GOOD OL' ROCKY TOP!

Nothing quite like a reality check when pulling back into town & working the same day!  

I need a day of rest to recover, I think! :)

My parents got me a flight to be able to go home for my sister's wedding reception in TN. Because of the cheapness of flights I had to fly out on the 6th & stay till the 15th. It was a long & LOVED stay. I love being home. I feel so bad leaving Weston behind, but I lived up every second. By living it up, I mean I stayed in my sweats & played games w/ my family from sun up to sun down. Gaming is a way of life.

I also got LOTS of puppy time which I can never seem to soak up enough of. I love those dogs so much! I had never met my mom's dog Maisey that she got in March, but oh my goodness she's a sweet little dog!

I really had a hard time leaving TN, if it weren't for Weston not being with me, I probably would have just set up camp & stayed. I love the green out there. My parents live in the middle of the woods & it's gorgeous. They built their house 4 years ago & I just love visiting! Even though I have no childhood/growing up memories in that house, it's totally home now. My parents are such generous hosts & the reception that they put on was beautiful! A lot of the decorations were made by my mom. It was just gorgeous & a lot of good old friends showed up! I love how at home I still feel when I go back. No matter where I live in life Franklin, TN will always be home.  

Anyways, now that I've blurbed enough about all of this, I will put up some pictures! 

I took this picture on my birthday! Weston & I had dinner at home & then went out & up to the movies to see Despicable Me 2! 

I loved it.

Weston is the sweetest & was so nice to let me skip out of town for a week. He is such a great husband & honestly I really lucked out getting such a loving, sweet man!

He is doing shifts at the fire department until Wednesday, so I won't see him until Wednesday night, but he can hardly stand the excitement to see me...I think mostly because I was able to start feeling the baby kick from the OUTSIDE of my stomach while I was in TN!  He has been counting down till that will happen. Even though he couldn't feel it from the outside he'd always try to feel it.

But now her kicks are bigger & stronger & even just this week they've gotten so much stronger, we have just under half way left to go still...I'm in so much trouble with this little kicker!

The next morning he had a shift at an ER in Salt Lake. He dropped me off at the airport first where I waited for 6 hours till my flight took off! :) It was a fun time to start learning how to use my iPhone, though.

 WHICH he gave me for Christmas! Thank you upgrade for falling on my birthday month.

I'm in love with it & don't know how I functioned with out it.

You could kind of say I've become dependent in the past 10 days....

I was there for 8 whole days & maybe changed out of sweats 4 or 5 times. It was amazing.

I got lots of rest, just like a good compliant patient following doctor's orders.

I got lots of Bella time.

 I gave the dogs some love while everyone did some more intensive wedding set-up stuff....

I'm on "take it easy" orders remember.

It was really tough to not be able to move furniture & mop, getting having to hold puppies instead....

 The reception was gorgeous. I didn't take table display pictures after the food was put out. I'm seriously kicking myself for forgetting to do that.

 Popcorn buckets my mom made.

She made a million of these for the TN & AZ reception.

She stamped, cut & assembled all of them.

This picture is blurry, I'll try to find a clearer one!

Unpictured: amazing cupcakes made by Emma Widman & ice cream sandwiches catered from Cold Stone Creamery & gourmet popcorn from the popcorn shoppe. They were all amazing.

Here's a nice off centered picture of the popcorn table.

 I got to see my bff Syd! I took this picture the morning after the reception. 

Total babe w/ no sleep & no makeup.

She came, in true girlfriend fashion, with a duffle for clothes to wear to the reception & jammies.

Love her. We are one in the same, I swear.

We decided a sleepover is in order.

Lucky for me, her hubby had left for a business trip, so we had a sleepover on the couches & talked until some absurd hour until we passed out.
I cannot wait to live close to her again!

 We played lots & lots of games.

 Bella & her trusty ball were at my feet the whole time. I love that puppy!

 Settlers of Catan is our current addiction.

We did give Imaginiff, Golf, & trains some air-time though.

 Punky boy.

I say boy, except he's 6'4 now.

My 16 yo brother is not allowed to be 6'4".

 We went & saw Despicable Me 2 as a family & it was even better the second time! We all laughed so hard! 

We were also greeted afterwards by a great thunderstorm! It wasn't as epic as most, but the sky was amazing!

I'm still dying over this picture.

Plus, I'm still dying that they're married. I'm so happy. I'm also so happy Sean joined the family & meshes so well. I haven't even scared him off yet.

 My mom's such a good sport! She still came & played a few games through a migraine!

She looks tired, but she was still a blast to be with! She loves her little puppy!

 More Bella.

 Sean served a mission in Korea & wanted to make the family a Korean dinner while we were all together. It was amazing.

 More puppy time.

I'd be embarrassed that I love these dogs so much, except I'm not embarrassed about it at all.

They're so photogenic.

 My parents showing me how to use FaceTime.

A low point in your life is having to be shown how to use FaceTime by your parents.

Plus, they're just really awesome, obviously.

 Bella wasn't feeling well for the last part of the week so she enjoyed using the baby bump as a pillow as we all chatted about baby names!

We like to party like it's 1999 with homemade ice cream & settlers. 

 This was also before the reception.

Our little stacking russian dogs.

 Bella & her ball again.

I don't think I've written on my blog about how much this girl loves her tennis balls. Seriously, I laugh so hard when I think about it. She's been that way since she was a brand new puppy. When she was a month old she'd grab the huge tennis ball in her teeth & throw it for herself. She still does that.

 The bridge right by where my parents live.

Have I mentioned TN is gorgeous?

 My parents' back yard. It's grown out a little bit here, but my little brother does the most amazing mow jobs for them. he likes to mow diagonal designs into the yard. It's pretty cool & fancy!

 Bug man ready to take over the world.

With his trusty sidekick.

Maisey is always begging for me to take a picture of us. I maybe have 100 on my phone.

She is the cutest little thing!

  Saturday we left for Louisville for my cousins' mission farewell. It was so good to get more time with my Uncle Ron & Aunt Julie & cousins, too! James is serving a mission in California! We're so proud of him!

It was a gorgeous drive. I-65 drives through gorgeous parts of the country!  On our way up we stopped in town for some Venetian Salad Rolls at Pei Wei! 

Thank you Mom & Dad for being so sweet & treating me!

We were stuffed afterwards! Also, I have a terrible track record w/ car/plane motion-sickness since I've been pregnant. I did not lose my Venetian salad roll on the side of I-65 & I did not feel miserably sick the whole time! I was happy happy happy.

 Also, that baby continued growing while I was gone. I'm freaking out a little with how fast she's growing. HELP!

It's so exciting, but HELP! She's going to run out of womb!

I love my mom!

It was an amazing trip & I had so much fun getting such great time with my family!  Grandmother wasn't pictured, but she was there for all the games/partying as well! I love her!

I am happy to be back in Utah solely because Weston is here. I might not have come back if I didn't have a husband here right now! hahah! I'm only half kidding.

I am counting down til I get to move back.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm just painting a "grass is greener" picture in my mind & remind myself that I need to love my time in Utah, too. I really do enjoy living here now that we've moved to Salem & I enjoy being surrounded by Weston's family, but it's not a "grass is greener" situation in my mind...it really is greener & I cannot wait til the day to live close to my family again. Now that my sister has left Utah & I'm the last one right here, I am feeling homesick & missing them more than ever.  I cannot wait to move there. It seriously feels like Christmas being able to actually live near my family again. I told Weston on our first date that I do not plan on staying in Utah (I had found that Utahans don't really leave here & I always told the guys that I dated that were from Utah that I don't plan on staying here, just so it's fair that if we got married that I fully intend to move back to TN still!) Luckily for me, Weston loves the green & tolerates his in-laws (:D) & is excited for our new chapter as well. Of course, he'll miss his family & the mountains, though. I am just so excited it's actually happening.

Weston asked me about how I'm feeling about moving back to TN after visiting again & if I'm still as excited to move back. I told him I couldn't believe I could get more excited, but that trip just sealed the deal for me. I am so ready to move back & excited to be back in my stomping grounds with familiar faces & places!

This wasn't meant to be a post all about my excitement to move back, but honestly, I can't wait.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Work is a ghost town today! Feel free to stop by & have a dance party w/ me in the lobby!

Weston's aced his husbandly birthday duties!

He texted me every minute leading up to midnight starting at 11:35. Score.

I was up that late because I napped A LOT yesterday. I did some serious gutting of our junk these past couple days & planned to organize & get it to look all nice & pretty, too....but then I remembered I'm pregnant & don't have all the energy I usually do to gut AND organize things in the same day.

SO I gutted. I love a clean & organized house. Step one is almost complete.  I will be finishing that in the next few weeks!

Ah, happy fourth of July! I did step outside to watch fireworks, though. I also drove up to the Traverse Mountain Outlets, too, to check out the Gap Outlet's amazing 50% off everything sale and got Weston a nice, soft pair of shorts. That poor boy can't own enough shorts. He has a low tolerance for heat.

All in all it was a seriously successful.

Our entire house lost power for a little over an hour yesterday, too, so I organized & gutted my shoes, too. I feel like a new woman.

It seriously feels amazing to not be nauseous, tossing my cookies, or too tired to even do my hair anymore.

I've also been so busy the past Saturdays of the past few months, too, so even once I started feeling better, I still didn't have any time on my Saturday/cleaning day to do anything. The next month is extremely busy, w/ more photography jobs/work & a couple more weddings!

He's so cute! He sent this to me at 11:50 last night! I would call him weird, but I love him too much.

He was really hyper & most likely had too much caffeine.

He also is very excited about my birthday.

I am excited to see him tonight after I get off work, I haven't had time w/ that boy since Sunday. I miss him.

He's been either working 48 hrs at the fire dept or 12-midnight at ERs. Our schedules royally clash. 

All. The.  Time.

Sometimes I forget I'm married, until our baby gives me a kick in the gut & I remember who gave her half of her chromosomes!

We're going to see Despicable Me & I am SO EXCITED.

Baby's First Photos

  I took pictures of our U/S pics on our fridge.

Our fridge is seriously plastered.

We have had 9 ultrasounds so far in the pregnancy, these 5 are the only ones that they printed us pictures, but we have seen our little girl so many times.

It's been awesome & such a reassurance!

This is her at 6.5 weeks!

9.5 weeks!

 14.5 weeks!

17.5 weeks!

She is measuring about 1.75 weeks ahead!  Keep growing baby girl!

via

This is what she looks like inside right now! Except I always get a little worried because on ultrasounds my baby looks much more squished in her ultrasounds than these online pictures show!

Pregnancy Survival Guide For Husbands

This book is our pregnancy bible.

Seriously.

A little bit after we found out we're expecting a baby I went to Barnes & Noble looking for THE perfect "Dad" book on all this stuff.

I read through a bunch of Abstracts, but wasn't loving anything I was reading.

Most of the books have validation points & basically try to calm the nerves of becoming a dad, etc.

Those were not the kind of books I was wanting to get him.

I wanted one to help him understand a little more about the pregnancy process & for him to be even more excited about the growing baby, too!  I found this book & honestly, it's been a LIFESAVER.

I research all day long what's going on with my body & where the baby is. This book has gotten Weston excited about all of that stuff, too. It covers a wide array of topics that are good for an expecting dad to know about pregnancy & what his wife is experiencing! It also covers how to understand some of the things he's feeling too. It's awesome!

It's been SUCH a good book & Weston has LOVED it.

Seriously, he laughs so hard while he's reading it. He doesn't have a lot of free time, but he squeezes it in if we are sitting on the couch relaxing randomly. It's really fun & he's constantly saying "Did you know...!?"  I usually do, just because I love learning about the human body & am obsessed with studying all this stuff while I'm at work. I love researching these kind of things, but it has been fun to be able to talk about it with Weston.

We got our copy on Amazon.com, but probably paid 2x as much as this amazon copy (I can't remember)

But you can find it HERE through Amazon.

Weekend Madness

On our LONG 1:10 hr flight to Mesa!

Have I mentioned I love the Provo airport?

And I love that we got to park there for $14 total for 4 days? Happy.

The trip to Mesa was so fun! We stayed with my brother-in-law's parents who I met about a month ago. They were the kindest hosts & truly made us feel like we were at home while there.

It was a very quick trip for the wedding.

We pulled into town around 11a.m. where my dad & brother picked us up & we went to the temple for Dani's endowment session.

After the temple we went to a taco shop for some grub! It was delish & we all got a little bit too full.

That night was the Groom's dinner which was incredible. Seriously, Sherie is great at throwing parties!

We had a delicious southern style dinner w/ a picture of Robert E. Lee on display even.

Everyone gave great toasts to the new couple & then before we knew it it was Friday.

We all took the morning pretty slow & easy.

I did my mom's hair & Sherie's friend came over & did our make-up.

Then I realized I was supposed to be at the temple for the wedding & had not yet done my hair. as in it was in a huge messy bun on my head.

I hurried & tried to tame my mane, then Wes & I ran out the door w/ our trusty chauffeur, Chase.

After the beautiful ceremony I tried not to die from the heat.

& then we ran back home to the Kent's where I scarfed some food down because I hadn't eaten all day!

Then I forgot, again, that I needed to do my hair...it was as though I was going to work, not a wedding.

I'm pretty sure I was smoking the reefer or something.

BUT, I got my hair decent & we ran out the door for pictures at the reception hall.

It was gorgeous! Danielle had picked out the most beautiful flower arrangements. I have not seen a more beautiful wedding!

Danielle was so happy & I love that her & Sean are so happy together! They make a killer pair & I'm excited for their life together!

They are on their honeymoon right now in the Virgin Islands where Weston & I also honeymooned & then they go to TN for their reception July 8th, then back to AZ to prep for med school where Sean will start on July 31! Yay!!!

Busy, busy! 

My pregnancy woes did not give me an ounce of trouble over the weekend, which was a huge relief, because I really did not want another ER bill. My goodness, our medical bills are draining us like you wouldn't believe.

And I can barely sit/stand for a minute at a time. My back has that killer pain where I guess the sciatic nerve is, but it doesn't send shooting pains down my leg like I hear sciatic nerves do. Bottom line, I was the most useless bridesmaid you can ever imagine. I sat the WHOLE time.  The WHOLE TIME. And then I left before clean-up. Everyone was so nice & understanding, but still, I felt bad.

Saturday my family left & Weston & I hung out w/ all the Kents! It was so fun to be there for Dani & Sean opening their presents! Party!

They got a lot of nice loot & then that night Wes & I took them to the airport!

The next a.m. the poor Kents were taxi service again & took us to the Mesa airport at 5:30 to catch our 7a.m. flight!

We slept the entire flight home, then slept through church that day & all afternoon & then went to bed last night a 11 still. I think we were tired.

I feel so rested today, though. Hallelujah!  Now back to the daily grind of real life!

Wedding Day

Happy wedding day to my sister!

My amazing mom made another incredible wedding dress!!!!

Her & Danielle designed it together.

Isn't it gorgeous?

 I am SO happy for them!

They are both so happy & I just love that Sean is in the family now!

 Dad being the "holder"

 Like our new stud jewelry?

 Our thoughts on the AZ heat....

 Dani has an awesome group of friends. We all had so much fun & the wedding party was gorgeous!

 Thank you deej for doing the mix-matched dresses. Ah, lifesaver

 The Groom's cake.

He loves dinosaurs & nature.

 Tring to save the bridesmaid bouquets from the heat.

   The outside display.

There was a ton of fruit & paninis.

It was a beautiful set-up! I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture once the food was put out!

 The table-runners. Lemon leaves & flowers.

 The beautiful cake!

 The popcorn barrels.

For any of you who doubted the Stolworthy love for popcorn.

The gorgeous reception hall.

 Momma & Me

 The brideeeeeee

Her bridals were GORGEOUS. I just died over them.

So deserty & so beautiful!

The morning after.

Wow it was an exhausting day & we hardly did anything!

Those Kents threw a beautiful groom's dinner & gorgeous reception!

They will be sleeping well for the next few weeks!

Now it's time for the TN reception! 7/8! Go to their reception at my parent's house!