thanks for the memories 2012

2012 was quite the year for us. i had high expectations and gratefully the year did not disappoint. it really was my year.

january started out a bit rough.... mitch and i stayed home and rung in the new year playing games and spending time together. cezar injured his leg somehow new years eve and wouldn't use it. actually he could barely walk. a trip to the vet on monday showed no serious injury and seems to have sprained it somehow.  the jetta died on us at the car show mid january and we got lucky with an incredible deal on the Z. i also found out that i had mono on top of being hypothyroid.

february things started to swing upwards for me. i was still feeling the effects of mono and was learning how to deal with my health limits. we celebrated valentines and i managed to surprise mitch with a car full of ballons and a few gift cards to the car wash and his favorite smoothie place. work was showing all the signs of spring. which is undoubtedly my favorite time of year there. grandma holdaway was struggling with her health and we thought we were going to lose her. i was able to extend myself and help out at the house with her and grow to love her in a whole new capacity. i also started practicing yoga and it brought a new balance and happiness to my life.

march. all my spring shipments started arriving. i was feeling a bit better health wise. i located some darling baby silkie chicks which started my desire to have chickens. mitch and i finally conquered our main wall and painted over the not so lovely nutmeg color.

april i tackled more than i could handle. i was busy in the greenhouse trying to keep on top of everything. amy texted me to see if i'd be interested in helping her out again with the boys. i absolutely wanted to do so and figured out a way to squeeze her into my schedule. mitch was hesitant and i felt like i could be superwoman...... i quickly realized that 50+ hour weeks weren't going to be in my favor and that the garden center needed my full attention. not to mention i felt like i was taking way too many steps backwards in my health.

may. the busiest month of the year for me. april showers bring may flowers... and mother's day brings out all our customers. i managed to get my garden started and spent as much time with the boys as i could.

june. we celebrated mitch's birthday. spent time with friends and family. i was finally feeling on top of the world health wise {as much a possible} i was started to enjoy the first of my garden harvest. we squeezed a few hikes in with the boys. abby had my take her and russell's engagement photos too.

july was a busy month for us. we started out celebrating my birthday and having an adventure down in zion's subway. nanna joined us on our vacation along with mom and dad dayley and ashley and brendon. abby and russell got married on the 14th. plus we survived all the smoke in the air from the many many wildfires.

august i was thrilled with being able to harvest lots of goodies from my garden. we added a few new toys to the household - mitch got his fourwheeler and i in turn got a camera upgrade :) we attended the salt lake city farmers market. i got to being the 'photographer' for my cousins wedding. plus we managed to fit in a boating trip with joe and his girlfriend. on top of everything... i seemed to be the only employee that was able to work that month. everyone one had vacations and previous engagements.

september we celebrated cezar's 2nd birthday. made a day trip to idaho to surprise grandpa hatch for his 80th birthday and visit my grandpa taylor. harvest season was in full swing and i finally got to taste the joy of digging in the garden for the potato harvest. it's like a treasure hunt. finally manged to get back into the swing of yard work. the summer heat had taken it's toll on me and the yard. plus we had a overnight camp trip to the dunes with joe and alyson. it was quite the adventure sleeping under the stars, joe burning his hand on the camp ring and a fox sneaking into camp. it was the perfect little getaway.

october came and so did pumpkinland. the 2nd busiest season for me. {a double dose of birth control} our theme was alice in pumpkinland which was by far the most favorite from all the years. we also made an unexpected trip to idaho to be with family with grandma dayleys passing. we were grateful we made it in time to say goodbye. mitch was also studying for his 66 license exam. gratefully he passed even with all the current challenges. we also celebrated our 3rd anniversary. worked on conquering my fears of snakes and scary movies and haunted houses.... i'm better than i was. and we also traded in the Z for a hybrid. the Z was allergic to snow and we are old people now and enjoy the comfort of a full sized car ;)

november brought new changes to work. sanna left and i became the manager. there was a lot of clean up from pumpkinland to be done and getting ready for the holiday season. yay poinsettias. we went shooting with abby, russell and nanna. i got to try out my new gun. and it was a perfect way to dispose of some excess pumpkins. and of course we celebrated thanksgiving with the people we love the most.

and last but not least december. we had beautiful weather for most of the month. i managed to plant garlic around the 7th. i also got to take abby and russell's christmas photos/we are having a baby pictures. after 3 years of marriage we finally made it to temple square with the dayley family. enjoyed a wonderful dinner and mom dayley said we should offically adopt nanna into the family since she is always joining in on our fun. plus i am tickled to say that we had the best poinsettias sells in the past many many years. at least in the 10 years i've been working. it feels good to see so few at the end of the holiday. we also enjoyed a very wonderful and blessed christmas with each other and our families. and i've finished the year out with the week off and enjoying time with the boys!

2012 had some ups and downs and some health challenges. but i'm so blessed and have truly felt like i have come into my own self. i have to declare that it is the best year yet!! i am sure that 2013 will be filled with it's own challenges and good moments but 2012 has been very good to me. i may just be a tiny bit sad to say good bye to it. thanks for all the memories this year... and here's to the next. may you be just as wonderful and fulfilling!

A little Christmas magic

tuesday night the dayley family met up in city creek for dinner at the cheesecake factory and a walk around temple square. of course i brought a plus one. mom dayley said it's time we change her name to nanna dayley. we sure love having her join us. unfortunately dad stayed home on our couch sleeping. poor dad has had the worst head/sinus cold this week. we missed him. there is something absolutely magical about downtown slc at christmas. temple square is by far the best part!!

more pictures to come. ashley asked me to snap a few family photos for her. it was the perfect setting.... too bad kennady was such a handful. no worries, i captured some darling moments!

giving thanks

november has come and nearly gone but this month of thanksgiving has not been forgotten. as everyone has been listing daily thanks, i have made mental note for all the blessings i am grateful for. however i don't want the moth to slip away before i get the chance to write down some thanks givings.

i'm grateful for my incredible husband. he does so much for our little family

we were talking the other day how blessed we are. there are so many people in need and many are struggling to meet their basic needs.... we have been blessed with everything we need and more. mitch and i have wonderful jobs and work with wonderful people. we have been truly blessed with steady incomes.

i'm grateful for my two white fluffy fur babies. they bring me so much happiness. they made me a 'mommy'.

i'm grateful for my nanna. i would have never guessed that my sister would become one of the most closest and dearest of my friends. i consider her my soul mate. she understands me in a very special way.

i'm grateful for my sweet girlfriend jaclyn. she has been an angel in my life. god gave her to me as a visiting teacher, however she has become so much more! she is someone i trust and have the privilege of calling my friend! everyone needs some as sweet and incredible as her as she is to me. thank you for blessing my life sweet jaclyn.

i'm so very blessed to have my foundation. i was raised with so many wonderful examples. the older i get the more i realize how it has sculpted who i've become.

i'm grateful for the opportunity i had to learn yoga. it has brought me to a better place in my health and mind.

that is only scratching the surface in all of my incredible blessings. i'm so grateful for everything that i {we} have been blessed with!!

starting Monday off on the good side of the bed

my memorial day started with a fabulous night's rest. I really didn't want to crawl out of bed because I was in the absolutely perfect position, the blankets were perfect and my mind was sleepy. unfortunately I was in charge of opening at 8. The sun pouring into the greenhouses was peaceful and warm. I took a moment to absorb it. For lunch I had a little mini date with my Mitchel. He took me to grab the best hot doggy in town. mmmm. my mouth waters thinking about it. It was the best lunch break I've had in a long time. work was steady throughout the day. not too busy and not too slow. Sanna and I even got some planting in the front bed done. Luck seemed to be on my side today because I was able to take off 30 mins early. I was able to mow the forest I had growing in the back yard. {every time cezar would crouch to potty, he looked like he had disappeared.}I doubled mowed. Hopefully that puts me back on top of the game. I even managed to get a couple of things planted, everything watered and pulled a few weeds.i picked two of my peonies from my garden. they are incredibly fragrant and are making my kitchen smell heavenly. after I cleaned up, Mitch and I headed out in search of some good hiking sandals for our trip to Zion's in July {we will be checking the Subway off our to do list} We scored a fabulous deal on some and picked up pizza for dinner. Curling up on the couch we watched some Supernatural and now I'm ready to crawl into bed and crossing my fingers for another restful sleep.

{Will you be mine}

This year I began thinking about Valentine's day about a month in advance.
It's the only way I am able to gear up for anything lately.
So in hopes of pulling off a fabulous Valentines....
I planned in advance.

I spent quite a bit of time cutting out darling hearts to decorate with

I even made a double batch of sugar cookies to share with friends and family

To start my valentines.... I asked my poppy's help in heart attacking Mitch's desk at work. Since he works at an investment firm, only employees are allowed. I even had help from a friend in coming up with a darling phrase, since poppy heart attacked it a day early....

"someone as special as you.... shouldn't have to wait another day... Happy Valentine's Day love!"

It was perfect!! We definitely surprised him. {sadly no pictures are allowed}. 

Monday night while he was at work I finished blowing up all the balloons. The boys didn't like them. They wouldn't stop barking at them. Once I was done though and had closed the door on my office, Jake kept going over to the door wanting in. I was afraid he'd give away the balloons. Luckily Mitch didn't notice when he was home.

On Tuesday, actual Valentines day, I worked 8-2. Then had plans to hurry home and gather all the balloons I had blown up and fill his car full. 45 red, pink and white balloons. I was nervous someone would catch me and alert Mitch prior to his lunch break. My luck held though. I had a cute note "will you be mine?" and then a booklet of car washes and a gift card to his favorite smoothie shop. 4:30 came and I got my usual call from him. He was completely shocked and curious how I managed to get the balloons to stay in the car while filling it up. My surprise was that he managed to get out of his overtime shift that night. So we grabbed some burgers to go and curled up in bed for the evening.

My day turned out perfect. Mitch had listened to my request for a simple heart shaped ring for my right hand. I found it on our bed Monday night before I headed to Pilates. I was thrilled!! It was the perfect gift!! :) At work I received my first box of plant plugs. I love getting my plant babies. A perfect delivery for Valentines at work. When I arrived home that afternoon, I found the most beautiful bouquet red tulips and blue Irises along with a book I had been wanting - Pukka. {The author wrote Merle's door which I love!!}. It was the sweetest Valentines! I'm so grateful for a thoughtful hubby who knows me and just what to get me ;)

4 Valentine Days later.... I love him just as much as our first. I'm grateful to have such a wonderful man as my husband and as my sweetheart!!