Costa RRRRRica!

It's no wonder that nearly everyone you know has either been to Costa Rica, or has plans to go. That's at least how it seemed once our plans were underway! It's a place to fill all pleasures. And it really is that awesome!
Beautiful landscapes everywhere, abundant mountains/volcanoes + amazing beaches, really delicious food, plus the tropical fruit that makes you ask yourself why we even try to import it when it's never nearly as good, awesome wildlife, the ocean, etc., etc., etc.

We'll tell our Costa Rica story in pics...lots and lots of pics:

beautiful flowers beautiful beaches

beautiful women




we ate at little treasures off the road,

and at amazing restaurants overlooking the ocean

yum

we hiked, rain or shine...and we got mostly rain
we swam/sat in beautiful volcanic hot pots- but there will be no violations of the rule against posting swimsuit pics while pregnant. sorry.


we loved

he drove, i slept


he went from tom hanks in castaway

to hulk hogan, minus the wife beater and beer can.

yet it seemed to bring out the best

always does


we surfed

or should i say got beat-up by the surf?
we're lucky to come away with just raccoon eyes and a red belly- the waves were wicked big. there were more locals out surfing than you'd imagine- they were wicked good.


we enjoyed the wildlife


from a distance

and planned our escape if this were to happen


we went deep sea fishing

and made a sweet catch!

x2

fine, there was no we, it was all bruce and lupe
(our one eyed, two toothed, three english words vocab. guide)

but it sure was fun, minus the time i had to puke overboard...x2

i just hope he's this excited when he holds up our first born- look at that face!

sigh...it was beautiful and of course went too fast.

school's out

Truth is, I actually never wanted to be a nurse. And it's not because it never crossed my mind. I remember going through every possible college degree and thinking, "eh, I'm not really medically-minded." I'm the type who rarely gets sick (knock on wood!), scarcely visits hospitals let alone doctors, and prefer to just lay down rather than take medication.

So I chose social work.
After a 2 year leave of absence from college, I went back to school to finish my degree.
The nursing package was presented to me and suddenly became very appealing.
A spontaneous decision was made and FOUR years later,(two years of prereqs) I'm a nurse.
I stress four years because I had just ONE year left for my social work degree and was then planning to get my master's degree. That still would have taken me probably two years.

But I now wanted to be a nurse, not a social worker. Yet I finished my bachelors of SW nonetheless. (There's plenty of future ideas brewing!)


So luckily I was accepted to nursing school the first time around.
(or else I'm pretty sure it never would've happened.)
And to be honest, I contemplated quitting every semester but the last.

I didn't, and I'm glad- because I now see that I really do love it!
And I'm really happy about my decision.
....and even more happy that this happened yesterday:



So, we have many reasons to celebrate. This ↑ being one of them.


And this ↓ being the other.

two very very lovely years.


So Costa Rica,↓ here we come!


hasta luego

a serious craving..

fresh, ripe garden tomatoes
miracle whip
thick white bread
s + p





the sooner the better

i could eat them everyday for the rest of my life

April 18th, a really good day

It all started with having to use the bathroom 4 times before 7am, ugh (the not awesome part)
SLC 1/2 Marathon starting at 7am
the gospel choir pumping us up
Running 13.1 miles with my Bruce...13 weeks pregnant
Our very own fan club cheering us on


finishing the 1/2 marathon, 13 weeks pregnant

celebrity sightings

delicious lunch at Grove's Deli with friends
browsing through The Market
a long nap
dinner at Rodizio with Russ and Christie

lots and lots and lots of really good food
really good desserts at Emilie's wedding reception
watching celebrity apprentice on Hulu (I know, it's lame but addicting!)

and about that fetus?
we're happy!

you might say ecstatic,

and beyond thrilled!

April Showers

This is why I love SLC in the Spring:

FLOWERS!
green grass
trees blossoming
early mornings getting lighter
warm days
snow still in the mountains
people in the parks
nice rain showers

I love the changing of the seasons- it's so beautiful right now everywhere!

Hello. It's been a while.

Man am I glad it's finally April, and although it doesn't feel like nice Spring weather, I'm glad to officially be in a Spring month. March was a particularly brutal month is every aspect of my life. And after a packed 31 days of working full-time, school, clinicals, training, Relief Society and our big enrichment party, one great girls weekend in St. George/Vegas, multiple tests and a 14 page paper and presentation, I finished it all with having only two breakdowns. Whew. I have a really great husband to say the least.

And speaking of the man, these pictures brightened a dark, snowy day. (Thanks Darrell!) Mr. Yellow Wiggle Bruce? What do you think? They still never fail to make me laugh.






It's good to have thoughts that can always make you laugh, you know. I have my top memories so vividly recorded that they can honestly ALWAYS make me laugh! I try to think of them when I'm trying really hard not to break out in tears, or on really bad days.
Let me share some with you so you can enjoy them too.

1. Utah State Howl. Me and my girlfriends as hyper as we were everyday freshman year, running around to each dance room and dancing 'til the wee hours of the night. Me, Carly, Cara and Ashlee were just about to run to the next best song in the other room. So we were running through crowds of people, I look back just in time to see Ashlee FLYING through the air. She caught some serious air. She was in true superman form. She had tripped over the ramp hidden by the crowds of people and landed flat on the ground. We were doubled over laughing SO HARD! Kinda like it still makes me laugh whenever I picture it. Then we went to help her up but someone else was trying to pull her up without her feet under her so they were just pulling her shoulder out. I will never get over how hilarious this was and I'm just glad that I had the pleasure to witness it. Thanks Ash!

2. Another tripping and falling story. This happened in Varazdin and me and my companion were walking down the street, trying to make a train. Something tripped her foot or something but she started running kind of to catch herself. Instead she teetered to the left, then to the right and went up in the air in slow motion (I'm not kidding, everything was in slo-mo) and came down hard on the sidewalk. She even had enough time in the air to turn slightly so that she would land on her shoulder rather than her face. Amazing. It was mid-Fall and she landed in a pile of leaves that lightly blew into the air around her. She was pulling leaves from her tights, hair and shoes the entire train ride while I was trying to suppress my laughter after it "wasn't funny anymore." Sorry, I still can't suppress my laughter!


3. This story is kinda a secret. All I'll spill is that it involves my inability to control my bladder at an age that is unacceptable to not have such control, and when I was in a position where it was even more unacceptable. uhhhh... But the witness to this event laughed to tears, and I'm sure she still does, as I do too.

Man, I can think of TONS more!!! So the walk away lesson of this post is that even when life is so busy that you kinda want to die, think of everything that happens to make it so wonderful!

I love my life!