a conglomeration of a birthday, spring break, conference, and IKEA

It's Spring break this week.  

And it has been greatly needed.  Getting enough sleep and being able to finally give into my nesting urges has done wonders for this baby mama this week.  

T, of course, was included in the baby plans as usual.  We made our last IKEA run today and setup the last of the baby room.  With the exception of a changing pad and the crib mattress, Baby Girl's nursery is finito!  Finally.  

We're hoping to that we'll can cover the last costs of the essentials (i.e. the carseat and stroller and crib mattress) with what we get from our Baby Showers next week.

We're kinda excited.

AND I went shopping for baby quilt material with my buddy Dana who's making the baby quilt for us.  She kinda rocks and I'm super excited about what she's doing for it.  It's going to be awesome!

{soft serve ice cream at IKEA for $1 total?  Yes, please!}

I also celebrated a birthday last week.  It was a hard week, which made for an ornery and emotional Jamie on her birthday.  But I had my awesome colleagues take me out for some Cafe Rio and make me a neat-o sign in front of my classroom door.  

T also made me a sign at home, bought me yummy mini Cocoa Bean Cafe cupcakes, AND a fruit bouquet from Edible Arrangements.

Can you tell I'm pregnant and really just wanted some good food for my birthday?

He even made me crepes Saturday morning with toppings galore.  I pigged out and probably gained a couple pounds.  

T got to go to the Priesthood Session with his Dad and brothers.  He loved it.  They don't get to hang out very often with the four of them.

 {Papa Kris and Kole}

{Nanner and T}

My favorite thing this Spring Break so far, though?  Visiting one of my favorite people and heroes.  My Grandpa has had a tough couple of months and is definitely making some improvements and getting more optimistic.  

This is the man who took me on some of my very first fishing trips, taught me how to have a close relationship without even needing to talk to the person sitting in the boat next to you, and taught me pure, unselfish love.

He's always been one of my favorites.  Always.  I feel like we have similar personalities at times when I just like to listen to the conversations going on rather than have to contribute to them.  We're both listeners.  We both love a good joke and we looooove chocolate.  

I've always had a special bond with this man and it's no big secret that we're each others favorites.  Who else would've gotten this guy to go on a walk outside for the first time in months (okay, so maybe my mother had a great deal of influence on that too...)? 

It was a great day talking with him about my Aunt Carey's birth (he says there's not much to tell since he wasn't allowed in the delivery room back then, BUT the doctor didn't show up until after Carey was born.  Someone else had to deliver her), watching parts of a basketball game, talking about fishing, eating chocolate shakes (compliments of my mother who makes one for him every. single. day.), and enjoying the sunshine. 

If you've never met this man and don't get to hang out with him, you've led a sad, sad life...

Happy Spring Break... it's not over yet!

Oh, and Danie and Dustin left this week.  I still don't like to talk about it.  It makes me cry and pregnancy hormones really kick in.

Cali is lucky to have them.  Provo sucks without them now.

getting my happy homemaker on.

After Girl's Night with my family, I went home and found out that T would be a little later than expected coming home from the Priesthood Session in Salt Lake with Papa Kris and T's brothers.  So the project I had initially planned to do over Spring Break turned into something-Jamie-can-do-while-waiting-for-Tyler-to-get-home-so-she-doesn't-get-bored project.

It just so happens that project was a wreath for our very bare apartment door.  It was starting to drive me a little nutso.

Enter the new Kussee wreath...

I'm kinda digging the burlap and neutral colors these days.  And I'm pretty happy with how this little project turned out.  I'm not usually up to getting all crafty.

Ready to buy things that look like I could have made it are usually more up my alley.  Time is money, right?

So I surprised myself and actually painted the letter "K," and made a bow for the darn thing.

Man am I good!

I did look up how to make a decent looking bow.  This site was where I figured out how to make the bow.

Other than that, I did the rest on my own (though I did buy the flowers already made... rather than try to figure out how to sew them and rustle up a needle and thread in our house somewhere.).

P.S. General Conference has been thought-provoking and ever so needed already!  My notes are crammed and sloppy- a sign that the speakers have said things that have touched my heart and my very soul.  Heavenly Father definitely knows us and what we need.

we went to conference. 2 weeks ago...

Why yes.  We did attend General Conference in October.  It was a perfect conference Sunday and we happened to make it just in the nick of time before they gave our seats away.

We always plan more than enough time to get to SLC, find a parking spot, and be seated 30 minutes before start time.  Or so we always think.  Parking always gets a little tricky.  

But we made it.  That's all that mattered.

And like I said, it was a perfect day.

We got to go with some of our good friends in our ward, Danie and Dustin.  The Toad and Brain went with us too, but we failed to get pictures with them due to the fact that they went ahead of us while we found parking so they could save seats.

Danie and Dustin are pretty rockin'.  Danie bought me my mint pants and has my same fettish for reading books, books, and more books.

Conference was incredible this October.  I felt like every talk was geared toward me no matter what.  It was a conference T and I tried our best to prepare for and ready ourselves to be in tune with the spirit.  In fact, my notes towards the end got super sloppy.  We all know what that means.  That means it's starting to get good and the personal revelation you're receiving is out of control.

It's a good feeling.

I'll never fail to be amazed to be in the same room as the Prophet of God.  To hear apostles testify of the truthfulness of the gospel and bear testimony of a living Savior.  It inspires me.  It uplifts me.  And most importantly, my spirit is fed and my testimony grows.

I love conference!

Conference Weekend

Getting tickets for LDS General Conference is near to impossible in Utah.  

In the span of my 24 years of being alive, I have never been to a conference session.  Ever.  And I live 45 minutes away from the conference center.  It's that hard to get tickets.

Our ward got 6 tickets this year to give out.  Tyler and I booked it up to one of the counselors in our ward after sacrament meeting this year to grab 2 of them.  It was a miracle that we got them.  What was even better was that they were for the Sunday morning session!  Those are prime-time tickets!  

The morning started off a little rough for us trying to figure out where we could park in Salt Lake for the conference without a parking pass for conference event parking.  I was ready to just turn around and go home.  T was a good sport about it all and was prepared to throw me over his shoulder to get to conference.   Best.  Husband.  Ever.

After finally figuring out where we could park without a parking pass for Event parking, it was smooth sailing and a happy day.  We walked to the conference center and we were incredibly impressed with how smoothly and quickly we went through the security checkpoints and how flawless everything went.  There were helpful volunteers around every corner to help you get to your seat and we didn't meet one ornery or mad person.  They were all cheerful, happy, and helpful. 

We had amazing seats on the first terrace in the conference center.  It was fun to see the profile of the speakers from where we sat, even though we sat furthest to the wall.  We sat by a couple that came all the way from Hong Kong just to come to conference!  

We were wondering if President Monson would speak during our session and he did!  What an amazing experience to be in the same room as the Prophet of God as he spoke his message on the importance of obedience.  Our other favorites from the session were President Uchtdorf, Elder Perry, and Sister Wixom.  

I especially loved Sister Wixom's talk.  I've been questioning how to instill more confidence in my students and it seemed as though her talk was directed completely for me.  She even talked about a 2nd grade teacher who taught her students that it's okay to make mistakes!  That's my class motto and it made me smile when she began her talk.  

Loved every moment of the session.

Especially with this handsome hunk.

I could've spent all day there and then some.  It was spiritual, uplifting, and enlightening.  I was rushing to write all of the notes and personal revelation that seemed to come pouring in this year.  

It was even better spending it with my best friend.

A couple of days before conference, we found out that our very good friends delivered a full-term, stillborn baby.  It was a saddening experience that breaks my heart.  I don't know how anyone who doesn't have the gospel in their life could go through such an experience.  Our friends are strong members of the church and have been incredible examples to us of knowing that we have a loving Heavenly Father who knows us each individually through our trials.  We love them and I'm so grateful for the power of prayer and the blessings that the priesthood brings in our lives.  

Knowing that families are forever and that we can be sealed together forever is one of the foremost things about the gospel that I love and hold onto.  It is one of the main things that gives me hope for my future when we begin our own family.  

I loved conference weekend.  I love the gospel.  

With all of my heart and soul.

We're LDS

And proud of it.
We spent this weekend watching this.

Saturday morning consisted of waking up at a decently early hour for a Saturday morning at 8 o'clock.
We went to Kneaders for some delicious all-you-can-eat french toast.
Oh my, it was so delicious!
We then spent the remainder of the day watching and listening to the prophet and the apostles and other leaders of the church. Elder Uchtdorf's talk was one of my absolute favorites. If you missed it, go back and watch it.
It's that good.

Sunday morning we had two wonderful little girls over to our house for the Sunday morning session.

We played conference Bingo.
We ate a lot of Whoppers and Candy Corn.
We colored coloring pages out of the Friend magazine.
And we got to hear from the prophet of the Lord!

T and I colored some pages to give to my Mom and my Grandma at our family party.
They loved them.
My Grandma hung mine on her fridge.
It made me feel like an important little kid again.

Conference weekend was wonderful!
We look forward to the November Ensign to read all of the talks all over again for FHE!