Absense Explained!

I feel like since my birthday the days have just flown by. I really can’t believe it’s already April! Seriously March was just a blip on my 2009 calendar. Mike and I have been working tirelessly on getting our house prepared to put on the market, which has included lots of painting, tiling, dry walling, touch-ups, cleaning, multiple trips to Home Depot (sometimes a few a day), sleepless nights and early mornings along with backaches, hand cramps and everything else in between. I never thought I would be able to walk into a Home Depot like it’s a grocery store, meaning I can find anything I need without assistance. It’s definitely been a crazy month but we have accomplished a lot and it has been a huge learning experience. Things are starting to wind down on the home improvement front so I hope to have a minute to post some pictures of the transformation our house has gone through. We finally have a usable second bath, complete with a ceiling (anyone who saw it pre-transformation knows what an accomplishment this is) the kitchen received a face-lift, and we continue to keep checking things off our to-do list. I keep asking myself why we never went this crazy the past 3 and a half years we have lived there because I am really enjoying the results!

On top of all our home projects, Mike and I have both been extremely busy with work. Mike is really enjoying his new position up in Clearfield and even though the commute is a bit longer, the days go by quickly because he is doing new and different things everyday. He was supposed to be leaving for Brazil tomorrow but their export license got held up by the government so that has been postponed for a few weeks but he thinks he will have to go to Canada for a few days this week instead. My hubby the world traveler! It’s such an exciting time in his career and I am so proud of all he has accomplished since he has been employed there.

As for me, I finally said goodbye to Allstate the first week of April. It was a really difficult transition for me because I had worked there for 6 and 1/2 years and had become extremely close with a lot of my clients. It’s sad to know that they won’t be calling and chatting with me anymore and I am going to miss them all a lot but in the same breath, I know moving on was the best thing for me. My boss from Allstate and I have started another insurance company called Wasatch Preferred and I am really looking forward to getting the ball rolling on it and seeing this new company grow. I think it’s going to be great and it’s fun to do something different.

Other than house projects and job changes, life has been pretty uneventful for us. I do want to congratulate Emily and Lori on their new baby girls, Adelie and Piper. Piper was born March 23 and Adelie was born April 3. Also, I want to say congrats to Jack and Jenn who tied the knot in St. Thomas on March 27 and congratulate Bart and Kate on expecting! I am so excited for these new chapters in all your lives and wish you all the best! Finally, a big Happy Birthday to my dear friend Hannie! I hope you had an amazing day because you truly deserve it! Love you mucho! XOXOX…

Here are a few random pics from the last month when we weren't knee deep in house stuff...

Drew's brother is the assistant trainer for the Denver Nuggets so he got us all tickets for the Jazz vs. Nuggets game. It was a lot of fun!

I unfortunately did not inherit my mom's knack for decorating, her creativity or her ability to craft. I am trying to teach myself how to be crafty though and was shocked when these baby shower invitations for Aubree came out of me. Of course, my mom helped me more than I would like to admit but I am still pretty proud of them and can't wait for her shower on Saturday! I just adore the paper!

Semper likes to sit behind Mike's neck when he drives. I always want to document it but never have a camera. This time I did! Probably not the safest thing in the world but it's kind of funny!

They just love their Daddy!

That's pretty much The Ricci Life in a nut-shell for the past month! Hope everything is well in all your lives :-)