I like pregnancy.

You can tell based on the amount of photos I take of myself.

In all seriousness, though, the thought of having a little person who's half Chris and half me is starting to become very exciting. Duh, it was already exciting, which is why we chose to embark upon this weird and scary and fun journey, but the closer it gets to her arrival, the more real it becomes.

I've chosen the best person in the world to procreate with. Honest. And that alone makes me giddy to get to know this girl who spends her days wedging feet in my ribs.

I complain a lot about pregnancy. I'm uncomfortable. My bladder is weaker (it was already tiny and feeble). I'm a cry baby. It hurts. My ass got large. But really, I only bitch so much because I have an amazing support system and they're always encouraging me to bitch. They say I deserve it. Which I sort of do, I guess.

But the truth is, I am loving this. Way more than I ever imagined I would. My body is an amazing instrument of which I have endless amounts of respect. My baby is already cool (she loves to listen to The Beatles and she's a great kick boxer). My dogs are being less naughty. My husband is helpful, kind and patient. My friends and family are accommodating and spoiling me like there's no tomorrow. It's all just great, and I am happy.

Fiesta night.

A few old friends came over last weekend for a Mexican-style potluck (you know those are my fave) and 'ritas with seriously salted rims. We had the best time catching up, laughing, telling old stories and new stories.

Ashley eloped to Manhattan with her long-time lover.

Brooke, cutie on the far left, just moved back to Utah after eight years. Oh how we've missed her!

Brit (in blue) still lives here in Utah, but I don't see her nearly enough. Same with Joni.

Merlin and Sam, as you can see, are just as cute as ever.

Girl's nights on occasion are a must. This was a blast. P.S. Thanks for the photos, Jones!

Working with writers.

My friend Lee Horton, sports reporter for the Peninsula Daily News, recently wrote a letter to a group of fellow former copywriters that included a great description of what it's like to work with writers. So accurate, so endearing:

If we never had a conversation about [ending a sentence with a preposition], I guarantee we could have. Jessica would probably be okay with using them at the end of a sentence, but Crystal might have some reservations. I haven't decided what Jordan would think about it, but he would express his view passionately. Then somebody would bring up the next potluck. Amanda would be excited about that, but she would be against placing prepositions at the end of a sentence. Jessica doesn't care, she's still okay with it. Kenneth would then take his graduate degree out and place it on top of his desk. He would then eloquently explain the arguments of both sides, including their origins. He concludes that we are all free to end sentences with prepositions, even though he never does. Crystal reminds us that it is time to talk about potlucks, and Emily screams.

Brilliant and accurate caricatures of some of my favorite people. Our lives were driven by potlucks and grammar.

I stole this entry from my other friend, Kenneth. Follow his blog. It's good.

For the record, I fully support ending a sentence with a preposition. To quote Churchill,"This is just the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put."

Hardware ranch elk.

LIFE UPDATES! It's been a minute since I've blogged about regular life stuff. Today we took lots of pictures at the elk fest in Hyrum at Hardware Ranch, and I had a minute between laundry loads, so I thought why not update about my new job and such?

The DWR (where I now work) organizes a festival with activities and sleigh rides this time annually. This is the time of year when hundreds of Rocky Mountain elk visit the ranch to rest and eat in the meadow. The sleighs are pulled by a team of large-breed draft horses and the drivers explain the ranch's history and elk's behavior. It's such a sweet experience, seeing the huge elk in their natural environment. They don't seem to mind the loads of people on sleighs winding through their herd. They're actually very charming, the little ones with their whining noises when they want to suck milk from mom, and the big bulls perking up, judging us with their intimidating stances.

My new job is going very well. I have always been a wildlife lover (observer, not hunter. though I have no moral objection to hunting.) so it's nice to learn more about the different species and what Utah does to protect them. I'm so happy to be part of that effort. I had been to Hardware Ranch before, but it's been years. I'm glad we got a group together today and went for it. It was such a lovely day fulls of smiles, wildlife and sunshine. Perfect!

With Breanne, bundled up, ready to head out.

Inside the visitor's center at the interactive wildlife display. Breanne and Stormie got super cozy with that taxidermied elk.

LOOK AT THAT CAT BEHIND ME

Chris loved being in a car for four hours with us gals.

Rick, John, Izzy, Liz, Abby, Storm, me, Breanne

(huge elk off in the distance)

The sweet man on the right was our sleigh driver. Super informative and totally polite.

APPROACHING THE HERD

At the end of the day, we went back to my house and Chris made us all hobo dinners on the grill outside. YUM. We also snuggled up with blankies and watched Raising Hope (which is hilarious; netflix it). 

What a great day.

Amanda's shower.

Amanda's shower was a blast. Thanks to all who showed up.

(For more photos/details on the crafty/DIY parts, hop on over to my other blog.)

 

The blushing bride, looking gorgeous with her real smile (no fake no-teeth smiles).

Rain theme.

 

Working hard on the dirty word search. Winner received homemade sugar scrub.

 The next fantastic game: draw the wedding dress. On a plate. On your head.

 The results. (Breanne won.)

We put our cloud hole punch to good use. 

Rainbow fruit kabobs. 

This cute baby stole all our hearts.

Doing girl things.

Gift time. She got some really great stuff. 

Easily the best photo of the day. Her face while thumbing through Tickle His Pickle. 

Hostesses. 

The end.

Park City ghost tour.

Friday we went on a haunted Park City ghost tour with our friends.  LOVED IT. We learned a ton about Park City's history, dating back to when it was a bustling mining town. We got to hear about several of the city's hauntings including Lizzy, the apparition (from the waist up) that lives in the old, vacant Imperial Hotel. She enjoys men with beards (by enjoys I mean haunts/hits on when they're in the area). She was killed in a fit of passion when her husband walked in on her and another man in bed. He shot them both, striking her in the abdomen (explaining her half-body appearance).

Many of the spirits lingering in Park City are entities that were killed violently. The charming fellow giving the tour (who was outfitted in a top hat and cape) works closely with the town museum and library to gather information on various first and second-hand accounts.

The story of the man in the yellow slicker was particularly disturbing, given that a police man of well social standing was just recently chased by the ghost in the last couple years. Now he refuses to enter the canyon where it happened without a partner.

I was a bit disappointed to see that my digital pictures didn't catch any orbs. I usually have orbs in all my photos so it was strange that nothing showed up this time.  I recommend the tour to anyone. It's all outdoors and lots of walking. Chris was a bit bored, but if anything, it's nice to learn the history of Park City while strolling charming main street.

Here are a few snap shots from the night.

 
Eleven people have died in this building. No wonder they can't sell it. 

Austin was terrified, which is why he had to snuggle up to Christee like that. 

 Scariest part of the night? Spooky Chris and Austin ghosts appeared in the window at the top of the stairwell.

A wedding in the city.

Amanda and Nate are getting married! City style. Oh it's going to be spectacular with all the NYC decor, food, etc. It's going to take place on top of SLC. Can't wait to see the killer view. Plus I get to wear a shiny blue satin dress and participate in weddingy, bridesmaid,  fun-filled events and planning. I love weddings. Can you tell? I'm hyped.

This is the cute couple just after he showed up OUT OF NO WHERE and surprised her with a proposal atop the Empire State Building.

I wanted to share their proposal video because it's just downright adorable. Nate hired a photog to snap shots while it all went down in NYC. Click here!  (It's a really sweet video. I cried.)