Why Quitting Religion Has Made Me A Better Person

I have been contemplating and putting together this blog post for about five months now. There are a lot of things that I have been so unsure how to phrase without offending people I'm close to and care about. This post is not meant to give the idea that I look down on anyone or what they believe, it is meant to be an explanation for those that have asked for one. This is not a blanket statement about how everyone should feel, it's just me trying to explain why I feel that I am better when I am not part of a church.

1. Stepping back from religion has caused me to really sit down and figure out who I am. Growing up, I always took the lessons of 'constantly improve yourself,' to heart...probably more than I should have. I was never content with who I was. I was incredibly insecure; which led me to be attention-seeking, selfish, and cruel to those that I deemed unimportant. I saw a certain mold of who I was supposed to be, who God wanted me to be, and no matter how hard I tried - I could never fit into this mold I set for myself. I am NOT saying that anyone else told me that I was not good enough the way I was, this was something I placed on myself. I felt like I couldn't express this to anyone because admitting I was struggling would be admitting that I wasn't the person I felt I should be.

Over the past year, I have struggled with my image of who I am more than I have in my entire life. I felt awful for considering leaving the church I was raised in, because I was raised by two parents who have found incredible happiness in it. Members of the LDS church have been there for me all my life and I felt that by even considering leaving the religion I was raised in, I was being ungrateful towards them. I struggled with depression and shame. I was embarrassed about the thoughts I was having and was worried someone would notice. Looking back now, I can see how ridiculous I was being...but at the time it was my biggest fear. I cannot begin to describe the weight that was lifted off my shoulders when I finally confronted that fear six months ago. I decided to tell my immediate family members and closest friends how I felt. I'm not going to claim it was easy or went smoothly, but the feeling of relief that came over me over the next couple weeks was a welcome companion. As more time has passed, I've been able to see myself in clearer eyes. Without the constant expectations that I had placed upon myself, I could be happy with the person I am. I still have my insecurities just like anyone else, but they no longer take over and change who I am.

2. I have my own sense of what is right and what is wrong. I don't know if others have felt this way, but for years I have held onto religion so hard because I didn't trust myself to make any moral decisions on my own. I worried that without religion to tell me what is right and wrong, I would suddenly become a person devoid of any conscience. As it turns out, I actually do have a conscience. I can determine for myself the things I should do, and the things I should not do. 

3. I have learned to trust myself more. I used to feel the need to look to others or to religion in a situation that I hadn't encountered before. I didn't trust myself to make the tough decisions that life sometimes requires. I had trouble committing to anyone or anything because I was worried I would make the wrong choice. I was constantly not following through when I should have and I hated that about myself. Now I am confident enough in my abilities that I can make choices without having a cloud of indecision hanging around me.

4. I am able to focus on important relationships more than before. I spend much less time thinking of myself and my own decisions and focusing instead on those that are close to me and how my decisions affect them.

5. The LDS culture puts a large emphasis on constantly doing more. Helping a neighbor, doing your visiting teaching, attending mutual/enrichment/ward activities. Constantly keeping busy is a large part of being an active member of the LDS church. For an introverted person, all the different activities and responsibilities that come with being active are overwhelming. Personally, if I don't get my daily down-time, I tend to shut down. Adding church activities to my normal day to day routine of school, work, household chores, and wanting to spend time with my friends/family was too much for me. I spent a lot of time either avoiding church activities in favor of my downtime and feeling guilty, or attending the church activities and being incredibly antisocial because I hadn't gotten my downtime. Downtime for me was a rarity, and the downtime I had wasn't relaxing because I felt I should be doing something instead. This resulted in me being constantly on edge with my friends and family. I found myself shutting down and shutting out those that were close to me. Now that I have left religion, I find that I am more accepting of the fact that I am an introvert. Having my downtime has actually made me a bit more social. I am more open to my friends, put more effort into my relationships, and find myself happier in my day-to-day activities.

I am the person I am in large part because of the religion I grew up in. I do not and will not hate the LDS church, I am simply choosing not to be a part of it anymore. I've accepted that, for me, having a relationship with God outside of an organized religion is what works best for me. I don't look down on anyone that doesn't share that same view as me. My biggest hesitation in posting this is that my family members and friends that don't know about my decision will think I am bitter towards the LDS church or towards them for being members of it. I only write this to explain why I made my decision and why I'm a better person for leaving.    

The Greatest Great-Grandma

Yesterday my Great-Grandma Parry passed away....emphasis is on GREAT. She is an incredible woman and as I reflect upon her impact on my life, there are a few memories that I feel inclined to share:

- My grandma is the most loving person I've ever known. She has a quick wit and a great sense of humor. She is one of those people that has a unique gift in making everyone she is around feel special. I remember as a child thinking I was her very favorite, only to find out that all my cousins felt the same way.
- Grandma would set up one-on-one dates with me (and I'm sure all her other grandchildren) where it would be just me and her, doing whatever I wanted to do. It almost always resulted in a card game or a craft of sorts. She would tell me the things I did or the expressions I had that reminded her so much of my Grandma Roe (her daughter). Some of my favorite memories from my childhood come from these special grandma dates.
- Grandma is one of the craftiest people I know. She had each of her grandchildren that were interested make these hand-made Santas that she would display all over her house each Christmas. It was a Christmas tradition of mine each year to find where my Santa was in her house. She has SO MANY grandkids. I can't even begin to guess how many grand, great-grand, and great-great grand children she has. But every year for Christmas until each grandchild's 16th birthday, Grandma made a hand-made Christmas ornament. It's a household Christmas necessity in our clan. There are also an uncountable number of hand-stitched quilts that were gifts from Grandma.
- The Parry cabin is a special place indeed. I remember many 'late' cabin nights spent playing card games and laughing with Grandma and the family. I don't know anyone that love Canasta quite as much as Grandma Parry. She would always pick me for her team because she was convinced I had a special talent for grabbing the exact amount of cards each time I dealt. I'm pretty sure I only got lucky and had this happen one time, but Grandma still insisted I was the best at it. Just another example of how she made those around her feel special.
- Grandma is incredibly patient. She is one of the only people in my life that did not lose patience with me when I was a child (which, if you knew me as a child, is an incredible feat). When I bullied and was mean to my younger cousins, she would take me aside and gently admonish me and help me see the error of my ways. She taught me to always think of others feelings before I allowed myself to act on mine.
- Every Halloween, Grandma's house was a must-stop location. She would make home-made apple cider for her grandkids to enjoy. Halloween in Idaho was freezing most years, a lot of years there was snow on the ground. Apple cider has been a Halloween tradition in my adult years because of Grandma's example.
-Grandma never missed one of my home sport games. Her and Grandpa were at every basketball, volleyball, softball, etc game while I was growing up. I remember after a particularly AWFUL basketball game, Grandma took me aside and pointed out all the good plays I had and told me to focus on the good I had done and work to improve the areas I thought I had performed badly in.

I am so very happy that Grandma is reunited with the daughters she lost to cancer years ago, but my heart aches that she is no longer here with us. I know that the reunions in heaven are joy-filled and tearful, and I couldn't wish for a happier day for my Grandma than that. She will be greatly missed every day by many. I love and miss you Grandma!

Why I don't believe in 'The One'

"He's THE ONE."

For years the idea of 'The One' has always bothered me. The last few weeks this train of thought has been tumbling around in my brain. As I'm sure you already gathered from the title of this blog, I don't believe in idea of 'The One.' Here are some main reasons why I feel so strongly about this subject:

1. The idea of there being only one person out there that you are supposed to be with is absolutely terrifying to me. I can't imagine ever committing myself to someone if I believed this. I believe a lot of the stress that many women experience when dealing with commitment can be linked back to this idea. For me, it would lead to a big struggle not to compare every guy I went out with to every man that I've ever seen in a movie, encountered for the briefest moment, heard my friends tell me about, imagined in my mind, etc. Every moment I spent with any man would be clouded by the thought in my brain of 'Is he The One?' I'd be scared to commit myself to any man for fear that 'The One' was still out there somewhere, waiting for me. I have a friend that was so set on what her 'One' would be like, she wouldn't even date guys that didn't meet all her requirements. She believed strongly in 'The One' and didn't want to deal with messy complications if she cared for someone that wasn't 'The One.' She spent a lot of years lonely and worried that she had somehow missed him one day when she wasn't paying attention. She is now happily married to someone that is nothing like the guy she had imagined. Once she opened herself up to the possibility that she could be happy with someone that didn't match her idea of 'The One' completely, she was able to find happiness. I have seen many friends have this dilemma. Many conversations have gone in the direction of, 'I like him, but I'm not sure if he's The One.' It has lead to a lot of confusion, hurt, and trouble committing to anyone.

2. The idea of 'The One' has caused a lot of hurt in many different situations. I know people that are in an abusive situation and won't leave because they are convinced that he is 'The One' for them. 
They don't believe that they could find happiness with anyone else because they have found the person they are destined to be with. It breaks my heart to see some friends of mine go through this. I have also seen situations where one of the parties cheats, leaving the other shattered completely. In this situation, it is near impossible for the party that was cheated on to move on, to gain closure, because they are convinced that they were with 'The One.' Although he may have made a mistake, it should be forgiven and forgotten because he is 'The One' she is supposed to be with. I want to be clear, a relationship between two people is no one's business but their own. I am not making a judgement on anyone who chose to forgive and forget, because that is each person's own decision to make and no one's place to judge. I am simply saying that I believe the ideology of 'The One' leads to a lot of people not having the courage or self-confidence to move on and leave an unhealthy relationship.

3. Choosing to be with someone isn't about finding someone that is perfect for you. This implies that you two will agree on everything and your life together will be perfect because you are perfect for each other. Choosing to be with someone is about finding someone that is willing to adapt for you and that you are willing to adapt for. You will never find someone that agrees with you on everything. That doesn't mean that you aren't meant to be with this person, it just means you will both need to learn to agree to disagree. I believe that each person chooses their 'One' and commits to making the relationship work. As soon as this commitment is reached, then I believe that 'One' truly is the 'One.' By this I mean that once a person commits himself/herself fully to another person, no one else can make that person happier. Some would argue that this is the idea of the 'One.' The difference here is that it is each person's choice who they will be their 'One.'

I don't have any children yet, but I know when I have a daughter of my own I will teach her what my mother taught me. It is important to be with someone you love, but it is more important to be with someone that makes you love yourself. I want my future daughter to understand that choosing to be with someone is just that. A choice. It's not destined. It's not something as dramatic as the stars aligning once you've met 'The One.' It's a big decision that requires time and a lot of thought. It shouldn't be taken lightly, and it shouldn't be rushed.

I don't want this to be taken as though I believe that anyone can be happy with anyone. Obviously that is not true. I guess that, really, all I'm trying to say is that I find the idea of 'The One' to be a dangerous one that can lead to a lot of hurt and fear. I know a lot of people that believe in 'The One' and have found him/her. I am not trying to belittle their relationship, I have just made the decision to put my own point of view out there. I love my husband and he makes me very happy, but I believe that this is by choice. We chose each other of our own free will and we choose to continue allowing the other to make us happy. My husband is my 'One' because I chose to him to be so (and vice versa), not because he was destined to be so. I have no desire to be with anyone else, but I also don't believe that fate decided my husband for me. That one is all on me :)

#myhusbandisbetterthan yours - A Response

Recently, I read an article a friend of mine posted on Facebook, entitled '#myhusbandisbetterthanyours.' For those of you that have not seen this post and are interested in reading it, here is the link:

http://kelseykellerweller.blogspot.com/2013/11/myhusbandisbetterthanyours.html

I'm not a big blog reader and rarely take the time to read through many posts, but for some reason this one caught my attention. It has been a couple of weeks since I read it, but it has been like an itch I can't scratch. I understand that everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion, but I strongly disagree with this particular blogger's views and decided to share my own.

After a lot of thought, I have narrowed down my irritation to three main points:

1. The author of the blog claimed that putting your spouse's acts of love on display is degrading to other's relationship. She states,

"Putting everything out there, perfectly rehearsed, can be hurtful to the couple who may have just had a fight, are struggling financially or are in any other kind of a rut."

For those of you that know me well, you know that I am not big on lovey-dovey Facebook or blog posts; so understand that this is not coming from me being defensive of my actions....I just very strongly disagree with this view.

Everyone is different, so I am sure that there are many people that will agree with the original author, and that is fine. However, for ME, when I have a friend post something sweet or caring that her husband did for her, it makes me happy. If I am having a crummy day, sometimes I will check Facebook specifically hoping that someone has posted a happy status or a cute photo of their spouse and/or family...because it never fails to cheer me up. I love my friends and very few things make me happier than seeing them happy.

That being said, I do not find it in the least degrading to my relationship with my husband if someone else is happy with theirs. I can't imagine letting something so wholly unconnected to the relationship I share with Luke affect us in any way. I can't relate to that, and I do not pretend to understand it.

"When you're saying your husband is the best, someone might actually believe it, and that might bruise their heart."

I think this line upset me more than anything else written in the entire post. If someone believes that my husband is better than hers, she should not be married. Seriously. If you are not completely, 100% convinced that your husband is the best, he deserves to be with someone who does. I'm not saying that there aren't things that my friend's spouses do that I wish mine did....Everyone has those things. I am simply saying that everyone deserves to be with someone that puts them above everyone else.


2. The next point I disagree with was the author's statement that putting her spouse's acts of love on display was degrading to their love. She doesn't elaborate on this sentence, so I can't know where she was coming from on this one. I, however, think this is ridiculous. Again, I am not one for posting lovey-dovey things all the time, but I see nothing wrong with publicly acknowledging a spouse when he/she does something sweet....or just because you love them. Yes, there are some people that are completely overkill with publicly acknowledging every little thing their spouses do. Yes, there are a couple of my Facebook friends whose posts I have decided to 'hide' because they're much too cheesy for me, but I do not think these friends are degrading their spouse by constantly praising them on Facebook. Annoying? Yes. Degrading? I don't think so.


3. My last main annoyance with this post is the fact that she uses the idea that, 'Marriage is not a competition' as one of her main reasons why people should not post their spouse's acts of love. Marriage is NOT a competition, that is absolutely true. If someone is posting things about their spouse to try to compete with their friends for 'Best Spouse' award, there is something wrong with their brain. As for me and my friends, we post about these things because they make us happy and we want to share that happiness with our friends and family.


It's so common to see negative posts about a spouse forgetting a special day, not helping with the laundry, spending too much time with friends, being loud while watching the football game, etc. With so much emphasis on the negative things in life, positive posts are such a nice thing to encounter. I can't imagine how/why anyone would try to take such nice, positive, uplifting posts and try to turn them around and make them ugly and degrading.

I am not a perfect wife. I never will be and I do not claim to be. However, I do love my husband. Do I think my husband is better than others? Yes. Of course I do! It's insane to think otherwise. If I didn't think my husband was the best, I would not be with him. Do I think that my friends are trying to compete with me because they also think their husbands are best? No. Not even a little. I am lucky to be with a man that is better than all others (in my eyes) and I am happy for every single one of my friends that are with men better than all others (in their eyes). The thought of, 'I can't show my love for my husband because it might hurt others,' is a very dangerous thought. If you love your spouse and want everyone else to know about this sweet thing or that nice act of kindness you caught them doing, then share it! Lifting your spouse up and acknowledging him/her for doing something you are proud of is NEVER something you should be embarrassed to do.

My husband isn't perfect.

I still think he's the best person I know.

 I'm proud to say that I think my husband is better than yours ;)

Warning: Cheesy Post

Today is a great day. It's mine and Luke's second anniversary!!! In some ways I can't believe it's already been two years, but in other ways I feel like we've been married forever. I still can't believe how lucky I am to be married to such a great guy. I'm sure this will be of interest to no one but myself, but today I feel like posting my five favorite things about this fantastic man that I am married to.

1- I have NEVER met anyone more loyal in my entire life. Once he decides to become someone's friend, they are friends for life. He's not one to talk behind others backs or complain about his friends or family. It's very rare that I hear him say any negative word about one of his friends or family members.

2- He never lies. Ever. He is who he is and thinks what he thinks and doesn't try to hide it. He doesn't make excuses or try to brush things off. He'll confront everything with a straightforward and honest answer. He is confident in who he is and the things that he does and doesn't act otherwise.

3- He has great taste in everything! He's introduced me to such great music in the past five years or so. He also has great taste in movies, clothes, furniture, pretty much anything! He's great at helping me make decisions on so many different things and I can always trust his opinion. He loves shopping with me and I love having him there :)

4- He knows how to work hard. If something needs to be done, he'll take care of it. He knows a little bit about everything! If he doesn't know how to do something, he'll look up how to and take care of whatever it is. This last year he surprised me with a new stereo for my car so I can listen to my ipod while I drive now. He had never installed a car stereo before, and Mazda's are notorious for being a pain in the butt to replace....but he hunkered down and figured it out.

5- He loves me. That's the most important part right? I have never wondered about his commitment to me. There is not a day that passes that he doesn't do something sweet to remind me that he loves me. His love has made me a much better person than I have been before. He makes me confident in who I am and makes me believe that I can do anything I set my mind to. He is the perfect match for me and I could never ask for anything better.

Ka-Ching

I feel like every day lately is just filled with some exciting news (though nothing tops the news of my dear nephew being born). Here are just a few things that have happened since my last post that have made the last couple days just fantastic:

*I finally got around to returning some of the few straggling wedding gifts that needed to be returned. We now have gift cards to just about any shop in town.

*We finally found a TV stand that we both love that will work for the size of TV we hope to get on Black Friday.

*The a fore mentioned TV stand is less than we were anticipating, so now we can use the remaining amount of gift cards to get a decent dresser. We've been using one that I got for cheap at D.I. It looks really cute, but it's barely functional. The drawers are a constant balancing act. I have had my toes smashed more than once because the drawers refuse to stay in. Thus- I am SO excited for a new dresser.

*This weekend is my weekend off of work. That in itself is really great...but my parents are heading to Michigan to meet that adorable little nephew of mine, so I get to go home and hang out with Camille and Tanner for the weekend. We are going to have a blast. It's definitely making this week drag by though! Can't wait to go home!

*We officially get to go home for Thanksgiving AND Christmas. We were both able to work it out so we have Thursday through Sunday off for Thanksgiving and the week before Christmas off. I really didn't think there was any way I could get more than a couple days off for Christmas. At one point it was even looking like I would have to work on Christmas Day, so I was really really pleased that my boss was able to work out the schedule so that I could have that week off.

*Our car is getting closer to fixed every day! My best friend's brother was able to take it into his work today to look at it and he's got it narrowed down to what he thinks it is. He fixed it up today and wants me to drive it around tomorrow to see if it runs like it's supposed to. If not, he knows for sure what it is and will be able to fix it pretty easily. The end of the car troubles is finally in sight!

*Along those same lines, my best friend happens to have an extra car right now that she is trying to sell. She was nice enough to let me use it until my car is fixed so Luke or I don't have to attempt riding a bike to work/school. She's a lifesaver!

*One of the guests staying at the hotel tonight decided to surprise me by bringing me back a steak and potatoes after he finished eating at Ruby Rivers. Mmmmm. So good. Some people are just so nice!

*We got our furnace fixed yesterday! This morning was heaven; waking up to a warm house instead of a freezing cold one. It's a lot easier to find the motivation to get out of bed when you are certain you can make it to the shower without freezing to death.

*Luke's mom and sister (and maybe aunt?) are coming into town tomorrow to take us to dinner. A girl that I work with was sweet enough to volunteer to cover for me for a couple of hours so that I can join them. :)

*I had Monday and Tuesday off and was able to find a place for every single box that we had out in the guest bedroom. Now there are officially NO boxes in site until you open up any of our closets. It actually feels like we have a second bedroom now!

*Okay---and now the final news, that I am SO SO SO excited for. It took a while to convince Luke to let me make this purchase. We were able to combine all of our Bed, Bath & Beyond gift cards and it ended up costing hardly anything once we used our 20% off coupon. Isn't it gorgeous?! I just love it so much. We ended up having to order it in because they didn't have it in stock, but it should be coming late this week or early next week. I have wanted one of these for SO long, I can't believe we will actually have one so soon! Man, I can't wait!


Needless to say, the last two days have been very busy, but SO great. I just love when the good things just keep piling on. It makes the stinky things a lot easier to deal with in a cheerful manner. It sure makes it a lot easier to count your blessings when they are more obvious than a slap in the face.

I'm Ashamed

Yes. I know. I have skipped right over blogging about some of the most important times of my life; preparing for my wedding, my actual wedding, the honeymoon, and getting used to married life. It was all so hectic and flew by so fast that I never even thought about blogging! But here's a brief (or not so brief) recap:

So our engagement was six months long. Everyone said it would drag by, and I guess in some ways it did, but for the most part it did not seem long enough! I am still amazed at the amount of planning that goes into weddings! I don't know how people that have to plan the actual ceremony on top of everything else do it! I'm sure I didn't even see half of the hard work that went into it either. I know my dad worked hard all spring and summer long to get the backyard looking great. I can't even begin to tell you how many hours him and the rest of my family put into putting flowers in, pulling weeds, cleaning things out, bringing things in, putting things up, pulling things down, and on and on. I know it was a huge sacrifice of time that went into this and I am incredibly grateful that I was blessed with a family that loves me enough to work that hard for me. My mom was especially amazing. I've never been very good at picturing things...so picking things out for the reception was really hard for me. Luckily, my mom is amazing at pulling all sorts of things together and making them look fantastic. My Aunt Debie, Aunt Tammi, and my cousins Larkin and Savannah also helped a ton! Debie and Savannah helped my mom a lot with the decorations at the reception and put a lot of work into making our shed not stick out like a sore thumb. Tammi and Larkin took on the HUGE job of the food at the reception. They made who knows how many cookies and delegated the making of even more to other family members. I've gotten so many compliments one how great the food was and how cute it was displayed. I seriously loved EVERYTHING about the reception. And there is no way it would have looked that good if I had been calling all the shots. My mother-in-law did a fantastic job at the luncheon as well. Texas Roadhouse catered, which is mine and Luke's very favorite place to eat, so that was great. She did a great job of making the gym into a perfect luncheon. Luke's older sister, Margaret, was our photography and did a really good job of capturing some priceless moments. Our pictures are seriously amazing. Luke's friend James did a really good job of putting together a picture slide show/video to show at the luncheon. I am so lucky to have such great family and friends that stepped in when they were needed and did all they could to make sure that my wedding day was perfect. Special shout-out to Camille and Tanner who helped my mom and my dad with all of the things they had to do to get ready for the wedding. I know things got a lot stressful at times but they were always (or almost always) happy to help and fun to be around. They're great.

One of my very favorite parts of the wedding was how much family was able to come! The family reunion for my Dad's side was the week before my wedding (which my parents were also in charge of! Talk about busy people!), so TONS of family were able to work out their schedule so that they could stay for the wedding. This meant so much to me. My family is the most important thing to me and my wedding day wouldn't have been nearly as great without having some of the most important people there with me. The sealing room was PACKED. Such a great reminder of how much Luke and I are loved. I have such a huge family that I don't get to talk to everyone as much as I would like, but I really love all of them and appreciate the sacrifices many made so that they could be there to support me.

I would be in the wrong to not mention mine and Luke's friends as well. They came from ALL over to be there. One even came up from California just so he could be there for our wedding day. We had another friend make a 2 hour detour from her trip home just so that she could be there for the sealing. I can't even begin to describe how much I love our friends. They are the greatest friends you can imagine. I know that neither one of us would be the people we are today without their support. They're not the kind of friends that I can ever imagine living without.

I know that I am failing to mention SO many people that did a great deal to help with the wedding. If I mentioned everyone that helped, this blog would be never ending. I really appreciate everyone's love and support. You all mean the world to me!

(At this point I would like to thank Blogger for automatically saving my drafts. I accidentally just exited out and about died until I realized this was all saved)

We went to Disneyland for our honeymoon. It was a surprise for me until we got up to the gate to get on. Luke knows me much too well. I LOVE rollercoasters...and warmth. We stayed at a Holiday Inn about a block away from the park, so we were able to walk there in about five minutes. It was perfect. The hotel gave us a free upgrade when they found out we were on our honeymoon and our room was AMAZING. The hotel staff was really great. It was the best week ever. Disneyland really does cast a magical spell. It was the perfect honeymoon. Luke did really good at getting things set up so that they would be perfect for us.

About a week before we left for Idaho, we FINALLY found an apartment that both of us loved. We had already had one apartment slip between our fingers, so we were so relieved when we got the final notice that the apartment was ours! It's a cute little 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment about a mile from campus. One of the main reasons that I have put off blogging since we got home from the honeymoon is because I wanted to post pictures of our place. Sadly, that is still not going to happen in this post. It's VERY close though. We actually were able to get everything unpacked and put away faster than I expected....but we still don't have a real tv stand or dresser. We are getting both of those this weekend (hopefully) so I will post pictures soon I promise!

Now for some very exciting news....I am an aunt :) I have the most adorable little nephew. Logan Bradley Couch. You can't even imagine how much I love him. I have watched every video that my mom has sent of him at least 5 times. He's SO cute. SO SO SO cute. He's so alert for a newborn! I've always felt like most newborns look a bit....squished and alien-y. Not this little guy though! He's got the cutest chubby cheeks and does not look even a little squished or alien-y. I'll admit I'm already mad for the little man and I haven't even met him yet. That's really the only downer about the whole thing is I don't get to meet him until Christmas time. But you bet I'll cherish every second that I get to be with him!

That is all for now. I'll try to be better about blogging more often. It might prove to be difficult. Married life is turning out to be incredibly busy, but I will try :)