Playing Catch Up

1. Aunt Brette hosted the cutest 65th anniversary party for her grandparents. Since we live under my aunt and uncle's roof we get invited to lots of sunday dinners/parties so we have gotten to know aunt brette's grandparents. They are seriously the cutest people and Jordan and I eat up their stories. We loved celebrating their anniversary with them.

2. My grandparents came up to Utah to help my aunt and uncle move. We spent a few days spending time together and EATING! (how cute is my grandpa?!)

3. Jordan and I have a new love for Indian food. I could eat it everyday! SLC friends, GO TO BOMBAY HOUSE (and invite us!).

4. Our favorite date night is still desert star. Popcorn, cherry cokes, and lots of laughs.

5. Spencer and I have been frequenting the mall lately. We pull up and he cheers "BALLOON" because the cute nords workers always give him one.

6. My future dentist did a sim course and loved every second.

7. I was a "dance mom" on picture day. Sass looked so freaking cute in her tutu.

8. WE GOT TO SKYPE OUR ELDER! happy happy happy happy day!

9. When homeboy screams bloody murder in walmart you shove a banana in his face. #nannylife

10. we go on daily "blocks" (walks) to find tweet tweets and puppies.

11. poor uncle curt had a colonoscopy. Jordan took him and was NO help. 

12. one day i couldn't seem to breathe. the doctor didn't believe me until i did a breath test and failed miserably. 

13. We celebrated 4 birthdays with a raging fiesta. best street tacos ever!

14. I started tutoring ASL students. Its cool but I really enjoy the excuse to drink a few steamers.

15. My breathing didn't improve much. One night I hyperventilated and got rushed to the ER. So scary. So embarrassing. Now I'm on crazy steroids to reduce the swelling in my esophagus. Yay for Utah allergies! -_-

16. I had a little lunch date with my friends taylor, mick, and my aunt. They all have babies so we paraded around the mall with 4 strollers. Quite a sight!

17 & 18. We got to watch my cute cousins in their dance showcase! (missing our abbie jane)

Happy Mothers Day!

Mother's Day is this weekend and it will be the first mother's day that I am away from my mom.

Things will be different this year but I will still try my best to spoil my mom!

Every girl says "my mom is my best friend" but mine SERIOUSLY is. Pinky promise!

I'm the oldest and the only girl.

My mom and I had no choice but to be bffs in our house full of boys.

Growing up, my mom was a "dance mom".

She drove me to dance everyday and traveled with me to competitions.

It was a team effort always.

This lady put my eyelashes on until I was 18.

She was Stake Young Women's President while I was in high school so we were always together for church activities.  I'll never forget one of my friends was complaining that her mom held a calling with the youth. I was dumbfounded. I LOVED having my mom with me? It was around the end of high school that I figured out most moms aren't like mine.

It is an on going joke that my friends use me for my mom. If I had a dollar for every time a friend texts/tweets/instagrams my mom i'd be a rich lady. 

One time my friend texted me a juicy story about her and a boy. I responded with something along the lines of "holy crap! no way!?!". My friend responds, "omg, I know. Oh BTW I already told your mom. Don't be mad". 

so typical.

When it came time to decide what to do and where to go to college I knew I didn't want to leave my bff/mom. It wasn't even a thought. I couldn't leave her.. she and I are the same foundation color, who's would I steal if I didn't live with her??? 

So I didn't.

I spent my 4 years of college with my mom and I don't regret it for a second.

Things got real when she opened up a pre-school and asked me to be her assistant. That meant that we spent all day, everyday together.

We loved every second.

Then the time came to get married...

She and I worked side by side for 10 months planning the most perfect day.

My wedding was really my mom and my wedding (sorry, jord).

With a wedding came a marriage and with a marriage came a move.

This move was so hard. It was the first time I had ever been away from my mom.

There were many ugly tears and one really freaked out husband.

I'll be real, living away from my mom sucks. Thankfully, we have texts, calls, snapchat, twitter, insta, FaceTime, etc. I'd be lying if I said we didn't use 90% of those outlets daily...

We are managing. 

Jordan knows that mom calls take priority over everything (and he secretly loves it. he likes to chime in with annoying comments ;) ).

I'm amazed how we are able to stay close so far.

We are NOT getting comfortable with this tho...

We mean it when we say joke that someday we will live next door to each other.

And that keeps me going and makes me happy... One of these days, when we are settled and out of school, jordan and I get to be with mom again(kinda trying to convince him that living with my parents forever is a great idea). 

For now I have a trip planned almost every month for the rest of the year to see my mom.

Lucky me!

She is practically perfect in every way + she's mine!

^ Its true!

Happy mother's day to my mom/bff/slor!

ps. happy mother's day to my MIL and cute grandmas!

The dos and don'ts of a CA trip

This last week I spent my "spring break" in CA.

I have compiled my do and don't list for my successful trip home!

(S/O to the best boss in the world for letting me take this trip! anddd my cute husband for being so happy for me to get to go home to be with my family while he lives at the library.)

THE "DOs":

- DO say yes when your husband wants to take you on a date the night before you leave. You will miss him SO MUCH while you're gone. (ugh, poor jordan studied for the DAT and finals while I was gone!)

-DO bring your BFF. You will have so much fun driving.

- DO go straight to the nail salon and a movie with mom as soon as you get home. 

-DO enjoy every second of your bed! (why is my bed at home so glorious to me?!)

- DO go out to lunch with your BFF and your moms. You will enjoy the girl talk and end up in your backyard laying out because you just aren't ready to part.

- DO have your favorite mexican restaurant for dinner. You'll over stuff yourself with chips and salsa, but its worth it.

-DO go to church with your fam. Believe it or not, you've missed your home ward.

- DO snuggle in mommy and daddy's bed for a little Sunday afternoon rest. (jk. i only stayed in there for two seconds. my dad and I like our "p (personal) space". haha)

- DO spend your days at pre-school with your favorite little humans. 

- DO spend the majority of your trip hanging with your grandparents. It is the cool thing to do. You'll even get to "ohh" and "awh" over their fancy china.

- DO take naps. You'll love them.

- DO FREAK OUT(!!!) when your uncle visits your brother who is on a mission. If you're lucky, you might even get to talk to him for a minute.

-DO start your morning with a McDonalds run with the chubbiest baby around. 

- DO hangout with your BFF/SIL while she teaches pre-school with your mom (She and a few others took over for me when I left)

- DO impress your SIL by making your yummy jello. Its the perfect snack for a HOT day.

- DO go watch some of your pre-schoolers play baseball. You might die from the cuteness.

- DO get your hair done! HOLY MOLY your roots are bad!

- DO go to the beach! You should probably laugh at your friends and family that are in Utah getting dumped with snow.

- DO mock the crazy girls having a iPhone photoshoot. (NO GUYS! They were pointing to NOTHING and laughing, then they would get all serious and seductive). I'm sure it was an incredible instagram post for them! HAHA. We weren't as successful. 

-DO walk down your favorite boardwalk for a snow cone. (side note: is anyone else getting excited for utah's snow shacks?!)

-DO go to your favorite place to eat! Your sissy loves it just as much as you, so you should persuade her to move to utah so she can have it everyday!

- DO go to the "trendy" restaurant and have spicy seafood kimchi (really not sure if that is how you spell it. Less sure how to even say it. )

- DO stay an extra day. Its a no brainer.

- DO go to the rack. Their clearance will rock your world and you'll end up spending much more than you anticipated. 

-DO your laundry in CA. You'll be so happy when you get back to utah. 

- DO buy some songs from the Nashville soundtrack. Those little girls, Lennon and Maisy, have angel voices!

THE "DON'Ts":

-DON'T drive fast. Your mom will freak. (but, hey we made great time ;) )

- DON'T forget to blast celine while you drive through vegas (a tradition I started a while ago). You will remember on your drive back home.

- DON'T  be surprised when you find notes in your room. Your dad likes to hide them! 

-DON'T feel sad when chub cries EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. you hold him. he will learn to love you once he moves up to utah.

- DON'T forget to use your big camera for the majority of the trip. You'll later blog and it will drive you nuts.

- DON'T be too sad when the spa is too crowded to go to. You can go for your birthday in July! 

-DON'T leave your book in CA. It was just starting to get good.

- DON'T fall asleep on the beach. Your legs will be reddest they have ever been. You'll want to cry 24/7. (but, just to be clear, I had sunscreen on.)

-DON'T eat boiling soup. the waitress will tell you to, but don't. Your mouth will thank you.

- Don't eat grocery store sushi. It will make you sooo sick. (thankfully, i recovered quickly!)

-DON'T start crying when your little pre school buddy's chin starts quivering when you tell him you are leaving.

- DON'T freak out on the drive home. (LONGEST DRIVE EVER!)

- DON'T miss your husband too much. You'll be home sooner than you think!

- DON'T be too sad to leave home. You'll see your fam very soon! 

xo

SPRING IN SLC

When I started to announce that I would be moving to Utah everyone reacted the same way...

"You? in Utah? HAHAHAHAHA!"

I guess everyone thinks I'm a wimp.

They're right.

I worried how my always cold body would handle the winter.

My closest has like 20 coats because I wanted to be overly prepared.

I'm here to tell you that I have survived the winter (this is a BIG lol because this has been the mildest winter in history. I have only experienced ONE snow "storm". But whatever, roll with me.). So HA HA HA naysayers!

But here is the weird thing... I'm kind of loving Utah.

It all started in fall when the leaves started changing. 

You see, in CA we don't have that.

Every halloween that I can remember has been in the mid 80s.

That's just not fun.

We get sweater weather for a hot minute in CA, so I loved pulling out my boots and sweaters in fall.

Winter happened and it was just fine with me.

...but now there is SPRING! 

HOLY HELL!

This makes me never ever want to leave.

The "popcorn" trees down EVERY street... be still my heart!

It is too good.

On Saturday Jordan and I spent our day outside.

We went to the soccer game Jordan coached.

I was wearing a sun dress and sandals and was SO comfortable.

74 degrees, people.

While at the game my mom called and told me it was in the 90s in CA.

YUCK!

After the game we headed downtown to meet some friends for lunch.

It was beyond beautiful.

We were trying to make the most of the beautiful day so we explored a little. The views were so pretty.

I'm liking this little city.

Please don't leave spring!

*The goal of this post was to persuade my parents to join the SLC fun. Fingers crossed it worked! Also, this lot that i'm standing in is for sale soooooo.....

Have courage and be kind

Did anyone else absolutely love cinderella?!?!

I left that movie so happy!

I sat in the movie with a row full of cute young girls. I couldn't help but be grateful for a movie with such an important message for these little ones.

This quote was so perfect and I was ecstatic when my friend Tonya made this print. 

Even though i'm a "big girl, " I love having this reminder in my home.

Heres to having courage and being kind.

xo

This Weekend

I love weekends.

I love date nights.
I love extra time with jordan.
I love sleeping in and late night movies.
I love catching up on laundry (okay, not really).
Weekends are just the best. I know you all agree.

This weekend has been a real winner.
Jordan planned most of it.
We started our friday night off with a little dinner date.
After dinner we had some time to kill so we went home and took a much needed nap. (why am I always so tired on fridays??)

Once we were well rested we headed to the late show at our favorite play house.
All you SLC people need to go to desert star. It is cheesy and so "utah", but we can't seem to get enough. We are now season ticket holders.
yep, super nerds.

Last Sunday, were sitting in church and Jordan nonchalantly says, "oh by the the way, I signed us up to go to the temple next week... at 7am."
I love the temple and really love going, but in that moment I thought I was going to kill him.
7 AM ON A SATURDAY?!?!

I complained all week. Heck, I complained that morning. But as I was walking out of the temple doors in the wee hours of the morning (that was dramatic, it was 8) I was so glad we woke up and went.

Jordan came home and studied and I took a very long nap. Oh heaven!

That afternoon we had a big family pool party.
We ate hot dogs and hamburgers and swam until we were prunes.
It got me so excited for summer.

Saturday night we headed to a movie.
There is nothing I love more than movie theater diet coke and popcorn.


And now I'm sitting here on monday morning counting down the seconds until the weekend.

Have a good week, friends!

a quick catch up

The last few months have flown by and I have been terrible at documenting on this little blog.

This post is long, scattered, and semi annoying, but i know i'll want these memories saved.

So bear with me as post every picture from my iPhone.

At the beginning of February I started feeling super sick.

I had no energy and felt nauseous 24/7.

My days looked a lot like this.

I had a little visit at the ER that was NO fun.

After a month of the constant sickness doctors finally got me back on track.

It was easily the most draining and emotional experience and I'm so glad its over!

On to better things...

 Jordan and I took our "little girl" on a date. We told her to keep our date a secret so her sisters wouldn't get jealous. That didn't work. She walked into the house and straight up to her sisters wiggling her freshly manicured nails at them. haha

I had the cute ashley color my hair. Somedays it is bright red and others it looks like a basic brown.

I never thought i'd have reddish hair, but it is kind of a fun change.

Ju, Jon, miles and ty came to visit.

I was in heaven squeezing tyler's chubby cheeks.

I'm not sure how i didn't get pictures of miles?

Good thing i'll see them again soon!

It dumped snow for the first time since we've lived in utah! Spencer and I went outside for a minute to soak it up. He wasn't feeling it. I don't blame him, I kinda felt the same.

 Competition season started for dance and I have loved every minute of it.

I have gone to every competition, helped clean their dances, and been a dance mom in training. 

I have such fond memories of being a dancer and I love that my cousins have the same passion.

 Goddard Cousins

Sami and Spencer had back to back birthdays so we partied with family. We made yummy pizzas and took a million pictures in the photo booth.

We got to watch our sweet little abbie jane in her school play! She was the cutest lost boy ever!

Shamrock shakes are back. enough said.

Jordan and I continue to make date nights a priority.

Most of our date nights are target runs, car wash, and dinner. 

Nothing over the top but always so perfect.

I love that husband of mine.

Thats a wrap! 

Heres to hoping the next post won't be so long and boring!