On the Table-Chair

When you're sitting on the doctors examining table, (wait is it a table, is it a chair…is it both? I don't know!) a lot of things go through your mind.
First and foremost, without an exception, I realize how white I am. Wow! Alabaster! Obviously I'm not a very sentimental or deep person who could have much more sophisticated first-thoughts. I just keep telling myself it's the lighting. All doctors offices have the same lighting effect of course.
The second thought is the "procedure" and the results. I get rational real quick. I think I should have been more prepared when I went to the doctors last because afterwards I felt like I had just grown 3 inches and became an adult. Blood work and a water ultra-sound feel like pretty adult-life things.

Of course no one needs to know the details of that procedure other than everything went so well! I'm healthy! I'm normal! I'm 21 and dying to have kids according to my egg count! Splendid!

I am seriously grateful for how great everything is on this step in the process. There are so many things that I take for granted and I just expect to be a reality when for many they are not. It made me sit there and wonder about all of the other patients that my doctor see's and how many get an opposite answer.

ps.
I'm also grateful for my doctor's practiced talent of making conversation out of thin air. It helps.

Merry Merry

This Christmas really was a special occasion for Caleb and I. First,  Caleb has never experienced a proper 70-degree California Christmas, and the second reason being that it was our first Christmas with family since we've been married. Last year, we were in Mexico on our honeymoon, and although it was a beachy Christmas that I will never forget, there' just something about being home for the holidays. 

It's got to be my cute family and my even cuter nephew. 

^My mom really shines during Christmas time. I wish I could take a picture of every square inch of our house because there isn't a corner that isn't decorated! I get my love for all things Christmas from her! 

^ Holy cow my favorite part of Christmas morning is my Mom's breakfast! These egg bagels have come kind of addictive-cravable-little something extra that makes me want them all through the year

^I love that my family has "unique" gift tags. We do either giant letters of people's first names, or photos to indicate who a gift is for. The pictures come from a variety of ages and fun memories. For now, Caleb and I have our engagements as our couple gift tags

^My parents just remodeled their house and I am a big fan of the cement bench and fireplace. Usually, I think cement is too cold and modern, but a lot of people think the gray is a huge cushion when they walk in

The Wedding

My beautiful sister got married this past weekend and I couldn't be happier for her. Seeing your older sister as a bride makes about 10,000 memories and 21 years of laughs suddenly bounce in your head all at once. She looked amazing and so classic! As we've grown up (I still have a lot to do in that department), you are always so joking and casual; I've always loved our poke and jab humor mixed with a lot of love between us. However, seeing her that day made me realize what an elegant and graceful older sister I really do have! Congrats to the lovely Mr. and Mrs. Porter!

^The Grand America just a weekend before Christmas couldn't have been more perfect for a wedding! I mean look at that garden and misty weather!

^My older brother and his family are pretty adorable

^These photos were taken by a family friend, Meredith Chapman-look her up for more work!

Just a Reminder

I fell in love with this quote when Caleb and I were listening to this address for the first time last week. It made me realize that in just one year of marriage,  I've learned more about who I am than in the 21 years that I spent just thinking all about myself. Funny how that works. Here's to 75 more years of smiling!

ps-Troop Beverly Hills is on Netflix and that's also something to smile about- childhood is calling!

Birthday Boy

For about 5 seconds in my life, I thought I would be a party planner. I thought, "How fun! I can do balloons, I can do crazy party-people, I can do fun!" Dead. Wrong. I can't do any one of those things. That is why I worry for not only Caleb, but our very future children. I can only imagine the awkward parties I will throw.
Never the less...
A happy happy happy birthday to Mr. Barton!

I may throw horrible "parties" and I can't make breakfast in bed to save my life, but I hope I'm getting better at this birthday business. I feel like this past year has flown by and feels like just yesterday we couldn't wait for your birthday to run by because we were getting married only 4 days afterwards. Crazy!

Below is the recipe for the BEST chocolate cupcakes + frosting. Parties are hard, but baking and then eating food is easy!

^ ps-silicon reusable cupcake liners are a serious no. I was telling everyone they had to "work" if they really wanted that cupcake out of the liner, but really, these things had minds of their own...

Yummy Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup baking cocoa

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 cup hot water

Frosting

1/2 cup butter (really soft)

1/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

3 cups powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl. Then add the rest of the wet ingredients (besides the hot water). Once the eggs are completely mixed in, pour in the hot water and mix well (the batter will look really watery but don't worry, that's normal). Be sure not to over-mix, bubbles will form on the top of the cake!

 Grease a cake pan or a cupcake pan (I did cupcakes!) and pour batter into the pan. Bake for 33 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean). Once the cake cools, add frosting!

Gingerbread

Last night we went over to our friends house to build gingerbread houses and catch up on life. It's crazy how everyone goes their separate ways so fast! I'm was once again in my weekly sugar coma and once again contemplated giving up sugar completely. That was until I had my bajillionth work party today and ate half the cookie tray...

^ I built a Temple and Caleb built a house turned the Leaning Tower of Pisa after small or actually really massive cave-in...apparently all of this was really funny (?)

Christmas Concert

Last night we went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. Now say that three times fast! We got our tickets and amazing seats from my work-I planned a special dinner for some opinion leaders so I ran the dinner and then went to the concert with Caleb.
The concert was so much more than I was expecting and I'm so glad we didn't skip out early to go home and study for finals!

The Muppets and Santino Fontana were the special guests along with the choir and they were fantastic. The show was actually pretty funny and very well produced. I was worried it would be ummm…. well a little dry (?) but it was really entertaining.
We are now officially dead-tired and haven't studied for our finals which means a really stressful/long Monday!

Holiday Recap

This is a seriously late but completely justified catch-up crash-course. Did that just make any sense? I hope so! We spent Thanksgiving with Caleb's family in Ogden since we'll be in California with my family for Christmas. Coming back from Thanksgiving is always so hard because you feel like school should be over, yet you still have finals-it's tough!

 

^ A snapshot from our family pictures and the aftermath of Thanksgiving dinner

^Every year in Ogden, they have a Christmas parade, lighting ceremony, and Santa run on Main Street.  Bart, Caleb's uncle, was pushed in his "Bartmobile" and made a great Santa!

^ Also, I couldn't ignore the tree in the lobby where I work. It feels even more massive and colorful than this picture. The best part about Christmas time on Temple Square is the various choirs that come to perform throughout the day. I work a floor above the Mezzanine (where the choirs perform) and we hear music all day. 

For an update on IVF, I've schedule my first Water Ultra Sound and preliminary testing for IVF programs. The lady seriously had to explain to me over the phone what all that meant-I'm so naive, I was sitting there thinking, "Wait, do they put me in water and give me an ultrasound, do they splash water on me? What is the point of that?!" I soon discovered it's just a marker they use to show the results on the screen… no bathing suit required. I think that goes up as one of my top ditzy moments.