The Land of the Free

Some of our friends had a 4th of July party that Nic and I were invited to! It was so much fun! We got to meet fun new couples, hit a pinata that we found at a garage sale earlier that morning for 25 cents.. SCORE, have burgers, and fireworks!

MEET ERWIN

the whole gang

boys being piros which totally freaked the wives out (on several occasions I might add)

I'm not sure what these ones are called but they FREAK ME OUT! Even if they aren't close to me I run every time they randomly spin out of control

gotta love smoke bombs

Nic was a fan of the sparklers!

Thanks for inviting us Beau and Mindy!!

The Last Supper

A while back I found out that my dad and Edie were moving... to Denver. My whole life I have lived in the same town as my dad (except college). He moved the week after my birthday and it is hard to believe they are actually gone. Living in Pocatello, I look forward to the infrequent times when we get to go to my home. I have two homes now, one here with Nic and the other where I grew up. We are going back to visit in August and I wonder what it will be like to not be able to see them while we are there. But I know this is what they had to do and I'm proud of them for taking a leap of faith and moving somewhere "foreign". This is a BIG reason why we went home for my birthday, to say goodbye. (hence the last supper)

baby Ava (fulfilling my "baby hunger")

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture!

She is gonna be a little heart breaker someday, watch out little boys!

So listen to this... when I first met Nic he had told me that he wasn't sure if he wanted to have kids. Yes, I FREAKED out after this comment thinking, "AHH I have found the perfect guy for me and he doesn't want to have kids".. this just is going to work. I brought it up several times and each time his answer would change a little bit to the point where he definitely wanted kids. I asked him one time what made him change his mind. He told me it was several reasons, a few being, the way I looked when I was around them, how good I was with them, how much he really has wanted a big family. With this said, anytime we are at these kind of family functions I seem to lose Nic. The first place I always check is with the guys. Today in paticular, they were all playing washers and I thought he would for sure be out there joining them and was surprised when he wasn't. Then I hear a little giggle and look to the other corner of the yard and find him with Abby, helping her with her balloon.... and I just smiled. I came back out again later and again he was kicking a ball back and forth with her. (He had never held a baby before) so a little while later I ask him if he wants to hold Ava and he gently lifts her up out of my arms and cradles her so close. He looked terrified of dropping her haha Then when she began to cry (he didn't freak out like most guys do) he held her even closer and swayed her back and forth. He is going to be the best dad in the whole world whether he knows it or not!!!

Jared would probably kill me if he knew I kept this picture haha

cutest little baby ever!

Josh learning how to change a diaper, atta boy!

wish I would have remembered to get the whole family in a photo but I'm glad I got one with this strapping young fellow!

We also celebrated my birthday at our family dinner. Josh gave me a card that sang "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and Abby LOVED it. She carried it around the whole night (a.k.a. opened and closed it a million times in a row) ...... and later I found this..... looks like she wasn't the only one who loved the card!

I love my family and cherish every moment we have together. Can't wait for the day when we can all be back together in the same town... maybe Christmas?!?!

What I Would Tell High School Me

Dear High School me,

There are some things I wish you knew back then that I know now. But I also know that I wouldn't be who I am today without you and the things you went through. I want you to know that the hard lessons you learn are important and make you a stronger person. I want you to know that all those friends you make who seem like your whole world at the time... only a few stay close to you when you leave the walls of that place. But the ones who do, will be your best friends for the rest of your life. I want you to know that those moments when your heart is broken and you feel like it is the end of the world, they honestly won't even matter 5 years from now. I know that is SO hard to believe, but it is SO true. Those boys who break your heart are there to lead you to the man who never will. Don't let anything stop you from believing in what you do because ultimately your beliefs are the foundation of your life and guide you to do the right things. I want you to know that there is a whole world out there waiting for you. It is a world full of dreams. It is a scary world. The classes you are taking are preparing you for college, the homework is teaching you deadlines, and the teachers are pushing you to look beyond your reach. Graduation day feels like the end of a chapter but it is just because you are going to begin an even better one. I know it is hard to believe now, but your life isn't going to go exactly how you planned it and it's okay. I know you struggle with change and have a hard time deviating from your plans but be willing because those changes in plans are EXACTLY what you need. More importantly, they are God's will for your life, not your own will. But trust me when I say, they quickly become your own will and you will love everything about them. Love every moment you have to spend with your family because someday, you just might not all live in the same town. But most importantly out of everything I have told you, always remember that life is short, so enjoy every single moment. Soak it all in. Don't regret anything because you will never be able to take it back. Forgive and forget so that your heart is open to every new idea, day, and choice that comes your way. You have a beautiful life ahead of you so don't take any day for granted and never stop dreaming.

Love, 21 year old me

Forever 21

Sometimes it is hard for me to believe that I have lived 21 years already. Most days go by so fast that I hardly get the chance to stop for a moment and take it all in. On the other hand, I am glad to be 21. haha I couldn't take another second of Nic's "craddle-robber" jokes... we aren't THAT many years apart. His birthday is in June too so for 23 days he is 4 years older than me, and for those 23 days I am reminded of that fact every day. I gotta be honest, I never really imagined myself being married by my 21st birthday. I was always going to wait until I graduated, worked a little bit, could fully take care of myself, blah blah blah. Now I can't imagine myself NOT being married at 21! I love ever second of it and I am happy we were married sooner rather than later so we have that many more years to spend as husband and wife.

For most people, turning 21 tops a lot of their other birthdays but for me 16 and 20 will probably always be my favorite.

When I turned 16, my best friend Sara threw me my first surprise birthday party! It was a blast! We played water balloon volleyball, big booty, and ate cake with a big picture of me on it. I know it was meant to be that I was born in the summer because it is my favorite time of the year.

One thing that I have always thought was so romantic and wanted to happen to me sometime was have the man I love randomly show up on my door step from being out of town and surprise me when I had no idea he was coming. I had always imagined how romantic and cute that would be. Well one time I must have mentioned it to Nic because last year on my 20th birthday he did just that! We were spending the summer apart, he was working in Pocatello, and I was living at home in Meridian. I was SHOCKED when I opened up my door! One of the BEST feelings I have ever had by far :) Oh and did I mention that after a day full adventures and little cards leading me from one place to the next, we got engaged!

So even though my 21st birthday was still special, nothing will be able to top those two birthdays for me.

I love being with my family and couldn't imagine my birthday away from them so we took a little weekend trip to Merville and here is how it went:

The drive

Totaling 3 and a half hours these are the beautiful sites to see...

Construction #1.. thank you for adding a good half an hour extra to our drive!

The breath taking scenery (you will thank me from the lack of cow farm pictures)

Construction #2... I MEAN REALLY?!?!

and THE BEST part of the whole journey.... MY TREE FARM!!

Reasons why I love it

1. It looks amazing during EVERY season

2. It is the point that tells me I am a little over half way to Boise

3. It is something for me to look forward to on that boring drive

4. and many others

Someday, when I own my first home, I am going to buy a tree from my tree farm and plant it in my yard so I have my tree farm with me every day :)

When we finally made it there, we went to Smoky Mountain for dinner (mmm) with my mom, Brendan and my best friend Bara!

Then we came home to open presents. Nic was all excited because he got a belated one from Bara.. Wingers gift card. His FAVORITE!

LOVED these flip flops

yes, I look like something that would come out of A BUGS LIFE

best friend

this is me basically wearing everything I got right over my clothes haha except the jeans

Love my momma

We played "Roar Lion Roar" (which if you haven't played you would be in for a treat)

and had...

What a perfect day, here's to being FOREVER 21 :)

BEST month of my life!

Yesterday marked one month since Nic and I have been married. Our marriage has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. It is so nice to have a man to come home to at the end of the day who loves me, thanks me for my cooking, treats me like a queen. I knew it would but this month has FLOWN by.. I just hope the next 50 years don't go that fast because I love every minute of our time together.

On a side note.. Friday is a special day for me, the big 21! Not that it will really be THAT different than any other day but we are going to Merville for it and I CAN'T WAIT :) I love spending time with my family and best friend Bara! LOTS of pictures to come

Oh the Dragons...

I never realized the interesting things I would need to accommodate for when moving in with a boy haha and by interesting in Nic's case I mean collections and weapons.

Why didn't anyone tell me these things BEFORE haha just kidding.

Who knew I would be sleeping next to a samurai sword by my bed?!!

or the MASSIVE collection of dragons I would need to take into consideration as household decorations??

I had to make some compromises. He had to store most of the dragons for now and got to display these breathtaking book ends.

Oh how I love my husband and all of his many treasures :)

New Hobby

Nic and I have been searching endlessly for night stands and have had NO LUCK!

They have either been...

1. Too Short

2. Too Expensive

3. Wrong Color

4. No Drawers

(basically the opposite of what we were looking for)

This is when our new hobby developed.

GARAGE SALES!

We woke up at 7, put on hats, and off we went! After 5 hours of searching and at least 50 garage sales later we found what we were looking for :)

We found this "dresser" but we actually love it for a night stand. It has more room to set stuff on top than some we have seen in the past, it is vintage looking (LOVE that part). AND, the best part?? ONLY $10

We are still deciding whether we want to keep it red or paint it white with black handles to match our other furniture.

But doesn't my "new" lamp look SO great with it :)

We also bought these 5 books for a $1 each, most of them BRAND NEW and hardbacks!!

We love garage sales. New favorite hobby.