The last time I wrote a blog post for this blog was in November 2015. It is now the last day of November 2016. I am so ticked at myself for not writing here more often. So many things have happened this year and I feel like I can't remember a damn thing. I am missing out on remembering so many memories. So, I will try to recap as much as I can from the last year and start anew in December of 2016.
Alright, here I go.
November 2015-
For Halloween, Brian, Rylan and I were jetsetters. We went to Huntington Beach, California for a long weekend because JetBlue was doing this awesome deal where you could fly anywhere from SLC for $31/person each way. They didn't do it again this year, which made me a bit peeved cause I had plans to take advantage of that deal!!! Rylan went trick or treating at the HBoo festival (You essentially trick or treat at all of the restaurants, bars, hotels and vendors. Then they had a baby halloween fashion show and a dance party.
My favorite picture of Rylan.
Love how curly her hair got in the humidity. :D
I know one day Brian is going to treasure this picture forever.
Kids grow up so fast.
Slap Fish. It's been over a year and I crave this daily.
December 2015-
I think this about sums it up:
Also, Rylan was so cute on Christmas morning. We took her out of our room and she just ran up to the tree giggling and dancing. She was so amazed by the spectacle of it all. It's been so long, I honestly can't even remember what we got her... I think her "big" gift was the kitchen.
January 2016-
It's the New Year, beyotch!
January is such a relief because there aren't any formal federal holidays. It's also a little sad because there isn't much to do... In the Puerto Rican culture, we celebrate 3 Kings Day on January 6th. Children leave out carrots, celery and water for the camels and the 3 wise men drop off a little gift as they continue to travel throughout the night searching for Christ. Other than that though-- we got nothing. So, we decided to go to Antelope Island. I don't think I had ever been there.. Maybe when I was young and still living in Utah. Anyway, Antelope Island is in Syracuse, UT. So I of course called my mom and was like, "Guess what?! I'm in Syracuse!" After getting super excited (to the point where I felt a little bad) she put two and two together that we were in Syracuse, UT not Syracuse, NY. Poor Mom.
Below are 2 of my favorite pictures from the trip:
February 2016-
I made some really great friends in my old neighborhood. I'm so glad I only live 3-5 minutes away from them. Anyway, we would try to get together at least once a month and do a little activity with each other and also bring the little ones along. This month, we had a Valentine's Day Party. We made cards, cookies and crafts. Rylan obviously liked the cookies. We don't let her have sweets during the week-- only at Abuela's house-- so she goes nuts when we let her have some!
I don't remember a whole lot about Valentine's Day this year other than I remember that it sucked. We couldn't find a babysitter and I tried to be okay with it and made reservations for a normal (not super fancy) place. I told Brian (and myself) that we would just take Rylan with us and that it would be fine. Well, it wasn't fine. Rylan was good for about 15 minutes and then she started to freak out. We ended up having to flag down our server and ask her to make our order to go... then we went home and ate take-out sushi over the sink like heathens.
About a week later, my parents came to town and we were able to go on a few dates by ourselves. It was also fun to have my little brother, AJ finally take the plunge and move out west. He has been here ever since and I'm not gonna lie, even though he stresses the heck out of me... it's nice to have some direct blood out here. :)
March 2016-
My beautiful and amazing cousin agreed to watch Rylan so Brian and I could have a much needed weekend of rest. We also sort of took the opportunity to celebrate Brian's birthday.
One of my best friends came for a visit. She and her husband are currently living in South Korea. He is in the air force. I was so happy to see her and my other friend. We were are like the 3 musketeers. We were inseparable. We don't talk a whole lot in between-- but when we do get together it's as if we were never apart. Those are good friends to have. :)
We went to Goblin Valley.
We celebrated Easter and Rylan went to her very first egg hunt. She is cute, huh?
April 2016-
We did a trip to Temple Square to see the tulips. (Pic on IG- need to download it)
We took Rylan to this super cute baby farm animal festival north of the SLC airport. She loved playing the bunnies and the goats best.
Brian and I celebrated our anniversary. I have no recollection of what we did-- I think we went to dinner and we bought our tickets for Puerto Rico.
Rylan got her first haircut.
We celebrated Brian and Anthony's birthday at my Abuela's house. (IG)
We took Rylan to the Zoo for Anthony's birthday (Anthony was not present because he bailed, per usual... unmarried men in their mid 20's.. not so reliable). (IG)
May 2016-
The first week of May we crashed my parents trip to Puerto Rico. We met up with them there a few days after they arrived. We realized that soon Rylan would be turning 2 and she would start costing money to fly-- and she hadn't met my grandmother yet who lives in Puerto Rico. So, we took advantage of that and went there for about 6 days?
The first night was the worst. My parents took Rylan as soon as we landed and one way or another Rylan fell and split her lip open on the corner of the hotel bed. We had to go to the ER in Puerto Rico. They didn't have a facial surgeon at that hospital on duty so she had to take an ambulance to another hospital. Because she had eaten recently- we had to wait 4-5 hours before they could put her under to do the surgery. (I saw surgery loosely-- she really just needed 7 stitches but they had to put her under anesthesia so she wouldn't move or become traumatized). She was a champ. I have been trying to pay those medical bills for months but for some reason hospitals in PR do not want to be paid. I call and call the hospital asking for a statement but no one has any information on how to do that. They just continuously send me from person to person until the line dies or they give me an extension to a different part of the hospital and when I call that extension-- it doesn't exist... seriously the sketchiest thing ever and it's no wonder PR is literally bankrupt. When people have the money and want to pay-- literally no one will take your money!
C'mon people! Okay, vent over.
Rylan and Brian riding in the ambulance. Only 2 of them could go for the ride.
I have no idea why Brian is smiling-- it was not a fun or happy situation.
He said he realized he was smiling after he took the picture and he knew I would say something about it. Ha! He knows me too well.
Sure enough, that was the first thing I said when he showed me the picture.
My abuela meeting Rylan for the first time.
El Morro
Old San Juan
Really great 3 generation picture.
Standing on the staircase of the infamous Vanderbilt hotel where my mother held her Quince.
(Big fancy party you throw when you are a girl and you turn 15 in the hispanic culture)
Give me 2 pina coladas, I've gotta have one for each hand...
Only country song I have ever agreed with.
Yummy Yummy Yummy!
At the end of the month we celebrated the 60th birthday of my FIL. He is a pretty cool guy. We love to claim him.
:)
June 2016-
This was a big month. We finalized the purchase of our first home on June 27th. We got the keys that day but we couldn't move in until July 2nd when all the paperwork had officially gone through.
Before that happened, a lot of other stuff happened too.
Rylan had been old enough to go to nursery for a very long time, but I don't know. I really just wasn't ready to let go of my little side kick so she finally started going about a month before her 2nd birthday. In retrospect, I wish we would have put her in there earlier-- she loves it and it's nice to actually be able to hear lessons. She is also very tired after church and usually will take a nap.
We took Rylan to some sort of festival-- maybe a summer kick off? I told you I don't remember anything!- down at the riverwoods in Provo.
Rylan reminded me that things don't have to be fluffy to be considered cute. She sat by this turtle, pet him and told him how cute he was for about an hour.
She loved to feed this cockatoo grapes.
On June 20th, my dog of 13 years passed away. It was seriously so sad. I cried for a week and I wouldn't answer the phone to talk to anyone about him.
On June 27th, we closed on our first home. It has been a whirlwind of projects ever since.
That's not to say that when we purchased our home it wasn't nice. It was super nice, that's why we bought it. But it was a bit beige, a bit boring and not our specific style.
Slowly but surely we are fixing that.
We are grateful to our family and friends who helped us move and helped with childcare while we moved into our new place. We seriously could not have done it without you and it was a relief to know that Rylan was in a safe place, out of harms way while we moved.
July 2016-
We celebrated the 4th of July with family and friends. My parents were in town because my cousin Nikki was getting married. It was fun to celebrate with our families in our new home.
Brian did a great job on the BBQ.
A few days later, we started to get ready for Rylan's birthday party.
When it's cardio day at the gym and you literally can't even...
For the 24th of July, we dragged my mom to Mirror Lake in Kamas, UT. It is a super pretty place but let me tell you...
IT WAS PACKED!
August 2016-
We said, "farewell" to my mom and abuela who had spent about a month in Utah visiting with us and other family. I then began vigorously working on a business venture I have been wanting to do for years! I have always wanted to have my own pre-k, However, we were renting and I needed to own or lease a place. So as soon as we could, Brian started to renovate and we got fliers out. Even though I only advertised for a month, I was able to fill up half of my class. I wanted 8, but I have 4 students not including Rylan. It has been really fun and saying that I enjoy it is a complete and udder understatement. I love my students. I love teaching them. I love being able to be at home with Rylan. I love that Rylan can participate in the work I am doing from home (instead of being on a computer while she wants to play). I love finding things online that I think they will enjoy. I love when we have been working on something and they get it and get so excited. I love when they remember something I taught them weeks after I taught it to them.
For my birthday, Brian surprised me with tickets to Coldplay. It was super fun! I wish they would come back again!
September 2016-
Continued to have fun teaching pre-k! My first month flew by and I knew immediately that this is what I love to do.
As you can tell, Rylan is having a blast learning and spending time with her friends.
(who I won't post pictures of for privacy reasons)
I wanted a change, so I decided to give bangs a second chance. I'm not going to lie, I did like them. But they are a lot of maintenance and so I am already growing them out.
**note to self**
I have always wanted to decorate a mantle, now I finally have one and I'm having fun doing it.
:D
October 2016-
Another one of my cousins got married in October and so we threw a shower for her.
The wedding was beautiful. She had it at the Payson temple and I'm so glad she did because it is a gorgeous place and I'm not sure I would've ever gone there. But now that I know how pretty it is... I'll probably go again sometime!
At first, we thought we would dress Rylan up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz...
But, I'm not even a fan of that movie and no kids her age know who that is so I just decided to do a whimsical woodsy mouse.
Brian and I always have so much fun attending Suzie and Ben's annual Halloween Bash.
This year, we dressed up as Mugatu and Hansel from the movie Zoolander.
Brian's wig is my favorite.
Had to do it.
Some people may want to forget,
but I never want to.
:)
November 2016-
Brian and I, mostly Brian, have been working on painting the rooms of our home.
It was mostly beige upstairs (even the ceilings- why would you do that?!)
-We painted Rylan's room a very pale pink.
-We painted our guest room a color called "grey leaf" it's kind of blue, kind of grey, kind of green. All depends on the lighting.
-We painted our room a really deep blue. We were terrified to death of it, but it turned out really nicely so we painted our bathroom that color too!
Now we just have the man cave and the guest bathroom to paint but we are definitely waiting until after the new year to start those!
I'm literally pooped!
We ate lunch with a good friend while his boo thang was out of town!
It was so fun to catch up. Still waiting to show you the house Blake!!!
Drive up the Alpine Loop.
I hosted Thanksgiving this year. It was fun. We made it a potluck type thing so it was not very stressful for me at all.
The weekend after thanksgiving we went to a tree farm near Ben & Suzie's house and got our tree.
It was my first ever, yes in my 26 years on this Earth, getting a real tree.
My mom always said she was allergic... but I think she just didn't want to water it and clean up after it. It's fine, I don't like doing it either.
Once Thanksgiving is over, it's time for Christmas treats. We made these fun red and green Christmas Rice Krispy treats the other day at the preschool and now Rylan is obsessed. She follows me around the house demanding, "Krispy, please. Krispy, please. Krispaaayyy Pleasssssse!"
And now I'm dead. Rylan is awake. I usually take a nap during her nap, but alas... I decided to do this instead.
Hopefully I can keep up!
Wish me luck!
