Back to the grind soon.

I haven't posted in forever, luckily its because I've been too busy having fun rather than too busy with school! Daniel and I feel like we've been traveling all over and are grateful to not have anywhere to go for the next few months but we had a blast over the last few weeks. And thank goodness, no sicknesses this trip! Thanksgiving turned out to be our most expensive vacation ever with that medical bill. Ugh. Well, first we whisked away to Utah for our anniversary and the wedding of one of Daniel's mission companions. It was a busy quick trip filled with work parties, weddings, reunions, and Christmas with Daniel's family.


Mmmmmm how I miss these cupcakes.

Daniel's sister Linzi had another baby while we were there, such a cutie. That meant we got to spend time with little Maylee, here she is enjoying her chocolate covered Oreo. My kind of girl.

Daniel's friend got married the same day, same temple. Kind of funny and kind of nice at the same time.


I can't believe we've been married a year. I never thought on that day that I could be even more in love with Daniel today. I'm so glad he asked me to marry him. Even though neither one of us is perfect, we both try hard to take care of each other. He is such a good husband and I love him more than anything in this world.

We picked out cards for each other in Walmart and took pictures so we wouldn't have to pay for them. And Daniel got free flowers at the wedding. Score!

We spent a few nights together in Salt Lake. It was nice to just relax and enjoy each other. We ate at Benihana's and saw the lights at temple square and walked 4 miles. Yes 4 miles to get a bagel. Not sure that was worth it.


After that we snuck back to Philly for a few days to get in a teeny bit of Christmas before heading out again. Rocky watched Rudolph while I decorated the tree. Our teeny little tree only had four ornaments but was still cute (thanks Mom for stocking us up for next year!)



We don't even like coke but these were too cute to resist.




For Christmas, we headed to my parent's house in Oregon. We had such a fun time hanging out with my parents and my sisters family.


So many Christmas trees.




Downtown Portland

How cool is this?


Aviation and Space Museum - Daniel had SOOOOO much fun here.

Why are the kids sections of museums always the most fun?

This is a water park - with a real plane on top!


This was the best meal I've ever had - steak and lobster @ Claim Jumpers. I just had to post it because it was SOOOOOO amazingly delicious!

Shopping with Mama. She's so cute.

Making cookies.

We were supposed to be home for New Year's Eve but our flight got delayed so we stocked up with snacks and a movie.

Such a fun trip, thanks to our families for everything! The next few months are going to be really busy and lots of decision making, but we're excited for all the fun things ahead of us!

starbucks and hospitals

Well this vacation was full of some unwelcome surprises (aka stomach bugs and flight cancellations) but luckily there were lots of fun things in between. We had a blast with daniel's family playing games, shopping, and eating lots of yummy food.

Airports, airports . . . it makes us a little sick to think of how many we'll be at in the next month.


Happy thanksgiving!


Yes, I developed an addiction to gingerbread hot chocolates from starbucks while we were there. Don't they look pretty with my nails?


Jelly Belly Factory. Please don't eat the rotten egg flavor. Ever.

Unfortunately I weighed too much for the pony rides.


Day trip to SanFrancisco! I'm glad I felt a little better so we could go there-I'd never been. I love seeing new cities and it was so much fun to see my friend Missy that I haven't seen since the night Daniel and I got engaged. Wish we could have stayed longer but hopefully we'll get to go back!

Cupcakes of course, and fresh clam chowder for Daniel.

Oh and more airports . . .


Neither of us wanted our vacation to end but at the same time were very glad to be home and get some rest. I missed snuggling with Rocky but I'm glad he had a friend to play with while we were gone!

not the best way to spend your vacation . . .

So i started coming down with a cold a few days before we left on vacation. I thought I could fend it off but the plane rides and lack of sleep did me in. I finally started feeling a lot better yesterday but what happens that night? Everything coming out of everywhere. Daniel ended up taking me to the emergency room because I couldn't keep a sip of water down and I couldn't even sit up. Unfortunately I was probably ranked low on the scale of emergencies so we were there from 11:30 to 6 in the morning. They pumped me with fluids and painkillers and I'm feeling a lot better but still can't eat anything so really weak. I just have to say that I have the best husband ever though. It was awful sitting there that long but Daniel was a sweetheart and held my hand while getting my IV (I have some PTSD when it comes to needles). I'm so lucky to have him. We're coming up on our first anniversary and its been crazy being married. We've had some really not so fun things we've gone through but we've also had some awesome times. And I know that the really hard and painful times are only going to bring us closer and make us stronger. I'm so glad I married this man, I've never loved anyone so much. He really is my best friend and when he messes up, he always tries to make it better. I can't imagine a life without him and I'm so grateful that we're going to be together forever.