Why I Love My Job

Yesterday at work I got to be a part of one of the most touching deliveries I've seen so far. Every delivery is emotional, as there is nothing quite like watching new parents meet their baby, but this one was extra special.

The woman delivering the baby was a surrogate. She had 3 children of her own and had volunteered to carry a baby for another couple. I don't know exactly whose egg and sperm were involved, but the ones who would be taking the baby home were present, as was the husband of the pregnant woman. I didn't ask why they were in this situation since it wasn't relevant to my job, but obviously the couple who wanted a baby thought this was never going to happen for them.

As the baby started to crown, the mother watched and tears poured down her face. She repeatedly said that she thought this day would never come. I'll never forget the look on her face when the baby came out and she cut the cord (it was everything I could do not to start crying). The baby (a boy) had a little bit of a difficult delivery and needed to go straight to the warmer for an assessment, and I told the mother to go over and see him. She ran over to see her son and I stayed to take care of the woman who had just delivered.

The woman who delivered the baby laid in bed and watched the new mom bond with her son. I really don't know what the emotional implications of being a surrogate would be, and I don't know what kind of connection she felt with the baby. But she seemed very happy for this new mother. That is obviously a tremendous sacrifice--to give up your body for 9 months and risk possible complications so that someone else can have the opportunity to be a parent. What a special moment to be a part of. And that's why I love my job.

Halloween

Update: the bouncer has not been the magical cure-all we thought it would be. Okay, we didn't really think it would be. It was more of a flimsy little hope. But Jack is starting to like it and he will entertain himself for 20 minutes or so with it. It doesn't seem to make him tired though. I think he spit up on himself so that's why he's not wearing any clothes in the video.


This weekend we dressed up Jack in his first Halloween costume. We are die hard Harry Potter fans so we thought it would be fun to dress up as Ron and Hermione and have Jack be an owl. Turns out it's really expensive to get full Harry Potter costumes so we just went with the scarves but I think we did a pretty good job at turning Jack into an owl. Notice the letter tied to his leg :)

In other news, our trusty blue Honda Civic named Steve has officially bitten the dust. It wasn't the car's fault. Derek and Jack got into a wreck. They were fine, but the car was not. It's an old car, so it's not worth that much, but it would have lasted us a long time. We replaced it with another Civic that will hopefully last just as long as Steve would have. It's a little older but has the same number of miles, and it runs great. Here's a picture of Steve after the wreck.

That car was supposed to last all the way through medical school and maybe even residency. Hopefully the new one will.

I love love love Fall. It's definitely my favorite season. I think my favorite part is pumpkin desserts. I've made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies 3 or 4 times already, and I can't wait for Thanksgiving to make pumpkin pie. Fall is really beautiful here because of all the trees. I've been having fun taking pictures of Jack in the leaves. He always tries to eat them.
That's what's new with us. Happy Fall everyone!

Tired tired tired!

Jack is in a new phase where he WILL NOT take a nap for me. If Derek or the babysitter is taking care of him, he'll take 4 (yes 4!) hour naps. For me he will usually only do 2. Except in the last week or so where he will not nap AT ALL for me! He gets so excited and just wants to play or eat all the time. This is a problem today especially because I have to work tonight and I need to get some sleep!

So, even though Derek is supposed to be studying for a big final on Monday, I sent him to Target to buy this:
The hope is that Jack will jump so much that A. he entertains himself and I can sleep and Derek can study, and B. that he gets really tired and will take a super long nap.

Will it work? Probably not. But it's worth the slim chance that it will to me. It's amazing how many ways there are to make suckers out of us parents, isn't it?

Not Dead

Wow, I haven't blogged in forever. I'm not dead, just crazy busy. I always feel like no one really cares what's going on with me anyway, and they probably don't, but I love keeping up with my friends on their blogs so I'd be a hypocrite if I don't at least try to keep mine updated.

My excuse for not blogging: work. Life is pretty crazy right now. Here's how it goes when I work day shift: Up at 5:30. Lightning fast shower. Get dressed. Breakfast. Pump. Wake up Jack. Get him dressed and fed. Derek drives me to work by 7 and the Jack to the babysitter and then himself to school by 8. Derek picks up Jack at 4 or 5, depending on the day. Pick me up from work at 7:30. Go home, eat dinner, and put Jack to bed. Go to bed and do it all again.

Luckily, this is only 3 days a week, and usually only 2 in a row. The good news is that soon we will be getting a new car to ease the driving burden on Derek!

Still, we have found time to do some fun things. I'll post about those soon.

For now, I'm just going to do a little developmental update on Jack. He's a busy little boy and is constantly exploring. He has started to scoot on his tummy but mostly he just rolls to get around. We got him a walker and he loves being upright and feeling like he's a part of everything. Also, he's proving to be a good little eater. He loves peas, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, cheerios, and bananas. Oh, and meatloaf. Yes, meatloaf.

I went crazy taking pictures the other day.

He loves playing with leaves! He kept trying to eat them.
I love this kiddo!
What a handsome boy.

Netflix

Derek is gone from 7:30 am to 6 and 7:30 pm to 10 every day. I am at home with Jack. There are no sidewalks in our neighborhood so we can't go on walks. The only park nearby smells like pot. You can only go grocery shopping and to the library and to playgroups so many times. I haven't started my job yet, and Jack is pretty happy to play with his toys on the floor or nap. This leads to a boring, boring, boring life. There is one thing that has saved me:
I don't know why it never appealed to me before we moved here. Maybe it's because I don't like waiting for movies to come in the mail (I didn't know you could stream them!), maybe it's because I was a student and didn't have much time for movies anyway. But now I've decided it's the best thing ever. We stream movies directly to our Wii. So basically a giant library of movies and TV shows is available to me, while I sit on the couch (and we wonder why our society is unhealthy...lol).

Now I'm going to tell you how lazy I've been, as evidenced by how much I've watched.
1. All of Pushing Daisies. It's a great show, it's a shame it got canceled.
2. Two seasons of Arrested Development, which I've seen before, but I forgot how hilarious it is.
3. Several documentaries--One about Wal-Mart (never shopping there again, BTW. I've always hated it but that documentary was the push I needed to swear it off altogether.) Also lots about food, such as Super Size Me, Food Inc, and some other similar ones.
4. Workouts! I love being able to do a different one every day! See, I'm not totally lazy.

The other thing I do to entertain myself is to dress up Jack and take pictures of him. Here's a recent gem.

Missionaries

I have two pretty awesome siblings. I'm the oldest, Holli is two years younger than me, and Ryan is two years younger than her. They're both doing something pretty remarkable right now. Holli has been serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Fiji for the last 10 months. Ryan left on a mission just this week, and will be serving in North Carolina.

Since I'm the oldest, I'm the one that should be the good example, right? But I'm not. These two have taught me a lot more than I've taught them. It takes an amazing amount of faith to put your life on hold to spread the gospel. I'm so proud of the two of them. I love you guys!

Derek's First Day

Derek took off for his first day of medical school today! We are both a little nervous--Derek for obvious reasons, and me because I know he's going to be gone most of the time. But I know he's going to do great. Derek has determination like nothing I've ever been able to muster up. It's taken him this far, and it will take him all the way to being a full-blown doctor. I'm so proud of him! Here's some pictures of his first day.


Yay Derek! He has to wear a shirt and tie to school every day. He's not thrilled about it, but I definitely had fun picking out a whole new wardrobe for him!

New Job

As promised, here are the details on my new job. I got hired in Labor and Delivery, full time, at a big hospital here in Erie. I start training August 24, because it takes a while to do clearances (background check, physical, etc). I interviewed a week ago and got to shadow a nurse for a while. I told them that I really liked the unit, and they told me they needed to check my references. They checked them, and called me yesterday to offer me the job!

I would like to take this opportunity to stick it to anyone who told me one of the following:
1. You have to do at least a year of med/surg nursing to get anywhere
2. New grads never get hired straight into specialties like L&D
3. You have to do a capstone in L&D to get a job there (I did capstone in ICU)
4. The market is really tight for new grads right now so don't be disappointed if you can't find a job right away (this is the only one I interviewed for, and one of two I applied for)

I have had all these things said to me at some point (although likely not by anyone who reads my blog, so this is really just me venting). It feels good to prove them wrong! I'm glad I didn't listen, or I'd be stuck in med/surg right now. I know some people love med/surg, but I really don't. It would have been a hard year for me if I'd had to do that. In addition, I'm grateful that the market here in Erie is good for nurses. I know some of my friends have had a really hard time finding jobs.

I'll be on a day/night rotation, which basically means as the new employee I'll get all the shifts that no one wants (nights, weekends, holidays). But this is actually great for me. First, those shifts pay more. Second, most of the time, I won't have to worry about childcare. Derek is home on nights, weekends and holidays so he can take care of Jack. My initial plan was to be a stay at home mom during medical school, but when the reality of the gigantic loans we would need for that hit, I decided to look for a job. After all, nursing is probably one of the most flexible jobs out there--3 days a week equals full time and shifts are available on whatever days you need them.

I'm still in the excited phase. I'm sure the overwhelmed, terrified phase will hit soon. Wish me luck!

Critters

Derek and I were watching a thunderstorm through our sliding glass door tonight.

We've seen lots of critters here. Chipmunks are everywhere and we've seen a couple bunnies.

But tonight we saw one that actually scared us and made us forget all about the storm.

A skunk--yes, a skunk--took a leisurely stroll across our porch while we watched.

I had never seen a skunk that wasn't dead or a cartoon. Until now.

I would have been happy to never see one in real life. Thank you, Pennsylvania.

Lake Erie

Life has been a blur since we got to Erie! It's been wonderful to have no responsibilities and just enjoy life. Too bad that can never last long. Derek starts school on Monday, and I just got a job (which is another post). But in the meantime we've just been organizing our townhouse, and exploring Northwestern Pennsylvania (not that there's much to explore).

The best thing about Erie is of course the lake. If you've ever been to any of the great lakes you know that you might as well be at the ocean--they are huge! You can't see the other side, and the waves are bigger than you'd think (maybe a little smaller than the Gulf of Mexico). Lake Erie is beautiful. Here's a picture of us on the beach.
We stuck our feet in the water, expecting it to be freezing cold. But it wasn't--it was pleasantly warm! You could easily swim in it. We haven't found time to do that yet but hopefully we will before Summer is over.

Just yesterday we went rollerblading on a trail along an alcove of the lake. It was pretty hot and humid but fun nonetheless. Jack loved riding in his stroller with Derek pushing it on rollerblades, probably because it was faster than the usual walking.
So it turns out there IS some fun stuff to do in Erie! You should definitely come visit :)

Let's see...what else have we been up to? I can't find a food co-op for produce only here, I can only find ones where you get beef, eggs, etc, which would be great, but they're pretty expensive. Maybe someday. We did, however, find a really great farmer's market that has lots of really good locally grown produce. We've made some excellent salsa with it and will be doing more soon.

Now for a developmental update on Jack! He finally started rolling over a couple days ago. He started sitting up several weeks ago, and that's not really supposed to happen until after rolling over, but he's finally all caught up. He loves to be up with mommy and daddy, doing whatever we are doing. We used to be able to just put him on the floor with some toys and he'd entertain himself but that doesn't work anymore! He always wants to be held or at least up on our level. That's why we got him this high chair.
He's not eating solid food yet, but he still loves to be up at the table with us when we're eating.

Maybe sometime soon I'll feel inclined to post something informative or interesting, but for now I'm just feeling like being journal-y.

Sick

So of course the week that we are moving in to our new place I come down with the first cold I've had in, like, a year. And of course I gave it to Derek. It's not anything too bad, but enough to be really annoying. I'm sure that the diet of fast food we've lived on as we've been getting our kitchen into working order hasn't helped.

Jack, thankfully, has not shown any signs of having a cold. But he does hate it that I have one. For some reason, sneezing and nose-blowing scare him to death. If I sneeze or blow my nose while nursing, he let's go, looks at me with wide terrified eyes, and screams until I latch him back on. Maybe it makes the milk shoot really hard into his mouth--I don't know. All I know is that I'll be glad when this cold is gone.

But other than the cold, things are going swimmingly! We love our new place. It is huge compared to our last apartment. It has a basement with a washer and dryer and lots of storage space, a main floor with a living room, kitchen and bathroom, and an upstairs with two bedrooms and a bathroom. For once we actually have a place to put everything! The main floor is about the size of our entire old apartment. And here's the kicker--the rent is about the same. Once we get it all organized I'll post some pictures.

Derek starts school a week from Monday. And we want to make a trip to Pittsburgh this week (it's the closest big city, and it has Ikea and Costco! Yes!) Life is good!

Sorry about this rather boring update--if you're still reading you must really love me :)

RN, BS

I just want to share that I am now Heidi Goodyear, RN, BS. Yep! Passed the NCLEX--75 questions, 45 minutes. My education is officially complete! (For now...)

In other news, Derek has now left for Erie and is somewhere in Illinois I think. I fly out with Jack in two days. Crazy!

Getting Ready to Leave

Well it's only a few days away. Next week we are making the huge move from Utah to Erie, Pennsylvania for Derek to start medical school. I've lived in Utah my entire life--I was born in Provo, then moved to South Jordan at age 1 and lived in the same house until I graduated from high school. Since then I've spent the last five years in Provo at BYU, with the exception of the last 2 months (we've been staying with my parents). This is obviously going to be a huge deal for me, so I thought I'd write about the things I'm going to miss about Utah (complete with pictures!)

1. My wonderful friends and family. You know who you are. I'm so glad I've seen some of you in recent weeks and I hope I see more of you before we leave!

2. Our food co-op. I sure hope I can find one in Erie. I've loved it.
3. Cool summer nights that are perfect for barbecues, watching fireworks, just sitting, playing night games, etc.
4. Dry air. I hate humidity. This is what happens to my hair in humidity. Does anyone know of any good products for this?
5. BYU. Three months ago I never thought I'd say that as I essentially wanted to forget that place even existed, but it really was a great experience. I learned how to critically think, to analyze things, to accomplish difficult tasks, that you can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it, and how to be a lifelong learner (now I'm using BYU's own phrases! Who am I?!?) I also went from a teenager to a married woman with a child during my time there.
6. All the temples. I love having like half a dozen temples within easy driving distance. Now I'll actually have to plan out when to fit in a whole day trip to the temple. I've never had to put much planning into going to the temple.

7. Having Uncle Ryan nearby to play with Jack (they're really good buddies). Also his and my mom's willingness to help take care of Jack so I can run errands, study for the NCLEX, etc.
8. I'm going to miss familiarity. I've really never moved before--South Jordan to Provo doesn't count for much. I'll have to learn where everything is and find an entire new group of friends. I'm excited for the adventure though.

Those are the big things. There are a lot of things that I'm super excited for with this move. But that's another post for another day.

A Summer Saturday

Saturday was a fun day. Here's what we did.

First thing, we volunteered at the food co-op, meaning we unloaded boxes of produce from a truck and distributed it to people's baskets. Then we got to bring home this awesome spread:
I love the food co-op. After this we spent the morning using our produce to make salsa and salads to keep in the fridge to eat all week.

Then we took some pictures of Jack as well as some family photos. Here's what we got.

Jack wasn't in the smiliest mood ever, but he did seem to enjoy being naked in the grass.
It was the most gorgeous day. I love the summer evenings when the heat is gone but it stays light for hours and you can just play in the cool night air.

After we took these pictures, we went to see Toy Story 3. It was pretty good, but the original two are better.

Fresh fruits and vegetables, frolicking in the summer air, and a Pixar movie. What more could you want on a Saturday in the summer?

Spit Up

Anyone who knows Jack knows that he spits up a lot. He's pretty much a fountain. If you've ever held him, there's a pretty good chance you've been puked on. He always has to have a bib on, and a burp cloth close by. And we often have to change his clothes several times a day. But what I found one morning was a lot, even for him. He was sitting in his bumbo chair, and I picked him up to change his diaper. This is what I found.

Bok Choy Stir Fry

First, here's a super-cute new picture of Jack.

So for the last few weeks we've been getting some of our groceries from a food co-op. It's awesome--you get a lot more food than you would from the grocery store for the same amount of money. We get five loaves of bread (really really good whole wheat bread) and a big basket of produce (I mean big--you take a laundry basket with you and it gets filled up). Some weeks there are extras you can get, like fresh tortillas, herbs, etc. The fun part is that you never know what will be in the basket. There will be six kinds of fruit and six kinds of vegetables but they are new every week. So what we've been doing is getting our basket on Saturday mornings and then planning a menu accordingly and shopping for the week. Some of what we've gotten we've never used before, so we've had to get creative.

Last Saturday, we got bok choy--aka Chinese cabbage. We'd never used it but we decided to throw it into a stir fry. It was...AMAZING!

*Note--with this kind of thing I don't really measure--I just throw stuff in. So sorry this recipe is a little haphazard.

Vegetables:
1 Chopped red bell pepper (which also came in our basket this week)
1 Chopped onion
Minced garlic, 3-4 cloves
Chopped bok choy, use the leaves and the stems (we used 6 heads, but we could have used more--it cooks down a LOT)
Add any other vegetables you want. We thought green pepper would have been a good addition.

Meat:
3 small chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
30 or so shrimp

Other:
Ground ginger
Soy sauce
Black pepper
Honey
Corn starch
Basmati rice

Heat 2-3 tablespoons cooking oil over medium heat (we used peanut oil).
Add the bell pepper, onion, bok choy stems, and garlic, and cook and stir for a couple minutes until the onions start to get soft. Season with about a teaspoon of ground ginger, some pepper, and 1/4 cup soy sauce. Add the chicken, continue to cook and stir until the chicken is mostly done. Then add the bok choy leaves and cook until the chicken is all the way done. Add the shrimp and a few squeezes of honey, and cook until the shrimp is pink (only a couple minutes--careful not to cook the shrimp too long because it turns rubbery really fast). We had a lot of liquid in the bottom, but it tasted really good so we just threw in about 2 teaspoons of corn starch to thicken it. We served it over rice and it was delicious. Here's a picture of the final product.

This served 4 people and took about 30 minutes to make, including all the chopping time; actual cooking time was about 10 minutes.

He's done it!

After weeks of hard work and determination, Jack has successfully managed to get his toes into his mouth. Congratulations Jack! Your parents are very proud of your many wonderful accomplishments.

My Wonderful Husband

Let me tell you how supportive my husband is of me. Right before we got married, I found out that my first application to the BYU nursing program had been rejected. This was, at the time, the end of life as I knew it. Derek dropped what he was doing and rushed to my house to take care of me. I cried and cried, and I was sure that he couldn't love me if I wasn't good enough to get into the program. But I was wrong. He just held me and told me how much he loved me, and that I was smart even though I felt stupid. He assured me that he still wanted to marry me and would support me as I applied a second time (fortunately, I was accepted that time).

Derek then supported me through the nursing program. Most of the time, he woke up with me on clinical days at 5 in the morning. He would make me breakfast, gather my things, and put together a lunch while I freaked out about being in a hurry. He also happily played the part of the guinea pig while I learned how to take blood pressure, give shots, and start IV's. (That's right, Derek has good veins, and he let me practice poking him. No joke.) He listened to me rant about the things I didn't like about the program and talk endlessly about the things I loved.

Around the same time that I got pregnant, I started a job as an LPN at a nursing home working the night shift. I was sick and tired all the time. Derek was there for me whenever I needed anything. Any food craving, he'd get for me. When I'd come home from work in the morning, he was ready to hear about my shift even though it was 6 am. He would leave for work during the day, but would tell me to just rest as much as I needed, and he would take care of all the housework when he got home.

Derek was also amazing through the pregnancy. He attended birthing classes with me three hours a week (we did hypnobirthing) and spent at least a half hour a day practicing the techniques we learned there (and more than that as the birth got closer). He listened intently as I talked and talked about my newfound interest in pregnancy and birth. Then when Jack was born, he helped me use my hypnobirthing skills which made the pain very manageable. He was there to give me a blessing when the events took a turn for the worse and I had an emergency cesarean (that blessing is one of the few things I remember clearly from the whole traumatic ordeal).

The weeks shortly following the birth were somewhat hellish. I was recovering from the c-section, struggling to breastfeed, and stressing about how on earth I was going to finish school. He was there to help me every step of the way. Somehow, I got through that time. I recovered without complications, succeeded with breastfeeding, and graduated. It's all a blur now and I don't have a clue how I did it, but I know that without Derek's encouragement it wouldn't have happened.

It's certainly not as if I was the only one with a lot going on during this time. Through all this, Derek was majoring in neuroscience, and studying his tail off to get good grades and score well on the MCAT. He also worked at the MTC. He graduated right before I got pregnant, but shortly thereafter he took the MCAT, started working full time, and had to do the grueling process of applications and interviews. So it's not as if he didn't have a full plate. He just really knows how to put his family first and show his love and support.

So, thank you Derek. You are wonderful. I could not have asked for a better husband. I want everyone to know just how awesome you are. I love you.

Cloth Diapers

So...Jack is a ton of fun. As I'm typing I'm listening to him talk...and talk...and talk with his daddy. I know that he is only 4 months old and can't really talk yet, but I swear sometimes he imitates what he hears us say. I would bet that the words he hears the most are "hi" and "I love you," and sometimes in his random babbling it honestly sounds like he's saying one of those things. I know he has no idea what he's saying, but I really think he's imitating us.

So anyway, I wanted to share something I'm really excited about. A few weeks ago we started using cloth diapers on Jack. I know it sounds totally archaic, granola, weird, hippie-ish--whatever. But I wanted to give it a try. I did some research and found that you can get really good cloth diapers nowadays--not the old ones where you have to pin them together and put rubber pants over them, like my mom used. The outside of the diaper is made of water resistant fabric so the moisture doesn't get out. The part that touches his skin is a fabric that wicks away moisture and pulls it into the diaper, where there is an absorbent pad. It actually keeps him drier than disposables, believe it or not.

So we bought one diaper and tried it. We loved it and we ordered some more. It was an investment, as a supply to last a couple days between washing costs about $300, but when you consider that Huggies or Pampers will run you about $55 a month, (with coupons, based on 7-8 diapers a day), it's easy to see that it quickly pays off. (Yes there are cheaper diapers than Huggies or Pampers, but we discovered early on that there's a reason they cost more and it's worth it). Of course you have to consider the cost of the water and detergent for washing, and I haven't crunched those numbers, but I would still guess that it's a worthwhile investment.

Then there's the cuteness factor. See for yourself.
They are so much cuter than disposables! They come in lots of colors--orange, green, yellow, blue, white, pink.

Also, we won't have to buy new ones as Jack gets bigger. The diapers are adjustable sizes so ideally you use the same diapers from birth to potty training. And the general consensus I got from reading about them online is that if you take good care of them they will last through two kids! I do have to wash diapers every other day, but that's really not a big deal. It's just like any other load of laundry.

So...to my friends and family out there with babies, I recommend giving it a try! It sounds crazy at first, I know. The big diaper companies have done a good job of convincing us all that they are the only option. But they're not. It wasn't really very long ago that everyone used cloth diapers. My mom used them on me and my siblings, and that was what most everyone did at the time. I love the feeling of being independent from Huggies. They're there when I need them, like when we go on trips, but I don't have to go to the store every week for a new box.

How's that for a soap box? Not trying to sound preachy but I am excited about my new discovery :)

Ok, now I'm really starting...

The last few weeks have been HEAVEN for me! On the night of April 16 I submitted my last undergraduate assignment ever and have been blissfully enjoying life ever since. That same day, Derek, Jack and I went to Georgia for Brett and Suzie's wedding reception. It was Jack's first time on an airplane--he did so well! He only cried for about 10 seconds the entire trip. Here's a picture of him enjoying his first flight.

So cute!

Before this I'd only been to Georgia at Christmas time, and once in August. I decided that I love it there in the Springtime--it's absolutely beautiful. There are blossoms everywhere and gorgeous greenery. I had already decided that I love the architecture there and would be very happy living in a big southern house, but the Springtime visit closed the deal. I am seriously considering living there someday. Here are pictures of some of the amazing flowers. Derek's Nana grew these ones.



After Georgia it was time for graduation. My aunt let me borrow the baby-sized graduation outfits her twins wore when my uncle graduated. Jack looked adorable--see for yourself!
He even got to walk across the stage with me.

What a good feeling to finally graduate! Now all I have to do is take the NCLEX-RN, which is the nursing board exam, and I'll officially be a registered nurse!

Since graduating, we moved to my parents house for the next couple months, until it is time to move to Pennsylvania for Derek's medical school. We'll probably leave around the first week of July. I've never lived outside of Utah before--scary! In the meantime, we're just enjoying this brief stretch of time when neither of us is in school. This is the first time that's happened since we got married! Too bad it's short-lived--med school starts July 24th.

One week after graduation, we went down to San Diego for Bre's wedding. It was amazing! I had never been inside the San Diego temple before, and it was incredible. The reception was on a yacht (wow) and was awesome. It was a beautiful wedding. This trip was our first time away from Jack. He stayed with my mom and was just fine, but we sure missed him. We only stayed for 3 days because we wanted to hurry and get back. Still, we found time to play on the beach in addition to going to the wedding. Sadly, we forgot to take our camera on the yacht so no pictures.

Uh...the end! I'm sure I'll have more to write about soon!

The Beginning

Since we're moving to a land far far away (so far that I can't even really imagine it) I wanted to start a blog to keep in touch with the wonderful friends we've made in Provo, Utah over the last few years. We're excited for a new chapter of our lives, but we are going to miss you all terribly! And since I regularly stalk the blogs of my friends who already have them, I figured it's only fair they should be able to read about me too. Enjoy!