Paradise

Did you know that if you book a cruise at the very last minute, you can get an amazing deal on it?? Well, since we are at that very, very rare point in our life where we can actually pick up and go on a trip last minute, we decided to make the most of it. So, during Michael's Spring Break a couple weeks ago, we went on our first ever cruise... to the Bahamas and Key West! We took off from Jacksonville, FL (about an 8 hour drive from Nashville) on a Monday and got back early Saturday morning. We were home that night, just in time to watch BYU make it to the Sweet 16. (Too bad the Cougs didn't make it any farther than that....) :-(

It was amazing.... and oh so relaxing. No work, no school, no cold.... just the sun, sand, ocean, and lots of good food. The only bad thing that happened was that one of us got really, really seasick the first night. Guess who it was? :-) We really should have been more prepared considering Michael gets sick on pretty much anything that moves. Haha. We learned our lesson, bought him some seasick pills, and by the next day, he was MUCH better.

I think our favorite part of the trip was the Bahamas. I wish we could have stayed there longer. One day, we want to go back. Other highlights of the trip include: the yummy dinners, the fun shows, (especially the dancing ones!) the amazing sunsets, kayaking and snorkeling, and getting to lay out in the sun all the time.

Key West was cool too, but unfortunately we were there on St. Patrick's Day during Spring Break and the place was crazy full of drunk people. Still, the weather was beautiful and we had fun.

Here are some pictures:

Playing miniature golf on the top of the cruise

Right before dinner

Dinners were delicious! Michael didn't think that the 'fine dining' portions were big enough, so he usually ordered two entrees. :-)

He was brave and got snails as an appetizer one night.... he made me try them... not my favorite.

Bahamas!

Isn't the water so pretty? (Bahamas)

Clear kayaks- awesome! Since Michael felt a little queasy when he looked down, ;-) he did most of the paddling while I enjoyed watching the fish.

Snorkeling

Drinking from a coconut seemed so tropical and fun, but it was pretty gross.

Getting back on the cruise after a fun half day in the Bahamas

Key West!

Also Key West... I thought I saw a turtle in there but then Michael put the idea of it being a baby saltwater crocodile in my head and I got freaked out. :-) You can see my 16 1/2 week baby bump here.

Key Lime Pie in Key West. YUM!

One of many pretty sunsets we watched from the cruise

The slide on the cruise

The trip was awesome and I'm so glad we went. Now we're back to real life which means lots of studying (for Michael) and getting ready for the baby!! We'll know for SURE whether it's a girl or a boy in about a week (the doctor told us at my last ultrasound that he was 70% sure it was a boy but I was only 14 weeks along and it was still a little too early to know for sure) so I'm excited for this next ultrasound.

Tennessee Tourist

I know that being a tourist is usually considered kind of nerdy. They whip out a camera every two minutes, get excited over everything, and wear fanny packs in all sorts of crazy colors. But you know what? I LOVE being a tourist- even in my own city. I may not own a fanny pack, but I definitely love exploring the places that I usually take for granted and taking lots of pictures.

One of the best things about having people come visit us is that I get a great excuse to act all touristy. :-) A few weeks ago Michael's mom, Kathy, came to visit us and I think we took her to almost every tourist attraction in the state of Tennessee. And of course, I had a blast.

We first took her to downtown Nashville. It's nothing special, but there's always lots of live music going on and it's fun to walk by and listen.

We then paid a visit to Memphis. It's a solid three hours away, so it was an all-day excursion. This was actually the first time that me and Michael spent time in Memphis. The only other time we've been there was when we stopped at a Taco Bell for lunch on our way to Nashville right after our wedding. We were antsy to finish our road trip so we didn't spend any extra time there. Well, if you are a big Elvis or Grizzlies fan, go to Memphis at least once. If you're not, stay away. One word: ghetto!!!! Luckily, we went to Memphis for Graceland, which was really cool, so our trip was super fun and very much worth it. I was never a huge Elvis fan, but he sure was interesting.

Touring Elvis' mansion

Outside the mansion
Blue suede shoes!
Don't ask me why we didn't take a picture with the sign that was actually in front of Graceland as opposed to with the sign in front of a parking lot under construction.

After we were done at Graceland, we decided to check out the city a little more. Like I mentioned, nothing impressive, except some good BBQ, and the Grizzlies arena.

During the rest of the week we also went to the parthenon, Opryland, and the Belmont mansion. And of course, we showed her around Lipscomb.

While me and Michael have been to the parthenon a few times, this was our first time actually going inside. Pretty cool.

Just outside of Opryland

Inside the Opryland Resort :)

Belmont Mansion- this belonged to a woman who had ridiculous amounts of money. It's now in the middle of Belmont University.

We had a great time touring Tennessee and spending time with Kathy. I'm excited for the next time we have visitors so we can do it again! :)

A Short Letter

Dear Baby Byram,

From the first day that I found out about you, I knew that you were meant to come to our family, and I couldn't believe how lucky I was. I am going to be a mom!! YOUR mom! You should have seen how excited your dad was when he heard the news- I'm pretty sure that he literally jumped for joy. Needless to say, we are both beyond excited for you to get here, and I am only 14 weeks along!

I don't know much about you yet, but I do know that you're very active. Recently, every time I have had an ultrasound, you won't sit still for even a second. It's sure fun to watch! I heard your heartbeat for a total of about 2 seconds because that was as much as the nurse could get with you squirming all over the place. I can't wait until I can actually feel you moving.

I also know that you are very special. I am surprised by how much I already love you, and love carrying you. Sure, I have had my sick days, and I tend to constantly crave meat that I can't afford to eat very often, like steak (yum!) but I have had a relatively easy pregnancy compared to many. Plus, I absolutely love learning about how you're growing and developing.

I have suspected that you are a boy, (as have many others!) but nothing is sure yet. I am SO ready to start shopping for you, so I hope we find out soon! And since you won't be here until the end of August, (your due date is August 30th) I am going to prepare myself the best I can to be your mother. I can't wait to meet you!

Love,
Mom

How It Began

Recently, I have had a lot of people ask me to tell the story of how I met my husband. Well, when we got engaged, my mom asked me to send her the story of how we met, and she put it on her blog. I figured I'd steal that blog post from my parents and put it on here, for anyone who hasn't already read it and is interested. Michael also added his own version, which is embarrassing, but he's convinced that his side of the story is "way better and more accurate," so I'll add that too.

It's crazy to think that I have actually known him for 5 1/2 years! When I met him, I had just started my BYU adventure and he was still a UNLV student (I have since forgiven him for this) ;-) about to leave for London on his mission. It's also crazy that exactly six months ago we were in the temple, being sealed for time and all eternity. :-) Best decision ever. Anyway, here it is:

Carly:

Michael and I met in September 2005. A lot of his friends from Las Vegas were in my freshman ward and he came to visit them before he left for his mission to London. One day after work I came back to my dorm and my roommate told me that some "random cute guy" named Michael had come over looking for me and had wanted to take me on a date. I thought it was funny but figured he was just acing like a funny 'freshman' and I would probably not ever even meet him. The next day I went to a dance party that the guys' hall in our ward was throwing. While there with my roommates, someone came behind me and said, "Carly?" When I turned around he said, "My name is Michael Byram and I tried desperately to get a date with you." I was surprised by how cute I thought he was. After talking to him, I found out that he was a UNLV student and would be leaving for his mission in about a week. He then asked me out for the next night. I already had plans and also had to work so I turned him down. He said something like, "Okay, well it was nice to meet you," and walked away. I was a little bummed I would never see him again but figured it wasn't a big deal since he was about to go on a mission anyway. About two minutes later he came back to me and said, "Okay, how about lunch tomorrow?" I was impressed by his persistence so even though I was going to have to miss a BYU football game to go out with him (gasp!) I agreed. The next day we went to lunch at Brick Oven and saw the movie "Just Like Heaven." We also got ice cream at Cold Stone and played a couple video games at Best Buy. He was quite the charmer. When he dropped me off at my dorm he got my address and told me he'd write me. I figured I would never hear from him again, but he ended up keeping in touch with me for his whole mission. When he got back from his mission he decided to transfer to BYU and we became fast friends. A couple years later we started dating and now here we are!!!

Michael:

I met Carly before she met me. Visiting some friends at BYU I saw her teach a Sunday school course on...you'll never guess... eternal marriage. When I saw her and listened to her testimony the Spirit spoke to my heart and I knew that this girl was special. Of all of the girls that I have ever met I had the hardest time getting Carly off of my mind. I knew that I was leaving on my mission in a little over a week, but I also knew that if I didn't at least go find out about this amazing woman that I would regret it for the rest of my life. I did not want to spend forever wondering what might have been so I took some initiative and went to ask her on a date. It took me over a day of telling myself that I had to go talk to her before I was able to muster up the courage to ask her out. After an interview with her roommate and then her RA, seeing if I was fit to take her on a date, I was told that she wasn't home.

I strongly dislike dances and parties, but "she" was going to be there, so I went the next day. I kept asking people when she was going to come and looking around for her, but when she got there I was mortified again. Not only was she special, but she was the most breathtaking beauty that I had ever seen. She was beautiful enough to intimidate a 19 year old, very cocky Michael Byram. So I came up behind her and started talking. "Carly, my name is Michael Byram and I tried desperately to get a date with you yesterday." I found it easier to talk to her if I didn't have to make eye contact. I asked her out for the following evening and she told me she had a "mandatory meeting" for work, which, as everyone knows, means a date at 7pm on a Saturday. Finally beaten, I wished her well and walked away. A friend of mine asked me what happened as I was walking away and when he found out said, "I knew you couldn't get a date with her." I stopped, looked at him, and turned back around. Much in the same way as I had begun talking to her before I said, "How about tomorrow afternoon? Don't make me beg, I will beg in front of all of these people and then you will just look mean if you tell me no."

As we sat across from each other at Brick Oven the next day I couldn't eat my pizza. My stomach was all tied up in knots. I seriously only ate one slice while Carly sat across from me and ate over half the thing. I was seriously so nervous. Never in a million years did I think that I could have been on a date with someone so pretty. As the date went on it got worse. Not my nerves, but that she was so enthralling. I wanted to hear everything that she had to say. I was having the time of my life. Terrible timing. So I went on my mission. I wrote her almost every week; she wrote me bi-yearly. I returned home two years later and sought after her ever since. After a couple of years of convincing I got my chance. I am so lucky for the way everything has worked out. I often wonder what would have happened if I hadn't found the courage to approach the woman of my dreams.

It Pays To Marry Nerdy

As many of you know, Michael started working at Best Buy last October. He is now much more into computers and tech-y stuff and has learned lots of useful things by spending some of his shifts with the Geek Squad.

Well, when we first got married I thought that we wouldn't need to buy a new computer or laptop for a long time since Michael had two laptops that were working just fine. However, within a couple weeks of our wedding one laptop pretty much fell apart. All we had left was the newer (but not as nice) one. Well, that one has slowly been falling apart as well. Just our luck! Since it would be unbelievably inconvenient to not own a laptop or computer, we decided that we'd use our tax return money to get a new computer. Michael has converted to more of a computer guy rather than a laptop guy, so we went to Best Buy a couple weeks ago to look at their computers. It's not exactly cheap to get a nice one... and we really wanted one that would easily last long enough to get him through grad school. So Michael proposed the idea of building a computer himself. He said it would be much cheaper this way for a quality computer. I was skeptical at first because .... well ... it just seemed complicated. But eventually Michael convinced me to let him to do it and I'm so glad I did! We have a brand new computer and it didn't even hurt our wallets too much! Here are a couple of pictures... the first one is of Michael and his friend building the computer, (I guess they needed a hard surface to work on, which is why they're in the kitchen) and the second is of the finished product!


Yay!! I am so glad that my husband is a nerd! It has proven very useful. :-)

Anyway, earlier this month we got to take a trip to my parents' house in LA for my little brother's homecoming! It has been so great to have him home, and it was SO nice to be with him and the rest of the family... and in warm weather! Gosh how I miss the warm weather. As our plane descended into Nashville we were greeted by yet another winter storm. I have gotten very sick of hardly being able to open my car door early in the morning when I'm leaving for work because it is frozen shut. Sorry, I didn't really mean to start on another winter rant... ha. Anyway, here are a few pictures from the trip.


Oh, and one other thing that I think is kind of funny- Michael joined an intramural basketball team at Lipscomb and guess what their team name is? The Flying Fredettes. The best part is that Michael didn't even come up with the name... a bunch of guys on the team just knew that Michael went to BYU and surprised him with their team name. I love it, because now a few of those guys have become huge Jimmer and BYU fans. As far as I am concerned, Michael has done them a lifelong favor.