this guy

picture from our wedding

excuse me for a minute while I get all mushy about this guy -

Nic is a lot of things - smart, talented, devilishly handsome. But perhaps one of the things I love the most about him is how much he cares... about me, about his job, everything. His dedication is seriously inspiring. I have never seen someone work so hard at improving themselves. He'll come home from work and tell me all of these great ideas he has come up with that he can't wait to get started on and I just feel my heart swelling with pride that he is doing something that makes him happy. Well you can imagine how I felt when he got a random call last week, completely unexpected during his vacation, from his director offering him a promotion. I guess it is proof that I'm definitely not the only one who notices or thinks his dedication is pretty dang inspiring. 


So as of last Thursday, Nic started a new job. One that puts him well on his way to reaching his occupational dreams. One that meshes his love of health care administration and computer technology perfectly. And one that makes me more proud of him than ever. 

Congrats Mr. Operations Coordinator of Medical Practice! You deserve it and I could not be more proud of you.

A happy fourth indeed.

Yesterday was a pretty darn good day. No work for Nic which meant sleeping in for the both of us. I'd never been to Pocatello's 4th of July parade so we went just the two of us in the morning. The heat seemed to bring out the crazy in people which is why I even go to parades in the first place of course - to people watch for great entertainment! For many of the floats, it seemed the parade was just a glorified campaign opportunity this year but outside of those, my favorites were the school bus and free summer lunch program van. Made my teacher heart proud to see those cute little kids on the bus supporting school!

In the afternoon we went to my father-in-law's house and sat around the Williamson pool eating hot dogs and hamburgers and getting to hear a few embarrassing stories from Nic's childhood, my favorite kind. ;)
We are lucky to live so close to the fairgrounds so we just walked to the city firework show from out house. While waiting for them to start we stared in awe at that gorgeous sunset up there ^. With the recent fires going on around here it was a little nerve racking still having the city show let alone the ban being lifted for people to light them at their homes. The show only stopped once to put out a small brush fire that they caught quickly and as for the rest of the city, so far so good. The news hasn't said otherwise.

Not a bad way to end a great day laying with the one you love under the night sky watching the best firework show I've ever seen! So proud to be an American and even more grateful that we live in a free country.

Happy 4th you party people!

You'da thought I was the one in labor

Meet Ariana Jo Bradley 

(Ari for short)

This sweet little girl was born last night and if you could have seen the look on my face today you would have known the world got even brighter as of 9:21 p.m. Our best friends Mindy and Beau invited us to a 4th of July bbq for last night that we have been looking forward to for a few days now  but it quickly came to a halt when we got a text from them saying, "Party canceled, Mindy decided to go into labor two weeks early!" Seriously if you were standing next to me when I got that text you'da thought I was the one in labor! I was jumping up and down and pacing all over the place. Probably a good thing I was home alone haha Usually people aren't that crazy excited unless it is their own baby.

I'll tell you what, when I saw that little head of dark brown hair and tiny little toes my heart completely melted. Can you imagine what I'm going to be like when it is Nic and I's baby? Oh lordy, better make sure there are 12 boxes of kleenex packed in our hospital bag! I just can't get over how tiny and adorable she is. It makes me so excited to be a mom someday. 

Welcome to the world baby Bradley. You have amazing parents and a whole lotta people who love you!    

I'm a little drunk on you, and high on summertime

That song ^ played on repeat the whole way down to Bear Lake and it has been stuck in my head ever since. It has become one of those songs that will always remind me of this summer. We spent a weekend away at Nic's family cabin for my birthday and had the best time. We had Le Beau's famous raspberry shakes the moment we got into town. That in and of itself was worth the trip! We spent the rest of the sunny days reading by the water, attempting to swim before going completely numb, checking out the local shops around town, and playing game after game of Skipbo until Nic could finally beat me, but who's counting. ;)

Saturday night was probably one of my favorite parts about the trip. My father-in-law got us tickets to go see a musical at the Pickleville Playhouse. We saw "Forever Plaid" which I had never heard of before and let me tell you, that is a crying shame I hadn't. It was seriously the most hilarious show I had ever been to! I could go over and over again and still leave with tears streaming down my face every time it was THAT FUNNY. And of course Nic and I might as well have had glow in the dark clothing on because they managed to pick us both out of the entire audience to join in on the show. Nic became a drummer at one point in a mariachi band. I about died laughing when he looked at me like, "Are these people crazy!?" And then I of course forced him to play them. Who is he kidding, he loved it! Not two songs later, they were singing a love song and one of the actors had "never slow danced with a girl before." I found myself being pulled from my seat and dancing with a  complete stranger in front of everyone in the aisle. Oh the times we had :)

Bear Lake, I seriously love you. I would live there all summer long if I could. 

the last 24 hours

The last 24 hours have been nothing short of emotionally draining. It all began yesterday afternoon when I got a call from Nic telling me to go look outside. I remember feeling really nervous to look because he never calls me on his cell phone during work. It had to be important. I saw a giant cloud of smoke filling the sky. It was coming from the direction of my mother-in-laws home.

A few minutes earlier Nic had been on the phone with her. She had heard about the fire and while it wasn't threatening her neighborhood at the moment, she felt the sudden urge to go home and check on her puppies just in case. Not two minutes after she got inside, a sheriff knocked on her front door. She had five minutes to evacuate her home. In a moment of panic with Nic on the phone with her, she had to decide what to bring and what to leave behind. She scooped up her dogs, some important documents, and some family pictures and left.

Fast forward about 30 minutes and she showed up on our doorstep with two confused dogs and a terrified look on her face. I felt completely helpless but I did what I knew I could do - I said a prayer and gave her a safe place to sleep. We spent hours into the night listening intently to any and all updates provided by all of the local news stations. We don't have cable so the updates came from either a phone or a laptop (which is pretty much the same these days). After getting very little sleep, we woke up to find that the news didn't have much more to report in the morning than they had the night before.

Finally by mid afternoon we were informed that 66 homes and 29 buildings had burned down. My mother-in-laws home was not one of them. They had contained the fire about a football fields length away from her front yard. I kept thinking in that moment, am I supposed to feel relieved? Because I was. For her, my heart was so happy and so grateful. But then my thoughts drifted to the other 66 families that lost everything and my heart sank and it has sort of stayed there ever since.

I wish I could take every single one of them in. We are lucky to live in such a wonderful community that so many businesses and people have reached out and have been providing places to stay and food for them to eat. While I'm grateful that no one was hurt and it is only possessions they have lost, I can't imagine what it would be like to lose a home. The one place that I go to feel safe and protected from the world. It makes me want to cry for them.

Just like with my mother-in-law, I feel helpless but I know I shouldn't because I can offer the best kind of help. The help that these families will need more than ever in the coming monthes and that help is prayer. I'm praying that families being effected by fires going on all over the United States right now feel comfort and safety. Communities can do great things. I'm grateful for the fire department and all of their efforts to put out these fires. Their service is our miracle.

all photos from The Idaho State Journal.

 

if it is a perfect 70 degree day outside,

Today I...

// went to visit this ^ handsome man at work on his lunch hour. (definitely my favorite part of the day)
// woke up to a clean house. (so glad I did that yesterday)
// entered to win a Nikon D3100 on GroopDealz here (Iwouldseriouslydieifiwon)
// still can't stop thinking about our upcoming weekend to Bear Lake.
// am looking forward to a picnic dinner tonight at the park!
// am learning how to use my new birthday present, Photoshop Elements!

Today I am a happy girl and I hope you are having a great day too. :)