4 years.

Rewind to 4 years ago. It was May 11, 2007. A little after midnight.... I kissed my fiancé goodnight after a fun filled day with family and friends. He went to his hotel room and I went to mine. I woke up around 6ish to shower and curl my hair. I felt so peaceful. Off to the temple with the family. Came out married to the best man I know. When we look back at our lives before we met.... before we both decided to go to Southern Virginia University (where we met) it is amazing to see how the Lord's hand was truly in it from the beginning. There isn't any doubt in my mind that David and I were supposed to be married. He is my one and only. We are a perfect match. :) Even though there are hiccups in every marriage... disagreements here and there... I am always grateful for the respect he shows me even in those times. I love growing and learning together. He teaches me so much. He has so many qualities that I hope to one day to have. I am grateful everyday to know that I have him for eternity. Happy Anniversary to us! :)

Motherhood

With it being Mother's day yesterday, I have been thinking a lot about motherhood. I LOVE BEING A MOM!! When I was a little girl and was asked the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" My response was, "A mom." I am far from being a perfect mom but I try to never let a day go by without telling my children that I love them, teaching them something about the Savior, giving them hugs and kisses, and making them smile and laugh. I feel the responsibility of being a mother. There are definitely times that I get frustrated, impatient, and overwhelmed. But I know that just as we want to help our children, Heavenly Father wants to help us. I know that as we seek help from our Heavenly Father that He will guide and direct us in motherhood.

Search... Ponder... and Pray.

Recently David and I decided to try to finish the Book of Mormon before General Conference. He finished a week before and I finished during the opening song of the Saturday morning session :)

(General Conference is when the leaders of our Church speak to us... including the Prophet, Thomas S. Monson. We hear from them the first weekend of every April and October.)

Every time I finish the Book of Mormon I feel so empowered and happy. I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. I know without a doubt that it is true. I know it because of the spirit that I feel when I am reading it. If you haven't read the Book of Mormon I challenge you to do so. I know that as you read it daily your days will be better. It will help you to resist temptation. You will learn about Jesus Christ. I testify that if you read the Book of Mormon prayerfully, you too will know the truthfulness of it. If you don't have a Book of Mormon and would like one, I have extra ones just for you! :)

Picture of David when he was on his mission in Brazil.

This was a family he and his mission companion taught the gospel to. The family read from the Book of Mormon and prayed to know if it was true. They were all baptized.

What a man, what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man!

David calls me his little southern belle. He loves my southern ways but sometimes even a southern belle has to admit that Salt-N-Pepa says it the best.

Yes baby, you are a mighty mighty good man!

Can I just say that I have the BEST husband ever? I seriously do.

The last couple of days were hectic. But of course, when things get crazy my man comes in and saves the day!

Nothing calms me more than a hug, hands on my face while giving me a smooch, and an "I love you. What can I do to help?"

Mmm- LOVE HIM!

And he loves me too :)

Ps. David Borland, you make me wanna Shoop!

Ground Breaking Ceremony

The Saturday after we moved, the branch we now attend had a "ground breaking ceremony" at the location where the new building will be built. It was the sweetest experience as the few members of the branch gathered in a circle in a grove of trees. The branch president spoke of the wonderful things that would take place in the building that is going to be built there. He spoke of our children learning about the Savior there, missionaries that would be sent from our branch and other things of that nature. Then a brother sang a beautiful hymn. After the stake president gave the closing prayer, the branch president broke the ground first with the shovel. He then passed it to the children there. Tinsley even got a turn taking a dig into the ground. The spirit was strong. I was so happy I attended. Until the building is ready, the branch will continue to meet in small motel rooms at a local Forestry. I love the branch and am looking forward to serving and getting to know the members better.

Hi, I'm a homeowner!!

Yes! We bought a house!

A darling, beautiful, out in the country, homey house!

I am in heaven.

I want to paint all the rooms just because I can.

At night it gets so dark. The stars look amazing.

I cannot tell you how it all just fell into place.

The Lord's hand is truly in each of our lives.

I feel so blessed.

Pictures to come soon!

I'm the worst blogger ever. Blah blah blah.

Will you believe me if I tell you that I am going to become a regular blogger? Probably not, huh?

My girls (and my honey too!)

Tinsley. Blakely. Sisters. My girls.

Oh how I love these two angels! They are the highlight of my days.

Blakely will be 8 months tomorrow. Getting too big and too fast! She skipped the army crawling and has been full on crawling for a couple of months now. She pulls herself up on things (including the brick fireplace- yikes!) She is such a joy. The happiest and easy going baby. She gives the widest open smiles. She sucks her thumb. She enjoys watching her sister play. She loves to be held (only by those she knows the best.) She says dada, mama, papa, baba, and a bunch of other stuff we don't understand. :) We are so blessed to have her in our family.

Tinsley is almost 28 months. She loves anything princess. She wears her princess Aurora dress or "Mickey Mouse dress" everyday over her clothes. I am not exaggerating... EVERYDAY! She loves to sit and look at her books and to be read to. She loves to be "fancy" like "Fancy Nancy." She is the best big sister and loves to hug and kiss Blakely. She can make Blakely laugh harder than anyone else can. She can spell her name and count to 14. She knows her ABC's and can point out all uppercase letters.... Okay, so maybe not ALL but close to it. :) She knows the first two articles of faith and loves to go to Nursery. She keeps us laughing with the funny things she says everyday. She is a full on girly girl and very sweet/gentle.

I also want to give a shout out to my husband.

He is a fun loving guy.

He often asks me, "What can I do to make your day easier for you?"

He still flirts with me.

He lets me put my cold feet on him to warm them up at night.

He'll spontaneously fold the laundry or do some other household chore for me.

When I ask him "Which shoes should I wear?" or "Should I wear my hair up or down?" He'll say, "They both look great but I think _____ looks best." Some women might not like that but I love it! He used to answer, "I don't know." or "They both look fine." It used to bother me so I told him to just say one way or the other. Sometimes I follow his opinion and sometimes I don't but I always appreciate an answer :)

He trusts me and I trust him.

He is a great dad.

He knows so much about the gospel. I love having gospel related conversations with him.

He's a hard worker.

He's easy going.

He calms me.

He ALWAYS has my back.

Again, I love my family!

Just take some time and live in the moment

The other night I was on the phone with my good friend Brynne. The kind of friend that whenever you get off the phone with you feel like being a better person. Throughout our conversation we talked about family, friends, jobs, our children, motherhood, the gospel, etc. Oh how I love those conversations! During the conversation I was reminded of a story that I shared with her and wanted to share here.

While I was visiting in Virginia last month I was staying at my brother and sister in law's house. Tinsley and I slept in the same room. I slept on the bed and she slept on a mat beside me. One day while I was there I really started thinking about living in the moment, spending more quality time with my girls, and making some fun memories. That same night around 11 I headed upstairs to our room to go to bed and brought an ice-cream treat with me (don't judge me! haha). When I opened the door and tried to quietly walk into the room, Tinsley woke up. Every time this happened while I was there I would whisper, "It's just me. You can go back to sleep." But this night I decided to take my own advice from earlier that day. I crawled into bed with her and said, "Hey, I've got an ice-cream treat. Wanna share?" Of course she said yes. We laid there on her little mat on the floor while passing the ice-cream back and forth. We talked about how yummy it was. Then we were quiet and kept sharing the ice-cream. Then Tinlsey said...

Tinsley: Hey mommy?

Me: Yes?

Tinsley: This is so much fun.

It melted my heart and made me realize how important it is to take time and sometimes just let go. It was nice to talk to my friend and share this story because I was reminded of that time which will always be one of my most favorite moments.

Back at it

I have been MIA but now I'm back. It has taken me so long to blog because every time I thought about doing it I would feel so overwhelmed with all the things I need to post about. That's why I'm not going to! :) I'm just going to sum it up real quick....

We were in Little Rock for the summer for work.

David had a great/successful summer.

Went to Virginia for about a month.

A week at the beach with my family- so much fun!

Tinsley turned two (still blowing my mind!)

Blakely is rolling all over the place and trying to crawl... WHAT?!

We moved to Colorado.

I really like it here.

My parents have been here for the week visiting :)

I love my husband.

I love my girls.

I love my life.

My girls

Missing good friends

This was part of mine and Tinsley's pillow talk tonight....

Tinsley: Knock Haw-yee door. Knock Ay-cub door.

Me: Aww, you want to go knock on Holly and Jacob's door?

Tinsley: Yeah. Big hug Ay-cub.

Break my heart!! She misses her friend's in Buena Vista just like I do...

Jacob and Holly

My girls

Big girl bed

Tinsley has left her crib and is now in a "big girl bed." I was worried she was going to have a hard time getting used to it but I'm the one having the hard time! After we first put her in it I went to go check on her and found myself wanting to cry as I looked down at my little girl sleeping in a bed. She is getting too big!!

Blakely Ashton Borland

Introducing the newest member of our family...

Blakely Ashton Borland

April 22, 2010 (Born on her daddy's birthday)

10 lbs. 2 oz!!!!!!!!

22 inches long

My friend Mandi came by the house and took these pictures of Blakely when she was a week old.... I love them!!!! Thank you so much Mandi!