30 weeks 3 days

How far along: 30 weeks and 3 days along! Third trimester! 

Total weight gain: just hit 20 pounds! 

Maternity clothes: Loving maternity shirts! Especially Motherhood Maternity tees. They were a steal of a deal! $5 each! I also still have lots of shirts that work with my little bump but maternity pants are a must! Or with a few of my pre-pregnancy jeans I have just been using a rubber band to hold them up and that has worked out for me so far! 

Sleep: Sleep has been a struggle for me! I have a few restless and uncomfortable nights in a row and then I have one night when I sleep like a baby and then I go right back to the restless and uncomfortable nights. I am thankful for those nights when I sleep like a baby, those nights are definitely needed in my life right now!  

Best moment this week: I'm still on a high from my baby shower this last weekend. I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life who support and love my little family!

Miss anything: Sleeping on my stomach and running/normal exercise.

Movement: There has been lots of movement in there! It is becoming very regular, but it has changed from when I first started to feel him move. Before it felt like kicks but now I can feel his body and limbs moving around in there. The space is getting smaller and smaller for him so I am just feeling more and more! 

Food cravings: Milk and steak! Kind of an expensive craving! 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Still nothing really...although in the 2nd grade classroom I am in right now there are some smelly little kiddos who make me want to go throw up! It's so sad that they are smelly, but it definitely doesn't help that I can smell things like no other!

Baby bump: It's rounding and sticking out more! I seriously love my baby bump. It's not that I think it is cute (even though I do think it is cute some days), it's just proof that I am going to be a mom and that my sweet little boy is growing inside of me. Is that weird? 

Happy or moody most of the time: Mostly happy but I definitely get emotional real quick over little things! 

Looking forward to: Graduating from school in less than a month! After that I feel like I can fully focus on our little guy. Ultimately I am just so excited for January 23rd to get here so I can hold baby boy Wilkey.

Oh Baby...

I am not sure anything could have prepared me for the ups and downs of pregnancy. Each person experiences this miracle in different ways and we all face our own particular challenges and find joy and comfort in a variety of things and ways. Holy cow have I learned the truth of this while being pregnant. I have definitely gained a much stronger testimony in knowing that our Heavenly Father knows and loves us and He doesn't give us anything that we cannot handle.

Let me begin by saying that I have truly loved being pregnant. But lets be honest...there are days when I am just so uncomfortable, anxious, and nervous, it's hard to be happy and remember what this is all about.

I want to remember the good and the bad from this pregnancy so here's the dirty details first...

- There is always something to worry about. First trimester you worry about having a miscarriage; second trimester you worry about the health of your babe, your own health, actually giving birth to the babe, fears of breast feeding, and so much more; and I am sure the worries will continue on in the third trimester once I get there.

- Peeing....all....the....time. Seriously though, last night I got up 4 times to go to the bathroom - enough said!

- Aches and pains. This has not been awful but definitely not comfortable.

- Financial worries....bleh!

- Getting a new wardrobe and still finding that even with cute new maternity clothes I still just want to walk around in the baggiest and not so flattering pieces of clothing.

- Exhaustion...the best feeling in the world is when I get to lay down in bed at night next to Jonny boy.

- Sneaky toots. Let's just say I could die from embarrassment.

- Smelling everything. As a student teacher this one has really gotten to me - there are so many smells going on in the schools! Ew!


Ok...I am done with the bad. Let me just say again that I have loved being pregnant. I can deal with all of the above because I know that in the end, Jon and I will welcome our sweet little boy into the world and nothing else will matter besides our little family. I am truly just so excited for him to be here already!

Although the list is shorter, there are definitely more perks to pregnancy than not...

- Long/strong hair and nails. I have loved and hated this. I love love love that my hair has been growing faster and it is stronger. But my nails...holy cow do they grow fast! I feel like I am clipping them twice a week!

- Complexion. Before I got pregnant, I was on Accutane for one month and this might have a part in my complexion, but I think a bigger part is being pregnant. Seriously my face has never been so clear.

- Feeling him move and experiencing that with Jon. This is my favorite. I love feeling our little guy moving around in my belly. Feeling him wiggle in there just makes everything seem so real and I feel so connected to him. Sure, sometimes he punches/kicks my bladder and ribs but that's ok - if anything it makes me laugh. I am just thankful that I can consistently feel him move a little everyday.

- Preparing. I have loved getting his nursery ready and just preparing for our future with this new addition to our family. It is a little stressful, but it is also very exciting.

- The "I'm pregnant" excuse (sometimes said aloud but most of the time it is implied). I think it is sometimes so silly when people use excuses to get out of things. With that said...I cannot say that I have not used the "I'm pregnant" excuse while being pregnant. Why not live it up and use it to your advantage?

- Making connections with others. I feel like since I have been pregnant I have gotten a lot closer to family members and just others in the community. Expecting a baby gives you a lot to talk about and it makes you much more opinionated!

25 Weeks Along

Life is so wonderful. (27 weeks along now :))

It's a BOY!

We found out that we are having a little boy!!! We could not be happier. I was really nervous for this appointment because I just want our little one to be healthy and for everything to be peachy and great! And he is healthy and everything was just so peachy and happy! After this appointment, Jon and I could not stop smiling! I cannot wait to meet this little boy in January but for now I am just trying to relax and enjoy being pregnant. :) 

Look at his cute little profile! Love him!!!

How far along: 20 weeks and 3 days along (HALF WAY!)

Total weight gain: a little over 6 lbs....I think. I have not weighed myself in awhile....it's probably like 10 lbs now haha.

Maternity clothes: I am starting to wear maternity clothes here and there....my pre-pregnancy pants and skirts are slowly becoming unbearable! 

Sleep: I'm still waiting for a big energy boost in the 2nd trimester....I don't think it's going to come. But I must say that when I am sleeping....I am OUT! Well, until I have to get up to go to the bathroom :)

Best moment this week: continually feeling our little guy move around and I am starting to feel him kick here and there! It has been fun having my baby bump get bigger too!

Miss anything: I am super content :)

Movement: I believe there has been some movement in my belly! It started with this little tingling feeling but lately it has felt like more. I feel like I can feel our little one kicking just barely! 

Food cravings: Lately I have been craving jalapenos and spicy foods. But I also drink a lot of milk and love ice cream! 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing really...just those times when I haven't ate anything in a little while.

Baby bump: It's there and it's growing!

Gender: BOY

Happy or moody most of the time: Mostly happy but I definitely get emotional real quick over little things! 

Looking forward to: going to bed every night :) I started student teaching so that + work + being pregnant has really been tiring!

Hopefully in the next post I'll post some pictures of the start of our nursery and my baby bump! Stay tuned! :)

This is Really Happening!

It is starting to sink in...I am pregnant. Jess Wilkey is with child. Man, I am going to have a baby!!! I am so excited for January to get here so that Jon and I can meet this little one! This next year is going to be a big one for us. Both Jon and I graduate in December - this fall Jon will be busy with his internship and I will be student teaching! So in 4 months we are going to be graduates! I will finally graduate with my bachelors and my hottie Jon with his Masters. It has been a long time coming that is for sure! Jon will be applying for jobs this fall so come January we could be moving, Jon could be starting up a new for real job, and we will most definitely be welcoming a little babe into our family. Things could get crazy! Life is such an adventure, isn't it?

Here is a little survey I took about how things are going for me in the 2nd trimester!

How far along: 16 weeks and 4 days!

Total weight gain: about 4 lbs so far...I feel like this number is due to triple because I am always hungry and eating something and the babe is growing!

Maternity clothes: I haven't busted out any maternity clothes yet. So far my clothes have been just fine! Except for last Sunday I discovered that I no longer fit into most of my skirts! But anyways...my mom got me a really cute shirt and a couple of sweaters and I also found some really good deals on a pair of pants and few shirts that will help me as I dress up for student teaching. I probably need to keep buying things here and there!

Sleep: Sleep has definitely been the biggest struggle for me. I have been getting up to go to the bathroom 1-3 times each night! It has definitely gotten better though as I have been in the 2nd trimester because I am always exhausted and can usually fall asleep pretty quickly. Also! I have a Snoogle...I have heard others say not to waste your money on this but I love love love this pillow!!

Best moment this week: The other day while I was opening at work I think I felt our sweet little babe move for the first time. I felt this little flutter in my belly on and off for a little while. This may just be in my head because I am so excited to start feeling the kicks and movement in there but I have never felt anything like that before so it is easy to assume that it is little baby Wilkey! Keep it coming little one!

Miss anything: Sleep, cold lunch meat, and my energy. :) I am not complaining though!

Movement: See above :)

Food cravings: Nothing in particular...my cravings change every 10 minutes so it's always something new!

Anything making you queasy or sick: If I haven't eaten for awhile I start to feel a little queasy.

Baby bump: It's definitely starting to make its' appearance! I feel like I'm at that stage though when people are on the fence about asking if you are pregnant or not because you really might have just put on a few pounds. It's a baby! :)

Gender: We find out on the 28th of this month! 16 days! Jon and I both think it is going to be a boy. I even had a dream the other night that we had a boy and I just keep getting these impressions and feelings that there is a sweet little boy growing inside of me.

Happy or moody most of the time: Most definitely happy. Although....work is becoming really hard and tiring for me so whenever I work I find that those are the days that I am the most moody. Good news though! My last day at that job will be the 21st of this month! 9 days away!

Looking forward to: Seeing our sweet little babe in our big ultrasound appointment coming up this month and of course finding out the gender. I loved seeing our baby in the first ultrasound so I am so excited to see our babe again all grown at the half way mark. :) What do you think...boy or girl?

Up to Date Now! 14 Weeks and 4 Days Along!

This could possibly be a long one! So much has happened! First things first...we FINALLY told family and the world our news!!

At the beginning of July my family took a trip out to Missouri to visit Tyler, Michelle, and Cal. Jon and I thought that this would be the perfect time to tell my family because everyone would be together and then we decided that it would be even funner to wait a couple of days while we are there to tell them on the 4th of July. So we made plans to hand out these pop-its to all of my family!

I was so anxious all week to tell my family our big news. A few times I caught myself from saying things like, "I wish I knew if our baby was going to be a boy or a girl" or "at our first appointment..."  - the secret definitely got harder to keep as we got closer to telling! But the morning we told my family, I woke up and for some reason I got really nervous - I think it is mainly because it was a secret that just Jon and I had kept together and it was fun talking about it with only him and whispering fun things to each other about our little babe. (Don't get me wrong - it is also very fun to talk about our up and coming little Wilkey to everyone else too!) But back to the story! As we were eating breakfast everyone was in and out of the room so I kept waiting until everyone was in the same general area and finally that happened!! I told everyone that we had brought fireworks for everyone and then I went and grabbed them and started handing them out to my family. 

I handed the first one out to my mom because I wanted her to be the first to know and then just went around the room. Sadly though my mom did not have her reading glasses on so she ran to the bedroom to grab her glasses while asking me over and over again, "what does it say? Jessica read it to me!" Haha by the time she got back everyone else was up and hugging Jon and I. Tyler and Michelle were probably the first to actually read the pop-its and understand what it said - their reaction was one that I will always remember. Both Tyler and Michelle read it, gasped, and said "What! No Way! Congratulations!" and then they jumped up and ran to give me a hug. At that point I was shaking and crying like a little baby. Geesh, it was so fun to finally tell family!

A week after the 4th we got to tell Jon's family the big news and it was just as fun! I love having the big news out there but it is also kind of bittersweet - I'd love to tell family all over again just because everyone was so happy and excited! Anyways at this point Jon's sister Rachel was about the leave for her mission and his other sister Lizzy and her hubby decided to have a family BBQ since a lot of family would be in town for the weekend - so this was our chance to tell Jon's family! We got Rachel a little gift for her mission and we also got Jon's parents a gift to "help them get through the next year and half." For his parents we got them a framed picture of one of our ultrasound pictures and up at the top I wrote, Coming January 2016.

Jon and I planned to tell his family when everyone got to the house but some things came up (I will expand on this a little later! :)) and we ended up telling his family near the end of the night when everyone was about to leave. It was so fun, everyone was gathered around in the kitchen and Jon handed Rachel her gift first and then the other to his mom. When his mom opened the gift she was so surprised, she squealed, and ran over to give Jon and I a hug. Jon's siblings were a little confused for a split second until they saw the picture as well and then they all ran over to give us a hug too. Lots of tears were shed and everyone was just so excited. Telling families made this even more real to me - I love it! 

I really wish I would have video taped the reactions we received from both families. Jon and I are truly blessed to have such amazing and supportive families.    

Here's how we told the world!!!

ICE ICE BABY! :) 

In other news....

We just recently had our 2nd appointment this week! I love going to my appointments - I am always reassured that everything is going well and it just reminds me more and more that this is really happening! We were able to hear our sweet babe's heartbeat at this quick appointment. I was surprised to find out that I actually lost a pound...the doctor was pretty witty and said "that's probably something I wouldn't go out and tell other expecting moms in the waiting room!" Haha. I thought for sure that I had gained a few pounds , I am eating so much more and I rarely exercise. I guess the pounds will come as the days go on! I was really hoping that they would do another ultrasound, but they didn't - our doctor talked with us about options for testing and then we listened to the baby's heartbeat. Our sweet little baby Wilkey has a strong heartbeat that I could listen to all day long! It was pretty loud too, the doctor even said, "it sounds like your little baby is galloping inside of you!" Haha. At our next appointment we find out if we are having a sweet little girl or boy. What do you think? :)    

I will post a picture in the next post - I have got to document this little bump I am getting!

First Appointment...10 Weeks and 2 Days Along!

I am in love you guys....

Today we heard our sweet little babes' heart beat and got to see him/her squirming around inside of me. Holy cow...I am really going to be a momma! Seriously today was the best, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. The past few weeks I have been so anxious and scared to see our little one and find out if he/she is healthy or not. I feel so comforted and happy..... :)

I have had such a good first trimester. My mom had told me before that she really enjoyed pregnancy and it was not too bad for her - I was thinking that her experience would skip right over me - but I really have lucked out! - knock on wood! - Lately my biggest issue is sleeping. If I could get one good nights rest one of these days in the near future I would be extremely happy. I feel like I fall asleep for about 3 hours and then I wake up to go to the bathroom and then the night is shot from there on out. I have the hardest time getting comfortable and staying comfortable! Any tips anybody?

Besides being sleep deprived, the first trimester has been pretty peachy. I am dying to tell family and friends that we are pregnant though. Especially now that we have the ultrasound pictures! We do have plans to tell family. Details will come soon :)

Anyways here I am at 8 weeks and then at 10...no difference! :)

8 Weeks

10 Weeks

Today I am 10 weeks and 2 days along. Almost to the 2nd trimester! Time is flying by! :) :) :)

At 4 Weeks and 4 Days Along

So I found out that I was pregnant exactly one week ago! I still can't believe it! Yesterday I took another pregnancy test just to confirm AGAIN that I am pregnant. Haha, I don't know how many tests it will take for me to truly believe that this is happening. But it is happening and this last week I have started to feel some symptoms (I think!)....

1. I am hungry all the time! My stomach is constantly growling and if I don't eat then I start to feel like I am going to throw up and I get light headed and dizzy. It has been a little different but nothing too extreme that I can't handle.

2. I am exhausted....all the time!! By 3 I am done. Enough said....

3. Even though I am exhausted I have been having a hard time falling asleep. My legs and arms ache and I just can't get comfortable...isn't that supposed to happen later on in pregnancy? Maybe I just need to work out more!?

I am so excited to be a Mother. I have loved having this little poppy seed inside of me and thinking about the future. Even though I am excited, I am also really nervous and hesitant. Thoughts of losing this little baby keep flooding my mind and I hate it! Why can't I just be at ease with knowing that my Heavenly Father has a plan for me and that everything will work out? I do believe that everything will work out, I just don't want my heart to be broken. I am just way too excited and hopeful that in January 2016 Jon and I will become parents. I guess for now I should just work on being happy and enjoy pregnancy now.

By the way....we scheduled our first doctor's appointment a couple of days ago too. We will be meeting him on June 29th. That's a little over 10 weeks! I have a feeling that it is going to be a looonnnnggg 5 weeks until that appointment. Wish us luck!

We Are Pregnant!!!!

Yep you got it! Jon and I are expecting our first little Wilkey - due January 23, 2016! I have been so hesitant to be happy and excited because I am aware of how common miscarriages are and sometimes I worry that maybe the tests I have taken at home aren't accurate! Silly me, I should be soaking up this fun and exciting news! I have been wanting to be a mother for as long as I can remember.
So here is the full length story of how Jon and I got to where we are now! Bear with me!

When Jon and I first got married we decided that we would wait a little longer and get more school done before we started to have kids. Right from the bat we both knew that we wanted to have kids and we would always talk about the future and what kind of parents we would be. I loved all of those conversations that we had. But back to the story....when we first got married I was on birth control and took it for a little less than a year if I remember right. I stopped taking it because I really felt like it was our time to hop on the baby train and start having little Wilkey's and to add to it I kept getting bad stomach aches and I felt like that linked to the pill. So Jon and I officially started trying to have kids and we tried for a little less than a year with no success. Truth be told I was sad and felt discouraged and I kept asking myself, Would this ever happen? Would I get to be a mom in this life? Jon and I would talk about our worries and concerns but we kept coming to the conclusion that it just wasn't our time and that everything would work out.

So I switched my major and Jon and I put having babies on the back burner while we both focused more on our schooling. We tried other forms of birth control besides the pill and went on with our lives. We continued to have fun conversations about what kind of parents we wanted to be, baby names we liked, etc. I continued dreaming of the day when Jon and I would be parents.

During the Fall of 2014 I decided that I wanted to go on accutane while I was still in school and while we weren't planning on having kids any time soon. So I had to go back on the pill and I was fine with that if I could get rid of the acne that liked to live on my face! I think I officially started the treatments in November and only took accutane for a month. There was nothing wrong with the treatment, but bills started coming in and I felt like maybe I shouldn't be doing this treatment. It was a weird time and a couple of mistakes were made on my part with the long process of the iPledge program. All in all it was a weird and short experience! So come January 2015 I was still on birth control because I did not want to get pregnant and risk any birth defects that could come from having been on accutane. I stayed on the pill until March just to be safe and to ensure that I could finish my schooling by December if I did become pregnant.

As you can probably tell Jon and I put a lot of thought into when we should start trying to have kids again and I am happy that we did! SO we started trying to have little kiddos again in April. April was a lucky month for us because I am prego!!!! All through April I tried not to get my hopes up and I definitely did not think that I would get pregnant so quickly.

How did I find out? Well as I was nearing closer and closer to when I was expecting my period. I became so anxious to see if I was pregnant or not. And I think more than that I didn't want my hopes to be up any longer than they had to be if my period were to come or not. Does that make sense? So anyways, 3 days before my period was supposed to start I took an at home pregnancy test and I was so surprised to see a faint second line appear (WOOHOO!) (Wednesday, May 13, 2015)! I got so giddy and I worried that maybe it was not real (I still feel that way)! I kept thinking I haven't seen or felt any symptoms of pregnancy yet and what if I took the test wrong or what if it was a faulty pregnancy test?! Haha the joys of having a woman's mind..... I decided that I would wait a day or two and take another test because I did a TON of research on faint lines on a pregnancy test. All of the research led me to believe that I truly was pregnant and that if I gave it a day or two the line would appear darker because my hormones would be increased. So I waited...

See it's so faint! Can you understand why I was worried?

At the same time I made this decision I kept debating whether or not to tell Jon or to wait until I knew for sure that we would be expecting a little one. By the time we were together that I night I could not handle not telling him the news so as we were walking to a friends birthday party (yep, Megan...your birthday party!) that night I spilt the news that I "might be pregnant." Haha bless Jon's heart I don't think he knew what to say! I probably should have told him a little earlier that day because we did not get to talk about it much since we were with our friends for a few hours. When we got home that night we both stayed up late talking about the amazing possibility that we had ahead of us and we both looked up a ton of things on the internet. It has been so much fun playing with this possibility with Jon. He is going to be such a great Dad! I am so happy that we are in this together!

Jon and I both agreed that we would wait until Saturday before I took another test, but my anxious self could not handle the wait. I took another test on Friday morning and guess what? The second line was there again and it appeared darker! :) :) :) I told Jon right away and as of now I think it is safe to say that I am pregnant. I am going to be a momma!!! It seems so unreal. I hate to say this because I think it will probably kick me in the bum but I want to start feeling some symptoms so that I actually feel pregnant! I guess we will see what comes my way in this journey....

Yeah I know this is upside down...but you still get the idea right?It's darker! :)

January 23, 2016..... so excited!

Where to Start....

It has been a long time since I have been on here (besides coming on to do an assignment)!
I have thought about hopping back onto the blogging train for quite awhile, but I always get discouraged. I start comparing my life and blog to others and think that my life is boring! This may be very true....but I love my life. For this reason, I will hop on here and blog every now and then.... for myself and my own record!

Last year was a complete blur. I'll take you through a condensed version of our year...well as condensed as it can be. (warning: this is a fairly long post)

I took a semester off from school as I was waiting to get accepted into the very competitive Elementary Education program at USU. While away from school I had the amazing opportunity to be a Reading Aide for some very adorable Kindergarten students. I loved that job - it made me even more excited to become a teacher!

Springtime was so blissful with fun trips, family time, and not worrying about school!

Last Spring Jon and I took an EPIC trip to Florida with two of our greatest friends - Braden & Julie. We got amazing deals on almost everything for our trip so that just adds to the epicness! We first flew to Georgia to meet up with Braden and Julie - they showed us around a little bit that night and we ate some delicious Korean food and tofu donuts. The next day we took a road trip down to Florida. We drove straight to Tampa to have dinner with Braden's cousin and then went to my hometown to spend the night with a family friend. Man do I miss living in Florida - everyone is SO nice and laid back!! The next morning we went on our way to hop on our cruise to the Bahamas. I don't think I can describe how much fun we had on this cruise! In the Bahama's we rented scooters for the day and later on walked through the town in search of fried conch fritters (DELICIOUS!). The next day we went to Coco Cay Island. It was so relaxing there and the weather was perfect! Jon and I love cruising....good food (and tons of it), the beach, all you can eat nachos and ice cream, beautiful places, pampering.....the list could go on and on!

After our cruise we headed to Orlando for our next stop to HARRY POTTER LAND! HP Land is such a magical place...we were in tears when we left the park! Go if you get the chance! We were then on our way back to Georgia to make our flight back home. Jon and I had been planning and looking forward to this trip for quite some time and lets just say that it definitely went by way too fast! We are now in the process of planning our next adventure.... :)

Soon after we got home my mom and I had the opportunity to go to Missouri to visit Tyler, Michelle, and my cute little nephew Cal. We had such a great time there - visiting church sites, playing games, helping revamp their cute kitchen, eating yummy food, playing with Cal... hopefully Jon and I will be able to visit them this year!

In the Spring I was accepted into the Education program at USU. I was very surprised! After my group interview I thought that I would never be accepted - but one day I had this strong feeling that I needed to go check the mail (I never check the mail!!). So I went out and found an envelope from USU addressed to me and sure enough it was an acceptance letter! Lots of emotions were displayed the rest of the day....tears, excitement, dancing, screaming, shock... I started the program last Fall and I have loved it! (And can't wait to finish!)

Last summer was pretty laid back! Jon and I worked a lot and just enjoyed our time together before school started. Jon got a great job that started over the summer and it has been such a blessing. He works in a counseling office at a local High School and gets lots of opportunities to work with students. He will be finishing his Masters in School Counseling this December! He is such a hard worker - I am so grateful for him.

To start off the summer we went to St. George and Vegas with my parents. We always have so much fun spending time with them. While we were there we ate yummy food (as always), went to a show, walked the strip, saw the water show, hiked at Zion's National Park, and just enjoyed our time together!

Last summer we also went on a little trip to Park City right before school started and we had such a good time! Don't you love little getaways?!

Jeremy also got home from his mission in August! I am so happy he is back home - he sure was missed! He has grown up so much and I am so proud of him.

In August I ran my second Half Marathon and accomplished my goal of running it in under 2 hours! And then in September Jon crossed off something on his bucket list...he ran a Marathon. We both trained diligently for our races and were so happy with our results. Jon also dressed up as Forrest Gump for the last mile of his race and he made the newspaper!!

In the Fall Jon and I rarely saw each other...he would work in the morning/afternoon and as soon as he got home I would go to school or work. It was insane. I worked three jobs....yes three...how? I have no idea! But it's over with now and I am down to two jobs!

The ELED program is split up into 4 levels. The first level you can complete without getting into the program and then the second is the first thing you complete after you get accepted. So last semester I completed level 2 and this semester I am in level 3. The ELED program has been very time consuming and challenging but I have loved every moment of it. I have never been good at school but ever since I decided to switch my major and become a teacher I have excelled. I am so thankful for Heavenly Father, Jon, and family and friends who guided me towards becoming a teacher.

Jon did surprise me with a fun date night in the fall though to a Train concert! SO FUN!!

The Holidays were wonderful...they always go by way too fast, but I loved the break and all of the time that we spent with family, friends, and each other.

Both Jon and I have big plans and ideas for this year and I can't wait. Life is truly wonderful.