Life Before Baby - Going Back

I realized I didn't blog nearly enough during my pregnancy. I don't really have a good excuse why I didn't, but it is what it is, I guess! In all honesty, though, it's probably a good thing I didn't blog. I was VERY fortunate during my entire pregnancy. I had a very uneventful pregnancy. I felt really good the whole time (obviously there was the nausea at the beginning and heartburn throughout, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle or anything dangerous for me or the baby.) I always felt like I was one of those annoying women who was always so happy during pregnancy and who had it "too easy". Have you ever seen the movie "What to Expect when you're Expecting"? Matt always said I was like the woman on there who sneezed and her baby came out. I don't know names or anything, but we always make jokes about that. I don't really know what to say though… Pregnancy was really good to me. I was very, VERY blessed and I am fully aware of that. :)

The weeks leading up to baby were pretty uneventful. I was able to fly out to Utah to have a family baby shower, and that was so much fun! My sister, Angie, was in town from Colorado, so we took that opportunity to fly me out to have a baby shower. It turned out SO cute and my sisters (and sisters-in-law) did such a cute job with it. The theme was "Little Man" and all of the decorations and everything were so cute! I know there are pictures on my mom's camera, but I haven't gotten my hands on those yet, unfortunately. It was such a fun weekend in Utah though! We shoved everything we possibly could into those few days. I flew in Friday afternoon, went to dinner with my friends on Friday night, Baby shower Saturday morning, General Women's Conference Saturday night, Ryker's baby blessing Sunday morning in Smithfield, Grandpa and Grandma Stanley's Saturday night, and then I went to a funeral Monday morning before flying back to Missouri. Even though a weekend was much too short, I am still so glad I was able to fly out to Utah to see some family. I love all of my family (both mine and Matthew's) SO much, and I am grateful every time we get the chance to spend some time with them. I am grateful to my sisters and mom for throwing me such a fun shower and grateful to everyone who came! It was such a fun weekend.

The hardest part about playing catch-up blogging is that I don't give as many details on everything as I otherwise would. It makes me sad sometimes, but I just need to do the best I can. I wish I would have documented more during my pregnancy, but I will just have to remember what I can. I was so fortunate to have such good friends willing to throw me baby showers. I had one from my friends in Utah around Christmas, my family shower, a friend shower here in Kirksville, and then my coworkers even threw me a surprise shower! Matthew and I have been so blessed and felt really lucky and loved around that time.

I am also blessed to have a good friend here in Kirksville who is a photographer and takes wonderful pictures! I wanted to get the pictures done sooner when I was still "cute pregnant" and not huge, but it just didn't work out with our schedules. So… we actually ended up taking maternity shots the DAY BEFORE I delivered. We had no idea I would be delivering the next day, but it was pretty funny the way it all worked out. We love how the pictures turned out though! They will definitely be a fun memory to have. 

I was a pretty big pregnant lady, but I was so fortunate that I felt good my whole pregnancy. Even with how big I got and the weight I gained (and even despite some… shall we say… "less than thoughtful or compassionate" comments by others), I still had very high spirits throughout the whole pregnancy. I think the "secret" (at least for me) was the knowledge that I was doing everything I could to remain healthy (working out regularly, trying to eat well, etc.) but also to always remember what exactly my body was doing! It's such a miracle to be able to be pregnant and create another life inside of your body and no number on the scale is going to change that for me. I am very blessed in a world full of infertility to be able to create life, and that is why I tried to always remember that and not complain about some discomforts of pregnancy, because some women would kill for those aches, pains, and nausea. Don't get me wrong, I didn't have much to complain about compared to most pregnant women, so not complaining wasn't a huge task for me, but that thinking helped me when those moments did come up.

Ok, that is my pathetic "before baby" catch-up… My next post will hopefully be the birth story of our little guy. That is a definite must-do when you have a baby, but then I will start to try to document his life a little better and keep things up-to-date for family. (Famous last words!) Until next time!

Still Alive and Getting Ready for Baby!

It's been awhile, friends! I figured I should drop by this neglected blog of mine and let everyone know we are still alive and doing well! I wish I could say life is crazy and that's why it's been so long since I've blogged but… I have just read a lot of books lately instead of blogging. If I blogged more frequently, it wouldn't take as long but, alas… Here I am… And here is my update broken down to the three people living under this roof.

BABY

Well first of all, there's this...

 I hadn't written on here since announcing we were pregnant so... Yeah! We found out it's a boy!! I couldn't be more excited! I honestly didn't care what it was, I would have been excited regardless, but I am still excited to start off with a boy! We don't have a name picked out yet, but I have a list of my favorites that Matthew has to choose from. :) Everything at the ultrasound, thankfully, looked perfect as far as I could tell! He was smacking his lips at one point and it was super cute. Then the tech was showing me his little legs and she was like "oh, there's his foot!" We had the perfect shot of one of his little feet and then all of a sudden it moves and goes "pow!" and kicked the Doppler. It was actually pretty funny. Without fail, he has kicked the Doppler (whether it be just a heartbeat one or an actual ultrasound) every single time one has been on my belly. There were even times before I could feel him moving that my doctor would be trying to find the heartbeat and he would say "well… he's kicking the doppler, so we know he's in there!" I don't know why he hates it so much, but it's pretty entertaining.

We had a "gender reveal party" when we found out what it was, which was a lot of fun! I have some really amazing friends here who were so willing to help and made it so much fun for us! So during the ultrasound, the tech just showed us general shots of the baby. We got to see him move around, saw his adorable profile, his heart/spine/brain, legs, arms, everything except… what makes him a him. :) So then she looked at what the gender was and wrote it down on an index card and put it in an envelope. Then we drove the envelope over to my good friend Lisa's house and her and our other friend Chelsea made delicious cake balls for us! We invited a bunch of friends over that night to find out the gender with us, which was a lot of fun as well. When I told Lisa I wanted to do a gender reveal party, she was the mastermind of the whole cake ball idea, which I LOVED! The inside of the cake ball was the gender of the baby (obviously) and the outside she did both pink and blue chocolate. So when everyone got there and we were ready, everyone chose the color of what they thought it was and then we bit into it and it revealed what the gender really was! I chose a pink one (even though I thought it was a boy) and Matthew chose a blue one. It was a lot of fun, and I was happy with how it turned out. I wish I had more pictures, but we did get a video that I will try to upload sometime soon. :) 

Movement has been really good so far and is starting to get more frequent and strong. Well… I consider  it "really good", but let's face it, I have no idea what I'm talking about. I've never done this before! He doesn't keep me up at night yet, which is so great. He is the most active right after I get to work and then typically right after dinner-ish. Matthew has felt him kick lots. That was nice because he was starting to call me crazy and didn't believe that he was actually kicking me. There are times where I will make him put his hand on my belly and the little monkey will kick hard or something and Matthew will just say "wow!" and I say "SEE!?!" Haha so now he knows that the kid really is getting stronger and he really does move around a lot! But anyway... our adorable little boy is healthy as far as I can tell and is doing great! He has been really kind to his mama and hasn't made me worry much at all, which is good! 

MOM

Ok, now we'll talk about me! :) I really am doing SO great! Second trimester was so good to me and I am seriously blessed. I just barely started the third trimester, so we will see how it treats me! I get heartburn every once in awhile, but it's nothing too bad AND I can just pop some Tums in and it goes away! I don't feel huge yet, which is good, but I have moments of "holy crap, I'm huge!" or "where the heck did this belly come from!?", but overall I think I'm doing pretty ok. I know third trimester will bring a lot of changes physically, but I have tried to mentally prepare myself for that, so hopefully it works! So physically I am doing fabulous. I am still working out regularly which has helped me keep my spirits up about the weight gain and physical changes. Physical changes are documented below...

Look! We're all ready for baby! We have all we need. :) Who needs diapers or any of that stuff anyway!?

25 weeks

27 weeks

Now let's talk about mentally..... Haha :) Ok, so I really am doing great, but MAN! Preparing for your first child is perhaps the scariest/most overwhelming thing ever! There are so many times that I fall short of expectations I have for myself and I just sit there and wonder if I am really the right person to be bringing a wonderful little baby into this world! It's things like "I can't even keep the house clean NOW, how am I supposed to do it when I have a baby/toddler making messes all the time!?" or "I hate doing laundry NOW, and there's only two of us!" or "I can't even get to church on time NOW, how am I supposed to get me AND a child ready and even have a prayer of making it to church on time!?". I know that having a baby is a life-changing event and people say you can't even remember life without them once they're here but... I can't picture my life WITH a baby right now! I don't think I can fully comprehend how much this little guy is going to change me, but I am so excited to meet him and learn together and hopefully he will just help change me and make me a better person.

But do you know what has really been eating at me lately? I am absolutely terrified that in about 3 months, there will be a little boy here who is completely dependent on Matthew and I to survive. If we want our son to learn correct principles, WE are solely responsible to teach him those things. The world is becoming a very different place even from the one I was raised in, and that terrifies me. I always ask Matthew questions that I should definitely know the answers to (whether it be gospel related or otherwise) and I just tell myself there is no way I am going to be able to teach a little boy everything he needs to know. It doesn't help that I am in primary now and sometimes the kids ask me questions that stump me and make me feel like a dummy! But… *cheesy moment* it is those times that remind me why I married Matthew. He is so smart and so articulate and is definitely quicker on his feet than I could ever be! When our son comes up with some random "where did that come from??" question, I know I am going to be so grateful for the man I married. I am already practicing the answer… "Go ask your dad". :) So yeah… my husband is pretty great and I think he is going to be the best daddy in the whole world! And… I am thankful every single day that I won't be a single parent. I don't know how people do this alone, because I need my husband in my life!  

DADDY

Speaking of that daddy, how is HE doing? Well… it might be better to ask him, but I'd say he's doing pretty great! Medical School is obviously tough (to say the least), but he has done a great job at balancing life and school (aka giving me attention even during the busy times) and he is doing really well in all of his classes! That guy is seriously a rockstar. I don't know how he does it. It overwhelms me just thinking about it, but he works so hard and has done so well! He has a crazy couple of weeks coming up that will definitely test him (literally… haha), but he just takes everything a day at a time and gets through it! He is patient with me when the house gets dirty or when we have dinner at 9 o clock at night and he adjusts my back for me about every day. He has been so helpful even through his busy times, and I am so grateful for that. He is excited about and ready for baby to come too, but we both realize that the little guy needs to cook a little longer! The next few months are going to be crazy! By the time this baby comes, Matthew will be getting ready for finals (two weeks after the due date), and then he will probably be off to do his thing with the military for two weeks and who knows what else! It's a crazy life, but I definitely wouldn't change it for anything. 

Well, I think that's about it for now! Sadly, I don't update enough, so I never wrote about Christmas in Utah, the baby shower my Utah friends threw for me (so nice of them!), or all of the other random events that have happened... So maybe a random post about everything will happen sometime, but I won't say that it will because… It probably won't. :) Hopefully I post again before the baby comes, but.. who am I kidding? I always think I'll be better at this than I am. Here's to always trying! :)

The Moment We've Been Waiting For....

I'M PREGNANT!!!!!!!! Gosh, it feels so good to finally be able to talk about it to people! Finally, when I meet people and they ask if we have kids, I can finally say, "Not yet, but we have one on the way!"

So I am due May 7th, 2014 and that makes me just over 13 weeks along right now (14 weeks on Wednesday! Hello second trimester!). Looks like we are going to be having a baby just a few short weeks before Matthew has finals to finish up his first year of medical school! Haha good news is, we'll be able to come to Utah for hopefully a pretty decent chunk of time over the summer while I am on my maternity leave from work!

Anyway, back to the past... As most of you know, Matthew and I had been trying for quite some time. Just over a year when all was said and done. I was obviously hoping I was pregnant, but I didn't really FEEL pregnant the way I thought I would, so I just waited for my period to start. Well... It ended up that the day my period was supposed to come came and went and nothing happened. I figured it would just be late and I didn't test until I was about 4 or 5 days late. I had bought a pregnancy test the night before and I woke up Sunday morning to take it. I was shaking SO bad and I couldn't even look at it for the longest time. I just stared at the ground trying to tell myself to expect it to be negative so I wouldn't be disappointed if it was. Well... I finally got up the courage to look and there they were! Clear as day, 2 wonderful, pink lines! I immediately burst into tears. I didn't know how to feel, to be honest with you. I was SO happy, but at the same time after what happened last time, I was SO nervous!! So I sat there for a little while, let myself have a moment and then decided I needed to tell Matthew NOW! Unfortunately, Matthew was still asleep and was getting sick, but I went against my better judgment and woke him up waving a pregnancy test in his face. Haha I should have known better, I did that to him last time too! He gets mad because he doesn't react the way he'd like to but... I didn't take it personally. I told myself I was going to surprise him this time but... when it came down to it, there was no time for that! I needed him to know RIGHT THEN! :) Oops! Maybe next time..

Well... I have been super blessed this time. I researched all of the doctors my insurance covered and tried to make the best decision for me and baby. I LOVED my doctor in Logan, and I knew I was going to have a hard time finding someone else I liked as much. Well... I made a decision and I went with Dr. Boling. He came highly recommended from a lot of med students who rotated with/shadowed him and from wives as well. I knew I wasn't going to be able to wait until 10.5 weeks again, so I called knowing I was going to ask if I could come in sometime around 8 weeks just for peace of mind if nothing else. Well... when I called to make the appointment, his nurse told me that he sees patients for the first time between 6-7 weeks along. I was SO relieved!

Well, the day for the first appointment came. I had still been feeling nauseous and everything, so I decided to take that as a good sign and I went into the appointment hopeful. Gosh, I don't know what my problem is, but I feel like I have a problem. Every time I go into a doctor's office or anywhere knowing I'm going to be getting an ultrasound, I just kind of make myself sick and freak out. I start shaking and I just get really fidgety and nervous. Matthew tried his best to make me chill, but of course it didn't work. Dr. Boling came in and luckily said we would do the ultrasound very first thing. I was only 6.5 weeks along, so I was scared he wouldn't be able to see anything and it would just worry me more. Well... the ultrasound started and after only about 10 seconds or less he said "Yep, there's the heartbeat, do you see that?" I got a huge sense of relief. I knew we weren't completely in the clear, but it was better than the last time (worst case scenario). Matt saw the heartbeat about as fast as Dr. Boling did, but I had to make them point it out to me. It was really cool. He then did the measurements and everything and it was measuring like 2 days behind or something, but that is a non-issue that early on. He told me everything looked good, but that he wanted me to come back in a week and a half for another ultrasound to track the growth. He said there wasn't really any "medical necessity", so to speak, for another ultrasound, but he wanted to do it mainly for my peace of mind since I had had a previous miscarriage. I was SO grateful for that!

6 week ultrasound! It's SO tiny, you can't even see anything! But we saw a heartbeat and that's all that matters. :)

Ultrasound #2 went great as well! Strong heartbeat, right amount of growth, and everything looked as good as expected! I still got just as nervous for that one, but that's just because, like I said, I have a problem.

8 week ultrasound. It was crazy to see how much the little one grew! It basically tripled in size, which was great!

Our second ultrasound actually came during Matthew's fall break, so his parents were out here visiting (I still have a draft of that post sitting out there waiting to be finished... Oops!). We decided that even though we were still early, we wanted to take advantage of being able to tell SOME family in person! As we were cleaning the house, getting ready for them to come over, Matthew made a comment about needing to organize the office. I have been DREADING putting that office together... So I made the comment, "No, I'm not going to put any effort towards that office, we're just going to move it downstairs and change that to a nursery anyway!". Haha so that's where we came up with the idea of how to announce (and when I say "we", I mean Matthew, the creative one. haha). When Matthew's mom walked around our house to have a "tour" of it, this was on our office door upstairs:

Matthew bought everything from Walmart, and he liked the cones the most, so I had to make sure I got a picture of them too. :)

Then whenever I announced it to anyone else, I usually just sent them one of those pictures as well. I called my mom "just to chat" like I always do. I told her that we had actually "remodeled" our office and that I would send her a picture of it and I sent her that picture while we were still talking. Luckily, she got it right away, so she opened it and was so excited! She did call me "a little trick" though. It was so fun to tell our families! We had said earlier that we were going to wait much longer to tell our families this time (like until I was out of the first trimester), but once it came down to it, we decided that we wanted to tell our families and the support if anything goes wrong is always great. We obviously felt better about getting a heartbeat and correct growth on both of our ultrasounds.

Another fun thing is that my husband is in medical school, so we get to see the baby a little more often than usual! He had to practice ultrasound before a test one day, so I went in for him to practice on me. He was finding the heart, some veins and arteries, and various organs, but after he was done with that we took a quick peek at the baby! I was just over 10 weeks along, and I couldn't believe how developed the little thing was! It was moving around like crazy too, which was SO cool for me to see. I was on a high after seeing it that time.

That was the last time I actually saw our baby, but I had an appointment at 12 weeks again and we found the heartbeat on a Doppler, which was an entirely different experience from an ultrasound. Once again, I was freaking out and holding my breath probably the entire time until Dr. Boling found the heart beat. It took a little bit longer than I thought it would, which freaked me out, but it turns out he was just having to chase the little thing around because it kept running away. There were so many weird noises coming out of that thing, I wasn't sure what I was hearing. Haha finally Dr. Boling stopped and smiled and said "do you hear that?" I said "yeah...", but I really had no idea what he was talking about. Haha then I heard it, and I just had to realize that it wasn't the sound I was waiting for. It was a ton faster than I thought it was going to be, but it was really cool!

Everything has been pretty good. I have been nauseous a lot, but I have only thrown up once (brushing my teeth, of course!). I actually was glad to feel sick, because to me it meant I was still pregnant! Just kind of a not-so-friendly reminder! :) I am starting to get chubby, so I guess you can say I'm "showing", but it's still more bloat than baby.. haha I have experienced heartburn for the first time the past couple of days. I'm pretty sure it's heartburn, at least. I had to google what it feels like to see if that's what I was feeling. Haha But all is well!

Well, I should wrap it up, but I'll finish with one more funny story. For my birthday, I told Matthew all I wanted was to go to Columbia to go shopping. My birthday was on a Friday, so on Saturday we headed out for Columbia. I was in heaven! We started off eating at Five Guys, which was so delicious, and then we headed to the mall. I was going in to all of my favorite stores and realized I wasn't going to buy anything because I would just grow out of it in a little while. So after a few stores, we decided to head to Motherhood Maternity instead. I actually liked that store! :) So I tried on and bought a few things to get my collection started for when I grew out of all of my clothes. Well, in Motherhood Maternity they have those velcro bellies you can put on to test out if the shirts will be long enough when your tummy grows. So I put on one of those and came walking out of the dressing room and asked Matthew how he liked that shirt. He looked up and did a double take and was like "holy crap!" Haha it was way funny.

Here's the picture. I look like crap, but it's still freaky to see myself with a pregnant belly!

Well, that's all, folks! My next appointment is at 16 weeks and I can't. Wish me luck! Here's to a happy and healthy pregnancy! :)

Recent Update and The Chiefs Game!

Well... So much for updating our blog all the time for family! I have been a VERY busy girl! :) Ok, not really THAT busy, it's just all about priorities, right? So here I am, trying to give the most recent update of our life! Life here in Missouri is still going pretty good. We have definitely gotten into our groove and figured out our routine. I don't know that I can completely say I have the whole med school thing down, but I think we're doing a great job figuring it out. Matt has gotten through his first couple (2... maybe 3?) of block exams and has come out mostly intact. He is working so hard and studying hard basically every day, and I am very proud of him. It is nice to be living the life we were "waiting" to live for about a year. It's a good life and Kirksville is a wonderful place to be able to call home.

As for me... Things are starting to fall into place for me as well! I'm not going to lie, I would have some minor freak outs before we moved out here that I didn't have a life here and I didn't know where I would fit. I was worried I would be the youngest, the only one without kids, or even just one who didn't really have a life and was always trying to figure it out. Well... I was wrong. Things are WONDERFUL. I know I probably talked about this earlier, but I have found such a wonderful group of girls to hang out with. I have developed relationships that I know can and will last a very long time. We get together when our boys are studying late and we typically have to be told to come home... :) There is a place for everyone here. People with or without kids, people who are 20 or 30, people who stay at home and people who work... Everyone! All of my worries were completely unwarranted because everyone is so nice here. Everyone fits in.

Another thing that helped for sure was getting a job! I was so worried I would get stuck in another position where I didn't even want to go, I didn't enjoy it, and I felt like the degree and work I've put in was for nothing. Well... I'm happy to say that I found a position that I am SO happy to have. I am working in Payroll at Truman State University. I was so lucky to find a position like this. Truman is one of, if not THE, largest employers in Kirksville. It is able to pay me good enough, offer me fabulous benefits, and possibly actually want me for my degree and experience. I've been working there for a month now, and I'm starting to understand more and not need to ask as many questions. It makes me feel like I'm contributing much more and not slowing everyone down. The people I work with are amazing though and have been so kind to me since the very beginning. I am truly blessed to be able to have this position.

To be honest, I probably haven't blogged in so long because sometimes there's not much to talk about. I could blog about our new place in Missouri (check) and my new job (check) and Matthew's school (kind of check), but the fact of the matter is, at some point we just start to do the same things day in and day out. To kind of help with the redundancy of things, we try to find fun/exciting things to do every once in awhile. Back in August... That fun thing was going to the Kansas City Chiefs game vs. the Green Bay Packers in Kansas City!

Since it was a preseason game, the tickets are much cheaper so we were able to sit closer and not in the boonies. That picture above is of the view from our seats without any zoom! We were about 27 rows up or something... Lots of fun!

The only sad thing was, the game was on a Thursday and I had to work on Friday. So we drove to Kansas City and back in one night. AH!! That probably was a pretty dumb idea but... you live and you learn. :) So on Thursday, I took off from work at about 2:30 and we drove directly to Kansas City. We had a gift card we hadn't used, so we went out to eat at Red Lobster before the game. That was super yummy! Then we drove to the stadium and got to our seats. Let me tell you, it was a preseason game, so none of the "stars" played in the game, but I was totally star-struck the whole time. "Matt, look it's Clay Matthews!" ... "Ah! Look at Aaron Rodgers running to the tunnel!!" ... "Oh man, there's Andy Reid! He's such a great coach, I love Andy Reid!" ... "Can you see Alex Smith? Ah! There he is, the one in the hat!" It was pathetic, guys, but it was so much fun. The only down side (besides driving 6 hours in one night) was it was SO HOT! I don't know what was up with that week, but it was so hot! We survived, but man, it would have been nice if it was cooler. :)

This was my picture of Vince Young. I have loved him since Texas beat USC and he ran in the game-winning touch down. I hated USC... haha too bad Vince Young got cut from the Packers the next week. :)

Overall, it was a really fun game. We were hot and we were dreading the drive home, but it was a fun game. We got to see some decent football, we saw the chiefs win (and probably became fans), and spent a fun night together with just the two of us! Here are more pictures:

The Chiefs celebrating their win!

Matthew and I after the game was over

Our newest team to cheer for. :)

I'm not going to lie, it's a lot of fun having not just one but TWO football teams to cheer for in Missouri. I know they usually say Kansas City, Kansas, but it's basically in Missouri. Since we don't have a football team in Utah, it's been kind of fun to have a "hometown team" to cheer for! Who knows, maybe I'll start watching baseball and cheer for the Cardinals too! I will never cheer for Sporting KC since I will always be a ReAl fan (and am already looking into trying to get tickets to see them play when they come out here next season), and there isn't an NBA team for us to cheer for either (but we would always cheer for the Jazz too), so we are in a good place! :)

I am going to wrap this up, but life is good! We are having fun and we have our lives figured out for the most part. Matthew has a test tomorrow and has his big block exam/midterm on Friday to kick off Fall Break next week! I obviously have to work all week, which bites, but Matt's parents are coming out to see us, and I am SO excited! I am glad Matt will have someone to keep him busy while I am at work and then hopefully we'll be able to get some fun things in at night when I get home. I will be taking Monday off, and we will be in Nauvoo on Sunday and Monday, so that will be fun to get to spend at least one full day with them! I won't make any promises, but I will try to take more pictures while they're here and update after they leave. That's it for now though.

Until Next Time!

White Coat Ceremony

Well, I've finally sat down and taken enough time to blog about Matthew's White Coat Ceremony! This is something A.T. Still has just recently started doing (I think?) and it was actually a pretty cool ceremony and everything! The day started out with everyone going to campus and the guests went to a "guest orientation" where we were told how to support our loved ones through medical school. We learned about the Student Advocate Association (SAA) and everything they offer. Let's just say, the SAA is like 90% of the reason why people who have spouses (or significant others) choose to attend KCOM for medical school. It was a fun morning for the girls, even though I already knew most of it. Then Matthew and I went back home and got dressed and ready for the white coat ceremony that afternoon.

The ceremony was actually at Truman State in their auditorium, and it was really nice! The students all went to a separate classroom while the guests found their seats in the auditorium. It was kind of nice not being in a huge group, so I only had to find one seat. Well, as luck would have it, I was sitting close to the aisle where the students came in and so I was able to get a good picture of him as he came in!

Doesn't he look so good?? Such a handsome man!

The ceremony itself was pretty cool. I didn't pay attention most of the time, but it was crazy to just get things started and come to the realization that this is really happening! For the past year, I have felt like this day would never come. We always said we were moving to Missouri and we always said that Matt is going to medical school, but it has finally started! So after a few people spoke, the students all took turns going on stage, saying their name and what school they graduated from. Then they brought their white coat to the dean and she put it on them and then they walked across the stage the rest of the way.

Matthew after receiving his white coat and shaking hands with the dean.

It was a pretty fun kick-off to the first year of medical school and it definitely made everything much more real. I am so proud of Matthew and all of his hard work that has gotten him to where he is today. After the ceremony, we just took pictures outside for awhile and then we went to the school for an ice cream social. I tell you what, this school is the greatest ever! They find a reason to have socials for EVERYTHING! It is the best. :)

Matthew and I after the white coat ceremony

Side note: Check out my shoes in the picture above! We went to JCPenney when we first got here and I found these cute heels! They are the tallest shoes I have ever owned in my life. They are seriously like 3-4" heels. I kind of love them, but usually only when I'm around Matt. Around anyone else, I just feel HUGE. :) Anyway, that's all with that.

(Almost) all of the Utah State boys who are 1st years at ATSU. There is one more who we couldn't find for the picture

A bunch of the friends we have already made so far.

Love this picture. Can't wait to take another in 4 years. :)

The above picture is of a lot of the med school wives I have met so far. I can't say enough about all of these girls. It has only been a few weeks of living here, but I can already tell I am going to have some of the best friends in the world out here. It is amazing how quickly we have all been able to become friends and relate to each other. We get along so well and I can't wait to go on this journey together! (This is just a picture of the first year wives, I have some incredible friends whose husbands are second years too. I'll post pictures of/with them ASAP.)

And here he is! Student Dr. Matthew Thomas Wright! :)

And so it has begun. 2 weeks of medical school under our belts. I know this year may be really, REALLY tough sometimes, but I also know it will make Matthew and I much closer in many ways. I will post another update about our actual life soon, but just know all is well here!

Until next time.

Missouri!!

I remember living in Utah before moving to Missouri and people asking where Matthew and I were moving. I would tell them we were moving to Missouri and I think at least 75% of them said this exact line: "Missouri!? Sounds more like misery to me..." Well, folks, Matthew and I have lived here for a week now and I think it's safe to say... I think we're going to like it here! So let's start from the beginning, shall we?

Last Monday, we loaded up the trailers. Notice how I said trailerS? Yeah... We had 2. My dad was kind enough to let us drive his truck out, so we towed the biggest trailer U-haul offered with his truck and then we towed a smaller trailer with our little gutless wonder. So we picked up the trailers and Matthew's dad came over and him and Matt worked their mattress and stuffed those trailers full! Seriously, I can't even explain it, I wish I could show you everything that was inside of that trailer! It was awesome!

First trailer loaded in that NASTY heat!

This little helper came over with her mommy and daddy right as we were finishing up! (Impeccable timing!) haha but seriously, people, look at that ADORABLE thing!!!! So cute it's unfair! I will miss her lots! And her mom and dad too. :)

Second trailer all loaded and ready to go!

 Tuesday morning we woke up bright and early and headed out! Matthew and his dad were in the truck and my mom and I were in my car. The first day we decided to stop in Denver and stay with Angie, Keith, and their kids. Well... the trip took A LOT longer than expected. Instead of taking 8 hours, I think it took like 11 or something like that. Once we got there, it was great. I got to play with Jackson and Layla and Angie made us some delicious dinner. I was glad we decided to make our overall trip just a little bit longer by stopping in Denver to spend the night there. It was fun to play with Jackson and Layla and catch up with Angie. (Thanks for letting us stay the night, Ang!)

The next morning we woke up bright and early once again and headed east to Missouri! We left at about 6 AM and drove all day through eastern Colorado (freaking ugly!), Kansas (not as bad as I thought) and then got to Missouri! It was fun to ride in the car for so long with my mom and chat the whole time, but I did get angry once during the trip because it was taking FOREVER! We didn't get into Kirksville until 10:30 PM. Seriously, it was such a long day! When we got in, we immediately started unloading everything. We had a neighbor across the street who came right over and offered to help us and then Matt had 2 friends from COT who came over to help. I was shocked that there were so many people willing to help us so late at night. It was definitely a good beginning to our stay here. We got everything unloaded and into the house and then unpacked just enough to set up our beds for the night.

The next day was the 4th of July. I had found a 5K being run that morning, and I REALLY wanted to participate. Since we got in so late, it took a little convincing for Matthew, but we ended up going and it was lots of fun. I was surprised with the turnout! Matthew took 2nd place overall (surprise, surprise) and I did... decent. Not great. Haha but it was lots of fun anyway!

Matthew and I at the 4th of July 5K

After the race, we watched a little parade at the square and then we drove around the town and the campus and everything so our parents could see.

ATSU! Matthew's new home for the next couple of years!

After driving around town for a little while, the rest of our day/week consisted of unpacking, organizing, and decorating, as well as about 5000 trips to Walmart for things we kept forgetting we threw away. It was so fun to see our little home come together and I was so grateful for all of the help we had in those early-on days. We couldn't have gotten as much done as fast as we did without all of that help. So here are some pictures of our new home! :)

Family room/TV area

The other side of that room (new entertainment center that now has a new TV in it)

Dining Area

Downstairs/Guest Bathroom

Kitchen

Guest Bedroom (This actually looks different now, but... you get the idea!)

Our bathroom upstairs

Other side of our bathroom

And our front entryway complete with the engagement picture we thought we lost... Haha

So I haven't taken pictures of our bedroom or our office yet, but I will eventually, Those rooms are basically set up, but I don't feel like I have really perfected them yet, so I haven't taken any pictures.. :) I will post them again when I get a chance.

Just so this isn't a marathon post like mine usually are, I will just conclude with some bullet points:

• We LOVE our ward and all of the people we have met so far. Everyone is so happy and friendly here and I have been so blessed with the people I have met so far.
• I'm still on the hunt for a job to keep me busy during the day while Matthew is at school. No luck so far, but thankfully I've been able to keep busy for the past little while.
• I think I have only made dinner a couple of times because we have been invited over by so many people to have dinner with them. 
• The humidity! Ok, I know it's just Missouri, but holy cow! I feel wet ALL. THE. TIME! Haha ok, not ALL the time, but it is very... different. 
• Matthew had his white coat ceremony on Saturday afternoon. I will do a separate post on that later. (Hopefully soon though!)
• First day of medical school TODAY! I don't really know what to expect for the next few months/couple of years, but I am excited that Matthew FINALLY gets to start chasing the dream he has worked so hard to achieve! He is beyond ready to tackle med school, and I am ready to love and support him through it. :) Wish us luck!
• By the way... Just to clear things up, Missouri is NOTHING like misery. At least Kirksville isn't. I actually am REALLY happy here. :)

Ok, so I think that's about it for now. Like I've said before, I am going to try to blog more frequently now that we live farther away from family. Let's hope I can do it!

Until next time.

Holy Crap!!!!

And so it begins! Today we are packing up everything and getting ready to head out to Missouri TOMORROW! I can't even believe it. It doesn't seem real at all and I can't even believe it's happening. I am definitely going to try MUCH harder to blog since we will be so far away, but I will have to neglect the good ol' blog until we get everything situated with the internet... I'll do my ode to Utah later. So long, Utah!