Looking back

Because it was spread out I didn't think we had too crazy of a year but then again...seeing how we've moved AND changed jobs twice this year....I guess that's not normal? haha welcome to the life of a entrepreneur's wife.  And I don't mean that with an exasperated tone either-I love my entrepreneur-he's so smart, driven, and careful with every decision he makes.  I'm truly blessed.  Plus, slight job changes etc don't really phase me cause I trust him completely-it really makes me grateful for personal revelation.

So here's a lil Nolden family 2013 year in review:

Last February we quit ExxonMobil and moved to Utah to work for Vivint.  We really liked Vivint-was def a breath of fresh air compared to Exxon.  I mean, they payed for code and I and 50 other coworkers and spouses to go stay on a lake boat on lake powell for a week with jetskis and ski boats-really roughin' it.

Then, around the late summer we started thinking it would be cool to get a house.  We felt pretty confident that we were supposed to be in Utah for now and that we would be here long enough to justify a house-rather than throwing rent away every month.  We looked into building our own but quickly realized that that would be too expensive.  We were glued to our Zillow apps constantly checking out different neighborhoods in Utah Valley.  We also would talk about what we liked/didn't like as we'd go on walks in our own neighborhood.   We'd look at the houses we passed etc.  There was one particular house that I noticed that was across from the park we'd always go to.  I noticed the backyard.  It was a sweet backyard.  All fenced in, big, fun playground things for the kids, a COVERED patio with fans/canned lighting, and a hot tub and a gas fire pit.  Like I said, it was sweet.  I had no idea what the inside looked like but I loved the house just from seeing the backyard.  I figured, if the backyard is so nice, why wouldn't the inside be?  I never expected that house would go for sale but made it my goal that if we did get a house-we would make the backyard sweet like that one.

One day as we were walking, the heavens parted, the angels sang, and a light shown down on the for sale sign in front of my dream house.  Could this be??  Cody was instantly nervous at my level of excitement-the man was back peddling SO fast, haha.  I knew not to push it, but it didn't matter-I already knew, it was meant to be, I had the gut feeling.  Not a shallow, I want it so I'm gonna get it, girl-shopping-for-shoes kind of feeling, but a real, this is meant to be, feeling.  Time went on and we arranged to see the place with our realtor.  He and Cody were skeptical based on the photos they had put up on zillow-used bad angles etc.  We walked in and were pleasantly surprised by how nice everything was.  I won't lie, I had a very big smile and was gloating a LOT on the inside.  Still, it was all up to the size of loan we could get and the appraisal.  The stars aligned and everything worked out financially speaking.  Not only that, but we kinda didn't want to move until the new year when our lease was up-and the owners also didn't want to move until the new year when their house they were building was done.  Stars aligning left and right.

Then in December after a few turn of events we decide to start our own company, Code quits Vivint, and starts a digital marketing/web/software app consulting company.  Looking back we realized Vivint was crucial in order for us to get a loan and therefore a house- yup, meant to be.  By the end of the year we've moved in to our new home and very happy.  Jake is growing like a weed and spends most of his time running back and forth between all the new rooms and leaving a drool trail (teething is fun!).  We enjoyed a wonderful Xmas with my parents and my younger brother Steve (who all, minus dad, got our stomach flu) but luckily they all got better before Xmas.  We checked out the Spanish Fork Festival of Lights.  Code and I took advantage of our builtin babysitters and caught a late showing of Catching Fire-so good! (I reread all of them in like a week).  We went to my niece Olivia's baby blessing and spent the New Years checking out the lights on Temple Square and playing games with the Louders.  All and all it's been a great month and we can't wait to see what 2014 will bring!

I'll post a few pics/videos from the  last month but I'll wait for the virtual house tour once we have more furniture than boxes lying around :)

Jake LOVED our Basketball (we got one since we have a hoop over our garage)

 Jake's tent!

 Jake was fascinated by baby Olivia

 Jake's playroom in the upstairs loft

 he's started to smile on command again but let's just say it's not completely natural...

Jake loves rocking in his chair

highlights from 2013:

just a lil throw back to how much jake has grown this past year but he hasn't lost his determination of touching Daddy's computer:

Jake turned 1 with a fun summer splash party

Code water-skied for the first time:

Jake's tent:

exploring his new backyard...