Our First Place

Yesterday I was thinking about how excited I am to move and all the things I'm looking forward to and I started to get a little sad. Don't get me wrong, I am looking forward to so many things about our new place but Josh and I have lived in this little apartment for 2 months shy of 4 years. That's a long time. This place is really home to us. I can't imagine driving a different way to get home and I can't imagine not walking in the entry to turn on the lights and go in the front door. So I thought I would put together a post about some of my favorite parts of our first place/favorite memories. This place will surely be missed.

If you can remember back 4 years ago...our apartment used to look like this...

After a few weeks of painting and work it looked like this...

And since then it's changed a lot more! We've put so much time, energy and money into this place. But it's all been worth it. 

There was the time we spray painted our fridge...and eventually got a new one...

There was also the time we got new windows. I love the new windows. 

Oh and remember the time we completely remodeled the bathroom? That was fun. 

Long story short, we've had a lot of fun in this place and created so many memories. I think we've been pretty unique in the fact that we've lived in our first place for so long. I don't think many newly married couples can say that. But we've loved it. 

Here are a few more of our favorite or not so favorite things about our first place...

Our glorious sink and the fact that I have broken over a dozen dishes on it!

The crazy light switches in the entryway. I'm pretty sure they're the originals that were installed...

how the light in the closet is backwards and when it's down it's on and when it's up it's off...

our giant walk-in closet with super high shelving

the way our closet door will not stay shut because the little thing doesn't stick out anymore...

The sweet shelf Josh put in because we had no counter space

The time Josh bought me a garbage disposal for Christmas and installed it

The weird in-the-wall shelving unit in our kitchen...

How every single person grabs the handle below to open the door but it's really the little knob above it

The time we couldn't figure out the ridiculous electrical in the house so we ran the cord to our disposal to a power switch and would just turn it on and off to run it...

Our giant sliding door that separates our kitchen and living room

Sharing our tiny bathroom and fighting over mirror/sink space

Our beautiful, ancient radiators and all their heat they provided in the cold Utah winters...

This has been the most perfect first place for us. But I think we are both finally ready to say goodbye. 

Bare Belly Warning

The only person that I know that opposes me putting bare belly pictures online is my mom...so the warning is mostly for her. But I have been trying to catch sweet baby girl moving on video forever and I finally got a good one! And you just can't see it as well if it's not my bare belly! So here it is! I love it. I can't get enough of these moments! :) They make me so happy. In case you can't tell, it makes me laugh a lot, but I tried to refrain since my laughter makes my belly jiggle and can be mistaken for baby movements. Haha. Also, ignore my annoying baby voice...

Washington Baby Shower

One of the main reasons we made the trip up to Washington was to have a baby shower! My mom and my sister-in-law Sara threw it for me and it was amazing. I could not have asked for anything more! It was Saturday morning at my mom's house. We had it outside despite the weather not being too great. But it wasn't horrible. It was overcast and pretty windy but I loved it. So many people came. I felt so loved and so blessed to have all those friends around me. It was just wonderful! A huge shout out to my mom and to Sara for everything. The shower was absolute beautiful! Also a huge shout out to everyone that came and supported us! Thanks for your support and all the gifts! 

[part of the decorations on the back patio]

[more decorations]

[adorable sign Sara made]

[table with mints, papers to fill out and party favors]

[up close of the party favors. they were so stinking cute!]

[mints and flowers]

[cake pops which we stayed up to make the night before]

[the food table...before the food was out. Didn't get one after the food was out...whoops!]

[Eating lunch which was amazing chicken salad, fruit salad and cake pops!]

[Cherrie, Louise and Myra]

[Sister Christensen, Sister Polson and Sister Zachary who have known me since I was born basically]

[Sister Taylor, Sister Baird]

[Joan and Patty, my mom's coworker and boss who have known me for 17 years]

[opening gifts]

[more opening gifts]

[adorable turtle toy from my mom]

[opening my blessing gown that my mom made. i almost cried it's so pretty]

[better-ish picture of the blessing gown. it is absolutely gorgeous!!!]

[little diaper cover that matches the dress]

[I didn't get any good pictures of everything we got so here is a great picture of our baby pile in our house. Haha. Note that most of it is already packed...]

[me and my bestie Kristin after the shower!]

[Loving my belly in this one!]

[picture of Josh and I on Sunday]

The shower was truly amazing and I'm so thankful to my mom and Sara for throwing it. Everything was just perfect! It was a great addition to an already amazing trip up to Washington! 

Trip to Washington

Unfortunately, Josh and I don't make it up to Washington as often as we'd like. Flying is expensive and driving (while it's not outrageously far) is just plain...boring. But, we'd been told that we had to do a baby shower in our home town, so we made the trip for a short weekend (mostly to have a baby shower) but also to see my family! 


It was such a fun weekend! Josh worked a couple hours on Friday morning before we headed out. We rented a car for the weekend since our car doesn't get great gas mileage and we didn't want to put more miles on our car. It was only $75 for the weekend, which we thought was a great deal. We picked up the car Friday morning and headed out. The drive is about 9 hours. Not too bad. Josh drove the entire way despite my efforts to offer to drive. He really doesn't mind driving, so it worked out well. 

We got to my mom's house around 7:30pm. We were pretty hungry at that point so we decided to go to Zips for dinner. I love Zips. Mostly because of their fries and homemade tarter sauce. I don't typically like tarter sauce, but their's is amazing. And mixed with some ketchup...yum. It doesn't get any better than that. 

After Zip's we headed over to John and Sara's house. I saw John and Sara and the kids at Christmas but Josh hadn't seen them since Scarlett's blessing (a year and a half ago)! It had been way too long. They love their uncle Josh. All of them. They were all over him the whole weekend. But he loves it. :) We just hung out over there that night for a little bit then headed back to my mom's house to finish a few last minute details for the shower. Josh went straight to bed (he was exhausted) and me, my mom, and Sara stayed up working on food stuff and talking. It was a great night. 


Saturday morning we woke up and my mom and Sara finished getting things ready for the shower while I got ready. I'll blog about the shower in a separate post! So look forward to that! After the shower John and Josh brought the kids over to the house. We hung out for a bit then decided to make some plans for the night. We decided to go see What to Expect When You're Expecting (very appropriate, right?) and then go to dinner. Since we had a couple hours before the movie I made my mom and Josh take me to Mongolian for first dinner. I love Mongolian so, so much. And so does baby girl! She kicked like crazy. I'm assuming because it's so spicy. But still. It was awesome. Then we headed over to John and Sara's and to the movie. It was an adorable movie. Of course I loved it since I'm about to have a baby so I related to it. And Josh (being the picky movie go-er that he is) even liked it. It was a lot of fun. I may or may not have cried...3 times. Who knows. 


After the movie we went to a local Italian restaurant, Casa Mia. It's my favorite. It was delicious, as always. After dinner we hung out at John and Sara's talking. 

[the fam at Casa Mia: me, Sara, mom, John and Josh]

[my adorable hubby at Casa Mia]

[my favorite drink at Casa Mia: Limonada]

Sunday morning we slept in a bit and headed to church. We went to my mom's ward which is now a combination of my old ward and some of another ward so I got to see a lot of old friends. We also went to John and Sara's sacrament meeting. After both meetings we headed home so I could eat (as always) and we could relax a bit. Around 4:30 we headed over to John and Sara's for a BBQ. It was wonderful. Sara made her homemade turkey burgers. I was hesitant but they were so good! We spent the rest of the evening outside in the sun watching the kids play. Josh joined in, of course. They came up with this underwear game that was so ridiculous. The boys kept running inside getting more underwear, which they would soak in the pool and then throw at each other. Oh boys. But it was very entertaining. That night Josh's cousin Dillon Titus was receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood in the Kennewick Stake and they asked Josh to stand in. Since they didn't get to be at the shower (they were out of town) we had to see them and it was a great opportunity for Josh. So we went over there and did that. It was great to see that part of the Titus family! Then we headed back over to John and Sara's to just talk and hang out. We said our goodbyes to the kids and John and Sara and headed home. That night my mom and I stayed up until 2:30 talking! I couldn't believe it. But it was wonderful. I love my mom. And I love talking to her. Josh went to bed before me every night on the trip. I am SO not used to that! His new position at work has helped a ton with his sleeping schedule. It's actually really nice.  

Monday morning we woke up, finished packing, ate some breakfast, said our goodbyes to my mom and hit the road. It was hard saying goodbye but at least we knew when we'd see her again! Just a couple short months til baby girl arrives! The drive back was good. I slept some, Josh drove the whole way again and we made it home safe Monday night around 8:30pm. It was such a fun weekend. I couldn't have asked for more! 

South Carolina Trip '12

Be prepared. You are in for the long haul with this one...

The last time Josh was in SC was in October for a quick weekend trip to go to a SC football game and see his family. The last time we were both in SC was Christmas of 2010. Needless to say, a trip to South Carolina was long overdue. We had been planning on going for sometime, but hadn't narrowed down dates. We thought July, which moved to June, which moved to the end of May (to be there for Hannah and Chandler's high school graduation and Kendal receiving her endowments). We weren't sure if it was going to be possible though because of plane ticket prices. But Priceline pulled through once again and we got a steal on tickets just 10 days before we left! Thank heavens. 

We got into South Carolina on Wednesday (the 23rd) around midnight. We flew into Spartanburg, SC which is where Josh's grandma, Linda lives so she, very graciously, picked us up that night. We stayed at her house that night. The next morning we slept in and drove around her neighborhood on her golf cart while we waited for her to get back from visiting her husband at his nursing home.

[Driving around in the golf cart]

When she got back, we all paid him a quick visit and then hit the road for Columbia. Thursday night we went out to dinner with everyone at Mellow Mushroom.

Josh got to choose since his parents felt like he hadn't been celebrated for his graduation. It was delicious. Kendal and I shared a Caesar Salad pizza. Yum. It was so good just being with everyone and seeing everyone again. It had been toooo long. We went to bed early that night since the next day was a big one. 

On Friday morning at 8am (the same time I graduated!) Hannah and Chandler had their graduation. It was actually really short. A lot shorter than mine was and not too boring! Hooray. They may or may not have switched places at graduation which we all thought was hilarious. Of course we were the only ones that knew and I'm sure everyone around us was wondering why we were all laughing hysterically when they walked. But it was great! 

[Congrats Hannah and Chandler!]

[Kendal made this adorable graduation cake for Hannah, Chandler, Josh and me! It was delicious]

[But she may have used way too much blue food coloring that turned all our tongues and teeth blue!]

After graduation Hannah and Chandler chose to do their luncheon at Cracker Barrel. This time everyone was there. Us, Jenn, Jane, Hannah, Chandler, Kendal, Laurie, Bronson, Linda, Max and Gwen. (Morgan had to stay up in Baltimore selling so he didn't come. I have to admit, it wasn't the same without him and I know Josh would agree. He missed his brother a lot.)

[Cracker Barrel]

 After lunch we headed back to the house to get ready to leave for the beach. We were already packed and so was Jenn and Jane so the four of us hit the road a few hours before everyone else. 

We typically go to Myrtle Beach when we go to the beach in SC but this time we went to a small, secluded island called Fripp Island. Not many people have heard of it. It's near Hilton Head though, you may have heard of that place...

We got there and ate some food (leftovers from Cracker Barrel) and then drove around the island on the golf cart. It was such a cool island. It was covered in deer! They were everywhere. We hung out at the beach house and finally everyone arrived (Laurie, Bronson, Hannah and Chandler that is). Kendal, Matt, Max and Gwen would get there Saturday. We didn't do much Friday since they got in so late. We ate dinner and just hung out. But we planned a big day for Saturday. 

[Feeding the deer]

[Jane dragging some BBQ tools around the back deck. She did this for literally 20 minutes...]

[Cutest watermelon eater ever]

Saturday morning we woke up and headed straight to the beach. It was a BEAUTIFUL day. The weather was perfect and there was a slight breeze that kept it from getting too hot while laying in the sun. We all got a little burned (some more than others) but it was so nice out. Jane played in the sand and we all had a great time. 

[Jane driving the golf cart. Watch out Jenn!]

[Jane was pretty scared of the water]

[But she loved the sand]

[Putting up a little shade tent]

[Harry Potter much?]

[Sharing water with Jenn, so cute]

[Beautiful, right?]

After laying out for a while me, Josh, Hannah and Chandler decided to go out and swim. We were out having a great time jumping waves and being crazy and I started getting a migraine. Of course. So Bronson took me back to the beach house where I took some Tylenol and laid down and everyone stayed at the beach for another couple hours. Supposedly I didn't miss too much, but that could just be Josh saying that to make me feel better. Haha. Either way, it was dumb and frustrating. Saturday night Kendal, her fiancee Matt, Max and Gwen arrived. Then the house was full. It was great. We took a walk to the beach that night and watched the waves hit the rocks. The weather started taking a bit of a turn on Saturday as a tropical storm was rolling in. So it got pretty windy and the waves got pretty big. But it was so beautiful because the clouds hadn't come in yet so all the stars were out and it was just so peaceful. 

[Watching the waves crash against the rocks]

On Sunday we woke up and went to church that was like 35 minutes away. I have to admit, that is one thing that I love about being out west...living literally around the corner from our church building. 35 minutes?! That is crazy. But church was good. We spent the rest of Sunday at the beach mostly. It was really, really windy so it wasn't as enjoyable but we found this little beach that you had to cross water to get to and so it was really secluded and nice. We loved it. We laid out for a while until we found this cool pool thing. Since there was water separating this little beach it created a big pool. The water was really warm, there weren't any waves and it was deeper than the ocean! We played in there for a couple hours. It was super fun. Sunday night we all hung out and played games. 

Monday was our last full day. We drove to the next island over, Hunting Island, and saw the lighthouse there and walked the beaches a bit over there. Hunting Island is essentially a jungle. It was amazing. The beach was covered in trees. It was kind of surreal feeling/looking. 

[Jane yelling at the ocean]

[But happy at the same time]

[Josh and I on the beach of Hunting Island]

[Hunting Island]

[Everyone on top of the lighthouse...it was really windy]

[cute!]

[Don't ask why I'm making that face. I don't remember making it. But don't I look super pregnant??]

[Driving around the island]

[The view from the top of the lighthouse]

[Going down]

[Kendal being crazy!]

[Siblings! (minus Morgan)]

[The beach]

[Jenn and Jane! Adorable, as always!]

[Grandpa Max feeding Jane ice cream for the first time. She loved it]

We had a lot of fun driving around the island looking at houses and rocking out really loud to the Beach Boys. Perfect. After getting back from Hunting Island we ate lunch and headed to the beach. It was really windy again (but luckily wind was the worst of the storm) but we made the best of it. We laid of for quite a while and then swam for a bit. We didn't swim too long because the wind and waves made the water not as warm. But we swam in that pool again, which is always fun. 

[Kendal looking like a model]

[Josh starting his sand castle]

[Max, Gwen and Hannah on the beach]

[The castle almost finished]

[Goodbye beach! Until December...]

Monday night we had a little FHE where we talked all about the temple (since Kendal was going through the next day). We went around and told our first experiences. I enjoyed hearing everyone's first experiences, although I felt like a total loser because I was the only one that seemed to have a more difficult time with it all the first time...but that was my experience and I was just trying to be honest. And I tried to make it positive. I hope Kendal understood that, even if no one else did. After FHE we stayed up really late playing games. I love playing games with big groups of people. We played Masters of Commerce (a new game we bought), Scum and Oh Heck! It was great. 

Tuesday morning we got up, packed up, cleaned a tiny bit and hit the road back to Columbia. The trip at the beach went way too fast! Way, way too fast. But it was totally relaxing and exactly what we needed. We slept in everyday and spent tons of time just laying around on the beach. Perfect. 

Josh and I had been wanting to hit up all his favorite restaurants but had been at the beach the whole week so we may have eaten like disgusting people on Tuesday, but it was awesome. We got Rush's (a local burger place) right after getting in town. Had Chick-Fil-A before going to the temple, Rush's again after the temple and Waffle House at 1:30am before going to bed. Yeah, disgusting, I know. But kind of awesome...right? The best part of the night was being there with Kendal as she took her endowments out though. It was amazing to see that. She seemed to really enjoy it and it was fun to hear what questions she had afterwards. She is so amazing and I'm so excited for her! It was great being all together in the celestial room. I am SO, SO thankful for eternal families. I hurt for those people who don't have that knowledge. It would kill me to think that I couldn't be with Josh and this soon-to-be-born little girl for eternity. 

[Newly endowed Kendal! And me showing off my belly, haha]

[Bronson, Kendal, Matt and Laurie]

[Josh at Waffle House late Tuesday night]

[Yes!]

[Our food at Waffle House...so good]

Well, Wednesday morning we woke up, got ready, said our goodbyes to everyone and Bronson took us to Spartanburg to catch our flight home. It was sad saying goodbye to everyone but at least we know when we'll see them all this time. Just 3 short months! When we got the airport to check in we found out that there was a huge storm sitting right on top of the Dallas airport which was where we were supposed to catch our connecting flight into SLC. The lady basically said, "Your plane will leave at least 3 hours later from here and I can't say how long you'll be waiting for your next plane in Dallas. Just know, it's going to be a loooong day." Seriously. Ugh. Luckily Josh asked about other cities and she, very kindly, put us on another airline that made a connection in Atlanta instead. It was great because we got there sooner than we would have traveling through Dallas, but our second flight was four hours long and that was just WAY too long to sit for me. Since it was such a big plane I was able to get up and walk around and just stand but it was still pretty miserable. But! We made it home, safe and sound and that's really all that matters. 

Our trip was perfect. Of course it went way too fast but it was so relaxing and so fun. I'm so thankful for such great in-laws. I feel truly blessed to say that I honestly enjoy spending time with them. :) I know a lot of people can't say that! Can't wait to see everybody in a few months when baby girl arrives!