The best way to spend a weekend

Spoiled

I have been spoiled by this adorably squishy little face.

When I first thought about getting pregnant, the thought of quitting my job seemed unbearable. My job was everything to me (except for my husband of course) and I couldn't imagine how mundane life would be if I ended up leaving teaching to become one of those "stay-at-home moms" I so openly pitied. Even after I had Autumn, I had moments where I wished that I was still in Orem so I could continue teaching part time. I really missed it a lot.

So a couple of months ago when the opportunity to teach online math and reading classes came up I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for me. We've been looking for ways to save money for the future and I felt certain that a little bit of work was exactly what I needed to keep me from being completely sucked into the world of dirty diapers and nonsensical baby babble.

Well I finally started teaching my first section this week and I am quickly realizing how spoiled I have been being able to be one of those "stay-at-home moms." I am only working 4 hrs in the evening for 3 days a week and I am struggling with being away from Autumn and Dillon even that much, even though "away" simply means in the other room. Pathetic? Probably. I'm sure I will get used to it with more time, but it is definitely helping me realize how much of a blessing it is that I am able to be home with my baby and that I have a husband who supports me in my desire to do so. He knew it would be the right decision for me even before I did.

It also makes me so grateful for my own mom who worked while we were growing up, but still managed to always be there for us. It must have been hard for her, much harder than my measly 12 hours a week I'm sure. Three cheers for mommies.

Welcome, Spring!

The weather in St George has been absolutely amazing lately.  It's warm enough that I can wear shorts and I don't need a sweater or jacket, but I'm never too hot.  We've been trying to take advantage of the weather before the scorching heat of summer hits us.  We were lucky enough to be able to go see a BYU baseball game.  Because of all of the snow and cold weather in Provo they couldn't play their season home-opener up there so they played at Dixie State.  It was so fun to be able to cheer on BYU.  I'm pretty sure we were the only people singing along with the fight song, but that's ok.  The game was a really exciting one.  BYU beat Creighton.  The highlight was an awesome home run by BYU when the bases were loaded.  Autumn looked so cute in her little BYU shirt and BYU baseball cap.  She's a future cougar for sure.  She was a good sport, making it through all nine innings, but as soon as she got in the car she fell asleep in literally 30 seconds and was OUT!  Poor Dillon got a horrible sunburn on his arms and legs.  Next time we will take sun screen.

I can't wait until we can go to our next baseball game.  I know a lot of people think that watching baseball is kind of boring, but I always love it.  It reminds me of my dad and all the times we'd go to baseball games together.

On Sunday we went to a nearby park and grilled up some burgers.  Dillon is the burger king.  He makes the most flavorful, juicy burgers.  It was so fun to do something a little bit different than normal (i.e. eating dinner on the couch in front of the TV).  Autumn had fun playing on the swings. I can't wait until we have lots of family that can get together to do Sunday barbecues.

 

Today Autumn and I spent the morning playing outside in the rocks.  It's something that's so simple yet it was so much fun for the both of us. I love how small simple things can be so much fun when I'm doing it with my little side kick.  I think by the end I had successfully taught her that rocks do not go in her mouth.  I can't wait for our next outing!

Snow Canyon

We had an awesome President's Day weekend this year.  My mom drove down to visit us for the weekend and we had a blast.  We spent Saturday at Snow Canyon State Park.  It's so close to us, but we had never been before.  We went on a few small hikes and played in the sand dunes.  We'll definitely be going there again soon.

 

I can't wait until I get to see my mom again.  Now for all the rest of you, hopefully this will inspire you to come visit us in sunny St. George.  We're open for visitors any time!

Home Again, Home Again (Part 5/5)

It was hard to see this vacation come to a close.  We had done so much and a very sleep-deprived Autumn was definitely ready to head home, but it was still difficult to know hat it was winding down.  On Sunday we were able to go to sacrament meeting at one of the LDS wards in town.  I love the feeling of visiting wards out of state.  It's a different feeling when you walk into the chapel.  It seems more like a refuge because it seems like you can feel a greater contrast from the crazy life going on outside.  It was a nice, relaxing break from all of the go, go, go that we had been doing.  The church building was near Lombard St so we stopped there on our way back to the hotel to change.  The iphone pictures are kind of dark, but you get the idea.  We walked all the way down and all the way back up.  My arms and legs were burning by the end.  I swear Autumn gained about 50 pounds somewhere around step 285.

We had a few hours Monday morning before we had to head to the airport so we went to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA).  It was awesome! They had a photography exhibit there about Apartheid in South Africa that was so touching.

Our flight home got delayed which was kind of rough, but Autumn made it through the flight back.  She was definitely more cranky and she refused to sleep at all, but the people in front of us said that she was a fantastic baby so we still give her an A+ for being such a great trooper.  The second we got her in the car seat she passed out though.

It was a fantastic trip. We are definitely a family that loves travel and I can't wait until our next trip - whenever that might be.  For now though, I'll just have to satisfy myself by watching endless reruns of Full House and daydreaming that I'm picnicking with the Tanner family in the heart of my new love, San Fran.

Farmers, Fish, and Fudge (Part 4/5)

Saturday morning we went to the Ferry Building for their big weekly farmers market.  We bought a small sampling of foods from a bunch of booths.  Breads, cheeses, meat, pastries, scones...yum yum yum.  It was delicious and so much fun.

We then headed over to the city Aquarium.  This was pretty cool, but it was extremely small.  It took us probably half an hour to see the whole thing.  If I was making recommendations for someone who was visiting SF I would tell them to skip this.  The subpar experience didn't stop me from taking 100 pictures though. :)

The day wouldn't have been complete without a stop at Ghirardelli Square for another fudgy delicious sundae.  Yes I said another.  This was indeed our second trip to the square for nothing other than an amazing totally-worth-the-outrageoulys-priced Ghirardelli sundae.  The first time we ravenously devoured our strawberry and hot fudge sundae before I could even take a picture.  At least this time I managed to get the camera out of its bag before we had eaten the whole thing.  Trust me, there's still a few licks left in the bottom.

We had fun watching how the chocolate is made.  Now I'm going to have to try to find a copy-cat recipe for the fudge sauce because you know I need to be eating it at least weekly daily.

Big City Life (Part 3/5)

I love big cities because there is always so much to do and see.  You can start in one neighborhood and go two blocks over and suddenly you are in a completely different place.  Every bus trip and every short walk results in a new adventure and new sights to see.  Dillon and I would love to live in a big city like San Francisco someday.  It's one of our little dreams.

This trip was really fun because we could just walk the streets and see so many sights that you would never see in good old middle-of-nowhere St. George.  I love how you can walk two blocks and see more things than if you walked two miles in a suburb.  

The afternoon of our second day in SF we went to Chinatown.  When you're riding around on the bus or trolley you know right away when you've entered Chinatown.  It has a totally different feeling from any other part of town.  It feels like you've suddenly been transported to another country.

 We ate dinner at this little place off of the beaten path called "Utopia Cafe."  The food was amazing and super authentic.  We were the only white people in the whole restaurant which was a really good sign.