all grown up

today i attended my best friend's farewell. i'm amazed at how far the three of us have came since 1st grade when we were in the same class at draper elementary. endless sleepovers, playing "house"at each others homes, sprinklers under the tramp, & now we watch each other go through the best times of our lives. laughing at how fare we've come. last year we met up at cafe rio with no idea what was in store for us. i'm married, grace is engaged, & madi is leaving on a mission to new york! how happy i am that we could continue to stay so close through all these years.

we've been mia for the last couple days but who has time to take pictures & blog? most definitely not me! we will be going to arizona for thanksgiving this year to be with his family! (my first thanksgiving away from home) although it will be hard, i'm so excited for our first holiday together & even better… black friday! he's in for a real treat. hah!

jumbled thoughts.

one day i had this thought come to my head that i needed to find my old memory cards that i no longer used because they were full. as i'm scrolling through old pictures & old memories i came across this beautiful picture of syd, a picture that i had never seen before. every time her & my brother had something special going on, she would ask to use my camera & then she would transfer all the pictures to her computer. for some odd reason this picture never made it to her computer & i know that at that moment i was supposed to find this picture.

since february 7th 2013 i have avoided posting anything on social media, i have avoided attending the cemetery, & i have ran from anything that would bring me closer to my sweet angel. i ask myself over & over why but can't come to any type of a conclusion other than i have lost a lot since having her here. i felt like the longer i ran from it, the less real to me it was. although i will keep the last few weeks i had with sydney between her & i, i will share with you just what i have experienced without her being here. since that thursday morning when i got the call… i have not spoken to my little brother dakota. i don't remember what it's like to have a conversation with my brother which at the time, was one of my closest friends. being in the presence of my home you feel as though something is missing, & that something.. is sydney. she became such a close part of my family ever since her & i first met my junior year. i find myself distancing myself from my friends & especially my husband because i lack the understanding of why this happened & why i can't accept that my life will never be the same. i often find it hard for me to remember the good & not focus on the bad that came from one of the hardest trials i will endure.

i know that my heavenly father has a plan for me & i have faith in his timing. he blessed me with a husband who was worthy to take me to the temple, who knew that tyler would be there when life took such an unexpected turn & would lay his hands on my head for peace & comfort when the ability for me to keep going... seemed near impossible. i am so grateful that i can go to the temple in times of despair & feel sydney closest to me. over the days & months i have relied on my savior & trusted him. i don't need to wonder why or how… but trust that this is all part of my eternal plan. i trust that he will guide me to where i need to be so i can return to him & someday see syd again.

i call myself a hairstylist.

as cheesy as this picture might be, i had to document it. the long 2000 hours that i put in to learning all i possibly could about cosmetology… it's finally paying off! i love what i do & i'm so excited to be given such a beautiful talent!

park city surprise!

during the summer tyler & i moved to houston, texas so he could do summer sales & help manage a team. while out there it was so hard for me to see all of our friend's & family's going on vacations & being able to at least swim at a pool! i often complained because i was afraid to even walk out of our front door. he promised me that when we got back to utah & received our back-end check he would take me to park city for a weekend.

last friday as i walked in the door from work... i saw this note on our kitchen table. 

how he pulled it off without me knowing, i will never know! i was very impressed. we went to dinner at the blue iguana in salt lake, so yummy! after we drove up to park city to the marriott hotel, got our swimsuits on, & jumped from hot tub to hot tub. (if you have never been there.. they have six!) got in our comfy clothes, rented a red box & cuddled, then woke up & got mcdonald's breakfast hah! he even let me go to the outlets for a little bit. it was so perfect & so relaxing.

it was just what i needed. no worries, no trying to take a million pictures, just tyler & hillary. 

DISNEYLAND 2013

unfortunately the first day i didn't bring my t3i so iphone pictures look like the above. don't worry though, i brought it the second and third day. picture quality will no longer lack! for halloween they changed the haunted mansion to the nightmare before christmas with jack the skeleton. it was christmas themed which i'm not so sure i liked it! they also closed down it's a small world to get it ready for christmas. so for those of you who are planning a trip, don't ever go the end of october!

having seven kids in your family means you've got the disneyland vacationing mastered. eating breakfast at goofy's kitchen & having characters come to your table is the perfect way to get pictures instead of waiting in lines for so long while in the park. (although it's a little pricey.. it's so worth it!)

cars land is truly the coolest place ever! the rides are ridiculously long so walking through it might be as far as you get. it looks just like the movie! okay notice ledger's little pin on his jacket? it says happy birthday. it wasn't his birthday but let me tell you… the workers there told both of my little brothers happy birthday probably on every ride we went on! after the tower of terror the worker let him wear her hat & take a picture by the elevator after every one left. (a little secret.. ledger is no where near tall enough for this ride but we made super tall inserts to slide in their shoes so they could go on every ride!) i wasn't kidding when i said we mastered the disneyland experience! oh & the world of color was just beautiful.

 

newport beach was just freezing & miserable, it'll make for good memories in the long run though!

the character parades are a must as well as the pickles & churros. staying late for the fireworks too! i wouldn't be disappointed if lived here. 

as for next time disneyland… let's hope that tyler can come & it'll be much sooner than later.

gram & gramps sherwood.

how perfect is that dress? when tyler & i walked in to savers with very little hope, i was surprised at what i could find for halloween costumes! when i saw that dress for 8 dollars i couldn't pass it up.. shoulder pads & all! with a little white hairspray paint & some dollar find glasses, i'd say two costumes for under twenty dollars was so worth it. even if it was just to go trick or treating with my siblings. (which by the way couldn't get over tyler & his belly hah!)
hey! atleast we might look half decent when we're wrinkly & gray.