The Everyday

Still not feeling great today but it's Halloween so that's something to be excited about!  And I think we have a new tradition which is another thing to be excited about. Someone in our ward makes spudnuts in her backyard every Halloween and invites people over to come eat them. We went and they were soooo yummy.  Our little Dallas Cowboy cheerleader :) The boots for her costume didn't come in time, but I went to the mall to get our jersey/shirt and came across these cute boots in a boutique. They had one pair left in her size. It was meant to be! We asked our neighbor to take a picture and they suggested taking it next to their skeleton. haha. So here we are on our neighbor's porch! Homemade rootbeer. Jack-o-lantern pizza. It's a bit tricky to see but the face is there. haha.

Emi didn't sleep well last night, my tear duct is funky, and I've had a sore throat and chills so today was a bit rough! But we powered through. We still went to the normal gym and My Gym, still tidied the house, and still stuck with the usual schedule. But I kept thinking...who takes care of the mom when she's sick? And then I started trying to think of times when my mom was sick and I couldn't really remember any. But surely she got sick. So I came to the conclusion that moms can't really get sick because there aren't many alternatives. And there may have been a little bit of a meltdown when I came to that conclusion. Marty took good care of me when he got home, but this is one of those days when I don't want to be grown up...gosh darn it! Please appreciate cute Emi.

When we woke up this morning it looked like Christmas outside. There was snow everywhere! I'm not a fan of snow in October, but it does look really pretty. During Sacrament Meeting, Emi was playing with some little girls in our ward and they were letting her hold their crayons. At one point, she took off with their crayon box and proceeded to turn the crayon box over, and all the crayons fell on the floor with a big thud. haha. Marty and I rushed over trying to collect all of the crayons off the cultural hall floor. Writing now it's funny but in the moment I was so embarrassed!!! After church, Bowen and Marlow came home with us. Marty took them downstairs to play while Emi and I made lunch. I could hear lots of giggling and Marty being so cute with them. That's something I love about him--he is so fun and engaging with kids! In the afternoon Marty, Emi, and I took a very long nap and then called my parents. They are in Greece but will be heading to Rome this coming week to

I've been wanting to take Marty to the Children's Museum especially to have him to see the new exhibit, Bloom, that Emi and I went to earlier in the week. We didn't have anything this morning so it provided the perfect opportunity for us to go! It was a lot of fun and soooo crowded. They had some special Halloween activities going on, which could have caused it to be more crowded than usual, but I also think it was just because it was a weekend. That is one big perk of being home with Emi--I can go to all these cool places with her during the day without having them overrun with people.  We'll probably go back to the museum as a family, but it will most likely be on a day when Marty takes PTO. Even though this looks like a slide, the material makes it very hard to slide down. Emi is scootching down in this picture.   I love this picture! Marty was helping Emi see how this cool contraption worked. During the day we cleaned the house, and in the evening we went to the war

Today we had music class and went to Mod Market with friends afterwards. It was a lot of fun! We also had our sprinklers winterized. (I didn't even know that was a thing until one of our neighbors texted and politely said they'd seen our sprinklers go off and wondered if we had plans to have them winterized with snow coming this weekend. haha. Ooops. Thanks neighbors!)   But the true highlight of today was Marty's stache ;)

There's this small group that runs every Thursday morning at 5:15. Mike, Kevin, and Michele. Mike and Michele I know from running club and Kevin I know from church.  I told them that I would start running with them after my marathon training...last week I told them that I would run this week...and then I realized that I was running out of excuses so I woke up at the dreaded 5 am time this morning. It was pitch black and cold outside when Mike, Kevin and I started the run (Michele couldn't make it this week). We took off at Kevin's house and ran to a trail and it was very spooky and I thought we were going to get killed. But miraculously we made it back in one piece. haha.  Kevin works for Royal Crest (a company like Winder Dairy) and after the run he let me choose a half gallon drink out of his milk box (you know I chose chocolate milk :p). He also gave me the apple cider that Michele usually chooses (Yes, he gives everyone a half gallon of milk or juice every time he runs

Because it's close to Halloween, our workout teacher has a dress-up theme for classes the next few days. Today was Super Hero day! I didn't have anything so I just wore orange and black :) I have really been enjoying going to classes/working out at the gym during the day. It's so nice! For Young Women's tonight the girls painted pumpkins that will be used as decor for our ward party later this week. It was fun to see what each of them came up with, and as they painted I walked around and tried getting to know each of the girls better. I definitely felt out of my comfort zone trying to talk with each of them, but I hope that these efforts will show them that I care.  I came home from YWs to the best surprise--a clean kitchen! Thanks Marty :)

Allison texted me last night to see if Emi and I would like to join her and Steph at the Denver Children's Museum today. We went and it was so fun! They have a new exhibit, Bloom, that's made just for toddlers and babies. It's so cute! It's all carpeted with beautiful decor made of lots of pastels and lush greens. And there's Montessori style toys to play with and various activities built-in to the exhibit like mini doors to open, different places to crawl through, and a slide to go down. The moms enjoyed chatting while the little ones played. A new friend, Kayla, came as well with her 3 month old.  A highlight of the visit was JJ (Steph's little one) pushing Emi around in a wagon. haha.

My friend, Kimber, had to go to the hospital with some postpartum complications and so we ended up having Bowen with us for part of the day. I wasn't sure what to do about our weekly My Gym class because I had an extra kiddo with me, but the teachers were nice and let me bring Bowen along.  After My Gym, we picked up some Wendy's chicken nuggets and ate nuggets and oranges for lunch. Both Emi and Bowen ate everything on their oranges except the skin. haha. We had a slower afternoon and then for family night we went and got the new Mario Wonder game. Marty had really been looking forward to getting it, so it was fun to play together.

We made it home! This time Google had us take a new route back--through Colorado Springs. The towns we passed were bigger relative to the other route we're used to and there were more food options to choose from. However, the drive felt longer.  I love fall. Look at the trees right by the edge of my window! It was breathtaking. Yellows. We came home to the snake--still alive and still in the trap. Marty took care of it, but I hope we don't encounter a similar situation again. While we were gone, some pictures for frames in our room arrived :) Love having these pictures next to my bedside.

Marty and I went around the Pagosa loop this morning while Grandma and Grandpa took care of Emi. It was so nice to run and see the beautiful fall leaves.  Look at the yellows! In the afternoon we headed to town and went to this yummy burger joint, Sage, and had these green chili fries that were sooo good. Afterwards we walked around the quaint downtown and perused the shops. I had envisioned Emi just walking happily down the street, but instead she wanted to sit on the sidewalk and pick up rocks and garbage. haha.  Dad and Grandpa helping Emi stay focused on walking haha. After we got back to camp, Marty and I took a nap with Emi. I love just being able to relax here! We also began preparing camp for winter. Our little explorer. Emi was playing with grandma's phone. But when grandma took her phone back to show us a video, Emi was not pleased. Recreating-ish a picture of Marty and Courtney in a tractor at camp when they were little.  In the evening we had a campfire and played games

Hi all! This is guest writer Marty talking about our Friday in Pagosa. We got in at a pretty good time the night before but it was really really nice to sleep in til about 8:00 since Emi had a bit of midnight fun with Grandma and Grandpa the night before! Usually she doesn't sleep in no matter how tired she is but we were lucky! We had a pretty slow morning, my dad made pancakes for us and we played with Emi and chatted with my parents. At around 10:30 AM, Emi had eaten two breakfasts and snacks and was ready for a nap. Lizzie decided to take a nap with her and my dad and I used the gym. Later that day, Lizzie and my mom took Emi for a walk and my dad and I took off on an ATV ride. We crossed over the river (it was kinda dicy) and went up on top of this plateau that overlooks the confluence and the three cabins, it was pretty cool and was a spot that I had never been to before! That evening, Lizzie and I had an excellent time enjoying the Shaeffer spa! I was in the sauna, then in t

As you may have seen in my posts earlier this week, I made a cleaning schedule for myself. I had a goal to wash all our dark clothes today. I got the darks washed only to discover that a stick of chapstick  happened to make it in the laundry leaving oily stains over several of our new clothes:'(  So many stains. This afternoon, Emi and I were heading to pick Marty up from work when I discovered that a snake (!!!!!) had slithered into a sticky mouse trap in our garage. I was so scared and a bit traumatized. But we were picking up Marty from work today because we were driving straight to Pagosa which meant that Marty wasn't able to take care of it. I hope all is okay when we get back. On our drive to Pagosa, Marty and I went through lots of couple get-to-know-you questions which made the drive go by fast. There were also lots of pretty fall leaves to look at which was nice too. So I guess the title of this post isn't completely accurate because not all of today was unfortunat

This morning I went back to my first workout class in over a year! It felt good to be back. At Strong I made a mom friend, Summer, who turns out to be in our stake and she invited the mom who does the music classes to come to the workout class so she was there too (Annie). After the class Summer invited me to come over to her place with Annie and Kirsten (another friend whose husband works at Chatham with Marty). It was so fun! We ate lunch and the kiddos decorated cookies and made graham cracker haunted houses.  Emi and I wearing our "Faith Over Fear" shirts. My workout teacher, Angela F., had these shirts designed when she competed on American Ninja Warrior .  She is so inspirational!  In the afternoon I had my family history lesson with Bob L., Deanna, and Kate. I honestly look forward to the lessons each month and enjoy discovering missing ancestors on my family tree. Bob also brought me chocolate because I did some family history work outside of the lesson...it's har

Emi and I had a very social day! We went to the park with my friend Jazmin and her son Porter, and then McKall came over with Colter.  Smiles from baby Colter. In the evening, Marty and I headed to the Arizona Concert. Back in June, we were supposed to see them but missed seeing them due to bad traffic...so when we saw they were coming to Denver we had to get tickets! They checked our ID before we could enter the venue--which was unfortunate because I forgot mine. But luckily I had the NYC Covid app on my phone with my ID and they took it (answer to our prayers!). After finding our way around the venue, we noticed some nice seats on an upper level, and so we opted to pay extra to sit down (we're getting old haha). The guy next to us was sauced and definitely overshared about his life which made for a...unique...experience.  It was fun getting to see Arizona in person and hear songs that we've been listening to for awhile now!  The view from our seats. I took this picture before

As you've probably noticed in my posts, laundry consumes many of my thoughts these days. haha. And now that we're in a bigger place I've also been thinking about cleaning in general. Before, it was easy to clean our one bedroom in a short amount of time, but with more space it's easier for more things to get dirty and it can be overwhelming trying to get everything done.  So I made a cleaning schedule for myself to try and keep on top of house cleaning, and to hopefully feel like I'm only doing laundry 3 days of the week instead of 7.  Emi and I kept the laundry going between My Gym and her swim lesson. We also made a stop at Deseret Book so I could get Marty enough garments to last him through a whole week + a few extras. By the time Marty came home from work, I still hadn't had enough time to get the laundry all folded so we finished the rest together. (That's also part of the new cleaning schedule. I'm going to have a goal to finish my self-decided &q

Church has become an "all hands on deck" type situation. We try to keep Emi busy with lots of snacks (it's shocking how much she can eat!) and go to church with more of a "survive" than "thrive" mindset. haha. Today we survived!  After church we all took naps and chilled.  Emi brought over this hat to Marty and I multiple times throughout the day and wanted us to put it on her head. She is so funny! For dinner we were invited over to my friend McKall's parents house.  McKall and I have been good friends ever since our study abroad in Jerusalem. Sadly, she and her husband Jonas and their adorable baby, Colter, live in Rexburg otherwise we'd get to hang out more. But lucky for us her parents live in Highlands Ranch so we get to see her when she comes to visit them. This was my first time meeting little Colter and he is the cutest, mildest tempered little squish. McKall's parents were also so friendly and kind. There are 8 kids in McKall's

Lots of family time today! My Gym. A run. Look who decided to come running! Emi zonked. We carried Emi's stroller in the house after our run to let her keep sleeping. If there's something I've learned from parenting it is...never wake a sleeping baby.  Emi's first haircut. (and Marty got a haircut too!) Did we take a billion pictures of Emi's first haircut? Of course! She loved getting to ride in the car. Look at her :) We just can't get over how cute this girl is. Notice how her mullet is gone. Yay! All done! With her new hair clip. They even gave her this certificate with a lock of her hair.  Corn Maze. Zaika for dinner. Started Season 3 of "Only Murderers in the Building." Marty and I are completely smitten with Emi. I'm not kidding. We talk about her all the time, we think (most) everything she does is so cute, and she just makes us the happiest.  I don't think anything could've prepared me for how much I'd love my child.