The Next Chapter

Well, folks, the time has come to say goodbye (for a season) to California,

the land of

Taquerias (on every corner)

redwood forests

year round farmer's markets

and, consequently, fresh flowers and produce all year long

The 2010 World Series Champions (Giants, if you were wondering)

the beach

new friends

70 degree weather in January, and February, and March, and...well, you get the idea

on average an hour commute

asians*

paying rent

the birthplace of our son

*not a racist thing, just a silicon valley thing-if you live here, you know what I am talking about.

This last year and a half has been great and as I walked down main street Campbell the other day I started to feel a little sad. I have such wonderful memories of this place. Our lives changed forever while we lived in our tiny one bedroom apartment, and it will always be a special place to me and Mike. And as I sit here trying to figure out what to take to Utah and what to put in storage, I am happy to be returning to good old K-Town, but sad at the same time because our reason for moving back is an unfortunate one.

Mike is being deployed this summer and although he doesn't leave until June, the deployment is looming in the back of my mind (and has been for quite some time) and it is even more real to me now that we are actually making accomodations for the time that he is gone.

With that said, he doesn't leave until June, so for the next couple of months we will be able to spend time together and enjoy time with our friends and family.

Now that I have that off my chest, I am looking forward and getting excited to spend my time with Ben, and not in an office. Yes that is right, I am not going to work when I return to Utah. I have been looking forward to this day since I found out I pregnant! Who knows if I will end up going back to work one day, but for now I am going to welcome all the fun adventures that await me and Ben.

And so, without further ado, here's to Utah,

the land of

LDS churches (on every corner)

CAFE RIO

the salt lake bees

the UTES

the cougs

old friends

red rock (brewery and land formations)

sunday dinner with family

the dear old brown and gold

4 seasons

the famous 4th of july parade and fireworks

mormons

the birthplace of our family

To those new friends we made while living here, you will be missed. Make sure to call when you visit family in the Beehive state. And keep those blogs updated (and I vow to be better at updating mine)!

L-O-V-E

As Valentine's Day approaches, I thought I would take the time to share with you some things in my life that I love (and that might surprise you).

Just some of my personal faves!

I love glasses, drinking, not eye. Just the look of them. I love all different varieties. Fancy and simple. Classy and cheesy. Clear, green, yellow, blue. etc. I can't wait until I can put glass front cabinets in my kitchen and load them up with glasses! I love shopping for glasses and giving them as gifts! Every time we have moved, my glasses are the first to be unpacked, and I actually love pulling warm glasses out of the dishwasher and putting them back in the cabinet.
Now-the strange thing about this obsession (as if the obsession itself isn't strange enough) is that I don't really like drinking out of glass glasses. I prefer to drink out of plastic cups.

Photo Courtesy of House Beautiful
I love the smell of greenhouses. I would always jump at the chance to go flower shopping with my mom. I love the way it feels inside a green house. The dampness in the air and the smell. I just can't get over the smell. Sometimes when I get to work in the morning and get out of my car, it smells like a greenhouse. I love that!

On the topic of smells, I love the way my son's breath smells. I can't describe it with words, I just do. At first I thought it was just a newborn thing, so I drank it in thinking that one day it would go away, but so far it hasn't (and I know it will, so I continue to drink it in). I could write an entire blog on how good Ben smells, and maybe one day I will, but there is just something about the purity of a baby that smells so good!

I love organizing. A good sized closet makes me weak in the knees. Unfortunately the last couple years have left me with limited closet space and I find myself dreaming of The Container Store, and the wonderful things I could do if I were let loose in there. Right now, as we are facing yet another round of packing things up and moving them to storage, or to my parents house, I am giddy because I will just have to go out and buy some more clear bins to put things in. They just stack so nicely and I can see what is in them.

I love this little office nook. Living in small apartments makes me crave organized space-and I know, those of you that have been to my home are probably wondering who is actually writing this, but I swear, it's me! And one day, I will have a space like this in my house.

Photo Courtesy of Woman's Day

Now, this is very odd, but I love my sense of smell. As I was thinking about all the things I love in my life, a lot of them had to do with scent. For example, I have already listed two, but I love libraries and library books because of the way they smell. I love Mike's cologne. And I love that a certain scent can bring back a river of memories, and I LOVE memories! :) So there you have it folks. I will spare you a picture of a large nose, but before I sign off, I want to list the obvious things that I love, just cuz!

reality TV
diet Coke
family
pickles, popscicles, and potato chips
sunflower Seeds
a good chick flick
flip-flops
driving with the windows down
pedicures

the rain

a good book

good food

when I try a new recipe and it actually tastes good

if you want to know more about the things I love, refer to this

And last, but not least, I love, love, love Mike and Ben! I love spending time with them and look so forward to the weekend, just to run errands together. I love the time that we have had in California and although I find myself incredibly home sick for the familiar things we left behind, I wouldn't trade our time here for anything in the world.

and one last thing I love-I love singing this song to Ben at night. I wouldn't consider it a lullaby, but he seems to enjoy it-I think...

I love you, a bushel and a peck!
A bushel and a peck, and a hug around the neck!
A hug around the neck, and a barrel and a heap
A barrel and a heap, and I'm talkin' in my sleep.
About you.
About you!
About you!
My heart is leapin'!
I'm having trouble sleepin'!
'Cause I love you, a bushel and a peck
You bet your pretty neck I do!