Once upon a time, I took it upon myself to dedicate an entire month to me and my birthday and getting together with friends and family because, let's face it, January is depressing as all get out! So here is a lengthy recap STOLEN PRETTY MUCH WORD FOR WORD FROM MY INSTAGRAM/FB:
Official caption: Happy New Year! And of equal importance, happy first day of #janasjollyjanuary
- that's right, my month-long quest to meet up with friends (both of
the long-lost and current varieties) has an official hashtag now! 😎 If I
haven't heard from you yet, let me know if you'd like to get together
sometime! Happy birth month to me!
It was only fitting to kick off the festivities with my dad, whose birthday is the day after mine (thus another jolly January baby) and also without whom I wouldn't have a birthday ;). One of our favorite haunts is the BK by his house and the little kiddos had a blast!
Official caption: Lunch today with my handsome dad! One
highlight: the awesome snowsuit he found for me (that yes I did try on
over my clothes in the middle of Burger King😂) that might double as a
ghostbusters costume in a future Halloween!! My dad is caring and
interesting and giving and I'm grateful to spend time with him! #janasjollyjanuary
Next up was Janell, who is one of the coolest people I know. When I explained that I couldn't choose a place to eat because I rarely stray from McDonald's, she upped my cool factor by taking me to a trendy pizza place downtown and even reluctantly took a picture with me - which I told her would get a bazillion likes on fb because everyone loves her and it did!
Official caption: Delicious lunch today with the
incomparable Janell. One time soon after we moved into 2nd ward, Janell
was offering hugs to a group she described as "her young women" - some
past, some present. I jokingly asked if I could be one of her young
women and she unjokingly said yes and hugged me and has amazed me ever
since with her incredible, God-given capacity to love and care for
others. Thanks again for lunch, Janell!! You are GREAT!! 😉❤️#janasjollyjanuary
Not every reunion was scripted:
Official caption: My original plans for #janasjollyjanuary
fell through today, so imagine my surprise a couple hours later when I
heard my name at Costco and my sweet Jacob, who moved back to Nampa over
the summer, ran up to me! And also he's grown like six inches since I
saw him in March - I can't handle all my old Cub Scouts now being taller
than me!! Yay for impromptu Costco-facilitated reunions!
Maren was one of the people I thought of immediately for this month, because she moved back in... July? August? and we had only seen each other a couple times since then which is RIDICULOUS because I love her. And it was perfect timing because Karlina had just been ruthlessly stolen from me (or just taken off my visiting teaching list...) so we made her come over too!
Original caption: Ack, I'm already behind on posts! 😳 I
could had posted this yesterday but I waited to see if my head looked
smaller when I pulled the picture up today 😂. Anyways, yesterday's #janasjollyjanuary
was a fun visiting teaching reunion with Maren and Karlina! We sat and
drank hot chocolate and I juggled my yahoo kids while attempting to
maintain a conversation so it was just like old times!! Love you ladies!
Oh man, for three people that love each other as much as we do, we are TERRIBLE at getting together, i.e. right now we're attempting to see Andrew's new house and it hasn't happened yet haha.
original caption: Ahhh and here we have the inspiration for #janasjollyjanuary
: three high school best friends who hadn't gotten together since
before Carma was born, despite the fact that we all live around here
😬😳. Emily and Andrew gave me light and fun and friendship when I
needed it 13 years ago and I love that we always pick up right where we
left off!
Girls' night! Emily, Nycole, Kara and I are ALL January babies so marked the extra special occasion by crossing the street and going to Applebee's where the food was good, the desserts were discounted, and the entire restaurant staff hid in the kitchen so they wouldn't have to take our picture hahaha. Luckily Kara stepped up and got us all in the shot:
official caption: Honestly, this crew makes every month jollier... But I'm still counting them for #janasjollyjanuary because I need the numbers 😂🙌🏼😍
Cassandra and Grace are both awesome, and I loved just sitting on my living room couches and catching up with them one night! They both live within walking distance of me... like very short walking distance... so I'm not sure why we don't do this more often!
official caption: Had a way cool 'girls night in' with these
two earlier this week and it was just perfect: comfy clothes, snacks,
and girl talk. Grace and I go from seeing each other all the time in my
front yard during the summer to hardly EVER during the cold/sick winter
months so it was fun to catch up haha! #janasjollyjanuary
continues to be such a fun endeavor and I'm genuinely excited and
grateful to everyone who's indulged my randomness! (I'm still setting
stuff up, so don't worry if you haven't heard from me yet!!)
I decided early on to use my kids for the jolly shenanigans in case not enough people wanted to hang out with me haha! And if it meant that I got some one-on-one time with this rapidly-growing-up mini-me, so be it ;).
official caption: #janasjollyjanuary
with Clyde yesterday - errands (I gave him my ATM pin so hopefully that
doesn't backfire), a random chess game at the library (I'll let you
guess who won) and cashing in his free sundae for earning a Teamwork
award at school (ironically he ate it by himself while I watched 👀).
Such a cute, sassy little fellow!
And here's Will!
official caption: #janasjollyjanuary
with my sweetheart Will last night- he's been asking for a while about
his turn ❤️. We went to swimming lessons and Taco Bell and practiced
beatboxing and when he kissed my cheek (completely unprompted, hence me
trying not to laugh) I realized again that the future Mrs. Will.i.am is a
lucky lucky girl 😍☺️💕
I'd had good intentions of visiting my dear Sister Walker for a while but hadn't followed through (possibly a recurring theme in my life, working on that...) Now I need to get over there again!
official caption: Possibly the sweetest/most emotional #janasjollyjanuary
reunion today with Sister Walker (left and top at my wedding and bridal
shower) who was the epitome of light and love and good cheer as one of
my Young Women's leaders - she was also the first person to notice and
validate orange as my favorite color🔶! (As a bonus I got to see Brother
Walker too, who greeted me with "Who let YOU in?" accompanied by the
best hug ever ☺️😂) Stephany's example of offering a kind word (and a
story!) to those around her impacted me greatly as a teenager and I was
grateful for the reminder today 💕.
Star! Another friend that I'm trying to reconnect with again, but life keeps thwarting us. Soon!!!
official caption: Ohhhh
I was so overdue for a visit with this cute girlie!! Once upon a time
(like 14/15 years ago...) I was Star's homework tutor and we've stayed
in touch and she faithfully visited me (with gifts!!) in the hospital
every time I've had a baby and now we've graduated to Starbucks dates
where I show up late and she has my hot chocolate and brownie waiting
for me 😍 and then we sit for almost two hours and talk and talk and
talk. #janasjollyjanuary
continues to be so fun and humbling as I realize how many beautiful
friendships I've been blessed with throughout my life. Love you Star!!
Oh Jayna! Despite our best resolve, we don't see each other very often... but when we do, we make it count ;).
official caption: #janasjollyjanuary
with my ebff Jayna - she introduced me to delicious Panera🍴👍🏼, I
taught her how to up her selfie game😉📲, two darling toddlers merrily
ran circles around us 👫, I marveled at her adorable chunk of a baby
EJ👶🏼, and we resolved to bring our primarily virtual friendship into
the real world more often 💻➡️👯. Thanks so much Jayna, love you! 😘
Ohh I just love Wendy! Our temple date was really wonderful :).
official caption: Lovely
morning at the temple with my dear, forced-to-be-my-friend Wendy 😉
(and Charlotte was there too, in a happy coincidence/tender mercy).
Wendy is thoughtful and generous and patient and we had such a great
discussion about how the Lord uses each of us to bless others, and so
often we don't really know how we've helped but it's humbling and
gratifying to know that we serve a purpose. And also Wendy showed up on
my bday last week with Shaynie and hot chocolate so she's clearly
amazing!! 😍😘#janasjollyjanuary
This picture makes me happy because I've seen both of these girls in the last two days!
official caption: Sometimes I show up for #janasjollyjanuary
and Paulina gives me a selfie stick and Kautri treats me to dinner and
I'm so touched that my friends know my two main interests: myself and
food that I have no part in preparing. And as a bonus I got to talk and
laugh and bond with two amazing girls!! It alllllmost makes me miss
running with them multiple times a week haha- not quite enough to start
again though 😉😂💃
Ohhh this was so fun:
official caption: Once upon a time I went to BYU freshman
year and stumbled upon the coolest group of friends and I love that I'm
still in touch with so many of them (I ❤️ fb/blogs/Instagram). I
FaceTimed yesterday with Jaime for #janasjollyjanuary
and it was soooo fun to catch up and laugh and simultaneously nurse
babies while we talked. My favorite memory of Jaime is how I used to
make her pluck my eyebrows for me 😂. Those six girls were the closest I
came to a stereotypical college/roommate experience and they made it
the best! Love you Jaime!Holly was not given an option re: participating in jolly January, but luckily she was on board anyways!
official caption: #janasjollyjanuary
FaceTime with Holly the other night = two hours of awesomeness. Holly
and I became friends four years ago when we both overlooked our first
impressions of each other (I thought she was a pregnant teenager, she
thought I was a crazy lady who wears Halloween striped tights to
church... OH wAIT) and she moved away like four months later but our
friendship has blessedly endured and I'm so glad bc I don't know what I
would do without her 👭❤️
My mama! Love her.
official caption: Super behind on #janasjollyjanuary
posts but never fear, I'll keep going until I catch up ... Starting
with the amazing woman who went to the edge of death to give me life, my
mom!! We spent my birthday afternoon together at DI and Savers (where
else?) and she helped me buy jeans and we both bought books and possibly
other things we didn't need 😉. My mom is spunky and fun and kind and
friendly and devout and I don't tell her enough but I really really love
her! 💗💚💗💚💗💚💗
More fun:
official caption: A collection of #janasjollyjanuary
with super cool girls from church! Emilie (top left) surprised me one
night with a beautiful orange bag (from DI - I don't know how I missed
it!!), Sharon (top right) and I finally got together to chat one morning
and had a great time and three of us January birthdays combined forces
and generously shared our fries with some friends for a girls night
(bottom, Dee, Tasha, Tawny, Esther, me, Shelly). These ladies all
brighten my Sundays and seeing them during the week is always an awesome
bonus!
I always pick my favorite brother based on who contacts me first on my birthday, and this year Quinner won when he facetimed me that morning:
official caption: My dedicated little brother
took my birthday off work so he could FaceTime me that morning... or
maybe there was no school because of a federal holiday- we may never
know for sure. Either way, I'm the best sister Quinn could ever ask for
and I'm glad he knows it 😉. Quinner is thoughtful and a good listener
and fun and practical and a stellar friend and seeing his cute family
was an excellent/jolly way to start being 31! #janasjollyjanuary
Courtney. Aka the reason I'm blogging right now. Girl is PERSUASIVE. I should have remembered this based on the time our families celebrated her (June) birthday in April. Complete with cake.
official caption: I've known Courtney since the early 90's
and I'm so, so lucky to count her as one of my best
friends(/sister/cousins😉). Like, we're texting as I post this haha.
Courtney is smart and resourceful and an excellent sounding board and
gorgeous and loyal and a convincing liar- no matter how boring and
rambling my emails/texts/blogs are, she assures me she was captivated. I
saw Court at the end of December in person (joined by my niece Courtney
too! I ❤️ Courtneys!!) and then we FaceTimed for our official #janasjollyjanuary date and the other picture is circa 2003 in our young, carefree days 😍👯. Love you Court!!
This was such a fun morning! Charlene and I have been in the same ward forever but never really spent time like this together - I'm so glad we finally did!
official caption: One of my last #janasjollyjanuary
was a way fun date with Charlene to watch our ward Young Women in one
of their volleyball games- we set aside our personal complete lack of
understanding of the game and yelled random, supportive-sounding cheers
at the girls and we must have not been a total distraction because the
Red Pandas played amazingly well and won! Then we crashed their
post-game team meeting/mini-devotional and the whole thing was just
awesome! Charlene and I had a great time talking and discovering random
things in common 😉. Also I may have developed an addiction to salted
caramel peanuts 😳😬😂.
I love my two little jolly friends:
official caption: Sooo I didn't specifically spend time with Jack or Carma for #janasjollyjanuary
... Mostly because the three of us already spend every waking moment
and 95% of our sleeping moments together 😬👀😩. They really are the
cutest little yahoos and between Jack's current why?how?why?how? phase
and Carmas's current "ain't nothin' gonna break my stride" (aka run away
from mom constantly) phase, they keep me busy and I wouldn't have it
any other way ☺️ UNLESS THEY WANTED TO SLEEP THROUGH THE NIgHT IN tHEIR
OWN BEDs; I could get on board with that 😉😜😴🙋🏻👀👍🏼
Oh my heck I love the Murphys! Miss you Kiska!
official caption: Kiska!!
I was so thrilled when I found out Kiska was coming to town for her
parents' 50th anniversary party and could therefore participate in #janasjollyjanuary
- I've yet to meet a member of the Murphy family who isn't kind and
generous and funny and Kiska is no exception, plus her name is fun to
say and she gives me cookies 😍😂. AND I'm so in love with the picture
of Rich and Dee from their wedding day so I obviously had to include it
as well 😉. See you again someday Kiska!! 😘
Just found out I will be in the same state as this girl in two weeks and suddenly all is right in the world...
official caption: I have known Heidi lit'rally
(pronunciation courtesy of Chris Traeger) her entire life and the joy
she has brought to my life is hard to explain. We probably spend 97% of
our time together laughing (the other 3% is her doing my makeup and
baking me cookies). Heidi is witty and smart and generous and aware and
gorgeous and either supports me unconditionally or has the best poker
face ever because regardless of what I say/do/confide in her, she still
loves me and I am so so grateful to have her as a best
friend(/sister/cousin) and FaceTiming with her was the perfect send-off
to #janasjollyjanuary 💃👯😍🍪💕☺️😎
Ohhh my sweet husband! And what do you know, I'm going to the temple with him tomorrow!
official caption: Saved the best #janasjollyjanuary
for last: going to the temple with Chuck! We are living proof that a
marriage can survive/thrive! on dates solely to the temple and Costco
👩🏻❤️👨🏻. Chuck is my hero, he's the perfect calm, logical balance to
my crazy, emotional self and when I say to him, "Hey, I'm devoting an
entire month to gadding about with friends!" he sweetly responds,
"Awesome, have fun!" and sends me on my way👍🏼💃. AND THUS CONCLUDES
my jolly month! I actually didn't do a complete count but I know I
surpassed my goal and had so much fun with all y'all! Thanks for making
my 31st birthday so memorable 🙌🏼🙅🏻💕.
