A Whirwind!

Wow, I can’t believe it is already the end of May. The last two months have been a whirlwind of parties, weekend getaways, emotions, accomplishments, birthdays, weddings, work, Dr.’s appointments and a million things in between. I feel as though I am finally getting a minute to catch my breath and while I loved everything we have done in the past few months, it’s nice to have a little bit of downtime. In April we also hit a bump in the road regarding our infertility journey (click here to learn more) so I am looking forward to taking some “me” time, enjoying the spring/summer weather with Mike, celebrating our 4 year anniversary, shopping with my mom, catching up in my life both personally and professionally and being able to breathe again without having baby Ricci at the forefront of my mind everyday.

Here are our last few months in pictures...

Chris and Matt spoiled us with VIP passes to Lady Gaga. She was AMAZING in concert and we had incredible seats. If she comes again, I highly recommend attending. It was the best people watching I have had in a long time!

Over Easter we went back down to New Orleans and gorged ourselves on delicious food, caught up with old friends, walked around the city, got incredible back and foot reflexology massages, shopped, explored the French Market, attended the gay Easter parade, relaxed and enjoyed a few hurricanes. It was a great (although short) time and was the first time that we all really thought "the city is BACK!"

Dessert at SucreThey are a staple at the gay Easter parade.This is why I love NOLA, everything is a celebration!Mike was sweet and brought me home roses after my first procedure (click here to learn more), as well as a Starbucks gift card to thank me for being his admin on Administrative Professionals Day. It was nice that he rememberedWe attended Alumni Banquet up in Logan I won an award at work and was completely flattered! It was a peer based award and it felt awesome to finally be acknowledged for my skills and all of the hard work I have put in since being in the workforce. I was very humbled and appreciative!Baby Devyn finally made her debut to the world on May 12 at 1:55 pm weighing 7 lbs 1 oz, 19 inches long. She is beautiful and I can't wait to meet her! My brother Aaron graduated from Utah State University and landed a job as a Financial Representative at Fidelity. The Heim/Brown/Ricci's are going to take over!These awesome Sigma Chis and Michelle an EX sweetheart also graduated!We celebrated Mother's Day with breakfast and a hike up the hills of Draper. The doggies loved it and it was nice to spend some time with Rod, my mom and Mike. We then spent the evening with Mike's mom Cathy at Jasmine. Me and Miss MekahMr. SemperWe headed to San Francisco for another fabulous Ricci wedding. We drove there with Mike's parents for the weekend so we didn't get to spend much time exploring the city but the wedding was definitely worth the trip. We spent the night overlooking San Francisco and the Westin St. Francis, enjoying delicious foods, catching up with family and dancing the night away. I really love being a Ricci and am lucky to have some amazing in-laws. Mike and I are already planning a trip back to enjoy the city and spend some time in wine country because San Fran really is awesome (minus the ridiculous parking rates).

View from our room. Mike was so cute with Stella. He walked around with her for a good hour taking pictures of the guests. Totally made me fall in love with him all over again.He then spent the rest of the night dancing with Talia, which was adorable.We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Caffe Molise in anticipation of the end of the world. We don't really believe in that but it was a nice excuse to enjoy a lovely dinner with mah Be. Even the oil and vinegar knew we were in love. :)My BFF Whitney finished her first marathon. She trained for 6 months and fought through the pain of a stress fracture in her foot to accomplish her goal. I was thrilled Mike and I, as well as my parents were able to be there to cheer her on at the finish and it was truly an inspirational moment. I am so proud of her and love that she was determined enough to finish something only 1% of people in the world complete. You go girl! and finally I had to put this picture of Drew and Sawyer bug in. This picture was from superbowl but I never had a chance to post it. Sawyer LOVES Drew and Drew sang the funniest song to her of "babies like when you talk in a high voice" to calm her down. So dang cute and sweet! While things aren't going the way we had hoped regarding baby Ricci, we are incredibly thankful for all of the medical intervention available and feel very blessed to live such a fun and fulfilling life with relatively little worry. Things could be a lot worse than they are and I just have to remember...

"The worst thing that happens to you may be the best thing for you if you don't let it get the best of you." -Will Rogers

Happy Monday everyone!

EmilieJayne...

One of the best things about working with my mom is our hookie dates (I seriously have the best and coolest mom ever). After a long stressful week, DTSB and I decided to go on a lunch date to Toasters (if you haven't been here, I highly suggest it. They have DELICIOUS sandwiches. Just make sure to go to the original one instead of the one on Broadway and I totally suggest the Caprese sandwich.) After a wonderful lunch, we weren't ready to go back to work yet (have I mentioned I love how flexible my job is?), so we decided to check out a new consignment store she found called EmilieJayne. (it's not new, just new to us, on another note, I apparently have a lot of caviots today). Anyway, when we walked in I IMMEDIATELY fell in love with this beauty...

I don't usually like to buy furniture without Mike because he has a pretty strong opinion, but I knew this belonged in our house so I decided to go ahead and put it on hold while we browsed around. Luckily I did because three other people in the store had their eye on it and two of the three tried to buy it after the hold sticker went up. This solidified the deal and I knew this piece was special. I haven't decided where to put it yet but I couldn't live without it and it got Sally's seal of approval so I look forward to finding the perfect spot in our home for it.

We found a lot of other cool things with character at EmilieJayne and I highly recommend checking them out. They are located at 801 South 800 East and their prices are VERY reasonableand everything is beautifully displayed and well labeled. I think this may be my new favorite store so go check it out!