The Trip Back Home and Beautiful Nauvoo

Man alive, my friends.. I can not believe how hard it has been to keep up with life lately.

I feel like my homework and my list of things to do getting settled and going through gifts and figuring out everything we have and still need.. is never going to end.

[And boy guys can I just say we feel SO blessed..
Thank you so much
for the support I can't tell you how much we needed it and appreciated everything everyone has been doing for us since we have gotten married.. LOVE you guys.]

 

But anyway moral of the story I am just.. behind.

I wish I had more time to keep everyone updated.

 

I'm just going to have to take it like I'm taking all of our other million things to do..

One day at a time.

So our trip to our honeymoon, our honeymoon, and our trip out to the east coast was very exciting and eventfilled and EXPENSIVE..

So we decided to limit our stops on the way back to the West AND we thought we would enjoy the end of summer and save a little money by making use of our new present.
:)
So we camped on the Mississippi River.

One of the stops that we decided we HAD to make was to the beautiful Nauvoo.
& The morning after we got there we got to get up early and go visit this temple.
For those of you who don't know anything about Nauvoo this is t replica of the temple the olden day pioneer built in the 1840's.
And it is absolutely breathtaking I think.



Then we had a chance to visit Carthage and the Carthage Jail where they held the prophet Joseph Smith until a mob broke in and ended his life.

They kept him here under absolutely no real charges..

And we got to spend time in the room Joseph and his brother, Hyrum, were killed/martered in.
I can't even describe the experience of being here after you listen to everything and once you really know how great of men these were you can't help but cry or be moved.
It was an experience that I am so greatful for.

This is a bullet hole through the bedroom door that one of the mob members shot.

I know have said this before but I just feel like it's important.. 
A lot of people think that the Mormons worship Joseph Smith..
and we don't we worship God and His son Jesus Christ.
[So yes.. this question comes up a lot too.. we are Christian]

However we believe Joseph Smith was an amazing man.. and he was/is. And he was killed for his convictions..
And with all of my heart I believe that he was a prophet of God, and I am so grateful for his life and that he was faithful enough to give it so that I can have all of that I have now.

 

 This gospel is beautiful.
& I am astounded at how amazing some of these people who have lived on this earth.

I think everyone is so lucky to have such great people to look up to.

& I am grateful for the special experiences in life that motivate you and keep you going and strong in what you believe because
I think that someone who knows and lives what they believe is a person you should hang on to in your life.

I sure love you all and hope that life is not running you over like it has been me!
haha..
Maybe one day before I graduate I'll figure out how to keep up with homework.
:)
Have a great afternoon & wonderful Thursday my loved ones.


Saving the Best for Last.

 

SO basically ever since I found out that we could.. possibly.. ever.. have the slightest chance of living by New York City..

[& yes. probably way before I knew it was a realistic desire as well..]

I have been dying to go to a Broadway Play.

 

So here is the last time we are going to be able to be in New York in a while..

And we are finally attempting to bite the bullet and make going to one of these wonderful plays a reality..

 



Now lets talk about how NYC is glamorized a little bit..

[Not that we didn't absolutely love it.. because I was even surprised at how much we did]

But one of those things they don't tell you is..

The Subway is really hot.. and kind of smells like Pee..

[yeah gross.. I know.. but I'm breakin it to ya hard]

The second thing you really don't realize until it's a real part of your life..

Broadway Plays cost about as much as a SMALL HOUSE.

[Okay.. maybe a little bit of an exaggeration..]

It's like 200 dollars for a ticket!

And for a poor.. newly married.. college student..

That's just insane.

 

 

Luckily however they have Broadway "Lottery"

[yes litterally it's called that]

& You can put your name into a drawing and if they draw your name you can get like 25-30 dollar tickets!

 



What they don't tell you is that you have about as good of a chance of getting drawn as in the REAL lottery..

There are hundreds.. thousands.. everyone in the world..

Of people who also believe the ticket prices are crazy..

 



So your odds could be better..

But who isn't dying to see Wicked on Broadway..

So we figured that we might as well try right because that is the only way we are getting in..

 



 

Yes this is what a girl would look like who just got all of her hopes and dreams CRUSHED in New York City.. 

So as I am holding back my tears..

And Blake seems to be feeling bad that I am so heart broken..

[& then sometime later..]

We decide to HAVE to make a Plan B.

 

Yeah that's right we aren't going to let anyone knock us down our last day in the city..

 

So I bet you don't have any guesses to what we finally decided on..

:)

 

 



 

Of course..

Mary Poppins! 

 

The tickets were only 40 dollars vs. a couple of hundred..

Which was still kind of an investment for us but we justified that we wouldn't be back for a while..

& I felt like the happiest person on the world.

 



And really.. this play was worth every penny.

It was fantastic.

 

 

 



The acting was absolutely perfect.

& SO fun..

And just in case you didn't notice.. to your left Bert is WALKING on the wall..

 



Then for the Grand Finale Mary Poppins FLYS over the crowd!

 

It seriously was so cool..

 

Everything seemed so real and I was absolutely on cloud 9 every second of this play.

 



 

Even Blake when it was all over said that he was reluctant (or maybe the word is more indifferent) to go because he thought it would be boring..

[what?! anyone in the world doesn't want to go to a Broadway Play!?]

& He said that he even LOVED it!

 

I am already counting down the days until we get to go to another one..

What an amazing experience. I can't even believe still that we were blessed enough to be able to go.

 

& With the last thing checked off our Bucket List we were ready to close this chapter of our New York Adventure and head home.

:)

 

Also guys.. I know I said I'd be the best in the WORLD blogger..

I was setting my sights a little high I believe haha

With my 7 classes, 18 credits, and us in the middle of moving into our apartment things have been so hectic..

So here is my new promise I PROMISE to do the very best I can to be entertaining as often as I can.

 

I hope you all are having a WONDERFUL week that is slightly less hectic than ours.

:)

Good night my loved ones.



This One is For You My Little Marah..

Oh hello my sweet family and friends.

Who never give up on me as busy as life gets.. & just keep on caring.

 

You are the reason my world goes around. 

I really can't tell you how grateful I am to have such wonderful people in my life.

So lets get back to this whole life documenting/remembering/sharing business then shall we...

:)

So the last weekend living in New Jersey we saved a couple of special trips for the end..

This one in particular was a promise we made to my cute little sister..

If anyone can already tell where this is.. 

you will definitely be welcomed into our family.

That's right.. We took a little trip out to Jersey City to see..

The Cake Boss!

And SURPRISE we got to see lots of cute cakes..

But be prepared we also got there at SEVEN in the morning and it was packed..

When I was looking up where it was and everything it said the wait was on average  

2 hours long!

Luckily we didn't have to wait that long to explore all of the creations..

 However this was as close to Buddy as WE ever got.

The cake decorating room is downstairs from his the bakery [I believe].. and I'm not sure how often anyone gets to actually visit down there..

But from what I saw it didn't seem like you get to meet him very often there.

He is one busy cake makin man..

But we had so much fun fulfilling our promise and seeing how the television show [that's on at my family's house every day].. came to be.

 

There were definitely less elaborate cakes than I was expecting.. But there is no denying

 this man has got talent.

And we got a little "taste" of what makes up a big cake business.. literally.

haha

 

Then we bought this CUTE little cake to bring back to my little Marah and were so excited to make her day..

&.. unfortunately on our week journey back across the country it melted completely a little bit before we got it back..

Hope you still enjoyed the box and the taste of it all mixed together Mar! Maybe someday you'll get to try a more beautiful one.. we sure love you!

Okay.. now I have posted these once before.. 

but I can't get over how dang talented my 14 year old sister really is..

So.. moral of my story.

The Cake Boss was definitely a fun little stop if you're in the neighborhood,

 don't you get me wrong you sweet little cake lovers.

:)

But personally I was more impressed with my cute sister's cupcakes..

Watch out world.. 

The next famous cake store is happening in New Mexico.

Happy Monday everyone!

I'm going to try my hardest to be the best blog catcher upper in the world this week..

[that's right i said the world..]

Pretty high expectations I know..but I won't let you down.

:) 

love you all.

The Best News.

 

Oh boy I bet you all are surprised to hear I am alive..

With traveling across the country, catching up with family, and starting my LAST semester of school things have been crazy..

 

But I am going to catch up everything VERY soon.

[probably after this weekend]

 

:)

 

But first and foremost I just wanted to announce to the world..

My best friend Kayla is engaged!

 

 

I love you SO much Kay!

& Couldn't be happier for you.. and I can't wait to be apart of this exciting time in your life!

You deserve to be the happiest girl in the world.

:)

 

 



Bittersweet Farewell..

Goodbye New York, Washington D.C, Philadelphia, NEW JERSEY and our other new favorite big cities..

Good bye my sweet fireflies.. 

& BEAUTIFUL green trees.

We love you.

& We really will miss you.

Hopefully someday we will be back.

But either way.. we are so grateful for this chapter in our life.

What a fun blessing it's been..

Rough'n It..

So we are definitely ready for Real Life again..
[schedules.. and seeing each other.. and eating before ten..]

Don't get me wrong.. we feel extremely blessed every day to be out here and experiencing the other side of the country.

But our jobs are just exhausting.. and everything has been so hectic and busy.. these last few weeks we have been reminiscing on weekends and relaxing Sundays..

& As I was looking at our book lists and comparing prices I started getting so excited to be learning again..

[When I am stressed out with school in a month or two.. quote this back to me and don't let me complain about homework..]

 

But anyway..

Since these last few weeks have been probably the hardest to get through..

I planned a little surprise date for my cute husband to lift our spirits..

[Oh yes.. and this date went late into the night since we don't get off of work until like.. 10.. haha so even thought we were both exhausted the next day, dates are definitely worth it]

So any guesses on what all of this is for?!

Yes. Blake and I got to have a little Camp Out in the Living Room!

[We didn't realize our tent was as big as it was.. it took up the whole room and we were lovin it!]

At work they gave all of the sales reps what they called P Cash.. but it was like a "point or money system" so that they could save up and get what they wanted for free!
And one of the things on Blake's List was a tent and sleeping bags for us so that we could go camping!
So I thought we might as well test em out before we took them out in the real wilderness!

This is the proud husband after setting up our tent..

[oh yeah.. I waited for him to come home to set it up.. haha one big perk of being married.. is you have a man that likes doing things for you now.. so my motto is just let him. You will both be happier. ]

& While he was setting it up I got to barbequing..

So we chowed down on hot dogs and hamburgers, 

[And ate all of our working sorrows away.. :)  ]

&Then once we got everything all ready in their I had another surprise for Blake..

His favorite candy! & I Red Box'd Mirror Mirror because we had been laughing that they were making two Snow Whites and we wanted to know which one would be better..

[& This one I think is better than you'd think it would be.. Blake would probably be better to ask seeing as I may have fallen asleep right there at the end.. darnit.]

& Then we got to cuddle and love our tent all night as I lit candles every where and played nature sounds haha and pretend we were camping for real and that we didn't have to go to work in the morning..

[I write this however.. on our LAST day of work out here! So I really shouldn't be complaining.. just ignore me..]

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and that the first week of school was everything you'd ever dreamed it would be!

Rain Rain Don't Go Away.. We Loved Going to Work Late and Playing Today

So last Friday I got to work..

And probably was met with the best.. rainiest day.. ever.

And by rain I mean.. just pouring like nothing I've ever seen before.

[Now are you wondering if I'm reffering to this rain as the best was the best because it meant I got to be romantic with my cute husband in the downpour? Because oh yeah.... that definitely didn't hurt my opinion of the rain.. haha]

And since we all work for a big sales company and the salesmen, and woman, have to knock outside..

It meant they couldn't work until it passed over!

[The same feeling as a SNOW day.. but.. in this case we got a RAIN day!]

 

Are you also wondering if I.. as an office manager/intern should have been working since obviously I manage the OFFICE inside?!

Oh yeah.. you guys always seem to wonder the right things..

And the answer unfortunately is probably.. yes..

But my boss was a saint and let me go hang out with my husband while he had a morning off!

[And.. I just need to explain we NEVER get time off.. ever.. it rains all the time here, this here was a torrential down pour, and yet.. I am STILL amazed that we got work off..

If you want an awesome summer on the east coast of lots of sight seeing, fun friends, no sleep or extra time, and to be a work aholic.. this is the job for you.]

So since there was no working for a few hours we all decided the most logical thing to would be to put our swimming suits on and go play volley ball in the park in the rain!

& Of course after our logical decision we get to the park and it is absolutely clear..

Except for the muddy run off from the rain that has flooded the park..

So that obviously means..

We must celebrate  this once in a summer experience of not being at work.

& It was so fun/funny..

There were parts of this water that were so deep that the guys were litterally doing the breaststroke accross..

& Everyone was cannonballing and DIVING into this giant puddle..

I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I saw all of the kids in the park walking by and taking pictures of us on their phones!

We then invited them to come play..

but  I guess they were just really busy..

[because.. really now.. who doesn't like to splash in puddles..]



We literally played hours of mud water splashing/mud water diving/ mud water throwing volleyball..

[This was at the end of those hours if you can't tell.. all of the excitement completely wore us all out.]





But don't worry playing [rather than working] seems to bring second winds..

& We got to have a few more water fights and water competitions before we had to reassume our life.. and jobs.. and those kinds of grown up things..

[Alex definitely wins the "most happy to not be at work award" haha I've never seen such a happy man]

And yes..  that is most definitely Blake drowning me in really clean puddle water..

He just really loves me.

But thank goodness for the little moments that help us keep going through the harder parts of life..

I hope everyone is having a great week.

Love you guys.

Happy Thursday!