A little holiday fishin'

The Time Has Come

Okay, here we go. The first baby bump picture. A terrible one at that because I took it myself amidst the unpacking mess.
Another thing to report, we moved! It all happened within four days! Wow it was fast and stressful and exhausting! We had help from some amazing people! Shout out to Morgan, Alex, Larynn, Darren, Reese and my awesome bro Brad. These people saved our butts and my back! Thanks again you guys! We have some pretty awesome friends.
We moved into a town home in North Salt Lake. No we did not buy it, we are still renting but it was a steal of a deal so we jumped. It's a two bedroom, twice the size of our last place with a one car garage and a little grassy backyard. We have been here for a week now and so far it's been GREAT for us.
No more construction truck noises every single morning, no more dusty cars and porches from the huge dirt piles on the other side of the wall, no more partying smokers as neighbors, no more mysterious pot smells coming from who knows where, no more waking up from banging on the walls at 5 am, no more trying not to be too loud when friends come over!! Yay, I will not miss apartment living. Now, maybe in the future we will have to go back to that lifestyle but for now I will enjoy every second of life without it.
Pregnancy update: I am about 14 weeks now. Just entering my second trimester and wow it's a beautiful thing. Morning sickness has now faded and body fatigue is mostly gone. My body no longer looks like mine. As you can see from above I am starting to show a little bit. It still just looks like I am fat but I know I am pregnant so I am fine with this pooch.
I also bought my first couple of pairs of maternity pants this week. My tummy was over being dug into by the rim of my pants, followed by a hair tie stretching out over my navel.
Let me just tell you that maternity pants are wonderful. Why can't I wear these at all times? Is there something wrong with that? Because I honestly plan on wearing these when I am no longer pregnant. Wearing them is like wearing stretchy pants at all times! Which means room for a full belly after a great meal, what I have always dreamed of.
Baby is the size of a large orange and apparently moving a lot but I still cannot feel it.
As Braden watches my belly grow, he gets more and more excited about being a daddy. It is the best thing in the world to see that love grow over time. Oh wow this pregnancy thing is just too fun. Honestly, so far I LOVE IT.
Oh yah and one last thing. Tomorrow we are heading to Washington to be with the Harkers for Thanksgiving and we are so excited! We are driving, don't worry we have snow tires. Plus, Braden and I LOVE roadtrips together. We also love Wenatchee. Excited to spend time with beautiful family and friends in a beautiful place.

BIG NEWS!

For those of you who do not know.... I AM PREGNANT!! Shocked? Yes, I know. We were also shocked at the news BUT sooooo excited. We couldn't be more thrilled to welcome our own baby Harker into the world. I am due May 24, putting me in my 12th week of pregnancy.
Thank goodness I am at the end of my first trimester because boy it is rough! I am a wimp when it comes to sickness, especially nauseated sickness. So Brady is ready for a new phase of the pregnancy, haha. Both my mom and my sister were not sick at all their first trimester! How did I get so lucky? I just hope it will ease up soon.
We went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and we were able to see the baby! Oh wow, if you could only have seen Braden's face. It was classic. Cartoon classic jaw drop to the floor and everything. I guess he thought I was faking it all this time? ;) It was wonderful to see that there is actually a little peanut in there with a heart that is beating at full force with arms and legs wiggling along with it. Braden kept saying, "Can you feel that?!" "You can't feel that?!" haha Amazing, amazing, amazing experience. A moment that has been engraved in my memory forever.
So now that baby is on the brain and in my belly, life has already begun to change for our family. My life has changed dramatically! Holy cow. It is the most odd thing in the world to me to have my body take over my life and dictate what I do and, mostly, don't do. My house is embarrassingly grungy and it's driving me nuts! School work is always a struggle to keep up with and sleep is always deprived, especially with those twice-a-night trips to the bathroom- which I know only increase.
Braden has always been wonderful with children and babies, but lately he pays more attention to them when we see them at friends and families home's, at grocery stores, or out and about. He has been wonderful in accommodating to my newly acquired tastes and sleeping patterns. He also gives me much needed massages! I couldn't have asked for a better husband and future father to our children.
So for now we are looking at 2 bedroom apartments and making plans for the future! May will be a big month for us! We have finals, Braden is graduating from college (I'm so proud of him!), and our baby is due!
Honestly, we are loving every second of our life right now. We have been so blessed in countless ways, we couldn't be more grateful for this beautiful surprise gift our Heavenly Father has sent down to us. :) Thank you for all of your love and support, we could not survive without it.



Just wanted to share the moments after we first found out the big news :) WARNING: I go into some detail of what I have been going through, so beware of words such as: boobs.









Enjoy.

Autumn leaves

These pictures of Salt Lake during the fall are gorgeous but they just don't do it justice. The leaves are everywhere now and they are rich and vibrant. The air is crisp and so fresh. Honestly, I am so grateful I grew up in SoCal because now I can truly appreciate the beautiful seasons of Utah!! Apart of me doesn't really want to go back to 70 degree weather day in and day out. Just thought I would give you a little taste of what I get to walk out into everyday and enjoy. HAPPY FALL!

I have avoided blogging for a long time now because we have been so busy with school during the week and working on the weekends. And we still are! I actually should be studying right now.

Things we are looking forward to:
- midterms to be over
- Thanksgiving in Washington
- brother and sister-in-law moving to Utah
- a moment to enjoy some free time together
- Cali around Christmas time
- working on Halloween... not
- Braden graduating in May!



Life is beautiful.

Highlights

This weekend we did some amazing things! Here are some highlights: First we got to see these beautiful people



Then we headed southeast to here




And hiked here

Corona Arch




And I climbed up here with Morgan and Alex

And then I did this, at 105 ft!


Obviously our weekend was so much fun. With all these amazing activities we definitely didn't have time to do this


So now it is time to do some catch up!!

gLeek

I just watched the pilot for this show and..... HOLY CRAP! It's good. I don't want to talk it up too much, but I really liked it. One of the reasons I am so excited about this show is it's not reality tv crap. It's about time there is a scripted show out there that is worth watching, besides LOST of course. The show is really well cast and it's kind of cheesy but that's what makes it so awesome! The premise is an optimistic teacher who against all odds and a malicious cheerleading coach, attempts to save McKinley High's Glee Club from obscurity, while helping a group of aspiring underdogs realize their true star potential.(courtesy of fox.com)So, as my besty Larynn says,"Embrace the cheese," and watch it with me! It's on Wednesday at 9 on FOX.

So long sweet summer

Dad came to visit! The first from the Sendzik family to come visit us Utards. He was here for 5 days and we had a great time. Going to Park City, eating out at some amazing restaurants, and good quality time. We loved having you here dad! LOVE YOU!

We have been enjoying every second of nothing-ness for the past two weeks. Tomorrow...is the first day of fall semester. Booo. Usually we would be excited to head back to school but with only two weeks off, well we aren't all that thrilled. So we are packing up our back packs, setting our alarms, buying our textbooks, and printing out our new schedules....Back to school, back to school... to prove to my dad that I'm not a fool.

One major event in the past couple of weeks was when I passed my CNA testing and recieved my certification as a nurse's assistant! WOOO HOOO! The day I recieved my certification, I immediately began applying for jobs. About four hours later I got a call for an interview! What? That was fast. So this Thursday I have an interview for CNA job at the University Hopsital. I am not going to get my hopes up but I AM SO EXCITED!

So long sweet summer, until next year. Hello scarves, boots, red yellow and orange leaves, crunching steps, cool fresh air and no free time.

California Lovin'

We LOVE California summers! We took a short but sweet trip down under this past weekend. It was a whirlwind of sand, sun, and lots of driving! There were a lot more beautiful people we saw this weekend but I was a dope and didn't get any pictures of them. But I just couldn't get enough of the nieces and nephew! Braden and I had a blast! Braedyn, Chaylee and Olivia are surely never going to forget us now! We spent a lot of quality time playing with the youngin's. It was crunch time but we were able to see all the immediate fam individually. I loved spending time with each of my siblings invidually rather than at a big family setting. Don't get me wrong I love those as well but it's hard to get personal in a large group setting. It was great to see everyone! We love family time. It was enough to hopefully suffice until Christmas. Maybe someday it will become permanent...

Death Cab for Cutie Pie Pants

HAHA, so the title of this post is in honor of my bro Andrew and his best bud Jake. When Death Cab first came out this is what they called them and now whenever I try and say their name I have to stop myself from saying the "pie pants" part. That band will forever be Death Cab for Cutie Pie Pants in my mind, haha good times.
Anyway, this past Monday our great friend Sarah Webb invited us to this concert. We rearranged our schedules right away in order to go. Free tickets to a sold out Death Cab concert?! I'll do whatever it takes.
It was at the Red Butte Garden. I had never been there but it was an awesome outdoor amphitheater. It was packed but we were able to find a tiny patch of grass to squeeze onto. Everyone brought a picnic and there own booze. haha. Obviously we didn't do that but there were a lot of families there with little kids, that made it really fun.
They were great in concert. It was a very mellow concert, probably because their music is very mellow. So it was nice to be at a relaxing concert.
We had a great time! Thanks Sarah!!!

Lately

I was able to go to Girl's Camp a couple of weeks ago because I have recently been called into the Young Women's Presidency. I had an awesome time getting close to all the girls, we had a blast. Girl's camp in Utah is a little different than what girl's camp was in Cali. In Cali, we had cabins and a cafeteria...spoiled. In Salt Lake it is REAL camping, we set up our own tents, cook our own meals, make fire, and fetch our own water. I was a little nervous but I actually liked it much better. All the girls had to help with chores around camp and it made us a little family.

Then this past weekend Brady and I headed down to Fillmore to have a big family get together for the 4th. The first night we went golfing with the boys. I didn't do so good but you know it was my 2nd time in life. As you can see I failed to pull out my camera for the rest of the weekend. But it was a blast.
The 4th of July parade in Fillmore is hilarious. All of the wards made a float and the Stake Presidency was on a float as well. Probably the only place in America where that happens. The firework show that evening was interesting. That was the closest I had ever been to fireworks and I didn't feel completely comfortable with that. I will say that it was cool to be able to lay on the grass and look up and my night sky was completely filled with color. But the wind shifted half way through and then came the rain of shrapnel (sp?). I was done after that, then we are walking back to the car as the finale is going off and the last firework that was set off, instead of going straight up, it went out towards the baseball fields where all the crowds were. I felt like I was watching Armageddon unfold right in front of me. I am not sure if anyone got hurt but it was extermely scary.
Needless to say, the weekend was a great time. We had a great time catching up with the Martin side of the family and playing with all the grandkids.

History of hair

Okay, so this post was supposed to be about the changes in my hair over the past year....it turned into a post about this ridiculous kissy face I guess I like to make in all my pictures...ew. I tried to put them in chronological order but yah... I am blog impaired. So I am sure you can find the progression in there somewhere.
Anyways let's try and ignore the awful faces I am making and focus on my identity crisis with my hair. Yah, okay it's not that drastic, I have seen more drastic...*cough*morgan*cough*. :) But I have this thing with changing my hair every time I go in to get it done. I want to grow it out again but I have this itch to chop it and bleach it again. Ahhhh!
So I want some opinions! Tell me what to do with this thing on my head! Grow bangs out or keep them? Go back to being more blond or go natural? Chop it or grow it out again? It's such a hard ordeal, I know. The most recent picture is of me and Brady and the Mariner's game, so you can get an idea of what I am dealing with here.
Go ahead, critique away.