Hi there.

Oops. It's been over 5 months since I've last posted here. Let's be generous and call it a sabbatical. In reality, for over a month my laptop wouldn't access Blogger for some reason, and then after that, life got really busy. Probably not as busy as you moms out there, but definitely busy for me. Here's what I've  neglected to share with you over the last 5 months (and photos from the summer):
June: a fantastic vacation with my family to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It ranks up there as one of my favorite vacations ever, and Mike and I loved the area so much that we would live there if we could afford it.
July: a visit to Bestie's country home and doin' up the 4th right, and St. Augustine! Plus lots and lots of packing. And a quick surprise visit to Chicago to celebrate Grandma's 80th. It was ungodly hot.
August: quick surprise 30th bday trip to Texas to see my dearest, oldest friend (and some family). School began again, and even more packing. Work hadn't been this hard since my first year of teaching. I didn't have time to cry about it, let alone blog. Don't worry-- it's better now.

 Our view from our cabin!

 The Tetons!

 Waterfall!

 Buffalo!

 We were thisclose to this black bear!

 Yellowstone!

 Elk in the background!

 Hot Springs!

 Old Faithful erupting!

 Can you believe this is real life? The old Mormon row.

 This is real life, too!

 Lupines!

 My cowboy at the rodeo!

 That's Wyoming!

 With Bestie at St. Augustine!

  Aw!

 Grandma's surprise 80th birthday party!

 With Sarah at the Art Institute!

 With Alyx in Dallas, by the Book Depository!

 Where Kennedy was shot. :(

Family at Joe T. Garcia's!

September: we moved! We literally moved not even a mile-- in fact, we can see our apartment complex from our bedroom window. We now have two bedrooms and two bathrooms... hooray! At the end of this month, our lives changed more than we ever expected: I found out I was pregnant! More to come on that later...
October: tired. I was just really tired all the time, and feeling apathetic about fixing up our condo. I certainly didn't have the energy to blog. Then the nausea began... oh Lord. However, we got to see our little active baby for the first time at the end of this month, and we got to tell our Chicago family in person about our little one.
November: morning sickness, afternoon sickness, and evening sickness. The smell of anything made me gag. Talking made me gag. Our condo smelled worse than I could have ever imagined. Yeah... November kind of stunk. But Thanksgiving break was fantastic and just what the doctor ordered. Oh yeah, and that visit from Mom-- that was definitely what the doctor ordered.
December: this is where you find me now: nausea is waning (thank God!), appetite is returning (yum!), the house is festive, and I'm ready to return to Chicago for Christmas!

Whew. Now here's a freaky thought: five months from now, our baby will almost be here, and school will almost be over. How does time fly so quickly?!

xoxo, A