Peek at my baby!

The 3D ultrasound on Tuesday was absolutely amazing.  How does that work?  I don't have many things to say, so here are the pictures :) 

Shy baby

Friends are the family we choose :)

They wouldn't stay still!

Last night we went to a really fun BBQ at Emily's parents house.  It was so fun!  First we all just sat down and talked then Sam, Emily, Corbin and Jared jumped in the pool (I couldn't bring myself to get in a bathing suit... not quite ready for that lol), had diving contests, goalie challenges and slide-offs!  Watching was way fun too (hello queso dip...)!  The BBQ was amazing, basketball was fun to watch and watching Sam pitch fast/curve balls/sliders was incredible. 
It was really nice because I kept thinking about a saying I've always heard... Friends are the family we choose.  Her parents and brother completely welcomed us in their home and treated me and Jared no different from their fun family.  It felt like they were family!  It was nice to meet them all too after so long.  We also got to meet Corbin's brother and his girlfriend, they were way nice as well.
Afterwards there was a huge lightning/thunder storm pretty far off so Jared and I found a lookout spot near our house and just watched the show.  It was beautiful!  It reminded me of what we always did while we were first dating, and I definitely miss that :)  So fun!!

Reap What You Sow

Today at church Jared and I sat through two very good talks about reaping what you sow.  From what I get out of it, reaping what you sow means that you get what you put into it.  A.K.A. If you water and feed a plant/relationship/your brain then it will grow into a beautiful thing.  If you ignore it or water it with acid (good analogy, huh? lol...) then it will die literally and figuratively. 
One thing that really got me thinking was when the Brother that was speaking applied this saying to marriage.  If you feed it with love, service and gratitude it will grow and most likely be reciprocated.  If we are selfish, hold grudges and argue a lot, well, you do the math. 
I think Jared and I are pretty good at this, but noone is perfect.  I have things to work on just like everyone else.  I'm making it a goal this week to "nourish" our relationship!  Service, love and gratitude can't be too hard.  He likes brownies, I love him and sometimes he buys me treats and I'm grateful :)  Just kidding... but you get the gist. 
Yesterday while I was eating Cheesecake factory with my mamma and Trinity (YUM!), my wonderful hubby was out serving.  He helped our friends Corbin and Emily move into their apartment, and then after about 6 hours of helping them volunteered to help one of their brothers move too!  Now that may sound easy if you haven't moved in the past year or so, but I remember moving into our apartment, what a crazy experience!  Lots of heavy lifting and hard work haha.  Around 8 that night he finally came home... and guess what?  There was NO complaint from him.  He just talked about how he was happy to serve and what was for dinner.  He was full of funny stories to tell me too.  He is awesome.  I learn more and more from him every day.  After everyone was all showered and fed, Jared and I went up to the cabin with Corbin and Emily and watched part of Shark tales... so glad our friends are back!
Tuesday is the ultrasound!  I'm getting more and more excited every day!  I don't know how I'm going to wait 2 more whole days!

Ariane's baby shower!

Ariane- 32 weeks, Me- 28 weeks!

Today I had fun with my mom and baby sister at Ariane's baby shower!  It was so fun.  How weird... just about 4 or 5 years ago we were gossiping about boys we liked, trying on crazy clothes together at Peebles and now here we are 6.5-7.5 months pregnant!  I am so sad she is probably moving to Texas... I'll miss her.  I was looking forward to our little boys being together pretty soon after birth, dang it! 

Beckham- I've been thinking about you a lot today.  I can't help it, you're moving all around lately like crazy!  I'm getting a 4D/3D ultrasound on Tuesday, I can't wait!  I get to take a peek at my baby boy.  I wonder who you look like... guess we'll get a good picture of that in a couple of days.  Love you!

Daily Ramblings

Today the unthinkable happened... I took a 4 hour nap!  What the heck?  Who does that?  I figure it's ok though because in 2 1/2 months I will no longer be able to sleep in general.  Honestly, I think I'll be ok though.  I have always been able to adjust when I need to pretty well.  In high school early morning seminary was brutal, so I can only hope that prepared me for the sleepless nights.
We didn't have a whole lot to do today... actually we haven't had pretty much ANYTHING to do the past week or so Jared has been off.  We went to the dentist for Jared's check-up and then went to see the Green Lantern at the dollar theatre!  I wasn't really looking forward to seeing it, I hated all of the commercials and thought this was the end of Ryan Renold's (*swoon*) career.  It actually wasn't all that bad!  I'd even go as far as to say I liked it.  Big shocker ;) 
Monday wll be the 6 1/2 month mark of the pregnancy which means I only have about 2- 2.5 months left!  Where the heck did all that time go?  We have so much to do before then.  We're moving into another apartment in our complex on the 29th-30th of this month and that's a pretty big task at hand.  Especially because I won't be able to do a whole lot at once which means TONS of trips back and forth.  We'll both be juggling school and our tasks at hand for a while (yes I am in school this semester... yikes!).  I get to set up Beckham's room (yay!) and our house all in time for him to come.  I'm so excited for everything!  I hope that I can cherish this fun time instead of rushing through it because it really is an amazing time of life and I realize that.  Wish me luck!!!

Sprinkled on... again?

A year ago yesterday, we went to the capitol and star gazed again.  I remember it being so fun and relaxing at the same time.  He and I talked about random things, we got sprinkled on again and he lost his keys. 
Today I went to visit sweet baby Claire!  She's only a week old and I loved cuddling her.  If it's possible, it made me even more baby hungry than I was before... shocker! 
Other than that it was just grocery shopping and signing up for Fall classes (eek!).  I'm excited to go back instead of being a fat, lazy lard but I'm definitely nervous.  It's going to be a heck of a lot of work to be juggling a new baby and studying.  I feel like the girls on 16 and pregnant (but not 16... make sense?), BUT I have an amazing mom who will teach me everything and help me out with babysitting for when the baby comes :)  Bonding time for Grandma and baby! 

My life in a nutshell

Wake upEat
Clean a little
Watch TV
Think about what I want to eat
Resist eating
Eat
Lay down because I'm cramping
Get a heating pad because my back hurts
Snack a little
Think about how good that snack was
Eat
Misc. things (clean, TV, cabin night, make dinner... maybe)
Go to bed

That is my life.  This pregnancy has taken over me and my body!  Who am I!?!?!  I used to be fun and have energy but now I don't have any.  I pant when I get to the top of my stairwell.  I live in sweatpants when I don't have to go outside because, honestly, nothing else fits. I squeeze into my jeans when I have to make an appearance.   Seriously... I. Have. No. Life. 

Plus side is at the end of this  I'll have what I've always wanted.  A little baby boy :)  It is worth it, but sometimes you have to rant.

August 8, 2010

8/9/10 1:04am
I just had an amazing time with a girl that is already so special to me.  She is sweet, kind, smart, and very funny and beautiful.  Her name is Brittonlee.  I just met her a week ago.  Tonight was the first night we hung out with just us two.  We went downtown to Temple Squre.  It was so much fun.  She is so sweet.  We walked around and decided to sit on the lawn in front of the temple where we could talk and look at the temple as well.  In the middle of the conversation the sprinklers came on and got us soaking wet.  We ran out of there as fast as we could.  After that we found another spot to talk by the big mirror pond.  It was so peaceful talking to her while overlooking all the beautiful scenery.  While we were sitting there she said that what happened with the sprinklers is "something out of a movie."  I laughed beause I thought the same thing.  I told her we got "sprinkled on" and we both laughed after that.  After being at Temple Square for about an hour and a half we dicided it was time to go home.  We looked at a few more statues and then walked to the car.  After arriving back to her house I was walking her to the door and we looked up at the stars together and she thought she saw a shooting star.  She once again said that "this is like a movie."  I had an amazing time tonight.  I don't want to jinx anything but I think I may have found her.

I love this letter Jared wrote.  There are two more, but I kind of want to keep those just for Beckham.  Is that weird? 

Distance makes the heart grow fonder

All growing up I knew I wanted to find a man who is just like my dad.  A lot of girls say that, but seriously, my dad is my hero.  He is a good man all around.  I've always looked up to him.  He's a worthy priesthood holder, an amazing father, a hard worker in all that he does and genuinely a good person.  If you needed it, he would give you the shirt off his back.  Dad is all those things and much more, but I think most importantly he has a special, strong love for my mom. 
Although my dad is overseas with the military, he makes a special effort to continutally make their bond grow stronger.  Every day at 6:30 he wakes up and gets ready while Skyping with my family.  I know he tells mom how much he loves her every time.  He goes to work, grabs something to eat then comes right back to his little storage container "house" to Skype with her again until he goes to sleep.

Family Chat

This Monday was my mom's birthday and dad sent her flowers over the weekend just so she would know he was thinking of her.  It's nice to have something physical there that represents dad.  Mom has those flowers right on the kitchen table, probably so a part of him is always there.  Whether it's flowers or a spiritual email he sends, he makes sure he's there with her in spirit always. 
Yeah, it's way hard having him gone.  I'm holding back tears while I type this because I miss him so incredibly much!  I never realized how much I needed him.  I always reach for my phone to call him when I'm having a bad day or just want to talk.  I miss him tons, but I know my mom misses him more.  Somehow she still stays strong for us all. 
Dad is my hero.  He loves my mom with everything he has.  He'd lay down his life for her, no doubt about that.  Although he is doing his duty to his country, he will never stop doing his duty to his family.

^^ Mom and Dad humoring me and doing a cute picture ^^

Meeting in the middle (Germany) for a weekend.  I've never seen them so happy :)

Cabin thoughts



Roasting Marshmallows

Last night Jared and I went to the cabin again for a getaway.  It really is nice to have a place to go that completely seperates you from the world.  We have no cell phone, internet, cable, regular phone or hot water.  No heating/air conditioning, neighbors or friends... for just one night it is me and Jared.  I think that being in those conditions makes me so much more thankful for my surroundings.  You can see SO many stars while you're roasting marshmallows or sitting on the porch rocking chairs.  It's almost magical.  When family is up there with us it's even better.  We play games, cookout, watch movies and sometimes even take naps :)  This weekend we rented movies and had midnight movie nights.  My favorite was Source Code... it's about a man who has to go back through someones mind and figure out how to stop a bombing from happening in downtown Chicago.  It was one of those movies that makes you think. 
Anyways, it's always fun up there... even when we lose a horseshoe in the creek :)

8.6.10-Exactly one year ago today...

It's fun keeping a journal because you get to go back and read about everything that happened in your life.  It's almost like having a third person view of everything and learning more about yourself, I love it and hope I keep going through the blog!  One year ago today here was my journal entry...

       "I hung out with a guy named Jared Powers today.  We went up Big Cottonwood to his cabin and had a BBQ with a bunch of peoople and I had an awesome time!  Beore everyone got there we sat by the waterfall (!) and just talked and joked around.  I kind of wished we had more alone time like that.  He's way cute sweet and funny." 

I remember I couldn't believe how lucky I was to be his date.  I still feel just as lucky to be spending eternity with him and our sweet baby (more to come hopefully... lol). 

Corny, huh? 

A New Beginning

Back up... I forgot to start at the beginning... :)
Everyone needs new beginnings.  At 20 I was definitely in need of one.  I packed up my things and without telling hardly anyone and was our of Maryland within a week of my decision.  I had so many people who helped me through everything.  A change that big is actually really scary for me.  I had a family friend, Jared Davis, give me a blessing.  I needed comfort from my Heavenly Father and the knowledge that I had the strength to do this.  He and his wife both talked to me and made me feel loved and that they cared about me.  My family gave me the support I needed and loved me the whole way.  Even though they couldn't be here in person they were definitely there in spirit.  One of my very best friends, Laura, made the treck with me across the country!  What a sweet girl.  I hope I can be like her one day.  She dropped EVERYTHING and went with me as soon as I needed her.  Laura's whole family helped me by being there for me when I needed them.  Her father and husband gave me a beautiful blessing promising me that I would be storong and courageous in this trip.  It convinced me even more that I could do this.
I left July 8, 2010.  I threw everything I could in my little 2005 Mustang GT.  That thing was packed full.  The first day was hard and full of tears.  I had left my friends without letting more than a few know. 

That trip was one of the best and most healing of my life.  Within 3 days, I knew where my life was going and what I needed out of it.  Laura and I had many fun nights in hotels, trips to Omaha, Nebraska where the historical Winter Quarters is located. 

We ate out where we wanted when we wanted, and if we didn't want regular food we went to a local Walmart and bought snap peas, ranch, cheese and bread.  We got stuck in the most "podunk" towns in America and the only one I can remember the name of is Toledo, like the saying "Holy Toledo".  Worst. Town. Ever.  Don't go there.  Nothing exciting.  Another town we had a horrible feeling about and got lost for probably an hour or so because the GPS wasn't working right.  It was really scary but all we could do was pray and call her awesome husband, Derek, to help us find a hotel.

Finally we arrived in Utah!  I believe it was July 10, 2010.  We saw family, unpacked and relaxed all day.  What would I do with my first week there?  Well it was full of church (on Sunday the 11th), shopping, food and fun.  Everything we could think of doing together we did.  I'm so thankful I have her in my life.  I will always owe her big time and hope someday I can return the favor. 

On July 16, Laura had to leave.  It was hard for me because that meant everything started.  I was alone in this huge city with no friends.  I stayed inside most of the time and hung out with my awesome Grandma and Grandpa Johnson.  When I wasn't there, I was with Grandma and Grandpa Thurgood.  I'm so thankful for the time I had with them all by myself, but it was darn well time for me to make some friends.  Instead of being shy at church I tried to talk to new people every time and go to all of the activities.  I strengthened old relationships, met new friends through old friends, but most of all I learned more about my wonderful family. 

Britton, meet your future...

Look how lonely he
was without me!

While a year may sound like such a short period of time, I rewind a year of my life and find myself meeting my now-husband! It was an awkward meeting because we were introduced a week earlier but I didn't actually remember that because of the insane amount of people I met then. The conversation went like this...
"Hey britton!"
"Hey!" Turn to a girl next to me, "how does he know my name?"
So from there someone over heard my comment and told jared what I had said (thanks a lot Archie). I apologized after sacrament and asked what his name was it all started from there. There's lots more details but Beckham will have to ask about those later :)  We exchanged numbers and it all went from there. Gotta love him!