Home is where your Family is.

I sure do miss Dave but man I love being in Utah. 

It has been so much fun to spend time with my family. 

I miss just stopping in and hanging out with everyone. 

It is the best. 

Here is a little update in picture form: 

1. Boating in Utah Lake. 

It was almost 90 degrees that day and the lake wasn't even that cold!

2. Does it get better than s'mores?

Nope. And you can always have S'more of them too. 

3. Brady's first birthday!

I have been hanging out with this little man a lot lately. 

He is non-stop giggles, he has so many adorable tricks and he can walk!

4. The new smoker!

My dad is so amazing at smoking meat. It melts in your mouth. 

He got a new toy the week before I came and we are all reaping the benefits. 

5. These two are my favorite. 

They seriously belong in a jcrew for kids magazine. 

They are definitely my little buddies. 

6. My mountains!

This picture got cut off a bit but it is the view from my parents back yard. 

I walk outside everyday and stare. They are so stunning!

7. My first time wake surfing!

It is so much better than wake boarding, I loved it!

How are your first weeks of Summer going? 

Living your life like a Senior Citizen (101)

I realized I am living my life like a senior citizen,

at least in one area of life. 

I lived in Florida from August to May

with a three week Christmas vacation to Utah. 

I will be living in Utah from May to August. 

Weather in Florida from August to May

does not get below 50 in the day. 

(and 50 is really rare, it hit 80 a couple times in January)

Weather in Utah at Christmas means snow... 

magical, and very much needed to convince me it was Christmas.

Weather in Utah from May to August

is usually between 70 and 100.

And it is DRY heat, not humid heat. 

If that is not living like a senior citizen, then I don't know what is. 

Hello Utah, I have missed you. 

We have some catching up to do. 

First Floor Please.

This is the post where I tell you how much I love our new place. 

If you still live in a small apartment, I suggest you don't read this. 

You will want to move immediately. 

We moved into a town home over the weekend. 

we LOVE it. 

Double the space. 

Dish washer. 

Washer and Dryer. 

bath tub. 

basically the works. 

Now time for a tour of the downstairs...

yep, we have stairs now!

 I am so proud of that table, craiglist for $150 and they delivered for free!

 This is my new favorite rug. $50 at Rugs USA!

 The entire basement is tiled which is so great for the heat in Florida!

I love this picture of the temple. Costco- $50. Best deal ever. 

 Our landlord even put cute mirrors in the bathrooms... what middle age man thinks of that?

All new cabinets in the kitchen!

(Yes, I am still in love with my Kitchen Aid)

 I love the window in the kitchen, it makes it feel much more open!

The best part is

we can finally have people over!

I know it might seem small to you

but the whole down stairs is the size of our old apartment! 

And I even washed my dishes in the dish washer today! 

Life is good. 

Dreaming of Summer

The move was a success!

We LOVE our new town home so much. 

We finally got internet late tonight. 

I am super excited to share pictures this week.

But for now, 

this is the most exciting part of my weekend...

That's right baby. 

Salt lake City, here I come!

#summerinutah

#familytime

#cannotwaittospendtimeinmymountains

Moving DAY! {giveaway}

YEP!

We are moving today. 

WAHOOOOO!

We will be renting a town home. 

Double the square footage. 

Washer and dryer. 

Dish washer. 

Two bedrooms.

Newly remodeled. 

To say I am excited would be an 

UNDERSTATEMENT!

And....
I am participating in a fabulous giveaway today.
Who doesn't love Target??
Visit this lovely lady to enter! 

A seventeen day vacation.

We had the most wonderful time in Utah for the Holidays!

We were able to spend two and a half weeks with our family and friends.

We jam packed our schedules so we could see everybody and do everything we wanted to.  

There is just something about being with family that makes life great. 

I hadn't seen my parents since August and that was far longer than I had ever gone without seeing them. 

So yes, I loved it!

Our trip was filled with so many fabulous things, including:

birthday parties

haircuts (finally for this guy)

Rock climbing, rock climbing and more rock climbing

Parties with friends and dates with more friends. 

Family. 

Presents. 

Shopping a LOT. 

Anniversary celebrations. 

Multiple feet of snow. 

Airport lotteries.

delicious goodies.  

Lunches with friends.

Giggles with niece and nephews. 

and lots love from everyone we have missed so much. 

I didn't take pictures of everything but I did get a few good ones...

We had a fun little birthday party for my favorite niece.

This little man has the best giggles!

And this little man could make anyone smile, he is the happiest baby!

We say the lights on temple square a couple times.

My heavens, it is a MUST do if you are in Utah at Christmas time. 

They light up almost every tree on Temple square and through most of downtown. 

I was able to go to the temple a couple times, which was fabulous!

I miss being so close to so many temples.

This is my mom's amazing nativity that wipes out all the other nativities I talked about here. 

Yes, that is a frog playing the guitar in the background. haha. 

We ate a lot of my mother's amazing toffee, recipe here. 

We had a fabulous meal.

I miss my parents cooking so much!

                                                                        

This is my sister's traditional Christmas salad, it is so good!

My Dad has become a rock star at Banoffee pie.  

Recipe to come soon!

I had to post this adorable photo. His face cracks me up!

My sister made this adorable Santa hat with a matching diaper cover..

I told her she should start an Etsy shop! 

These kiddies loved playing 'Tails' with Uncle Dave. 

They run around and chase each other in order to grab each other's tails. 

It is hilarious. 

This was all I wanted for Christmas!

He is such a sweetheart.

The grandkids... Yes it took all 10 of us to get them all to smile!

The best siblings in the world!

I miss all of them so much!

This photo captures my favorite, most suspenseful moment of Christmas!

My dad bought himself and my mom tickets to fly to Florida in January to visit.

I have known they were coming since October and I have been dying to tell her.

This was her face when she opened up the gift... priceless!

Cannot wait for them to visit!

As you can see, we had a wonderful time. 

I wish I would have taken more photos with all the fabulous people we go to see. 

But it is much more important to enjoy the experience. 

A lonesome Thanksgiving.

To me, Thanksgiving is the ultimate family holiday. It is all about eating the most delicious food and soaking up some much needed time with the ones you love. I have spent every Thanksgiving my entire life with my dear family... this year is different. Since we live over 2300 miles away from home and we are going home for Christmas, a flight during Thanksgiving (for at least $400 a person) doesn't really make sense. Thus, we will be spending Thanksgiving in Florida. I will be with the man I love so much but I will really miss all my family. Since I will be missing home ALOT and Dave has a few days off of school, we want to do something really fun. This is where you come in... Here are a few of the things we have thought about...

1. Two night getaway to Daytona Beach. 
            -This is a great deal- less than $200. It is only 2 hours away and we would get to soak up some rays during the holiday. Plus, I wouldn't have to cook an actual thanksgiving dinner for just us.

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2. Spend Thanksgiving day in Disney World. 

    -Do I really need to say anything here? We have never been. And I would definitely not be missing home at all if I am in the happiest place on Earth!! This is a little more pricey than the first but it is Disney World!!

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3. Two night cruise to the Bahamas. 

    -We would leave on Thanksgiving Day and drive down by Miami (5ish hour drive) and spend the afternoon on the ship. The entire next day is in the Bahamas :) Never been there either... hmmm. THIs choice is the most pricey but still under $400!! Great deal, right??

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4. Thanksgiving dinner in Gainesville and go Black Friday Shopping. 

      -Let's be real, this is probably the most likely option. It does include me making Thanksgiving dinner though... that is a lot of money and work. However, I LOVE Black Friday shopping! I get so excited about it every year! Nothing is better than getting a good deal! 

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Basically when it comes down to it, I am going to miss home a lot that day! So I want to be really busy doing something REALLY fun! So we have four options people. I have been trying to plan something for over a month- Dave doesn't really care what we do... to an extent. So I need some good advice. 

If it were you, which option would you choose and why??

What are your plans for Thanksgiving this year??