came home with a HUGE flower arrangment for me. What the? It was so sweet.

Arent they pretty?!

I hope he didnt do it because he did something wrong....:) just kidding. The whole apartment smells of fresh flowers which is good for me because everyone knows my sense of smell is uncanny and I can smell everything. It makes for a nice break for my obsessive candle burning and air freshner spraying...hmm, maybe thats why Jon did it!

Oh, this just in: Katie and James are having a BOY!

Here are some random just enjoyable photos:

a couple weeks ago while getting ready to go out, Jon decided he wanted to "slick" his hair back. Awesome.

This is Jaxon on Halloween wearing Jon's wig.

This is Jon on Halloween. AWESOME! Somehow my pictures in the Oopa costume got deleted.....;)

Well that was fun. Goodnight!!!

1 Degree.

2011-02-02T21:30:00.000-07:00

So we have Netflicks hooked up to our Wii. (best invention ever) and I've been catching up on all the Grey's Anatomy that I've missed the past couple seasons. I cry or freak out every single episode. Like right now, this boy Jackson is currently dying and needs organs stat and just when his little machine was beeping saying he's seriously dying The Chief busts in and says "WE HAVE ORGANS!!!" oh crap, now hes coding. If he dies I'm going to cry....see this is what I'm talking about. I freak, I cry. Every time.

So as everyone knows (via facebook) it is literally cold everywhere. Utah has been fuuuuhhhhreeeezing. Like 1 degree. This means we havent been able to go outside for recess. Which means that Mrs. Stoddard has been driven crazy by her 21 seven year olds. Thank goodness tomorrow I have two doctor appts. so I'll be taking the day off from my crazy kids.

We get to see Kingston again tomorrow! I'm so excited. He's been so jumpy lately. Its really cool. I mean, the thought of being a mom is somewhat terrifying, but feeling him move around is kind of a miracle. I have a living thing inside me? I hope I'm a good mom.

Well I gotta move on to the next Grey's epi. Jackson made it by the way.

Love!

I'm a baby.

2011-01-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

I just finished cleaning the apartment and then I decided to open the window in our room because it's nice out and i discovered condensation all over the window/window sill and...MOLD!!!!!! I immediately freaked out, ran and got my rubber gloves and got to work. 25 paper towels later, it looks kinda better. EW, apartment living.

Jon and I are currently saving to buy a house. Our plan is to have our heeeeefffttty down payment by Octoberish and then we will buy a house at the end of the year/first of 2012! Isnt that so exciting? We are kinda like real grown ups. But with little King on the way, living in a one bedroom apartment just is NOT gonna cut it. He's not even here yet and theres no room for him. (ps, i just tried loading the ultrasound video on here but I dont get how...so just imagine a button nosed boy flipping and turning around)

Last night was funny. For many reasons. Ally and I talked for awhile. I facebook stalked people while we were on the phone then we started fb stalking ourselves. I decided my "body" prime was back in 2008 and then Ally decided the same thing. If you are friends with Ally on FB, go to her albums, go to PROM and look at picture number 2. She looks like a pagent winner. It's HILARIOUS. She also thought she was fat back then. WHAT THE?! But on a happy note, Ally has lost ten pounds! Isnt that awesome? I wont talk about my weight. I'm prego, it's a moot point.

Anyway, after Ally's and I's convo I needed to eat. Jon was working at the Jazz game, so I got in the car and drove erractically around looking for a Thai food place. FOUND ONE! Got some curry, came home and woofed it down. I am currently eating the leftovers for lunch. My pregnancy book says the baby will have a taste for the things that I eat from here on out. SO this is what Kingston will like: pop-tarts, thai food, soup, and popsicles. That's usually what I eat. Except lately I've been way into icecream. ICECREAM!! yuummm. I want an ice cream sandwich.

Last night Kingston was moving around a lot. It kinda freaked me out because it was random and he would just kick and it scared me then I would start laughing. Then Jon got home and I had a legit meltdown telling him about one of my students who cried golf ball sized tears yesterday when his mom didn't make it in time for our "Publishing Party" (the kids wrote stories and we invited the parents to come watch them read them). He clung on to me asking me why she didnt come. It was so sad. So I was bawling and then laughing at myself. Teaching is making me even more of a baby.

Well I should probably go watch some Grey's Anatomy while Jon's still working. Love you!

Don't Worry, I'm still Alive.

2011-01-27T22:45:00.000-07:00

So its Thursday night. 10:41 PM. This is the time that I usually get into bed, read a page of a pregnancy book, call Jon in to read scriptures and then it's lights out by 11. Yes, I am a grandma. But I wanted to post the following post:

This blog post was originally typed out on my blackberry while lying on my death bed. (I didn't have the strength to get my computer and turn it on)
I have been sick with the influenza since last wednesday. I blame it on two things: a profesh prenatal message I got that released tons of toxins into my body, and also my snot ridden 1st grades who sneeze on me. I blame the fact that I'm not better and its five days later on being prego. You really can't take any medicine because it could hurt the baby. So while I'd normally be popping flu meds and nyquil on the every four hour dot, I am laying on my bed with a cold towel on my head trying to extract the fever. Its not fun.
But on a brighter note, we got to see Kingston last week! I'm gonna try and see if I can figure out how to post the video they gave us on here. He looks so cute! He's huge! I can feel him moving around in my tummy every once and awhile. Its such a crazy feeling. I'm also stepping out of the awkward fat stage and looking legit prego...but only when I stick my belly out and walk like I just got off a horse...but it totally works!

Jon got a real man job and just finished his first week! He likes it so far, which is great! His schedule is pretty flexible too since he gets to make his own hours during the day, so I really like that. I will especially like that when the baby boy comes out! I plan on teaching for awhile so it really is a blessing that he found a job that is so flexible. We are pretty blessed.

I hope everyone Januarys were great, can u believe its almost February? I'm going to have to give birth soon....I'm terrified!

I have long hair.

2011-01-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

Happy 2011!!!!! I hope everyone's new years was great. Of COURSE a new year will make you reflect on the last and I did that, and realized how lucky I am. I married the perfect man for me, and now he's my baby daddy! I also got a great job AND my hair got super long this year too. It's legit cascading down my back now and I've said it before and I'll say it again, being in love makes your hair grow. Thank you JON. <3

Yikes, I can't believe it's already January 12th. Almost halfway through? Crazy. I am four and a half months pregnant. That's even crazier. People have asked me to post pictures of my prego belly. uhhhhh GROSS!! hahah. Honestly I'm just still at that awkward stage where I just look fat, but people probably wonder if i'm pregnant but don't want to ask because what if i'm not? Yeah...thats the stage I'm at.

My students are hilarious. Here's an example from today. One of my girls came up to me and told me she loves Justin Bieber. I asked her what song was her favorite and she spouted a couple off then told me she also likes David Enchilada. HAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAA. Youre welcome.

Love you!

happy holidays!

2010-12-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

Well, Jon's working tonight so I find myself blogging. But don't worry, I painted my nails first. :) I finally have time to!

I hope everyone's Christmas was wonderful. Mine was great! It was weird not being with my parents but we had a great day at Jon's family's house. Our first Christmas together as a married couple was perfect. I gave Jon too many sweaters and he gave me very thoughtful gifts. He remembers everything I say. Thanks babe!

OH AND Josie got engaged on Christmas Day!! YYAAAY! Her and Brad are planning on a June wedding and I am so excited for them both. I hope Kingston comes before the wedding day. My recent dreams depict him being super late and not wanting to come out. He's already been quite a handful and hes not even out of the womb yet. But I love him, the little poop.

Well, I dont have too much more to update. I'm loving my time off from those little 1st graders. In other news, I'm getting huge. And that's about it. PEACE and blessings.

NUMBER 68!

2010-12-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

I read that Ally has 103 blog posts and this is only my 68th. Ally hasnt had her blog as long as me. I'm a blog failure. So here I am, to make up for lost time/posts.

We went to Temple Square with Josie and Brad and here are a couple pics...they aren't the clearest of pictures but you know me and picture taking...i pretty much am the worst. I need to be better at it. OH! I did take pictures of my classroom...I sense another blog post! Yes!! Anyway, the lights at Temple Square literally are amazing. They are so romantical too.

Here are us four. I made Jon smile that huge.

Me and Jos :) I feel like I look prego....

True Personalities.

I LOVE this picture. Josie's face is straight up CLASSIC!

Well, that was fun. Oh, then I went to Temple Square with my young women and there was a proposal happening when we were there. It was so cute! He put coins in the fountain that said, "Will you marry me?" and it just brought back memories of o-so-long ago when Jonny asked me to be his forever. :)

I am very lucky to have him. Just the other night we were chatting with Jos and Brad and he told me to give them marriage advice..I was kinda like..uhhhh. Then i came up with "go to the temple". Jon then busted out, "Brad, just don't stop wooing Josie" Shoooo I got the best guy! He really is so sweet to me. He takes very good care of me, and you all know that has got to be hard sometimes. I'm a little crazy.

Well, entry number 68 is done. Love!

Who's gonna take care of us?

2010-12-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in forever! I've just been so busy these last couple weeks. UPDATE time!

Thanksgiving was great! We spent the day at Mom and Pop Stoddard's and had a delicious meal! I love Thanksgiving for a lot of reasons...but one main reason is this:

Yes I take my mashed potatoes in a seperate bowl if offered! YUM!

But all in all, we had a great break. Jon didn't have school, I didn't have school, we had some quality time together that I always love! But like all good things, break ended and now we are back to the grind.

I have made it through one full week and two days of 1st graders. I won't lie and say it's peaches and cream, cause honey it AIN'T! The kids went to afternoon recess after math today and I legit brokedown to one of my para's. (fancy word for aide). There is just SO much they don't know yet and this far in the year I am so scared that I won't teach them everything that they need. But tomorrow is another day and I will be okay. I did have one sweet girl, with fear in her eyes, say to me today, "When you have your baby, who's gonna take care of us?" Luckily I told her she wouldn't need to worry. That reminds me, I haven't even blogged that I'm prego. But since only four people read this they already know. I am due June 15th...the same day as a good friend of mine that I don't want to bust out on here incase she doesn't want me to. Speaking of pregnancy, morning sickness can strike at any moment. And I mean any moment. Day or night. Last week I threw up every. single. day. But I got some pills from the doc last night and they are CHARM workers. I love them. They may be for cancer patients (i looked it up) and may also help with insomnia and irrital bowl syndrome but whatevs, I'm sorta in love.

Well, my eyes are burning and this little bun in my oven wants some apple juice so I gotta go. KEEP CALM BECAUSE I'M CHUCK BASS

I need to paint my nails.

2010-11-15T21:32:00.000-07:00

I am embarrassed to report that I haven't painted my nails in at least three weeks. EW! Is this what being a grown up means? That I don't have the time/energy to paint my nails?

So here I am, laying on the couch listening to T.Swift's new CD and the thought crossed my mind, "dang Taylor, how many guys can you possibly love in the span it took to write this album?" Its like she loves every boy she talks to. Or maybe any boy that talks to her. But either way, her CD is legit and I'm excited to hear the song she writes about her and Jake Gyllenhaul's break up.

I've been oddly obsessed with the Elizabeth Smart trial going on right now in SLC. That creeper who kidnapped her is being tried right now, but he is seriously so weird. He keeps going to court and singing hymns really loud so that they have to remove him. He is TRYING to look insane but he knows exactly what he did! ewwww.

This weekend was fun! Ally came down from Idaho and we got to have some sister time! I love you Ally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I should go, I have a mountain of clothes to hang up and it's getting worse and worse by the day and I'm sure Jon hates me for it (but he would never say it)

Love!

Tis' the Season

2010-11-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

I am a holiday LOVER! As the weather is getting brisk and the snow is trying to fall, the holidays are just around the corner.. I will be listening to Christmas music starting right after Turkey day. And I can hardly wait! :) This Christmas will be a little different since I won't be with my parentals, or my sweet siblings, but I will be celebrating with Jon's side of the fam. I am excited to see their traditions and spend quality time with them! Jon and I will make the trek to New Jersey to be with my side of the family next year :)

I must comment on Conan. Holla on him being back. I am sad to admit that today as I sit on the couch it will only be the second epi that I've watched of my favorite tall red-headed man, but I promise I'm still a fan. (It's just been a really busy week, alright?!) But I'm glad he is back and loving his new gig!

I got called into the Young Women's presidentcy in my ward and man is it a BUSY bee calling. There are meetings, and activities ALL THE TIME! But I'm excited to work with the young women of the ward and I am starting to really appreciate all the hard work that my leaders did growing up to help me become a better person.

Hm, what else?

Sometimes Jon pretends he's in a boy band. My favorite is when he sings primary songs in the mirror while dancing like J.Timberlake. Or when he sings me songs in the car on our journeys. He's cute.

I'm also starting to have nightmares about being a teacher. November 29th is just around the corner and then I'm going to be the sole person responsibile to teach those little jems the things they need to know to go on to second grade. AH. Keep me in your prayers.

All my love.

I'm a REAL Teacher! :)

2010-11-05T22:31:00.000-06:00

SO guess what? I'm a real teacher. I accepted a position to be a 1st grade teacher in Salt Lake! I am SO excited. I start RIGHT AFTER student teaching ends. I am still in shock. Heavenly Father is definitely watching over Jon and I and we are so grateful.

I am going to miss my little 4th graders. Only two more weeks with them :( it's going to be sad to say goodbye.

But all in all, I'm very lucky. :)

New Header!

2010-10-29T23:39:00.000-06:00

NEW HEADER!!!

I love my wedding pics. Is it weird that I stare at them? Well, I do. I love them!

Things are good. The Mr. and I went and saw Paranormal Activity 2 tonight. It was freaky. Very freaky. Now we are sitting on the couch. Jon is watching basketball and I am blogging. We are SO married. :)

Tomorrow we are celebrating Halloween! James and Katie are having their annual party and we are going to blow everyone out of the water with how awesome/hilarious our costumes are. Pictures to follow. I also get to see Josie! She is in love, in case you wanted to know. Her and Brad are very cute and on cloud nine. I am very happy for her.

I got a call yesterday from a principal in the district asking me to come in for a job interview next week! I am SOOOOO excited. Mainly because I am dying to get paid to teach. I love it, don't get me wrong, but it's about time to get a paycheck for all the hard work.

Yesterday we celebrated Halloween at school. I went as a cupcake. The kids came with tons of candy and were seriously buzzed out. One kid ran around with a unicorn made out of his hand on his head making unicorn noises. It was classic. It was fun, but I'm not gonna lie, when I waved them goodbye I was fine with it.

Well, thats all for now.

love!

Danke (german for THANK YOU)

2010-10-17T22:27:00.000-06:00

I am a quote weirdo. Anyone who really knows me, knows that I look up quotes quite regularly and when I come across one I havent seen before (or havent needed to see) I just get SO excited. Here is a quote that I just saw and I LOVE:

"She wakes up in the morning with a smile on her face knowing that yesterday when she needed him, he was there and today when she looks for him... he'll be in the same place."

Its been an interesting couple of days, and as I sit here decompressing it all, I can't help but think how lucky I am. I married a wonderful guy. He is ALWAYS there.

DANKE booboo.

head cold.

2010-10-12T20:08:00.000-06:00

Being a teacher is one of my most favorite things ever. There are downsides that I am realizing to the teaching profession (other than the kids not being perfectly teachable like they tell you in college) the downside I am talking about here is how every side and inch of your immune system gets attacked. I have legit been sick with a cold since I started working at my beloved elementary school. Those kids sneeze right on me, breath their strand of cold and flu all over me and even leave their germs just floating in the air when they leave. DANG THEM! I am obsessed with my class, but not so much with this head cold.

That being said, my favorite thing ever is being married to Jon. As soon as I got home from work I went right to my bed and layed down. He came right in, gave me his plan of action to get me to feeling better, and left me to sleep for a little while. When I woke up, Gossip Girl was downloaded ready for me to watch, there was tomato soup on the stove and a very loving man smiling at me. I am very lucky to have him. He just gave me a dose of that nasty liquid cold medicine that he makes me take...but I know he only makes me because he loves me and knows that it will help me get better.

So here's to those 28 kids that sneeze on me daily so that I can come home and be taken care of by my caring husband who promises he doesn't think he's good enough for me. :)

love,
Mrs. Stoddard

NINERS

2010-09-20T21:55:00.000-06:00

Okay, someone should have warned me about getting married right before........FOOTBALL season. I am currently sitting on the couch next to my hubs. (hdksa <----happened mid slap....)Okay i had to stop typing there for a minute because the 49ers (his team) scored and he jumped up, screamed, ran toward me, jumped in the air,and high fived me (very hard i might add).

I'm scared. This is what just happened in my living room:

Lets hope those NINERS win or my boo is gonna be a 6'5 baby for at least an hour.

Man.Woman.Love.

2010-09-17T21:49:00.000-06:00

Jon and I's new obsession is: Man, Woman, Wild. It's a show on Discovery. A married couple go to random/crazy places around the world and survive together. It's pretty great. So yes, it's Friday night and we are sitting on the couch (both on our computers) watching our show. It's been a LONG week. We have been super busy and I couldnt be happier that we are staying in tonight to have some good quality time together.

Speaking of love, we made it a month!! I'm so glad that I get to be with Jon forever.

Student teaching is going so good. I LOVE my class. They are all so cute...especially the native spanish speaking child who calls me "Mrs. Doddard". :) I have met some great people during my experience so far and I am so blessed to be exactly where I am right now. I know that I am supposed to be a teacher, and it has been SO fun. The days fly by so fast. I'm so glad I found something that I like...and soon I'll get paid to do what I love!

I know God has a plan for us, and He guides us when we are choosing the right. There is absolutely nothing more important than serving the Lord and following the commandments that He has set out for us. Life isn't about things. It never has been. I am learning that more and more. I am so grateful for the testimony I have and how special the gospel is. Oh and I LOVE the temple. It's the BEST. Jon and I have been faithful and gone every week since I've been endowed. It has really helped us stay strong and happy.

This has been a random update but whatever! I am signing off to watch the rest of our show and then "The 19th Wife"....everyone that knows me knows I went through an FLDS stage...as in reading all about them...not practicing their beliefs (just wanted to clarify)...so i'm excited to watch this Lifetime (of course) movie.

Peace and blessings.

Mrs. Stoddard :)

ps, still waiting on wedding pics! Coming soon!!!!

Love Fern? Alright.

2010-08-29T00:03:00.000-06:00

A quick update:

Jonathan is the best husband ever. If I had a better memory I would be able to tell you all the sweet things he does for me....but my memory is seriously like a goldfish (i couldnt even remember what animal has a bad memory and i legit just had to google it) but heres a short list that hopefully won't gross you out TOO much. I know how hard it can be to wish you were in love. I'm just glad I am.

*He told me just last night that he wakes up in the morning and asks himself "how can i make meghan happy today?". I don't deserve him.
*He has made me dinner almost every night since we got married. So its only been two weeks but the man LOVES to do it for me. This makes him the best.
*He always reads more scriptures/church stuff AFTER we do our study together every night.
*He loves the temple and takes me there once a week.
*He puts up with me. (that takes a lot of patience)

My first week of student teaching is done. The students are cute and my teacher is a GREAT teacher and very nice. I'm lucky. Jon also started his last semester at the U this week too. I'm so proud of him. He's taking tons of credits and working for the Jazz (GO JAZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!) For now we will have a lot of time together but once basketball season rolls around, I'll just be staring at the TV screen waiting to see him and I'll have flashbacks of watching the game in my room in Rexburg waiting to see him....ew. Those were rough times. I'm glad those days are OVER.

ANWAYS,

Today was a good day. Josie came over, Jon made us steaks, and we got to catch up a little bit. I LOVE HER! After Josie left, Jonathan and I went to Lowe's to buy some nails to finish hanging up stuff in our love nest. While we were there we drifted over to the plant section and picked out a Love Fern. Heres a pic of our new plant. Jon is betting that it will be dead in a month. I'm determined to remember to water it and place her in the sun during the day. :)

HERE SHE IS!

Oh and heres a pic of our bed. Just thought yall would like to know where it the magic happens!

So, I know that you all are DYING to see wedding day pics. I know I am! I am waiting for the wonderful Shannon to edit them and send them my way! But in the mean time, here are a few teasers of the wedding day!

Jon and I coming out of the temple...MARRIED! :)

Our groomsmen/bridesmaids! :)

This picture is hilarious...but check out my hot parents in the background! lookin GOOD!

This is when Jon and I were leaving for the Park City. Maddie wanted to know where I was going. :)

Alright, its time to get offline. Jon's currently playing cards by himself, patiently waiting for me to get done blogging. I gotta hang out with the boo. :) peace.

The Stoddard's

2010-08-18T23:16:00.000-06:00

Well WE DID IT! We made it to that never-seeming-to-come-AUGUST 14th! It has been a crazy couple of weeks. Just a quick re-cap unless you didn't know what happened to me ONE week before the wedding...

So, I was feeling out of sorts about ten days before the wedding. I would walk across the room or up some stairs and be completely out of breath. Not that I'm in the best shape ever but I was so weirded out because I know I'm not THAT obese. I shouldnt be walking around the apartment not being able to breathe. So I went to the doctor. He decided that I probably jolted my rib cage cartiledge or something like that. The only thing I would think of that could have broken my ribs would be Wii Sports. Doubted it. He had me take some blood tests just in case. The next day he called me in to get an ultrasound on my legs because my blood work came back "high" whatever that means. The ultrasound doc told me that they were looking for clots in my legs. This immediately made me freak because the only thing I knew about blood clots was that if you had them you had to get surgery immediately (this info came from Jon...he had just had a class lecture about clots...) anyway, they didnt find anything in my legs. So the next day the doctor wanted me to get a CT scan on my chest. Low and behold, there were about ten blood clots in each of my lungs! I pretty much wigged out and jon did too. We started crying in the waiting room and the thought that I was going to die flashed through my mind. I was immediately admitted to the hospital. After the doctor came by and explained the process of de-clotting my blog (no surgery needed) we all calmed down and felt much better. I spent two days in the hospital decotting my lungs...accompanied by my sweet Jon the entire time. I was released with shots (that Jon had to give me) and meds that I have to take for the next six months of my life. But all in all, it was just a little hitch in the plan. Seven days later, Jon and I went to the Salt Lake Temple and GOT MARRIED! The wedding day was perfect. We were surrounded by our families and friends and it was a celebration to remember. I was told tonight that our wedding was the best they've ever been to! HOLLA!!!!

Jon took me to Park City for a couple nights before I had to be back for student teaching. He got one of the best hotel rooms there! It was so nice and HUGE! It was a perfect way to spend our first nights as a married couple.

As I was preparing to write this entry I came across this funny marriage quote:

"I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life." ~Rita Rudner

I am probably pretty annoying to Jon as I leave my clothes on the floor sometimes (all the time) and my make-up sometimes makes it all over the bathroom counter.

Jon on the other hand is a dream. I came home from a LONG day of planning and parent teacher conferences tonight to a full on steak dinner. He's a great husband, which is weird for me to say still. But he really is the perfect one for me. He is kind and thoughtful and very smart.

Also, married people activities are really fun....;)

Well, thats all for now. Signing off for the first time as:

Mrs. Stoddard!

Peace and blessings!

13 days and I'm WEDDED!

2010-08-01T21:05:00.000-06:00

Well the wedding day is fast approaching! 13 more days! Its crazy how fast the past few months have gone. I mean you are reading a college graduates blog right now! I did it. FINALLY! I am so happy to be finished. It's a great feeling.

My mom and Mads arrive on WEDNESDAY! SO excited to see them. We still have a little bit of planning to do for the special day...just decorating stuff and little things like, but other than that, we are READY!

I'm currently trying to figure out how to wear my hair for the wedding. Its a hard task let me tell you. But I have the BEST hair dresser ever, KATIE! She is going to make sure I look amazing that day. :)

Jon and I have both had some weird wedding dreams/nightmares lately. It's funny what your subconscious worries about...Jon's involved nobody coming to the wedding and mine was some crazy temple dream where i was chasing my mom all around the temple trying to find the sealing room! hahaha. It's just time that this wedding comes and goes so we can get into a normal routine. I'm very excited to never have to be apart from my sweet sweet man.

I start teaching on the 18th of August. YIKES! I haven't been able to put a lot of thought into just because I've been SO busy working on my wedding tan. :) But I feel very prepared! 4th graders, here I come!

What else...I'm just really happy. Really really happy!

I'm so excited to see friends that I havent seen in so long!! My wedding day is pretty much a huge reunion/party! HOLLA! Cannot wait!

Peace and blessing my loves!

The Countdown...

2010-07-13T19:18:00.000-06:00

Well another weekend came and gone. I went to Utah AGAIN this weekend. I wish Jon would come here...EVER! My car's air conditioning also decided to stop working when I was driving down at 1pm...the hottest part of the day. When I finally got to his house, Jonathan decided to spray me with febreeze. thats how bad it was. So my car is currently in the shop getting fixed. I can't handle no AC. How do people do it? I'll never know. ANYWAY back to the weekend...

Saturday Jon and I woke up, ran (he worked me OVER), and then headed off to the daunting task of finding an apartment. It was so funny because here I was in Rexburg looking for apartments online and there seemed to be a promising one near the U. So we show up there....probably the most ghetto place in SLC. No joke. I dont even think Jon would be able to walk standing straight up. It was tiny and weird. We ended up going back to one of the first places we looked at a couple months ago. It's perfect! It's about three minutes from the school I'll be teaching at this fall! That was a big check mark off our list! If you need me between the dates of July 24th-August 13th I'll be tanning at this pool:

(this is our apartment's pool)

On Sunday, Jonathan's brother Josh had his homecoming talk and in complete Utah style, we gave him a luncheon after sacrament. I met some of Jon's family that I hadn't yet which was nice. After the waves of people came through and all the clean up was done, we played HORSE again. This time Anthony's (Jon's bro) fiancee Sherstin played with us. We all sucked it up for some reason. Before we started playing we noticed bees flying all over the hoop. All four of the Stoddard boys went in seperate directions and got something they thought would get rid of the bee's nest. All of them came back with some sort of fire power. Jon decided that hairspray and a lighter would blow the bees out. It was a hilarious sight to see. Finally all the bees left, and only Josh got stung. Thank goodness it wasn't me, you know I was freaking out the whole time saying I was allergic. Bees are my arch enemy.

This is my biggest fear, what is wrong with this person?

So now I'm back in Rexburg. I have a week and one day until I'm done with my last semester and this town! I'm currently packing up my loads of stuff. It's bittersweet but very exciting. I was going through old papers and came across a note that Steph and I wrote in one of our classes. We had just became friends and the note was so funny. Some of my best memories of Rexburg involve her. It just hasnt been the same around here since she left. Steph, please move to Utah. That's all.

I got my second Praxis score back today! I scored high enough to get a Recognition of Excellence. I'm just glad that is all over so I can student teach and look for a job!

30 Days Until We Say I Do! I made my endowment session appointment today! I'm so excited.

This is the temple in South Jordan where I will become an endowed member of the church! To find out more on this visit here :)

I hope everyone's week is going good, keep calm and carry on!

The 4th :)

2010-07-07T16:38:00.000-06:00

Ahhhh Fourth of July weekend was a much needed vacation away from school! Thursday night Jon came up and we went and saw Eclipse on Friday. Then we headed down to Utah to celebrate our Nation's Freedom! The weekend was packed full mostly of doing our wedding invitations. (Look for them coming soon) We also got to see James, Katie and Jaxon :) Matt and Alex, and most importantly spend quality time with the Stoddard side of the family. Jon's youngest brother, Josh, got home from his mission in Texas last week so we got to hang out with him. Sunday we all played a rousing game of HORSE....so in other words Jon got to see how bad I am at basketball, and he got to show me how sexy he is on the court :) Sunday night we shot off fireworks in the front yard (a Stoddard tradition) I LOVED IT! I love fireworks. All in all it was a great weekend. Now we have two and a half weeks left of school. I can't believe I am almost graduated and married. This semester has gone by so fast. :)

Integrity.

2010-06-30T22:32:00.000-06:00

SO that title on my last blog is totally wrong. My counting was off. NOW it's 43 days. I think....let me check. okay it's 44. Thats kind of a bummer. But it's fine. Soon I'll be married for all eternity!

Well this week has been...interesting. While searching my holliesquotes page I came across a quote that I love and think is relevant for this week. It says: "Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful". - Samuel Johnson. I love this because I think that integrity and knowledge are two very important aspects that we will be able to bring in front of our Maker and claim we have. Both will help crown us with glory to live with God forever. Lack thereof will leave you alone, and lost. To have both together will make you happy, secure, and an overall good person. I for one, want to strive to be fair, truthful, stand up for what i believe in, and be honored because I took life, the gospel, and my own personal integrity serious.

This may be a rant, but whatever. I'm just not a fan of people with no integrity. Liars ruin lives all around them. But the worst and saddest part of all is...they singlehandedly ruin their own.

44 days? Alright.

2010-06-23T19:39:00.000-06:00

With only five weeks left of school, I'm finally getting a handle on everything. I only teach my little summer school children for one more week. Then it's finals time and then its moving time. Then it's wedding time, then its marriage for eternity time. :) im so very excited. I know I talk/blog about it constantly and its probably getting old, but this is the only time I'll be able to bask in the joy of engagement! So just bear with me...44 more days until I marry my best friend. Its getting closer and closer.

Josie is coming up this weekend! I'm so excited! It's been forever since she's been up. Hopefully the weather is nice so we can be outside and enjoy it :)

Well happy Wednesday! Love yall.

I'm Happy.

2010-06-21T20:50:00.000-06:00

So this weekend was full of some great memories and MUCH needed time with my wonderful Jon. Saturday I had my bridal shower!A big thank you goes out to Janine Barker and Court for opening their home to us so that I could have a wonderful shower! :) I got some amazing gifts and was surrounded by people that love me. Thanks girls :) After the shower Jon and I went with our photographer Shannon to take our engagement pictures!...(to see her amazing work please click here :) ) She did a wonderful job, and its honestly going to be hard to pick out the picture to send out.

Here are a couple of my favs that Shannon took. Basically, I'm in love and super happy. Enjoy :)

The one of the left is hilarious because we were literally standing in trash. We are hardcore nerds in the one on the right. AHHHH how I love my boyfriend.

He just looks so happy to be next to me. I'm lucky :)

I love Jon's little jump here!

I look good, eh?

I'm the happiest girl ever. AHHHH

I LOVE THESE!!!!!!

Oh Vincent.

2010-06-12T22:32:00.000-06:00

The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore. --Vincent Van Gogh

That quote being said.. the Praxis has been taken and I cannot even tell you if I passed. The first one was "content knowledge". Meaning the most random questions from science, social studies, math and language arts. One question was "what president of the U.S. was an environmental conservationist? THE FUH?! The second test was all about different teaching strategies and the answers were all in essay form. my hand still hurts. But its done and thats good.....and in four weeks we'll find out if i have to go through it all over again. But just like Van Gogh said, the storm will be worth the journey. One day I will be a real teacher that touches lives...despite how hard the sea rocks me on the way. It's my destiny!

Wow, this post is corny. This is my procratinating my sunday school lesson. :)

If you want to laugh instead of being bored by my blog entry today check out Jon's post today on our blog. HERE. It's hilarious.

CRINK

2010-06-08T22:35:00.000-06:00

I woke up this morning with a crink in my neck. But I do want to say that I didn't complain too much (which is completely out of character for me) I mean Ally probably got the worst of it, but Jon got like one text about it and I didn't even cry or TRY milk it. Maybe because I had SO much to do today. I was on campus longer than I have been all semester (which really isnt saying much). I went to the testing center a total of three times. WHAT? That dang math class. ANYWAY, just wanted to post this hilarious pic of none other than the beautiful Julia Roberts. Whenever I hurt my neck I think of this....

I need to invest in one of these to make people pity me more. Because then maybe they'll buy me a horkley's... :)

On another note....Jon and I are down to 66 days. I can't believe it's almost two months! It's going SO FAST! yesssss.

I have to take my HUGE and VERY IMPORTANT teaching test this Saturday. I am pretty nervous but lets all send me some good vibes...please? and thank you!

Heres a great quote for yall to ponder on: "Avoiding problems you need to face is avoiding the life you need to live." Solid eh? None other than Jessica Simpson tweeted that today. (thanks for the quote Al) It has absolutely nothing to do with my blog subject tonight, but it's not often that someone shares with me a quote I haven't heard before...yeah i'm that much of a quote FREAK. So I just wanted to document it.

Okay, my pain meds are starting to kick in, so it's time to call my boo and hit the sack. PEACE AND BLESSINGS, PEACE AND BLESSINGS. (if you dont know where that is from...shame on you...but you can find the hilarious video HERE! )

LOVE YALL! :)

missing my boo.

2010-06-07T22:50:00.000-06:00

this is just how i feel tonight.

Here.

2010-06-05T00:09:00.000-06:00

Seriously, Rexburg is the lamest place on earth. And I say that with a lot of love in my heart because this town has been my home for five years now. I mean, I HAVE had some fun times here. I really am who I am today because of this "lame" place. I have been a 19 year old girl here (that was fun) I have been to countless dance parties here (which pretty much ended once my all time favorite dance partner, Josie, abandoned me for Utah) I have ran around the parks and hills throwing water balloons at people, I have ran from the cops here (legit), I have made my best friends here, I have fallen in love here, I have cried here, I have gained my testimony here, I have watched more movies here than anywhere in my entire life, I have read here, I have gotten more parking tickets here than anyone ever has (except the cooper twins), I have been academically, spiritual, and emotionally challenged here, I have been bored here, I have been cold here more than hot, I have laughed until I peed my pants here, I have been heartbroken here, I have been the happiest I have ever been here (when Jon visits), and now I am planning a wedding/looking for apartments/missing jon/DYING to leave here.

Wow, I have done a lot here! I really do love Rexburg. There is something about seeing that beautiful temple as I come up the road from a visit elsewhere. This place has been where I have grown into a pretty legit woman if I do say so myself.

WORD.

A Trip to Remember.

2010-06-01T20:30:00.001-06:00

So for the long weekend that Memorial day graced us with this year, Jon and I decided to go to SAN FRANCISCO!!! Jon had been a few times, but this was going to be my FIRST TIME! I was so excited....and when we got to the BEAUTIFUL city of San Fran, I couldn't wait to sight-see and be a complete and total tourist. It was awesome seeing the Golden Gate Bridge in person. It's huge! (thats what she said) The city is jam packed with people and places and food and homeless men and weed and hills and shopping and trash and the best ice cream ever and trader joe's and long lines everywhere and the best weather and pixar and indian food and brian and jane and another weekend of falling in love with my best friend. Overall it was a BLAST! Check out some picture highlights of our trip!

We went to Pixar. Nick (the man in this picture) works there and hooked us up with a legit tour. We saw behind the scenes stuff that probably none of you will ever see...HAHAHA.

Jon's a toy.

Oh how I love my boo.

I was a six year old.

Ally and I. Where is HE looking?!

The following are The Big Chair pics!

Berkeley, CA. from the rooftops. So pretty.

This is Jon's "protectant" face. There were some bums yelling.

Great picture of jon and i...and the street.

We went to the famous Farmer's Market

Rachel on my back. She's my child.

Asian tourist peace signs.

The TROLLEY!

Ally in a trashcan. To see the whole story...visit her blog http://www.allym-heyyall.blogspot.com/

Oh here we are looking like children...but REAL cute!

This is a picture of a four mile long park called The Golden Gate Park. It's full of playgrounds, gardens, sports fields and most important...CRAZIES. See that red sweatshirted man by the sidewalk? He was HYSTERICAL! He played what he called "asphalt golf". He apparently created it and Jon and I watched him play it for about an hour. It never got old. I could've stayed there all day. He had some choice words for the golf ball as it rolled on the bumpy pavement to a hole donned with a flag.

It was a great trip. Now I'm back at school...8 more weeks! I can do it...right?!

Quote of my LIFE!

2010-05-23T10:16:00.001-06:00

While browsing my favorite quote page today I came across this one:

One day you will meet someone,

And you know that whatever you did before,
It must have been right...
Because nothing you've done could be too bad,
Or have gone too far wrong,
Because it led you to this person.

I was reading my journal the other day and I actually wrote a month or so before I met Jon that I was worried that maybe I missed him. Maybe I had dated someone else when I should have been single ready for the one to find me....I was kinda freaking out that I had made too many mistakes or something. But then, that perfect summer day...I met him. Cue: todays quote.

Thank goodness.

Oh look, We're the same person. LOVE HIM!!

LUCKY LUCY.

2010-05-21T21:47:00.000-06:00

Blogging two days in a row?

Well it's Friday night, Jon's three hours away and I have nothing do to. Actually I have a weekend TODO this of about seventeen things, but it's been a long week and I'm just not into doing anything having to do with school tonight.

I am embarassed that I never tell my funny 2nd grader stories. Mainly they all have to do with farts. But today a sweet little boy told me he loved me as he hugged me and told me I was the best and prettiest teacher he's ever had. The crazy week of planning and teaching and being tired was payed off with that sweet remark. There's nothing like a seven year old telling you he loves you because youre his teacher. It's such a rewarding profession. I'm lucky.

I hope everyone's weeks were great. Get some sleep this weekend....cause thats what I'm gonna do! :)

ps, i get married in 82 days. HOLLA!

Life.

2010-05-20T20:36:00.000-06:00

I'm about ready to be done with school and married. Decorate our tiny apartment, only clean up after him and I, blog more, sleep more, do married people "stuff", but most importantly I'm just excited to be with Jon all the time.

Yesterday Lorraine Ricker passed away. She was the mom that pretty much everyone loved. I remember going over to her house in high school during my early release period and she would have a snack ready for Alan and I. She was always laughing, always loud, and always in a good mood. Ally and I were talking about how we never saw her moody or anything. I am sad to say that when Jon came to Texas I didn't bring him over to meet her. After I got back to Idaho my dad told me he had seen the Ricker's and she told my dad to scold me for not having him over so she could approve of him. hahaha. She will be missed. I love you Lorraine! I'm glad we have you to watch over us until we meet again....

So lately I've been stalking craft blogs like mad, I have this dresser that I'm in the process of painting. I'm adding some knobs as well. I love crafting! It's so relaxing and SO wife-like! hahahhaa. I'll be posting pics of the finished product :)

I got my student teaching placement! I'll be teaching 5th grade at Fremont Elementary in Salt Lake. I'm sorta nervous about 5th grade because I have never been in an older classroom, but I NEED the experience and I'm very very excited! I've been SO lucky so far with getting great cooperating teachers...I hope my luck doesn't run out. Teaching is my passion. I've grown so much just this semester with my skills in the classroom. I have learned a lot and Heavenly Father is blessing me with the tme, ability, and confidence that I CAN teach and I will be able to get a job and make a difference in at least one child's life..

Well I better get back to my dresser! I hope everyone is having an amazing week. Peace in the middle east.

Happy.

2010-05-08T13:00:00.000-06:00

So I was stalking Stephj's blog and saw this "shabbychic" blog thing and so i started browsing and found my current flower background...i HAD to use it because it's called "Megan". I immediately knew it was fate.

It's a beautiful Saturday morning. Well it's 12:15pm so i guess it's the afternoon, but whatever. Waking up at 6am everyday during the week is making it impossible for me to sleep past 8 on the weekends! GAY! But it's probably fine because I have already gotten all my laundry done, and started working on my lesson for sunday school tomorrow.

I'm just really happy.

(but look semi-creep in this pic)

and it's probably because I wear this everyday:

and its so much more than a ring to me.

Me and My Boo! (he's now mustache free)

With Jaxon (James and Katie's adorable son) Jon's gonna be such a good dad! (when the time is right PEOPLE)

Me Mads and Jon just loving each other!!

98 more days til we are rollin up and getting married HERE!

UM, how cute are Mom and Maddie? Miss you!

WELL you can probably tell that I learned how to include pictures in a post today! haha. ENJOY! Have a great weekend. Love yall.

The Apple to My Hazel Eyes.

2010-05-02T22:16:00.000-06:00

One annoying thing: My lamp light flickers.

SO I used to be sad because I lost my camera charger...then I saw that my roommate has the same one! YESSS. That does still mean I'll have to get a new one at the end of summer, but until then: CHARGE ON CAMERA, Charge on!!!

This Saturday was so amazing. I decided to go to Idaho Falls to get my ring cleaned and do some shopping with my sis and a couple friends. So we're at the ring store and I turn around and BAM, there's the love of my life, the apple to my eye (whatever that means), the reason I wake up happy every.day. JON!!!!!!!! We havent seen each other in two long weeks, so he decided to surprise me. It comes as a complete shock that Ally kept this a secret....

We didn't do anything special, especially because I live in Rexburg, but as we were cuddling that night after watching a movie, I looked at him and fell a little more in love. And a strong wave of emotion ran through me and I thought: "He's The One." I know it! I mean I've always known it, but just like our testimonies, we go through times when Heavenly Father blesses us with a clarity-of-mind experience. This was the kind that made my heart flutter and my love grow for this wonderful man I'm so lucky to have met and fall in love with. It was a very special moment for me. So I thought I'd blog it.

Hope everyone's week goes well! God bless. I love you.

THE LAST SEMESTER!!

2010-04-18T18:56:00.000-06:00

Well, I made it back to Rexburg. School doesnt start until Tuesday SO at least I can blog a little bit, and hopefully finish the book I'm currently reading. (Catching Fire...the second book after The Hunger Games) If you havent read The Hunger Games yet, GET ON IT! Seriously, just do it, you won't regret it.

But being back here is just fine. Luckily I have my little sis here and some fun girls to live with for the semester. But I am totally missing Jon. A lot more than I thought I would. Guess it's real love I'm dealing with here...I'm so lucky. We skyped today, HILARIOUS. I had the genius idea to just always be skyping so its like we are always together! It totally makes sense. He just made fun of me. BOYS! ;)

I can't believe I only have ONE SEMESTER left of classes. I feel like I shouldve been done a loooong time ago, but I was never ready. Now I am. It's gonna be a stressful semester, but I'm excited to get it going and done! One step closer to being a real teacher :)

Today in church we were talking about when Moses was stuck in the wilderness with the escaped slaves. They were murmuring (which by the way did you know that if you murmer it deteriorates your MEMORY?! just fyi) but anyway they were complaining about not having any food, and Moses prayed to the Lord and the Lord sent manna. This was not what the people were expecting. Oftentimes our own lives are like that. We experience a trial, get a result, and wonder why we are recieving that particular blessing. But it's not because Heavenly Father doesnt want to give us exactly what we want, it's just that He blesses us with exactly what we need. He always will. That lesson was a good reminder to me, that although I've had my struggles (I know me? struggle? WEIRD) I have been so blessed. Exactly what i need, exactly when I've needed it. The Lord Loves Us. SO much. He will never leave us alone. He will neve forsake us. He is very quick to forgive (thank goodness). He shines when we choose the right. I just hope that I can be continue becoming the woman He knows I am.

Thats all. :)

Vegas? ALRIGHT

2010-03-24T14:59:00.001-06:00

Well HELLO! I'm supposed to be packing my room up, but the blog world is calling me! shhhh dont tell Jon.

This weekend Jon and I are going to Saint George with a couple other marrieds. It's funny because pretty much everyone we hang out with is married already. I'm just jealous. But anyway, we are staying at a condo there and we are even hitting up VEGAS!!!! holllla. I'm kinda hoping im a complete natural at gambling and walk away from the craps table with like a million dollars or something. hahhaa, i'm just excited for a little vacay :)

I went to Rexburg this past weekend. It was fun! I love Ally SO much.

Well, Ellen's about to come on and I need to get ready to go see my BOO!!! PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!

ps, do you love my new header? Thanks Stephj :)

Time To Grow Up

2010-03-18T13:02:00.000-06:00

It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are. - E. E. Cummings

I love that quote. Mainly because it is SO true. Choosing the right can be challenging sometimes. More like all the time. I guess because I'm getting married I am thinking more about this kinda stuff. I mean before we know it, I'm gonna be a prego woman walking around about to give birth to a child that needs ME to be a great mom. The kind of mom that teaches, guides, and expects the best from them. ehhhhh. freaky.

Also, forgiveness is a really important aspect about life.

Anyway, so I'm thinking about getting hair extensions...would i look like a total freak? I'm just not sold 100% on them because I dont want to end up looking like Vienna did on The Bachelor. EW!

I never blogged about my parents selling the house in Texas and finding a place in Jersey! SO exciting. :)

Well im gonna start packing...I'm moving out of my apartment and in with one of the coolest ladies i know! Her name is Becky! She writes a column for mormontimes...check it out at http://www.mormontimes.com/ her column is called "The Unexpected Life". LEGIT! :)

Gaga for Gaga

2010-03-17T23:55:00.001-06:00

I just ate five laffy taffy's...TIME TO BLOG! A commercial for the iphone is on right now...they advertise an app that turns on and off your lights in your house FROM YOUR PHONE. is that even possible? if they had that back in the day Kevin would never have been left "Home Alone" that Christmas.

Today was good. Slept til NOON...went to work, talked to ally and my mom, bought the newest Cosmo just because Lady Gaga was on the cover, talked to Stephie (the best header-maker EVER), and now im watching The Real World DC waiting for my boo to call me.

Speaking of Lady Gaga...her and Beyonce's Telephone video is seriously insane. To see it you have to go to http://www.vevo.com/ and search for Telephone. YouTube isnt even showing it...thats how scandelous it is. Lady Gaga reminds me of how I felt about Michael Jackson. I just want to strip them down from all their craziness and stare at them to see what they REALLY look like.

Im heading up to Rexburg this weekend to see Ally! Also to get some shorts out of my storage because Utah is getting awesome and spring is on its way. :) I'm excited to be surrounded by friends this weekend. Although I have my sweet, wonderful, perfect Jon here, I do miss my friends in Rexburg and the familiarity of being there. AND Ally just started kinda dating a guy and I would like to meet him and measure his worthiness...:)

Until the next time...

what up utah?

2010-02-27T16:57:00.000-07:00

Well, a good friend kindly reminded me that it was time for me to "turn down the suck" and update! So here I am with my latest and greatest...

The point of this blog is to express how I feel about living in Utah. I Love It!

Living in Utah is great. I love this state, I really do. I'm not the biggest fan of Provo, but she gets the job done. I have a pretty great job (tanning salon) who doesnt love getting their tan on? The girls are all super nice and the hours are great as well. I do miss my work friends back in Idaho...like that was really work...but im doing just fine.

Living in Utah is also great because I get to see Jon a lot! We spent the whole day together yesterday and it was amazing. We have so much fun together. Doing errands are even fun with him. It's just so nice being this happy. I hope it never ends!

Being away from Ally is quite annoying, i miss her a lot. I also miss Stephie. I just miss my girls. Its hard to come home to a somewhat stinky, lonely apartment. I miss being all up in each other's business. :)

Hmmm what else? The wedding planning is coming along...we've made lists and stuff and we are getting ideas of what we want. I am constantly looking at bridal blogs and mags and just getting SO excited! Nothing can be completely solidified until summer because we can't book places or buy stuff right now. I did find a GORGEOUS dress that I love. I'm a little huge though so I gotta shed some lbs, but im working on it...I stopped drinking soda..CRAZY, i know, but i did it. I feel skinnier kinda..and my gas is almost completely gone...WEIRD!!! I think thats probably a good thing...

My dad moved to NJ. Mom and Mads will be moving up there soon enough. I am way pumped! I think that it will be nice to be closer to family. Also, Jon and I are way pumped because we are gonna come for Christmas this year and that means we both get to experience NYC together for the first time :) Im excited for my parents and their new adventure.

Wow, this post is long and kinda boring. But I wanted to mention something else...how crazy is the world right now? Haiti, now Chile and the tsumani scares? Signs of the times. Just do the things you know to be right and you will be blessed. God loves us. He wants us to succeed. Don't let those praying knees get lazy.

until the next time. :)

2010-01-03T18:10:00.000-07:00

2010-01-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

2010-01-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

oh hey, I'm engaged!

2010-01-03T17:24:00.000-07:00

this most definitely needs to be updated! SOOOOOOO.....Jon popped the question! I said yes!! I am officially engaged to the love of my life!!!! I am so happy.

Its only natural to think back in time and see how much the present isn't at all what you imagined it would be. A year ago I was in such a different state of mind about love and when Jon and I met, I was still apprehensive that it was a feeling that could last. I was definitely scared to commit at first because I have been hurt a lot. But he was so consistent and as everyone says when you meet the one, "you just know". its so true. :)

we are planning on an August wedding since I'll be graduating in July! It's gonna be a celebration to remember! I'll keep yall posted!!

here are some pics of jon and I, oh and the gorgeous ring he got me :)

The Important Things

2009-12-12T14:44:00.000-07:00

WHOA, THE SEMESTER IS OVER IN ONE WEEK!!!

A LOT has happened. Like: I surprised my family and went to Texas, I started gaining my "winter coat", I laughed til I cried (mainly with Steph), I said goodbye to crappy friends and their non-stop drama, I ripped off my eyelash extensions (resulted in stubs) but they are growing back :), I slipped and almost broke my ankle on the Rexburg ice, I failed e v e r y single math test I took, I drank one plus Horkley's a day, I realized what a good friend is, I got mystic tanned (soo classic), I realized that some people never change, I decided that nobody's idea of me means more than God's, I realized that when Conan O'Brian stops his show my life will be imcomplete, BUT most importantly, I fell in love with Jonathan Stoddard.

Another thing I learned is that life isn't

ever

going

to be perfect,

but it can be pretty close. I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father who blesses me ten-fold when I try my best to follow Him. I have learned that life works out just the way it's supposed to.

Thank goodness.

I hope everyone's holiday season is full of family, friends, and the realization that life is a blessing. Don't take it for granted. Live life the way YOU want to live it; that is the only true key to happiness.

That and fudge. :)

Sick Mullin's

2009-10-06T17:56:00.000-06:00

Something kind of funny to imagine is my whole family having the flu at the same time. its happening right now...i'm glad im in idaho, but I kinda wish I was there (not sick of course) to see this, document it with live footage, and make everlasting memories. I get my sick attitude from my mom. If I feel any ounce of sickness I immediately tell everyone "i'm sick" and need a million things from them. Mainly a sprite (only to be drank when sick), a blankie, or probably everyone's favorite to "hold my hand". I'm pretty bad, but my mom is even worse. ahhhhahhaa. Sorry Fam, I wish I was there to help you out. :)

It snowed in Rexburg yesterday. It melted. Thank goodness.

It's gonna be a LONG winter.

Well thats all I have for now. GET WELL SOON FAMILY. Oh and Watch NIENIE tomorrow on Oprah. If you havent checked her blog out, please do! www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com. She is my personal hero, legit.

2009 is ending good

2009-09-30T17:43:00.000-06:00

Lindsey and Nate totally hit it off! Yes, I am currently self-proclaiming the title of Best MatchMaker 2009. They get along so great and it makes my heart soar! They were both over at my apartment this weekend to celebrate my birthday and they are so hot together. Pictures to come....

Another awesome thing, I finally roped in a boyfriend. His name is Jonathan and he makes me laugh really hard. I mean I've had a rough run ladies and gentlemen, from a mission-waiting experience gone completely wrong, wondering why only weird guys asked me out, to unrequited love, and a couple broken hearts on both ends along the way, as silly as it sounds, I was wondering when something, anything would work out in my favor! ahhh he's great. I mean, who doesnt want someone awesome to be obsessed with them? I'm obsessed with him too....

Also, I really miss my little sister, Ally. Seriously. Idaho is bouncing into winter rather quickly and I always have a cold and she's not here to go get me a drink!

You know what I just thought? 2009 is ending a lot better than it started.

I Love Love!

2009-09-02T20:36:00.000-06:00

So I havent been funny in awhile...lame! Ive just been struggling lately. But hopefully after this weekend I'll have a funny story or two to tell because I'm trying my hand at...MATCHMAKING!! My friends Lindsey and Nate are metting and it is about time because I personally think they will be perfect for each other! :) if any of you know them you know they are very passionate and full of life...to put it the best way. This could be terrible, or this could be great! but seriously, look she even brought him a barbie cake! match made in heaven..yes!

I'm excited! I LOVE love (thank you The Format) and I want people to be in it. :)

ps, anyone wanna spot me a grand for school this semester? that would be awesome, i accept personal checks, money orders, and cash! thanks :)

Call me Julia

2009-08-31T12:45:00.000-06:00

Here she is. The book I've decided to get. I will be working my way through this book. It'll take years I'm sure! But I'm going to master the art of cooking! It's time.

Shoot for the stars my friends.

2009-08-30T00:34:00.000-06:00

my friends know im emo. alright, i really am. im that one person crying when the winner gets selected for Idol, or the lone ranger in the theater during Transformers who's crying when shia finally tells megan fox he loves her. (but seriously that was the best "i love you" ever.) im like Peyton from One Tree Hill but with no real reason to be. i mean my mom is still alive and my dad doesnt travel the sea on boat. no wonder i always found her annoying....shes my emotional twin....

so tonight my friend and i went to dinner. hes real into CIA stuff, ya know? like the kind where you kill the bad guy with a sniper gun from the top of some building. and as we were talking about that i realized that he was made to be into that and I was made to be emotional, and i have to embrace that i have always been this way. it has it's pros for sure...like growing up if i wanted something BAM, tears. If i want something now, BAM, tears. haha, not really but the emotional play up can come into handy. i just need to learn how to hone this power in better when dealing with the boys. i'm "shady" as they say, and its probably because i cant say "i like you" which could be extremely confusing considering my dating track record. i just come home and get my pink spiral with hearts all over it out and write about how i like how they make fun of my loud somewhat annoying laugh, or how my heart is going to burst one day because they make me happy. i wish i could SAY it though. that'd be sweet. but just like my friend is gonna have to practice shooting at targets until he shoots the terrorist in real life, i'll have to practice shooting my feelings onto the boys until i finally meet the one who doesnt need me to say it exactly as he probably will deserve it.

Mulling it over

2009-08-20T15:45:00.000-06:00

ew im eating this bagel sandwich and it is just getting everywhere.

anyway, its Thursday. Big Day around the office....not. My boss is about to have her baby and im supposed to be replacing burnt out light bulbs this very minute. I'm a very busy woman. according to my work my time is almost free to them. sure does make me feel great about myself.

so the last few days i've been thinking a few things...

like about how annoying it is that people don't say how they truly feel. maybe its to spare someone's feelings, or maybe it's because they are afraid of what will change. recently, i told a person that i would not talk to him anymore. this has been tried before and failed everytime. but only because i was never expressing to him how i truly felt. finally i did it! i told him in the nicest way possible that he sucks and i dont need it. and ya know, the truth has set me free! i wish more people would try the truth vest on. it looks great!

i've also been thinking about relationships. maybe because i'm lonely here in rexburg and all my friends are doing more fun things at home with their families/friends and i miss them. i am so solidily sure that happiness is only happiness when shared. the things that matter in life are not things. they are people. i love my people. i miss them!

i've also been thinking about regret. its a real thing ya know? there are so many decisions that i've made that have led me to where i am and i'm so grateful for them. but there are a couple that i wish i could take back and choose something else. or more importantly, someone else. luckily i have hope for the future. :)

im sorry this isnt funny. i promise i'll come up with something yall can laugh at soon!

--all my love from idaho.

lame comeback

2009-08-18T15:35:00.000-06:00

alright, so after a long reprieve of me being so absent, i'm going to have to blog something great. hmmm. one thing i do want to mention is the blog nieniedialogues.blogspot.com. SO good, so tragic, so hopeful. Stephanie is such a strong person and I look up to her so much. its worth a glance, or a few hours of reading, crying, and wanting to be a better person in return. love her :)

so school is rough when youre about to be done. i cant believe my college experience is almost over. NUTS! I mean on one hand i've been going to school for too long, and on the other, I am terrified to grow up and try and convince some principal somewhere that i can teach those eight year olds all the things they need to know to go on to the next grade. luckily im the kind of person that worries about bridges when its time to cross them, so its not making me too anxious...even though it probably should.

my family is moving to a city four hours from where i grew up. bittersweet! itll be good. right? its just gonna be so weird going "home".

this is not even interesting! oh well. here are a couple summer break highlights so far:

The Drive to Texas...killing birds, no AC, getting lost in the worst state ever, and finally making it a total of 37 hours later.

Texas...i love my family.

Utah. I love Josie. I love Cafe Rio. I love Courtney. I love attractive boys.

Washington in one week! :)

okay, im done.

I'm Back...

2009-08-18T13:49:00.000-06:00

whoa five months is a long time. I got busy. And now i'm un-busy. But i have no new ideas on what to blog about. ill come up with something :)

Hollywood's Finest

2009-03-10T18:06:00.000-06:00

Let's set the scene.

It's a Friday night and you have nothing to do. Ladies you opt for the default activity: "GIIIRRRLS NIIIGHT!" complete with cookies, popcorn and your favorite chick flick. Guys, your decision to watch an action packed thriller doesn't involve getting excited about comfy pjs all night, or face masks, BUT the same idea as "girls night" ensues in your own living room.

The stereotypical movies made for the genders are really hurting us in the long run. They are skewing our perspective on ourselves and the opposite sex. Guys cannot drive a motorcycle at 135mph, shoot every single person after them straight between the eyes, AND jump onto a moving van to save the girl. And ladies, you don't work for a popular New York magazine, and no guy is going to be chasing you down a busy highway just to say "bull-shit" because he's THAT in love with you. PUH-lease.

Hollywood is dishin it out hardcore. Think of all those movie moments when the lightbulb goes on for the guy and he suddenly knows exactly what's wrong and the perfect way to fix it. Then, cue the over-the-top gestures like sending flowers to her apartment every hour on the hour, showing up on her doorstep with a limited-edition copy of her favorite childhood book (which he recalls from a casual mention when they first started dating years ago), and serenading her from a concert hall. This is not real life. And honey...when was the last time you ran into a James Bond type man who saved you from that fire, and doesn't have one scratch on his body? And guys, when was the last time you had a convertible and a jet to take you to every location in the world where your "expertise" is needed to fight the most vicious of criminals? Entertaining, yes. But let's try and remember that the people we fall in love with aren't going to amaze us by dying and sending letters every week to your mail box from heaven, or be Eva Mendes the undercover cop stranded on a drug lord's yacht.

Textually Active

2009-03-07T12:10:00.000-07:00

Texting is straight up second nature these days. My dad thinks I have crazy fingers when he sees me texting, but I'm not alone. I know some that text over 10, 000 messages a month. It's alarming, but I'm used to it. It's 1:46pm and I've already received 43 texts messages. Check your inbox, I'm sure the numbers are similar. Texting is how we communicate. Here are some everyday examples and some awkward scenarios that wouldn't exist without 'the text':

--Guy texts girl a simple question: "how was your day?"
Girl takes ten minutes and multiple suggestions from her roommates/friends before she replies.
This definitely goes both ways (I checked). But especially at the beginning stages of liking someone, you begin text flirting which really results in your roommates being the one writing what you're saying. I actually have a girl friend that will forward me what she wants to say to her crush and then ask me if that's okay to send. I'm 110% sure I'm not the only friend pre-approving texts.

--In any relationship, friend, more than friend, boyfriend/girlfriend, sibling, you can have misunderstandings over text because you can't hear the person's tone. I've gotten texts from my mom thinking she's mad when really she just texted "call me".

--You "accidentally" text that person you want to talk to. "Hey, thanks that was nice." "what?!" "oh sorry that was for someone else, opps, but how are you?!" CLASSY.

--Or how about this awkward scenario: you accidentally (for real) text the wrong person. "Brian is such a skeeve." "What? This is Brian"...followed by you feeling like an idiot for about an hour.

--Same room texting.

--Texting but never getting a reply...Do I send it again? (maybe they didnt get it) Do I assume this person rather not talk to me?

--Getting duplicated messages from that creeper in your science class.

--Your phone lights up and you think its a text but it's actually someone calling you, and you already accepted so you have to actually have a conversation. A feeling of awkwardness comes over you.

--Texting so much with someone but then when it person, you feel uncomfortable.

I'm sure most can relate, and it's funny because these situations would never happen if we didn't start texting like crazy since '06. But life is just like this.

Happy Texting!

I'm No Pink Lady

2009-03-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

So the other day I came across a blog that made me laugh and feel justified at the same time. The site is www.whymormongirlsstaysingle.com. For those of you who read my blog which literally includes my roommates, best friend josie and my parents, you all know I'm Mormon. If you havent checked out this site, you probably should. Maybe it'd be an eye opener to my dad who probably is starting to worry about my marriage potential because I have been at "Byu-I-Do" for almost four years now. But if you come across this and you arent a member of my church, you can most likely relate to the blog because it talks about certain mistakes that every girl makes that make them less "dateable" or less worthy of eternal marriage. I'm just throwin that out there, because I think it's worth a glance or two. BUT lets get to the real topic of this entry.

So today while in church, I sat by my friend Randy. I asked him how his weekend was and later on in the conversation his roommate, Bryan, piped in that they both had been asked out on dates. Randy replied with "yeah, we got asked out...it was HOT!" This exact sentence throws off everything my mother has always taught me. Because in her generation it was considered inappropriate to ask out guys...girls that did the asking, or let the guys know what she wanted (ex. Rizzo from Grease) were labeled "easy" and most likely ended up pregnant...(as did our rebel Pink Lady). BUT the issue at hand is that roles or rules about dating have in a way stopped. I wouldnt go as far as saying they have reversed because I still get asked out once in a while by a guy who genuinely wants to take me out and do things the traditional way. But in the dating scene these days it is pretty much a free for all and if you want to get anything to happen you have to take risks and chances that our moms never had to take. Which is cool, I guess. I'm not good at opening up to anyone that I have those "butterflies" for, and so this sometimes takes a tole on the relationship from ever budding to something more...but thats just my personal issue. The WORLD issue, minus those places were you are betrothed to someone older, gross and fat, is that if you like someone, tell them. John Mayer says it best. "Say what you need to say." At least you won't be left wondering.

But to the guys that are single and read my blog: Ask girls out. It's so attractive when a guy lets us know that he actually has balls and doesn't mind putting himself out there--all in the name of Love!! It's what we're all looking for anyway, right?

FB Reality

2008-12-18T02:24:00.000-07:00

Some things are so funny because they are so true.

Facebooking. It's become a verb. If it were put into the dictionary it would probably look something like this:

facebook: stalking

It's what we do these days. "Oh i'm just checking my fb" (a sentance that most people could say about three times a day). It has taken over many lives and im sure at least 5, 000 people in Rexburg alone would feel actual withdrawal feelings if for some reason facebook was off limits for a week.

Im not gonna lie, I love it. I have it on my phone and checking all my friend's recent status changes is just one quick click away! It is a great way to keep in touch with family, friends, and even keep tabs on those enemies we love to stalk.

But I'm not blogging about how amazing fb is or about my own addiction to the site, I'm here to say that Facebook ruins relationships. Yeah...seriously, it really does. Let me give you a couple examples that happen all across the fb world, probably about 234 times daily, and have actually happened to me personally, or someone I know well.

ex 1:

So you fall in love. You are officially an item on facebook and everything. one day you see that your significant other has some random comment on their wall about some inside joke/past situation with this person and then you get in a fight about trust and this continues everytime someone writes on their wall that you dont know. it escalates to an out of control level...and finally you are single once again. if facebook was never created, you probably would have gotten married...

ex 2:

So you have a crush on someone. So, naturally, you check out their fb page daily (maybe more than once..depending on the severity of the crush) so one night your checking out their page and you notice some comment on their wall and you get ragey jealous and think to yourself (and sometimes outloud) "who is that writing on their wall" you want to know how they know each other, if they made out lately or something, and if there's any way you can get them to die.

ex 3:

You have a fresh and new relationship...fragile, yet important. Suddenly you are defending yourself because they think you are with other people because you're tagged in pictures/have friends of the opposite sex. The budding, wonderful relationhip ends, because assuming makes the ass out of everyone.

ex 4:

You know so much about the person from stalking them on facebook that you actually creep them out in real life and any relationship that you would have had cannot happen because you know about the trip they took to hawaii two years ago and the dinner they ate in cape cod at that restaurant that had that "weird" waitress.

advice:
if you get a girlfriend/boyfriend, you may want to sit down, go through your entire list of friends and explain anything about the people that may just happen to write on your wall/tag a picture of you. its the only way to keep the love alive.

HAPPY STALKING!

Prince Edward

2008-11-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

So I work at the apartment complex I live at and today I'm in the office and I open the drawer that has all the lost and found it in to see if there's anything cool...and I came across a CD entitled, "Sometimes I want to be having sex right now!" Seriously it's called that, so I popped it in and the sweet sounds of this particular girl's fantasies come blaring across my speakers and who else do I think about but....Edward.

Yep, I'm about to blog about Edward Cullen.

I love this topic of conversation because most guys I know roll their eyes and get kinda weirded out that us girls are insanely obsessed with this "fictional character"..and they always ask why and I dont know if there is really just one answer...but I think I pinpointed it down to one foundational quality. Edward Cullen is a man of noble chivalry. He is generous with his time (always with her), a protector against all danger, he calls her when he says he will, he takes her out on dates, I'm sure he opens doors, gives her his coat if she's cold, comes over at 3am when she just can't sleep, makes her breakfast in bed, walks her to class, and he probably already knows what to get her for Christmas...But most of all he respects Bella. He doesn't ask her to do anything that would jeapordize her standards or conflict with her own ethics. He truly thinks she is a precious blessing in his life and doesn't want to ever lose her. ahhh the chivalrous prince!! This is all us girls want...a little door opening, puddle covering, and hand holding.

I think Stephenie Meyer really wanted to awaken a dead quality that most girls have had to cross off her list of "things she wants in a boyfriend". Chivalry is now undead. Thanks Edward!

baby mama DRAMA

2008-10-20T21:43:00.000-06:00

So one of my friends recently met a guy at NASCAR (mistake #1, she knows) and they hit it off talking or whatever. They emailed a few times...and then she asked a few questions in an attempt to get to know him better...and below is his email response.

“My story…
Well, I have a 2 ½ year old and I live with her momma.

But….We do not live as a couple, we are only together to provide a good environment for our daughter.

I would love to separate, but not seeing my kid everyday would drive me nuts, so we are hanging on as long as we can.

It is kinda something I wanted to explain in person to you, but that never happened, maybe it would have had I told you? I dunno.

So I am not in the market for anything long term, I was hoping we could have had a little side thing. You told me you just got out of a relationship and didn’t want anything, so I figured it would work out great.

In a nutshell that’s my story.

I mean...does it get an better than that???Lesson learned: don't respond to guys who try to pick you up at NASCAR as they probably still live with their baby's momma.

FRIENDS

2008-10-14T14:04:00.000-06:00

this is a tribute to the best of them.

Ally pork chop, late night chat time, sisters.
Josie the last four years, the mission, best friends.
Mom Tina Turner, late nights watching HGTV, and hoping I'm like you when I grow up.
Dad being scared during E.T, taking me to college, and always being your little girl.
Marion dells, running to G's, and the rest of college.
Adam D&C, turtles/humility, first love.
Alissa the past.
Cate our 208, eating in general, and being my little sister.
Stephanie G's, the hotel, and laughing really hard all the time.
Craig seven week break, FO MINUTES, and Disneyland.
Matt loving DP, growing up and being poor teachers, I just admire you.
Mike the ultimate shoulder to lean on, being my favorite student, and being a brother to me.
Ashley living together, our talks til 2am, and forever friends.
Alan after school rituals, nigga beat box, and growing up.

im just really lucky :)

2008-09-30T09:35:00.000-06:00

This is all I want to say/all I want:

"For a kiss to be really good, you want it to mean something. You want it to be with someone you can't get out of your head, so that when your lips finally touch you feel it everywhere. A kiss so hot and so deep you never want to come up for air. You can't cheat that kiss. Trust me, you don't want to. Cause when you find the right person for a kiss like that, it's everything."

--Grey's Anatomy

ahhh life

2008-09-18T17:31:00.001-06:00

So the other day I was thinking about things that freaking suck. Like tipping a waitress that doesnt deserve it, just so you don't look cheap...or late fees for a movie you rented that you never had time to watch...or having no clue how to use a semi-colon..is semicolon one word or two? hmmm, I think that's interesting that I don't know that because I'm going to be teaching 8 year olds how to survive life, nice. But seriously some stuff about growing up just sucks (oh no im gonna be emo...) but really. Remember when you were little and you would cry and be so mad you weren't 25 with your own life in some random city...all because your dad wouldn't give you money for the ice cream man?! Maybe that's just me but I was like, "I'll show him..when I have my own $5." Like I even knew what that meant...or how about when your alarm clock goes off and it's only Tuesday and you're already worn out? Or putting a smile on when your friend calls to talk about her boyfriend/girlfriend for an hour and a half when you haven't gone on a date in months...? I mean, I definitely wasn't thinking about those kind of things when I was seven and just wanted to be independent...THE PARENTALS: THEY WERE RIGHT! They told us we wouldn't want to be grown up when we were and man did they nail that one! I wish there was a guide to this whole growing up stuff...its kinda unfair they just throw us in here and tell us to get a job, find some sucker who decides forever could be alright with you and three annoying kids, take care of yourself and be responsible...just Grow Up! In the words of the greatest show ever created (Grey's Anatomy) "We get taller, we get older. But do we ever really grow up?" Well i dont really know because I still feel like im 12 BUT I dont want to be too negative, I have a great life. Great friends and a family that is always there...especially when I'm 23 and still don't have my own 5 bucks...I'm growing up, right?!

I'm nervous

2008-09-11T12:58:00.000-06:00

I first wanted to explain why I chose "shenanigan's" as my title. When I started my college career (quite awhile ago) I went to a school in Virginia. Every month this extremely interesting group of people got together and called themselves a comedy club. They would perform on campus and sometimes in town, which i thought was pretty weird in general because the only people that actually lived in town where people that had no teeth and could not hear which i'm guessing was just the result of working in the local factory/underground tunnel that nobody ever explained to me...anyways, this comedy club was probably my favorite thing about that year in VA, you might even call it my guilty pleasure. I actually am nervous posting this because maybe one day by best friend, Josie, will read this and wonder what the heck I was doing being obsessed with them. In the words of a great classic movie--Mean Girls--associating with the "Shenanigan's" as they called themselves was probably "social suicide" just like joining Mathletes would be for Cady (the extremely hot and slutty Lindsay Lohan). But nonetheless, there I was, laughing aloud but skimming my eyes around the room to make sure my friends and boyfriend didn't see me enjoying something so extremely "lame". So to make a long obsession short, ever since then one of my favorite secret words has been Shenanigan's. It perfectly describes life: "a prank".

So I work at a hotel in Rexburg, although there aren't that many to choose from, I'm not going to name it--to keep everyone in this entry (the sacred first entry) identities a secret. When I told one of the head maintenance guys that I was making a blog he immediately replied straight faced with: "you should talk about how sexy everyone here is". I'm almost 100% sure that nobody that works here is sexy, unless, of course you count the rather round breakfast girl that sweats more water on an hourly basis than Michael Phelps has tread in his life...but I think he was serious so let's dive in:

sexy is...

pitting out in your work shirt everyday because of the lack of air conditioning
getting waffle mix all over you because the breakfast girl actually lacks the ability to remember she needs to refill it
changing unlined and extremely wet and sticky trashcans behind the front desk (what the freak are they throwing away in there?)
having your feet actually stick to the floor in the kitchen
dodging the guy from the restaurant next door when he comes over to chat about the occupancy while undressing you with his eyes (guys too..)
listening to the waffle machine beep so many times that you actually lose your sexy and yell at an eighty five year old grandma that is legally blind.
smelling the breakfast girl when she asks you if she smells O.K. today...
telling people that the water heater is having some "issues" so that's why their shower was cold
keeping it a secret that we actually don't have a water heater
and leaving smelling like 70's musk and chlorine for the rest of the day from the strategically placed pool in the lobby which just gives the hotel a "tropical" feel, as the online reviews say

yeah we're sexy.