End of May Celebrations

Last night, we finally stopped being anti-social (not that this was ever our intention--we're just really busy) and had our friends Daniel and Rachel over for dinner. We had delicious cold chicken breast sandwiches with DELICIOUS corn on the cob (it's 4 for $1 at Macey's right now!) and lots of juicy watermelon. After we ate Rachel's warm chocolate chip cookies. Everything was so good. We had a lot of fun talking about our pregnancies (Rachel only has 3 weeks left, max!) and sharing notes with each other about our individual experiences. After, we cleared the kitchen table and played this card game that Dalin and I love called Bohnanza. We played it for the first time at Daniel and Rachel's one Sunday and thought it was fun and different. It's like some German card game and involves various types of beans and harvesting as many as possible. Anyway, it is a pretty awesome game. We played a few rounds of Bananagrams after (which I somehow owned at for once) and then said goodnight. It felt nice to have people over again.

Random picture of me at 29 weeks pregnant. As you can imagine, the baby is pretty heavy.

Now we are just beginning to get excited about this Memorial Day weekend! We both work tomorrow, but I have Memorial Day off at work, and then Tuesday evening we leave for Lava Hot Springs near Pocatello, Idaho to go camping with the boys from Dalin's work! I LOVE camping, for the record, and am especially pumped because my family always used to go camping on Memorial Day weekend to the Joseph Smith Memorial in Sharon, Vermont, but I haven't been in forever. So the plan is to camp at Lava Hot Springs on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then drive over to Boise from Thursday to Sunday to visit Dalin's family! It's going to be so much fun and probably one of the last time's (if not the last time) we get away before our little daughter is born!

Now we just need to find someone who will let us borrow their sleeping bags and hopefully a sleeping pad, or I'm going to be one sore pregnant lady.

What are you doing this Memorial Day Weekend? 
Do you have a family tradition that you do each year?

The To Do List: Provo & Orem Edition

I'm not going to lie--I am starting to like Utah a little bit. You may be thinking, "Sheesh, it only took two whole years..." but seriously, we have found a few things around here recently that we never knew about until now (like a sweet short-cut to Orem for one...) and it has changed my outlook on living here dramatically. Not that I would want to make it a long-term thing--I'm still an east coast girl who needs the clear blue lakes and ocean--but I need to take the advice of numerous sisters in the church and "bloom where [I'm] planted." 

So I'm creating a "To Do" list, which will also be a bucket list of sorts, or basically a compilation of ideas and suggestions from people in the area (or previous residents). It can include restaurants, cafes, sights to see, or fun places. Or it can just be something we should do at a certain time of year and get a good deal (like near particular holidays for example).

What I would like from those who make suggestions are the following:

• the name of the place
• a summary of what it is/what there is to do (or what YOU did/ate there)
• the general location (preferably Provo/Orem area because we don't travel much)
• an idea of the cost (FREE, cheap, or kind of costly)

If you could give me a few ideas, I would SO appreciate it! We have just one year left here and I'm going to do my best to make it fun. So please,

Give us your suggestions! :)

Dalin's Early Birthday

Due to our crazy schedules during the week, we decided to celebrate Dalin's 23rd birthday two days early! His birthday is really in two days, February 5th, which incidentally is exactly 6 months until the baby is due! (We planned that--actually we didn't but it's cool that it worked out that way). 

We celebrated our good friend Anthony's birthday on Friday by going out to eat at Red Robin and then returning to his apartment for a surprise party. We played Bea Arthur with friends and laughed sooo much (it's such a good party game!)

Red Robin for Anthony's bday!!

Heads being run over by a motorcycle...kind of

The party! (I was photographer)

As today was the Superbowl (and because Dalin loves football) we decided to celebrate his birthday today (sadly, because of work and school we'll only see each other for a few hours on his real birthday) and have some friends over. Only, I planned it really last minute (I'm rather bad at parties) and sort of made it an all-day thing, meaning people could show up whenever was convenient for them. 

So Daniel and Rachel came over first and ate lunch with us before the Superbowl began. We had fun talking and eating with them! Then, as the Superbowl was beginning, Jason came over, followed soon by Derek and later by Anthony. It was pretty awesome. We snacked the whole day--which I admit is not so abnormal for my husband or for pregnant me--and watched the Superbowl and its (surprisingly lame) commercials. After, we played Whoonu, which was just hilarious and then Dalin opened his gifts! I would have liked to do more but he didn't ask for anything so it was hard for me to not go overboard and spend a lot of money. Luckily my mom sent some awesome gifts which made me feel less bad. I also told Dalin about one gift that I intend to get for him (a bar and weights for his weight bench) but I do not know which brand or size to buy...

La comida...soooo unhealthy...

The cutie handsome birthday boy with balloons and a clean room (yay!!!)

Gifts! One of them (I think it's quite obvious which one) is a work in progress.

Anyway, it was so much fun to entertain (and it motivated me to clean the living room which needed it desperately...) and it made me so grateful to have such wonderful and hilarious friends. Now we just need to find them all wives! ;)

But seriously, we are very, very blessed to know such fine young men (and Rachel & Daniel, who are awesome too) and if there are any eligible single ladies out there, you would feel lucky to get to know them. 

I love that happy smile :) So dang handsome...

Ch-Ch-Changes

Well, as you can quite clearly see for yourself, I have made a few changes to our blog. Do you like them?? I felt that our blog needed something a little more unique and original to help it stand out. I like the rustic feel. It makes me feel like Christmas, camping, and New England all at the same time.

Today was a great day. I wasn't feeling so well this morning and ended up missing Church. I felt well enough to go visiting teaching for a short while with my lovely companion, Emily. We visited with and shared a brief message with both of our girls and left with each of them a cute little handout (a gift tag with a quote from our message and a little button and feather--I should have taken a pic after I made them).

Shaina and Layton came over for a dinner of porkchops, summer squash, cucumbers with homemade vinaigrette and sparking red grape juice (my favorite!). It came out surprisingly well, but naturally I forgot to take a picture this time around. After, Shaina made delicious fudge brownies and served it with chocolate oreo ice cream. Can you say YUM?

We played Yahtzee and enjoyed the Denver-New Orlean's game as well as the World Series (Giants won...spoiler alert). Now I'm working on a lovely paper about the writings of James Joyce. It really would be more interesting to write about if I didn't have to do a decent draft of it by tomorrow...

Anyway, all I am thinking about now is how anxious I am for Thanksgiving, what Dalin and I want to do for Christmas, how much I miss my parents (and Dalin's!), and how I'm somewhat dreading class at 8am tomorrow...

Also, in other news, Dalin has officially changed his major! We are both very excited because we think it will be much more enjoyable for him. He will be studying....(drumroll)...

Psychology! 

But more specifically, neuro-psychology is where he hopes to go with it. It has a lot to do with his interest in studying and helping those diagnosed with depression. I know he will be wonderful at it--he is great at everything--especially at being a kind and thoughtful husband. 

I asked myself about a thousand times today how I got to be so lucky as to have Dalin for eternity. He treats me with so much respect and is very aware of my needs and my comfort. Thank you, Marisa Johnson, for choosing to serve a mission, meeting Dalin, and then being inspired by the Spirit to set us up. Best idea ever.

We are very, very blessed. 

surprise!

wonderful bridal shower thrown by my roommates. even though they kept me cooped up in my room for the entirety of the morning, i forgave them fast when i saw how fantastically they did. the shower was sweet and small, with creative game ideas, an amazing home-made mint ice cream cake (my favorite!!!), and exquisite yellow and blue (wedding colors!) balloons and decorations. and, best of all, it concluded with a surprise visit from my wonderful, handsome fiance himself!!!!!
              before he arrived...
the girls had a game where i had to answer questions about dalin, (thus testing my knowledge of my future husband). for each question i answered incorrectly, i had to put a piece of double bubble in my mouth. did i do well? well, not going to lie, dalin's answers to a few of those questions totally threw me for a loop. like his favorite movie?! Madagascar 2??!!?! since when??? all in all, i think i remembered more than i thought i knew. i got maybe 5 or 6 wrong. but i can promise that now i will remember those answers!!!

anyway, as the game was coming to a close, courtney and rachel suddenly started to get antsy and began to hurry things along. i was confused about them rushing things all of a sudden. i was thinking we have all the time in the world today, what is going on?? i admit i was totally oblivious that dalin had driven all the way from provo that morning.

in fact, dalin had fed me this stupid story which i was dumb enough to believe...especially since i had known for a fact that he had nothing planned for that saturday--no work, meetings, or anything apart from watching the Wimbledon--so it was incredibly silly of me to not suspect a thing when he told me that someone from his ward randomly came to his door and asked him to go on a service project with them to salt lake. having been cooped up in my room all morning, i was annoyed at first when he told me that he couldn't skype but was easily satiated when he promised to talk to me on the phone on the way to "salt lake." he told me he was in a van with a bunch of others and that his bishop was driving. when i asked why it was so quiet, he said that everyone else was asleep. probably from getting up early on a saturday to do a service project. (okay, am i an idiot because why would every single other person be asleep on the forty minute drive to salt lake??) as dalin listened to some "Motab" he asked if i could hear the bishop blasting it. after a bit, he told me they would be arriving soon, and that he would text me when he could.
                so, clearly i am not as observant as i had sort of thought i was. either that or the excitement of my bridal shower was diverting enough to completely blind me to the obvious...

when dalin walked in our apartment--all of a sudden--with a yellow rose (my favorite of all roses) and my actual engagement ring--i had NO IDEA what was going on. i have definitely never been so surprised in my life. my parents know i am not a huge fan of surprises and never really did them. so after i rushed into dalin's arms, i was at a loss for what to do. i was so shocked that he was there. perhaps that tells something about long-distance engagements. it pretty much feels like eternity before you see the other person again. also, that was the first time i had seen my "real" engagement ring (i am still very fond of my first ring and still wear it--but on my right hand) and i loved it immediately. dalin knows me so perfectly and i was so, so, so happy with his selection.

pretty ring, pretty rose

juntos :)

after dalin's arrival, the bridal shower pretty much ended but i was just so HAPPY to be with dalin that i didn't mind at all. it was a perfectly executed surprise and completely made my entire week as dalin stayed in rexburg and went to classes with me until thursday, after which he returned to provo and brought me along to spend the fourth of july weekend with him! our first holiday :)

in provo, i stayed with abby billin from thursday night to monday night. staying with her was wonderful--particularly because i loved her cute apartment and it gave me many ideas for my future apartment with dalin. throughout the time i spent in provo, here were some of the highlights:

• while dalin was working, i spent around 5+ hours in the mall (shopping from claire's to zumiez to victoria's secret to american eagle to a used book store)
• seeing Transformers 3 in theaters (which was sweet)
• eating some fro-yo (hun-cal ;)
• going to church together (something i love so much)
• making every meal together (also love so much...)
• eating Sherbet ice cream! (please note the spelling...i was unaware of this before this weekend)
• watching movies in his apartment
• watching lots of sports on TV
• eating shaved ice (and, like always, i lost at "whose flavor is better")
• reading together
• falling asleep on the couch together (before curfew rolled around and he had to drive me back to abby's)
• "tanning" (ahem) by the pool in the bright, bright sun
• watching fireworks on the grass together
• going for walks
• viewing campus and going to the bookstore
• spending the Fourth of July together...like we will be...for the rest of eternity :]
• eating hotdogs from Sonic on the Fourth
• having me eat a huge dog from J Dawg's...
• talking about the future and our children and plans and being patriotic by wearing red, white, & blue
• grocery shopping at Wal*Mart (it's much more fun together :)
• getting raspberry cheesecake shakes from Arctic Circle
• learning more and more about one another

needless to explain, it was a wonderful (full) eleven days together. it was incredibly hard for me to get on that salt lake express bus to return to rexburg. it was slightly comforting to be reminded that i only have three weeks remaining of classes before dalin comes to retrieve me and bring me to boise for his sister cassie's wedding! and then to the salt lake airport so i can fly home to new hampshire! and then dalin will join me in new hampshire soon enough! and then we'll be sealed forever and ever :). i just need to be patient. just about 36 days...thank heavens we have eternity ahead of us! ;)