Mad World

   This morning I got in my car to drive to practice. Since December 1st, I've had my car radio set on a station that plays Christmas music all day long. Songs were played that brought such loving memories from when I was a little girl. I remember feeling so safe and not having a worry in the world.
  When I got home, I turned on the TV to find all the channels fixated on yet another tragedy. I was sickened to learn that 20 innocent children and 7 adults in Connecticut lost their lives in a shooting. The world is sadly unfamiliar. I pray that these families can feel comforted and know that they will see their beloved children again. I hope this pushes us to hold our loved ones close and to remember how fragile life can be.

"Through the revelations of God to His prophets, came the doctrine and authority under which families are sealed together not only for this life, but for all eternity."

                                                                              - Gordon B. Hinckley 

The Children

    I just need to post and maybe brag a little bit about all my nieces and nephews. I love them all so much and really miss them all! I love calling my sisters and listening to funny stories about what all the kids are up to. They are all at such fun ages and I can't help but feel I'm missing it! Which makes me sad, but soon enough I will get to see more of them.

Miss B. This is the oldest grandchild of the family! Little Miss Brook is such a sweetheart! She is so kind and so smart. I love this little girl so much. She is going to be 8 in July... which seems so odd!

Cohen Charles! I live the closest to Mackenzie and don't see her or her cute kids enough!! Cohen is hilarious! He makes me laugh so hard. How could you not love that dimple!!?

Claire bear!! I have a strong bond with this one.... she and I share an obsession for horses! She is Meaghan's oldest. I was talking to Meaghan the other day and she told me that Claire watches horse videos on youtube and just cries because she wants a horse so bad. I know how she feels and I told Meaghan, that she's not going to grow out of it! Sorry! 

Sassy miss mae! This is Mackenzie's little girl! She is beyond cute!! She loves babies and she loves clothes. She's definitely a girl! She's really a sassy little thing. I love her! 

Georgia Kate... where to being with this one. This is Caitlin's second little girl and a feisty one at that! I wish that I could post a video of her dancing at Mackenzie's wedding... that video perfectly depicts what this girl is all about. Crazy! 

Livie Lou! This is Meaghan's second, Olivia. We always used to joke and call her Miserable Mabel because she was always in a bad mood! She's grown out of that but is still a shy little thing. She is precious and has the sweetest little voice. 

Jacobus! This is Meaghan's little boy. He is definitely is daddy's little boy! Meaghan has caught him trying to jump from the top of the stairs, throwing footballs at the wall or trying to cut down the newel post with a toy saw. He is so dang cute! 

Hazel Dee!! My newest niece!! This is Trav's brother, Tyler's, little girl! She has grown SO much since I have last saw her. But, I get to see her and give her loves at Christmas! She is so cute! Uncle Trav and I miss her so much!

AND..... Caitlin will be having her 3rd GIRL in January! She is referred to as No-Name because Cait has no idea what they are going to name her. But, I'm very excited to meet her!! Aren't I lucky to be surrounded by the cutest kids in the world!!? 

Happy Girl

    I am a happy girl for many reasons. The main reason... Travis is BACK!! He was home for 2 weeks, slaving away. I am beyond grateful that he is a hard worker, but I am not a fan of him being away from me! It was very, very nice to reunite with him. Last weekend, we met up in Rexburg! My younger sister Sarah goes to school there, so my parents decided to go down that weekend as well to visit her. It was a nice little trip to see my family and my sweetheart.

Little Sarah is in college... so weird! Her and one of her roommates, Jordan. 

    I am also very happy because the dreaded month of October is almost over. Our season is just around the corner, and I am so ready to start playing some games. Travis' dad, brother and sister are coming down in a week to catch our first games! It will be so fun to have family here. In a few weeks we are heading to BOSTON!! It is going to be such a fun trip! My parents AND Travis are coming. I can't wait!

    Last weekend, when I met up with Trav and the fam in Rexburg... I also got to see my wedding picture for the first time!! Yeah, it's been 4 months... but the wait was worth it. They are all SO beautiful and I look at them again and again. I love being reminded of what a beautiful day it was. I'm such a lucky girl!!

We got SO many pictures! But, I'm just gonna' post some of my favorites!!!

So happy!

Loved sharing this day with so many people that are so special to me!! 

Beautiful Fall!

  I've mentioned this before, but Utah during the fall is absolutely beautiful. The heat isn't unbearable and the colors on the mountains are stunning! Travis and I have tried to take advantage of it. We've been extremely busy with work, school and basketball, but we've tried to find time to enjoy this time of year and each other!

Last weekend I was able to run in what's called, "The Dirty Dash." It's a 6 mile run through a TON of mud and other dirty obstacles. I ran with my friends Bailey and Kim! We had so much fun and got SO dirty (clearly). It was worth it though! It was a lot of work to get clean again. 

Travis and I made pumpkin banana bread! It was SO yummy and a great way to welcome in this season. I think we finished the loaf within a day! 

I was finally able to go riding!! It was a recruiting weekend, so my coach usually takes the recruits and whoever wants to go riding! Of course, I jumped on that opportunity right away. The girl in the picture with me and Mustang is Makenzi Morrison (she's a new freshman on the team). Travis also came!! I wasn't able to get a picture of him, but he rode a mule named Gus! So cute. 

My friend, Karin Cottle, had her farewell today up in Heber! After we spent most of the day up there, we decided to make a stop on our way through the canyon to document how pretty these trees are! The pictures really don't do it justice, but the canyon is incredible right now. I loved seeing all of the colors and.. I love my husband for letting me take pictures :) 

Nothing really new..

   Things are pretty busy down here in Provo. I'm busy with basketball and school and Trav has actually been busy with some different jobs (but, that's a secret! Or else we get deported). It's crazy to think that we are most of the way through September! It's a good thing, but it's also a bad thing because the month of October is almost here... I dread it. This is what October means to me:

• Long and really hard practices..
• No games to look forward to
• Lots of midterms 
• A really, really sore body

    Once October is over... I'm a happy girl. But, Trav reminds me everyday to take ONE. DAY. AT. A. TIME! He is just so lovely.

One of my really good friends, Karin Cottle, is leaving on her mission in a few weeks! Trav and I joined her for a little dinner the other night to say our 'goodbyes' before her farewell. She's a doll and is going to do so well in Chile! Proud of this little lady. My sister-in-law, Kara, will be heading down here in about 2 months to go to the MTC. Missions are wonderful!! 

Travis is such a hard worker and I love him for that! However, I don't think he loves me so much for taking this picture! It's been beyond wonderful having him down here. I honestly don't know how we did long distance last year, yikes!! 

Lately, I have been obsessed with porridge (yes, I still call it porridge and that is what it always will be to me)!! I probably have it everyday. It is so, so good with a little brown sugar sprinkled on top and then some milk poured over it. It is so good and keeps you full!!! Even Trav is a fan. LOVE it!! 

                   

I love this

WATCH this..

"Never check your religion at the door"... Never check who you are and what you know to be right at the door, ever. Jeffrey R. Holland is the man! 

Montana Getaway!

     Remember how Travis was at home this whole past week? And how he was supposed to be coming home today? Well, there was a little change of plans, but for the better!! Yesterday started out to be a pretty gloomy and boring Saturday with nothing to do. Travis and I had been in touch all morning and he had said that there was not much for him to be doing at home. We were both kind of saying how much we missed each other and what not when he said.... "Want to meet half way?". Usually, I would kind of laugh it off and say, "I wish!', but this time... the idea didn't sound half bad.
     We decided to go for it! I quickly packed a few things, booked the cheapest hotel room in Butte and hopped in my car. Butte is about a 6 hour drive from Provo! I was so excited to see Trav and get out of Provo for a bit that I didn't mind the long drive at all. I left at about 3:00 in the afternoon and got there at exactly 9:00. I loved the drive! It was a really relaxing and beautiful. Trav beat me there and had checked in to our GHETTO room at the Rodeway Inn and Suites. When I pulled up to the hotel, I couldn't help but laugh. It was such a dive! However, I could not wait to see my husband and I thought it was kind of fun with how spontaneous we were being!

   Even though we were in Butte, which a lot of people would consider to be the arm-pit of Montana, it was still beautiful and the perfect getaway.  I loved it and I had such a fun time with Travis, even though I was on the road for the majority of the time. Travis and I have both made the drive from home to Utah and neither of us have the best feelings for it. However, today when we were driving back to Provo, I think we both gained more appreciation for it. The sun was out and everything just looked so beautiful! I really enjoyed driving back..... until we pulled into the Salt Lake Valley. 

    Being in Montana for that short time kind of gave me a small sense of how home feels. Feeling a  chill in the air again and being able to look around and not see fast-food restaurant after fast-food restaurant was so refreshing. I love so many things about home, but one of the main things I love is how authentic and real it feels! I felt that in Montana for the short time I was there. That was definitely one of the reasons as to why it was the perfect getaway for me. I needed to get back in touch with how that felt! 

    Speaking of realness and authenticity... I am so blessed to have Travis! I am able to be my true, authentic and honest to goodness SELF and he loves me for it. The same goes for him! I love that he feels he can be his true self around me! I love how real it is and it will never get old to me!! This will definitely be a Labor Day weekend to remember. 

Back to school blues...

   Tomorrow is the first day of school. I cannot believe that summer is already over! It's hard thinking that the days of just doing whatever I wanted are no over; however, I'm looking forward to being busy and having some sort of routine. This year is going to be so different with having Travis here! I already feel different about school and not nearly as stressed. Travis actually left for home just this morning! He has a bunch of worked lined up for this next week, so I won't have him around. I am not the biggest fan of being apart from him, but luckily he's only gone a week. The poor guy, he needed a week to be busy! He has been beyond bored being down here. All that we have done has watched T.V series after T.V. series. Once he gets back to Utah, he will have some jobs lined up and we will face reality together.

So very in love with this boy! 

I had to post this picture... it cracks me up! Do you think that their is a man in the home?! Trav and his powerade. Down here, you can buy 2 for a dollar! At home you can buy one of those for about 2 dollars. At first, I thought it was a bit much to have 15 of these in the fridge... but when I'm finished a workout these taste pretty dang good. 

I'm goin' a little crazy. I would love to have another horse of my own (that's no news), but lately I've just been dying to ride and just be around them. I've made Travis watch one of my horse movies.... you know the ones with the terrible acting and lame story lines? I love them and Trav' is a good man for sitting through it. He even took me to a near by stable just to look at the horses there. 

I love this picture!! This horse just looks like he has so much to tell you about life. 

Weddings galore!

  This past week has been fabulous! All of my family has been in town for my sister's wedding. It has been so nice to have familiar faces around. It's kept Travis and I busy, which we have loved! We've loved the family dinners and BBQ's. I know that it really makes me miss home and wish that we could all be closer. Soon enough though!

  On the same day that my sister got married, my cousin, Nathan, also got married. Travis and I were fortunate enough to attend their sealing at the Salt Lake temple. My uncle Greg was able to seal Nathan and Carmen and it was a really neat experience. My uncle Greg has been serving as an area authority over in Russia for the past 5 years and is finally come home. I loved listening to the ceremony again! Especially having my husband there.

 Waiting around for Mackenzie's wedding!! I loved having our cute little nieces around. So much fun! 

 Claire bear! Love this little soul.

 We all knew that this little miss Georgia was very sassy... Well, she showed us a whole other side to her at Mackenzie's wedding. She danced her heart out! The most psychotic and hilarious dancer I've ever witnessed. So entertaining! She is definitely someone you would want to party with. 

I chopped my hair off! When I was at home, I had it done before our wedding and whatever the stylist put in my hair absolutely destroyed it. My hair is already thin, but I have never had it feel so stringy, dry and dead. Something needed to be done, so I had my darling friend Karin chop it all off. I looooooove long hair, and I do miss mine. But, this cut has been nice! It's easy and cool for summer. It's certainly grown on me! 

 A cool picture taken at Mackenzie and Manny's ceremony. I've never been to a greek wedding before! The ceremony was so unique and interesting. It was really cool to see!!

My sister looked beautiful and so happy! Which is how I hope to see all of my sisters to be. My good friend Fus was able to come and join in on the fun!! I am SO sweaty in this picture from all the dancing. I seriously had so much fun dancing! Whoever knows me well, knows that I am not a dance party kind of girl. I don't know if it was the greek food I ate... but I definitely danced the night away. OPA!!!!! 

It's about time..

I think it was about time I give a little update on our exciting life down in Utah. For starters, Travis is now HERE!! Well, he's been here for over a week now, but it has made things exponentially better. Our little place has certainly felt like more of a home since he has been here. He is the greatest and I am so happy I married him :) We really haven't done much... and I mean that when I say that. Our days start with working out and then for the rest of the day, we watch our show (Friday Night Lights). I've watched it before, but I have loved watching it again with Travis. We're a tad obsessed, but it's keeping us busy and that is exactly what we need. 

My very good friend, Kim Parker, got married this past week! Karin, Aubri and I patiently awaiting outside of the temple awaiting the beautiful couple to come out! I was lucky enough to go to the sealing and I loved being able to be apart of that. It brought back a lot of thoughts and feelings about my special day with Travis! Such a great blessing. 

It is HOT down here! Neither of us have been able to adjust to it well. This is us at the park at dusk... because that's the only real time we can handle being outside. 

 We went to the Heber rodeo this weekend. I love this rodeo, I went to it last year with my sister and we had such a good time, so this year I went again with my sister and Travis. It was so crazy because at this exact time last year, Travis and I were just starting to seriously date. Time really does fly!

 My little niece Cecilia! Such a little sass. 

 Love that sight.

Again with the little Miss Mae! 

   Our apartment is coming a long, but it is still not ready to post some pictures! However, I made something that I am very proud of. I am not the most creative or artistic person, so I obviously had to get this idea off of pinterest! With all that said... I'm still very proud that I was able to make this! 

This is it!! It's kind of hard to tell what it is in the picture. But, all I did was cut out an S on poster board, scrunch up coffee filters and used hot glue to stick em on. It's really cute!! I love our initial, not just because my first name starts with an S, but I just think the letter S is pretty. Way to go Steph! 

Life is good!!