Twist in the plot!

As the title suggests, there has indeed been a twist in the plot called, Our lives. Remember how I was pregnant and not due until January 11th? Well Little baby Carter Edwin Stratford must have been super bored in there because out he came, 7 weeks early! Needless to say, we were shocked. (and still are even though it's been a month. On month already holy cow!)
Anyways here's the whole darn story! As long and boring as some may find it, it's for posterity, people, and I personally want to remember every detail. (I'll spare the very graphic ones.. for posterity's sake as well..) (also, this might be the worlds longest post..)
One dark and stormy night, I went into labor... a baby was born.
Just kidding. Well, somewhat true.
So UVU had a whole week off for Thanksgiving and we were super excited to come down to St. George for the break and be able to eat real food instead of the 3 kinds of cereal we'd eaten practically every meal the week before. I know it's disgusting.. but we didn't want to shop before we came down for a week and gave all our food the chance to go bad. That's reasonable right? Well it was a good choice because our food would definitely have gone bad..
Anyways, We got here saturday afternoon and were staying with Preston's family. We went to Harmon's and got yummy food for the week and randomly I started having these pains along with my contractions. I'd had braxton hicks contractions of course but my uterus always just got really hard and I never had any pain. But these were painful! It surprised me because it was so random and sudden. I just kind of figured they were normal and tried to ignore it. They happened every 15 minutes maybe. That was also slightly alarming because I knew they weren't' supposed to be consistent. I went to bed and they continued through the night but I pretty much ignored them and tried to sleep. I actually slept for a bit, surprisingly. I didn't sleep very well, but I usually have to adjust to new beds for a bit. And you're welcome for that useless random fact.
On Sunday the contractions continued and kinda got worse, especially sitting through church. That night we went for a long walk because I heard that walking it off or lying down helped braxton hicks. But throughout the walk, about every 10 minutes, they would happen and I would have to stop and wait them out because they were pretty painful. I couldn't believe that they would be normal but I convinced myself they must be because I was only 33 weeks and there's no way they would be real.
I had kinda asked my mom earlier and she thought maybe it was normal, so I asked Kerry (father in law) and he thought it might be normal too, but I might have downplayed it because I didn't want to scare him even though they really were pretty darn consistent.. He offered to have me come to the office so he can see what's up and I thought, 'well it's probably fine I'll just ignore it.' So I "slept" through the night again, (not well) and it continued. I decided to go to Kerry's office. Also, I had been measuring my blood pressure which had been unusually high for me. It wasn't horrible, but we were all watching it a little.
So the Dr. did his thing, which was pretty darn painful I have to say. Not his fault by any means, I'm sure it's painful for a lot of people. (just giving the details here, people.) I sat up and he grabbed my hands and said something along the lines of, " It looks like you're going into early labor, you're 3 cm dilated and 100% effaced. We're going to take you over to labor and delivery." My jaw just dropped. I was horrified and fear flooded me. That sounds really dramatic, but I was so nervous! I started holding in sobs while he was talking. He asked if I wanted him to continue with the delivery or have someone else do it. I said he cold continue. That was kind of nerve wracking as well because I was worried it would be super awkward etc etc. But later I was glad because it was really nice to have family and support there. He left the room for a second and I just started sobbing and preston hugged me and he was crying too, and it was just a flood of emotions. I was so stressed and scared and unprepared and I had to finish school! I had no idea what to do about school. Would I lose all 17 credits and the whole darn semester's work? Also I had practically nothing for the baby! The stuff we had was in Provo and the important stuff, like carseat, stroller, diapers/wipes etc we didn't even have.
Preston was so good through the whole thing I just have to say, I love him so stinkin much.
We went over to the hospital and they put monitors on my stomach to measure my contractions and baby's heart rate and other things. They just asked me tons of questions they ask everyone, and gave me a few shots for different things. One was a betamethasone shot to help the baby's lung make surfactant so they wouldn't collapse when he came out. (this is the very simplified explanation) We were worried because he needed enough time in the womb for it to work. Every hour made a big difference. They also gave me something to slow the contractions down. They were hoping they would slow enough to be able to keep him in there another week or 2. I got an IV which was horrible. It was almost the worst part haha. It hurt so bad for some reason! They tried to get it in my right hand but it stopped at a certain point and couldn't go further and it killed. Then they switched it to the other hand and they were both sore  and bruised for like a week.
So pretty much after checking to see how far I was again, I was continuing to dilate and they decided the baby was coming out soon. Ahh!! help me... My family had come by that point and Preston and I decided to tell them the name since there was no point in waiting longer. We told them and everyone go choked up and hugged. It was a precious moment because I could see how much all these people loved Carter already! Edwin is after Preston's grandpa, my mother in Law's dad. She was really appreciative and my softy of a dad had tears in his eyes. I think it was just a realization that this baby was real and going to be there soon and actually had a name. Anyways, I have a really great family. My grandparents came in later and brought me a cute plant with a porcelain dove. They're so sweet. Matt was up at school still and was so scared for me and nervous and wanted to be with us so bad. poor little sweetie. Will cam over after work and was all concerned and probably bored during the whole wait but waited the whole time almost.
They moved me into a different room where I tried to "sleep" that night. Sleep? what is sleep? I think I'll never know it again..
I went to Kerry's office around 5pm monday the 24th just to give a timeline.
Poor preston slept on the uncomfortable couch and my dad and kerry kinda  hung around and checked on us a lot. We would see how far I was every couple hours maybe, and the contractions had started to slow down a little. I think I went up a cm every hour and a half or 2 or 3 hours? I don't remember. Family came back that morning and we just hung out there while I contracted and they just did their thing. I was up to almost 8 cm I think and they started to talk to me about an epidural and that I had to decide what to do soon because I wouldn't be able to past a certain point. It was kinda hard to decide because the contractions were painful, but I wasn't dying or anything. I think maybe I just expected the pain to be worse, so It wasn't that bad.. or I'm just super tough!! :) jk that's definitely not the case. I was nervous because I wanted to be able to feel what was going on a little, but I knew it would get more painful. I decided to do it and my dad put it in which was kinda fun. Not for him though. He said later, "I've done tons of epidurals and never had a problem. women can be screaming and whatever else and it's always fine but this time I was so nervous and shaky." It was funny. He did a great job though. It didn't even hurt. Yay for my awesome dad! I love him. Then they put the catheter in with was so uncomfortable and gross. Eww never again. So a little later, I noticed one side of my body was totally numb and the other one felt totally normal. I thought, "What in the fweak just happened.." (Kid History anyone?) Anyways I just kept giving myself a little bolus by pushing this button, but it didn't feel better. I noticed the tube for the epidural flow had come unclamped from me rolling onto it or something. My dad fixed it and I could still feel everything on one side. It kinda hurt so I asked about it and my dad offered to give another bolus but I wouldn't be able to feel anything. I said sure and pretty soon I honestly felt NOTHING. It was the weirdest feeling. I could see them lifting my legs but I didn't feel anything. They could have ripped them off and I wouldn't have known. It was so gross.
I rested for a minute, and around 2 ish in the afternoon on the 25th, we decided I was ready to start. I got kinda stressed and a million Drs and nurses were in there all hangin out and watching the show. (I guess because he was a high risk baby.) It was really embarrassing but part of me didn't care because while I was pushing, phew... I didn't care what was happening. To preface this little section of the story, I was sooo so so tired at this point. I hadn't' slept for 3 nights and I was just exhausted. There were like 4 nurses on one side holding one leg and Preston holding the other. They would wait for a contraction then tell me to take a huge breath and push. It was the hardest thing ever! Not to be dramatic but I seriously thought I wasn't going to be able to do it. I was so light headed and tired and I passed out at one point because of holding my breath and woke up to Kerry saying, did we lose her?' and one of the nurses next to me saying, 'If you don't do this right now we'll be here for a week!" I was pretty delirious and thought to myself, 'I have to be here for a week? Why? Oh my gosh I'm still pushing.. no more no more!' Then I pushed again. It was ridiculous. I think I just kept apologizing the whole time because I felt bad that it was taking so long and everyone would tell me, you're so close! Come on! etc. Then nothing would happen. Finally after this very detailed, traumatic event, out came the head. It was so crazy. Sorry for the graphics but I actually had a mirror because they asked me about it and I thought it was super weird, but when the baby started crowning I said, wait I want to see! It was so weird because I wouldn't feel anything but out he came. It was like an out of body experience and I kept thinking, who's baby is this? This can't be my baby. They mentioned that I had a second degree tear, which I started to feel the next day and ouch I tell ya..
They wrapped him up and put him on my for a second and I was just kind of shocked still. There was a little alien-like baby in my arms! They took him out of the room and brought him back i think? It;s all kinda foggy. But everyone was taking pictures and i was emotional and preston was sobbing it was so cute. He was so happy. He's such a great daddy. Then everyone left and I was just in there with the nurses for a bit. She helped me into a wheel chair and took me to the NICU where everyone was. Preston was in there doing skin to skin with him I think. They say it's super helpful in their development. I's pretty amazing what our bodies can do!
I stayed in a room in the mom an baby unit for a couple days and we would just go down to see carter all the time.

Now if I haven't scarred anyone for life with the gory details, let me share some blessings we saw throughout this experience. First of all, we have no idea why he came early. There weren't complications as far as we knew, but my dad and kerry actually thought I might have started to become a little toxemic/pre-eclamptic. I had some swelling and my blood pressure was going up. It wasn't cause for his delivery, but it he hadn't come I would have had a c- section and ended up just having problems. Also, my parents were planning on going on vacation that week, but something came up and they canceled it. If they had gone they wouldn't have been there! It would have been really hard for me. I just feel like I was really watched over and protected through the whole thing by my Heavenly Father. He sure does know what we'll need and when we'll need it even if it totally wasn't in our plan.

Well, There are tons of updates to make and this post is far too long, so I'm forcing myself to start a new one. It's been quite the wild ride. Feel free to continue on, or take a nap from this emotional roller coaster you may have had while reading this story (oh that might have just been me becauseI'm so darn emotional lately..) Enjoy a random selection of the trillion pictures we have of him! :)

This grandpa loves his grandbaby

Here's to the best husband in the world. 

I can't believe I'm putting this up but I just think it's hilarious how swollen I look in all the pre delivery pictures! and tired.. and boy was I both. 

The Final Stretch

Why hello! I have failed at keeping a blog thus far. At least I occasionally add snippets of our lives when I feel like its been too long, right? That's all that matters. Plus, I have a feeling that when the baby comes you'll have a lot more updates! (whether you like it or not.)
I think the problem is that sometimes I feel like things just keep going on in the same routine way and there's nothing too exciting to share with the world. Maybe I should just be a really positive, exciting person then I'll see more exciting things happen! Yeah.. that's ok.
Ok there are exciting things that happen every day, but maybe I"m just too lazy to write about them. I think there's the problem folks. Thus we'll continue with our few and far between updates for now.

Well, we're doing really great! Preston is a babe as always and is loving school and really excels at the game of college. He's close with all of his professors, gets involved in research with them, earns points in everyone's book and thus will soon have a near perfect grad school application from all the experience and letters of recommendation he has. He's a great guy and I'm proud of my man! I'm so grateful to have him.
Recently we've both been called to serve in the primary in our ward. Preston as a teacher in the 5-7 year olds, and me as primary pianist. The bishop said he realizes we're having a baby in january, aka gloom and sickness season, and thus won't be bring the baby out much, but that we'll work something out. Preston is so funny. He thinks we'll be staying inside for the first 3 months and that means missing church. Which also means me missing church not him. I'm sorry, dear, but I'm not missing church for 3 months. I understand his concern though it is scary that everyone wants to hold him and breathe on him and spread their unknown illnesses unintentionally... We'll work something out i guess. Sheesh I have no idea about a lot of things concerning this baby.
Anyways, a cool story about preston's calling: When Bishop asked him about it he said he'd felt really really strongly about it for some reason. The next week when the bishop told us about the class he mentioned a boy who he called a "runner" who seems really rambunctious. We met with the boy's mom who said he has autism so some people have a difficult time knowing what to do as his teacher. Preston said, "My brother actually has autism as well so I've grown up learning about it." I was immediately brought to tears because I just felt really strongly the spirit witness that God knows us and has a plan for us. Surprised, the bishop said, "Well we didn't know that but someone sure does." It was such a cool experience and I really felt that they'll both learn a lot from this experience. He's a cute kid and seems to like preston a lot already. The gospel of Jesus Christ is true, people! I know it and I'm reminded every day by little things like that. Being in the primary was so sweet and I teared up more than once throughout. Those kids are so pure and so close to our Savior. They have so much faith and it's such an example to me. They're rowdy at times, yes, but so sweet nonetheless.
On that note, I also have to say that I know families are forever through the atonement and God's plan for us. It's amazing and I'm so grateful that we can be together eternally. I love my family so stinkin much! Including this little baby in my belly even though we haven't seen him yet.

Speaking of the tiny one, He's doing well too I think.Let me ask.. 2 kicks for yes. Ok he's good. He moves around so much! Its more like a rolling puppy or something. Instead of just a kick it's a head, knee, elbow, foot all around my belly. Sometimes it surprised me because it's in more random places now like up in my ribs or on my side and it tickles and I let out a little screech. Only in the comfort of my home, of course. It's fun though we like him. We also refer to him by his name all the time so Preston has accidentally let it slip in front of some people! It was kinda funny it was a total accident but he was so embarrassed that it just came out. We'll let the world know eventually.

I'm currently 31 weeks today! Hence the title. It's the final stretch! 9 more weeks, give or take a couple. My symptoms are not too many actually which is nice. I'm not too horribly uncomfortable, just sometimes. I can't really put on my shoes very well and I get so out of breath. Lately my shins and ankles have started to get swollen during the day when I walk and sit. It's horribly ugly, but what can you do. Also my feet have been getting really sore when I walk, and I have lower back pain in my ligaments. Sometimes it's really bad. For example, yesterday It was sooooooo sore I couldn't even move. I couldn't walk or bend or anything it was so weird. then I lay on my side for a while and it got a little better and today it's not bad. It's very strange and random. I swear I'm not trying to complain, I'm just documenting for future reference. Oh and heart burn occasionally but even that isn't very bad. It's just sometimes and it makes me sick to my stomach but i mostly feel it if i eat certain foods then don't eat for a while.
Here's an overload of some recent pictures of my protuberance, and other random events.  It's kind of embarrassing because sometimes I feel like a whale, but It's worth it, or so they say. :)

At preston's mission reunion. We found our names!

30 weeks! 

30 weeks again

We also went to the Zions bank art show that Preston's uncle was in! Kimbal Warren. (You should look him up his website has examples.) What a good niece in law I am. ;) It was really fun though!

This crazy Ice sculpture was so cool!

Preston's aunt Gayle with us. Kimball was going to jump in the picture but he got distracted by people wanting to buy his work. I guess we'll forgive him this time. 

Aaaand 31 weeks! This was today so it's as recent as you can possibly have! :) 

Just Some Random Things...

Look at me It's been like a week and I'm writing again! I'm so proud :)
Oh sad I just looked back and realized it's actually been 2 weeks.. yep proud moment gone.
Anyways, These last 2 weeks were pretty normal I suppose. We went to school and worked.. ok goodnight!
Haha I'm hilarious. Jk. But school is going well, it's pretty busy. We both have tons of classes and work and every semester I think, 'HOW the HECK am I going to get through this semester?' and I always do and it's always fine! I have faith that everything will work out! It's nice to have a Savior to have faith in right? It's sure a comfort to me.
I'm super excited for the baby! :) It's kind of like a waiting game right now, but It's exciting. I was getting all excited and getting things ready when we decided to move.. Nooooooooo! So that's kind of a pain, but it will be good. We have a super awesome little cliff right out of our door and we're worried about snow and ice and slipping down it with a baby in one arm and a backpack in the other and whatever else you have to carry when you have babies. I'm pretty sure it's a lot. So we decided it's better to be safe than sorry! I'm excited to move though it's a nice little apartment. It's still a one bedroom and the only way we can break our contract is because it's the actual basement of the people that own the on we're in now. They're really great people so it will be nice. And the kitchen is way bigger than this tiny one we have now and has a dishwasher! It's been years since I've used one of those... needless to say I'm excited to actually feel like our dishes are clean for once. Eww.. I don't know how we're still alive. (just kidding we're not disgusting I promise. I just feel like hand washing doesn't always do the trick.)
I'm also pretty sad about the move because our ward is awesome and the people that live above us are awesome and it will be sad to leave. It's just down the road but out of the ward. Hopefully the new ward is great as well, but I don't know if you can beat every sweet, elderly woman coming over to bring cookies and offering an egg if we ever need one at a moments notice. I love that the gospel makes people so happy and so close to each other! Our apartment also has a really awesome view, which i will miss... Here's a little sample that doesn't nearly do it justice.

Oh sad.. I actually don't have a picture. I'll take one tomorrow! :)

This is not the view.. but it's our cute little garden that was looking particularly nice one day! 

I also had a fun little park city work party this week! We did the alpine slide and had a barbecue at my boss's awesome house in the mountains. Shout out to platinum recall for being awesome! We have some good times.

Here's 23 weeks and my face of pure shock that my belly has expanded as much as it has. (I'm 24 weeks now but hey.. I'm not that on top of things)

Park city alpine slide! 

PR crew. Love those girls. (I stole this from one of the girls, thus the selfie that's not of me..)

Well that's about the gist of it all. I also love baby clothes and other small things and get excited about everything baby so that's exciting. Also a little ridiculous but how can i help it? There's an actual baby living in me and kicking my tummy! (which is really fun to watch, by the way, I just giggle like a 5 year old girl every time).
Now goodnight for real. So many tests this week!

News Flash!

Wow! I really failed at keeping up this blog. But Better late than never, I suppose. 
A lot has happened in the past...5 months, i think, since I've written, but the most important being... we're having a BABY! Yes you read that right! It's not really news to anyone reading this right now because it's been announced for a while.. but I'm getting more and more excited about it every day! I am 22 weeks along today and we found out a few weeks ago we're having a BOY!! :) Even in the ultrasound pics he's adorable and I love him, however alien like those pictures make them look. 

Here's an announcement for all to see. :)

When we first found out it was a boy!

Something I thought was funny :)

Well, I emailed some friends the experience of first finding out I was pregnant so I'll just copy and paste that right here to save finger cramps. Beware of the grammatically incorrect and run on sentences, as well as non professionalism. it was to close girl friends after all... 

I was actually in denial for a while even after Id taken 5 pregnancy tests. I was like, ok this can't be happening I'm a child.. but it is in fact happening! I'm accepting it now. Im so excited! I actually found out on my birthday, May 6th, in st George. We were going to dinner with my family and I had kinda been feeling weird, like having cramps and tender boobs even though I wasn't on my period, so my mom was like, "here take a pregnancy test!" and she whipped one right out of her pocket practically. I took it and it was positive.. BUT it was expired in 2009! So i thought, ok this can' be right. and I went downstairs to tell preston and he was sleeping, so he was half asleep, when I said in kind of a stressed, frazzled manner, "So I took a pregnancy test and it was positive." He didn't say anything, but still in sleeping position, his eyes bulged out of his head. IT was pretty funny. But I told him I don't know if it's real because it was expired! So I was all stressed because he found out in a really crappy boring way and not the cute way I had fantasized about. and my mom saw that it was positive and told my dad and no one got a cute surprise gosh dang it! But that's ok. So the next morning I took the other test and it was outdated too, but still positive.... I still wasn't convinced, but I went in to talk to my dad that night and he was so cute. He just grabbed my hand and squeezed it and made this super excited face. Matt was in there so he was trying to be inconspicuous. But I said I'd already told alani, (who was so excited. She tells me everyday she wants me to have a baby) so I told matt and he was like, What? I hope it's real! I want to be an uncle. And my dad was like tearing up and said, "my life dream is fulfilled!" He was so cute. He's just turning into the biggest softie ever. But yeah he told will who's traveling Europe with noah right now, and he was super excited. and the next morning bought another test and took it and it was positive.. so I figured i guess it was true. Sorry this is the longest story ever haha but it was just so funny. And honestly, I had stopped taking birth control so we were planning to start i guess and see what happens, but I was expecting it to take like a year! I've heard from tons of people it took them that long. But i got pregnant immediately. So like first try. It's pretty crazy. 

Anyways, That's that story! ever since then it's been, chronic nausea for the first trimester, exhaustion, overwhelming excitement, nesting and preparing for this baby! I don't feel sick anymore usually, I'm just tired. But I'll take that over being sick. Phew i can't imagine how some people who have it worse than me did it! Mine was mild yet seemed unbearable! Now I'm so excited to see that little baby in not too long. Here's a little sneak peak of his nursery (aka corner of our living room in our one bedroom apartment). 

Fun little decor I put together! No one knows the name yet, and yes it starts with a C.. but stop guessing right now! I know you were guessing... 

As for my body, (as I'm sure no one wants to read, but I'll write anyway..) It's weird and foreign. I have started to grow a bump, but I"m still not very big and if you didn't know me, you wouldn't think I was pregnant. I'm worried one day I'll just blow up like a balloon overnight! I sure hope it's a little more gradual... I have started to feel him kicking! IT's such a cool feeling and kinda weird at the same time. At first it felt like little twitches, but now i can tell more frequently and it's getting stronger. The last ultrasound I had was so cool because I could see him move, and feel him move at the same time! It was so much fun. He's a wiggly little bugger and kind of an acrobat. It's really fun to watch. 

20 weeks pic. 

In other news, not that anything else is really as exciting as babies.. but we started school again. If i didn't talk about this a while ago, I transferred to UVU and am studying exercise science. I'm not sure what to do with it, but I feel good about it and know I want to get a degree. Preston is doing great in school and started working at the MTC again. It's been a really good thing for him. He loves the atmosphere and being able to focus on something that is spiritually enlightening and that isn't school every one in a while. He's the best guy in the world and I love him so much! He's been so great throughout this whole pregnancy. He'll be the best daddy in the world! But seriously, if you didn't already think I was serious, I"m so grateful to have him in my life he's such a blessing and he makes me love life. So I should be done with school next summer 2015 and preston should be done fall 2015. After which he still has a long way to go.... poor guy. Hang in there babe. I'm super proud of him in all he does and can't wait to see what the future holds for us! 

Thanks for reading and I'll try to be more consistent! 

(key word: try...)

Here's some fun stuff we've been doing! 

Saw wicked in Salt lake with the fam

Fun little salt lake trip. Liberty park is so cool!

Adventure is Out There!

I know the things I post may make it seem like we're super adventurous all the time, but mostly we're doing work and school so that's no the case. But on occasions we do have random little adventures. Yesterday we were bored after finishing a million episodes of this show we are hooked on, (we finished finally, thank goodness. Now we can move on with our lives) so we actually searched the internet for ideas of things to do. It is really sad when that is what it comes to. Wow, I'm making us sounds really lame...

Anyways, We decided to go geocaching. I downloaded this app on my phone that helps us find them and we left on our merry way. It was freezing outside so we were all bundled up hiking around rock canyon. We walked a nice little path along the mountain, and followed the compass on my phone. It was so pretty outside! Even though it was cold, i just loved it! I kept saying, "this is so fun. This is just so fun." I guess that tells you how exciting we've been lately.. (Let me give you a hint - not very..) 

But it was nice to be out hiking in nature seeing the beautiful creations of our heavenly father and His Son. Well, my phone told me we were getting closer and eventually had 300 ft, then 200 then 100. When we got to 50ft I shouted, "it's right up here!" and all the sudden my phone died. It was a very anticlimactic moment for us. We were so close but there was no way we could just find it on our own. 

The moral of the story is, you might as well stay inside and be lame! Just kidding I promise I don't think that. I honestly don't know what the moral of the story is. Be prepared maybe? I'll leave it open ended so you can thing of your own moral of the story. 

Actually while we were out there I naturally tied it back to the gospel and we're all trained to do. We were both so close but there was nothing we could do after our guide stopped working. We searched on our own for a bit but there was too much ground to cover and we weren't sure if we were still going in the right direction. I immediately thought of Jesus Christ and how everything in life is so much easier with Him as our guide. We still didn't really know exactly where we were headed, and even if we got there we would have had to dig around to find the cache, but it was possible through our guide even if it required a little effort on our part. When we are cut off from Jesus Christ by mistakes or accidents, (such as my phone dying) we're lost for a bit and can't find our way. But there is always a way back! The easiest way to keep on the right track is to always remember Jesus Christ and to have Him at the center of our lives. Sometimes we kind of go though the motions in life and get distracted by obscure teachings in the church when we just need to remember that Christ is the center and tie everything back to him. It will keep us focused on our righteous goals. 

I was really trying to get my thoughts out clearly but it was kind of scattered. Good luck finding your way through that, readers. But my main point is that I know that Jesus Christ is the center of the gospel and should be the center of our lives. Things will be so much easier, even if they are difficult. We will be able to make it through trials and hardships because we have faith in Him. This is something I need more work on obviously, but I do know that it's true. I'm grateful for my Savior who's guided me and blessed my life with peace and surety of things to come! 

Happy Sabbath everyone! 

#LDSconf

First let me explain the title. If it looks familiar it's EVERYwhere now attached to all these awesome messages and videos the church posts on social media. Personally I laughed when I saw it because I think it's so funny that the church is so good at staying hip and with the times! Heck I"m not even with the times. That's probably my first hashtag ever. And Preston and hashtag have never been in the same sentence until now. Nevertheless, we were talking about how it's just amazing that the church comes up with these quotes from the conference talks and posts them literally right after the talks. It's just really cool to see technology being used for so much good! With the internet being so prevalent in our lives, we can waste a ton of time (which I regret to say happens more than it should), or use it to build the kingdom! We can do so much with little to no inconvenience by just contacting friends and sharing messages and following up. I'm seriously so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We are so blessed in our life because of it. We see the hand of God in everything we do and we can always be happy, even when things go wrong, having the knowledge that we do. I'm so grateful to have an amazing guy to share life with and who builds me up. I love that boy!
General Conference was so great! We enjoyed it greatly and were spiritually fed with our batteries recharged. I just have to say I can't even listen to the Tabernacle choir without getting emotional. I promise I don't cry all throughout conference, I'm just saying the spirit is always so strong and confirms to me that the gospel is true, that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that Heavenly Father loves us enough to make these messages accessible for us! I just feel really good. It was a good weekend.
We also enjoyed the almost warm-ish provo air as we played catch after conference. It was so fun and on top of that, Preston is a babe and I thoroughly enjoy watching him play sports (sorry, too much information).
In other news, last weekend was my Grandpa's 80th birthday! It was so much fun to have the family there and surprise him big time. I just have to say, he is the greatest man ever and has lived a worthy 80 years thus far! Thanks for being the greatest grandpa, father, husband and friend to everyone in the family! We love you so much!
This is kind of a random bunch of information but I just have random things to say. The semester is almost over which is a miracle. It will be nice to have a little break where we can hopefully relax for a minute.
Well, for some reason we never take pictures, so I'll work on getting some for next time. I might just have to start posting random pictures from months ago that have no relevance such as these...

In front of my old house in Salt lake! We want to live there. 

No idea really where or when this was.. 

A great one of preston planning to ride his bike to school like this so his bum wouldn't get wet. (This was probably last year sometime. Again, none of these are very recent)

An exciting laundry day. We like piling the warm sheets on top of us. It's just one of life's great comforts.

On the front runner to salt lake a while ago.

Awesome Jazz game for Christmas

Just a cute one I thought I'd share. :)

Now I hope you feel like you've been updated a little on our lives. Life is just great!

The Hallmark Channel

This one might be more of a Hallmark channel show instead. I'll try not to be really sappy, but I just have to talk about what a great guy I have! He seriously is the best. I don't know what I'd do without him. Poor guy is put through all my weird girl problems, like when sometimes I just cry for no reason and he's really confused but still just holds and comforts me anyways. That sounds like quite the challenge right? It is. He deserved a medal. And he is honestly always looking out for me. He just does little things for me that I don't ask for but he knows I like/want/need. For example, if I'm getting ready and am running late he'll lay out my clothes or make me a lunch or something. Or if I just say something like, it's cold in here, he'll go grab me a blanket, and he'll bring a water bottle to me at night because he knows I get thirsty. It's hard to think of example off the top of my head because they're just little things he does every day that are so sweet. I've never been treated so well in my life! My brothers are great and all, but they have some things to work on... ;) Just kidding I love them.

Anyways, I just have the best guy in the world and Im so grateful for him. In other news, the temple is the place to be. We went the other day after being kinda stressed out about making life decisions. It was the most peaceful, comforting feeling being in there. It's just unbelievable how strong the spirit is and how much you can feel Heavenly Father's love. I still don't have my life decisions figured out, but at least I know to just have faith and things will work out. Faith not fear! I've got to remember that.

Well this was kind of a random, short one, but I just wanted to shout out to my man and say he's the greatest thing since sliced bread! I mean, just look at that face!

Ups and Downs

Well it's been an ups and downs kind of weekend.

Someone wise once told me about this Irish Prayer where the man prayed for "Strength to change things that he could. Patience to endure the things he couldn't. And finally, wisdom to know the difference between the two." This time in our lives is really exciting and super fun, but it is also full of decisions that can and will impact the rest of our lives. These decisions include when to have children? What to major in? What to do with that major? How to support a family? All pretty heavy questions. What is even rougher is when you think you have a couple of these questions answered but they don't work together. That is what has been going on this weekend (week). We thought we had things figured out and then some things at work caused me to think more about what I want to do with my life. Then a piece of mail threw a wrench in Andrea's plans. We have all heard multiple times that when life gives you lemons, you are supposed to make lemonade. Occasionally though I feel like when I am asked to make the lemonade I have tiny paper cuts all over my hands. Lemon juice, paper cuts, stinging. Just like the Irish man we need to ask God for help to change what we can and then for the ability to endure what we can't change. While Andrea was getting some shots this week she came across this quote in the clinic, it said,

"I have learned a secret. I have learned that when good men and good women face challenges with optimism, things will always work out! Truly, things will always work out! Despite how difficult circumstances may look at the moment, those who have faith and move forward with a happy spirit will find that things always work out."
  - Gordon B. Hinckley

So even though life has its ups and downs, like falling off an escalator, things will always work out. One of the many blessings of being married is that you have someone to lean on and help get through each obstacle. I'm so grateful for my wife. She is my comforter, counselor, coach, strength, and best friend.

Well that concludes this episode. Hope to see you here next time.

Preston

The Pilot Episode

I have been told by a certain friend in my life, (shout out to McCall Mathews who made this blog happen) that I should start a blog about our cute married life like all the other married couples. Now this was a long time ago. I've put it off because I explained to her that just because I'm married doesn't mean all of the sudden our lives are going to be the next hit reality show. We both go to school, then work, then do homework and go to bed. She lovingly told me, "yeah don't start a blog..."
I miss that girl. She's currently serving a mission in Argentina and she'll be so proud that my first blog post had her in it.
Anyways, I officially declare this our married couple life blog and will try to make it more exciting than what I explained earlier. Who knows it could be as good as, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, our newest interest which our blog is titled after. Welcome one and all.
Now for the dirty deets!
Nah don't worry, I'll keep it PG.
We've been married for 10 months as of yesterday! And We absolutely love it. (well I love it.. I hope Preston is holding up ok..)
And to tell you the truth, although are lives may not be full of excitement and adventure, we're happy doing the smallest things because we just love being together.

See here's a beautifully pixelated picture of us doing what we do best; watching a show after a long day of work and study.

Anyways, we have a lot of great things and big decisions going on that I'm excited to share. I will do so another day when it's less late. 

Goodnight!