If This Isn't Sleep-Deprived, I Don't Want Kids.

I thought I knew what the word busy meant when I was going to college full-time, working, and accomplishing a 450 hour internship, but I was wrong. Busy means your full-time job is as a marketing director for 10 attorneys while planning a wedding in 3 months and buying a house that you also want to decorate before your lease expires 20 days after your closing date. And did I mention I commute 45 miles each way every morning and evening? And that I’m barely sleeping? That’s where I’m at.

It feels like I’m not getting anything done, but slowly my ratio of items on my “still to do” list to my “accomplished” list is growing.. Or shrinking… I don’t know, the second list is getting longer.

Once I turned over the task of finding acceptable bridesmaid dresses over to my maid-of-honor, she (of course) came through and found them. But of course, I ordered them so they came in all the wrong sizes. The term “fits true to size” is a straight up lie… We have the reception venue booked and the catering decided on. Flowers, engagement photos, and the luncheon location are done. When I say it this way, it feels like nothing is done, but it really is. The important thing is we have the wedding night hotel & our week long honeymoon to Jamaica booked! Vacation can’t get here soon enough..

Good news: we got the house appraisal back and because there were already two offers on the table, our offer was a good bit higher than the house appraised for. Our awesome realtor totally looked out for us and negotiated our way down a few thousand dollars! I’m a happy camper. 

I think my body finally caught up to the level of stress my mind is at because Friday night I came down with a fever and I’m fairly certain my stomach hurts constantly. Luckily, Saturday I decided I wasn’t going to let it get to me and Brian and I hiked to Donut Falls again. We said before we would go there when the river was down before the end of summer so we could go into the cave and we actually succeeded! The water was freezing and Brian insisted on standing in the waterfall, so he was sufficiently soaked after. It’s a really pretty, light hike (very family friendly). Definitely one of our favorites!

Saturday night, we decided to act like locals and we went to the Ogden Raptors baseball game (The LA Dodgers minor league team) with Randy, Sabra, Zac, and Kate. Afterward we had game night at Brian’s house and it was such a stress relief to hang with friends and laugh. Brian was finally released from being his YSA ward’s Elder’s Quorum President so he’s actually able to go to church with me now which is super nice. Only 9 days until the keys to our new home are in our hands! If you can’t tell, I’m totally counting them down. 

We've squeezed in a lot of temple grounds walking lately.. Great stress reliever.

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Wedding Dresses, Houses, and Other Big Girl Stuff...

Let me start out by saying I have the greatest family (and soon-to-be family) of all time. I know I say this all the time, but planning a wedding in under 4 months is a crazy idea, and with the details we’ve decided to go with, we’re making it slightly more intense and. For all my West Virginia/Maryland/Virginia friends, calm down about not getting an invite for my wedding that’s happening in 3 months. We have every intention of having some sort of celebration/reception this coming summer, but right now, I can’t even begin thinking about that. 

This is why: our actual wedding day is going to consist of our temple sealing at 10 AM, followed by probably a million pictures, then a ring ceremony, luncheon for family (so we can actually sit down with family and have time to visit with them all), and then a reception that evening! Talk about a long day.

I’ve only been engaged for 2 weeks, but I already feel like I’m behind where I should be. However, we’ve reserved the temple, reserved the venue for the reception, mentally decided on the reception food, figured out who our photographers would be, roughly scheduled engagement photos, AND the BEST part: GOT MY WEDDING DRESS. Just for fun, I’ll include some of the No’s and HECK NO’S while dress shopping. Here they are…

 I almost thought this one below was the one, until I found my actual dress.

 I look so thrilled..

But now, just in case you thought that’s what my big news is.. think again! Some of you know that Brian and I have been house hunting for a while now. Honestly, we began sending each other listings before we were engaged. But now, we’ve been hardcore exploring. We’ve been in somewhat of a dilemma trying to decide if we could get a home before my current apartment lease expires in Salt Lake City before the end of September, or if we would need to rent another place for 6 months (the shortest lease I could find) before starting this journey anew. However, our dilemma disappeared when we found a home Thursday night. 

 We had just spent two hours driving around with our realtor going into five homes, none of which were what we had hoped. Like many nights before, Brian and I parted ways with her and continued driving around on our own, hoping to find listings that we had either overlooked online or that weren’t posted yet. We found a super cute house in Clinton, UT that was almost exactly what we had been looking for. The listing price was within the budget we had decided to (make ourselves) stick to, and I decided to call them the next day.

Friday morning came around and I texted our agent (who was out of town camping with her family) and told her we would try to contact the agent that was listed for the home. I called his cellphone where I was greeted with a message saying he was out of the office until Monday, so I decided to call his office instead. His assistant told me that there were already two other offers on the home. They were going to be reviewing the offers at 3 PM that day, and if they didn’t decide on one of them right then, we could go see the home that night at 6 PM. Our agent called a friend of hers who agreed to show the home to us, and at 5:15 PM we got the confirmation that they would be waiting until 10 AM the next morning to make a decision. AKA, if we wanted this house after seeing it, we had to make an offer that same night.

So Brian and I went to the house and got there a little early. We tried to be responsible adults and talk about how we would be open minded about the house, without being too picky or too forgiving for it’s flaws, and decided if we liked it, we would make an offer on it. Our first offer on a home, we probably wouldn’t get it anyway right?

The realtor got there and began giving us a tour of the house. From the very beginning, I was so excited. It was everything we had talked about: two-story, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, cute fenced-in backyard, garage, and secluded. While it’s in a neighborhood with the houses close together, there’s only one outlet in and out of the neighborhood and our home sits in the very back (so there will be little to no traffic). 

We spent more time in that house than any other, examining every little detail about it. That night we sat down together and discussed everything about it and prayed about whether or not it was the best decision for us. We felt good about it and decided to make an offer. We discussed how much to offer, knowing there were at least 2 other offers already on the table. We made the best decision we could, called our realtor (who drew up the paperwork for us at 11 PM WHILE CAMPING), we signed it electronically and put it out of our minds.

The next morning, I was wedding dress shopping and Brian was paint balling with the guys for the start of one of his best friend’s bachelor parties when we got the news. I had just decided on my dress and was freaking out that I had actually chosen one, when my freakout went from “I JUST FOUND A WEDDING DRESS” and transformed to “OH MY GOSH I JUST BOUGHT A HOUSE” with the arrival of our realtor’s text: “I just tried to call you guys but I just wanted to let you know that you guys are going to be homeowners pretty soon! Congrats, they accepted your offer.”

There are moments in your life that you will remember forever, and this was one of those times for me. I sat down on the ground and could hardly breathe. Growing up, they don’t tell you in school the right ways to find a home loan, how the buying process goes, or how easily you can afford a mortgage. When I was younger, I had this idea in my head that it wasn’t realistic for me to own a home before I was like 30. Now, I’m 23 years old, about to marry the man of my dreams (who really is smarter, more money conscious, and more professional than me, but don’t tell him I said that), and we’re about to own our very first home. When we started talking about buying a home, I didn’t realize I was already paying enough in rent to cover a mortgage. The idea of picking a place to live long-term was scary, but it’s not as scary as throwing money down the drain and not creating any type of investment for yourself. 

I don’t feel like I’m old enough to be making these big girl decisions, but then again, that’s probably because nobody else our age is. I feel like I’ve gained so much life experience in the last two years, and I’ve realized that every single choice I make each day is creating a path for my future. This choice is such a positive step and the beginning of our lives together. I am so blessed to be surrounded by the people I am, for all the support Brian and I have received, and for this opportunity. I am so grateful to have found a man who has big dreams and aspirations like me, but also has the work ethic, smarts, and dedication to make them happen and be the best husband and support to me he can be. I can’t express my happiness at everything that is coming our way. Look out world, the Baldwins are coming for you!

 More photos will be added once we clean up the outside of the house and redecorate. (:

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To Eternity & Beyond

I’ve already told the story a million times: to Brian’s YSA ward, my family, his family, his extended family, and all my coworkers today, and ya know what? 

IT. NEVER. GETS. OLD.

I’m sure to everyone else who’s within earshot is sick of my excited screams but too bad, I won’t apologize for it.

So everyone else that I don’t see on a daily basis wants to know how it happened and I figured this was the best way to share it, so here we have it…

Saturday, July 25, Brian and I went to a Bees game. For all you non-Utahans, the Bees are the minor league team for the Anaheim Angels. And Mike Trout played for the Bees, which makes them significantly cooler. 

Brian was super excited for this game which should have tipped me off that something strange was going on. My soon-to-be husband is all too happy to play sports, but when it comes to watching them he’s less than enthused. He is a great sport (pun intended) when it comes to accompanying me to various sporting events though. 

Brian packed drinks, snacks, and a blanket and we picked up Jimmy John’s (because I was feigning for a Turkey Tom) and we planned a picnic dinner outside the stadium. We were sitting on the southwest side of the stadium when a foul balled flew behind the stadium and landed in front of us. Brian then proceeded to ask me if I had ever caught a foul ball and told me how he never had but wanted one, and maybe we sat in the right spot. I told him “I doubt it, it’s kind of like the saying ‘lightning never strikes the same place twice.’” Little did I know…

The second thing that should have tipped me off: Brian "wasn’t hungry.” This doesn’t happen. There has only been once instance where this statement was accurate and it was for a period of 12 hours when he was upchucking constantly. Secretly I think that’s why he proposed: the sight/sound of vomit doesn’t make me run for the hills.

So after I’ve sufficiently stuffed my face, we go inside to watch some of the game. During our time at the game, Brian was on his phone constantly texting his friend Austin “about Elders Quorum business.” After the 5th inning, we went back outside because Brian’s appetite had suddenly reappeared. We sat down on our blanket where we had left our drinks and Brian opened his sandwich that was completely swarming with ants. Third reason I should have known: he didn’t even seem mad about his lack of dinner, he just started eating a granola bar as though his stomach wasn’t growling like he hadn’t eaten for a year. 

While sitting there talking, all of the sudden another foul ball drops about 15 feet in front of us. Brian jumps up and runs over to pick it up. Our conversation went like this:

Me: "Wow, I guess lightning does strike the same place twice. You got your foul ball.”

B: “Yeah, but I don’t think its for me, it has your name on it.”

<insert my thoughts about how this is something cheesy Brian would normally say when giving me something to convince me to take it from him, even though he secretly wants it>

But then he got close enough that I could see the ball. Apparently my expression was entirely blank as my mind started screaming “OH MY GOSH, IT REALLY DOES HAVE MY NAME ON IT.” He got down on one knee, pulled the ball apart (he had cut it in half, had the Relief Society president from his ward hand stitch my name into the ball, and fashioned it into a ring box), and there was my ring. Then as you can imagine:

Me: “OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH <tears, laughter, more OMG’s>

So he asked me to marry him, and it was sealed with a kiss… or 50.

Afterward, I learned that the texts to Austin had nothing to do with EQ, but read something like, “Make sure the ring is in there tight…. Don’t throw it too hard… Make sure the ball is sealed shut… Dude are you here?… Ok you're in the right spot right??…” Etc. Austin of course had thrown the ball, and luckily, he’s an incredible photographer that captured it all on camera for us.

It’s been two days and it still doesn’t feel like real life. I don’t think I ever imagined to feel the way I do about Brian. From the moment we started talking and dating, I never had a single doubt that he was exactly who he says he is. I’ve never doubted him or questioned my ability to trust him, which I thought would be unheard of. From the day I met him, I’ve always known he cared more about me than himself. Not only because that’s how he is with everyone, but because he’s shown me every single day since that he will always honor me, cherish me, and fight for me. 

I didn’t know that relationships were supposed to be so fun, carefree, and easy. I guess you never realize how good it can be until you’re out of a storm and onto better things. I am so happy to spend eternity with the man of my dreams. I’m blessed to be marrying into the most incredible, loving, and Christ-like family and to have the CUTEST nieces and nephews. I've already been looking at wedding dresses online and planning out the fine details with my soon to be mother-in-law and I'm so excited for this next step of our lives. 

I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life and all the positive changes joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has had for me. It has been the greatest choice of my life.

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My Career at 23.

As mentioned when I first started this blog, I have a bad habit of only posting when extraordinarily exciting things are happening. While my life has been exciting the last couple weeks, I haven’t taken any photos of it, something my family has reminded me of. So here’s what’s been going on…

4th of July weekend. Friday night we went to the drive-in movies with Randy, Sabra, Megan, Ryan, and some of Randy and Sabra’s friends from church. We saw Jurassic World for the second time and part of San Andreas (I wasn’t impressed..)

Saturday, we had a big BBQ/pool party at Brian’s house and watched fireworks in Clearfield, which was one of the most amazing shows I’ve seen yet.

But the most exciting part of my life currently is my new job. For those of you that don’t know, I accepted a new position as the marketing director at Smith Knowles Attorneys in Ogden, UT. Funny story how that worked out actually…

For the last couple months, Brian and I have talked about how when my apartment lease is up in September, I should move to Ogden. Not only is it an opportunity to live closer to him, but Ogden has a charm to it that Salt Lake City does not. Ogden is more rural and not as cramped. It has an old time feel to it and I think it’s cute.

After applying and interviewing with a company that I thought would be a good fit for me, I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t financially what I was looking for and after not getting a response from them, I was annoyed enough to begin looking for another  position earlier than I had intended. 

Side note: I decided I did NOT enjoy B2B sales, and Ricoh, as the big company that it is, was going through some organizational change that made every single day of my job a headache and a half. I decided I would rather commute 45 mins each way to Ogden each day than stay at Ricoh any longer. 

I was searching on KSL.com for jobs sporadically when I came across a listing for a receptionist position at Smith Knowles. While there wasn’t any indication of what the position paid, I decided to apply anyway. I immediately got an email from Ben, the manager, asking if I was aware that the office was located in Ogden, as he saw my address on my resume was SLC. I explained I would be moving to Ogden soon, and he had someone call and set up an interview for me.

On the day of, I wasn’t nervous at all, almost assuming the position would pay too low for me to even consider, and I was proven right when halfway through the interview Ben stopped me and said “I have to say this now, you’re overqualified for this job and I don’t think you’ll be making the kind of money you’re hoping for.” My heart dropped a little when he said it. I was already making mental plans to live in the apartments beside the temple (literally across from the office) and dreams of walking to work seemed crushed. But then, he followed it up with this:

“However, we have a job I think you might be interested in. We haven’t been advertising for it in hopes that the perfect person would fall into our laps. We need a marketing director, and based on your sales experience and marketing work in Los Angeles, I think you’d be a great fit. If you’re interested, I’ll grab the president of the company and he can explain more about it to you.”

Obviously I said yes. And freaked out while he was out of the room. When the president came back in, he was holding my resume and the first thing he said was, “So Jessica, you’re from West Virginia.” I wasn’t sure whether to be offended that this was what stuck out to him the most, or scared that WV jokes were coming. It turns out, he served his LDS mission in WV and one of his best friends that he taught out there grew up in my hometown. SMALL WORLD. And on top of that, totally unheard of since no one out here knows where the heck Berkeley Springs, WV is. 

Giving me more information turned into me walking out of the office half an hour later with a formal offer letter in my hand. 

The first thing I did was freak out with excitement. The second thing I did was take the letter to Brian at work so we could both freak out with excitement. After a lot of speculation and prayer, it seemed like the offer was too good to be true. However, after two weeks I can happily say it is as good as I had hoped.

I market for 10 attorneys who are all LDS and incredibly nice. Everyone at work is helpful, uplifting, supportive, and extremely kind. My days fly by, my salary and commission are both significantly higher, and I have a renewed sense of happiness and accomplishment in work. 

I’m currently typing this from my brand new MacBook Pro the company provided me with. I have the freedom (both managerially and monetarily) to extend my creativity into any marketing idea I can think of. Best of all, I’m happily in a successful career at 23. 

Lessons learned here:

1. You’ve got to pay your dues. If I hadn’t struggled unhappily through 10 months at Ricoh, I wouldn’t have this job now.
2. God’s timing is spot on.
3. Prayer solves all problems, or at least changes your outlook on them so they can be seen as a blessing and not a problem.

I will try to remember to update on exciting events and marketing ideas I create at work. It shouldn’t be hard since I actually enjoy my occupation now.. Every aspect of my life makes me extremely happy. I truly have an absolutely incredible life with amazing people in it.

The only photos I've taken recently...

This was actually a snapchat but I found it amusing so here it is. Pre 4th of July party.

 New place of employment.

My pretty new MacBook Pro & Kate Spade case (:

 My cousin, Joe, his wife Julie, and their boys came to visit. These munchkins hold a very special place in my heart. & Here is a photo of 5 of my very favorite boys all together.

 I think I'll keep him.

XOXO.

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National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD

The last few days of vacation were spent mostly in West Virginia, exploring and dragging Brian around to all the scenic parts of my hometown and biking on the C&O Canal with my mom and stepdad (who recently bought a tandem bike and insisted that Brian and I try it out). 

 Fun historical fact for you: If you don't know what the C&O Canal is, it's the old canal that mules used to walk along and pull barges stacked with railroad equipment to build the railroad back in the day. It runs about 300 miles, including right alongside my hometown.

 Sadly, the weather before we got to MD/WV was less than favorable. Lots of thunderstorms and rain made the river rise high and muddy, so we weren't able to swim, kayak, or float.

Our last day in Maryland was spent at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, complete with dolphin shows and peddle boating out in the Inner Harbor to end the day. We touched stingrays and moon jellies. Here are tons of photos for your viewing pleasure.

 Yes, that croc is alive,

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