HOME

First off, Ike is LOVING his yard! I am so happy he can roam free out there!

Our move was SO successful! I wish I would have taken pictures of everyone in action! We sure do have some amazing friends and family who were willing to give up their Friday to help us move.  I'm so glad we didn't have to do that alone! 
We also learned that we have an incredible neighborhood.  WOW.  That is all I can say in response to their kindness.  3 different households in our neighborhood came on over as soon as we started unloading the truck and without even asking or saying anything, started grabbing furniture and boxes and bringing them into our house.  It was incredible! They are genuinely kind people.  Over the weekend we met 6 different families- all sorts and sizes.  We were given a 2-foot-long sandwich, 3 bags of chips, Milano cookies, the BEST homemade chocolate chip cookies, and many, many "Welcome to the neighborhood" greetings!
We are so thankful!
It definitely feels like home. 

I gave a facelift to our hutch and our old coffee table:



We bought this on KSL and I use it for all of my baking stuff!




I should have taken a picture before! It was black and scratched and stained. It definitely needs decor, but I am wondering: to distress or not to distress?? What do you think?  (Ike is a photobomber; that is his new favorite place to lounge.)


Jeff and I went for a run Sunday night.  There is a loop that starts and ends at our house that is exactly 1 mile long.  Half is uphill and half is downhill.  It is quiet and safe and provides a wonderful view of the valley! We were rewarded with a beautiful sunset at the end of our run.


 We are on week 6 of 8 in the couch-to-5k program! I don't remember any time in my life that I have stuck with a running plan. The most I had ever ran on a regular basis was a mile.  We've been running 2 miles 3 days a week! We feel so good.  Last night, Jeff thanked me for dragging him out the door to run with me (he thought it was too late and that we should go to bed). I've never understood the "runner's high" but now I do.  Sometimes, when the couch-to-5k app lady tells me it's time to start walking, I just keep running.  Weird, I know.

We bought a chest freezer! Something I have wanted to have for so long because I love making freezer meals.  If anyone wants to join me, I want to either get a group together and make a bunch of different meals that day OR arrange to have each person from the group make a certain dish, but make triple/quadruple the amount made so we can then trade dishes between families.  If you are interested, let's do it!

Our Honeymoon!


We stayed at Valentin Imperial Maya Resort in Mexico.  Which is pretty much in Playa del Carmen.  It was FABULOUS! We would go back in a heartbeat.  We had such a great time.  It is an adults-only, all-inclusive beach resort.  It was perfect for us.  Here are just a few photos from the trip, I have a TON! I am almost finished making my photobook (thanks to a slow night shift!) and I'll share it here if I can figure out how to. :)

We were greeted with cold towels, champagne and "Welcome Home"!




Our suite!





Mini-bar in the room! They refilled everyday.




We had a balcony and a terrace!




View from our room




Another view from our room




The gorgeous boardwalk to the beach!








I took pictures of every plate of food we ate, because it was A la carte dinners and they were sooo great! This is our last meal and Jeff is clearly impressed with me. ;) Haha!




In the city, Play del Carmen




Bringing drinks back from the swim-up bar!




All dressed up for dinner!




What my hair looked like no matter what I did.




The starfish Jeff rescued!



What we missed about home:

1. Ike

2. Family & friends

3. Drinking tap water

4. Dry climate

Favorite memories from Mexico:

1. Time together

2. Pools, beach, and sunshine

3. Delicious and unlimited drinks

4. No cooking, cleaning, etc.

5. Jeff speaking Spanglish

6. Telling street sellers we are brother and sister when they tried to talk us into a "honeymoon special"! (while holding hands walking down the street)

7. Conga line

8. Watching a guy sing "Like a Virgin" at Karaoke night! He was unbuttoning his shirt and lying on the pool tables.

9. Waking up from a nap on the beach to: "Buenos dias! Good morning! Something to drink?"

10. Finding shells and creatures along the shore.

Happiness!

Life has been a bit stressful lately but we are so happy for many reasons:
1. We leave for our honeymoon Sunday morning.
2. Jeff took his last final yesterday.
3. We move in to our new house June 7th.
4. My schedule for the next schedule period (End of May-Beginning of July) is better than it is now.
5. We have the Pass of All Passes for the 3rd year in a row and look forward to a fun-filled summer!
6. We found out that one of Jeff's friends from high school and her family live .2 miles away from our new home!
7. We're healthy.

We Bought a House!

There it is! Our home. :)  Jeff calls it Andreason Estates.

We are so excited to be homeowners! Jeff is really the kind of guy that is meant to own a home.  He is ALWAYS talking about projects and renovations; this will keep him busy. ;)  And my pinterest boards are buzzing with home ideas and crafts! So much fun.

It is on the East Bench in Bountiful tucked in the cutest little neighborhood.  It's 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms with a finished basement.  It's on .25 acres with an awesome deck and patio out back.  It's so perfect for us and we're just so excited to move.  We are allowing the people we bought it from to back rent from us for a month, so our official move-in date is June 7th!

I will post more pictures once we get settled in.  Hooray!

Our Weekend Escape

Last week was National Parks Week, so you could go to any National Park for FREE! Jeff and I are outdoor enthusiasts, so we were not going to pass this up! If nothing else, it was a good excuse to HAVE to go!

I worked Thursday night until 5:00 AM on Friday and then came home! We were packed and ready to go by 6:00 AM - we were off to Moab!  Jeff drove while I snoozed for 3.5 hours.  We went to Arches National Park! We hiked 10 miles by 3:00 PM.  It was so amazing!  We had such a great time just escaping! It's so nice to have that freedom.  We can just pack up and go for the weekend and have adventures.  I'm also just so glad we share our love for the outdoors.

Moab was a very busy place last weekend so there was NO affordable lodging left.  So we drove to Price to stay for the night! Our plan was to go rock climbing in American Fork Canyon on Saturday, but we were pretty pooped.  So instead we went hiking in IKEA.  So fun.  We just walked around and bought hot dogs for Jeff and a cinnamon bun for me.

Such a wonderful weekend... it doesn't get much better than that!

A Change of Pace

Next week is Finals Week for me!
And then a week or 2 after that, it's Finals Week for Jeff!

HALLELUJAH!!
I am so ready to be busy with other things than school.  I am so ready to spend time with my husband!

I got a second job!  It's at Summit Health as an LPN.  Summit Health is a company that contracts out for clinics (like flu clinics, wellness clinics, etc.)  I love this, because I can pick up or turn down any clinic.  I am not obligated to a specific schedule!  Easy job + Flexible schedule= No problem!

We also have big news coming up... But I can't say yet!! I don't want to jinx anything. :)

We went climbing in Joe's Valley over the weekend! It was windy but pretty warm and it was perfect rock!! Sandstone is great to climb on! It was a nice sneak peek of what's to come this summer with our time off from school.

Also, my best friend is having a baby!! She is due at the end of summer and I am so excited to be an Aunt again to a cute little girl!!

Our honeymoon is a little less than 4 weeks away!! So excited to sit on the beach in Mexico with my love.

Moral of the story: this summer is going to rock.

The Best Day of Our Life!

Our wedding day was absolutely perfect! The ceremony was beautiful. I didn't think I would cry but I was a boob! I was so overwhelmed with emotions.  I am so happy to call Mr. Andreason my husband and am thankful for him everyday! We had such a fun time at the reception.  I loved every last minute of our day.