Brittny's novel-lengthed post for the week

We didn't really have any one major thing that we wanted to write about this week so I thought I'd just give an overall recap of highlights of this week. I'll try to contain each highlight to one bullet point so it doesn't get too confusing:

• Last Sunday we decided that 8:30am (the time that both our new old wards met for sacrament meeting) was NOT going to happen after moving all of our stuff into our new apartment. So we let ourselves sleep in and since we live in Utah... we figured that any time of day on Sunday we could go in any direction and find a sacrament meeting. So, just before 1pm we went to the building where our wards meet hoping to find another married student ward to attend. Unfortunately, we hadn't taken into account that our stake meets on half hours and so the meetings in both chapels in our building were about half over. So, we walked across the parking lot to the other building (yes... there are two buildings within that one parking lot with four chapels between the two of them. You can also go and within 4 blocks find at least 4 other church buildings - yay Utah :) ) The first chapel in the other building had already started however the second chapel had people flowing in and we were very happy to find a sacrament meeting that was just starting. As we went in however we realized very quickly that this was NOT a ward for married students... or families... it was a singles ward. Luckily, I don't look pregnant yet so we were able to inconspicuously sit in on it so we could take the sacrament. A few minutes into the meeting another couple came in and sat next to us... both with wedding rings on. I noticed this and thought it was odd... but of course, Eric and I had both worn rings before we were married (since we were at BYU this seemed like a good way to signify that we were both off the market) I didn't think too much of it. However after a minute the girl next to me asked if we were in a singles ward, and we found out that both of us were in the same situation - married students who needed to find a church meeting to attend. I joked with them that it would be funny if that Sunday was you-should-all-get-married-and-date-more-Sunday or if it was Chastity lesson Sunday (yeah... the boy in my apartment is definitely allowed to stay past curfew. I don't think Eric would appreciate being kicked out of our house in the middle of the night :) ) Sure enough... the talks that day were all centered on a talk from this month's Ensign - Making the Most of our Single Years by Russell Stevenson. We laughed quietly together though the meeting about the irony of the situation but it was good overall. If nothing else it made us appreciate that much more what a blessing our marriage is. I think if any couple is going through tough times they should go to a singles ward on dating Sunday. Not that there's anything wrong with that stage of life... but once you've gone past it, you don't ever have any desire to go back. I'm very very grateful for Eric and the blessing it is to be married to him.
• On Monday we went to the doctors and got to hear our baby's heartbeat again. It was a really quick visit to just make sure everything was going well. It's always cool to hear the baby's heartbeat, just a little reminder that there really is a little person in there! We're getting more and more excited for this baby to come and for us to get to be parents.
  
  After the doctor's appointment we finally went and got my blood drawn... which should have happened about 2 months ago but I've been too chicken to go. Finally after a lot of praying, a blessing from Eric and basically being forced in we made it. Eric stuck with me the whole time which was VERY helpful. We sat me down in the chair and made sure to explain to the phlebotomist (yeah, I spelled that right the first time and I'm SO proud of myself right now :) ) that I would pass out. I also made sure to warn her not to try to make it seem like not a big deal... because I already know that but having to think about it makes it worse. She was great. She actually brought up Twilight and she and Eric had a conversation about how much I like those books which gave me something good to focus on while she drew my blood and I tried very hard to remain conscious. It worked... sorta. I stayed conscious until they had taken out the needle and bandaged my arm... then I passed out and fell out of the chair. Eric says I looked almost like I was having a seizure and he had to catch my head so I didn't slam it into the wall. I also apparently wasn't sitting as still as I thought I was so I ended up with a pretty good bruise. I meant to take pictures of the bruise earlier in the week but didn't get to it until today. Just remember that this is a picture of the bruise almost a week later... it looks way better than it did earlier in the week.
  

  
  It may look better, but it still doesn't look that great!

  
  Luckily there's only one more blood draw for this pregnancy and my friend Stephanie has agreed to help me learn some good relaxation techniques so that I can get over this irrational fear, or at least take the edge of it. Let's face it, there's no way I'm getting out of needles when I actually have to give birth to this baby so I better work on it now!
• On Thursday Taylor came back to Utah!! I'm so excited to have my little sister back so I can bug her to come hang out with me again. We all made the trek up to Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's house on Friday night so we could retrieve all of her stuff. Unfortunately since Eric and Taylor had been busy in Provo and I had a HUGE project that my team's been working on all week that was due Friday night... and then we hit major construction on the way up to Logan... it was 8pm before we got up there and we hadn't realized that everyone there was waiting to start dinner until we arrived. Oops! Sorry everyone! It was really fun to go up there and be with family. Eric helped my Grandpa troubleshoot some things on his computer and Grandma helped me make a Strawberry Rhubarb pie for Eric (they're his favorite and since I never had someone teach me how to make a pie my past attempts have been... interesting... to say the least). This picture is post being cut into but it still looks better than my past pies by a long shot. Thanks so much Grandma & Grandpa for having us! And thanks for teaching me to make pie! It'll be very handy since I have 7 more bags of frozen rhubarb... and not really any other uses for it.

  Mmmmm! Pie!

• On Saturday night we had the Criddles and the Phillips over for a little end-of-summer get together. Jon and Cody were in Eric's Information Systems group last year so they spent a lot of time working together and all three couples have become very close friends. Everyone else was out of state over the summer since Cody and Jon went on internships so we were very happy to have everyone back together. We made ice cream (which decidedly did not turn out as good as my grandma's pie), ate snacks and just hung out for a few hours catching up on everyone's summers. The boys played a few games of Wii Mario Kart and it was just a really fun time. We had definitely missed having everyone so close by, and we're going to miss having the guys in all of the same classes this year, but hopefully we'll still find lots of opportunities to get together this year.
• This doesn't really fit on any one particular day but this week Eric has done an AWESOME job of getting our apartment unpacked and organized. I've been working late nights this week so I haven't been able to do much so I've been especially grateful for all that he's done in getting our little house put together. Tomorrow I want to get our pictures hung and the rest of us pretty well moved in but I've been impressed with all he's gotten done. Thanks honey for all you've done! Below are some pictures of the new digs:

  Entertainment Center/Living Room

  Kitchen/Dining Room

  Bedroom with a Memory Foam bed!

I guess that's about it. Eric starts school again on Tuesday so we're gearing up for things getting really busy again. Luckily, nothing can be as bad as the ISYS core was last year, but he's going to have plenty to do between school and work during this next semester. I'm going to miss having him home during the day, he's been very helpful in getting things done that I can't since I work in Salt Lake and am gone from the apartment up to 12 hours each day. I'm excited for him to be done in April, and for this baby to come so that I can stay at home and be a wife/mom and we'll get things done around the apartment again!