things i learned this week:

1. watching a new friend from europe carve a pumpkin for the first time is seriously great.
2. if you use newspaper under the pumpkin carving, you will be able to read the newspaper on your table the next day.
3. pumpkins always start to mold too soon.
4. having a rat living in your ceiling is not fun.
5. naming the rat after 3 days helps you come to terms with it living in your ceiling.
6. all my siblings can, on command, name a different movie quote about rats.
7. the night it gets caught and dies in your ceiling you sleep like a baby bc its suddenly very quiet.
8. i don't want to have more rats in my ceiling.
9. listening to musicals all day at work makes the day seem brighter and the time go faster.
10. i know A LOT of lyrics to musicals.
11. i want to go back to doing community theatre.
12. my favorite role was the witch in Into The Woods in 8th grade. i still know all the words.
13. it's frightening the volume of words and music i have stored in my brain permanently.
14. if you do laundry, you will inevitably spill your breakfast on your clean dress pants
15. there's nothing like having a full linen closet of perfectly fluffy, clean, folded towels and sheets.
16. we own 25 pillowcases.
17. how did we GET that many pillowcases????
18. i sleep better when not getting charlie horses in my thigh (and there are not rats in my ceiling).
19. i wake up so much happier when i sleep good (not learned this week, just reaffirmed).
20. drinkable organic yogurt is delicious for breakfast (even when it a drip is now smudged on your pants).
21. my baby like yogurt for breakfast. i can tell.
22. my husband is in love with our baby. as am i.
23. we are 23+ weeks along now... and it all seems kind of unreal still.
24. this is too long of a list now.

i know it might seem silly

but i basically cry everytime i remember that my best friend is coming home from her mission TODAY.

i love her.

when she #1 told me she was going on a mission, #2 got her call, and #3 actually left, i was a super excited supportive best friend. and then i got off the phone, called my mother and cried.

i'm a sap sometimes, okay? :)

either way, she's coming in at 11:59 tonight. and i will see her this weekend. my arms have never been so EAGER to hug someone they miss hugging.


conclusion: Heaven Father is very kind. He places people in our lives we can love. And love oh, so much.

give me a K-E-L-L-I

ashley beat me to it. (awesome pictures ash, btw, i love them.) so i will just add this:

kelli is the bomb.

she's my best friend.
she's the first person i told (besides brad) i was pregnant.
we talk pretty much everyday and i love her to pieces.

the end.
happy birthday, kelli!!!

oh hello, little girl :)

she kicks, headbutts, elbows, and sticks her little teeny butt into my sides, bladder, and belly all day long! she is a mover & a shaker! it's hilarious.

its especially awesome for brad bc he can feel her now whenever i lay down and relax! she knows when i'm done moving around it's her time to wake up & party!

warm bread

there is nothing like a slice of warm bread, fresh out of the newly-aquired breadmaker, slathered in homemade peach jam at 11:00 PM. it is still steaming. the jam is runny & warm. the crust warm and crunchy. it warms the soul.

.

it made all the stress, tears, confusion, sickness and HEAVINESS of the world go away. yesterday the world was very heavy on me. the worry consuming.

why oh why is there so much confusion to others about things that are so clear to me? what is the world going to teach this little baby we are bringing into it? will she know of the love her parents, both earthly and eternal have for her?

.

i pray outloud at the kitchen sink, furiously cleaning dishes. it's amazing how many answers have come to me over tears, soapy hands and crusted pots. i highly recommend this method of revelation. it is cleansing in many ways.

i knew very clearly i was going to marry brad over a kitchen sink. it works.

.

i say with assurity i DO trust my Father in Heaven.

.

i know of the love my father and mother on earth, my husband, and my Father in Heaven have for me. brad has large shoulders. they handle the heaviness of the world with greater ease & have lots of square footage to cover in tears & wrap in hugs. he speaks words of comfort and peace, he validates and supports me. conclusion: the bread was delicious, filling & comforting. my heart calmed. my manna from heaven.

i am grateful for many things, among them love, comfort and warm bread. :)