So excited!

Notice the new addition to my sidebar. We are so excited! We expect Baby Aardema in mid July.

Halloween cuties

Brian's sister and brother-in-law came up to visit last weekend to celebrate Brian's birthday and his niece Brook's birthday. Since they won't be up again until Thanksgiving, they brought their Halloween costumes and modeled them for us. SOOO cute! Why can't adults look that cute in Halloween costumes?

So Proud!

I am so proud of this man right here! He studied so hard and is now a licensed radiation therapist! We were both thrilled when he passed it and we went to the cheesecake factory to celebrate. Now we just need to find him a job that he loves ;)

Go cougars!

We had so much fun last night with family and friends! We had my sister Katie over, my cousin Madison and her husband and son, Cody and Isaac, and my friend Tori and her husband and daughter, Dustin and Mckenzie. We are all die hard BYU fans and had a lot of fun watching the game even though BYU lost. We made dinner and ate snacks and visited. It was hard to stay focused on the game with the 2 cute babies around! We hope to do it again sometime soon!

We are in love!

We have fun just taking pictures together after church! He also bought us a beautiful mirror to put up in our living room and a beautiful clock. We are making this house a home slowly, but surely!

I am loved!

This birthday was one of the best by far! I came home to our kitchen decorated by my cute husband. He also spent a lot of time making banana cream pie, one of my favorite foods. He gave me 3 gifts, a cute coat, shoes made for people who spend all day on their feet, and a Kindle. I was thrilled and spoiled and it was great ;)

Visitors!

So we had our first visitors of our married life. You all know how much I love visitors and it was so fun to have my cousin Tiffany here with her husband and kids for the weekend. They went to church with us and then poor Brian had to go to work while we drove around Salt Lake looking for Elizabeth Smart's house (yes we are stalkers). We found it though! Then we went to this cool park where all of the pictures were taken. They left this morning and I miss them already!

Perks

One of the many perks of marrying Brian is becoming the aunt to these 3 cute girls. Granted, the youngest one is not my biggest fan because, before I came along, Brian was her man and she shared him with no one. She did let me hold her on Friday though which is a huge deal! The oldest two happen to adore me so it makes up for it. The oldest one keeps asking me if I am really her aunt now and when I say yes, she gets all giddy. The middle one is always telling me how funny I am and, from what I heard, talks to me all the time on her fake cell phone. It is such a tough life to be so adored ;)

Sheepy

This is the story of a little stuffed animal named Sheepy. He used to be full of fluff and white as can be, but now he/she (depending on the day) is off white with almost no fluff left. He has something a lot better than fluff...he has the love of a little 2 year old named Mary Deane! Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, he got to be in the Jones family picture because he is loved by the Jones family.

Every time that I skype with MD, I have to say hello to sheepy and she tells me how sheepy is doing. Sometimes I even get to say "Sweet dreams" to sheepy too. I love that little thing like he is one of my nieces/nephews (depending on the day).

So there you have it, you now know the story of sheepy, oh, and you get to see an adorable picture of my whole family too!

P.S. I think it is hilarious that the photographer had to keep my mom smiling instead of the two children. Good times!

Brian's 2nd love!

It has been so endearing to watch Brian care for this fragile little tomato plant. He wakes up every morning and will not let himself forget to water it before he leaves for the day. He talks to it while he is watering it and tells it how beautiful it is getting. Yesterday I got a panicked text begging me to please water his plant because he forgot to! I had to chuckle. At least I know he is able to care for something else with so much love. It has given me a small glimpse into the kind of father he is going to be someday and it makes me love him even more.

The new addition to our home

Thanks to Brian's mom helping, we have a new fridge! It is sooooo much better than our old fridge. The old fridge was older than I am and froze everything in the fridge. This one has so much more room and is nicer looking.
Oh and in case you were wondering, married life is AMAZING! We don't see much of each other actually so some days it still feels like I am single. In a couple of weeks though, that will change because I will be out of school and Brian will be home studying for his big board exam.
I have started my masters and am always doing homework, but at least at the end of this week, I can do homework at home and get stuff done around the house, like maybe actually put away our wedding gifts!

Just in case you forgot...

I am getting married in 1 WEEK!!! This is my last Friday as single woman and I could not be more excited!

"I"m in love, I'm in love and I don't care who knows it!"

This is a famous quote from the hilarious movie Elf. Let it be known that this is going to be a gushy post so stop reading if you don't like gushy. I am absolutely in love with this man. He is so good to me. I am, often times, a difficult person to deal with and he is so patient with me. I can not wait until I can call him my husband and equal partner. I love him for his imperfections and the way he is perfect for me!
Okay gushing over...for now ;)

The announcement!

Thanks so much to my sister-in-law Rachel, our announcement turned out to be amazing. We love everything about it! Hopefully a lot of you get yours in the mail soon!

A little sneak peak!

My amazing sister-in-law, Rachel, took my engagement pictures yesterday and I thought I would give a little sneak peak. I will put them on facebook too, but I am at school still and not allowed to get on facebook. I have a lot of favorites, but here are 3 of them. We are adorable, don't you think? ;)

Just a little shout out!

For those who do not have facebook or who are not connected with me on facebook, I am getting married! I am pretty dang thrilled about it and Brian is amazing so that is great too. The big day is May 27th, quick I know. When your parents live in Hawaii and your brother and family live in Virginia, you have to work around their schedules. Plus, when you know, you know and why wait.

day 29-a picture of something you would like to do before you die

I know I talk a lot about my job and how much I love it. I do love it, but one thing I would love to do before I die is to be a mom. I think it would be so fun and wonderful and hard and rewarding all at the same time. I have watched most of my friends become moms and they just do it naturally. I can't wait until I get to be one!

Day 28-your hopes, dreams, plans for the next 365 days!

Well hopes, dreams and plans are very different things so I thought I would list them differently.

Plans
1. Be almost done with my 3rd year of teaching in 365 days.
2. Be 2/3 of the way done with my masters.
3. Have my house painted.
4. Meet my nephew by then and snuggle my niece if she will let me.
5. Enjoy summer break

Hopes and dreams
1. Go on a trip to California when I get time and money
2. Be closer to being married or even possibly already married ;)
3. Put away more money into my savings account
4. Be a better teacher than I am today

There you have it!

Day 27-someone you could not imagine your life without

I talk a lot about this little girl, but I honestly forget what my life was like without her. I still remember going to meet her the day after she was born and tears just fell down my face because she was so beautiful. We had an instant connection. She learned my name quickly and when I went to visit, was my little side kick. She always made sure that wherever she went I was going too. She knows what she wants and she does what she needs to to get it, which is my personality as well. She will talk to anyone who will listen, which is also how I am. I just love this little girl so much and am so happy that she is in my life!

Day 26- a photo of where you live

Here is my first home, my pride and joy!

Day 25-your worst habit

My worst habit would have to be beating myself up. I do it constantly! I need to get over it. I am not helping anyone by doing it. That is all!

Day 24-a recipe

So those of you who know me well, know that I do not cook! I can bake, but not cook. I have however discovered these lately and I love them. They are cheap and they have a lot of options. I think Brian is getting sick of them though ;)

Day 23-something that has had an impact on your life recently

So the atonement of Jesus Christ has on impact on my life daily! I couldn't think of anything specific for recently so I picked this because it is always having an impact on my life. I am so grateful for the atonement and all that it means to me.

Day 22-a picture of your future wedding

I am not one of those girls who has the details of my wedding already planned. I do however really love sunflowers and would like to incorporate them into my wedding somehow. Here are some fun ideas that I like. I want the bridesmaids to wear brown dresses like this picture shows a little.

Day 21-a hobby of yours

Yes my hobby is watching sports! I love to do it, especially when my cougs win! Last night, my gentleman friend realized just how crazy I get while watching BYU sports. I am still not sure if he likes the crazy Karlie or if he is afraid of the crazy Karlie. I would be scared personally ;)

Day 20-a talent of yours

I know I look ridiculous in this picture but this is my "award" for passing my praxis. I like to think that teaching is my talent because I happen to be good at it!

Day 19-a photo of a place you would like to travel to

My students are doing their big country reports and it is making me want to travel like crazy! The one that I have loved the most, and this might be because of the cold weather here, but I would love to go to the Bahamas!

Day 18- a photo of a favorite memory

I have so many good memories, but the day that this little guy was born was one of them. I LOVE being an aunt, even with my only niece and nephew so far away. They just make my heart happy. I loved when his big sister was born too!

Day 17-your favorite website

Sad I know, but I love facebook. Not to the point where I am on it everyday for hours, but I just love to see what people are up to and get updates. I also LOVE looking at pictures. I would even look at pictures of people I don't know. I am just weird like that.

Day 16-a song that makes you cry

I already love this song, but this version just tugs at my heart strings and makes me cry a little every time!

Day 15-a photo of yourself and a new friend you met this year

For fear of making people gag, I will refrain from talking about how incredible this new friend is. I will just say that I am one lucky girl! I am treated like a queen and I love that we truly are friends and that we can talk to each other for hours and it feels like minutes. Okay, okay I know I promised not to gush. Anyway, I am sure glad that I met and made friends with this incredible man this year.

P.S. Sorry about the quality. They are pictures of pictures.

Day 14- a photo of a person you would like to trade places with for a day

It is not that I think her life is perfect by any means. I just wouldn't mind looking like this for a day! I think she is so beautiful and so funny!

Day 13-a description of what is in your purse

My purse is pretty boring because I am not really a "purse carrying girl." Here is a list of what is in it right this second.

-my ipod
-my phone
-my chapstick
-my wallet
-a pack of gum
-compact powder
-my class list (why I don't know)
-flash drive.

Why yes my life is so exotic thanks for asking!

Day 12-something you are OCD about

I do not lay my head on my pillow to sleep without crossing my day off the calendar. It gives me a sense of accomplishment that I made it through another day and that I did a lot that day! I am also the countdown queen and always looking to the future (something I am working on), so I like to see how much of the month I have accomplished already. I get made fun of for it by a certain gentleman in my life, but what can you do? ;)

p.s. I am OCD about a lot of things, but this one was my favorite.

Day 11- a photo that makes you angry/sad

This makes me sad for people who have to be in floods and who lose things. There were not a lot of pictures that make me mad or sad, but this one was on MSN and it made me sad so there you go!

Day 10-a photo that makes you happy

How could this picture not make you happy? I had the privilege of skyping with this little one yesterday and she was so tickled to see her grandpa and love on him. She called me crazy and she called him sexy, which was amusing. The thing I love most about her is that she cracks herself up and she loves to laugh! That is a quality that her and I share so we end up laughing at each other a lot. I hope this picture made your day better!

Day 9-your dream house

Cheesy I know, but I am living in it. I moved around ALOT growing up and we always had to worry about the furniture and how we treated it because it was not ours. I guess it taught us amazing manners, but anyway, it made me always just want a house to call MINE. So while it is not a perfect house, it is my dream house because it is mine and so is all the stuff in it!

Day 8-your favorite quote

Okay so I fail at the whole blogging thing. I have been ridiculously busy and I keep adding things to my schedule to do and blogging has just not been on the top of my to do list. Plus I am not a "quote" lover person so this day was going to be hard for me. My students did biographies for their January book reports and one of my students did Helen Keller. I really loved this quote by her...

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

This is the story of my life, but I have really been working on it lately so hopefully I will start to see the open doors for me!

Day 7-a picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest

Well there are so many great people that I have been close to for a long time, but this girl right here is at the top of my list. I prayed my little heart out for her and I finally got the sister that I longed for. She has taught me so much in her short life! She taught me how to not always hang out with our brothers and to be more girly. She taught me how to pick the right eye shadow for my eye color and she still helps me dress sometimes! My mom always says that when Katie and I get together we are "untouchable." I agree. No one will ever have the sister bond with me that Katie does! Love you Katie!

Day 6-your favorite book

So I realize I missed a day yesterday, but we can just pick up where I left off! So this is my favorite book for many reasons. I love the main character Mary and I love her stubborn personality, because I am, in fact, very stubborn. I love all the different relationships that are formed in this book. Mostly I love it though because it is the book that taught me how to read and it is the book that my mom used to read to me every night or whenever we had a chance. It was one of the few times that I had my mom all to myself and we would leave our world of reality and go to The Secret Garden together! I still have a clear picture in my mind of all of those wonderful nights!

Day 5-favorite tv show

I am a reality tv junkie! I can't help it! I get nervous the night of vote off and I get invested in these people's lives. So here are a couple of my favorites!