Just a Little Update

Wednesday, September 21, 2016
I really love getting to work with companies and review their awesome products, but I have to admit... it's a lot of work!
Yes, it's fun... but taking pictures, writing a post, editing a post, submitting links, etc takes up a lot of the time I used to spend just updating this blog about personal thoughts.
I love that I get to help pay the bills with this blog of mine, but sometimes I forget why I even started!
The title, "For the Joy of Life" says it all.
I started this blog to share the joys in my life and as an attempt to remember them since writing in an actual journal is not my expertise.
Cut me some slack, I wrote Hunter through snail mail for two years ;)
I got to thinking about how I haven't done a family update in a while and if you've been a reader for a while you probably remember that I have zero method to my madness when it comes to writing updates sooooo here goes nothing!

We moved. Yep that didn't get an exclamation point...
I'm trying to be more optimistic about it because I'm really actually happy here,
but it's just hard to experience so much change at once.
We didn't move into our own house, even our own apartment...
We moved into Hunter's grandmother's basement apartment and while it's actually very nice,
it's just not home to me yet.
We'll only be here for a short time, but we didn't plan on being here at all in the first place.
But, life happens and you learn to be okay with it.
So that's currently what I'm doing, learning to be okay with it. All of it.
Some pros are: 
-We now have a backyard
-We can finally fit a kitchen table
-Two full bathrooms
-There's a piano down here, so I should probably learn
-Bigger rooms
-Bigger space in general
-Much more natural light
So there, I'll focus on the good :)

We bought a new (to us) car!
The car we were driving happened to be owned by my father in law and was actually meant for my sister in law.
We were using it while Hunter was in college so we could save up.
Then the unexpected happened and a whole lot of changes were made.
We are so grateful we saved our tax refund for a rainy day because that helped us with the down payment.
We are also thankful for Hyundai for finding us a car with very reasonable payments.
So we're adulting, and it's scary, but it also feels good.
I think I weirdly actually fell more in love with Hunter when he signed the papers for the car.
I was just so proud of him, and us, and all we've done together.
Also, I really like this car 

I got a new calling in our ward!
If you aren't LDS here's a little break down.
Our church is the same world wide. Like completely the same.
We all go to church for three hours, have the same lesson topics, have the same structure, heck most of the buildings even look the same!
The only difference is the people in each leadership position in each "ward"
There's the church as a whole. Then there's stakes which is made up of a bunch of wards. Then there's wards based off which building is closest to you.
And that's how you know which building to go to and what time.
So in my ward I just got called to be a relief society teacher.
So I get to teach the women in my ward and I am SO excited about it :)

Hunter is still working for BYU football.
He's liking the new staff and will always just love being surrounded by football.
He's planning on keeping this job til he graduates if all goes according to plan.
He also is now working for Culinary Crafts, a catering company in Utah.
He usually only works on Saturdays due to his other job and school schedule so we don't see much of him but he's definitely paying the bills.
As I had mentioned on instagram, he got into the business school at BYU!
This is a really hard school to get in to and I'm just so proud of him.
He's loving his classes and as far as I know, he's doing well in them.
Him getting in, was a huge answer to our prayers. It also gives me yet another reason to be proud of him!
He's in young men's in our church and is the perfect guy for it.
He relates so well with them and has so much fun with his calling.
He loves his little Oaks and I'm loving watching them play together now that she's older.
My favorite noise ever is hearing Oaklyn giggle and scream as dada chases her around the house.
If it were up to Hunter, I'd already be pregnant with another ;)

As for me... I'm just getting by haha.
Okay just kidding, I'm loving all I'm doing but I'm just so busy!
While Hunter is gone all day I try to hold down the fort.
This generally entails trying to wake up before Oaklyn so I can do my makeup in peace, changing a whole lot of diapers, cleaning up a ton of messes, washing lots of sticky fingers, witnessing countless tantrums, getting several wet baby kisses, giving snuggles and hugs constantly, always laughing at how silly and sassy my child can be, kissing numerous boo boo's, and filling up sippy cups and bottles galore. 
We try to get outside at least once a day and every day is a new place but Oaks just loves to go "Buh Bye" with mama.
Surprisingly, we experience far less tantrums if we're out and about.
When we get home I put Oaklyn down for a nap and spend that whole time answering emails, editing photos, and writing posts. 
That's usually my favorite time of the day because it's me time and I feel important.
I know motherhood is important, but I love that I get to do something for myself.
I'm really enjoying all the opportunities blogging is bringing my way, I'm still doing photography and would love to schedule shoots, and I have another business in the works ;)

Oaklyn Joy is just growing right up
I stopped doing the monthly updates after a year but if I would've kept going, each post would be packed!
This kid is learning something new every single day and she amazes me constantly.
Not to mention, she's the cutest little thing I have ever seen!
She is seriously getting prettier by the day and just keeps looking more and more grown up.
She's so much more of a "kid" than a "baby" now and it's kind of breaking my heart while also so exciting!
He favorite foods right now are "poppy" (popcorn), "sauce" (any form of dip but preferably mustard), "wa wa" (any drink in her cup), and of course cookies. She also seems to like chicken nuggets, pizza, rice, carrots, and still loves shredded cheese.
She finally likes TV and gets so excited over Clifford and Care Bears or anything else with animals.
Her best friend is her white teddy bear that she named "Gida."
She only sees him at bed time and naps and gets so excited! She burrows her little face into him and her face lights up.
She definitely has gotten the hang of sleeping in comparison to her first year and it makes me so happy!
She walks super good and is pro at jumping. 
Her favorite toy is shoes ;)
Seriously, she could try on shoes for hours on hours!
She's saying so many words and is starting to put two together.
She's also super opinionated now and chooses her outfit almost every day. Bow and all!
She's just the best and so much fun!

This time in our lives is nothing short of crazy.
However, it's also super fun.
We love being young and married while also being parents.
We're both always tired and Oaklyn is always crazy ;)
But seriously, we're just having fun and living each day as best we can.
I've had a lot of people ask "how we've been doing" you know... as far as Hunter's dad goes.
The truth of the matter is, it's hard.
We both still have break downs and not a day goes by that we aren't thinking about it.
We're absolutely still grieving and we're going to take our time.
I've dealt with lots of anxiety and Hunter has dealt with the pain of losing one of his very best friends.
We wish we could call him, give him a hug, see him, just say one more word to him... but we're just trying to remember this is not the end.
We miss him. 
We're sad.
We love him.
But, we really will be okay.
It's still so fresh and we will take our time with healing, if it ever comes.
That being said, thank you to everyone for all your love and support.
We feel overwhelmed with all the amazing people in our lives.

Anddd that about sums it up!
We had an amazing summer turned most horrible summer but we're really looking forward to fall. 
This holiday season will be hard but we have the greatest family ever. (I'm biased but whatever)
We have so many happy things going on in our lives and we are trying to focus on them.
We have been given much and we are so thankful for this life we live. 

All my love,
Aleigh Joy

We got to attend a taping for a Christmas concert... in September!

Oaklyn goes to the BYU home opener!

This was just today... she got a pretty bad bonk on her forehead and this photo does not do it justice! Welcome to crazy toddlerhood.

Utah is gorgeous and we love hiking!

Oaksie watching "Gidas" (care bears) and eating poppy! She's such a mess by the end of the night haha!

But seriously, how cute is she?? Look at those long legs! Right after church.

There she is! The new(ish) car

This was the Sunday after Pat's funeral. It was a hard week but we were smiling through the pain.

This isn't new by any means but Hunter wouldn't leave San Diego without it. It's his favorite picture of him and his dad after a high school football game. Hunter's dad was his absolute biggest fan. 

This picture kills me a little inside. We went to visit his dad the day after the funeral. Oaklyn and I walked away for a minute to let Hunter be alone and I couldn't help but take this sweet and heart wrenching photo. Never ever would I have expected I would have this picture of Hunter this young. It still isn't making sense, but we're so thankful families are forever. 

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