The best news and the worst move.

I don't know if any of you have moved recently, but it is the worst experience in the world. When Ryan and I first got back from our honeymoon my sweet family had moved the majority of our furniture and my Mom "set up house" before we had the chance to lift a finger. We slowly moved the remainder of our things to our tiny one bedroom apartment. Just before Christmas we got all of our decorations up and our house was set up how we wanted it. Ryan could finally relax and I could finally stop pestering him. A month later we got a call from my Parents asking if we were interested in living in their condo in Orem. Um, three bedrooms? Two bathrooms? YES PLEASE. Ryan wasn't too happy when I told him we had to do it all over again.

This recent move however, was a complete different ordeal. We found out we were moving around the 10th of January, however we had no clue when we would actually be moving in. The real kicker is, my sister Rachel was moving into our one bedroom when we were out, and guess where we were moving? Yup, you guessed it. Into her old apartment. We had to do the old switcharoo, and if that's not enough, my sweet Mother and soon to be landlord wanted to get the carpets cleaned before we moved in. Whoa Whoa Whoa, so not only did we have to switch apartments but we had both had to be living in the one bedroom apartment for a day while the carpets got cleaned?! Yes, you betcha. We moved all of Rachel's things into our family room while we packed our things up. Luckily we covered the tile at our new place with furniture or we never would have made it. Rachel's old roommate was out and we moved in right away. Late Wednesday afternoon we started packing. With the help of my lovely family, a few trucks and Ryans brothers we finished the last load before 10:00 PM. Needless to say it was miserable going back and forth in the muddy snow as I am sure everyone would agree. Ryan and I are still setting up house, but you can bet your bottom dollar when the house is all dolled up I WILL be posting pictures!

The gift of life.

You hear all about the gift of life and how beautiful it is but I don't think that rule should apply to dogs. They should have a birthing prep class for all who intend to watch the birth of an animal because it is NASTY.  I'm grateful that I got to see it, but glad I never have to experience it again. Our dear friends Daniel and Aubrey had 1 dog to begin with. Then they adopted another of the opposite sex who was supposedly "fixed". I bet you know where I'm going with this. Yup, they now have six dogs (four of which don't count as dogs because they are itty bitty!) Luckily momma Tamika is nice enough to let me hold her puppies. They are the most adorable little things that make the most adorable noises and let me just say, I've never wanted a puppy so bad in my entire life. Unfortunately Ryan is the responsible one in our relationship and he say's "no house? no dog". I'm grateful for his wise decisions but it has cost us a lot of money in gas since I insist on driving down to Provo several times a week to see the little small things (and they will only get cuter).

 Drum roll please...

 Can I just say... YUM!!!

Waking up to reality

I'm not much of a blogger, but after showing my family photographs of the new and improved, I was convinced to start a blog of yummy recipes, DIY decor and the start of a wonderful life with a wonderful hubby. 

After "The Big Day" and a beautiful (short-lived) honeymoon we came home to our snugly one bedroom, one bathroom apartment, chuck full of our things. The apartment seemed rather spacious when picking out paints and imagining furniture placement. However, walking through the door was a challenge. Not only because of the narrow hallway leading downstairs (narrow enough that we had to give up several furniture favs), but because I wanted to turn and flee for my parents house which contained my old bedroom. Two closets, tremendous storage and my own bathroom. You can imagine why Ryan asked if he should just leave all of his things at his old apartment for space conservation.

Every room looked like this at one point.

Ryan woke up to me screaming to this "Little Guy". Say what you will, but this thing has got a jump in his step and he chased me down in the shower.

Our first meals may not have been gourmet but they hit the spot and looked fabulous on our boldly painted kitchen table.

I come from a family that loves to cook. So I've taken it upon myself to show Ryan how things are done "the Elder way". My Mother reads a recipe and measures each measurement precisely, my Dad throws the recipe out the window and combines things he thinks will taste good (that daredevil). I think I have found common ground. I typically stick to a recipe but try new ways of cooking to make it more flavorful, moist or just exciting to eat. I made my mothers traditional eclair dessert (to die for) with a twist. I poured it into individual mini muffin tins. It was more tedious but definitely more manageable to eat without a fork (Ryan ate like a hundred of these things!)

The greatest part of our new location is living beneath this doll baby. She has got sooo much personality and I'm pretty sure I could spend all my time with her! 

My dear sister-in law Rachel is constantly dressing her up but for a split second I caught the child looking homely and I had to snap a pic of it. She still looks like a doll. But as my Dad would say, she looks white trash. The Elder genes in her are causing her ghetto booty to grow at such a rate that Huggies had no chance of keeping up. Now you know where they came up with the phrase "bursting at the seams".

So far it has been the best three weeks of my life. Marriage is fabulous, it's probably a good thing no one told me how fun it was before or I would've done it sooner. Ryan is such a good husband. The other day I was suffering from major feminine problems and asked him to bring a heating pad to my work so that I could make it through the day. He showed up to my work with chocolate and two hot pads :)

 It has been a blast to spend every free second with my best friend and I cannot wait to see what the future holds. I could not ask for a better life.

Here's to eternity.