gratitude.

as im sitting at my computer, completely overwhelmed with everything that i need to do in the next 48 hours, i cant help but think about how thankful i am. sam and i are at a time in our lives where every. single. bit. of what we have known is changing.

next saturday we both graduate college. the last 6 years of my life have been spent at isu. i have known each semester what i would be doing. taking tests- writing papers- designing- and doing it all at the last minute too. i would think that after 6 years of stress, i would learn. but no. its my final semester and here i sit with a 15 page paper, an entire college career's portfolio to put together, a presentation, a book to be made and tests yet to be studied for. stressed? oh yeah. happy? oh yeah. heck! i never really thought i would finish college. i never wanted to go to college to begin with, but my dad encouraged me- he told me how important it was to finish and now, here i am 6 years later doing just that. FINISHING! GRADUATING!

sam has worked so hard for this too. he is one of the best people i know. i dont think i know of anyone as willing as he is to do what it takes to succeed. he has been on the deans list pretty much every semester of school and has papers written a week before they are due! wow. we sure are different. he does it the right way though. 

next wednesday we find out what we are having. holy cow. im having a baby! that in itself is enough to be overwhelmed with gratitude about. when sam and i got married (almost 5 years ago) i thought we would wait a year to have a little munchkin and then start our family. but it didnt happen that way. we were too busy learning and growing together as a couple. we were to selfish. heck, im still too selfish, but i guess i dont really have a choice now! :) 

its been so fun seeing sam react to all things baby. i can tell he will be the best dad, and i am the luckiest woman to get to have him as my sweetheart. i sure love that baby daddy. 

so many other things in our lives are changing just as quick as i can type, but all of those changes are good. changes that are huge blessings in our lives. i wish i could express how thankful i am to my heavenly father, because i know all of this goodness and happiness comes from him. 

i am so grateful. 

wait a minute!

when did this belly thing happen? isn't it supposed to be awhile still?

16 1/2 ish weeks

feeling great! minus the back pain and heart burn... any advice?

whooooooo?

yep. im 15 weeks.

due october 2nd!

we are peeing our pants with excitement!!!

this is how i feel.

it's official. mrs. joni and mr. paul are hitched.

and i can honestly say i am happy.

i haven't been a complete peach about the situation the entire time though.

let me start from the beginning.

since october there had been talk of the possibility of my mom marrying paul. i was ok with the idea of paul, i just wasnt ok with the idea of marriage. at least not before taigen graduated high school and jace got home from his mission.

can you blame me? there were many talks about what should and would happen in the coming months. a possible november or december of 2012 wedding sounded good to us girls. we thought it would be nice for jace to come home and adjust to the new world that surrounded him before another bomb was dropped on his life.

as time creeped on, my opinion became stronger and stronger. i said my peace multiple times and i was firm in what i thought. paul was a good guy, but the happiness of my little brother and sister mattered most to me.

at the time i wasnt thinking of my mom. i wasnt thinking of the loneliness she has been feeling for the past year and a half. and i know she was feeling so lonely.

i was thinking of me. what about my dad being replaced? what about you moving to a new town? what about how i feel?

then christmas time came. i had been praying to know how to handle the situation and how to treat my incredible mother with the love she not only needed, but deserved. i had been having a hard time doing that.

so i went to the temple. wow. the temple can do some amazing things for a person's soul. while i was there i had an understanding that i hadn't had yet...

my mom had been praying, fasting, and pleading with the Lord for answers. she was doing this the right way. and my stubborn attitude was making it impossible for her to listen to the spirit.

each of us had strong opinions in the matter, but i realized i didn't want to be the reason she couldn't listen to the answers she was looking for.

so i gave her my 'permission' i guess. each of us did. jace

included. and on christmas day my mom and paul got engaged. i cried. a lot.

i couldn't believe it was really happening. my mom was going to marry someone else. someone who wasn't my dad.

a march wedding was now on the agenda. march? ok, i can get myself together by march. we can make it a beautiful wedding and we can be happy to be there.

so off i went on vacation. i left on january 3rd. after a week in disney world it was time to board the carnival glory for a week long cruise. the day i was boarding the ship my mom called me. she said she was thinking about moving the wedding up a

bit but wasn't quite sure.

she and paul had a trip planned with some family in hawaii at the end of january and they thought it might be nice to use it as their honeymoon.

honestly, i didn't think it was really going to happen. i just enjoyed my vacation and let the thought leave my mind.. for the most part.

sunday the 15th i stepped onto US soil and turned on my cell phone. i had a text from my little sister saying 'january 22nd? what the!' and thats how i found out my mom would be getting married a week later.

this is getting long isnt it?...

i called my mom. i cried. i realized i was actually really angry about a few things involved in the situation and i said some hurtful things. now, thinking about the way i reacted i cry even more because i feel so terrible. hurting my mom's feelings has ALWAYS been something i have tried not to do. i see her as the most amazing woman and i would never want to hurt her in anyway. but i did. because i was angry. angry that my mom was getting married. angry that i wasn't there to know everything going on. angry that i didnt make her wedding announcement. angry that jace wouldn't be there. angry that my family would be completely different. and angry that the wedding would be in a week.

the week wore on. i talked with my mom. i talked with my husband- a lot. i talked with my aunt jodi. i talked to people i barely knew. and i talked to my Heavenly Father. i cried some more. i said more mean things. an then i apologized to my mom. i tried to start thinking of her and how we could make the day special for her.

heck, she was getting married and i NEEDED to be happy for her. the wedding was coming and i could make things miserable for myself and everyone around me or i could embrace what was happening and do what i could to make the day special.

my sisters, my aunt jodi and i planned a little shower for my mom on saturday. i ordered a necklace for her on etsy that has significant meaning for her and paul and i made her a family print to hang in their home.

while doing all of this i realized i was focusing on the good instead of the {scary} i guess. i realized that there really were soooo many good things about the situation.

paul is amazing. his girls are incredible and his grandkids are to die for. i love them all so much already.

he is also a widower. his family knows the sorrow we feel and we know the sorrow they feel of loosing a parent.

they are NORMAL and they have all of the same family values that we have.

WE ARE LUCKY.

the day of the wedding was hard. we all cried together. but it really was a good day. i am happy that my mom is happy. i am so glad that she has found a best friend to spend the rest of her life on earth with. how lucky that we had the most amazing father and now we have a wonderful step-dad that will continue to teach us and love us.

these are my sisters. there are 6 of us. but dont forget about jace.

this woman is one of my very best friends. im so lucky to have her.

the happy couple

and all of us. its a big family isnt it?

life is about moving forward. we have each lost someone very special to us, but we have also gained so many people to love.

the wedding.

my sister wrote a beautiful post about my mom getting married. until i can write anything that perfect take a look at her post!

randtpalmer.blogspot.com

mama j

yes its true. my mom is getting married today.

a little crazy... but im happy for her.

paul is a wonderful man with beautiful daughters.

i know the craziness of this will all settle down soon and in a few months we are all going to be grateful for this new family of ours.

but today, its hard. its hard for me to understand that our lives will be forever changed.

not that they aren't quite different from what they used to be already. but now we add more people to that change instead of take them away.

i do prefer to add, so we are lucky.

its sad to think my mom will have a different last name. she will move away. we will have different traditions and it won't just be our small family of 6.

instead it will be a big family. 6 sisters 1 brother. poor jace. good thing he is such a boy.

im grateful for this new family of mine. i just miss my old one too.

heaven.

we just finished a 13 day vacation of pure heaven.

we missed our first week of school and i don't even feel bad.

i guess reality is going to hit me like a ton of bricks.

lots of pictures and lots of updates are sure to come.... if i actually start blogging again.

xoxo