Tuesday 10 November 2015

25.

25.

That is 1/4 a century.


I don't know why this birthday has made me feel so much older, but it really has. Maybe because I can no longer say I am in my early 20s? Maybe because despite the fact that I feel 18, I have been married for 4 years and have 2 children?


When I first turned 20,  back in 2010, I had visions and goals for what I wanted my 20s to be like. I knew I wanted to get married to a ridiculously hot man haha. He had to be taller than me even when I was wearing heels and sing like an angel. More importantly, I wanted him to be a return missionary and a worthy priesthood holder. Someone who would be a good dad and would encourage me to be more than I could ever dream. I wanted to be with someone that adored me and told me that everyday. It sounded like a fairytale too good to be true,  but those were my conditions! I knew I wanted to be a young mom. I wanted to spend my 20s having babies and starting my own little family. As for what I wanted to do in life, I knew I wanted to write music and make an album. I wanted my songs to play on the radio. I wanted to see what it would be like to record music in a real studio and work with other musicians and talented producers.




 At that time I was dreaming all of this,  I was waiting for my boyfriend who was on a mission. While he said he adored me, his actions in the past had been questionable and proved otherwise. I had just started writing and recording music in my friend's basement. I made an EP and released it on iTunes. I was in school in the music program, learning a lot of amazing things about music, it was just not exactly what I wanted. I wanted recording studios not classrooms, and stages not masterclasses. I wanted my guitar not an accompanist and I wanted to write music rather than perform classical pieces.



Now, 5 years later, I look back on the past 5 years with so much gratitude and happiness for the direction my life has gone and how everything has turned out so far. I am married to a ridiculously hot man. I can wear tall heels and he still towers over me. He does sing like an angel and even better, he loves to sing with me and write songs for me. More importantly, He is a returned missionary and worthy priesthood holder. He is the best dad and it is because of him that I am more than I could have ever dreamed. He adores me more than anyone adores anyone and he tells me that 10 times a day. Together we had 2 adorable babies and we love being a little family of 4. I still continue to write music and I made an album. I got my single from my EP to play on the radio. I recorded my songs in a real studio with amazing musicians and producers.



It hasn't always been easy, and a lot of sacrifices were made, but because of that I was able to accomplish a lot of the goals I had set for myself. This has made me think hard about what I want to do next, to set new goals. There is so much more that I want to do with my life, music wise, family wise and in so many other aspects of life. I want to travel even more, I want to buy a house and meet tons of new people. I want to be giving to others around me. I want to be the best friend I can possibly be. I want to perform and write songs more than ever before. I want to be more patient. I want to learn how to multitask better. I want to become an even better cook. I want to serve in a church calling that scares me but helps me grow in the gospel, I want to influence others for the better. I want to be friendlier to people and take criticism as creative fuel to do just that much better.






Those are just some of the general ideas of things I want to do and I look forward to refining them and setting specific goals for myself.

I am excited for the next 5 years and I know that with the amazing support system that I have, and with my Savior, I will accomplish everything I set out to do. 


-A.


 *This is is more of a self-reflection post not a boast post
(ha, that rhymed).

Wednesday 4 November 2015

July.

I am surprised how many cute pictures I have from this month considering everything that happened with my back but I guess we made up for lost time!




Canada Day was my test run being out away from the house. We went to Jordan and Kim's for dinner, had a fire and watched the fireworks from their backyard. I was on a lot of pain meds and was told by my friends that I wasn't acting like myself at all.



A week later my cousin Candace (who I hadn't seen in 5 years) and her boyfriend and family came to Canada to visit. If it was anybody I else I would of stayed home but all my family went to Fish Creek Park and I really wanted to be there.



The next day we went to Calaway Park. They promised me that I would have so much help I wouldn't have to do anything all day. It was Grant's first time and he LOVED it!



^^ The only ride I could go on haha


^^ Little Deuce Scoop sounds gross, but it's not, I promise.


We spent a lot of time at my Grandparent's Pool. Grant would spend hours in the water and my Grandma loved spending time with the boys. Most of the time it was just us 3 but lots of times my sisters, mom or other friends and family would come swim with us.





^^ One morning Dad got to come swim with us!





^^ Grant is making that face because he saw an ant haha

^^ I don't know where his swim trunks went but whatever





^^ He calls my Grandma "GG"...They love each other.


Asher enjoyed the water too but the porch swing snuggles were his favorite.

I love going to the pool, there are so many memories there from my childhood and I love that my kids get to experience summer days at my Grandparents.


 

^^A typical morning at the zoo

^^Probably 4 days a week we would go downtown and try out different food trucks. There were so many good ones I couldn't pick a favorite.


Sundays are my favorite!






When we didn't feel like going anywhere, sometimes we would just hang out in the yard at home where all the neighbors kids would play hockey. Grant developed a pretty sick slap shot this summer.



Speaking of hockey, I wasn't the only one who dealt with injuries this month! Grant got hit in the face with a hockey stick and had to get 4 stitches through his left eyebrow. He really hated being held down but he loved the endless supply of popsicles the nurses bribed him with. A couple of days later, Grant was playing on a trampoline with my friends kids and he started crying. I got him off and he kept falling over. At first I was really worried that he had a concussion from getting hit but then I realized he fell everytime he tried to put pressure on his foot. I felt so bad for him and because I felt like such a horrible mother, I made Garth take him in, it turned out he had sprained his knee. Kids and trampolines do not mix people!!! He had to back for a third time that month to get his stitches out and by then Urgent Care was old news to him. Everytime you show up they always put something on your finger to check your pulse. Grant had his finger ready for the lady before she had even brought it out. She just laughed and said "You've been here before havn't you??" *facepalm*


Asher went through a lot of new milestones this month! He is sitting up in the shopping cart and he also started eating solid foods. He is a really good eater who will eat just about anything (Except for green beans!)



^^ Trying to get him to nap at church



My friend Kim is a photographer and she takes pictures for a clothing company called Sparrow Apparel. I have done pictures for them before but this time was so much fun because I got to make a lot of new friends! These girls were so much fun!



July 17th was my 25th birthday! It was a crazy busy day of wedding rehearsal, rehearsal dinner and getting our nails done for the wedding. The rehearsal dinner (at Halo) was super fun and the food was amazing! (The wedding was even more amazing but I think that deserves a post of it's own.)

Because I was gone all day on my birthday, Garth gave me my present the night before. I told him I just wanted clothes etc. for my birthday. He thought that was so boring to just give me money or gift cards so he decided to make a game out of it. First I played 3 "Price is Right" type games, each game I won gave me 2 gift cards (I ended up winning 2/3 so 4 gift cards). After that was done, I had to play bottle cap shuffle to determine the amounts on each of the four gift cards. He wrote amounts on the back of the cards and then flipped them over and numbered them 1-6 (#1 being the highest amount and #6 being the lowest). He then taped them to the floor and I had to shuffle my bottle caps onto the amounts I wanted (aka 1, 2, 3 & 4). And that is exactly what I did! You can tell in the picture below how I felt about that but you can't see Garth's! He did not expect me to do that well haha. The best part of the night was flipping over the amounts and seeing how much I won. I started freaking out when I flipped over #4 (my lowest amount) and it said $100! Let's just say I won a serious shopping spree this year! After that we played another game of bottle cap shuffle to determine which stores the 4 gift cards would be. It was so much fun! He always makes everything fun and memorable and I love him for that.


^^ Grant enjoying Jessica/Grandpa/Amanda's joint birthday cake at Sunday dinner.

 ^^ Grandpa doing the same.


We spent another day at Calaway Park and it was just that much more fun for Grant because Colin, Cynthia and Charlie joined us. he loved having someone his age to go on all the rides with.






Despite all the stress I put him through, Garth had a successful month on the doors and I am so very proud of him.

-A.