another year down in the windy city!

august 6th was our 2nd anniversary of living in chicago. honestly i can't believe it's only been 2 years. when people ask us how long we've been here my first reaction is to say 3 years. maybe thats because the mr. is in his 3rd year of med school. it feels like we've been here for so long mostly because so much has happened. 

this past year was the best yet here in chicago. well maybe the best subtract the winter. that was bad. but other than that it was an amazing year. 

we moved into a new apartment. we discovered our love of lickity split. we made new friends. we had great times with old friends. i started working downtown. we saw the bears play. we saw the cubs play. we survived the polar vortex. we survived the second polar vortex. the mr. finished year two of medical school. the mr. dominated his boards. we found out we were expecting for the forth time. we watched my big belly grow. we welcomed sweet gwen into our family. 

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i think it's safe to say this year in chicago will be one we will always remember and cherish. even though it was the last place i expected us to be, it has been the most perfect place for us to be! 

i can't believe we are more than halfway done with our time here in chicago. i'm both excited and sad about the idea of leaving. but luckily we still have some time!

so here is to another year in the windy city. i am excited for all the new adventures we're going to have and even more excited to experience this next year with gwennie girl added to the mix! 

oh and basically we're chicago experts now so if you want to come visit now is the time....we can show you all the good spots! 

easter 2014

we had a beautiful easter this year! because we are on a tight budget now and were leaving for utah the next day we decided to go low key. we didn't do easter baskets, presents or anything special. but we shared our testimonies of our savior to each other, enjoyed the beautiful spirit of the day and made plans to be better.

easter sunday was even better than i remembered in the past. this whole having a baby thing has helped us both focus in on what is most important. as we talk about what we want our children to learn and know it all comes down to their relationship with our savior. easter sunday was a day for us both to focus on our own personal testimonies and how we can help those to grow.

it also helped that we got together with a bunch of our dear friends here in chicago for dinner and dessert. it's hard being away from family on holidays but great friends and good food make it that much easier. i forgot to take pictures because we were having so much fun...oh well next time right?

of course i made spence take our traditional easter self timer photo after church on sunday. we're still trying to figure out the best location in our little apartment for these photos so they may not have turned out as i expected. but i love that we were able to capture a few memories from this beautiful day. and to think...next year we'll be holding a little one with us in these pictures. lets hope we can finally figure out the self time by then! 

a momma in the making....thoughts on this growing belly

every morning i wake up and stare at my growing belly. lately that growing belly likes to move, jerk and jump in the mornings. and as soon as i put my hand on my belly to get a better feel she stops. like she knows she is driving her momma crazy. it's amazing how much you can love a growing belly. 

this pregnancy has been surprising to say the least. i thought i knew what to expect with pregnancy. i'd done the first few weeks 3 times before...how different could it be? early on i realized how wrong i was. this pregnancy has been amazing, hard, exhausting and beautiful. 

even though i've wanted this for years, prayed for this and wished for this....watching my changing body has been difficult. at beautiful as a growing belly is, it's also an adjustment. it's waking up each morning and realizing you can't fit into any of your clothes. it's seeing the chub come back to your face after fighting it off for years. this has been something i've had to work through. at times i get frustrated with myself, i'm supposed to love every minute of pregnancy. i'm supposed to appreciate this beautiful gift and miracle. i'm supposed to feel beautiful despite the extra chub and zits on my face. 

in those hard moments my sweet husband reminds me that i am beautiful. that he loves my growing belly and that i do still look great. i can't imagine going through this process without spence. he has been my rock. he holds my hair back when i'm sick (which sadly is still about once a week), he rubs my feet after a long day at work, he makes sure i always have my ice water beside my bed, he makes walgreens runs for tums, he puts up with my constant crazy baby ideas and gets excited with my new nursery designs. 

but despite the not so great things about pregnancy (round ligament pain, nausea that won't stop, heart burn for days etc...) pregnancy is the most incredible, beautiful and spiritual thing i have been able to experience. i am so grateful to my heavenly father for this pregnancy. for the chance to experience the good and the bad. to feel what so many before me have felt. and to know my sweet baby girl is on her way...finally! 

we are beyond excited to be having a sweet baby girl. we actually found out really early. because it was so early we held off telling anybody, in case we were wrong. after a few more ultrasounds they confirmed again and again it was a baby girl. i was surprised and shocked but so excited. we've been planning and prepping with all things girly and pink. she is our little sweetheart already! 

i think the most fun i've had during this pregnancy is seeing the excitement in my cute husband. he loves to feel her kick and move, plan out her nursery, and read her books. he is already the most incredible father. since the boards are over we've jumped into baby prep. crib set up, stroller shopping and car seat looking. it's been fun to experience this together. to make plans and prepare for our new life adventure...together. i can't imagine doing this with anyone else! 

so bring on the last trimester. it scares me to death to say that. i can't believe we only have a couple of months left. though we're excited for baby girl....there is still so much to do. we've got baby books to finish, a nursery to complete, a quilt to sew, things to buy and plan for. ready or not.....

a st patty's day green river

right before we moved to chicago we kept seeing pictures of the green river. apparently that year the weather was around 70 degrees (um say what?). we made big plans to see the river dyed green for st pattys day the next year. well that was last year and st pattys day came around....the mr. was studying for a busy test and i chickened out...it was too cold.

this year the weather looked to be a little bit better (in the 40's...yay). saturday was a busy day for both of us (a relief society activity for me and studying for the mr) but as we were on our way home from the relief society activity we decided to head back down to the river. the weather was nice and who knows where we'll be this time next year...maybe baby won't like being outside? 

so we rushed downtown to check out the beautiful green river! we missed the parade which was a bummer but it was fun to walk around and see all the people decked out in green. we made a quick pit stop for lunch and were home before we knew it. 

and yes the river really was that green. i was shocked. i pictured it a more mossy green. love it! 

i love living the city life and being able to take quick 1 hour breaks from our busy lives to do mini adventures. also i love the fact that the weather decided to hold out. we may still be wearing coats but to us it was WARM!!!! 

maybe next year the mr won't be studying and i won't plan a relief society activity during the parade (whoops...my bad) and we can see the real fun. 

oh chicago

(just a little phone picture on my way back from lunch. can't wait to see this river (officially) green tomorrow)

once, or maybe twice, or lets be honest here and say almost every other day this winter, i complained about being here in chicago. most everyone knows that chicago wasn't my first choice for medical school....san diego anyone? but today as i walked outside to grab lunch i had this overwhelming feeling of love for my city sink back in. 

as i crossed the river i remember how much i love chicago. i love seeing sites downtown that remind me of little adventures the mr. and i have been on. i love that the sun really shines in our city (even during the cold cold winter). i love that even though the winters are horrible, at this this one has been, the summers and fall are so incredible. 

the other day the mr. and i were talking about chicago and about how much we love it here. i questioned myself on loving our city when i know others who don't like living here. why in the world do i love it so much with others don't? 

and then i realized some of the reason why i love chicago so much aren't necessarily about chicago. i love this city because it's made my marriage stronger. i love this city because it's where i've learned the most about myself and what i am capable of. i love this city because it has brought us some of the most incredible friends, who are family to us. i love this city because i've experienced the hardest and sweetest years of my life here. i love this city because of the amazing dr.'s that are here. i love this city because it's where we will be bringing home our first baby. i love this city because it's where my husbands dreams are being fulfilled. i love this city because friends and family want to come visit us (in the warm months at least). i love this city because it's taught me more about the gospel and sharing the word. i love this city because there is always something to do, somewhere to see and explore. i truly love this city. 

even though it's been freezing beyond anything i could imagine. and even though this winter feels like it's never ending. i am still so grateful we have the opportunity to live here. i've come to know that no matter where the mr. and i are we will have a beautiful life...but i am so grateful that heavenly father decided chicago was going to be that place for now. 

so next winter when i'm complaining every day about not being in san diego....remind me of this blog post and that i do in fact love chicago ;-) 

now bring on spring....finally!

a med school update...end of m2 year

as of yesterday the mr is officially finished with his m2 year. this may not seem like a big deal...but let me tell you it is! finishing m2 means no more science lectures, no more random small groups, no more monthly tests, no more late night studying for tests, etc. northwestern has taught spence all he needs to know (or at least we hope so). 

so coming from his very proud (and extremely biased) wife...he did amazingly! he is a smart man to start with but he has worked so hard to learn all he can learn and to truly understand everything he can about the body and medicine. it has been so fascinating for me hearing all he has learned. a few times lately he has been explaining something to me and my first thought "wow he really does know a ton" haha! 

we spent last night celebrating with our med school family. how grateful i am for awesome friends who are on this journey with us. we sat and laughed at the restaurant for hours. it was the perfect way to end the year. 

what now?

well the studying isn't over (and probably will never be). the mr. takes the "step 1" or first round of boards in april. this is a big test to prove he really does know stuff about stuff. this score will help determine the residency program he will go into. it's a pretty intense test. think about mcat but about 10 times more intense (or maybe i just think that).

so for the next 5 weeks my husband will be studying non-stop. we've made a plan to take an 1.5 hour break each evening to have dinner and go to the gym together. other than that i am giving my sweet husband to the books. i know it's only 5 weeks but this has been something super hard for me to accept. i love my time with my husband. so it will be hard, but so worth it. the better he can do on this test the better off we are for being able to make our own decisions on our future. 

while the mr spends his days (and nights) studying, i'll be working on long forgotten projects. i also have a huge list of projects for baby that i need to work on. i'll find some good things to keep me busy..hopefully!

after his big ol' test in april, the mr will start rotations. northwestern is kinda cool and has it's students start rotations a few weeks before "normal". this is to give them a few more weeks to add in some more rotations. this is great for us because we (yep we) have not decided what speciality spence will go into. i'm just so excited to see what he likes and what he doesn't. 

we've heard the m3 year is the worst. long hours, long days, long weeks of working in the hospital. i'm a bit nervous doing m3 with a newborn but we've going to work together has a little family and make it great. i've already promised the mr that if we only has 1 hour break at 1 am baby and i will come and bring him dinner. it will be a fun adventure! 

so we're slowly but surely making our way through this whole medicine future. we've been on this road for over 4 years now. crazy to think how far we've come. i'm so proud of my sweet husband for making the most out of these past few years. for working so hard and giving up so much so we have a better future. i am also so grateful that one of the main reasons he wants to be a dr is so that he can help others! how sweet is that! 

here is to surviving the next 5 weeks and starting m3. i think this year will be my favorite year. i'll get to see my cute husband in scrubs and we'll add a little bug to the mix. life just keeps getting better and better! 

a little family photo shoot

thanks amy jo for the most beautiful pictures! i'm so happy you caught these simple moments. our first officially family photo shoot as a little family of 3!!!! loved being able to include our little bug in these photos. i was 13 weeks along when we took these. 

a christmas update!

playing catch up a little bit late (a lot a bit maybe???) and finally getting around to blogging about our christmas break. we had a great time visiting family in utah. luckily both mine and spence's families live super close to each other. it is a lot of back and forth while we are there but we wouldn't have it any other way. what a blessing to be able to see both of our families.

we were having too much fun (and maybe dealing with too much morning sickness) to take a ton of pictures. but we did try and make the most of our trip. we saw most all of our families. sadly a bad flu virus was going around so we missed out on a few family members and fun. 

our incredible families spoiled us on christmas!!! we feel so blessed to have such giving and supportive family members. thanks to them we had the perfect break! 

of course we had a little family sleepover on christmas eve at the b family home. it was a blast waking up all together and seeing cute lyla walk in excited to see what was in her stocking. // check out uncle j's sweet shoes...i was slightly in love with them! 

spence has learned the trick of getting the niece/nephew love....add electronics! 

 me and my bug! i guess spence learned the trick from me ;-) lainey kept wanting sydneys' phone

 me and my momma! i am so blessed to call this incredible woman my mother! 

on christmas after we've all opened our presents we head up to the willey family party at grandmas. we've been doing this for as long as i can remember. i love that the family keeps getting bigger and bigger! this is just some of the girls...my beautiful grandma, aunt, mom and cousin (who is more like a sister) and two of her adorable kids! 

after the  big party at grandma's (aka downstairs) my little family headed up stairs for our christmas. a couple of years ago my mom started a new tradition of getting presents to go with a word. we've done christmas, merry and star! what a fun tradition! 

cute megs and baby girl with her matching nail polish!

my cute husband opening his presents!!! i am so in love with this boy 

our traditional family picture in front of the tree!  

the best thing about the break was meeting our little "nephew" stills! my brother got the most adorable little puppy on christmas eve. we were able to baby sit stills a bit over the break. i fell so in love with this little guy. especially when he would come and cuddle with me. it really made me puppy hungry again...ahh! 

due to chicago's beautiful weather we got stuck in utah a few extra days. it was nice to have the extra few days to hang out around our families! we love our little life in chicago but we miss our families while we are away. we're just so grateful we've been able to go home so often! 

despite being sick and throwing up a lot it really was one of our best christmases! 

(our christmas card!)

happy valentines day!

this week has been crazy with a big work event. but luckily it was here in chicago (yay for no traveling). the mr. has been busy with school and board study as well. we haven't really been able to focus on valentines day like i usually do. its one of my most favorite holidays and this year decorations just didn't happen...oh well!

i woke up super early this morning and was able to write a little note on our bathroom mirror for my mr.....little did i know he wrote one for me on our white board. two peas in a pod i tell ya! 

so here is to my favorite valentine. it was 4 years ago today we made the decision to get married. thats one of my favorite things about today...that memory! 

i'm so excited that i get to spend the rest of my valentines days with you, my mr. you are everything to me! i am the luckiest mrs in the world. thank you for loving me completely, despite all my flaws! i fall more and more in love with you each and everyday!

happy valentines day sweetie!

a little lake geneva weekend

for christmas this year the mr and i decided to do an us gift for each other instead. we decided a weekend getaway was the perfect gift. lake geneva is just a couple of hours outside the city. it's beautiful and has some great resorts. we got a great deal on  a snowy weekend. we started counting down the days to the last weekend in january.

we packed up early afternoon on friday and enjoyed the drive up. it was fun driving through new little cities and really feeling like we were getting out.we stayed at the abbey resort in fontera. it's the cute little town on the west side of the lake. with all the snow this year the sleepy lake town looked dreamy. we quickly checked in and hit up one of the hotel restaurants for dinner. to my surprise they had coconut shrimp. i've been craving coconut shrimp since this time last year when i had some in detroit. 

anyway we spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, watching movies, reading, swimming in the beautiful heated pool, eating way too much, sleeping in, taking naps and a little studying for the mr.  it was the perfect weekend. friday night we got to join in as sarah opened her mission call (yay we're so excited for her). as sad as we were to be away from family being in a nice resort made up for it. 

saturday morning we woke up and decided to venture out to get breakfast. we found this hilarious little place in another town over. it felt like we were in some kind of igloo with whoville decorations. but the food was fantastic! 

all in all it was a great weekend. i think i could go to really love our new tradition of christmas presents! i can't wait to go up to lake geneva in the summer. i can only imagine how beautiful it is with the non-frozen water, boats and green! 

oh the january blues

oh gosh where has this month gone? at the same time though...could it just be february already? january is pretty much my least favorite month. the good ol' january blues have set in and that is why i've stopped taking pictures. i feel like nothing fun is happening. but that isn't true. so to try and break these blues here is my list of events from january. our attempt at enjoying this awful month....

deep dish pizza picnics at home on the family room floor

enjoying new episodes of our favorite shows (white collar, castle, modern family etc)

bachelor nights with my girls. oh juan pablo...you make for great entertainment

deep cleaning our room and office

making oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. nothing like homemade cookies

lunch dates with the girlfriends

finding creative ways to bundle up an still look cute (not working out so well)

getting our car stuck (the mrs.) and laughing while getting it out 4 days later

booking flights to sunny san diego for a girls trip next month

starting new books. rent collector...amazing already

the mr.'s magic show at school...and he even got a "wow" from a few people (he's that good)

watching our little nephew pound down his first birthday cake

catching up with friends we've missed while we were in utah

working out together at the most beautiful gym we've ever been to

started our 2013 scrapbook and love remembering our great memories

board study for the mr. not so exciting but exciting we're finally to this point (3 months left)

having dance parties to mixes i made years ago 

shopping adventures with girl friends

fun new nail polish color on my nails. somehow this just makes everything happier

getting back to journal writing and goal keeping

game nights with friends where we spend the majority of the time just laughing

loving all our windows that let in a lot of sun...it helps on those cold days

hopefully finishing my quilt and curtains

face timing family...always fun for us! yay for technology

planning our little weekend getaway next week (so excited!)

foot rubs from the mr. he is the best

so even though it is FREEZING here and this winter has been 100x worse than last years we're still trying to make the most of january. spence is busy busy with school and board prep so i've been spending more time with girlfriends. but man am i grateful for the most incredible girlfriends around. i couldn't survive without them. thinking back on everything we've done this month and things to come make me realize that maybe january isn't so bad.....just maybe ;-)

another little med school update

a little while ago i did a "little med school update". since we are now almost done with year 2 i thought i'd give another update.

how is school going to spence?: northwestern does things a little different. spence started his second year of med school the end of july (too early if you ask me). he is what they call an m2. he has been doing much of the same as last year but this time with more research and clinical experiences. he is working on his second to last section. interestingly for us it is all about reproduction and infertility. it's now super helpful that he is understanding a little bit of our situation.  anyway back to school. he has one last section (after repro) and then he has one month to study for boards. he will take his boards in early april. 

he has been doing so incredible! i am so proud of my mr and all his hard work. life has picked up this year with school, church and other stuff but he has managed it perfectly. he loves learning and has learned so much. a few months ago i picked up spence after a test. he was on the phone talking to his good friend dan. as they were discussing the test and different problems i was blown away with all he knew. i could understand about 10% of the words they were saying. seriously that boy of mine is smart. 

he's gearing up for boards and is super nervous. his board score will help determine what residency program he gets into. i for one am not worried about spence and boards. if the last two years have given us any clues it's that he will do just fine. it's very obvious that heavenly father wants him here, in med school and to do well. he is working hard but we've seen blessings beyond what we could have imagined. 

the next four months are going to be a bit more intense than the last two years. he will be doing his normal study but add in hours of board study. we've got a good study plan in place. it's like we're back taking the mcat! 

do you ever see each other?: just like last year we've been able to be together surprisingly more than expected. unfortunately for us this is going to change real soon. board study and then 3rd year are supposed to be killer. so we're preparing for things. we're trying to take advantage of the time we have together. i just got promoted (more on that later) and with that comes a lot of new learning so we have plans to study together.

we still go to the temple every other friday night. this is such a special treat for us. i love just chatting and catching up on the 1 hour or so drive there. then on the way home we get to share our experiences and talk about our future, our blessings and basically how much we love our little life. it's my most favorite time with my husband. 

sundays are crazy with both of our callings (more so of the mr's) but we typically spend the evenings together, playing games, catching up with family and just being together. 

has spence chosen a specialty?: everybody's favorite question! mine too! he hasn't really decided on any one thing. i think we've both come to the conclusion that he would like (and be great) doing a lot of different things. we're buying books and gearing up for 3rd year. this is the year he'll start rotations and ultimately have to decide what he wants to specialize in. 

spence is always asking my opinion and discussing options with me. even though it's his future, his job, his life he wants my opinion. he keeps saying it's an us decision. i sure love that! i'm just excited to see what happens as he starts going through rotations. i have my suspicions on what he'll choose but i'll keep it to myself until he knows ;-) 

are we still liking chicago?: YES! i have grown so in love with chicago it's not even funny. honestly, at this point if it was up to me i think we'd stay and raise our family out here. yep, thats how much i like chicago. we moved to another fun neighborhood in july. its a bit further north than our old place and further from school and work but we love it. it's really family friendly, cleaner and newer. we have friends who live just right down the street. great restaurants right by and the most amazing ice cream place around the corner. 

this winter has been worse than last year but i've got some great boots and a warm coat. we've made some of the best friends and get together when them often. i have a great group of girl friends and we get together every other week to chat, watch movies, do crafts and just hang out. 

we also just got gym passes to the gym right around the corner. now if only it would open we'd be good to go ;-) 

i do miss family and i miss the sun during the winter  months. but all in all we love chicago. i think i love it a bit more than my mr. at this point we aren't really thinking of staying for residency. spence wants to move some place closer to family. and if we're moving i'd say somewhere warmer! 

how am i doing?: super great! life just seems to get busier and busier! early summer i was told my company might open an office in chicago. after a few months of back and forth they finally opened our chicago office in september. i was able to play a big role in getting everything up and running. i now work downtown with the most incredible view of the city! i wasn't sure i was going to like it at first but now i love working downtown. i don't love the commute but it's nice waking up each morning and forcing myself to get up and get ready. it's also nice being able to leave the office and really leave the office. 

i also just got promoted to an associate at leavitt partners! it's a big change but i'm so excited for it. i never expected to be working for so long but things have worked out as they should. heavenly father truly has a plan for me! i'm not sure of all the steps but it's been fun figuring it out as we go along. 

this new job will be more work and it requires that i step up my game. i'm excited for the challenge and the chance to learn and grow more. it's good the mr. will be busy studying so i can just join him!

so thats about that. we are loving life and still very much enjoying this med school journey. we have a busy couple of months with the boards ahead of us but it's fun at the same time!

so here is to finishing our second year of med school!

2013....a year in review!

2013 has been an interesting year for us. full of ups and downs. i'm guessing much like everybody else's. i've always been a big fan of the year in review but never thought about taking the time to do one. this year i decided why not. so here is my attempt at our 2013. 

january:

january was a rough start. i had my second miscarriage early on. my beautiful mother flew out to be with us during this hard week.
we also welcomed our first nephew, owen, the first part of january.
nicole and i bundled up to go to the field museum. we had a blast exploring the place for free.
i blogged about breaking my habit of bitting my nails. one year later i'm still going strong.
i needed a good refresh so we spent lots of time at ikea (with our car...yaya) getting our place all fresh and new.
gabby and i spent way too much money shopping. just what i needed.
since spence and i moved during our 2nd anniversary we decided to celebrate on our 2.5 anniversary. we had dinner at one of the fanciest places downtown. seriously a great night.
we finished off the month with a great date night downtown.

february:

february was a better start than january. i gladly welcomed in a new month full of color and love.
we were finally able to start working at the temple (thank you for bringing out the car mr.) and started our first friday night temple date nights this month. oh what a blessing this has been.
i posted a bit about my struggle with infertility and recurrent miscarriage. i felt like i had a little bit of a breakthrough this month.
i flew home for a work trip and was able to meet owen for the first time.
i also designed some valentines for my mom.  and hosted a little family valentines dinner while in utah.
we celebrated valentines day (also the anniversary of when we decided to get married) with heart shaped deep dish picnic on the floor and watched a movie. my favorite way to celebrate.
after talking to some dr's and doing some research we decided to go the almond milk route.  this lasted a couple of months before we found out it wasn't helping. for some reason i want to try it again.
we started insanity. the mr. lasted a couple of months and still does it here and there. i lasted a month.
i got a promotion at work and tried to get used to our daily busy life.
mom and i finished off the month with the most incredible trip to san diego. we shopped, ate out, watched movies, went to the beach, laughed and just enjoyed being together. i sure love my mom.

march:

march was a busy month. i did a little med school update for our family and friends.
for christmas the b. family gave us incredible tickets to the jazz vs. bulls game. we finally got to go to the game.
the cold was getting to us so we decided to do weekly adventures. it really helped fight the winter blues.
we had a pie day for pi day with some ward friends. i tried out our new mini pie maker...yum.
i started lots of new projects and did some more decorating in our apartment. it finally started feeling like home.
we celebrated nicoles birthday and started weekly bachelor nights with the girls.
i wrote more about miscarriage and found healing through writing.
i had two work trips, one to oklahoma where i got stranded for an extra day. then the next week i was off to dc. by the end i was sick of traveling.
i admitted my love of interior design and began looking into master programs again. after a lot of prayer and fasting we decided it wasn't the best move. i still want to do something with interior design sometime in my life.
we spent spring break in detroit with spencer's aunt and uncle. it was such a fun vacation!
easter was celebrated with new outfits and dinner with good friends!

april:

this was a fun month for the two of us. we had lots of dates just the two of us.
sadly we said goodbye to my pup. i still miss willey and want to call his name every time we're home.
i officially started my first quilt. i hate to admit i still need to hand stitch the binding but i'm almost there.
one of our weekly adventures was a saturday morning donut run. we fell madly in love with glazed and infused that we go back monthly.
another date night was spent at the macy's flower show. it wasn't as big as we expected but still so much fun.
spence got called into the bishopric in our ward. i was called to the relief society in march so we had to say goodbye to our little sunbeams. we still love those little kiddos.
i fell more madly in love with my mr. this month. something about love and spring just go hand in hand. or maybe because i have such a great man. here, here, and here.
i posted a recipe for my easy andies mint cookies. it is my most viewed post on the blog ever. haha love it!
gabby and i went to a carly rae jeppson concert. we were the oldest ones there without kids but still had a blast.
we finished the month off by welcoming spring to chicago....finally

may:

may was a great month and things started to finally warm up.
mom and dad b. and liz and owen came to visit us. we had a great time having them all there with us.
spence spoiled me on mothers day. it was just what this girl needed.
i didn't blog too much because it was a busy month for the two of us. i had some work trips and spence was busy finishing out his first year of med school.
we found out we had to move and started the apartment hunting process. luckily we found an incredible place right before we headed to utah for our "summer break".
we celebrated surviving our first year of medical school with a date night to navy pier.
after packing our bags (and part of our apartment) we headed to utah for 4 weeks. we were so excited and ready to be with family.

june:

i did another med school update to finish off our first year.
we spent most of the month in utah with family. we took family pictures, went to weddings, played with friends, spent time with our nieces and nephew and even did some wake boarding. here, here, here , here, here and here
we flew home in time to go see the mormon tabernacle choir preform in chicago (incredible).
the end of june meant started the packing and moving process. we spent time in our new neighborhood trying to get a feel for things.
lydia came to visit and we went to the art museum, farmers market and out to eat way too many times.
i hosted the relief society bunco night in my apartment. my last time hosting people in our first chicago home.

july:

this month was a crazy one for us! it started with moving the first week or so. hence the not blogging much this month.
spence was busy working on research this month and preparing to start school again.
we celebrated the 4th of july with homemade kneaders breakfast, a beach trip, a big bbq and finished it off with fireworks and great friends!
we attempted to go to the beach with dan and nicole but after finding out we had to pay we had a fun picnic in the park instead!
sadly i had another miscarriage. i didn't blog much about this one. it felt different for some reason.
my family spent a week in the bahamas. it was such a needed break from life. spence and i got the first few days to ourselves before the family came in. paradise! more here and here
we celebrated our 3rd anniversary! it was simple with a nice steak dinner at home, swapping favorite memories and cuddling up to a movie! the perfect way to celebrate if you ask me.
the month ended with spence starting back at school for year two of med school.

august:

the moth started with some exciting news....my company was opening an office in chicago!
we feel more in love with chicago as we got to know our new neighborhood and enjoyed fun date nights.
the summer was full of street fairs and events. we hit up our local fair (edgefest) with good friends.
we celebrated our one year anniversary in chicago.
we hosted a little goodbye party for some friends who were leaving us at the end of the summer. it was nice to have a bigger place to host all our friends.
the mr. turned 27...ahh old man! we had a blast celebrating with friends and date nights just the two of us.
nicole and i watched the air and water show from the beach. one of these years our husbands will be able to watch with us.
we had a great ward bbq at the park. we love our ward and feel so blessed to be a part of it.
dan and nicole joined us for a bears game. it was pre season (cheaper tickets) but still so much fun.
after finally getting back into the swing of school life we finished off the month with a date night in wicker park.

september:

i didn't blog much at all. ugh! i was busy with work getting our new office all set up and running smoothly.
i honestly can't remember what we did for labor day...haha! i bet the mr. studied and i worked.
we finally went to our first cubs game with gabby and jordan. i can't believe it took us so long but we loved it.
i spent a week in utah. the first part mom and i went down to st. george. it was a much needed getaway. the rest was spent working like crazy.
the byu vs. utah game was this month and we had some friends over to watch the game. it was a bit of a blow-out (sorry byu) but dan and i enjoyed cheering on our utes.
spence's parents came into town and we loved it! they spoiled us like crazy. we explored our neighborhood more, went out to eat and just enjoyed having family in town.

october:

it seems the last half of the year flew by so fast i couldn't keep up with picture or blogging!
conference weekend was full of quilting, resting, enjoying and eating!
my parents came in for a week and we loved having visitors! my dad fixed up our apartment and spoiled us. we went out to eat and explored our city! i love having my parents in town. it made home feel more like home
the mr. had a busy month with school, research and tests. he was studying most nights.
we finally got the barfuss family pictures back from the summer. i loved how they turned out.
i played a bit of life catch up on the blog and updated our family on what we were up to.
we surprised spence's family and flew him out with me for a quick weekend trip. we were having too much fun to take pictures.
i stayed in utah for our big work event. so glad that is over!
we celebrated halloween with a ward trunk or treat.

november: 

i started out the month hosting a baby shower for a dear friend in chicago. i love baby showers!
we spent lots of time face timing family as november is the month of birthdays in my family.
the mr. spoiled me for my 25th birthday. my favorite memory was playing games with 20 or so of our great friends and realizing how blessed we are.
i finished off the year of work events with a quick trip to dc.
our friends matt and megs came to chicago for a byu football game. we were able to catch up with them for a bit during church.
for thanksgiving we flew out to utah and spent the week in st george with spencers family.

december:

december has gone by just way too fast! i haven't blogged like at all.
spence has been so busy with school. he is preparing to finish up year two and has started studying for boards.
we did minimal decorating for christmas seeing as we were flying to utah so early this year.
we did try and win wicked tickets every day for a couple of weeks. as hard as we tried we never made it...oh well!
we had some game nights with friends and have tried to stay warm.
chicago surprised us this year with lots of snow. last year we didn't see snow until after christmas.
we flew home for the break and have enjoyed just being with family and friends.
i did post our christmas card!

this year has been a great one! we've had some hard times that have taught us a lot about faith and trusting in our heavenly father. we have also had some great times and remind us how much we are loved and blessed by our savior and heavenly father. through it all i've had my mr. beside me. i couldn't have asked for a better partner in life. 

we're loving our little life just the two of us. though it may not be what we have expected 2013 has turned out to be a great year! heres to 2014. i have a feeling it's going to be even better than 2013!!!

merry christmas '13

i'm way behind on blogging....but i'm taking advantage of this great holiday season! we're spending time with family and friends and loving our break from daily life. 

merry christmas from us to you! maybe after the holidays i'll do some blog catch up...just maybe ;-)

just another birthday in the city

we celebrated my birthday for days. the mr. did good! i wasn't super excited for this birthday. mostly because i was missing family and because i turned 25. for some reason turning 25 really freaked me out. the week leading up to my birthday i was a bit down.

cute mr. stepped in and made this the best birthday ever! it started the day before my birthday. spence took me to yolk, our favorite breakfast spot. we stuffed our faces and enjoyed being downtown together. after that i met up with some girlfriends for a little celebratory lunch. i am kicking myself that i didn't get a picture. 

after my girls lunch the mr. and i headed to my favorite little bakery, sweet mandy b's to pick up my birthday cake. its our new birthday tradition in chicago. i made spence take a picture of me in the same place as last year. something about creating memories and traditions in chicago is helping it feel like home. 

my birthday was on sunday. it was actually a really nice day. the mr. spoiled me of course and i heard from lots of family and friends. that night we had a bunch of friends over for cake and games. my friends even humored me and agreed to play one of my favorite group games. it was like we were all back at efy. 

monday the celebration continued with another girls lunch. man am i spoiled with incredible girlfriends. and again i'm kicking myself for not taking a picture. i need to work on that.  that night spence took me out to hub 51, our favorite restaurant in the city. we stuffed our faces with nachos and the most incredible carrot cake (and i don't usually like carrot cake). we finished the night walking hand in hand through nordstrom. 

even though i was dreading this birthday it turned out to be my best one yet! thanks to my incredible husband, many friends and awesome family! i was so spoiled and felt so loved. 

so maybe being 25 won't be so bad......

crappy phone picture but check out that cake...to die for! 

 spoiled at lunch with pumpkin pancakes....i'm still craving these!

 i have no idea what we're laughing about but i love this pictures!

 i struggled big time with these candles. the mr. had to step in and save the day.

love this man for making my birthday perfect!