Day 2, Notre Dame

We were definitely up before the sun was this morning. 

Jet lag is such a real thing. 

We found our way to the bus station, then from there to the metro which took us right in the middle of Paris. I loved it too because we got to see all the cute homes and apartment buildings along the way. 

I think so far one of my favorite things about Paris is how small the cars are. 

It's like "let's see how small we can make the cars and still fit inside them." 

Definitely my kind of place.

When we walked into Notre Dame we were star struck. I have only read about and seen pictures about how beautiful the architecture is here in Paris, but to see it in person is a whole other story.

It was beautiful, and we even made it for morning Mas.

 

Afterwards we walked around and I fell in love with all of the side streets.

Seriously though, everything here is gorgeous.

If we saw something that was pretty we snapped a picture, and can I just tell you how amazing [and awkward] it is to have a selfie stick.

No more awkwardly asking people to take our picture.

This guy was really confused about what the heck we were taking our picture with.

Frog face.

Locked our love.

 JK we used Maggy and Jay's lock.

Some lady came up to us after we took this picture asking us for money,

 and when we said no he started cussing at us.

 "Well hello to you too."

Maybe in 50 years that will be us.

[I'm not a creep, they were just there and I really wanted a picture]

These arches are so pretty.

People watching at its finest.

Sometimes cute pictures are overrated.

 

I'm going to be honest, I wasn't sure the name of half of the buildings we took pictures in front of,

 but how can you blame me I am completely in love.

This was a cathedral that was in the museum of Churchill De Gaulle.

And then... The Eiffel Tower.

 Our feet were pretty much spent, or as Chad kept saying,

"My dogs are barking."

I've never heard that before but cool.

So we walked back to the metro

 [which was SO much longer on the way back]

and headed back to our hotel.

For lunch we went to a cute Cafe and I got a ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg on top.

Not my favorite but it was something that I was told I HAD to try.

Also French fries, in France.

Day 1, Paris

Well we made it. Hallelujah.

When hour 6 hit on the flight I was sure we were never going to get off the plane. 

Although it was very nice that they had movies for us to watch, like Interstellar. 

That movie took up half the plane ride, and I loved it so win, win.

It didn't help that I drank too much water and was sitting in the middle of the row so I had to keep bugging the guy next to me to let me out so I could go to the bathroom. 

Oops, my bad mister.

We had a layover in Germany, sadly we weren't able to do anything there but we did find cute little cups of hot chocolate, mmm.

When we got to Paris we got off the plane and were trying to decide whether or not we wanted to take a taxi or train to our hotel. A taxi was about 80 Euros, and the train ride was about 12 Euros.
Sooo, us being the bargain shoppers that we are decided on the train.
 It took us about an hour to figure out which ticket to buy, where to get on, and where the heck we were suppose to get off. Luckily we didn't have to do that alone, there were some very kind French people that were willing to guide us on our way. Because let's be honest we aren't the greatest with directions and we looked like dummies.

When we got off our train we literally had no idea where to go next. We were just plopped in this town that had nothing in English, and not many people spoke English. Also we can't use our phones for GPS because we would get charged an arm and a leg, so we just started walking hoping that we would find a map somewhere.

We found an Information desk and the nice man called a taxi for us.
Thank the heavens.

We FINALLY got to our hotel [3 1/2 hours later].

Cute little bag of gummies (:

We took a little nap, and then got some yummy food.

So far I have loved it, can't wait for the rest of this trip, and for my mom and step-dad to get here (:

Okay, look how cute this little car is, I died.
[I thought you'd like this Jill]

Go Aggies!

The waiting has finally come to an end and...

CHAD GOT INTO UTAH STATE!!

He will be starting in the fall and he is SO excited to be apart of this program

[I don't know if you can tell by his face.]

It is a duel masters program and he will be getting a masters in human resources

 and a masters in business administration all within 2 years.

I am so proud of Chad and all his hard work! He is so amazing!

Speaking of amazing, I just wanted to give a quick shout out to my sister Jill. 

She just underwent a very intense 8 hour surgery after she found out she had thyroid cancer, and now has a pretty rough recovery. They removed 72 lymph nodes and 31 of them were cancerous. 

She has been nothing but grateful and positive. She is such an inspiration to me and I am so happy I get to have her as a sister. 

Go Jilly!!

I am pretty late on this blog post, but last Sunday Chad and I celebrated out 2 year anniversary.

Holy cow it still feeling like we just started dating, I can't believe it's already been 2 years. 

Let's see within in the last 2 years we have

• Lived in 5 different states [Virginia, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Texas, & Utah]
• Got a cat [grumpy Carl]
• Driven 25,320 miles all around the country
• Chad Graduated from BYU-Idaho [I am almost done]

 This is all I could get because Chad tried to dodge any pictures

•  We have visited Disneyland, New York, Cabo San Lucas, Las Vegas, Texas, and soon to be France, Switzerland, and Italy :).
• We have had 12 different jobs.
• Many, many apartments

&

• Countless times being stranded because of crappy cars.

Life has not be anything less than exciting being married to Chad.
He is truly my best friend.

It's impossible to get sick of him, and can be completely content just watching home renovation
shows all day. 
Life is just good, and I am happy where I am at and the person that I have become.

The day we moved out of our apartment in Rexburg, Idaho. Kind of a bittersweet day. Rexburg will always be close to our heart.

I love you Chad, you are pretty great.

Sooo looong Rexburg.

Welp, guys this semester is coming to an end way too fast,

and that only means that it's getting closer to us moving back to Utah. 

[WAHOO!]

I am excited for the fact that we won't be wind blown every time we walk outside, or that we will have more than two options of places to eat at once we move back to Utah. 

BUT

 I really am going to miss it here in Rexburg. 

People here are genuine, caring, and willing to help you without any hesitation. 

 Rexburg will always have a special place in my heart, 

especially because this is where Chad and I started our lives together. 

Today both of us decided we needed some fresh air because we had 

been stuck inside all day studying.

So we went to the gas station to get a nice carwash,

 then we just drove.

 Up and over hills, through neighborhoods, and then some. 

We stopped at this spot and thought it was picture worthy.

So Chad set up an automatic timer on his phone and...

didn't quite make it back.

 

So we took another one.

And another.

We are kind of weird.

Anywho. Rexburg a great town and we are really going to miss it. 

BUT, 

 we are definitely ready for something new and exciting.

Still crossing our fingers that Chad gets into Utah State, because that would be

AWESOME!

But if not, oh well right? 

We just try again and figure it out as we go.

That is one thing that I have learned about life.

It never goes as planned. 

Things happen that you never thought would, 

[Like meeting your husband when you are planning to move to Australia to be a nanny.]

and you just go with it, roll with the punches.

God knew what he was doing. 

Luckily now I have a partner in crime, to travel the world with,  to cry to, laugh with [and at], and vent to through those hard times, and good.

Things just work out for the better sometimes, almost like God knew that I would be a total

crazy if I didn't have Chad. 

My friend Sami is trying out this new thing called photography and she needed

 people to take pictures of,

 so I volunteered Chad and I because I know how much he loves taking pictures [haha NOT!]

It was actually for my own selfish reason of wanting to wear my wedding dress again.

She did really well and I was really impressed with how the pictures turned out. 

It's always fun playing dress up and I will jump on any opportunity to wear my wedding dress again.

 

So we rented a puppy with some friends and he was the cutest thing.

His name was Oso, and I wanted to squeeze him.

 

You know the little white dog that gets picked up by that huge bird in that movie The Proposal?

 Yep, that's this little fur ball.

Cutest little guy ever, I wanted to keep him.

If only I had $1300 laying around. 

Well life is busy, good, and oh so sweet. 

We are excited for the future and for what is in store for us. 

But for now I should probably get back to studying for my [seven] finals due next week. 

[Yikes]

Thanks for reading :)

My Person ♡

I don't know if you have noticed this too,

but EVERYONE is having a baby.

I am SO beyond happy for them, and actually pretty jealous!

I keep having dreams about babies, and I just got called to be in nursery at church

with the cutest little ones.

It is not helping the situation.
I don't know what it is, but babies have definitely been on my brain,
except the only problem is they aren't on Chad's.
Sooo, oh well, back to being a cat lady.

BUT, something exciting is that Chad graduates this semester!

Then off to graduate school, hopefully Utah State

 {cross your fingers}

I am so proud of Chad and how hard he is working right now.

Not only is he working 30 hours a week,

he is studying for the M.A.T. which he needs to takes to get into graduate school,

and on top of that he is taking 15 credits.

He is one of a kind!

Literally the best thing that has happened to me! 

I know this is gushy but I just love him and the person he is.

He is my person!
{I have been watching too much Grey's Anatomy}

But he really is.
When something funny happens he is the first one I want to tell.
When I am sad, it seems that only he can make me feel better.
When I'm being giggly, and hyper, he embraces it and tries to make me laugh more.

We just have fun together.
And when someone makes a snide remark to me about being
"too young"
 to know what love is, I just brush it off.

Because obviously they have never been in love.
Why would I not marry him when I know he is who I want to be with for the rest of my life.

I want to travel the world,
and I don't know about you,
 but I want Chad there with me when I experience new places.

The thing about the statement that says,
"You will eventually grow apart"
is that it is complete rubish.
Because if anything we are growing together more and more as the years pass
 by building our lives together,
and deciding what we want to be and do in our lives.

I know there have been a lot of articles and blog posts about being young and married,
 but I thought I would just voice my opinion about how much fun it is to be
married in your 20's to your best friend.

I absolutely love being young, married, and poor.
I wouldn't change any of it.

♡ 



Christmas Time Yo

As Chad and I lay here on our living room floor with all of our pillows and blankets, because 

1. We sold our couch, &

2. We are both pretty sick.

So we decided instead of laying in bed, we will just bring our bed downstairs so that we can watch movies and be cute little sickies. 

Chad ditched the movie idea and started watching football, so I thought I would update my blog. 

 

We had so much fun these past couple of months celebrating the Christmas season. 

We started out our festivities by having an ugly Christmas sweater party. 

It was a total success. 

Everyone was so creative! 

We are an attractive group, I know. 

Chad's sweater was my personal favorite.

We also made ginger bread houses and ours... well.. we struggle sometimes. 

But check out that car & garage. 

We also had hot chocolate which was delicious (:

Another thing that has been such a blessing is that I got a new job pays a lot better than my previous 2 I had together. I am now working for Blue Cross of Idaho as an administrative assistant.

 The even better part is that it is only a temporary position that ends in April,

 which is when we will be done with school here in Rexburg! 

Only to start more school in Utah.

Wahoo!

 But  we have definitely been seeing the Lord's hand in our lives, 

and we are so thankful for it.

Another thing that was pretty temporary was that we got to babysit 

the most cuddly kitty in the world. 

My sister wanted to give her kids a kitty for Christmas so we watched him for a few days until she gave him to her kids. 

He was crazy and so cuddly all at the same time!

 He would tip our little 3 foot tree over and then sleep on it. 

Who knows what was going through his head. 

He also only responded to you if you called him cat. 

 

Chad loved him, and didn't really want to give him to my sister. 

 

He was a cutie pie. 

We had an awesome Christmas Day.  I am still like 6 years old I swear,

 because I was awake at 6 a.m. ready to open presents and begin the best day of the year. 

But Chad wanted to sleep in until like noon. 

So we compromised, and woke up at 8. :)

Chad spoiled be big time, and he has such great taste in clothes, boots, and jewelry.

After presents we went sledding with our friends, 

then ate some chicken wings,

annnd then fell asleep for like 4 hours. 

It was a good day to say the least.

Although we were on Christmas break, it didn't really feel like it. 

We were both working like crazy people to get in as many hours as we could before we went to Midway, Utah with my family for a few days. 

But oh man it was so worth it!

If you ever get the chance to go to soldier hollow (it's a sledding place) go!

 It is so fun!

 I am pretty sure I was laughing the whole time!

We ate lots of food, I became even more baby hungry with my cute nieces and nephews,

and we went on a walk around the homestead.

He makes me laugh :)

 This bridge had an H on it, so naturally we had to get a picture.

Cute little sleigh, and gift shop that had really yummy caramels. 

We packed up and then headed back to Rexburg,

 only to come back -18 degrees. 

Not okay Rexburg. I would like to be able to breath and

 not have the inside of my nose freeze.

I keep telling myself that it could be worse, I could not have heating in my apartment.

We are so very blessed and one thing I really want to stress in this new year,

is to be thankful for what I have,

& to live in the present and not hope for the future. 

Here is a cute little list I found on Pinterest of things to start doing in your life.

Thanks for reading, 

and sorry for the picture overload! 

XOXO

Feeling Human

Thankgiving was so great.

 We got together with our friends and had way too much food, played catch phrase, 

and laughed way too much. 

The Hammerbotts  

(Hamiltons, Fletchers, and Abbotts)

We also stuck to a tradition that many families do on Thanksgiving, and that is go around the table and say what you are thankful for. 

When it got to me, I was of course awkward, because talking in front of people is not my thing. 

 If I had one thing to compare my fear of speaking to it would be this video.

 

But I am honestly so thankful for so many things. 

 My husband, Chad, who puts up with me, makes life fun, and takes me on dates.

My cat, Carl, who I wish would just cuddle with me,

 but he is too grumpy. 

My family, who has helped shape who I am today.

(Guys, this isn't everyone. I have a big family)

This gospel, that has help guide and direct me to the happiness I have in my life today.

And finally, being able to go through trials. 

These past couple weeks have been busy, busy, busy.

 Between Chad working, and going to school, to me working 2 jobs and going to school, 

we have not seen much of each other. 

I have also been the worst house wife. 

The laundry is piling up,

the fridge is pretty empty,

and dinner is rarely made at a decent hour.

And I think we have eaten top ramen for dinner the past 5 nights. 

Things are just crazy, and at times I feel overwhelmed but there have been so many times

 I have seen the Lords hand in my life. 

Whether its Chad cleaning the house and making dinner, or a co-worker complimenting me or making me laugh, these little things really make the busy/ rough/ jam packed scheduled times feel like everything will work out alright. 

Don't get me wrong this semester has made me want to drop out, but I am keeping the end in mind. 

I am thinking about how I will feel when I finally graduate, and that sense of accomplishment.

But for now, here's to feeling human.