Be Mine

Yet another valentine's day in the books! Last year I received a job offer on this day. Little did I know that I'd be expecting a baby 13 months later! My last day of work was February 13th. My co-workers spoiled me with cards, baby gifts, & the prettiest cakes. We also enjoyed a nice long lunch at Rich's Burgers 'n Grub downtown.  It was so yummy! I'll be taking Jason there soon lol.

^^ Seriously, these cakes! And yes, they are as yummy as they look.

 It's been a good run Novitex/Goldman, but I'm ready for my next job - mama!

So this valentine's day was my first official day as a stay-at-home-soon-to-be-mom and boy, I sure kept myself busy! From the moment I woke up I was going non-stop. Lots of cleaning, lots of laundry, lots of shopping, and lots of valentine's day preparing. Now that Jason doesn't need to pick me up from work, he has the luxury of going in to work earlier so he can make it home sooner. I LOVE that he's able to do that. It's so so so nice having him home around 3:30 and I'm sure I'll appreciate it even more once baby boy is here.

Here's a peek of how we celebrated our valentine's day.

^^ My valentine to Jason.

That evening Jason took me on a date to Macaroni Grill. We snapped a quick car pic before dinner since we've not been the greatest at taking pictures together lately {might have something to do with the nice little pregnancy chub I got goin' on haha}. If you're not familiar with Macaroni Grill, they have a layer of paper covering the table with crayons to write & draw with. Although this is probably aimed towards keeping kids entertained, we couldn't help but write out baby boy's name over and over and over.

I hope everyone felt soooo loved yesterday! I know I sure did.

Some other exciting news - we finally got ourselves another car! A 2015 Chevrolet Cruze. We got it at the same dealership as our last car, so they cut us some nice deals. I AM IN LOVE. Mainly it's just nice to have my own car! We installed the car seat as soon as we brought it home, you know, in case our boy wants to make an early appearance. Only three weeks to go!

S a l t L a k e C i t y

In my last post I mentioned that I would have a couple weeks until I started my new job downtown, but it turns out my start date got moved up two weeks because my background check processed much quicker than anticipated. So it's been a minute since then (okay, a lot of minutes) which means it's time for some catch up! I've got lots to share.

Let me tell you about my new-but-doesn't-feel-so-new-now job! I work for a company called Novitex. It was actually the first job I applied for after leaving Discover, and the only one I ended up interviewing with before receiving an offer of employment. Huge blessing for me because I absolutely dread the whole job search and interview process. Fun fact: I've been offered a job at every place I've ever interviewed for. Jason was blown away by this when I told him because he said that just doesn't happen.

I was more than a little intimidated when I arrived for my formal interview because it just so happened to be in one of the nicest buildings in Salt Lake City. Something I wasn't aware of at the time of the interview was that the position I was applying for was a document processor and coordinator for Goldman Sachs {the big dogs}. So even though I work for Novitex, I work in the Goldman office, amongst Goldman employees, and for 8-10 hours a day I manage critical Goldman documents. So yeah, you can bet I was nervous!

The day after my interview I received a call saying the job was mine. I was thrilled! Jason took me on my first real shopping spree once I accepted because I had zero business professional outfits and the shoes in my closet consisted of moccasins, snow boots, tennis shoes, and my four year old church flats. {I'm not much of a shopper haha}. My wardrobe is definitely thanking me.

As of right now Jason and I share a car, which really just means that Jason drives me everywhere. We do our best to be very budget-minded and we've done the math to know how much money we're saving with only one car payment, one insurance payment, one car to put gas in, and no monthly downtown parking fees. We have managed to make it work and we actually really enjoy the time we get to spend together right before and after our work days. The traffic is a different story, but we're learning to exercise our patience ;) Luckily for us Jason's job recently moved to a different building which is only ten minutes from downtown, so it's doable. And completely worth it.

Last thing I want to share is some personal advice. Leaving a job that made me overwhelmed, anxious, stressed, and unhappy was one of the best decisions I've made. At Discover I constantly felt like I wasn't doing a good enough job even when I was working so so hard, I felt micro-managed, and I dreaded work every single day. It was not good for my overall happiness and mental health. I stuck with it because I was scared that I wouldn't be able to find a job soon enough that I would enjoy any more. It took an absolute horrible day of work and a complete breakdown for me to realize that I needed to take a leap of faith and take action to make my life better. And let me tell you, it is so much better. There is nothing in my life I have to complain about. I love my job. I love my co-workers. I love that I feel productive every day and that what I'm doing is important. I love that I have a supportive husband. I even love that I have the opportunity to work as much overtime as I want. I've worked 11 hour days and I still come home in a great mood! Ultimately, if there is something in your life you are not happy about, figure out what you need to do to change it, and do it.

Also, I've fallen in love with downtown Salt Lake.

 

 

I know I'm probably way to detailed in my blog posts and no one realllllly cares, but I also wanted to mention how happy it made me to walk out of work on Friday to sweet Scarlett! And of course Britta, Austin, and my hubs :) Austin was selling his camera to a guy he found on KSL that works in my same building, so we bumped into them on our way out and ended up making a spontaneous Cinco De Mayo date out of it! We ate dinner at Red Iguana and then did some City Creek shoppin'. It was so fun to run into them so randomly. Seriously what are the odds???

Je t'adore

Has it really been a year since my last Valentine's Day post? Gosh!! This v-day was the first time I've really gone all out for a holiday, and although a cheesy one, it has become one of my favorites since being married. 

I wanted to make the day special for Jason and really show him how loved and appreciated he is by me. I decided the best way to do that was to write all the things I love most about him-- heart attack style. I started cutting out paper hearts weeks in advance, and I randomly jotted notes on my phone whenever he did/said something I loved. Each day I would cut out more hearts because my list kept getting longer and longer! {Not pictured: I also heart attacked our bedroom and hung christmas lights to make it oh so romantic}

Needless to say, he loved it. I could cut out thousands of hearts for that boy. Jason made us chicken quesadillas for dinner {his specialty} and we burned off the calories at the gym afterwards.

OH I was also offered a job that day.

Long story short - I quit my job at Discover about two weeks ago because I really couldn't take the eight hours a day of thankless callers anymore. I felt under appreciated as an employee and ultimately decided that I would be much happier ANYWHERE else. After one particularly rough work day, Jason and I came to the decision that I was going to quit. So I did, and I've been so so soooo happy since then. I've gotten a much needed break from full-time work, and I was able to score a better job with better pay in that two week period. Honestly, we've been blessed.

It was a great Valentine's Day. I kept telling Jason how excited I am to spoil our future babies with over-the-top love on this day. That's going to be the best. I hope everyone felt so loved yesterday, and everyday! xoxo

Life Lately

Ohhh my. This little blog of mine has been neglected lately. I've come to realize that I don't think I'll ever be able to keep up with it, especially with my work schedule the way it is. But I do like to take the time to think back on all the memories me and my boy have made together.

Here's a recap of the past couple of months. We...

moved into our home!!!

hiked the Bear Canyon Suspension Bridge

watched 4th of July fireworks on top of Salt Lake

attended Nate and Lyndsay's wedding

got Hogle zoo to ourselves {Jason's company rented it out}

camped with the Syddall fam & fell in love with four wheeling all over the mountains

screamed our heads off at Lagoon

took a day trip to Logan so I could eat at El Sol {Jason's fav}

swam in crystal clear, but freeeeezing cold water at Bear Lake

babysat sweet, spunky Scarlett

drove to Rexburg & reunited with my bestie Chloe!

explored Yellowstone from sunrise to sunset

celebrated my 23rd year of life with all of my favorite food

saw Taylor's band play in concert

double dated with my best friend at Wing Stop & Nightmare on 13th

hiked a waterfall with the Budvarson's & crossed paths with a moose

and spent lots and lots of time with our families.

I know I'm forgetting a handful of other things we've done, but these moments make some of my favorites. Jason and I are absolutely loving this stage of life. Our favorite part of everyday is the 10-20 minutes we take to snuggle before getting up for work. I hope that never stops.

To keep everyone up to speed, I've been accepted to work from home! The timing couldn't have been more perfect and I am so so thankful for the opportunity. No joke, this will save me about 2 hours of my day. I'm thrilled!