we did it.

can you believe it folks? we did it, we really did it. daniel was such a star out there today, walking across the stage like he was the luckiest kid in town. his grin was from ear-to-ear big when they called his name and handed him his diploma. and we are pretty lucky, or blessed for that matter, it was so wonderful to see him graduate from byu today, i am so proud of him.

it has been pretty inspiring to see daniel as a student, he is a really good one. i had no idea when i married him, that he was so on top of things. (one of us needs to be, right?). he would write his papers weeks in advance, he would study, and study during the day until all his home work was done so that he could come home and not have to worry about it. like...who does that? my husband doesn't procrastinate till the very last second like i always did...? man, i really lucked out of this one.

but seriously, he loves learning. he really does. he is so curious, always asking questions and then finding the answers. he soaks things up and then loves telling others about what he has learned. i have learned so much from him in our short amount of marriage together. and i think that his love for learning has been passed down to little henry, he is the same way. i am just so grateful for the amazing man, husband, father that daniel is to our family. and i get to be by his side through this crazy life of ours. i'am going to learn so much!

^^we finally got a good one.^^

i love you, daniel boy. happy graduation day.

xxoo

spring time.

today i made oven roasted potatoes with fresh basil... ah! they were so good. i then boiled some corn on the cob and put fresh mozzarella with cherry tomatoes and basil on my plate, too. it tasted like a summer meal. we liked that. it's been sunny, but too cold to go play outside, so we have to bring spring time indoors. we picked up some flowers at the one and only steiners flowers (mom and dad's shop) and they have really helped with the spring thing. sometimes you just need flowers, ya, know?

henry and i are still dying over here because of my yeast infection. i had a breakdown with daniel last night and cried and cried because i just wanted to nurse henry again. and henry cried and cried too, because all he wanted to do is nurse with mom. we were a mess, and today we are not much better. i tried to pump last night but i barely got a tiny 2 onces. im all dried up because we never nurse! i gave it to h in a bottle and he was so happy..until it ran out about 30 seconds after he started drinking it. i felt terrible!  i am on these herbs to get my milk supply back now and then more herbs trying to fight the infection. i hope it all ends soon. henry won't eat real food because he knows that if he eats it that i won't nurse him. so he won't even look at food and then eventually we try to nurse and i die because it is so painful. so it only happens about twice a day.

poor henry.

anyways, i am praying really hard that whatever is suppose to happen will happen, that, if, maybe... (i really hope not) i am suppose to stop nursing h that i will know. but i really, really hope that is not the case. i am NOT ready and i don't think he is either by the way things are going.

sorry for all the details, but this is our "jouranl" so you read it, you hear it.

last night we had a couples family home evening with two of our favorite couples. we all made some hors d'oeuvres and then sat around and talked. it was nice. henry was so funny, every time we would all laugh he would laugh, and then he would try to start the laughing, he would laugh and then we would all laugh. it was a party. and the roth's made the most delicious banana chocolate cake that i have ever tasted, we made them leave us two pieces. daniel ate his piece last night, but i choose to save mine for breakfast, when i woke up though... it was gone. i should have never waited. that little stinker ate mine in the middle of the night. i. am. so. mad. at. him.

i had rehearsal for a project i am doing in the middle of may, called city sites. today, i can barely move. i forget that modern dance uses that weirdest muscles. i kept complaining to daniel about it, and every time i would say anything he would say..."yeah right, you love it" SO true. it feels so good to move again.

tomorrow i am running 9 miles. wish me a lot of luck and a lot of strong hip flexers- those are the first to go on me.

xo,
me.

basil roasted potatoes

(preheat oven to 425)

potatoes (washed, cut, and quartered) we used red, our favorite. 

olive oil 

salt and pepper

fresh basil 

combine all ingredients until potatoes are well coated. then cook for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft. 

then totally enjoy. 

 happy tuesday!

ITS THE WEEKEND

we love cleaning the church and that includes henry. he especially loves when he gets to vacuum with dad. seriously, just can't get enough of him!

the weekend is upon us and we have already had a ball! last night we went out to dinner twice. don't you ever do that? first we went to cubby's (our favorite burger place in town- chicago beef style) their dragon slayer burger + blue cheese buffalo fries, aw man. to die for! and then sam and kaori called us and asked if we wanted to go to los hermanos with them... and whenever there is a chance to see their baby wil, you have to take it. we were stuffed with food and with fun memories.

this morning was full of momentous events, too. i ran 8 miles in prep for my provo city half marathon coming up. it was the longest i have ever ran. then i took an ice bath. daniel convinced me. it was terrible-poor henry was there by my side the whole time with the most sympathetic face i have ever seen. i'm so glad we have each other, h. what would i do without you? and geezzz, how does honey do that every day?!

anyways, tonight we celebrate the grads, (congrats, boys!) sam and daniel with a dinner with my parents. we are excited. food, food, food is what brings us all together.

happy saturday!

xo

thursday // john cage cookies.

^^you should probably make these today.^^

 hi, hi, hi hi hi. happy thursday. thursdays get a bad rap i think because they just aren't quite...friday. but i think we should all try a little harder to make them feel loved. yep. today wasn't that bad.

.but. i have yeast infection and it is so painful to nurse that henry and i have been trying so hard to eat big boy food for the past two days that we are literally exhausted. sigh. henry doesn't like bottles either, in fact he thinks they're terrible (yes, its definitely my fault, i know, i know). we just cant wait till this infection is gone so that we can cuddle and nurse like normal. its really, really cramping our style.

...and....

we did do some pretty cool things today, thing number one, we spent all morning with dad running errands together and then treated ourselves to in-n-out. always a good day when that happens. funny thing is, we didn't order any fries with our burgers and then hurried over to wendy's after we got our food and got fries from there. we just like their fries so much better.

and today was my last day teaching at uvu. i cannot believe that this semester has come and gone. it has been a strange feeling as a teacher thinking that my time with them is coming to a close. i keep hoping and wishing that i used my time wisely and taught them things that they can use and apply not only to their dancing but in their lives as they pursue their dreams and navigate their way to becoming artists.

to my students, thank you. i have learned so much from you. as i have watched you dance through your tears and frustration, you have found moments of complete freedom and connectivity. it reminded me of what life is really all about...learning. that's why we are here. and you all did that so brilliantly. so go get 'em, especially my seniors, the world is yours for the changing.

i remember my last day of cunningham class back at school, my teacher banu made us john cage cookies. (link above) amazing. she is amazing and so is everything she cooks. so i did the only logical thing i knew how to for our last class together. i made them john cage cookies. i think they liked them.

also, my house smells amazing from baking them.
i had totally forgotten how yummy they are. you should try them out, so good, so good for you.

xo

john cage cookies

  1cup whole wheat flour (I use whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup ground almonds
1 cup ground oats (I grind both the almonds and the oats in in my new blentec, thanks gma!)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup almond oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup pure fruit jam

Preheat the oven to 375.

Mix together the dry ingredients, then mix together the wet ingredients.  Fold all together.  Roll into small balls and place on a cookie sheet.  Make a well in the center of each with your thumb, then add a small dollop of pure fruit jam.  Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown, turning the cookie sheet back to front halfway through to ensure even cooking. 

then totally enjoy.

^^my cute class + henry.^^

three hundred and forty seven.

347 days ago was the greatest day of my life. that was the day that my little henry came into this world. aw, it felt like heaven. i kept thinking to myself that this is what heaven must feel like. he was perfect. he was pure. he was my baby boy...i was his mother. there was so much joy and love beyond anything i knew could ever exist. there was peace. there was beauty. there was stillness.

i can't believe that he is almost 1. why? how?!

we are best friends. we need each other. we need dad, we just fit together, ya know? like somehow we choose each other before we even came to this earth. i know we did.

i know this is a little premature, but honestly this is what i think about ALL day long. "how is it almost may 5th??" "is he really going to turn 1?" and whenever i decide to say these thoughts out loud, daniel comes back with a "well, i will go pick up his mission papers on sunday...".

not ok, boys.

to my little henry, we have 18 more days until you are no longer 0, we will live it up, i promise.

xxoo.

today.

today:
we buckled our little buns up for our morning jog, only to open the door to a blizzardy snow storm.
we had frosted mini wheats for brunch, lunch, and after dinner snack.
we took a two hour nap somehow.
we played a lot of peek-a-boo.
we both crawled around our tiny apartment countless times, henry loves when i crawl with him. he thinks its the funniest thing he has ever seen.
we read henry's 4 favorite books about 10 times. mr. brown can moo, can you? the peace book, sniff, and dear zoo (he loves opening the flaps in that one, he is a professional by now).
we sang popcorn popping on the apricot tree. thats his favorite song right now.
we cooked hot dogs with dad for lunch. whenever dad cooks lunch, 99% of the time its hot dogs.
we went to allen's in south provo. we only go there if we are in a real bind, like frosted mini wheats. duh.
we cuddled and laughed and cried and took a bath. sigh. we did so much today. we love spending our days together.

xo

june third.

tonight i started reading my old journal. yessss. the date on the page was june 3, 2011.  daniel and i had been dating for about a week and 3 days. our first date was may 23, 2011. we were flying back to utah to tell my family that daniel and i were getting married. we knew it was happening [fast] so we thought we better inform the 'rents so they could start planning a wedding. sigh. best two months of my life! anyways, we loved signing the song from the wedding singer "grow old with you" to each other and on the flight we took it to a whole new level. here is the entry:

"all i want to do...is grow old with you! these are little verses that daniel and i made up, it all started because we didn't like the verse that says 'put you to bed when you've had too much to drink' (cause, hello, we don't drink!) so we changed it to 'put you to bed and give you some zink'. 

AND THEN... we came up with these. enjoy. 

daniel: you can come and see my football team, i'll come and watch you my lil dancin' queen.

hannah: readin' scriptures till 3 AM, cuddling with you like you're a jungle gym. 

daniel: we can tend your nephews in the summer time, runnin' around eatin' melon with lime. 

hannah: makin' sure the dishes are super clean, stayin' up late on the trampoline. 

daniel: walkin' down the street singin' little songs, eatin' belgian waffles and calling your mom.

daniel: waking up talking all about our day, makin' our bed, i really want to say, all i want to do, is grow old with you, i want to grow old with you!"

post.script.

 this is the song daniel used when he purposed. super cute. he even made up more romantic lyrics then these. maybe someday i will share.

post.post.script.

i have actually never seen the wedding singer. phew.

back track.

like i said earlier, lots has been happening around these parts. here are a few photos from san fran for a quick recap on our adventure. we loved it there. absolutely beautiful. every morning henry and i would buckle up in the stroller and off we went for our morning jog slash exploration of the city. we found two things, 1) the neighborhood we want to live in when we get old, and 2) that it was so much easier running there then in utah. sheesh, altitude!

happy tuesday.

xo

until next time, san fran. we liked you.

Update.

oh, hey blog! just wanted to write a quick update to let you know that the neeleman's are still alive and doing just great. we are back from our mini trip in california. ah, it was beautiful. daniel is as busy as ever with school and lacrosse and daddy and hubby stuff that he usually is pretty tired by the end of the day. momhood is great. teaching is fun and hard and a lot of days but we are hanging in there (most of the time). easter was beautiful and warm. we spent time together all day as our little family and then headed over to the wright side for some festivities. and, biggest news of all... daniel won their annual "egg roll" competition! twenty bucks in our pockets. yessss! beginners luck, i guess, this was our first year being there since we have been married! daniel had a lax game on saturday and henry and i were matching. the cougars barely lost. bummer.
i will do a recap in pictures next post, hopefully.

xo,

h

post. script. 
this talk was one that we read yesterday as a family. i really needed to hear it yesterday, feeling a bit overwhelmed and a little alone. but, it was a perfect reminder that He has done it alone already so that we do not have to. read it, it is worth it.