Happy Halloween!

The best treat... ever.

Claire Marie White

October 31st, 1:55 PM

7 lbs. 1 oz. and 21 inches

Summertime, it came and went...

Since our last post, not too much exciting has happened.

Highlights of June:

I took a 6 week summer class to make my semester a little easier in the Fall.

I started working at Red Robin to keep myself busy and to have a little extra money. It's been awesome working there. I've been given the best schedule, and every one there is so nice to me because I'm pregnant. I make way more money at this Red Robin than I ever did when I worked at one up in PA, so it's been great.

Jared continued working at USF's writing center, and he started work at Hillsborough Community College's writing center. On the side, he was doing private editing for some people. Needless to say, there was no time for fun the month of June.

Highlights of July:

I start my second 6 week summer class and continued work at Red Robin.

Jared took over as writing director at USF's writing center, so he had quite a bit of responsibility. He's my hard working husband and I'm grateful for that.

At the end of July, we moved from Jay's house to a new apartment. We absolutely love our new place (3 bedrooms!) It gives us a lot of space and it's brand new.

Highlights of August:

We finally broke out our camera.

The very first week of August, my good friend Suzanne came back to Florida to visit her family. Jared and I were able to meet up with her and her family at the beach for a day. It was so fun to see her and catch up. One day, we'll get to Denver to visit her.

Then, we spent a week in PA visiting my family. My sweet mom and sisters threw me a baby shower, and it was the best decorated baby shower I've ever been to. They had a clothes line filled with baby clothes around the entire tent and cute little center pieces made out of books, toy blocks, and teddy bears. It was so cute! Here are some pictures...

A glimpse of the center pieces, gift table, and baby clothes line

Not the best picture, but the only one I have with both my sisters in it

Me and the Grandmother to be :)

The rest of our trip to PA was wonderful, but apparently not worthy of pictures. We were able to go to Virginia and visit all four of my grandparents. It was so nice to see them and spend time. Unfortunately, it went by too fast but the exciting part was saying good bye because next time we saw them, I wouldn't be pregnant anymore!

After several weeks of being in our new place, we finally got Claire's nursery done. It was so fun to put together, and I often go in there and think about when she'll be here. We are so excited for her arrival! Here's just a couple pictures of the nursery...

We chose Winnie the Pooh because it's neutral and timeless. We figured it'll never get old and we can use it for future children. I painted the letters and tied ribbons to them. Jared helped me hang them up. We were pretty happy with the results.

The rocking chair where I'm sure I'll spend many nights and the book shelf, which Jared is very happy about. He likes that we already have a library started for her.

Just last week, we both started our Fall semesters. I am in my last semester at UT, and just have 2 more classes until I graduate with my masters! It can't come soon enough. Claire will get here mid semester, so I've been able to work out some accelerated schedules with my professors. I am also working as a graduate assistant on campus, so two jobs and two classes right now is keeping me busy.

Jared was offered a teaching position at UT this Fall, which is awesome. We get to go to work together twice a week! When he's not teaching at UT, he is working at HCC's writing center or editing private jobs. We are in for a hectic semester, but we can't wait!

Big News

The big news of the day ... week ... month ... year ... ever ...

We're having a baby! And it's a girl!

We are so very excited. We just found out today that she's a girl, and now she will officially be spoiled to death. A boy would have been spoiled too, but all grandmas and aunts have said girls stuff is way more fun to buy! I agree.

This is the first baby on my side of the family, since I was a baby, so it's big news in the Tizio world. My mom and dad can't wait to be grandparents, my brothers and sisters can't wait to be uncles and aunts, and my grandparents can't wait to be great-grandparents. It's fun, to say the least.

Jared's family has been awesome too, and what great timing! All three of his sisters have had or are having babies within the year. His older sister had her little boy in March, his first younger sister had her triplets in November, and his other younger sister will have her little girl in August. Lots of cousins to love and play with!

Hopefully by the time our little girl gets here, we can become professionals at blogging so that our families and friends (who are so far away) can keep updated.

The spring semester turned into a busy one for Jared and me, both. I started my first semester of graduate school and Jared finished his last semester of graduate school. We both finished the semester with 4.0 GPAs, but it was a lot of hard work. Between school, work, and church, this blog was the last thing on my mind, but now that the semester is over and living is easy, I thought I'd update since my last post...

Jared and I splurged a bit for Valentine's day and went out on a nice date together. Usually our dates consist of doing homework together and maybe playing a game of Yahtzee for a break, but for our first Valentine's day as a married couple, we decided to go out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, The Cheesecake Factory. It was awesome (and seems so long ago!).

Jared and me at Cheesecake Factory

The month of march was a very busy one! We both had Spring Break, but during different weeks. For my Spring Break, Jared took off some school, and we went to the beach for several days in celebration of our one year anniversary. We went down to Siesta Key Beach, and booked a couple nights at a hotel a few miles from the beach. When we got there, they told us they didn't have our reservation and that Expedia must not have sent it to them. They told us it wasn't their problem and we were welcome to call Expedia and see if they could fix it, but they only had one more room. After an hour phone call with Expedia, I got them to upgrade us from a small hotel room at the Holiday Inn Express to a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom condominium a mile from the beach. It was awesome! It had a living room, kitchen, and outside eating area. It was a great way to spend our anniversary!

Our Upgraded Condo

Jared and me on Siesta Key Beach

For Jared's Spring Break, which was the week after mine, he had some friends from his BYU days come down and visit us. They all have a mutual friend who works at Disney World, so during their visit all four of us went to Disney World to visit her. It was a lot of fun, and since Jared and I have been so many times since we've lived in Florida, we didn't feel a need to rush through the park and do everything, so it was more relaxing than the usual Disney trip. After Disney, we spent a day down in Sarasota at our friend Josiah and Lisa's pool and played tennis and had a great time. It was good to have them in town.

Peter and Tanner on the Disney World tram

So after all the excitement of Spring Break was over, life was pretty dull again. We just got back to going to class, and doing homework, and being boring. But, sometime in April we had a ton of rain! It knocked our power out for pretty much a whole day, but worse than that, it flooded our street, and I mean seriously flooded. Fortunately, our house is built on stilts off the ground, so we didn't have any damage to our house, but my car wasn't so lucky. The water flooded just high enough to seep through the cracks in my door, and there was about 2-3 inches of water in the floor of my car. Jared and I went wading through the dirty street water to push my car up the street a little bit further where there wasn't as much flooding. It was quite an adventure. My car smelt awful for several days, but it's back to normal now.

My car during the flood

In April, Jared and I booked a last minute flight to Allentown to visit my family for his birthday, Easter, and my sister Megan's birthday. All of them fell within 4 days of each other, so we took a few classes off and were able to see my family for a weekend. It was quick, but good to be home. We just spent a lot of time with family and it was great. In all the excitement, we forgot to take pictures, but our plan is to go back again this Summer, so hopefully we'll get some then!

The first week of May was finals week for both of us, but Jared didn't really have any finals because he already turned in his thesis and had it approved. I, on the other hand, had several, with my last one on Thursday night. Friday morning, we took off again, this time to see Jared's family. Jared's graduation was Friday night, but we skipped it and decided we'd rather be with his family than sitting through a three hour graduation ceremony. Jared's brother, Colton, picked us up from the airport! So fun, because I had yet to meet him. He just returned from his mission in Guatemala. It was so fun to get to know him this trip. Because of Colton's homecoming, all of Jared's siblings and their families came in to town, so we got to see everybody (23 people between siblings, spouses, and kids). It was a nut house but so fun!! We had family photos done while we were there, but haven't got them from the photographer yet. I'll post them as soon as we do.

Jared, Bergen, Colton, and Monique (4 of 6 White kids)

Story time with Hannah, Sicily & Brielle

This Summer should be relaxing, relatively speaking. Jared is done with school for a little while, so he'll just be working at USF as the assistant director of the writing center. He's applying for some adjunct teaching positions in the Fall at a couple local schools, so we're hoping he can have some additional experience there. I will be taking 2 classes this Summer, and possibly working, if I find something that interests me enough. I might go back to waitressing, but only because the money is unmatched. In the fall, I'll go back to being a graduate assistant at UT and finish up my Masters program, and then ... off to Georgia!

Our Living Arrangements

This post is for Monique, and anyone else who is interested in seeing our home.

We are currently house-sitting for one of Jared's professors.

His house is perfect for the two of us.

I guess because it's in Florida, he feels the need to make it "beachy."

That is the only way to explain the different pastel colored walls in every room.

Here's a little tour of the White residence...

Our yellow stucco house with a bright red door

We didn't kill the lawn - Florida does that to everyone's yard

Our front porch and bench that we never use, it's too hot in Florida

Our blue living room - with a hand-painted table that apparently is worth a lot of money

When we first moved in, I told Jared to ask his professor if we could spray paint it white

The answer to that question was a definite No!

Our green walls in the kitchen - we don't have a picture of the kitchen

Somehow that got skipped

Our peach bedroom - it's impossible to match in this house

Our light yellow guest room - open for anyone who wants to come visit!

Our turquoise bathroom - I think Jared just wants me to show you all the various colors

Our bright yellow bathroom - We often think we left the light on in here because it is SO bright

Our dark blue office - sometimes we do work in here, but usually it is vacant

We also have a great backyard that is entirely fenced in. It's actually perfect for a dog, which we've talked about getting for safety and security reasons. We have since changed our minds and decided that neither of us have time or money for a pet. Hope you enjoyed the tour!

One Year Update

Time flies when you're having fun!

I can't believe we've been married almost a year now.

So many things have happened, and I have hardly any time for updates.

Here goes nothing...

March 6, 2010 - Jared and I were sealed in the Seattle temple!

It was the best day of both of our lives.

Here are just a few of the hundreds of pictures:

Seattle Temple

Finally - Mr. and Mrs. White!

The beautiful bridesmaids - all of my sisters!

The handsome groomsmen - (missing Colton)

Both families

After our wedding, we headed back to Tampa and left on a cruise to Mexico and Grand Cayman.

We had such a blast. We brought a disposable, waterproof camera with us to take pictures. Unfortunately, when we took it to get developed, the film was blank. This left us with very few pictures from our honeymoon.

Just boarded the ship!

Jared's hole in one on the top deck!

Headed to dinner on the ship!

Cozumel, Mexico

Happy honeymoon dinner! They sang and danced for us.

After the honeymoon, reality struck. We went full-swing until the end of that semester.

Over the summer, we had quite the vacation. We traveled up north and met Jared's family in Palmyra, NY, where we saw the Hill Cumorah pageant and other church history sites.

The Palmyra Temple

The chapel at the Peter Whitmer farm

The Peter Whitmer Farm

The Grandin Printing Shop - Book of Mormon Publication

From NY, we drove to Pennsylvania to spend some time with my family. My parents held a reception in our honor for my family who wasn't able to travel to Seattle in March. It was fun to celebrate again. Here are just a few pictures:

The bride and groom.. 4 months later

Dance party

The girls I never see, but always love

Me and my sisters - so fun!

Jared and me - showing off our moves

The reception was a blast. It was the fun of a wedding celebration without the stress of actually getting married. We had so much fun. After the reception, we went back to FL and didn't have much to look forward to until September. In September, we traveled to Snowbird to see Jared's family. Each year they all meet in Snowbird, UT and have a relaxing week. We definitely needed it - It was so much fun to spend time with our family, especially our nieces and nephews! Out of our whole week there - these are the only two pictures we got...

Our trip to the Salt Lake Temple, I'd never been! So fun!

The other lovebirds in front of the Salt Lake temple - love you both!

After snowbird, it was back to the books for us both until winter vacation. In December, I graduated from the University of Tampa with my bachelors in Accounting. What a relief! What I didn't realize is that in the near future I was going to decide to go right back to school again to get my masters. In January, I began my masters program, but not without enjoying being a college graduate!

I got my diploma!

My sweet parents came to support me!

And my sweet husband!

As a graduation/christmas present, Jared took me to Disney World. His brother Jud came down for a week, and over the weekend the three of us went to Disney World. We had so much fun! We did three parks in one day. I made both of them ride roller coasters that they didn't think they'd live through - they loved it! What a blast! I want Jared to take me again...

I love fantasia; the flowerpot broomsticks were so great to me!

Jared watched a documentary on the tree of life and felt a connection to it.

Jared, Jud, and me with Mickey!

On the Buzz Lightyear ride... It broke down, so we had a great picture opportunity!

The castle at Christmas! So pretty :)

After our fun in Florida, we headed up to Pennsylvania for Christmas. We spent two whole weeks with my family. It was so great to be home for so long. I don't remember the last time I was home that long. We had so much fun. I don't think I've ever played so many games in such a short period of time. Everyone was home, and it was so great! Unfortunately, we failed to take any pictures. From PA, we flew out to Boise, ID to see the White/Lee family. Jared's parents drove out to Boise with his brother Jud, and we stayed with his sister Bergen. She just had triplets so it was a mad house, but we loved every minute of it. The kids were so great, especially Jada. She was so much fun! We had so much fun, we didn't want to leave.

Our precious niece, Jada

All four of them! I miss being there so much!

Uncle Jared and Jada - Jada just woke up...

So sweet!

Now that the trip is over, we're back in Tampa. And that brings us to now. I just started my Masters of Science in Accounting program at the University of Tampa, and Jared is still working on his Masters of Fine Arts degree. The good news is, he graduates in May! And I graduate in August! Then we'll be off to a new adventure, who knows where, for Jared's PhD program! I'll try to be better at this blogging thing, but there's usually a million and one things to do. I hope you enjoyed catching up with us :)