Girls' Nite

Getting together with a bunch of girls in a similar situation as you is a short-lived thing before you get to dive into the real world.

I'm so glad I got to spend my time with these beautiful women for the past few years.

Back-Lisa, Lyndsie, Kristina, Jenny, Karen, Laura, Anna, Debbie, me. Front-Tracy, Brianne, Mikelle

I'm especially glad we got to have one last fling before I leave!

And, what's a girls' night without a bit of fun?





Okay, maybe more like a whole bunch of crazy staying up until 2 AM fun.

Love you girls!

Too Cute

Really good friends who laugh at nothing with you are hard to find.

Gonna miss this.

Snazzy

And tired.

Seth spent quite a bit of time working on his letters for his hopeful residency starting this coming May-ish time.

We're totally solid in our plans.

Can you tell?

Anywho...

Seth got his top half all dressed up for a quick picture so he could have one to send with his letters.

Crossing our fingers he gets accepted (to one in particular)!!!

Lay Me Down With These

Four months ago, we lost our sweet identical twin baby girls.

It has been and continues to be the hardest thing Seth and I have ever had to go through.

There are really no words to describe how much it has changed our lives.

In honor of our sweethearts, I have a few items I would like to share.

First, this necklace...

Legacy Emmanuel Hospital gave me this.

I have the outside parts of the hearts while Jilinda and Alayna have the inside part of the heart.

At first, I wore this every day.

It is my connection to the girls.

Eventually, I realized I couldn't keep wearing it without ruining it, so I put it in an envelope to protect it.

I want to publicly thank Legacy for their amazing care and support.

Second, I want to share this bracelet...

My kind friend, Kristen, quickly put together two tiny bracelets for the girls right before we left to bury them in Casper.

They are beautiful.

She came over with this for me yesterday, and she couldn't have timed it better.

The bracelet matches the girls' bracelets, but the pearls on theirs are lavender instead of white and they don't have letters.

I think the bracelet is gorgeous.

It even has two hearts on the end where it ties.

Where I couldn't wear the necklace daily, I will be able to wear this.

(Perhaps not yet, though, as I'm afraid of losing it in the move)

Thank you, Kristen!!

I love that I am blessed with the opportunity to match my sweethearts when I am put in the ground.

PAVA Halloween Party

We went to our last PAVA party on Friday.

...Actually kinda wierd to think about...

The whole day before, I was busy making:



See more here



...and putting the finishing touches on:



Don't mind my awkward pose...I seem to have forgottten how to take cute pictures.

Oh, were you curious about Seth?

Well, we recycled one for him...



Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater



He's not really the dressing-up type, but he's a good sport.

Especially when all he as to do is wear a designated shirt.

Our thoughts about the party?

Success!!

Happy Haunting!

...next week.

Pregnancy & Infant Loss

October is the National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month.

I feel like if I had some sort of awareness of what it was like to lose a child to death, I feel like I would have been more understanding and kinder to those who I know who have lost a child before me.

In my situation, I have had an outpouring of love so great that I have no words to describe how grateful I am.

But, there are times when someone unintentionally says something that they think is helpful when it is something that probably should not have been said.

This is very seldom, but usually when this happens, I bite my tounge.

An article was posted on a support group I am a member of on Facebook.

It describes the feelings of the loss of infant to death in such a beautiful way, that I feel the need to share it on here as well.

If you would like to read it, and are curious about what I am going through go here.

I do not have the talent this lady has with words, but there is one difference with me and what she says--I don't get stumped when I tell Porter why the girls died.

...

October 15th was Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

I love my girls.

I miss them more than I can say.

I think of them daily...often with the help of Porter.

In honor of them on October 15th, I wore a necklace from my friend from choir.

It was a heart with the saying, "A mother holds her child's hand for a moment and their hearts forever."

I love little mementos like that.

...

There is something I feel like I need to repeat...

I have said before that the knowledge I have that I will see my girls again doesn't take the pain away.

It truly doesn't, but I'm better than I feel like I would have been otherwise.

I am still laden with the burden of the loss of my girls, but I have help from a loving Heavenly Father when I need it the most.

...

This coming Saturday marks four months.

I have a different life than I had before--a new normal to adjust to.

This new normal is harder, but just as good as my old normal.

I have a loving husband who supports me and puts up with my emotional rollercoaster life.

I have a handsome little boy who I am a bit more over-protective of, and who I am so extremely blessed to have with me right now.

And, I have the most amazing, understanding friends who haven't left my side--metaphorically speaking--even when I'm extremely emotionally compromised.

I have a beautiful life.

PS: This is my 500th post...kinda crazy.

Went Shooting

I think we're gonna miss this place:

Well, at least I definitely know of at least one person who will...

Check out those guns...

This time, we brought some friends:

Dawson's taking cheese to a whole new level

The kids even got to pull a trigger a couple times (don't worry the gun was held by a responsible adult)

It was a beautiful day!

Even when we were swarmed with bees...

Good idea, Seth. ;)

Pops

Pops came to visit this last weekend, and Seth and he got to go to GWECO together.

I could tell they had a blast.

Especially when they decided to go shooting on Saturday instead of going to the conference.

I got to have time to myself and enjoy the weekend with Porter while they were away during the day.

I just wish we got a picture of Pops playing with Porter.

My favorite pic of Seth's parents

"Pops loves me."

Yes he does, and we love him too :)

Thanks for coming!

21 Day Challenge Days 19 through 21 AND Perfect 10 Challenge Days 7 through 10

This week was the end of the challenges!

I really enjoyed the experience as it has helped me to work with the wardrobe I already have and see that I have quite a few stylish outfits already!

I should shop my closet more.

Here's this week!

This outfit was SO comfortable!

I may wear a maxi dress every day.

Okay, probably not, but still.

I usually only wear heels when I'm going out with Seth, but I seriously love the look of heels with jeans!

Day 21 didn't have a "button" thing, but the idea was "WORK IT" as in--put together a killer outfit and 'work it'... 

 Since the one ended before the other, I had a day of the Perfect 10 that was completely by its self!

I chose this one with a purpose...

In T-minus 24 days, our family will be moving out to Wyoming.

The land of the cows.

Therefore, I thought the final outfit fitting ;)

The challenges were so much fun that when they were over, I thought it a bit strange that I wasn't going to take a picture of my outfit on days following.

Cute and fun idea.

I still think the Perfect 10 was way better.

(Again, the 21 day one was all on my own.)

"Camping"

Porter and Seth went camping this weekend...

...in our living room!

Porter has popsickle chin. Nice.

Porter hasn't stopped talking about the "tent" since we took it down.

This may be a new conference tradition!

21 Day Challenge Days 12 through 18 AND Perfect 10 Challenge Days 1 through 6

That's right.

I decided to do both at the same time.

I mean, it doesn't really matter if I do because with the 21 Day one, I'm not getting anything for it anyway!

Here's this week:

 To make it so this pic was more "jazzy" I guess, I added jazz hands...

I'm awesome like that.

Day 13 was the beginning of the Perfect 10 Challenge on Facebook!

I looked through the cards we were given and chose ones that would kinda "go with" the various days in the 21D one.

This is what I came up with...

Because Day 13 was:

I decided to make it even more fun.

 I mixed the two cards from the P10!

A fun combo I would probably have never done otherwise.

This was relatively tricky...

I decided I wanted to copy this outfit I saw on Pinterest

It worked out great because of the bonus in the P10.

That outfit was one of my favorites from this week.

...even if I didn't wear it long.

I don't wear skirts on weekdays unless it's a maxi.

And, even then, I don't wear it if I'm cleaning.

Moving on...

This one was fun.

I got to try a side pony with my short hair!

It ended up being rather messy, but I loved it!

I had the perfect outfit for this day...

It's one I'd even worn before...minus the belt.

Love it.



Best part--I'm even wearing my man's belt.

 This day was another tricky one.

I had to think of what I've repaired that would go with my (one and only) vintage looking dress.

I found it--my black undershirt!

I realize you've seen an outfit similar, but there's nothing wrong with remixing.

Especially when you practically have to all the time...

 Because of the bonus in the "Black Candy" it made today pretty easy.

Statement jewelry!

Gotta say, though, I'm not usually one to wear a bunch of black and gray unless I'm performing...

My black top has diagonal ruffles that you can't see in the picture...total bummer, too cuz it's adorable.

Between the two challenges, Rachelle's is definitely the better one.

I especially love the cue cards because it gives more ideas to go by than just a dot with the theme and a few picture ideas.

Such fun!!

And, a good excuse to actually "try".

You can vote for my outfits and help me win the Perfect 10 Challenge by going to Rachelle's Cents of Style and liking them in the albums Day 1 through Day 6 on Facebook if you haven't already (or missed voting on those various days)

Again, the 21 Day one I am doing completely on my own without any prizes...just for fun.

It just so happened that the two ended up coinciding.