The end of the year always gets me thinking about my life and taking a good look at what I am doing and where I am going. It also makes me want to take some time to plan for the upcoming year- especially this year.

In 2017 I plan on graduating from college and then (shortly after) becoming a mother and then moving to a new city. Needless to say, some pretty big changes are coming up this year and I could not be more excited for them!

I get asked a lot, "what are you going to do after college?" and "what kind of job do you want?" Although I believe motherhood is more important than any successful career I could ever dream of, I want to help support our family while Kody is in school and I feel like I have the know-how (and the degree) to do so. Up until a few months ago I thought I had it all figured out- I would finish up with school and then apply for a job as an on-camera reporter in Salt Lake City. I had had my resume and demo reels all set up and I was feeling pretty good about them! But a couple of super interesting classes (and a positive pregnancy test) had me re-thinking everyyyything and for a long time, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do. I mean, I really enjoy the whole journalism-world, but a demanding, full-time, on-call job is not possible with a little one at home unless he goes to a nanny or daycare and I don't want to do that.

So, over the past few months I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out what exactly I want to do. I have always been the type to have a lot of different hobbies and interests. When I was a little girl, I felt like all of my friends had their "things". One girl was a gymnast, one played volleyball, and so on. I would get frustrated because could never decide what my one "thing" was. I liked gymnastics classes, and I liked a bunch of different sports, but could never settle for just one thing. When I went to college, I decided on a communications major because I knew that I could do a variety of different things with my degree. I always thought my in-decisiveness was a bad thing, but lately I have realized that it is good! Through all of it, I have been able to learn how to do a variety of different things.

For those who have asked, the whole "advertising-on-my-blog-and-Instagram" thing has been great, but I never planned on making it into a means of making a living; it has mostly just been for fun. I also don't feel comfortable being a "mommy blogger" and posting all kinds of photos of my baby online for the world to see, so I plan on slowing down on the advertising-type stuff (although, I will keep the blog for fun).

So, I decided to combine some of the business things I've learned, the social media, the advertising, the writing, the filming and the editing into something I think I can do as a mother of a newborn. After a lot of thinking and praying and talking with Kody, I have decided to start my own videography business this year!

I have done a lot of wedding photography in the past and really enjoyed it (and learned a ton), but after taking some filming classes and learning how to really edit video, I have found that I can bring more to the table than just photos. Since I was young I have loved making little videos and I think it is something I could really be good at and enjoy!

Yes, I hope to do some weddings, births, parties and things like that, but I plan to implement my own, unique twist on everything and really focus on other film projects that I will talk about more later :)

Over the next few months, I hope to set up a totally new website, get my hands on a few new things equipment-wise and get this thing going. I will be in school and work more than full-time this semester, so it might take me a little while to get it all together, but to answer everyone's questions regarding what I'm doing after I graduate- there ya go!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful start to a wonderful year!

xo

Today we got to FaceTime my cute missionary brother for the first time! He has been out on his mission for almost six months now so it was SO great to be able to talk to him face to face! I got married when I was 19, so I never really got a chance to serve my own church mission (although I hope to with Kody when we are older), so I love hearing about my brother's missionary experiences, feelings, etc.

He told us about how right now he is in a small town that isn't the wealthiest or the nicest. He talked about how a lot of the people he teaches and visits live in motel rooms and have really, really hard lives. I won't share the specific stories, but it was clear that his young, teenage heart just ached for these people.

I will admit that my first thought when hearing about drug problems or DUI's or convicts is something along the lines of "well, maybe if they wouldn't have done those things, they wouldn't be in that situation." I mean, it is pretty easy to feel love towards people with disabilities or poor little children in third-world countries, or innocent people like that. But people who are not cute, and sweet and innocent? It isn't always the easiet thing. Yet for my brother, it was. He says he absoluetly LOVES the area he is in and doesn't want to leave. He sees the potential these people have and wants to help them. Words can't describe how much that opened my eyes. After all, that's what the Savior would do. I don't think He even cares what a person does, He loves them just as much as anybody else. After all, we are all sinners and we are all needy.

I think sometimes in our society, we only want to help people that are easy to help. We often think we need to travel to far away countries, or have a lot of money to help people when the truth is that people who need help are all around us. In our neighborhoods, our workplaces, our classes, our families, everywhere. They just may not always seem like the typical, needy person.

Anyways, sorry for the rambling but my brother is such a great example to me and I just love him so much. Merry Christmas!!!

xo

Like I said in my last post, I totally thought this baby would be a girl. I didn't mention, however, that I was secretly wishing it was a boy! Kody thought it would be a girl and so did pretty much everybody else I talked to! I had pinned tons of baby girl outfits on Pinterest and we started thinking of girl names. I thought for sure it would be a little gal, even though I was secretly crossing my fingers for a boy. I did't care that much, but I have always imagined myself with a boy first. I don't know. There is just something about little boys that is so sweet and adorable. Maybe it is because I grew up with brothers. I don't know!

We ended up going to Fetal Fotos, an ultrasound place here in Utah, for a 14.5 week ultrasound (it is an awesome place). I wasn't sure if we would be able to see anything just because it still seemed so early on, but thought we'd try anyways. They had a big TV on the wall so we could see the baby so clearly and we were SO suprised by how much he had grown since the last ultrasound! His little head and profile were so cute and clear!!

For the first few minutes he had his little legs crossed so we couldn't see anything! I tried moving around and shaking him a little bit and although he was a stubborn little guy, eventually we were able to see as clear as day that it was a little guy!!!!

We couldn't believe it! But then right away, it all seemed so right. It was our little boy!




He was jumping all around and scratching his little face with his little hands. Every time I saw him moving, I would laugh and that would make him move even more. It was so surreal. I couldn't get enough of watching him.

Kody said afterwards that his face was hurting because he was smiling so much! It was the sweetest thing ever!!!! He is so excited. I am now crossing my fingers that this little guy is as cute as his daddy! I am SO grateful to have my best friend right by my side through this whole thing. Laying at the ultrasound place with him right next to me was one of my favorite memories. He is going to be an amazing daddy :)

We also got to Arizona yesterday and got to tell my family in person! They are so excited too. Time to start the baby shopping!

Thank you so much for all the sweet wishes! It means the world to us! We really have the BEST friends/family/aquaintances and feel so blessed.

So beyond excited!!!!!!!!

xo