The past month and a half has been a time of reflecting on all of the blessings I have in my life. It has been good to get to know myself, figure out which friendships I truly need in my life and to remind myself of the amazing man I am blessed to spend my life with and how important my marriage is to me. Sometimes as humans it is easy to forget how much beauty there is around us and how fortunate we are to be alive and be surrounded by people and experiences that make life worth living, especially when we are faced with hardships. During an impromptu shopping trip a few weeks ago I ran across a sign that said "Live with Passion" and for some reason it spoke to me and I knew it belonged in my home. Lately I have been attempting to live for myself, Mike and our future family and reprioritize my life to only do things that I enjoy and that are meaningful to me. I have spent my days working at the job I love and the evenings have been spent taking walks with mah be and the doggies or snuggling on the couch, having dinners with my dearest friends, watching sweet Avaya and completing things I have been meaning to do forever. It's been nice to have some "me" time and as the days pass, I am gradually learning how to not be such a busy bee and just enjoy all life has had to offer me.
Some highlights of the last little bit are...
I am officially a skiier. After a weekend in Park City with my family and another pair of rented skis, I found these and fell in love...
They were $300.00 with bindings and they couldn't be more perfect. I LOVE skiing on them (even though they are the length of a child's ski), and I am excited to spend blue bird days on the mountain with Mike (powder days are still reserved for Jeremy and back-country skiing).
We spent Easter weekend in New Orleans with two of our bestest friends, Chris and Matt. We enjoyed 4 wonderful days doing nothing but being pampered with massages and Thai foot rubs, eating delicious food and just enjoying the Easter season and some sun. I haven't been in much of a picture taking mood so sadly there are no NOLA pics from this last trip but Chris sent me this picture from our last Easter visit that I had never seen, so it's new to me. :)
I had a fantastic sushi dinner with Aubz, Crystal, Katie and Elyse to celebrate Aubree's birthday. Again, no pics but it was one of the funniest and enjoyable dinners I have had in a long time. I definitely love these girls and am so glad they are in my life.
This is an oldie but I love it. Just missing Crystal. This means a picture of the 4 of us is a must-do!
The day I got home from Florida I quickly ran home, unpacked and repacked and headed to Clearfield to pick up Mike and then headed to Logan for the annual Sigma Chi Alumni Banquet. This is one of my favorite weekends of the year because it's three whole days of Sigma Chi/EX wife and baby time. The boys golf on Saturday morning so Brittney and I started an EX Wife brunch a few years ago to give us something to do during the day and as the years pass, there are more and more little ones running around. It's great to get some baby time and adult time all in one day and it's truly one of my favorite Sigma Chi traditions. Again, no pics. Sorry :(
Admin day fell the week I was in Florida so my sweet hubby sent me beautiful flowers when I was back in the office to let me know how much he appreciates me. I run our lives with my obsessive planning, multiple calendars and need to make appointments so Mike always refers to me as "the boss" and doesn't book anything without checking with me first. Due to this, since we don't celebrate Mother's Day, Mike decided to start doing stuff for me on Admins day. It's such a sweet gesture and greatly appreciated. Sometimes being an admin can be a thankless job (seriously, some days I feel like I have 50 kids), so it's nice to feel appreciated one day out of the year.
Speaking of work, my hardworking and dedicated hubby was recently promoted to engineering manager. He has already excelled at his new role and is thoroughly enjoying being in management. While it hasn't cut down on his hours (in fact, he is going to have to start working a few weekends), he loves what he is doing and I couldn't be happier for him. He is such a hardworker and his dedication and determination is really starting to pay off for him. Those 16 hour days are finally worth it!
We added a few more EX babies to the Sigma Chi family this month as well and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of another baby Halaufia. I just can't get enough of these Sigma Chi babies.
Ryder Thomas Creech was born on April 13th, 2012 and is absolutely perfect. Ashley was a champ too, considering she was in labor from 9 am-9 pm and had to have a c-section to get that 9 pound handsome baby here! Here are some pics I stole from her blog. I really hope my baby is as beautiful as he is.
and how stunning is this photo?!? I want to hang it in my house it's that precious.
Ashley is as football obsessed as I am, although her team is the Texans so little Ryder got a Texans bib and some Texans pacis from Auntie Lauren. :)
Lela Elizabeth Bills was born on May 1st, 2012 after Rachel endured 5 days of contractions. She is beautiful and I can't wait to meet her! Again, pictures I stole from Rache's blog.
Love the bow!
So sweet and snugglie in a gift from auntie Lauren :)
Mother's day weekend was spent at a bridal shower for Sam, a wonderful snuggle sleepover with Avaya, Race for the Cure with my mom and Rod, a night at my favorite Annie's house laughing, chatting, eating cupcakes and chasing around my favorite boys, a morning hike, breakfast at IHOP, followed by a dinner at my parent's. Mike's mom was in Colorado celebrating Courtney's graduation and becoming "PHD Lee" and we look forward to celebrating the wonderful woman Cathy is soon. Although Mother's Day is not the easiest day of the year, it was a weekend full of love, laughter and appreciation for all the mom's I am so blessed to have in my life. This text I received from sweet Danielle also touched my heart and made the day a bit easier, "You are already a mother to Baby Ricci in heart and in spirit so Happy Mother's Day". Danielle, you have no idea how much that text meant.
DTSB, me and Mekah
The Heim/Brown/Riccis
The day after Mother's Day I officially became an aunt. On May 14th, 2012 my sister-in-law and brother-in-law brought the first Ricci grandbaby into the world. Her name is Michaela Kendra, the first name being after Mike and the middle name being after Mike's brother Steven's middle nameKendrick. Unfortunately Mike came down with the flu and we haven't been able to meet her yet but are looking forward to meeting our very first niece! Her parents have asked to keep pictures of her off the internet so as much as I would like to post a picture of her, I am going to respect their wishes, but she is perfect, healthy and chubby. The best kind of babies.
As for everything else, we are doing pretty well. Mike and I have both been very busy at work but are enjoying our time together when we can. We are looking forward to the warm weather and a summer full of camping, boating, golfing, BBQ's, house projects, our 5 year anniversary and time with our family and friends. I am excited to live this summer sporadically and see where the rest of the year takes us. Oh and it's peony season, the happiest season of the year. These bloomed in my front yard a few days ago. I guess I need to run to Costco and see if their $9.00 peonies are in yet.
P.S. I use "mah be" a lot in my posts and been asked many times what it means. Well, here it is. I have said "mah" for "my" since I can remember. I have no idea where it came from, but it just stuck. Well a few years ago, I realized I called Mike hubby, hubz and babe a lot and so I just started calling him be. Whenever he calls I say "hi be" and I call him "be" or "Miguel" way more than anything else. So "mah be" is just my schmoopy lovey dovey name for him that doesn't sound so schmoopy-ish. Anyway, today my mom brought me this little charm and I love it, so I had to share.
Now let the countdown to Mexico begin!!! Also, I pledge to be better about my picture taking. I think I am hiding from my current weight. Being pregnant for a minute, a million hormones, a super bad sweet tooth, a medication with a side effect of weight gain, no motivation to exercise, trips to New Orleans and Florida and the inability to stop drinking coke, eating carbs, getting Starbucks and sneaking cheetoes have me at my highest weight ever. I vow not to buy bigger pants so I am slowly working my way own to a weight I am ok with. It's been a struggle though...Bikinis in Mexico is my motivation though because I will NOT be wearing a one piece before kids. It's just not happening. I guess I will be drinking coke zero for the next few months.
P.P.S- I finally posted my first draft of my bucket list. It's under the page "Lauren's Bucket List" if you want to check it out. Happy Thursday everyone!
