My mom has decided that we are going to start a new family tradition, every year all the girls will get together and do something fun! This year we went to Scottsdale, AZ. It was very hot, but luckily it was a dry heat, unlike here in Madison, that is a HUMID heat and it sucks.

We all flew out on Wednesday to meet at the airport. My flight had to be the 2nd worst flight I have ever been on. (The first was when I had an emergency landing in Minnesota due the windshield on the plane cracked. It was 8 hours long!) This flight was only 4 hours, but due to turbulence the fasten seat belt light was on the entire time. Which meant- I couldn't go to the bathroom. For 2 hours I had to go SO bad, and the flight attendants were cruel, and just kept asking if we wanted water! Ahhh finally I was off the plane and with my Mom, Haylie and Emma, my future sister-in-law. 

Daily routine was laying by the pool- reading books, magazines and floating in the water. Then we would head to the Mall. On one of our shopping trips I got an entire new maternity wardrobe! I got a maternity swimsuit, (apparently my swimsuits werent cutting it), skirts, jeans, shirts, bras. I had been so against getting any pregnancy clothes, because I wasn't excited about the belly band- I already get hot, without adding another piece of fabric on my stomach. It is still hot, but not having a stomach ache by the end of the day because my pants were to tight is a great feeling.

I loved having Emma on the trip, because since Eric and I are no longer in Utah we dont get to see her and Donald very much, and I wanted to get to know her more. Donald and Emma get married on August 4th in Dallas and there will be no time to spend time with her then. Emma is one of the cutest people, and so easy to get along with! I am super excited to have apart of our family and I think Donald couldn't have picked a better wife!

I am super excited for next years trip! I dont know where we will go, but I am counting down already.

This weekend has been so much fun! It has been action packed since I leave on Wednesday for a girls trip with my mom, sister, and future sister in law! We are heading to Scotsdale, AZ and I cant wait to lay by the pool and work on my tan! So because I am heading for girl time, I wanted to know what we were having so I could do some major shopping! Unfortunately, our insurance doesn't let you do it early at all, so after some convincing Eric said we could find a place that would tell us the gender early. So we found this great little place in Madison, and went Saturday morning. It was the cutest place, they had this huge room with 2 couches and a play table, so you could have over 20 people in the room during your ultrasound! Sadly, here in Madison it is just Eric and I, but the technician was fabulous and it was kind of nice to have it just be us.

We had a 30 minute appointment, where we were able to do 3D and 4D and could take home the DVD of the entire ultrasound, which totally sold me. Some highlights were, first that we found out we were having a BOY! The other highlight was he got the hickups during the ultrasound, and we could tell that he was tired, because he kept rubbing his eyes. So cute! After that we went to Target to do some searching, and realized boys dont have quite the variety of cute clothes as girls. Then we decided to go to the Parade of Homes. Thats how we spent the majority of Saturday.

Sunday was Fathers Day, and I had purchased some pretty great presents for Eric. I got him a new Wedge, a new pair of Golf Pants, and a gift certificate to go gofling at Chambers Bay in Seattle when we went home in August. The US Open in 2015 will be held at Chambers Bay, so it is supposed to be a super nice course. We then told our families that we had found out early what we were having and shared our excitement with them. After we headed for a wonderful night of S'mores and Banana Boats at our friends the McGuires.  We got some great baby items from them and I cant wait to set them up so I can feel more ready for a baby!

FINALLY! After a few years of tears, mostly on my part, and seeing everyone else announce their pregnancies, its finally my turn!! It hasn't been an easy road but that just makes it all the more exciting.  To answer some of your questions:

Q: How have you felt?
A: Like crap. I have never been so sick in my life. The doctor gave me the pills they give Chemo patients to help with their Nausea, it didn't help.  He said that if I didn't take these pills I would have spent the last 3 months in the hospital, hooked up to IV's. I guess they helped some then, but not as much as I would have liked.

Q: How far along?
A: 14 weeks, in my 2nd trimester!

Q: How did this happen?
A: Money and Medical help. I had to give myself shots, and take all types of nasty pills.

Q: Gender 
A: We dont care what we have, as Eric puts it, he just wants a baby. We don't find out what we are having until June/July.

I think that is most of the questions I have been asked. Like I said we are super excited, and I am starting to feel better, other than the new side effect of migraines, but I dont have to throw up every moment of the day so that's a plus.

Today Eric and I have been married 3 years! I can't believe it. It seems like a lot longer- in a good way. It's hard to think of a time when he wasn't apart of my life. We have so much fun when we are together, even if it is watching TV, or while he is golfing I am the announcer. I love spending time with him, and hate when he is out of town (this year hasn't been at all... yet).  I Love Love Love Eric! I can't wait to see what the next 3 years have in store for us!

 My little brother is getting married in a couple of months, and as I talk to him about the wedding plans, it seems such a long time ago that that was me! Worrying about colors, and locations, and where to live. The list goes on. I am so excited for him and Emma. We love her to death and I cant wait for her to officially be apart of our family! 

Over the weekend I got some strange messages from people in India and Brazil and decided it was time to make my blog private. If only to keep creepy people from emailing me. Leave your email if you want to be on my reader list!


Hillary

My wonderful husband turned 25 on Friday! We had a super packed weekend full of celebrations.

Friday, we had our ward Friendship Dinner, so we went to a birthday lunch, and then after work went to our dinner. So much fun! We love getting to know other families in our ward. After dinner we were finally able to go home and open Eric's Present.

I wrapped the gift in one of his Nike shoe boxes- cause I grew up never being able to judge a gift by its box. And i wanted to through him off. He was super excited when he saw the apple tv, since he had no clue he was getting it, and he has wanted one for a long time! So far we love it!

Saturday was the usual Saturday cleaning day, plus errands, and we had been invited to our friends house for games Saturday night. I made a cake on Friday, but we hadn't eaten it yet, so i brought it over to our friends house where we played games, and sang Happy Birthday to Eric.

Saturday we also saw my parents and younger brother at the Mariners game on tv! That was kinda fun!

Love ya,
Hillary

So I am 25 today! I should say I have never been scared of aging. Maybe that will change when I turn 30. But I still feel like I am 23, and besides its just a number. Although, I know can go rent a car and not have to pay the extra fee because I am younger then 25!! I know super exciting.

So my birthday kicked off on Friday, when I went to Lunch with Eric and was talking about what to do to celebrate. Since my birthday was on Sunday, that meant we would need to go out and eat some other time. Saturday night was Priesthood session, so there when Saturday. So that left Friday. So we were discussing where to go for dinner. After throwing some ideas up in the air, Eric suggested going to The Lux. I laughed and said well thats in Chicago. I was then informed that we would be going to Chicago as soon as he got off work! I was super excited! I came home and packed, and then counted down the hours until we left.

We got into Chicago after 3 hours of driving. 1 hour of which was stuck in traffic, waiting to go the last 10 miles :( But we got to the lux, and were seated right away, which was great because I was STARVING! For those of you that dont know- the Grand Lux Cafe is an amazing restaurant. It is owned by the same group that owns Cheesecake Factory. They are best known for their made to order desserts.  We got the Molten Lava Cake, which is to die for!

We stayed at the Hilton on Michigan Ave. Which was SUPER nice! And they gave me a box of truffles for my birthday! On Saturday we started the day off right - by going to Nordstrom for our first stop. It was just what I needed! Then we walked over to Nordstrom Rack- which was about 1.5 miles away :) Then went to the Water Tower Mall- right around where Oprah lived! After that and a long day of walking the Magnificent Mile, we were exhausted so we headed home.

Chicago is so much fun, and is such a beautiful city. They have amazing buildings, places to go see and eat. The only problem- Parking is awful! From Friday to Saturday we spent over $100 on parking alone. But the trip was still worth it!

Sunday- my actual birthday, we woke up and watched conference and talked to both of our families. It was great and I appreciate all the text messages and messages from my friends and family! I truly have a blessed life, and I couldn't have asked for anything better!

Love ya,
Hill

You decided the only way to afford a house is to call your fellow alumni and offer to name a room after them if they help with the down payment.

I wonder if that would work with my parents... hmm... might need to give dad a call. 

We started studying for the GMAT today. I say WE because I read the questions while he answered, then I told him why his answer was correct or wrong. My head hurt after about 10 questions. I was so confused, by most of the questions, that I was glad my role was to just read. Lets just say that it's a good thing Eric is taking this test and not me, because I think I would score a zero. Not because I really would fail, but because I would take one look at the test and the questions and start crying. To prove to you, that this really is the case, here is a Sample Question:

Math:
If p and q are integers, is (p+q)/2 an integer?
(1) p<17
(2) p=q

a. Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient.
b. Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) ALONE is no sufficent.
c. BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient, but NEITHER statement alone is sufficient.
d. EACH statement ALONE is sufficent
e. Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT suficent.

So what did you think the answer is? Does your head hurt just looking at the question? Mine does.  I don't remember these type of questions in my Math classes. Just so you know, the answer was B.

We also started his application to University of Washington. :) That was not as difficult so I was able to be much more help there! 


In other news- or maybe related... Eric has 2 grey hairs. And I, being the loving wife that I am, took pictures!

Enjoy!
Hillary

I know I have been awful at updating my posts. I still haven't shown pictures of our Brad concert! I will get there eventually.

But really quick I thought I would post this. Saturday was a semi nice day- other then extreme winds. So we drove around, and eventually decided Eric was going to go to the hitting range to hit a bucket of balls. 

He did great, all the guys around him thought so too, since they kept making comments to him about his swing, and how far he could hit.

I sat on the grass behind him playing on my phone. As it gets warmer I could get used to that, laying out while Eric practices golf.

Maybe I could work this into a birthday present!

Many of you know that for the last few years I have been in constant pain. I have gone to every doctor out there, had test after test taken, and given every pill you can think of. All for nothing. No one could figure out what was causing the pain or how to make it stop. Recently a doctor believes that I have a problem with my nerves. They fire incorrectly, which causes me pain. So at any moment different things I touch can set my nerves off, causing me hours of pain.

The pain has been so bad that i have actually been stuck at the grocery store. I had to call Eric, have him finish the the shopping for me. I spent 2 hours in the Spanish Fork bathroom that day before the pain was tolerable enough that i could drive home. Because I never know when the pain is going to hit, i am extremely paranoid about going somewhere that is far from my house.

This last week, the pain has intensified. Usually the pain will last for about 2 hours, then fade to a dull ache. This last week though, it is a constant pain. I wasn't even able to lay on my stomach. Which has never been a problem before.

Ok so you get the point that its intense pain. So this past week, I started reading this book Bryndi gave me last year for Christmas. Its call To Him That Believeth. It is all about faith, and claiming blessings from Heaven. One of the stories in the book talked about a girl that had paralyzed her arm a few day before a big Television production her choir was participating in. She was the pianist. Her dad advised her to get a blessing, and visualize herself playing the piano the day of the recording. She did just that, and when it came for their turn to play, she was able to play her piece with no problems. What faith!

So yesterday I put this into practice. I had been healthy all day. Pain was at a dull ache level, so I was excited for a birthday dinner we had with our friends. 10 minutes before we were supposed to leave however my body had a different idea. I refuse to let my body control my life, so i started praying and thought this would be a great moment to exercise my faith. So i visualized myself at the restaurant with our friends, sitting at the table, enjoying their company, and my body not hurting. I told Eric that I was ready to go, and that by the time i got to the restaurant my body wouldn't hurt. It was a brutal car ride, but i just kept praying and seeing myself at the restaurant free of pain. By the time we got there, the pain had subsided into a dull ache. I was able to enjoy our dinner and our friends company.

I know that this was not a coincidence. I know beyond any doubt that my faith really did make me whole. If only for that moment. I have a new understanding of excercising your faith. Its the same as regular exercise, if I had to sprint to the corner for whatever reason, I could.  But if i wanted to sprint for a long distance, i would need to push myself. This experience was like that, i was able to sprint to the corner. But my end goal is to be able to sustain this level of faith for an extended time. Just like the first time you sprint further then you have better, seeing results on my exercising my faith is addictive. I want to continue to push on, to see if next time i can keep the pain at bay for an entire day. Little steps until i can have enough faith to be healed. That will be an amazing day.