The Next Chapter

We have been lucky enough to have been able to live at my in-laws the past 7 months! Since Parker was going to be applying to dental school... ahhh he sent in his applications this week!!!... and we didn't know when we would be moving... we didn't want to invest in a place until we had a better idea of what our future had in store for us. After lots of prayers & late night chats we decided to start looking for our own place! We weren't in any rush so we just looked a little here and there. Last Tuesday I found the cutest little place online. I called the landlord right away. We went and looked at it on Wednesday. Signed the papers on Saturday & started moving in right away! Everything happened so fast. We couldn't believe it. Our home is far from being organized, decorated, or finished.. but we love it so much already! This has been so bittersweet for us. I absolutely love my in-laws & all of Parker's siblings & we have had so much fun living with them. So many fun memories: late night games, movie nights, chore charts, being picked on by my "new" brothers, delicious meals, my mother-in-law teaching me her fabulous ways of cooking, lots of games of pool, trying yummy new restaurants (some not so yummy, too), etc.etc.etc. We are going to miss seeing them everyday, but are so excited to start this new journey of ours! The best part.. Cam & Lindie are our next store neighbors which means the same ward (Mike & Whit are in it too!!), lots of fun times at the pool, late nights in the hot tub, Lindie and I cooking the boys delicious meals, tennis matches, and so much more! Cheers to our cute new home & the next chapter in our little life!

More pics to come....

First night! Trying to put together our shower curtain :)

Picnic at the park!

My favorite person!

Oh, before I forget. I finally got a new job! To make a long story short: I have worked at a finance company for the past 2+ years & LOVED the people I worked with. It was time for a change & the hours didn't work so well with my new school schedule. I found the perfect job at a Chiropractors office. Great hours, fun co-worker, & even traveling involved! Well, about a week after I accepted the job the Dr. I was working for got arrested. Yeah, I know, CRAZY! That is a whole other story though. Maybe another post someday about it. I was bummed though, and I couldn't find a job for a couple weeks. I randomly decided to apply online at Nordstrom.. my most favorite store of ALL time! I got the job! I have been here for a little over a month now and I love it!

That's our updates for now!

We LOVE Vacations!

But who doesn't?! Our good friends Mike and Whit have a vacation house in St. George (it's their parents obviously ha) and invited us all to go down with them! We have had it planned for a couple months now and we were SO excited. I finished my last final thursday morning & then we took off with Lindie and Cam to go play in St. George until everyone else got there that evening. We played some tennis, my first time ever. PE doesn't count. I loved it! I'm definitely not the best, but I think I might have surprised myself a little. We jumped in the pool for a little & then Cam and Lindie introduced us to 25 On Main! Oh my goodness. The most delicious little sandwich/salad/soup Italian restaurant. They have these amazing seasoned potatoes & cupcakes! We always have to end our night with dessert or some sort of treat so we ended it with Menchies... uhhhmazing frozen yogurt.. I'm obsessed... & some dice games with everyone late that night!

The next day we all decided to go on a hike. After driving around for what seemed like hours we finally found the hike we wanted to do up Snow Canyon... 3 Ponds Hike. The map said it would be a 3.5 mile hike. We didn't realize it was 3.5 miles each way + 80% of it was sand. Talk about a workout. We had a blast, but by the end all of us girls thought we were going to starve or pass out. Maybe we were a tad bit dramatic about it all, but it was rough. We decided to go to 25 On Main AGAIN.. we just had to introduce the whole crew to it. They loved it, of course. We all went grocery shopping to pick out the meals we were in charge of, took our power naps, and then ate dinner & played games ALL night. Games are my absolute favorite with everyone. I wish I could explain the intensity of it all, but you would really have to be there to understand. Everyone gets so into it & makes bets on everything. In fact, Matt and I lost one of the bets. It was way late, we were already in our pj's, & we had to go get in our swimsuits.. go outside.. & let our significant others dump a bucket of water on us. Parker was way too nice & filled my bucket with warm water! I'm so sad.. I had a video of the whole thing, but it got deleted. Here are some pics of our adventures...

We found a turtle!

All of us :)

Potty break!

Saturday morning we woke up, had a delicious breakfast & headed up the canyon to do some climbing. Most of us girls wore flip flops since we would just be changing into climbing shoes as soon as we got there + the climb was just a short distance from the road. Well, we weren't able to find the climb. We hiked for a while, yes in flip flops up the mountain, but could never find a safe place to climb. We turned it into a fun day of hiking to beautiful spots! So fun. The pool was the perfect way to cool off. We laid out and played lots of pool games! To celebrate Cinco de Mayo we had our own little fiesta with yummy tacos, chips & dip, and lots and lots of games!!!

Our way of drying off! ha

Side story... the boys all decided to play Hot Dice & make a bet that whoever lost had to have grapefruit smashed in their face. Weird, I know. Parker was the first one out. I got a video of part of it, but the end got cut off :( oh well, here it is... JK video won't upload. Still new at this.. I'll figure it out someday.

Sunday morning we woke up, had another yummy breakfast, and headed up the canyon AGAIN to hike to some waterfalls. But there was hardly any water! Oh well! We still made the best out of it & had  soo much fun hiking and exploring! Remember how I mentioned we made bets on everything?! Well, the boys lost a bet! They had to jump in the warm crystal blue water (it was really dirty & freezing)! I have a video of that too, but of course it won't work.

We had the best weekend! Lots of good memories with great friends! I already want to start planning the next trip :) Thank you Mike & Whit for such a fun time!

Soccer, Weddings, & EASTER!

I already need to get better at this whole blogging thing!

The title of this post describes our lives the past few weeks pretty well. Parker and I came across this amazing deal! The Utah Pass of all Passes!!  

For only $29 we get season passes to all Seven Peaks water parks & venues!

$15 food credit to Seven Peaks!

4 Real Salt Lake Games! (this was the reason Parker 

wanted the pass ha)

Tickets to Bees games..

Tickets to the Rocky Mountain Raceways...

And a ton more fun things!

We are so excited! Even better.. all of our friends & both of our families got the passes as well.

I CANT even wait for SUMMER!!!

We have already been able to take advantage of our passes :) I went with Parker & some of his brothers to a RSL game last week! I had fun with the boys! For Parker's bachelor party one of the things his friends got him was this jacket! He finally got to put it to use! How cute is he?!

On Saturday Devery & Eric got married! Dev & I have always somehow ended up dating friends.. it's so funny to us that we even ended up marrying friends! I absolutely love Parker's friends though. I feel so blessed that he has had such good guys in his life! AND I love all of their wives. It is so fun that we are able to get together all the time & do fun things & go on trips together! Anyways, their wedding was beautiful! I wish I had better picture, but these are the ones I got! We are so happy for them & SO jealous that they are in Cali soaking up some rays this whole week!

 Of course, Parker and I hit up City Creek in between the Luncheon & Reception!

 Love this handsome boy so much!

Then there was EASTER! I love Easter Sunday so much. Parker & I teach the 7 year olds at church!

He is SO cute with them. 

They adore him & love when he teaches!

We went to my parents for Easter this year. 

If you know my mom you know that she 

goes ALL out for every holiday! 

We watched my cute nephews play with their 

baskets & then we all opened ours! 

My parents are so sweet. We got yummy treats, some of the essentials, & gift cards 

to some of our favorite places! We are so excited!

I am so grateful for my Savior and for all that he has done for each and every one of us. I am also so very grateful for the atonement. I have been blessed with such a loving family & such a sweet, supportive, humble, and caring husband!

XOXO

Honeymooners!

I know this was a few months ago, but we had TWO of the BEST trips ever & I want to always remember them! We were fortunate enough to be able to go on two honeymoons! We stayed at a hotel in Park City the first three nights we were married. The Chateaux At Silver Lake was one of my most favorite places I have ever stayed. I’m sure part of it had to do with the fact that it was our honeymoon, but it was gorgeous! It wasn’t really ski season so the hotel was practically empty. The hotel has a cabin feel to it.. It sits high up on the mountain so you kind of feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, except for a few other lodges around it.We relaxed all weekend long! Watched movies, made food, cuddled by the fire, & of course hot-tubbed all hours of the day! It was the most relaxing & perfect weekend! It was back to reality for the next month, studying lots & getting ready for finals.

 The day after finals we left for our cruise! Our ship was the Norwegian Epic. Neither of us had been on this cruise line, but we LOVED it! The food was pretty good, the shows were amazing! Our room was lovely, & the best part.. UNLIMITED ice cream! If you know us well, you know that ice cream is our absolute favorite thing ever.. besides each other of course. Not only did they have the ice cream machines with the chocolate & vanilla & cones, but they had TWO ice cream stands that had at least 10 different flavors each day as well as different toppings you could put on them! We were in Heaven. We left out of Miami & over the next 7 days we went to St. Thomas, St. Maarten, & the Bahamas! Talk about beautiful! The pictures don’t even give them justice. The one thing I do hate is how much the ships rip you off if you book excursions through them. We weren’t about to let them get us! We wanted to just do our own thing off the ship & if we found something we wanted to do then we would go for it. Turns out that even though the weather was gorgeous & for the most part sunny.. there was a small part of each day that was a little cloudy, sometimes windy, and occasionally rained a little. We decided to walk around the islands, shop a little, & hit up the beaches. Best decision! The beaches were sooo pretty! We played in the water & just relaxed! Knowing we would be coming back to snow made us so grateful for the warm weather & sunshine!

 Waiting for our plane!

 So grateful we were able to stay with friends in Miami!

 For Christmas this year I did a 12 Days of Christmas for Parker!

 Sunsets were so pretty!

Our first stop!

 Drive to the beach!

my handsome lover!

Second stop: St. Thomas!

 There were Christmas decorations on all of the islands & on our ship, we loved it!

10th Day of Christmas!

Last stop!

 :)

 Building my grave...

We flew home Christmas Eve, just in time to celebrate the holidays with both our families! Just thinking about these trips makes me want Summer so much, especially after the beautiful day today! Only a few more months, hopefully less!!