Farewell Utah

As we prepare to shove of from the safe port of college-town-and-young-family-ville, USA, I'm inclined to reflect on all the things I will miss about this place. (There is a laundry list of things I will not miss about Utah, so let's keep things positive:)

The beautiful mountains. There's something almost magical about the way they turn red at sunset.

snow at Christmastime,

Patriotism. I'll give 'em this: Utahns sure are proud of their state and national history. 

Great pre-natal and pediatric care. I mean, sure you can find that other places too, but it's hard to beat the experience of the state that delivers more babies than any other in the nation. Plus, I love that Alexis's pediatrician has like 7 kids of his own. Now that's training.

In-N-Out (The best burgers ever invented.)

camping,

I mean real camping,

desert camping even,

 a temple always close by,

 and hiking, and hot springs, and National Parks too

Summer evenings that are delightfully cool and humidity-free, and the days are sunny 90% of the time.

Family-friendly activities everywhere you go.

Fry sauce. I mocked it, I tried it, I ate my words.

Vibrant fall colors. You wouldn't think so, but there are so few evergreens in the valley that ALL the leaves change. I especially loves how it starts in the mountains in September and moves its way into the valley. I really do love autumn in the west.

I'll miss the friendships made, and the comfort of being peculiar together, and most importantly, the memories.

Lest we forget, Sam and I attended college here, interned, worked many jobs, lived many places, fell in love, spent all of our marriage, and started our family.

Oh ok, Utah. You win. I'll miss you....kind of.

Summer Updates

And now for my next trick: the monthly blog update (someday I will blog more often. But not now).

First off: we're moving! And not just anywhere, we're moving to our beloved Georgia! I'm so grateful that this is where we're being lead. Call me boring, but going back "home" to settle is the greatest thing I could ever wish for. I AM DELIRIOUSLY HAPPY!

Alexis-girl is almost 9 months old and growing too fast! She took off crawling at 6 months and has never looked back. She can now pull up to a full stand holding on with only one hand (she's been doing that for weeks), and has even been documented walking across the room while pushing the laundry basket. We think she'll be full-on walking by fall. She will also soon be sporting 6 whole teeth and LOVES to feed herself. She'll eat just about anything we give her. (I'm also planning her first birthday (whaaaaaat?? how is my baby almost one?) and it's going to be so stinking adorable...

 ...just like her.

We've enjoyed some good holidays over the last month or so. Sam got spoiled rotten on Father's Day, if I do say so myself, though he does such a fantastic job being a part-time stay-at-home Daddy to Alexis that he totally deserves it.

We also had a pretty good July 4th. Alexis and I matched, ventured out to the Freedom Festival in downtown Provo (and roasted), grilled out, then she was surprisingly happy about being kept up so late to watch the fireworks at the Stadium of Fire. 

 Brats and blueberries - yum!

 

Now she's thoroughly enjoying all the boxes to play on as we get ready to move. Just a few more weeks, people, and we'll be Georgia peaches!

Memorial Day Trip and Southern Son

Sooo, remember that time when I had a very hyper baby who got into everything and never gave me a spare moment to put my hair up or fold the laundry or organize the back room that I've attempted to do for the millionth time and I worked in the afternoon too?

Wait, that time is now? Oh yeah. Facebook and Pinterest should reeeaallly take less of my time in the evenings, but for real: when you've been busy all. day. long. do you really want to spend your free time doing more housework or chores? I submit that you do NOT! Babies. Sheesh.

Ok, back to fun things.

Over Memorial Day week we enjoyed another lovely trip to Georgia, this time to celebrate my wee niece's 1st birthday!

Isn't she darling? It was the most tender and dainty destruction of a first birthday cupcake I'd ever seen.

Now this one, on the other hand, went nuts for the Shannon's dog like the crazy girl she is.

 Playing at Jenn and Sterling's.

Cute cousins.

 Mammy and her grandbabies

 Touring historic Roswell

A tender moment with Grandpa Shannon

On our last day we all enjoyed a jaunt to the Georgia Renaissance Festival where none of us had been in over 12 years.

The men enjoyed turkey legs and feats of strength.

Alexis enjoyed the view from the stroller, but preferred to be carried like a Princess (it was the Renaissance Festival after all)

 Despite the face here, she enjoyed the petting zoo most of all. (Duh, dogs!),

 and was adorable the entire time

And then came the leaving - even the weather was sad for me. We flew through a thunderstorm over Denver that nearly scared the pants off me.

 

And now we're home, continuing to work for (and pray for) a job, and counting the days until the beach!

P.S. Remember this? Well, it's now this:

And it is brilliant beyond brilliant. To be fair, I've also read the 2nd and 3rd in the series, but I still have a special love for Doc Holliday's beginnings in Georgia. It is available for pre-order through Knox Robinson Publishing and amazon.uk. I strongly suggest you look into it. ;)

May of Good Things

(*I hate not blogging. Believe me, I would have loved to have been posting regular updates on Alexis's development and all our goings-on, but life has been too busy. Oh well!)

So that brings us to now. I love May. I was born in May. I got engaged in May. I got healthy after months of gallbladder disease and got my first real job after college in May. May is full of holidays, fantastic weather, the end of the school year and the start of summer. What's not to love?

So far, this May has been a month of good things. For one, miss smarty-pants is crawling, sporting two pearly whites on bottom, babbles like crazy, and is growing up way too fast. She's also starting to SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT!! Talk about VERY good things!

Goofy girl

 Behold the crawling:

I am also feeling pretty good as I'm now officially PRE pre-baby weight! Yes, folks, I haven't been this size in 3 years. Heck, I'm wearing shorts I haven't fit since my Honeymoon! Thank you, breastfeeding! (You have my permission to be impressed....or embarrassed for me. Or both.) Moving on...

This last week has been busy, but awesome. We got to get away to Sundance for the night last weekend and enjoy the mountain air. Stewart Falls is a stunning hike, from start to finish.

Alexis was cooing the whole way. I think she enjoyed the view even more than we did.

Reaching the falls.

After a phenomenal hike, we enjoyed a fantastic dinner at the Foundry Grill. Who needs foil dinners and s'mores when you could have filet mignon and chocolate mascarpone cheescake?! A BIG thank you to my bosses for the birthday treat!

Admiring the aspens and mountain views.

Poor thing was so tired, and subsequently wired, from all our adventures that day. This was just moments before the rocking-forward-turns-into-head-smashing-the-table debacle.

 Our home for the night: the beautiful Storybook Stone Cottage.

We took the loft bedroom up those cool stairs with baby downstairs.

Patio and landscaping

Hot tub on the mountain stream. Amazing way to relax and unwind, believe me. 

*If you think this cottage is beautiful, you need to check out StewartMountainLodging.com. Yes, this is one of our vacation rental cabins I help manage at work, so call it a shameless plug, but you would not believe some of the others here in Sundance. Past clientele includes: Ben Stiller and family, Matthew Perry, Supreme Court justices, Jersey Shore celebrities, and more. For real, we're awesome. Back to the post...

My loves on Mother's Day morning.

We got back just in time to Skype with the whole family across the globe (including Ross in Chile)!

My first mother's day present: custom M&M's! (The white one on the left is Alexis's face. My baby's face on an M&M!)

After a great Mother's Day, my birthday was only two days later. After some sweet cards, a new movie, beautiful Stargazer lilles, and my standing birthday tradition to listen to 80's music - particularly Boston - Sam surprised me with dinner here: The Chef's Table.

All I can say is: wow! Amazing service, beautiful views on the hill overlooking Utah Valley as the sun set, and the best chicken I've ever tasted in 25 years of life. Sam and I are food snobs, so we had high expectations, but this place did not disappoint. I'm no longer a 5 star dining virgin!

Napolean au chocolat - every bite was heaven

And because a week of good food wasn't enough, we had to have gourmet cupcakes too. (What was that I said about my current weight?)

Happy 25th to me! The day definitely made up for last year.

Next on the docket: a week-long trip to Georgia! Huzzah for the month of good things!