Moving In: Part 1

Moving in to our new apartment was a lot harder than either of us thought it would be. We started by just emptying our carloads into the soon-to-be living room/kitchen area. From there it was a complete mess. 

Yes, that is trash piled up by our front door.

If these pictures aren't terrible enough, let me tell you about our moving conditions.  We drove up to Provo on the Thursday after Christmas - in a snow storm. The storm continued the entire weekend while we were trying to move our stuff and buy/transfer furniture from various locations. It was not easy. To make things worse our gas wasn't going to be turned on until the next Tuesday. No gas meant no heat and no hot water. So, we were unpacking in the middle of a snow storm with no heat. Saying it was cold does not do the situation justice. We bought ourselves a small space heater to keep us warm at night, but I unpacked for a few days in boots, my heaviest jacket, and a beanie. Carson even resorted to microwaving his socks at one occasion. It was ridiculous. Thankfully, we could take advantage of the warm shower at Carson's parent's house. 

Don't worry. We got through that mess and our apartment looks fabulous now (in my opinion of course), but I am going to make you wait a little to see that. 

Christmas and Beyond

Okay...back to catching up. 

We spent Christmas this year in Las Vegas at my house. We got back from Jamaica just in time for dinner on Christmas Eve. We were both a little sad to be leaving our paradise of a honeymoon, but the fact that we were coming home to Christmas made up for it. Unfortunately, Drew had to stay in Provo for basketball practice, but he got home a few hours after we did. 

My family has a tradition of opening pajamas on Christmas Eve. They are always from the "Pajama Elf" and usually they match. This year the Pajama Elf was thoughtful enough to include Carson in the pajama festivities. 

Waiting to open our pajamas. 

 

Does this give you an idea of this years theme?

Of course we went to bed early so Santa could come for the little kids. And yes, we even left him milk and cookies. 

The next morning was one of the calmest Christmas mornings I have ever experienced. Usually we have a ton of family in town and a lot of little cousins running around, but this Christmas it was just our family. It was really fun enjoying everyone's company while we took turns opening presents. 

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from dinner that night, but we had a delicious Christmas dinner with a few more family members. 

A few days later we left Vegas with my mom's car and a u-haul trailer packed full of luggage, Christmas/wedding presents, and a few furniture donations. After getting into Provo, we picked up the keys to our new apartment, unloaded (more about this later) and drove up to the Flake's house in Springville to spend the next few days. 

Between unpacking, furniture shopping, and spending time with family, the next few days were a little crazy. We did have a great New Year's Eve night that included an appetizer dinner and playing games for hours. 

Such a great Christmas break made it very difficult to go back to school, but somehow we managed, and are continuing to manage. 

We are grateful to both our families for everything they did to make this holiday season so wonderful and we enjoyed spending so much time with both of them.