"I wouldn't want to be married to someone smarter than me, or even as smart as me. But I wouldn't want to be married to someone as dumb as a pile of rocks either."

The Husband.

Glad to know he loves me because not only am I not as smart as him (so he thinks), but I am indeed smarter than a pile of rocks. :)

This made me laugh a lot.

Christmas cookies

Wow. I tried telling Jared that just because they were on sale we didn't need 7 boxes of cookies. He disagreed.

{ thanksgiving }

We drove down to San Antonio for Thanksgiving! It was lots of fun! We enjoyed lots of yummy food, games, and shopping. What more could you ask for? Heather is the best host. I just love her.

I made these candy turkeys with the girls. Jared was giving me a hard time that I was taking over the project. :) They were just a little harder to make than I thought. Peyton definitely helped me eat the candy though.

We also made these turkey cups. This was a little more their element.


Black Friday shopping was exciting for us this year! We have been wanting and waiting to make a few purchases in anticipation of this night! We scoped out the ads and Jared headed out to Target at about 6:00 to wait in line. It was so exciting. They only let 30 people in at a time and we were in the first 30! I was the first one to the camera counter, which was pretty thrilling. Jared says he could definitely see himself doing this every year.

This was our best trophy! There were only 7 left when they put this one in Jared's cart. It definitely felt like victory!

{ Halloween }

I LOVE that Heather and her cute family live just 3 hours away. I only wish it was closer, like next door closer; oh and that my whole family was there. Is that too much to ask? We were able to go to her home and celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving. I just love being with her and her cuties! We had fun!


Is he not the cutest? He was not happy that we were mean enough to put him in that pumpkin.


Hallie was a puppy this year. That costume has been in the family a LONG time. Dustin wore that when he was little and so did I. Peyton wanted to be something scary.

Our pumpkins.
Jared is so great to clean out our pumpkin every year. Sharing is awesome. :)

{ am i the only one? }

I noticed I did this the other day.

When I'm in someone else's house that is immaculate I literally tell myself that their drawers and cupboards are stuffed full of crap. :)

This may or may not make me a bad person.

Hopefully it just means I'm a slob.

{ Trip Highlights }

We were able to go to Rome and on a cruise in October with the Meier's. It was such an amazing experience! I still can't believe I was actually in these places. I'm so grateful for a beautiful world full of diverse people and places. It's simply incredible.

Here are just a few sample photos from the trip.

{ Camel Ride in Cairo }

{St. Paul's Basilica}

{ The Garden of Gethsemane}

{ Jerusalem }

{ The Vatican }

{ The Colosseum }

{ The Pantheon }

{ The Sea of Galilee }

{Pyramids at Giza}

{Turkey}

We feel so lucky to have been able to go to all these places!

{ Dear Neighbor }

Dear Neighbor,

Please do us both a favor and quit smoking. I can smell you.

It gives me a headache and makes me want to vomit.

Thanks,

Your neighbor with a pregnant nose.

{ so much to be grateful for }

I feel like these last few months have been so full of sweet tender mercies, miracles, and grand blessings that we are not deserving of, but so very grateful for!

I am {grateful} that:

We could live in Utah for 3 1/2 months! I loved being home! I was so spoiled. I love every person in my family so much! It felt like a non-stop party!


Jared and I celebrated 3 years of marriage in Vegas!


We could go to Park City and stay in a condo with my family. I love being together!


Our friends from Chicago came out to Utah for a visit.



I could spend some holidays with my family.


Heather and her cute family could come party with us for a month in Utah!


We could go on an amazing trip with the Meier's!



That I was able to find the most amazing doctor in Utah! (Dr. Hatasaka at Reproductive Care Center just fyi) I was able to have my left fallopian tube removed. His office was so wonderful to us!

I had this good man by my side through it all! Even though the last year and half of fighting infertility was one of the most difficult and emotional ones for me, it is also a time that will always be precious to me. Our marriage and relationship is forever changed.


The surgery + prayers + fasting + blessings
+? +? +? = positive pregnancy test! I was and still am in shock and so overwhelmed with gratitude.


I'm now 4 months pregnant and the worst of the sick part is over! Yay! Thanks to everyone who has prayed for us and supported us! We love you!


Jared wanted a picture of him in the same pose. ;)

{ jared's occupation dabbling }

Jared will start work as an attorney on November 14th, but as we wait he seems to be trying out a few other occupations. (Let's just say I'm grateful we will be sticking with attorney)

Job #1- Babysitter.
He has been SO good to my nieces and nephews while we've been living in Utah. One day when I got home this is what I saw in the middle of the street.
At first I was thinking who in the world is that... then as I got closer I realized they belonged to me.
The one time we left a couple of kids with him by himself Peyton came out as they were doing fireworks pulled down her panties and said "Look what I did" revealing some poop. He was pretty great to clean it all up.

Job #2- Entrepreneur
This began his last quarter of law school. The entire way to Utah I got to listen to awesome business idea after awesome business idea. Don't worry I talked him out of golf courses in the middle of nowhere for truckers. I assured him the market for truckdrivers has already been covered. But the brainstorming for his BIG IDEA still continues... maybe one day it will pay off?

Job #3- Doctor
Jared hurt his wrist at the beginning of the summer. I think it had to do with the 6 days in a row of golf with his dad. I try not to laugh at his self medicating. He has seen a doctor for it and they did not tell him anything about wrapping it or using a brace. But he knows best and is very particular about which brace he wears in the day, and when to wrap it at night. I'm not sure how long this will go on. When I ask if it feels any better he says he doesn't know. And he's going to job-shadow his brother at the hospital.

Job #4- Hairstylist
Jared wanted to color my hair for me. I figure it's a good investment to have him learn. So he did it! The whole time he kept saying, "how much is this going to cost to fix?" He actually did a good job, besides pulling my hair!

Job #5- Car Mechanic
Jared thought he would do some maintanence on the car. We had just had it serviced at the dealer and they didn't even mention the engine filter needing changed, but Jared came home got on google and decided he'd watch a little video and change it anyways. Well now the car is hissing... Not normal. He is pretty persistent that he didn't break it and that he can fix the new problem. Am I a bad wife for wanting him to stay away from the engine? Yikes! I'm glad he saved us $40 though, because they want to charge $100just to see where the leak is in the vacuum. I love him and think he's funny even if he broke the car.

Oh and the best part is he told the dealer that "his friend" put in the new filter and now it was making that noise. After looking at it and realizing how expensive it'd be to just diagnose it he said, "If I were you I'd just have your friend take a look at it."
Luckily he'll be an attorney in just a little while. I think that is the best fit for him!

(More pictures and updates to come. I am officially the WORST blogger.)

{ back to school }

I'm taking summer classes at BYU!
It feels a little strange to be back 3 years later.
Not my favorite classes, but they are a mean to an end.
Just counting down the days until the semester is OVER!

My dad was sure to take a photo before I left for my first day.

{ graduation }

I rarely brag about my husband, but I just have to say how proud I am of this handsome man! He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School, and I couldn't be happier for him! He is such a hard worker. He definitely gave school his all and his efforts paid off. He has been blessed with so many talents and I love seeing him put them to use. I think law school was the perfect fit for Jared. He loved it! I hope the next stage of our lives is filled with just as much fun and growth!

{ packing up }

Oh the joys of packing... The kitchen was definitely my least favorite part to pack. I just know I'm going to open a bunch of boxes full of broken things. We'll just cross our fingers that most of it made it there safely.

The last night we spent in our little apartment was not the most pleasant. All we had left out was a little lap blanket for the two of us. It was the middle of June so we weren't thinking it would be a problem. But we were wrong. We were both FREEZING! We were huddled up with our hoods on trying hard to sleep, but it was nearly impossible. -Note to anyone moving leave out decent blankets to sleep with!-

{ goodbye chicago }

We will always cherish our years spent in Chicago! It was hard to leave our fun little apartment and all the great friends we made. These are just some of the fun things we tried to squeeze in before we packed up our lives to start a new adventure.
Me & Kenzie How lucky were we to live in such a gorgeous place!

One last girls night with Monica, Elise, and Barbie. These girls are amazing!

Margie's Ice Cream with Patrick and Kenzie. I miss this couple so much already! They are so much fun!

Dinner with Krystal, one of my best friends from hair school.

Bonfire at Promontory Point.

One more rollerblading & beach day.

- Dinner at Kim's house with her family. I worked with Kim in the Primary for almost the whole three years. She does SO much service for our ward. I love her!

Our Church in Hyde Park.

One last sunday night game party! We love people who love games!