packing and feelings.

we are packing and preparing to move into our house this week. we are so excited that it is done, however it is very bitter sweet. living at home has been an absolute delight. before i was married i always thought people who moved back home after they were married were crazy, and that it was stupid. ha! well, i never understood how much of a blessing it really is. we have been blessed in many different ways because of this, and i can only look back on this last year and a half with a big smile on my face, and fond memories.

my parents have done so much for us, but what i have really loved is just being able to spend time with them each night. some nights it was for the majority of the night, others it was just for dinner and a quick chat before nick and i would head downstairs for homework, etc. no matter the length, i simply enjoyed talking with them. they listened to a lot of our contemplating. i cannot even tell you how many nights they just sat there and listened to us debate about whether or not we should buy a house, should nick get a job or just go to school, and many other things. they helped us see different points on each situation and ultimately helped us make some really tough decisions. i am truly grateful for the relationship that we have with them.

another great thing about living at home has been my loud younger brother, i love him! he is honestly one of my best friends and i hope that nick and i have been a good example to him. i hope he has been able to see how important it is to have the support of family in your life, and that your family can also be some of your best friends!

i cannot express how grateful i am to my parents for all of their generosity, we have been incredibly blessed because of them, and i hope they know how much we have appreciated everything they have done for us. so, if you have the chance to move back home i suggest you do it! as long as your parents are as great as mine!

thank you mom and zdad!

oh, and the best part about our move is that we are only about five minutes away from both mine and nick's parents. that was a major selling point for us, we are both home-bodies!

{bodies exhibit. october 2008.}

{roasting marshmallows in the backyard. june 2009.}

{just a little race, which i've already posted about.}

rocket launch.

{getting ready to launch.}

yes, you read that correctly, a rocket launch. bry and bre held a model rocket launch, and it was a lot more fun that i thought it would be (no offense)! nick and i kind of forgot, so last minute we ran to smith's marketplace and purchased ourselves a quality $11 model rocket, and that baby launched! bry made some sort of a launching devise, which i'm sure that is the technical name for it, and a bunch of us went and launched model rockets. what great entertainment for a saturday afternoon.

{i just can't get enough of him, how cute is he?!}

oh, and did i mention that we close on our house on monday!

this is halloween.

{cindy lou who & jack sparrow}

{sweet nephew. i just love this little boy.}

i'm not all that into halloween, i think it's great and all but i'm not one to really care too much about getting dressed up and all of that fun stuff. well this year we decided to dress up, two days before halloween. luckily we had some great loaner costumes and were able to pull something off last minute. i keep telling myself, "next year i'll get into it." so, next year i'll get into it! it was however, a lot of fun to see all of the cute little kid costumes--loved them!

i didn't get the memo.

apparently there was a memo sent around my family telling the girls to get pregnant! oh, and i didn't get it. wow. on my mom's side of the family there are six babies all due next year within a four month period. it's going to be babies galore! i'm really excited for all of them, especially my niece that will be here in march!

getting close.

{here is a picture to make this post more exciting. i absolutely love the railings that they use, it was one of the first things i noticed about these homes. so, this is our kitchen with railings and a floor! woo}

things are really coming along on the townhome! it's been such a fun adventure for us. we're starting to get into the nitty gritty of paper work, which definitely isn't fun, but necessary i guess. i'd love to post more pictures on here, however i don't really want to advertise where we live. so, if you want to see more pics, they are on facebook because that way i have more control over who sees them (i think). anyway, we've been planning on closing around november 16th, but found out today that it might be even sooner than that, awesome!

witchapalooza.

we went to gardner village saturday night with bry and bre, and it was a lot of fun. we went last minute, so we weren't able to stay long, but it was just enough time to walk around for a bit then go on the hayride to the witches house. yes, the witches house. the witches do a fun little spiel, which was cute for little kids, but had it just been adults i think it would have been kind of awkward. the funniest was at the end when the witches kept flirting with nick, they loved him! he is handsome, so i don't blame them! it was a fun activity for last minute planning.

st. george marathon (round 2).

it's an addiction, it really is.

{mile 23}

thank you for beautiful weather! some of you might remember from last year's post, but when we ran this race last year it rained, hard. this year was much better! it ended up being a great race, much more enjoyable. it started off with the crack of dawn bus ride to the start, which i think is the most miserable part, that and waiting around for the race to start. when all of a sudden it started, and we were off. this race took more out of me than the others. probably because i put more into it, but still, it was a tough one.

luckily my dad and i had the same goal for a finishing time, so we were able to run together, again (for the most part). however, at mile 13 i lost him. i stopped at an aid station and he stopped too, but i wasn't paying much attention and when i looked back up i couldn't find him. i assumed he was ahead of me so i just took off running to try and catch him, bad choice. i was already struggling at this point, and i knew that i couldn't do it without him and his support. i had to find him. well, i didn't find him for five more miles. it was a long five miles. then, hello mile 18 and my dad! apparently he was behind me and because i kind of gave up for a mile or so (when i thought he was too far ahead of me) it gave him enough time to catch me. i cannot explain how overwhelmed and excited i was to see him!

he kept me going through the next five miles, until mile 23, which was bitter-sweet. nick, my mom, and little brother were there waiting for us, cheering us on, which was so great. but it also meant, the hardest miles of the race were ahead of us. for a full hour before this point, i kept thinking to myself, "just keep going, one more hour and we get to see them... 30 more minutes... 10 more minutes..." it was so great to see them there supporting us, it meant so much, and was just the boost we needed! that pushed us through to about mile 24, and the last, hardest, two miles. we pushed through those lousy two miles, and my dad and i finished another marathon together!

in life if you ask yourself, "can i give more," the answer is usually yes.