happies

+ getting in my car and it being HOT. bless this spring weather, b l e s s it. 

+ cold cereal. give me ALL THE COLD CEREAL! specifically cinnamon toast crunch. 

+ rimmel london's provocalips. . . hi, lipsense dupe! ($7!!!)  

+ Chopped. like, c'mon, guys! you should know you don't just crumble an ingredient over your plate, don't make ice cream in the dessert round, and don't overcook your protein. i'm totally ready to be a contestant. . . obvs.

+ donkey kong country + dr. mario with chris. despite the tension it's caused in our marriage. ha!

+ fruit punch crystal light. mmm. 

+ walks along the jordan river trail. 

+ waiting for new nephews and nieces to join the fam. yay!

+ chris taking the trash out. always.

+ kickball with my students. also, this is the dream semester, i tell you! most perfect angel kids.

+ listening to the twins heartbeats two (okay, three...) times a day (bless my sister in law for letting me use her doppler!!!) + finding out the gender tomorrow! yay yay yay!! my students think gourley twins are boys... we'll see (hopefully)!

life is so, so good.

a tidbit of more love...

Yep, we're expecting TWINS!(!!!!!!!) We've never been so grateful + excited + scared + overwhelmed + every other kind of emotion there is to experience when finding out there are two humans growing inside your uterus! Obviously, this is one reason why I've been so absent from the blogging world, since every post in my draft box is like "HI! I'M GROWING TWO HUMANS!" But the other reason I've been a crappy blogger is because these babies took a lot of prayers + tears + time + fertility meds (that made me a semi-psycho B-word) to get here... which obviously is another post for another day. 

Even though it's still a little scary letting everyone in our secret, we can't help but feel so overwhelmed with the amount of love and support we've already received, we are SO blessed, and know these babies are already SO loved.

Here's to two more people I get to gush about on this little blog of mine...

September can't come soon enough.

Love Is. . .

Love is . . . 

Watching Family Feud + "Good answer, babe... can't believe it wasn't on there!" + "This show is freaking dirty."

Having "phone-free Friday."

Agreeing to go to high school basketball games for date night (Go, Vikings!).

Asking me to pluck your unibrow.

Having maybe a little too in-depth discussions about what gas stations have the best drinks and why.

Cooking waffles every Sunday morning.

Taking naps . . . on separate couches.

Admitting the other person is pretty funny.

Stopping at the grocery store on your way home from work for one missing ingredient for dinner.

Bragging to my students about you.

Grabbing 2 free packs of Smarties at the grocery store for you.

Good morning texts. Every day.

The reason I consider myself so lucky to be with Chris Gourley!!!

Happy Valentine's Day! XOXOX

p.s. If you want to read what else is love.... click here and here.

Resolutions

Is it bad that we're not even done with January and I'm already salad-ed out?! The resolution life just ain't for me! Jk. Me and Chris actually did make some resolutions this year...

Behold: 

 + Phone-free Friday!
 + Scriptures/family night every Monday night
 + Pay off truck + save _ _, _ _ _ in saving this year

That's it! We are keeping it simple this year, which is good, because I reeeaaalllly am sick of salad. BUT! I did buy the new Clean Simple Eats Winter Meal Plan, and I am SO excited about it. You know you did some damage over the holidays when you are actually craving healthy food... and your "fat pants" are starting to feel snug.

Aaand maybe I should make my own resolution to blog more? Because I miss it dearly. I was stalking myself and I realized I miss old blogging Shayli. She was so much happier + drinking way more diet Dr. Depper. Now I'm not saying there's a correlation between happiness and Dr. Pepper, but . . .

Anyway, here's to resolutions! + more blogging! + salads! (not really unless you count croutons covered in ranch a salad... because that's all that's doing it for me now).

2016 Beauty Favs

. . . because everybody is doing it! Also, I know pretty much all of these products I mention have been out for a long time and were not released in 2016... but these were the products that I have enjoyed most this year!

Primer: NYX Angel Veil Primer. I feel like this primer is one that anyone would love... whether you're oily, dry, large pores, etc. it makes your foundation go on SO smooth and last a long time. The only downfall about this is that it IS one of the more pricey products from NYX.

Foundation: IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream. Oh, Ulta... why did you have to give me a sample of this stuff? After months of literally squeezing out every.last.drop of it, I finally broke down and just bought the full-sized tube. I love this stuff because it looks so natural on the skin, but it's still full coverage. With that being said, you will need to blend this stuff out with a brush or a damp sponge, don't try to rub it in like a tinted moisturizer, or it'll be a complete disaster! Also, this stuff smells good, like citrus... I love it.

Concealer: Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer. Everybody and their dog on Youtube talked about this stuff this year... and for good reason. The tiniest bit of the product goes such a long way, and I love the huge doe foot applicator! This stuff is extremely full coverage, but it's super easy to blend out. If you can ever find your color in stock... just buy it. You won't regret it. And just in case you're wondering, this stuff smells good, too!

Brows: Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duo. Been using this stuff for two years... only just this month did I have to open up a new one! I've tried other brow products from Anastasia, but I feel like powder is what works best for me and my brows. Annnnd that's all I'm gonna say about that, because brows are boring.

Eyeshadow: Makeup Geek. Why it took me so long to purchase these, I have no idea. Maybe it was the fact that they were single eyeshadows? + the thought of having to get a z-palette just seemed too intimidating for my eyeshadow palette loving heart! But I'm so happy I finally purchased some (peach smoothie, creme brulee, cocoa bear, prom night, and grandstand), because they blend out so well, and are very pigmented. Plus, I just feel kinda fancy whipping out a z-palette now ha! (Am I Jaclyn Hill yet?!) I definitely understand why these shadows have been talked about on Youtube for years!

Eyeliner: Essence gel liner. I feel like no one talks about the brand Essence! It's so freaking dirt cheap and such good quality! I feel like it's even cheaper than E.L.F! Anyway, I decided to try their gel eyeliner, since my Maybelline one was drying out, and I'm so glad I did! It's literally half the price of Maybelline's... and Maybelline's is already cheap! I feel like this gel liner is even better than Maybelline's... it's creamier and blacker! There's a lot of things from Essence that I love, but this is probably my favorite. This brand is seriously the best kept secret at Ulta!

Mascara: Butter London Double Decker Lashes. This is another product I have to blame (or thank?) Ulta for giving me a sample of, otherwise I would have never even looked at this, but it was truly love at first swipe. The brush reminds me a lot of the Loreal Voluminous and the Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara- so obviously it's a volumizing mascara. I must say that my other favorite mascara this year would still be the Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara, too... I will always love it (and the price).

Bronzer: Hoola Bronzer by Benefit. "If it's not broken, don't fix it"-my motto for this bronzer, since I've been using it for almost 3 years. Maybe my 2017 resolution should be to branch out and try more bronzers?! I really just love this stuff so much. It's the perfect color on everyone I put it on!

Blush: Milani Baked Blush in "Luminoso". Why was I so late to this party?! Oh well, I'm on the luminoso train, and I don't see myself stopping anytime soon. This stuff is the perfect everyday color blush, and I love that it gives you a little highlighted glow! I have never hit pan on a blush until this... that's how much I'm obsessed with this stuff.

Highlight: Champagne Pop by Becca x Jaclyn Hill (of course). I think another 2017 resolution would be to branch out with more highlighters... but I think I will always love this the most, mostly because Jaclyn Hill created it ;) #highlightonfleek

Setting Spray: Urban Decay De-Slick Setting Spray. Ain't NO oil getting through my huge-A pores while I'm wearing this stuff! This spray is an oily girl's best friend.

Lip products: Buxom Lipgloss in "White Russian," Bareminerals Marvelous Moxie gloss in "Rule Breaker," and NYX retractable lip liner in "Sand Beige" This year I was all about those super glossy, almost wet looking lips (thanks Kardashians). Most days I would line and fill my lips with NYX lipliner in "nude" and then throw on one of these lip glosses. Sooooo pretty + easy + no worrying about it being on my teeth.




Annnnd there you have it! My 2016 beauty favs! What products do I need to try in 2017?! You know I'll take any excuse to go to Ulta.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, peeps.

Our day was filled with all the things that matter in life: The Savior, family, and food (of course). Oh, and me trying to bribe Chris to wear a freaking Santa hat with me, which as you can see, didn't really work out despite my best attempts at bribing Chris with a back massage to an entire episode of Modern Family (bah humbug, Chris!). 

I hope you had a Merry Christmas, and Chris hopes you had a Santa-hat-free Christmas!

Love, 

The Gourleys

when I said we're leaving our mattress in the living room...

... I really meant it.

Besides the occasional trip to the grocery store + Swig (my punchcard loves me!), we have pretty much set up camp in our living room.

Who woulda known that simply putting a mattress in the living room is all it takes to make me actually like watching hours of sports? I wish I could say the mattress gave Chris the same tolerance to watch Hairspray Live!, but it didn't (please tell me you watched it?!).

Now I know I said #noshame when it came to having a mattress in our living room, which is still true, but I think there is a little shame to be had when people come over and see it... do they think we're fighting and Chris has to sleep downstairs? Or maybe they just think we're really white trash? Which they wouldn't be completely wrong, seeing as how we've made a nice little border with our Swig cups. . .

Anyway, now you know where to find us + you'll understand why our bellies are giving Santa a run for his money.


p.s. CHRISTMAS IN 10 DAYS!!!! How?!