Another week bites the dust! So there has been lots of new things going on! 

#1.

Listi and I have become a lot closer. I don't know why? But suddenly we have been on the phone for an hour at a time, texted continually throughout the day and even become "bestfriends" on snap chat. And to think it has only taken 19 years. 

(I look like a crazed lady.)

#2.

Wednesday, my Faith in God girls, with the help of Sister Markesia, had a wonderful time making soap! To go along with the activity we discussed the "cleansing" of baptism, as well as our own baptismal covenants, and after that they all wrote down their testimony. We made our own personal confetti soap, looked&smelled the soap Sister Markeisa brought and even got to pick their own out! A huge thank you to our honored guest for sharing her talent. It was such a neat experience, the girls had a wonderful time. These girls are so free spirited and fun... I love growing in abundance with them! 

#3.

Kellan has been looking as beautiful as ever! This little gorgeous baby is constantly in need of my hugs and kisses :) I am so glad to be in his life!

(This picture!!! I can not stand it!!)

#4.

I am anxiously waiting for Friday! My three siblings are going to go down with Graham and I to Fort Lauderdale! We plan to visit the open house of the new temple as well as the beach! None of us, besides Graham, have ever seen this at south so it's going to be awesome! Time to reunite!

#5.

This past Monday Graham officially became a Merrill Lynch employee! Everyone that sees him please congratulate him on a job well done! That just goes to show how hard work and perseverance will pay off. I am so proud of him! 

Along with this, he had to get a photo identification card for this new position. It was here that a problem arose. See, I am a huge fan of the missionary-cut, but Graham had went several weeks without getting his hair cut. So at 10:30 on Subday night he asked me to cut his hair. Now I have cut hair many times, unfortunately it's never been for anyone besides my brothers and daddy. So anyways, here I am terrified that I am going to haw him looking like a skint-headed ragamuffin for work, when e finally tells me "c'mon it's been an hour! Just finish it!" So I take the plunge and finish it! I'm very shocked/pleased that he trusted me with the job :)

(Before)

(After)

#6.

Today marks an official two and a half years that Graham and I have been together. I really really want to share this experience.

As we were en route to Douglas, Graham's first time ever, we were in my car. Somehow we had fadangled the idea of leaving Graham's car in Waycross, which was fair because it took Graham 4 hoes to make the 2.5 hour trip because he winded up in Brunswick of all places. So this was woke 3rd time meeting up, 2nd date and 1sr time alone. The conversation came up about some subject involving saying so:

L: "Well if we ever start dating each other, we---" (interrupted)

G: "Why don't we date each other?"

L: "You haven't asked me."

G: "What do I need to ask you?"

L: "You'd need to ask me to be your girlfriend."

G: "Okay."

L: "No, you need to ask me! Like, 'Lacey, will you be my girlfriend.'"

G: "Lacey, will you be my girlfriend?"

L: "Yes!"

Sometimes I still can't believe that I fell in love with a man with an Afro! 

April Showers Bring May Flowers

    It's finally APRIL.

    After October, this is my second favorite month of the year. Throughout this month I'll be...



All of April
-Enjoying the springtime, with warmer weather.

April 6-7
-General Conference! Can't wait to hear the inspired words of God's anointed.

April 13
-Slapping down the notion I can't survive year one as a married lady. It's true, I have nearly conquered it, and still love it.

April 14
-Celebrating my sister Listi's 19th (really where has the time gone?) birthday.

April 17
-Flying out to Washington DC for a pretty sporadic trip with my boy. I am so ready to explore like crazy over there!

April 25
-Celebrating my brother Acey's 17th (unbelievable, man) birthday.


    This is a good month, all around. Too, I've been thinking about me, you know, an inward personal kind of thing. I'm really dissatisfied with myself in a lot of areas, I have tons of room for improvement. During Institute, basically a weekly scripture study for young adults, I really felt inspired to make some changes, particularly early-morning changes. I have decided to publicly discuss what I felt prompted to, just to be able to encourage myself and stay accountable. This is what I plan to do for the next 30 days, before reviewing the results, to see if I can recognize a difference.

1. Quit sleeping in every day. Those are wasted hours which I can be rejuvenating my mind, body and spirit.

2. Stop Facebooking to wake myself up. This is a horrid habit, simply because it enables me to stay online all day. Social media can be a great and powerful tool, I love using it to keep up to date with my family, but it also has so many draining negatives.

3. Make a priority to go for a daily run or walk. So often these days I feel sluggish! I'm 22 years old, I'm in my prime! Unacceptable. I'm not really the type to go bananas at a gym, but I figure there are ways around that.

4. Most importantly, I felt an overwhelming feeling that I should devote a consistent, allotted time that will be singularly devoted to my reading of the scriptures. I have a testimony of their truthfulness, I love using it's strength in my life... But I have found that there are many, many excuses that can arise to take the place of it. And I'm just not going to do that anymore. I recognize that this is a crucial step to my day which I'm unwilling to skip out on.

    So there you have it folks. I'm going to try my best to do it all. This April will hopefully be filled with stress-free, exciting times. I can hardly stand it!

Ft Caro, Jax Beach and Fishing

    Just the other day I was all "yeah I am definitely getting my Disney on!" Well that was certainly not on the agenda this weekend. Not to harp, but I have had some kind of crazy back pain. Last week was the first time I had experienced it, and I am pretty sure it was from sleeping in a strange position? But usually it will go away after a moment or so, but instead it lasted all day! Flash forward to this week: same scenario. But this time I made matters worst at work when I accidentally put pressure on it and strained it. So blah blah, lots of pain, weekend plans were altered. 

    Since I didn't feel like driving all through Orlando, we slept in until 10 o'clock Saturday. My man reminded me why I love him when he said, "let's get IHOP!" So away we left. After IHOP, when I got my typical Bacon Temptation omelet, we decided that it was a beautiful day for exploring.

    We decided to visit Fort Caroline, the French fort founded in 1560's, I think. We scrounge around there for a bit, walking around the tiny fort, walked on a sick to see ajelly fish in the ocean and I photographed my boy. Fun fact- this was where Graham tricked me into thinking we were going the night we got engaged. (We didn't.) 

    Shortly afterward, we dropped by a little spot nearby called Ribault's Lookout, or something fairly similar. I almost went crazy seeing these gorgeous trees! So Savannah-esque. 

     On the opposite side was a view of the ocean, a small jutted peninsula and a few huge three story beach houses.

    After searching a bit, we finally stopped at the beach! I have had a huge craving to go to the ocean lately. We didn't have swimsuits it towels. It was so sweet, we just layed on the beach and just rested. The beach can do wonders for you! 

    And just as a thought, there are so many different types of people that a vacation there! We ran across a few drunks, fun families and a lady who walked her psychotic, snarling dog up and down about six times. An intense melting pot. Blah, blah. We also dropped by Copeland's, a New Orleans style restaurant here in Jacksonville. Graham and I were not fans! We called it a night at about 8 o'clock and actually fell asleep at 12 :)

    Sunday was another super relaxing day. We woke up early, walked to the park and swung as I spilled a few stories I had never shared. We shared a lunch and made it to church. 

    The two of us both had to teach, albeit I teach every week. My lesson was over "I Am Thankful for Fish." Before you scoff, remember that this is directed towards 3 year olds! We discussed Jonah and the Whale and the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. But I could hardly wait until our activity! The girls each had a pole and had to sit in the chair to go 'fishing.' 

    Eek, they loved it and wanted to do it for the remainder of our time! So we did spend a good bit of time fishing :) I seriously love my calling, it is so much fun teaching these munchkins. And just as a sidenote, these kids will spill anything they know- I love it and they're hilarious.

    Afterwards we spent time with Mom and Pop Alexander. 

    

    Our weekend overall was so nice. We relaxed, have fun and that's all I can ask for ;)

WL: A History

    If you're a reader of this blog, you have read a few blogs including my big baby WL. He is just one of those sweethearts that makes you want to sit him in your lap and smother him with kisses as he begins to squirm. Be prepared for the next bit of words to be gushy; you've been warned.
    To know how much I love WL, I guess you have to know how I feel about his father... Lucas is the youngest of all of my aunts or uncles, 13 years older than me, and I have several memories of Thundercats, Sonic and even tea parties together. I remember talking to him on the phone when he was on his mission, shutting myself in Grandma's room, so proud that I had him all to myself. I remember when he came home from that mission, I hung out with all of the boys walking to get his suitcase, not wanting to miss a moment. I remember the first time I he brought Kelly over, who I originally thought was Sandy after she turned into a Pink Lady. I remember the wedding, weekly weekend trips, the aquarium, beach trips, Tinkerbell the cat, and so many more things. I've always held my uncle in the highest esteem, he truly is a wonderful man and I love him dearly.
    Two years when by as quickly as it could, and as Kelly prepared her new classroom, I heard the news that they were expecting. It was one of those dramatic moments where your smile stretches to lengths it has never reached before. A baby! Our family's first baby in 6 years! And Luke's baby, at that!
    The school term loomed on, Kelly ended up being placed next door to my teacher's, and I couldn't wait to hold that baby. Complications arose for Mama K, I was nervous, but would not miss out on his arrival! Mama agreed to pick me up early if she went into labor, so I patiently waited through the next few weeks at school. And wouldn't you know that 5 minutes before the bell rang, I was asked to leave at the front office! As I got in the car, I remember hearing, "it's time."
    Now let's do a little recap, for a second. I'm a 14 year old girl who loves her uncle, missing school and babies, in general. I've just been told that all 3 things are merging together in order to form a more perfect union. The next thing that was said was, "They're naming him Walker Lucas, but want to call him WL after his Papa." Please, please, forgive my excessive cheesiness, but this moment it so precious to me that it just brought a fresh tear to my eye ;)
    As I waited on my newly dubbed WL to arrive, I walked off to the snack machine with Christopher (my cousin) and Melanie (Kelly's sister) when we heard the baby song play, allowing us to know that he was born! The entire family rushed to the nursery, ready to see what kind of baby we'd get. I saw his big, square head and immediately thought that he was hands down the sweetest babe to be born.
    He became older to my dismay, but I've always had a special place for him in my heart. He's been kind, caring, fun, handsome, lovable. I felt a strangely intense connection with him (and his brothers, later on) and wondered if that was similar to a parent-child kind of thing. We found out another baby would make an appearance, I was so troubled that I, in passing, told Grandma, "I just love WL so much! Do you think I'll be able to love another baby the way I do him?"

    Well this same boy has just turned EIGHT years old. I still can't believe it- 8? This is a very important age for LDS boy and girls. It is the official age that they are able to choose whether they would like to be baptized, nothing is forced, it is entirely upon the child to decide on this step. Well, welllll. I am so proud, so immensenely proud, that WL decided that he did want to take upon the name of Christ, as an 8 year old. Be still my heart.

    

    This is my little babydoll, WL. He was baptized, confirmed a member of our church and even went through his first trial all in one day! Kelly did an awesome job speaking and making his program. Luke performed the baptism and confirmation. Listi, halfheartedly, led the group as the chorister. Grandma welcomed him into primary and he was given his own scripture set. And I was honored to be asked to give a talk on the Holy Ghost. 

    Interestingly enough, Granger, sneakily, decided to see what WL would do after his baptism when they found a basket of candy. He casually asked WL to grab a piece (aka take something that wasn't his property) and he said, "I can't do that, I was just baptized! That's a sin!"

     I am so thoroughly impressed with his knowledge, I just can't get enough of this kid. 

   

Walker Lucas,

   I'm so grateful to be apart of your life. You're such a great kid. I am so proud of your decision to be baptized, but like I said, it makes your Heavenly Father even more proud! I love you for being you!

            Lacey

P.S. Kellan!

It's A Family Affair

    Disney. It's just a place made for everyone. Last month we made the exodus, in honor of two special trips.


NUMBER ONE:
                          ~Alexander Family Vacation. Our first complete family trip ever. We bypassed all of the long lines, stayed in a log cabin and dined in Italy. The Alexander's come to conquer, that's what is so fun about this part of the fam, mine as well have the Disney motto leave no stone unturned. For the first time ever, we visited all 4 theme parks in 1 day- which is exhilarating/exhausting. Also, Graham and I decided to play it cool by taking the ferry to our cabin at midnight and became devastatingly lost -I could slap whoever decided concierge wasn't needed after 10pm!-, thank heavens for answered prayers. All in all, it was nice to have everyone together, another reason to looove Disney.

NUMBER TWO:
                             ~Mizell Family Trip. We reunited the crew again to tackle the Animal Kingdom! The best part to me about going with my side of family is the fact that it's a whole new experience for them, it's just like taking a bunch of babes. We got the best fast passes in the land, Granger joined me in a latin dance show, I ran 'em around like little minions and Daddy sat 10 feet from a baby giraffe. Despite the onset of fluid travelers, we managed to squeeze every bit of our itinerary in, with the exception of a bird show, which wasn't so important. Props to my sister for many of these photos, I was way too busy trying to make everyone have hours of fun ;) It's true, if you let me plan the trip you're basically assigned me the role of "coordinator/event planner/boss lady." Thanks to Mama and Daddy for continuing to spoil their kids with trips to Disney with me!

(Granger's face is so beyond sweet in this picture, I can't stand it!)

TOP L- Mama, Me. 

TOP R- Granger. 

Bottom R- Acey, Listi. 

TOP L- Daddy.

    So what it people think I have an intense obsession with Disney World? It runs in the family. :) I am so pleased with Graham for granting my wishes to allow us to be season passholders! And we may go a little too much- clearly kidding here, never enough for me! But I'm just saying, if we have these bad boys we have to get as much use out of them as possible? Right? Right? Right! 

    Luckily, I'm Disney World bound this weekend and I can hardly stand it! I'm going to keep staring at these pictures until it's time to go.. Just 3 more days!