The place I didn't know existed!

So we live in Iowa now! It's totally awesome and crazy at the same time. Iowa is one of those states that when you hear it you think, "is that really a state?" Because you just never hear about it! I had to look up on the map where it was! All i knew was that  it was east of Utah! There are actually a lot of states like this, they're all in the middle getting lost! But we are here now and it isn't so bad :) There are no mountains, we are surrounded by corn fields, it is pretty humid and sticky...but the people are great and the town is small and cute and we have a really awesome ward and there is a water park that we love to go play at! And we live in the cutest house EVER! like I am seriously obsessed with this house, i love it, it is so cute. Jared is liking his job at Walmart as an assistant manager. The store manager likes Jared and counts on him to do a lot, but that's good because it means Jared can get promoted faster! we will probably be in Iowa for at least 2 years, possibly as many as 4, just depending on how fast Jared can get a promotion! I am not looking forward to winter. I hear it gets deathly cold and snows a LOT, so i say the sooner we move the better!

 This week we went to the Iowa state fair, it was a lot of fun. I love animals so much and it was so fun to go see all the cows and horses and piggies and other animals they had! And then just walking around and seeing all the little shows and performances being put on around the grounds was also fun.

They have been doing road construction on the road we live on since before we moved in and they still aren't finished! We were told they would be finished by July...now we're starting to think they meant July of 2016!

 Hallie is as fun and cute as ever! We can't get enough of her. She has a little laugh and voice that makes you smile no matter what! And she is just so cute! She has squishy cheeks and big eyes and a little nose and tin lips! Its all just so cute!!! She LOVES to play 'boo'. She will do it anytime, anywhere. All a sudden she just yells BOO! and then hides and does it over and over and over! It's just adorable. She is also obsessed with waving to people, especially her Dad. Whenever she sees Jared she immediately starts waving frantically until he sees her and waves back! She loves to be tickles and she loves to play monster. She loves dancing to music! She loves pretty much all food. The only food I know she doesn't like is tuna.
 Here are a few pictures since we've moved :)

Hallie turned 1!! We love her so much!

I had to try a piece of her cake after she was done :)

This was in Boone Iowa, we went for a little hike

exploring this super awesome park we found that was huge and had a river and awesome things

Jared bought this plant that eats flys...i don't think it works...

What is going on in our front yard every day

We went furniture shopping and our new couches will be here in a couple weeks!!! Im so excited!!!

We went for a little picnic at the park 

This is the day we left Oregon, Hallie was waving goodbye!

The newest Assistant Manager at Walmart, and the cutest one too!! 

What you NEED

when I was pregnant i was all stressed out because I wasn't sure exactly what I need for when Baby Hallie arrived! I would google all the time looking for a list that would tell me what I needed! There were lots of lists that were named things like "The ten absolute things you must have for Baby" or "Essentials for having a newborn" or "Must have's to giving birth". And then i would read these lists and feel even more stressed out because holy cow! How am I going to get that bassinet, that bathtub, that baby bag, that stroller, and so on!?!? And then how will I be able to fit it in my house!? Ahhh! Well let me just relieve anyone who is pregnant and wondering what they really NEED. ALL YOU NEED IS MILK! and it comes for FREE straight from your body! So you literally don't need anything else to keep a baby alive. thats it. Period. Obviously it would be nice to have some diapers and wipes handy, but the baby will still live if you don't have that. i mean seriously, I don't know how  i thought i needed so many things. Ok now let me be realistic. Milk, diapers, wipes, clothes, blankets, soap....ok those are the things that I would say you really NEED for reals. The rest is just fluff. Like, you dont need a crib, you dont need a changing table, you dont need a bouncer seat, you dont need a bumbo, you dont need a swing, you dont need a night light, you dont need a rocking chair, you don't NEED it.
I started this post out feeling like it might help people but I think it ended as a vent page with my frustration on all those articles I read about people telling me I  needed all this junk. So hopefully it wasnt a huge waste of time! Thats all! :)

Newberg Life

Everyone goes through highs and lows in life and right now I am at a high! I just love my life! I love Jared and Hallie is just the cutest and I love our cute little apartment and our adorable little town and our ward is just amazing! And then i have a season pass to the zoo where i can see cute animals all the time! Its just so great! :) I'm always telling Jared that I wish i could freeze time and we could just stay in this moment forever! But then i realize that wouldn't be much fun cuz then life would never get better than it already is! ;)

So im not quite sure what im going to write about today so I will just go through my camera and find pictures with a story!

This picture was taken a couple weeks ago before we left for church. I LOVE Hallies hair! It is so much fun and SO SO adorable! I think it is so cute when i pull it back in a ponytail like this, but it usually doesnt last long because she rubs her head on the floor and the ponytail comes out or Jared pulls it out because he likes it to look "natural". lol

Hallie thinks it is the funnest thing to grab everyone's face and squeeze it really hard! and she likes to put her fingers in others peoples mouths and pull hair and all sorts of fun things! This picture is extra good though because she is also rubbing her feet all over my face! 

For Valentines day we did a little photoshoot in the bedroom. I got some really cute pictures of her, but the ones with all the kisses didnt turn out as well! HAHA Maybe because my kiss marks dont look that good! but they did turn out really funny! She is such a silly little baby! 

My favorite part of the day is when Jared comes home from work and he and Hallie just 'hang out' together. They are such buds! It is so sweet and cute and just makes my heart happy!

I started "oil pulling" like a week ago! This is the Before picture. i think i can already see a difference in the whiteness but i need to do it longer to tell! It was really disgusting when i started but im getting used to the taste!

We went to the park on Valentines day. It was a fun little outing as a family :) 

Hallie really likes this little pay thing her Grandma nelson got her. She thinks it is really fun! I like to stick her in here while I clean the apartment ;)