"Will there be a mint on my pillow?"

Levi had been sick for about a week. Every night when he came home from work, he had a horrible stomach ache and was way more grouchy than usual. But big boys don’t need doctors. On Friday, we were at a friend’s place and as Levi was lying on the floor in severe pain, Hatty and Mitch looked at him and said “Dude, you need a blessing.” So thankful for good friends with good intuition!

Saturday night, the fever hit. I thought Levi was just finally in a good mood, but as he started talking nonsense and giggling uncontrollably, I realized that it was something different. Luckily I’m a die-hard ibuprofen girl, so once I doped him up he seemed much better.

Sunday was the day it all went to pot. That night we were at Hatty’s again and Levi was still in pain. After going home, he decided that it was time to see a doctor. Checking in to the ER at 11:00 p.m. is never something looked forward to.

 

After 5 hours, 2 doctors, an ultrasound, and a cat scan, the 7 foot tall doctor came back and said he thought that they could see the “remnants” of his appendix. (Levi likes to call it his shrapnel.) Doc said that his appendix had probably ruptured Friday, but miraculously his body had walled off the toxins and kept them contained, rather than spreading and trying to kill him like normal appendicitis. Levi and I looked at each other, and then I cried. Mitchell and Hatty probably saved his life with that blessing.

 

Around 5 a.m. on Monday, they finally let us out of the ER and took us up to an actual hospital room. As they wheeled us into an elevator, Levi asked the nurse, “Will there be a mint on my pillow?” Always my lighthearted boy. J

The doctors wouldn’t do surgery where his appendix had already ruptured for fear of those toxins spreading and causing more damage. So, the next four days were full of lots of antibiotics, pain, visitors, and healing. Now we’re home and still doing antibiotics, trying to get things back to normal.

Not where we thought we’d be spending our 1-month anniversary, but we’ve quickly learned the truth to “in sickness and in health”.

Cozy Cave

First apartments are supposed to be small, aren’t they? Well we definitely got that one right. Levi lived in our little 2-room home for about a month before we got married. I think it worked better as a bachelor pad. ;)

 In our little studio, our bedroom is also the living room:

Our kitchen’s only counter space is on either side of the sink, which is an all in one sink/drawer/cabinet thingy from many generations before I was born.

  

Our stove is also from that era, and the fridge seems to have been built for a camp trailer. For example, frozen pizzas only fit if we put them in diagonally…

LOVE my shelf from Bed Bath & Beyond. It holds our fabulous new kitchen appliance collection. Ü And we do enjoy the sturdy shelves built into the half wall that separates the kitchen from our bedroom.

 My favorite item in the new apartment: our new table!!! We found this adorable square pub table at Down East. It was almost as much for one chair in the set as our table though, so we’re still in search of stools or chairs.

It may not be much but we’re happy! And it’s nice to be right on the edge of campus. Now if only we could pick up the campus internet signal…

Viva Las Vegas!

And our happily ever after continues! Ü

For our honeymoon we spent one day in Salt Lake City, seeing all the Christmas lights

and touring Temple Square.

For the rest of the week we decided to go to Vegas, since I had never been there and it had been years since Levi was there.

(Our end of The Strip, Circus Circus hotel)

We were hopeful that even though we were going in December, it would be warmer than Logan. Not so much. The storm that had caused blizzards and closed freeways in northern Utah became lots of RAIN as we went further south. The Virgin River was fast and muddy, and as we walked around Las Vegas, we were laughing at how many buckets were sitting around in the buildings; they didn’t know what to do with so much rain and so many leaks!

(And so we made it our job to try all the best buffets while we were there.

Levi sure got his money's worth.)

So we spent four days at Circus Circus and had tons of fun slipping and sliding in our boots up and down The Strip. The second day we went to Hoover Dam.

Of course we had to throw pennies off the top.

That night, Levi decided we should walk the whole length of The Strip, telling me “Oh it’s only like a half mile, you’ll be fine!” (I was already exhausted from walking back and forth across the dam all day!)

But all the way from Circus Circus to the Luxor Casino we went, going back and forth across the road, up and down, into every hotel and casino as we passed.

By the time we got to the Luxor, I was ready to pay for a room there and stay the night. When we got home the first thing I did was look up the distance – THREE MILES from one end to the other. No kidding.

The whole trip was a blast though! Where else can you see a Statue of Liberty made solely of Jelly Bellies, huh?

Day 1 of Forever!

On December 18, 2010, I married my best friend for time and all eternity in the Logan Utah Temple!

It was a crazy weekend because Levi and I finished our finals just the day before, and we had family coming from Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Georgia, and of course Utah, a WEEK before Christmas. Saturday morning we were at the temple at 6, started our session at 8, and were ready for our sealing by 10. I don’t remember most of what the sealer said because I was trying so hard not to faint, but I remember it was the best feeling in the world to be in that room with everyone we love. Afterwards when we were supposed to be getting ready to go outside and see everyone, I lost Mom. She took a bathroom break and I couldn’t get into my dress without her. Our family waiting outside froze while Levi worried by the door. Oops! We finally made it out and it was fantastic to see everyone there to support us!

They were all even willing to brave the snow and bad roads. :)

Aunt Marla did all of my flowers, and I will LOVE that woman forever. They were perfect!

Our luncheon was at The Coppermill on Main Street, and it was AWESOME! If I hadn’t been sitting in front of a room full of people (and wearing a very fitted white dress), I would have eaten 3 times as much roast beef. I think the staff had fun writing our sign for the luncheon room:

(Kinda wish they’d put Berry-Landers/Nutt-Campbell :D That would've really made me laugh!)

After we ate, Aunt Rach snapped a bunch of pictures around the building.

  

(Is she not SERIOUSLY gifted??? Love my aunt Rach Ü)

And then we all made the drive up to Pocatello to get ready for the reception. I hadn’t planned on standing there under the arch for 2½ hours straight, but we sure did! I was so amazed at the number of people who braved the weather and came!  We had cheesecake, homemade mints, cream puffs, and Scottie drinks (a family favorite!). Edith Morris, a great friend from American Falls, made my cake and that was one of my favorite parts of the day!

I couldn’t have asked for a better wedding day! We are so grateful to our family and friends for all your love and support, and for being a part of the celebrations! BEST DAY EVER!!

We have a Blog!

Welcome, welcome! Hopefully this will bring me back in to the habit of journaling. I figured, someone should be writing down the crazy stuff that happens around here. So, who better than me? Time will tell how long this little project lasts... Ü