beautiful

From start to finish, this weekend was wonderful. 
I had guests over on Thursday night..

(their mommies were there too) We made Alfredo for dinner with Caesar salad. Then, I burnt the brownies! Heartbreaking, isn't it? So instead, we had Reeses and whipped cream for dessert while talking until the late hours. Bliss.

On Friday, I spent the morning being lazy with Jared. After he left for work, I chatted with ShayLee, who now lives in Italy.

Friday night, I went to Richard & Emily's beautiful wedding. I love weddings, especially when two people as wonderful as them are involved..

While we were eating Coldstone and admiring Emily's dress (which she designed herself, by the way) we met the Duchesnes..

This couple told us the story of how they met and fell in love and how this sweet man purposed to this sweet woman. When she was done telling the story, he looked at her and said, "That was such a fun time, I love you." Then he leaned over to give her a kiss. After that, they began to tell us that, though they have lead wonderful lives, it hasn't always been easy and that there have been many rough days. He said that despite the fact that he loves her so much, they are very different people and that it has taken a lot of work to be where they are today. She gave the advice to "choose each other" everyday. Choose each other, despite the hardships. I was uplifted talking to both of them and I'm grateful to have met them.

When the night was over, I talked in the car with Chelsie and Whitney for hours. It was wonderful and just like old times. It was the perfect night.

The next morning, we went to Ihop for breakfast and then went to Bridal Veil Falls. It was beautiful weather and I hope to go on little adventures like this every weekend.

Everything about this weekend was amazing and I'm grateful for weekends like that. So full of beautiful moments. I am grateful for the friends and family that Jared and I have been blessed with. Happy Wednesday!

the weekend

The weekend has finally come, for me. I look forward to:

-dinner with friends I use to work with at Kiddie Kandids (hah)

-the wedding of Richy Dean and Emily

-hopefully a trip to Provo Canyon with Jared

-photoshoot

-my dad in-law's birthday dinner

Happy weekend!

yellow brick road

We are picking out a new color for my "Oregon bathroom" today. (Quite the theme, isn't it?) Right now, it's a disturbingly bright yellow color titled, Yellow Brick Road. Jared picked it because he liked the name. Never again. Boring name and all, we will be picking something not so bright..

I can't wait to show you the "after" pictures. It might be months in the future but, someday my Oregon bathroom will be complete! :)

Sundays

My favorite day of the week is Sunday.

Big breakfasts, going to church, family time, relaxing, delicious dinners, game nights.. and a full day with Jared.

Last Sunday was Whitney's Homecoming. She gave a wonderful talk in Sacrament Meeting and afterwords, we had delicious pancakes and parfaits while we reminisced about our elementary days, trying to see how much we could remember. We remembered polka dot art, spelling on our desks in shaving cream, celebrating the Jazz with Miss Snow, and our lunch seating chart. :)

Jared and I were able to spend the rest of the day at home, just the two of us. We had chicken tacos for dinner, took a long nap, and watched a movie. It was bliss and I'm already counting down for next weekend. Happy Wednesday!



Pound the Pavement for Parenthood

On Saturday, we had our 2nd Pound the Pavement for Parenthood 5K! My good friend, Jill is the heart and soul of this organization. She is the driving force and I am so proud of her and the dream she has created. I am happy to be apart of this organization and it's been incredible to see it grow and continue. I can't wait for years to come and the many miracles we will see.

In Jill's words, here are some answers about Pound the Pavement for Parenthood from an interview done by, Kerstin Daynes. (Who is heaven sent, by the way.)
We are a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness to infertility and helping couples in their journey to parenthood. Each year we sponsor at least one couple whose next step is either In Vitro Fertilization or adoption.

Our mission is to help relieve the financial burden infertility can become. We dream of helping multiple couples each year around the state raise these funds to have the opportunity of being parents.

What motivated you to start the Pound the Pavement for Parenthood 5K?

We met with our reproductive specialist on October 15, 2011. When he advised us to move past IUI to IVF, I instantly felt the financial burden of the treatment. I felt like he was just giving us the grave prognosis; years more of the emotional monthly roller coaster of wanting pregnancy, and in addition, a huge financial mountain to climb along the way. I didn’t want to wait years in order to do one cycle of IVF. My mind instantly started turning to ways for us to save and raise money.
I came home and cried for hours before confiding in a couple of friends. That night they were sitting on my couch asking how they could help. I had been brainstorming since leaving the doctor’s office that day. Since I’m a runner, a 5K was at the forefront of my thinking. I had run in multiple charity races, but I had no clue where to start with this big idea. We set the date for November 13 hoping that the weather would remain cold, but dry. During the rapid planning of and preparation for our race, I knew that all of the work that was going into the 5K would someday have to benefit others. I knew if I could help relieve even a portion of the burden of IVF/adoption for someone else, I would. It was exciting! I set up the race as an organization so that I could continue planning each year. I suddenly felt it very important to not only help couples who struggle with infertility, but to bring awareness to a community where it is often overlooked and unrecognized.

After all was said and done, what did you see it accomplish?

More than anything, I think we were able to see our goals accomplished: bringing awareness to the struggle of infertility and raising money for my treatment. In only 3 short weeks, it was incredible.

Creating this 5K taught me a lot about the goodness of others. I was so amazed by the support we were able to get in just a few weeks of planning the race. Some amazing people came out of the woodwork as they were or had struggled with infertility. Some had family members who face fertility problems. And others had never struggled but were touched by my story and expressed support for the cause and realized even more the blessing that their children were to them.

What was the biggest obstacle to overcome?

I think the timeframe we had to work in was the biggest obstacle. A few weeks is a very short time to get through all of the logistics of creating not only a 5K run, but an organization. There were a lot of hoops I had to jump through in order to get this race where we wanted it, and in the right way.

What was a miracle you saw along the way?

There were so many small miracles that we saw during the 3 weeks we were planning. The city we planned the race was very accommodating, which could have easily been a deal-breaker. More than anything though, I think we saw miracles in the generosity of people. There are so many good people out there who want to help. Even if they didn’t understand on a personal level the struggle of infertility, many of them were touched by our goal of helping others. It was a miracle to see as people (mostly strangers) reached out to us and offered what they could to help our cause. It softened my heart as I watched the Lord work through people in order to accomplish good things. It is a feeling and an experience I will never forget. I remember as I watched the runners leave the starting line that cold, but dry morning on November 13, how emotional it was. They were running for us. They were running for infertility. And that was the most satisfying thing I had ever felt. Because of that, of course I will continue putting on this race, and hope it can benefit others like me who want so badly to have the opportunity of parenthood.

What would you like this idea and dream to become?

I would love Pound the Pavement for Parenthood to become a well-known race that people look forward to and participate in every year. I want to eventually be able to help couples farther away in other areas of the state in order to raise awareness in their communities. I would love to someday have the option of a 10K, along with a 5K in order to get runners who simply want to run in a quality race interested. I want our organization to become a “well oiled machine” so that any stresses that come with planning a yearly charity race can be somewhat remedied by having great and generous sponsors in larger businesses. Bottom line: I want to be able to help people in a big way! I want to raise a substantial portion of the funds these couples need in order to realize their opportunity of becoming parents, whether it be medical treatment or adoption. I want to relieve for others the stress I feel as I face my financial mountain of infertility treatment costs.

Saturday was a great day. I even ran in the race this year! It nearly killed me. It's true, I'm not a runner but, I will definitely be working on it before Pound the Pavement Year 3. I can't wait! Here are some pictures from Saturday:

Baby Jace

This is my new favorite picture of our nephew, baby Jace..

.. and now I wish I could cuddle him..

Ryan & Jessica's Wedding

Jessica, Jared's little sister, got married last month to our wonderful new brother in law, Ryan. It was such a beautiful night and Jared and I had a blast dancing and laughing with the family. More details and pictures are found on my photography blog.

I love weddings..

My Idea of the Perfect Lunch Break is..

..Cafe Rio..



 ..in the park..

 

..with him..


..Even if we ended up getting back in the car because of the cold May weather! :) Then, we looked at decoration pictures on our iphones and talked about what fun things we can do to our home! Happy Tuesday!

Pound the Pavement for Parenthood - Year Two

Do you remember Pound the Pavement for Parenthood from last year? You can read posts about last years experiences here, here, here, and here.

This year we are sponsoring Austin and Amanda Green and the 5K is this Saturday! So many blessings have happened this year and I am excited to see it all come to life on Saturday. (Plus, I already can't wait for the exciting this in store for next year!)

Please register and come support this cause!

There's just one more thing.. Register and come participate this Saturday and get FREE CHICK-FIL-A for the whole family!!! Please blog, facebook, tweet, and spread the word! :)

sleep deprivation

This week has been full of late nights and early mornings. Why yes, I am tired and I have been since Monday morning. My goal for this weekend? (In addition to my  to do lists..) Sleep in and take some naps! :) Some other things I plan on doing:

-editing and finishing my sister in-laws wedding photos (stay tuned)

-preparing for the 5K race for Pound the Pavement (mark your calenders)

-visiting brand new baby Peyton in the hospital (congratulations CJ & Sara!)

-deeeeeep clean the house

-only spending $60.00 at the grocery store (how do you budget your groceries!?)

-spend time with Jared on our last weekend together (He starts a new schedule on Monday, I'm trying to not be too negative about it..)

-spend some time with our mamas on Mother's Day

By the way, I texted Jared in my sleep a few nights ago. Standing up in our room while the light was still on, I fell asleep and I texted him this:

Happy napping!

Happy Birthday, Mr.

For Jared's 26th birthday, he had one request.. Fast Five with the boys! Therefore, the evening of his birthday, I was with the girls! I went shopping, had my favorite salad from Applebees, and then we went to a goodbye party for a friend. We also went to Walmart to buy supplies for this:

I thought it was rather funny that after seeing a show about racing, he'd have to drive this home. :) But, I hope he liked it. We also celebrated the weekend by:
-going to Goodwood with my parents
-going out for pizza and seeing Fast Five (2nd time for Jared) with friends
-having Jared's family over for BBQ

Happy Birthday, Jared! I am a lucky girl.