we prayed for one, we were blessed with two

i don't know how many of you remember back in september i wrote a post

about going through a trial.

i can officially tell you all that that trial is over, for now!

and we couldn't be happier.

on november 5, tay and i found out we are expecting a little nugget!

i remember the day like it was yesterday.

it was the first huge snow storm of the year.

i had taken one of those early tests on halloween but it was negative.

i was supposed to start my cycle on the 5th, and though-eh! why not?

if i'm not..that just means i'll have to go in for testing, so i figured i'd 

just give it a shot!

i had one pregnancy test left..as i waited for the stick to turn,

i got an excited, warm feeling in the pit of my stomach.

i watched the two little signs start to show and had to blink several times

to be sure i was seeing it right!

for months it had been negative after negative (after negative).

i ran into our bedroom (which is only like 5 feet from the bathroom)

and jumped onto our bed-waking tay up from his slumber with my

shouts of joy and tears.

he was half asleep still and asked, "how did that happen?!"

well kids...the birds and the bees...

i wanted to be extra sure that the test was right, so i ventured out into

the freezing cold snow storm to the smiths near our house.

of course, the pharmacy was closed and all the tests were locked

behind a huge gate. serious?!

i asked an employee if i could get one, and she took me to a case

full of them across the store.

she kept looking me up and down, probably thinking i looked about 15..

anyway, i bought the test, came back and took 2 more-both positive!

i drove to work, my mind spinning.

my heart racing and my hands clammy.

we didn't expect to see any results for at least another year.

Heavenly Father really has a way with timing!

at our 8 week baby appointment, we got to see the bean and

hear the heart beat.

while we were getting our ultrasound, he moved around my

belly and nonchalantly said, "here's the baby........and here's the other one!"

we both looked at each other...TWINS?!?

are you for real?!

yup.

two little beans inside my belly!

can you believe it?

our parents sure couldn't! i'm working on a video to share with you all.

we didn't tell our parents or tay's family until christmas eve/day!

they could not have been more surprised, happy, ecstatic, excited..

you name it, they were it.

2014 will definitely be a crazy ride, but the more i think about it,

the more excited i get.

minus the fact that i'll never sleep again..

i've still got a long ways to go-i can't wait to share this journey with

all you lovely blogging buddies.

sick as a dog

oh hey guys...long time no see.

can't say that i'm sorry..i've been spending my days lounging

on the couch/bed practically dying (not to be dramatic or anything).

i've been legit sick for a straight week.

not like a cough and a runny nose.

like, ya know those mucinex commercials, where the little green guys

decide to move in and take over your life?

it's like they built an entire community throughout my throat.

and nose.

and ears.

not fun.

it is pretty comical to hear my voice though..i sound like

i've been a straight smoker for 30 years,

mixed with a 12 year old boy just about to go through puberty.

needless to say, i've been living off popsicles, orange juice, and family feud.

enough of the tmi descriptions..anybody else as excited for

catching fire as me?

i am totally geeking out.

this was by far my favorite book, so i hope they do the movie justice.

so i'm sure you guys know that jennifer lawrence is pretty much the greatest

human on the face of the planet right?

i came across this video the other day on facebook and wanted to share-

she's so great.

click here to see the video.

amen, sister.

as of late

stole this from the wonderful kayla @ all my best;

making: new prints for my etsy shop!

cooking: cornbread + white chicken chili

drinking: delicious natural root beer from sprouts

reading: enders game; wanted to read the rest before i saw the movie but now i can't find the book...

wanting: mcdonalds ice cream sundae, please

looking: forward to the weekend

playing: atlas genius; fabulous

wasting: time. lots of time.

also wasting: money on little caesars

wishing: that the snow would go away, fall wasn't long enough

enjoying: our new little apartment

waiting: for the weekend, always waiting for the weekend

liking: the fact that christmas is fifty days away; hollaaa

wondering: about our life in the next year

loving: our new heat transfer machine at work-can you say t-shirts all day long??

hoping: i don't freeze tonight

marveling: at this snow; no matter how much i hate it, it sure is beautiful

needing: a nice bubble bath + back massage

smelling: vanilla mixed with little caesars

wearing: right now-footies. today, jeans, boots + my buffalo shirt

noticing: how much i miss my family as of lately

thinking: about christmas

feeling: tired, full, happy and excited

WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY?

yup, that's me.

in a home made fox costume.

(yeah, it's early, tay's ward had a halloween party!)

can i just tell you guys this was the most fun i've ever had with a costume?

i learned how to crochet friday night and crocheted half of that beauty of a beanie

(tooting my own horn here) and made the tail, too (more tooting)!

i found a tutorial on how to do amazing fox makeup here,

then used what i had in my closet for the rest!

feel free to steal my costume idea if you feel the desire-

i got so many compliments & questions on whether i was the "what does the fox say" guy

hahaha mostly from the kids.

oh man, i love it.

so we are now completely moved into our new place.

we finally got internet (longest week of my life without it; sad, i know),

so i'll be blowing up your pinterest boards once more.

hope everyone is enjoying their halloween weekend!

still here

oh hey guys!

I'm still alive, in case you were concerned.

between moving, working, unpacking,

and no Internet, ive been totally mia, 

which seems to be a continuous pattern

for this lovely blog of mine. 

I'll be back on Saturday and fill you

all in on our many adventures. 

oh, and if you haven't seen it yet, 

go see captain Phillips. 

it's the best movie I've seen in forever!

beautiful messages

today marked the start of the 183 semiannual lds general conference;

we gather as a church all around the world to hear the words of our

prophet and his apostles-you can learn more about conference and what we believe here!

saturday session is always fabulous-i swear, they keep the best speakers for saturday.

i wanted to highlight some of my favorite quotes and messages from today's sessions;

+ "we have a divine nature and destiny"

-sister carole m. stephens

+ "keep your covenants and God will keep his promises"

(very fitting from last weekend's women's conference)

-sister carole m. stephens 

+ "don't look back.

look ahead and remember faith is always pointing toward the future"

-elder edward dube

+ "doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith"

-elder dieter f. uchtdorf

+ okay, can i just say how much i absolutely adore elder holland?

what an incredibly spiritual man!

his messages are always so insightful and so powerful!

"God's love is simply always there"

"if the bitter cup does not pass, drink it and pass on"

"we may feel like a broken vessel, but we must remember

that vessel is in the hands of the divine potter"

i am so thankful for the opportunity we have twice a year to gather

and listen to divine revelation for us in this day.

i know that thomas s. monson is the true prophet on the earth today-

and that Heavenly Father speaks through him directly to us.

he knows our struggles, our concerns, our doubts and our fears.

i've received so much comfort the last two weekends listening

to the words of the prophet and his apostles with what i wrote about here.

i know this trial was given to me to learn.

it doesn't mean it's going to be easy, but the Lord puts trials in our

way not just to learn for ourselves, but so we can help others, too.

i know that Heavenly Father knows us individually and if

we have faith that He will help us through them.

2013

wow, you guys are truly amazing.

thank you so much for the support and advice from my last post.

i can't wait to dive further into everything you shared with me.

and thanks for letting me have a pity party.

in other news, this week was the longest ever.

we still haven't found a place to live yet, so we're

still bummin' it on my in-law's guest bed.

they're so sweet to let us stay for so long.

hopefully it will only be a short time until we find somewhere to live.

taylor is still working long hours and i'm trying to find ways to

entertain myself after work, while also staying up until he gets home

(which is increasingly harder to do the later towards the end of the week it gets)

one of my little projects i've been working on for the past couple of days is this guy;

yes, yes, i know, it's 2013, and it's practically october.

i honestly wasn't thinking about it until after i was practically all finished.

so there will be a 2014 version coming shortly, but i just love it!

what do you think?

also wanted to shout out to the girls from the blogger meet up on tuesday.

it was so lovely to meet you new girls, even though it was hard to talk to everybody!

i'm not going to lie, i was skeptical at first, but my girl rylee and i convinced

each other to go and i'm pretty glad we went-mostly because we partook in

some of the best french fry goodness my mouth has ever tasted:

double fried

buffalo sauce

ranch dressing

blue cheese crumbles

is your mouth watering yet?

yah, if you get a chance, go to the awful waffle in provo

and order the buffalo frite (pronounced "freet", as we learned).

hope you all have a lovely weekend!

NOT REALLY SURE WHAT TO TITLE THIS

i saw this quote on pinterest about a week ago and it really hit home.

our life for the last month + a half has been more crazy than

anything i could ever imagine.

and i'm not talking about just the bed bugs (which is, thankfully, behind us)

i'm not sure that i'm ready to get to specifics with the blogging world,

but i guess i never thought things like this would ever happen to me.

not that i'm an exception, it's just that you always hear about

people going through challenges and trials that has effected

them their whole life, and that's not really something i've ever

been able to relate to. now i'm not saying my life has been cushy by any means,

i've just never had to go through something so hard that it seems unbearable.

until now.

until this moment, when the unthinkable is actually happening.

to me.

now i'm not asking for a pity party, i really just need to get it out of my brain.

someday in the future, i'll fill you guys in.

but all i can do right now is take it day by day.

"and with that she realized the only control

she had was how she chose to handle them"

i know this post doesn't make a lot of sense, since you guys

probably have no idea what i'm even talking about

(well, maybe some of you do..)

i guess what i'm trying to say is i am working on figuring out

what works best for me when times are hard.

when life throws things at you that you aren't prepared for,

and how we choose to react to it is so important.

so yes, this is a cry for help, of sorts.

how can i channel those feelings of anger, sadness, frustration

and confusion into something positive?

GREEN SMOOTHIE VIRGIN

happy tuesday, everyone!

one of the many perks of temporarily living at tay's parents house

is learning the many tricks of the trade of healthy eating.

tonight, mama hawkins and i ventured into the slightly intimidating world of

green smoothies

with a very basic recipe that was actually super good!

i've always been kindof skeptical about green smoothies..

i mean, carrots? spinach? broccoli? 

in smoothies?

no, thanks.

not to mention all those types of seeds.

but this one really exceeded my expectations, so i wanted to share!

here's what you need:

1/2 banana, peeled

1+1/2 cups of green grapes

1 medium orange (recipe says about 5.5 oz), whole, peeled but with pith intact

1 inch thick slice of pineapple with core, peeled (we used frozen pineapples)*

1+1/2 cup of packed fresh spinach

(if you aren't a huge fan of spinach, i would recommend using a little less, it's pretty a dominant flavor)

1/8 teaspoon grated lime zest

2 tablespoons agave nectar

1 cup of ice cubes

*we actually used a tropical fruit frozen mix and added mangos too!

add all the ingredients to your blender or vitamix, turn on the machine

and slowly increase the speed to 10, then high

give it a try and let me know what you think!

oh, and if you have any other good green smoothie recipes,

please leave me a comment below!

THE WORST

please excuse the vulgarity of this post..it just had to be done.

this is to you, park place apartments.

for making our life a living hell the past month and a half.

thanks a lot for wasting our time.

for wasting our money.

for letting us move in when your complex was infested.

for all the sleepless nights i would lay awake

worrying how long it would be before the next step would be taken to get everything treated.

for all the tears shed, the objects thrown, the curses said.

for the fake concern you had for our situation.

we know you don't care..just stay in your locked office like the cowards you are.

oh, and thanks for not letting us break our lease,

after having slept there for five nights.

for the packing, unpacking, packing and unpacking we did.

for the money we wasted on a u-haul thinking it would fry those S.O.B's.

and now for the packing, unloading, and unpacking we still have to do.

oh, and most of all, thanks for giving us bed bugs.

oh wait, but thanks for getting rid of them, we really appreciate the gesture.

you can all go shave your backs now.

giveaway

giveaway time!

head over to kelso at the golden runway here to enter her

crooked nook

giveaway!

S A L O O N

for the last seven years, tay's old room mate + good friend drew

has thrown a saloon in the basement of his house (he has an entire room dedicated to it).

(yes, that's me in the dress on tay's lap, and yes, that's tay doing a mustache demonstration, ha!)

my first saloon experience was two years ago, and can i just say drew

really outdid himself this year?

there's something sublime about everyone getting dressed up in their

saloon best, drinking IBC root beer all night, talking in western accents,

and tay breaking out his best dance moves.

not to mention the puppet show, musical numbers, ghost stories,

dances, and just being with people you rarely ever get to see.

with all the craziness going on in my life, this is exactly what i needed!

thanks for all the wonderful ladies in my life that have left me words of encouragement;

you are simply divine.

HOMELESS

those of you who follow me on twitter have probably seen my

redundant tweets about my weird life for the past couple of weeks.

i can't divulge a ton of information, to protect the apartment complex,

and our buns, but the last couple of weeks (the last month, really) has been

such a roller coaster; emotionally and physically.

between apartment issues, personal issues, and having someone

at work who does a ton for the company quitting;

my life yesterday could literally have been from an episode of true life: my life sucks.

for those of you who are worrying about my sanity;

i'm just fine.

(i promise)

last night tay and i were walking around city creek with a

peach coconut italian soda and salted caramels, 

i looked at him; the goofy smile still on his face, even though it felt like our world

was crumbling beneath our very feet. i couldn't help but smile.

he really is my rock, i don't know what i would do without him.

with all these little black rain clouds hovering around,

i was able to take a step back last night after everything calmed down

and realize that the Lord really does have a plan for us.

He puts situations in our way that help us grow, mature, and help us

realize who and what is important in life.

i feel like i always write about this when i have weird, unexpected

things happen in life that don't go exactly how i'd like them to;

so just continue to expect the same shpeel.

...

oh, and on two totally different notes, i finally met up with

the lovely rylee blake for dinner monday night!

it was like we had been friends for years! she's fabulous.

also; i have added a few new prints to the shop-all 10 dollas.

i'm not gonna lie, i can't wait to have a little nuggy so i can decorate its room.

i guess my living room will work in the mean time;

when i actually have a house again...

#homeless

SATURDAY IS A SPECIAL DAY

okay, have you been to waffle love?

it's a food truck full of waffley goodness + fruit + heavenly cream

that drives around utah valley...

can i just say the waffle itself is fabulous!

it's soft, but crispy, sugary and caramelized, 

not to mention the cream, the strawberries, oh and the nutella!

we ventured down to provo to have a sleepover with our best friends

nate + kristin, they are so wonderful!

so i'm proud to announce that our apartment is slowly coming together.

i'll post pics as soon as it's more up to par!

happy saturday!

S L O W D O W N

so i think things are finally starting to slow down.

my apartment is still in shambles,

there's no food in the fridge because we haven't been home to cook,

my cat has been very attention deprived,

and my nails haven't been painted in weeks.

 but thanks to my amazing husband,

and having evenings off, it's all slowly coming together again.

h a l l e l u j a h

all i need now is some cooler weather, and life will be good.

on another note, today i did something that i've been afraid to do for too long.

i can't go into details, but it could mean fabulous changes.

and this time, good changes.

keep every appendage crossed for me?

TOO BUSY

man i had no idea that the last few weeks would be such a whirlwind!

between going + coming home from michigan,

moving EVERYTHING into our new apartment

in literally two days, then having a family

reunion, and cameron's (tay's little brother) homecoming tomorrow,

my life has been a nonstop roller coaster ride (get it? >>)

our vacation was so fabulous-we ended on a trip to chicago!

tay and i are pretty much in love with that city..

the day we got home, we ended up packing half our house and dropping

it off at our new apartment; let me just tell you this, i don't recommend it.

it was the longest day ever.

i have so many wonderful memories from our first little basement apartment.

our amazing ward, our crazy upstairs neighbors, the awesome location,

and the little shops that were so close-not to mention sugarhouse park!

the move has been difficult for me, as i am not a huge fan of change.

i know that this new place will be great, once we find our groove,

but i'm just so comfortable with where we were, that it's hard to want anything different.

know what i mean?

on a completely different note, we had tay's family reunion

this weekend and i caught this gem on camera;

oh my heck, i died.

seriously cannot wait to have kids.

home sweet home

people always ask me before i leave to come home;

"are you so excited to go home?"

of course, i say yes! but yesterday, i realized how much

i absolutely love being home!

i love the smells, the memories, the feeling, the people,

the way everyone is so care-free and easy-going;

i love everything about this small, 10,000 person populated town.

(sorry about the picture quality, we forgot our camera!)

LIEBSTER + RM

holy shamoly i have a lot to tell you guys.

let me catch you up to speed:

// tay and i made a quick five hour visit to the er last wednesday morning.

he was experiencing some major stomach pain (i'm talking appendix...kidney stones...)

so they took a ct scan but didn't find anything! after a few hours,

the pain subsided and we headed home. it was the strangest!

nobody still knows what was wrong!

// tay's little brother cam came home from the philippines last sunday afternoon!

// i received my first order from brickyard buffalo! aren't these leggings so rad?

// a painted nest, a new pop-up shop launched on monday! i have been working

with them for about the last month in getting my products on their website!

they're so so great-and a giant plus, they're from utah (helping local business-woot woot!)

be sure to head over to their website to see other deals they have going on!

and while you're there, pick up an 8x10 print from the crooked nook, on sale!

// oh, and another thing not pictured: WE FINALLY FOUND A NEW APARTMENT!

it's a two bedroom, for when we are ready for a baby hawkins, and it allows pets!

and it's in the heart of SLC, we couldn't be more pleased!

// and finally, we are in michigan! i seriously feel like i am living in a hot tub.

it's so warm/humid here, my bangs are going to hate me.

can you say sticky forehead for dayssss?

but, in other news, ms kaylie nominated yours truly for the liebster award!

thank you very much!

so apparently the liebster award is given out to bloggers who have

less than 200 followers- it's a great way to boost your "blogosphere" with

those who are starting out and looking for a name for themselves!

so here are the rules:

 // thank your liebster blog award nominator on your blog

and link back to the blogger who presented this award to you. 

// answer the 11 questions from the nominator, list 11 random facts about yourself,

and create 11 questions for your nominees. 

// present the liebster blog award to other blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserve to be

noticed and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have been chosen. 

// copy/paste the blog award on your blog.

without further adieu;

random facts

1 i love me some patterned pantalones
2 my nails constantly have to be painted
3 i was a synchronized swimmer in high school
4 oh and i was also in band #nerdalert (and my husband doesn't let me forget it)
5 i am an avid teacup collector, so if you spot some gems, holla at me
6 i get on pinterest at some point every day (addicted much?)
7 someday tay and i want to open our own boutique full of super cute clothes + home decor
8 i have never been out of the united states except to go through canada on my way to NY
9 i collected beanie babies until i was like 12 and have no idea what to do with them
10 i hate mascots of any kind. even at disneyland.

and here are the answers to kaylie's questions:

1 what time do you usually wake up? 
// typically i get up at 8, sometimes i snooze until 8:15, to get to work at 9

2 what is your favorite thing about blogging?

// my favorite thing about blogging is keeping up to date with friends

i don't see often, and finding great outfit ideas from fashion blogs

3  if you had to describe yourself using five words, what would they be? 

// oh geez..ha i guess i would say fun, creative, quirky, loving & a good listener

4 natural hair color? 

// not quite sure what she meant on this one, but i'll give it a go.

i currently do not have my natural hair color, i recently went blonde

(and am loving it! i highly recommend it..blondes do have more fun).

my natural hair color is more of a dirty blonde/light brown color.

5 do you do anything special to get ready for bed?

// haha it's funny that this is a question because i was just thinking about this.

i am such a freak when it comes to getting ready for bed.

i always have to pee before bed. even if i don't really need to, i make myself.

i absolutely despise having to get up in the middle of the night with pee cramps.

it's the worst...tmi?

6 right or left handed?

// oh just right handed, like the rest of america

7 favorite place to shop? 

// this ones's a tough one.

so many places i love to shop at are hit & miss for me,

that i have a ton of places i like to go to sporadically.

i'm a fan of target most of the time, j-crew but they are $$, so it's usually factory or really on sale.

forever 21 has pretty good stuff but it's a little overwhelming because they have so much stuff.

i love h&m but again, they're pretty hit & miss. 

i'm all about thrift stores too, i've found some real gems there.

8 favorite beauty tip?

// i would have to say my favorite beauty tip is something

i used to use a lot in nebraska when we lived there a couple 

of years ago..for some reason i had really dry skin then, and needed

an extra exfoliant for my face. i would mix together lemon juice and sugar,

which created a scrub that not only smelled fabulous, but got rid of

my dry skin! then of course, moisturize. now i'm not trying to be a beauty guru,

it's just something that worked for me, but if you're having dry skin issues, try it!

9 all time favorite movie

// holy crap this one's hard too! i love movies.

if i had to narrow it down, i would say my favorite movie is either;

clueless, mean girls, or the little mermaid.

clueless, because my best friend lauren and i always quote that movie.

mean girls, because who doesn't love mean girls?

and the little mermaid because it's always been a favorite since i was little!

10 who is the one person you know you can go to with anything and why?

// oh this one's easy peasy. taylor, hands down. he's my very best

friend and we tell each other everything. a marriage has to be based on

communication and trust, so we always go to each other with anything!

11 what is something you're passionate about?

i wish i had a really great cause i could advocate for for this one, but i don't.

the thing i am passionate about is happiness.

we all have the agency to choose our happiness, and when something

gets in the way of that, cut it out. you only live once (yolo, for you kourtney k's out there),

so why would you have anything in your life that obstructs from that?

word.

tag, you're it:

natalie

julie

felica

lauren

madi

kayla

feel free to snag the questions kaylie had for me, or make up your own!

thanks for those who made it all the way through this post, props to you.

winner winner chicken dinner

oh hey guys

i have good reason for the delay on declaring the winner of the giveaway;

(at least it's not as long as the time we had to wait to learn william & kate's baby's name...)

tay and i have been making the (self declared) most ghetto slip n' slide

yah, we might kill all the grass, but it's fiiiine

but

c o n g r a t u l a t i o n s

to ms julie for winning the blog makeover giveaway!

email kaylie at kaylie.hooser@gmail.com to start on your makeover,

thanks for all who participated!

i've got some exciting news in regards to the crooked nook coming up next week;

we have been approached to sell on a new pop-up shop called a painted nest!

they launch their live website on monday-i hope you all will take a look!