I promise there are more exciting things in Texas

The bug stories are just too good not to share. Monday morning we woke up to a nice surprise in our sink. Until Monday I had managed to steer clear of the dreaded cockroach. Not only just a cockroach, but a half alive cockroach. Grant started messing with it and it started hopping around. I screamed and jumped and did a bit of a "getting attacked by a bee" dance. It seriously creeped me out.

The story in TX is that where there is one roach, there are more. Grrreeeeaaatt. Well here's our roach. It is NOT a small roach.

Yup that roach is nearly the size of Grants pinky, and no Grant's pinky is not small.
Oh and ya that's the roach IN A BAG. Grant wanted to bring it to show and tell at work. (He is a pest control salesman you know.)

How did we kill the roach without smooshing it? Grant attacked it with bleach. It worked.

What a guy huh? Grant didn't scream, but I know he was freaked out.

(Notice the plate of cookies in the background. I may or may not have made homemade cookies every Saturday since we've been in TX)

I do promise that there is more to Texas than bugs, but there are A LOT of bugs. Come visit, I'll show you.

In Case You Were Wondering

I have the ABSOLUTE most adorable nieces and nephews in the world. Grant and I spent the weekend in Dallas and let's just say it was EXACTLY what I needed.

Look at that smile! haha. Phoenix is a fun fun kid. He is always up for a good tickle fight. He would just run and throw himself at me, I loved playing with him!

Paige has the most friendly and bubbly personality. She gave me the BIGGEST hug when she saw me this weekend. It was a rare thing to see Paige without a smile on her face.


Scotty is becoming a little man. He wanted to hold my hand the whole time we were grocery shopping in Costco. What a lovable guy!

I kept catching myself staring at Romney. He is the most beautiful little boy. He's a very calm and serious little guy, so mature for a baby.

Daniel and I have a special bond. Well at least I do with him. He was my baby last summer. He has the cutest little raspy voice. I could listen to this kid talk for hours. His scream doesn't really even bother me because I'm just so obsessed with this little guy.

I didn't get a picture of Stacy and that describes her pretty perfectly. She is always all over the place so energetic. Stacy and I had a rough start, I'm not used to children defying me. But Stacy is a smart cookie, she can really have an intelligent conversation. Stacy was cracking me up all weekend.

And Chase. I wish I had a picture of Chase, but whenever he was awake he was in my arms so I didn't have any free hands to take a picture. What a SWEET baby!! I miss holding him already.

I loved this last weekend in Dallas. I'm so excited to live so close to my awesome in-laws. I really can say they are close friends as well! Only one more year and we're here for good.

I reek

... literally.

*caution grotesque image below*

Tonight I stepped on one of these nasty boogers. All I wanted to do was get the laundry. Every night I walk out on our back porch I see tons of these creepy insects, and every morning they're all belly up. Tonight the beetle won the battle.

I took a step...
I felt something squishy and squirmy under my BARE foot.
I instantly knew. I instantly freaked out.

I raced back inside and sat down to breathe. And this STENCH fills my nostrils... it's coming from my foot. Yes ladies and gents, here in Texas these are called stink bugs and I squashed it, unleashing all it potent juices onto my bare skin.

Best part... the smell won't come off no matter how much I scrub.

If I were you I would stay away from apartment 8107 tonight. (sorry hubs your not allowed to stay away ;) )

Goodbye Utah... see ya in September

We left Utah again and here we are in SUNNY, WARM, TEXAS! I'm actually surprised we made it on time.
Grant was busy with finals ALL week long (he did really really really well this semester) and I was packing ALL week long.

Back up. So the weekend before we left Grant and I watched London and Layla, well Grant studied and I watched them, but it was fun to have him with me in the evenings. I love these girls.
London loves LOVES music. Her favorites, "willy wonka willy wonka the amazing chocolate chair" I guess chocolatier isn't in a 3 year olds vocab yet. One day she came up to me and said "bow chicka wow wow!" And my favorite, "Zaza your hair is wild!" (7:30 am just rolled out of bed)


Layla makes the funniest faces and was basically a doll to watch, when she wasn't screaming for me to hold her.


Hard to resist right? haha


Can I tell you how AMAZING it was to get to hold a baby in my arms every 3 hours to feed her.

Yes kids are EXHAUSTING, but holy cow it was awesome to wake up to her smiling face every morning.

Yes, we were busy, but don't let it fool you we still had time for fun. There is ALWAYS time for fun!

Jordan and Bridger came over for games and hamburgers. We broke out our newest addition to our game family, QUELF. IT. WAS. SO. FUN. We captured some great moments from the game below.


Bridger had to lick a piece of paper and get it to stick to his forehead for 30 seconds. EASY.


I had to drink a glass of water from the opposite side of the rim that you normally drink from. HARD-ISH. Thank Grant for this amazing shot, nice view eh?


Grant had to roll 3 3's all while having his finger in his nose. HARD. (He gave up)


I didn't have a picture of Jordan from the game, but she had to say "I have you now," everytime she made eye contact with someone. HILARIOUS, and awkward. haha. (This pic seemed to fit)

We got to see a lot of Grant's family. Between visit's for Womens Conference and weddings he had 3 siblings in town and his mom. Basically I loved it. Womens Conference was SO what I needed. Thanks Karen for the ticket! And I was totally reminded of how EXCITED I am to live in Dallas with Greg and Christy and Mer and Bart and all the kiddos after seeing all of them!

Then Grant and I got in the car at about noon on Friday and drove straight to San Antonio. 22 hours baby. We rock (at driving that is). We took turns sleeping and driving and I ate A LOT of sunflower seeds to keep me awake between 11 and 4 am.

Spring Things

Spring time brings a long list of great things! After birthdays is Easter and Conference. Our good friends Nate and Kelsie were in town so we went to dinner with them! Kelsie and I had some much needed girl/shopping time while the boys went to priesthood.

So after about 1 month of being married to Grant I figured out that if he says lets not get each other presents for a holiday, he'll get me a present anyways. So for Easter I said lets just not get each other anything. But, sure enough we both got each other something anyways. At least Grant was surprised this time. He got me the new Lady Antebellum cd and I got him a pair of tennis rackets and some tennis balls. We have gone twice and let's just say I've come leaps and bounds since the first 10 minutes I played. Grant has been very patient with my tendencies to hit the ball over the fence, into someone elses court, making him run back and forth because I hit the ball out of the white line more than in it, and not hitting the ball over the net. I'm not good yet, but I'm no longer horrible. I love it! We have so much fun together just going and playing tennis!



I made homemade cinnamon rolls and little quiche's for breakfast on Saturday. The Cinnabon recipe from allrecipes.com is the best I've found yet.

The semester ended, which was actually kind of sad for me. I made such good friends this semester and had SO much fun and next semester we're all getting split up so I was bummed. A bunch of girls from my program planned a big group date at a park. We barbecued, visited an old tree, danced like fools, played (or tried to) volleyball, and got hit in the head with a football to top it all off.


This is Melissa, Carly, Whitney, Me, and Caitlin visiting the old tree. I'm so glad I met all these girls this year!


I rewarded my self with my biannual hair appointment. It was so nice to go and get pampered for a few hours!


When we're bored we play with our camera, but this shows the hair too. It's just blonder, nothin spectacular!



I FINALLY took a dance class this year! I went with my buddy Ky Ky and a girl from school who used to dance. It FELT SO GOOD to dance again. I actually wasn't as bad as I thought I would be. It's amazing how therapeutic it is for me. But it is no cake walk! That bruise the size of my knee cap is from the class I took. Why is it I love getting battle wounds, I feel so tough.

We're moving to Texas in about two weeks for another summer. I have one more final on Tuesday (out of a whopping 2) and then it's packing, nannying, cleaning, and womens conference with Grant's mom and sisters. Hopefully these next few weeks are filled with lots of outdoorsy adventures because it is BEAUTIFUL!

Playing Catch Up!

We have been having so much fun with my new camera, we basically take it everywhere... like a child, but quiet. We had a little reunion with some of Grants old roommates and they were instantly sucked into Mario Kart Wii (you would be too if you came over).


Look at the JOY on their faces! So much happiness, I love it!

A couple weeks later SPRING HAPPENED!!! It was a glorious day when I didn't have to wear a winter coat outside. Grant and I celebrated by walking to a nearby park and playing Phase 10, all the while trying to figure our camera out.




We also watched the little girl, London that I used to nanny and her new sister Layla. We had so much fun, but watching 2 little ones is definitely more work than watching 1! I am amazed by you moms out there!!!


Look how happy we are to be reunited again! She still tells me I'm her favorite (and Grant of course).


These kids love stories!

And last, but definitely not least we celebrate Grant's 26th birthday! So if you know Grant you know he loves to surprise and is IMPOSSIBLE to surprise. Well ladies and gents I did it!!! :)
Thursday Grant came home from school and I said get in the car. So we drove up to Midway to this GORGEOUS Bed and Breakfast and Grant had no idea!


I didn't take this picture and it wasn't this green, but still so beautiful. I had been researching Bed and Breakfasts for a few months and I just couldn't find anything prettier and cozier than this one, Johnson Mill. We both highly recommend it. Comfy beds, fireplaces in each room, jetted bath tubs, beautiful views, and YUMMY breakfast!


Us on the deck of our room.


What is it about a fireplace that just makes everything cozier?

Friday we went to Alice and Wonderland and relaxed A LOT, then finished with dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory (I'm not a big Italian fan so Grant likes to pick those places for his birthday) and then had cake at our house.

Chocolate frosting of course, poor guy it's the only time he gets chocolate in this house! I'm so selfish.

Whew. Well needless to say we've been having a wonderful spring, now summer is just around the corner!

Maybe it's the sunshine...

maybe it's the nap, or the music, or the yumm-o left over pie from pie day I enjoyed, but life is good. I had a moment today while cleaning the kitchen, I am happy. It was simple, but glorious. Lately it's been easy for me to stress about my future, will Grant make enough money, will I have a nice house, will I ever get a new car? Grant is deciding what it is he actually wants to do after he graduates in December, and I've come to this point where I just want him to choose what makes him happy. I have to admit it's a little embarrassing admitting how prideful and materialistic I've been, but I'm pleased to announce I've changed! Like I said, maybe it's the sunshine creating a sense of euphoria, but I realized if I can be happy (like really really happy) in this little, old, dusty apartment, heck I can be happy anywhere. If I can be happy (like I said before extremely happy) driving my multi-colored 97' Honda I can be happy driving anything as long as it gets me from point a to point b.

As long as I have this:

laughs with my silly husband!

And this:

the Savior Jesus Christ.

And someday maybe a few of these:

(I guess they ALL don't have to be ballerinas)

I know I will be happy, no matter where I live.

A wonderful, wise man said this in November 2008 Conference:

"This is our only chance at mortal life-here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do." -President Thomas S. Monson