1st Anniversary

We made it! One Year as of July 16. To celebrate Brandon got up early and rode his bike 40 or so miles to Springdale (Just outside Zion Nat'l Park) where I met him for breakfast and the farmer's market. I drove, of course, but maybe next year I can ride with him. Brandon also surprised me with beautiful flowers. He got up at 5:30 to go get them from his sister's house before he left for his ride so I'd find them on the kitchen table when I got up later. I'm one lucky girl!

I made Brandon a video of pictures from the last year. It was so fun going through the memories. I know I just said it, but I'm saying it again...I'm one lucky girl! Brandon has made me laugh harder and feel more loved than I ever thought possible. He's an incredible husband and I look forward to seeing him as a dad.

With all the fun we had, there have been A LOT of changes in the last year. According to the Holmes and Rahe Life Events Scale   we've experienced enough of the major life changing events in the last 12 months that cause stress to be considered at risk for getting ill. We've gotten married, finished school, got a new job, quit a job, gotten pregnant, moved into a new home, moved to a new city, moved close to family, reduced recreation, changed social circumstances and...I don't know, but there were some more on the list we could check off.  Clearly they aren't all bad things, but change can be stressful. Fortunately we're still healthy, but Brandon does keep wishing I'd get a prescription for medicinal marijuana to help me chill out. Now, why would he say that!!

This week...

The last week has been eventful.

1. One of my tires burst as I went around a corner, probably heat related. Either that or I hit the curb. I actually don't know. Fortunately I was able to pull over into a shady spot to wait for Brandon to come help who was minutes away...my hero. Fortunately it was about time for me to get new tires anyway. With one out on an all-wheel drive car, you have to replace all 4!!

2. The next morning while walking on a rarely traveled, desolate road near my house I found a wallet with $400 cash and a social security card! Hmm, that could help cover my tire situation...but then I would feel guilty every time I got in my car knowing I was on 'stolen' tires. I found the owner and returned the wallet. It was worth returning it just to see his look of relief and gratitude. Bonus...his good friend owns a tire/automotive shop so he called him up, introduced me, and got me a deal. Guess I now have my car service shop. I was going to need that anyway.

3. Our friends Michelle and Lynn Adams were in town!! Sooo good to see them. Lynn and Brandon have been riding together for a couple of years. Michelle just got a road bike so she was the perfect riding companion for my pregnant self. She's just getting used to the bike and I'm simply not as comfortable as I used to be. We spent two early mornings riding with them- the boys on a ride and the girls on a flatter, shorter ride. The weather and clouds even cooperated to keep the temperature tolerable. Happiness! (I'm getting to the end of my ability to ride. My clothes are stretched to their limit and my tummy is getting close to imposing too much in my pedal strokes)

4. I WISH I HAD A VIDEO OF THIS ONE...I couldn't get into the library's front door because a tan/brown garter snake was hanging out in front of it. I came around the corner to go in, but froze in my flip-flops when I saw it. I just stood there trying to figure out how to get around it when I saw through the glass a women about to come out of the library. I decided to wait and let her deal with it. She was on the phone when she came out and almost stepped on top of the snake. She saw me and I pointed to her feet. She screamed "There's a snake at the library! SNAAAAAKE!!" and almost dropped her phone as she backed into the library. I busted up laughing; I couldn't help it. The snake took off into the gravel away from the door clearing my path. Thanks lady! I felt bad waiting for her to take on the snake, but it was worth it and it was hilarious. Then a little girl shhhh-ed me and told me the library was a quiet place as I entered because I was still laughing, having just witnessed the snake event and then passing the lady who was still on the phone and still shaking off the adrenaline of her close encounter in the foyer.  Just one bonus of living in the desert.

July 4th Festivities

Happy 4th of July everyone! We packed it full of events and stumbled upon a little unexpected gem in Veyo - Crawdad Canyon. We were headed for Pine Valley to play in the mountains, but when we turned off the highway at the Veyo pool to check out an area the Andrus family hadn't been to in years, we were so satisfied with the find, we stayed there for 4 hours. I don't think there was a cooler place to sit on a hot 4th of July. The weather actually turned 'cooler' in time for a very comfortable night out watching fireworks without sweating.

Lunch at Crawdad Canyon picnic area

Soy got the giggles feeding Grandma Kacky (Kathy)

One of the fun bridges over the creek that runs through the canyon

We wised up and moved our camp chairs INTO the water instead of overlooking the water

So much alike

Uncle Bubba never disappoints. Even without a swimsuit, he couldn't say no to a nephew wanting a swimming buddy

Water gun wars broke out

Grandpa got ambushed

So did Uncle Trav

Can't beat this spot or having the whole family there

Pool time later

Waiting for fireworks on the Wells Fargo lawn (which is also the place where I first met Brandon's family over 5 years ago)

Sawyer wasn't a fan of the noise

New Home Sweet Home

We've now been in Washington, UT one week. I'm not sure I can call it 'home' yet, but maybe in time. I miss Salt Lake and friends and familiarity of all the places I used to go, but, between unpacking spurts, I'm learning my way around town.

During my drive down I found myself comparing the best of SLC to the worst (or anticipated worst) of St. George. That's not a fair comparison, but here are some of the trade-offs I've experienced this last week that reinforce my original list

Salt Lake                                         vs.                           St. George
Crickets at night                                                      Cows mooing at night
Bunny in the yard                                                    Black Widows and lizards in the yard
Temps in the 70's - 90's                                            Temps in the 80's - 100's
Shade and grass                                                       We'll have to plant trees and grass
6 min to my favorite canyon                                    20 min to a treeless, hot, sandy canyon 
Sweat                                                                      Melt
Sunscreen to go to the pool                                     Sunscreen to go to the car
Work - daily interaction with people                        Errands just to talk to people/cashiers/etc
Friends - weekly get-togethers                                 The library has some great books
Smell of flowers blooming on the street                   Smell of horses' "business" across the street
     
That being said, there are a lot of great things here. I have a dishwasher for the first time in years! I've always wanted a sink in the laundry room. The stars are beautiful and living in a single family home on the edge of wilderness has it's quiet, peaceful perks. We have family here and a few friends that I'm sure we'll see once we get settled in.

Without a job I've had time to do a lot of things including:
cook - loving it
nest (do all the unpacking and organizing, then move it and reorganize it) - most my time this week
I've checked out 4 grocery stores to see who has what and at what prices (I prob shouldn't admit this)
I got a library card (and realized I'm so glad I don't work at the library)
Take a walk past farm fields - as long as it's before 8am when it gets too hot to be outside
Ride my bike. I've always wondered how guys with big beer guts ride. My prego belly can relate
Go to the pool in the middle of a weekday
Stay up late and not worry about it
Answer emails the day I get them
Put my laundry away when it finishes drying
Blog
WATCH THE TOUR de FRANCE :)
Stare at the wall and wonder what to do next - so many options

A few Pics

On my way into town for day one. Welcome to St. George

Driving down our street

You can see our rooftop on the left behind the horse fences

Day two: Temp of my car sitting in the sun. It dropped to 107

The couch took half my toenail off, but the nail polish held it on. Good excuse to keep up pedicures

On a lonely day this fish at Walmart made me smile. Yes, I was hurting for any kind of interaction

View out our front door. That's Pine Valley mnt in the distance

To the right of the front door

To the left out the front door

Our backyard. Weeds make for great landscaping, really

View out the kitchen window, through the backyard

Windstorm. We had 2 of these monsters this week. Dirt blows everywhere

Bike ride. My jersey barely fits over the baby belly and my legs aren't used to sharing space with it. I need to higher my handlebars so I can sit up straighter

Dishwasher....awesome

Why have one fridge when your place comes with two!!!

Laundry room has a sink :)

Bathroom cabinet. Gotta love the etching on the mirror. Oh yeah

                                                                 

Leaving SLC

After almost 15 years in SLC (minus a few years in Taiwan and one in Baltimore) I've called Salt Lake home. Brandon has been in SLC for 6 years. B just graduated with his masters in social work and accepted a job in St. George.  It took a while to convince us to move, though. We love SLC, we love our friends, and I loved my job, but in the end, we decided to make the move. We spent some time doing some things we love in SLC; ate at lots of favorite restaurants, celebrated our bdays, went out with friends, drove/hiked the mountains, and documented some our Blaine house favorites.

Home Sweet Home

Our little bunny. He'd hang out in the front yard eating grass. He got to the point where he didn't run when we went in and out. He'd just look at us.

I've never seen a sink like it and won't mind never seeing another one

Light bulb powered fireplace

Wasatch Front

Our birthdays

At my parent's place in CO

I threw a surprise BBQ for B. Here are some of the ladies of the party. Molly, Mandy, Tiff, Sharlee

Lynn & Michelle, Cory & Tara

The boys: Tyler, B, Matt, Mike, Russ

Jenny, Me

Two of the most passionate sports fans I know. Lynn: BYU. Matt: U of U. I can't believe they sat this close to each other.

Saying Good-bye

Little Dell res with the SCI/TRAILS team. Tough day at work with Tanja and Natalie (Actually it can be tough. The participants are already on the lake and we are waiting for a new group to arrive)

Dr. Rosenbluth and his two Summers (Summer Stout, Summer Andrus). In an unfortunate twist of coincidence, both of us left our jobs, and Dr. Rosenbluth, on the same week :(

My office. Kristen (in solid black) kept me sane and usually had me busting up laughing daily. Natalie took my spot - Good luck to her

Dipping my feet in Little Dell

Mmmmm, dipped cones! Tiff has great taste

Farmer's Market with Russ & Tiff

Mmmmmmm, Market Street. Favorite

After Draper Temple (another favorite) dinner

Millcreek Canyon - another favorite - with some of my favorite people

He's my favorite, too

I've never loved BBQ'd hotdogs so much as I have pregnant.

Dave brought darling Ruth up. Look at her tights. So cute

Lynn & Michelle

Jaren, Jenny W, Lynn, Jenny H, Britt, Brenna (with Mila), Dave

Jenny W, Jenny H, Lynn, Michelle, Kristy holding Ruth

Brandon, Jaren, Britt (the boys rode their bikes in Millcreek before meeting up with the girls)

Dave and his Jimmy John's sandwich

Moving - thanks for all the help! I felt like a slacker watching everyone lift things while I moved pillows and blankets.

Russ, Mike...what else do you do with random swords??

Finished. B, Russ, Tyler, Molly

We forgot to keep the camping pads out when we packed so they got buried in the truck. We used Uhaul moving blankets and some bedding I was able to salvage crawling through the truck to make an almost comfortable bed for our last 2 nights in SLC

We drove through and hiked around American Fork Canyon our last day. Really going to miss the green mountains