Home Sweet Home in Orem

I came back to Utah 2.5 weeks earlier than Ryan and it's been so hard not getting to see him for this extended length of time.  Originally, we were both going to stay out there until the weekend before school started, but then we realized that we had zero furniture and had WAY too much stuff to cram into one weekend.

So far, I've moved everything over to our new little basement apartment in Orem.  I really like the location because we're close enough to campus to get there quickly, but far enough away from all the crazy and loud single students {there are many benefits to BYU married student life}.  We're only paying $595 with a washer and dryer which is a steal of a deal.

I've cleaned EVERY inch of the apartment including the walls.  I'm a {little} OCD when it comes to cleanliness, but I suppose there are worst things in life to be OCD about.  I've even re-finished the kitchen cabinets so they look brand new too.

We didn't have any furniture so I've been bargain hunting all over DI, craigslist, and KSL, as well as my parent's house.  So far, I've gotten an awesome orange chair, dresser, coffee table, kitchen table/chairs, sofa table, and buffet.  They are all in pretty rough condition so I'm currently in the process of refinishing and painting all those items too.  But for getting all those things for $50 is pretty incredible and I can definitely devote some time and a little TLC into making them look decent and hopefully cute.  {I hate living in college student hodge podges that are tacky and don't match...I can't wait for the day we're not on the college student budget}.

Adios Philly

It has been a very bittersweet summer for us and I'm emotionally torn at the moment because I have a love hate relationship with this summer in Philadelphia.  We are both so completely and utterly ready to go back out west, but we are so sad to leave behind our first little {humble} home and friends.

I hated Philly because I never got to see my newly-wed husband and because I was far away from my family and friends {I actually missed Utah}.  I didn't have anything to occupy my time and I was home alone 90% of the summer, so I was miserably lonely and bored.

On the other hand, Philly was the best thing that happened to us.  Our relationship blossomed and grew so strong because of the very challenging obstacles that came our way.  We also met new friends and grew to love them dearly. 

Before we ended our Philly summer, we added a few more adventures to our list of {fond} memories.  Here are a few highlights:

Valley Forge 

Valley Forge was literally right around the corner from us so we spent some time wandering around and learning different Revolutionary War factoids.  We took more pictures, but of course they are gone, and this is the only one that survived...

New York 

Deep Sea Fishing in Jersey

The Evergreen Crew

Of course, I have zero luck in the fishing department, but Ryan caught a huge blue fish!