dating

I look back on Caleb and I meeting, dating, and eventually getting married. I remember avoiding all lounge wear and pajamas for months and months because Caleb would always pop by my apartment without warning and I didn't want to look undone. I remember curling my hair exactly the same way for our first like 7 dates because he casually mentioned that my hair looked nice weeks before. I also remember our first date after we got married and how grown up I felt going to dinner with my husband. Weird! Weird! Weird!

For a while, we kind of got into a date slump and we've been making a better effort to keep that same kind of special anticipation for date night. It's something that we look forward to, plan throughout the week, and try really really hard not to break for our social calendars. Our best recipe for a date is: simple + new + relaxing.

This week we tried a new indian restaurant that turned out to be amazing! You always have this trepidation about restaurants that look semi-empty when you walk in and seem a little too excited to seat you. Soooo good!

We also decided to explore Stanford during sunset and play a little frisbee in some random courtyard. Right outside the main quad is a cast of my favorite sculpture, The Burghers of Calais, by Rodin.

^ To the girl in green: nailed it.

^when you think that your self-timer already went off and you did a High School Musical jumping shot for nothing

farmer's market // father's day

 First and foremost, a very happy Father's Day to my Dad and and Caleb! Growing up, I always said that I wanted to marry someone just like my Dad and when I met Caleb it was almost scary how much they had in common. I love that! I'm so thankful for not just the love, but the tough love that each of these men have given me. Although we don't have kids yet, I considered Caleb a father the moment we got married. I know that our children are waiting and can't wait to be reunited with Dad.

This weekend we got a chance to stop by the Downtown Palo Alto Farmer's Market. The community really emphasizes organic, fresh, and local produce in most of the grocery stores and the farmers market was like a party for local values. Gilroy, a small farming community that is only about 45 minutes away, has so much fresh produce that the prices are pretty great and you meet some of the growers at the market.

^ We ordered a great crepe from a stand that was made with all organic ingredients. Nutella + English Creme! 

^ I didn't notice that when we sat down we kind of crashed a family embrace...I think we were sitting in the middle of one large family and had no clue why everyone was smiling at us...

carpool

Today I caught a small glimpse into the life of a mom while her kids are away at school. I always wondered what in the world my Mom was doing while I spent what felt like a lifetime in the classroom. I imagined her taking naps, going shopping, hanging out with friends and getting ice cream. How wrong was I?

I picked up Caleb early from work today and it was the exact time when kids were getting out of school. I realized how fast the day went and as productive as I was, I accomplished nothing! It's only going to get worse...

Right now I'm Caleb's official tour guide of Palo Alto since I've been spending the day exploring while he's at work. Totally unfair I know. I've been taking him to my favorite neighborhoods for walks and some of my food finds. 

Shrimp salad from Sancho's Taqueria 

I found a Sprinkles 5 minutes away from our house and I've finally converted Caleb. Their instagram sometimes reveals codewords for free cupcakes

My first baby romper! I saw a tutorial and decided to give it a try. I still have a little bit more to finish but I'm so excited because everything has turned out so clean so far

I love this specialty cotton! It was super easy to sew with and was really forgiving while I was learning to sew the buttons

Sweet Sweet Overload

For the past couples of days I'm ashamed to say how many sweets I've eaten (which should be a good indicator of how overboard I went since trace amounts of sugar and cookie dough can be found in my blood stream) and how many times I've promised myself I would stop. I'm addicted! If anyone is curious there's still about a half of an angel cake, a life supply of oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough and some crumbs from the cake bites I finished off left in the kitchen. Another attempt at healthy eating is about to start!

This weekend was also a sweet overload because of Valentines and a visit from my little sister. I love having all of my ladies together and doing things that Caleb rightfully should not have to do. 

Eva's Bakery in SLC has heavenly Mac and Cheese though I am biased that my own recipe is better…the ambiance here is perfect for a girl-date and makes you feel so sophisticated (?) even though this is your third lunch in one day...

My always up for a solo-pic-pro

Getting "affectionate" and so lady-like at Afternoon Tea

This place will stuff-you-silly on tiny bite sized food! I think it was supposed to take about 2.5 hours to have tea, but we zoomed through in under an hour. We were sitting there and wondering, "Wait, those ladies came in way before us and are still on the first course, should we have paced ourselves…whatever."

Caleb's pink Valentines breakfast. Once again he blew me out of the water for any special occasion with all of his surprises. I always think that I'm ahead of the game and then he comes out of nowhere!

Another small update on baby business: we are preparing for our transfer that should take place at the end of March. I didn't realize that everything we've done before is kind of the easy part. Most of the shots or drugs I'll start taking in the next few weeks continue up until I'm "hopefully" 10 weeks pregnant! Testing and waiting on results has been crazy. My heart skips a beat every time my phone rings because it's usually from some doctor or lab giving me an update. Caleb and I have so many questions and we usually leave every conversation with new things and questions we haven't even considered. If there's anything I've learned in these past couple of weeks it's that natural conception and the birth of a healthy baby is a gift! There are so many different syndromes and chromosome deficiencies that are possible so I now look at every baby as a little wonder. Embryo testing has opened my eyes to what odds are really against you when trying to have a baby. Also, this guy at the pharmacy and I are now officially friends; he tells me what he thinks of my outfit choices and I listen to his stories about visiting Frankfurt in 2005. Whoop.

Confession:

Sometimes I feel like this whole entire blog is a thinly veiled food journal. Look at that thing! Tears!  Beauty! Clark's Island Donuts is a brand new phenomenon in Provo and I'm loving it a little too much because they are right down the street from us. My first adventure there was originally a treat stop for Caleb, but  I took one"tester" bite and turned around to get another for me! 

Quality Time

Our weekend didn't go quite according to plan as we had hoped. Our time with Caleb's family was great and I couldn't be more thrilled with my brother-in-law's plans to serve a 2-year mission in Atlanta for our church. Yay! After a few days of fun with them we set our eyes on a yert that my sister had rented in mountains. I was so looking forward to getting away and making some memories in Utah. I can't believe we will leave our home away from home in just a short few months! After a number of happenings, we decided that it would be best to stay home. At the time I was bummed, but now I don't regret it one bit.
Caleb and I took a couple of hours to ourselves and had the most romantic/casual/stuff your face brunch as anyone could. I'm starting to realize that it's little moments like these that make me so happy and make all the little other things that don't go right feel so much better!

Sundance has the yummiest pancakes + omelettes. I feel like I've finally tricked Caleb into sharing/splitting dishes with me and eating at restaurants just got 100% better

On another note, giving myself injections and shots for IVF are hard and make me get real anxious! It's like a giant mind game with myself that lasts for about a half and hour. One side of me is saying "just do it already!" while the other is "stop, that thing is pointy, get it away!" I kind of feel like I'm in Parent Trap with Lindsay Lohan and I don't know whether piercing my ears to meet my long-lost parent is worth it. Tell me you got that long reference...

Why I Love Wednesdays

I love Wednesdays because it means lunch time with Mr. Barton. The End. 

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

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.