Baby Shower

One of our dental friends are also having a little baby this year, they are due just a few weeks after I am and they are having a little boy. A few of the girls in Scott's class are pretty excited about us having babies and they decided to throw us a little joint baby shower. It was so sweet of them to think of us, when I know they probably could be busy doing something school related. ( I didn't take any of my own pictures so here are the ones I pulled from Facebook.

I know, I look retarded.

The other happy couple. Eric and Kimmy.

It was so fun, and a little overwhelming, to meet so many of Scott's classmates. I'm pretty proud of myself, I think that I remember a solid 20 or so names from the people I was introduced to. They had a couple games set up for people to play.

They could put a $1 in the pot and guess when the baby would come.
Closest person gets the money.

They got to give us some advice.
My favorite was advice for Scott to take me out sometimes.

They wrote little messages on some diapers for us. Some of them were awesome.

Guess how many m&ms are in the bottle bank. (1377 m&ms)

Cute food display, we even got to keep the binky.

Quite a few people came out, we really appreciate all the support!

Huge Thank You to the girls who took the time to organize this for us, Valentina, Valerie, Emily, and Alicia. You guys are wonderful (although I doubt any of you read our blog, haha)! Scott and I really couldn't imagine being anywhere else, we are so lucky to be a part of this class, and living the life out here in Milwaukee. 

Something I missed 6 months ago.

I am going to apologize right now because the majority of my posts lately have been all about Scott (Let's be honest, I think he's pretty freaking awesome!). Plus, I figure in a few months that will all change and everything I post will be baby related, so enjoy the subject of Scott while you can. 

6 months ago was Scott's 25th birth... which is a HUGE deal.  He officially became a quarter of a century (After age 21 there are very few landmark birthdays and I think 25 is one of them. It's the birthday that I think people start falling into the "old" category). I didn't totally forget about his birthday or anything, he still was able to open some gifts and things. We didn't really do anything special to celebrate. I wanted to do cake and ice cream with some of his friends, but then things just didn't work out and once I realized it wasn't going to work out it was already too late to celebrate Scott's birthday. 

His family always does mini cupcakes in the shape of the number you are turning and I love that tradition so I plan on continuing it with our family. Since I didn't get to make him his cupcakes on his birthday I figure the next best day to celebrate it would be on his half birthday. Today we celebrated Scott by eating his favorite dinner (chicken wantons), cake, and ice cream. Happy 25.5 Scott! (I won't miss your birthday next year)

It says 25.5, but it's hard to read at this angle

Yep, I made him blow our candles... he didn't get to on his actual birthday.

He got them all but one, he tried to convince me to only do half the candles.

Chicago... Our Delayed Anniversary Adventure

There have been 3 or 4 times that Scott and I have made plans to go to Chicago to do all the touristy stuff. We always have the intention to go down but then it rains or something else comes up that we feel is more important. This time we actually followed through with our plans and we went to Chicago.

Our anniversary just happened to be right in the middle of Scott's finals week, so we decided to push back our celebrating until Scott was on his break from school. We also figure this will be our last chance to get out and do our own thing before the baby comes. Chicago was so much fun! (Excuse the pictures, it's hard to get the two of us in the same picture. We needed to find someone to come with us next time so we can get pictures of both of us together.)

First we went to the temple, since it can sometimes be hard to get down there when we plan to. The temple in Chicago seems so different from the ones in Utah. It is much smaller and much quieter. 

After the temple we checked into our hotel, and headed downtown. We decided to stay in a hotel by the airport and then just catch the train into the city to save some money. We walked around millennium park for a little bit and just looked at how huge all the buildings were. We got to see the famous "bean".

By the time we got into the city and walked around for a little while we were STARVING. So we pulled up a map of close by restaurants and saw that there was a PF Changs not too far from where we were. (We figured that PF Changs was perfect since we were celebrating our anniversary and we had our first date and got engaged at the PF Changs in Provo)

My phone didn't flash, so Scott's
picture of me is a little better

It took FOREVER to get our food and then even longer for us to get our check. By the time dinner was over both Scott and I were ready to go back to the hotel and just hang out for the night. The next day we woke up and headed straight for an architecture boat tour. Here are some of the cool buildings we saw. Scott went a little crazy with the camera. I think we have like 20 identical pictures of each of the buildings we passed. The tour was a little expensive, but it was really fun seeing all of the buildings and being able to hear about some of the history. It was perfect weather the entire morning, and we only started getting hot during the last 10 or so minutes of the tour.

Trump building

Wrigley Building

Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower)

The buildings are so Tall!

We just happened to be in Chicago while they were doing the air and water show, which meant that every 10 minutes or so we had fighter jets flying over us. I cannot believe how loud those jets can be. 

They look tiny, but they sure do make a lot of noise.

A friend of mine recommended that we go to Giordano's to grab some Chicago style pizza, and we happened to walk past one on our way back to the train. It was really good pizza, but the two of us couldn't eat the whole pizza by ourselves.

We had planned to head over to the Shedd aquarium for the rest of the afternoon, but when we got there the line to get tickets was HUGE and it wasn't moving. We decided that we live close enough to Chicago that we can plan a trip on a different day to go to the aquarium. Instead we walked over to the Buckingham Fountain. It was pretty cool, and something I hadn't heard of before.

It was a great weekend and I really loved being able to spend time with Scott. This year is supposed to be the hardest year of school, so I probably won't be seeing him too much once the school year starts.

Jammin'

A month or so ago I split a box of peaches with one of our neighbors. They were amazing and I have been craving more peaches ever since. I really wanted another bunch of peaches and so I found a friend willing to split a box with me (25 lbs of peaches is a lot of peaches for only 2 people). The peaches are finally ripe and ready to eat! They are so delicious, I am pretty sure I eat between 2-5 peaches a day. Even with only half a box I have to get creative on how to go through 13ish lbs of peaches. 

 

I feel like we always had homemade jam on hand while I was growing up. I can remember helping my mom mash up strawberries or raspberries, whatever it was that we were going to make into jam. Raspberry peach jam is by far my favorite kind of homemade jam. It is amazing!

Last summer I attempted to make some strawberry jam, and it didn't turn out very well. It was extra runny, and Scott complained that I didn't add enough sugar. I thought I would attempt to make some raspberry peach jam, and get rid of all the uneaten jam from last year's attempt. If you are naive and don't know how much sugar is in homemade jam don't look at my pictures... There is A LOT of sugar in homemade jam.

Raspberries

Peaches - I chopped them up a lot smaller that this

Just the fruit

Then I added the sugar... 

After adding all the sugar and pectin.

I only had 7 jars on hand, so I had to use some other containers.

 I tried some this morning on a piece of toast and I think that it tasted great. Now I just need Scott to wake up and test it to see if it really is good.  I'm debating going to the store to get more jars so I can make a second batch, to share of course.

 

This guy!

Today this guy officially finished his first year of dental school (one year down, three more to go).  At times I have felt like the year dragged on, but looking back I can't believe that we have already been out here for over a year. His second year is supposed to be the hardest of the four years (to add to all the chaos we're having a baby). I couldn't be more proud of Scott and all of his hard work.That’s reason enough for a little celebratory bragging, right?  

Scott’s first year of school has been a busy one (at least the first two semesters were) and he didn’t complain once about how often he had to stay at school to finish studying or to finish a project. He tried his best to make time for the two of us, especially when he was swamped with school stuff. Scott is really good about being optimistic, even when he is feeling overwhelmed with his work load.

Scott is really smart. Scott has picked up quite a few things over the past years (hours and hours of studying). Unlike me he still remembers things that he learned while in school.

Scott is extremely hard working. He goes to school all day and he still takes the time to help out around the house. He does most of the dishes, a lot of the laundry, and has yet to ask me to ever take out the trash.

Scott is really funny, and he makes me laugh quite a bit these days. He always knows how to cheer me up when I have had a long day or when I need a break. He knows when to be silly and when to be serious.

Scott is one of the friendliest people I know. He is always encouraging me to make friends or go out of my way to make sure that others feel included. He is great about making sure everyone is involved in a conversation, which is helpful to me because I’m not a very loud person.

Scott is going to be an amazing Dad. His dad was a great example to him and he is always telling me how he can’t wait for our little girl to get here already so he can show her how much he loves her. Anytime we see our neighbor’s kids he is holding them or playing with them. He is going to be great with our little girl.

Scott is really good at giving foot (leg) rubs. Seriously all I have to do is put my feet somewhere near him and he will start rubbing them. You would think that after over a year he would have given up on rubbing my feet really often, but he hasn’t he still does it on a daily basis. (Sometimes it's only like a 20 sec rub, but hey I won't complain)

Scott always volunteers to drive, which I love. I don't hate driving, but it's nice to know that if we are going somewhere new he will be the one getting lost and not me. 

Scott trusts me enough to cut his hair for him. At first I started cutting his hair to try and save money, but I have really started to enjoy cutting his hair. It is 30 minutes of uninterrupted time for Scott and I to “hang-out”. A couple weeks ago, I even let him cut my hair… it turned out fine and feels so much more healthy.

Scott is my best friend and I couldn't imagine my life without him. He is the best husband a girl could ask for and he is working hard so that we can have a good life. 

Scott – I love you and I couldn’t be more proud of who you are and what you are doing in life. You are amazing and I am so glad that you and I are an “us”. Thank you for being you, and being such a huge part of my life!

Has it really been 3 years?

It’s crazy to think that Scott and I have been married for 3 years. Marrying Scott was the best decision that I have ever made. I cannot even begin to explain how lucky I am to have a guy like Scott to call mine, for eternity. It really has been a wonderful 3 years of marriage. It's crazy how far Scott and I have come since we first met.

Scott and I met a little over 6 ½ years ago, at a service project at BYU. We met all due to a little love triangle between my roommates and his. After meeting him, I never really thought I would see him again. However, the next day Scott was asked to come be my “fill-in” date for the rest of the night because my date bailed early from our group date...and then he came over to fix our internet… and then to study with one of my roommates… and then just to hang out with me. We saw each other every day for 171 days from the day that we met(this meant that there were days that Scott would drive up to bountiful just to see me for a little bit before going back down to Provo)...The rest is history…

These are a few of our favorite memories:               

• On our first date I challenged Scott to a race from his apartment to the creamery across the parking lot. He took off running, tripped halfway to the creamery, rolled a few times, got up and finished the race, all I while I stood there and watched. Instead of getting ice cream at the creamery we left with a few medical supplies and I helped him get all his cuts cleaned up.

• One night we were talking (late into the night) and he was telling me about how he wanted to go to dental school to be a dentist. I said, it’s a good thing you’re going to be a dentist because if our kids… [get my teeth their going to need a dentist in the family] We hadn’t really been dating for very long at the time and I was so embarrassed that I started talking about our future kids.

• Scott loves to talk in his sleep. If I am awake enough to respond I can usually get him to have a full conversation with me. He usually won’t remember anything in the morning. It always happens about an hour after he falls asleep. One of these days I plan to record him.

• Scott and I both love BYU sports. BYU has come out to Wisconsin twice since we moved here (and probably won’t again). Once was for Football, and the other for the NCAA tournament. We lost both games out here, but we both bleed blue and it was great to see them play!

Football

NCAA

• I have bucket list of things that I would like to do before I die. Some of them are more serious than others, but one of the things on my list was to spend $200 on a meal. Scott decided to take me to La Caille up in Salt Lake where we spent a pretty penny to eat. I wish that I had pictures it was definitely a memorable meal.

• Our first ultrasound with this pregnancy was done at 6 weeks. Pretty much the only thing you could see was a little heart flickering. It was amazing and made it seem so much more real that we are going to be parents.

• Our sealing in the temple was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The person who did our ceremony was funny and gave some great advice. I am so grateful that I am able to be sealed to my family for eternity!

• While packing all of our stuff to move Scott decided that we should sell the furniture that I had and that we would just buy new furniture later. His only experience with apartments has been BYU housing (which is usually furnished) and he didn’t realize that we would need to provide our own furniture when we moved. We ended up buying furniture much earlier than Scott would have expected.

• Scott makes me laugh, one night he was trying to explain to me how he got good at staying on his bike (during his mission) while he was stopped at a light. Here is the video of him explaining it to me. It is probably much funnier to me.

These past 3 years have flown by, and have been some of the best years of my life. It’s crazy how much life has changed for the two of us since we tied the knot, and in the next few months it will change even more.  I am so happy being married to Scott and I love him more every day. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

State Fair 2014

This is our second year going to the state fair. Last year we were able to go with Steve and Heidi while they were out here. I think that it is always better to go with friends to these kinds of things. 

This year we went with our dental school friends. So you know how many different foods can be fried? As if Twinkies weren't already unhealthy enough for you.  We didn't try anything too crazy this year, we had: chocolate milk, strawberry milk, fruit hoops milk, fried pickles, cheese curd, pizza cones, funnel cake, and ice cream sundaes. Foods we didn't try: chocolate covered bacon on a stick, deep fried cheese cake, fried peanut butter and jelly, cajun shark, turtle on a stick, maple cotton candy or maple sundae. Next year maybe we will get a little more daring and go for some of the less normal food. 

Funnel Cake

Fried Pickles

25 cent Milk

Chocolate and Strawberry Milk (Creepy Brady in the back)

One of the friends we were with has a couple of kids so we went through and saw the animals they had. We started out walking through and looking at the sheep, eventually we moved on to the cows. Do you know how huge cows are? We drove past plenty on our way out to Wisconsin, but standing right next to them made them seem so much bigger than I thought they were. I remember milking a cow once when I was super little, but when you're little everything seems big. Turns out that cows are still big even after you aren't little yourself. 

This is Vance, he's adorable and it was fun hanging out with him at the fair.

I needed to sit down for a minute, and a performer started setting up his act right next to us. He said he was going to fit a bunch of people into a huge latex balloon. We figure since we were already there we might as well stay and watch his little act. He had a huge balloon that he filled up with a leaf blower, and he managed to fit himself and 4 others in the balloon with him. It was pretty crazy. (I will post pictures once Scott sends them to me.)

There are 5 people in there...

As we were walking out of the fair I realized how swollen my hands were. It was pretty hot outside and we were walking around for a little under 4 hours. I couldn't get my wedding ring off of my hand, and it is usually pretty loose on me. Once I got home I realized that my feet were even more swollen than my hands (I'm guessing this is all thanks to being pregnant). That was enough state fair for me, but I'm sure we will probably be ready to go next year when it rolls around.