thankful.

Thanksgiving Day - 22 Weeks pregnant

I'm grateful for this time of year when I can step back and really count my blessings. I am so thankful for everything Ryan and I have been blessed with--it seems like our life has been really perfect and we couldn't be happier. Starting a family has been a little overwhelming at times, but I'm so thankful for our new little addition. With Winston and Ryan, I could use another girl around here.

Oregon.

Last month my sister in law was nice enough to let Ryan and I stay at her family's beach house on the Oregon coast. It was the perfect getaway filled with books by the fire, baby name lists, boutique shopping, spicy mexican food (baby did NOT like), morning waffles, pub dinners, and walks under umbrellas. Just the two of us...one last fling before the baby comes. Here are a few memories from my phone. 

its a girl.

Ryan and I went in for our ultrasound last week and found out we're having a baby girl. It was amazing to see her and feel her moving at the same time. Its interesting going in, not knowing what you're having or what to expect, hoping everything is growing and developing the way it should. Seeing her brought me peace and made this whole experience so much more real.

You're halfway done, baby girl! We can't wait to meet you...

simply pregnant.

The past few months have flown by. Sickness tapered off in September. I started really enjoying my pregnancy, getting more energy by the day. I feel like I've blinked and all of a sudden it's November, 5 months pregnant, my new little baby growing bigger and bigger all the time. I can't help but love my little baby bump and am amazed by every wiggle I feel from our new addition.

recap (and big news).

Kind of pathetic. I haven't written for 4 months. Sorry all. How about a little recap? 

Trust me. You'll want to know some of this stuff.

June

• Felt sick to my stomach. Went to the doctor. Had my appendix out that night.
• Two of my images hung in the Best In Show Exhibit at Alpine Art SLC. Recovering from surgery. Didn't get to see them.
• Ryan started working full time at Adobe. He loves it. I love their building and their cafeteria food. Come try it.
• Saw Real Salt Lake team play for Ryan's birthday. Went golfing for Ryan's birthday. Ate Terra Mia for Ryan's birthday. Spent a complete birthday together since we've been married.

July

• Went home for the 4th of July. Made a sweet flag cake with my brother. Lit fireworks. Winston tried to eat the fireworks. Made smores in my parents fire-pit. Got smoked out.
• Went to Girls Camp. Loved it. Tried to teach them how to light a fire. Wasn't a good teacher. Girls gave me 'SuperWoman Award'. Went on a hike. Got stuck in a thunderstorm. Spent the next hour in my sleeping bag trying to get warm. 
• Decided our sleeping pad for camping was stupid. Bought a new one.
• Drug Ryan to Harry Potter the night before it came out. Snuck in a pizza. Loved it.
• Went to a Bee's game with Logan and Amy. Ate a hot dog. Ate icecream. Started raining. Thought about getting hot chocolate.
• Spoke in church. When I wrote it I tested a joke on Ryan. He told me it wasn't a joke.
• Went to a co-workers baby shower. Want a baby. Been trying for a while...

August

• First day of the month. Feeling really sick. Friend at work gets a pregnancy test for me and makes me take it in the bathroom. Find out I'm pregnant. (WOOT!) Tell Ryan by putting the test in an envelope on his car. Watch him open the envelope from a distance. Feel like I want to cry but I can only smile.
• Keep feeling sick. Throw up. Throw up again. Throw up again.
• Sister and mom come to visit. Buy maternity clothes with mom. Take sister and kids to water park. Liam keeps falling in the water and stealing people's tubes. Makes me laugh. Go to the zoo. Ride the mary-go-round. Go to my brothers. Whole family gets into a scary video game. Spend hours playing it. Try to distract kids from watching it.
• Crave Olive Garden Salad and Breadsticks. Ate it twice in a week.
• Crave Denny's. Ryan warns me nobody feels good after eating Denny's. Throw up as soon as I get home.
• Go to the Doctor. Get an ultrasound. Get to see baby and hear the heartbeat. Ry gets teary. I get teary. Cry as soon as I get in the car.
• Tell Ryan what size fruit the baby is. He says its weird they compare it to food.
• Throw up in the bathroom at work. 
• Ryan finishes his first Triathlon. Was worried his sister would beat him. She got close.
• Show Ryan a picture of an actual baby our size in the womb. He gets creeped out. 
• Tell Ryan a few baby names. He hates them all. Tells me a few names. I hate them too. 
• Baby will have no name.
• Ryan does a presentation. Impresses his boss. Gets hired at Adobe for the school year.
• Have a tickle in my throat. Makes me throw up.
• Feel really dizzy. Co-worker tells me I'm acting like I'm high. Almost pass out. Boss has to check my blood-pressure. Feel really awesome.
• Only take one sick day.

This month

• Start to feel better. Get more energy. Get an appetite. 
• Ryan starts school. Shows me something he learned in Excel. Don't understand it. Smile.
• Tell Ryan I'm showing. He tells me I'm not yet. I am though.
• Grow a new obsession with Cliff bars.
• Get tickets to the Dew Tour. See Sean White skateboard. Think he is awesome.
• Hear the heartbeat again. Amazes me every time.
• Dr. changes my due date to April 1st. 
• Went to Noodles 3 times this week. Can't stop craving chicken noodle soup.
• Love being pregnant.

best in show.

I just found out that two of my images have made it into the Best In Show Exhibit at Alpine Art in Salt Lake City! The opening reception will be part of the Gallery Stroll on June 17th! Come check it out. Portions of artwork sold will be donated to No More Homeless Pets, so its for a great cause too.

here comes the sun.

...and my new little garden. Thank goodness for May flowers.

daybreak heaven.

Let me start off by saying that I've never been one for traditional. Bottom line. Ryan did a bad thing. He let me go to what I now view as a heaven on earth. I'm talking about a little place called daybreak. I've found my dream house...or two. Or three. These homes are amazing, modern, solar paneled gems in the heart of the perfect community featuring numerous parks and a man made lake. If we end up in Utah after Ry gets his masters, we will be moving there. Promise. A girl can dream right?

sma spring show.

I'm so sorry that I have been slacking in the blog department. Life has been amazing and crazy. I'll fill you in later on the latest events in good old Provo. I just wanted to hurry and tell you all the great news! One of my photography pieces was selected for the Springville Museum of Art's Spring Show! If any of you are in Utah, come check it out! The show is open from April 22nd to July 3rd.

the fair.

Running a little behind on my editing, obviously. Here are some images I took when Ryan and I hit up the Utah state fair this fall. Maybe you remember last time I went to the fair in Nashville? Enjoy.

ch ch ch changes.

I understand that it is January 25th, not January 1st. You might have to excuse me on my late entrance into the new year. Just call me fashionably late. I feel like this month has completely snuck up on me and left me here, on the 25th. To make a long story short, this 'new year' has brought about a lot of changes. A lot of unexpected, very motivating, very interesting changes.

After an interview for a small night position at Stevens Henager College, I have turned around and found myself as the new assistant to the Dean of Graphic Arts. Don't worry, I'm still working for the great Justin Hackworth (and I'm hoping that it will still work out) and have more than quadrupled my workload. And get ready folks, because my amazing brother has completed my long awaited logo, my website has been purchased and I am in the process of designing the basics. Oh and did I mention I dyed my dark hair again? Ok, well, thats probably not a surprise to anyone, but still a change.

I started out the year with a completely different expectation on the year, but you just don't know what life has in store for you. I have a lot of high hopes for 2011 and although this year isn't starting out exactly how I had planned, I'm certain that 2011 will bring plenty of great and amazing things and I'm SO excited!!

So..as David Bowie would say..."Time may change me, but I can't trace time"

And I've stopped trying.