While i Was Home - Last Time

In the last week that i was home, i tried to admire everything i could about my little town and my beginnings. It was very bitter sweet. 

After my last Sunday in my home young single adult congregation, i looked at the temple and thought, "the next time i see this, it will be on my wedding day."

I've always loved the sweet peas in spring outside my window. 

almost every day while we were apart, i would find some clever way to spell out, "I love you!" and then send it to Karl. This was while i was teaching, so there's a lot of childish looking things, haha. 

I've laced a few of my favorites in with the rest of my pictures. 

I loved the disco-ball effect my ring made on everything. light is cool, you know. 

I was creeping on Karl one day (what else is new?) and clicked on the "see friendship" button. i thought it was cute that the first listed thing in our common interests was Thomas S Monson. The Prophet. That is one of my favorite things about Karl, actually. His love for God's Prophets. 

 My dear friends Rory and Jacob. The 3 of us, and our friend Trey who is on a mission in the south, were very close growing up, and especially the last few years of high school. Rory went on a mission first, and just got back a few months ago. Trey left and is almost home! Christmas! Jacob has worked so hard to be ready for  mission and i am so proud of him. He Is serving in Mexico, and left days after this picture was taken.  I adore these boys. I was blessed with their friendship for the majority of my life, and i could not be more pleased with how everything has turned out for us all. 

Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven, and we are all witnesses of that. 

And here i am, in the Fresno Airport bathroom saying PEACE OUT, CUB SCOUT to my hometown in the most appropriately ghetto duck-faced way possible. #Madera. 

I was so fortunate to grow up in the town i did at the time i did with the people i did. God's plan is perfect, and He sure did bless me. 

Derek's Utah reception weekend/ My engagement

HI, I'M ALIVE. 

I'm married. and alive. 

I'm so behind on blogging it's upsetting to me. I want to have all of this preserved, so even though it's long since passed and old news, i'm still going to chronicle the past few months so that i can print out my last Happy Wagon Blog Books and have an official ending to this blog. 

I flew to Utah for my brother Derek's second wedding reception. 

My saintly sister Allison picked me up from the airport an i stayed the night at her house. aka party. 

Karl came and picked me up the next morning and actually most of the story, I've already written on Karl and I's blog here.

but here are some things that i missed. 

My parents and Jenae drove up the morning of the reception, and the five of us went through the Payson Utah Temple Open House. Whenever a mormon temple is built, it is open to the entire public for a few weeks after completion. ANYone can go inside and tour the beautiful rooms and see what it's really like. 

This temple was inSANE. the literal most gorgeous building i've ever been inside. It was sweet to be there with Jenae, too. 

That night was the Utah reception! In an adorable little hidden park in the mountains. Rayce has good taste. mmm these mountains, though. 

Raycelan's mom asked me to put some flowers on the cake. so i did. haha. 

I enjoyed showing Karl off again to everyone, and i love seeing all my nieces and nephews enjoy their cousin time. 

Rebecca and Jenae: The Bookend twins. playing a little game of "Whose hair is whose?"

Missing Katrina and Christine, but taking advantage of the situation to get some sister pictures. This was while Karl was asking my dad for permission to marry me, and we alllllll knew what was happening, so we were giddy, if you couldn't tell:

and then that night after the reception, we got engaged! The full adorable story is linked above. Karl is such a sweetheart. 

May 23, 2015; Happy Horlacher Day!

While i was home - After the wedding

After the wedding, things went right back into the routine.

I continued my job. my five little boys asked me non stop questions about my "mysterious" boyfriend. One of them, who was in self-proclaimed love with me said, "He's tall. he's cute. I bet he's like really rich and really smart and can build cars and houses and stuff. stupid Karl. I can't even compete with that!"

hahahahahahaha

I loved them. 

I read these books to the boys at recess in the time i worked there:

both were DELIGHTFUL. quick reads, great messages, completely appropriate, discuss important emotional issues, address stereotypes and friendships. mmm mmm mmm, they were great. 

I'd say Wonderstruck was an 8 + year old range if they're reading alone. 6+ if you're reading aloud (several instances of smoking cigarettes, and the assumption of an illegitimate child might make some people stay at 8+ even if reading a loud. I politely disagree.)

Zorgamazoo was adorable and Series of Unfortunate Events-y. It's completely in verse! but you don't even notice after the first chapter. Also, there are a TON of big words, but they totally make sense in context. It's a 8+ range alone, 6+ a loud (there is a creepy lobotomist, an evil aunt, evil creatures, and gang members that threaten to beat up the main character, but if you're reading Harry Potter or Percy Jackson to your 5 year old, then this is nothing.)

Karl and i continued to skype for an hour a day to read scriptures and talk about our days. He cut his hair and it was so cute. 

we kept accidentally making the same face at the exact moment i went to take a screen shot. 

He kept being adorable in general. 

my job kept making me nostolgic. 

Lady kept making me head-cold-ish because i'm allergic to her, so we had to be through-the-window friends. 

my students kept professing their love for me. including one literally making me a fake engagement ring one day in class. AND it was purple. priceless. 

I tried to introduce more and more art into their subjects, but i wasn't the head teacher, so i didn't have control over the activities. But whenever i saw an opportunity, i grabbed it. 

They were going to make alphabet books, where each letter's page had an animal or creature whose name began with that letter, and then glue in a picture of that animal. I suggested that they draw the animal instead!

So they chose the animal they wanted to draw, and then they made a page for their alphabet book based on the first letter of the animal's name. 

These were 2 of the pages in one of my boys's books. 

ADORABLE. 

also, i would draw and color with one boy to help him calm down some days and this he drew after his family had decided to move to a neighboring town:

"I'm happy, because i'll have my brothers, but I'm sad, because i won't have any friends at school or anything. Mom says we'll have each other, though. that's good."

a little piece of my heart is in that little boy's hands, i tell ya. 

I got to babysit my brother Donny's daughter one last time! We DANCED and danced and danced, and watched Robin Hood sporadically as we colored and played house and did puzzles. I love this little chika. 

we've been homies since fall 2013 in good ol' Rexburg. 

This sweet girl is actually very special to me. 

she was instrumental in pulling me out of an emotional slump. Her coos and teeny baby laughs were something i looked forward to, and i liked feeling like she needed me, and liked me. 

Also, because i got to babysit her sporadically, i became better friends with her mom! My sister in Law Christine is incredible, but it wasn't until I started watching my niece that Christine and I really hit it off. now, we homies. I'm so excited to see her again at my wedding! I've missed her since they've moved to Monterey, and i can't wait to meet their new baby!