Cross Country Adventures - Travel Log

We drove from Provo to Auburn, AL in our Budget truck. It took us four days. Mason drove the whole time because he hates being the passenger in any car, and I was the photographer and navigator extraordinaire.

This is us outside our door after we were done with all our packing and cleaning. It's blurry, but I'm glad we documented it. That little apartment was a great place to call home, and we really liked it there. 

We hit our first snag about 40 minutes in when the road through Spanish Fork Canyon was closed unexpectedly. I guess they had been having problems with mudslides, and since it was scheduled to rain, they didn't want to risk anybody being in the canyon if there was another one. 

SO, we took a detour to Fairview through probably the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. We went up and up and up and up through beautiful mountains full of wildflowers and incredible views. I'm convinced I saw like 3 yaks up there behind a fence. And we saw some deer and some snow!

The road was beautiful, but it added a ton of time onto our route, and we ended up stopping in Green River for the night. We got there and stayed in a nasty room that was wayyy overpriced, but it was better than nothing!

Here's our Travel Log entries from the day:

• Day 1- Friday
• Provo -->Green River via Fairview, Utah
• Total distance: 190 miles
• Mason said, "There's no cruise control!" and we both laughed our heads off
• Tried to go to Burger king in Green River at 9:05 pm but they closed at 9. So we went to Arby's instead, got there at 9:30 pm.
• Checked into Motel 6
• Gross. Made me gag lots.
• Mason fell asleep instantly
• AC was SO LOUD. Sounded like people with velcro rubbing over our door with no particular rhythm, just randomly. 

Here's Day 2- Saturday

• Green River UT -->Topeka, Kansas
• Left Motel 6 at 7am sharp!

• Bri saw a gopher halfway in it's hole.
• We're driving next to the mighty Colorado River

• Mason keeps saying Green River instead of Grand Junction, and vice versa

• We passed a sign that said Frisco and I made up a song with Frisco, crisco, and risk-o in it and Mason thought it was real because "You just sang it with such confidence!"
• We went through some big tunnels

• It's raining outside in Colorado, and our truck is LEAKING WATER on us! Thankfully my purse was stuffed with clean rags, so we used them to catch some of the water, but we both still got really wet.
• We're mad there's not mountains in Denver.
• We stopped about 3:45 to eat Burger King in Burlington, CO and saw cute old men hanging out there.

• Bri is wearing ridiculous clothes and is embarrassed.

• Lots of corn and windmills because we're in Kansas!

• This truck is not a "quiet cab."
• Mom and Dad dropped their truck off at our new house this morning! Also, they got us a motel for tonight! They're so nice!!

• 968.5 MILES IS THE HALFWAY POINT
• Mason almost wet his pants. We stopped in Hays.

• Got to our hotel at 10:45 ish.
• The last hour and a half or so was terrible and we were so tired. So we listed all the countries we could think of in the car. 
• Mom and Dad got us our hotel room and it's AMAZING, the bed is huge and it's SO CLEAN.
• When we got to our hotel, Mason opened his door in the parking lot, heard the cicadas, got scared, and immediately shut the door again. 

Day 3- Sunday

• Topeka, Kansas --> Tupelo, Mississippi 
• We left at 9:51 am.
• We got free breakfast! I tried to make a waffle and the thing broke and made a loud clanging noise and mason took FOREVER to come and save me. He finally came and also a nice black guy came to save me. My waffle was burned and gross.
• We're on a toll road! There's no traffic
• The Elders Quorum President of our new ward texted me about helping us move in. We are grateful. 
• It rained last night. We hope our stuff in the back isn't getting leaked on.
• "We've passed into Hardee's country!" -Mason
• It's green now and there's tons of trees!
• Kansas has made 1 President (Eisenhower), like 5 astronauts, and Bob Dole. And the Chrysler guy. We know because there's big signs about them.
• Missouri looks just like GA.

• We've seen 2 dead armadillos (one was a baby)
• It rained hard and we got REALLY leaked on
• We spent $73 on gas at one gas station
• We saw our first Waffle House- Springville, MO
• We didn't see deer in Kansas or Missouri, but we saw them in Arkansas, Colorado and Utah

• Mason says there's lots of birds in Missouri
• Quality of gas station bathrooms has dropped dramatically since we got to Missouri
• We got to Tennessee and got on a big pretty bridge

• We got to Mississippi!

• We stayed at the Red Roof Inn last night, everything in the room was wet. (floors, sheets, etc.)
• It's VERY humid

Day 4- Monday, 8/12/19

• Tupelo, Missisippi -->Auburn, Alabama!
• We went to Elvis's birthplace!!! It was cool. In Tupelo.

This is the house he was born in and grew up in. It is extremely tiny!

This is the church where he used to stand outside and listen to the music

He shared this outhouse with a bunch of people on his street

• We made it!!!!!

We listened to Sweet Home Alabama when we crossed the line. Oh yeah.

First supper in our new house: Korean Beef

Oh Baby!

It's the truth, I'm pregnant! I am 19 weeks along today, and the baby is the size of an heirloom tomato. Due February 13, 2020.

I took a pregnancy test when I was a day late, and saw the second line appear really quickly, and really clearly! It was so fun. Mason was at school, so when I went to pick him up I said, "Want to see something I discovered when I was cleaning our house today?" And then I showed him this picture:

To say he was surprised would be the understatement of the century! I think he went into shock. It took us both a while to get used to the idea of me actually being pregnant!

I told mom when I was about 8 weeks along, I think, and it was so fun. We both cried.

We decided to tell Mason's parents on our last trip down to Las Vegas, when I was 12 weeks. 

We gave this card to his Dad as a late birthday present, but told Mason's parents it was for both of them. We included a lime in the gift bag.

 I have never seen them so excited! Michelle screamed and got up and danced around and hugged us both. It was so fun to tell them! They were very surprised, and started to brainstorm what they want to be called as grandparents. They are cute.

Then I called Dad and told him the next day.

We announced it to our families with this text:

 And everyone was so excited!

Here's a picture (taken right after supper) of the bump that is finally beginning to emerge:

Then we had our first ultrasound! It was fun seeing what everyone's guesses were. I think the total ended up being 17 guessing girl and 11 guessing boy. I told Mason if he didn't guess, he couldn't come with me to the ultrasound, so he just picked boy. I did too (even though I had 2 seperate dreams that we had a girl.) We were wrong! It's a girl! It was amazing to see her inside me! We saw all of her bones, and the valves of her heart, and the lady said she must have peed at some point because in the beginning her bladder was full, and a few minutes later it was empty! Crazy! We saw her brain, her tiny feet, her legs crossed at the ankles, and her mouth opening and closing. We also saw her shaking her booty around a LOT. It will be fun to have her as my little zumba partner some day!!! Her face was sort of buried in my right hip area, and we didn't get to see it, so the ultrasound lady told the doctor we need another ultrasound in 4 weeks because of "sub-optimal face viewing" or something. I am not complaining about that!

We announced it to the world a few days ago with this announcement:

And have received a lot of love and support and encouraging words already! 

Today we started talking about names, and that is really fun. I love thinking about what we'll name her! We aren't going to tell until she's born, so stay tuned for that!

So, how has the pregnancy been?

Overall, great. The only time I've thrown up this pregnancy was when I was brushing my teeth one day when I was like 15 weeks along. My gag reflex has been really easily triggered when brushing. 

I was extremely tired my first trimester, and still don't feel like I'm up to my full energy capacity most days, but it's better now than it was then. 

The biggest challenge has been mental. It took me a long time to get what little of a bump I have, and I had some body image issues for a few weeks where I just felt super fat. But now it's starting to poke out a little more and I think I may actually look pregnant some day, so that's encouraging! 

In addition to the body image issues, my hormones have made me soooo moody. I have gone through a weepy phase, and a phase where the littlest things make me super angry. Hopefully that will wear off as I get further and further along. I asked Megan if that was normal, and she said yes, it's like a never ending PMS week, but that it will get better.

I started feeling her move at about 18 weeks. Everyone said it would feel like flutters, but it has never really felt like flutters. It feels like a distinct pushing from the inside. Like little feet and fists are pushing into me. It is crazy and amazing and I can't wait for Mason to be able to put his hand on my belly and feel it too!

I have also been feeling so grateful for this opportunity. It's amazing that I'm growing a little person. It still hasn't sunk in all the way, but it seems more real as the weeks go by. I feel really blessed to be a woman, and to be able to carry a child, and to one day be a parent together with the man I love. It almost seems too good to be true! It just feels like an amazing miracle and I feel so humbled to have this opportunity.

I so look forward to meeting our little one!