^^Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback on this photo! haha, I feel like I should own up to the fact that I did my hair after I got home from church because I knew I wanted to take a nice Easter photo and I also borrowed this dress from my cousin FOR the photo (because it matched Stephen's tie soooo well) and only wore it for about twenty minutes because I was legitimately worried about ripping it. hahahaha At least you [hopefully] can't really tell in the photo ;)

seeing trees with beautiful blossoms // church yesterday (esp. sacrament meeting) // attending my aunt's sealing & seeing her so happy // the carrot cake my mom made // my mom being in town // my sister & brother in law visiting from washington // kierst telling me she watches my snapstories with her roommate // my cousin's bridal shower // making up my own rules to rat-a-tat-cat and teaching them to my nephews (who then taught them to my very confused mom and sister hahaha) // Lydia's snorts & growls // hanging out with Ann & Rachel in Santaquin // visiting the school I taught at last year and introducing my coworkers to Lydia //  playing "honey if you love me you'll smile" with my 6 year old nephew who told me he plays it with his friends at recess //

Stephen: "I should have warned you this salad has kale hiding in it. It's disgusting." 

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han.

24

going on a walk with my friend Taelor and taking our babies to see the ducks // going to a BBQ at a friend's new house in Lehi // going to the senior send-off finance dinner with Stephen while Lys and Bon babysat Lydia // Bon showing me that 14 people watched my snap-story! I had no idea I could track that, but I felt pretty cool when she showed me ;) // watching a video on VidAngel to celebrate Leap Day // Lydia's 4 month check-up which was actually really sad (because SHOTS) but it was very nice that Stephen was there with me :) // Mim interviewing Stephen & Me for her marriage and family class

25

continuing my snapstory obsession and saving them at the end of each day to compile into a video someday (if you're into seeing wayyy too many videos of Lyds all day long, feel free to follow along: freckledhan) // going to the provo rec center with Madi&Lewis and taking Lydia swimming for the first time (she was pretty indifferent about the whole experience but I thought it was fun!) // ALISON'S GEM JAM &&dancing with THEALISON herself AND when she commented on my instagram photo of the event #starstruck // taking Lydia to the park and seeing how much she LOVED the swing // going to storytime at the library with Madi and Lewis // using free taco coupons at 180 taco // watching Stephen dance with Lydia at a wedding reception on Saturday

Booo. I failed at posting my list last week :( The silly thing is that I even had most of it written, I just forgot to post it and then it was Thursday and I decided to just combine with this week's. Hopefully I'll stay on top of it for next week!

In other news I woke up at like 4:00 am on Saturday morning and WASN'T TIRED, so I laid in bed for an hour brainstorming blog post ideas before falling back asleep. hhahaha. Totally normal, right?? ;)

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han.

On Wednesday I went on a walk with Lydia. I've taken Lydia on walks before (though not many because the weather has been cold) but it was a beautiful afternoon and I needed to walk to a friend's house to return something so I decided to put Lydia in the stroller and walk over there. Lydia usually falls sleep in the stroller, but on this particular day she was totally alert and looking around. As we walked she busily looked in all directions with her mouth open just a little, occasionally letting out what I would call a "squawk of delight." Lydia is at such a fun age right now where little things that I don't even notice anymore are so fascinating to her. It's so fun to see the things that cause her to squeal with laughter (like ripping toilet paper or the sound of dropping a red plastic cup on the ground). Yes, kids are a lot of work, and sometimes at the end of the day I can't really think of anything I've "done," but I'm starting to figure out this mom life thing and I have to say, it's pretty great.

I snapped the pics above at the end of our walk on Wednesday, and they are my favorite pictures of her to date. (I hate to speak too soon, but it's looking like Lydia may have gotten her daddy's blue eyes after all, and I'm surely not complaining about that ;)) 

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han. 

This year was the third Valentine's Day Stephen and I have celebrated together. I take that back, it was actually the second because hiking Angel's Landing on Valentine's Day last year was definitely NOT A CELEBRATION!!!!!!!! But I digress. ;)

We had a lovely dinner at Pizzaria 712 and then dessert at Rockwell Ice Cream Co. (I highly recommend both.) Since Lydia was born we have had quite a few friends offer to babysit for us, but I've always thought it was easier to take her with us wherever we go since she still sleeps a lot. For our Valentines Date we finally took some friends up on the offer and I am honestly surprised at what a difference it made! I've never felt like it was stressful to have her with us, but actually being able to give Stephen 100% of my attention and not worry about Lydia needing anything was quite refreshing! Two and a half hours flew by and we had the best time just talking and laughing (and eating delicious food, of course).

Even though I'm finally getting this post out almost month after Valentine's Day, something about "the month of love" made me reflect on our love story and I realized I've never really done a post about it. I enjoy reading other people's accounts of their "love stories" so I thought it would be fun to do one! ...Then I remembered that were was a reason I've never done it. ha. I've never been very good at not including everyyy SINGLE detail when I'm telling a story, and seeing as our "courtship" covers a span of about 4.5 years...thinking about writing all of it out is a little overwhelming! BUT, as I was thinking about it, I remembered a part of our story that I'd almost entirely forgotten about. A part that actually happened ON VALENTINES DAY, I might add.

You see, it was Valentine's Day weekend of 2010 when I first realized that I MIGHT POSSIBLY have feelings for Stephen KIND OF, MAYBE. I had known Stephen for about five months (we met the day after moving into the dorms in August) and had been friends-ish starting around November. It was President's Day weekend (and subsequently Valentine's weekend), and my friend Melanie and I decided to roadtrip up to Rexburg, ID to visit our friend, Alyssa, who was attending school up there. On the four hour drive from Provo to Rexburg, Melanie and I filled the time with what I thought was myriad of topics. Shortly after we arrived, however, Melanie told Alyssa, "Hannah is totally in love with this guy named Stephen, she basically talked about him for two hours on the way here." I was SHOCKED! What was she talking about?! Sure maybe I had mentioned Stephen's name once or twice in the car. MAYBE I had told a funny story or two about a conversation we'd had after english class. And possibly one pertaining to the ridiculous inner-tube waterpolo team we were on. PERHAPS I had alluded to the fact that he had the most beautiful blue eyes I'd ever seen. But FEELINGS for him?!! WAS SHE CRAZY? Yes. She must be crazy.

I opened my mouth to defend myself and tell her she was being completely ridiculous when I stopped for a second and realized that maybe I HAD talked about Stephen for a good chunk of the car ride. NOT BECAUSE I LIKED him, though, simply because WE WERE FRIENDS. But Melanie's comment made me pause, and I didn't correct her, because in that moment I realized that she might actually be on to something...and boy oh boy I'm glad she was. ;)

_ _ _
han.

PS Shout out to Thomas&CeeCee for watching Lydia while we went on our Valentine's Date. Thanks guys!