oh custard

at one point in the middle of packing, cleaning, unpacking and all the other fun that comes with moving, i hit a wall. i was done. so done. spence decided that we needed a break. to take a night off from all the moving and packing. i was so grateful for our night off. we moved to a new neighborhood. it is a little bit further north and honestly a bit unknown to both of us. its a good area, of that i made sure, but we have so much exploring to do. we decided to spend our night walking around and getting familiar with our new "home".  our first stop....lickity split....the cutest little ice cream shop. and it just so happens to be one short block away from home. 

now if anyone knows my husband they know he LOVES nielsons frozen custard in bountiful. i convinced him our move to holladay was a good thing because there was a nielsons just down the block.  lickity split's custard can take on a nielsons any day (in my book at least) and thats saying a lot. i'm serious...it was that good. we got a shake to share and of course a coke. my dessert of choice. we spent the rest of the night walking around the neighborhood, finding all the cute houses and just relaxing. 

all in all the move went a lot better than expected. i was so scared to move. before now all of our moves (and we've had a few in our short married life) we had the help of countless family members. let alone both of our moms who would come in and basically pack for me. i had no idea how to pack a kitchen. i hadn't had to do it...until now.  i may have called my mom everyday, basically in tears, and she would remind me that "you can do hard things". interestingly my mom was packing up my childhood home the same week we were packing up our first chicago home. thats a story for another day. 

and we did hard things. but not alone. thanks to our many incredible friends here in chi town we got all moved in. in a matter of 2.5 hours to be exact. anyway thats for another post as well. for now i'm just thinking about lickity split and their incredible oreo custard shakes. i think i'll get one for dinner!

not blogging

so i got multiple comments yesterday about not blogging as much. i so wish i had a good excuse for being so mia. honestly i just haven't felt like blogging much. maybe it's been our surprise visitors so i just want to play with them or the fact that we're moving this week and i haven't even started on packing up. i think it all boils down to the fact that i can't seem to find my good camera (slightly freaking out) so i have resorted to my phone camera and i always forget to plug it into my computer to get the pictures off. i do have a lot of fun activities all documented nicely on my phone....maybe i'll convince myself to upload them soon. 

i have a huge post coming on our 4th of july weekend, our visitors, family pictures and of course the rest of our utah trip. in the mean time i'll leave you with this picture from saturday.

the mr. and i decided to wake up and go for a run/walk to a new breakfast place. it was nice to wake up and get outside. i am seriously struggling in the exercise department lately so this is just what i needed. after a great breakfast (we're for sure going back) we walked back home. this  is us almost home. don't mind the gross sweaty faces and greasy hair. it's just us, together and in love...like always! 

wish me luck this week. i hate moving. i've never had to move without the help of my mom and mother in law. i think i may have a few breakdowns. let's hope we survive! 

happy monday.

my next project

(some of my most recent ideas/inspirations via my pinterest board) 

so to make a long story short a couple of months ago i was struggling with wanting something new. life hasn't planned out how i expected (not necessarily a bad thing) but i found myself doing the whole "what's my purpose?" thing. i think i do that about once a year...haha. anyway by this time in life i expected to be a stay at home mom. since that isn't the case i needed to change my mind set a bit. i still love my job but i've gotten to know the ins and outs and for the most part it isn't super challenging. i do have a few new work events but still.

i have thought about a masters degree for some time now. last fall i started my application. but then it just didn't feel right. then again in february i started my application. after a lot of thought and prayer it again didn't feel right. at first i was confused. but i went with it and didn't apply to the program i wanted. 

since then i have been trying to figure out what my next step is. where do i go from here. about two months ago i was really having a hard time. i felt like i wasn't growing or doing anything worth while. i asked heavenly father to give me a new project. something i would love and could spend my time working on and growing. 

a few weeks after that we found out our landlord wants to sell our apartment. at first we were both floored. it was not what we were expecting. we had planned on staying in our cute little place for the next 3 years. after some freaking out we realized our next step. to find a new place to live.

little did i know that this was going to be my new project. at least for the next couple of months. i spent all last month getting to know chicago real-estate. i learned the ins and outs of each neighborhood we were looking into, the prices of the rental market right now, distance from school and the like. honestly i became a pro at craigslist and dominated the google search. 

we finally found our new home. it's almost perfect. the neighborhood is dreamy although a bit more north (sorry babe for the longer commute). we get to stay in our current ward and we're moving closer to one of my good friends. so now i have a beautiful two bed two bath apartment to decorate. i'm excited about this new project. i keep daydreaming about what i want to do in the rooms. surprisingly i most excited about decorating the bathrooms. i have no idea why ;-) 

so we'll move in a couple of weeks. from there i'll take my time putting our new place together. i'm excited to share all my ideas along the way. it may not be the master program in interior design i was planning on (at least not right now) but it's something i can work on and put my heart into. i love putting together spaces, especially my own! i'm trying to learn more about interior design as i go. really put together our "house" the way it should be. someway that looks and feels like home. 

so here is to the next couple of months. now i just need to find a good (cheap) moving company and start parking. oh joy! 

well hello there friend

(don't mind the sweaty faces...we got a good workout in)

we woke up this morning in chicago

decided to go for a run

ran to the "beach"

and fell in love

at least i did. the mr. has already fallen in love with this place

we've been mia for a few weeks while we've been packing, moving, unpacking and getting settled

it is finally feeling like home

never would i have thought chicago would be our home

but now i can't imagine having home be anywhere else

so excuse us for a bit longer....

we still have some work to do to get set up

(the mrs. still needs to unpack all her clothes...ugh)

we'll be back soon

with plenty of updates of the last couple of weeks

and our new place as it comes together

peace and love from chi-town

the story of the move.

so life has been a little crazy lately. 

i started my internship prep class and the fun part....

i finish it on friday. 

i know a two week class. and have i done the all the homework...no. it's more fun to sit at home and watch movies and look for great deals at pottery barn. 

so after this week no more class.

just internship internship! and i'm so excited.

for those of you who don't know...

i'm interning up at the utah state legislature for the 2011 general session.

exciting i know! 

and on top of that.

we're moving most likely next week.

everything has happened so fast. let me give you the details...

last september...

spence was looking for jobs in slc. and i was so excited to move up.

i started crying when he got a job in provo. meaning we would have to stay.

but prayed it would all work out.

late november....

spencers company decided to move up to salt lake.

figured we would have to move and moving over christmas break would work best.

put our apartment up for sell. sold it in 5 mins (yeah it's that great apparently)

spent about a week searching for places.

cried myself to sleep every night because i didn't want to move (surprised i know)

found a few okay places.

finally decided not to move....yet.

prayed and felt okay with staying.

christmas break...

decided that i was going to find the perfect place for us.

search on ksl for hours and hours.

found dream apartment.....couple of hundred $$ over limit (sad day).

found another great place. but didn't work with our time line

found a lot of not great places.

again i cried.

and prayed a lot

again the mr. agreed to commute so i could stay in my beautiful apartment (he is so kind)

so we decided to just wait and see...

january...

mr. started his mcat prep in slc. so he is gone longer than ever.

this whole time i'd been praying to find a great place for us.

i knew we would have to move.

we decided that if we found a great place we would take it.

i didn't think i'd find a great place.

then last thursday....

i realized that we needed to move. if i ever wanted to see my mr. we needed to be up in slc (at this point we are both driving up almost everyday).

i said a little prayer and got on ksl.

found this perfect little place (which i had seen before but it was reposted)

i was worried but called the lady.

she told us to come look at it.

raced up to slc.

got the mr from work.

and made our way over to the apartment.

on the way we both felt so great, the neighborhood was so much better than anything we'd seen. we both feel in love.

the place was perfect.

the landlord even better. she worked with us!

we came home.

i didn't cry myself to sleep.

the next day i was still feeling good about things.

we posted our apartment.

had tons of calls.

had no one show up to see it.

now i cried.

then one couple called late that night.

came and saw the place.

took over our contract.

so now we are moving.

and i'm not sad.

but so excited.

but still a little scared. wanna be our friends in slc? pretty please!

but here is the point of my story....

the lord works on his own time schedule.  now the time is right for us to move and he has truly helped us along the way. 

so now the mr. gets to put up with his crazy wife who keeps talking about the new place and keeps making drawings of how to arrange the furniture. 

i am so grateful to have found the next 'barfuss home'. 

slc...get ready.

but first....i really need to do homework. ahh!

the mr. and mrs. and moving on up

so it's official....

we're moving!!!

thats right. after months of searching we have finally found the perfect place for us. 

we are moving up to holladay and are so excited.

except kind of sad too.

i never thought i'd be sad to leave p-town.

i know i know, i have wanted out since the day i moved in. 

but you know...

leaving all my dear friends

leaving our great ward

leaving our incredible apartment

leaving our favorite places to eat and shop

and leaving the place that have held my best moments for the past 4 years.

we're excited for the new and unknown but are sad to leave where we've called home (and our first home together).

but don't you fear...we'll be back to visit often. 

because we love all our friends here (and i'll still have class)

so bring on the commute.

in the mean time.

we need to sell our contract.

know anybody who needs a super cute apartment?

send them my way!

the mr. and mrs. and their exciting news

so time for our exciting news.....

we are moving!!!!

spence's company is moving up north, i have an internship up north

and so we decided it was time we moved as well. 

but after a long weekend of searching and coming up with nothing....

we decided to wait to move. 

the original plan was to move dec. 18 (crazy soon i know)

but we've decided to stay in p-town until we can find a great place.

i hate to admit it but i'm a little sad to move.

since day one in provo i've wanted to move to slc.

now that i am actually going to move i'm sad. why?

my whole adult independence has been spent in provo

i've met some of my greatest friends.

i've learned who i was and what my purpose is

i met my mr. in provo

i know the best places to eat

i know the best places to just drive and get away

i love that provo gets less snow than up north (my toes get so cold)

but deep down i'm a salt lake girl.

i knew provo wouldn't last forever.

i'm excited to move. it's time for spence and i to move forward.

so thats our news.

hopefully we'll find a place soon. 

one as great as the one we are in now.

now if only slc apartments were as cheap as provo ones! one can wish!

so slc...get ready for the barfuss family....we're coming!