The Big Move

Well, we made it to Texas! We spent our last night in Utah at Brandon's parent's house. I cannot express enough how much I love that family. They are so fun and the BEST in-laws a girl could ask for. We could not have moved out this smoothly without them. For real. After a tearful goodbye the next morning, we were off. 

It was a long 2-day drive that I have made quite a few times before, but this time it was extra fun. Probably because I got to sit in the front seat the whole time and I got to pick where and when we stopped and what we got to eat. But probably more so because it was our first long road trip together and we really loved talking, laughing and playing with the atlas we almost didn’t bring. It was great to have two whole days where we just got to hang out and be together.  Plus Lacey is a fun little road trip companion.

Hole in the rock—we wanted to go in, but we stopped a little bit early and we would have had to get back on the highway for 15 seconds and zip in real quick. That or hike through this sketchy looking field full of rattlesnakes with our baby to get to the entrance. Still cool though.

The picture does not do this rainbow justice. It looked like it was on fire. So cool.

We hit some bad weather on our first night, so we decided to stop a little sooner than planned in Albuquerque because it was so dark and rainy and unfamiliar. We’re not complainers though.

Olive Garden plus cable TV equals happy Riders. Also my husband is hot.

There’s something great about only hating the last four hours of a 48 hour drive because you just like the people you’re with. And the only reason you hated those last four hours was because it was late and you were tired and the car was dumb and you just wanted to be there already.  

Finally made it!

The Times, They Are A-Changin'

The last time I blogged, it was just after my amazing birthday and Brandon and I still had the whole summer ahead of us. We had certain landmarks in our future that felt so far away that all of our planning and talking about the big things ahead had kind of a leisurely tone and we didn't really have to think super hard about the future. We had a rough plan hammered out though--move to Texas at the end of the summer so that I can live at home and go to nursing school, while B works and goes to school as well. Easy peasy right? It seemed that way. But let me tell you, the actual arriving at that decision was anything BUT easy peasy! There were major pros and cons to both staying in Utah and moving to Texas, and we would seriously go back and forth about it weekly, sometimes daily. We each had our own personal reasons for staying/going and we could also see things working out in both states. The hardest part for me was knowing that whatever we chose to do would be great and we would also both be sacrificing things either way, whether big or small. It got so exhausting trying to decide, but when we finally decided to take it to the temple, we both came out with a strong feeling of peace and comfort in knowing that Texas would be a good fit for us for the next few years (Anyone wanting to know more about Mormons, please feel free to visit mormon.org, or ask me anything you like.). So we had our decision made, which was such a great feeling.

One of this summer's landmarks was my family's trip to Florida, which was super fun. I'll post about that later. 

After the Pirates of the Caribbean ride :)

We both knew that once we got back from FL, it was really going to be no time at all until August 6th, our moving day. So we are now in the process of playing Pack, Store, or Chuck, the funnest moving game ever. Saturday we played in the bowflex room/office/Lacey's bedroom. Then we took a Wendy's break and played in the kitchen. I cannot wait to be done packing, but it feels like it will never end! I'll tell you what though, seeing all of our stuff in boxes and watching that date creep closer and closer on the calendar is starting to make this whole thing very real. Summer's basically over. All of our landmarks have passed. Next week we will be in Texas. There's really no turning back now! And I'll admit we are both a little scared to jump into a whole new life together, but the key word there is together. It is so comforting to know that no matter what we choose to do with our lives, and no matter what obstacles get thrown our way, we'll always have each other. I could not do this without my best friend, and I'm forever grateful that he has my back. Always. Let's do this!