SURPRISES

I love going on dates with my husband, and I love SURPRISES! Last night I was treated to a surprise date with Tony. He texted me from the gym in the afternoon and asked me if I'd go on a date with him. I asked him if I needed to get a babysitter, and he said he already had one. I just needed to be ready to go.



Anyway, I had no idea where we were going, and he took me to see these guys!! The were putting on a concert in Evanston.

BYU Young Ambassadors

It was such a fun time. The concert was amazing!!! Take a look at their website and schedule. If they're ever coming somewhere close to you, you should definitely go. It was wonderful! Thanks, Tony, for the surprise!

* Tessa *

I LOVE Tessa! How can you not, really? Tessa has the perfect mixture of kindness and hilariousness to make up her personality. She would never hurt anybody, and is friends with SO many people! She's very goal-oriented and works hard. She takes pride in everything she does, and is good at it all, too, of course.

Tessa has always been one of a kind. She is just herself, and happy to be. Most girls her age are way too concerned with what everybody else thinks of them. I know I was. But watching Tessa, I can see that life is much better when you just be yourself. And Tessa's "self" is something else! The picture below is "the real Tessa" to me.

Stay REAL, Tessa! (And keep those Beyonce moves sharp! I'm gonna want another show sometime soon. I haven't laughed that hard since. Haha. . . )

* Livi *

I LOVE my sister, Olivia, although I pretty much never call her that. It's just Livi, or sometimes Liv. Last week was Livi's birthday, and I was lucky enough to be at her party and watch her play basketball. It was so much fun.

Not only is Olivia beautiful (as you can see in the pictures), and extremely talented (you should see her play basketball!), but she is also a great person. Livi never complains about things. You know how when you're finished talking to some people, you feel depressed or totally worn out? It's NEVER like that with her. Instead, you get to feel refreshed and upbeat. She just has that effect on you. Livi is also "cool." What I mean by that is that you can't ruffle her feathers. I used to try to tease her about boys, but I quit because you just can't rile her up. Livi has a kind heart. She never wants to hurt anybody's feelings, and is always kind. She is also a GREAT aunt to my kids. They totally adore her, especially Mylie, who does more than adore her. I think it's closer to some form of worship.

Anyway, I feel blessed to have Livi in my life. I hope I can be more like her someday. Love ya, Liv!!!

Treadmill, Newtons, Shenandoah Sisters

I love my treadmill. It was given to us 4 years ago by a teacher at Tony's school who bought it with good intentions, but never used it and needed the space it was taking up. So it was FREE! And it has a couple glitches now. I'm not sure how long it will last, but between Tony and I, averaging 3-4 runs each per week for four years now, we've certainly gotten a lot of use out of it. (P.S. If any of you are like that teacher, and your space is more needed than your good intentions, let us know. We're going to need to buy another one soon, I'm afraid.)

I love my hot pink Newton running shoes. They are INCREDIBLY light and designed to help you run with the form you would if you were running barefoot, which is supposedly best for the rest of your body. I've only had these for a few months, but I love them! Plus, they look SOOOOO COOL, right?!?

I'm on the fourth and final book in this series, Shenandoah Sisters, and I'm LOVING it! You know the kind of books that you stay up late reading, and don't care that you're tired because the book is so worth it? Tony doesn't know anything about this concept, but I'm sure some of you do!

I especially love the three of these things in combination and have enjoyed lots of runs in the past few weeks, almost oblivious that I'm running because I'm so into my book (and my shoes are so light and comfortable!) A lot of people tell me that they can't read and run--either they can't focus in on the words or they get dizzy. So I consider myself lucky. As long as the text isn't too small, I can read up to about 8mph pace. So I don't read when I do speed workouts, but otherwise, I'm ALWAYS reading when I run!

~Luuuuuv Month~

Since this is the month of LOVE, I'm going to dedicate the entire month of blogging to the things and people I LOVE most! (Seems like I already got a head start on this idea with "I Love My Life" and "Land That I Love." But can you really ever have too much love?!?)

I LOVE that my stay-at-home mommy lifestyle allows for spur-of-the moment Wednesday afternoon cookie baking sessions with my girls!

Land that I LOVE

I grew up in the small town of Cokeville, WY, population 500. I've been asked many times if I liked growing up there. "What is there to do?" people always ask. Well, my answer is always, "I LOVED it!" I planned on moving back there someday, since it was really the best place on earth.

After high school, I went to Laramie, WY, to go to college, and guess what? I LOVED Laramie! My time there was filled with wonderful experiences, and I met so many great people that had a positive impact on my life. I loved the campus, and so many things about Laramie. When I go back there, I always get really sentimental and really miss it, and my time there.

After Tony and I finished school, we moved to his family's ranch in Fort Bridger, WY. And now I LOVE the Bridger Valley! There are so many good people, and I have everything I need here. I love the schools, my ward, my coaching job, having family around, and having a grocery store and a bank just six miles away.

I think all three of these places are wonderful, and so it's strange to me when I hear somebody say how much they did NOT like living in Cokeville, Laramie, or the Bridger Valley. But it also makes me realize that loving where you live may in fact be a choice, not just a result of circumstances. Could it be that we can CHOOSE to love where we live--that we can FIND things to love about it? I believe this is the case.

On a broader perspective, I LOVE living in Wyoming. I love the wide open spaces and friendly, down-to-earth people here. And I LOVE America. We have so many amazing blessing just because we live in this country. I am grateful for those who fight so hard to protect our liberty. This past week, my father-in-law officially announced his candidacy for the office of Governor of Wyoming. He did it because he loves Wyoming. Follow this link and watch the video to hear him talk. (If you love Wyoming, you'll like some of the other footage in this video as well--like the stretch of I-80:) And if you love my kids, you'll see them in there for a second, too!)

This next video is not as professional, but just as sincere. I love this one.

Our Mold

When Mariah was about six months old, somebody saw her and said, "Looks like she came out of the same mold as the others." I had to agree.

Me and my siblings have all different looks, from very blonde to very dark hair, and all different types of eyes. Yes, we have our similarities, but we're fairly diverse for siblings. I always hoped that I could have the same diversity in my own children. But then I married somebody with the same color hair and eyes as I have, and so far, we've gotten basically the same look with all three attempts.

See for yourself. Here are pics of my kids at about 14 months. Go ahead and guess who's who, (although the clothes and the POOR quality of the scanned photos kinda give it away.)