Humanity

Over the last few days, I have seen many acts of kindness that have almost brought me to tears. (Only reason I hold back is because they happen while I'm at work.) At the financial institution that I work at, there was a memorial account opened for Emilie Parker, one of the little angels who was so quickly taken from this Earth Friday morning. Her family is from Utah and they flew her body home on Tuesday so that she can be buried at home. It has overwhelmed me with joy and humility to see people coming in to make donations to help her family, whether it is the $5 that would buy their lunch, the $25 that would buy their own child a new Christmas gift or $100 that they so kindly donate without asking for anything in return. Whether they grew up with Emilie's dad or just know the trouble and heartache of burying a child or just wish to help, people have amazed me with their kindness.
Then yesterday, the customer that I was helping happened to over hear a conversation that the customer at the next window was having with my coworker. I have no reason to believe these women knew each other. The customer I was helping asked me to withdraw some money from her account, proceeded to hand that money to the young lady at the next window, wished her a Merry Christmas and was on her way. The look on the young lady's face was priceless and again my heart was filled with joy.
At this time of year, with all of the tragedies that have been occuring near our homes or throughout the world, it is amazing and comforting to me that so many people still have good hearts and willing to help those who are in need of a loving hand. My faith has been restored in humanity.

If you would like information about where and how to donate to Emilie Parker's account, feel free to contact me!

Here's to you, boo!

So, I've officially been dating this boy for 6 months! And in the next 6 months, I will be married to him!! I can't believe how fantastic it's been. It's been the best 6 months of my life! I've fallen in love with my best friend. He will be my partner for eternity and the father of my children. We will have all of our firsts together, all of our lasts together and a whole life to learn more about each other and grow as a couple and as a family. I'm so grateful that he is in my life and I don't know how I ever survived without him. He can make me smile when all I want to do is cry. He still loves me when I do cry, over stupid things. He's a hopeless romantic and let's me constantly look at puppies and just beg for one! He loves me through my crazy ideas of having a pet polar bear and moving to South Africa. He loves me through my tempers and through my huge bursts of energy when I'm obnoxious. He loves me when I'm high maintenance and ask him to do anything/everything for me. He puts up with me when I make him watch stupid TV shows, make him listen to music he doesn't like, and when I torture myself window shopping. I can't imagine anyone more perfect for me and I can't wait to spend forever with him!!

One of our first dates. I kick his butt at bowling :)

Definitely a favorite picture of us

I love you honey bunches!!! :)

Don'ts for Husbands and Don'ts for Wives

So today as I sit here at work, I have found a few websites for wedding planning. And it's been great! I love looking and getting ideas of what I want! But anywho. As I was looking through photos from weddings, there was a couple that was holding these books called, Don'ts for Husbands and Don'ts for Wives



Naturally, I had to google them to see what fantastic advice was in them. I just want to share a few of my favorites real quick..
From Don'ts for Wives

"Don't put on airs with your husband. If you can't be natural with him, you shouldn't have married him"
How true that is. I've never been more myself with Jer and it's the best thing ever.

"Do not worry about little faults in your husband which merely amused you in your lover. If they were not important then, they are not important now. Besides, what about yours?"
I think all too often it's easy to judge the flaws in those we love. But they accept us with all of our flaws. We should easily do the same.

"Don't try to model your husband after some other woman's husband. Let him be himself and make the best of him."

"Don't set your husband up on a pedestal and then cry when you find out that he is only a man, afterall."

From Don'ts for Husbands

"Don't sit down to breakfast in your shirt sleeves in hot weather on grounds that "only your wife is present." She is a woman like any other woman. The courtesies you give to woman kind are her due, and she will appreciate them."
I think to a certain extent this is true. Just because she is your wife doesn't mean you respect her any less. But you can also be comfortable and completely yourself around her.

"Don't omit to bring home an occasional bunch of flowers or a few chocolates. Your wife will value even a penny bunch of violets for your thought of her."
There's nothing quite like getting flowers for no reason!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow all you wonderful people!!!

If someone you know is down tomorrow, just put a turkey on your head and shimmy at them. Problem solved.
Get fat!

Cats..

Ok I know the blog world is filled with people who love cats, but here is ONE reason that you should stop that obsession.

Buy a dog.

Holiday Weekends!

I don't think I'll ever be able to work at a place that doesn't give you all holidays off. I love my banker's holidays. I had a 4 day weekend this week. I went home to my parents house this weekend! It was so much fun! We had a baby shower for my best friend, Aubry. And all 3 of my closest girl friends were there! It's so fun because Aubry is pregnant and due in a few weeks. Then the other 3 of us are all engaged and got engaged within 2 weeks of each other! It was fun to just spend time together again!

We always have to take weird pictures. Don't mind my hunchback..

So that was fun! Saturday night, we got some of my friends and some of Jeremy's friends together and went to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings in Layton and then bowling! I am so happy that our friends, as different as they are, can all get together and have fun like that! Sunday was a family day. Jeremy and I made queso for a snack for my family before church and then we hung out the rest of the day. Monday I went and saw Pitch Perfect (again) with my Rachy Poo. Such a funny movie! Then I went and saw my other Racheal's new house. SO CUTE! I'm kinda jealous. I want a house. Then that night Jerms and I were supposed to go to dinner with my brother and sister in law. So instead I just went down to Jeremys house and when I got there he had dinner made for me! With my favorite drink ever!!!!

I could live on Martinelli's. Seriously. It's my favorite. Isn't he cute though? I just love him! He's so good to me!
And Tuesday I went to lunch with my mom and my 2nd mom. We had fun just eating and catching up. It's been a while since I'd seen 2nd mom. Then came home, had some roomie time with Kayla. Love her. And then started watching The Walking Dead. and HOLY CRAP! I'm so sucked in it's friggin ridiculous. I finished season one last night. Don't judge me for that. Or do. Whatevs.

Stolen Post! Oops!

Today I have no idea what to write about so I will leave you with this from a blog that I stalk because I think she's hilarious. So go read this and laugh. But seriously, follow her rules, they are very good. However, I know that I have broken a few of them many times. Please forgive me Bonnie!

And I stole this picture from Tuk. Her blog is one of my favorites! It's simple and contains all the things I love. So go check her out here!

So...You know...I'M GETTING MARRIED!

We're going to be together FOREVER!!!! I love this boy. SO much. I can't wait to spend eternity with him! :) AHHH. Ok so we all know the best part of engagements is the story, right? So here is mine. I have to start a few hours before though.

We had plans to go to the Jazz game because I'm slightly obsessed and it was the season opener against the Mavs. Yay. And also, I don't like Halloween so it was a good excuse to not dress up. So, I got off work early to head down to South Jordan, made a quick stop at my parents house to pick up a copy of T-Swift's new CD, which ROCKS by the way. So a few minute delay there, then gotta get gas, then finally on the road from Layton to SoJo. Great! Driving along, singing my heart out with my T-Swift jams. Then I hit about 1300 South in SLC. Dead stop. Bad. Traffic is never that bad. So I keep going hoping that it'll clear up. No, it never does. So I had to get off the freeway early and attempt to take Bangerter the rest of the way. Jeremy keeps telling me to hurry. I keep telling him that I can't do anything to help the traffic. I finally get to there at like 6:30. Game time is at 7. Jeremy starts to drive like a mad man. For some reason he really wanted to be there BEFORE the game started. I think in all the games I've been to, I've been to one on time. It's just not something I'm good at. Oh well. Game starts, we're losing right away. Go Jazz...Then the following conversation occurs:
Jer: We should totally get a picture with the Jazz Bear.
Me: Yeah, right! We're in the upper bowl. He never comes up here!!
cue Jazz Bear running down the stairs next us.
Me: Huh. Well, guess I was wrong.
Go back to watching the game.
All of a sudden there is a big furry thing standing next to me, I look up. It's Bear. He's holding beautiful flowers, looking at the people behind us (The 2 seats next to me were empty). I look at Jeremy, back at Bear. Bear grabs my hand, stands me up, hands me the flowers. I start freaking out. Giggling uncontrollably ( I'm not like most girls, I laugh instead of cry sometimes.) Bear turns me around, there's the most handsome boy in the world, down on one knee, holding the most beautiful ring! Then everything turned to a blur. I don't remember what he said, I don't even know if I said yes. I don't know how the ring even got on my finger. I just pulled Jeremy up! Kissed him. Hugged him. Then hid my face in his chest as the bear COVERED us in silly string and confetti!!! Seriously. Best night of my life. People! GET ENGAGED! It's fun!!!

Oh! And BTW, Jazz killed the Mavs! Won by 19. GO JAZZ!!!!! (I don't remember much of the game. I was kinda distracted)

Ranting. Strange Word Isn't It?

Today I feel like I have so many things to Rant and Rave about. Like people, seriously, if you use the bathroom at Wal-Mart, and the toilet doesn't automatically flush. Please be kind and flush it yourself. Some of us are stuck in this lovely place for 10 or 11 hours and a day and have no other choice than to use them. Please help to not keep them disgusting. Kthanks. And in case you haven't noticed, we live in UTAH. It snows here...not a big surprise but yet first snowfall of the year people act like it's the worst thing that could have ever happened. I have many more topics I could go off on, if you would like.

But then I look at these faces and I am happy and ok with life again...

 

  

Those eyes kill me. Isn't he friggin adorable???

I so wish this picture wasn't blurry, but it's so dang cute!

I was on my way to the boyfriends house the other day and saw this goat in the truck. Couldn't stop laughing.

You could say that we are pros at pumpkin carving. Stay tuned for more punkins next weekend! YAY for being festive.

Finally got a haircut! He looks like a big boy now! BTW, I never knew trying to describe how you wanted a guy's haircut would be so difficult. Guess I'll have to work on that.

Probably my favorite couple to hang out with. They're pretty legit people.

Anywhay...maybe someday I'll write a post about something fantastic. But for now, I think telling you about the people in my life is fantastic. So...yeah.

Social Networking. Emphasis on the WORKING

Don't get me wrong, I like blogging. But...let's be real here for a minute. It's so much more fun and a lot easier to READ peoples blogs rather than udpating my own. I feel that if I don't post for a few days that I just have too much to catch up on, because my life is so exciting and fantastic (enter sarcastic tone). But really. I was so gung-ho about this blog a few weeks ago and I like updating it but today I feel like it's a lot of work to tell you all about my life, so instead, you get this post. Hopefully somewhere between today and the weekend I will have a real post for you all.

Also, as a side-note, for those of you from around here, I have only seen the Mantua cop like 2 times in the past month and a half. Does this worry anyone else? It worries me.

Anything you can do I can do better. Or have? I don't know.

Guys. Let's get real. My family is the best. You may think yours is, but secretly, you KNOW that you can't beat my family. I was having a not so great day yesterday, and it was my fantastic brother and sister's 27th birthday. (They're old!) And so I decided that was a great reason to go home!! Turns, out, it is exactly what I needed. Let me introduce you to my family.

My mom. She's amazing. She would do anything to help anyone, loves teaching her bratty little students (most of the time), which that alone makes her a saint! She would give us kids the world if she could. She has the weight of the world on her shoulders lately and she pushes through and makes us kids and the grandkids feel so loved!!!

My dad. He's the kind of dad that every girl should have. Seriously. We do all our outdoorsy things together. He gives me advice about life and I feel like I can tell him anything or ask him anything and he can give me the exact answer that I need. He is the priesthood holder that is there to always give me a Father's blessing when needed and I wouldn't know what to do without him.

Zack. The big brother every girl needs. He's funny, and so caring, but he doesn't like to show that side. ;) He is the cutest dad to the the cutest little chunk. He leads his family and is always there to make us laugh or give me a hug when I'm crying. He's great. We should be the twins of the family because we definitely look and act more alike.

Kenzi-Poo. The best sister in law ever!! And since I only get one of those, I'm pretty glad we got her! She keeps up laughing with her fantastic blonde moments and helps us save money by being a rockin' couponer (is that a word?) She fits into the family so perfectly and I love her!!

Mallorie! The ditzy twin. JK Mal! That's not how we know you! You're the crafty older sister who takes care of the family. She protects her family like a friggin lioness protects her cubs. Ridiculous. But we are lucky to have her! I love when we get together and color our hair and just catch up on life. and Mom to Boog. (the nephew)

Tom. Great brother in law! He is a great dad to Drewby. And he cares for his family and takes such great care of them. He's a little bit more quiet than the rest of us, but, that's ok. We can't all be out of control crazy loud people. ;)

Sammi Sue. AKA Blister. My best friend. We fight, but like 5 seconds later, we're fantastic again. We are hilarious, too. So you should probably be friends with us. She's my other half and some of my very favorite memories over the past few years are with her! If you need someone to look up to, she's definitely a good choice. Such a great example to me.

Jeremy. The best thing that's ever happened to me! He always makes me laugh and when I need a hug, he's there to hold me and make all my stress go away. He's my best friend. He makes me feel like the most beautiful girl and the luckiest girl ever. I'm so glad that I have him. I'd be even more happy if we didn't live quite so far away, but we'll fix that before too long. ;)

See. Don't you wish you were part of my family? They're amazing!!!!!!!

I want to be a cougar!

..and then he jumped in the tree.

 

This is apparently what  a cougar looks like, according to Mr. Dimond. He's a strange one, but I think he makes a pretty cute cougar! I'll keep him!

And I'm a bear? Who knows. I've got issues. But whatevs.
We had fun hiking up the same place that Kayla and I hiked a few weeks ago. Seriously. Logan rocks for hiking places and outdoorsy people. So we hiked and had fun. This is what we would look like if we saw a bear..

And that bear would live in here...

Creepy, right? 

And then we made crack. AKA Reese's Rice Krispies. They're slightly addicting and perfectly delicious. Boyfriend ate a lot of them and he got sick. But that's just means I'm good at my girlfriendly duties on feeding him. Right? 

Other random highlights from the weekend:

My beautiful cousin got married! Congrats Kenz!!!! LOVE YOU! And then we went to Smith's to get some stuff to decorate the car at said wedding and the person in front of us at the checkout left their receipt, and I just want you to notice how much they have saved so far this year! WTF! Who does that. Crazy. Because that's not including any coupons, that's just with their Smith's Rewards. Think of how much they would have to spend to save that much!!! Wow.

Oh and if you want the recipe for crack here you go:

Reeses Krispies

1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Corn Syrup
1 1/3 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
4 1/4 Cup Rice Krispes
1 Pinch of Salt
4 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chopped
1 Handful Chocolate Chips


In a large sauce pan over medium heat, melt the sugar, corn syrup, and peanut butter until smooth and evenly combined.
Remove from heat.
Quickly add the salt and cereal and stir to combine thoroughly. Add the chocolate chips and stir again. Wait about 1 min and add the candy, quickly folding the mixture together so as to not smash up the candy.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop rounded tablespoons onto the sheet. Let cool and devour!

Try them. I dare you.

Silly Boy

You will find out very quickly that I LOVE eCards. They always make me laugh. This morning, the boyfriend sent me this..

So, I responded to him and said, "So...where are my flowers and jewelry?"

I'm waiting. ;)

Celebration!

Ladies, let's be real. Fall is amazing for a lot of reasons. But the very best thing about fall is shown is the following picture:

Weekend Update: WIth Seth Meyers

Ok, no not with Seth Meyers. But, you get me. That's almost as cool right?
I love conference weekend. It's probably my favorite time of year! Especially since we are so blessed to live so close to the conference center.  The weekend started out Friday night at my parents house. It was a party! Kinda like a whole weekend long triple date. Yes. I said it. It was me and the boyfriend. Sammi and Levi and my parents. We had some cute family time at first and watched videos on proposals on the Youtube. You know, just giving Jerms some ideas ;)

Saturday morning, Me, Sam, Jerms and Levi went to conference and then to lunch and had a grand ol' time!

Aren't they the cutest?!

We're kinda cute too! (Conceited? Yes.)

Then we went home and my amazing mom, oldest sister and favorite sister-in-law had been preparing mass amounts of crock pot meals. We've found this new thing where you can make freezer crock pot meals, so we plan out for a month or so and then Mal and Kenz (with her amazing coupon skills) go shopping. Then we put them together. And by we, mostly I mean all of them. I did a real good job and keeping the nephews entertained. We got done just in time for the boys to head out to Priesthood session. Dad took Levi and Jerms as his body guards.
Sunday we had our traditional German Pancakes for breakfast during the morning session.

We all stayed in our pajamas and ate junk food and listened to the words of the prophet. It's my favorite day!!!
Monday was Columbus Day. Which means, my dad and I had the day off while everyone else had to work. So we took the guns out and went to the shooting range.

 I love those days. I have the best dad in the world! Then we went to In-N-Out and had some burgers, fries and just some nice time to chat. Then my cute boyfriend took me to dinner at Texas Roadhouse.
Mmm....rolls and cinnamon butter. If you know me at all, you know I have a slight obsession with butter. So that was fun. And we had a great server! Which always makes the experience so much better!!

And...we're fatty's. It's fine.

PS. Trying to fit tons of freezer meals into a freezer in an apartment with 3 other girls, that was fun. Food tetris.

On Wednesdays We Wear Pink

"On October 3rd, He asked me what the date was.."

Thank you for the one good thing that Lindsay Lohan has ever done in her life. Mean Girls. Most quoteable movie ever. Today just so happens to me Wednesday AND October 3rd.

Fall. FALL. FALL!!!!

So yesterday, me and my beautiful roomie/best friend both had the day off (which NEVER happens) and we had so much ambition for the day. She had class in the morning, so I slept in a little bit and then did a bunch of laundry! She came home, we caught up on life. It's weird how even though you live with someone, you can see so little of them. But, anywho, we finished up our stuff for the day and plopped down on the love sac and decided to watch a little bit of Friends. Because, let's face it, it's kinda the best show ever and we, mostly me, have a slight addiction to it. And after a few episodes I got antsy and so we decided to go hiking. That's the beauty of Logan. Well, anywhere in Utah really. You are so close to the mountains there is ALWAYS something to do. So we drove up to 2nd dam and went on an adventure.



Isn't it beautiful?! Oh I love Logan Canyon!



The colors!!



Isn't SHE beautiful?! Love her!

Probably one of the most productive days I've had since I moved here! I also got Visiting Teaching done (for the first time EVER!) and worked out later that night and had a work meeting and washed my tennis shoes! I was so proud of myself! And now it's time for the weekend! I can't wait to go see the boyfriend and my family!
Enjoy yourselves, lovely people!

Hi, I'm Maddi. Nice to Meet You

Well...I've given in. I read blogs all day at work (I mean...I work really hard) and I've decided that they are really fun and figured, hey, why not join all these bloggers! So, here I am. I'm Maddi. And I live in the lovely little town of Logan. It's a great little place! I miss home! I have 5 men in my life. 

My dad, who I look up to and love more than anything.

Mr. Jeremy Dimond who I love with all my heart!! He is definitely the best thing that's ever happened to me!

Wyatt!! Also lovingly known as snickerbutt, or Wywy. How can you not love that face?!

Andrew. Drew. Booger. Whiney Butt. My little man. I love him!

I also have an amazing brother, whom I don't seem to have a picture of..But he's kinda cool. And I have a great brother-in-law Tom, who is the greatest dad to boog!

And 4 of the strongest women ever, who have made me who I am!
Come back! There will be more posts to come! 

Maddi!