BACK IN UTAH!

Well, we are back in Utah and doing well! I have to apologize for not keeping you as updated with our summer happenings, but things got busy and I got sick. For those of you who haven't heard the news yet, I'M PREGNANT!! We found out in June and told our families in July. I am due March 1, so the joke is that it (we don't know what it is yet) will come a day early and be a leap year baby. I'm not too excited about that. Call me crazy, but I just don't think having a birthday once every four years sounds like much fun. Ryan and I have been to the doctor only once since we found out and that was back in Cali. Not the best experience, but we did get to hear the heart beat so that made it all worth it. I don't know about Ryan, but it made it real for me... there is actually a little person growing inside me... So Weird!! But so much fun. Actually, I couldn't say that the first few months were fun at all. I got really sick, and whoever decided to call the nausea that you feel when you're pregnant "morning sickness" obviously has no conception of time, as mine usually lasted all day long. I became a slave to the great white porcelain god, but as Ryan pointed out the bright side, at least with all the brushing of teeth and mouth-washing I won't have any cavities! :) What a sweetheart! For the most part, that phase has passed and I am now able to enjoy the fact that I am going to be a mom (that is still weird to say). My mom is very excited and has already sent us some baby toys. My oldest sister Jennilyn, who now has two girls of her own, is very excited to be an aunt for the first time. She actually cried when she saw me after the summer and could see the little tummy starting to show. She and mom would tell the baby goodnight after family prayer and rub my little pooch. How wonderful families are! I'm only 15 weeks along, but I'm at that point where, if you don't know me, you'd wonder if I was just a little fat. My stomach has grown a lot in the past two weeks, but not enough for it to be obvious to everyone. Fortunately, J has lent me her maternity clothes so I have pants that fit and shirts that I can either hide in or show of my little tummy. Either way, I'm more stylish now than I was before or probably will be after. Thanks J!
On a different note, school has started and Ryan and I are smoothly making the transition. With Mom and Jennilyn's help, our little piece of heaven (the townhouse we bought before the summer) is looking great. The week they spent out here was filled with moving boxes, unpacking boxes, decorating and cleaning the house, with the ocassional horrified outbursts of "Why on earth are you keeping this?!!" upon finding Ryan's old toys, my old class notes, and a box of rocks... don't ask questions. We love our house and love having storage space... have I mentioned Ryan's obsession with the crawl space?? Things are just going really well and we are extremely blessed. Brad is home from the mission and back here at BYU. It has been so fun getting him settled and watching the horrified RM "what have I gotten myself into?" look cross his face. He is adjusting well and is so fun to be around. We love you all and will catch up again soon!!

Busy Month

Well! This month has been busy with work and play. We spend most of our time working, but play hard when we can. We spent one Saturday night at the bowling alley with the team. We used two lanes and had a blast! The first game, I am proud to say, I actually got the highest score! I don't think that's ever happened. But then my shoulder gave out and I definitely lost the second. We had a blast though! We also played a couple rounds of air hockey. Ryan and I went at it first. He thought he would smoke me, but I gave him a run for his money. Little did he know that I used to play at the Boys and Girls Club with my best friend when I was little. I had him the whole game until the end. He won by one point.




Other than that, we spend time relaxing at the beach and just enjoy being together. This job demands a lot of Ryan's time, so when we have time to ourselves, we try to take advantage of it. Work is going well and the team is doing great! They all seem to get a long really well. We enjoy nights of board games, guitar heroes, and movies. Ryan frequently makes his now perfected Orange Julius's for everyone, accompanied by a bowl of popcorn. All in all, I'd say we're having a good time!

Our New House

We bought a house!! It's a townhouse in Utah but it is ours. We have moved our stuff in it but don't actually get to live in it til after the summer, when we will move back to Utah. It is SO cute! It's a three bedroom, 2 bathroom, two story place. It has a bay window in the living room and kitchen, and it has a pantry and laundry room. I love it and can't wait to get decorating. The previous owners took really good care of it and had some cute decorations up before (as you can see in the pictures). We decided that we like the paint in the living room and kitchen, for the most part, but we made them paint the bright yellow room the same color as the rest of the upstairs. It was cute, but WAY bright and very intense. It looks better now. It's sort of weird how it all happened. This really just sort of fell in our laps. We were looking around to see what was available and what prices were like. Suddenly I had two separate emails from our real estate agents (there were two of them working together) saying that we should look at this place. I had just been online looking at it and had emailed them letting them know we were interested in it. So we went and fell in love with it and before we knew it we were signing papers! So on top of the finals we were taking at the time, we had to pack and get ready for California And move into our house. It was a crazy few weeks! But we love it and are excited to get back. It's the perfect size for us for now, and gives us room to expand in the future (you know what I mean :) ).

Sunny Southern California

Well, Ryan and I are here in Southern California soaking up the rays and enjoying life.... at least soaking up the rays, ok so mostly just Ryan. I spend most of my time in an office on the phone. And it's not like a vacation for Ryan either. He walks from door to door all day long selling pest control. This is his third summer and he is now managing his own team. They are all doing well and we are excited to get to know them all better. There is definitely some camaraderie and team unity going on. This summer will be awesome, I'm sure! We have already been to the beach where we played football, played in the sand, had a bonfire and listened to the guys sing and play their guitars. We all had fun and got to know each other. Most of the other teams were there as well so that was fun. Here are a few of them playing "Chubby Bunny" for money. It was probably the sickest thing I've ever seen. The new record was 25 marshmellows. How sick is that! I wanted to gag. But fun was had by all. The next weekend, the guys went paintballing and the girls had a night in with movies and popcorn. The guys had fun lighting each other up with paintballs and rolling around on the ground. The last round was a shirtless round... yes, you heard me...shirtless (As if the game wasn't dumb enough.) By the end of it, some guys were bleeding and all were pretty bruised. But there were still smiles and good times. No one knows who won, though. So what was the point? I'm not sure, but boys will be boys. All in all, it was a good time and that's what counts.