Turning 24...

I was once again excited for my birthday this year!  It snuck up on me...but I was ready to celebrate when it came.  Bryce gave me my present probably 2 weeks before my birthday - a new personalized ipad case - and I was so mad at him for not being able to wait so I could have a surprise on my birthday!  So he rebuttled saying he would plan 10 surprises for me and I didn't argue with that. 

Surprise #1 - Bryce took the day off!  This is very rare as he works 4 days a week and has school 2 days a week.

Surprise #2 Breakfast at Ruth's diner!  We love this little gem up the canyon.  The breakfast there is SO good.  We've since gone there to dinner with our friends and it was delicious as well.  Basically you can't go wrong if you go there.  We got to eat outside and the weather was gorgeous.

Surprise #3 A trip to Utah's natural history museum.  It's the new one by our apartment and we've always wanted to go there.  Entry is free with our U cards so we checked it out.  It's pretty sweet!  The view was my favorite

Surprise #4 A trip to the zoo - I was very excited for this, but even more excited when I learned that...

Surprise #5 My nephews were coming!  Along with my SIL & BIL to join us.  That was really fun

Surprise #6 I got to go to the mall and pick out something fun to buy - I love when you can make guiltless purchases

Surprise #7 Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory - my favorite!  And even better when...

Surprise #8 Our friends, The Shermans, came down from up north to join us!  We have so much fun with them

Surprise #9 I kind of knew about this one because I'd asked for it...but watching an outdoor movie @ my dad's house.  We watched Stardust - I think this is such a great movie

and finally, Surprise #10 - my sister was there to watch the movie with us.  I NEVER see my sister.  She is so busy working and living downtown having a great time that it's hard to ever get her schedule to match up with mine.  This was a great birthday surprise and I'm SO glad Bryce knew me well enough to coordinate such a good one. 

I would definitely rank this as one of my top birthday days thanks to my husband Bryce who is just the best.  We were so tired after all of it that sleeping in on Saturday was pretty sweet as well!  Here's to being 24!!!

The end of one chapter brings the start of a new one...

I always knew we'd move out of married housing eventually, but I just never actually pictured the day actually arriving.  And I'm sad about it!  Of course I'm excited for a new adventure, but I'm so happy with our little place & routine that I'm always a little resistant to change, but of course end up loving it once it happens.  As most of you know we are officially home owners!  This experience has been such a blur, but perfect at the same time.  I think I was expecting so many speed bumps during the process, that I was almost in disbelief when there weren't any.  We met our realtor in May (?) and he told us to get looking at properties online and make a list of our favorites so we could start looking in the middle of June.  Easy enough right?  So we start looking at pictures and starring our favorites and I'm just dreading the thought of driving all over the valley, arranging appointments, looking at all these different places, and just not knowing what to do.  I figured that's what everyone did so I'd be fine. 

Wed May 30 - new house is listed, Bryce sees it, tells me to check out the pictures, I love it so we ask our realtor to go see what it's like - he says it's pretty awesome!

Thursday May 31 - realizing how awesome this townhouse is we drive out there the next day, love it so much, don't want anyone else to take it - so we drive to our realtor's house (we'll end up being his neighbor ha ha) and put in an offer

Friday June 1- offer ACCEPTED!  No counter offer besides moving up the closing date to sooner than we had suggested.  What just happened????  Now it was time for Bryce and I to actually think about it!

I could wash dishes and cook on the stove at the same time...

1513 was good to us!

The more we thought about it, the more right it felt.  Our families came to take a look and they liked it, we fasted and prayed and it was apparent it was right for us.  Everything went as smooth as butter and we closed on Monday July 2.  Literally a month from when we first saw it.  We moved our stuff over little by little and finally made the big move on July 14.  I can't believe it!  I LOVE this house with every fiber of my being (dramatic much? ha ha) and I can't believe I can call it home.  Our first big purchase (after the house) was our own washer and dryer.  I can't even express my excitement about that, about an oven with two racks and wide enough for a cookie sheet, about a DISHWASHER, and walls that aren't made of cinder blocks plus carpet that I can lay on and is actually too long to "sweep" clean.  It's just a dream come true!  Come visit!!!

Thanksgiving at our house this year...Susan's cooking of course :)