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Saturday, November 23, 2013

that list thing...

{say wha?...}

A friend of mine put her take on the whole "taking stock" thing on her blog. I needed something to write about and I copied her. In other words I totally cheated. 

Making: sense of what I need to do with my life - post bachelors degree. It is harder than I thought it would be to be honest.
Cooking: my favorite homemade brownies.
Drinking water, not a soda/pop/soft drink kind of gal.
Reading: lots of things, the maze runner series, and I NEED TO START allegiant.
Wanting: to know where I fit in sometimes, oh and to go and see CATCHING FIRE again! 
Looking: for a new talent I may have.
Playing: hide and go seek with little b! 
Wasting: time on worrying too much.
Sewing: a car seat cover, blankets, headbands, and more for the babe.
Wishing: I knew my potential. Sometimes it gets lost.
Enjoying: cozying up in my bed.
Waiting: FOR CHRISTMAS. NOT. Get real. Thanksgiving hasn't even happened, the joy of Christmas will come in due time.
Liking: my new life in Utah.
Wondering: about the adventures of growing up with my children and hubs - excited.
Loving: the time I have to spend with Ryan and the babe. Everything is happening all too fast! 
Hoping: I am the wife, mother, friend, person I need to be. 
Marveling: at all the beauty in the simple things around me.
Needing: a foot rub, seriously my favorite thing.
Smelling: my new wall flower - ahh refreshing.
Wearing: sweats, my favorite and most comfy/stretchy shirt, and doing so snuggled in my bed! 
Following: cars with funny bumper stickers lately.
Noticing: my passion for certain things slowly changing, not sure if it is good or bad? 
Knowing: I can make mistakes and that it is okay.
Thinking: dang, I hate when my phone dies.
Feeling: tired, for example, my eyes are slowly getting heavier.
Bookmarking: my memories, or trying at least.
Opening: a new chapter in my life.
Giggling: so hard that you can't breath, hilariously it is very painful. 
Listening: to most likely the coldplay/brandon flowers pandora like music stations. 
Feeling: grateful for what I do have. 

much love,

JPB

Friday, November 8, 2013

home again, home again, jiggity jig...

It's time for my monthly (or so) blog update. I should probably make more time for this but I get so busy, and distracted, and I move all the time. Seriously though, we did move again. 

HOWEVER,

I want to touch base on a couple things:

FIRST

BLAIRE QUINN had her first birthday! What a wonderful year it was. Her birthday is October 29th but we actually celebrated it on the next day. Tuesday was just too complicated and Halloween was that Thursday, so Wednesday the 30th it was. 

As for her real birthday, I made Blaire pancakes, which she chowed down pretty fast in a humorous manner. Then I had to clean all day since we were moving. I was bummed because these last couple weeks before the actual moving date was all about getting the house together, cleaning, and not focusing on family time as much. BUT, the 30th was all about Blaire for her and I. We had a get together with family and friends at Ryan's mom's house. It was kind of sad because he wasn't able to come since he was still in Utah. But we did have Facetime! :) 

The party was about our "lil pumpkin" turning one. I tried to stay clear of Halloween but everything turned out to be black, white, and orange anyways as you can see for yourself in the pictures. There was so much help with dinner (Navajo tacos...delicious), and the desserts. My mom brought sugar cookies, always a must with her. No one can copy that scrumtrulesent recipe. And I ended up making a lot (which is an understatement) of other goodies, pumpkin cake, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and cupcakes. I had to get rid of some things in my house to make space and I like desserts. People probably thought I was crazy but I don't care. haha it was fun. Karly (Ryan's sister) helped me decorate with lanterns as the "pumpkins" it was cute. People started to arrive and I was so thankful! Even though Blaire had no idea what was going on, it was nice to see everyone before we left. That was probably the main reason to for everyone to stop by if they could because I honestly don't know the next time I will see them. Especially when friends/family I use to see all the time and who were so close wouldn't be anymore. It was a bittersweet day. It was for sure worth it :) 








 It was quite entertaining with her cake. She wouldn't really eat it. I thought she would destroy it but no, she just kind of sat there and liked the tablecloth more. :) always surprising us! I love it, 


Happy Birthday Blaire Quinn! :) 

SECOND:

Halloween is the best. My family has always been really into dressing up, going to parties; we are Halloween freaks. (not necessarily the creepy crazy kind though...maybe crazy...anyways...)

This year Ryan, Blaire, and I thought it would be fun to be Where's Waldo. It was a success for sure! We were actually in Pocatello because I needed to pick up Ryan there. A friend of ours, Brady Lawson, was able to drive him from Utah to Pocatello. I needed Ryan to be home for the last couple days of the move so it all worked out perfect! We didn't go to many houses, but we had fun. Mainly because we got to be together again, and yes for the best holiday ever! :) 






NOW onto the MOVE. 

I have talked about moving and all that comes with it before. It was back in March. You can read about that here if you wish it. But yet again, home again, home again, jiggity jig, we moved 9 months later. 
Labeling, bagging, boxing, cleaning, Ryan and I have the process down :) 

I was actually bummed to leave our place, I really liked it! It was a great deal for everything we got. The managers were always willing to help us out; we never had a problem with them. Hard to leave a place like that so soon. I knew moving would be hard because I wouldn't find those same things I loved at the next place we would be. However, we made it to Utah with the help of so many people. It was quite the adventure because that has a whole story of its own: 

THAT MORNING: 

 Family and friends (pretty much Blaire's birthday again) came to help move us out that morning. We had daylight donuts. HONESTLY great food haha. I love breakfast and that made it all much more my favorite. We packed everything on Mike's (my moms awesome bf) trailer and my car. Well, not everything fit. Which was fine because Ryan's step dad needed us to take some things down in his truck to his daughter who lives about 5-10 minutes away from where we are living. We loaded our extra things in the truck and it was all bungee corded up and taped and tarped down. 



Waiting for the truck :) 

THAT AFTERNOON:

We wanted to leave Idaho Falls at 10:00am and we were actually on schedule. However, we had to wait for the truck to load our extra things, etc as explained above and we didn't end up leaving until 12:30pm. Oh and then it took us 2 hours and 30 minutes to get to Pocatello because the tarp kept flying off. . Luckily, Blaire slept the whole way which was nice haha. I was in our car and Ryan was driving the truck. I had to follow him and had to keep calling him because things were flying all over. It was very very very very patient trying. We were so exhausted and frustrated so I called the Hendricks right when we got into Pocatello to help us. I knew they would help and save the day. THEY DID! :) Ryan had help from Greg and he re-did the mess we had. We actually stopped off in Blackfoot to buy more bungee's and another tarp, so it was a bigger mess than before when we left Idaho Falls. Granted we aren't tarp experts, but it was finally fixed.

THAT EVENING:

We left Pocatello around 4:00ish and we didn't have to stop the whole way! :) Literally, the Hendricks saved us haha. We arrived to where we were moving around 6:30, very tired. It was dark which didn't help because of all the things we had to unpack. My mom and Mike already unloaded his trailer and everything. They are freaking rock stars haha. It didn't even take them an hour. THEY saved us too. Ryan's friend also came to help which was needed. Him and his wife arrived when we got there and everything was completely done by 8. We didn't even set up Blaire's crib. We put her in her pac n play and set up our bed and crashed. 

A WEEK LATER:

Now it is almost a week later and our house is completed. I can't say thanks enough to everyone who helped. Last month was seriously a blur but our family is so happy to be home in Utah. And I do love it more than I thought I would. Just trying to get here was all this complicated stuff I have already explained in probably too much detail. I am thankful to be here and to start a new "chapter" as they would say in our life. Ryan is happy, I am happy, Blaire is always happy. Life is good. Not that we weren't happy before but change always comes with new experiences you don't expect and I am excited for that. We are still close to family and friends because we have lots that live in Utah too. Love you all, miss those in Idaho, can't wait to party with those close to our new home. 

Did I mention Fashion Place is 5 minutes down the road? Oh and for Ryan, BYU is a lot closer than it use to be, I think we are going to like it here :) 

Much Love,

JPB 


Thursday, October 10, 2013

from uno to seis...

uno. 

I have talked about Ryan living in Utah and it has been about 3-4 weeks now. I don't cry as much, seriously that is an accomplishment. (queue the violins -- am i right?)

I finally was reunited with the cute hubby of mine during conference weekend, and here are the pictures to prove it (we were also with Ryan's dad his family!:) 

(the birthday girl, oh brek)
(Girls at Sams, and many other places, while the boys went to Priesthood) 
(Quentin L. Cook totally looks like Ryan's stepdad Kent)
(Love Glenners and Hails!)
(My whole world :)) 


dos. 

It was my madre's bday. She seriously is amazing at what she does. She is 50 and living it up! I admire her courage and always looking to have an adventure. She definitely is the life of the party and looks good while doing it! :) Her friend called me and asked if I could help her decorate my mother's house. I thought it would be an awesome idea since I was jealous of my mom being in Denver with her cutie boyfriend at the Bronco game. We did a theme of "50" with items around her house. Did the best we could with what we had! Turned out cute...








(I put the reasons all over the house)

(My mom and Waldo before the Lotoja--Happy Birthday!) 

tres. 

Remember when I went to the fair with some pretty sweet peeps? 
(these things were crazy weird-fun but 10 minutes is long enough)






quatro.

Girls weekend is a blast. These lovely ladies are kind enough to invite me each year! It is family thing but hey why not invite a couple more? We usually go out, have crazy adventures, and do a craft of course. Always ends up being Halloween/Christmas themed but hey who doesn't love the holidays. This year we went to Bear Lake, didn't know how gorgeous it was this time of year. These woman are some of my greatest examples! They are so kind, generous, and loving. Love you guys! Thanks for all you do. 





(Jessica...and her many...adventures...haha there was more)








cinco.

Baby Ivy Mae Leavitt was born! Ryan's sister Karly and her hubby Wade had a baby. She is so cute and cuddly! You can read all about that cute lil' peanut here: Ivy Mae



seis. 

Just some more random photos from the past couple weeks... 








adios. 

muchos amore,

JPB