Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Telling Your Daddy

Little Baby Lawrence,

You may or may not have noticed that I didn’t mention telling your daddy about being pregnant with you on July 29th, 2012. That is because, I DIDN’T tell him! I took a pregnancy test that night after getting home from Panguitch, UT and was SO excited. I would have loved to tell your daddy right then and there but I knew I wanted to tell him that we were expecting a bundle of joy in a cute way so I held in my excitement. In fact, I held it in all the way until the next night.

You see, since we had been trying for a couple months, I thought of a REALLY cute way to break the news to your daddy. For past birthdays, I have given your dad presents explaining why I love him (for example, 22 reasons I love him for his 22nd birthday). Since this has been a theme throughout our relationship, I wanted to tell your dad in a way that was similar to this so that it would be that much more special when breaking the news. I decided I wanted to tell your daddy 40 reasons (for the 40 weeks I’ll be pregnant with you) why he’ll be the BEST dad and present it in a really cute way. I made my way down to Wal-Mart (telling your dad I was going shopping for his birthday a little early) and bought pink and blue balloons, a helium tank, some string, a photo album, and the 40 reasons why I think he’ll be a wonderful dad I printed at the photo center. Once I got all my supplies, I headed home to start working on my fun surprise.

I worked hard to hurry and blow up all 40 balloons and tie them with string (a process that takes much longer than you’d expect).





Once all the balloons were ready, I taped 1 reason why your daddy will be the best daddy ever to each balloon. Then I placed all the balloons with attached reasons over our bed and snapped a couple pictures to document everything. 



Since your daddy was home while I was working on his surprise, I had to make him promise not to come into our bedroom. I didn’t want him to get any ideas or guess what I was about to tell him, and let me tell you, he had NO idea.

Once I was ready to show your daddy what I’d been working on, I told him to close his eyes and come into the bedroom. When he opened his eyes he saw all the pink and blue balloons and he had a paper in his hands that read “40 reasons why you'll be the best daddy in the world! (For the 40 weeks your wife will be pregnant)"



It took him a minute to realize what I was telling him, and once he got it he was SO happy. Your daddy gave me a big hug and I could tell he was so excited for this new journey we were about to go on together. I was so happy that I started crying (something you’ll have to get used to with me as your mommy)! 




I couldn’t wait for your daddy to read all the reasons I came up with to tell him why he’ll be the best daddy in the world. Your daddy took the time to read all 40 reasons and we just soaked up the moment together. 










I hope you can tell how much your daddy means to me. He truly is the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I am so grateful that I can call him my husband and that you will get to call him your daddy. I’m so grateful that we’ll all get to be together forever and that we’ll get to learn and grow together. Your daddy and I are so excited to meet you and are looking forward to the month of March when you’ll make your debut. We love you so much!

Love,
Momma

Thursday, September 20, 2012

I LOVE Purses!

If you know me at all, you know I LOVE purses. And today is no different. So when I saw the opportunity to win a CUTE Kate Spade bag I jumped at the opportunity! And since I'm super nice (and want more entry points too, haha) I'm sharing the giveaway with you so you have a chance to win too!! Just follow the link below and it will tell you exactly how to enter:

http://delightfuldesignideas.com/kate-spade-handbag-giveaway/

P.S. I won't hate if you decide not to enter. ;)

Friday, September 7, 2012

A HUGE Blessing

Little Baby Lawrence,

I am SO excited to start documenting this journey. You have no idea how long I have wanted to be a momma, and I am so excited that Heavenly Father chose me to be a part of your life forever. I hope to write to you every week for the next little while, until you make your debut on or around March 19th, 2013. I may be a little biased, but now March is one of my favorite months of the whole entire year.

I guess I should start by saying that your daddy has wanted to start a family since the day we got married, January 2, 2010. That day will always be special to me and will be my favorite day, because on that day, not only did I get sealed to your daddy, but I also got sealed to you and any little brothers and sisters you may have. That day alone means the world to me, because through those covenants we made, I get to be with you for time and all eternity, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

You may be thinking to yourself, “Geez Momma, by the time I’m born, your wedding date will have been three years ago…what took you so long?” I can honestly say that I would have loved for you to join our family at ANY moment in time, but I truly think your Daddy and I were supposed to spend time together, just me and him, and strengthen our relationship even more, so that when you came we’d be as strong a family as ever. I prayed that Heavenly Father would bless us with a baby when the time was right and I know he answers prayers. You were meant to come into our family at this time, and make your earthly debut in March of 2013. Heavenly Father knows what’s best for us and so even though I know the next couple months, and next 18+ years even, won’t always be easy, they will be worth it.

We will learn and grow together so much and I hope to teach you all that you need to know. I hope to teach you how to be nice to everyone around you, even if they aren’t always nice to you. I hope to teach you to take the time to enjoy the little moments and really soak them in, because time passes too quickly not to live life to the fullest each day. I hope that you find the gospel to be true early in your life and that you’ll recognize the many blessings that will come into your life through your faith. I hope to teach you how to see the good in others and that you never know when you will find a friend in those around you. I hope you inherit my love for the holidays and won’t hate putting up with all the festivities I’ll plan for us. I hope you’ll enjoy being creative and will find the time to relax and do things you enjoy. Most of all, however, I hope you know that I love you so much and will always love and support you.

Not only is there a lot that I hope you learn from me, but there is a TON your daddy will teach you. I can’t wait to see your daddy hold you and interact with you. I know he will be the BEST dad you could ever hope for and that because of him, both our lives will continue to get better and better each and every day. Your daddy will help you to know that the gospel is true, just like he did for me. He will also teach you what it’s like to go on a mission and serve the Lord for two whole years. He’ll teach you how to laugh and see the funny moments in life and help you use your imagination to the fullest. Your daddy will teach you all that you need to know about cars, trucks, trailers, dirt bikes…you name it. Anything to do with adventure, your dad will be right there with you and teach you how to survive along the way. He’ll take us camping and fishing and fulfill any wish you’ll ever have of being outdoorsy…trust me. He’ll be a great example to you of a hard worker and of someone who is always willing to help those in need. He’ll always be there for us and protect us no matter what. Your daddy is truly the best man I have ever met and I love him with all of my heart. I hope you know how lucky you are to have him as an example and as your daddy, forever.

If you can’t already tell, I am SUPER excited to meet you and so is your daddy. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has trusted us with such a huge blessing and that we get to raise an amazing son or daughter of God. I can’t wait to see what adventures we have together, both while you’re in my tummy and after you make your appearance. Because of all this, you can see why I am so happy I decided to take a pregnancy test on July 29, 2012 and confirm that we would be welcoming a new member into our family. I can’t wait to meet you and I love you more than you know.



Love,

Momma

Monday, February 27, 2012

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'

If you remember my post from earlier this year, you'll recall that I had a goal to cook dinner more.
While I'll admit we had a brief period where we went back to eating out too much, I am back in FULL force and am LOVING cooking.
I figured to stay on top of my goal and keep cooking, I'd share my menu plan with you all and some tips and tricks along the way.

Here is my menu for last week:





I found the recipe via Pinterest and am so glad I did. Here is a link to the actual website too.
Andrew absolutely loved them and they were great as left overs too. He even was upset that I took the leftovers to work for lunch and didn't leave him any; he loved them that much.
We served them with salad and it was a great dinner overall.

On Tuesday we had breakfast for dinner.


We made sausage, scrambled eggs, and waffles; it was delicious.

On Wednesday we had Pigs in a Blanket.


They're always easy and always so yummy. Definitely a good thing to make if you're short on time or have to work late.

On Thursday we had the new Kraft Homestyle Macaroni and Cheese.


I had a coupon and wanted to try something new so I went ahead and bought the Homestyle Macaroni and Cheese when I was at the store. 
I'm glad I did because it was quite delicious and my hubby was able to make it because I worked late.

On Friday I got off early so I wanted to make something nice. 
I decided to make a recipe I found on Pinterest awhile ago that I had made before.


This recipe is very lemony and very delicious. 
I'm glad this blog was willing to share her recipe with us all.

Each week I plan for one night out, date night, or time with friends family. 
As a result, on Saturday we went over to my parents' house to watch the UFC fights and have a grand old time.
I enjoyed my day off from cooking and enjoyed the yummy pizza and wings. :]

Last but not least, on Sunday we had White Chicken Enchiladas.


I made them on Christmas so I knew they were good (original recipe found here), but they were even more delicious the second time.
This was the only recipe my hubby didn't LOVE and that's because he hates sour cream. I didn't think he'd notice it but I guess he could...lessons learned in cooking for your husband I guess.

I'm so glad we had such a successful first week in following our menu plan and can't wait for future menus.

Some things I found that make cooking more fun and successful:
-Use Pinterest to find new recipes and actually TRY them. I try to make at least one new thing a week.
-Make your menu ahead of time. It's easier to shop for everything you need and actually stick to your menu if you have a plan.
-Don't be afraid of leftovers. If you cook too much, you just have lunch for the next day.
-Have fun, try new things, and just get cooking!

I hope you enjoyed this week's menu and look forward to next week's!

Please feel free to share your menu with me each week! I think it's easier to make new recipes and get out of a cooking rut if you talk to others.

HAPPY COOKING!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Valentine's Decor for a Killer Deal

Have you guys heard of GroopDealz before? It is AMAZING!
It's a place where cute shops sell their products at a discounted rate and the buyers get to enjoy the items AND save money. WHO WOULDN'T LOVE THAT?! :]
I've bought quite a few things from them before and I've loved everything I've ordered!
In fact, with Valentine's Day coming up, I ordered some really cute pillow covers and I can't wait to get them.
Here is a picture of the beauties:


Aren't they ADORABLE?! They are just what I need to add some cute Valentine's Decor to my front room. In fact, the LOVE pillow cover would be cute for any girl's room.

Since I loved this deal, I wanted to share it with you all. 
You have about 23 hours left to get these pillow covers at 38% off. You can get each pillow cover for $7.50...or be like me and buy one of each.

I hope you like this deal just as much as I do. Or, find something else you love while looking at GroopDealz
HAPPY SHOPPING!

What I'm LOVING Wednesday


I'm loving all the fun blog posts I have planned for this week.

I'm loving that Andrew and I have stuck to our "no eating out, except (AT MOST) once a week for date night" plan. I hope we'll see all the savings soon and that we'll also lose some weight in the process. I think a  big part of why I gained so much weight is poor eating habits so I'm really turning that around and feel better already. I'm eating breakfast (which was rare before) and making my lunches and dinners. HERE'S TO SUCCESS!!

I'm loving that I broke out my planner and I'm getting ORGANIZED.

I'm loving that DISNEYLAND is getting closer and closer.

I'm loving that it's a new year and there are so many fun things in store for 2012.

And most of all, I'm loving my sweet husband who seriously is the love of my life. I couldn't ask for a better person to spend forever with and I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father brought him into my life. I LOVE YOU BABY!


Friday, January 6, 2012

To Earn Your Dessert...

I have recently had the urge to BAKE BAKE BAKE, but that doesn't help me achieve my goals of eating healthier...
In the last few weeks, I've made a couple different types of cookies, been tempted with candy, and even had the urge to make lemon bars. And do these foods sound healthy to you? I didn't think so.


So as a result, tonight we came up with a new way of "earning your dessert" around these parts.

Before I cut myself a piece of these Lemon Bars I had to do one thing:
100 JUMPING JACKS

It's nothing big or too hard, but definitely gets you moving before you get to eat your treat.
I think I'm going to do this from now on so if I do decide to eat a treat (which won't be too often), I will feel more like I earned it.
Sounds like a plan right?!

What do you think? Are you going to start "earning your dessert" too? ;]

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Lessons Learned on my Fitness Journey

So as I mentioned yesterday...I'm not very smart with picking shoes to wear while working out. 
Actually, to be honest, I'm not very good at picking shoes in general. I always end up with shoes that tear my feet APART and leave me wishing I never had to wear shoes again. I don't know what it is about shoe shopping but I can rarely find a pair of shoes that fit correctly.

So I don't know what I was thinking today when I forgot my work out shoes as I left for work. All I had with me was my super comfy Uggs that my sweet hubby bought me while we were engaged.





I went about my day as a comfy happy camper and enjoyed an AMAZING lunch with my life long friend and bridesmaid, Kelli. Then I went back to work and as I was finishing up, got a text from Brittney about going walking. I'm so glad she texted me because I probably would have not gone without that extra push. As I was texting her I was reminded again about the shoe situation and told Britt that I'd have to take it easy today...or at least that was the plan.

While we did walk at a slower pace than yesterday, we walked much longer than expected. I was thinking we'd only go a half hour or so, but after walking and talking, we realized an hour had passed.
I'm SO glad that I go walking with someone because it definitely makes the time go by faster and makes it much more fun. My only problem tonight was that my shoes didn't agree with my walk, haha. While we were walking I could tell they were rubbing on my heals but I just ignored it and kept on trucking.


While I love these shoes on a daily basis, I quickly found out they are NOT the shoes to be wearing while working out. I came home and found that I have quite a few blisters because of these cute boots I own.
I'm happy to say that I'll have the weekend off from walking and will definitely have time to find some appropriate shoes for my weeknight walks.

Here's to resting my poor feet and continuing to work out.

Oh, and since I posted those old Christmas pictures, I couldn't end this post without posting another picture from that night.


Can't believe that was two years ago. Can't wait to CONTINUE to work out and get back to that weight.
Anyone know a good shoe store? ;]

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

What I'm LOVING Wednesday


I'm loving that I went on a walk yesterday with my cute hubby and our puppies to the Post Office. It was between 1.5 and 2 miles and a GREAT way to start my weight loss journey. It also helped with a goal I forgot to mention, which is to take our puppies on more walks.

I'm loving that tonight I met up with Britt to go walking to prepare for our 5K I mentioned. We walked for about an hour at a pretty quick pace, and besides my sore feet (I wore HORRIBLE shoes) I feel GREAT. :] I also went on a short walk with my hubby and our puppies again tonight. We have to stay committed and I'm excited to have walked two days in a row.

I'm loving that I've been cooking and baking lately. However, I should probably stop baking to help with my weight loss. Either way, don't these look yummy?


I'm loving that the "Gospel Library" App for the iPhone allows you to download the LDS magazine articles for free.

I'm loving INSTAGRAM and taking fun pictures. Follow me at: lovethelawrences. :]

I'm loving the fact that I get to plan fun dates again this year for our Date of the Month Club.

I'm loving that I get to go to Disneyland at the end of the month with family. I haven't been since Andrew and I were dating and I'm super stoked.


I'm loving my new ride and my new camera (both which you'll hear more about later). ;]

I'm loving my sweet puppies.

And as always, I'm loving my sweet husband and that we've been married for two years! Two years since January 2nd to be exact. :]


What are YOU loving lately?! :]

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

I'M BACK and 15 GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR

Sorry I've been MIA lately. With the holidays I just couldn't find the time to blog, but now I'm back with full force and hope to blog a ton!
I have a lot of different topics to blog about, but to start I figured I'd share my many goals for 2012.
I am so motivated to do better in a TON of aspects in my life and figure the best way to stay accountable is to write them down and report how I'm doing.
So, without further ado, here are my goals for 2012 in no particular order:

1. STRIVE TO BE HEALTHY!
I know I always talk about this over and over again on my blog without many results. However, I'm honestly hoping for the best this year. I plan on losing weight and getting back to the weight I was when I got married.
To help, I'm going to start walking and running with the hubs and with my girl Brittney and I'm also going to use my free membership at the gym and take advantage of what is offered to me rather than just letting it go to waste.

I have plans on running two 5Ks this year so I need to get my butt in gear and start training.
The first one is on February 25th and is called The Color Run.


Looks like fun huh?! I'm running it with Britt so hopefully we do good and have tons of fun.

The second one I'm doing is on July 4th with my wonderful sister. I'm not sure about the information but I'm excited to have two mini goals within my overall goal to become healthier and I'm excited to get in shape!

2. BUDGET, BUDGET, BUDGET!
Andrew and I have been talking about when we want to start a family, and while we aren't ready yet, I think it is important for us to get in gear and start spending our money more wisely. Today I sat down and figured out that we CAN live off of just Andrew's money if we try hard to stay on track so we are going to be working on doing that over the next couple of months. 


We are trying to SAVE SAVE SAVE and just become more responsible and not waste all our money on going out to eat. As a result, my money will go to SAVINGS, house projects, and a little bit of fun along the way.

3. COOK DINNER MORE
If we plan on saving money, we need to not eat out as much. That is seriously one of our biggest issues with spending money we don't need to be spending and (I believe) our weight gain. We just got so busy with work and other things that we took convenience over health. As a result, I want to cook dinner AT LEAST 6 days a week...day 7 is DATE NIGHT. I started writing down all the foods I want to make or already know how to make so that we can eat a wide variety of things and just have fun with cooking...but more on that later. ;]

4. GO ON ONE DATE A WEEK
Andrew and I are pretty good with going on dates, but with this new year I want us to go on a date EVERY week and make it a commitment. We are going to switch off each week who get's to plan the date and they are going to be so much fun. There will be different guidelines for each date that we plan and it will just allow us to spend more time together. But again...more on this later. ;]

5. TAKE MORE TIME FOR CHURCH CALLINGS
I LOVE being a Primary teacher and that I get to teach the 6 year olds this year. However, I'll admit I've been slacking when it comes to my lessons. My goal for this year is to spend more time preparing my lessons and to be a better teacher overall. I love the faith that Primary children have and love that they teach me just as much as I teach them (if not more).

6. BE BETTER AT INVITING THE SPIRIT INTO OUR HOME THROUGH FHE, FAMILY PRAYER, AND SCRIPTURE STUDY
I'll admit that Andrew and I aren't so good at having Family Home Evening each week, however I'm hoping we'll do MUCH better this year. This Monday was our ANNIVERSARY so we didn't have FHE but I'd say we had a pretty good excuse. ;] So starting this Monday we're going to do MUCH better and take off turns planning a lesson for our little family of two. It's important to start now so that when we DO have a family, we'll already be in the swing of things. I also want to do better at saying prayers together and reading our scriptures together. I want to learn more and more about the gospel and always have the spirit in our home.

7. ATTEND THE TEMPLE MORE
Andrew and I have both said we need to work on this, so I'm super excited to attend the temple more and learn and grow, especially spiritually.



8. BE MORE ORGANIZED
I already bought a planner and a calendar because I plan on being much more organized this year. I plan on using all the tools I have to STAY organized and just make life less stressful.

9. BE BETTER AT CLEANING
I found TONS of helpful tips on Pinterest to stay both organized AND clean. I want to clean a little each day so that nothing ever gets overwhelming. I want our whole house to be an oasis for us to come home to and I can't wait to finish projects with my hubby and continue to make our house into our home.

10. PROCRASTINATE LESS AND BE ON TIME
I always think of so many fun projects and ideas but procrastinate so much that things don't turn out how I want. This year I plan on doing things AHEAD of time and making my life so much less stressful. I plan on finishing my projects and getting a ton of fun things done this year. I also plan on showing up to things on time. I am THE WORST at being on time but I hope to fix that this year.



11. ALWAYS TAKE PRIDE IN HOW I LOOK
Since I've gained so much weight I've noticed I started to take less pride in how I look. I find myself curling my hair less and doing my make-up less which I'm not happy with. I want to look good for myself and my husband and take pride in how I look. I want to feel pretty everyday and just be happy. This is a BIG goal for me this year and I'm excited to follow through.

12. READ MORE
I used to read a ton but lately I haven't made the time to do so. I keep hearing how good so many books are so I'm hoping I'll make time to start reading again. To start I'm going to re-read the first two Twilight books and then finish the series. WISH ME LUCK!



13. TAKE MORE PICTURES
I realized since I've gained weight and haven't been as happy with how I look I haven't been taking as many pictures...which is a shame. I used to take SO many pictures to document all the fun things Andrew and I do together so I'm hoping to start doing that again so we can look back and remember how much fun we have. I also want to do better at scrapbooking.

14. BLOG MORE
I've been a really hit or miss blogger which I'm not proud of. I love reading blogs that update frequently and I realize I need to do the same. I want to document all the fun I have doing projects, decorating, and just updating everyone on the life of the Lawrences.

15. JUST BE HAPPY OVERALL AND TAKE EVERY MOMENT IN
My goal for 2012 is to live life to the fullest, enjoy every moment, and take everything in.

I'm super excited for what 2012 has in store for me and I'm excited to make more memories with my amazing husband.

GOOD LUCK with all your goals for 2012 and may this year bring you tons of happiness and joy!