Baby baby baby

Justin and I are so, so happy to announce that we are having a baby! After a year of trying, surgery in January, and a miscarriage in March, this has been one emotional roller coaster that I'm glad is over (for the most part…if you exclude my occasional crying breakdowns due to the hormones. Poor Justin.) We are due March 14th and found out a couple of weeks ago that we're having a little girl.

We had a small get together with our families to reveal the gender, and it was perfect. We enjoyed a laid back BBQ in my parents backyard, and cut into the cake for dessert. Everyone is thrilled that we're having a girl--Justin's family because our new niece Cici will be getting a built-in best friend, and my family because my sister has a little boy that we all adore and they're excited to get to experience the girly side of baby shopping. Justin knew all along she was a she, and I was convinced she was a he. He was right, I was wrong, yadda yadda yadda.

The first couple of months were rough, I was nauseous and my usual migraines got worse. I even passed out in the middle of Home Depot, much to the dismay of the three men in orange helping me with a project. They called an ambulance and took such good care of me, and since Justin was out of town on a business trip and my family was in Lake Powell, my sweet father-in-law ended up taking me to my OBGYN for a check up. Baby was unharmed, and Terry earned a billion brownie points for sitting in the waiting room for so long. 

I'm now 17 weeks along and feeling great. I've finally figured out a good eating schedule (basically lots of food ALL DAY LONG with snacks in-between) and lots of rest once I get home from work. Now that I'm no longer feeling sick I'm just enjoying being pregnant and impatiently waiting for my bump to get bigger. I love going to my monthly appointments and hearing my little girl's heartbeat, and I'm constantly on the search for new baby names. Any suggestions are gladly accepted!

Justin and I are selling our house and getting ready to build in Bluffdale, so we have a lot of changes coming our way. Life is crazy but so happy, and we're excited for the next few months that we have to look forward to. Baby girl can't come soon enough!

Chicago.

This last week my mom and I took off for a girl’s trip to Chicago to visit my sister and her family, who are currently attending medical school there. It was my first time away from Justin for more than a night since we’ve been married and it was harder than I thought it would be, but at the same time it was so nice to get some quality time with my mama. We’re besties. We flew in Thursday morning and my nephew Nate and I celebrated seeing each other with some good bed-jumping at the hotel. Because that’s what hotel beds are made for. We spent that night swimming in the hotel pool, catching up on each other’s lives, and playing my family’s favorite card game—Screwy Louie (which isn’t nearly as inappropriate as it sounds.)

On Friday we ventured downtown and started our day with a tour of the Art Institute of Chicago. I hadn’t been back to the city in over 5 years, so my fam let me choose all of our destinations—and this was first on my list. I mean, look how pretty just the outside of the building is. 

We spent a few hours wandering through the galleries, dragging each other to our favorite pieces. 

My mom and I are both suckers for Monet.  

After the museum we ventured to the “jelly bean,” Nate’s favorite. You can’t go to Chicago without stopping at the bean, you just can’t. We took our fair share of selfies there before searching for some deep dish pizza for dinner.

Oh Giordano’s, I love you.

 We stopped at the Cheesecake Factory on our way home for dessert, and my mom and I enjoyed ours along side with a few episodes of Downton Abbey back at the hotel. I realize I’m way behind on that bandwagon, but I’m completely obsessed. We stayed up all night every night watching it. 

On Saturday we set out for a Cub’s game, also per my request. I’ve been dying to go to Wrigley Field and it did not disappoint. I felt slightly guilty going to the game without Justin, but not guilty enough to not send him continuous photos and updates throughout the entire game. I loved the atmosphere and the people and I stood up and belted the “Go Cubs Go” song as loud as I could after they won the game. Such a fun experience. 

 

After the game we went to visit our long-time friends the Young’s, who moved from SLC to Chicago when I was ten, taking my best friend with them. We’re all still just as close as before they left and we try to see them at least once a year. Relaxing in their backyard and watching Uncle Dave play baseball with Nate was probably my favorite part of the trip. I mean, could you die?

The rest of our trip was spent eating, shopping, and hanging out. It was so fun to get away for a while and to spend time with family and friends. I miss this little dude already, and I know he misses me just as much. Even though he won’t say it out loud. 

Bye, bye Chicago. Until next time. 

Graduated.

As of two days ago I am officially a college grad…and it’s blowing my mind. I’ve been counting down the days to this day for the last four years of my life, and now that it’s here I can’t decide if I want to jump for joy or sit down and cry. I’ve always loved school and BYU in particular, but once I got married and started working it became more of a hassle than anything else. For the past two years I’ve spent my time going to class in the morning, going to work during the day, and then heading home for homework and studying at night—with the occasional night class thrown in here and there. Not fun, and I don’t recommend it to anyone. (Also, as a quick side note—online classes are of the devil and you WILL put them off until the last week possible. DON’T DO IT.) 

These last couple of years have been hard, and I’m so glad that from now on I’ll be able to go home at night and do what I want. I’m going to read a book just for fun! But at the same time they have been so rewarding. Not only have I been able to continue studying what I’ve always loved, but I’ve also found a job in the finance world where I’m excelling and learning new things every single day. And no matter how many times I hear that an English degree is pointless and I can’t do anything with it, I will forever tell you that you’re wrong and go on thinking that I’m smarter than you. 

Once upon a time, during my freshman year of high school, I promised my parents that I would never go to BYU and that I wanted to move far, far away to a school where I could experience the “real world.” That was during the phase of my life where my parents were always wrong and I knew everything. Then by the time my junior year rolled around, BYU was the only school I even applied for. Stupid? Or confident? Either way, I ended up getting in and absolutely loving it. I had so much fun living in the dorms my freshman year, I loved almost every single one of my professors, and my semester abroad in London was one of the greatest times of my life. My major was the absolute best, and as much as I’m SO DONE with writing essays, I love that the majority of my homework was reading books and poems from authors that I love. And I’ll admit it—I have a love/hate relationship with my religion classes. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed complaining about how difficult they were (I feel like marriage prep for someone already married should have resulted in an A?) I still feel like I learned so much about my religion than I’ve ever learned outside of school. So kudos to you, Brigham Young. 

So as glad as I am that I’m done, I’m also partially heartbroken. I’ve always teased my dad for giving us the regular tour-down-memory-lane every single time we’re in Provo, but I’m sure that as soon as I have teenagers I’ll be doing the same thing—pointing out all the spots that were important to me, telling them who I kissed where (JK, JK, I've only ever kissed Justin…)  And they’ll be sitting in the back seat rolling their eyes and complaining about how hungry they are. (Sorry dad, I love you.) The hardest part for me is that my list of life’s achievements up until this point is officially complete—I’ve graduated from high school, traveled to Europe, gotten married, graduated from college, and I have a job. Now what am I supposed to do? I need an entirely new bucket list. (I know, I know. BABIES! Don’t say it.) I’m slightly terrified that I don’t have any major plans ahead of me that I’m working towards, or projects to keep me busy when I get home from work. I’m currently taking suggestions for a new hobby—excluding working out. 

Basically what I’m trying to say with this extremely long rant is that I’m so, so happy to be done with school and that I absolutely loved BYU and I’m sad that phase of my life is over. But I’m glad for the things that I learned and the experiences I had there. Also, thanks mom and dad for pushing me in school and funding a large majority of it, and thanks to my sweet husband for being patient with me and not letting me quit when I wanted to. I promise you’ll now get home cooked meals more often than you used to. Promise. 

And now, a list of goodbyes to the things I'll miss the most. 

Goodbye to the vending machines that accepted my student ID card as payment, packed full with my parents money from freshman year.

Goodbye to the PDA-ers so willingly displaying their love on every single hill, bench, and somewhat shaded area. 

Goodbye to the bell tower playing my favorite hymns/the Harry Potter theme song as I walk from class to my car. Made my day, everyday. 

Goodbye all you Fight-Song-Singers at sporting events, always so willing to thrust your fists enthusiastically into the air.

Goodbye to my favorite "Better Than Whatever" cupcakes at the Cocoa Bean, because we don't say the "sex" word in Provo. 

Goodbye to the Cheesy Gordita Crunches at the Taco Bell in the Wilk, because that was the only Taco Bell I ever trusted eating at. 

Goodbye, Campus. I'll miss your pretty flowers in the Spring and the way you made your employees go ALL OUT for Christmas, even though it was only up for two weeks. It's so frivolous, and I love it. 

Goodbye all you BYU girls glaring at me as I walk across said campus in my leggings, because "leggings are not pants!"

Goodbye to all of my English professors and the way you so fervently fought for the legitimacy of our major. 

And goodbye to all my sweet friends who made it all that much more enjoyable. I love you all, and if you ever need a place to stay in Sandy there's a sectional with your name on it. 

Go Cougars!