Georgia

Ok, I've sort of let my blog go. I haven't felt like our lives have been exciting enough to post, but I've been encouraged to update so here is an exciting trip we went on... almost 3 months ago:

Wes had an afternoon off so we drove down to Georgia and visited our good friends Chelsea and Doyle Johnson.

They showed us around Atlanta and Athens,

took us to some good, Southern BBQ (that Wes said was the best BBQ he had ever had),

introduced us to BOILED PEANUTS (which are better than they sound! We quite enjoyed them!),

and toured the Coca-Cola Factory with us!

The couch was from American Idol. Carrie Underwood sat on it!

There were so may original Coca-Cola merchandise there, including antique vending machines.

And it's crazy how much people seem to love coke!

The best part of the tour was the end when we got to try all the different coke products from all around the world. Our favorites were from China. They weren't as carbonated and were sweeter.

***TIP: if you ever go to Italy, DO NOT drink a beverage called Beverly!***

On the way home, we stopped at Tallulah Gorge to break up the drive and hike around "the largest canyon east of the Grand Canyon."

2010 at a Glance

JANUARY: went skiing in Park City and to an Air Supply concert in Wendover

FEBRUARY: hung out on the strip in Vegas

MARCH: went to California for Wes to play in a wedding band

APRIL: I graduated from Dental Hygiene school and we went to Hawaii

MAY: visited Wes' sister's family in Arizona (floated down the river) and went to Lake Powell with my family

JUNE: hiked the Timpinogos Caves and rode in a hot air balloon at the annual balloon festival in Sevier County

JULY: moved across the country to Louisville, Kentucky and Wes started his orthodontic residency

AUGUST: went to Holiday World in Indiana (an adventure park decorated in the different holidays)

SEPTEMBER: explored Ohio

OCTOBER: completed our first marathon together in Chicago

NOVEMBER: went to a Ben Folds concert in Cincinnati and spent Thanksgiving in Utah

DECEMBER: spent Christmas in California and went to Disneyland for my first time

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

Wes won the contest of the ugliest Christmas sweater at the Christmas party. I'm not sure if it's the fact that it's clearly a womens' shirt or that it has the most typical christmas picture on it with a lace border. And my dress was homemade by someone who has really good taste in fabric. Thanks to the DI in good ole Richfield, Utah, we dressed very fashionable for the party as was everyone else who attended. There were some really ugly Christmas sweaters!

I also want to point out our beautiful Christmas tree. I have a really good friend out here who let us borrow her 6-foot tree and another who spent hours stringing popcorn and cranberries on floss with me to create a wonderful garnish for our cute lil tree and get us in the Christmas spirit!

Meet Jaxton!

My twin had her baby last week!

This is Jaxton Gary Hansen.

Born on November 3, 2010 at 8:20 PM.

He weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces and was 19 inches long.

He was 3 weeks early, which is good because he wanted to come 2 months early putting Lana on bedrest for 2 months.

The poor girl tore to a stage 4 and got over 100 stitches. (I'm terrified to give birth!) But she's recovering and they're both doing well :)

I can't wait for Thanksgiving break so I can meet this handsome little man!!!!

HaPPy HaLLoWeEn

CHICAGO MARATHON

The marathon was such an incredible experience! It was one of my biggest accomplishments! It wasn't as bad as I expected in some ways, but it was harder than I expected in others. It was so great to be part of something so big. And something that so many people are participating in for nothing more than self-accomplishment.

Driving into the city!

My first cab ride!

The runners expo

I think this was Chinatown around mile 22.

Can't believe we're still smiling!

I'm so glad to have been able to run every step with my amazing husband! We finished in 5:06:00

- a whole hour faster than we anticipated, but we felt really good and ran more than we planned. We realized that we weren't in as bad of shape as we thought we were and of course the adrenaline helped a lot too. We were also accompanied by 3 of Wes' cousins in the race and cheered on by several more relatives which added to the excitement.

We're really glad we chose Chicago for our first and last marathon because it is such a great race. With around 45,000 runners and 1,000,000 spectators (or so I read somewhere) it was a huge event and they took great care of us with lots of goodies and live entertainment the whole way.

At first, Wes said he never wanted to run again, but now he says the most he'll do is a 5K. I'm going to stick with 1/2 marathons and less.

Our New Home

I know I promised this to some of you a couple months ago, but I'm just not that on top of it. So like 13 weeks later, here is our new home! We love it. It's the perfect size for us and in a great location with an awesome ward!

This is the outside. Our door is the one one the right. We live upstairs.

This is our cute kitchen. Isn't it adorable? Our house came with great colored walls! We love the red!

The dining room. I really like the tall table and chairs.

Living room. When you open the front door, you have to scale 16 stairs. (You can see the railing behind the couch.)

This is where Wes spends the majority of his time (besides school of course).

Those 2 rooms are connected. We love the vaulted ceiling and the openness of the house.

(So I used to think I was a good decorator when I lived with my twin sister, and now that I don't live with her anymore and my house isn't decorated, I realize SHE was the good decorator!... help!)

Guest Bathroom. Love the pedestal sink.

Master bedroom. We struggled with our full-sized bed for the first year of our marriage and HAD to get a king. We LOVE it! It's so comfy and we have so much room!

And this is our master bath complete with JETTED-TUB :) (and by the way, when you have jets, you don't need to put in very many bubbles... it gets out of control real quick)

This is our cute lil deck. We don't use it as much as we though we would. Something about sitting out in the hot humidity just doesn't quite seem as nice as the air-conditioned inside.

And this is your room! Yes you! The one reading this! We prepared this room especially for you! We love having guests and want you to come visit! Doesn't that bed look so comfy?...