The M Family

My sister asked me to snap some photos of her kiddos while I was in town.  Here are a few...love these kiddos.  So glad I am their Aunt!

Love This

I LOVE conference!  There were so many amazing talks.  Here is the link to one of my favorites!  I love President Eyring.

 

We are reminded by President Eyring, "God is close to us and aware of us and He never hides from his faithful children." 

 I know this to be true.  I am so grateful for a loving Father who watches over us and has a plan for each of us.  We are truly blessed!

Inspired!!

This weekend has been a very personal and uplifting general conference for me.  I felt like some of the talks were just for me.  I am grateful for inspired servants of the Lord who are able to receive revelation for our day.  I am grateful to have the gospel in my life, that helps me keep an eternal perspective.  I have so much hope and faith that Heavenly Father is aware of me, loves me, and has a plan.

I am also so excited for Tucson!  The Saints in Tucson have been waiting a long time for the blessings of a temple in their city.  I know it is going to bless Tucson and open the doors for the gospel to continue to grow.

Domestic

Well we are finally settled into our new home. (thanks to my dad's expert packing skills)  We looked like the people that yard sale and take I-10 back to Mexico with their truck piled high.  My dad pointed out our operation was slightly higher quality because we had tarps covering our stuff!!

Since moving a lot has changed.  I went from working full-time, to staying home most of the time and occasionally subbing.   Daniel teased me and said I was going to have to learn to become domestic.....WHAT??!!  I was slightly offended by the comment but then realized that working full time had affected my domestic development.

Well I am happy to report that less than a month has gone by and I have managed to make my own laundry detergent, stay on schedule with the laundry and cleaning,  have dinner on the table when Daniel gets home every night, and continue to develop my cooking skills.  Tonight Daniel asked, "Where did you buy these beans?"  I was so proud to say "I made them from scratch!!"  I know he was shocked.  In fact he has said multiple times in the past few weeks "Who stole my wife?"

I still have a long way to go in my domestic development but it is coming along :)  Here is a picture of our latest dinner.  (we are eating healthier so notice the amount of green on that plate)

Big Move

Well it has been a long time coming but we are finally moving. We have known this day was coming for about a year now. Daniel was offered a job (a year before he was even done with school....amazing blessing to say the least!!) at an amazing company. It really is one of those 'dream jobs' for a new graduate.

We hoped to buy a house but the market is SUPER competitive and a little crazy up North. So in the meantime we are headed back to apartment life for a short time....with a lot of hesitation, on my part, it became very clear that living in an apartment was what we needed to do. I will admit that once I found the 'right apartment' it didn't seem as bad.

First--I will live about 5 minutes away from these people that I love!!

Second--this is the view from my patio, not too bad right?

Third--the apartment is only temporary (fingers crossed)

Ready of not it is about to happen--I am leaving the two mile radius that I have lived in and loved my entire live. A little scary to be in a new place but so grateful that my hubby has a great job and we are still less than 2 hours from home. Here is to hoping I learn to love this place and make it my new home.

Another Blog

I decided to start another blog. You may be asking yourself...why? This crazy lady doesn't even post on her blog now. Well the answer is I LOVE taking pictures and need a separate place to post them. So feel free to click the image below and take a look around.

Love Him!

I love that my husband knows exactly when I need a little pick me up!

These flowers were delivered with the sweetest card ever!

I love you Daniel! Sometimes I think you know me better than I know myself.

 I can't imagine spending eternity with anyone else!

Chapters of Life

Well they say when one chapter closes another one opens.  Last week was one of the hardest weeks of my life.  I have been teaching at an amazing school for the past 6 years.  Every hole in the wall was from something I put on the wall.   We lived through the growing pains and slowly this became my home away from home.  In that time I was there I watched my Kinders move to middle school and made some of the best friends that someone could ask for!   

As I packed up all of my things I was able to think about all the amazing memories!  I will say that it will take awhile for my new normal to take shape.  However, I know that my heart is in teaching.  I love it more than anything! I know that I will end up back in the classroom at some point in my life...but for now, it is time for a new chapter.

New Adventure

Well it is true, big changes are ahead of us over the next few months.  Daniel will be starting a new job in a new city!!  We are hoping to (fingers crossed) purchase a home too.  I just pray our neighbors are not ASU fans or it could get ugly...j\k!  

 We have very mixed emotions about all the changes.  This is the opportunity of a lifetime and we feel truly blessed!!  This particular job and move was not in the original plans but was clearly in Heavenly Father's plans for us.  

  I am busy packing up my classroom and fighting through the tears that come with the realization that we are REALLY leaving.  I have had a lot of people asking, "What are you going to do now?"  Well, first I am going to take a big breath and just allow myself a few weeks of relaxation.  Then, I am not really sure.  I know....new territory for me.  So....I am ready to embrace the unknown and I am starting to realize that I don't always need to know what's next!

Ready or Not....The Stone's are starting a new adventure!!

New Ride

We have a Jeep!

As we suspected the Honda was totaled!  We were able to find a new car.  While I loved my little car with amazing gas mileage, I know a bigger car was probably a good idea.  Well we found this car and it had low miles, lots of options, leathers seats, and best of all...it was in our price range.  We have had the car for 2 weeks now and it is starting to grow on me.  

Not in the Plans

About 5 years ago I made my first big purchase on my own....a car. I made a decision to start looking for a new car and it was like it was meant to be. I pulled up the classifieds and there it was, posted 3 minutes prior. It was perfect!! About a years and a half ago I finally paid the car off and was so excited to have a nice car without a car payment! Well, Saturday my nice car became not so nice. :(

A little disclaimer....this accident was not Daniel's fault. As we looked at the circumstances of the accident we defiantly know that we were being watched over.

We are pretty confident that the car is totaled....but we are still awaiting the official word.

AHH...Squeaking!!!

I love being a dog owner....most days. However, after a long day of work the squeaking can get to me. This squeaky ball is Oreo's favorite toy....like I mean she hauls it in her kennel at night she loves it so much. This toy may need to disappear soon if she doesn't find another toy to obsess about.

Notice in the video, how my parent's very obedient dog (the big fluffy goldendoodle) tries to stay away from Oreo. Then as a last resort Copper decides to knock the toy out of Oreo's mouth.

Showing off his Moves!

Last summer Daniel had an amazing opportunity to intern at PWC. At the end of his internship they took all the interns to Disney World for 5 days.

They did a lot of amazing things during the week. However, perhaps my favorite thing was the FlashMob they did. You can see the final product below. Hope you enjoy!!

Over the Hill!!!

Happy 30th Birthday Daniel!!!

I love my husband! He is absolutely amazing!! Here are just a few reasons why:

* He has a fun loving, easy going attitude!

* He is able to laugh about any situation...even when it isn't so funny....no wait..especially when it is not funny!

* He always know what I am thinking before I say anything.

* He is a work hard play hard kind person!

* He lives by the motto "Go Big or Go Home!"

* He tries daily to make my life better.

* He makes my heart happy!!

I LOVE YOU DANIEL!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Let Me In!!

Well Oreo has a new trick. I was sitting in the office at my parent's house when my mom said "What is that in the window?" We pulled up the blinds and found little miss Oreo in the window!

I guess she figured if no one would let her in the front door, maybe someone would let her in the window!

Hello Blog...I forgot about you!!

Yes, it is true. The last time I blogged was over 6 months ago. I could attempt to catch up....but that will lead to a sure defeat and a neglected blog again. So here is the run down in one post!

• We moved out of an apartment... hooray!
  
• Moved all of our stuff into the shed that my dad and Daniel built, at my parents. Then lived part time between Tucson and Phoenix for the summer.
• Our 3rd nephew was born!!
• Daniel did an internship at PWC and went to DisneyWorld over the summer.
• We moved into a house! LOVE is the only word that describes the feeling!
• Daniel took 19 units and continued to work part-time.
• Christi started her 6th year teaching First Grade.
• Daniel graduated from the U of A!!!
• My dad was diagnosed with cancer. Had surgery. And best news ever....he has been given a clear bill of health once again.

We are so thankful for the amazing opportunities and blessing we have had in the past 6 months! We have been incredibly blessed!!