Lately: Spriiiiing!

It's spring! Spring is my favorite season - the weather gets warmer, the flowers start blooming, the trees are flowery and beautiful, the air smells amazing, school starts to wind down. It does so much to enliven my soul and remind me that no winter - literal or figurative - lasts forever. There's always the promise of beauty and warmth and life just waiting on the other side.

1. Easter Sunday was General Conference, so we had a family brunch at our house before the sessions started. Late start times for conference is just another advantage of living in the Eastern United States. We ate delicious food and had an Easter egg hunt. I love this family of mine, and I'm grateful to know that because Christ rose again from the grave, we will also rise again and we can live together forever!

My parents celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary just a few weeks ago. I am so grateful for the example they've given me of a loving, successful marriage that has taken work, patience, and absolute faith in the Lord and each other. Their road has not been easy, but they have kept the Lord in their individual lives and in their marriage and it has made all the difference. They are consistently the greatest influence for good in my life.

Mom, Dad, and Micah stayed for the first session of Conference, but Isaac, Dominika, and Adelina stayed the whole day. I have to confess that I didn't get nearly as much out of Conference when there was a baby girl to distract me. :)

The twins got fancy duct tape in their Easter baskets and this is how they chose to use it. It was a pretty quiet afternoon. :)

2. A few weeks ago I babysat Adelina while Isaac and Dominika went to a wedding. Adelina and I are good friends and she usually really likes me. This day, though, she was super tired and cranky the whole night. No matter what we tried - eating, bathing, playing - she would get sick of it and start crying within a few minutes. Finally I just got her ready for bed and started walking with her. It took about three hours to get her solidly asleep in her bed, but we did it! Those squishy sleeping cheeks and lips made the whole ordeal worth it. I can't even think about her moving away from me without getting a knot in my stomach. I love this baby girl.

3. My current obsession: pickles and turkey. I'm not a pickles-on-sandwiches kind of person, but lately I can't get enough. The bigger the slices, the better. It's so good.

4. Micah turned 18 on April 14th, so I went down to Columbus to watch her track meet. She's doing pole vault, long jump, and hurdles now. Basically, she's superhuman and does everything. She's the best and I'm so glad she's my sister!

5. Last week, my principal asked me to serve on an interview committee for our new assistant principal. It ended up being a really fun day hanging out with a few of my favorite co-workers and eating whoopie pies with raspberries in the middle (as delicious as it sounds). I love my job for a lot of reasons, but one of the reasons is because of the awesome people I work with. A lot of people have put in a lot of work to build a sense of community at our school, and I love being a part of it.

6. To celebrate Micah's birthday, we had a girls' night at Cheesecake Factory. We had intended to go shopping afterwards, but the mall was closed so we were only able to hit Macy's.

7. I had no plans last Saturday, so I was able to go to Jonah's soccer game. I knew it was a beautiful day, but I had no idea how hot it would be so I did not dress appropriately. Consequently, I hid under the shade of my umbrella the whole time, along with an occasional mini-companion.

There's Jonah in the gray.

Afterwards, Cooper and Campbell rode with me to get some groceries at Wal-Mart. We were all hungry, though, so we stopped for a snack at Wendy's. While we were there, Campbell pointed out that there was a store named Cato (the name of our cat), and I thought...hmm..I need some clothes. So we went to Cato and I shopped for about an hour while they played around me. They really were so good and patient, and I was struck by how easy it was for them to entertain themselves. We got a big dressing room, so while I tried on clothes they played house under the bench and weighed in on my selections ("no" pile, "maybe" pile, "yes" pile). They're the best.

8. This week was Micah's final choir concert. I like to support her anyway, but I feel especially committed to attending anything she does in choir or theater, since those were my activities in high school. At the end, they do a tribute to seniors with their baby picture and senior picture. She's so cute. It's crazy to me that she's old enough to be a senior. It was an added bonus to be able to hang out with my parents, who crack me up.

Micah and I at the senior reception before her show (in clothes I bought with the twins the weekend before. :) )

9. Yesterday my cousin Jacie got married. I went down to the temple with my mom and dad and my grandma. I'm so blessed to come from such a strong heritage of faith. I picked Grandma up and she was telling me about how she had woken up at 2:45 that morning and couldn't go back to sleep so she got up and read her scriptures. I was so touched that even in her old age, the first thing she does in the morning is read the scriptures. Her faith and diligence is inspiring to me, and I know so much of the good in my life comes from the choices she made throughout her life to put the Lord first. 


The reception was in the afternoon, and the rest of our family, minus Jacob and most of the grandkids, met us there. After the reception, we went to dinner together. It took a while to find a place that didn't have an hour-long wait, but we finally landed at Buffalo Wild Wings, where we then waited an hour to get our food. AN HOUR. It was absolutely insane, but we enjoyed each other and our 50% discount once the food actually did come out.

This pretty girl got a lot of attention, since she was the only kid there. She got pretty tired, though, so she also got to play on the floor and make a mess. I guess that's what the restaurant gets when they take forever with food - bigger messes to clean up afterwards.

And just because I can't leave it at #9:

10. I'm moving next month! A few girls from the YSA branch and I found a cute place near downtown (five minutes from work!!!) and we move in the middle of May. I'm really excited to get back out on my own and live with roommates again, and I'm out-of-my-mind excited about an hour less of driving every day, but I will really miss my current roommates. :( Living with Tessa and her kids the past three years has been the biggest blessing since I moved back to Indiana, and they have been the answer to my prayers on countless occasions. I'm so grateful that I was able to stay with them as long as I have.