2013 Review

With a few days to go, I thought I'd go ahead and post our 2013 review.

Oh, 2013. 

What a year it has been!

In January I chopped 12 inches of my hair off.

We also went on a weekend trip to Coeur d'Alene, having no idea we were be living there before the year was over!

In March I received a promotion at work - to be the Regional Operations Manager.

Kyle turned 27.

In April the company I worked for was forced to shut it's doors, and I was laid off (as was Kyle, since he was working there part-time). This also means that our plans for after graduation completely changed as Kyle was currently interviewing for a full time counseling position there as well when this all happened.

The same week my best friend's husband left her and I drove down to Utah to be with her for a few days.

In May I started two part-time jobs.

Kyle graduated from Idaho State University with his Master of Counseling degree!

My dear cousin Katrina passed away.

We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary.

In June we spent a weekend in Utah.

We also went camping with Evan and Holly.

In July we spent a week in Utah over the 4th of July weekend. My dad and Steven were visiting, as were Blaine and Brooke and the kiddos.

Kyle interviewed for and was offered a job in Coeur d'Alene.

He also became a Licensed Professional Counselor (after the Board met).

We spent a few days in Yellowstone.

In August we moved to Post Falls, and Kyle started his new job.

I turned 24. 

We found out we were expecting.

In September we spent a weekend in Seattle with Garyn and Jill.

I also spent a week in California helping out with the kids after Brooke had surgery on her back.

In November we found out our baby is a BOY.

Evan and Holly drove up to spend Thanksgiving with us.

In December we spent a week in California.

We celebrated Christmas, just the two of us, for the first time.

To sum up the biggest events:

I cut 12 inches off my hair.

I was promoted.

I was laid off.

Kyle graduated.

Kyle got a job in Coeur d'Alene.

We moved to Coeur d'Alene and Kyle started his new job.

We found out we were having a baby.

We found out our baby is a boy.

We vacationed in California.

Whew! What a year! 

We're very excited for 2014 - it will bring with it a trip to Utah, and then 3 months later the birth of our babe! 

Christmas 2013

Christmas this year was a little different with no family around, and with Kyle only having Christmas Day off (sure, he could have taken more, but we are saving that up for some big events coming our way in 2014).

Nonetheless, we had a great time.

We've made some great friends up here, and were blessed that they invited us to join them for their Christmas Eve. They are the Hill's and the Messick's (Kelsey Messick being my best friend up here, and the Hill's are her parents, all in our ward). So we went to the Hill's for dinner, and Christmas movies, and pie, and reading the Christmas story and The Night Before Christmas, and opening a few presents. They even had a present for us. They are such nice and thoughtful people, and we are glad they have "adopted" us into their family.

After we left, we came home and watched "It's a Wonderful Life", and opened one present each. I opened up a Snoogle, a pregnancy body pillow from "Santa", and Kyle opened up a package of jerky from my mom, which he promptly enjoyed while watching the movie.

Yesterday was a really nice, relaxing day. 

We woke up around 8 - well, I did. Kyle was apparently up at 6:30. 

We went downstairs, and opened our stockings and presents.

We had a breakfast of french toast and eggs, and then watched Muppet Christmas Carol. 

We skyped with Evan and Holly, skyped with my mom and Charity, ate some lunch, watched Les Miserables, and cooked dinner.

We ate a yummy dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob.

We spent the rest of the evening laying around and talking and I took a bath.

I was so excited about my new camera! Kyle had to take a picture.

Surrounded by loot!

Our living room after opening presents.

Kyle!

Our tree.

It is crazy to think that next year we will have an 8 month old baby boy making this holiday season all the more fun! So exciting and crazy to think about.

We were both pretty spoiled this year. We both got a nice collection of chocolate and other treats. 

I got some maternity clothes (I have never been more excited for clothes in my life! haha), a new camera (a Canon SX170), Beachbody's Rockin' Body for post baby, Bananagrams, and a few movies, and some other nice things.

Kyle got some new professional clothes, and a new pair of jeans, an electric razor, a money clip, some other small things, and of course "Santa" dropped off two kayaks at Evan and Holly's in the fall for him. 

We are lucky and blessed and so grateful for all we have in our lives.

Most importantly, we are thankful for the Savior.

"Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother, and in His name, all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name"

We hope you all had a happy and merry Christmas!

2013 Christmas Card

23 Weeks

Life at 23 weeks isn't too shabby :)

I had a doctor appointment yesterday, and things are going the way they should. I have officially passed my pre-pregnancy weight now, weighing in at about 147. I'm also measuring right on track for 23 weeks.

I will have one appointment in 4 weeks, and then one the next week, and after that I will start having appointments every 2 weeks! I know I sound like a broken record, but pregnancy has really flown by so far for me. I feel pretty lucky about that.

Kyle officially felt our little guy move on Sunday. We were sitting on the plane, ready to take off and baby started doing some pretty intense movements, and Kyle got to feel him. Speaking of movements... They are becoming more and more pronounced (and I know they will continue to) and it is so fun to feel (and sometimes see!). It is definitely my favorite part of pregnancy thus far.

I've started having some pretty terrible rib pain - which I have researched - and usually that doesn't start up until your 3rd trimester. But I'm nice and short with a short torso so I get that pain early :) My ankles have also started to swell... But that comes with the territory.

Really though, I can't complain. I've really only experienced the regular aches and pains that come along with pregnancy, nothing else major, so I'm blessed in that regard.

We are just getting more and more excited for out little guy to get here. I, for one, can't wait to see what he looks like :)

SoCal 2013

I think I mentioned this a while ago, but last year around this time Kyle decided to register for the Evolution of Psychotherapy conference, that was taking place in December 2013. This is a large conference, where psychologists, social workers, counselors, etc come from around the world to listen to presentations given by some of the biggest names in psychology, and it's only held every 4 years. As Kyle was still a student last year, he was able to get the student rate, which if I remember right got him like $400 off. So we decided it would be a great opportunity for him to go, and we figured we would make a little vacation out of it as well.

I also have a really awesome best friend, named Ayisha, who said she would fly out to spend time with me while Kyle was at his conference. And also, since we have family just 1-2 hours north of LA, we thought we'd visit them as well. So, now you know the background, here's how our days went.

SATURDAY-MONDAY

We left nice and early on a COLD morning, and arrived at LAX around noon. After getting our luggage, rental car, and some lunch (at In N Out, of course) we drove up to Bakersfield to Blaine and Brooke's. We stayed with them through Monday and had a great time being with their little family!

TUESDAY

We got up early and hit the road after eating breakfast and saying our goodbyes. We drove down to Anaheim and checked into our hotel, and then we drove to Ayisha's hotel and picked her up, and we made it to California Adventure around noon.We spent the rest of the day riding rides, eating food, seeing the Aladdin show, and watching World of Color. To be honest, I wasn't a big fan of World of Color. It was hard to see (yes, I'm short) and I think I would have like the normal, non Christmasy one better. They were trying really hard to promote Frozen, so that didn't really catch my attention.

WEDNESDAY and THURSDAY

Kyle spent the days in the conference, and Ish and I went to Disneyland! We also both picked up a Disney souvenir - a gray Disneyland sweatshirt for me, and a gray Disneyland shirt for her!

FRIDAY

Kyle spent the day at his conference until about 3:30. Ayisha and I had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, and then did a little shopping in an outdoor mall. We found a great store, and we both walked out with a few fun things - even maternity wearable clothes for me! Once Kyle was back we drove to the beach for a few minutes, got dinner at Chik Fil A, and dropped Ayisha off at the airport.

SATURDAY

Kyle only did a few sessions at the conference, and came back to the hotel about 1. We then headed over to experience Disneyland together! It was SO much busy that day than any other day we had gone that week, but we still had fun. We decided to fork out some money to try (and split) a Monte Cristo sandwich, and some Pomme Frites from Cafe Orleans and we are sure glad! They lived up to the hype :) We stayed late to catch Fantasmic! and the fireworks - except the fireworks were cancelled (we assumed because it was windy). So that was a little disappointing, but we still had a great time!

SUNDAY

Kyle spent the  morning at the conference, and I made sure we had packed up everything and checked us out. We drove to the airport, dropped off our rental car, and got on our flight home. After a brief layover in Oakland, we landed in Spokane. We were really glad that the weather had warmed up to 35-40 degrees, as opposed to the 1 degree it was the morning we left. 

We had a great trip, and we know we are so blessed to be able to have gone. I am really excited to go back one day and take our kids there, and witness the magic in their little faces and bodies when the experience Disney for the first time. I'm grateful Kyle and I could go on this "babymoon" of sorts, and that I have an awesome best friend who will buy a plane ticket and miss work to experience Disneyland with me while Kyle was at his conference!

(I also have to say a public thank you to Kyle and Ish for putting up with me basically stopping to use every bathroom in the park, and stopping to sit down much more often than that! The woes of traveling with a pregnant woman....)

21 Weeks

Feeling pretty good this week.

Also, I feel like I look bigger in pictures than I do in real life. 

19 weeks (or less? or more?) to go!

PS: my hair is getting LONG again!

Thanksgiving 2013

We had a great, if low-key, Thanksgiving this year. It was our first away from "home" (I realized it was my first not at my mom's, which is weird to think about) but it was still great! Kyle's mom and dad braved the 12 hour drive to be with us for the holiday, so it was great to still have family around! They arrived on Tuesday night, and left yesterday after sacrament meeting. We ate lots of good food, spent time together, did a little black Friday shopping, and watched BYU football and basketball (of course). We really enjoyed spending time with Evan and Holly, and having visitors :) 

Kyle and I have a lot to be thankful for this year:

A good, steady job for him, 

a healthy baby boy currently residing in my belly,

a great house to live in,

a great ward family,

a California vacation coming up,

wonderful family and friends,

and most of all,

the Gospel.