A Look Back at 2014

2014 was a pretty good year! We had lots of changes and lots of adventures. I feel so thankful for all the changes in my life. Some were hard and others brought incredible blessings.

In January we enjoyed our last winter in Utah and froze our buns off. We decided we needed some more adventure in our life so we decided to leave our comfort zone of Salt Lake City and look for other job opportunities. We spent lots of time with friends and family before taking off to Silicon Valley where Tim had accepted a job at Google.

In February we sold everything we owned except what we could fit in our small car and drove to California to start our new adventure. We had somewhere to stay for 2 days and spent that day driving all around the valley searching for an apartment. I'm pretty sure we looked ridiculous at apartment showings with everything we owned in the car with us. We found a great deal on a teeny tiny apartment in Redwood City and quickly fell in love with the area and the people around us. Tim turned 26 and his birthday was probably neglected since we were in the middle of moving.

In March we spent lots of time exploring the area around us and took lots of day trips. We spent most of our time venturing in the city where we quickly learned just how much we loved San Francisco. We discovered lots of differences between California and Utah and embraced the change. We also discovered our favorite beach, Half Moon Bay and felt lucky that it was less than a half an hour drive away. We also discovered that flights to Hawaii are ridiculously cheap from the bay area so we planned a last minute trip to Kauai where we went on some of the best hikes, fell in love with fish tacos, and considered never leaving.

In April we finally bought some furniture for our little apartment and got more settled in. I saved all my DIY projects for the week that my mom came to town and felt blessed to have her help since I was totally clueless. We made the most of every weekend and went on more day trips. We went on a weekend trip down to Santa Cruz where we saw Bill Crosby and went to some marine museums.

In May we brunched in the city,spent lots of time with new friends, I started tutoring at Project Read, and found out that my parents would be moving to Puerto Rico for 18 months to do service through the LDS church.

In June we took a weekend trip down Highway 1 to L.A and spend time with friends. We also made a quick visit back to Utah to send my parents off to Puerto Rico and attended a wedding.

In July and August I celebrated turning 24! We went back to Utah for the 4th of July and loved seeing everyone that we didn't get to see during our short trip in June. Tim also made a big decision to leave Google. It was pretty scary leaving before we had lined up a new job but we both felt like it was the right choice. I finished up my semester and Tim was unemployed so we decided to take off and spend 3 weeks exploring the east coast. We spent a week and a half in New York City, a few days in Philadelphia, a few in D.C and then finished up with a few days visiting family in Virginia. That trip was hot and sweaty and we spent lots of time on cheap buses.  I don't think I will ever forget running full speed through New York City carrying a backpack and a suitcase trying to catch our bus in time. When we got home Tim accepted an amazing position at VISA that he loves.

In September we celebrated our 2nd anniversary! We also had Tim's family come visit us in California. We hit up all the touristy spots and also took them to some of our favorite local spots. I started interning at Project Read and got started my last semester of school.

In October we had a super fun Columbus Day Weekend and our friend from L.A came up to spend it with us. We created our own card game, saw the Blue Angels, ate lots of treats, and explored the city, My grandparents and Aunt also made a detour from their trip and spent half the day with us and it totally made my day.

In November we discovered and fell in love with Muir Woods, celebrated our first Thanksgiving away from home, and went up to Berkeley for the BYU v. Berkeley football game.

In December I graduated with my B.S in Marriage and Family Studies from BYU-Idaho! I went to job interview after job interview and decided to accept a full time position with Project Read. Can you tell I have totally fallen in love with that organization?? We finished off the month with a flight to Utah to spend Christmas in the frigid cold. We definitely acclimated to the warmth of California and pretty much froze the whole time.