Just a day, just an ordinary day.

Almost a month without a blog post! WOW! The month of February has been a busy one. Mark turned 32 and me, 29. Nothing too eventful for our birthdays- some dinners with friends and family and purchasing a TV for our bedroom. One more year in my 20's.... Valentine's Day was low key as well. Mark did send me some gorgeous flowers and we had a King Crab leg dinner. Sure love him.

I have moved on to week 23 of pregnancy! Amazing that I am over 1/2 way there. I am feeling him move quite a bit and even Mark got to feel him the other night as we were laying in bed. His bedding arrived last week- R O B O T S! I am so excited to decorate for a boy. My belly is expanding a lot faster but I have yet to give in to maternity pants. I have to salute the Gap for their stretchy skinny jeans that are holding up nicely.

Mark had to have oral surgery last week (google apicoectomy..gross!). He was in a lot of pain prior and then his surgery made his upper lip swell pretty good. He seems to be getting back to normal and has moved away from his diet of croissants. (sorry Hon about the pic)

Mc is getting so TALL! Who would have thought? I say soak it up because there is not a chance of her being over 5'5" but we can hope. She is learning new things everyday and is fun and trying all at the same time. We have had our nanny about a month and she works wonders with Mc. She is still obsessed with Dinosaurs and we go to the dinosaur "seeum" at Thanksgiving Point at least once a week. "Little Mermaid" is the new favorite DVD ("oreo" the Mermaid) and I can pretty much get her to eat anything if I put "dinosaur" in front of it. We sure love her and she makes life interesting every day.

We have started demolition and remodel on our downstairs bathroom. Are attempting to plan a trip for one final get away before the baby is born and we are ready for Spring!!

The hardest part of ending is starting again.

This week marked our one year anniversary of moving back to Utah. Looking back to both my journal and blog from last February, I honestly didn't think I would survive. I think this is a problem I have- change and I do not do well. I still remember the first day moving into our West Jordan home- my mother in law was helping me reorganize Mc's room and I just had a breakdown. Full on shaking, sobbing, meltdown. I also remember being upset with Mark- he had this disgustingly optimistic idea of the potential of our house, his job, our lives....I wasn't seeing it (another problem that is more prominent when I look back- Mark was put in my path for the sheer fact that he is the yin to my crazy "I can't move or change anything" yang). So here we are- we survived. I gave a talk in Sacrament a few weeks ago about relating the BofM to our lives- I used two of my huge moving experiences (7th grade and to AZ) as my call to go into the "wilderness". I was a good stand in for Laman/Lemuel (complete with murmering) in both circumstances. I am on a quest to find my inner Nephi and to "go and do" more readily. With that being said, the past year has brought challenges, good times and lots of new beginnings.

Our basement is redone and my favorite redo is below-the before and after. I love the desk space, the closets (for movies, games and the whole left side...dedicated to my crafts). Again, Mark saw the potential hidden behind this rock wall and pot belly stove. It just took me a minute longer.

We have replaced the front door, sliding back door, carpet, paint and have just started the

basement bathroom. I love how it is coming together and am so glad to walk in and now feel like I am "home". We have been welcomed in our Ward, been blessed with jobs, a new nanny and the proximity to the most loving and supportive family and amazing friends, and a new MALE addition set to make an appearance in June. This is where we are supposed to be. It doesn't erase the bliss known as AZ but what started out as the wilderness has grown to be a place I love.