Wednesday, December 28, 2011

my 13.5 weeks of pregnancy so far.

First and foremost, I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, sweet, loving husband who is literally at my beck and call if I don't feel good or need anything at all. I really scored marrying this guy and I get more excited every day to see him as a daddy.
Josh has been excited to have kids since dating. I have been excited too, but never ever thought it would happen so fast! I still am in a state of shock.
(Hope this picture doesn't gross you out…I took about 5 more tests after this. I couldn't believe it, obviously.)
As far as symptoms go, I am pretty textbook. Nausea, supersonic smelling, exhaustion, overactive bladder, extreme hunger…blah blah blah. 
I have been great in the morning and horrible at night. I dread getting in bed because it's a fight to ignore how sick I feel and try to fall asleep. For a while I was getting up three-four times a night to pee or throw up. I tried taking Unisom (mild sleeping pill) and found myself exhausted and depressed the whole next day. No more of that. I have been trying to avoid taking medicine in general.
In the beginning, I ate more carbs than I possibly have in my whole life combined. Clementines and pickles are now my staple foods. I could eat them all day and be satisfied. I am slowly accepting vegetables back into my diet. The thought of them was repulsive in the beginning. 
I feel like my emotions have stayed fairly stable, but I do find myself tearing up over…well anything touching, sad, or happy. Regarding my car keys, I do have the "pregnant mush brain." I leave them in the ignition, in the door, in movie theaters, lose them in my purse, etc.
In the first 8-10 weeks I gained a lot of weight. I think my then bird-like appetite was in a state of shock and went a little crazy. Since then I have hardly gained although I know its coming. The change in my body has been especially hard and something I am still adjusting to. Right now I feel like I am in the awkward pooch phase...
I feel so blessed to have a (peach size) child growing inside of me. I can't believe we are going to be parents! 

Monday, December 26, 2011

quite the christmas.

Hope you all had an amazing Christmas! We were overwhelmed with love and support from our friends and family (you!) regarding our announcement. Although I never thought this would happen so fast, we feel so blessed to have this opportunity. I am still trying to wrap my head around there being a child growing inside me…and that I am going to be a mom! What?!! 

(We made puzzles out of this picture below and sent it to our out-of-town family members to open Christmas morning. Pictures coming.)

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

merry christmas!

I love this time of year unlike any other.
We feel so blessed to have such amazing people in our life, and a Savior who loves us.
Let us all try to focus on the true meaning of Christmas!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

i forget how much fun ice skating is.

Last weekend we went for a friend's birthday party. I am excited to go again with my family soon. Have you been to the newly renovated Gallivan Center? We were really impressed!

Monday, December 5, 2011

need some christmas activity ideas?

On my sister's blog, she shares a printable PDF of Christmas time activities to stuff in an advent calendar, or just a mason jar. I love the idea of just picking something every day to live up the Christmas spirit even more!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

a little festival of trees date night.

Josh and I went on a little date to the Festival of Trees last night. I love how Christmasy it feels there and what a great event it is. Josh really wants to do a tree to donate next year. 
We especially liked the Up tree, of course…

Friday, December 2, 2011

josh's childhood tree, thanks to his sweet dad.

Last night we pulled out one of the many boxes filled with Josh's childhood memories saved and given to him when we got our house, by his sweet father. This box contained old ornaments and Christmas decorations! We were so excited, because we hardly had any ornaments…so this year's tree is filled with memories from Josh's growing up (and a few of the ones we received together). It was so fun to see his face light up as we pulled them out! We are so grateful to his dad for preserving such sweet little memories and giving them to us to enjoy together! 
Our house is starting to feel pretty Christmas-y and I LOVE IT!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

cutting down our own christmas tree.

One of our favorite things to do in Quincy at Thanksgiving time is cut down our own Christmas tree to bring home with us. There is something so classic feeling about going out in the forest, hunting, and cutting down your own tree. It really kicks off the Christmas season right for us!

Although I am cooped up in bed with a nasty cold, we are going to try and set it up tonight. Oh, how I love Christmas time…just not being sick while I want to be decorating and drinking hot cocoa!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Thanksgiving in Quincy.

I can't express how much I love this little town and my family who lives there. I have so so so much to be grateful for. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

a list of some of the things we experienced this year...

(Portrait by Birds of Ashmae)

In our one year of marriage we:

Moved in to our first apartment together downtown.
We tried out iFly and did lots of Flowriding.
We had a gnome Christmas party at our cabin in Midway.
We celebrated our first Christmas together as a married couple.
Josh got two guns.
We took many, many walks downtown.
We have experienced my good and bad cooking experiments. 
We celebrated New Years Eve at our apartment with friends and never got all the confetti off of the ground.
We got our wedding photos and reminissed on that wonderful day.
We did some skiing.
We started going to the gym together, then stopped shortly after.
We spent my 22nd birthday in San Diego.
We enjoyed a ski day together in celebration of Valentines day.
Josh spoiled me on actual Valentines day. 
We took pictures with some photographers as a couple.
We took a little Vegas getaway. 
We attended a million dollar movies.
We had a lot of friends get married and join the club.
My mom took us skiing for HER birthday.
My sister Chelsea and her family moved to Utah.
We discovered my many allergies.
We explored a lot of new restaurants and spent too much time at Hatch Family Chocolates.
I chopped my hair off.
We bought our first house.
Josh graduated with his MBA in Financial Planning.
I got an internship, then job with an advertising agency.
We honeymooned in South Africa!
We planted our first garden.
We enjoyed Lake Powell a few times.
We took friends boating.
We stopped eating sweets.
We went camping with friends.
We became parents to the cutest doggie in the world.
Tow of my sisters had babies.
We went to the Oakley rodeo.
We had a BBQ in Provo with Josh's old roommates and their wives for the Fourth.
Josh discovered Molca (now Hector's).
We scootered with friends to Lone Star.
I made a head board.
Josh grew his hair really long.
We went to Quincy for a family reunion.
Josh turned 29!
We went to Lagoon.
We went four-wheeling and had pictures taken for an advertisement.
We went to Hebgen Lake.
We went to Josh's 10 year High School reunion in CA.
We went to Mary Poppins.
We painted a room together in our house.
We bought another house to flip.
I learned to be a little more crafty.
We went to Thriller.
Josh went on a boys trip to St. George to bike.
We held a Halloween party at our house.
We laughed A LOT.
We learned A LOT. 
We fell MORE in love.
And much much much more.

This year has been so amazing. Of course there have been ups and downs and we have had to go through some trials, but we feel so blessed everyday to wake up next to each other and go about conquering the world together.

Can't wait for a million more!!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

our one year anniversary celebration.

This morning Josh and I woke up to go about our normal day after spending a couple days together MIA. We debated staying up at Stein Erikson Lodge (where we stayed after we got married last year), but instead decided to stay at Hotel Monaco and enjoy the area where we lived together for six months after we got married. Josh and I will always have a special place in our heart for downtown SLC. 
We loved spending time together with no distractions eating at some of our favorite places, sleeping in, going to the Leonardo museum, shopping, going to a movie, taking trax, and simply enjoying each other's company. 
We feel so blessed to have such an amazing marriage and friendship. We were talking about how people say the first year is the hardest and if that's true, this should be a breeze! We have had the most amazing year of our lives. It is so fun to continually grow and learn more about each other. We really take pride in working together as a team to make things excellent. Of course marriage is something you work at and we believe that it really just takes two selfless people trying constantly to make the other person happy. I am so grateful to have Josh. I don't know how I got so lucky, but he is definitely my soul mate. 

Saturday, November 19, 2011

celebrating the best year of our lives.

After Josh gets done taking his CFP exam today, we are off on a little stay-cation downtown at the Hotel Monaco for a couple nights to celebrate one year of bliss. We plan to relax, eat good food, and enjoy every moment together without distractions. I can't wait to have him all to myself, especially after the last few months of studying. After our little get-away, we leave for one of our favorite places in the world: Quincy, California for Thanksgiving. This should be a pretty good week!
Josh, there isn't a better husband in the world. I can't believe tomorrow at this time last year we were getting ready to be married! I knew I was making a great decision, but I had no idea just HOW amazing it really would be. I have never been happier in my life! Thank you for being so perfect for me.

Friday, November 18, 2011

sneaky little nora girl.

We never let Nora on the couch and she knows it's off limits. I got distracted reading an email the other night and looked over to find THIS right next to me. She was so still and quiet and wouldn't even look at me. It was too cute to move her, so I had to catch a couple pictures first. Oh and by the way, this dog loves watching TV. She will get mesmerized by the screen and jumps up right next to it if any dogs appear. 

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

se vende.

Here are a few pictures of Josh and my first investment house. I really wish I had before photos…duh! Anyway, we moved into our house about 4-5 months ago with the idea of remodeling the kitchen and a couple other spaces. Instead, we took our remodel money and bought another home to flip out in Taylorsville. It was a very quick and simple process…everything was basically hired out. We wanted to just do simple changes that would make a big difference and get it back on the market. We feel so blessed that it worked out so well and we have a buyer who looks very promising. 

We are definitely going to do this again soon and next time I want to be more involved in the design process, since I won't be as busy. This was a great learning experience and we are happy to have our feet wet. Now I'm crossing my fingers that everything goes through and the house closes in a week or two so I can start my kitchen! Wahoo!