Here we go

Ok, it's been a week for decisions. Here is my new one. For 1 month I am going to commit myself to a whole foods diet. I know lots of people who eat mostly raw foods, drink green smoothies, and ignore chocolate and fast foods. These people seem to have an energy and vitality for life that I envy. I have tried to do this lots of times before and I always seem to fall short after three or four days. I guess until now I only wanted to try it because everyone else was doing it. For the first time I really want to know what this life style is like for myself so here we go! My hope is that if I let all of you know you will help keep me on track here. Wish me all the luck in the world because I will need it! :)
My son is growing up so fast! Yesterday when I got him out of his crib he grabbed a flash card that was on his floor, folded it in half, scrunched up the front end, and then threw it in the air and said "airplane!". He can count to three, although not consistently, and everything is the color green except for his McQueen car which is red and yellow. Being a mom is my favorite!

Commitment

Dear Universe,
I am not actually sure that anyone is reading this and it has caused me to question the wisdom of a blog at all. However, after much deliberation I have decided that this blog must continue and here is why. In some small way I feel heard. Just putting all of my thoughts, as random and chaotic as they may be sometimes, out there makes me feel alive somehow. I can't explain it and maybe I don't need to so I will just say that where there has been, there will be more.

Spring Break!!

So this weekend was our stake conference. It was really nice to have an earlier church time and be able to be home all afternoon. I even got a nap! Kyle did so good at the church too. He played in our little row, he even sat in a chair and looked at the speakers for part of the time. Of course that may have been because we were so far in the back that we were looking at a projection screen and he thought it was a movie...
Kyle has started to fold his arms for prayer time too and it's so cute. I know I'm not supposed to but I watch him while we pray and he is so cute. He folds his arms and looks at his feet and as long as it's a short prayer he keeps his arms folded the whole time. He says amen at the end and it is so so cute! It comes out more like mmen.
It was really a fun week. We had my friend Beth and her new husband Ian come and stay with us on Thursday night and it was so good to see her and get to meet her new husband. They are moving up to Idaho and while we are somewhat jealous we are so excited for them.
On a more sad note Travis's Grandma is very sick. Her circulatory system is starting to shut down and she is in a great deal of pain. Her children are debating about rest homes and hospice care for her at this point. It has been very touching to see her family rally around her. She is truly a remarkable woman who has touched many lives and I feel privileged to have known her.
This week is my spring break from school and I cannot wait! We are leaving town!!! We are taking Travis's parents motor home up the American Fork canyon which is probably my favorite place in the whole world. We are going to camp out Wednesday and Thursday night and then the craziness will begin. My little brother Jason and sister Clara are coming out from California on Friday for a week and I can hardly wait! At the end of that week my sister Hannah will be moving in with us for the summer and I am super excited about that too. Kyle is excited for them to come and he keeps going into our office where they will be sleeping and saying, "anna? jashon? ara?" It's very cute. The picture of Kyle shows you exactly what I intend to do with the rest of my time off.
I will let you know how this all goes, have a great week!

A Beautiful day

I am sitting here with my beautiful nephew Matthew, my beautiful son is asleep in bed, and I am struck with just how beautiful day it has been. I love the beautiful people who are apart of my life and all that they do for me. I am grateful for a beautiful home in which to love and raise my family. I love the beauty and majesty of the mountains, how they calm my soul and keep me safe. Most of all I appreciate the chance to worship my Beautiful Savior in church and to remember that He lives. I didn't get a chance in church today but I want to bear my testimony that He lives! He lives and He is aware of us. He cares for us and knows us better than we know ourselves. His church has been restored and His word is on the earth. I love you all, have a beautiful week!

And we're back!

And here we are, long months later after running through the desert we are up and running! Life seems to be speeding by at breakneck speed. I can hardly believe that my little boy will be 2 in just a couple months! He just gets cuter every day. He follows me everywhere and wants to help with anything I am doing. He likes to push a kitchen chair up to the counter and stir whatever I am cooing. His favorite job is to add the salt...all the salt. My favorite is when he gets salt on his hand and he licks his fingers. Best face ever!
A few weeks ago we planted a garden at Grandma's house. Grandma got Kyle a hat to wear while we were out in the sun. Actually Kyle insisted on having a hat because Grandma had one and he was not going to miss out! So worth it just for the picture though! Our little garden is finally starting to sprout and it has been so fun.
We have been on an incredible health journey these last few months. We got a book called the 12 Steps to Whole Foods by Robyn Openshaw, otherwise known as the green smoothie girl. Her stuff is amazing, it breaks down a whole foods diet into 12 easy to implement steps. My favorite step has been adding green smoothies to our diets. Super easy to do, you just put two cups of water in a blender add greens and blend until you get to four cups and then add your choice of fruit until it tastes like a smoothie. We use spinach as a base and usually add kale and or collard greens to ours. You can add lettuce, parsley, or any green thing you like the flavor of. Even kyle drinks them and loves them. He always asks for more with a little green mustache on his upper lip. It has been a huge adjustment and parts of it have been really hard. It's tricky to give up comfort foods that you have eaten since you were a child but with a little persistence we are making the changes and feeling great!
In a few short months school will be out for the summer and I can hardly wait. This year of teaching has been so different from last year. It hasn't been perfect but it's been much smoother. I feel like I have made more progress with these kids and I have felt way less scattered. Terribly busy but not so scattered. However, I can hardly wait to spend the summer camping, hiking, and grilling with my family.
I hope all is well with you and yours. May the road rise to meet you!

Yea!

Hi everyone! Life is so wonderful and I couldn't wait another day to share it with you. I have been doing my student teaching and life has been insane! I started in a third grade classroom and then moved to a first grade classroom to finish. I never thought I would like the first grade but I love it. The kids are adorable and so eager to learn and to do well. They are still six and for the most part they are very kind towards each other. I will be done in two weeks and while I have loved it I can't say that I will be sorry to be done. I will graduate in December with my Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and I am so excited! Yea!! Also, I have tentatively been offered a part time job at the school I am student teaching at so that helps with not being sad about leaving. I will be job sharing with another first grade teacher and I am very excited about the opportunity. It will be a great way to get my foot in the door and still be with my son.
Kyle is doing great! He gets bigger every day and I feel like the luckiest mom in the world. He giggles now and laughs when we look at him. He is learning to sit up on his own and, well, we still have to work on that a little bit. He looks more like his dad every day which I love and I think that dad secretly enjoys it to even though he says he wished that Kyle looked more like me.
I hope that all is well! Love you all!

Baby update

Hi everyone! The last few weeks have been so wonderful, there are hardly words to explain. It has been such a joy and a privilege to watch my son grow. He is bigger than he was before but still smaller than 10 pounds. It is so crazy to think that we all started out this small. My mom once pointed out to me that this is the only time in our whole exsistance that we are this small and it is only for a short time. I am so grateful that my Heavenly Father let me share these few moments of heaven with him.
On a different note we had out first family road trip a few weeks ago. We took Kyle up to Travis's Grandma's house for the 4th of July. He liked it for the most part and it was so good to get out of the house! There was a great home town parade, family walks, and of course, fire works! I love fire works! Like I said, Kyle enjoyed the trip and was introduced to his favorite new toy. It's a vibrating bouncer that lights up and plays music. He loves to sit in it and he is so cute to watch. He smiles and kicks his arms and legs while the music plays.
Travis and I are getting used to sleepless nights and busy days. We are still hoping for a new job soon. Travis applied for a job at the LDS Church News but we haven't heard anything yet. It sounds like it would be a great job for him so we are praying and hoping for the best. I hope all is well with you all, know that you are in our prayers.

The Newest Ball Baby

Well everyone, we did it. On May 28 our son Kyle was born at 3:10 p.m. My water broke at about 3:00 in the morning and I was in labor for a total of 12 hours. I spent the last 3 and 1/2 hours pushing-without medication! I choose to give birth all naturally but there were moments when I wondered if I would make it. It was probably the most rewarding experience of my life. To hold my son in my arms and see how alert and happy he was made it all worth it. He is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! We have truly been blessed. God has given us this little miracle and I feel as if I am holding a piece of heaven when I hold him.

Memorial Day

I am writing this sitting on the back deck of my parents house while the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the kids are working in the back yard. As I sit here I can't help but think about how blessed I am. Everything I am seeing seems so serene and happy. I am grateful to live where I live, to have my family, and for beautiful days like this.
We still have no baby but my brother-in-law thinks that he will come today. I guess he has a 50/50 chance :) I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday. Love ya!

Don't hate me!

Ok everyone, I know I feel off the face of the earth but don't hate me! This last school semester was absolutely crazy! Travis traveled back and forth a lot from Rexburg to Utah and so I spent a lot of time by myself or at the school. The end of the semester finally came though and I graduated! Not officially because I still have to do my student teaching in the fall but I got to walk and attend commencment and I got a pretty blue diploma cover for the expensive piece of paper that will come in my mail some time in January.
Travis and I have moved back to Utah and we are living in a three bedroom apartment in Pleasant Grove. This may not seem like a big deal but I have never had so much space and I love it! I finally feel like all of my stuff has a place of it's own and no two things have the same space. It's wonderful! We have spent most of out time preparing for the birth of our baby boy. He is officially due on May 26 but I have a feeling that he will come early. That could be wishful thinking on my part but a girl can hope, right? I am so excited to hold my little son in my arms and you guys should see Travis! He is already bursting at the seams with pride about his son. One thing I love about my husband is that he would be just as proud if the baby came out purple and has four eyes! He is so excited to have a little baby to love and play with. I can hardly wait to see his face when he holds our son for the first time. I finally have pictures of my pregnant belly so I will download and post those soon.
I am going to do this birth naturally, with no medication. I have been practicing the hypnobabies method of birthing which has been very calming for me. I've been learning a mild form of self hypnosis. The program is great but I got it a little late in my pregnancy and so I haven't had time to learn as much as I should. My mom will attend the birth and between her, Travis, and the midwife I am hoping that I will be able to do this. I would ask you all to keep me in your prayers at this time. I love you all and will keep you updated often.

Tresured experiences

I have been so blessed! As I sit here tonight and think about all that God has seen fit to bless my with I feel moved almost to tears. My husband is gone in California this week on a buissness trip and it's been lonely without him here. He is so good to me and I feel like a treasure in his life. His absence has given me the opportunity to reflect on how much I love and need him in my life. I am now filled with a great desire to be better to him when he gets home!

Another blessing in my life has been that of a little baby! My husband and I are finally pregnant! :) Travis is bursting with joy and has taken to constantly talking to my stomach and I, besides being very tired, am filled with a sense of peace. I am grateful for this little baby growing inside of me and for the privilage of being a parent. I only hope that God will continue to guide my actions so that this child turns out well!!

Really what I wanted to share with you all tonight is a privilege that I had today. I get to take a religion class in school right now and as an assignment my teacher created a bog and asked us all to post the things that we know on that blog. It was an almost sacred experience to read some of the posts on that blog. In a world where it is so easy to loose faith and to get lost in the darkness and depression that surround us it was an amazing experience to hear the testimonies of others and to feel as if I have brothers and sisters to stand shoulder to shoulder with. These last few weeks have been filled with many trials, including ridicule and persecution, for some members of my church. I want everyone to know tonight where I stand. I love my Savior and I believe in His teachings. I believe that the LDS church is the restored church of God on the earth today. I respect the right of otheres to believe what they choose and want them to know that I rejoice when we rejoice together in Christ! I love what the church teaches and the knowledge that I have that the Book of Mormon is true, that families can be together forvever, and that Christ's atonement is available to all who believe on His name and come to Him.

I would challange all of you to stand where you are and lift. Reach out to those around you and let the love of the Savior guide your actions so that we may all come closer together is my prayer now, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Another great day at BYU-Idaho!

Every Tuesday here at school we have the privilege of listening to our inspired leaders, it something that we call devotional. Every week we get to take time out of our week and listen to talks that are centered on our faith in Jesus Christ and our love of His gospel. I love it, it's my favorite time of the week and my favorite part is that the university president will always stand up and start the devotional by saying "It's another great day at BYU-Idaho". To hear that always makes me smile and gives me hope by helping me remember all the things that are good around me. Life is so good!
I found one of the greatest things in the world on Saturday. My husband and I went to a thrift store and we actually found a glide rocker! I have wanted one ever since I sat in his mother's rocker and I was thrilled to see one. The best part of the whole thing was that is cost us 6 dollars!! The bottom part had kind of broken away so it didn't glide right but Travis was able to fix that with a few nuts and bolts. I am so excited!

Apologies

So I do believe that I owe everyone an apology, at least for as many people as actually read this. It's been over a month since I have posted. I didn't mean to leave you all hanging. School started again in September and it started in a whirlwind and hasn't quit since then! I feel as if I hardly have time to check my e-mails let alone post! So on that note here is a quick update.
Life here is so good! SO SO busy but so good. God continues to bless us. Travis is job hunting and that is going well. He just applied for a job at the university and we are praying that this one will come through, it would be a good fit and a good place for him. Like I said before, school has started for me again. My favorite class so far has been orchestra. I love the feeling I get when I play the violin, I always feel a little closer to my Maker. The weather is starting to change and the trees are beautiful even though I am not a huge fan of the cold air.
The best thing that has happened recently happened this last weekend. Every six months my church holds a conference where all members can attend. They broadcast it to the churches and to homes (on cable) and it is such an amazing weekend! The prophet speaks and so many others and I always feel as if there is light and hope in the world. Sometimes we get so discouraged and disheartened with the way the world is going but these men stand as beacons in the world for me. They bring messages of hope, of love, of the gospel, and most importantly about Jesus Christ. I always come away feeling a deeper love for my Savior and wanting to testify of Him and His goodness more often.
For those of you who may not know, my sister Sarah had her baby! His name is Matthew Bowen and he is beautiful! He was small because he was three weeks early but he is healthy and growing strong. Sarah is not getting much sleep anymore so my request would be for you to keep her in your prayers, she loves her son but it can be hard on her. And...I love being an aunt!!
Hopefully things will start to slow down now and I can keep you all posted more.
Thanks for reading, love you all!

Baby hopes

Tonight Travis and I went to a church meeting. It seemed as if verywhere I looked there was another mother with a young child or a baby. Those that didn't have children were pregnant it seemed. I know that this is only my perception of the people in the meeting but it was still strange for me. Travis and I have been hoping to start our family recently and it is evident these last few days that it didn't happen this month. I was sad, am sad and hopeful at the same time. Our family will start on God's time, when it is his will for us and not before then. Some days I just wish I knew what his plan was!
Other than that life is great in Idaho! The weather is turning colder again and it's almost time to breakout the sweatshirts. Fall will be beautiful out here. We planted a little garden in a bucket outside our apartment door this summer and my squash plants are already freezing! School will start again in two weeks for me and it will be odd to go back without my husband. He is working full time and will also miss school but he is excited for this new phase in his life. As always we are trying to be better then we were yesterday and serve those around us. Life is good!

Eureka!

Okay so I figured out how to add multiple pics!! I feel pretty cool at the moment :) These are pics from Bear Lake, the two crazy girls in the water are my sisters Hannah and Emily. Other pics include my dear husband telling me that it was okay to sit on the raft that got pulled behind the boat as long as he and my brother-in-law were with me, and the lake. Enjoy!

Choclate Shots!!!

Over the weekend my friends and I did a crazy thing. My friend Taunya (far left) has a recipe for Wendy's frosties and she brought it over and we made frosties. When the time came to taste our concoction I realized we had no clean cups except for some shot glasses that my husband bought for photography purposes. So I pulled them out and we spent the night doing chocolate shots! This was particularly funny since none of us drink. The other fantastic people with us are my husband Travis and by friend Beth in the center.
I also owe my readers an apology, I really ment to post the pics from the Bear Lake trip but I got wrapped up in trying to figure out how to post more than one and wound up not posting any. I will get some up soon!
On a different note things have been... interesting here. For me there have been some challenges and yet I look at other people in my life who bear challenges as well and they seem to always keep hope. It can be hard sometimes to see the light at the end of the tunnel and to keep a positive atittude when people that you love are struggling. I guess in the end we all have to keep knowing that God lives and He is watching out for us in ways that we can't see yet. I guess that is just it, we can't see it yet but He can and we have to trust in that. I hope I learn to do this better. There are so many lessons to learn in life! I keep telling myself that it will all work out with time and that there is a lesson to be learned in every trial and I try to make that enough. I can tell that blogging will become therapeutic for me :) so I will post again soon.
Love you all!

Back from the lake

I'm back! And we had a blast! The lake was beautiful and warm and the sun was out...in short it was amazing. It was the first time that my husband and I got to use our new tent. I learned that it was pretty east to put up and take the tent down if your husband does all the work :) I did the hard part of hauling all stuff from the tent to the car. I actually turned my phone off for the whole trip. It was probably the most relaxing thing I have done in a long time. The first two days we were there we just hung around camp and relaxed. The third day we hit the beach. My mom's friend and her family were with us and they brought their boat. We spent the day on the lake , boating, reading on the beach, swimming, and just generally hanging out. The water was incredibly warm and the sun shone the whole time. We took off pretty early the next morning so that Travis could get back to work. All in all it was great. I took pictures, mostly off the boat, but some from the beach as well. My family members are the wonderful models that you see. That's all I really have for tonight so enjoy! Love you all!

Going on a bear hunt...

Okay, so I am not actually going on a bear hunt but my husban and I are joining my family at Bear Lake to go camping! I am so excited to spend time on the lake, read some books, and take lots of pictures. I promise that I will post some pics when I get back so that you will all get to experience the lake. Have a great weekend!!
Love, Megs

My first post

Hello friends! So I have finally caved and entered the world of blogging, I know some of you will be so proud :) I actually have another motivation for doing this now. I was reading a church magazine called the Enzign and there was a talk given by M Russell Ballard where he encouraged members of the church to use the internet to share the gospel and testify of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and of the restored church. I have a cousin who blogs and I have often been inspired by her faith centered posts. She often links her blog to another friend who also often testifies of God and shares inspiring stories. I greatly appreciate these women and there example to me in my life- thanks Mellissa!! I'm not at that great at keeping things updated but I hope now that I have a deeper motivation to do this that you all will enjoy reading what I write. I look foreward to many posts and friendly words. Love you all!