Been a while...

I feel like its been a while since I've actually updated on here. I don't really have a good excuse...things have just been weighing heavily on me and I've just been trying to keep my head above water.

So lets see....a couple highlights from the last few weeks...I turned the big 2-5! I know to most of you thats not very old...and its not...but time sure does fly from the days where the hardest thing in life was the ACTs and your mom was always there to take care of you. Don't get me wrong...life is overall good, but I do miss my mom being there to make meals and take care of me when I'm sick. However, with the more acute, hard things comes a better and deeper appreciation for life and joy. And to be honest I NEVER, EVER want to go back to high school...I hated high school.

I love the stage of life I'm in. I am more than grateful to be married to the most wonderful man ever and be pregnant with our second little baby! Speaking of our little peanut...she is doing great and growing bigger and bigger as is evidenced by my protruding belly...and her stronger, more insistent kicks!! :) I love her little kicks. We just had our targeted ultrasound last week and got some great pictures of our princess. One thing that really stuck out to us was her thighs, they are huge! lol We've decided she is going to be a soccer player like her mom. I can't wait for her to get here! Here are some pictures since thats what everyone wants to see in posts anyway right?!

Isn't she a cutie?!

We sure love this little girl! As I get bigger I know I will get more anxious, so I would really appreciate everyone's continued prayers.

SwagBuck!

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Explanation

So I wanted to elaborate a little on my sweet husbands previous post! :) First though, don't I have the best husband ever?! He takes such good care of me, I really don't deserve him.

He is so cute, his idea for our anniversary is so sweet. And heres why, our very first date was a marathon all day thing. We went to Boondocks and he spent pretty much all his money on me and then we went to P.F. Changs for dinner and then we went to watch the Joseph Smith movie at the Legacy Theater. The funny thing is that the movie was my suggestion...I used a lame line, something like I wanted to see it on the big screen since I'd only seen it on smaller screens at other visitors centers. lol BUT what I REALLY wanted was an opportunity for him to hold my hand. :) And I figured a movie was perfect, and the movie is free. So we went and it was fun and I did ALL the signs that I wanted him to hold my hand but the silly boy DIDN'T!! I was SO MAD! lol

But now I'm glad he didn't, he was showing he was a gentleman and wasn't going to hold my hand on the first date. I had no idea that this was what he was planning for our anniversary and I'm so sad that I was an idiot and ruined it all. :( But we'll do it another day and it will be just as special. After I found out thats what he had wanted to do I told him we could do it another day and asked him if he would hold my hand this time...he said yes. :)

Just for fun I'll tell you a little more of the story. At the time I had 2 weeks off of EFY and was staying at my Grandma's in Orem. Zach lived about half an hour away. So our date was on a Thursday, and on Saturday Zach came down to take me to dinner after his work. We were going to be having a small family dinner on Sunday with a few of my cousins that were in town so I had asked my Grandma if it was okay if I invited Zach...if I could get up the courage! lol And I was pretty sure I wouldn't have the courage. So when Zach comes to pick me up, he meets my Grandma and SHE asks him about dinner!! lol It was funny, and I was secretly very glad my Grandma did the job for me.

So Zach and I leave and go to dinner or something and then we went and saw another movie (of course I'm thinking, okay here is his second chance to hold my hand!)...but HE DIDN'T!! grrrr! And I was OBVIOUS, he will tell you now that he knew I wanted him to hold my hand but he was a little chicken along with wanting to be a gentleman. :)

Then the next day (Sunday) he comes for dinner and of course we end up watching another movie that night, Work and the Glory because he hadn't seen it, and poor Grandma went to bed when we wanted to watch the second one too! lol And THEN he FINALLY held my hand! I know, I was being very impatient, but I knew I liked him and I knew I wanted him to hold my hand and I was getting impatient with all the chivalry. :) So he finally held my hand and the rest is history...here we are, married for 3 years and more in love than ever! We have gone through some hard things, and continue to go through hard things but as long as we are together we will be okay.

Groundhogversary

Tuesday was Groundhog's day, one of my most favorite holidays. Too bad the rest of the world doesn't share my enthusiasm and make it an international holiday with paid time off. Tuesday was also our wedding anniversary. This year, I have lovingly combined them into what I shall refer to as Groundhogversary... clever, I know.

I don't know what it is about Groundhog's day... maybe it's the under-appreciation, maybe it's the top hats of the inner circle... it's probably that cute little groundhog face peering out of the hole.

Come on, how can you NOT like that overgrown rodent.

Groundhog day comes from the German tradition that says if the sun comes out on Candlemas (the day Jesus was presented at the temple and blessed by Simon), the hedgehog would see his shadow and he will return to his hole and hibernate for 6 more weeks of winter.

German settlers in America used groundhogs to carry on the tradition set forth by their ancestors and Groundhog Day was born.

While there is no formal local celebration for Groundhog Day, it is a dream of mine to visit Punxsutawney Pennsylvania where Groundhog Day is a local holiday and there are a wide range of festivities... ah... someday.

Sadly, the sun was shining on Tuesday, which traditionally means we are in for another 6 weeks of winter. *sigh* I guess we shouldn't put those coats away just yet.

The elation of Groundhog Day only added to the joy of our 3 year wedding anniversary. I've never had a very profound concept of time moving quickly or slowly. Even so, it is weird to think it has been 3 years since we got married. It doesn't seem like it was all that long ago. I found the CD we made for the dancing we had at our reception with such classics as "The Cha Cha Slide," "Boot Scootin Boogie," and just about EVERY EFY counselor dance song there was. We did have some nice slow songs too... "Love of My Life" by Micheal W. Smith (Our first dance). I've had a fun time listening to it and thinking of that day, the most memorable, wonderful, happy day of my life... The day I married my best friend.

Because of a lack of funding and time off work, I didn't plan anything extravagant. We just had dinner reservations at PF Changs and I had thought about going downtown to see the Joseph Smith movie in the Legacy Theater. (I rough recreation of our first date).

Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way. As I was nearing the end of my shift at work, I got a call from Amy. Normally I can't answer my phone while I'm working, but I knew Amy knew that, so I thought it must be something important and answered it. She had been out running errands and the car wouldn't start.

So, I got permission to leave early... it was only about 15 minutes... so they didn't care and went to rescue her. I hadn't anticipated, however, how difficult the task would be. Don't get me wrong, I know how to jump start a car... that's something I learned in Boy Scouts before I could even drive. And I always make sure there are a pair of jumper cables in the car. But what I hadn't anticipated was the car I was in... I had NO idea where the battery was in that car. I drive an old '95 Chevy Lumina that was my dad's until he upgraded. The car is old, dirty and ready to die, but it gets me from point A to point B so I don't mind it. I had never used that car to jump start another car, so when I opened the hood I just stared into the engine space for a second thinking "Wait... where IS the battery?" It took me a few minutes to locate what I thought was the battery, I even got out the owner's manual to see if that could help. It was lodged it a corner, under some hoses and covered by a support bar... NOT easily accessible. Then, once I found it, I couldn't figure out where the terminals were. They seemed to be on the side of the battery and connected with snap latches... again, NOT accessible and NOT what I was used to. I tried for a few minutes to get the terminals exposed to no avail. Finally, I thought "I just need a car where I KNOW where the terminals are!"

I found it interesting how people in a busy parking lot will purposely avoid you when they think you're going to ask them something. I never had so much eye contact avoidance in my life... We had a relatively good parking spot, but somehow all the spots around us were left vacant... It was a sobering lesson in just how cold our society has become.

I was able to get a hold of my mom, and she came to allow us to use her car to jump it... Finally, a battery I was completely used to. All in all, we probably spent an hour and a half between my fumbling and waiting for my mom...

Needless to say, we missed our dinner reservations. Instead of a nice restaurant, we had our anniversary dinner in the food court of Costco and by the time it was all over, we just wanted to go home. So, we just spent the night together. Amy felt bad, but I honestly didn't mind. All I wanted for our anniversary was to spend it with her... and that I did. I was absolutely content sitting on the couch holding her in my arms.

It was a good day.

-Zach