Halloween: A History

Can you believe we have already had 4 Halloween's as a married couple?  Me neither.  Way too old.  And Halloween time is when it all began for Brock and me.  Our very first date was a Halloween date and it was so fun!  3 years later, he was home and Halloween was the first day we got to see each other after his mission.  That was a very special day.  Here are the pics of all of our glorious Halloween celebrations throughout the years!

Halloween 2005:  Pumpkin Carving date!

Halloween 2008:  Welcome Home!  A marvelous weekend in Colorado and a joyful reunion after 2 long years.

Halloween 2009:   Beauty and the....  Jimmy Neutron....  with Phantom of the Opera and a Cow.  Not our cleverest costume themes hahahaha

Halloween 2010:   Jimi Hendrix and his Guitar.  Booyah.  And then we were joined by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

Halloween 2011:  Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you?

Halloween 2012:  Pac Man!!!

I love our tradition of dressing up with Steph and Jer!  Looking forward to next year and dressing up our cute little boy!  Woohoo!!!  Have fun and be safe trick or treating everybody! :)

Let's think about this.

What would happen if everyone took all of the time, energy, and money they are spending on campaigns, seeking power, bashing politicians, and digging up dirt on others; and instead put that time, energy, and money into supporting our leadership and making a joint effort to improve our nation?

In a perfect world, that is what would happen.  But unfortunately, we live very far from a perfect world.  And there is no "one right answer" to all of our nation's problems.  In fact, there never will be, because in reality, one man's problem is another man's blessing.  It's the circle of life, and it's how the world works.

We have a presidential election coming up, and it is a big deal.  Four years is a long time, and President of the United States is a big position.  I understand how important this time is for our country, but I think people are being ridiculous.

It is a very close race.  There are two candidates, and there are millions of people supporting each of them.  All of these comments about people being "idiots" for even considering supporting one or the other, are false, ignorant, and cruel.  I have my reasons for the candidate that I support, but by no means do I believe that the opposing candidate is "evil" or any other (more harsh) words people are using to describe these men.

Our country is not set up so that one man can rule, reign, or take over.  It just won't happen.  So yes, the president has lots of influence, but he is not by any means all powerful; and any plan he presents will have to go through so many processes with people of differing views before any conclusion will be made as to whether or not the plan can be implemented.

So I do not believe that either candidate is capable of completely destroying or completely saving our country.  Once again, there is no right answer to everything.  But I do believe that whichever man is chosen for office will do his very best to achieve what is, in his mind, the best way to help our country.  And whichever man that is, there are millions of people in the country that stand behind him and support him.

Whatever happens, next month one of these men will become the President of the United States for the next four years.  We all have a choice to make.  We can choose to verbally slaughter our president and be bitter for years that the other man didn't win, or we can choose to respect the other half of the country who is happy with the outcome, and do what we can where we are to personally help make this country a better place.

Please exercise your right to vote.  Please exercise your right to share your opinion.  Please don't disrespect everyone around you because they have some different ideas as to what might help our country.  Everyone has different ideas.  The beauty of America is that everyone comes from a different background, and together our diversity unites us.  Let us stand together as the wonderful nation that we are, respect each other's decisions, and move forward with a resolve to do our part in individually serving our country the best that we know how.

Positive Vibes

So, here's the scoop.  I was having one of those mornings... the emotional kind.  Because, as insanely grateful as I am for this blessing in my life, sometimes Pregnancy is just downright hard!

I am huge.  I am exhausted.  My back hurts.  My head hurts.  My shoulders hurt.  My legs feel weak.  My tummy hurts.  I can never find a comfortable position to be in.  I am soooooooooo hot.  My feet feel like fire.  I am always hungry and ALWAYS thirsty.  I pee all the time.  I cry all the time.  I never have enough energy to get everything done that I want to do.  And I still have FOUR MONTHS LEFT.

So, as grateful and excited as I am, there are days (like today) when I just feel discouraged.  So, I decided to pray for strength and peace.

Almost immediately, I started having positive thoughts pop into my head.  It was like an answer to my prayers reminding me to focus on the positives of life!  I'm calling them my positive vibes to turn my frown upside down :)

POSITIVE VIBES:


-My nephew Ben is the cutest thing on the planet.  I wish I could play with him all day.  That's what I have to look forward to with this guy!  Megh and Brad's story is a ray of hope in my life.  I love them so much and am so so so grateful for them.

-Most mommas have multiple children, which means that all this crap must be worth it.

-My husband is the sweetest, most loving and caring person alive.  He loves me so much and puts up with all my crazy emotions and just comforts me, and he works so hard to take care of our family.  It boggles my mind every day how I wound up with such and incredible man to share my life with.

-My family and in-laws are so sweet and loving and supportive.  And I hate how far away they all are, but at least we have modern technology so we can be in contact instantly even if it's not face to face.

-I have such incredible friends that I love so dearly and they just brighten up my life!

-I have a piano that I can play any time I want and I love it so much.

-I have the best job in the world.  I LOVE teaching.

-We are so blessed to be financially stable enough to buy the essentials our baby will need when he is born.  That has always been a worry of mine, so we set aside money a long time ago to make sure we would be okay and I am so grateful we are.

-I have chocolate in my cupboard :)

-December will get here fast because of the holidays and baby showers and preparations.

-I got wonderful happy emails and texts from friends and family today and am so grateful to be surrounded by such wonderful people!



And I'm grateful for my Positive Vibes!  If we remember to focus on the blessings in our lives, we will be able to get through anything and be happy :)

It's a BOY!!!!!!!

So, we had our anatomy scan ultrasound yesterday.  It was incredible!  We got to look at our cute little baby for half an hour!  And here's what we learned:

- We've got a thumb sucker!!  It took FOREVER to get a clear shot of his face because his hands were in the way!  But we jiggled him around enough and actually got to watch him take his thumb in and out of his mouth!

- He is measuring perfectly average in height and weight for our due date.  (I was secretly hoping he would be measuring bigger so our due date could get bumped up early hahaha but at least he's healthy!)

- His heartbeat is 162.  It took forever to get that reading too because I kept laughing when he moved- and it kept messing up the sound!  They consider it healthy if it is between 120 and 180 so ours is dead middle!  Very healthy :)

- 2 hands, 2 feet, 4 chambers of the heart... Healthy brain, healthy spine, 3 parts to the umbilical cord, 2 kidneys, a stomach and a bladder, 2 lips, 1 nose, 2 eyes, and........

A cute little boy part!!!!!

He was being shy for a while there- legs crossed and curled up in a ball.  But finally we got a good shot and the ultra sound guy labeled it "Little Boy."  Then, right as we were finishing up, Baby Boy totally opened up and we all laughed!  Ultra Sound specialist labeled that picture "Big Boy" hahaha there was definitely no question!!!

We are so excited and grateful to have such a healthy baby boy and we cannot wait to meet him!  Everything for both him and me was in tip-top shape!!  December 4th, here we come!!!

Happy Sunday!

Sometimes I just need reminders.  What to focus on, what really matters in the long run, what I am aiming toward in life... It is so easy to get off track in the jumble of life that is this world.  Here's some words of wisdom to keep my perspective in check.  Enjoy :)

- "Believe in yourselves.  Believe in your capacity to do some good in this world.  God sent us here for a purpose, and that was to improve the world in which we live.  The wonderful thing is that we can do it."                                                              
                                                                 -Gordon B. Hinckley

- "Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.  Look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.  Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best.  Forget the mistakes of the past and move on to the greater achievements of the future.  Give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.  Live in the faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you."
                                                                 -Christian D. Larson

- "What you are is God's gift to you; what you make of yourself is your gift to God."
                                                                 -Jewish Proverb

- "I can say without hesitation that you can have a perfect brightness of hope for your future and endless joy if you press forward as righteous children of God."
                                                                 -James E. Faust

- "When you look in the dictionary for the most important word...it could be "remember," because all of you have made covenants...our greatest need is to remember."
                                                                 -Spencer W. Kimball

- "When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives.  Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities."
                                                                 -Ezra Taft Benson

- "Happiness is a grateful heart."

- "The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.  Let us move forward with strong and active faith."
                                                                 -Franklin D. Roosevelt

- "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
                                                                 -Galatians 5:22-23

- "Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have."
                                                                 -Anonymous

- "Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that he can make a lot more out of their lives than they can.  He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace."
                                                                -Ezra Taft Benson


On this Sabbath day, let's take a moment to "remember," be "grateful," be "content," "press forward," have "faith," "believe in ourselves," and "turn our lives over to God."  There's a recipe for a happy life :)  Happy Sunday everybody!

We're Having a Baby!!!

So the secret is out!  We are having a baby!  A little holiday bundle of joy, due December 4th!  We are so so so grateful for this wonderful little miracle in our lives and cannot wait to be parents!  Here is what has been happening since we got the news :)

So we found out just a couple days before April Fool's Day- a great opportunity to trick our families!  Haha, but no one fell for it...  we were bad liars, so they were all just happy for us :)  But the majority of the first trimester went pretty well.  I started feeling exhausted and queasy around 8 weeks, but only threw up a couple of times.  We were a little nervous about the whole thing, but a 10 week ultra sound set our minds at ease a little bit.  Look at that cute little bugger!

And here is my belly a couple days after that ultra sound.  Happy Mother's Day!

My 11-week mark came on our 3-year anniversary.  I had a concert at Sky View that night, so we did a quick date to Cafe Rio before that, and planned a super fun trip for the following weekend.  Here's a pic of that date...

Unfortunately, that night I got really really sick.  In fact, so sick that I was prescribed nausea medicine and told to stay in bed and eat nothing but bananas, rice, toast, and sprite.  Needless to say, we didn't go on our anniversary trip that weekend.  We spent it like this instead!

In bed, eating rice and toast and bananas, and drinking lots of sprite.  Brock was very very good to me.

Hoping that after a week I would be getting better, I actually did the opposite and the day after my 12-week-mark I ended up on a late night ER visit.  Through an IV, they pounded 4 1/2 Liters of fluid in me for dehydration, and drugged me with tons of anti-nausea medicine.  It was a pretty miserable night. 

After three weeks of bed rest, I finally started to feel a little bit better.  Around 14 weeks, I was blessed with just enough energy to teach my students a couple of hours a day, and then spent the rest of the time in bed.  Each week has slowly been getting a little bit better.  I still feel exhausted all the time, but I think the nausea has FINALLY subsided!  Phew!  That was a ROUGH road!  But the thing that kept me going was this little miracle inside me...  I will never ever take that blessing for granted, no matter how tough pregnancy can be.  

Now I am almost 18 weeks and we get to find out the gender on July 19th.  We are so thrilled and grateful!  Baby has been kicking me this week and it is SO FUN to feel it!  Here is what my belly looked like on my 17 week mark.  Can the holidays come any faster?  I can't wait to meet this little cutie!!!!!!!

STOP IT.

I recently heard about a school in Salt Lake City, whose principal is great, and happens to be a lesbian.  I heard that many parents found out that little fact about their principal, and took their children out of the school because of it.  That broke my heart.  And I know that this is not the only case of prejudice like this going around.  So I feel like I want to state my beliefs strongly and boldly right here.

My name is Aubrey.  I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I believe that the principles taught by the scriptures and prophets in this church are wonderful.  I believe in dressing modestly.  I do not smoke.  I do not drink alcohol.  I do not drink coffee.  I do not believe in sex out of wedlock.  I do not agree with acting on same-gender attractions.

I do not agree with those things, so I do not participate in those things.  But it stops there; with me not participating.  I do not look at anyone with any less value if they do participate in those things.  It does not make anyone any less of a person because they live differently than another.  I know many of those things are considered perfectly normal in this world, and maybe people think I am weird for not doing them.  Some of my very best friends in the world drink, smoke, are gay, have sex before marriage...  And I love them and look up to them as incredible people.  In many ways they are much better than me.  I would be infuriated if I found out they were being persecuted for their ways.  We are all people and we are all blessed with agency; we live here and are free to choose how we live our lives.  Much worse is the person who points the accusing finger than the person who makes his own choices and does the best he believes he can do in his life.

In our last general conference, Dieter F. Uchtdorf stated:

"The moment we judge someone else...we condemn ourselves, for none is without sin...  When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges, or wanting to cause harm, please apply the following:  STOP IT!  ...  'Don't judge me because I sin differently than you'."

You can read the entirety of his talk here:  The Merciful Obtain Mercy

This is one of the principles of this church that I am the very most passionate about.  Stop judging people.  Stop feeling like it is your responsibility in any way to punish someone else for their actions, especially if they have never even wronged you.  We are all here because we all chose to come to Earth to get a body, and we are all doing the best we can with the situations and temptations and lives that we have been given.  I firmly believe that the merciful obtain mercy.  I am far from perfect, and I hope that I can obtain mercy for the things I have done wrong in my life.  I strive every day to give that mercy and love to others, and I would wish that other people are out there doing the same thing.  No one can get through this life alone, so why don't we reach out with love, and help each other, instead of ridiculing people just because they live differently than we do?

People have given their lives time and time again to give us the freedom we enjoy in this country.  Isn't it ungrateful to persecute people for living that freedom?  We should take the knowledge of good that we have, and use it to better the world we live in.  To serve, and to be kind.  Not to judge others for the way they choose to use the freedom they have been blessed with.

Stop judging, and Start loving.

That's all :)