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On to February

I’m so happy January is over. My mom always says we shouldn’t wish away time but I really can’t wait for Spring! I’ve never experienced a more intense Winter. Perhaps I’ve seen colder weather and more snow in the past in Utah or Kentucky, but nothing compares to living in Winter without a car. Walking everywhere through the snow, cold, and wind… oh, goodness… don’t get me started about the wind… I just can’t wait to be done with this season! And it’s right around the corner, even though we had another snow storm today!

So, what have we been up to?

T.J.’s dad came in town for business and took us out to eat. We went to Little Town in Hoboken, which was delicious. We are so lucky that Mark has been sent to NJ three (going to be four tonight) times already since we’ve moved here! And twice during T.J.’s internship two summers ago.

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We finished Law and Order: SVU. So, that’s something we really need to brag about. HA!   We watched the seasons kind of out of order… which is why this is a picture of Elliott even though he’s gone in the later seasons. I’m so obsessed with SVU!

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We put up black out curtains in the main room to try and warm up our apartment. Our electric bill is as much as a car payment, so we are not thrilled about that. It could be worse though… my friend’s was nearly double ours this last month! Why does everything have to be so expensive out here? On the bright side of all of this, the black-out curtains really block out the light and back when Eva was on MT, we were sleeping in until 10 or 11 every morning. #btoml

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Eva has been as crazy and fun as ever. Always wearing princess dresses and playing in her tent.

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We survived several snow storms.

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On snowy days, I let Eva run up and down the hallways. She had a blast and I pretended like I was just sitting on my front porch, relaxing in a lawn chair.

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I finally found a category of food Eva will always eat: Breakfast food. She’s a little Leslie Knope in the making, I guess. So, I made tons of waffles, pancakes, and eggs in January.

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We celebrated turning our taxes by going out to eat. Why don’t I buy corn on the cob ALL THE TIME? She chowed that thing down to the core! When I make regular corn on the stove, she’ll only take a couple of bites. So nuts.

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My friend rented a car and invited us to go shopping at Garden State Plaza, which is a HUGE mall nearby. Nordstrom, Macy’s, Lord and Taylor, Neiman Marcus, JCPenny, Uniqlo, H&M, Anthro, and about 300 other stores! I didn’t want to spend much money, so I just bought a yellow dress at BabyGap on Clearance (you should click through and take a look at how darling it is! And then buy one for your daughter/future daughter/niece/stranger) and then a JCrew bracelet on sale for $5.00. Yes, FIVE DOLLARS. So, I’d say the shopping trip was a success!

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Oh, just more snow.

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We bought bath paints and Eva was so excited to use them, she took a bath in the middle of the day.

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I finally saw Frozen and there were a handful of people singing along (and no, it was not really a sing-along!). Besides the annoying people, I reallllllly LOVED it! I had my doubts, but I thought it was one of the best Disney movies recently!

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I went to the gym a bunch, which meant babysitting switch-offs with these besties. Eva can’t get enough of Brooks! And quite frankly, neither can I!
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And that’s about it! Hope you had a good January and celebrated Groundhog Day this weekend! We’re going to watch the movie tonight 🙂

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January in Jersey

  • We have had pretty decent weather for the past couple days. It’s been rainy and windy, but in the 30s-high 40s. When we first got back from UT, it was in the single digits, so I keep thinking Spring is here with this warmer weather.
  • Eva is out of control with wearing dresses. She’s always been a fan, but she insists on changing dresses about 10 times a day (not exaggerating). So, I hid them, thinking I’d just get one out for her a day. But she found them and now we’re back to where we were.
  • I’ve been documenting everything I eat on myfitnesspal for more than a week now and have already lost weight! It’s kind of addicting to see the nutrition breakdown. I realized I wasn’t getting nearly enough potassium or iron everyday. So, I’m now taking a daily vitamin. Exciting stuff.
  • The better I eat, the more I want to exercise. The more I want to exercise, the better I want to eat. (Until it’s 10 pm and I want to eat EVERYTHING.) But really, it is really neat to finally be on a health kick. But that doesn’t mean I don’t treat myself still. I just make sure it’s in the calorie limit. TREAT YO’SELF 2014.
  • I have journaled for 14 days straight now using my new one-line journal. I love it. It gives me a chance to write down something funny Eva has said that day or just write down a tender mercy/blessing that happened. I try to write down only happy things (because it’s a happiness journal) but I did write about Eva’s complete breakdown in Target last week. I thought it might be funny to read a couple years from now.
  • I’m watching The Bachelor with a group of girls in our ward again. That show… so dumb. I really couldn’t even watch certain parts because it was so awkward/weird. And the whole model/dog group date… the worst. But it’s fun to get together with ladies in the ward and have a night out.
  • My cold turned into a sinus infection last week so I had to go to the doctor. But after a long week of recovery, I’m finally feeling 95% better! Woo hoo!
  • There are so many sales going on at the mall right now. It’s hard to not shop because we walk around the mall so much to get around or just to get out. But I’ve held out and only bought one clearance item… a necklace from the Limited.
  • I learned how to make a vest from a scarf (google it!). So that’s kind of fun.

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The new necklace

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My new journal… it has space for five years!

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Juan-uary

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A vest out of a scarf

tent

Eva loves her tent from her Swainhart G-parents. And she’s of course, wearing a dress.

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My apartment during my sinus infection. It took me forever to unpack.

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Said goodbye to a friend in the ward who’s moving to Seattle!

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Lots of smoothies over here

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Lately-grams from Jersey

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I was glad my stroller tires have a good tread on them when I had to walk home from church in the snow.

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Eva’s little nativity!

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I’m trying out new hairdos on Eva..

Eva in Motion

Instagram Update

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Eva got into my makeup one day. That’s lipstick all over her cheek.

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As I have said before, we go to the mall quite often since it’s next door. We walk through and just explore, play on the kid area, and try out all of the toys.

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One day a couple weeks ago, my friend Ashley rented a car and we went to Costco together. It was such a fun time!

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T.J.’s dad is a consultant and travels a lot for work. Two weeks ago, he had a client in New Jersey about an hour away. He came and visited two nights that week and it was so fun! Eva loves her Grandpa (and all of her other grandparents!).

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I bought this fuzzy bear hat for Eva. She doesn’t love it as much as I do.

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Last week, we went to the park just about every day. One day, Ashley and Brooks joined us! Eva loves Baby Brooks and oftentimes at home will ask for him.

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We were walking home from the park one day when Eva stood against this wall and said CHEEEEEESE.

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I treated myself to the movies last week. It was the first time I went to the movies by myself, and I didn’t mind it one bit!

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Cannolis from Grimaldi’s! Thanks to T.J.’s Dad for treating us!

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More cute pics of my silly girl. She wears that little skirt almost every day.

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CHEEEEEEESE!

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Hannah sent me the most perfect Fall package in the mail! Thanks, BFF!

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KY IG

Instagram Update


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Instagram Update

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T.J.’s parents sent this cute dress to Eva. I have to hide it sometimes because she loves it so much and wants to wear it nonstop. Adorable.

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Doc McEva gave me an eye exam and put lots of bandages on my fingers.

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Treat. Yo. Self. The line is gone from Carlo’s Bakery now that everyone is back in school and there aren’t as many tourists. It made this week much better.

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Last week, my friend Ashley and I went to the city and walked around Rockefeller Center.

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I saw Kathy Lee Gifford right outside of Rock Center walking to her ride… that was kind of cool.

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Eva and I watched Brooks while Ashley went to the gym, then I got to go to the gym while they watched Eva. I’m still sore, two days later!

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I was trying to teach Eva about 9/11 showing her the new WTC building when I realized she’s not old enough for that quite yet.

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My cute husband in the new couch!

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Eva is quite the painter! Isn’t that such a cool paint set though? Perfect for little munchkins like Eva.

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Funny Girl

Instagram Update

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Enjoying an afternoon on the Hoboken pier

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One day, I got out tupperware and we used them as building blocks.

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This is one of my favorite places to walk because of the trees… can’t wait to see the leaves change!

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More tupperware fun

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Late last winter, these kicks were on sale for less than $10 so I bought them in a bigger size for Eva and they finally fit her! I just need to buy those shoe laces that are curly so we can have her slip the shoes on instead of tying them every time.

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Eva’s all about wearing my clothes. She put this little number on one day and, with her pigtails, she looked like Boo from Monsters Inc.

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I went to a Relief Society Activity where we made fall wreaths out of foam noodles.

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Some NYC sights.

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The three things on the right here are some of the most glorious foods I have ever eaten. Milk chocolate bacon toffee, legit tacos with pineapple on top, and cookie butter from Trader Joe’s.

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Taken on an evening walk one Saturday

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My beautiful girl with long eyelashes