2014 Top 10

10. Celebrated our 1st Wedding Anniversary!

Hallie was born on the 25th of July, and our anniversary is on the 27th of July. Sooo neither of us were really feeling up to a fancy night out on the town. Our celebration consisted of a mini Martinelli that the hospital gave us, a slice of our yummy wedding cake and lots of snuggling with our 2-day-old baby girl! It was fun to look back on the previous months and see how far we'd come since we got married.

9. Discovered Our Love of Indian Food

We celebrated Eric's Dad's birthday with a trip to a new Indian restaurant in Idaho Falls (Tandoori Oven??) That, combined with watching "The Hundred Foot Journey" led to our love of Indian food! We even cooked it up for ourselves one night!

8. First family trip to the zoo on FREE zoo day!

I've been begging Eric to go to the zoo for forever! He always tells me that it's a lame little zoo and not worth the money. So when I heard about a FREE ZOO DAY, I was all over that. Hallie was 2 months old at the time, so we strapped her in the carseat and had a great day at the zoo. We loved it and Eric admitted that it was a lot cooler than he remembered it.

7. Got to be apart of Madi opening her mission call,  going through the temple and being set apart!

Eric's sister Madi headed off to the MTC on December 17th. It was so cool to be able to be there when she opened her mission call (Lisbon Portugal), went through the temple and was set apart. We're so proud of her!

6. Discovered Rexburg's Drive-in Movie Theater

Some of our favorite date nights were spent at the Drive-In theater in Rexburg. We love how cheap it is and that you get to watch two movies for less than the price of one movie at a normal theater. It was Eric's first time at a real drive-in and he loved it!

5. Organized and ran the Annual BYU-I Slam Dunk Competition

For my senior project, I partnered up with Taylor Hartman to organize and run BYU-I's annual Slam Dunk Competition (the competition that Eric had previously won TWICE!) It was a lot of work and a lot of fun. We were really bummed that Eric injured his ankle just a week before the competition, so he couldn't dunk, but he made a great judge! The show turned out awesome, we couldn't have been happier!

4. Noelle graduated from BYU-I with a Bachelors in Communication

Yayayyay! (Please note the adorable grandpa and Uncle Boyce in the background)

3. Spent the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays with our families!

We were spoiled this holiday season. We got to spend Thanksgiving with my family in Overton. The weather was gorgeous and we had so much fun. It was seriously one of the best weeks of the whole year! Then for Christmas, we spent the first half of the break with the Hillam's in Idaho Falls. We played lots of Rook and loved spending time with Jordan and Crystal and their kids. We had a great time! On Christmas afternoon, we flew out to Overton for Hallie's first plane ride. She did great! We loved spending another few days in Overton where Eric and I hardly ever saw Hallie. She was always being held and loved by others. She loved it! We had spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in Idaho Falls last year, so it was awesome to be able to spend some time in Overton.

2. Got into our Dental School of Choice

Wahooooo! This was also one of the best days ever! Eric spent all Fall semester flying around the country interviewing for Dental Schools. He did great and got into several schools, but we weren't happy until we heard back from the Idaho Dental Education Program (IDEP). We will spend our first year of Dental School in Pocatello at ISU, and the last three at Creighton in Omaha, Nebraska. We couldn't be happier!

1. Welcomed Hallie Grace Hillam into our Family!

We became parents on July 25th, 2014. It was seriously one of the most painful days ever, but with out a doubt one of the happiest days ever! We fell in love instantly and fall more and more in love with her every day! She is such a happy baby and we feel so blessed to have her. We love watching her learn and grow and discover new things! She is our joy and has made 2014 a year to remember!

FHE 6/18/14

Song and Lesson: Noelle

Activity and Treats: Eric

After a lovely meal of fried rice (it's become a Monday night tradition), and after waiting until exactly 6:00 pm to begin because that's when the World Cup Soccer game finished, we had FHE.

We sang a primary song and then for our lesson we pulled out our Patriarchal Blessings and reviewed them. We did this right after we first got married and it was so fun and cool to read each other's blessings and literally read about ourselves in the other's blessing. Both of our blessings have segments in them that talk about our future spouses so that was pretty cool...

We also picked out all the parts that talked about our kids and our future as a family.  It really is amazing how perfectly Eric and my blessings correlate. Especially when it comes to our relationships with the family's we were raised in, some of our specific duties that we have together as a family, and special instructions in how to manage our finances. They seriously match perfectly. It was way cool. It was really good to review them and congratulate ourselves in the areas we are doing well in and set goals for ourselves to help us do better in the areas that we need to.

For Eric's activity we went to Walgreens to get a passport picture taken for his Dental Application. We also went and got a frosty at Wendy's for treats. The rest of the activity went as follows: I watched Masterchef and Eric paid dental application fees for 9 different schools. 

Monday nights are seriously the best.

Graduation Designing

We have two little sisters graduating from High School tomorrow!  Here's the best part... they're both coming to BYU-I in the Fall! Eric and I are SO excited to have them up here. Wait there's more.. .they're even living together at my old apartment complex.. Royal Crest. It'll be a party I'm sure.

I got to help them both design their graduation announcements... here's a couple more designs we came up with that didn't quite make the cut. But... I thought they were cute too... so I'mma put them on here.

This is the one Holly ended up going with. It's hanging on our fridge now and I LOOOVE IT!

This was my personal favorite

Free Woman + Update

School starts back up for Spring semester at BYU-I on Monday, and for the first time in 4 years, I won't be attending!

Because I graduated...

It kind of breaks my heart to be honest. I love school. I love my classes. Truth be told, I could have graduated with my bachelors a year ago, but I've been prolonging this day as long as possible.

Because 1. I've accumulated quite the little stash of continuous scholarships over the past four years, so I technically get paid more money to go to school than I would get working full time, out of school. and 2. I've taken so many fun classes this past year! Cooking, sewing, water aerobics, swimming, badminton, tennis, interior design, pregnancy, women's health, parenting etc.

Pretty much I feel like I've been getting paid to have fun and learn about cool stuff! I'm way sad to see those classes end, but so glad I had the opportunity to take them!

As much as I hate to admit that it's over, the timing is pretty great. I am currently entering my last trimester of pregnancy and am excited to just be able to get things ready for baby this semester and take these next three months easy.

Also, I still conveniently live right across the street from campus, and because I am the spouse of a student I still have full access to all of the wonderful activities and facilities that BYU-I/ Rexburg have to offer.

Now that I'm graduated, people keep asking me how the job hunt is going. Truth be told, I haven't done one ounce of job hunting. I have been an employee every day for the past 7 years and I'm excited to just be a wife and a mom right now. I kind of feel a little guilty when people ask, but as much as I love having a job and an income, I just really don't want to work right now! Is that so bad?

Eric has had this past semester off of school and it has been so fun to have a not busy/not stressed out husband! We have played and played and played and have absolutely loved spending so much time together. I'm really sad to see that end as he has a full load of tough classes coming up, but I'm excited to be able to help and support him the way that he has supported me through my last semester.

We're still managing Delta Phi Single Men's Housing. The guys are great, our owner is great, the location is great. We can't complain and feel so blessed to have this opportunity. Most married couples would kill for a gig this great.

Overall, life is pretty good and we're feeling pretty blessed!

FAQ: Baby Hillam

Q: When did you find out you were pregnant?

A: We found out in October. We were both taking a full load of classes, on a couple sports teams and managing an apartment complex. On top of that, I was working 20 hours a week and serving in the Relief Society Presidency. So we were busy! And then I started getting exhausted! I'd come home and just fall asleep. No energy to do anything. I was taking 2-3 naps a day and falling asleep in class! (I NEVER fall asleep in class!) I started ditching my aerobics class simply because I was just so stinking tired! We took a pregnancy test and it came back negative. Oh I should also mention that I was always thirsty and using the restroom. After the test came back negative, Eric jokingly told me that I probably had diabetes. I didn't know he was joking and lost sleep over that for days! We decided to spend a few bucks and get a better test, so we did and one Sunday morning at 6 am, we found out we were going to be parents! Eric jumped up and down with excitement, I fell back asleep.

Q: Have you been sick?

In a word. Yes. I won't go into too much detail. I will say that I have spent more time on the bathroom floor then I ever thought imaginable. Eric thinks it's hilarious when I throw up. I can hear him in the other room trying to stifle his laughter. I'll admit, he has good reason to. These are violent episodes of gagging, gasping for air, dry heaves and all sorts of other noises I didn't know I could make. Add a tear stained, raccoon-eyed face and you'll see why he laughs. 

Q: Why didn't you tell anyone?!

 I don't really have a good answer for this one. A lot of different little reasons I guess. We told our family at about 9 weeks and then saved the big announcement for when we found out the gender. So don't be offended if you had no idea we were pregnant, hardly any one did :) I'm not really showing very much, so it was easy to hide!

Q: Did you want a boy or a girl?

A: We both would have been happy with whatever. But I've always heard that girl pregnancies are more difficult than boy ones, so I was hoping it was a girl because I didn't want to ever be more sick than I already was. My mom also had a hunch early on that it was a girl. My mom is ALWAYS right about these kinds of thinks (her hunches). So I piggybacked off of that until I had myself totally convinced it was a girl! 

Q: How did the ultrasound go?

It went great! She was doing a headstand so we saw right off that she was a girl. We could hardly see her face at all, so we didn't get too many good pictures of her face. For both of the ultrasounds, she was wiggling and squirming the whole time. They measured her up and looked for any warning signs and said that she was right on track and looked great!

This picture is from our first ultrasound. Eric practicing holding a baby.

Q: How did you tell your family?

We were planning on waiting til Christmas, but we spent Thanksgiving with Eric's family and I just slept the entire time and didn't eat any of their delicious food, so they probably just thought I was a lame-o. I couldn't hide it anymore, so one night we decided to tell them. Eric volunteered to say the blessing on the food and in the middle of the prayer he said, "And please bless our little baby that it will grow healthy and strong and that Noelle won't be sick anymore." Needless to say, that prayer ended quickly.

Q: Do you have any names picked out?

We have a handful that we both like, but we'll probably wait til she's born to decide on one.

Q: Due date?
She's due on July 25th. Right during finals week for Eric. I actually think it's perfect timing because I'll be graduated (in 5 weeks!!) and Eric will have just finished up Spring semester, so we'll have her for 7 weeks before school starts up again for Eric. It's also kind of funny because one girl who serves with me in the Relief Society presidency is due on the same day!

Q: Does Natalie know?
Natalie is my little sister on a mission in Ecuador. We tried to tell her at Christmas when we skyped with her but the connection was really bad. We showed her the ultrasound pictures and typed to her that we were having a baby, but she totally didn't believe it. So we kind of dropped it and thought it would be funny to not mention it again until we have the baby (Which will probably come on or around her birthday).

Really bad picture, but the internet was so bad that she was frozen like this alll the time.

Welp, hopefully we answered all your questions! We are SOOO excited to have this little girl be apart of our family! I can't believe I'm only barely half way done, but I'm hoping the next half will fly.

Thanks for your love and support!

Eric and Noelle

20 Weeks

Maternity Clothes? No, not quite. But this is embarrassing... When I'm sitting in class, I unbutton my jeans and sometimes forget to button them back up when I leave. Whoops!

Sleep: I snagged Eric's body pillow and have been sleeping a lot better lately.

Best moments: Planning for the future

Missing anything? Running! Oh I miss running and playing sports outside. I still can, but it's just too cold.

Movement? Here and there I will feel something. But nothing too strong yet. Except when I'm laying on the floor on my tummy... I get rebuked very strongly when I do that.

Food Cravings: I'm trying really hard not to give into my sudden, random food cravings. Eric does a good job at not indulging me. I did have a week moment a few weeks ago and insisted that I get a carton of fresh blueberries. I also wish more than anything that I could have a rare steak and a fresh peach every single night.... not gonna happen.  

Queasy or Sick?  Only throwing up about once a week (usually Wednesday). But I still can't stand garlic or onions and a few other specific dishes that I used to adore (Spaghetti Carbonara, Sushi, Quesodillas)

Gender: Wahooo it's a girl! I've been saying that it was since Christmas! SO excited!

Symptoms: Bad, throbbing headaches. 

THIS WEEK

This is the week that Eric and I have both been anticipating/dreading/anxiouslyawaiting/why-did-it-take-so-long-to-get-here?? for several months now.

Needless to say, it's a big week for us.
But let me rewind.

I haven't updated this blog in months. MONTHS I tell you! So why now? Because it's 10:32 pm on a school night and I am home alone in my little Rexburg apartment. I don't want to clean. I don't want to do homework. I didn't even make myself dinner. Two packages of fruit snacks and handful of tortilla chips  later... I'm blogging because I can't think of what else to do!

Eric, on the other hand is spending the night at his parents house in Idaho Falls, leaving me here all alone. The nerve right?! Just kidding. There is a very reasonable explanation.

 He has to wake up bright and early and drive to Pocatello to take the Dental Admission Test. Pretty much the test that determines whether or not he'll be accepted to Dental School (although we all know he's going to rock it). It's kind of a big deal and he's been studying like a mad man for the past month and a half. So to cut his early morning journey in half, he spent the night in IF.  Very logical reasoning, but heck, I should have just skipped school and gone with him. In our six months of marriage, we've never been apart overnight and sleeping in your own apartment all alone is scary! Yes, even in Rexburg, ID.

We're both so excited for this test to be done with. He'll start up his internship with his dad next week, and I'll have a non-stressed out husband for the rest of the semester!

But there's more. I'm graduating this semester!!! The final requirement I needed to fill in order to graduate is my senior project. So for my senior project, I'm putting on quite possibly the largest campus production of the semester. It's the annual BYU-Idaho Slam Dunk Competition.


  It's held every Winter semester, and this year me and another girl are running the whole show by ourselves. So far it's been really fun to plan and prepare for it, but my gosh it takes a lot of phone calls, begging and running around. We've worn ourselves out and are so ready for this event to come and go. It all goes down this Friday night and I couldn't be more excited. I'll have to write a whole post about why I decided to do this for the project and all the sentimentality it holds for me (Eric won the competition last year... we'd only been dating for 5 days when he won, but I was sold after that ;).

Essentially, the two huge stress points of our semester will be over in a matter of days, hours for Eric. Yayayayayyayyayayya! We haven't taken a single picture, gone out, done anything fun all semester simply because we've been so enthralled in these two projects and have been so stinking tired that we haven't wanted to.

So hopefully all that changes and after a weekend recovery, we'll be back to normal!

Wish us luck!

Love, Noelle

We Like to Win

We are the Hillams, and we like to win. At. EVERYTHING.

And we usually do, so it works out great.

Ok, ok, that's not always true. But it was the case for our first married ward party!

It was a fall themed activity that went something like this:

Apple Bobbing: 1st Place

Potato Relay: 1st and 2nd Place

Statues Game: 1st Place

Pie Eating Contest: 1st Place

Don't mind my slicked back hair and lack of make-up. Apple Bobbing is not a sport for a lady.

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Love, Eric and Noelle