while mom and dad were gone.

survival.

So we are in Indiana. For the second time. We made it to Michigan and back. I was actually quite a fan of the place. The weather was SO beautiful. So much better than the 90+ and crazy humidity we have going on in Kville. Today I was even chilly and tried to convince Chris I needed a cute Michigan State hoodie (to no avail--our housing hunt was a constant reminder of just how poor we really are). Anywho . . . I will love the summers I feel. And I'll be blogging a TON in the winters because I won't be able to leave the house . . .

Or should I say townhouse. You see, I have long since outgrown the whole tiny apartment thing. We have been looking for weeks for houses to rent. We had FIVE houses lined up to go see when we got there yesterday. Want to know how many we actually saw? One. The rest had been taken or fell out in some other way. So we went and saw the first house and it was TINY and had a big yard we would have to maintain and it was old. REALLY old. So we decided, if we are going to rent, lets find a nice place [built before 1950] where we won't have to mow a massive yard or shovel mountains of snow. We began the search for townhouse communities. I was initially quite sad, desperately wanting to live in a house. But its just not worth it at this point. And you know what? We found a great townhome community that looks quite a bit like a neighborhood. The townhouse is 1100 square feet (the houses we were supposed to look at ranged from 800 to 950) not including the big ol' basement. Comes with a brand new washer and dryer. Really open and nice. We'll have a little back porch and it opens up on a big shared grass field. I'm really quite excited. It does only have two bedrooms (upstairs!), so I'm trying not to worry about a 2 1/2 year old and a baby sharing the same room (tell me its possible . . . tell me it works really well). Its house-esque, without the worries of a house. And at this point, we probably don't have the time or money to maintain a yard. And now we don't have to buy a washer & dryer, a portable dishwasher (we thought we might have to), OR a snowblower (considered a necessity to many Michiganders). So maybe, just maybe, we can get rid of the Craigslist couches we've had for 3 years and upgrade. I'm feeling excited and blessed. I'm ready to go.

I'm rambling. I took ONE picture on our trip. Its of Chris's building on campus. Did I mention how beautiful campus is? Really beautiful. Tennessee is NOT beautiful; BYU was SO beautiful. MSU reminds me of BYU.
Anyway, I'll show it to you soon, its a pretty building, but the camera cord is in the room with the sleeping baby, so it will be later.

Oh, my sleeping baby. These [almost] two days were the longest I'd been away from her. Before that I maxed out at about 3 hours. I missed the child like crazy, and it was a bit heartbreaking that she had to "get used" to me again upon my return. But I'm so very happy to be reunited with my lil' pal. She is the bomb {dot} com.

And so is my hub. It was a seriously stressful 2 days, going non-stop, looking at a million places, finding a handful that each had everything we wanted BUT one thing. Goodness, that was annoying. But we were in it together. When we found "the place", we were signing contracts, etc, and the lady asked how long we had been married. We told her 4 years and she said "Really? I wouldn't have guessed that. You still have that whole newlywed thing going on." How about that? She didn't realize we had just spent two crazy days looking for a place to live and were a little giddy about finally finding it. But I love him. He is my hero. And we survived.

Now I have a picture in my mind of our new home and I can't help but want to decorate the crap out of it. You see, I've had the same "decor" for 4 fabulous year and I'm ready for something new, hip, chic, if you will. Granted, on our meager budget that will be trixy, but I'm ready for a challenge. If anyone knows good DIY blogs or simple yet fab decor blogs, let me know.

And just because: Can I tell you how much I love this? I want to get a Tennessee one for Carly since she was born there, an Idaho one for me since I was born there, and a Michigan one for #2. I don't think Chris would go crazy over one, so I'll spare him. Next time I have $150 to spend on pillows, I guess. Ha! Maybe I'll try to copy them someday.

That is all. xoxo.

engineering marvels.

So a few days ago, Carly woke up from a nap and I delayed getting her for a bit while I finished something. A few minutes later I went in to find her with little white paint chips around her mouth. I examined the crib to find a rather impressive chunk missing. Our little Carlysaurus was apparently eating her way out. We went to BabiesRUs to find a solutions, but the gummi-crap we came home with was lame. So we got our $17 back and I used my ingenuity to figure out a better solution: 

Towels + athletic tape + brilliant mommy = a crib that will hopefully survive to see a second child.

[Pretty classy, I know.]

~

My next engineering marvel had to do with a baby walker toy with lots of pieces and screws, a set of lost directions, and a really annoyed mommy. I searched high and low for those directions. Couldn't find them. So I sat down and layed all the pieces out and used my powers of deduction to piece it together. Not gonna lie, I was pretty excited. Carly still needs to work on her steering. It will be slightly frightening when this girl gets behind the wheel of a car.

~

In other news, Chris and I enjoyed our 4th anniversary on Thursday night by having a baby-less dinner at PF Changs. The Young Women's Presidency I'm a member of held a meeting that night, and instead of requiring me to go, the president offered to watch Carly during it while we went to dinner. Not too shabby. It was a nice dinner, and we even managed to talk about a few things other than Carly.

Earlier in the day we went to our favorite used bookstore and spent too long there. Chris found a new read, but since I still have a stack to conquer, I headed to the baby board books section. I found 6 fabulous finds, each priced between a quarter and 75 cents. After a wipe down with Clorox wipes and a damp cloth, they are good as new (I'm always afraid used items will have the swine flu on them or something). Anyway, it was nice because I read 12-15 books a day to Carly (4-5 before each time she goes to sleep) so it can get a bit repetitive. I have more books memorized than I ever thought I would. I will recite some favs to you next time I see you, if you want.

[L-R: David the Lion, Carly, and Rex learning about the different ecosystems. David may or may not have been named after David Beckham]

~

[Look! Carly stand on her own! And she helps with the laundry!]

~

Carly loves her highchair booster thing. We keep it on the ground between meals and she loves to play on it and sit in it. Isn't it so cute? I'm currently contemplating getting some cute little chair for her birthday [!].

~

And finally, since we've been home for a whole month, its time for us to leave again. Tomorrow we depart on a 9 day, 4 state adventure. We are blessed to be able to go to the temple in Louisville, KY tomorrow morning (we will be missing the USA game, but Chris's parents are recording it, so DONT say anything), then spending time in Indiana, heading to Michigan (babyless!) to find a place to live, and then to Chicago to celebrate the 4th of July with Chris's extended family. Sounds like a party, does it not?

xoxo.

blood, sweat, and tears.

On Sunday I was talking to my dad and he asked "So what are you guys up to these days?"

My answer? "We spend about 6 hours a day watching soccer."

Its true.

BUT  . . . we do pay attention to our little Wild Thing, and we had to go to the grocery store a few times.

You see, I'm not going to feel guilty for indulging in a little lazy nothingness with my man for a bit.

After the 2 years of craziness we just endured, and the 4 years of even crazierness ahead, I think we deserve it.

Anyway . . . speaking of watching 6 hours of soccer a day.

[Carly's baby-sized World Cup ball.]

We do love us some World Cup. There is nothing quite like it.

We love us some Alexi Lalas, former US soccer star and current ESPN/ABC soccer analyst.

I was watching him a few days ago thinking,

His hair reminds me of someone.

But who?

Then it hit me.

The child was born to be a soccer player.

~

So this morning was the big US game. There were a lot of scenarios, but really the US needed to win in order to make it through to the next round. I started my morning off with GF waffles topped with strawberries and bananas (did I mention my husband is the bomb diggity?) and settled in to watch the game. It was a crazy one. I will spare you a play-by-play, but it was intense and I was getting emotionally invested. It was still tied 0-0 as stoppage time began. The US looked like they were out. But in the 91st minute, Landon Donovan scored a goal to send the US to the next round, winners of their group.

~

I tell you, quite a bit of screaming commenced in the C House.

We jumped and yelled and I ran to Chris and jumped into his arms.

Sometimes I wish we had a constant video recording us because we are so cool.

This was one of those times.

Our celebration looked something like this:

Only significantly less awkward (hopefully).

Chris then returned to watch the replay on TV.

I followed him, but he didn't realize it, so he swung around to continue the jumping, and I kid you not, hit me so hard in the face with his big muscular arm. I felt a buzz go through my head and I dropped to the ground. Things went a bit black for a second and I could taste blood. Yes, he drew blood. I had tears in my eyes. Tears of joy from our victory, tears of pain from getting hit in the face.

It was a glorious morning.

There is nothing quite like the World Cup.

my prince.

meet william.

its his birthday today.

~

The first time I laid eyes on William was shortly after his mother, Princess Diana, died in a tragic car crash.

I knew I loved him the first time I saw him.

He was 15.

I was not quite 11.

~

After Diana's death, my mother kept a few of those "special tribute" magazines they put out about her. She kept them in one of her drawers. I used to sneak into her bedroom and pull the magazines out to look at pictures of my prince. I don't know why I did it in secret. The only explanation I can find is that I was 11.

~

My crush on him lasted a solid . . . 8 years.

He graced the walls of my bedroom and insides of my lockers.

I read several books on him and his family, making me proficient in all things Royal.

[Even now Chris will ask me questions concerning royalty and I will know the answer.]

My dear William just held a special place in my heart.

~

~

Just over 8 years after I first met William, I met another prince.

The first time I laid eyes on Chris was during Ward Prayer in our BYU Ward, shortly after I arrived for my freshman year.

I knew I loved him the first time I saw him.

He was 22.

I was not quite 19.

~

We used to text each other late at night.

We used to snuggle in the back of his car after curfew.

We used to meet between classes for a few seconds.

We used to say goodnight and go our separate ways.

~

This prince makes me laugh.

This prince holds me tight.

This prince promised me a lifetime of love and happiness.

This prince took me to the Temple.

I get to be with this prince forever.

And this prince gave me the most beautiful little princess.

~

We will celebrate 4 years of wedded bliss on Thursday.

~

Happiest,

hardest,

craziest,

most wonderful

4 years.

Ever.

~

Here's to infinity more.

notes in a box.

I have a little box where I put notes, mementos, and other gizmos that I want to keep.

The box contains all sorts of things that are special to me.

I was digging through that box today looking for something that we seemed to have misplaced.

While I flipped through things, I stumbled upon this:

A note from my daddy.

I said the closing prayer at my seminary graduation and my dad passed me this note on the stand right before hand. I remember expecting it to say "I'm so proud of you" or something along those lines. It said this instead.

But this was better.

I've never doubted that my dad loved me or was proud of me.

And I'm blessed because of that.

I love this little note.

Its one of my all-time favorite keepsakes.

~

Also in my box? 

About 15 of my favorite notes from my boyfriend/fiancee/husband, Chris (depending on when said note was written).

I certainly love this man a lot.

You can tell by the fact that his notes and letters make up about 90% of my little box.

~

Happy Fathers Day to my daddy,

and to Carly's daddy.

~

I love you both times a million.

jokes.

What do you call a beautiful ten-month-old scary monster who loves to roar and cause all kinds of devastation?

Carlysaurus.

~

What do you call a beautiful ten-month-old scary monster who loves to roar and cause all kinds of devastation's dog?

Carlysaurus Rex.

{Rex for short}

The girl loves that blue puppy.

~

[ps. if you know where we got the inspiration for our hilariousness, you are a C family soul mate]