a quick rest of the summer recap......

so my parents planned this HUUUUUUUUUGE cross country trip that included visiting my grandparents in iowa (who i haven't seen in 4 years and who have never met grant), and visiting my sister and her family who lives in florida, and visiting normans mission! so although it would be the the longest trip of my life including 22 states and 6200 miles in a 5 person small SUV with 5 people and a huge carseat... we decided to accept the offer from my parents to join them!! it was lots of car time...but it was worth it! we did a lot and saw a lot. and luckily for us...grant was an ANGEL the whole trip.

 we took lots of pictures (well..."we" meaning my mom...) but here are only a few from everywhere we went....

^^^norman peaking into the mission office he served in^^^

^^^obligatory 4 generation picture^^^

^^^seaworld^^^

 ^^^notre dame campus/savannah georiga^^^

^^^lake michigan^^^ 

^^^siesta key beach in florida^^^

^^^my sister's graduation from her masters in nursing at university of south florida!^^^

we went to a lot more places that i didn't include here...but this is what took up a good portion of summer (3 ish plus week trip). I coach volleyball at hillcrest high school and the day after i got home from this lengthy trip VOLLEYBALL SEASON STARTED! so...that's really what i've been up to.

ALSO... my cute sister got married a couple weeks ago!!! she and jared had been dating for about a year and a half, i believe, and they finally tied the knot!! we were more than thrilled and happy for them. it was so special to be in the temple with all of my family! being the youngest, i never thought i would be able to attend the sealing of one of siblings, so this was pretty cool for me! i'm glad she has found someone to take care of her and her 4 girls the way they should be. he is a good man and a great step-dad. we love you, jared!! 

^^^the happy family!! (not pictured: jared's 3 cute kiddos that couldn't make it out for the wedding)^^^

so there ya have it! that's about as up to date as it's gonna get...can we believe it's october already, people???? i love it. best time of the year!

Seattle // 3.

our last day was mostly spent driving home, but we woke up early to stop by a few places we missed on friday and still wanted to see....

like the space needle

^^^the pic on the right is the last one out our hotel window looking at the puget sound^^^ 

^^^attempting to get the whole space needle in my pic^^^

^^^yes, i'm aware this isn't the most flattering pic of my post baby belly...it's fine though^^^

after the space needle kelsey and i wanted to make a really important stop....

if you're a true grey's anatomy fan...you know meredith grey's house in the first season is different than the one in the rest of the seasons...and that house is located in seattle...we found it. and took a pic.

^^^picture from season one of meredith leaving her house^^^

^^^my multiple random pictures of kelsey so i could see if my lighting was right, thanks for that :) ^^^

we found this view of seattle around the corner from meredith's house... it was too pretty not to stop. meredith and christina probably had their nice long chats here. ;)

our last stop before heading out for good was the seattle temple. and it didn't disappoint. as per usual.

 thanks for another fabulous trip, seattle. until next time!!

Seattle // 1.

we went to seattle!! one of my favorite city's ever. my parents and drove through it around 5 years ago and i fell in love! so i was beyond thrilled when my sister gave my husband and i early christmas presents to a seahawks/bears NFL football game in seattle!

we basically only had 1 1/2 days to see anything. we drove there on thursday {12 hour drive}, then had friday to site see and go to the game...and we finished up site seeing early friday morning and made the 12 hour drive back home. i'm splitting it up into a couple posts because there are a plethora of pictures.

we got to our hotel...and guys....norman was the one who got our hotel room. and he did a fabulous job...mostly. found a pretty cheap hotel RIGHT by everything in walking distance. the pier, pikes place, the stadium. it was great. however...The hotel seattle....was not great. sketchy...to say the least. it was a one queen bed room, which was fine, but....we thought the elevator was going to break every time we rode it. about 95% of the outlets in the room didn't work, the wallpaper was peeling off in multiple places, there were pipes exposed, there  were multiple nasty stains on the carpet, the comforter didn't even fit the bed, the shower curtain didn't have a liner, just had the cloth curtain, the water was either scolding hot or freezing cold, and...we were up on the 10th floor and opened a window....no screens. hah. it was quite humorous. but we eventually got used to our little abode and ended up even being comfortable enough to walk around without shoes on!

it made us laugh hard. it was one of a couple times i was really glad that jared is a police man and carries....

we got there late and went right to bed. the next morning we started out at the pier...

it was fabulous weather. sunny with a nice ocean breeze off the puget sound. it was a great refreshing start to our trip!

moving, visitors, and some...other stuff.

guys, it's been quite a while since i've blogged. i've just been so darn busy! but some stuff has happened.

here's a short update for ya:

we finally moved!

everything went smoothly and it was a nice transition. our apartment is great and we love it so far. i'll post pictures eventually...but i don't have everything put together...at all. and mostly because all my time has been spent working and chillin with family!

my sister and her family from florida came to visit! we hadn't seen them in a little over a year! it was so very nice to see them again! we miss them so much!

we went to lava hot springs! i haven't been in years. and if we're being honest...it's probably the only summery thing i've done all summer. :( lame.

we also went out to eat at senor iguana's one night. and i'm sad to say i've never been....which is odd cause i love mexican food. it did not disappoint. 

linsey and jarom also taught me how to make their famous salsa and now i'm going to make it by the gallons and have it forever!!! i'm so excited about it.

other than that my life has been consumed by working and driving back and forth between idaho falls and pocatello. yay.

we did get to see our friends, mckay and kirsten, and their little girl, june, at kirsten's mom's wedding reception. we loved seeing them again and have missed them since they moved.

so that is what has been going down lately at our place.

i still have some stuff i want to blog about! {like my fabulous headboard we made} but alas, today is not the day. 

hope you are all doing more fun summery things than i am!

Here's where i've been.

where have i been you ask?

superbusyville is where i've been.

i don't think i've even really been on an actual computer since i blogged last.

so this is what's been goin on:

1. still no news about my weird rock hard lump in my throat.

did an ultrasound that didn't tell us much, so next was some blood work....still waiting for those results.

2. my friends, melissa and kelsey, and i threw a baby shower for two of our other friends who are both having baby girls about two weeks apart.

bit of an awkward picture?...maybe.

we did a waffle bar...yum

3. i made the dean's list

4. my sister and her 4 beautiful children will be living with norm and i permamently so i've been hangin out with these guys a lot

sunday before church

took them to smiths in their jammie's to pick up something and they decided to model for me :) love them so much

the sweet twinners :)

5. then there was fathers day

my husband is....special :)

6.  Amanda {volleyball friend}, Kelsey {sister}, Katie {sister} and i played in a 4 on 4 volleball tournament and took 3rd out of about 12 teams. not too shabby.

7. my parents gave their mission "going away" talk in church which was fabulous

so to say the least.....i've been in busyville.....superbusyville.



In sickness and in health.

i have been wanting to do a blog post for a couple days now but have not found the time....why? you ask?

cause i've been sick.

ugh...the worst.

i don't get sick very often so i am not really a great sick person. i'm a baby about it. but my husband is fabulous. loves to cuddle me and love on me to make me feel better. he's so great.

so i've been doing a lot of this:

which is a lot of pixar/dreamworks movies, snuggling with blankies i've had since i was 5, saltines, and my ipad.

it's been a good time.

but before i got sick i have been havin some good times.

norm and i had a date night where we went and got a snack at a gas station {big hunks of course}, then went to home depot to pick out everything we would want in our future dream house.

then on to Mckee's pet store of course to pick out our dream dogs.

they were adorable of course and we would've left with that dang black lab if we had the chance. she was so cute {norman even named her cheyenne} :)

then it was my sisters birthday....we of course had to go back to mckee's to hold the puppies:

13 years ago on kelsey's birthday she got a puppy just like this one. :( miss you sami girl. we thought about bringin this one home in memory of her.

this was the unfortunate day when my sickness kicked in with full force. not so fun.

sore throat.

swollen lymph nodes.

headaches.

hot flashes.

dizziness.

nausea.

it's been a blast.

i also have this weird lump in my neck that i had the opportunity to go get an ultrasound on to see what it is.

i'll keep you updated on that. :)

so that has been the recent happenings here at our home.

 not too shabby.