October...pumpkin blizzards and lizard gizzards.

Every year October pretty much couldn't start out any better. 

The first week alone consists of my birthday and general conference.

[Other reasons I love October: breast cancer awareness month, the weather starts to turn beautiful, pumpkin blizzards return to my life, the commercialized smell of fall........the list goes on]

R woke me up before 5:30 on my birthday....to go to the gym.

I opened presents that had been sitting in my sight but out of my reach for a week. (cruel, isn't it?)

I'm pretty sure R is the most thoughtful man(/gift giver) ever -- 

beautiful & practical, just the way I like things.

My coworkers decorated my office and brought lots of goodies.

The decor consisted of me photoshopped into pictures with Usher.

Why? Because years ago I dreamt I was dating Usher...and I told my office roomie that.

It was hilarious.

I was allllllll over the restaurant birthday clubs and made out pretty well with free food and desserts.

Enough about me and my birthday - general conference came that weekend.

Some of my favorite quotes from my notes:

"look back to claim embers from growing experiences, not ashes"

-Edward Dube

"small and simple things touch the heart and bring the Spirit"

-Arnulfo Valenzuela

"believe in miracles"

-Jeffrey R. Holland

"That's exactly how I feel about the Savior. He is always near, especially in sacred places and in times of need; and sometimes, when I least expect, I feel almost like He taps me on the shoulder to let me know He loves me. I can return that love in my own imperfect way by giving Him my heart"

-Terrence Vinson

"May we show increased kindness toward one another, and may we ever be found doing the work of the Lord."

- Thomas S. Monson

& since I can't help but have tears well up in my eyeballs when I think of it, I'll share how completely sweet and tender it was when President Monson spoke about his wife passing away.. "She was the love of my life, my trusted confidant, and my closest friend. To say that I miss her does not begin to convey the depth of my feelings."...seriously makes me cry. I don't know what to say other than what a blessing to know and have a testimony of Heavenly Father's plan of salvation to get through that trial.

After General Conference I felt like our month just got so busy!

Mostly consisting of food (hence those recent recipe blog posts) and travel.

Pumpkin blizzards come to Dairy Queen every October and we love that.

(They are completely over priced but you have GOT to have one.)

We finished out the month by having the missionaries over for a creepy Halloween dinner.

Life lesson of October: We must must must must must have decided outfits for photos prior to right before the photos are being taken....otherwise, as R says, "ill wife, terrible life".

Things we're looking forward to in November: R starts interviewing for residency programs!, Prostate cancer awareness month! (dad had that), THANKSGIVING!, Our wedding anniversary ♥ ! Pretty much life.. it's exciting and wonderful. 

April showers bring May flowers...but our flowers are in the shade.

Hola!...where were we...

April has been a seemingly busy month. 

R is on his last rotation of his 3rd year of medical school. crazy! 

...nothing new in my professional life. 

So by now, I should accept the fact that R is always right...he just is...

and if he says/implies that something is going to happen, it will.

(My sis-in-law, L, always says "you know if a Sims boy says it, it'll happen. 

It wouldn't happen normally but the minute they say it you bet it'll happen.") 

We were in the bathroom and I tossed a q-tip into the trashcan that was pretty full...

R says "careful how you're tossing that now".

 I probably rolled my eyes and said ya ya ya. 

I toss my next q-tip and sure enough...

bounces off and lands on the plunger. 

R had so much satisfaction getting to watch me pick it up 

and all I could do was shake my head. 

Then he says, "that needs to go in the blog right there, jack". 

{There you go, husband. Sorry if that wasn't an entertaining read for everybody else.}. 

General Conference was awesome, per the usual. 

We bought flowers to hang in our porch in between sessions.

...there is a lot less sunshine up there than we realized...but they are survivors. 

So far.

It's pretty nice having an "extension of the living room" 

(One day R got home early and bought a piece of outdoor carpet and set it up out there) 

when the weather decides to be beautiful. 

Realizing our occasional walks around the hood were not enough 

& that the only time for us to work out is before the sun comes up..we joined a gym. 

So far, so good. 

Expect pictures of us in a few months. 

We will be jacked. 

{just kidding, we love food way too much}. 

Last weekend we got to go to the temple. 

We took the bus. 

It's a blessing to have opportunities to go to the temple and be reminded 

of how much our Heavenly Father loves every single one of us, 

that families can be together forever, 

& that when we let Him speak to our hearts it's one of the sweetest feelings. 

Some people save up their entire life to go to the temple once. 

Wow. 

Not to get too religious for anybody reading this who isn't religious 

but it is a pretty big part of who we are. 

It's why R and I are who we are. 

I came home for lunch a lot more than usual this month (I think) and realized how much I love home. 

Not because of where we live or what we have but just because of what it means. 

It's like an escape, for an hour, to my favorite place to be 

{even though I always come home and do chores so I can spend time with Rickypoo after work}.  

I'm so grateful for a home that is filled with comfort, peace, love, and laughter :) 

Our awesome friend, A.P.L., mentioned this list of 30 things to blog about.

I'm going to try and throw them in here randomly.

 Might be a little more exciting for you than Sims' daily life stories.  

& like the woman who came up with the list, it'll be a way to "record different parts of my personality for my posterity, and I guess you get to know me better by default." 

{I think that's a pretty cool idea! Especially after Erica told me this blog can be turned into a book. Whaaaaat? Technology is awesome.}

Life Lesson of April: Don't say the wrong thing in the wrong tone of voice when the wife is PMSing.

{per R.............}

I always tell him how he says something is as important as what he is saying.

The real lesson of the month though,

is that we feel much better when we're waking up early and working out!

Do it!

Things we're looking forward to in May: R FINISHES 3RD YEAR! S city! Monthly food date with Kerri & Rob!