The Meandering Thoughts of Jan

This month is my birth month. Some people have birthdays, others birth weeks, but I have a birth month, because why not? For some reason the age of 32 has caused me to be rather reflective. Since I'm stuck in a chair with the most perfect little baby sleeping in my arms after an entire week of horrible naps, it seems like a good time to try to create some order of my reflective thinking. I've been thinking a lot about my 20's. I'm proud of my 20's in a lot of ways. I accomplished a lot of goals and had a lot of fun with only a few regrets on the side. One of my friends described 20's as being so great because it is a decade of firsts, which is true in a lot of ways. As I've been thinking about my 20's I have dubbed it "The Decade of Love." I think I know what you are thinking, "That's so sweet, because you found your love, Danny, in your 20's." Yes, Danny coming into my life is part of The Decade of Love, but that is just ...

So apparently, I only posted two pictures for June on Instragram. Man, that's so lame of me. But also, things have been so, so busy, so you know. June 18th - That one day I was incredibly cranky and then walked out to my car to find I had a flat tire. Ugh. Special thanks to my friend Tina for taking me home and to Danny for helping me get the tire fixed so I could get my car home later that evening. June 29th - The state of our kitchen after our move. We were trying to find cereal bowls, but gave up after opening half of the boxes and ate of tupperware instead. June was moving month. Every day after work was spent packing a few more boxes. And thanks to individuals at work who got me many of those boxes. I was a bit strict with packing (just ask Danny) . We went through everything and gave so much away or threw things away. Then in my hyper organized state, everything had to have color coordinating labels so people would know where it all went. I think I may have drove D...

May 5th - The nieces and a nephew having a great time jumping on the trampoline. They invited me to join in, but I had to decline. May 9th - I just love rainy days. May 10th - I showed up at my mom's house to find that we were matching. Great minds think alike. :) May 11th - My Mother's Day gifts from the husband. May 14th - Farm Life Photo Shoot. May 19th - The arrival of the 3rd trimester accompanied with a lot of heartburn and swelling joints and one wiggly baby (still inside of course). It is all worth it. May 22nd - Facing my fears in the shark tunnel at Living Planet Aquarium.   May 30th - Babysitting this little nephew is the best.   May 31st - Finally can check visiting the Spiral Jetty off of my bucket list. May 31st - Salt, Sun, Clouds and Mountains.

I had a photo shoot this week with a couple of my adorable nieces (ages 4-5) .  I was most appreciative that they were willing to participate and that their mothers  (my sis-in-laws) were willing to help as well by bringing the girls and helping direct them a bit.  Halfway through, one of my nieces got a little shy and decided she had enough of the photo shoot.  I don't blame her, I don't love my picture being taken as well.  Since we were at her house, she got up and went straight to her room. We decided to take a little break and see if we could convince her into coming back out for the rest of the photo shoot.  Her mom and I went to go talk to her.  This is the following conversation that ensued, which I'm still chuckling about. Niece: (With her head buried in her pillow) I'm shy, I don't want to go back out. Me:  You aren't shy, you are one of the friendliest little girls I know! Niece: (with some tears at this point) Yes I am! (Note: ...

Jan. 9th - At the end of the work day, I found this wintry scene on Temple Square rather pretty and peaceful.  Promptly after taking this pic, I slipped,  flailed and skidded down the sidewalk.  However, I avoided falling,  so that is what is important. Jan. 11th - We had a temple day with the Danny's family.  Here's our couple pic in front of the Mount Timpanogos Temple. Jan. 14th - Sometimes my job requires weird things of from me.  This time I got to pour orange soda into a glass over and over again for a photo shoot. Such resume building skills I have. Jan 17th - While out running work errands, my friend Tina and I stopped at Waffle Love in Provo for lunch.  They gave me the most beautiful waffle I have ever seen. Almost too beautiful to eat. Jan. 22nd - Here is the first video I have posted to Instagram. Noelle and Baby C came to visit me. Baby C put on an adorable musical performance, which I just had to shar...

Boy, oh boy has Christmastime taken our lives by storm.  It has been one busy, joyful month so far.  So much so, that I'm just going to throw a tinsel and cup of Christmas cheer bomb of a post at you, jammed pack with everything Christmas that has occurred over the past couple weeks. Christmas Advent Calendar My sister Michele and I made these Christmas advent calendars while I was at her house for Thanksgiving. She found the idea on pinterest (of course) . This is probably one of the more time consuming crafts we have taken on, but I was pleased with how it turned out.  For each day of December there is a Christmas related picture to put up and a scripture or quote pertaining to Christ's life to read on the back. Christmas Ornament Trading Party My friend Lauren put on a fun little party, where a group of us came together with a batch of homemade Christmas ornaments and then we all traded.  It was so cool to see how creative everyone was!  The...

Oct. 3rd - This is a morbid pic to begin with, but I guess it fits with October and Halloween.  It isn't as bad as it looks.  For a photo shoot, we had to  have a doll look like our model, so we bought a doll wig, which I was styling and then had to shave the doll's head for the wig to fit, which my coworker did.  We found it a bit hilarious, so we took a picture. Oct. 10th - A coworker brought donuts to work, which I decided was to celebrate my half birthday.  So in commemoration of my half birthday, I took a picture of half a donut (although, I really had two.) Oct. 10th - Ok, I know I already posted this picture on the blog, but it's a good repeat.  My friend Megan had a birthday party along with a petting zoo.  Feeding the zebra was the highlight of the evening for me. Oct. 12th - A lovely view from our hotel in Aspen, CO. Oct. 12th - On our little weekend getaway to Aspen, we went on a bike ride along the Roar...

Sept. 3rd - I was in line at H&M and they had a box of plasters aka band-aids. It made me so happy to see it called that. It reminded me of England and all things that remind me of England make me happy. Sept 3rd - I love movie theater popcorn, I love Danny and I love funny movies. (Not in that order, though.) So I was pretty happy that Danny was kind enough to see "Austenland" with me and get me popcorn.  The movie was hilarious.  Sept 6th - Nothing like a Christmas photo shoot on a warm September evening.  I felt bad for the kids that had to dress up in winter attire and pretend to be caroling.  It was already rather toasty. Sept 7th - Noelle and Jared had us over for dinner and we made homemade pizzas, yum! Sept. 14th - I got to babysit this cute baby boy one Saturday morning. We had hours of fun. Sept 16th - We went to listen to the Utah Chamber Artists in the Cathedral of the Madeleine.  The cathedral is absolutely lovely...