Life Lately

(Dear Jenna, thanks for staying on my tail about blog posts so I don't forget this blog altogether!)

Oh, how I love watching this little lady grow. She has added "Thank you" and "Baby" to her vocabulary... the latter particularly because she got a baby doll for Valentine's Day, and it is BY FAR her favorite toy right now. She carries Baby Doll around with her everywhere and showers her with slobbery kisses, pats on the back, and lots of hugs. It melts my mama heart.

Also, Nicole has woven her way so tightly into the hearts of the ladies who care for her at the Rec Center Child Watch that one of them actually followed me out the door as I was leaving because she didn't get to say goodbye to Nicole. They're obsessed with her cheerfulness and the way she sits on their laps at the front desk so she can talk to and wave at every parent who walks through the door to drop off or pick up their kids. She'll almost always have a pen in her hand so that she can help "record" all of the check-in/check-out information. Secretary in training? I guess? It's SO cute.

Our house search has officially begun, which is crazy because a huge part of me doesn't feel like I'm old enough to own a house (well, part house and part mortgage) but there you have it! Meanwhile, I've been working on some pre-Spring-cleaning and have decluttered a ton of stuff (which is a big deal for me, I'll have a blog post on that later).

I also got a new phone on Valentine's weekend and can finally get apps like Snapchat, which is probably my new favorite app right now. Of course, most of my story snaps consist of a certain toddler, but I'm having fun with it. My username is ashleykelly23 if ya want to be buddies!

^^^She loves pushing around this little Minnie Mouse car. It plays music when she pushes it, so... incentive! Also, she's finally getting more hair! I know boys her age with more hair, gosh >_<

Mainly, there's been lots of impatience all around as we wait for warmer weather and for Doug to graduate in April and tons of other things. It nearly hit 60 degrees today, so I've been in a skirt with the windows wide open and it lifts my mood so much! Nicole is itching to play outside more, and we've been able to start going on walks again without our noses nearly falling off from being so cold. Maybe if we start a chant, the weather will stay nice... Spring. Spring! SPRING!

Another fun thing this week: I got to be an usher at the Provo City Center Temple Open House. By the end of the several-hour-shift my legs were aching, but my heart was full. It's so beautiful, and I love how they preserved the original style of the building (it was a tabernacle before a fire destroyed it a couple years ago). I pulled the image below from the internet so ya'll can see what it looks like. The woodwork on the inside is GORGEOUS.

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I'm so blessed to live so close to this building (well, for now). I'll be going through it with my family tomorrow, and I'm excited for Nicole to see the inside of a temple for the first time. So pretty!

Oh, and lastly... My list of "Books To Read" has been growing and growing recently, and my most recent choice was The Mapmaker's Children by Sarah McCoy. I feel like I've read a good handful of WWII novels recently, so it was a breath of fresh air to read one based around the Civil War and the Underground Railroad for once. There are two main story lines in the novel: one follows Sarah Brown, who lived during the Civil War and was involved with the UGRR. The other story line follows Eden Anderson, who lives in the modern day. The book shows how their two stories become connected to each other, even though they lived a century and a half apart. The writing is descriptive and personable, and the historical research the author conducted seems thorough; certainly an enjoyable read!

Dear Nicole: thank you for being so good at playing with your toys so Mommy can just sit on the ground nearby and read her books. You are one dynamite gal ;)

I received a copy of "The Mapmaker's Children" from Blogging For Books in exchange for a little review. :)