We're moving!!!!

So we finalized the paperwork on selling our contract here at Central Park and got all the paperwork in to move into Twin Pines on July 15.  We are so excited.  Our new apartment is a two bedroom with a lot of storage space and a real kitchen.  We're going to slowly get the furniture we need because so far we only have a love-sac and a bookshelf.  We'll be on the second floor, and it's actually the same apartments that our next door neighbors are moving into so we're really hoping we'll all still be in the same ward.

It's been so fun living here.  We've loved having a gym, pool and hot tub at our disposal (not that I use the hot tub to much).  Central Park really works to make this a nice place.  The community kitchen is always clean, the lobby is so pretty (I love the real trees and other plants growing inside), and they just installed two gas barbecues and a gas fire-pit that are awesome!  Also, the fact that we've been living in one room for the past few months has made every other apartment we look at look huge!  We really have enjoyed living here, and we are so excited to be moving on.

We really don't have a lot of other news right now...oh, but I have felt the baby move now!  Just a little, but I felt it.  Next week is Andrew's birthday and a week after we'll know what we're having.  We are so excited to be preparing for the baby and to be moving into a bigger place.  Life is so good right now.  I'm starting to feel consistently well again (I hope it sticks this time...at least for more than a week) and I don't throw up nearly as much as I have been lately (not that anyone wants or needs to know that).  Life is just so wonderful and I just had to share!  We are so happy!!!

That's all for now
~Manda ^^

An Eventfully Exciting Day

Today has been an eventful day in the Hubbard house.  We finally found a couple who really wants our apartment.  They're going to sign a contract probably later this week.  They'll be moving in August 1, so we're working on getting into subsidized housing so we'll end up with more room and a lot less rent.  Exciting times.

Andrew also had a job interview with a place that really likes him and he'll be doing all sorts of business-y stuff.  He'd stay at Pizza Hut and the other job is a paid internship (neither of us work at the call center anymore...it was a bad fit for Andrew and I was getting really sick there) where he'd work up to 20hrs/week.

We got all the dishes done....I cannot begin to express how happy we are about that....sad, I know, but it's a real accomplishment.

And I am working on completing the Personal Progress program before the baby comes.  I've been going through it and there are such great things in it to help prepare for a family and a home.  I'm excited to do it all again (especially considering that I finished mine before the new one came out). It's a different experience working on this when I am already married and have a kid on the way.  Plus I've always wanted to do it again.

And speaking of church, I have a new calling as the Visiting Teaching Coordinator.  It's been great so far.  I'm trying all I can to help get our ward more into Visiting Teaching.  I was able to have a great meeting with the Relief Society president and a few of the Visiting Teaching Supervisors.  And my real job right now is to record all the ideas I and my supervisors have and compile them into sort of a training manual for the new Coordinator for when I move.

In baby news, we're getting the ultrasound that tells us the gender of the baby two weeks from today.  Andrew is more excited than I am (I think) and he wants a boy.  I want a girl, but I really just can't wait till I can start feeling the baby.  I'm starting to get a little bit of a baby bump but I really just want to be able to feel it so that I can know for sure that there's still a baby in there.  I kind of wish I could just have a little camera in there to see how he/she is doing all the time.  But yeah, two weeks from today we'll know if we're having a David Clifford or a Diana Mae.  We're so excited.

I think that's about it for right now.  If you have any advice, comments, questions, etc. don't hesitate to comment.

Bye
~Manda

Just a little update

So I was just thinking I should do a little update.  I don't really have any pictures, but I do have some news.  Andrew and I are both starting at a new job tomorrow.  It's not glamorous or anything, we'll just be at a call center doing phone surveys, but it's a job and I am so grateful to have one of those again.  I'm not gonna lie, I've gotten in a bit of a rut emotionally since I lost my job at Progrexion.  I really liked working there and knowing that I was doing something to contribute to our little growing family and it was hard having to leave that and be sick all the time.

On a lighter note, I am just so full of gratitude right now.  I am feeling better than I have in months (btw, we're 15 weeks along today ^^) and I'm going to be working again.  The baby is doing great, I heard its heartbeat at the last doctor's appointment.  Andrew is doing pretty well in school and with figuring out the balance between work and homework.  He's my hero.  Honestly, he is such a hard worker.  I really do love him.

Of course there are still challenges (keeping our small apartment tidy being one of them ^^) and there are things I know I should be doing better (unfortunately personal and family scripture study fall into this category), but it has been so great trying to figure these things out and having someone figure them out with me. Marriage is such a wonderful gift.  It makes life make so much more sense and have so much more meaning.  I really and truly love it!

Well, that's all I really have to report.  Not much and not too exciting, but yeah. ^^

~Manda

And because I just couldn't finish this without at least a little picture (original can be found here)

February 6th to now

So I have actually written this post countless times and it keeps not working....Lame.

I guess I'll just give a summary of our lives for the past few months and then start blogging a little more regularly.

February 6, 2014
Andrew tried out for the choir that sang in the Priesthood Session of General Conference.  It was a pretty cool audition.  There were hundreds of guys trying out, including my brother, Davis.  Only about 200 got it, so it was a hard audition process.  In the end neither Andrew nor Davis got in.  But it was pretty cool.  (And getting to watch that session of Conference broadcast live on TV was pretty cool too)

February 7, 2014
My amazing husband made one of my favorite Korean dishes as a surprise for when I came home from work.  Although he doesn't like kimchi or tuna he knows I do and made me 김치참치볶음밥 (kimchi-chamchi-boggeum-bap or fried rice with kimchi and tuna).  It was awesome!  And it was seriously one of the sweetest things ever!

February 8, 2014
We finally got pictures of the newest addition to the family, our beta named Captain.  We got him a couple weeks before but I'm not sure of the date and the pics are time-stamped for the 8th, so that's the date I'm going with.  We named him after Captain America (cuz he's the perfect shade of blue) and Captain Nemo (cuz he's a fish that fights ^^) and he's been way fun to have around.  We just love our Captain.

This same night we went mini golfing.  We played a game of mini golf on our first date and by some miracle I got 3 holes in one.  I didn't get any this night, but it was fun to talk about our first date (that, I know, wasn't that long ago) and pretend to be on a boat in a glow in the dark, pirate themed, mini golf course.  Fun date night.

February 10, 2014
I finally "graduated" from the training program at work.  I ended up being the only person in my class to stay for the whole training.  For graduation my trainer gave me a really delicious burger and fries.  After those three weeks I am officially a paralegal for Lexington Law Firm and I sell credit repair.  How exciting.

February 14, 2014

Best. Valentine's. Ever.

But really.  Neither Andrew nor I had ever really had a Valentine before....and I'm okay with that.  I got tulips and a chocolate covered strawberry at work and then I got home and there were balloons, roses, steak, three kinds of chocolate, more strawberries, Martinelli's, and my amazing husband all waiting for me.  Then we got dressed up and went to two different dances and danced till we were totally exhausted.  It was so much fun!  And before you start doubting me, I did give him a few presents too...maybe not as cute, but he'd needed a wallet and gloves, and I got him the gun he'd been wanting, an AR-15 or something like that.  We found a great deal and he loves it!  Totally worth it!

February 19, 2014

We like our Wednesdays.  We both have them off for work and we sometimes go shooting (I like to draw targets ^^).  Here's a video of him taking out his new gun for the first time, before it was sighted in (I think that's what it's called).  It was fun....then we went to Walmart and looked like bunnies ^^

March 5, 2014

Yet another happy Wednesday!  This was the day or so after we found out we were pregnant and so this was my first doctor's appointment and the day I threw up in the middle of Walmart....in a bag.  Oh morning sickness.....I really don't like you.

March 26, 2014

Another Wednesday.  We went to go visit Grandma and Grandpa but they weren't there so we just hung out at there place for a while before going home.  They told us we should eat when we go over there, but the only thing that sounded even remotely appetizing was string cheese, Gushers, and Fruit by the Foot....so that's all we ate.

April 1 (or so), 2014
Andrew officially got a job at Pizza Hut!  He's so cute in his uniform.  He's training to be a Shift Manager, but has to start as a cook and driver first.  He's doing really well at his job, which is such a blessing (like OH MY GOODNESS a blessing!) He doesn't love working with a bunch of high school girls, but he really likes the management.  It's been great!

April 2, 2014
First official picture of Gummybear Hubbard.  I still can't get over what a great picture it is.  You can see the little arm and legs and everything.  And it was totally dancing around and stretching.  Ultrasounds are so cool.  I didn't realize how awesome it was going to be till I saw it.  This appointment was around when I was throwing up a few times a day....That's when it all started really affecting my work.  Not a happy ending...but I'll get to that later.

April 4-6, 2014
So there aren't a ton of pictures lately due to how I've been feeling.  But I'm getting better, so hopefully I'll be getting more pictures in the near future.  But this is when we got our car!!!!  We got it Friday night, went down to Provo to see old friends, watched Saturday morning conference with my old roommate and her husband, drove to Salt Lake, watched the afternoon session with family, went to Ogden (I think) after priesthood session and spent Sunday with my old companion and her roommate and roommate's family.  It was such a great weekend....and I didn't throw up till we got home Sunday night ^^

April 11, 2014
A dark day for our little Hubbard family....I lost my job.  Something about running to go throw up in the middle of calls and gagging on the phone just really make selling credit repair rather difficult.  It was a good experience (not the job losing).  But the people I worked with are great and my supervisors looked into every avenue to try and keep me.  They appreciated that I'm a hard worker who came in and did my best everyday, and they were sad to see me go.  They both offered to be references and write letters of recommendation to help me find a new job.  That hunt has been fun...job hunts always are.  I haven't found anything yet, but I'm working on it.  I've had a few interviews, so that's good.  And if anyone reading this hears of anything hiring, definitely let me know ^^

April 19, 2014

This was our muddiest adventure yet.  If you follow me on instagram, you've already seen the pictures.  But here's the story.  Andrew, Davis, and I wanted to go see the family ranch up in Island Park.  Davis offered to drive.  So we drove and drove till we got there.  It was fun, there was talking, singing, and an over all good time.  Well, we got there and started in toward the ranch.  At the sight of all the water we all thought we'd probably get stuck and that we may not have thought this adventure through completely.  Soon Davis said, "I think I'm gonna get stuck".  And sure enough, not 5 seconds later, we were super stuck in the mud.  We tried and tried to get out but to no avail.  So we called Grandpa to see if he could help us or knew of anyone nearby that could.  Grandma and Grandpa started on there way to help us.  And since we could already hear their chuckles about us city slickers being dumb enough to try to drive a little car through all the mud, we started trying to get out again.  We used whatever we could find in the car to give us traction, mainly some old shoes and a sweatshirt that were on their way to DI.  Long story short, nothing worked.  But then a kind couple saw us and they had a big pick-up and a tow rope and helped us out.  Then we drove home...we didn't see the cabin, Andrew didn't shoot anything, and yet, it was still a pretty fun adventure.

April 21, 2014

As of yesterday Andrew and I have been married for 4 months.  It's been pretty fantastic.  We've had innumerable blessings and a couple little set backs.  He's in school now and I'm still looking for a job.  We have another doctor's appointment for the baby in about a week, and we're thinking our little gummy bear is doing pretty healthy.  In celebration of how great life has been and because it was Family Night, we went and saw Captain America last night.  It was awesome!  It was a great treat and it was topped off with us getting to spend some time with Andrew's best friend, Chase.  He's pretty cool and I'm glad Andrew gets to be living so close to such a good friend.

Over all, life is great.  No complaints.  Things are going really well.  I love my husband, my little tiny, unborn marshmallow baby and my life.  And I'm going to try to let y'all know a little bit more and more regularly what's going on!

Stay Awesome!

Ice Skating!

So we went ice skating in Rigby with Davis and a girl who served her mission in Portugal (I think her name was Audrey or Aubrey or something like that).  It was really fun.  Here are a few pics...Andrew got video footage of Davis almost falling (none of us completely fell down) and we all spent a lot of time talking about missions and stuff.  Overall, it was a good time.

Our Tiny Apartment

So, this was the day that we moved in.  It was a mess and seriously looked like we had way too much stuff to be able to fit it all in the apartment.  But after a couple days we moved around the furniture and found a place for everything and instead of stuff and boxes everywhere we got it to look nice!  Yay! (It doesn't really look like this right now....we should spend some time cleaning it today)

 This is our kitchen and bathroom.  Yeah, I couldn't get a good picture of the kitchen because it is literally the size of a closet.  So...yeah.

 Here's the floor plan so you can see what I mean.  This and the following pictures of the common areas in the complex come from the apartment's website.  I just wanted to show off the bigger, prettier parts of the place we live.  Oh yeah, and I just learned that those trees near the pool....they're totally real!  Yeah, we have real trees growing inside.  I think that's cool.

Ok, now here are some kind of silly pictures that Andrew took of me at various points in time.  Thought I'd share.....Don't worry, I know they're kind of silly.

This was after church.  I got two super cute aprons as wedding presents and they hang up next to my Vera Bradley apron.  I love wearing cute aprons when I'm cooking and cleaning, especially after church when I'm all dressed up.  This is my Barbie one that my amazingly good friend, Jessica, gave to me after her mom made it.

These were taken the day I got my BYU-I spouse ID card, got my hair cut, and finally got my Samsung Galaxy S3 in the mail.  Getting that back was quite an ordeal and took hours of being on the phone (and on hold) but aside from the fact that it ended in me getting my phone back, it also resulted in a girl who overheard me one day and gave me a candy bar....that was pretty cool

Cool, huh ^^

And yeah....This one is just a little weird....I was washing the dishes after work and Andrew took a picture.  He's silly...I need to get a little creative and get some more pictures of him on here!  That's my goal.