Running in Circles

We were so lucky to be able to spend a few days with several of Brice's siblings in Gatlinburg,Tennessee. We stayed at a cabin up high on a hill just outside of the Smoky Mountains National Park. It was a beautiful area, and it seemed like everyday longer we were there- the trees became more green and full.

Hazel loved spending time with her dozen cousins- running, playing soccer, hot-tubing, playing air hockey, and just playing the way little cousins do! 

She continues asking for them everyday now that we're home.

We enjoyed hiking, exploring streams and ravines, doing crafts, building matchstick rockets (Brice's project for the boys), celebrating Easter with an egg hunt, catching up with everyone, and visiting the Ripley's Aquarium. The aquarium was actually pretty cool and it was easy to spend a few hours there on a rainy day!

Thanks Emily for organizing the trip- we were so glad to come, even with a 14 hour drive. Which by the way went pretty great both ways with two small children, but I need a long break from road trips!

This week brought exciting things!

 Brice and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary by spending a few fun days with our friends, Emily and Matt up at Bear Lake, Utah. We loved renting a see-do for the day, reading by the warm lake, and playing games in the evenings! One morning we drove up to the Minnetonka Cave and spent some time climbing 800+ stairs and being guided by a high schooler obviously enjoying her summer job! As soon as we started I turned to Emily and said, "Don't people climb stairs to help labor begin?"... i was a little nervous but we all survived. The cave was around 45 degrees which was basically an answer to a prayer- since being pregnant in the summer can get quite hot. We really enjoyed the cave and the time in the fresh air!

Driving home was quite the adventure too...we love it when the Jetta acts up and stalls every 78, 17, or 8 miles. Brice spent some time under the hood and hopefully we finally got it all figured it out.

Since being back in Utah we've been attending a Lamaze class every Wednesday night. I think we both have found it helpful and somewhat overwhelming, but we are feeling better and excited for a hopefully un-medicated birth. In a hospital. Let me make that clear!

Brice is staying busy with his job back on campus as they prep for New Student Orientation next week. I get to work for a few days for his office. It'll be fun to be "that pregnant lady" to all those freshmen kids about to start their college years.

I'm now 34 weeks pregnant and mostly enjoying it still everyday! Running is becoming harder, but it feels good after and is rewarding both physically and mentally. I really can't complain about too much other than an occasional back ache and feeling big, but I know it could be so much worse.
42 days and counting...

Lastly, Brice has been really into websites advertising all the deals going on and he happened to stumble upon one that he was nervous to tell me about. For about a year I've been researching digital SLR cameras and really trying to find the right one at a price we could afford. Well we found one! We bought the Canon Rebel a few hundred dollars cheaper than the original price and are both already loving the better quality. Better pictures to come in the future!

Brice and I both really loved spending our summer in Iowa. 

It was really nice to be able to spend so much time with his family and embrace the heat and humidity. Brice learned to enjoy his internship, and it was worth it because they basically offered him a future with the company. It was fun for me to see Brice wear "fancy" clothes to work instead of a t-shirt and shorts! Too bad I didn't get many pictures. 

We especially enjoyed the John Deere festivities. We loved spending so much time with Owen and Kent and miss them already! Thank you Doug and Lucinda for opening your home to us. And Doug, Thank you for the funnel cake!

If this really were my personal journal, all I would write tonight is:

 I miss Brice. I am ready for my husband to come home. You would think 5 days would be a cinch after 5 months apart, but the truth is one day apart now is harder than being apart in China. Back then, we were so in love and looking forward to everything the future held. We were so excited to be together forever, looking forward to our wedding day and honeymoon, to celebrate with friends and family. But today, Brice is my family and I miss him. The truth is, we have a home together and without him here It just feels empty. I really feel like half of me is gone. Brice thinks I'm tough and does a good job of reminding me that we will be together soon enough, but really I'm a wimp. And I miss you babe. -B

We've been married for a year and we just barely jumped on the bandwagon. We're bloggers. It all started because every time we've done something new and exciting or took pictures at an event one of us would turn to the other and say "we better blog about this." It kind of turned into a joke but finally we decided we should blog about these fun and exciting things.

So 12 pictures for the last 12 months

12 pictures. 12 months. lots of love.