Kelly In Town

This week our good friend Kelly came to town to visit. We didn't get to spend as much time with her as we would have liked (things have been pretty busy), but it was still so fun to see her and Elle. While she was here she put together a little lunch at the playground with some of our other friends that we either haven't seen in a while, or who were also in town visiting. Another night our friends Adam, Darcie, and their new baby Kjell came over, as well as our upstairs neighbors Jared and Shannon, it was so fun to see their new baby and get some new parent advice. Also this week Jason's parents were in town, so we tried to squeeze in as much time seeing them as we could.
Jan, Michelle, Jenny and I at Maggie Moo's my new favorite ice cream place
Kelly, Kim and Kallie, Katie and Tanner (Braden must have been playing), Renee, Nali and Ella and Mara and Braelynn, I was there too but this picture is cuter that the one with me in it
Jason and Kjell (pronounced "Shell")
The only picture of me and Kelly from her whole trip here
Darcie, Shannon, me and Kelly
The new dad and the dads to be!

SLC, Idaho and More!

This is another random post about what we have been up to lately. Last weekend we headed up to Salt Lake and spent the night. The next morning we went to the SLC Temple for the first time, then headed to IKEA. We had fun looking around and getting excited about getting stuff for our new place in CA. I was excited because I have been craving IKEA meatballs for forever, they did not disappoint! Jen's birthday was on Saturday and we celebrated it twice this past week. Once on Tuesday night at our house and then again with dinner on Thursday night at Jen and Jeff's new house (which is slowing getting all it's furniture and looking beautiful). We left for Idaho on Friday. The purpose of this trip was two fold, one to visit family one last time before we move since it will probably be awhile and secondly, to sell Jason's old truck. The truck has not been running well, actually it randomly shuts off while driving and won't restart, which is rather inconvenient. Jason knows a lot about car repair and he tore his hair out trying to figure out what was wrong with it, all to no avail. He then took it 3 different mechanics, all of which replaced things, but did not fix the problem. Well this last time he thought it was completely fixed (after how much we spent on fixing it, we had high hopes), so we set out Friday, me in my car and Jason in the truck. We made it almost to Inkom (about 35 minutes from our final destination) when the truck just turned off (the same problem we thought had been fixed). Jason pulled over, I picked him up and we waited in Inkom for his sweet Grandpa to come and tow the truck to Blackfoot. Instead of selling it and regaining some of our lost money, we ended up giving it away to some of Jason's cousins. At least it is still in the family and Jason can see if they ever figure out what is wrong with it. I am just glad it is gone. We visited lots of family which was really fun. Hopefully it won't be too long until we make it back.
Jason and I enjoying a home cooked dinner in Salt Lake

Mmmm...meatballs (I usually don't like meatballs that much but these are really good)
Jen opening presents
Michelle really knows her sisters taste, Michelle's birthday present to her sister was the same shirt she was wearing that night
Jason and his truck...it was actually a little sad to see it go
Jason with his Grandma and cousins Grace and Emily
Grace with Grandpa
Gracie, Abigail, Charlie and Emily (Jason's cute cousins)
Us with the Grandparents, Jason's grandma had a stomach flu and was getting dehydrated so they took her to the doctor.

Our Last Days In Provo

Our time in Provo is quickly coming to an end. We are both really excited for all of the upcoming things we have planned, and we will always look back on our time here with very fond memories. We have about 4 weeks left, and it will be a very busy 4 weeks. I'm in school, which isn't too bad, just long days. Jason is working almost full time and training 2 hours a day for his upcoming triathlons. Next weekend we head up to Idaho to spend some time with Jason's family, then Kelly comes to visit the next week, Jason is riding a century ride (100 miles) around Utah Lake with his boss the next weekend, then I finish class, Jason does his triathlon, and we are out of here. We have some housing prospects in CA, but I think we will take advantage of Apple's fully furnished corporate housing for a couple weeks and then try to move into our new place around July 1st (wherever that may be). Apple also has a really nice relocation service where movers come in, pack, and move EVERYTHING. Normally I would pack everything myself, since we don't have much, but these 15 extra lbs on my body are making me really tired and lazy, so I think we will take full advantage of the moving service. Anyway, what is a post without pictures, so here are some of the things we have been up to lately.
Jenny and Jeff just moved into their new house, Jason jumped at the chance to help them set up their new 55" HDTV, so here is Jason and Jeff getting it ready
Jeff, Jason and Mike
On Saturday we went to the Manti temple, it is so beautiful, we had been to the pageant there but we had never done a session, so that was really nice
Mike and I
School has some boring moments this summer, so my friend was drawing pictures of us as teeth, so here I am, I realize I look huge but that is just a fact of life these days, oh and sorry it is a little blurry
Jason had to send back his laptop, he got to use it while he was a campus rep, and since those days are over we had to say goodbye to Mr. Laptop. So in the meantime I guess we will be sharing mine until he starts at Apple...yikes I don't see that going well :-)

28 Weeks

I can't believe I am at 28 weeks! 28 is close to 30 and 30 is really close to 40 and 40 weeks is when he comes (if not earlier)...oh man I'm not sure if I'm ready!! So I am in the third trimester and I swear I am easily influenced by my pregnancy books, because if I read it, I get the symptoms they talk about. My bathroom visits are up to about every 2 hours, unless I am in a really good deep sleep which is happening less and less often. And I feel like I am back to the first trimester when it comes to exhaustion. At about 10pm I'm beat! I also started my last 6 weeks of school, maybe that has something to do with it. I got to experience my feet swelling on our airplane ride home from Boston, that wasn't cool. My belly button hasn't popped yet, but it is getting very shallow! On the bright side I feel him more and more everyday and his movements are the highlight of my day, I am so sad Jason doesn't get to experience it like I do. I already love this little guy so much and though I am apprehensive about my abilities to be a good mother, I can't wait to meet him. I have my appointment tomorrow, if anything of significance happens I will add it to this post.


P.S. I passed my National Board Exam!!!! I am so happy, excited, relieved. My score was above the national average so that also makes me happy. In fact, my entire class passed and the class average was above the national average...YEAH for us!!!!! So those who live around here will probably see me with a huge grin for the next week or so.

New England Part 2

So continuing where I left off.   We stayed in the town of Rockport, MA and it was the cutest little town!!!  We walked around that night trying to find a place to get ice cream (a daily craving) but by 8:00pm the whole town was closed down.  The B&B we stayed at was owned by two very hospitable people.  The wife was a Mac user and Jason just happened to be wearing an Apple shirt, so she talked Jason's ear off about how superior they are and how she is trying to convince her husband that they need one.  If you ever happen to be in Rockport check out the Linden Tree Inn, we had a great experience there! The next morning we got up, had a delicious breakfast, then walked along the downtown area again. It was a little more lively this time. There were tons of cute little shops and restaurants. That afternoon we headed up to Portland, Maine. We got a hotel for two nights in South Portland. That evening we walked around Portland and ate at Gilberts Chowder House.

On Monday we visited Cape Elizabeth where the "most photographed lighthouse" is.  The lighthouse or the Portland headlamp, was so beautiful (see pictures below).  After that we headed up to Freeport, Maine. This is where the headquarters of L.L. Bean is, as well as lots of fun outlets. We got some really cute stuff for our little guy. We ate at a delicious Mediterranean grill, the owners are Turkish, so we tried some Turkish dishes and now we may just have to visit Turkey someday, they were so good. That evening we just got ice cream and hung out at our hotel. Since we had seen so many of the historical sites, and since we were driving so much, we bought the book 1776 by David McCullough. We have been reading it together (mostly I would read to Jason while he drove us around) and it is excellent. We are both learning so much, I feel like a bad American for how little I knew!

Tuesday we spent a good portion of our day driving from Maine to Vermont. We took a scenic route which was so beautiful. It took us through New Hampshire, and it was gorgeous, although the weather could have been better, it rained the entire 5 hour drive. We finally made it to Waterbury Vermont, headquarters of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. We just happened to be there on free cone day, so we had unlimited ice cream (which sounds way better than it actually is, I was sick after 1 1/2 cones). We also got to take a tour of the factory. It was such a fun place! That night we headed into Montpleier, where we found a B&B and a yummy Italian restaurant for dinner.

Wednesday, on our way out of Vermont, we stopped at the Bragg Farm Sugarhouse, where since it is no longer "sugering" season, we watched a video of how maple syrup is made and sampled lots of syrup. Real maple syrup is so delicious and worth the extra money it costs. The process is also very fascinating, we really enjoyed ourselves. From there we visited the Cabot Cheese Factory where we got to watch truckloads of cheese being made. This was also VERY cool, and we sampled LOTS of cheese...yum.  After that we visited Joseph Smith's Birthplace in Sharon, VT.  We were the only visitors so we got a private tour.  It is a very special place and really beautiful countryside.  From there we headed through New Hampshire stopping in Hanover to see Dartmouth College and eat yummy Thai food. We spent Wednesday night in Manchester, NH.

On Thursday we needed to head back towards Boston so we could make our 6am flight on Friday morning. We didn't want to stay right in the city so we chose another small town to check out. We went through Salem, MA which probably sounds familiar because this is where the Salem Witch Trials were. We then spent some time in Marblehead, MA, another darling little town (seriously the Northeast is full of great little towns, we loved exploring them). But there is only so much to see in these towns so we ended up going to a movie that afternoon. Then we watched the Office and hit the hay...we had to get up at 4am Friday to catch our 6am flight, it was killer. After some slight weather problems in Chicago, we finally made it back. We had an unforgettable trip, but it is always nice to come home. If you ever get a chance to visit the Northeast...DO IT!! Jason and I were thinking about some of the travel tricks we have learned that allow us to be able to travel on a budget, maybe in a few days I will post some of our ideas for traveling on a budget.

***If you want to see ALL the pictures from our trip, check out our website, and click on pictures.

All the towns have signs like this welcoming you
Jason and I in Rockport
I know this one is pretty much the same as the one above it but I liked them both
Drinking hot chocolate at a bakery in Rockport
This was a fun little shack that sold fresh seafood
The Linden Tree Inn, where we stayed
Jason enjoying his mussels in Portland
Banana split in bed, nothing better!
Us with the Portland headlamp
Seriously how gorgeous is that!
Us with the Ben and Jerry mobile
Peace, Love, Ice Cream...sounds good to me
Introducing Ben and Jerry
At the Bragg Sugarhouse, look at all that syrup behind us
Jason with his own syrup to take home
I love cheese
Us with the monument at Joseph Smiths birthplace

New England Part 1

I thought it might be easier to break this trip up in to multiple posts instead of one huge one when we get back. We have had a great trip so far. We have seen lots of cool things and really feel like we are experiencing New England. If this gets long and boring I'm sorry, it is our journal of the trip. We got in late Wednesday night, our flight from SLC to Denver was delayed a little so my bag didn't make it on the next flight (from Denver to Boston). After multiple calls to India, we were finally able to pick up my bag the next morning back at the airport. I was determined not to let this little incident start our trip off on the wrong foot.

Thursday morning we did a session at the Boston Temple, it was a beautiful temple and we are glad we were able to go. That afternoon we spent walking all around Harvards beautiful campus in Cambridge. It is really lame but I kept thinking of Legally Blonde. The campus is huge and gorgeous. I can really see why seeing Boston in the fall is a must! That evening we headed to Woburn to meet up with our friends, the Jacksons. They were the best hosts! Joe brought home lobsters for us, which were SOOOO delicious and New Englandy. That night they took us to Concord, MA where the "shot heard round the world" took place, marking the beginning of the Revolutionary war. The towns here are so cute. They all have town squares with big churches, cute shops, and green parks. After Concord we hurried back to catch The Office, which never disappoints.

Friday morning we got up and Jen made us the most delicious blueberry pancakes! It was such a treat. Thank you so much to the Jacksons, we had a great time with them and their recommendations for the remainder of our trip have been awesome! After breakfast Jason and I headed for Cape Cod. I thought Cape Cod was a city, but it is not, it is a bunch of cities along the cape...duh! So we went to Chathum. It was such a cute city. We walked along the main street and down to the beach and saw the lighthouse. We ate at a cute downtown restaurant. After that we headed to Newport, Rhode Island. Oh, P.S. if you ever come out here either bring a GPS or get one with your rental car, we brought ours and it has been a huge lifesaver!!!! Once we were there we found a cute Bed and Breakfast to stay in that night. Then we walked along the coast which was lined with tons of resturants and shops. We got a pizza, then headed back to our B&B to relax (I watched Father of the Bride 2 and Bridget Jones Diary simultaneously, it was great).

Saturday we got up, had breakfast, drove the Oceanside Drive which showed off all the spectacular homes and a great view of the ocean. We then did about 1/4 of the cliff walk ( I knew we would be walking a lot later and wanted to save my energy), then headed back up to Boston. After a few wrong turns (yes even with our GPS) and a near accident in the tunnel, we finally made it to downtown Boston. Jason decided it was best that we kept our sanity rather than trying to find a free parking spot, so we paid $12 to park downtown (this was really hard for Jason...don't bring it up to him :-) We walked along the farmers market and then onto the Freedom Trail. This is a trail that leads through downtown Boston highlighting many of the historic locations. It was a long walk and we picked and chose the things we wanted to see, such as Paul Revere's home, site of the Boston massacre, USS Constitution (Old Ironside) and Bunker Hill. Don't worry if you don't remember what all these things are, I had to relearn what a lot of these sites and events were. Based on a recommendation of a local, we ate at a tavern in Charlestown (across the river from Boston and on the freedom trail). It was great, it was a favorite of Paul Revere, so it felt historic. While we were eating we mapped out where we wanted to stay that night, so we headed back and got our car and drove to Rockport, MA. We found a nice bed and breakfast which is where I am currently blogging from. Stay tuned for Our Trip part 2 in the next couple of days.

Jason and I in front of the Boston Temple
Jason in front of the temple sign
This is our cute rental car...it is the first time we actually got the economy car we paid for (rather than a free upgrade), it is a Chevy Aveo in case you're wondering
Jason and I on Harvard campus
This is a bridge that you cross to get from one part of Harvard campus to the other...it is seriously so big there. We would ask students where the business school or the law school was because at BYU they are each just one building, the students would look at us and say well that building is part of the business school or part of the law school...it was just so big
Jason in front of one of the business school buildings
Yum...lobster at the Jackson's, a highlight of the trip for sure
The Millers and the Jacksons
The cute Jackson family, they were so accommodating to us, we had a great time with them
Jason and I at the Chatham beach on Cape Cod
The Chatham lighthouse
One of the many mansions in Newport, Rhode Island...this one reminds me of Pemberley from Pride and Prejudice
The cliff walk is a 3 1/2 mile walk that takes you along the coast, you can see all the huge houses as you walk along
If you haven't noticed, I'm obsessed with farmers markets...I love them. This one is in Downtown Boston
Jason in front of Paul Revere's house
Jason with the USS Cassin Young, a WWII destroyer battleship, Jason was really intrigued
Me at the Bunker Hill monument, I told Jason this was a bad angle for me but he did it anyway...yuck
This one is no better, but we liked this sign. We walked sooooo much this day, I was tired!