Two

Two is a small number. 

It's only one more than one, afterall. 

It sounds so small, but it seems so big to me, in some cases.

I can't remember when two used to be zero. 

Two is really 365+365, when talking about years. 

365 is a big number, right?

Clint and I have been married for two years (as of last month). 

That's 731 days, since last year was a leap year. 

It's been such an adventure, a learning adventure. 

Things have been difficult lately, but there's no one I'd rather spend my life with. Clint isn't perfect. He's human. He has flaws just like Joe Shmoe over there, but he's perfect for me. I love what a solid partnership we have. We act as a team. We're each others' biggest cheerleader. We pick each other up. We love. We care. We are goobers. We support each other. We admit when we're wrong (eventually). We get frustrated. We get hurt. We forgive. We kiss. We share experiences. We are parents together. We wipe each others' tears. We laugh. 

But mostly, we're totally in love with each other. 

I love the twenty-first of May

Sometimes I brag a little bit

 Sometimes, when times are difficult, it brings you closer to your husband.

At least, if you choose to go that route. 

I really do love my husband more and more every day. 

Thinking about him holding our sweet baby makes me tear up. 

Marrying him was one of the best decisions I've made, as well as choosing to follow up with that decision and work together towards the best possible marriage! I'd say those two are equally important.

The point: I'm really really really in love with this boy. He's been so supportive to me!

How I know my husband loves me

 Is that not the most perfect picture ever? I love when he looks at me like that. I'm so glad I chose to marry such a sweet boy and I'm even more grateful he chose me too! 

When I dated I always kept in my mind "is this who I want to be the father of my children?"I think I have done exceptionally well choosing a dad for Ainsley as well as our other kiddos. I'm so happy to be married to him. I cannot wait to see him fill the father role. I know he will do so well.

Had to sneak in just one more ;)

How my husband saved my life.

When I quit my job I didn't know what that would mean for my blog, considering the only time I blogged was during downtime at work. 

The answer so far: I never blog, ha!

Hopefully I'll get into a routine and be able to keep it up. Is there anything you want to hear about? 

Tonight, though, I want to tell you a story of how my husband saved my life. I don't want to forget it! 

In one of my classes, we were to interview someone in a specific dietetic practice group and present on what we learned. The DPG I chose was Nutrition Education for the Public. It's pretty small. Our teacher told us we should have no problem finding someone, so I wasn't that worried about it. The assignment was due 3 weeks after it was given. I started right away e-mailing people. I would send a batch of about 3 emails out, wait a few days, then send 3 or so more. Basically I had e-mailed a bunch of people with no response. A week before the assignment was due, I got a response from someone saying they were willing to answer my questions. I sent them my questions and didn't hear anything back for several days. I sent out several more e-mails just in case. I wasn't too worried thought because I thought I had found someone. The day before my assignment was due, I e-mailed her to confirm she received my questions and she responded right away saying that she had and then she asked me some questions. I answered then never heard anything back. I even e-mailed again. I knew I wasn't going to get a response from her in time, so I sent out a few more e-mails and asked everyone I knew! No luck! I sent my teacher an e-mail explaining the situation and she responded saying that I would have to take a zero for the assignment. Since the class is out of so little points and this is our biggest project, it put me in serious danger of failing. I called Clint, full on ugly crying, to tell him what had happened. I had a presidency meeting to go to that night so I was unable to try and work more solutions. I didn't see Clint until fairly late and we went to bed pretty soon after I got home. 

 Clint woke me up at 6am the next morning telling me he had someone for me to interview. Wait, what?! He had e-mailed a random person the night before on a whim. Whaddya know, she was part of this DPG and was willing to be interviewed. She sent her phone number and I called right away! With several hours before my class, I was able to finish most of my assignment!!!!!!!

I know Heavenly Father certainly had a role to play in this simple miracle for which I am grateful, but I'm so thankful for a husband who is willing to do what he can as well. It might be simple to some people, but it meant so much to me. Clint knows how important school is to me and is so supportive of me accomplishing this dream. All cheese aside, I can honestly say my husband is my hero. 

Single ladies, find your hero and don't let them go. Married ladies, believe in your husbands to be your hero. And that's probably the best advice I could give. 

So in love with this goofy boy!

p.s. thanks for letting me share my cheese ;)

top ten

Top ten things I'm thankful for.

1) Heavenly Father must be blessing me with patience. Seriously, it's a wonder I haven't screamed from all the people telling me my stomach is too big. Right now the new thing is something like "There's no WAY you're making it to your due date. Look how big your stomach is."

2) Halloween is like, really really really soon. Which is just wondaful! You can scroll down for my post on how great Halloween is. Would you like a hint on my costume this year? No one got it with my hints last year. Riddle me this bloggers:

You know how everyone does pictures by signs like this to announce they're pregnant? It's something like that.

3) I just recently discovered the wonder of the Backstreet Boys Pandora station. My life is forever changed. Also, how in the flippin world did it take me so long to add that station?!

4) I am LOVING the weather right now. Driving to work today it was 69. Arizona is wonderful. I would say everyone should move here, but I'm not a fan of traffic.

5) Tomorrow I am THIRTY weeks. This is great, because 30 sounds so much further than 29, and heaven knows I'm ready for this bun to be out of the oven.

6) I went to my first blog meet up last night! It was so fun and much less awkward than I anticipated. I'm really grateful for blogging. It's been great for me! I seriously feel so close to some of my friends I've made through it!

7) EIGHT WEEKS TIL GRADUATION!!!!!!! I'm so so so so so so soooooo excited!

8) Today is my last day of work. It was a hard decision for me to make, but I know it was the right one. I'll miss the great people I've developed relationships here (I've been here 2.5 years), but I'm grateful to be making times for the more important things in life and hopefully not always run around like a chicken with my head cut off.

9) So grateful for my sweet little girl. She already brings so much joy into our lives. It's so crazy having to wait so long for her. I just discovered what it's like! It's like having the anticipation of Christmas Eve every day. I'm JUST SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!

10) Obviously I would be ungrateful if I didn't mention my rockstar husband. He is such a hard worker and so sweet to me. Now I believe in happy, wonderful, full-of-love marriages that last forever. I still feel just as lucky as I did on our wedding day. Plus, he's super hot. Check it out.

The end! What are you grateful for? If you do a post, leave me the URL so I can check it out (someday).

That's for being so great!!!

Marriage

I am a huge advocate of marriage. I love marriage and I love being married. Being a wife is probably my favorite "hobby." I love my husband with my whole life. I love all that marriage stands for. Right now I wish there was a stronger word than love.

In the last 6 months or so we've had some difficult things hit. No marriage, and no life, is immuned to trials. I find it awesome/interesting/funny/incredible how those hard moments that make me want to kick Clint in the knee caps, are also the moments that teach us what marriage is all about and how wonderful it is.

In high school, I had a really unhealthy relationships with this guy who I thought I loved. Typical ABC Family afternoon drama stuff. Every time he made me mad, I broke up with him. He'd have to make it up to me, then we'd get back together and be happy together for a few more months...or weeks. I'm kind of  a lot embarrassed I ever acted like this, but I'm happy to say it is most definitely a thing of the past.

 I've matured a lot since then. I've learned what's important. I feel like there are vital ingredients in a marriage. (1) to be completely 158% devoted, (2) to always look for the good, (3) be quick to forgive, (4) always show love and kindness, (5) put the other person above yourself.

I believe in love (just listen to the rythm of the heart!).

I believe in marriage. 

I believe in loving someone more than yourself. 

I believe in sticking with my husband no matter what.

I believe in looking for the good and not relishing in the bad.

I believe in late night pillow talk. 

I believe in allowing someone to get to know you better than anyone else.

I believe in being married to your best friend. 

I believe in watching movies I don't like (sacrifices friends!).

I believe in lots and lots and lots, and then some more, anniversaries.

I believe marriage has a purpose and is designed by God.

I believe marriage is a 3-way relationship between spouses and Heavenly Father (God).

I believe in constant compliments, hugs, kisses, and other gestures of love.

I believe that marriage lasts forever, even after death.

I believe that Clint is my puzzle piece. My perfect partner [in crime].

I believe in waking up and going to bed the happiest because of who you're laying next to. 

I believe in laughing so hard the neighbors tell you to quiet down.

I believe in stolen kisses and tushy squeezes.

I believe in having lots of babies with this special person.

I believe in the billion more reasons why marriage is so great!

Marriage is amazing. It's a one-of-a-kind relationship. I can honestly say that I love Clint more than my own life, and I love life an awful lot. If someone came up to us and told us that ONE of us had to die, I would gladly volunteer. It's not even a hard choice to make. I feel so blessed to be married. I feel even more blessed to be married to such an exceptional, handsome, incredible boy who makes me happier than I could have even imagined! Seriously, what's so great about fairy tales? They've got nothin on our duo.

It's kind of hard.

Everyone has heard that the first year of marriage is the hardest, right? I've heard it close to a billion times. Heck, I heard it a billion times in the 3.5 months I was engaged. Anyway, I'd like to take this opportunity to tell all those people they can shove it. That's a load of crap. I can't say enough good things about our first year. It wasn't perfect and we had more than one disagreement, but honestly, it was pretty easy and totally awesome.

I think it should be more like, pregnancy is flippin tough in a marriage. Before you sound the alarms, Clint and I are 100% in love with each other and still have a rockin' marriage. However, pregnancy is stressful. There's all the "what-ifs?" and "Hows?" of both pregnancy and life after the baby is born. You would think babies were coated in GOLD they're so expensive. Anyway, it's awesome, but it's kind of stressful. Not to mention the fact that I feel like I'm going to roll over and DIE any second and I'm dealing with a little thing called hormones that don't exactly make my mood stable.

That's not the point I want to make. My point, is that Clint is a champ. Why? Let me count the ways...

• He has made countless trips to Walgreens and the grocery store for medications and other essentials. Sometimes multiple times in one day. He never complained. A lot of those trips also included things that could be deemed "embarrassing." Moms, can I get an amen?
• He cheered me on (literally) when I had to chug nasty medicines like milk of magnesia (if you've never used it, please don't google what it's for....seriously though, it tastes disgusting. That's all you need to know)
•  He stays up and rubs my back when I lay in bed at night and just cry because I'm so darn frustrated with being so sick all the time!
• He still tells me I'm pretty even though I have 16-year-old-boy acne and sometimes go days without make-up or getting dressed.
• He leads a productive life while I lay in bed watching Switched at Birth.
• He tries to be patient when the horns come out. (H-O-R-M-O-N-E-S!)
• He always listens during my "HOW IS IT POSSIBLE! BABIES ARE SO BIG! HOW ARE THERE SO MANY BABIES?! OUCH!!!" speech.
• He didn't get upset that I had to cut my hours at work
• He never complained about all the laundry I didn't do or dishes that stayed in the sink for way to long. Read: until he could do them.
• He has also taken on the role of grocery shopping since it takes me two hours (literally) because I have to take breaks to rest and breaks to dry heave. That's embarrassing. TMI? Sorry friends, pregnancy isn't all pretty.
• He didn't complain about how my homecooked meals got substituted for months of PB&Js or cans of soup.
• That one time the only think that sounded edible was Chickfila, Clint was all over it. I fell in love all over again.
• He didn't get embarrassed when I up-chucked in front of his friend...although I definitely did
• He doesn't get grossed out when we're on the phone and all of a sudden he hears me losing my lunch
• He has brought me a thousand drinks (virgin, duh. We're talkin mostly gatorade) in bed. And medicine. And food. And didn't complain about how many crumbs I manage to spread in our bed.
• He has come to almost all Dr.s appointments and plans to come to as many as humanly possible. He gets excited when we get to hear the heartbeat...which kind of sounds like a dog barking under water.
• He is so excited and I love when he talks about life post baby.
• He pats my belly and tells the baby to be nice to its momma
• He tells me "love you both" and I just think it's the sweetest thing in the world. See, just typing that makes me tear up. (H-O-R-M-O-N-E-S)

So I guess there's a few lessons you can learn from this. I stink at being pregnant. Pregnancy is not glamorous. Oh, and Clint is the flippin bomb and I love him so much and I'm so glad he's my baby daddy.

Amen.

My husband is the bomb diggity.

Did you see the sweet post my husband did for me a few days ago? (pst just scroll down if you missed it) Isn't he such a sweetheart? I love that boy so much. I was in bed sick. Clint came in to lay by me. I asked him what he had been up to and he wouldn't tell me. I knew immediately he had finally written my love note! I was so excited!!! I had been asking for one since Valentine's. Then I told him that's what I wanted for my birthday. Then for Mother's day. Then for any other occasion I could think of. Finally the day came!!! I was still in bed when he pulled up my blog on his computer and turned it towards me. I was confused. At first I thought maybe he wanted me to read one of my old posts or something. But then I figured it out! Clint had used my computer to log onto blogger while I was resting! Smart boy. The computer automaticaly logs in so he didn't have that obstacle. Isn't that a sweet idea? I got pretty teary while I was reading.

"YOU REALLY THINK THAT?!"
"YOU'RE SO SWEET!!!"
"I LOVE YOU!!!!!"
"AHHHH!!!"

I am so lucky to have him. Can you believe we've been married for over a year? Honestly the best year ever. Clint and I are so different. Neither of us are perfect. Marriage is hard. Harder than being single, in my opinion. BUT, it is SOOO worth it! Life is so much more fulfilling when you can share it with someone who really gets you. We have our fair share of disagreements *cough fights cough*, but it never ever changes how much I love him.

I know this sounds super cheesy, but deal with it. I feel like Clint and I were prepared our whole lives for each other. We have gone through some similar things which helps us relate. We are EXACTLY what the other needs. I feel like Clint was my light at the end of the tunnel for some of the trials of life I've had. And now knowing how great he is, I'd go through anything for him.

Clint is going to make such an amazing dad. I love that I can be sure of that. He's so gentle and kind. I love that he'll watch girl movies with me, even just occasionally ;) ! He is INCREDIBLY smart. I love that he still opens my door almost EVERY time. He works so hard and very rarely ever complains. I love that I still catch him checking me out. He puts up with me through moments where I act like a brat. I love how his eyes tear up when he's about to say something really sweet. He has an amazing ability to calm all my nerves and stresses and put me back on the ground. I love that he takes such good care of me...like I'm the greatest thing he has. He's so supportive of my goals and just me as a person. I love that I know he loves the Lord and is doing his best. He's so easy going and up for almost any idea I throw at him (except for the time he vetoed my idea of wanting to color my white dog's hair an outrageous color). He makes me better. I love that we laugh together daily. I am so grateful for him. I LOVE that I get to spend forever with such a special boy!!!

your love note

Hey friends! This is Alexis' husband Clint and I'm a self-invited guest blogger today!  If you have spent even the slightest amount of time reading her blog, you probably think I'm like a superhero or something special with the way she talks about me. Ha! Well, I'm here to set the record straight.  I am far from perfect and have a long way to go before I reach superhero status.  One thing I will freely admit is how dang lucky I am!  I haven't really won any sweepstakes, or gotten anything other than a free small shake from the McDonalds Monopoly game (I always tried soooo hard!!), but I feel like I am the luckiest guy in the world to be married to that sweet girl!  She makes everyday better and makes me better everyday!(say that 5x fast!)  Its been over a year now that I have been blessed with her companionship and it just keeps getting better.  May 21st marked our first anniversary and I can't wait to spend the next googolplex years (it really is a number, google it!)

As with anyone, Alexis has had some challenging experiences. I know she's posted a few times when she's had a rough time but its a small fraction of what she really has to deal with.  I have never seen someone suffer with so much and handle it so well.  Somehow, she manages to carry her heavy load and hardly makes a peep.  She turns her problems over to the Lord and He makes life possible.  She is a wonderful example of strength, faith, and hope to me especially.

This girl is a go getter. Take, for example, her goal of doing Pat's Run. Why? Definitely not because she likes running or needed a new hobby or that she enjoys the feeling of running with shin splints.  It was because she saw it as a challenge and a way to better herself.  It took me until after she had crossed the finish line to understand this.  She understands the truth that the best things in life don't come without a fight.  Thats something she taught me when we started dating because believe me, it was a fight to get on her schedule! She had so many dates lined up that I had to ask her over a week in advance if I wanted a chance at spending time with her!  This shouldn't have been a shock to me.  She was (and very much still is) the total package and lots of guys saw that.  She's beautiful, funny, smart(believe me, she blows me away when she starts talking nutrition and biology jargon),  driven, caring, faithful, strong, etc.  What guy wouldn't want her??  Somehow I got lucky!

She's been asking since her birthday (March 28th or maybe even since Valentines Day...) for a love note.  I know, I'm a terrible husband! But hopefully this will make up for it.  I love her and always will. I'm grateful for the time, dedication,  joy, example, etc. that she gives me along with the many sacrifices she has makes on my behalf.  I hope to eventually repay her.  I have no doubt that when the time comes, she will be an incredible mother and example to our children.  She is my best friend and she makes me laugh.  I am the luckiest guy because of her.

Thanks for letting me set things straight.