haircut

I got a haircut last Friday, and here's a pic to prove it. I hadn't intended to get much chopped off. I just wanted to get a good, clean trim. Ash and I discussed how this time I really just wanted freshened up, but maybe next time- or after I had the baby- I would go for the A-Line cut I've been drooling over for a few months now. I told Ashley that I wanted maybe three good inches off, though. Maybe even to my collar bone. She explained that with that much off, I might as well get the A-Line now. It wouldn't be any shorter than that in the front, and my layers were long enough now too. So we chopped it. I got my A-Line.

It was fun. Spontaneous. Unexpected. Delightful.

I really like it, though it takes a while longer to do (round-brushing... ugh). So yeah, we'll see how it looks when I swell up like a balloon! Or should I say swell up more... :)

Engaged

Thinking about falling in love... it was a blissful time.

If you aren't in the habit already, I highly recommend reading and re-reading your journal entries {I really hope you have them, because they're wonderful to have} from time to time. All of them are great, but I especially recommend reading those from the time you fell in love with your significant other.

I was reading tonight about when we were engaged. Cute factoid: I apparently didn't sleep much for about a week after he proposed... I was too excited. I didn't remember that {the sleep-deprivation, that is}. Little things like that are fun to remember.

I also loved reading about how much Derek took care of me, even then. For example, one day {05/23/05} I felt especially crappy, stressed and sort of sick. Derek had been over, but he left to go home. I wrote, "After Derek and I read scriptures and prayed, it was past 11:00pm. Derek left, and I brushed and flossed my teeth. Then I heard someone come in the house. It was Derek. I tried to think of what he forgot. But it wasn't that at all. He had gone to the grocery store and bought me some groceries-- that way I could have breakfast, etc. Somehow, it was the sweetest, kindest thing he could do for me. He sacrificed on my behalf; he performed service. I guess I just really felt his love." What a great guy. I guess some things never change.

Anyway- read your journal. Do it. Right now. It's fun. But mostly, it makes you feel all warm and snuggly inside. :) 'Night.

Thankful

I know it's not Thanksgiving or anything yet, but the fall weather has got me thinking along the lines of gratitude nonetheless (it's a once a year thing, people). I love this picture of our little family. Partially because it was taken at the Pumpkin Walk- and I love the Pumpkin Walk, but mostly just because I just love every picture of us together. Because we are together.

I am so, so thankful that Heavenly Father placed Derek in my path- on a silver platter, really. I didn't have the best track record of picking "goodies" (some were, but not most- and especially not most at that time), and I may not have found him otherwise. We both feel really strongly that Someone Bigger was in charge, and we're both very grateful for the intervention. So I got Derek. And he was and is the best thing that ever happened to me. He makes me want to be a better person; he lets me be a stupid person and then climb back up because he still thinks I'm that better person, and the people we are becoming together are who we ideally hope to be someday. I love him. More than life.

And then there's James. Who could imagine the love that engulfs a person when they have a child? Maybe it's not the same with everyone, but it certainly happened with me. I loved him from the second I saw him. We're the same in so many ways, but instead of hating him for it- I learn to love myself more. Hard to explain. I'm incredibly smitten by this little guy, and I'm so, so thankful he joined our family. I thought the "honeymoon stage" would pass by us once he had reached his "terrible twos," but I still find myself overcome with emotion just looking at him... pride, joy, humor, adoration, love. He is a sweet little boy and a genuinely good person. It's strange that someone so small can be so big, but he really is. I think we'll learn a lot from this little guy. I just hope I'll be able to teach him something valuable in return.

This new baby is it's own story, and as she is not pictured (and, you know, not here) I will not go into that yet. But I love her already, and that's kind of a big deal. February could not come soon enough!

My family is my everything. I like them. I love them. I need them. I am so, so thankful that these wonderful people are in my life. Whatever else happens in life, we have each other. It's a good way to live.

more scrappy stuff

Here are a couple more pages I did. One from fairly recently (read it- it's an update) and one from a while back (well, I scrapped it recently- but it's an old pic). Let me know what you think! :)

xo