She's a Feyonce

Shelbs got engaged last weekend (FINALLY!) and I couldn't be more excited -- my best friend will finally understand what it's like to get excited over dish towels and and 9x13 pans! Oh, and I guess I'm excited that she found someone she loves enough to spend eternity with. But back the important things! Like future Ikea trips! Off-brand grocery shopping! Mooching meals off of mom and dad! ...wait... she already does that! (kind of kidding) 

Really though, we are so excited Cade is the one who Shelbs chose! He has always been so, so good to Shelbs and he's obviously ready for marriage since we know he's reeeaaaallllyyy patient. Like, waited-for-Shelbs-for-nine-years kind of patient. And I'd be lying if I said Chris wasn't excited to have an in-law to go golfing with ha! Welcome to the crazy, Cade! 

CONGRATS, LOVEBIRDS! October 22, 2015 is officially marked on the calendar and the countdown has begun for those sister  Ikea trips... :)

"badge hype"

I had forgotten to take this badge off when I left my school to go meet Chris for dinner. As soon as Chris saw me he said, "Aww, I remember having badge hype, too!"  like I had intentionally left it on to be a conversation starter at dinner with his co-workers (physicians nonetheless!) or something.

I like to think that it was an honest mistake, but I'm pretty sure my subconscious had kicked in and told me to keep wearing the badge so that I wouldn't feel bad about the fact that the car I was climbing into had empty Swig cups everywhere + melted chocolate chips that had spilled from the granola bars I'd been frantically eating on my way to meetings this week + the selfie stick I made sure to remove from my purse before heading into said meetings. Like, who OK'd this girl to teach the future generation!?

But there is no denying that my badge does make me feel a little more official... and terrified... and excited all at the same time, so a little badge hype is normal, right?

Anyway, the first official day of school is in five days! F I V E. I can't even believe it! Is this real life or am I dreaming?! The only way to know if I'm dreaming is if I show up for the first day of school in a hideous, long, denim skirt and I'm not prepared with anything and my principal shows up to evaluate me and then fails me-- a popular dream these days.  I'm hoping the badge hype can get me through that first day...

Wish me luck!

my life is ending tomorrow

^^What a dark + dramatic title for this post, right?^^ But it's true... my life is ending tomorrow. Well, according to my mother-in-law and all other teacher's alike it is, because tomorrow I start my contract time as a full-time teacher (I just peed a little typing that)! WHAT?! Time to find those big girl pants I stuffed in the back of my closet way back in April, I guess.

In all honesty though, I'm excited to start being in the classroom--I need structure back in my life! I think the most structure I've had this summer is making sure I wake up in time to watch Live with Kelly & Michael and transfer clothes to the dryer before the mildew sets it. Also, anyone who knows me knows that I'm already ready for fall. It's not even summer to me anymore, it's just heat + chafed thighs.

Don't mistake my readiness for fall as me having a miserable summer, though. I have fully enjoyed it! In fact, last week was probably the best week of my summer yet, and what I've declared as "What the Summer of Shay was supposed to look like" all wrapped up into one week!  So here's what it looked like:

Monday: 

-Riding bikes with Chris to the temple and then admiring the temple from a distance in Tom and Martha's hot tub.

Tuesday:
-Going to see a movie at 10:30 in the morning with Martha... just because!
-Adding a bike to the family after having so much fun on Monday (click here to read Tonk's labor & delivery story)

Wednesday:
-Going on a looooong walk with Shelbs + discovering the amazingness of the dole whip shack in Pleasant Grove. Very good thing this wasn't discovered until last week, or there would've been a lot more thigh chafing this summer.
-Repelling for Young Women's. So scary, but what's the Summer of Shay without a little adventure? (and by adventure I mean slipping off the ledge and almost swearing in front of my bishop)

Thursday:
-School clothes shopping! Chris is convinced that the only reason I became a teacher was so that I'd always have summer off AND the excuse to go school clothes shopping (he's kind of right).

-Riding FrontRunner up to Salt Lake to meet Chris for an early date night! Chris wanted us to try this fancy Mexican restaurant called Alamexo and ay ay ay! It was SO good. My heart skips a beat just thinking about the queso and the complimentary churros! So, so yummy...  and a little pricey,.. but, yolo?
-Chris also taking me to get ice cream after dinner. Even though the place we went to didn't have the pineapple/coconut ice cream he was hoping for, we still indulged in some chocolate coconut ice cream.

Friday:
-Riding my bike on the Murdock Canal Trail to Pleasant Grove to visit my grandparents.
-Stopping at my parent's and making myself at home to the leftovers in their fridge.
-Tagging along on my parent's date night to Mi Ranchitos and then going to see The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (thanks, mom and dad!)

Saturday:
-Another walk with Shelbs.
-Swimming with the Gourley gang!
-Another dole whip.
-Sleeping over with the roomie's and watching another movie with Martha.

Sunday:
-Chris arriving home from his fella's camping trip!!!
-Celebrating Tom and Martha's 40th anniversary! And for anyone wondering, the secret to 40 years of marriage, it's p a t i e n c e ... or just knowing when to turn your head (advice from Tom G. ha!). Congrats, roomies!!!

What more could I ask for in the last week of the Summer of Shay?! Truth: probably more dole whip...but other than that, probably nothing!


Now off to recover those big girl pants...

Nymphadora Tonks: A Labor and Delivery Story

Nymphadora Tonks joined our family August 11, 2015 at 6:13pm weighing more than I could manage by myself. 

The day started out like any other day in the Summer of Shay: running, LIVE with Kelly and Michael, grocery shopping, and of course, Swig. I had just been in the middle of reading Harry Potter when I got a text that would forever change my life:

"Ok, you can come get it around 3:30."

She was here! I would finally get to meet this new addition to our family in only a couple of hours!

...or so I thought.

Going into it, I had a plan. I was going to use Tom G's truck to go pick it up and have Tom G just drive my car back up to the house after work. But for some reason, I thought getting Tom G's truck was a two person job, so I called my dad to help me (the anticipation for this new little one clouded my judgment, obviously). After looking for the keys to the truck for a good 20 min, I finally found them in the ashtray! One step closer to Tonks! Until I got this text:

"We should probably make it 4 to be safe."

Ugh. I had waited all afternoon, I guess I could wait another 30 minutes. So waited I did...at my dads work... following him around like a puppy ha. It was 3:45 when I got the next text:

"Hey so the bicycle is in my wife's car and she took it to work today because that's where the other person who was originally going to buy it was going to meet her. She still is not on her way home yet, so it might be later that we have to meet."

WHAT?! I had been waiting all day! Now I have to drive all the way home in Tom G's truck only to bring it back to Provo a couple of hours later? That's when all the doubts started to fill my mind. What if she's not cute in real life like she is in the KSL pictures? What if something is wrong with her? How am I going to be able to handle a new bike? Is there room for her in our home? 

After waiting for what felt like days I finally got the OK to come and get her! It was finally happening! The delivery itself probably took a whopping 2 minutes, which involved some awkward small talk with a girl named Jessica about how she's moving to California and then ended with me saying, "Thanks! See ya later!...wait... no I won't," and then asking her to help me load it into the truck because I lack upper body strength.

While the labor was long and painful, the quick and awkward delivery made up for it. I'm so excited for this new addition into the family. I love you, Nymphadora Tonks!

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Long story short: This was the best $30 KSL find in history! (thanks to Chris)




p.s. What do we think of the name? Obviously I want something Harry Potter related, and Tonks came to mind because of the pink! But I also thought I could name her Frenchy or Rizzo because after all, she IS a pink lady! Feel free to leave name suggestions in the comment section below.

"I Love You"

I forgot to mention in my last post another blessing that comes from going to Girl's Camp... Chris missing me! If you don't know what that looks like, here's a picture for you:

Is Chris my person, or is he my person? The man obviously knows the way to my heart.

Anyway, Chris missing me + me dropping hints the week before that I want to go on a "cute date" (a date that doesn't involve Netflix) = our date up at Tibble Fork! I love Tibble Fork, and I've been wanting to go back there with Chris ever since June 28th, 2012. Why? Because that was where we both first said "I love you" to each other! S'cute, right?

Really, though. It was s'cute! We recreated our date from 2012 and borrowed the same raft (thanks, Kat!), brought the same blue blanket, and used the same spinner while fishing. The only thing different this time around was that we didn't catch one.single.fish (poor, Chris) and the raft seemed to be a little more snug than we remembered... ha.

But one thing remained the same: the butterflies in my stomach as we cuddled beneath the stars and talked about our future. Oh, and the bats that swarmed all around us after we said "I love you" to each other... just to keep things interesting!

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I love you, Chris! Thanks for taking me back up to Tibble Fork.

embark

“Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day” (D&C 4:2).

Guys, I'm home from girl's camp! Showered! Wearing flip-flops! Braless! But don't let my excitement of washed body parts and breaking camp dress code fool you into thinking I didn't have a fabulous time there. Camp was so, so good. Like, so good that I feel terrible for ever having a bad attitude about it--camp was just what I needed.

The theme at camp this year was "Embark in the Service of God," so naturally, everything was nautical-themed and adorable. Anyway, all week we talked about embarking and how when you embark on something, you return different than when you started. So as corny as this next sentence is going to be, it's so true. I "embarked" on a journey to girl's camp and came back a different person (for the better). I returned home from my journey inspired to do better and serve more. I returned knowing that I am and can still continue to make a difference in my young women's lives. Most importantly, I returned with a strengthened testimony. 

Oh, and I returned as a self-proclaimed butterfly whisperer. Behold:

But in all seriousness, camp was so good and so what I needed to be doing last week! I feel spiritually (and maybe physically now that I've had two showers) refreshed and ready to take on the world! I love my young women, and hope that I can keep trying to be the best example I can be for them. 

THE CHURCH IS TRUE, GUYS! KEEP EMBARKING!

Happy Sunday!