routine

I'm always fascinated when I learn something nitty gritty about a person's life, especially their daily routine. I love knowing how people live their lives, right down to the shampoo they use and which brand of cereal they prefer. Since the world revolves around me and everyone thinks the exact same way I do, I thought I'd share what an average day looks like for us! You know. To satiate your burning curiosity, or whatever.

(why aren't there sarcastic face emojis?!)

7:00-7:40 - we start the day, making breakfast and Christians lunch. Eat together, read scriptures, enjoy a few minutes before Christian has to leave for the day. (EDIT: I wrote this post awhile back and I'm sad, but also happy to say that this no longer happens. Both of my boys are kind enough to let me stay in bed until about 7:45 these days, which is a good thing because this angry mama bear needs her rest otherwise... RAWR. So I'm now a terrible wife and Christian makes his own lunches. Can't win em all I guess!)

7:41- the worst moment of the day, saying goodbye to dad! Boo work!

7:45- 9:15 - I try to make it to the gym, out on a run or walk most mornings, so this time is usually spent finishing Nash's breakfast, some minor cleaning up, getting ready, etc.

9:15-10:15 - Gym/run/walk. I'm so thankful for the kids club and strollers ha! Anything to keep my little buddy contained for a while so mom can have some "mom time".

10:30ish - Shower and bath for Nash and mom. I don't know why we bother anymore, we are all dripping in sweat by the end of the day living in this inferno ha!

11:00- I usually have an hour to an hour and a half to do some stuff I want, shower, clean, etc. On days we are leaving the house again, I will usually just finish getting ready for the day, read my scriptures, watch a quick show, peruse social media, maybe some minor tidying up.

12:30-1 - Nash is awake! Change diaper, play with toys, make and eat lunch together. Most days I try to get out of the house during this 3 hour stretch between naps. I think we both go stir crazy if we don't. This is sometimes just the grocery store or Costco, but anything helps! I try to make it to Target at least once a week, because of course. I actually really love running errands with my little buddy. He's the best.

3:30-4 - Feed Nash again, and afternoon nap time! Same as the morning, I usually have an hour to hour and a half to do stuff. More cleaning, reading, blogging, tv watching, DIY-ing, etc.

5:30- 6:30 - This is the hardest part of the day for me. Christian doesn't get home until at least 6:30 every night, sometimes later, so we have a while to kill before he comes to rescue us haha. We usually turn on some Michael Buble right after Nash's nap because it puts everything in a much better mood! We play with toys, read books, maybe go out on a walk, and I usually start dinner.

6:30- 8:30 - Dad's home, yay!! We usually feed Nash his dinner, maybe if we're lucky I've also finished making our dinner. Then we get Nash ready for bed, which usually involves a tickle fight of some sort. Nash doesn't win those very easily, in case you're wondering. Then we give him a bottle again, sing songs, and he's down for the night. 

7:30- forever-  MAKE OUT ALL NIGHT LONG.

Okay so that last part isn't true. But a girl can dream right?

the stuff of today

+ Sharing Costco samples with my little.
+ Sweet comments from my husband about my hair and how much he still loves it. (can you believe that?! it's a good man who loves a pixie cut.)
+ The perfect smelling 
+ Playing outside with Nash, watching him struggle to drink from the hose, chubby belly hanging out of his diaper.
+ Early morning kisses from Christian as he heads out for a 5:30 am meeting.
+ Waving at familiar strangers on a walk through the park.
+ Reconnecting with old friends, and remembering why you loved them so much in the first place.
+ Receiving heavenly reminders about the ways I can be a better wife, mother, and person.
+ Finishing yet another wonderful book.
+ Obsessing over the Backstreet Boys documentary on Netflix.
+ Cold drinks, small errands, and chores with my little.

In life, I'm reminded again and again that it's the tiny things like this that make up the big picture, and bring me the most happiness.
But seriously guys, can we talk about that BSB documentary? Because it is about as good as it gets.

books i've read lately that you should read too

So I've been trying to read a lot more ever since my time as a stay-at-home-mom began. However, this post should actually be titled "young adult novels that I should be embarrassed about but am totally not, among other things".

+ "Blackmoore" Julianne Donaldson: I really loved this book. The "huge twist" wasn't as huge as I thought it would be, but all in all it kept me voraciously reading until the very end AND it made me cry. So, there you go.

+ "Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me" Mindy Kaling: Obviously I have a thing for this girl, because I'm obsessed with her show and this book, etc. etc. I really enjoyed this book. I don't love that she swears so much (not very feminine or becoming in my opinion, but you do you, right?). It was funny and lighthearted and real, which are three of my favorite things. Definitely recommend this!

+ "5th Wave" and "Infinite Sea" Rick Yancey: These are the first two books in a three part series. I LOVED the first one (5th wave), not a huge fan of the second. Apparently the movie is being released in January, so we will see how that is. Definitely read the first book, you will NOT be disappointed.

+ "Eleanor and Park" Rainbow Rowell: This was a cute book. It took me a while to get through, as it wasn't super gripping. But if you were ever in love as a teenager, most of this will feel very familiar to you, which I liked. Ah, young love!

+ "We Were Liars" E. Lockhart: I actually didn't love this book! It took me AGES to get in to it, and I actually wouldn't say I enjoyed it until the very very very end. BUT the twist is just insane. Like, I can usually predict books and movies pretty accurately, but this one had me like "WHAAAAA?". So if you like that, this book is for you!

+ "I Feel Bad About My Neck" Nora Ephron: I loved this book. If you like insights into New York City living, snark, punchy humor, and "You've Got Mail", you should definitely read this.

+ "The Visions of Ransom Lake" "Desert Fire" and "The Highwayman of Tangelwood" Marcia Lynn McClure: I've already raved about this lady, but these books merit a second mention. Don't be fooled by the ridiculous titles and cheesy covers.... I love them so so much! The blend of history, romance, and intrigue is such a perfect combination. She's a great writer, and her kissing scenes will blow you out of the water (yeah I went there!). The best part is, her books are totally clean (not even a hint of a sex scene, which I really appreciate). I'm telling you, you will not regret reading any of her books. I LOVED The Highwayman, and Ransom Lake was awesome too.

And there you have it. If you are looking for some great summer reading, I think you'd be good to go with any of these. And since I'm the world's leading authority on good books to read, you're welcome! ;)

life and stuff

Ah blogging.
I keep wondering if I will just stop one day and never look back, but I can't quit you just yet!

Actually this is happening because last week I was preparing a talk for church (sidenote: Elder Holland is in my ward and I was having an ulcer about what I'd do if he actually had to listen to me speak, because hello he's the best! Thankfully he wasn't there, and my nerves were spared. Anyways....) As I prepared my talk, I realized how much I miss writing. Thus, here I am.

So a few things:
+ I just finished watching The Mindy Project and GUYS. All the feelings!!!! I wasn't sure how I'd like it at first, because it is definitely a little crass (I'm not proud that I overlooked that and pushed through 3 seasons of sex jokes, but it's out there now and what are ya gonna do about it?). I just love that Mindy is such a real woman, who loves junk food, has her body issues and funny quirks and she still OWNS it in the workplace. I'm always so sad when I finish a good book or t.v. show, and this one especially left me anxious for the final season. What should I watch next? Aaaaand speaking of books....

+ Have you heard of Marcia Lynn McClure? I don't know why I was so late to the game, but I've been devouring her books and I LOVE THEM. They are the perfect blend of history, mystery and romancery (I mean, I had to...). I think the Highwayman of Tanglewood is my favorite thus far. Honestly I don't even care if they are the candy equivalent in the literary world because candy is the BEST, am I right?

+ We are now the nerdy, and proud, owners of memberships to the zoo AND the Tracy Aviary. Honestly though, I will always always always have a zoo membership because it's my favorite place in the whole world and Nash loves it too, so win win win!

+ And Nash! My little love bug is ONE! How is that real? The saying "The days are long, but the years are short" has been hitting me over the head for the last few weeks because it's so true! I'm having so much fun with him right now, and learning more about him and myself every day. It's amazing to see the difference in our bond on the days I'm not feeling my greatest, and it's huge motivation for me to give my all, even when I feel grumpy or tired. It's really hard, but really awesome.

+ And a shout out to my other guy, the one and only Christian D. He works so hard for our family and I love him to death for it! I'll be honest and say that this routine of "dad going to work, mom staying home with the kids" is A LOT harder than I expected it to be. I mean, I thought both of us being in school and working and having a baby at the same time was hard (and it was!), but this is just so different. At least when we were doing that, we had a lot of common ground: tests, projects, jobs, shared time with Nash.... Now we are just both so much in our own spheres that honestly it's hard to connect sometimes at the end of the day. I hate that! I'm only now just realizing the dire importance of regular, BABY-LESS date nights, and thankfully we found a consistent teenage sitter to help us out in that regard.
Also, teenage sitter? When did we turn 30?

+ And finally an anecdotal story, because I feel like that's actually the title of my life sometimes. So one night last week, I was having a terrible time sleeping (but what's new? It's so rude for moms to have to suffer through that. I mean, my child sleeps 12 hours a night and I'm lucky if I get 5 good hours! Hmph.). Anyways, I woke up at about 3am to a couple men like screaming at each other somewhere outside. I wasn't very lucid, but I definitely heard someone yell for the other to "get out". Anyways, the next morning I was out on a walk and I saw a police car and a CRIME SCENE van driving up and down our street and I was like "oh shiz did I actually hear a MURDER last night?!" So of course I waited inside until I saw the cops come back from talking to some neighbors, and then I casually slipped out the front door with the intention of being like "um excuse me, but what in the freak happened last night?!" Alas, they were all talking to each other and I couldn't interrupt, so I acted like I was on my phone and eavesdropped instead HAHA! Guys, I'm so embarrassing. Anyways, no one died but I gathered that there was some pretty serious punching, a dad, and also someone jumped a fence with a bike. So. This is just funny, because we actually live in a pretty decent area of Salt Lake, but then sometimes I see homeless guys wandering around our neighborhood and I'm like "yep, better lock the door more often". Also I really need to tell you about my crazy neighbor sometime. She has this awesome habit of banging on our door when I'm either in my pajamas or less than that (IT'S HOT!), and if I don't answer, she will literally go to our side door and knock for like a million minutes. Thankfully she's reasonably nice when she's not being cuckoo, so when I get locked in the back half of our apartment, I can climb out the window and ask her to let me in. You know. In case that ever happened, WHICH IT HASN'T. But just in case it ever did, it's nice to know my grumpy and niceatthesametime old lady ginger neighbor has got my back.