2015 IN REVIEW

The "year in review" post is easily my favorite blog post to write! I love looking back at a gigantic year and remembering how great it was.

Last New Years Eve, I remember feeling sad to leave behind 2014. It was the year we got married, moved to a new state, and started our lives.

I had no idea how incredible 2015 would be.

2015 was a year for growing.

Our love and marriage grew (who knew it was possible to love each other any more?) as we supported each other through the year's challenges.

We (but especially me) were able to reevaluate relationships and focus on those who love and support us.

We laughed. a lot. 

We stayed up too late.

& we made the best memories, some cringe worthy but the rest so so happy.

In no particular order, here are my highlights of 2015:

- TRAVEL!!! We were so blessed to travel this year to some of the most incredible places in the country. We traveled to CA TONS, Las Vegas, Newport Beach, Philadelphia, New York City, San Francisco, and Hawaii (for me).

- THE DAT. Jordan took the dental admissions test in spring after he had studied for MONTHS. It was the greatest feeling seeing him exit the testing center holding a piece of paper showing his INCREDIBLE score. 

- THAT ONE TIME WE WERE PREGNANT. This one of those cringe worthy ones.. Yep, you read it right... we were pregnant. Except we weren't. 2015 started off CRAZY when I had "morning sickness", took a pregnancy test and... POSITIVE. Only to go to the doctor to find out that I actually WASN'T pregnant. Yeah, roller coaster. But still a memory that I want to remember forever because we grew so much in those few weeks and I have truly never felt closer to my Heavenly Father (I was praying reeeeeeal hard 24/7). Phew. Its over.

- DENTAL INTERVIEWS. It was so amazing seeing Jordan's hard work pay off when he was invited to interview with almost every single school he applied to. And it was of course so wonderful to travel to those schools. pinch me.

-OUR FIRST ANNIVERSARY. Best year of my life. 

- ROAD TRIP WITH MY BEST FRIEND. Best friends are so important. I loved spending time with mine.

- ACCEPTANCES. December 1st came and Jordan was accepted to so many schools! We took the plunge and put our deposit in at a school near where we grew up. 

- HOLIDAYS! I loved every holiday this year. From a huge valentines day party, to 4th of july with the whole family, to a quaint thanksgiving, to skyping our elder on mothers day and christmas. It was a good year for holidays. 

-JORDAN+HILLARY TIME. I really treasure these years we have with just the two of us. I love my best friend and the life we have. I am so lucky!

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With only hours left in 2015, I sit here so excited for 2016. Probably the most excited i've ever been for a new year.

I'm mostly looking forward to:

ADAM COMING HOME FROM HIS MISSION!!!!!!

soaking up the rest of our time in Utah.

moving home to CA.

actually watching brad play football his senior year!

living by my mama!

disneyland passes!

Hawaii with my family.

Jordan starting dental school.

Going back to my all time favorite job.

and all the other blessings I can't see coming!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Now i'm off to celebrate with the people I love most!

Christmas Card Pictures

My blog is one big photo dump & I love it because I know that if something terrible happens to my computer all of my pictures are safe here!

So here ya have our 2015 christmas card pictures!

(yes, I feel a little weird that we took christmas card pictures without kids but whaaaaatever!)

Taken by the lovely Valerie Abenroth Photography! We love her so much!

Merry Christmas! xo

DENTAL SCHOOL: thoughts, feelings, & a verdict

Prepare yourself for a lot of blah,blah,blah. Its a long one...

For those of you that follow me on any form of social media you have seen our dental school journey.

It started at the beginning of the year when Jordan studied for the DAT 24/7.

Then May came and he DESTROYED the DAT! (so proud of that smarty boy)

June came and we needed to choose which schools to apply to. We laid in bed and finally came up with a list:

University of Utah

Columbia

Harvard

U Penn

UoP

UCSF

UCLA

USC

Western

Mid Western Arizona

Roseman

UNLV

Loma Linda

Back in June University of Utah was "our school". We love Utah and were excited to continue living here.

He applied to all 3 ivy leagues because why not? His scores were plenty high enough. It didn't hurt to try.

Loma Linda was our VERY LAST/ ALMOST DIDN'T APPLY TO SCHOOL!

We both grew up 30 minutes away and really had no desire to go back.

This might come to a surprise for those of you who know me because I am freakishly attached to my parents and brothers.
It just wasn't a school we really thought about & I somehow manage to see my parents once a month living in a different state so I wasn't too freaked out.  

BUT we decided it was worth applying to just incase we changed our minds...

boy did we.

So applications went out!

When the interviews starting flying in we went a little bananas...

Jordan was invited to interview at 11 schools. 

Suddenly, we felt pressure to explore EVERY SINGLE option. 

We traveled across the country and really tried to picture ourselves in each city.

We had the best few months traveling but it was also the most exhausting few months of our lives.

We would travel to an amazing school and would fall in love with parts of the city but somehow we would both not quite feel right. 

Guys, I don't mean to get all sensitive and weird, but it really was the most spiritual experience for me.

I kept praying that I would feel peace and would be able to recognize the spirit prompting me on whether or not it was the right school.

Throughout the last few months I have felt a heavenly guidance.

It was just the little things..

Like when I was in Philly and saw a mom pushing a stroller with little babies and arms full of groceries.

Our eyes locked for one second and she looked so stressed.

I knew right then that I wouldn't want to have kids in Philly.
(having kids in dental school is something we would really like.)

Or when we spoke to someone who we fully trusted and they told us University of Utah probably wasn't the right school for jordan (for MANY reasons). I was crushed that night because Utah seemed like such a great place to go to school. I was so upset but I had a calm feeling that told me things would be just fine. 

Or that sick feeling I had flying home from my favorite city in the entire world (NYC). I was fully expecting to fall even more in love and want to move there. 

Or the conversations that we had with friends and family. They probably didn't think anything of the conversation but for us it was pivotal. Especially the conversations we had with dental student friends. Their words were everything we needed to hear and their advice was priceless. 

I really felt that Heavenly Father was showing me what I needed to see, telling me what I needed to hear, and allowing me to be sensitive so I could feel what I needed to feel.

So we toyed with lots of schools.

If you were to ask our friends and family, they could give you a list of schools that at one point or another we really liked.

We would talk about one, then we would both feel off.

It was exhausting.

Then what seemed like all at once, everyone had such positive things to say about Loma Linda.

This time when we toyed with Loma Linda IT FELT RIGHT!

It was like our eyes were opened and we finally saw how amazing Loma Linda would be. 

It sealed the deal when Jordan interviewed. He came home so sure that he would love it there.

The last few weeks we have felt so sure and happy about the thought of moving back home to CA.
When people would ask us our "dream school" we wouldn't hesitate to say Loma Linda.

IT JUST FELT RIGHT.

But as Dec. 1st was approaching (the first official day that dental schools can start accepting) we were both a little nervous.
Our hopes were as high as they could get & we were afraid that after all this he would get in, or something?
That was us being paranoid.
Jordan's stats were well above their average and he felt really good about his interview.

The night before acceptance day I couldn't sleep.
I tossed and turned and when I finally fell asleep I dreamt about acceptances. -_-

When I woke up Jordan was still in bed and on his phone.
He rolled over and said, "Good morning, just checked my phone.. I'm already accepted to Columbia & University of Utah".
It was 7 am and the day was already off to a good start!
I was relieved but still super antsy for the rest of the day!

Jordan got lots of calls that day but the most important one came as we were strolling through Walmart...
Loma Linda called and I maybe danced around like an idiot.

BEST FEELING EVER!
After all of this hard work he is in the school that he loves! I am so so so happy and proud of him!

A lot of people have asked us why we turned down "big" schools to move back to CA and the answer is simply because it feels right.
I'm so grateful to my Father in Heaven for guiding us.
I'm also so thankful it was made clear and it wasn't one of those "i trust you, you decide" answers haha.

I can't wait to start this next chapter and watch my guy shine!
(& go to target with my mom everyday & stuff ;) )


HERE WE COME CALIFORNIA! WE'VE MISSED YOU!