Apples, Books & Ivy

We thought you'd like to hear about our magical weekend!

 

But first, I just had to share this adorableness... My friend Crystal took baby pictures of Kate last month and we just got to see them! Love love love love love :)

 

 

Our weekend got started when the beautiful Nicolette came to see us from Seattle!

 

 

Kate was just content to blow bubbles, but we got a good view of her 11 week cuteness eventually!

 

 

We headed over to Beverly's to work on Nicolette's halloween costume. As you can see, it was quite a success.

 

 

6 cupcakes, 1 Russian store and a lunch at Olive Garden with my awesome friend Deidra later, we closed our Friday night with me at work and Jon at primary program practice (oh my...)

 

Saturday brought APPLE HILL with Bay and Shawn! We've had this planned for months and were super excited for some apple tasting and fudge. It's become a yearly tradition for the 4 of us + Kate!

 

We stopped here for lunch:

 

 

had a "grown up ham and cheese", bought 3 bags of apples, tasted some fudge, cheked out crafts, got some pumpkins, tried to get glitter tattoos (but the line of children was too long) and then we got this heath bar caramel apple to share:

 

 

And originally this was going to be our family picture for the day...

(Kate was sleeping)

 

 

But then this happened:

 

 After stopping by Mandi's place to help her pack the moving truck to Florida (BOO!) we headed over to the Roseville Library where they were having their 100 year anniversary celebration!

 

Our friend Tim Stephenso's jazz group played (amazing!)

 

 

And we won this bundt!

"There's a hole in this cake..."

 They had a mustache photo booth (which of course we had to take part in!) and we ate popcorn and lemonade to our heart's content.

 

It was seriously the best Saturday we've had in a while. Friends, family, and decorative facial hair! Triple win.



Captured in a Second

These days, when time goes by so fast, I am ever thankful for photography.

 

Family pic of the day 10-14-12

 

It's nice to live in a day when we can document moments and memories.

 

Saturday we photographed a wedding in Auburn for a fantastic couple! It's great sharing these days of love with people and seeing families come together that I never knew before. And for a moment, their time will stand still.

 

Someday I will look back and say to Jon, "Remember that Sunday when I napped all day and we went to the Joyner's for dinner and Christian threw that ball at Kate's face and Gavin was starting to walk and the kids played ukulele while Abraham and Lucy ran around licking everyone and then we came home and got in our PJs and watched the Italian Job and then took THIS picture with Margo, the best dog we ever had?"

 

And he'll say, "Yeah. Those were good times. I miss that."

 

Well I'm glad to be here. This time that someday I will wish to come back to. Because my baby smiles, and my dog runs to see me when I get home, and Jon comes to see me at work and gives me hugs, and really I don't think life could be any more fun :)

September Looked Like This

 

 

 

 

 

There You Have It

I've been thinking a lot lately about all of the things I would like to get done.

Did you catch that? I've been THINKING a lot lately about all the things I would like to get done. Not actually DOING them. Somehow I find myself doing a lot, and yet not enough. I feel busy all day, but when I look back at my yesterday, it seems full of nothing. Or rather, full of SOMETHINGS but not all of the somethings that I would have liked it to be...

Are you following? Does this sound like you? Are you or a loved one overwhelmed with to-do lists and endless goals?

(Now this is just turning into a bad infomercial.)

Well today a good friend posted this:

and I laughed!

But not like "funny HAHA!"

more like "funny! oh..."

Because I realized that's me exactly this morning.

Yesterday I started back at work - and I LOVE my job. But you should have seen me last night and this morning. I don't think I've ever walked around more like a zombie and I probably looked pretty frumpy and mad. I don't think I was really in a bad mood, it's just that I haven't had a nap at all in the past 2 weeks, which is not to say that I always need one, but I do like them. And especially having a baby and breastfeeding and now working, I seem to have more cause to need one these days.

Coming home from work yesterday I sat right down to nurse my baby, went on a walk with my hubs and the dogs, did the dishes, wrote in my journal, ate dinner, nursed the baby again, went through some paperwork I needed to organize, pumped and then the tiredness hit. And it was only 8:30pm.

I have been a chronic "try-to-do-too-much"er for years. I am that person with daily lists, weekly schedules, and a calendar that looks like a pen threw up on it. Jon and I constantly talk about how I have this problem with telling people "no".

I joke with people about how life with a baby means I do nothing all day, but in fact I don't think I've ever been busier. I know people with kids empathize, and people without kids understand, because they look at me walking with my baby in her carrier car-seat with my heels on, a purse and a diaper bag over my shoulder and wonder "how does she do it?" and the answer is that I'm very very tired :)

In all seriousness, though, this is why I bring all this up (no, it is not for pity).

I love my life.

It's really as simple as that. I take lots of pictures, for instance. Kate was in her swing the other day, listening to Coldplay with me while I worked on sewing projects for some upcoming baby showers and I decided to take some time just to watch her and take some pictures while she fell asleep. It's one of the first times since we brought her home that I've just spent some time photographing her and it was really fun :) I thought about posting some of them for friends and parents, etc. But I haven't had time.

I had an awesome day with my family for my sister's birthday last week! We went out to dinner and then had cake back at their house. I laughed the WHOLE night. My sister and I tried to get a picture together, which took about half an hour and 20 pictures and I still don't think we got a good one :) When it came time to cut the birthday cake, I cut out the whole piece that had her name on it, right out of the middle of the cake for her to eat. I've always wondered why people don't do that more often? It's way more fun! I have pictures of all of this too and I wanted to blog about it. But I haven't had time.

I'm making Kate's halloween costume! So far it's looking really awesome. I wanted to post pictures, but I haven't had time.

My friend Mandi came over to make tutus with me for Kate. They turned out ADORABLE. I took pictures, but haven't even taken them off the camera yet. No time.

Are you seeing a trend?

It doesn't always have to do with pictures, but my point is this:

When I look back at the last two months of having Katherine and feeling like I'm "not getting anything done", I just smile. It's been the best two months so far of my life really. And it's because I'm enjoying the "getting done" a little less, and the "doing" a little more :)

I DO a lot. And it's awesome. And the lists of tasks or silly goals I make for myself are just not important. Making sure I blog once a week? Eh. I've been waiting to blog at all because I haven't had time to blog the way I wanted. So silly! And taking time to post updated pictures of Katherine for all to see? Forget it. I have the pictures and the memories, and really it's more important for me to make sure they are in her scrapbook than on Facebook.

Somehow in this busy culture I've started feeling like if I'm not telling everyone about my life then I'm not HAVING a life. Which could not be further from the truth :)

Scheduling time with friends has been harder. Having personal time to read or work on my music has been non-existent. But what it comes down to is re-defining my interpretation of quality time.

So even though this post is wordy and pictureless, and even though there are many GOOD things I am getting done and want to do, I could not be happier. Because it's not about how awesome I think I should be - it's that I want to be awesome for Jon and Kate and Margo. And if I'm happy doing that, then the world is alright.

As a Matter of Happiness

Yesterday I was thinking of where my life is now, and considered a time earlier in the year when I was faced with a big life altering decision.

 

The specifics of the decision aren't important. What IS important is that at the time I wished I could have seen 15 years into the future to weigh out each option. Where would each decision take me? And which one was going to make me happier? I thought that if I could be told from the beginning which one was going to make me happier, then the decision would have been easier to  make.

 

Yesterday I tried to picture what each future might have looked like - and in my mind, each one looked equally happy. Well that didn't make sense! One should have been clearly better than the other. But as I thought about it, I realized that I would have been satisfied either way. And I never really needed to "see" the future after all. So which one really was better? Well, it was all up to me in the first place.

 

No one could have told me which future was going to end up the better one, because it was all based on my choices. Which future did I choose to be happy about?

 

The decision that I made was absolutely the best one, I'm sure :) And it's because I chose to make it the best.

 

This is not to say that our circumstances don't affect us, and that we aren't somewhat swayed by the situations that surround us. But I am not a believer in fate. We can act for ourselves and create our own futures. However bad the present may seem, the path that we walk moving forward is what decides our ultimate happiness.

 

I've believed this for a long time, but looking through this lens at my recent life choices made everything all the more clear.

 

As I thought about this yesterday, I asked myself if the decision that I made really was the best one after all? And the answer to myself was a resounding YES - because I chose it to be that way :)

 

And as I look down at the smiling baby asleep in my arms, I have never been more grateful for choices.



Blessings, Birthdays and the Best Things in Life

Well, we have a lot to catch up on!

At the end of August I officially turned 25. This was our picture for the day:

It could not have been a better day! My best friends called and visited, sent cards and texted. We went to my parent's house for lunch, spent most of the day chilling at home with Kate, and then Jon and I went out to dinner at FAT'S. After dinner we made it to our friend's gender reveal party for their baby due in January. It's a GIRL! It is so much fun having friends having their first babies at the same time as us :)

My mom got me these gorgeous flowers (which gave me the opportunity to practice my indoor photography)

and between the dresses and the shoes and the nail polish and the sewing supplies, I was TOTALLY spoiled :) Maybe 25 will be the best year ever??

Meanwhile, our lives have been crafty and creative. Both Jon and I seem to have an endless number of projects going. He made this journal for my sister:

As well as a walking stick for Kate (which he did before she was born). He really loves woodworking and burned "Oh the places you'll go" - my favorite Dr. Seuss book - into the wood after carving it down. The grain is gorgeous! He even added a leather wrap as a handle near the top.

Between these hobbies, working with hemp, sewing, jewelry making and preparing for upcoming baby showers, we definitely have our hands full!

In baby news - Kate is 5 weeks old as of yesterday! But I'm a little behind, so here's her picture from last week :)

She is still a calm, sweet baby and slept from 10:30pm - 6:30am last night.

Most days she chills around the house with me and Jon. Margo likes her most of the time.

Last weekend, Jon was able to bless Kate in our church. Traditionally babies are given a name and blessing within their first year of life. It is not a baptism or christening, but an opportunity for the priesthood holders closest to the baby's family to welcome the baby into the world and bless them with all of the things Heavenly Father wishes for their life. Whenever possible the baby's father performs the blessing. It was so neat to watch Jon do this for our daughter!

The day before her big day, we took some pictures. While we were getting Kate dressed, she gave us quite the smile. It just lights up her face! I can't wait to see this more :)

I made Kate's headband as well as this little bracelet for her to wear:

The shoes were probably my favorite part!

 

 And as soon as she was dressed we had a meltdown :) She couldn't stand how pretty she looked HAHA! Good thing this was just the practice run.

 Aw, there's our peaceful girl!

Our family on Kate's blessing day - yes, she slept right through it.

We are SO grateful to everyone who could come!

From left to right: Mike (Jon's brother), Steve (Jon's dad), Whitney Mariner, Uncle Mike, Aunt Judy, Jenny, Chris (Jon's mom), Emma and Katie Roth, Spencer, Craig, Lynnette and Claire Hardy, Mike, Karen, Breanne and David Weber (having a girl!!), Nancy (my mom), John (my dad), Jenni and Ken Thomson, Tiani and Brandon Taylor (having a boy!!), Aby Pineda, Bryce and Crystal and Jace DeWitt, Anna Joyner, Carmen and Christian Joyner, Sarah Isbell, Brenda and Jake Joyner, Me and Jon and Kate, Morgan and Jon Joyner, Jared and Lindsay Joyner, Hayley and Jonathan Joyner, Breanna and Ben Baker, Michelle (my sister), Kelly and Tadd Barnett, Jeremy Leonard and Danielle Howe, and Charlie. HUGE thank you to Louis Mariner for taking this group picture!! (not pictured: Kacy Wyatt, Ken Williams, Amanda Gray, Candice and Parker Humes - thank you all for being there!!)

Back at the house we were able to visit with everyone and Kate was snuggled left and right. She slept through everything until around 11:30 when she woke up to eat. I am so thankful for this girl and her sweet spirit! Some of our friends were only able to make it to the open house. Karin and Larry Hart, as well as Quincy Douglas and his boys - Justin and Shawn. Thank you to everyone who was able to stop by!

Breanne, practicing for her little girl coming in January:

Kate loves to sleep with her hands up:

 

It's become a running joke

 

 Lastly, some before and after pictures of Kate's dress.

I knew I always wanted to have an ivory colored dress for our baby's blessing, but finding pretty vintage gowns online is EXPENSIVE. My mom and sister went out with me and we found this cute one at JC Penney! I liked that it was ivory with the detailed overlay, but the downsides were that it was 12 month size, sleeveless and had this HUGE bow on the front. It doesn't look huge in this picture, but on our 4 week old baby it was overwhelming... I saw a lot of potential though, so we went with it :)

And here is the dress after:

I took in the shoulders to fit Kate better. I liked that the dress went down past her feet, so that was perfect! MANY thanks to Candice Humes for helping me work with Kate as a baby model :) I added the cap sleeves, which I was really proud of!

I took the bow off of the front and added pearl clusters to match the flower that had been in the middle, which I used to turn into a headband

I was lucky enough to find the perfect shoes at Macy's!

 The whole outfit turned out classy and beautiful.

Happy blessing, baby Kate! We love having you in our world :)