life

running. running. running. you probably hear me talk about this a lot. maybe a lot a lot. but i cant help it. i finally started running again after skipping a whole week. you might laugh when i say a whole week..but really. thats a lot when youre training for a race. my body has been through a lot this past week, but im happy to say that im almost back to normal :) saturday i ran 3 miles to see how my body would hold up. that was a heck of a 3 mile run! i thought i was going to fall over. my legs were about to crumble and my pelvis bone was aching {i know..wierd}. so, monday i went and tried 5 miles. after i got past the nasty 3 miles, i was floating on a cloud :) it was the best therapy..it allowed me to take my mind off things. i finally got back to my original speed..we’ll see how the 1/2 goes.
brig has also been through a lot this week. he hurt his knee snowboarding. my dad has been doing some therapy and stuff on it to help it heal quicker but every time brig runs or plays basketball on it, it makes it worse. of course he still insists on running the 1/2. this should be interesting. wish us luck! :)
maddix has also been through a lot this week! both parents injured, emotional mommy, and even through all this he started taking steps! however, it does take SO much to get him to walk. like holding the tv remote, cell phone, camera in front of him. bad news is that he knows the trick..he walks to it and we take it away from him. oh well! he’ll be walking soon enough :)
these guys make me extremely happy. did i mention how good looking they are? i just love them to death!!!

babies are miracles

yesterday we lost our precious little baby. I felt like I was already getting attached to my baby. we are feeling so extremely grateful that it only happened when i was 9 weeks along. But that didnt stop me from feeling any pain. I have gained a new appreciation for women that go through miscarriages or still born babies. It is such an empty feeling.
On Tuesday I had my doctors appointment and everything looked great. We saw the heart beat on the ultrasound and it was beating just as it should. That night I had a little bit of discharge but didnt think much about it. Wednesday morning I started bleeding. I called the doctor and they told me that they think that it was probably because of the ultrasound and most likely it was coming from the cervix, not the uterus. This was comforting. They told me to go on bed rest for 24 hours and if it didnt go away then to call. My mom took Maddix and I got lots of rest. Thursday morning it got worse. I called the doctor and scheduled an appointment at 1:15. I was on bed rest until then. I am so grateful for my mom that let me lounge at her house while she entertained maddix. I didnt have any cramping through any of this until a little before the doctors appointment. It continued to get worse at the doctors and was hurting pretty bad while I was there waiting. When they brought me back, they did an exam and i bypassed the sac already. He told me the news, i was shocked. they both gave me hugs, let me cry, and finished up. I called Brig right away and let him know the sad news. He came home, gave me a big hug and just let me cry..and eat ice cream :) I didnt think it would hurt this much. Physically and emotionally. {I had very bad cramps when I got home for a few hours}. After a few hours I was able to talk on the phone without crying. But I would end up breaking down right after of course. My awesome mother in law and sister in law brought us dinner and Brig helped me with Maddix.
This morning I am doing a lot better. I got the rest my body needed and today I’m going to be strong. i’m going to spend lots of time with family to take my mind off of it. Thanks for everyone’s love and support. I appreciate it!
I am so grateful for the plan of salvation. I know that I will see my baby again. I am very grateful to have Maddix to keep me busy and to keep my mind occupied :) He is such a blessing and is everything brig and I could ever want in a little boy. My sister in law the other day reminded me that baby’s are such miracles. I dont think I ever fully appreciated that when I had Maddix because he was completely healthy and my pregnancy went perfect. Babies really are miracles. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and that this trial in our life happened for a reason. I have so much faith in my Savior and know that everything will be okay :)
 

happy birthday to me

  

did ya get that?

surprise? yes.

good surprise? of course!

so this means..

they will only be 19 months apart!!!

i have been pregnant two times in 2010

i have spent both of our Christmas’ together pregnant

both of our anniversaries pregnant

and both of my birthdays {since we’ve been married} pregnant

i have been pregnant two times before age 21 {dont judge}

i will have two children under the age of 2

when i start nursing school i will have a 2 1/2 year old & a 1 year old….

this little one will have a cousin 5 months older than him/her and another one 3 months older. yay!

i am nursing and pregant and running, which means i burn lots and lots of calories a day, which means i get to eat lots and lots of food :) but healthy of course!

we are so excited to meet this little one sometime around the beginning of september.

…………

for my birthday we went up to my parents cabin with some of my family. on monday we went snowboarding at sunrise. way fun! but the bad news is that brig and i both hurt ourselves. my lower back and his knee. he totally called this. we have our 1/2 marathon in two weeks!!! i hope we heal so that we can run it! we’ve been training so long and hard for this. it was a very memorable birthday! :)

healthy dinner success

healthy dinner #2=success and delicious!
tonight for dinner we had salmon tacos and steamed broccoli. for dessert we had homemade coconut milk chocolate chip banana ice cream! it was so healthy and so good.

image here, here, & here

salmon tacos

• salmon
• lemon pepper
• seasoned salt
• corn tortillas {i buy the uncooked costco kind then cook them on the stove. they are amazing!}
• lettuce
• salsa
• lime juice

cover salmon in lemon pepper and seasoned salt and grill for 10 minutes. cut up the salmon and put it in the corn tortillas along with shredded lettuce and salsa. squeeze some lime juice on top and enjoy!

steamed broccoli

steam broccoli until tender, then pour a small amount of olive oil and lemon juice on top and eat! this is incredible. i used to eat it for breakfast in high school :)

coconut milk chocolate chip banana ice cream

• 3 c coconut milk
• 6 Tbsp agave nectar or honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 banana
• semi sweet chocolate chips

combine all ingredients and blend together, then pour in ice cream machine {i have the cuisine art automatic ice cream machine}

pour in a few chocolate chips once the ingredients are all in the ice cream maker if you like the chunks :)

turn on machine and let it freeze til it looks smooth creamy {about 15 minutes}

this is a sweet, yummy & healthy treat!

eleven months and cuter than ever

cant believe its almost been one whole year since our little maddix brigham was born. maddix is growing so fast and keeps us super entertained. he has SO much energy and is such a happy little guy {most of the time}. he loves laughing, smiling, crawling {if thats what youd call it}, eating bananas & crackers, nursing, walking around furniture, being curious, baby einstein, getting into cupboards, “talking”, lots of attention, fighting his naps, going to bed easy at night, walking the halls at church, stealing kids toys, being adorable, & his mamma and dadda :)

motivated by money

brigham is in a competition at work with a few other managers. they are trying to see who can lose the most body fat %. i am excited for this..not because brig needs to lose the weight, but because now i get to cook healthy simple meals without any complaints {and if he wins, he gets lots of moneys} :) i told brig that our grocery bill WILL be a lot cheaper the next couple of months. i will buy a large bag of chicken breasts, lots of veggies, fruits, and healthy snacks like almonds.
dinner #1 {we ate tonight}:

• grilled lemon marinated chicken on top of a salad
• roasted sweet potatoes and zucchini

forgot to take a pic of our dinner, but this is what it looked like :) image found here and here

lemon marinade

• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1/4 lemon juice
• 1/2 Tbsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped

put all ingredients in a food processor or blender and marinade chicken in it for 4-8 hours {i did 4}
i also made the marinade for the salad dressing. mmmmm. we also put grape tomatoes and feta cheese on the salad. so good!
roasted veggies
“Put two tablespoons of your favorite seasonings (thyme and corriander are great for this recipe) into 1/8 cup olive oil and let it sit while you're preparing the veggies for the oven. When you've finished chopping, whisk in 1/8 cup of vinegar (balsamic or wine vinegar give a great flavor boost) and pour it over the vegetables in the roasting pan.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Whatever roots you've got, dice about two pounds of them into one-inch cubes (you can leave carrots round). Be sure to remove the skins, as these will turn tougher and bitter when you roast them. Spread the cubes in a roasting pan and pour the oil and vinegar mixture over them.
Bake your sweet potatoes and whatever other veggies you've included for 45 minutes. Take the pan out and give it a brisk shake every 15 minutes or so to roll the cubes and redistribute the coating.”
recipe found here
this dinner was very delicious, filling {even for brig!}, and pretty simple!
i could eat like this every night :)

love story {caution: mushy stuff}

    

{pic 1: dating} {pic 2: night he proposed} {pic 3: engagements} {pic 4: married}

i’d like to consider myself a pretty lucky lady. at 18, fresh out of high school, i fell in love with a young 21 year old, fresh off the mish. when he came to pick me up on our blind date i thought he was THE most handsome guy i had ever met. i was pretty excited to be able to go on a date with such a good looking guy! he was so down to earth, honest, sweet, easy to talk to, fun, spontaneous, and charming.
first we went to mesa frozen yogurt. i ate his leftovers. on a blind date. embarrassing? kinda, but i felt so comfortable and was totally able to act my normal self. after fro yo we went to freestone park with another couple and went long boarding. he showed off his amazing skills in a humble way, while i pretended like i knew what i was doing. we were both having a blast! we raced down the hills, ran through the sprinklers, star gazed on our long boards, and walked around the park and talked. we hit it off so quick. i wanted to hang out with him over and over and over again.
i didnt want the night to end. i absolutely loved being with him. he made me feel so good about myself. he made me smile SO big! when i walked in the house after the date, i went to say goodnight to my parents. i could not stop smiling! they knew right away that something was up. i told them that i had an amazing time and that he was an incredible guy. then i went to bed. i could NOT sleep! i kept replaying the night over and over in my head. i was afraid that he would go home and realize that i wasnt good enough or cute enough or whatever.
but nope, i cannot explain how excited i was when i got that text from him that next day and found out that he couldnt sleep that night either! crazy. we ended up going and playing tennis that night, desert the next night with some friends, tennis again the next night with family stuff, and the pattern continues. we did not want to miss a day of seeing each other and we didnt.  im pretty sure my friends  thought i fell off the face of the earth. i was head over heels!
after dating for four months, he proposed. we were hiking at usery pass and when we got to a turn, there it was. a blanket with a pizza that had a heart made out of olives, candles and an ice chest. {his sister and brother in law helped out a lot! and recorded the whole thing :)} he began to tell me how much he loved me, and all that good stuff. then he got down on his knee and popped the question. im pretty sure i didnt say yes or no or look at the ring. i was so happy and emotional i just hugged him so tight! but the ring did fit and i loved it. and later i did say yes :)
2 years ago today, we were married for time and all eternity in the mesa arizona temple. this was such an incredible feeling and such a spiritual experience to know that i was being sealed to my best friend for FOREVER.
we have had an amazing two years. including having an adorable baby boy :) we are loving married life.  we learn from the rough times and come out stronger than ever. i am so lucky to have a husband that i can communicate so well with and have so much fun with. can’t imagine life any other way. 
happy anniversary brigham! i love you so much!