Sorry for the past few days friends - I got a little spooked when I went onto my statistics and found some of my top referring sites were pornography (what the?!?!)

I found out it's just a spam bot - that nobody was reading my blog from a porn site and my site wasn't affiliated with them in any way. Just shut down to only private for a few days until I could get it all figured out. And now it's all figured out and all is well!

We got WEDDING PICTURES! Expect a full, detailed post (or two. or three.) about that wonderful day just 2 months ago.

Let's catch up a little:


24th of July was awesome! We got to watch the parade, hang out with family, and go to Lagoon! And YES we rode Cannibal - TWICE in fact! It was so much fun to be with family and have such a good time.

I love Pioneer Day because it gives me the chance to really think about my pioneer ancestors, and appreciate all they did to get me where I am today. Some people don't understand or think it's that important, but really it's one of the most important parts of history, in my opinion. I will forever be so thankful for what those brave men and women did, so that I can be where I am. It made me reminisce on my Pioneer Trek experience from Young Women's. We went up to Wyoming to actually walk the path that those pioneers did. It truly was so remarkable to walk where they walked, to see what they saw. It made me that much more grateful for my faith and those who worked so hard to make sure I could believe whatever I wanted.

The days get away from me now friends!

The routine has settled in, here's how it goes.

Wake up, Randy goes running and I either work out or sleep. Get ready. Breakfast. Scriptures. Drive to work together. Work work work. Randy sometimes goes in later or leaves earlier depending on his schedule, and goes and runs errands which is AMAZING (love you!). Get done with work. Drive home together. Make dinner. Watch a show, read, play games, spend time with friends, go shopping for more house things, have FHE, go to the temple, make treats, or a mix of any of these. Then we do it all over again. Surprisingly, I really love the routine we have settled in to. It makes me feel like we are real life adults, a family, and I love that security.

Now here's time for the ballet part of this post:

My sister danced her last recital at Clytie Adams a few weeks ago. It was so nostalgic for my family. We have had a ballerina there for the past 18 years. And now we're all done dancing at that wonderful studio. Clytie came to my wedding a few weeks before the recital, and jokingly asked me when another Richards girl would be coming to dance for her. I have left so much of my heart at that studio, on the stage at Weber, in the dressing rooms downstairs, in every toe shoe and pair of tights. Dancing 100% has made me who I am today. I will always be a ballerina even though I'm not dancing as much anymore. Dancing at Clytie's are some of the most precious memories I have. I danced for me when I was there. Just for me. Because I loved it. I learned elegance, grace, friendship, technique, determination, hard work, how to smile through hard things, and that I could absolutely anything I put my mind to. I am forever thankful and so happy that I had the chance to be a Clytie Girl, and that my sisters also both that to do that.

I know, I know. I haven't blogged in so long that it's becoming a sin. A travesty. I'm ashamed of myself. BUT here I am, ready to play catch-up during my lunch break! Randy isn't here:( So you won't be getting any of him today, but I expect he'll be around again soon enough!

Between working 40-50 hours a week, planning a wedding, spending time with Randy, trying to wrap up my senior documentary, apartment hunting, and trying to see friends before I'm married a no fun, it's been a little busy!

So here's the small catch-up I can give you right now, stay tuned some posts purely dedicated to Randy and I's first look photo shoot, the rest of our bridal shoot, my thoughts about going to the temple for the first time, and things I've learned since becoming a working girl that I didn't learn in college!

For now, here's what's been up:

Don't mind the construction on here for the next few weeks....we're just getting read to unveil...


Randy and I are SO excited to be doing a blog together! We thought about waiting until we're officially married, but it'll just be so fun to blog about these few weeks before the wedding, together!

Watch out for Randy in bold and Maddy in normal font!

New URL: www.hereisthelowdown.com
Don't worry, www.averagedayofaginger.blogspot.com will still get you here!


So again, don't mind the mess for a few weeks while I reconstruct! If you have questions, suggestions, comments, or advice please let me know!

Happy Monday everyone!

 The waves of nostalgia keep hitting me friends! The next month of my life is going to be pure sap, so I'll apologize in advance!



This weekend was also full of nostalgia, as wonderful Bishop Scoma and his counselors got released. Bishop Scoma was my bishop last year, and he's one incredible man. It was wonderful to hear him and his wife, along with the Halls, speak. These people and this ward had such a big impact on my life, and I feel so lucky to have known them all.

Randy and I are going to get married when we are both 21. Randy will have been home from his mission for almost 6 months when we get married. Randy will have an absurd amount of school left when we get married.

Some people think we're too young. Some people think it's too soon. Some people think we're crazy, stupid, immature, naive. Not ready. Not sure.

People quote the divorce rate, statistics, rules about how long after a mission is appropriate to start thinking about marriage, personal stories about their best friend's cousin's uncle's co-worker who made a bad choice regarding marriage.

So here's a quick thought about why I am doing this. Getting married. At such a young age, to someone just home from their mission.

Because he's the one.

And how do I know he's the one? I've thought about this a lot. I could list off the reasons, from his patient and loving heart, to his taste in music, to his consistency in buying me chocolate, not to mention how good looking he is! (see picture above).

But the most important reason that Randy's the one, is because HE is the one.

Let me explain.

God is the one in charge here. God knows my heart. He knows Randy's heart. He knows my flaws, and Randy's flaws. He knows what we will fight about, what we will struggle with, and how we will fit together, and build each other up.

I know Randy's the one because God's the one that has the plan. And I know Randy's the one, because I'm listening, and following, and trying to obey.


And as long as Randy and I both keep following Heavenly Father, we will stay THE ONE for each other.

We didn't make this decision lightly. It's something I've personally been praying about for 3 and a half years now.

And I'm more sure about this decision than any other decision I've made.

So I'm going to be less judgmental about people getting engaged fast, young, to someone in particular, all of it. They have their own relationship with Heavenly Father - and I need to respect that.

Now to quote my good friend Cory Matthews:

Ok I've posted them all over Instagram and Facebook... so why not here, right?

Here's a few of my favorites!