T H I R T Y

I remember thinking thirty was so old when I was younger. Yet here I am at thirty feeling like I'm still eighteen. Besides becoming a wife and a mom, I feel like not much has changed?? I still have the same personality, listen to all the same music, dress in the same type of clothes, and hang with the same group of friends. It makes me wonder how I'll feel when I'm actually old haha.

My 30th birthday was a gooood one. We managed to get away kid-free for a sibling date night and it was perfect. I'm hoping it's something that can happen more in the future as our kids get a little older *cough* easier. We ate a yummy dinner at Sol Agave, played pickleball at the park, then headed back to Britta's house for pictures, raspberry bundt cake and games. My kind of evening!

These people made me feel so special. I love my family!

Karlie stopped by with the sweetest gift basket. SHE'S TOO NICE.

I'm so lucky that I have my sister-in-law as a best friend!

Funny story about these flowers. I was out chatting with my neighbor Sierra one day and I mentioned to her that my birthday was coming up at the end of the month *me not realizing what month it was*. On August 29th she knocked on my door, yelled "Happy Birthday!!!" and handed me these. I felt so dumb telling her my birthday wasn't for another month hahaha. She was so sweet and told me we're celebrating early then! I lucked out with my neighbors.

We wrapped up the birthday festivities with a golden bachelor/september birthdays/girls night.

Love these people.

See ya twenties! Bring on the THIRTIES.

Moved Down South

We are officially Alabamians. It hasn't really hit me yet that this is where I live now. Hmm... I'm sure it will feel more like home once we're actually in a home. Apartment living is not my fav. I don't really trust the bathtub and some of these carpet stains are questionable. Ick. However, being back with Jason is literally the greatest thing ever. I truly don't think I could have spent another day apart from him.

The car ride from Colorado to Alabama was  l o n g. Like twenty-two hours of straight travel long. We left that morning at 4 AM and got to the apartment at 3 AM central time. We had planned to split up the drive into two days but decided along the way that we'd rather bite the bullet, save a hundred bucks, and just get it over with. Emmett actually did waaaay better than I thought he would on that long of a trip. He's a trooper. I felt car sick on and off, but tried my best not to complain.... too much. As for Jason, he drove the entire way. He's an actual crazy man!

Sooooo glad that's over with!

We've lived here now for three weeks. {That said one week when I first started this post haha. This has been hanging in my drafts for a lil bit.} In that time we've unpacked / cleaned / organized, moved furniture, grocery shopped, done allll of the laundry, barbecued at Ry & Kar's, waited around for oil changes, gone swimming, joined the YMCA, hit the gym, had ourselves a baby-free date night, scheduled doctor's appointments, applied for multiple pediatricians {it is such a hassle to find one here - ugh!!!}, gone on walks, lounged around, watched lots of Bachelorette / Suits / Cutthroat Kitchen episodes, dined out at Taco Mama & Texas Roadhouse, played at parks, hit the splash pad, explored downtown Huntsville, fed the ducks, and driven by the house daily to check on progress. The house is coming along, but it also feels like it's never actually going to get finished. I'll do an update on all that soon. Hopefully. 

I apologize if the rest of this post seems a little sporadic. My mind has been running at a hundred miles an hour lately and I'm finding it hard to focus on the smallest of tasks. I did, however, tell myself that I was going to finish this tonight sooooo it's getting done... whether it makes sense or not haha.

Emmett has adjusted to his new surroundings and temporary home extremely well. It is sooooo obvious how happy it makes him to have his dad around all the time. I can't believe I ever agreed to splitting those two up for so long! Never again guys. The YMCA gym we go to has a huge daycare center with lots of toys and friends for Emmett to play with. It is hands down his favorite part of the day whenever we take him. He gets so excited when we drop him off and never wants to leave! The daycare workers tell us every time we pick him up that he is so easy and good! I love that he gets that interaction here. Emmett also started going to nursery at church and it is the greatest. thing. ever. He has never been able to sit through a full sacrament meeting or Sunday school class. But you put that boy in a room full of toys, snacks, and other little kiddos and he is in heaven! Carly, the nursery leader, has told me every week so far that Emmett is the easiest kid in there. Hallelujah. I better enjoy this hour of baby-free church time while it lasts! Oh and one more thing, Emmett has slept through the night probably six or seven times since we've been here. THIS IS A BIG DEAL. The entire six months we were living in Colorado he slept through the night maybe three times. I'm pretty sure Jason has played a huge part in that. He puts him to bed most nights with a bottle. Finally some relief and a full nights sleep! Have I mentioned how much I missed my husband?????

Here are some pictures of our time here so far.

^^ This boy's morning routine involves a fresh diaper, a warm bottle, a good show, 

a yummy snack, a comfy pillow, and a little mattress. Oh, I love him so much!!!

I love my guys soooo much. 

Reeeeaaaaaal quick I want to share a couple of my favorite pictures from Mar's graduation week. The whole fam + grandparents were together in Colorado and it was seriously the best way I could have spent my final days living there. I love that we got to say our goodbyes to everyone in person! I'm also so happy that Emmett got some quality grandparent, great-grandparent, aunt, uncle, and cousin time in before our big move :,) Read more about that week on my mama's blog here.

^^ Cutie graduate.

ARE THESE KIDS EVEN REAL?? So so so cute.

Next up: House drama :,)

Anniversary + Girls Weekend

Ahh it's happening again! I'm getting backed up with my posts. I have four folders of assorted pictures on my desktop all waiting to be blogged. I betta get started. On April 11th, the Colorado fam drove down to Utah for our long awaited girls trip! Aka a relaxing weekend doing fun lady things with no children. It. Was. Amazing. And much needed for this girl {insert raised hand emoji} who's been moming solo for quite some months now. But before I get into the girls weekend, I want to document mine and Jason's fourth wedding anniversary! Jason flew into Salt Lake from Huntsville that same evening. I had just enough time to spruce myself up, drop my dad and Emmett off at my Syddall grandparents, and head over to the airport to pick up my hot date. Jason and I were alllll smiles when we saw each other for the first time in weeks.

We had dinner at R&R BBQ downtown and headed back to the condo for some pictures and snuggle time while the rest of the ladies were out seeing a play. Kind of a fun fact, Jason and I have celebrated every single anniversary in Salt Lake City. Even our engagement and wedding reception were in Salt Lake! This will likely be the last time, however, since we will soon be living on the opposite side of the country :,)

^^ We spent our second anniversary in an airbnb apartment across the street from that cathedral in the background.

^^ Where we celebrated our anniversary last year.

^^ My face when I realized that most of our selfies were turning out blurry because I still don't know how to set my camera settings. That should really be a goal of mine this year. Anyways, the view of downtown from nineteen stories up is  b r e a t h t a k i n g.

I love my guy! And am more obsessed with him now than I was four years ago - as it should be! I'm so so sooo happy we got to be together on our day. Before it got to be too late, Jason took the car and swung by West Valley to pick up Emmett and then headed over to Eagle Mountain to spend the remainder of the weekend with Austin... and Scarlett, Ellis, Kody, Debi, Tierra, Cortlen, Evan, Blaire, Chaenonalae, and Adelaide.

Now for the girls weekend! We were spoiled and got to stay in the nicest downtown condo {right across the street from the building I used to work in} for free. Shout out to my dad and his work perks! Here's a peek.

THOSE VIEWS THOUGH.

Emmett got to check out the digs before being dropped off for the weekend. He approved.

As soon as the boys and babies left, our girls trip began! We shopped, ate lunch at Blue Lemon, napped, watched movies, got pedicures, shopped, made burgers at grandma Goldsberry's, stayed up waaaaay too late chatting most nights, dined out at the cheesecake factory, shopped, made a pit stop at Britta's to see the new couch & husbands & babes, had a late dinner at Costa Vida, indulged in some cheesecake and crumbl cookies, shopped, told some of our most embarrassing stories, wore face masks, played card games, and we shopped! In Jason's mind it was a sleepover and a glorified shopping trip... which is kind of true haha. But hey, I'm pretty proud of my bargain finds that weekend. I got myself some $9 jeans and a couple of $1 shirts. That's almost unheard of!

City Creek mall was right below us which made shopping oh so convenient.

We bumped into my Aunt Robyn and her husband John one day as we were walking to lunch. They live in Colorado and were visiting Salt Lake for some crazy event. We just so happened to be crossing the same street at the same time. Seriously, WHAT ARE THE ODDS??? If we had left even a minute or two later we would have missed them. It was fun running into them so randomly and catching up for a bit!

^^ My old stomping grounds. Hi Alma! You can see the reflection of the condo in the left corner.

I LOVE THESE WOMEN and I'm grateful for this time we got to spend together. It makes me so happy knowing that I have them in my life for good. I sure hope there will be more girls trips in the future! We just gotta plan around new babies and nursing and work schedules... ugh.

Meanwhile, Jason was killin' the mr. mom gig. I was actually really nervous for him to watch Emmett for an entire weekend. Especially since he hasn't spent much time around, well, a baby lately. I also hadn't stopped nursing Emmett before the trip {& I was definitely feeling it!}, so I wasn't quite sure how our boy would handle it. Turns out Emmett was sooooo good for his daddy. He ate great and slept great. He had very few tantrums and napped basically every time Jason put him in the car. I was relieved when I heard that! Now the question is how do I get Emmett to behave like that for me?????????????

Jason drove back with us and spent a couple of days in Colorado before heading back to Alabama. I'm not a fan of long drives, but I actually really love taking road trips with him. It gives us so much time to talk about whatever and snuggling up on his arm while he drives is one of my favorite things ever. Emmett was SO GOOD on the drive back. He slept for three hours and was happy and chill for the majority of the trip. I swear Jason has magical dad powers or something because Emmett did not do that on our way to Utah.

Best weekend with the best people. I'm honestly so sad it's over!