babe,

so, i'm a week late {and a dollar short}.

but happy six years to us!

i still vividly recall that february evening of '03...
i had OH so much homework,
but i decided to ignore it...
{who needs school, anyways?}
& i drove over to your cute little twin home...
with a circle-k brown paper bag filled with
two cartons of ben and jerrys & two sporks.

and we sat on your *ugly* mauve sectional.
ate our respective half-baked & fudge brownie.
and talked.
for hours.
about our dreams, relationships, hopes & goals.
we talked about our future & beliefs.

and laughed.
{a lot.}

and then i drove home.
(smiling ear to ear, mind you.)

{and proceeded to have a mini-panic attack.}

because i realized
then & there
that i had accidentally fallen in love with you.

*i was in love with my best friend.

that was the night.
[and it hit me like a ton of bricks.]

it was the night i knew that you were the
boy i was suppose to chill with for forever.

three months-ish later we were sealed for time & all eternity.
and i look back to that day with all tenderness of heart.

and now, six big ones after that...

we celebrated our milestone
in our pajamas,
on a different *ugly* couch,
taking turns holding our baby livy,
over take-out macaroni grill.
{and then i fell asleep during the opening credits of yes man.}

maybe not romantic to some.
but to me, it was kind of perfect.

perfect 'cause it was real.
i know we have that real kind of love.

the kind of love that survives & thrives through
crazy honeymoon stories,
challenging & humbling trials,
parenthood,
and
difference of opinion.

you love me for me.
{even the 30+ pounds of me you're not sealed to.}

and i love you for you.

and truthfully,
i don't know if i could love you any more than i do.

...but i look forward to tryin'.

love,
your girlfriend angie

a picture's worth a thousand lessons

i consider myself to be a pretty high strung person.

i care about little baby things that i really just shouldn't.

and it's a quality about myself
i am currently, and forever have been
trying to change.

[and i'll tell you why:]

basically:
i want life to be perfect.
{and it isn't.}

i like things to be orderly and super-controlled.
[rarely happens.]

i believe in bed times,
matching bows,
inside voices,
diets that start on mondays,
paying bills on time,
and
organized living quarters.

{so naturally}

things like:
toddler potty accidents,
endless laundry piles,
conflict of any kind,
and
unexpected circumstances/events
*kind of drive me crazy.

and it even bugs me that those things bug me so much.

truly:
i am high strung about my high strung-ness.

it's sick.

***

but let me tell you,
the above little picture of my chloe illustrates to me the opposite of all that.

it inspires my soul to be free.

to let go of the weight of the world & bask in the sunlight from time to time.

to not worry so much about messes, schedules, and self-created expectation.

to stop and read stories, sing primary songs, & cuddle with my girls.

to be proactive instead of reactive.

to seize my days.

to cut myself some freakin' slack & feel happy more often.

to relax and be content with my blessings.

to swing on the swings, take walks, and "waste time" with the peeps i love most.

it even inspires me to look cute in a halter swim suit.
{haha}

***
i am forever in awe at how
just watching my three year old
can teach me
{an almost 26 year old}
so much
about life.

*she's a good teacher, that chloe.

{happy wednesday!}

the pretender

my girl & her sweet imagination
have been busy
playing & pretending
this morning.

her love of babies, ponies, and all things princess
makes my girlie heart happy.

*because i was the exact same
way when i was little.

***

i've been eavesdropping her cuteness
& cracking up for the last hour and a half-ish.

some classic things that i have overheard her say=

"pinkie pie, that's not okay. do you need a time out?"

"see ya later ariel- we are going to the big city."

"ooo, i love your shoes tina."
{tina's the orange pony}

"the butterflies come to costco with me to get some muscle milk."

"cinderellie, did you know barbie has a baby grill in her tummy?"
{ps: she does!}

....

chloe also sang a very exuberant rendish of
"here we are together" with her collection of ponies.

"there's lolly, and star, and pinkie pie, and tina, and rainbow, and baby olibia, and mommy, etc."

hil. arious.

{it's a happy monday!}

scrappin' sampler

it's scrappin' sampler at
scrapbooks etc. today.

i am kitted & ready to have
some peeps sample
my simple style.

{should be fun.}

happy saturday!

we visited the scrapbook store this morning.

and now:

the babies are napping.

my bed is made. {shocker!}

the carpet is vacuumed.

and i am kitting my little heart out.

{life is peaceful in my world today.}

and it feels quite good,
if i do say so myself.

{happy weekend yos.}

my blogger ate my homework

last night i posted a big ol' long web-log.

and then...
as random as it may sound,

i woke up this morning,
and it was gone.
deleted.
vanished forever.

{strange, huh?}

but:
truly i suppose it's all for the better...

because it {the blog} was kind of
whiny & woe is me-ish.

...and i'm back to seeing the glass half full tonight.

but:
i did post & lose this picture of olivia.

so:
i posted it again for your viewing pleasure.

*because she's chubby & cute &
iloveher.

the end.

{happy thursday!}

chloe & olivia

*AKA
{also known as}

chlo' & liv

bowie & livy

bow-head & bean

stinker bug & little peanut

curly sue & blondie

lover & little lover

the big one & the small one

***

happy friday!

a name & a blessing

olivia kate
was given a name & a blessing
by her daddy
at church on sunday.

oh man,
how i love my little family.

*and baby liv has been such
a perfect little addition.

i'm so grateful for the priesthood.


needless to say:
{it was a happy mommy day.}

back & ready to attack

yesterday i "taught" scrap it simple at
my favorite store/place of employment
scrapbooks etc.

i use the term taught loosely
because really all i do is:

*make simple kits a-plenty.
&
*then play with my delightful friends all stinkin' day.

oh, how i loved catching up with all my simple-scrappin' peeps.

and being surrounded by all that cute product...

it just makes my little soul feel joyful & even semi-creative again.

fer reals:

if you haven't been to sbetc in a while:
totally go.
they have so much cute new stuff in!

{i was kind of dying after my 2 month hiatus...}

all the new stripes, polkas, ribbons, brads,
flowers and yummy paper
have left me feeling so inspired.

perhaps even inspired enough to
plan my class in advance for may!?

{hmmm...maybe.}

*i'll try...

there's a first for everything, right?!

{hahaha}

[TGIF, kids!]