five cheers for three years.

Our anniversary this year (which took place over 2 weeks ago) was so different, but SO much fun with a baby. It's like we celebrated [and paid most attention to] our love child, who is a result of our marriage and love for each other. (Yes, I call Franz our love child. Don't worry about it.)

We spent the day up the canyon where we had a picnic of Subway sandwiches, and then took a short walk up the trail at Bridal Veil Falls--one of our favorite spots up there, and also one of the stops on our first date (where we also ate Subway sandwiches). We dipped Franz's toes in the water, which he didn't like very much because it was kind of cold. On the way back to the car, Franz started getting fussy, so we made every kind of crazy noise we could think of to get him to laugh so he wouldn't cry. It worked.

^^^Of course, I didn't get a picture of the two of us together on our anniversary, so pretend that this is one picture of the two of us together. :)

That night, we went to my very favorite pizza place, Pizzeria 712, for some wood fired goodness. Franz was being the biggest flirt to the group of people sitting next to us. He'd stare at them until they looked back at him and then give them the biggest grin until he had them laughing and commenting on how cute he was. Then he'd do it again. For how introverted that boy's parents are, he's not so much, and I love it.

It was such a good day, our third anniversary. I can't believe it's been that long already! It seems like just a few months ago that we were getting married and being newlyweds in Provo together, enjoying that first summer together (probably my favorite summer to date). Now it's three years later, and we have a baby?! That went by so fast, but I love where I'm at right now. 

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bbq on a saturday.

^^^Hey, look! Tooth buds! 

Last Saturday, we invited Erica and Wes over for a BBQ in our complex. There's a really good grill on the side of our apartment that we don't use enough, and we were in the mood for some chicken and veggie kebabs, so we grilled some up while Franz bounced and bounced behind us.

It was so windy out, and our napkins and plates kept blowing away, but it was warm, so we stayed outside long enough to roast some s'mores, and then hurried inside so Zac could show Wes his new Play Station 4, and so Erica could show me her Leslie and the Lys record (which is awesome, by the way).

I love having friends so close. And as it turns out, we're both looking for houses to buy and move into, so it won't be for too long, so this summer I think I'm going to eat this close proximity up.

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girls night.

A few nights ago, I invited Erica and Emily over for a much needed Girls' Night, since we haven't been together since last Spring! After reminiscing about our high school days for a while, we went over to Rubio's and got some burritos and nachos for dinner, and had some froyo for dessert at Yogurtland, where I tried those little pop things (pictured above). I think I'll get just those on my frozen yogurt from now on. I loved them! And I loved the company! REAL LIVE ADULTS, GUYS!!!

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franz's first donut.

Just kidding. Franz slept through the whole thing. But one day he will experience his first donut, and he'll think we're the best parents ever.

Zac got home from school on Monday night and said, "I smelt Krispy Kreme donuts while walking to my car after class. We should go get some donuts for Family Night tonight." We're not in the habit of having Family Night consistently every week yet, but if it involves food, you better believe we're having Family Night.

So we went. And got 5 donuts, because the "hot now" sign was on. And it was amazing.

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our last big date.

Last weekend, Zac and I decided to go on one last fancy date, just the two of us, before this baby comes. I told him that I just wanted a fire-grilled pizza, and he took me to Macaroni Grill, where we went to celebrate the news when we found out I was pregnant! 

We ordered so. much. food. And it was amazing. We stuffed ourselves silly, and even had a full meal of leftovers for lunch the next day. Talking about this new babe and what it's going to be like being new parents with this hunk makes me happy. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I cannot wait to see this man I know as a husband turn into a father. I think he'll be so good at it. And dads are hawt!

I'm so excited to start this new adventure with this man! Any day now, baby Swenson!

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fiore for dinner.

Remember how much we love fire-grilled pizza? This is not a joke. It's the only pizza I'll eat anymore, pretty much. Except for our homemade pizza, because that stuff is pretty good. Well, on Friday night, the Fiore truck was just a couple of blocks from our apartment, waiting for us to come eat their pizza. It was destiny, so we had to go. We walked over in the chilly fall air and ordered a meat-loaded pizza to share (Zac's choice... I personally like the margarita...) and sat on the curb to eat. And it was just as delightful as the last time.

I think the number one reason that makes fire-grilled pizza way better than any other pizza is the burnt edges. I know that sounds silly, but there's nothing like it. It's so tasty. I decided that Fiore is my second favorite pizza. My first is Pizzeria 712, and my third is a three-way tie between Macaroni Grill, Foundry Grill, and Vinto. 

I was never so obsessed about pizza until I met Zac. It's definitely our favorite meal, and we make it a point to try and make it weekly at home. We also just very recently decided that when we buy a house, we will build a brick oven in the backyard to grill our pizzas, and it will be wonderful. Ah, dreaming of a future house with our future homemade fire-grilled pizza...

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we've been eating like kings lately.

Last weekend Zac took me on a fancy date to Goodwood, since we haven't been to a sit-down restaurant by ourselves for months and months. We don't eat out too often, and when we do, we go to places like Cafe Rio and Noodles and Co., because I hate paying tips. But since we hadn't been on a date for a while, and because we had no food in our house (we hadn't been grocery shopping for something like 4 weeks), we decided to treat ourselves to some good BBQ (ribs and chicken crispers!) and talk, because our baby is coming soon, and simple things like date nights will be so hard when it does.

Monday was a hard one for us, so after work, we drove up State Street to The Purple Turtle and ordered an entire tray of burgers, fries and tater tots, and a couple of drinks for dinner. It. was. so. much. food. But those tater tots have my heart, and I'll be back just for those. We laughed at the funny paintings of turtles on the wall, and ate until Zac had to practically lift me into and out of the car. It was a funny sight. This belly of mine is getting huge. It was the perfect way to cheer the both of us up.

The next day, on October 1st, to kick off my favorite season and favorite month, we had Erica and Wes over for some apple slices with homemade caramel sauce, pumpkin donuts, and apple cider. Zac had the genius idea of dipping his donut into the caramel sauce, and if that isn't my new favorite autumn treat, I don't know what is! Cripes, that was delicious! After our feast of desserts, we watched The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with Ichabod Crane. I like that movie. That Ichabod is a funny guy with a funny nose. I think we'll start doing this every October 1st.

And now that it's October, I can finally say that my baby will be born next month! And that just makes my head spin.

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over the weekend.

Over the weekend, we had a few friends over for a pie party, something we started four years ago, except for at the very first pie party, there was vegetarian pizza (which started my obsession with meatless pizza) in addition to all the pies, and Dream Phone. I took a few pictures to begin with, and then got caught up in all the pie-eating, board-game-playing, youtube-video-watching madness, I completely forgot about my camera after about 20 minutes. But believe you me, there was fun to be had, and the pies (apple, chocolate, key lime, and Reese's pudding) were SO good!

Earlier that day, a huge storm hit Utah County while I was baking pies at home and waiting for Zac to get home from his study group. A thick, dark cloud that was the span of the whole sky moved from the west and covered Orem in about 2 or 3 minutes flat, and brought pounding rain, flash flood warnings, and such strong wind with it. Luckily, Zac got home a few minutes later, and I had him safe with me at home. We watched from our windows as tree branches blew up and down and side to side like a mad man, and saw something that looked like the start of a tornado a few miles away. In the back of my mind, I was putting together my escape plan: where I would go, what I would bring with me. I really thought a tornado was coming, guys. And from our second-story windows leaking from that pounding rain, to the power going out in the middle of the day that made it look like nighttime (because remember the big, dark cloud?), it was quite the afternoon. But there were funny things that came from it, like how the power went out just when there was one minute left on our pizza cooking in the oven, and how it came back on the minute we dialed up the power company. 

And let's not forget about my cooking/baking spree I had on Sunday, when I made pumpkin cookies, slow cooker beef stew, and homemade bread (not to mention the apple and chocolate pies I made the day earlier). I was on to something this weekend. And it felt good. I love to make food, almost as much as I love eating it. 

And now it's Monday. Happy Monday!

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malawi's and the new record store up the street.

Last Wednesday night, we had a double date planned with our best friends, Wes and Bernz. And how can you not have a date planned when they live just a few blocks away?! (We love it.) So we picked them up and drove to Malawi's pizza for some dinner. I know. Fire-grilled pizza. We live for it. It was our first time trying it, and it was pretty good (although I like Pizzeria 712 waaay more). Erica's pizza had so many mushrooms on it, and so instead of eating them, she made a smiley face with them (of course). 

After dinner, we headed over to the new record store in town and looked and looked and looked. We were all pretty excited about it, because that's the only one in Orem, and guess who shares our love for vinyl? And it's walking distance from where we live?! That is just A-okay with me. Zac and I got Led Zeppelin and Cat Stevens to add to our ever-growing collection, and broke them open that night and gave them a listen. So good, that music on vinyl. 

After the record store, we went back to their place and looked at Erica's digital media projects and talked about homemade soda and maybe throwing another soda party. 

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bear lake: day 1.

We spent last weekend up at Bear Lake with Zac's family. We got there late Thursday night, and started off Friday morning with french toast for breakfast and a pinata in the shape of the Bear Lake monster for the kids! Later that morning, we all changed into our swimming suits and walked down to the beach to hang out on the lake and ride some wave runners. On mine and Zac's ride, we went as slow as we could, to keep the baby safe, and didn't hit very many waves like I like to do. Zac even took a kayak up the river by the lake house, and loved it! He was telling me how awesome it was that he saw a snake in the river.

For lunch, we went to LaBeau's and grabbed a burger and fries to share. We looked like scoundrels that whole day, but such is a day on the lake. Later that night, we went to the "Farmers' Market," which had a total of 6 or 7 booths, and only one of them was produce. You go, Garden City! We left pretty quickly and went back to the lake house where we ate tin foil dinners, played Loaded Questions while Lyle sulked while reading his book, and got our raspberry chocolate shake from LaBeau's! SO GOOD!

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