Buongiorno!

Today Don's parents, Jane and Ren Willie, left for Italia! They will be serving a two year mission (everyone is leaving us for missions this summer!) in Naples, Italy working with people on the military base. This has been a dream of Jane's for a long time, so while we are sad to see them go for two years, we are so, so excited for them. Luckily for us, we are able to email them regularly and Skype with them Sunday afternoons. However, I think that an in-person visit will be in order.

I am sorry to say that my picture-taking has taken a huge hit, so all I have to represent their departure are these Italian flag cookies that I made for Jane's going away party at school. (Yes, we work at the same school. Lauren (Don's sister) does too!).

**By way of an update, Jane and Ren have a fun blog with lots of pictures and great stories!
http://anzianoandsorellawillie.wordpress.com/

Called to Serve

We are excited to announce that my little brother, Spencer, has received his mission call to serve a full-time mission for the LDS church. The two weeks leading up to his call coming in the mail were a little stressful, to say the least (especially for my mom). She stalked the mail man every day waiting for that giant white envelope (however, she did not realize that it came in a giant white envelope, and when the call actually came, did not realize that it had. Oops!). 

Spencer will be serving in the Florida Tallahassee mission(perhaps by the end of his mission I will know how to spell Tallahassee without looking it up). His mission will include a small part of Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama as well as Florida's panhandle. Someone told us that it is the "buckle" of the bible belt. 

We are so excited and proud of him! Can't wait for him to come home with that good ole' southern drawl. 

Bandith

Yes, Bandith (pronounced Bandit). It's Cambodian. Having served with the Cambodian people on his mission, Don grew to love the name Bandith. He wanted to name a child Bandith. (Mind you, we had many a conversation going along the lines of how I didn't think it was a name for a[n American] child... and then we saw a [non-Cambodian] employee at the Apple store with the name. Way to weaken my argument, dude.) So, we compromised and named our furry child Bandith.

And yes, we may or may not have become like those people whose dog becomes like a child and that's all they talk about and their phones are filled with pictures of their dog...ahem....

So for your viewing pleasure, Bandith! How can you resist that furry face?

Moving Day

Tomorrow is the day! Tonight is our last night in our cute little Capitol Hill apartment, and tomorrow night we'll get to spend it in our cute little brick house in Sugarhouse. As we pack up our lives (for the third time in two years...), there are a few things I am going to miss about this apartment. At the top of that list is the incredible view we have had. Observe.

I have loved being able to walk out our door and have the Capitol in our backyard. It has been fun to walk Bandith on the grounds and throughout the Capitol Hill area.

As we move into the new house, I'm not going to lie, there are some things that we are quite excited for. Namely, a full-size oven (we have never ever had one!), a washer and dryer (we have never ever had those either) and a backyard.

Bon voyage Capitol Hill and Bonjour Sugarhouse! Wish us luck with the big move!

Happy, Happy Birthday!

Today just so happens to be my incredible husband's birthday. Sadly, he will have to spend the night in meetings and I'll spend it in class. Nevertheless, it's a great day. Don is such an incredible example to me. I never will know how he finds the energy to do all that he does. (Plus look at his hand-man skills he has. He completely redid our new closet). Can't wait for the adventures this next year brings. Love you, honey!!

Well that's awkward...

The other night Don and I were heading over to the new house with our latest batch of supplies from Lowes (I am fairly certain we keep that place in business),and much to our delight the check engine light came on. So did the sliding hazard light (or whatever that car icon is) and the cruise control light started blinking. Fabulous! As we parked and I got out of the car I could smell gas. Even more fabulous. In true form, I start playng out the most dramatic scenarios in my head...such as the car exploding right then and there. We called the Subaru people and they insisted that the car be towed. Thus justifying in my mind even more that the car was going to explode any moment. The next day I was waiting to go into class when Don calls to tell me that the Subaru people called with a diagnosis. The reason I could smell gas is because the gas cap was unscrewed. Perfect. So glad that we didn't overreact or anything.....

Two Years

Today marks two years since Don and I got married. In some ways I can't believe how fast it has gone, and in other ways I can't help but think, "It's only been two years?" It just seems like we've always been together. The day we got married was perfect. We were one of 80+ weddings at the Salt Lake temple that day (thanks to it being the first Saturday of the University of Utah's spring break). It was beautiful weather and the tulips were in full bloom. Alot has happened in those two years, and I can't wait to see what happens in the next 70 years.

For your reading pleasure, here are our individual "top five moments" of the last two years.

Jen's Top 5 (in no specific order):

1. Honeymooning in the Mayan Riviera (and being fried to a crisp because it was March and I had not seen the sun in at least a year).

2. Giggling over what we wrote in each other's high school year books and the many letters we exchanged while Don was serving his mission (Including his letter "writing me off" from the MTC)

3. House hunting (and pretending like we knew what we were doing because we happen to watch HGTV...ahem, HGTV apparently does not always portray real-life time)

4. Spending the summer in Washington, DC (our favorite city) while Don was a Hinckley intern 

5. Adopting our little Bandith dog (please don't judge us, but we may or may not have become those people whose dogs are like their children)

Don's Top 5 (again, in no specific order)

1. Our wedding day where we were sealed together forever

2.  Our awesome honeymoon in Mexico 

3.  Both being accepted into our Master's programs at the U of U

4. Being in DC together during summer 2010

5. Buying our first house 

Happy Anniversary to my amazing husband!! Here's to many more years and many more adventures.