Cross Country Skiing

A couple of weekends ago Riley decided he wanted to do some skiing, knowing that downhill skiing was pretty risky for a pregnant lady to do he decided he wanted to do some cross country skiing. So that Saturday late morning, we went up to North Fork campground in the valley, they have a place to rent cross country ski's there and groomed trails for $15 dollars a person. Pretty sweet deal for a day of fun. We got all our gear and since it was a absolutely beautiful day outside we didn't have to wear coats or anything, then we started on the trails. Since the last time I cross country skied was in the 6th grade I wasn't quite pro but I only fell once and was very careful to not to hurt anything on the way down. Riley also only fell once, I didn't see it though he was behind be. It was so much fun, the only downside to it was this dang nausea associated to pregnancy. I had to stop a few times and just try to calm it down, Riley was great though and just supported me. Also side note, everybody was so friendly up there on the trails they all stopped and said hi, if they were going slow enough, there were some pretty intense people there on the trails as well, we just let them pass us. When we decided we had enough of the skiing we went to this great little restaurant in the valley and had a delicious pizza. (Normally I haven't been able to eat pizza with this pregnancy it makes me gag but it just smelled so good at that time). All together though it was such a great date! We enjoyed it so much! It was just nice to get away for the day and not think about school or work. Here are some pictures of our adventure.

The cute couple!

Riley looking pretty pro at this!

Me at the top of a hill!

Finishing up with our skiing! So fun! I totally recommend it to everyone!

And Baby Makes Three!

We are so excited to be announcing that we are having a baby! We are currently 12 weeks along, and baby is doing great! We are due August 13, 2012. We couldn't be more excited. The big goal before having a baby was for me to be an RN, that happened in September, and we found out we were expecting right before we went to Mexico in December! We kept it a secret for 8 whole weeks (if you know me that is a very long time to keep a secret), and told our families by showing them this picture that we had taken on the beach in Mexico. So excited to have a this little spirit join our family!

Goodbye Old Friend!

So Riley and I decided it was time to sell my car! (More Riley decided and I had no choice but to go along). If you know me you know I get somewhat attached to my vehicles, I give them names, this car is Samantha Mae! I love her! I am sad that we have to sell her! She experienced the life changes right along with me! She was my first NICE car, she watched me go through college, and get my education, she watched me go through countless dates, and eventually watched me meet Riley and marry him. She was there when I would have a bad shift at work, or just needed a time out. I can even tell you on one hand the #of people besides myself who have driven this car, and they are all my family. Well, Samantha has been a fabulous car and I will miss her dearly, but am excited for getting a new vehicle and moving on up in the life.

Mexico, Part 2

Well, this is pretty much our last full day in Mexico, we went on a tour to the ruins of Coba and Tulum, and also to a cenote, and a cute restaurant by Coba to eat lunch. It was my favorite day of the trip. Totally recommend this trip, it was small only 6 people where on it so we got to talk with our tour guide alot, and the other people in our group, and we also got to get to know the history of the people. That was by far the best because these people where from the Book of Mormon times, and it really brought it to life for me. Next time I think I would like to take an LDS tours just because it would be amazing to see it from that point of view.

This is at Coba, it was huge, we had to rent bikes to ride to the big pyramid or it would have taken to long to walk their, plus there was ruins all the way to the big pyramid to stop and talk about. This is the ball court, it was a game, kinda like basketball.

The bikes we rented, it was about 2 miles to ride to the big pyramid, and it was HOT!

You could also rent these, people would peddle for you and take you down. After having climbed up and down the big pyramid, plus riding down there and back I kinda wished we had done this route but the bikes where pretty sweet as well. Totally worth it to go see it.

One of the ruins on the way down to the big pyramid, I think it was the astronomy tower.

The tallest pyramid in Mexico, Coba, I can't remember how many steps, I think it was like 127 steps to the top. Totally worth it to go up and see the top, but oh my heck was it steep! Very scary to climb down! Climbing up wasn't so bad because you weren't looking down at how steep or how far down it was.

How steep it was to climb up and down, and the stairs weren't exactly big or like the stairs in my house all sorts of different sizes. This is the only one in this part of Mexico that you can still climb for now. I don't know how much longer it will be that you can climb it but totally an very sweet experience.

View from the top!

This was the ruins at Tulum, this was really cool because it has all be excavated and it wasn't to big, but had lots of buildings in it, and the beach on the other side was gorgeous! This is the main pyramid at Tulum, I think it's called El Castillo, but not sure about that one. You can't climb any of these ruins. But very cool to see the city. It was completely walled on all three sides, the one that wasn't walled is a cliff next to the ocean. Pretty protected from invaders.

One of the buildings.

The beach behind the ruins, absolutely gorgeous! Totally recommend it!

More ruins!

This was the restaurant we ate lunch at, VERY HOT SALSA! Burned my poor mouth! We had just finished the Coba ruins, and had went swimming in a cenote, which is an underground fresh water cave. It was amazing! I didn't get any pictures just because there wasn't a place to set our camera, but you could jump in from about 25 feet and me and Riley both did it, I was the only girl from our tour that did jump in from it. I ain't chicken!

More of the beach behind the ruins at Tulum, I absolutely love the clouds in the background, makes it look so mystical and cool.

View from the top of Coba, alot of trees is what you can see, but again totally worth going to the top just to say that you did. There was a lady climbing down in front of me that was bitter about going to the top and telling people the view was just as great from half way up, well it bugged me because if anybody stopped they wouldn't have the satisfaction of saying they climbed to the top. I wanted to say something but didn't I held my tongue. But I am so glad I made it to the top, it was definately worth it!

Well, that was our trip to Cancun, the airplane rides were a little rough for us but so happy that we went and got to experience this amazing area of the world. It was totally worth it! I loved the trip! (Keep reading updated with the other half of our trip).

Trip to Mexico

Well I have been a slacker this past month and I am sorry but I am finally updating. In December me and Riley had the opportunity to go to Cancun, Mexico for a week, and it was so much fun! Warning this is picture overload these next few posts, and they aren't in order of days. Sorry!

Playing on the beach!

We went to the market in Tulum, we took public transportation, that was an experience by itself, I am so lucky Riley speaks spanish, I think it saved us! The shops we pretty sweet though and we got some very cute souveniors.

The ruins that were on the beach of our hotel. I think it was a look out area, it was on the edge of the land overlooking the ocean.

Riley in the shops!

The lovely beach! It was so fun to go swimming in the ocean everyday!

Part of our hotel room! It was very nice!

This was our first day on the resort! It was so amazing!

Downtown Tulum! We had to walk to the market area! Little scary!

Sunrise on the resort! It was very pretty!

Part of the resorts beach! This little area was great for snorkeling, we went a few times.

Part of our resort!

Riley on a different beach, this was such a great beach, the sand was like sugar granules. It was amazing!

We got there in the late afternoon on Saturday, and the next day we went to Playa to church, and it was a very good experience to go. Riley felt so happy to be back in a Spanish ward and I felt comfortable their, it made me realize that no matter where you go the church is pretty much the same as back home, just the language is different. I also learned that it is easier to sing in spanish then to speak it!

St. George and Creativity

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go to St. George and stay with Riley's Aunt and Uncle, Elaina and Randy. My mother in law, Shannon, and of my sister in laws, Mandee and Biz, where down there with their cute kids. I drove down on Friday and was there til Tuesday. It was so much fun, we just got to hang out and relax. I have forgotten how to relax, but it was so much fun. We went for walks, to the park, swimming, shopping, and alot of laughing and just having fun. I got to see the St. George family, Elaina's kids are awesome, they crack me up. Matt was really busy doing swimming meets that I didn't get to hang out with him very much, but Emily was funny and very helpful with the babies. Plus while we were down their she tried out for the basketball team, and she made it!! Congrats Emily! Ay was so freaking awesome, he helped with the babies, and is so smart, he was such a pleasure to talk with. Zoe is amazing! Funny story with her, we were shopping and she knows exactly what she wants to wear, so she would go around the store picking out things and taking them to Elaina. (I might have helped and gave her cute clothes to show her mom). It was so fun! It was such a fun vacation! But I had to go back home and back to work. Thanks Elaina and Randy for letting me stay! And to Shannon for inviting me down!

This past week I have been wanting to sew something, thinking about a blanket, went to the store and decided on making a Christmas scrub top. My mom helped me out so much! I couldn't have done it without her. I can't wait to wear it! I freaking love it! It is a little big but that is okay, cotton shrinks right? Well here is the picture of it! I will be trying this again I think, but only with cute materials that I can't find anywhere else.

Foot Saver's

I have discovered something, I am very hard on shoes and my feet. Since I graduated high school I have worked in the medical field. To work in this field you need good strong shoes. When I started working I bought a good pair of tennis shoes, they costed about sixty dollars, and I wore them to work. They would work great but then they would be entirely worn out by six months to a year. I would go by another pair of shoes and keep going through the same routine. It gets pretty expensive after awhile. Also after a few hours of standing on your feet you realize you need good support on those feet, (I know sound like an old person). When I went to working at the hospital I was standing on my feet for longer amount of hours and by the time I would get home from work my feet and legs would just ache and kill. It was really quite miserable. I started paying attention to what other nurses and aides were wearing on there feet and I tried a few different options that weren't to expensive but my legs and feet would always end up aching. That is when some nurses at work suggest I get a pair of dansko professionals. Looked them up online and they were a pretty penny but I thought they looked pretty cute. For my graduation my in-laws bought them for me, and I tried them out. CAN WE SAY WORLD OF DIFFERENCE! I LOVE THESE SHOES! I can stand for 12 hours and walk and my feet don't hurt at all! It was such a difference. And everyone says that they have had them for so long, like years. No more having to buy shoes every year! So I will save money in the long run. So for anyone who has to stand for a long time (teachers, doctors, check out people, nurses, or anybody else) I recommend these shoes! They are serious foot savers! Here is a picture of the ones that I got, they come in all sorts of colors and designs.

Seriously love them!