1st Year Anniversary

Well, we made it a year!

And what an amazing year it has been.

I'm so glad I didn't listen to Jordan when he told me to stop taking pictures

because I put together a cheesy little video of all of our memories and adventures.

And he loved it! So all my hard work of getting him to cooperate paid off!

For our anniversary we decided to do one thing I have wanted to do and one thing Jord wanted to do.

So I chose pedicures because Jordan has never gotten one, and he didn't know what he was missing.

Again he loved it, he should really listen to my ideas more!

And he picked going into downtown Chicago and riding bikes around the city,

and that is now my top favorite thing we have done here in Chicago! So many he won the better date idea.

For every special occasion Jordan and I always write each other letters. And his did not disappoint :)

I chose to write him 100 things I love about him, really I just copied his he did for me a few years back!

Jord wrote me 100 things he loved about me after three dates together and I wrote him one after one year of being married. Mine was a little easier to write because I have years of memories with him, and his is still my favorite letter to read.

So here is a 7 minute video of our first year of marriage!

The Big Apple!

New York was a blast!!

I could go on for days how much I loved it, but no one wants to listen to me ramble!

So I'll keep it short and sweet. 

First off New York is so big that I think you would need a few months to explore it all.

But we made due in five days.

My Favorites

9/11 Memorial

Brooklyn Bridge

Time Square

Broadway

Yankee Stadium

The Subway, haha I had never used one so it was all new to me!

5th Avenue

Statue of Liberty

Grand Central Station

Central Park 

New York Food!!

Tower 1

Natural History Museum

The Views!!

Ess-a-Bagel

Magnolia Bakery

There was so much to do and see, and so many pokemon to catch, or so Jordan said! 

Little side note all trip I was begging my family to get a New York bagel and finally for Sunday brunch they agreed to try it out.

We may have waited an hour in line to get a few bagels but it was soooo worth the wait. 

Ess-a-Bagel blew my mind and I have been craving it since we left.

Also, we were all starving and inhaled our bagels so I didn't get a chance to take a picture of how big they are. Just take my word for it.

For anyone who hasn't been to New York these bagels should be your top priority.

Our second day in New York we decided to walk the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan, 

just so happened that we chose the hottest day that summer to go.

I honestly looked like I had just ran a marathon I was so sweaty.

But it was so worth it because we got street paintings, mangoes with chili powder, and the prettiest view of the city and the river. 

Thanks to my dad's friend Spencer, me, my mom and sisters got to have a girls day

filled with shopping, Time Square, and Broadway.

I had never been to a Broadway play before, so sitting front row at the Lion King

was a perfect first time. 

So our whole trip was kind of planned around the Yankees vs. Red Sox game.

My dad and brother and die hard fans.

When we were having a girls day the guys were having their day.

Jordan, Cort, and my dad got legend tickets to a Yankees game.

So their friday was spent feasting on steak, lobster, and stadium hot dogs.

Their seats were unbelievable, right behind the Yankees dugout by first base.

The next day we were going to another Yankees game as a family. 

My dad had bought the tickets a while back and told us they were nose bleed seats.

But we didn't care, all we wanted were cracker jack's, hot dogs.

As we were walking around the stadium trying to find out gate my dad leads us to one that says Legend seats here.

We didn't really think anything of it until we got inside and were being seated in the best buffet I've ever been to. 

My dad surprised us with Legend tickets for the whole family. And let me tell you that is the way to do baseball.

All the food, drinks, and treats you could imagine. Especially the make your own doughnuts :)

And a crazy good view of the game. 

Oh also, my cute sister Paige said her goal all game was to catch a baseball, and when she wants something she gets it. She is one persistent little girl.

After every inning she would drag me to where the ball boy was and beg him for a ball. 

This happened every inning and she didn't end up getting one until the end of the game.

She went up to a umpire with her cute puppy dog eyes and begged one last time.

And of course she got it. 

life lately here in Illinois

Well it's been a month here in Illinois now. 

I decided a while ago I was going to sell with Jord if he trained me,

and well I've stuck with it and I actually kind of like it. 

Once you get passed all the rude people it's kind of a fun job. 

I have met some absolute wonderful people and learned a lot about myself.

I have become so much more confident in talking to random strangers and making small talk. 

Stuff like that use to scare me, but now I look forward to it. 

After a few long weeks of work we spoiled ourselves with a trip to the city and some chicago pizza.

I have always seen pictures of "the bean" in downtown Chicago

but I had no idea it was so BIG!

Not sure if we like Lou Malnati's or Giordano's pizza better,

I guess we'll just have to keep trying both! :)

I may have also found my new favorite shake place and I wish they had one in Utah.

It's called Oberweis Dairy and their shakes are to die for!

So yes all I've eaten here is pizza and shakes, that's okay right?

Just kidding I've actually had some time on my hands, which is weird, I don't know what to do with all this time. I found out I actually like to cook. 

I'm gonna be honest and say I rarely cooked back home, mostly because it was time consuming and I thought cooking was hard, turns out it's not!

I will have to post some of my favorite recipes I have liked cooking. 

Jord insisted that we go to TopGolf one night and check it out.

I heard there is one in Utah now and it is a must!

It is so fun to go with a bunch of people, eat good food, play golf, 

or in my situation watch golf. I mean I tried a few times but after missing so much I gave up.

If anyone has been to Chicago or the area let me know all your favorites.

It's good hearing other people's suggestions on what to do on the weekends.

Oh and p.s. we may have bought season tickets to six flags so that's where we will be a majority of our weekends! :)

Livin in Chi-town

Well life has been a little crazy lately!

With finals, packing, and moving 1,500 miles away things have been a little hectic.

I am such a homebody when it comes to Utah.

I never thought I would leave Utah, even if this is only for a few months.

Well this year for Jordan's job he chose to work in Chicago

and since this is our first year being married I got to join.

I have been a little M.I.A. lately because this has been a crazy busy week here in Illinois.

But we are finally settled into our new apartment in a little city outside of Chicago called Wheaton.

I can't wait for a little downtime this weekend to explore the city a bit.

If anyone has been to Chicago please tell me your favorite things to do there

like places to eat, places to visit whatever it is let me know!

Also  I will try and post more about Chicago and the area so you guys can see how pretty and green it is here. 

California Part 2

I promise I am not some major slacker with updating my blog.

I probably just need to learn better time management skills.

But now I am finally finishing our California trip!

We decided to drive to Huntington beach one day

because of all the hype.

And yes, this beach deserves all the hype it gets!

Huntington and Newport have to be my favorite beaches in California.

The beach shops were to die for, the gelato was delicious, and the waves were incredible.

We all rented boogie boards and shredded the Gnar... haha

at least we tried to think we did. 

I honestly wish I had the ocean in my backyard.

This gelato was too good not to take a picture of,

also this was the only picture I took that day.

As you can tell food is always my main priority.

Friday was my favorite day because we got to go into my favorite temple!

First off, the San Diego temple is amazing on the outside and even prettier on the inside.

And second I absolutely love going to the temple, especially with my sweet husband by my side. 

So happy to have these amazing temples so close.

California Part 1

First off Yay for no school and work!

California might be one of me and Jordan's favorite places

There is always something to do, especially surf if you are good

which we are not, but that's alright

Jord and I drove to Cali with our sweet friends Stratton and Brittany

on our first day there we went to church with Jordan and Stratton's friend Adam and his family

1. The Church building was amazing because the center of it was outside,

ya my mind was blown.

2. Adam and his family are the cutest, funnest people ever! Especially Blake their 1 year old little girl

Midway Trip

I surprised Jord with a little getaway to Midway for Valentine's day. 

Yes I know this is super late Valentines day was like a month ago...

Go me for being bad at blogging!

Anyway we stayed at the Zermatt Resort and it was adorable!

The whole resort and part of the town was all Switzerland based.

I had never been to Midway before and now I love it.

Maybe I just love little towns, but this one is so unique.

There are so many fun things to do in Midway

There is the ice castles, Soldier Hollow tubing, the Homestead Crater

Tons of cute bakeries and restaurants to die for.

And if you love Park City like me and Jord do it's right around the corner.

It was so nice to have a weekend just to ourselves

We relaxed all weekend and I wouldn't have changed a thing. 

Reflecting on 2015

What better way to reflect on 2015 than by looking through old pictures. 

Actually I love looking through old pictures, 

this time I actually had a reason to.

Starting from the beginning

Living in Orem/Provo 

Going to school at UVU with my best friends (Jordan, Cort, and Chantil)

Getting engaged to my best friend! 

Girls trip to Vegas! (Not pictured- Mom and Char)

First time going to Zions! First time hiking Angels Landing!