Home Sweet Home

Wellllllllllll the secret is out.  I'm not very good at keeping exciting secrets anyways. Friends, you've been warned  I have a new nickname around my family, "Hailey Homeowner."  BOOYAH!!!!

Taken with my embarrassingly organized binder of documents for closing.
They hadn't seen something like this in over 30 years.
All thanks to my mom for giving me the obsessively organized gene :)

Once upon a new years resolution, I made a list of things I hoped to accomplish in the year 2013.  This month I put a big check mark next to #5: Buy my own place.   :]  That's right, I signed my life away for the next 30 years for the most adorable little condo and I could NOT be more happy about it.  I was worried about the forewarned "buyer's remorse" but so far I have had none of that.  I was able to walk away with a steal of a deal, thanks to Sean at Summit Realty and Maralee at 1st Home Mortgage.  These people were so great to me and so helpful!  This lovely pad o' mine has given me purpose, something to work on, take care of and progress with.

To celebrate this awesome milestone in my life I held a proper ribbon cutting ceremony with some of my besties for the first time I entered my Home Sweet Home as its owner. That's what normal people do right....?   It was pretty much the greatest welcome home I've ever received and I couldn't have done it without my friends! (Shoutout to you Kar, Jake, Kay and Joe - Anisa and Bronzson were there via video recording and were missed terribly)

First project: PAINTING.  My mom and I are taking on the massive job to paint the whole place and we just finished with the baseboards.  I'm excited about some killer before and after pictures but until then my evenings have been consumed by taping off baseboards, ceilings, doors, outlets, myself, carpet, people and anything else that needs a good covering.  I'm so lucky to have such a fantastic mom who is an expert in this area and willing to help me out.  We make a pretty good team, she and I.  (Is that grammatically correct?)

See, having a house is teaching me relationship lessons! Bonus! haha

I am HAPPY.  Life is GOOD.  I love EVERYONE I've been able to surround myself with lately.... and I love SUMMER.  Times like these make me look back and be grateful for all I've had to go through to get to this point.  So why not be happy for where I'm at now and what is ahead?!

P.S. Isn't it pretty awesome that this quote session began and ended with the Hinckleys?  They are so great!

PK Fire

On Sunday I had the opportunity to sit in on Parker's patriarchal blessing.  It has been a LONG time since I received mine and so it was really good to remember how special these blessings are. Sometimes I get caught up feeling as if I'm alone in this world, alone in my decisions, alone in my hopes and desires.  Yes, I do have family and friends to share things with, but they don't have a crystal ball either.  darn it!  I don't like not knowing what the future will hold for me and so it causes me a lot of stress and anxiety to venture out into the unknown.  Well this weekend I remembered that I do have a map for my journey through this earthly life.  I do have insight into my strengths and weaknesses.  I do have promises of blessings upon following the commandments and I do have specific responsibilities or duties to accomplish while here.   All of these things and more are found in my patriarchal blessing. It's pretty amazing to me that I received my blessing when I was 15, and it is STILL accurate and pertinent to my life today.  Also, despite whatever I'm going through at the time (good or bad) something new (but relevant) always seems to come to light when I read it.  Reading my patriarchal blessing helps me keep perspective and realize my potential and worth.

Listening to Parker's was such a blessing for me because it just reiterated a few things that I already knew about him:

• He's such a good kid, guy, man with SUCH a bright future ahead of him
• He's genuinely nice and sweet with a great sense of humor
• He will definitely be making a big impact on the world #watchout    
• AND I'm grateful to have him as my brother

As if there aren't enough awesome things about Parker, it's his birthday on Sunday!!  CELEBRATE!!  If you didn't know already, PK is kind of a big deal.  Love him. :)


Happy Friday!

A Quote a Day.... Keeps the Snow Away... (Hopefully)

I love the sun.  I've recently discovered that I'm one of those people who is significantly happier when the sun is shining.  When it snowed on my way to work yesterday I didn't even mind because an hour later it was bright and sunny again!  (oh Utah....)

Well here are a few quotes that have saved me throughout this crazy work week.  All via Pinterest.

AND then some of these....

So we started our SF outdoor soccer Women's league a few weeks ago and it has felt so good to be playing outside!  Actually, physically it felt terrible because I am SO out of shape (see quote above re: turtles and peanut butter), but it was good to get out and play.  I mean I even got sun burnt last week! HALLELUJAH!   Ah man I love me some summer.  P.S. Danica, our team name "Keepin' it REAL" will always make me think of you.  We thought of you when Kay and I picked it!

Okay, I'm obsessed.  I LOVE Yogurtland.  Plus it's yogurt so it's so much healthier than ice cream! Yes, I happily live in a state of denial, why do you ask? See those strawberries and kiwis?  #Instahealthpoints. Never mind the fact that the cheesecake bites are overpowering the strawberries.... ;)

Sometimes I blog

Alright.... pretty much I never post anymore but.... oh well. :)

Some pretty big things have been happening around these parts.  Do you want a glimpse into my awesome life?! Sweet, I'd love to share!

This guy came home. 

It's been kind of a BIG DEAL.  If I said that we were ready for him at the airport with a huge poster and balloons and a million people to greet him then I'd be lying.  We ATTEMPTED to make that happen, but realized (20 minutes late) that we were in the wrong terminal.  It's a weird thing to think that Jordan would be coming in through the International terminal.... (face --> palm) Until we got there, Jordan's travel missionary buddy's family stayed with him and tried to act like it was totally fine that his family forgot about him.  Such sweet people.  To make matters worse, before he arrived, while we were waiting at the airport I started bawling my eyes out when two sister missionaries came home and were hugging their families.  Did I cry when I saw Jordan?  Nope. Apparently shock and mad rushing wipes the emotions right out of you!  I sure was excited to see him though. :) I LOVE having him home, our family is complete again!

We DID make a sign at least!

Jordan's first request after we finally left the airport (without one of his bags...stupid bag decided it wanted to go to LA instead), Jordan's first request was a Baconater from Wendy's.   After his arteries were sufficiently clogged we headed home and to get him set apart.

Since Jordan's been home it's just been a non-stop party (can't stop, won't stop).  We've:

• learned a lot more about Albania
• eaten out a ton to make sure Jordan remembers what good American food tastes like
• seen a bunch of family/friends at his homecoming
• even a surprise visit from Little Miss Syd!! woohoo! (Love you!)
• pulled out the old Nintendo 64 and played some Mario Tennis, Super Smash Bros, Diddy Kong Racing, Mario Party and Banjo Kazooie
• successfully recovered all of his mission pictures when we thought they were all wiped from his jump drives whew!
• successfully recovered his P90X video files that he was probably equally worried about losing with his pictures haha 
• celebrated Jordan and my dad's birthday
• and made a list of all the movies Jordan missed out on (we started him off with watching the last Bourne movie!)

I'm so happy to have one of my best friends back.  He's such a stud! If any of you 19-20 year old ladies are single and looking to mingle, let me know and I'll hook you up.  (Oh wait,  you all went on missions....) ;)

Guess Who

Today is going to be a fantastic day!  Why?  Because it's the 20th of March.  Which is the first day of Spring... duh...  

OH and.....

Tonight we are picking this guy up from the airport!!

After two years, our family will be back together again. :]  Sheesh, only 12 more hours left to go!!

Pictures taken by Clayton Gornichec

Quote Book

I LOVE QUOTES!  I wish my walls could be covered in them.  Inspiration from another's thoughts and perspective happens every day, and I love that Pinterest helps me to discover some one else's inspiration and make it my own as well.    Did that make sense?  If not, oh well. :] It's FRIDAY!

Here are some of my recent favorite quotes...... Enjoy!

hahaha this fits in perfectly with my dumb humor

Murder Mystery Dinner

Two weekends ago Anisa and Bronzson came down specifically to visit me!  Aren't they so nice?!  ...... Alright, maybe they came down for other reasons (like celebrating Anisa's birthday) but I don't want to get caught up in semantics.  :]

To celebrate, Bronzson got together and organized a murder mystery and the rest of us put on an awesome dinner!  The whole night was a HUGE success and everyone did a fantastic job at making that happen.

So, let me introduce you to the guests of the evening:

Enrique Suave Graves:
Elizabeth's Handyman/Grounds keeper,
all around ladies man

Kathryn Lawless:
Town Librarian, best friend of Elizabeth (the deceased)

Dr. Chelsea Barren:
Elizabeth's next door neighbor, celebrity Psychiatrist
and author of murder mystery novels

Michael Nightshade:
Real Estate Agent here to buy Elizabeth's house
 and secretly Kathryn's nephew

Norman D'Adly:
Vicki's husband but also Elizabeth's previous lover

Vicki D'Adly:
Elizabeth's sister, visiting with husband (Norman) 

Moderator/brains of the whole operation!

Whoever wrote this script did a FANTASTIC job, and props to Bronzson for finding it!  Each person had quite the dirty secrets they had been hiding and interestingly intertwined relationships with one another that had us questioning every single person as the potential killer.  When it was time to guess 'who done it', Anisa and Kaylyn correctly guessed the murderer!  The rest of us.... were close!  And we all got cake so it worked out in the end.

4 points for Kay who came up with a birthday candle just in time

I am obsessed with these murder mystery dinners now and I'm trying to find a reason to do another one as soon as possible.  It was sooo much fun! Who's up to joining in on the next one?!

P.S. I love you guys, best. friends. ever.
P.P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT TO ANISA!
P.P.P.S. Karlie and Jake gave THE best present.  Can't top that. :]

Reality Check

Every once and awhile I need a good wake up call.  Thankfully this one didn't have to come in the form of a terrible event happening.  Whew.  With my fantastic weekend with my best friends (post to come shortly), many prayers answered after a rough day, Austen's post HERE, Sierra's post HERE and the sun shining outside my window I'm overwhelmed with gratitude and perspective.  Know that feeling?

I'm going to share the video that Sierra posted because it had such an impact on me.  

WARNING: If you're feeling slightly emotional make sure you watch this in private... thankfully I watched it in my office and had a second to regain composure before I had to go back to work, because there were some serious waterfalls happening over here.  

 Side note: I'd like to think that if

I were to watch it under different circumstances

 I wouldn't have been such a cry baby.... hopefully.

We can never know what other people are dealing with in their lives and so this was a great reminder to me to be kind and slow to be annoyed or impatient with people.   To be grateful for what I do have.  To be grateful for my own trials because I know I couldn't deal with some things others have placed in their laps.  I'm grateful for the power each of us has inside of us to overcome any trial we are given, especially with a little help from our best friend. To be grateful for and realize the little things in life that make us TRULY happy. 

You know what, I think it's going to be a good day. :] I hope you can make yours just as great!

16 days

16 days left people!  Elder Jordan Tyler Francis comes home in 16 days!!!!  My mom sent me his flight itinerary today and it's starting to feel real!  I'm getting super excited I can hardly stand it!  His first flight takes off at 4:30 am and he doesn't get in to SLC until 8:30 pm... he's going to be exhausted haha.  The next day is his (and my dad's) birthday so who knows what we're going to do to celebrate.  So far Jordan's only request is stuffed french toast for breakfast; not a bad way to start the day. :)

Happy Bird-day

Oh hey what's up the 28th of February?!  Today is a special day to celebrate the birth of my lovely mom! She's been dominating this world for (censored) years and is still just as awesome as always!

I'm grateful for my mom.  I'm grateful for the time I spent at home so I could develop a sweet relationship with her and the rest of my family. She cares about people, she especially cares about family and has really got this whole life priorities thing figured out.  She's got spunk and can certainly hold her own.  She's got great style and knows how to find a quality bargain.  There are so many things I'm starting to see in myself that I've gotten from her which is definitely to my benefit.

I love you so much mom.  Thanks for everything, happy birthday and here's to many more birthdays!