Sarah's Baby Shower

I got to host my friend Sarah's bridal shower here, and it was so fun! This was probably the first event I've hosted that I wasn't super stressed about because I gave myself enough time ahead to plan, and I really did have a lot of fun trying to be creative and trying new things. I also had some help from some friends (bless their hearts, they were so helpful!) which also helped make things less stressful and more fun! 

This adorable cake was made by my friend Leslie! It was a sour cream almond cake with a strawberry filling. And it was just as delicious as it was pretty!

Sarah posing with our food table. I didn't get a good close-up, but I asked Sarah's mom to bring some childhood/baby photos of Sarah for me to display since she's having a girl! It was a fun touch to see what her little girl may look like :).

I had a lot of fun figuring out the menu since I've never done a brunch shower before. We ended up doing homemade cinnamon rolls (I used this recipe and loved it. Super simple and yummy), mini yogurt & fruit parfaits, lemon poppyseed muffins, a fruit platter (thanks Estee!), and an egg & sausage strata (recipe found here. I used green onion, white onion, and red bell pepper in place of suggested veggies).

I wanted to have some shower games, but games that most people would enjoy and that wouldn't require too much running around or anything. I just wanted a relaxed setting! For the first game I had the guests cut a piece of yarn they thought would be the size of Sarah's belly & waist around. I ended up having them hold on to the string which was easier than labeling them and putting them all together (as mentioned on the sign). I found this cute chalkboard sign from Target!

It was really fun to watch everyone compare their string to the string Sarah had that really did measure around her. People were pretty good with their guesses!

Sarah & the game winners! For the second game I created a playlist with songs that either had the word 'baby' in the title or the main chorus of the song. I played just little snipits of each song and guests would get one point for the title and one point for the artist. We had a 1st and 2nd place winner for that game. For prizes we had homemade banana bread (thanks, Mel!), doTERRA lip balm & a nail polish, and some LulaRoe Leggings.

Happy baby shower, Sarah! Can't wait to meet your little girl and have her become friends with our little girl! 

Saying Goodbye

The past month has been crazy. I sort of forgot to put my two week's notice in until almost exactly two weeks before we moved...so my last day of working full time was five days before we moved! We definitely underestimated the beast that moving is! We packed up within just a few days (thank you SOOO much to our friends and family who helped!). It all happened so fast that I think I was numbed to most of the sadness that comes with leaving a place you've lived for 23 years! I was a little sad leaving our apartment that we'd lived in since we first got married. We had so many memories there. However, it was time for a new chapter in our lives to open up.

We had fun going on a boating trip with my best friends (since high school!) before we left. These are truly the best friends I've ever had (we were missing a few though! And somehow I didn't get a pic of a few!). They took me under their wings after my dad died when I was in high school. These guys (and now their wives) have been the best of friends for years. Mark, you can thank me for not posting the pic of you and your 'lake waves' hair :). Love you guys!

Tay and I getting beatings on the tube!

My best friend Andrea and her husband Nathan moved away for the summer, but I was lucky to be able to see her when she came in town so I could say bye! She's expecting in October and I'm so excited to meet her little man! 

Before we left my grandparents took us out to the Creamery ice cream one more time! We're lucky they're little travelers cause our chances of seeing them every once in a while is greater than most other family members.

A bunch of my doTERRA buddies got together to say bye to me and another co-worker (shout out to Diana!) at Applebee's for Karaoke night and half-off appetizers (shout out to mozz sticks! yum!).

Tay and I had one last get-together with our friends, the Manns! Mary was my visiting teacher the whole 2.5 years we were in the ward! I think she maybe missed one or two months the whole time. She also served in primary with me so she was one of my close friends in the wards since I was in primary most the time. They are the funnest couple who loveee Sodalicious :) They were so helpful with our move as well.

And then I had my last day at doTERRA. I'll admit, there were the good days and the bad days (shout out to some of the crazy customers...and the nice ones :) I had the best co-workers and supervisors! On my last day they had donuts (coincidentally!) to celebrate all the July birthdays. It was like a party!

My little desk!

By two best buds!

Best row ever!

I wouldn't have made it through some long days without Kara!

The Saturday before we left, we took a break from packing to get one more 7-Peaks day in since we had passes. I've grown up going to this park, and the blue slide behind me here is the one I've never been able to conquer! You basically go straight (horizontally) through a small tube, then drop quickly straight down. I really wanted to face my fear and go down, so we did it! I went head first on this mat. I won't lie, it was horrifying (I literally caught air when I went down the drop), but it was so fun!

On our last Sunday in Provo I said bye to this awesome Primary presidency! The presidency has changed lots since I've been in it (many people came and went), but I loved serving with these women!

That night we had an impromptu goodbye open house. It was really hard to for real say bye to everyone, but I'm hopeful I'll get to visit home soon enough to see everyone again. These are all some of my best friends ever!

                                     Chatham #26 (minus Mary, Macy, and Bri!) girls! Living with these girls was one of my favorite college memories!

The Cooks from our ward and complex!

Rob & Hallie! Rob is one of my best friends (not pictured in the boating pics) from high school

Chellyn & Alison from the neighborhood! 

Andrea was on her way to Girls camp before we moved so she came to say bye while we were in the midst of packing. We're both looking super classy, I know :) 

 We had lots of help packing up and cleaning. Here's the last of our very first apartment together. We love our new one, but this place, like I said, had so many memories!

Mary, of course, insisted on helping (so much!) me clean! She is the best friend ever. 

It was a bittersweet night leaving this place!