babymooning, part dos.

After a few days spent soaking up the sun we decided to get up early one morning and drive 2 1/2 hours north to Orlando to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. It was such a fun day and we had a fabulous time walking the streets and visiting all of the shops. We went to HP World knowing that I wouldn't be able to go on any of the rides, but discovered at the Hogwarts castle that most non-riders (and their party!) can do a walk-through of the ride/attraction, following which the riders in the party get to jump straight to the front of the line for the ride. The non-riders get to wait in a little room by the exit and watch Harry Potter movies. At the end of the day we totaled up how long Ben would have had to wait in lines and realized that by doing the walk-through option each time, we saved over 3 hours of waiting in lines and Ben never had to wait more than 15 minutes to get on a ride (mechanical issues at Gringotts). That left us with 3 extra hours that we used to hunt down the best treats and explore other parts of the parks.

Honeydukes was beyond adorable and we enjoyed picking out some new candies to try as well as the classic Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans which we used to entertain ourselves while waiting in lines for certain stores.

At one point we asked a cute, older gentleman if he would take a photo of us with Hogsmeade/the Hogwarts castle in the background. The first attempt resulted in a picture of the sky. He insisted on trying again and ended up taking a selfie. Again, he insisted on trying to get it right. This gem of a picture was the final result:

#closeenough :)

There's so much to see and experience at both parts of HP World (trust me- I clocked in at 18,000 steps after walking around for 9 hours!), but our favorites included:  lunch at The Three Broomsticks, frozen butterbeer (save time by ordering it at The Three Broomsticks instead of waiting outside at the street cart), visiting Ollivanders Wand Shop, hearing Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom at Hogsmeade, butterbeer ice cream, doing the walk-through tour of the Hogwarts castle, visiting Gringotts, the Hogwarts castle ride (for Ben), riding the Hogwarts Express, and walking through Diagon Alley.

We spent the next few days of our trip swimming, lounging by the pool, reading, checking out the outdoor shopping mall, giving in to cravings (A juicy burger and fries. Mmm!), mini golfing, grilling, watching football, building more sandcastles, trying some local restaurants, and going for walks around the island. We had a hard time accepting the fact that we couldn't stay forever. ;)

^^ Don't mind our dumb faces and gross beach/pool hair. We looked homeless for a few days. :) ^^

Vacations are wonderful.

babymooning.

Ben and I have been married 3 1/2 years and, believe it or not, until this week we hadn't been on a "real" vacation since our honeymoon. We like to use our vacation time to travel home for holidays or big events, and if we travel around the midwest, we stay with gracious friends and family members who let us crash on their floor. I'm all for spending my travel budget on food and activities instead of fancy lodging!

With little miss on her way before too long (10 weeks left! Ahh!), we decided to treat ourselves to a week of uninterrupted time together in a place where the sun actually shines. A babymoon of sorts, if you will. We've been eating our fair share of Reese's cereal, cruising around the island with no destination in mind, building sandcastles like we're 5 years old, and attending the daily water aerobics class at the resort with the 50- to 85-year old ladies. (And watching out for the hoardes of invisible crabs! Okay, they're white. . .and I've only seen one over the last 3 days.)

Life is good.

one year older and wiser, too!

One of my favorite things about Ben is that he puts up with my love of birthdays and cake and buying presents even though that's not his thing. And he doesn't mind when I have to make sure that the wrapping paper matches the sprinkles on the cake, or even when I sing the birthday song to him in a fake opera voice. He's one of my favorite people to celebrate and he's patient with me when I get a bit carried away. ;)

(Long side note: Before we even started dating, a group of us in our singles ward got together on Sunday nights to watch a movie from the Star Wars series. Mostly because I had never seen all of the movies, and especially not in order. (Gasp! The horror.) It was around November/December - a time when the stores were filled with festive M&M's, some of which Ben had never tried before. One night he and I made a late night grocery store run to get different kinds of M&M's and we ended up sharing some coconut M&M's and some mint M&M's. Now, whenever I see the little coconut or mint candies I think of Ben and associate the two with dating him.)

Thanks for being born, Ben! :)

"First, you take the graham. You stick the chocolate on the graham. Then, you roast the mallow."

I've never been a camper. In fact, this is the second time that Ben and I have been camping in our three years of marriage. (The first time was with friends almost two years ago!) After putting our apartment up on Airbnb and having someone book a stay, we needed to find something to do for the weekend. We kicked around the idea of going on a short getaway, but decided to head to a close-by state park to pitch a tent, roast some s'mores, and camp out with friends.

My favorite thing about this past weekend was getting out of the city! I can't tell you how nice it was to get away from people and busy streets, and it was especially nice to get away from the sirens that go by our place all night long. The only sounds we heard were crickets and a few drunk guys one campsite over. ;)

Can't wait to go camping again!

tres años.

Three years of happiness with this guy!

Love you to the moon and back, Ben, 

and I can't wait to see what the next three years will bring!

last weekend.

Last weekend we stayed at the cutest little inn. The kind of place where they keep fresh chocolate chip cookies on the front desk and have garlands of lights hanging in the courtyard. (Tornado, allergy, and frizzy hair season...yay. ;)

We got up early Saturday morning and went to the temple to do some sealings. (While talking to the other couple in the room, we realized that the husband and I were from the same home town and graduated a few years apart. Small world!) Ben and I took a walk around the grounds when we were done and were amazed by all of the colors!

After leaving the temple, we met some friends at the botanical garden to walk around (free for residents Wednesday & Saturday mornings, ps!) and loved spending time in the sun.

We ended the day by chowing down on pizza with friends, getting a workout in, babysitting, and some lesson planning for Sunday.

At church on Sunday I was called to serve as the secretary in the Relief Society presidency (still a Primary teacher, too, ha!) and Ben lost a Young Men's counselor. Besides that, not an eventful day. We lounged around with friends and partook of a delicious lasagna. ;) 

Weekends are undeniably the best.

unplugged.

Do you ever stop and think about how cool it is that we can connect with millions of people all over the world in less than a second? Do you ever think about how cool it is that we can jump onto our Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter sites and know what our friends and family are up to? Do you ever think about how cool it is that we can get news updates the second something big happens? I do.

On the flip side, do you ever stop and think about how emotionally and mentally taxing it can be to be constantly plugged into it all? I definitely do! I've noticed being attached to my phone, TV, or computer affects how I interact with others, how much sleep I get, and how many items on my "to-do" list get done. In addition, I've noticed that I'm much more concerned about clothes or makeup or going cool places when I'm constantly bombarded with all of the images, statuses, and blog posts others are posting. Because of this, I feel that it's important for me to take breaks from social media and sometimes completely unplug myself from the outside world.

 ^^pardon our sweaty, post-bike ride faces ;)^^

With Ben's crazy long school days*, it's a real treat when we have a whole day together without any obligations or things that we absolutely have to get done. Last Saturday was one of those rare days for us and I decided that morning that I didn't want social media or technology to get in the way of our time together. We began Saturday with a slow start - sleeping in, making waffles and homemade syrup, and talking about what we wanted to do that day. It was decided that we needed to do some early spring cleaning before getting to the fun stuff. Ben turned on some music and we each tackled our chores, one of which included (finally) taking down the Christmas tree and moving holiday boxes to the basement. Our hours of cleaning were productive and fun as we worked side by side to tackle the mess. :)

Once the chores were out of the way, we decided to get our bikes out of storage and put some air in the tires so we could take them for a spin. Fortunately, St. Louis has a giant park (even bigger than Central Park!) and we were able to enjoy the fabulous 60 degree weather for a bit.

After coming home and getting ready for the day, we spent our afternoon making this treat, working on our church lessons for the next day, listening to this audiobook, paying some bills, and putting up some Valentine's Day decor. That evening, friends came over and played games with us late into the night. ;) Our favorites for multiple players include: this, this, this, and this.

At night when I get into bed, I usually think about what I was able to accomplish that day and I realized Saturday night that our day had been a bit different than most. I had enjoyed not picking up my phone every 15 minutes and feeling like I had to keep it on me at all times so others could reach us if needed. Because I was focused on Ben and getting stuff done, I didn't feel the need to scroll through Instagram or Facebook and I didn't feel like I was missing anything important. It was a breath of fresh air. I decided right then and there that I wanted to turn off my phone more often so I could refocus on the important things and give those around me my undivided attention.

Hip, hip, hooray for fun and productive days, and the chance to unplug from everything!

*we call it work since he's been done with the classes portion for over a year now, and has been focusing on research. ;)

Unplugged shirt generously provided by Creative Expressions, a Utah business, specializing in promotional products. They offer in house screen printing, embroidery, digitizing and art services.

sister, sister.

While growing up, I feel like my little sister and I simply co-existed while I lived at home. We shared a room (and later a bed!) for 14+ years, which led to plenty of silly fights and arguments. During our teenage years, we stole clothes out of the other person's closet, and that didn't go over so well either. Ha ha. Fortunately, once I moved away for college, we became better friends and got to know each other better little by little. Now that we live over 4,000 miles apart, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't get a text, Snapchat, or a meme from her, and I'm so lucky to count her as one of my best friends. Happy 19th birthday, chica!!!

what makes our marriage work for us.

Photos from April 2013.

"Obviously the Lord has created us with different personalities, as well as differing degrees of energy, interest, health, talent, and opportunity. So long as we are committed to righteousness and living a life of faithful devotion, we should celebrate these divine differences, knowing they are a gift from God."

This quote comes from a talk given by Sister Patricia Holland in 1987, which you can find here. Although the talk addresses womanhood, sisterhood, and developing greater faith in Christ both individually and collectively, I like to think that this quote applies just as well to all relationships. Particularly marriage.

I had a conversation recently with a lady from church who asked me what it is, in my opinion, that makes a marriage work. I immediately thought about how Ben and I are so different. We like different types of music, we get enthusiastic over different things, we have different hobbies, we choose to spend our allowance on different things, and even our own personal idea of the "perfect vacation" differs.

With that being said, I think the word "different" gets a bad rep most of the time. I love that Ben and I are so different! When we drive together I get to hear music I haven't heard before, I'm exposed to new and fun genres of movies, our vacations range from relaxing weekends to going to sporting events. However, we're in sync when it comes down to the big and important things in life. The greatest thing that makes us similar though, and makes our marriage work, is our commitment to the gospel and our love for Christ, and it's something we work at every single day.

Sometimes it isn't necessarily convenient to take a few hours out of our week to do the things we need to do (or coordinate our crazy schedules!), but they're the most rewarding hours by far. An afternoon spent at the temple, or learning new gospel truths through scripture reading, taking turns saying prayers in the morning and at night, conversations about the Savior, listening to General Conference talks on Monday nights, Sundays spent serving where needed, and so on. There's a unity that grows and develops between the two of us when we do those things, and that's pretty invaluable.

this was a "first" for us.

 

It amazes me that after a few years of marriage, you can still have "firsts." You know what I mean by "firsts," right? First car purchase, first real job, first fight (haha), first Christmas together, first anniversary, and so on and so on. This weekend was our first trip away together (besides our honeymoon) in our 2 1/2 years of marriage - because our families live far away, we use all of our vacation time to go out to Denver or Salt Lake City any chance we get. The opportunity for a quick little weekend getaway to Branson, MO presented itself and we were all too eager to jump on it.

The weather recently in St. Louis has been fall-like, so naturally, I packed us sweaters and pants and socks. Since Mother Nature clearly has a mind of her own, she decided to throw us a curve ball this past weekend and bring back the 90 degree & 80% humidity weather. Thus, sweaty faces and frizzy hair. 

The red and yellow trees made up for it all. As did the perfect little lake and marina.

We knew going down that we didn't want to check out any of the shows and we definitely didn't want to have a schedule, so we didn't plan a single thing. We went for walks, we ate good food, we got a malt shake to share from an old-fashioned candy counter, we sat outside under the stars and talked, we explored the town a bit, we read, and we slept well without the noise of the city in the background. It was perfect and relaxing to get away from all responsibilities!

Definitely already planning our next little getaway. :)

Word of advice: go to Branson during the fall and you won't be disappointed.

Also, try the twice baked potatoes at the Chateau Grille.

picking up on some things.

I think it's nearly impossible to spend a great deal of time with someone without picking up some of their habits, likes, and even quirks. After almost 2.5 years of marriage, I can clearly see how living with Ben has changed me for better or for worse. ;)

1. Ordering the $0.99 guacamole on the side at Qdoba or Chipotle is routine now.

2. I'm convinced that buying a movie is better than paying to see it once in theaters.

3. I've actually seen an entire football game.

4. All of our shirts get folded the "fancy" way.

5. Our shirts actually get folded.

6. Wearing blue on a day that BYU plays is a necessity.

7. Star Wars gets referenced regularly in our household.

8. Flossers are better than dental floss.

9. We have pizza frequently - but mostly Little Caesars.

10. Macs, iPhones, iPads. Apple everything.

     

How has marriage changed you? :)

catching the fever.

I've never been much of a football or basketball fan. However, soccer and baseball? That's a whole different field. (Get it? Field, haha.) And by "whole different field," I mean that I don't get as bored watching them as I do football and basketball.

St. Louis is a huge, huge baseball town. There are Cardinals flags and signs plastered around the city and surrounding areas, and it's impossible to go to any store without seeing Cardinals merchandise near the checkout. At work, people wear their Cardinals shirts/sweatshirts/socks/ties/hats/earrings/anything red on game days and I can guarantee that if you have a two minute conversation with a stranger in the elevator, the Cardinals will somehow pop up. It's impossible to avoid the fever. Already, Ben has become quite the Cardinals fanatic; he diligently watches all of the games, has attended quite a few already this season, and he even has a shirt. ;)

This week they had a "Mormon Night at the Cardinals" - meaning we got really cheap tickets and sat by 200 missionaries who were having the time of their lives. Ben and I split a cherry snowcone (red, of course), kicked up our feet, and enjoyed a night under the stars with friends watching some baseball.

Go Cards!

4th of July & Visitors!

Ben and I had been looking forward to the 4th for quite a while this year. First, his parents were planning on coming out to visit (we all know how much I love visitors :)! Second, America + red, white, and blue + time off of work! All of that good stuff.

I'm happy to report that this past weekend did not disappoint. We busted out our patriotic colors, went gallivanting around the city, and enjoyed some great firework displays. America, we sure do love you.

 

^^Old Courthouse downtown and the Arch in the background^^

^^The Old Courthouse gets dressed up with flags each 4th of July and it's so fun to go see!^^

 ^^My cute in-laws & Ben and I. (Side note: the Arch is so big that sometimes it's hard to get the whole thing in pictures!)^^

^^Thomas Jefferson. My very favorite part of the Missouri History Museum.^^

^^Watched fireworks from the top of a parking garage by our apartment with this cute guy. One of those moments in life that you want to bottle up and save for for the future. :)^^

^^A room in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. (Learned that there are 41.5 million tiles in the basilica! Crazy!)^^

^^The crowd at Fair St. Louis waiting for The Fray concert and fireworks. SO. Many. People. This picture doesn't even do it justice.^^

Not pictured:

a million other activities and places, fun restaurants, and the many miles we walked around the city

We sure love our family & our country!

Feelin' Peachy Keen!

A fun, little something has been in the works for a while now and I'm excited to share it with you guys today! I co-birthed a new blog with my BFF, Andy. You can check it out here and follow along here. We promise to post about things worth reading and not just selfies of the two of us from high school. ;)

Happy Thursday!

twenty-six years young.

Happy birthday to my favorite!
You deserve to be celebrated everyday. :)

marriage and such.

There's nothing quite like having a best friend who's there for everything that life throws at you.

Someone who's there with you when you move across the country and neither one of you know anyone else.  Someone who's there at 3 am when you have a migraine and you need an ice pack from the freezer.  Someone who's there to watch your favorite tv show with you even when they'd rather be doing something else.  Someone who's there at midnight when you hear a noise downstairs.  Someone who offers to help you out with your chores when you have a really busy week and you're just trying to stay afloat.  Someone who knows that you really like the strawberry fruit bars, so they save the last one for you.  Someone who cheers you on through the hard stuff, and comforts you if you fail.  Someone who motivates, encourages, and pushes you to do all of those little things you've wanted to try for a million years.

Ben, you're the bee's knees.

P.S. These photos weren't edited at all. Look at that light in the first and third pictures! *heart eye emoji*