Easter Weekend (Part 2)

After a couple of days at the cabin, we ventured the couple more hours up to Orem to see Matthew's family. He hadn't been home since Christmas, and I got to meet the rest of his family! (I had met his mom earlier this year when I was in Utah for work. Matt and I were good friends and I picked up some stuff from her for him). I adore his family. We mostly just hung out and talked and ate and  laughed and painted our nails. Then we played a gnarly game of Cranium, which was super fun. I like that they like games...because they are my favorite. The Easter bunny found us the next morning and put on a cute little scavenger hunt for Matix to find the baskets! Matix thought that was pretty awesome! After church we made dinner and listened to the men in the family play guitar. I knew Matt played guitar, but had yet to hear him play! He melted my heart just a little bit. And he even writes music! Who knew? It was so fun to see that side of him, and see how much his family adores him. Oh, and I got to see a video of him ballroom dancing. Yep, Matthew is a national champion ballroom dancer! I didn't believe him either....for months. But he finally proved it and it's true.

It was so fun to get to know Matthew in a different light. His family situation in Vegas is very...ummm...different so it was wonderful to see the other side of things! I can't wait til we can go back! His stepdad wants to take Matix fishing...and Matix is stoked about it. :)

Easter Weekend (Part 1)

Spring break was the weekend before Easter. My family all decided to head up to the cabin for the week, and thankfully they offered to take Matix with them! Thursday evening, us working folks headed up there (Me, boyfriend, and dad). The trip took a little longer than expected because my dad can't see a person in need and not offer to help (see previous post). But we made it, and our hearts were full. 

It was a quick trip. I worked remotely Friday morning, and then got to snowboard with my man in the afternoon. It was too great to spend the afternoon with him doing something we both enjoy. That is...until I got cold. Man, I am a wuss and a half. I am such a fairweather boarder these days. I prefer a few hours of fun, and then I like to get warm and be done! Season passes spoil. We compromised, and both agreed it was the perfect day.

That evening we had an Easter passover dinner. It was good to teach the kids about the true meaning of Easter. My mom had us all doing a week long Easter remembrance thingy, where we went through the last 7 days of Christ's life. It was good to think about, I should have been more faithful about it.

Saturday, after we cleaned up....we finally convinced Matix (well Matt did) to learn to snowboard! He's been super nervous about it forever, but Matt brought him a cute little baby board and Matix got so excited. And OH MY GOSH, that kid just went for it! He loved every second of it and had absolutely no fear. He told me he wanted to learn how to do 360's and flips and after a few runs in our front yard, we knew he was ready to head to the magic carpet lift. He conquered those runs quickly, but we were anxious to get on the road! I can't wait to see what next year has in store for this kid!!! I'm so grateful for Matt's excitement and patience in teaching Matix. It was so exciting!! It's hard to do these things alone, and I'm thankful I have as much help and support as I do.

Because I Have Been Given Much.

"Because I have been given much, I too must give...

I cannot see another's lack and  and I not share."

This is my dad's favorite hymn. And he truly lives it's message. If there's one thing I love about my father, it's his giving heart. We know that if we ever see a person in need on the side of the road on a road trip, that he will stop. We have picked up plenty of strandeds on the freeway, towed many boats on the lake, and taken people grocery shopping who are in need. 

Our trip to the cabin for Easter was no different. Low and behold we come across a man pushing his bug up hill on the side of the freeway just before Mesquite. We stop with the intention of giving him a simple tow, but probably due to my dad's soft spot for bugs (we've owned two in our day), my dad couldn't just leave him. He lifted up the back and got down to business. After a trip to Walmart and a 3 hour delay, we got him up and running! The man was on his way form LA to NE because his good friend had recently died and owns a VW shop. The man was trying his hand at fixing up bugs, like they did in the old days, in his friends memory.

We received this email from him a few days later:

Good Morning Steve,
     Happy Easter to you and your family. I made it home safely last night about 8pm with no further issue. My little car ran great all the way home. Left Mesquite Friday morning and drove through to Denver. It even handled the mountain passes surprisingly well. The hotel in Mesquite had a bomb threat by Bundy's militia men due to the fact that the BLM had been staying there. Interesting and a little unnerving but I decides to stay anyhow. I'll be looking at my wiring over the next few days. We have it hooked hot to where the bug starts just fine, but does not turn off with the switch. To get by until home I simply let my foot off the clutch with my foot on the brake and killed the engine. I averaged 65mph at 34mpg. Quite pleased. Such a great experience and adventure. Some of the most amazing scenery I've ever seen. Very happy that I was forced to stop Thursday night or I would not have seen the Virgin River Gorge in the sunlight. Breathtaking. I want to give you my sincerest thanks and appreciation for your kindness and assistance. It is a breath of fresh air to know that in this world there are still good people like you and your family out there. I paid it forward in Utah in an area where there were no services for over 100 miles. A kid younger than I was on the opposite side of I70 trying to flag down vehicles, but none had stopped. Desolate area with his very elderly grandfather in the car and they had run out of gas. Luckily for them that I had a gas can with me and that I had told myself that I would not pass anyone broke down after encountering your help. I gave them a couple gallons of gas and watched them drive off down the road. It felt good to help someone in need. Good to be home and thank you again for everything.
Sincerely,
Adam S.

Omaha, NE

I hope to be as selfless as my dad. There were a million things I could think of that I would have rather been doing that night, namely, seeing my son who I hadn't seen all week. But sometimes we need to put other's needs in front of our own. My dad has been a great example to me of that. And the sweet follow up we received in return touched my heart. Serve someone. You never know how it may touch their lives, and it's especially great when they pay it forward! 

God is good. 

"When ye are in the service of you fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God."

Mosiah 2:17

Insta-Dump (March)

I went to dinner with a couple of my besties, where Tressy told us she is having TWINS. Yep, there's two in there! So excited for her. She will have 3 kids under 2. Even though she claims it's 3 under 3...she can't kid anyone. :) Follow her handful of a journey here. 

I had a work meeting at the Bah'ai Center. My ever-so sweet boss told me that I had to wear a scarf on my ear in the building. And me being the gullible human that I am, believed him. All I could do was laugh, when I walked in, sat down and NOBODY had a freaking scarf on their head. Yes, I hate him. 

 The YSA had a a little outdoor game day activity. I brought the boy and we had a blast playing games, doing obstacle courses and jumping in bounce houses. Love that we get to do rad things together!

Life gets so busy, and I hardly ever get to see my best friend Darci and her kids. Luckily she was sweet enough to help me do my taxes and our kids had THE BEST time playing together. I love that our kids are cute little friends! :)

Back in the day, when mine and Nat's friendship was at it's prime, the TV show Veronica Mars was one of our favorites. We watched all the seasons together, until the show freaking ended. Well, She's Back...in movie theaters! We rocked our shirts and LOVED every second of it!

The weather has been a little bit crazy. One day it dropped down to like 60 degrees and Matix needed gloves and a beanie to play outside. Is this real life? 

One of my dearest friends Audrey, had her baby boy Shephard and she finally made it to Vegas (she lives in AZ) to visit. I couldn't wait to snuggle him the way she always snuggled Matix. Seriously, her and her family adored Matix as a baby. I'm so glad I got to snuggle that cute baby boy. I miss her soooooo much!!!

My freaking rad best friend got back from his MONTH LONG trip to Africa. Man, I missed him! We had a little sushi date (virtually) to catch up on all his adventures. 

 FHE one night was a flour bomb fight. Add that to the list of freaking fun things to do! haha. 

Dude, I had a lot of best friend time in March. I'm so blessed to have some of the best friends in the world!!! I know it seems like I have a million best friends, and I kind of do. But we all go through phases in life, and during specific times these girls have been there for me. And then times change, and we grow apart a little bit, but that doesn't make them any less important to me or any less close. We just may not talk as much as we used to. Marriage, babies, work...it all gets in the way. But once you reach a certain close-ness...it never really goes away. And not just anyone makes it to best friend status. Only the realllllly good ones. I've just been blessed to find a large handful of reallllly good ones.  :)

Blacklight Run 2014

Back in April we decided to run the Blacklight Run 5k with one of my best friends Darci and her family. The race started later than we thought, and we were ambitious to think we could run a 5k with 4 children 5 and under...but we did it! We may or may not have cut through A LOT of cones, but all we cared about was the glow stuff anyways...so who cares. We glowed. We ran (kinda), and we had a great time! The kids stayed up way past their bedtime and loved every second of it. Yep, we are officially COOL moms!!!

DIY Projects

Remember how I like to live in the "someday" kind of world? Someday I'll do this, or buy this, or be better at this--you know--when I'm married and things are easier and my life makes more sense. After all, this whole not being married, and living at my parents house is just and in-between stage? Right? Newsflash. This "in-between" stage has now lasted almost 4 and a half years! Gasp. This is reality...not "in-between." Part of this realization has been the fact that I hate my "been this way since high school" room. But I've avoided doing anything to my room for the fear that I'll get married and my taste will have changed and it will have been a waste! I know. I'm crazy! But guess what? I'm making baby steps! I have officially spent time and money making my room someplace a little bit more...me. 

Project #1: Jewelry Case

My jewelry has been a disaster for years. But I could never find something big enough, or perfect enough so I just left it a tangled mess. So we (Matt and I) made one instead. Exactly what I imagined and wanted. And it only took us 2 evenings. Mostly because the paint had to dry! I am obsessed!

Project #2: Collage Wall

So I had this idea to a massive collage wall. So we just went for it. And I love it so much. I can stare it it forever and everyone that I love dearly is on it. It reminds me daily how blessed and lucky I am. The trips I get to take. The friends I've made. The family I have. It's all pretty great. I know it's a little overboard...but there was no logical place to stop...so we just kept going. 

Project # 3: Book Shelves

I have had this raggedy old cheap desk in the corner of my room for forever. It was from way back when I had a desktop computer, which I haven't had for a few years! So basically it's been pretty useless and just had a lot of junk on it. I finally threw it, as well as a bunch of stuff on it, away and ordered a cute little vanity to take it's place. And I made myself some bookshelves. Well...actually Matt made them and I was a great helper!! I seriously love them so much! Part of this whole room change has been a declutter too! I've thrown away so much stuff...including every CD I've ever owned. Nuts. But it feels oh so good! (Don't worry...most of them were burned anyways. And Spotify is the way of the future anyways) I also have been wanting little travel boxes ever since I saw the cutest ones on Pinterest years ago to keep all my ticket stubs and little keepsakes from each of my trips. They were the number one thing I wanted to put on there and I could be any more happy with how they turned out! (I have 3 more to still make...so I may need to readjust. One for every continent minus Antarctica. I don't thinkI'll ever go there.) Everything on the shelves was stuff I already had and it just so happened to all go together perfectly. I seriously smile every time I walk into my room now.  :)

I bet you noticed one common denominator in all these projects. 

Matt. 

He's been my number one supporter and makes my ideas a reality. He's too, too great.

Grandma's 80th Birthday

My Grandma Marx is a funny lady. She will talk and talk your ear off about anything and everything, especially the gospel. She has a testimony and she's not afraid to share it. She loves to craft and especially to crochet. You can always find her crocheting something: blankets for the newlyweds or beanies for the newborns.  She also loves Facebook! She is always checkin up on her her grandkids and great grandkids. And a funny thing that I've noticed is that she still comments on my ex-boyfriend's pictures too. It cracks me up. She sure loves her family and she is definitely watching over us! I'm sure it's hard to keep track of the hundreds of us in our ever-growing family--but she does a dang good job at it. She always knows who's where and with who. Just ask grandma and she'll fill you in! 

Happy Birthday Grandma! 

I'm glad we still get to make memories with you! :)

Marx Family + Grandparents

Grandkids + Great Grandparents

Grandma + Matix + Ashley

Cousin Friends: Litany + Jennifer + Ashley 

"A grandmother is like and angel, who takes you under her wing, 

she prays and watched over you and she'd give you anything."

--Author Unknown