Spontaneity

Spontaneity is a quality I have always wished I could be described as. However, I have never done anything too spontaneous to support that. Although it may not be extremely spontaneous to everyone, for Justin and I we exhibited great spontaneity a few weeks ago. After years of pleading, I finally convinced Justin that Disneyland is not just a place for kids. I grew up going to Disneyland at least once a year if not more. We were those people who had annual passes and knew exactly how to do Disneyland the very best. Justin was completely opposite of me and spent his family vacations relaxing on the beach or skiing down the mountains. Justin had only been to Disneyland twice in his life and really did not understand the fascination everyone had with it. One day, out of the blue, he looked at me and said, "I think we should go to Disneyland." You can only imagine the shock that came over me. My husband asking me to go to Disneyland??? We considered our options. We knew the best times to go were either September or October. We decided we could wait till next year or try to find a weekend within the next month that would work for us. We had company coming into town a week and a half later and we didn't want to go the weekend before Halloween. Our only option was the fast approaching coming weekend. We thought about it for a day or so and decided why not? We have no kids, no weekend obligations, and no regrets. We booked our hotel room at ten on Thursday night and left for Disneyland after work on Friday. Since we had limited time, we decided to do one full day at Disneyland, stay one more night, then come home. I don't think Justin understood the meaning of a FULL day at Disneyland that I referred to. We got to the park at 7:45 a.m. so we could be on Main Street when the gates opened and we didn't leave the park until 1:00 a.m. We strategically planned every ride with fast passes and short wait times. We did not sit down to eat or rest for more than 45 minutes the whole day. It was a very full day and we were exhausted... And our crazy hotel neighbors banging on our door at three in the morning did not help the exhaustion (I was sure in my dreamy daze they were going to break down our door and murder us, but I continued to lay in bed unfazed letting my exhaustion take over). It took us three days to recover from our "vacation", but it was well worth it. I have completely converted Justin... He is already asking when we can go back. It is a vacation we will never forget. And it helped me get a little closer to being a spontaneous soul.

Please ignore my disgusting hair in this picture... It was the only one we took in front of the castle and we didn't realize how bad it was until it was dark out.

In front of Minnie's house

In front of Mickey's house

Small World

Justin thought this was the best poster he had ever seen!

Last ride of the night... My very favorite!

Haunted Mansion

Just to prove that Carol really was the last car in the parking lot.

Oh, The Places You'll Go

This couch has been through a lot in it's lifetime. I became very attached to it very quickly. I thought it was very vintage looking and perfect for our little newlywed apartment. Justin was never crazy about the floral fabric, but I insisted it was the most perfect couch. This couch has moved from Boston to Utah (where we acquired it from Justin's wonderful sister and brother-in-law) and then from Utah to Arizona. It has been moved in through a window because the door was too small, has had a leg sawed off because the next door was also too small, it has held a sweet mother while she nursed her child, it has had three playful children jump upon it, and it has kept us so cozy as we watched countless movies with friends, family, or just the two of us. It broke my heart when I realized our move to Arizona finally did this couch in. It's cushions were lopsided, it's fabric becoming dull, and it just didn't feel as cozy. Our perfect little newlywed couch will be missed.

Two Years

On May 9th, Justin and I celebrated our second anniversary. I can't believe two years have already passed. This year our anniversary was on a Monday so we celebrated mostly on the Saturday before. We didn't do anything too extravagant, but we did go to Roy's for dinner on Saturday. Roy's is an amazing Hawaiian restaurant that is at the hotel we stayed at after we got married. We went there the day after our wedding before we left on our honeymoon, so we thought we would go back this year to reminisce. It was just as delicious as we remembered. After Roy's, we walked outside the hotel for a little while. It is such a pretty hotel with little streams, pretty bridges and walkways, and a live band. It was fun to just relax and enjoy being together.

On Monday, our actual anniversary, we decided we needed to celebrate again. Golfing is something Justin and I love to do together. We went to a driving range and hit some golf balls for a little while. Nothing too romantic, but very us. We had a very fun anniversary weekend.

"I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend..."

Graduation

Ok so I'm a little late on this update, as well as those to follow, but I figure it's never too late to post about GRADUATION! Justin graduated back in December, but UVU doesn't have a ceremony in December so he never got to walk. When he started his job, they told everyone they would not be able to take time off for a year, so don't even ask. Later we found out that you could take time off if it wasn't around a holiday, but only after all your training and boot camp was over. Justin was really bummed that he wouldn't be able to walk at graduation. As time went on, all of Justin's coworkers got sick. It may seem like I'm exaggerating, but I literally mean every...single...one, except for Justin and one other guy. I don't know how he didn't catch whatever was going around. I even had it, but somehow it missed him. Lucky guy! Justin started thinking about the fact that he was one of two people that had perfect attendance. He decided there was no harm in asking for the day off and he would regret it if he didn't just ask. After a long, long wait, his manager told him that graduation is a once in a lifetime thing and he needed to go. We were so excited! The day Justin walked was also my mom's birthday, so it was fun to be able to celebrate with her as well. It was a quick trip and we wish we could've stayed longer, but it was so much fun to go be with family and friends. It was especially fun to see our niece, Avery, because she has grown and changed a lot since we last saw her. She has such a personality now. I was a little selfish and wouldn't let anyone else hold her the entire weekend. I love sweet little babies that just love to be held.

Justin walking into the ceremony and first seeing us in the crowd. His face makes me smile every time I look at this picture. You can see how happy he was to be there.

The Korean band that performed at the ceremony. I was bored out of my mind, but Justin said he really liked it... I guess that's all that counts.

This guy took my boredom right away. I could not stop laughing at his crooked hat. My mom, Sam, and I were seriously shaking we were laughing so hard.

Justin and his friend Daniel

The happy graduate

Justin and me

We were so happy Jodi could be there to support Justin.

Justin and Dallin

Justin and Sam

Oh how we miss the Van Blerkoms...

It was freezing outside so we were hurrying to take pictures and didn't even notice my mom's eyes were closed in this one. It is the only one of us with my parents at the graduation.

Oh well...

Opening Day

Justin and I love baseball! It always reminds us of summer and when we were first dating. We used to go to Diamondbacks games all the time when we lived here for a summer while we were dating. We even got on the kiss cam once, which was not only at the stadium, but also on tv for some reason. It was extremely embarrassing to kiss in front of so many people!

This year we got to go to opening day! It was so much fun! It made us realize how close summer is! After the game, they put on a big fireworks show, which made the game even better! We love going to the games together and remembering all the great memories we have there.

Our New Home

It has taken me forever to take these photos, but I finally did. Here is our apartment!

Before:

After:

This is my favorite part of our house!

I've always wanted a little shelf to decorate on top of the cupboards!

Avery Ella Mitchell

So I realized I never posted about our trip to Utah. We got to go to Utah for a quick trip over President's Day weekend for our niece's blessing. It was fun to be home and see our wonderful family and friends! It was definitely too quick, but lots of fun!

Avery

Me, Kim, Melissa, and my sister Stephanie

My sister Stephanie, my mom, me, and Avery

Justin, me, and Avery

How blessed can we be?

I am feeling so blessed right now. I don't know why Justin and I deserve what has come our way, but I could not be happier. Not only has Justin landed an amazing job that he loves so much, but now I have been given the opportunity to begin the perfect job for me! I was just hired as a Speech Language Pathologist Assistant for a school district near us! I could not be more excited! And the best part of it is, it will be close to home so no more long commutes! I cannot wait to start this amazing job! I've had a few days since we moved to Arizona where I had a pity party for myself and honestly wondered why we moved. For the most part I have been happy and have loved having free time and hanging out with family while Justin is at work. However, I did LOVE my job and our life in Utah, so there were a few days I wondered why I ever thought it was a good idea to leave. I already knew it was right for us to be here, but I feel it more and more everyday as everything falls into place. We feel so lucky and so thankful for how we have been blessed and the wonderful life we have here in Arizona. We cannot wait to move into our apartment this weekend and finally really get settled into our life here!

Now that we are away from a lot of family and friends, I get lots of grief for the lack of updates on my blog... so here it goes!

We finally have an apartment! We are so excited! We signed our contract last night and will be moving in two weeks from Saturday. We love the location and cannot wait to live so close to work. Pictures will come soon after we move in.

As for other happenings in our life, there are not many. We love being in Arizona! It really feels like home. We also have loved living with our grandparents. They are so sweet and loving and help us out a lot. I think they love having the company around as well. Grandpa kept telling us to cancel our contract last night and keep living with them. They are great!

Justin loves his job! It is so nice to see how much he loves it, especially since he's still in boring training. He loves the people he works with, the atmosphere, and the company itself. I've taken him lunch a few times and it's been really fun to meet his friends and see his work. We are so blessed to even have a job during this bad economy, but to have one that Justin loves so much is much more than we could ask for.

We are having fun and loving life! Not much more you could ask for.

New Year, New Beginnings

This New Year has brought a whole new life for us... We are now officially Arizonians (if that is even the technical term). It is weird to think we aren't just on vacation this time.
On Monday, January 10th, Justin found out that he had gotten a job in Arizona. We were excited, but very nervous. It was what we had been wanting for a long time, so neither one of us could figure out why we felt so unsure of the whole idea of moving. It was partly because of the quick move we would have to make. Justin's job would be starting in two weeks! We were waiting to hear from one more job that would've started a little later, so we didn't get everything finalized with the first until that Friday. That meant that our time had now gone from two weeks to one. We planned to pack up and move in exactly one week. What a stressful and emotional week! We didn't really realize we had a life in Utah. I know that sounds lame, but I've always called Arizona home, not Utah. So I thought it would feel so natural to move back home. Unfortunately, I was very wrong. We have great family, wonderful friends, and of course my amazing job in Utah. And we had to say goodbye to it all. Not goodbye really, just see you later. It was a roller coaster of emotions. Long story short...we packed up and moved on Friday the 21st. Justin has now started work and I'm on the hunt for a job as well as an apartment. It's exciting to start fresh and we are already loving being here! But there are plenty of things we will miss in Utah... Here are a few...

1. Our family: We have a wonderful family in Utah that we won't get to see as often anymore. We have tons of family here too so it's an easier transition, but sometimes I wish everyone could live close so we wouldn't have to make the transition. It's a good thing we have cell phones...

2. Our friends: We have made some amazing friends in Utah and it was very hard to leave them. But we are currently working on recruiting to get them to Arizona after school!

3. My wonderful job and coworkers (who also fit into the above category): I absolutely love my job and the people there! I could not have asked for a better career right out of college. I am very lucky! They are all so wonderful and threw such a nice little party before I left. The teachers in my classroom planned a fun little game of how well do I know my kids. Each child had a piece of gum and if I got the question about them wrong they got to give me their piece of gum to chew. Sadly, I got 7 wrong, but I must say they were not easy questions! After the game we all ate cake, but the kids thought it was my birthday, not my last day. Everyone at the Academy gave me the sweetest little gifts to always remind me of Elizabeth Academy. We took lots of pictures and had lots of fun! We laughed and we cried. They are all the most wonderful people and I will miss each and every one of them.

4. My kids: My sweet little babies that I teach bring joy to me everyday. It was so hard to leave them. Many of them didn't understand that I was leaving, but the ones that did absolutely broke my heart. I will miss all of them everyday.

These are only a few things we will miss, there are many many more. But we are extremely excited about starting our little family here in Arizona! When I get my computer out of our trailer I will post pictures of Justin on his first day of work and my last day of work, and of course our apartment...when we finally have one!