I have been SO bad at blogging lately! I’ve been good at doing “bumpdates” about baby because I’m obsessed with him, but other blogging I’m seriously slacking. My love month turned into 3 measly posts!

But all of that is OK!

I’ll post a life update right after this, promise.

But basically I want to talk about love because yesterday was the day filled with love.

I just have to pinch myself sometimes because I am so lucky to love, and be loved, by such an amazing person. Randy is seriously the best person I have ever known. He has given me this beautiful life and I wouldn’t change a thing about it. Of course, our marriage and our life isn’t perfect. But that’s part of what I love about it. I love facing hard things with Randy. I love comforting each other on crazy or bad days.

I’m absolutely obsessed with the way Randy is so goofy and cuddly in the mornings. I adore how his favorite food is Japanese Ramen and how we make it several times a week. I can’t get enough of his endless rants about music and bands and love how he is always trying to educate me on these very important matters. I could listen to him tell stories forever.

Yesterday we woke up early and had some pastries in bed, I got Randy a watch (a little Valentine tradition) and he got me some BEAUTIFUL earrings and a makeup bag I have been dying to have, and of course some flowers.

We went to Corbins Grille and had amazing steak and lamb (even though they brought Randy the wrong potatoes, they ended up being DELICIOUS).

It was the chill, romantic last Valentine’s Day with the two of us that I wanted. I’m thrilled that next year we’ll have our little man here with us and I couldn’t be more excited about that.

Happy love day, loves.

Congratulations on getting married! But then, comes the not fun part. I have so many friends who have issues years after they get married because they forgot to change their name one place or another. It can be so difficult to know that you got all the places necessary!

Many people choose not to change their name, and that’s great. For people who do want to change their last name, here’s a list of things you need to know and places you need to go!

1. Get a copy of your marriage license from the county office. You usually get a certified copy with your original, but you can also purchase additional copies if needed. Make sure you keep it somewhere safe!

2. Take your marriage license and old photo ID to the DMV to get a new license. Some places will also require a form and reprint fee, others won’t.

3. Take your marriage license and a photo ID to the Social Security Office. I also brought my old Social Security Card, and filled out the change of name forms beforehand (https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf).

4. Passport. This was HUGE and I almost had an issue. Some people suggest just booking travel tickets in your old name until your passport expires, but I don’t recommend that. I flew in the US and then international on the same trip and had to book my tickets in the right name, or it wouldn’t match my driver’s license. This website has all the forms you have to fill out (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/apply-renew-passport/change-correct.html)

5. Post office. I put my new name on my Change of Address form when I had my mail forwarded from USPS. If you don’t need a Change of Address, just call your post office and see what they require.

6. Banks. I was able to go online and change my name for nearly all of my banks and credit cards, and they sent new cards to me. One bank required I go in and sign paperwork, which was easy. You just provide your new ID.

7. Insurance. Just hop online to make sure your insurance company has your correct name.

8. Work. I needed to let my work know that my name was changing so they could update payroll information.

9. Email. I got a new email address and have my old address forward to the new one. My old email address has become my “junk” email where I sign up for silly promotions or coupons or things, and I use my new one with my new name everywhere else.

Let me know if I’ve forgotten any important places for name changes, or if you have any tips or tricks!

On the 3rd day of Love Month, I’ve been thinking lots about loving strangers.

I think we underestimate the love that we have, or should have, for everyone around us. We are all connected, and at the end of the day we are all on the same team. Trying to get through, be happy. And when I think about it in a broader, religious sense, we’re all brothers and sisters. All trying to figure out how to be the best we can be.

Thinking about this really makes me think about our time in Japan. It’s absolutely incredibly that there is an entire country where EVERYONE is thinking about how to be considerate to others. From big to small things. Everyone just standing on an escalator stands to one side, so people who want to walk up can go on the other side. There is no trash anywhere, because it would be rude to drop it. People are so willing to move out of the way, give directions, stop and help you. There’s little crime, and even in natural disasters they are SO bent on helping other people around them, instead of focusing on themselves. It’s incredible.

I want to be more like that. I want to have the respect and love for those around me that I don’t know, to make their life easier. If everyone tried to do this a little bit more, we’d all be happier in the long run.

See our full proposal story.

Randy and I have been together for so long, I feel like we have a million important days and times and places that are full of nostalgia. I swear I’m always remembering and posting about this or that day or time or place, reminding myself of all our past.

But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

One of my favorite things about Randy and my relationship is that we have so much past and history. I am so grateful the place where we danced the night away at our senior prom, is where we made it official and got engaged. I’m grateful we have the anniversary of when we started dating, mission goodbyes and hellos, our engagement, and our wedding.

We have so many pieces to our love and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

Today, all I can think about is how grateful I am that we realized we couldn’t live without each other, and that we decided to move forward with a love that we both believed in and knew we could make work.

Happy engage-aversary baby.

 I have been so worried about finding a good nursing cover, and these ones from Fiddle Diddles are SO cute! They are so soft and light weight so they won’t bother the baby, you can use them for so many things including as a car seat cover, scarf, shopping cart sling, and nursing cover! I can’t wait to try these out with our dude too, Randy and I already have one set up on our car seat that matches his coming home outfit hahaha.