A Year Ago Today She Was Born

She's sweet.

She's soothing.

She's smiley.

She's Sassy.

Photography Credit to my amazingly talented sister Brooke Hoopes. Thanks for taking the time Brooke! Your the best!

Thanksgiving Fun with the Brown's

It's Been such a great thanksgiving day. Jaron's little sister Chelice came down from Idaho to enjoy the festivities with the local Provoan's (i.e. Jaron, Liv, Me, Danny, and Amber). The girls spent the morning in the kitchen while the boys raked leaves outside. Jaron cooked the turkey and did a wonderful job at it.

3 hours of toil and grime and finally we have a plate of food that takes approximately ten minutes to enjoy, but it really is worth it! :) Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope your holiday has been as good as ours. I feel so grateful for so many things in my life one of which is family and friends. Enjoy your holidays loved ones!

Because I love the Unkown. . .

Hey friends, family, loved ones, and curious browsers who happen upon our humble blog while following links,

(this is Jaron speaking by the by)

After several minutes of serious deliberation, we have chosen (out of three possible job offers) to go work for a company called nhc (lower case letter on purpose-check their site by following the link) aka Northwest Hydraulic Consultants. They, and soon I, do water resource engineering type of working, specifically specializing in the environmental/restoration kind of thing that is big in the northwest. If you really want to see what I'll be up to, check out the website and look at the "List of services" link on their site. They seem to be a very cool company, and best of all have told me they don't need me to start until February or so, so that leaves some post graduation time for traveling, lounging, and other activities. nhc is located in Renton, WA, a smallish town just outside Seattle, (hence the northwest in the name), so we'll be moving there sometime in January. There is a good chance we won't be living at the top of a hill, so we might have to change the blog name.

Question:

Isn't it a little early for this kind of behavior?

Lola, L. O. A- lay Lola!

I've known my my best friend Laura since I was six years old. Now she is almost 22 and I am 24. 18 years of friendship. That is pretty awesome. Anyway I just wanted to show her off a little. The link below takes you to a video of Laura singing her song that she composed and wrote all on her own. Not only is she an awesome pianist, but she's a great singer! She's so beautiful and talented! Here it is folks. Enjoy! Too bad the only people that will look at this blog are all married, because she is single and looking!

The recording is kind of a bad one, so I recommend hearing her live. It doesn't even compare.

Laura's Song

Doubly Tagged!

Ok so I've been doubly tagged by my dearest friends ELISE and ASHLEY Thanks a lot guys!

Here we go, 7 randoms things about me:

1. I'm scuba certified. Not the most novel thing in the world, I know, but I have to put it because it was truly a fear that I overcame and am quite proud of. You see, I have asthma, and one of the great blessings that has come from having asthma in my life is an extreme gratitude for the ability to inhale precious air. In conjunction with these feelings of gratitude I also have a fear of not being able to breath. Consequently, I get very claustrophobic under water. A few years ago my husband's grandmother decided she would take us on a trip to the Caribbean where some of the best scuba diving in the world is done. I knew I had to get certified. I did, and I've scuba dived down to depths of 100 feet. I do not say this to brag, only to give hopes to those of you who have experienced similar fears. You can do anything you put your mind to!

2. My favorite thing to do lately is go for hikes with Jaron and Liv. The other day we hiked to the Y. I hadn't done it since I was ten, and Jaron hadn't done it in a long time either. There is something that feels so good about being in nature, exercising, and climbing to the top of a mountain. When we got to the top, the sun was just starting to set, and I felt like we were on top of the world. It's moments like those where I stop and think about our Creator. What a beautiful world He created, and my heart fills with gratitude.

3. I hate reading the newspaper or watching the news. I have been accused in my day of being a little naive and sheltered, and you know, it's not something that I am ashamed to admit. One time I had a guy friend tell me that I needed to be more updated on the things going on in the world so I tried reading the newspaper from start to finish every day for three days. I hated it! I found myself more depressed and fearful as I went about my every day life. So, I might be a little naive, but I sure am happy. :)

4. My greatest joy in life is being a mother (Elise I'm going to copy you on this one). There is something so rewarding about serving a little creature day in a day out. Being a mother has forced me to be more selfless. Some days are more rewarding than others, but every day is a blessing. I feel so grateful for Liv. She is my little angel baby. Sometimes when she looks at me, my testimony is renewed, and I am reminded of Heavenly Fathers love for me. She makes me feel so blessed!

5. I never really thought of myself as a girlie girl growing up, because I've always enjoyed to do a lot of boy-like things, such as long boarding, biking, hiking, playing Halo, camping, and even throwing baseballs around. But the truth is I have a severe weakness for fun jewelry, expensive make up, beautiful flowers (hint hint Jaron), fancy pedicures, and cheesy chick flicks. Does it get any more girlie than that??

6. I love Utah. Come December Jaron and I will be getting done with Graduate school and moving on to a career. It may or may not be local, but either way, it has provoked some serious thoughts about the things I love in my homeland. I love riding my bike down the Provo canyon trail with the beautiful fall leaves colorfully dotting the ground. I love the summer afternoons spent wake-boarding on Utah Lake, and coming home so sore and tired, but sleeping so good that night. I love the stony mountains that are only 100 feet from my front door. I love being able to walk outside and see Timpanogus covered with freshly- fallen snow, with the contrast of the bright blue sky in the back round. I love the spring time in Utah when the popcorn starts popping on the apricot trees.:) I love the Provo temple. I love having my family so close. Oh, I better stop, now I'm getting sad. The list could go on.

7. I love being around people that make me want to be a better person. Which makes me desire to be that kind of person also. Fortunately, most of the people I know invoke this kind of a reaction. So thanks guys. And thanks for listening to my seven random things.

Your supposed to tag seven people, but I'm just going to tag two:
Stephanie Jones and Brooke Hoopes.

These are the rules:

• write seven things about yourself
• make a link to your tagger in your blog entry somewhere
• tag seven other people
• let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.

P.S. If you don't have time to do this, it is perfectly fine. It is just something fun to do if you need a distraction.

One Year Older and Wiser Too (. . . I doubt it)

Do you ever find yourself wishing you were six years old again? I do. :)

As most of you probably already know, yesterday was my birthday! I turned the big 24! I'm happy about this new age. I'm going to live it up while I'm still in the lower half of my third decade of life.

It was a wonderful birthday. Jaron went in to work a little bit late so that he could watch Liv while I went for a run around the loop, which felt soo good. Then, when I came home I jumped in the shower and came out only to find myself a delicious breakfast and a little pile of presents! It was glorious. I have the best husband!

After Jaron got home from work/school, we went for a little bike ride to Utah Lake with Liv in the bike seat. It was a beautiful day. Then Jordan and Taryn offered to take Liv (Thank you so much J & T! You're the best!) so Jaron and I could go out to eat at this great Italian Restaurant in SLC. It was so much fun. We spent two and a half hours just out to eat. It was so nice to have a conversation with out any interruptions for that long!

I just like to give a special thanks to my wonderful parents and in-laws for the nice gifts and to all the people who made my day great by wishing me a happy birthday! I love you all!

My Beautiful Balerina

Here are the picture's you asked for: Enjoy! :)
View from the front,

from the side,

from behind,

and lastly, on a bike!