weekend-ing

thank you for all of your responses to our upcoming adventure, you're support & excitement for us is greatly appreciated! sadly, we still have to continue our real lives until then, consisting of going to school & work. this weekend austin had to go to idaho for work, so it was just me & cedar baby. we did all sorts of fun things. we went to target, played, cedar watched toy story while i worked on homework, i watched saving mr. banks after cedar went to sleep, & there was candle-making. saturday night marta & whitney, two of my cousins, came over so i could show them how to make candles. it was so much fun & definitely something that needs to happen again with more of our friends & cousins. we used some essential oils to make different soothing candles. it was a good night, lots of girl talk, youtube videos, food... all the goods. it was a happy weekend, but it was the best once austin got home saturday night. hope you all had a lovely weekend!

& we're moving, again.

we are moving to spainit has taken a while to set in. i'm not sure i've come to the full realization of it yet, but we're going! let me answer a few questions i've gotten since we found out.


do you speak spanish? 
>>> yes! well, austin does. he served a spanish speaking lds mission, so he's covered. i on the other hand.. am assuming/hoping i'll just pick it up like i did that one time i was in peru.. haha but for reals. i know enough to ask where something is & how much something is, what my name is, etc. i'm trying to learn. 

why? 
>>> austin was asked to apply to a grad school program there, so he did & he got in! we feel that it's too good of an opportunity to pass up, & that in the long run we would regret not going, so we're going! 

where in spain?
>>> madrid! the capitol & the heart of the country. 

when & for how long? 
>>> his program starts in the end of november, so we'll move in the beginning of november. & the program is 13 months long. 

why this school? 
>>> austin applied to three schools: loyola marymount, pepperdine, & i.e. (the school in spain). he was lucky enough to have been accepted to all the programs he applied for, but like i said before, we feel that it's too good of an opportunity to go to i.e. not only because it is in spain, but because it's a top-rated program & a really good school for what he wants to go into. 

what am i going to do? 
>>> cedar & i are going to get a lot of quality time with the city. we'll explore what there is to offer, go to all the amazing museums, hangout in parks, try to learn spanish, work really hard on making friends & take a bit of a break from real life. i'm convinced it won't feel like real life there because a. i will be in a foreign country, & b. it will be the first year i will not be in school. 

how are you moving out of the country with a baby? 
>>> well, we just are. we're getting him his passport & i figure it's no different than moving states, right?right. 

where will you live? how will you find somewhere to live? 
>>> the school offers different websites & people to help find housing, & since austin speaks spanish, he can read what all of the adds say. we've found some really cool furnished apartments that are near his school, so once we are closer to the time of going, we'll get brave & rent one for the following year.

what about all of your stuff? 
>>> well, we're going to be leaving our furniture/kitchen supplies for when we come back & i'm going to try really hard to pick the essential items... buuuut i'm leaving that to when the time comes. i have no further thought.

so, that's that! we're moving to madrid in november. we are both so excited. it's going to be a crazy experience to live out of the country. it's always been my dream to live in europe so it's pretty surreal that it's actually happening. i can't wait for it but at the same time, i'm ok soaking everything in here while it lasts. it'll be a completely new experience being somewhere that we both don't know anyone, not being close to family or a short flight away from family. there's a lot to think about with moving abroad, but i'm excited for the experience. it seems like it is far away, roughly 8 months before we move, but i think it's going to come faster than we expect. 

weekend roundup

we've had a lot going on around here lately. we got back from california late sunday night & had to wake up early to take cedar to his dr appointment before going to school. i had my humanities symposium that i was co-hosting wednesday & thursday, so that kept me really busy & made me weirdly exhausted, while austin tried to finish some take-home tests while watching cedar plus, they were both sick. i felt horrible i couldn't stay home to help them both. luckily, they both recovered, austin finished his test & the symposium was amazing. so many great people came to speak, showed us their artwork, films & other projects. & the man who is in charge of ALL the smithsonian museums came to speak. it was so awesome to hear what everyone had to say & get to meet all these amazing people, they seriously inspired me. i am so happy to have had the opportunity to work on it. after the crazy week we had, we took this weekend nice & easy

f r i d a y
i went to visit our friends nathan & tayler & their adorable brand new baby boy, remy, who i fell in love with immediately. afterwards austin & i stayed in friday night & ordered takeout cause we were both too lazy to want to cook. we relaxed in the hot tub & watched a movie & i ate some cheesecake, so it was sort of perfect.
s a t u r d a y
we went on a  mini hike/walk to ensign peak. i had never been before so i was all about it when austin suggested going. it's above all of salt lake, above the capitol, & has an awesome view of the entire city. it's a short little walk, just about a mile round trip, & so pretty once you are at the top of it. afterwards we went to my cousin whitney's & walked to lunch at cucina which was delicious. we had never been before but definitely want to go again, if you're ever downtown, you should check it out. later that night austin's mom came to babywatch cedar so we could go see the new wes anderson film, the grand budapest hotel, with our friend's scott & cas. if you like wes anderson, you should definitely see it. i could probably watch it 100 times and pick up something new every single time i watched it. there was seriously so many little details & things going on in the movie, it was amazing.
s u n d a y
austin made us german pancakes before we went to church. afterwards we cleaned up, napped, went for a drive, had a bbq, did some studying & watched a lot of movie trailers. it was a really good weekend.

La Playa

 school was crazy this week, so i've slacked on blogging & coming up with ideas to blog about. so instead, i'll share more pictures from california!
the beach is definitely one of the things i miss most about living in california (besides my family of course). i love spending my days in the sun & sand at the beach. i'm excited for the day when we live near the beach so we can be a beach family & have weekly beach days with all of our friends & family like i had growing up. my memories are full of days well spent at the beach & going to either taco bell or round table for pizza afterwards with our family friends. I LOVED IT. i cannot wait for that to be our life with our little family & our friends little families & whoever else out there that wants to join us. but until then, trips to the beach, trips home & pictures will have to suffice. 

disneyland

i really wanted to take cedar to disneyland over springbreak. i've been holding off for as long as i could, because i knew he wouldn't really care. but i decided at the ripe young age of 9 months that he might actually be interested. we went down with my mom & met up with my sister & her kids, & our best friends ashley, jake & johnny who moved to irvine for school. 
it's so different going with a little babe. you really have to figure out the rides, who's going to go when, who will watch the babies, naps, eating. it's not as simple as it used to be. but it's still just as fun. we still went on just as many rides & we got to hangout in fantasy land a lot longer to go on all the baby rides. cedar was far more excited on the rides than i could have imagined he would be. he was pumped when we sat him in-between us & he got to hold onto the lap bar. he was so excited it was completely adorable. he would laugh, smile & clap on the rides. he especially liked riding the carousel. i am so happy we went & can't wait for the summer to go more!




giveaway winner

DANIELLE! you are the lucky winner & will be receiving your book shortly in the mail!
i am so excited for you to read spots! it is such a good read, i truly loved it & hope you will too.
t h a n k y o u  to everyone that participated in my very first giveaway!
it was so exciting to be part of & a very big thank you to
spotty books for sponsoring the giveaway!


Joshua tree

we started off our spring break camping in joshua tree. our first time camping with cedar & it was really fun. i'm so happy that we went. camping with babies is a lot more work; extra food, so many extra clothes, blankets, making sure you have everything just in case anything happens.. it's a lot of extra gear. but it's fun. joshua tree is seriously is unlike any other place i have ever seen. if you haven't been, i highly recommend you go.
the trip started off with driving an extra 3+ hours through the mojave desert due to our phone maps giving us bad directions, & getting to joshua tree to find all of the campgrounds to be full. but luckily we came across a nice girl camping by herself, that offered us to share the campground with her. so we set up camp, went into town to grab a few things from the store, wandered around the campground, & stargazed.
i woke up in the early, early morning being a complete mom & worrying that cedar was too cold. even though he had a million layers on, plus blankets, & was slightly sweaty... i couldn't sleep because of my worry, so austin & i decided to start the day while it was still dark to catch the sunrise. we put cedar in the car & drove around so that i wouldn't worry about him being too cold, & saw such a beautiful sunrise & got some really cool pictures.
after the sun rose we headed into town to grab some breakfast & so i could use the internet for school. we then spent the rest of our time exploring the park & climbing. it was so fun to go climbing again outside. it has been far too long since i had been climbing outside. & cedar had fun playing around in the dirt, it was a win on all accounts. 
prepare for a photo overload.
& don't forget to check out my giveaway!


pinteresting

lately i've been pinning a lot of pictures that do with the outdoors & adventuring, while i have been waiting for spring break to happen, which is luckily right around the corner. a break from school is much needed right about now. i'm in the need for an adventure & to not think, at least for a few days, & that's exactly what we're getting. we're heading to joshua tree for some rock climbing & to my moms house in california for the rest of break. i cannot wait to be in the sunshine! also, if you haven't, make sure to check out my giveaway
follow my pinterest: kerryjune

Spots

i was so excited when my lovely friend shayla asked me to part of a giveaway. my  f i r s t  giveaway, nonetheless! one lucky ready will receive the book Spots by Judy Brummer. i have absolutely loved reading this book. i took it everywhere i went, just incase i had a moment to read it. 

Spots is an autobiographical story about Judy's life being raised on a rural farm in South Africa during the apartheid. it is truly such an interesting & captivating story. i loved hearing what her childhood was like being raised in south africa during that time.

the book tells her story with her two best friends that are african, during the apartheid. it shows the struggles she had trying to understand why she & her best friends had to be separated because of their race & culture, & how they maintain their friendship.

to enter all you have to do is 
1. follow this blog
2. comment on this post with your e-mail address
3. like the Spotty Books page on facebook

for an extra chance to win you can 
1. follow my instagram kerryjune

The giveaway will end a week from today! Wednesday March 12!

woah.

don't mind the banana all over his face
guys. cedar has been OUT as long as he was IN. it's pretty weird to think about since those 9 months of my life felt like they were forever long, & these 9 months have gone by insanely fast. i can't believe it. he's such a wiggly worm these days. it's so fun/tiring/exciting. he's a busy body, that's for sure. he doesn't sit still. he's crawling everywhere, standing up when he can grab hold of anything, tries to stand on tip toes, has started to do a funny crab crawl type of thing, has discovered the stairs & is really good at crawling up them. 
he has 6 full grown teeth, 1 other tooth well on it's way, & another on the brink of breaking through.
he loves food. all sorts of food. anything he can grab hold of goes straight in his mouth. 
& he is constantly babbling a slew of noises that sound a whole like like dada and mama, which is pretty adorable. plus, he just laughs at himself constantly.
i think he got that last part from me.
don't forget to check tomorrow for my first  g i v e a w a y!

MONTHLY MIX