When it feels like rain...

When it feels like rain… you are definitely not in New Mexico! It has rained once, maybe twice all summer. Oh rain. I miss you so! Oddly enough, I miss the snow even. BUT… last winter was amazing. The warmth of the NM summer sun. The chilly days which only required a sweater. Sigh.

Who talks about the weather in a blog post? :P

We have been back in NM for over a year now, as you can tell by the last time I posted, this blog is seriously neglected. I won't say that I am going to keep it up, but it is a place I know some people come to see how we are doing so it lives on! New Mexico, I love it here… sorta. My family makes this place wonderful, I love many things about this place because I grew up here. The dry desert, the cactus, the yucca, the rolling tumble weeds, the pulsing heat, I love it. I could do with some more moisture though. Dang it. Utah. I miss Utah. We went back for a visit to our family that lives there and it was so nice to be back. I can't say that it felt like home. It just felt so familiar and nice. All the things we love could be there. I really just don't see us ending up back in Utah though. We just don't have as many opportunities there. It would take Aaron getting into school there for us to have a good reason to go back. Otherwise, it will just have to be the feeling we go off of but frankly, I just want to settle down, have a nice home, and a few more children.

Grad school. It's definitely been the hardest thing I have ever-ever had to do. I know being a stay at home mom is hard. It's a trying experience, but getting my masters has been harder than I imagined it would be. It takes a lot out of me mentally and emotionally. I don't get to spend very much time with Aaron and Sam most days of the week. Aaron has just been a life saver throughout this process. He has been completely there for me and has been the best Dad taking care of our little boy when I can't. I couldn't possibly thank him enough because first of all he works and supports our family, but second he comes home after a long day at work and some nights takes care of Sam all by himself. What a support and example he has shown me. I know that quite possibly in a year (or less) from now Aaron will be the one who is going to school and as time consuming I feel my program is, I know he is going to need to constantly be studying because he has so much in such a short amount of time. I am going to be in his position as a worker and a solo parent. I hate grad school, I hate how it stresses me and takes me from my loved ones even when I am with them, I'm still thinking of all the things I have to do for school. On the other hand, I love it so much. I began the program last year with hardly any residual applicable knowledge from my undergrad, and I have learned so much more and have grown so much more as a person. Just from this experience alone, I know that I am capable of doing hard things. I am a strong person and I have the will to do well, and I am going to. Alas, in one year, I will be finished and I will be well on my way to becoming a certified SLP.

Aaron has submitted his overall application to PA school, he is now working on all of the supplemental applications that most of the schools require. He has been so diligent about it. I am very proud of him. I have no doubt that Aaron deserves to have the opportunity to go to school now and fulfill his dream of becoming a PA. He is one of the most dedicated and prepared applicants. I just hope the schools can see that and that they will give him a chance. If PA school does not work out for Aaron, I know that we are going to be fine, and we will just move forward. BUT, if he does get in… fireworks, parades, and sangria for everyone :). Not really, we will be elated. He deserves it.

Life has been good. It is in fast forward which is a good and bad feeling. I can't want to be done with school here and move on, on the other hand, I love taking things slow and watching my baby boy grow into a little boy every day, I don't want our lives to pass us by too fast during all of this schooling.

Some fun things we have done/are doing:

Went to see Tim McGraw in concert in UT

Got our first brand new car

We are training to run in either a half marathon or at least the 5k on Labor day.

Good times-

Aaron was recently released as a ward mission leader and is now serving in the young men's presidency.

I'm on break from school for a few weeks, and I am trying my hardest to be a lazy as possible so that I can actually feel like working hard again.

Well, that's the update… I hope life is treating all y'all well! Till next time… :)

All in His timing...

I guess it really is time to update this blog. I go back and forth about even keeping it, but I guess if it is for anyone, it should be for us to remember these times. And if we're going to do that a little better I should at least update the only place I'm recording our comings and goings.

Time really has flown for us in this past year and we have had one of the best years too in Bountiful Utah. We've grown really attached to our ward here and have made some great friends. My brother Ramiro and his wife Stacey also moved to Utah last May so she could get a PhD at the UofU in school psychology. So now that we're finally in a ward that we love and could see ourselves staying in for a while, and we have even more family close by we end up having to move. But this move is really exciting for us, and we're ready to move forward. Well to catch you up, we moved to Bountiful for Aaron to be able to start getting experience in the medical field. He has had an awesome job here working as a medical assistant in a Pediatrician's office. He applied to PA school (which I kind of talked about before) but things just didn't work out this year as PA school is very competitive so we were totally not thrown off by this outcome. We both know that it is just going to take some more experience and also get more science classes in so his science GPA will shine. We are also keeping our options open and Aaron is actually trying to get into a nursing program right now so that he can have that to fall back on and possibly go into a nursing practitioner's program once he gets a nursing degree.
Our plan was that we would both apply to grad school, and if he got in then we'd go to school for him, and if he didn't then I would go if I got into school. Well, the application process for me was a bit stressful. I really wasn't sure if I was even going to get into school, and after several rejections, I was already ready to move forward and start doing things to make my application better. Fortunately I was accepted into a program in NM at ENMU, and I was waitlisted at Texas Tech. I accepted the spot I was offered at ENMU instead of waiting to hear about Tech because things in Portales (where ENMU is located) just seemed like they were falling into place for both Aaron and I. Aaron can attend classes at a community college in Clovis where it is super cheap even for out of state residents, and they also have a nursing program he has applied to. I also was offered a graduate assistantship which gives me money, as well as waives my out of state tuition (so I'll qualify for in-state tuition) (SUPER GOOD DEAL) It will almost be as if I won't have to pay tuition at all.
Anyway, needless to say we feel blessed. We expect to have many more years ahead of us of hard work, but this is our start and we're so happy to move forward.

It's crazy how it has almost been a year that I have been staying home with Sam. It has been a wild ride that I have absolutely loved and I'm so grateful I've had this time to spend with him. I've grown so much, and I know my heart is forever changed and bonded to his. There is really something special about being able to stay home with your babies that I will never take for granted. I know it is going to be super hard for me to go back to school and even have to work afterward while Aaron is in a grad program. It's a sacrifice, but I feel like now is as good of a time as any and I'm ready to get it done.

Well friends, that is the update. We have limited time left in Utah since we're moving so Aaron can start class right away in June. Hopefully we can make the best of our time. I'll update again soon with some of our recent adventures. Till then, New Mexico here we come!!! We're excited!

San Diego & My Best Friend's Wedding

My best friend Heather gave us a great reason to escape snowy Utah when she decided to be married in sunny San Diego last Friday. She was a beautiful bride.

Jason her husband seems to be a great guy, well he must be since he won Heather's heart. I was beginning to wonder if anyone would ever make the cut. I'm so glad he did, and I am so happy for her and him.

Her wedding was followed by a beach BBQ, it was great... I wish Sammy would have been more interested in socializing more than trying to escape into the ocean, and eating seaweed and sand. I admit, Aaron and I both wanted to have a blast but we were both a little stressed with our little adventure seeker who we couldn't take our eyes off. I wonder if I will ever have a child who will cling to my leg and won't let me out of his sight. Since I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum right now, I wouldn't mind a little more separation anxiety coming from my baby :).


On Saturday we got to go to the famous San Diego Zoo. It was fun to see the animals and point them out to Sam, not to mention did I say we were in San Diego? The weather was beautiful, it was a perfect day to be outside together.

We ended our trip with a nice visit with Aaron's family in Riverside. Uncle Bob cooked us ribs and chicken on his grill, Grandma Vicky made her famous beans and rice, and we got to talk photography with Uncle David.
San Diego was a great getaway, but it just didn't seem like Christmas in California. Now that it's over and done, we're glad to be back in snowy Utah!

Fields of Gold

So I was looking for my journal tonight to write in, but I couldn't find it in the whole 10 seconds I looked. Sometime in those 10 seconds I remembered I did have a blog that was in desperate need of an updating!Aaron is applying to PA School right now as we speak, he has 13 applications submitted so far including schools in AZ, CA, NY,PA,OR,TX and UT... well we can cross the UT one off because they didn't want our business so we're looking else where but we're optimistic that Aaron will get in somewhere. I've also been quite ambitious myself lately, and I am also preparing to begin applying to grad school. I took the GRE yesterday and received a good score, so now all I have to do is buckle down and pick some schools. This is the hardest part I think though because obviously Aaron's getting into school is more important to me than me getting into school, and not a lot of schools have both our programs. So we'll just have to toss up options into the air and see where the wind takes us because we're both going for it!
Nope, we haven't forgotten we have a wonderful son. He's all part of this decision too, It's going to be a rough couple of years for all of us! Speaking of the bubs, I still love being his mom. I'm probably never going to change my position in feeling like it's so much harder to be selfish with a child. But I do love him so and so really... it's really not that hard. I mean c'mon, who could resist this face?

Sam's been learning some new words. So far (and finally) he can say Mama, Dada, baba, papa, ouch (outh), gotcha (dot tha), Gidget (didit), pants pants pants (ba ba ba), and up. He can also shake his head no and say uhuh, and nods and says uhHUH. At his last apt in October he weighed 28lbs, and was I believe 33 inches tall. This little man is growing so fast not even my muscles are keeping up with him... that's why its a good thing he's walking like a champ now, minus the few falls and quick trips we had to make to the Dr. to get some stitches on his lip (actually a walking with a bottle in his mouth accident) and have his elbow popped back into place (yeah, don't pick a heavy kid up by the arms... ever.)
Anyway, glad the holidays are here! We're looking forward to spending some fun times with family and friends! Love to all!

Summer Sets

As I contemplate what to write in this post, I can think of many stories to share. I only wish I updated this sooner so that I could have remembered/recorded it all. Not that we had an amazingly eventful summer, but this summer was filled with lots of firsts. 1. Aaron's first college degree. (Biology) 2. Aaron's first full time job. 3. My first time ever without a job. (since freshman year college) 4. My first summer as a SAHM. 5. Sammy's first birthday. 6. Sammy's first words. 7. Sammy's first steps.

Oh yeah, and we moved to Bountiful! The move was bittersweet for me at first... I don't really miss the rabbit hutches... sorry wymountians... I loved that place because that was where we called home for 2 years, we brought our baby home to apt 569, and we had some great friends in our ward, but we're glad to be away from the construction, and the living wall to thin wall and on top of our neighbors. I thought that since I love Provo so much, I would definitely need time to adjust and feel like Bountiful was home, but the feeling came quickly. We know we belong here, at least for now. We still live in a small place (a duplex), and we're renting... it's only appropriate since we are living off half of what we used to! But we feel very fortunate and blessed to be in our situation.

Yes, we've had a low key summer, and I loved it! I think I needed time to adjust to being a full time mom- and let me tell you, it was an adjustment! This job is hard work, but I'm so glad it is me who gets to do it. In saying that, I don't regret leaving my wonderful job. I knew when I left full time employment with BYU I'd probably never have a better office, better coworkers, or better benefits. That job had great perks, this one just has more. Poopy diapers, screaming flailing baby and all!

Sam at 7 months

we are playing catchup. Sam is really 10 months on the 15th. he is growing fast and learning to demand more things. So imagine him even bigger than this.

little buddha

I love this picture. I just wanted everyone who looks at this to see this cute picture of Sam.