Where Mommy + Daddy Fell in Love

October 26, 2014

Last weekend, Ben and I took a trip to Pittsburgh for a friend’s wedding.
We stayed with Ben’s older brother who lives in the same
town as the college we went to… Franciscan University in Steubenville Ohio.
Fall is the prettiest time of year to make that drive from Charlotte to Ohio! It was so beautiful.
visiting our college-thebusybudgetingmama

Sophia was so interested in hearing how mommy and dad fell in love! It was the sweetest.
So one day we took our crew to our old campus and gave them the tour.
Sophia…..” Soo.. were you like staring at each other and then walked to each other??
Then she did a real life emoji face with heart eyes. She loves love.

Sophia has also been asking about college a lot lately. It’s cute how excited she is about it. excited nervous. But I told her she has plenty of years before college. Although ben just reminded me last night that she is one third of the way. gahhh!
On the drive over she asked me if there was a play ground at our college. and when I said no, she responded with “then what do you do during outside time?!” haha.
visiting our college5-thebusybudgetingmama

Ben and I first saw each other in the library on campus.
On the drive up I had told ben we need to try and get a good photo of all of us in there…
it’ll be so good for memories……epic fail.
Libraries and silence and micah do not mix.
We were in there a hot second before we turned right back around haha.
(There it is in the top right photo’s background. close enough.)
visiting our college3-thebusybudgetingmama

We went around and saw one of ben’s old teachers… then let the kids run in the leaves. Randomly this student who was talking with some girls near us came up and asked if we wanted some family photos. He snapped a few right there while the kids played…two posed ones… and then he e-mailed them to us a few hours later….AMAZING!! It was like we hit the jackpot. Christmas card worthy. This mysterious (doesn’t want to be plugged) photographer was so cool. Photos were used in my previous post. (A Letter to my Children)
visiting our college2-thebusybudgetingmama

It was fun and kinda odd walking around campus with our kids.
Hard to believe how much has changed in 7 years!
visiting our college4-thebusybudgetingmama

I don’t know if I’ve shared this on my blog before.. but in college I kinda partied it up there for a while. But then I was realizing I just wasn’t feeling fulfilled and being where I wanted to be. My mom told me when my friends would go party to go to the gym. Which is kind of silly because I’m not very good at basketball. It was the second time I did that… that I had my first real conversation with ben. He was in the gym shooting hoops! The first time we talked was also in the gym..but it was a quick moment where he came up to me, standing with my friend Ian, and said “I see you all over campus I gotta know your name”
Lesson of the story. listen to your mother ;)
visiting our college7-thebusybudgetingmama

Micah only knows one speed. fast. only slows down to wave, find rocks, water fountains
and look at fire hydrants. He walked into FUS like he owned the place…it was hilarious.
visiting our college6-thebusybudgetingmama

Loved making these memories with the kids. Life is moving in super speed.
Trying to slow down and soak it all up! Hope you are having a great weekend!
(all the photos in the post were taken with my phone.
If you want to check out how I edit my phone photos, watch my video tutorial!)


  • Belinda
    October 26, 2014 at 6:33 pm

    What a lovely idea…taking your children to the place where it all began!!! Always so nice to take a walk down memory lane.

    Micah reminds me of my youngest son – always on the move, always exploring!

    So nice of the student offering to take some lovely photos of you guys! They are really great.

  • Stacy
    October 26, 2014 at 6:51 pm

    Such a great post! I went to FUS but my husband did not. It is my hope that one day we will get to go for a visit and I’ll get to show him and our little one around campus. I graduated in 2011 but the campus sure has already changed a bit. Love your photos! Fall is the best time to take photos on campus.

  • Jeanine @ sixtimemommy.com
    October 26, 2014 at 10:27 pm

    What a great idea! I love sharing this with the kids – I bet it makes them feel apart of those early days too! Such beautiful photos too!

  • Inese
    November 2, 2014 at 4:00 pm

    We also recently talked a lot and visited some places with 6 years old where we fall in love. I think it is very important to children understand how family creates.
    And story about Sophia’s comment on playground is hilarious. :)