Our Autumn Activities :)

Fact: I haven't blogged since the Spring. Completely skipped the Summer! Oh well. Another fact: this post is picture heavy, but should be pleasing to the eye :)

Autumn is my absolute favorite time of year. I love the weather, the leaves, the pumpkin/apple/squash foods, the start of soup & crockpot season, the decor, and Halloween. I figure I can enjoy the heck out of October and then it will be November (which I still like!) and our baby boy will be here around Thanksgiving... should fly by, right??

Here's a look at some of our activities the last several weeks:

There was a Curious George book reading at Barnes & Noble! Auralia LOVES George! The book they read was a little creepy, but she liked making the mask.

We went to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch. It was a lot of walking with a heavy bucket of apples, our stuff, and Auralia when she didn't want to walk (which was most of the time!) but it's apple picking! So of course it was worth it! We picked the 'Song of September' variety of apple b/c we heard it was the best. It has a great flavor but a soft texture that Tyron wasn't a fan of. A friend from church went to Utah and my parents sent him home with a ton of their produce to give to us! Including a bucket of apples. 3 weeks later and we are still peeling, coring, slicing, freezing, and making applesauce! Our garden finally started producing a lot of bell & jalapeno peppers and tomatoes and green beans that the darn deer didn't get!  It's been a great time to fill our deep freeze!

Some friends invited us to go to a zoo about 45 minutes away. It's a small zoo which is perfect for the kids to see everything without being there all day!

This is her elephant pose!

Our neighbor friends and us went to Bloomsbury Farm about 35 minutes away. It was a perfect Autumn play place for kids & families and the weather was great! 

She LOVES petting zoos!

A silo of corn kernels for the kiddos (and Tyron) to play in! Who knew that would be the hit!?

Our friends, the Hayes!

We have been sick a lot lately (me more than Auralia or Tyron) with colds and stomach flu. It's been a rough 3 weeks, but it did allow me to get a lot of Autumn crafts done on days when I didn't feel like doing much! Here's some of my creations :)

Happy Autumn Everyone!!

Tyron's Final Birthday Surprise!

On Friday (his actual birthday), he had to work from 10a-7pm. So I decided to let him come home and rest. JaCobi and I made him a cheesecake and decorated with streamers. When he got home, we ate some Papa Murphy's pizza, sang happy birthday, ate cheesecake and watched 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' (terrible movie by the way!). In my gift to him was our hotel reservation for Nauvoo!

Picture Auralia drew for Daddy

In the morning we headed out bright and early to Nauvoo. We went to Keokuk and crossed the Mississippi and then headed on the highway next to the river- it was nice taking the scenic route! A couple from our ward met us there and we watched their daughter while they did a temple session and then we did one while they watched Auralia. The temple was super busy! JaCobi and I had to go to the ordinance workers locker room and even there they ran out of lockers. The session ahead ran behind so we waited 40 minutes during the session- which was kind of nice because I got a pretty good nap in! But I felt bad b/c the couple watching Auralia was delayed getting their daughter home to nap, but I was so grateful to do a session because we haven't been to the temple since Oct in New York!

It was so cold in Nauvoo! It made sightseeing difficult and unpleasant at times, but we still did a fair amount including: tour of Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff's homes, Brickyard, Blacksmith shop, Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo play, and the Nauvoo Burial Grounds. We also drove by a lot of things including the Trail of Tears (leads to the river where they crossed to leave Nauvoo), Joseph Smith's Homestead & Mansion House (owned by the RLDS so it cost- boo!). We also went to the Visitor's Center and to Carthage Jail where Joseph Smith was martyred.

Overall a great & tiring weekend! On Monday we went thrift store shopping with JaCobi before she left that afternoon to go home. We all made some great purchases, including a Melissa & Doug art easel! It's like 4 feet tall and on one side is a dry erase board and the other a chalkboard, complete with 2 hanging art trays and a roll of paper that drapes from the top so she can draw on there too- she has spent a few hours drawing already! 

Thanks again Jac for coming to visit!! We LOVED having you here and now that you're gone it's been sad, quiet, and lonely!  To anyone reading this: We are always happy to have visitors! ;)

And a final HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY TYRON!!

Tyron's Birthday Surprise... NUMBER 2!!

So I was on Facebook a couple weeks ago and saw that Tyrone Wells was coming to Iowa City!!! WawawaWHAT??!?!?! So excited- we are huge Tyrone Wells fans, have been since the beginning of his career. He is the son of a preacher and although his music isn't Christian rock or anything, it's good and clean and awesome! And he exudes kindness and happiness and is a super talented musician. Wish we were close friends in real life- he'd be a blast to hang out with!

Anyways, my awesome siblings paid for tickets for Tyron, JaCobi, and I to go. My friend, Whitney Bell, was gracious and watched Auralia. Tyron and Jac had no idea what the plan was for tonight!! I was late getting dinner so we ate burritos in the car, got there and parked and when we got in realized it was at a restaurant and there was only standing room left! Our feet are sore after 3 hours of standing, but it was so worth it!

Tyrone's opening acts were Brett Young & Brendan James. Brett was good, Brendan was great! We bought all 3 of Brendan's CD's! He just owned the keyboard playing tonight, mostly with his eyes closed! And he can whistle better than anyone I've ever heard before. As Pi day comes to a close, I'd recommend listening to his song "Stupid for Your Love" :)

Tyrone was awesome- so full of energy and great beats. I found myself dancing a lot which helped my feet not feel so sore. He is such a good guy- at the end he sang a song 'When All Is Said & Done' and he talked about in the end, we all face death and will meet our Maker and the only important thing is that we loved others and "drank life." He said to give forgiveness tomorrow to those who we have strains with and to let that poison go. What a great guy!

I didn't get any pictures of us, but I got one of Tyrone and his band. I won't post it because I also got a video which is from a similar position & lighting, etc.

Tyron's 30th Birthday- first surprise!

Tyron turns 30 on Friday! I can't believe he is reaching his 30's! We met when he was a missionary at 21 and I remember him coming back to Iowa for a visit a few months after his mission and we celebrated his 22nd birthday. Eight years later we are back in Iowa and I still have a major crush on him! What a beautiful 8 years it has been :)

I have several surprises planned for his big 3-0! The first was his sister, JaCobi, flying in from Alberta, Canada! She told me a couple months ago that she was going to come out and I was thrilled! So fun to spend some time together, especially as a surprise to Tyron for his birthday! I was super sneaky- deleted emails, texts, skype conversations, etc. in order to make it work. On the way there tonight I took the craziest backroad routes to get their and I'm a little embarrassed to say that I had to get my phone out to navigation because I got confused a couple of times :) But it helped because he has NO idea where we were going! And of course he was blindfolded through it all. Here's a picture and the awesome moment on video:

Thanks Jac for coming! And thanks Nathan for your willingness to be wifeless for a few days!

I officiallly stink at blogging

I've been thinking a lot lately about how it's not possible to do everything- obviously- so we each let certain things go. For the last several months, for me, it's been exercise and blogging and probably many other things I can't even think of right now. Life sure has been busy. Each day and week is a whirlwind.

I haven't done an update on our life, or on Auralia for a long time! So here it goes:

We are still loving life here in Iowa. It's a good fit for this time in our lives. We attend the married student ward and have met so many wonderful people! We instantly clicked with one family - the Hardings. We spend a lot of time together, and our girls (exactly 6 mo apart) play well together. I get together with Rachel on Tuesdays to work on our quiet books that we each are making for our child. This quiet book has kept me busy during this long winter. I'll post more pictures on it when it's a little further along.

At church, Tyron was called to be a Sunday School teacher and I was called to serve on the Stake YW Camp committee. They have me planning & making food. I don't enjoy cooking, but I don't mind as long as get to work with the youth :)

Tyron got accepted to the PhD program in Neuroscience here at the University of Iowa!! He may get to start in the summer instead of waiting until August! We are waiting to hear. He has been stringing together random part-time jobs (2 research positions, and working at Coldstone). We are so so so happy that last week he got a temporary/seasonal position at Lowe's! It will be a consistent 39 hours a week plus he'll keep one of his research jobs so he'll be working about 50 hours a week. I still have my part-time job at RBL. It's been a lifesaver to our financial situation over the past year. Although it's difficult for me to fit in work in all the quiet moments (including nap-time)  instead of exercising, blogging, and doing what I want to do. I've had a huge project lately that consumes large chunks of time. I've also been helping our friend from the Bronx re-locate here to Iowa.

We have been learning Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and we love it! It has re-motivated us to get our finances in order so that we don't get too heavily in debt now so we can own a home soon after the PhD. We also want to control our money so we can accomplish all that we desire without being held back financially. I'd recommend this system to everyone.

Auralia will be 21 months on March 21st! I can't even believe this. But it happened. Here's what she's up to these days:
1. She enjoys being naked. Even though it's been freezing, she wants her clothes off. I let her go until her skin is cool. Silly girl :)
2. She loves watching TV. Ya, I'm not real thrilled about this, but it come in handy when my work load explodes. She LOVES Curious George. "George' is now part of her vocabulary. She actually laughed yesterday at a part from a movie. She's comprehending what she sees on TV.
3. She loves playing with my make-up and I often find it smeared on her and in places in the apartment.
4. She has had a recent fascination with the snow. When we are outside, she loves to stomp around in it, no matter how cold.
5. She loves bathtime and often stays in until she's super pruney.
6. She loves food- some days it feels like she never stops snacking. She has started to throw a fit about eating certain things... can't say I'm loving that. She avoids vegetables, which is to be expected.
7. She loves books! This started a couple months ago b/c Auntie JoDana & Uncle Kelly got her Sandra Boynton books for Christmas. They are her favs (Moo, Baa, LaLaLa and Blue Hat Green Hat). She enjoys snuggling up to read and is comprehending a lot more of the book than before.
8. She loves playing peek a boo. Loves to cover up her face or hide and then pop out and shout, "BOO"!
9. We still struggle with nursery at church. We were off to a great start and then it got worse and worse. But it's getting better... hopefully there's less of a fight there.
10. She is still a mama's girl, but she is caring more about dadda these days, especially when he leaves for work.
11. She has had a dry cough for 2 months. It's what wakes her up each morning and she continues off and on all day. I need to get her in for a visit to the doc's, but I'm thinking they still won't be concerned about it. Doesn't hurt to check.
12. She has really expanded her vocab. Some words don't sound like anything, but she continues to try. Many words she can say.
12. I love her kisses- she hums the 'mmmm' before giving the 'wah' part on your lips. And she blows kisses to say she loves you or sometimes to say thank you.

Auralia is wonderful and we are immensely blessed to have her be a part of our family. We hope to bring her a sibling some time in the future... getting pregnant is always a challenge for us. I just find things to keep me busy so I don't dwell on how frustrating it is. But we'll be blessed when we're blessed :)

Went through a socks on the hands phase :)

Eyeliner all over the face, shirt, and tummy

Bright eyed curious girl always into something :) Oh, and she will have Rapunzel hair by age 3!

Reflections

I've been thinking about a lot of things lately. Since I'm terrible about keeping a journal, I felt like I needed to get it down. I figured that sharing it on my blog may help others who are feeling the same way I am.

First Thought:
Our life in New York was hard. I hated the city and I hated the cost of the city. But, I am so grateful for the trials we had there and the lessons we learned from them. It was the most I've ever grown and in such a short time. Right before we moved, I started a book by Neal A. Maxwell: "If Thou Endure It Well." It's a book about trials- why we have them, understanding the learning opportunities in them, etc. I still haven't finished because it's one of those books that is packed with things that open my mind in a whole new way; this makes it a heavy & slow read. But I have come to understand a lot about trials and every time I read it I felt like I could say, "Okay Heavenly Father. I have ALOT to learn in life and I know that is best achieved through trials. So give me what you think I need. I'm ready to change." Because I do want to change. My list of weaknesses could fill a book. Some are learned behaviors that I picked up from a young age from those around me, some are inherent in my character, and some I'm sure I've just been given from the Lord in order to help me learn. I love the scripture in Ether 12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." 

So I'm trying to humble myself before the Lord (way better option than having Him humble you!), have faith in His plan for me, and have hope that my weaknesses will be turned to strengths and that I'll become the person I really want to be. The only way I can achieve this is through faithful & patient endurance- I'm learning that I can't set goals to get rid of my weaknesses by December; it's likely these weaknesses will shadow me in life until that shadow gets smaller and smaller and then disappears or turns into something better. And I can't blame God or get upset at Him when He sends a learning opportunity my way. In the meantime I have to learn to love myself- something I've never been good at. I have to stop beating myself up when I make a mistake. Why is this part so hard?

Second Thought:
A couple of Sundays ago, we had ward conference and our Bishop talked about living an extraordinary life- accomplishing service that has a long lasting and far reaching affect on society. He spoke of a man in Africa who took notice of how the farms worked and then came up with ways to improve efficiency and yield more= more $. The family farm is prosperous and he was able to put money towards opening a hospital for the community. But there was a famine during the building of it, so it was put on hold. The famine got bad and people in his community would take their children and just start walking to find food. Many of them were found dead on the roads. So heartbreaking. When outside organizations tried to bring in food through the corrupt government, it didn't make it into the hands of the people so they approached this man and asked if he would be the one to distribute it. He felt the heavy responsibility of this task, but he accepted. He used the partly completed hospital as the HQ to distribute food and thousands flocked to get food. He saved thousands of people's lives.  My bishop taught that if we helped just a small number of people a year in a significant way and those people helped others and those people helped others, our impact could be felt by millions. But the problem is that we often overlook making those significant differences. True consecration. As Neal A. Maxwell explains, some "members are 'honorable' but not 'valiant'. These 'honorable' individuals are certainly not miserable or wicked, nor are they unrighteous and unhappy. It is not what they have done but what they have left undone that is amiss. For example, if valiant, they could touch others deeply instead of merely being remembered pleasantly."

What is it Heavenly Father wants me to do? Because there is something more to do. I know that raising Auralia is very important, as well as being a good and supportive wife to Tyron, and serving in the church. But I feel like there's more to do. It's easy to settle into safety and security at home and put blinders on to the outside; I often tell myself that I'm doing enough. But am I? What about making that significant impact? Where am I doing that? Last fall I experienced several nights where I couldn't sleep because my mind was racing with something that I feel passionate about- helping abused children. At Christmas I told my mom & sister about it and my sister mentioned an organization called "CASA". You can volunteer and become a children advocate in court for abused & neglected children since children are often treated as the pawns in divorces, the burden of wicked parents, the easy target for society and yet they often are left without a voice to fight for their rights against these people. During Elder Oaks talk in Oct 2012 General Conference, I wanted to stand up and shout AMEN!!!

I remember feeling like CASA was what I needed to do, the difference I needed to make. It was peace to my mind. But, remember my weaknesses stated above? Those have held me back along with my current trials. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Sometimes it all feels like too much, and I find myself slipping into a coma of fear, frustration, and being overwhelmed. So I continue to pray, wondering what it is that I'm to do. Do I keep my cards close and play them strategically and methodically? Or do I risk it all and lay them out on the table and just go for it realizing that utter failure could be moments away? Will my strengths sustain me long term if I do the latter? Or will my failure be the lesson in this?

I don't have the answers to any of my questions. But I continue to pray and to search. Search myself and discover what I'm truly made of. Search for what my true potential is and who I'm supposed to be.

Holy cow! Christmas was a month ago...

I am no good at this whole blogging thing. It's probably the same reason why I don't keep a journal- I don't think anyone really cares about the details of my life when they have their own lives to live! Why read this when you could read a good book? Or read your child a book? Guess I'll have to keep it mostly to pictures then ;)  And thank you to those who do actually read it!

We flew to Utah for Christmas on  Dec 15th and came back on the 31st, so it was a nice long visit! My family had planned a lot of fun things for us to do while we were there so we stayed busy. Unfortunately, we each took turns being sick so we didn't get to do all we wanted. But we ate yummy food (way to much as always), played games, watched movies, and spent time talking. All my favorite things to do with my family! Here's some highlights:

Auralia loves dogs & loved my family's 2 dogs. Pudley is getting old and tired so he was an easy target for her since he's always lounging around. She would give him hugs, ride him, and step on him. He didn't mind. Unfortunately, we discovered that her skin is allergic to dogs- she kept getting red itchy rashes everywhere- which happened last summer too but we didn't connect the dots until now. Guess we won't ever get a dog :)

She finally got a doggie in a purse! She just unwrapped it and is giving it kisses. Thanks Auntie Aubrey!

Tyron was a knitting fool in Nov & Dec! He knitted Michalla (Clint's GF) a hat & cowel, a set for Aubrey, and then a cowel for my mom. They turned out AMAZING and so I'm convincing him I need one too :)

After the presents were all opened, dad pulled some extras from the closet... what? you might ask. GUNS! A purse gun for mom and one for Aubrey! They are heat packin ladies now, and luckily taking a safety course soon before they carry them in their purse. It's sad we live in a day where carrying a gun isn't a bad idea...

The man loves his pistachios!

Clint got a lot of missionary gifts for Christmas in preparation for his upcoming mission!

Missy loves getting her feet tickled. Papa started tickling and she wouldn't let him stop- she would throw her foot back up and whine. So cute :)

She LOVED being held by her Uncle Clint. They were like 2 peas in a pod. She wouldn't go to others in my family very easily, but Clint she would follow around and whine for.

My dad's work are season ticket holders for the Jazz, so my dad got me, Tyron, Aubrey, and Clint center court, row 8 tickets for the game vs. the Clippers! Clippers had a record winning streak and we were hoping to break it...

... and we almost did! The refs really sucked and made way too many petty calls towards the end which cost us. But a fun game to be at!!

At the toy store at Gardner's Village... Auralia's idea of heaven

Clint's idea of heaven, too :)

There were these creepy clown like elves at the village... no not Aubrey, the thing next to her. LOL :)

 

We had a wonderful Christmas! We were so spoiled by our family- my mom got me doTerra oils which I used the whole visit treating ailments. And it usually worked, too. Tyron got a Kindle and Auralia got toys. We got pots and pans, massages, and many other things. Like I said, spoiled. At least I can acknowledge it, which is the first step :)  

We wish we could have had more time to spend with family and friends. We were limited by sickness, schedules, holiday schedules, weather, etc. But our townhome in Iowa is always open for friends and family visits!!