We Bought A Zoo...I mean house

While we were in California, Spencer got a call from his soon-to-be boss who asked if we could move out to Illinois a few weeks early. This meant cutting our trip in half and almost eliminating any time in Utah before we left, but we knew we could do it and that they wouldn't ask if they didn't need him so we agreed. (I still think they owe us a week of vacation so we can go back to California though...)

So we went back to Utah, packed up what things we would need to have with us for the next few weeks, supervised while movers came and packed up our stuff (oh how glorious to have someone else pack everything!) and put it in a truck, and got on the road. Two days and 22 hours of driving later, we made it to Jacksonville.

Pit stop on the way. I promised my niece that I would take
a picture as we drove through Sidney!

We made it!

Spencer had flown out about a month earlier to look at homes, and we made an offer on a house without me even seeing it. Spencer had taken lots of pictures and a video though, and I trusted him completely, so after living in a hotel for a week we finally closed on our very own home!

1400 square feet (just the main floor), 2 bedroom, 1 bath. Our stuff wasn't delivered until a few days later, but we were so excited to own our first home. We are still working on getting everything unpacked and where we want it to be, but things are coming together and it's finally starting to feel like ours.

The attic

Full, unfinished basement

Storage room in the basement, perfect for food storage!

Kitchen

Living room

Second bedroom (painting to happen in the near future)

Bathroom

Master bedroom

Backyard (the white post in the back right is the property
line)

Side and garage

I promise to take pictures of the moved-in version soon, but hopefully this gives you a idea of what it looks like.

Spencer also started his new job just a couple of days after we got there. He has absolutely loves it, with all it's challenges and unfamiliarity, and I am so very proud of him!

First day of work!

Welcome to Jacksonville!

Home Is Where The Beach Is

Warning: LOTS of pictures. Because I love them all and I'm too lazy to split up the post.

So after graduation and the wedding Spencer and I decided we needed a break. From life. So we decided to head to California to spend a few weeks doing whatever we felt like with little to no pre-planning. Experience has taught us that this is the best way to vacation. (disclaimer: vacation is different from travel. if you are planning on traveling then this no longer applies)

So off to California we went! We overlapped a few days with my brother and his family visiting, so we even got some niece and nephew lovin' in at the same time! Festivities included bonfires (duh), playing at the park, lots of giggling, and visiting Downtown Disney. And here is a rather ridiculously large number of pictures documenting said activities.

Best buds

Sid wanted to take one of me.

Bahaha

What a doll

Yeah buddy!

Tanners reaction when I asked
him to smile...

Teehee

Three days into our trip, Spencer's soon-to-be boss called him and asked if he would consider starting work a few weeks early. Talk about blind-sided. Of course we said yes, but it meant cutting our time in California by half, getting the movers to come early, and getting our housing situation taken care of in a much shorter time frame. Phew. But we did manage to get several trips to the beach and a day at Disneyland in before we had to leave.

Haunted Mansion

Note to self: Don't ride Splash Mountain
as the sun is setting

Thank you California, it's always great to come home.