Pain

My nausea is back... and it's not because I'm pregnant! 

I have kidney stones again. 

and boy is the pain unbearable at times! I wish they would just leave. 

You know what I mean? 

....I have to student teach and do things, you know. 

on a positive note:

One of my most favorite things of being pregnant is feeling baby Madeline move and kick. It's the coolest feeling in the world. I feel SOO blessed! We can't WAIT to meet her in January! 

You're Invited!

I am so excited that General Conference is here again! I always walk away from it feeling so refreshed and reminded of who I am and what I should be doing. How blessed we are to listen to a living prophet of God and his apostles and other leaders of the church. 

Twice a year, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from all over the world gather in their homes, their church buildings, the Conference Center, etc  to listen to the internet or radio or TV to hear our Heavenly Father's prophets and apostles give council and direction. Not only are members of the church invited... but the WHOLE world is invited to come and listen. I feel so blessed that we have the technology we do so that anyone can hear or watch LIVE. 

One of the cool things about our church is that we KNOW that God talks to His children and His servants today just like we see He did with his prophets and children in the Bible. He loved his children then and he loves his children now.

 Why would He stop communicating with us now?  

Good news! He definitely hasn't stopped. We have a living prophet on the earth today who talks with our Heavenly Father and receives direction and council from Him and then the prophet in turn tells us what we should be doing. Our prophet's name is President Thomas S. Monson. That's why it's so important to listen to President Monson's words and his apostles so that we can stay on the "right path" ( or the happy path ) in this life. :) What a blessing!! After all, Heavenly Father loves us... he would never leave us alone left to figure things out on our own. No way, Jose. 

General Conference Information: 

Messages will be given by the First Presidency, members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and other General Authorities and general officers of the Church.

General sessions will be held on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., followed by the priesthood session at 6:00 p.m. mountain daylight time. ( Check out BYU TV or your local listings to see what channel it will be on.)  Two more general sessions will be held on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. mountain daylight time; the morning session includes the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word. 

You can also listen to it live on-line HERE. 

I LOVE General Conference! We'll be attending the Sunday Afternoon session and I can't wait! 

25 weeks

Well, folks. I gave in. Here I am 25 weeks along with baby Madeline. 

{ sorry for the poor quality... but I'm fine with that. You don't need to see me that well anyway.} 

I'm feeling MUCH better. Definitely super grateful for that. 

Now... if only someone could monitor my eating cookies and sweet things that I'm craving ALWAYS.

Crap. 

Wreath Mania

Here's a lovely autumn wreath I made today. 

The flowers are made out of paper coffee filters and I dyed them in paint. 

Then I added some little acorns and berries. 

My sister gave me that cute glittery 'F' a while back so I added that as my final touch! 

This next wreath I made the other night. 

It's made of old book pages. { I know, I'm an awful person.} 

It hangs over our fireplace and adds so much to the living room decor! 

It took a long time, but it was a lot of fun to make. 

{ I also made that halloween banner today. I LOVE fall decor!}

If you'd like to make either of these wreaths go to THIS website to find out how.

The book page wreath can be found HERE to be exact. 

{ you could also use a newspaper instead of an old book!} 

I like to make things

I'm busting out my craftiness this weekend

and making this beauty of a wreath! 

SO stinkin cute. I love autumn! 

... and I love this website. She gives such great tutorials on such awesome stuff! 

If you want to make the same wreath... here's the tutorial. You're welcome. 

Today I have a tutorial of sorts to share. It is not a full tutorial because 1. I learned to make the flowers from an already pretty amazing tutorial and 2. I left my camera in Ryan’s truck and was too impatient to wait to put it together until he came home so I don’t have photos of the actual attaching to the wreath phase of the project.  Sometimes you just have to go with it when the crafting bug gets you.

This wreath is a combination of a regular grape vine wreath you can purchase at the craft store, lots of coffee filter flowers and a few acorn and berry sprigs. There is a section at the craft store near the floral stuff with all kinds of glittery birds on sticks and wired leaf sprigs that I’m not really sure what they are for, but I am a sucker for them.  These acorns were from that section and I’ve had them laying around for a few years never knowing quite what to do with them.  But I think they make the perfect subtle autumn touch to a pretty girly flowery wreath.

Okay, so on with the tutorial. I learned how to make these coffee filter roses from this tutorial but I’ll show you how I did it just for extra clarification.

 

 

I wanted fall-ish colors for my flowers, so I used yellow, pink, red and orange paint. I mixed in brown with all of them to make them muddier. I started by dying white coffee filters, but then figured out that the natural colored ones work better for making muted colors.

Mix your paint with water, stir well, scrunch in a stack of coffee filters and let them soak up the paint. Then squeeze out and let dry.

I dried some flat on paper towels, but then ran out of room and made a clothes line to dry the rest.

Okay, now on to the flower making part. Again, you can see in detail how to create each flower from this tutorial on Aunt Peaches, but here is my rendition.

For flower #1, fold three coffee filters into quarters, cut a scalloped edge along the top and then a scalloped center.

Open up the filters and cut the outer ring open.

With the center pieces, twist in the middle to create a petal and press onto a strip of masking tape. This will make the center of the rose. Do this will all three center pieces.

Now this part is the trickiest to explain, although it isn’t that tricky to do. You just have to try it and you’ll catch on. Basically, take one of the outer ring pieces, pleat it and stick it to the edge of the tape. Continue with each of the three pieces until you have a long strip of ruffly looking paper.

Next, start at the center petals and start rolling to create the flower.

When you are done, you will have a pretty paper flower.

If you want to vary the size, can add an extra filter or two.

To make a smaller flower, cut one coffee filter into a spiral.

Now open it up and beginning with the center, start ruffling and sticking the strip to a piece of tape.

Now roll from the center …

… and you have this sweet flower.

After lots and lots of flower making {it probably took 40 to make this wreath}, I cut off the backs to make the flowers flat and glued them to the grape vine wreath.

It was really pretty with just the flowers, but I wanted it to look a little more like Autumn, so I added in a few berries and acorns {attaching with hot glue}.

I think this is my favorite of all wreaths I’ve made. 

Probably because Fall is my favorite of all seasons.

Read More At Jones Design Co: http://jonesdesigncompany.com/create/a-pretty-autumn-wreath/#ixzz1YeME7sua

Dear Diary

Nick and I had the opportunity to fly together back to my home town in Texas this past weekend. First of all, I LOVE the fact that Frontier came to the Provo airport and we have the luxury of having an airport 5 minutes away from my house. Are you kidding? I love it. Plus it's such a small airport, you don't have to deal with all the junk that you have to deal with at bigger airports. My kinda flying. Good job, Provo.

Nick has recently received a few phone calls to fly out to their medical schools for an interview. We are so thrilled! So far we have heard from TCOM in Fort Worth, Texas; Western University in Pomona, California; and Temple University in Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania....

This past weekend was his first interview and he rocked it! ( Well, I wasn't there, but I'm sure he did.) He had nothing but wonderful things to say about the school and the people there. He actually has a few buddies that attend there at the moment, so it was fun for him to see those guys too. He looked so sharp in his suit as he left the house last Saturday morning for his interview. So proud of him!!

We are totally looking forward to driving to California in a few weeks for his 3rd interview in Pomona. It's my fall break and our anniversary, so I was able to talk Nick into letting me go with him. I am SOOO excited to spend some time with my dear friend Emily, Ben, and their cute family. Ben just started residency at Loma Linda and he's loving it. They just moved into a beautiful home close to Redlands. I can't wait to meet their newest addition to their family, Olivia! I am also super excited to see my dear friends Kristi, Ean and their baby girl, Anna and of course her sweet parents. I have SO many wonderful memories from Kristi's home and I absolutely love going and spending time with them. I have been so blessed with such wonderful friends!

I was grateful to be able to fly to Texas with Nick to spend some quality time at home and to see my parents and puppies ( Jack, Lexi and Lily). I always love coming home for a visit. I'm sad I won't get to come home for Thanksgiving or Christmas ( due to the large belly I will have and they won't let me travel) so I was so glad I got to go home for a few short days.

( This is my lovely home in Aubrey. Sadly, this is the only picture I have! No, it definitely wasn't snowing when I was home... and it rarely snows.... but they have been going through a 3 month heat wave ( never reaching less than 100 degrees!) Luckily, when I was there... it dropped down to 70 degrees. My favorite weather! 

Side note: I can't believe how AWFUL I've been about documenting our lives.... PICTURE-LESS. I really need to be better about that! Sorry, readers. 

Let's see... what else is new....

I've officially started student teaching at an elementary school here in Provo. I LOVE it! I love the teacher I work with. She's young and hip and is a fantastic teacher! We work well together. :) I worked with her for 2 days... and then she had to take off to Hawaii for a week for a funeral. I had the grand opportunity to dive right into student teaching and be in complete control. I felt like a little girl again... forcing my poor neighbor friends to play school with me... only this time, it was real! I absolutely LOVE these little ones. They are 7 and 8 years old and want nothing more than to please you and get rewards. :) I love second grade. I also have a little autistic boy in my class ( who I have come to love dearly) and he always has interesting things to say to me. Yesterday, he said, " Mrs. Ferguson. What I am about to tell you is VERY serious. I'm not kidding around. Two days ago, I wittnessed a kindergartner throwing up in the music room." ........... ME: " Alrighty. Okay, thank you for letting me know. Have a seat now." :) Oh I love these kids. 

Nick is constantly busy with his calling in church as the ward mission leader. He is very diligent at his calling and takes it very seriously. He's so wonderful. He goes to the half way house once a week to teach gospel lessons. He loves it! Tonight, we are having FHE with a couple who's been inactive for a few years. I feel blessed to be able to be apart of missionary work in this ward. We love our ward by the way. Our bishop is an absolute stud. He recently came home from serving as mission president in Houston Texas, they have a huge family, and a chicken coop! Whatever. so cool! I love those guys. Plus, my dear friends: Leland (kristi's brother) and Charla are in our ward. ( Lee bob has been one of my dearest friends for YEARS.) How fun! 

I love my calling as first councilor in the Young Womens. We only have about 5 girls in our YW, but I love them each dearly. We all have a lot of fun together. I absolutely LOVE teaching and being apart of their sweet lives. 

Hmm... what else can I bore you with? 

I am definitely looking more and more pregnant these days. Nope, I definitely am NOT posting pictures, so don't fret. I am 24 weeks now and feel SOOO blessed because I haven't felt nauseated in a couple of weeks now. I can't explain how I feel about that!! SUCH a relief. This little baby girl Madeline is a complete blessing in our lives and I can feel her strong, sweet spirit already. My mom said I had a strong spirit when I was in the womb.... and I have a feeling my little one might be similar to me. Uh oh. All I can say is... Heaven help Nick. :) I've been having a blast registering online at Baby's R Us and Target for baby stuff! I bought a large box of baby wipes from Costco today to start stocking up! So fun! 

also, I found out I need to stay away from Gluten foods and soy and highly acidic foods. So basically, air and dirt are okay. If any of you know of any good gluten free foods, let me know! Pintrest has been a wonderful help! 

I hope all of you are doing well. I feel like I'm writing in my journal... and I sort of am... so I'm very sorry if I bored you all to tears... but if you've gotten THIS far on this post... you must not be that bored or you're a close friend of mine, right? :) 

Either way, thanks for pretending to be interested in our silly lives. Happy Monday! 

Love, Heather

PS- I absolutely am SO giddy for this Autumn. October has become one of my most favorite months! Bring on the spiced candles, Alpine Loop drive, caramel apples, cardigans, hot soups, and halloween decor!!! 

Webcam 101 for Seniors

How cute is this couple? I love that they have absolutely NO idea what they're doing. 

hahaha. 

Stuck!

We've had a difficult time coming up with a middle name for baby Madeline. So far, I've come up with a few and I'd like to know your opinions just for fun. Please vote on the right side of my blog! Thanks friends.

1. Madeline Mae

 2. Madeline Anne

  3. Madeline Claire 

4. Madeline Jane 

Never Forget

I can't believe it's already been 10 years. 


I remember I was in a second grade classroom volunteering for my high school. It was still pretty early in the morning so no one at the elementary school knew what was happening over in New York. I got in my car and headed to my high school. Every single radio station was talking about "a plane that just crashed into the World Trade Center." I was a bit confused, wondering how in the world that could happen. I was listening to 106.1 Kiss FM to be exact. Kidd Kradick and Kelly Raspberry seemed very sad as they talked about what was going on over on the East Coast. 


I quickly called my dad to ask him what was going on. I remember he sounded a bit panicked on the other end and said, " It's nothing to be worried about, everything will be okay..." I knew something was really wrong because of the tone in my dad's voice. He's always wanting to protect his children. He knew that we were being attacked. 


I arrived to the high school and every single TV was on in every classroom. Every student, teacher, and faculty staff were watching the World Trade Center and the horror that was happening there. We all sat silently and watched as a second plane hit the second trade center. Lots of students were crying, some wanted to talk about it, others had family and friends that lived there. I couldn't believe the chaos and terror that was happening to our friends in New York City. My heart went out to them. My heart still goes out to the people and the victims who were greatly effected that day by the terrorists. 




I will never forget the soldiers and people who fought and still do fight for our FREEDOM. 
We are so blessed to be living in such a beautiful country. 
I pray we never take our freedom or this country for granted.

Where were YOU that day? 


Never forget...

the enforcer

Good News! I haven't felt nauseated since Sunday! What a blessing. Oh, and we get to see Madeline again on Friday at our ultrasound. I love those.

Also, I survived.

I survived my first day ALL alone as a TEACHER in my second grade class. ( well, student teacher... but my actual teacher is away on a trip and she's letting me take the reins.)

It's my 3rd day at the elementary school, so it was a bit overwhelming trying to learn the routines and rules just by a day and a half of watching. It's also quite a trick to get the little 2nd graders to listen to you and take you seriously as a teacher.

You better believe they take me seriously. If there's one thing I can do as a teacher... that's management skills. I spent most of my life bossing my poor sisters, brother, and neighbors around ( forcing them to play school with me actually) and surprisingly, they played..... every. single time. I think they were afraid of me. I had a chalkboard and everything.

My kiddos were being little turds ( am I allowed to say that? well, I'm saying it in a loving way) yesterday and I had to "lay the smack down." We practiced for almost an hour of "what following directions" looks and sounds like. I had to be persistant, otherwise they wouldn't take me seriously. I felt bad for the little ones... but finally, they GOT it I think . They were ANGELS today.... they know to take me seriously now.

The trick is to balance the "negative" with the "positive"(more positive stuff though). I am more of a positive person, so I really enjoy the positive reinforcement.

Example:

The class is rowdy. Students aren't in their seats.... except for "suzie."

ME: " Oh, I really like how suzie is following directions by sitting quietly at her desk reading a book. Thank you, Suzie. You get a gold star."

IMMEDIATELY the rest of the class hurries to their desks and are all the sudden quiet as mice.

It works wonders... positive reinforcement. I love it. This is another reason why I love second grade. They get excited if they EARN one minute of extra recess. Hey, that extra minute in elementary school is longer than you think it is.

Anyway... It was a lot of fun feeling like a teacher today. I am also very exhausted. I could fall asleep right now.

Tomorrow we're celebrating birthdays and doing art projects. I can't wait to bust out my Disney music.

Also, I took some pictures of adorable baby Nash who just turned one recently. You can check them out HERE on my photography site: (heatherannette.com).  Leave a comment or two... I'd love it.

{ My little brother comes home from his mission in Brazil in THREE months! I can't even believe it!}

Toilet Paper Queen

WARNING: If you don't have a sense of humor, or if bathrooms gross you out, or if you're a mean person... don't read this.

Today. Oh today.

I had a leadership seminar at UVU for student teaching. It started at 8 am and ended at 3 pm. I haven't stepped foot in the main buildings at UVU in over a year because all my classes have been across the street in the education building ( SO thankful because parking at that building is SO much nicer than having to almost lose your temple recommend to parking wars with other idiots on the road. If any of you have attended UVU you know exactly what I'm talking about. Parking is insane there.)

ANYWAY...

Halfway though the seminar, we had a nice little lunch break at noon and me and 3 of my friends from my group went down to the cafeteria to get some food. Did you know that they now have a Costa Vida?! I was so excited. I don't think I've ever eaten at the UVU cafeteria before... but I probably would have if we had Costa Vida back then. ( Yes, I've been in college for AGES.) Speaking of... it didn't help seeing a bunch of 18 year olds swarming the place.

"These kids were all in diapers when I started college, " I thought to myself, " and now I'm this 27 year old, married, pregnant lady... STILL in school, and these babies have caught up with me." cool. { by the way, I served a mission and then took a year off because I was sick... so I kind of have a good excuse as to why it's taken me this long to graduate. Okay.. and I played a lot. I have good memories from it all at least! I have good reasons here, people. Don't be so quick to judge me. :) }

Anyway, so I'm walking around with my 3 cute girlfriends... and we stand in this LONG winding line ( of course it's long... there's 10 billion 18 year olds everywhere.) So, I'm laughing and talking with my friends. The three of them are all in front of me in line and I'm the last to order my food. { We've been in this line at least 15 minutes. Keep in mind all these people in line too... and all over the cafeteria.} So I finally get my food.... kind of wondering WHY people are looking at me.... but I didn't think too much about it.

We sat down at the very back of the cafeteria ( having to walk a mile down to sit b/c the place was packed) we chat and enjoy our meals. After a while... we all stood up to go back to class. I gathered everyone's trash and went to throw it away. My good friend, Becca, walked up to me and pulled something from the back of my pants and held it up looking puzzled.

People were kinda giggling all around me.

She was holding a long strand of toilet paper. and the worse part was... she only pulled about half of it out of my shorts, so I still had MORE in the back of my pants.

WOW. Only this would happen to me.

We all started dying laughing. I seriously thought it was hilarious.... ( It was either that or cry.) People around me were laughing.... staring.

I ran over to a corner and pulled the rest of the toilet paper out... it was like never ending. What the crap?

Seriously. Picture a pregnant lady, with pregnant pants on, glasses, and all her glory strollin around UVU campus like she owns the place ( more like owns the bathroom ) with a LONG, white, beautiful strand of toilet paper hanging out of her booty. NOT CUTE. { poor Nick is married to me.}

"How does that happen??" you ask?

Well, to get personal here, I put toilet paper on the seat before I sit down. That's how that happened.

We had a really good laugh about that all the way back to class.... and I'm sure I made lots of other people's days as well... and their roommates and families sure got a funny story told to them by their 18 year old UVU student today I'm sure.

I'm just wondering why no one told me! My friends didn't even notice it obviously... but come on! No one told me I had toilet paper hanging down from the back of my pants! It wasn't just a short piece of toilet paper either.... it was like I had a long, long, flowing, cotten-ey-white tail today.

I'm glad I could be everyone's entertainment. :) Story of my life. I'm related to my mother.

Anyway, I had to share this because it was really just too funny and embarrassing to NOT share. Go Wolverines!