Miss You Gramma Julie..

Dear Gramma,

I can't believe it has been a year. I don't know how I have survived without talking to you. I miss our weekly phone conversations. Not a day goes by without thinking of you. I remember that phone call telling me that you were in the hospital and it didn't look good. I was so scared. It hurt so bad that I couldn't go visit you, I never got to say goodbye. It still kills me when I think about it. You could always make me feel better, you were one of the best people I know. Oh how I regret not talking to you more that last month before you passed away. It seems silly now that the only reason I refused to talk to call you is because I didn't want to talk to, well, you know. (I don't even want to ruin this post with his name) One of the last conversations I had with you was calling to tell you that I was having a boy. You were so excited. :) I wanted so bad for you to meet Noah. I remember you telling me that there were just a few more things you wanted to see/do before you died and seeing your great-grandbaby was one of them. Well Gramma I know that Noah would love you just as much as I do. Looking back I think of all the things you taught me over the years and I am so grateful for you. I think of all of our funny memories and I don't have very many memories that don't leave me smiling. At least once a week I think of something I want to pick up the phone and call and tell you about it-it's hard to remember I can't do that. I miss you Gramma, I hope you are happy. This Thanksgiving weekend is hard so us here missing you. Thanks for all the things you taught me and thanks for all the great memories, you are an amazing lady and the best gramma ever. I miss you and I love you so very much.

**Will Be adding a few more photos in a couple days, I need to get some off of my parents computer. This post won't feel complete without at least a few more of Gramma.

Count Your Blessings....

I am Thankful for...

-Being a Mommy to the most beautiful boy! :) He makes my day, everyday. I am a better person because of him.
-My awesome husband. I am so lucky to be married to him. He makes me laugh and listens to me go crazy. He is such a patient man and I love him so much.
-Food to eat, a roof over my head, and a car to drive.
-Great friends.
-Having the most amazing family ever. I cannot explain how incredibly grateful I am for great parents, wonderful sister, and all my extended family.
-Our sweet little kitten.
-The Gospel.
-Pictures.
-Good music.

--I am so thankful for my life. I am thankful for my health and the health of all my loved ones. I could go on and on about all the little things I am grateful for, but I will not bore you with that long long list. I am grateful for the chance I have to reflect and count all my many, many blessings. :) Happy Thanksgiving!

Sooo, I had this whole little thing written about me and why I am the way I am. I decided I better not put that out there or it would most likely be taken out of context and twisted into something not true. There are some sucky people in the world.

I am really loving this holiday season. For some reason Thanksgiving means so much to me this year. I have been really thankful all month. I made a [Thankful Box] for our family that we have been putting things in that we are thankful for all month. We were supposed to open the box and read our notes tonight for FHE but Trev had to go to SLC tonigh. Bummer. I guess we will do it when he gets home. I'm pretty excited about it. I think that part of the reason I am so grateful this year is because it has been a year since my gramma julie passed away. I cannot believe that she has been gone a year. How I have survived 365 days without talking to that amazing woman is beyond me. At least once a week I find myself needing to talk to her, wanting some 'gramma julie' advice and laughter. I miss her more than I can express. So I am thankful for the family I have around me and especially for my baby (and her great-grandson that she was so so excited to meet). He has changed my life in the best way ever. I wish they could have met.

Alright goodnight.

Black Friday!

So.. I am getting so darn excited for BLACK FRIDAY!! Woohoo! I have been going for about 5 years now. I am addicted to the rush of it! It's like tons of people all waking up at 3:00 am just so excited to SHOP! It makes shopping exciting. Ahhhh. :) And everytime I see the Target commercial for black friday I laugh so hard. I think it's awesome. Here is the link to watch it. (it's kind of a crappy version, but you get the point of it!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdJB36lVJI8

I am so excited for shopping, I have been having dreams about it for like 3 days. Yes, I am that big of a freak. Haha.

"The best friends in life are the ones who know your faults and love you anyway."

So it's amazing what talking to good friends can do for your spirits! :) The last couple days I have had some really good conversations with my really close girlfriends, and it's so nice to have friends that listen and understand me and love me for who I am. I wish I lived closer to my best friends. I miss the days when I could just go over to their house (or into their bedroom) and sit down and chat about life. All 3 of my very closest friends are so completely different, I love the special relationship I have with each of them. Sure, our conversations have changed from school drama, what guy we are dating, what girl is being a total snatch.... to babies and husband and in-laws- but I love them all the same.

[Me and Rinney]

We met at the hair academy in rexburg and quickly became friends. :) She has been there for me through thick and thin. I never thought I could have such an amazing friend. I can call her and tell her anything, she will always put things into perspective for me. We often call each other when we think we are being treated unfairly or someone has told us that we are crazy- we know how each other thinks so we are there to back each other up. We traveled to New York City together! That was awesome. We won tickets to WICKED-front row i should add. She made me get a job at applebees. (which some would say changed my life haha) I am so grateful I met Corinne and I can't imagine my life without her.

[Me and Auts]

We have grown up together. Literally. We have went to elementary school, middle school, and high school together. Not only that, we lived together and went to cosmetology school together. Growing up we had this plan to go to college together and we did just that. :) We moved to rexburg and lived in this awesome house. (that we rented out from the sweetest lady while she was on a mission) We GREW up together-emotionally, physically, mentally. Most of my memories are with Autie. We seriously slept in the same bed for like a year. We dealt with boyfriends, missionaries, bad breakups, boy drama, girl drama, living away from our families, graduating college, marriage, babies.... EVERYTHING. You name it we have done it together. :) She is so wonderful and I love her.

[Me and Mattie]

Ahhh where to begin. Mattie is by far my craziest friend. I love her. We have been best friends since we were 2. Daycare, preschool... my childhood memories are filled with her. She moved away when we were sophmores. It was hard to lose my best friend but we kept in contact and she moved back after graduation. :) She has taught me alot of things-some I'm not sure I want to know about haha. We have a strong and unique friendship. No matter what we go through or how completely different we are we are there for each other. I can call her with any crisis I have and she is there for me-happy and sad times. She is amazing. I was there for her through her pregancy and birth of amazing, wonderful Kameron. I love him and her. :) Life would not be the same without them.

THANKS for being wonderful, amazing friends. I love each one of you. Thanks for always listening to my problems and brightening my life. It's nice to have people who get me and are always on my side. :)

9 month stats!

So I took Noah to the dr today for his 9 month checkup. :] He is growing fast and just perfectly. He weighs 21 lbs 13 oz. He is 29 1/2 inches tall! Noah is so dang long! Poor little man got his flu shot. He was so brave for like 4 seconds then his little face scrunched up and he started screaming... but the crying only lasted about 30 seconds. Anyway, it was pretty uneventful all in all. Noah is doing GREAT! :) I just love him more and more everyday. He can say MAMA and DADA really good now. And he can stand and walk along things now. Just yesterday he stood and balanced all by himself. I'm proud of him for growing so perfectly, but on the same hand I'm scared to death that he is going to be running and getting into things faster than I can keep up! Haha. Well that's all for right now. [Noah just woke up from his nap so time to work!] --Shay

November 12

Ahh... I have been dreading this day. November 12, 2010. My baby is 9 months old. Don't get me wrong I am so amazed at how much Noah has grown and how much I just love him! But... today is the 9 month deadline. [9 months to put it on, 9 months to get it off] So the positive thing is that today I weigh the same as I did before I got pregnant. But.... even though the number on the scale is not too bad, it's like things are just in the wrong places on my body. Haha. Won't get into detail on the bad stuff. :) Anyways, I have tried and tried to get my old body back. I thought it would be easier since I am chasing a baby around. I remember thinking how good I looked right after I had Noah (looking back at pics, I actually still looked like 4 months prego, but after being HUGE I felt pretty dang skinny.) Back in the first 2-3 months after I had him, I was losing more weight every day.... and I thought ,"Man, this is gonna be so easy!" HA. Boy was I wrong. Sure I fit in to all my pre-pregnancy clothes-they all just fit different. Cling in all the wrong places. Well, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing hopefully find some sort of exercise/diet routine that fits me and my lifestyle. :)

Here is a super adorable picture of my sweet little 9 month old! :) Love you baby.