A New Plan

David has always been great at posing for pictures..... Ignore my messy house....

If you don't want to read this massive post I've made a footnotes version at the bottom.

What a month we have had! New jobs, new house, and a new plan. So much has happened I feel like I can't even remember it all so here is the short version from the beginning.

Two months ago David decides to introduce himself to the Creative Director of the whole church at a church wide conference that was being held. He finds out through a friend that a girl is leaving this same week and a position has just opened. David talks to the creative director and he wants to see his portfolio that very same day.  David shows him his portfolio and the guy loves him and wants him to come apply for a position that just happened to open up that same week.

The interview finally happens and it lasted for over two hours!! Rivers and I went down to Salt Lake with David thinking the interview would be 45 mins at the most and then we could go to dinner afterwards. Bored and running out of things to do I took Rivers to the Joseph Smith Builiding and all the senior missionaries played and oogled over him.

They tell us that they should let us know worse case two weeks.

During this time we are looking for houses as I mentioned in a previous post in the Salt Lake area and it is not going very well we can't find anything. We decided to go with a new Realtor and that very same day we find a house and go under contract. All  before knowing if David got the job. At this point the plan is that if David gets the job we will keep the house and stay in Salt Lake for another 3 years.

Even longer story short. We go under contract for the House on a Monday find out David gets the job on a Friday.

Davids is now working as in interactive designer, something he has never done before so we are mostly staying for the full year so David can get the experience to move him into that position for a new job. It's a great place to get started and learn and we are truly grateful for the opportunity.

I'm so glad we are done looking at houses and can just be. The plan is to stay in our current townhouse until we move, but now that David is having to commute to SLC Rivers doesn't see him as much. So we may be looking for apartments in SLC. Yay!! 

Congratulations if you've made it this far!

FOOTNOTES

David got a new job working as an interactive designer in SLC. We plan to stay here for awhile and then hopefully move to Austin or somewhere out of Utah.

Staycation: Bridal Veil Falls

The Thursday and Friday before Labor day David took off and we had a little staycation. We thought about going somewhere fun, but it's just seems so daunting with the little one. So we hung around Utah and did a few things we've been meaning to all summer but never got around to.

First up was Bridal Veil, we heard it was a pretty easy hike, you could even bring a stroller with you. We opted for the baby carrier because it's always easier than the stroller and he usually falls asleep when held in the carrier, which is always a win win.

 The whole path is paved up to this beautiful spot and even continues on to another park we were told. There is even a little pond of fish you can feed.

If you go a little farther up there is a path you can hike up closer to the falls. This would have been difficult if not impossible with the stroller so I'm glad we opted for the carrier.

 ^^ This was as far as we were willing to go, we saw some girls keep climbing but obviously baby safety always comes first. We stopped to snack on the trail mix we made from the Winco bulk section earlier that morning and took in the beautiful mountain air.^^

It was the perfect day to go hike. If you can even call it a hike, honestly it was so low key I probably could have done the whole thing in flip flops and a dress. Which makes it kind of nice, and really convenient if you want to get in the mountains for a bit but not deal with all the hassle of it. I went the following week with a friend and our strollers and it was the perfect outing.

*all pictures taken with my iphone, just call me lazy.

SLC Farmers Market

Over a month ago (July 6th) we went to Salt Lake to check out their farmers market. Before heading over we stopped at Eva's bakery to try their breakfast. We had just been two days before to try their desserts. They don't have the best customer service, even though they've been given great reviews for it online, so we sat at a table for almost 15 minutes with no service. It looked like the same story for two other couples next to us so we decided it wasn't wort the wait especially with Rivers and ordered some treats from the counter instead. One day I do want to try their breakfast though.  

^^Chocolate croissant and strawberry pinwheel. Both amazing.^^

Then it was off to the Farmers Market.  While it was substantially bigger and better than Rexburg it still was lacking in the fresh produce. We mostly ended up just walking away with a bunch of treats.

^^Strawberry mint popsicle. 

Pretty good but wouldn't have gotten it if I knew what was in store next door. ^^

^^ Oh My!! ^^

^^ These guys were amazing! It was all made fresh right there, and so so delicious.^^

 ^^ Must go back before the summer is over to get one of these again!^^ ^Or I should just learn how to make it at home. hmmm?^

Right after this we stumbled upon Ruby Snap (the greatest cookies in the world) and we've gone to their store location too many times since the Farmers Market. So basically we got a lot of treats oh and some pretty flowers. It was a fun market but not a place I would buy all my produce, sadly. Maybe it changes from week to week I don't know but I wish there was somewhere I could buy local fresh produce around here.

Life in Utah

David taking pictures of us in sacrament (naughty) He took this awhile ago I just found them and thought they were funny. 

I was at lunch the other day with a friend who was visiting from Rexburg and she was asking me if I liked living in Utah and it occured to me that I even though I update this blog with what we are doing it's kind of just random updates and I haven't really talked about how life in Utah has been.

Dave and I were actually talking the other day how we really, really like living here. Which is funny, we were so against ever living in Utah and Idaho and now we have volunteered  to live in both, of course mostly because we felt like these were the places we should be, but I would have never pictured us here and loving it.

The area is gorgeous we are surrounded by mountains in almost every direction, we've been discovering more and more amazing places to eat. Every weekend we try to go somewhere new. We live in a great area, close to the grocery store and all kinds of shopping.

David is loving his job they treat him so well and he has so much creative freedom not to mention he has lots of freelance jobs to keep him plenty busy and on his feet. We don't really see much of our ward being in Primary but primary has been fun and the  kids are hilarious. David has found a group of guys to play basketball with and I've got a good friend who lives next door. Plus we have David's family close by that we get to spend time with.

Basically life in Utah has been really good, and I am grateful for this opportunity we have to be here and all the blessings we have received while being here. I know it is because of our willingness to follow our Heavenly Fathers plan for us and I know that it is because of that we are truly happy.

Over The Weekend

 

One of my new years resolutions (I think my only one) was to take more pictures, I use to document everything like a crazy person and now I've gotten shy about it. No one should be shy about documenting in 2013 it's what this life is all about, instagram, twitter, and now videograms its everywhere. I went this whole weekend with only taking one picture. It's a great picture, but we did so much this weekend and now all I have are the memories in my head.

Friday night we did pizza and a movie at home and it was a great way to end the crazy week we had. I wish every night could be pizza and a movie because A. I love Pizza and B. I love being in my Pj's.

Saturday we went to lunch with Craig (davids bro) and his kids to a place called Moochies which is famous for their meatball and Philly sandwiches. Since I am a fan of neither I got a salami and provolone sandwich with fries and it was amazing. We will be going back and I will document.

On the way to the resturant I felt like I was having period cramps, to which I thought nothing of until my silly brain said Hello Courtney you are pregnant that cannot be the case. Contractions?

After lunch we were going to head home to do some much needed house organizing but decided to stop at this beautiful park and walk around. We probably walked for over an hour the weather was so beautiful it made me so excited for summer and all the bike rides we will go on with our new baby. I kept feeling like my stomach was a little tight but nothing bad.

Sunday we went to Davids sister for dinner and Craig as well. All of which I took zero pictures. After church before heading to Brits it felt really tight but went away, and n the way there it felt like cramps again but went away when we went inside.

Maybe this means baby is coming soon? I woke up this morning and have been having some cramps so we shall see....
 

BYU Basketball

Well here we are doing the Utah thing attending BYU Basketball games and eating Costco pizza for dinner before hand. Now all we need is a mansion on the hill.

We were lucky enough to snag some really awesome tickets from David's Uncle last month. We sat pretty close to the court and with blue padded seats no less, which I was grateful for because those yellow seats surrounding us did not look so comfy.

It was a really fun night, BYU ended up winning by a lot despite the kid on the other team making 3 pointers left and right, I'm honestly not sure how BYU won. However I did spend most of the night watching the college kids scream and shout at the other team, pretty entertaining stuff, but really they were crazy and it was hilarious

This Fine Weekend

This past weekend we were busy little bees. We did the usual Friday night pizza and a movie except it wasn't pizza it was Chick-fil-a and it was a movie it was Greys Anatomy.

Saturday we went to our new temple which looks just like the Rexburg Temple except way more glamorous on the inside. We then went to IKEA.... which took forever like always and pretty much got everything for his bedroom sort of. We went to dinner that night with friends at a cute little cafe in Salt Lake.

Sunday I made blueberry muffins with fresh fruit for breakfast, we helped our friends move in next door, and I cooked dinner for such said friends. Maybe I should say that again I COOKED dinner! It was delicious and actually tasted good!

Pictures of baby room coming soon, its still a very much work in progress but I love to go and sit in there and think of all the things me and baby will do when we he gets here!

Checking In

 

(cooking our first meal in the new place) 

Just thought I would check and let everyone know we are alive! We made it to Utah in one piece, and the cat is still breathing! We moved out of our Rexburg Apartment on the 7th and moved into our Utah apartment on the 8th. I had to go back to Rexburg to finish finals and got here Wednesday night. It feels so good to have everything and everyone all in one place again.

Moving can be extremely stressful on me, I think mostly because every time we've moved its included getting rid of everything and cramming it into the car. Which I never recommend. We got a Uhaul this time and really large Uhaul at that.  I should have taken a picture, and it wasn't 1,200 like I was expecting and the gas wasn't 500 like I was expecting. It was an extremely easy move, we got everything moved in quickly and smoothly and are slowly unpacking. It took me all day yesterday to do the kitchen. Mostly because I had to wipe down everything first...... no comment.

We cooked our first meal in our new place last night while listenting to music and chatting about our days. We cooked enchiladas ( a staple in this family) and life couldn't have been better. I know it will only get better once baby is here.  Can  I just say how much I love our new kitchen like it might actually convert me to cooking.... might!

Utahns

We made plans to go Utah this past weekend and last minute our sleeping arrangements fell through, so I said screw it lets get a Hotel. I did a little priceline searching and found a deal at The Peery Hotel in downtown Salt Lake. We had thought about staying at The Peery on our wedding night but chose The Monaco instead, so I thought it would be fun to actually stay there. David works so hard to support us and we've been so diligent about saving I thought what is all that money for if not to enjoy, if we die tomorrow it will all be for nothing. LIVE a little! And so we did at The Peery Hotel for a short little weekend. 

The Hotel was built in 1910 and for the most part still feels like you're in 1910, it was fun and well deserved little getaway. Even if the time spent out of the Hotel was long and stressful.

Why so stressful you ask? Well because David was officially offered a job at the Church and we went to Utah to look for housing!! We are going to be Utahns (i had to look that up) and we couldn't be more excited. Not necessarily excited to be Utahns but for this job opportunity and the all the amazing blessings that are coming with it. We are Loved!

He starts his new job on the 15th of November as the newest Senior Art Director and will be traveling back and forth for a couple of random weeks until we officially move December 14th. The time is he not there he will work from home This job with the Church has been in the works for what feels like months if not years. They've been talking about hiring him for so long it feels nice to finally come out and say it.

We did end up finding a place to live in South Jordan which is only 7 minutes from his work, and it's perfect! We plan to stay there until we save up enough for a house. Until then though it will be a great place to call home.

We never thought we would be living in Utah, it definitely was never in the plans but we really are so excited! I'm so proud of David, he is a great husband, I feel extremely blessed. Rivers is lucky to have him as a dad.