^^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." 

_ _ _ 

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?? ;)

_ _ _

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 ;)) 

_ _ _

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!

cashing in our free burrito coupons at chipotle // having Alyssa and Bon over for dinner // receiving my "happy package" from Emily  // watching fixer-upper with Madi and Campbell // going on a walk to the park with Mad & 4 kids under the age of 4 // the WARMTH (outside) // BBQing burgers with our friends The Sheffields and Churches - we're sure gonna miss them when everyone moves this summer! :(( // bouncing (ever so lightly) on the trampoline with Lydia and making her laugh really really hard // trying "thai rolled ice cream" at Roll With It Creamery <-- I had the strawberry shortcake with nutella and I highly recommend it! // finding the PERFECT light-wash jeans at old navy && them being on sale // coloring in Lydia's eyebrows // Stephen's football intramural game where Lydia was ZONKED out and Stephen caught three touchdown passes // tying the string of a helium balloon to Lydia's buttons so she could have something to look at (it kept her entertained for like 20 minutes!) // monthly family skype&scattergories // posting to my snapstory and then making stephen watch it because he's one of like 5 people that follow me on snapchat (haha) // putting flower-sunglasses on Lydia // my cousin Sarah and her fiancé bringing us a delicious crockpot dinner :) 

"Let's write mommy: M-O-M." -Kimbal, age 4

A thought on happy lists: I've mentioned before that I have a hard time knowing how to be REAL (aka not "fake") on social media while also not bringing negativity to a space that already has too much of it. I don't do these happy lists every week to brag about how wonderful my life is or to make people think my life is better than theirs. Trust me - I have my struggles both personally (this week I made the goal to brush my hair everyday and so far I'm 2 for 2 which is already a drastic improvement from last week! ha!) and as a mom (last Thursday I accidentally scratched Lydia in the forehead and made her bleed - now she has a scab!) but I record these lists because it's a great reminder for me to focus on the little things every day that make me laugh and make me happy. I have an amazing life and I love it - but I promise it's not perfect! My friend Emily (who inspired me to start recording these) explained why she started writing them in this post . She learned in a class that people who make a weekly list of things they are happy about/grateful for:

-  tend to be happier and more satisfied with their lives

- are more observant and aware of the small beautiful things in day to day life that are normally overlooked

Isn't that cool?! It's such a simple thing and it increases happiness! You should try writing one and see if it makes a difference in your life,
_ _ _
han.

Yesterday, Stephen and I decided to color in Lydia's eyebrows with some eye shadow because we thought it would be funny. . . 

...we were right. It was hilarious. 

PS No those aren't Lydia's crocks, baha, but the last picture was just TOO FUNNY not to include. (Poor girl...)

A couple weeks ago the RootsTech conference (which centers around Genealogy & Family History) took place in Salt Lake. I didn't attend the conference, but one of my friends posted a link on Facebook that broadcasted different segments of the conference online. Since I spend most of the day at home with Lydia, I was able to listen to a few hours of the conference and found it really interesting! I was especially excited to be able to listen to one of my favorite bloggers (LoveTaza) and her husband give the Friday morning keynote address. 

When you think about it, blogging is kind of a weird concept - what is it about certain people and blogs that draw thousands and millions of readers every month? Naomi and Josh touched on this during their presentation, and the answer they came up with? STORIES. People love stories, and learning about other people's stories connects you to them. It doesn't matter if they are some random person you've never met living on the other side of the world, if they are a distant relative, or maybe an ancestor that lived 100 years ago - people feel connected through stories. 

“Some people might say, ‘I’m not really sure I have a story. They might say, ‘There’s not much to my story’ or ‘No one would be interested,’ but we want to tell you that you do and there is and they would be. You’re already writing your own story, whether you like it or not. The exciting part is it’s up to you to choose how you want to live and how your story will go. Your story doesn’t have to be like anyone else’s story because it’s yours.” -Josh Davis (as quoted in THIS ARTICLE by Deseret News)

I've mentioned before on my blog that I enjoy blogging and I do it primarily for myself. I like that it's a form of record keeping, and I enjoy writing and taking pictures, so blogging really is the perfect outlet/hobby for me. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I also like blogging because it's interactive. I like that it's out there on the internet for other people to read. I LOVE it when people tell me that they read my blog. I LOVE when people leave comments and acknowledge that my blog exists. I love that blogs connect me with friends that I haven't seen or talked to in a long time and makes me feel like I'm friends with people I've never met!

“Sometimes I feel like, 'Why do people want to tune in or follow along? Because I’m not climbing Mount Everest or starring in some big Broadway show. So much of my life is just the everyday, but I really do believe that the everyday is such a beautiful thing if you live your everyday with purpose.” -Naomi Davis

Listening to this keynote address made me proud to have a blog! It made me even more excited to record little tidbits from the everyday. It made me want to redouble my efforts to share STORIES (<--something that I plan to do more of!) 

Thank you for taking time to read my blog! I really do appreciate it, 

_ _ _

han.

PS If you don't have a blog, you should start one! I would love to read it! If you do have a blog and I don't follow it already, let me know! I'm always looking for more blogs to follow :)

a belated Valentine's date with my forever valentine on Monday // trying Rockwell ice cream co. (&& then going back later in the week with my family because it was that good!) // finally going to the Provo city center temple open house // getting a few things that have been on my to do list for about a month DONE // having my parents here for the weekend // being able to be with my sister Mim as she received her endowments // this fajita recipe // two-days of Spring weather // Lydia's six month dress that was way too big but SO CUTE I dressed her in it anyway // writing two blog posts (in addition to this one - to be posted this week!) // Lydia being old enough to entertain herself for 15-20 minutes on the playmat // my friend Taelor bringing us homemade doughnuts // this BYU parody of Inside Out (that Miriam showed us before it went viral ;))

I forgot to write down any funny quotes :( 

_ _ _

han.