Puerto Rico

Last week, Clay and I tucked Ellie into bed at her grandma and grandpa's and left early the next morning to Puerto Rico with the BYU men's soccer team. I rocked Ellie extra long and maybe got a little teary-eyed, knowing I wouldn't see her for six days. But once we were on our trip, I was surprised at how easy it was for me to put both feet in the moment and fully enjoy my child-free vacation with my husband.
 





Day 1: Beach









Day 2: We went to the mall to see the local missionaries do a mob flash—they randomly broke into song in the middle of a busy food court:

Day 3: We went to a picturesque little town called Mayaguez—our hotel? Not as picturesque. The "Hotel Oasis" was a little too generous of a title. But it was a fun experience to stay there, even though I was really itchy all over the next day.

Random shots of Bayamon, Mayaguez & Old San Juan

At the game that night, some of the soccer guys did a little rally and took down a fence at the end:

Day 4: Our day in Old San Juan ws my favorite part of the trip. It was such a cool city and had some great photo opps. I loved how colorful the buildings were.  

This trip awakened in me a love for scenic & arcitectural photography.

 

Puerto Rico was such a memorable trip for us. It is always a blast to travel with the BYU soccer team.

A Dating Story

Today, Clay and I celebrate five years of being a Mr. and Mrs.

We first met two weeks after a 4-year boyfriend and I broke up. Clay called my friend, Karlee, but I answered. We chatted and I invited him to a party. He brought a mob of friends and got my number on his way out.

There's some controversy over our first date. He says, "It wasn't a date—it was a hangout." I say, "Pish posh." I remember being taken back by his humility (even though everywhere we went, multiple people said "hi" to him) and his killer smile.

After our first date, I may have Googled him. His name came up a lot because he was well-known in the soccer community. I kind of felt like i was dating a celebrity—especially after I substitute taught at his alma mater (Jordan High) and saw his jersey retired on the wall next to his photo.

After a year of dating, we got engaged. Six months later, we tied the knot. We've made some pretty awesome memories.

All Grown Up



Ellie is really into accessories right now. She asks to put on glasses, bracelets, hairclips, necklaces and hats all day long and when I say she looks cute, she tilts her head, bats her eyes and repeats "cute!" Such a girl.

She asks to draw multiple times throughout the day, then scribbles away. Thank goodness for washable crayons, because once in awhile she likes to try out her artistic skills on her clothes. Oh, and all it took to get her to wear that headband was me putting it on first and saying how cute I looked. She had to have it for herself after that. It works like a charm every time. :)

Just cartin' around her miniature poodle. What a diva.

She loves to stand and dance. She walks, but only once in awhile. She prefers holding one of my hands or pushing her stroller or the shopping cart. In fact, she refuses to sit in shopping carts now and demands that she pushes it herself. When people walk past all they see is a phantom cart pushing itself along . . .

I can't get over her pouty model face in this picture.

Had to sneak some shots of the mini skirt I made for her.

This is the cheeser face Ellie puts on every single time I park the car and go to get her from her car seat. Her eyes are squinched and all her gapped little teeth are showing. I don't know where this comes from but it cracks me up every time. My sisters say she is "SO" my daughter.

Tucson.

I visited my big sister Jeni in Tucson over the weekend with my little sis, Haley. Jeni's husband was out of town and she was worried that her baby would come early, since hers always have. Luckily, he stayed in the oven to bake a little longer and we enjoyed a weekend of fun.

The 87-degree weather was fabulous.

I sent this phone pic to Clay to make him jealous of the warmth.

Haley soakin up the sun

Katers with a mini mohawk

My first shopping experience at H&M was all I could have hoped for.  

We went to Cheesecake Factory after and chowed down.

Jen and I perusing the gigantic menu

Fed & Happy  

We cruised the streets in Jeni's new swagger wagon (also known as a mini van). She's pretty excited about it, and she is almost convincing Haley and I that minivans aren't so bad after all.

Speaking of mini vans, you should definitely watch this:

On the way home, we passed by this place. A town just for Ellie!

We enjoyed some delicious homemade goods like Haley's famous cookies in skookie mode . . .

. . . And my favorite pizza to make. 

Haley and Tanner (my cute 4-year-old nephew)

Baby Kate.

 

I love sisters. So much. Sorry if you don't have any. We will adopt you.

 Thanks for the fun trip, Jeni! We miss you because you don't live by us, but we love that we escape to your sunny town every now and then.

On the plane back to Utah

I thought I'd end with this gem, which is so typical of how I act with my sisters. And a lot of people, for that matter. Well, enjoy.

Ellie Lately



{Ellie saying "cheese!"}


Our 15-month-old baby is developing quite the personality.



She will stand up alone for an ovation any day. But try and get her to walk? No way.

She insists on wearing my shirts from time to time.

She also likes to put my socks on her arms . . .  

And her legs.

She likes trying on my shoes,

And my hats. This one was part of my high school uniform. I know.

Sometimes, one hat just isn't enough.

She LOVES balls right now. She spends a lot of time practicing her dunks, like so:

Some other tidbits at this stage so we can remember—

• She's got some sweet dance moves.
• She loves watching me cook, but as far as actually eating; cheese, noodles, bread, smoothies and Plum Organics pouches are at the top of her list.
• We counted the other day out of curiosity and she says around 50 words and signs around 30.
• The only show she will watch is "Baby Signing Time," but she is warming up to "Barney." 
• She tries to sing the Barney song and "I'm a Bug" from "Baby Signing Time."  
• She loves her doll, Lucy. 
• She is obsessed with balloons, bubbles, and balls. Every time she sees one, she repeats the word excitedly until we repeat it back to her to confirm she is, in fact, seeing a ball {or whatever it is.}
• She is not a big fan of playing alone. She always wants someone {me} to pass the ball with her, read her books and play with her toys with her.   
• She loves looking through photo albums and yelling out "daddy!" and "mommy!" and "grandpa!" when she spots us.
• She asks us to chase her and she loves it when we attack her with tickles.

These days, since staying at home isn't doing it for her anymore, I love taking her to Petsmart to see all the animals {she flips out over the dogs} and to story time at the library. If Once the weather warms up, we will luckily have some more options!

Birthday, Chickens and Letters to Myself

On the eve of my birthday, Rachel and Micah took us to the BYU Basketball game against New Mexico. It was fun to catch some of the Jimmer obsession, but not so fun to see us get hammered. Clay is really excited that I have gotten into American sports this year. {A first for me. I blame my time in Australia where I got into AFL, cricket and rugby.}

On my birthday, Clay took me to breakfast at Communal. I got the baked eggs and they were delicious! I love how the chefs use local produce and meat in their meals. Our waiter told us about her backyard chickens, and now I want some of my own. We are doing some research on that.

For lunch, my sister Haley surprised me with Kneaders and we watched a couple of Gilmore Girls episodes.

After Ellie was in bed, we enjoyed homemade cake batter ice cream with brownies. Yum is an understatement. Then, we watched "Life As We Know It." Very fun movie.

Clay, pre-indulgence

I was touched by all of the people calling, texting and visiting to wish me a happy birthday. There's nothing better than feeling loved.

Oh, and I read this e-mail to myself that I had written a year ago:

Dear FutureMe,



This is me (you), one year ago, the night before you turned 26. Baby Ellie is just 3 months old and a smiley, happy baby who likes to kick her legs and is on the verge of laughing. Her brown hair sticks straight up and everyone gets a kick out of it.


You conquered your goal of a natural childbirth, overcame the baby blues after the first few weeks of motherhood, and have even considered having another baby :) are you pregnant again?! no rush.


You are dang lucky to have Clay as a husband. He gets more selfess every day.


Some goals as of now: foster deep relationships with family and friends. Be more confident as a wife, mom, writer and actor. Do more to uplift others. More specific goals: make some mulah off of BellyMamas. Get some acting jobs (films, commercials and voiceover). Run a 10k and a half marathon after that. Get your abs back. Eat more whole foods. How ya doin with that stuff?


Have a great year! You are still in your 20s, party animal. no need to feel old.

I laughed. Then I wrote another one to come to me next year. I use futureme.org.

Happy March! I love March. Other than the birthday festivities, Spring is right around the corner. It's about time, Utah!

Get your Fashion on.

We just released our Spring issue of Latter Day Woman Magazine, and I am really excited about how it turned out. I had so much fun putting this one together (with the help of a great team!) Check it out and let me know what you think.

http://www.latterdaywoman.com/