16 Weeks :)

I am so happy that we have made it to 16 weeks! I am starting to feel a bit better. I don't throw up all day anymore (which I am very grateful for). I am starting to show a bit and it makes me very excited. I can't wait to have this little bundle of joy with us! We find out the sex next week which I am very excited about!!!! Donnie and I have planned how we are going to find out and how our friends and family are going to. I will post next week and let you know :) TTFN!

Excitement!!!

Donnie and I are excited to announce that we are pregnant!! It was such an amazing feeling to find out! Donnie and I have been trying for quite some time and couldn't be more excited for this little peanut! I took the test when Donnie was at work.. I didn't want to call and tell him the news over the phone so I decorated our bathroom with a whole bunch of baby things and wrote on the mirror "We're Pregnant". I hid in the bathroom with the dogs and when he got home he heard the dogs jumping on the door so he came up to the bathroom. As soon as he opened the door I yelled "We're Pregnant". He said "Oh Shit" haha because I scared him so bad. He didn't think I was home. After he got over the shock he just kept looking at me and saying "are you serious?" He made me show him the pee stick so that he knew for sure it was real :) I am so glad that he is so excited. He is going to make such a wonderful daddy! He has such an amazing heart and I know that he can't wait to share that with our baby. (January 21st the first day :)) Donnie and I decided we didn't want to wait to share our excitement. So we told our families the next day! (January 22nd) Donnie made these cute shirts for Fudge and Sassy that said "Future big Bro" "Future big Sis". They were very cute! We put them on the dogs when Donnie got to my parents house and had them run down the stairs. My family didn't notice at first and Krysta said "What do those shirt say" so we read it to them and then Krysta said "those are cute" and they kept on talking. So I said "Do you know what it means" and Steph yells "you're pregnant!" It was so funny! They were all so excited!!! At Donnie's parents house we did something a little different. Donnie had picked up some rolls from Texas Roadhouse (because Jeanie loves that place) and he wrote in the boxes "We have a bun in the oven". We get in the house and hand both his parents at take out box and they open them just barely to see what is inside and they think that there are only rolls so they close the lids back up. So Donnie says "There is more then just rolls in there. So they look again and still don't see it so we open the lids all the way and then they see it.. and they yelled and were so excited! It was so much fun!!! We are so very excited for this new adventure as well as a little nervous. Love, Jess

St. George Half Marathon

Oh my goodness. I never thought I would be able to say this but I ran a half marathon on January 19th :) I wasn't the fastest person there but I finished! I didn't think I was going to be able to finish but I did it. Donnie, Scott, Dad, Melissa and I all ran it. I was the slowest of the bunch but I don't mind :) We had a little cheer section for us it was made up of Steph, Krysta, Abi, and Trent. They came and saw me about mile 6 and it is a good thing becaues I needed an extra boost! I felt a sense of accompishment when I crossed the finish line. I know it won't be my last race.. one day I will run a marathon. TTFN :) Jess

2012 in Review!

January *January is our anniversary month. We didn't really do much for this anniversary. It was our 3rd :) I had got Donnie some Zac Brown Band tickets so we went and saw them in concert and they were amazing!! :) We went out to P.F. Changs for dinner before. For our anniversary we stayed at home and ate cookies and watched "How I Met Your Mother". It was a nice anniversary!!

February *This is Donnie's least favorite month. (He isn't much of a Valentine's guy). But he suprised me with Lady Antebellum tickets for our anniversary and it was on Febuarary 14th (Valentines Day) :) We took the front runner down to Energy Soultions and watched the wonderful concert. We had so much fun and Lady A is amazing live!

*We also added a second dog to our family! :) Fudge! He is such a good dog and we love him to pieces. (Even when he marks things in the house) Sassy loves having a friend to play with.

*In February we also found out that we would be adding another niece or nephew to the family. (Cameron and Jamie found out they were pregnant) *I started my weight loss journey:) *My best friend Maurie left on her mission. (Miss her but I know she is doing wonderful work) March, April, May *I don't have specific memories of these months but I do know that we had a lot of fun starting to hike and work out together. We did go fishing a few times :)

June *In June our cute niece Kenzie turned 1 :) She was a party animal. It was so fun.

*Donnie ran a race in Provo with Scott (Our BIL) Steph, Abi & I watched and cheered them on. For some reason I can't find any picutres. *My total weight loss came to 32 lbs :)

*Donnie's Grandpa Read passed away :(

July *We weren't able to go to St. George for the 4th of July with my family and so we went swimming at the aquatic center. We had a lot of fun.

*We went on a family trip with all the HOWELL'S to the Granite Flats. We had a great time. Donnie and I caught some pretty cute little fish :) August *At the beginning of August I ran my first 10k in Ephraim. It was so beautiful. Donnie's phone erased most of the pictures so I only have a few of us fishing. We had a great time fishing. After the race we stayed and fished for a couple of days and then on the last day we went to Lagoon. It was a great little getaway.

* Our cute niece Abi turned 1 :)

* I started my last semester of school for my Bachelor's Degree!!!!!! September * We had a new niece born, they named her Brylee Marie Howell. She is just the cutest.

October * We celebrated Donnie's 26th birthday :) He is such a handsome guy. I just love him muchisimo.

* We had a lot of fun hanging out with our nieces on Halloween and seeing them all dressed up. Abi was Rapunzel, Kenzie was an elephant and Brylee was a cow :) * Donnie ran in the tough mudder :) He is a total stud! November * We celebrated Thanksgiving with family. * I finished my portfolio for graduation! December * Celebrated my 23rd birthday :) Went to Tepenyaki for dinner! Donnie suprised me with a beautiful locket! * Had our annual friend Christmas party.

* Graduated with my Bachelor's from Weber State University.

* Celebrated Christmas with friends and family!!! We had a pretty great year!! :) We are hoping that this year is just as good and hopefully a few things happen for us!! Happy New Year Love the Howell's!

Love, Jess

Budgeting/Goal Setting Workshops

My friend/classmate and I are going to be doing a two day workshop. The first day will be on budgeting and the second day will be on goal setting. We would love to see as many people there as possible. Read the fliers above and it should give you all information you need. If you need any other information feel free to text or call me at 801-389-5191. Thank you!! Jessica

Life in the day of Jessica & Donnie

Life lately has consisted of work, school, internship, homework and more school. This is life for me. Life for Donnie has consisted of work, more work and some fishing! He goes out fishing whenever he can. So as you can see school has started once again. I am liking it so far, but let me tell you what it sure kicks my butt. I am exhausted at the end of the day and end up falling asleep on the couch most nights and then my sweet hubby takes me up to bed. I was able to enjoy a fun girls night the other night (pictures to come soon! It was much needed and I actually think I am still recovering from it lol! :) Just a little life update. Hopefully soon I will be able to post some pictures of our little bit of fun we got to have this summer! We spent some time fishing and camping and even ran a little 10k race! (which we may have lost the pictures from :() TTFN!! Love, Jess

Death of a Loved One

It is always difficult to see someone you love suffer but it is even more difficult to know that they are leaving this earth. This last week Donnie's grandfather passed away and it was difficult. It was difficult to go to the hospital to see him talking and joking and then the next day to go up and see that he was not responsive. It was wonderful to see how much family came to surround him and how much love was felt in the room. It was amazing to see the strength of Jeanie and the love she has for her dad. Again it was amazing to see the love that was felt for this wonderful man. I had the opportunity to get to know him for 3 1/2 years. I wish I would have got more time but I am thankful to have known him. It was so fun to listen to all the stories that children and grandchildren had of him. I am so grateful that we had the opportunity to tell him goodbye and that we could let him know that we were there for him but that there were others waiting for him to join them in heaven. Donnie was able to take some pictures at the hospital and that was really nice. He got a great one of him and grandpa and I am so glad he did!! I took a picture of Jeanie and him off facebook because I absolutely love it!!! We are all going to miss him but at least we know that we will be reunited again. We Love you Grandpa!!! XOXO!

Fudge! :)

We were so excited to announce that we had added a new member to our family. His name is Fudge and we absolutely adore him. We got him on February 25 and love him to pieces. Sassy and him get a long so well. I call them brother and sister and Donnie calls them boyfriend and girlfriend :) He is quite a chunk. He weighs almost 18 lbs heavier than Sassy...so needless to say we are trying to help him lose some weight. It has been so fun having two pup's. They are our family!!!





XOXO

Jess :)

Sunday Drive :)

On Sunday we wanted to soak in the sunshine so we took a drive up to Morgan! It was absolutely gorgeous and the pups had so much fun. We stopped in Peterson and let them enjoy some time in the Weber River. Sassy likes the river much more than Fudge. We then headed up to to East Canyon Reservoir. *It was beatiful* :) I wanted to go out on the ice so badly but I didn't want to fall through lol.







I can't wait to start camping!!!! :)

xoxo

Jess :)

Weight Loss Journey

Weight.. This has been on my mind for days now. I try not to obsess over it but sometimes it is the only thing that is on my mind. I have days where I get discouraged and want to quit but I remember why I am losing weight. I remember all of the energy I have gained back and I remember how happy I am. I am becoming a different person and it doesn't happen over night like some people want it to. It is one hour one day one week one month at a time :) I am PROUD to say that I have lost 13.2 lbs in 7 weeks. That might not seem like a lot to some but it is A LOT for me! I weigh in again tomorrow morning and am hoping for another weight loss. Next week I might post some pics but for now I am just happy with the changes I am making.

XOXO :)

Jessica :)

December 2011/ Pictures :)

I have been really bad about posting so I just want to add some pics that I love. These pics were all taken in December of 2011. My cute friend Britt is pregnant with a little boy and he is due any day now. Amelia is busy working and going to school. Kara is busy with work and just got into a house and has a cute puppy named Chance. Maurie is getting ready to leave on her mission in 2 days!! I can't believe that she is leaving already.
Some of the other pics are of me and my cousins Bronte and Lydia. This was at the Howell, New Years eve Party. It was a blast. I hope you enjoy!







TTFN :)

P.S. I am going to be an Aunt again. Cameron and Jamie are going to be parents. CONGRATS!

Life Update!

Man alive has life been crazy. School is more intense this semester than any other. I have presented 2 presentations and have 2 more to do. I have to write almost 80 pages worth of papers this semester. I am really enjoying the content of the classes though and feel that I am learning so much. I am still enjoying work and love interacting with the installers who come in.
Donnie has been doing great! An investigation was opened on him for the highway patrol job. I am so PROUD of him. We were able to meet with the highway patrol officer who is doing the background check. He interviewed me and of course I gave all the DIRT on Donnie ;)
I have started a weight loss journey and have so far lost 9 lbs in 3 weeks. I am feeling pretty proud of myself. I have a long ways to go but this is a good start.
Donnie has been playing a lot of basketball and is absolutely head over heels in love with it. :) jk. Sometimes it seems that way though haha. I am so proud to be his wife and I am glad that I get to call him my husband :)
Overall we are doing great and are just enjoying one another and our little Sassy :)

TTFN :)

Lady A :)

My cute cute husband surprised me with Lady Antebellum tickets on our anniversary. Can you believe we have been married for 3 years!! Man the time has flown by. We didn't do much for our anniversary, we just stayed at home and watched about 14 episodes of "How I met your Mother". It was a lot of fun. I have many more pictures from the concert but they are all on the camera and this one I got on my phone. We had such a great time at the concert. I am so so so glad that he got us tickets. My favorite songs they played was "Hello World" and "We own the Night". It was such a great concert and they really got the crowd involved. I love my SWEET hubby for surprising me with these tickets. He is just the sweetest! I love you my Alligator! xoxo



TTFN!!!

Weber State!!

I love being a Weber State student. I love the campus and most of all I love my professors. I love my friends that I have made at school. I just LOVE Weber. On Saturday I went to a Weber basketball game. It was such a good game. Weber ended up winning by 2 points. Scott took this pic of Abi, Steph and I.



TTFN :) :)

Abi :) :)

Man my nieces are just growing up so much. Abi just turned 6 months! I just love how she snuggles me close and even gives me opened mouth kisses. Her smile is pretty much contagious and she makes me act like a goofball. We made homemade Valentine's for our cute nieces and our future niece or nephew. We had so much fun!! I love you Abi! xoxo





TTFN :)

Kenzie Bug :)

Last weekend I was able to go and spend some time with sister Ashley and my brother in law Kyle. I had so much fun playing with Kenzie and just hanging out my my sister. On Valentine's I got a cute picture of Kenzie. I can't believe that she is already 8 months old. I just love her to pieces!! Love you Kenzie Bug!!!




TTFN

Family Home Evening!

It has been a goal in Primary to do family home evening one night a week. Donnie and I decided that since it had just snowed we would go and build a snow man. We had a lot of fun throwing snowballs at one another and then tackling each other in the snow. We made cute snow angels and I enjoyed eating the snow a little... I know it might be bad but I find it oh so delicious. lol.




Since I mentioned primary I have to tell you what one of our primary kids said about Satan. He told us that Satan lives in the very bottom depths of the sewer, right below the ninja turtles. These kids crack me up. I am grateful that we get to teach together. :)

TTFN:)

Sassy Pup :)

I just have to add this cute picture of our little girl Sassy! We love her sooooo much!





TTFN!

Zac Brown Band :)

I know it has been awhile since I last posted but life has been CRAZY! With school and work and everything else in between. For Christmas I got Donnie tickets to the Zac Brown Band Concert! I was so excited to go!!!

We were able to go to P.F. Changs for dinner which was delicious. We weren't able to go for my birthday so we went for a late birthday and an early anniversary. After dinner we headed to the concert and it was so much fun!! The two people who opened weren't that great but Zac Brown Band was AMAZING. They sound so great live. We took a few pictures. My husband it such a cutie in these pictures! I just love him so much! :)








TTFN :)