they don't even know what he does for them.  5 days a week, he gets up early, puts on some nice clothes, and goes to that place called "work".  it's too abstract for these little people to grasp, and i am grateful they don't really get it.  and yet, they sense how hard he works for them.  and they KNOW how much he loves them.  because he spends every moment he can showing it and saying it.  grateful for my partner in crime and in life, john harman brunt.  aka dad/husband of the year.

ski day!

this christmas season felt a little bit different than most others.  in all our 6 years of marriage, i have done a pretty decent job getting john a few good presents.  (like the banjitar two years ago... that was pretty good.)  

but this year... i worked SO HARD to get john and NES classic.  i woke up 6(?)ish times bright and early and went to the stores hoping that the line wouldn't be too long and i could hopefully snag one... but to no avail.  so under the tree was a board game, (which is an awesome board game, albeit creepy, if you're in the market ;) and an envelope that said, "let's go skiing!"  FAIL. i know.  

in my defense, john's birthday is only five days before christmas, and he got band of horses tickets for his birthday.  aka. WIN.

so, despite my lack of being prepared christmas morning and having an awesome gift for john to open, we had an amazing day of skiing.  it has more or less confirmed my suspicions that EVENTS make way better presents than THINGS.  

dear mr. brunt,

these days, i feel like i'm always needing to apologize.  things are crazy busy in this life of ours, and sometimes i feel like i miss the mark on pretty much everything.  so i find myself apologizing for my imperfections.  a lot.  

but gosh, look at the beautiful lives we have created together.  look at our amazing, smart, fun, beautiful girls.  look at our cozy home and the spirit that is in it.  look at the fun we have together and the love we feel.   if dinner is ready at a decent hour and half-way appetizing, {or let's be honest, even if it sucks} i'm calling it a success.  if the girls got dressed, had fun, and learned something today, i'm calling it a win.  if the fridge is stocked with diet coke and monsters, we are doing pretty good.  and if none of these things are in order {as they so often aren't}, then screw it.  cause our life is pretty awesome anyway.

thanks for choosing me again and again each day, and for making the most of it.  i love you the most.

when dates are too good to be true.

i don't know how i did it, but i am so lucky i convinced john to marry me.  he took me out on a hot date for our anniversary last weekend, and i found myself feeling so relaxed and happy, and laughing the entire evening.  he is my favorite human.  

we saw finding neverland on broadway and all-around did the tourist-y things.  it was the best!  we grabbed a lamb gyros on the way to the theater and were in heaven.  john coined the phrase, "greek taco bell" and i think that sums it up pretty nicely.

the show was absolutely stunning.  we both loved it and have been singing the songs ever since!

john harman, i love you so much.

a special thank you to r+j, for watching our girls and making such a fun night possible for us!  

i am still so in love.

john brunt, you're my favorite human.  you're the perfect blend of adventurous and laid back, patient but hard-working, real but kind.  after a hard day at work you come home and somehow manage to fix everything.  you value things that are important, like being close to the ones you love, and eating only delicious food.  and {even though it sometimes makes me stress if dinner is going to be great,} i admire that about you.  i am in awe at how you still love me despite all my flaws and personality changes {which i am working/praying hard to prevent}.  if i had looked at current self five years ago, i still would have said yes to you on the top of sawtelle mountain.  i love you so much.

these days i am consumed with being a mother.  which ultimately, is the most wonderful thing i could be doing, and i am so grateful to be doing it.  but as i was going though old blog posts i realized how in the consumption of caring for our girls and enjoying every minute with them, i almost forget to document anything about the man that not only loves and supports us, but quite literally gives everything he is and has for us.  i used to quite frequently (and publicly) document how much i love and appreciate my john harman.  all those feelings are still there, but the "us" time gets buried underneath discussions about the girls and taking care of them, and i have shamelessly missed the mark, {except for an instagram post or two}, when it comes to thanking and expression my appreciation for him.

so today i wanted to say thank you, and that i am going to love you for the rest of forever.

this one's for the man i married.

dear mr. brunt:

thanks for being an amazing man.  i mean it.
thanks for putting up with my silly whims and meltdowns and food demands and for loving me anyway.
thanks for suggesting we eat ice cream every night, because you know i love it.
of all the people i know, you are my favorite.
and our B is a very close second.

thanks for her too, now that i think about it.
i love you more and more each day.

love,
your wife

also, you are smokin' hot.

he graduated!

so proud of john for all the hard work he has put in the past two years.  he has worked so hard to be successful and land a great job - and now we are headed to dallas to work for a fantastic company and are thrilled!  this guy has done so much to provide for our family and i couldn't be more grateful or in love with him.  we had a small barbeque with family and friends to celebrate, and the weather was amazing right until the convocation ended and it started pouring rain...

happy birthday, john brunt!

my man turns 29 today.  happy birthday, my man!  there are lots of things i love about you, and i'm sure i could name many more than i did in this sappy post three years ago.  but now we have a baby(thanks for her, by the way ;), and although she's asleep in bed and although it's only 8:30pm i can hardly keep my eyes open.  and i know that's no excuse for not listing how many more things i love about you now than i did on that day.  but what i did want to do is wish you a very happy birthday, and tell you that my love for you has grown.  and every day as we live our life together, i am happier than the last.  oh, i love you.  and i'm so glad your mine.  happy 29.

john harman.

sometimes, he helps my sister jenna with math homework even though he knows he is going to be up all night doing his own.

sometimes, he instinctively nods his head in approval as he eats the dinner i made.

sometimes, he says, "there's always time to make cookies"  even though there really isn't.

sometimes, he wears church socks with his vans and looks really, really cool.

sometimes, he doesn't complain about anything for weeks.

sometimes, he can get me to be in a good mood, even when i am determined to be in a bad one.

sometimes, i notice him staring fondly at hazel.

sometimes, he laughs out loud, and i love it.

he just happens to be my best friend.  and i really owe him a small apology for being so scatterbrained and selfish lately.  just as he always does, he bears my tantrums bad moods with the greatest degree of love and patience, and for that i am so so grateful.  thanks john, for everything you do.  just so you know, i really like you.

this is john brunt.

he loves dancing goofy to get me to laugh, he makes a mean breakfast burrito, and he's always up for an adventure.  he owns twenty pairs of pants but only wears two of them.  he is so patient he could watch grass just to see it grow.  he has to listen to a song at least three times to decide if he really likes it.  he can only grow a neck-beard.  he hates that he can only grow a neck-beard.  he hates it when i pop a zit.  he spends way too much time playing games on his phone.  his diet would consist of cereal, take-out, and hot-pockets if i didn't intervene.  he has several must-see tv shows.  he reads jack reacher novels.  he wishes he could be jack reacher. 

he also happens to be my husband.  and for all the wonderful things about him that i love,{and also the things that i have had to learn to love}, i am grateful.  i have grown to love him so much more than i did that first day i saw him - across the room at jordan's birthday party.... dressed in a long black winter peacoat.... awkward with a little bit of red stubble on his face.  that twitterpation has deepened to a love i cannot express nor could i have ever imagined.  if you had told me, when we were newly married, that infatuation wouldn't linger, i would have told you that you were crazy.  and here i am, post-baby and three years of marriage, and i am telling you, that infatuation is still there.  as is the strength and love of going through trials and challenges together.  the bond of making and taking care of a child together.  the faith and charity that comes from trying to be like the Savior together.  

so happy three years, john brunt.  thanks for making me the happiest woman in the world, three years in a row.  that must be some kind of record or something...

"i've humbled you, and i've lectured you and you have borne it as noone could have born it. maybe it is our imperfections that make us so perfect for one another."

via

as i was watching this scene yesterday, it struck me at how true this quote is of marriage.  i speak specifically of how two people can help each other strive to be better.  as mr. knightly suggests: john and i, imperfect as we are as individuals, are more perfect together.  john helps me each day to be a more patient and kind person.  truly, "i feel so full of error, so mistaken in my make-up to deserve [him]".  but he, in his patient, loving way, encourages me each day to be a better person.

i can't even count the number of times that i have been frustrated with the beebes and he lovingly reminds me to not let her fussiness/refusal to nap/teething crankiness affect my mood.  if i'm in a humble mood then i take his advice and make a serious commitment to be better.  the trick is humility.  and it is sometimes so so hard to be humble, isn't it?

last night, we had a long conversation.  and i thanked and thanked john for all that he teaches me and that he doesn't give up on me, despite my resilience.  and he thanked me for the things i do to help him strengthen his weaknesses as well.  i went to bed feeling quite whole with him beside me and a sleeping baby in her crib on the other.

john, thanks for making our life together so magical.

three years ago, i made the best decision of my life.

it was the decision to be with you, forever.

"you're my favorite. like..... boo-yah"
i love these things my husband says.

john's birthday!

we had friends over for john's 28th birthday.  [whoa.  28?  really?  that's only two years away from 30.... and then i'll be married to an old man!  {okay, not really}]

we went to slab pizza,  had chocolate bundt cake, and the boys played black ops 2 until about 4:30am.  perfect birthday festivities, in my opinion.  

happy birthday john!  you are simply the best.  i'm so glad i get to be your wife.  you are a stud.

john harman brunt, i love you more each day. here's why:

reason #1:  i discover you know all the words to "witch doctor" by alvin and the chipmunks

reason #2:  when i ask you if you feel ready to have this baby in four months, you say, "i've been ready for like... six years"

reason #3:  you shovel the snow off our front walks without me even asking, and you even salt them!

reason #4:  you instinctively know what to order whenever we get chinese take-out

reason #5:  you study so hard for our family

john harman,

do you remember when you got down on one knee and asked me to marry you?

yeah, that was awesome.

8.

john harman, i miss you a lot today.  i miss your handsome smile and the way you say "i love you the most" in the morning.  i miss having you play guitar to me, and that i can request any song i want to hear and you will play it for me.  i miss how you make me breakfast every saturday morning.  i miss praying together every night.

i have been in taiwan for a week now, and needless to say, this adventure has been a lot more difficult than i realized.  i haven't said thank you for all the wonderful things you do for me each day -  most of them i under-appreciated and overlooked.  but i am realizing more and more now how much you mean to me, and how i simply cannot live without you. thank you for being my best friend.  i am so glad i get to be with you forever. 

"i knowed i made a good choice"

each day, the wisdom in my decision to marry john becomes more apparent.

seriously, i was so smart to pick him.

i think sometimes that he must have had a brief lapse of judgment when he brought that ring.... what else would be a reasonable explanation for how i got him?  he is so incredible in so many ways.  i've never heard him say a negative word about anyone- ever.  he truly is my best friend.  i am reminded of the words of mater, "i knowed i made a good choice... in my best friend".  

john, thanks for picking me.  you're my favorite.

basketball game.

about a week ago we went to the byu vs gonzaga game.  byu won, naturally.  we went with these friends , of course.  

i am so excited for this fall when john will be attending school at byu with me.  byu is an amazing school.  i am grateful for all the opportunities that are mine here, particularly the amazing byu nursing faculty that work so hard to help us learn and grow and become good nurses.  even though i am pushed past what i thought i was capable of almost every single day, i am so grateful for the things i am learning.  i know that nursing school, with all of it's ups and downs, will be worth it in the end!  

john has really inspired me lately.  he is so good at seeing the bright side of things. even during the busy accounting season when he gets six hours of sleep each night {even on weekends} and works twelve hour days {if you count commuting [even on weekends]}, he is still happy and pleasant to be around.  me on the other hand....

john, thanks for inspiring me to be better.  i know i have had a difficult time seeing the bright side of things lately.  i am so grateful for your patience with me during the past month of nursing school.  you are my favorite.  

i love it when he plays guitar.

to all you single ladies out there:
find one who plays the guitar.
because if you don't, then you'll never know what this is like:

and john, in all his red-headed-devilishly-handsome-humility, will be super embarrassed by this post.
so let's just keep this a secret, okay?

but seriously, when john plays the guitar, he's not doing it to impress anyone.  he's not doing it to make me swoon {although it does tend to have that effect}.  he's not doing it to occupy time or to make money or to have a hobby.

no, john plays guitar because he loves it.
and that, my friends, is one of the reasons
he makes me go weak in the knees.