We went on vacation.

So in between getting a new job, moving into a new place, and starting school, we took a little trip up north to a place called Jackson Hole. We went with the other Beans and camped and had a great time. We rafted down the river and got pictures (for free!) with Andrew's cousin Jason (hilarious!). We even jumped off a cliff along the way, but we don't have pictures of that.

And I'm realizing now that all these pictures look the same..... sorry! I guess when you float down a river, get past some rapids, then get out and hike back up to before the rapids just so you can get through them again you'll end up with the same pictures.

I forgot to get a picture of the most important part - the chocolate, marshmallow banana boats we made for dessert! Soooo delicious. Gooey chocolately banana goodness. Camping could not get better.

I wish I could go on vacation again.

A few things....

1) I tried to post repeatedly on Sunday. From my iphone, from the computer. Got no lovin' from either. So, I will try again later. (It was the pictures that messed me up! But, that's the only thing people care about, so I was trying to put them up.)

2) We sold our car. Goodbye, memories! :(  And goodbye to $60 fill-ups, random break downs on off-ramps, weird lights, expensive new tires, and the weirdest car alarm system ever. Hello to RADIO!, new cars, less worry (and yet, more worry) and exciting new things!

3)Group FHE is fun when you all go to dinner together! PLUS, the Mt. Olympus burger was surprisingly good. I would like to thank Red Robin for their $5 burger secret. Your bottomless fries fill me up.

4) I finished my curtains. But haven't taken pictures yet. Soon. I promise.

5) We have one wall that refuses to hold our pictures!! They have fallen down probably 8 or 9 times. The glass is gone now and they still won't stay up. I have no idea what to do.

6) We started talking about how we want to go to San Francisco next summer (after a Yosemite trip?) and I am itching for winter to be here already so that spring can come and go, and then it will be summer and then we can go!

7) Somehow last night, I ended up on the couch. I have no clue how I got there, but I brought a pillow and blanket with me. I woke up a few times, and realized I was on the couch but didn't do anything about it. And then somehow I woke up again in my bed. Not quite sure what happened or what I was dreaming about.

8) Does anyone else struggle over what to make for dinner? I think I have this problem every day. Every once in awhile I have a bright moment and a brilliant idea, but 95% of the time, I am clueless. If it was up to me and I didn't feel bad about making the hubby do this, I would probably just eat sandwiches every night.

9) I have scanned over 600 pictures at work. Are they work-related? NOPE. Are they my pictures? NOPE. Am I okay with this? Most of the time because it gives me something to make it until 4:30.

 10) If you made it through this post, you are wonderful. You will be rewarded with pictures soon. I PROMISE.

I have a new brother.

Specifically a Brother XL-2600 - a sewing machine. It was a semi spur-of the-moment decision. All the reviews were really good and it was pretty cheap compared to others that I've looked at - even on KSL/Craigslist. I've been looking for a little bit, but never seriously. Then on Sunday night, I ordered it and it came on Wednesday! AND, get ready for this........ I've already used it!

We went to JoAnn's last night to get some fabric for our much-needed curtains. And I'm kind of really  excited to show you what they look like. Especially our bedroom curtains. I think the pattern is so cute! Not what I was planning on getting at all, but after about 2 minutes of deliberation, we decided we liked it and that it did indeed match, and NOW, I'm halfway done with the curtains.

Oh man. I'm excited for the sheer potential I have now.(And I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to have an allowance for crafts so I don't go wild and spend tons on them.) Like I said, makes me want a baby so I can make cute things for it! 

Babies.

I dream a lot about babies - which you think would be my subconscious telling me that I really do want to "grow large with child", when, in fact, I would really really REALLY like to put that off for some time. So, I'm not really understanding these dreams.  I'm not looking forward to the stress or the missed sleep because I know it's not all sunshine and rainbows when it comes to children.
But yet, I know multiple adorable pregnant women. And although I know it's completely absurd, the jealousy/coveting begins. I want one too. I want a baby I can call my own and not have to give back. A baby who can change my life forever (not to mention getting me out of working!). A baby that is a part of me.

Then, here comes Elizabeth Stone who sums it up succinctly for me: "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

And I know I'm not ready. Not ready to let go of my heart. I want to keep it safe for a little while longer. Someday, I think I will be ready to be a mother and let part of my heart go. But not yet. Someday.


BUT
that didn't stop me from getting one of these for free yesterday (I paid for shipping only!):

Picture from here. (And thanks Jessi for the promo code!)

And it is going into storage right away.

Time well wasted.

Our bank lets you personalize your debit/credit card for free.

Guess who spent an hour yesterday picking out a picture?
That's right. ME.
I'm actually pretty stoked.
AND if they turn out as fabulously as I'm hoping/wishing/thinking they will, I will have to do the other card. I picked this picture:

And I am SO excited to have a white credit card. It's probably the unhealthy kind of excitement.

They come in one week!

happy day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my little brother.
Although little is not quite the appropriate term.
He comes home in 24 (give or take a couple) days!

This was my last day of high school. He pretty much looks the same. I think I look... naive. haha

I'm hungry now.

So, I made scrumptious food yesterday. And I can't really take any credit for it.


Dinner: the most delicious tomato-cream sauce on penne. (From here.) SUPER easy to make and incredibly delicious. Hello, there is cream in there! Of course it is to die for! It's in my lunchbox for today and I honestly don't think I can wait until noon to eat it. Maybe I'm over exaggerating about how good it was because I was starving by dinner time last night, but it was so incredibly satisfying. My mouth is watering right now. This is what it looked like (minus the basil) (also from the link above):

Dessert: Chocolate and Caramel Apple Pie Galette. (From here.) OH MAN. Usually, I have a hard time loving apple pie - mostly because apples aren't my favorite fruit. But holy smokes. AMAZING. This was so good. And it is also in my lunchbox. I would have taken a picture of mine except we forgot to bring our camera in from outside and it spent the night in the yard (not even our yard - our neighbor's!) But it looks like this (also from the link above):

Lunch time can't come soon enough.

new beginnings come from some other beginning's end.

So....we moved. Almost 3 weeks ago. This is a little out dated but this is so la familia can see our place if they missed out on the skype tour. We liked our first apartment, but we LOVE our new place. The more we live here, the more we ignore the kids upstairs and love it here.

*Sorry if the pictures are a little small --- my computer has been struggling lately.

**I need to explain about the benches - this basement wasn't here originally, so when they dug it out they had to dig around the existing foundation of the house. So, they made the rooms bigger and just covered the old foundation and made benches out of them. So we have benches around the whole room. The walls are whiteboard.

This is the corner of the living room. This bench is larger than all the others; we are not sure why. And we are working on getting curtains....

Bookshelves and rugs are new.

Our hallway kitchen. The sink, dishwasher and more cupboards are on the other side across from the fridge

Part of the bedroom. You can't even see the desk in the corner.

It's huge.

Our new dresser!

This is a wreath I made to take up some of the HUGE WHITE wall space in the living room. You can see it in the first picture - even there it looks small, but it is a 24" wreath, so really it is big.

And there you go. I left out the bathroom, because let's be honest, no one really wants to see it anyways. Also, the closet and the storage room, because they just aren't very pretty. More utility, less beauty. We just need to put up curtains and a few more pictures and we will be all set! We left our first married apartment for this one and we are so happy we did! I am glad we will not be moving again for a long time.