Yellowstone and....

It had almost been two years since Brian and I had the opportunity to go out to Yellowstone. Which is kind of sad considering its only a short distance away. Since Brian and I will be moving to California soon we decided to make it a priority to visit. I decided to check and see when the free weekends were scheduled and lucky for us we had one a few days later. Quickly we made plans and preparations. I insisted that we make a campground reservation since I didn't want to risk being left with no where to sleep.

So of course on the day that we were to leave (June 8) the weather would decide to change from its sunny and extremely warm conditions to cold and wet. Luckily I had checked ahead of time and so we packed appropriately for the weather. We arrived with just enough time to set up our camp before a light drizzle started. And through this light drizzle we made our yummy tin foil dinners. Since we had a little bit of light left in the day we decided to drive over to Old Faithful and look at the visitors center (since didn't have a chance to go in their last time). Unfortunately for us we were about an hour too late, the visitors center had already closed. Instead we decided to go into the gift shop. We found a great shirt for Brian, it was a black shirt with a yellow moose's head and resembled the Batman symbol. I found a long sleeve shirt, which I was grateful for that night since it got pretty cold. And finally we decided to get something for a baby since we wont have the opportunity go to Yellowstone again or for a long time.

As we were paying in the gift shop we could hear that the drizzle had changed to a downpour. It was a fun sprint to the car. It rained heavily that entire night and we were grateful for our nice mummy bags and a tent that has no holes. As we packed up our tent the next morning we were surprised how big the puddle under our tent had gotten. We had an extremely wet outside tent, but it was toasty and dry inside.

We decided to explore the upper loop of Yellowstone this trip since on our last trip we only had time for the bottom loop. It was very different from the bottom loop and reminded me more of Yosemite. Brian enjoyed climbing over giant boulders on the side of the road, I wish I had taken some pictures because he was grinning like a little kid. Here are some of my favorite shots from the day:

Brian doesn't pay attention to signs. This was at Roaring Mountain, the steam coming out of the mountain hisses so load it can be heard from 4 miles away.

We had seen a moose earlier in our trip, but hadn't had the opportunity to take a picture because we were rushing to set up our camp. Lucky for us we ran into another moose.

We found this really cool fallen tree that had moss growing all over it. I had wanted Brian to take a picture of it, but he insisted I stand next to it...I love my face.

The Artist Paint Pots are really awesome. I love the colors surrounding the area. We visited it last time and had time to visit it again. Just as remarkable as I remembered it.

This is one of my favorite shots from the day. It was cold and windy, but we still managed to get a good shot with the pools in the background. Sadly the colors weren't as bright as I remember them being last time.



Now for more exciting things. On Wednesday, June 13, I had my first prenatal appointment. I was so nervous and scared because on Thursday night I had had some light bleeding. I was afraid we would do the ultrasound and I would see nothing but an empty void. I was so happy to watch the screen and see an image show up. It's official, we our expecting our first our first child. As long as everything goes well and I do not have a miscarriage I will have a child in the beginning of next year. The doctor was able to measure our baby and according to the measurement I was exactly 7 weeks along. The due date is January 30, 2013, so we can either have a baby born in January or February. Here is a copy of the ultrasound:

In the top image you can clearly see see the little yolk, and the tail is still visible. It is so cute and tiny, only 0.933 cm. Even more amazing in the ultrasound we could see its tiny little heart beating. It brought tears to my eyes, I was so surprised. We were even able to hear the heartbeat for a few seconds. I can't believe how much it has grown in such a short time. Life is growing inside me, and I feel so blessed to be finally experiencing this.

Life Happens

It's not often that I sit down to write and I find that I have so many things I want to say, and yet ways to express everything is lacking. Where to start....how about last May. After nearly 3 years of marriage I finally convinced Brian that it was time to start trying to have a baby. I figured even if I were to get pregnant right away it would not interfere with my finishing my schooling because the baby would be due after I graduate. And so against Brian's fears he agreed and I went off birth control. Those first few months after I stopped my birth control were the hardest. My body was transitioning of the hormones in birth control and my period was anything but regular. There were a few months where I would think that my period was late, I would take a pregnancy test, and then collapse in tears...only to have my period start within the next 24 hours. I did not understand why we were unable to conceive. It hurt even more when I would look at facebook and see yet another friend announce their pregnancy. It was bittersweet, I was so happy for them, but everywhere I looked I seemed to see another pregnancy. I began wondering if I would ever feel the joys of motherhood.

So much has happened since those first months after I went off birth control. In December I finally graduated from BYU-I with a B.S. in Psychology. I admit there were moments when I didn't think I would ever graduate. I love psychology and I can't believe it took me so many years to figure out that was the field to go into and study. I am still at a loss for what I should do now that I have graduated. I feel like I have spent my whole life in school, and the idea of a break is nice, but I feel restless just working. For awhile I was playing with the idea of getting a masters in counseling specializing in art therapy, but after working with some of the kids at Access Point I don't know that it is right for me. Some of the kids that I worked with, doing behavioral therapy, were complete tyrants and I don't know that I would want to risk working with kids like that for the rest of my life. For the past month we have had Ninja in our home again (the rat I trained in my Principles of Behavioral Learning class) and it did make me remember how much I enjoyed training him and the chickens. Brian had the idea that I look into programs that I can do more training of animals. I like that idea, the animals won't talk back to me the way some of these kids have. I don't want to train dogs, because I am still terrified of them, but I think it would be really amazing to work in a zoo or at an aquarium as a trainer. I have to look into it more, but that is the direction that I am currently leaning towards.

I am so excited for life to move on right now. We have been living in Rexburg for nearly four years and I am ready to live someplace new. Luckily for us Brian did hear back from the graduate schools he applied to, and he was accepted into his top choice. Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. In March we had the opportunity to go to the school, look around, meet the professors, and make sure that he did indeed want to go to this school. It is awesome, I am so excited to be in California again, where it does not snow in the wintertime. Unfortunately we will not be able to leave until the beginning of August, and the semester will start in the beginning of September. One nice thing is that we will only be about an hour away from where I grew up, from my parents.

Now to the present. It has been about two weeks now since I was supposed to have my period. Last Saturday, before we left for Memorial Day weekend in Utah I took a pregnancy test. I was not expecting anything of it because it would not be the first time that my period was late. Three minutes passed and I got the nerves up to look at the test for the results. I nearly passed out when I realized there was the pink line to indicate that I was pregnant. After barely calming down I went to Brian and shared the news. I could not believe what my eyes were telling me. After nearly a year a pregnancy test was finally telling me the new that I had been hoping and praying for, for such a long time. The following day I took a digital test, oh how excited I felt to see the word "Pregnant" appear on the test. I have my first appointment with the doctor's on June 13. I pray that everything will go well with this pregnancy, that I won't have a miscarriage. I am so excited for what the future holds. I can't wait to hold this precious little girl or boy that is growing within me. Life is truly full of surprises and every moment that we breath we should cherish.