July and August in 50 words or less

It's been awhile since I posted last...so here goes two months in 50 words or less (and picture captions don't count...so if you're strapped for time, I suggest scrolling down really quickly and calling that good enough :) ).

July 

I got bigger (me at 19 weeks):

Camping trip to Bryce Canyon National Park:

 We celebrated another 4th of July together (click the link to see why we love this holiday :) ):

Ultrasound verdict:  It's a boy!!!

My amazing friend, Sanita, got sealed to her sweetheart:

Camping trip to Yellowstone National Park:

Grand Prismatic Spring

Old Faithful

Robb's birthday fell in the middle of our camping adventure, so I made cupcakes before we left and then hauled them around so we could celebrate.

Robb couldn't handle all 25 candles :(

Dragon's Mouth Spring

The Grand Tetons

August

Elder Rigby returns from Bangalore, India:

Jory putting on a brave face post surgery on his feet.

We moved to our new apartment and immediately set to work making it pretty:

And I reunited with some wonderful old roommates:

Congratulations on making it all the way through this ridiculously long post and I'll try to be a better blogger in the future :)

Update

What is the Hays family up to these days? Well, not much to be honest.

I stopped working at the nursing home in February, which means I am down to one full time position at the Utah Valley Specialty Hospital (and I'm still loving it). Our census has been down lately though, so I've only really worked 2 shifts a week for the past month. Robb tried very hard to find an internship after graduation, but in addition to hurting the job market, our economy made engineering companies less excited about extending intern offers.

So he's hunting for a job and I'm trying once more to fill up my free time, but I've decided that having nothing to do is much more enjoyable when you're doing it with your favorite person :)

The sun has finally come out, which means the remainder of our snow will melt soon and hiking season can commence. We attempted to hike up to Timpanogos Falls, but the trail was completely covered with the white stuff, so we settled for Bridal Veil Falls (it's about a ten minute hike...so it's a high reward, minimal effort combo).

And we're moving July 8th to an apartment five minutes away from our current abode. It's a tight fit here for two people and squeezing a third (albeit, much smaller individual) would be almost impossible. There's also a washer and dryer (*happy sigh*), so goodbye quarters and hello second bedroom.

P.S. I had someone rub my stomach yesterday, so my resemblance to Buddha must be pretty strong :)

Happiness

I've sat down to write this post four times already, but there's so many things buzzing around my head that I don't know where to begin. Year 2 has been a little on the rough side. I've struggled to find my place in a world without school (weird, right?) and together, Robb and I have grieved over two miscarriages and contemplated a future where we might not have children of our own. Yet looking back, I don't view it as bad year. The rough patches have made us stronger and drawn us closer together.

And now, after a year of intense hoping and praying, I'm pregnant. Somewhere inside of me is a little heart beating twice as fast as my own. 12 weeks along and life couldn't possibly better be :)

Gra-jee-ation

I gra-jee-ated frum call-ige! Lakin took some wonderful pictures to capture the moment, and put them into this nice, easy-to-digest collage below:

(Click the collage to enlarge)

I can't say as how I have anything spectacular to add to the pictures. Commencement was on Thursday. The alumni association really needs to find a new representative who can do 1 min talks. I honestly think his was longer than Elder Scott's! Anyways, I got to sit next to McKay and his wife, Dasily during commencement, so that was cool.

Friday was convocation...for the entire College of Engineering and Technology! Yeah, it was long, too. We were supposed to have our own Mechanical Engineering convocation at the Provo Tabernacle, but you know how that turned out, so we had to take the longer route. They actually did a pretty good job of keeping the speeches relatively short, though. They also did a good job of reading off the names as quickly as possible. All in all, it only took 3 hours, including waiting an hour for the other college to get out of there.

Now, I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering! It feels kinda like before I had a degree. I think that's partially due to the fact that I still have graduate school coming right up. I plan on staying at BYU to get my Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering. If I'm still alive I might go somewhere else to get a Doctorate in Aerospace Engineering. We'll see... For now I'll have to be happy with putting B.S. after my name.

Traditions Ball

Robb and I got tickets to the BYU Traditions Ball. It was magical. There was a live band, dance lessons, interesting appetizers, and three hours of uninterrupted Robb time. There were professional pictures taken at the event, but they aren't available yet so I had to make due with our post-party pictures taken in our spacious living room (after we moved our armchair out the way).

We learned how to swing dance that night, so this is us showing off our moves. I think we're cute, but I'm a little biased.

Boys and Basketball

Basketball is a violent sport. You wouldn't think so, you don't bowl people over like in football or try to drown opponents like in water polo, but my memory is littered with all the injuries my brother and dad acquired for the love of the game. What I never understood was why, after my dad needed his wedding ring sawed off due to a smashed finger or my brother needed stitches after a bad collision, they were so excited to play again. Stitches (ace-wrap, splint, insert your favorite piece of medical equipment here) came out, basketball shoes went on.

It must be a guy thing.

Anyway, Robb is playing on our ward's intramural basketball team. I am usually designated as scorekeeper because a) both teams must supply a person to tally points and fouls, b) the team has no other use for me, and c) the other wives are better at hiding.

For most of the game our team was behind. Several of our key players, including Robb were off on their shots and we weren't getting our fair share of foul calls. Robb went up for a layup, stumbled over one of the other players, and came down wrong on his ankle. He limped over to the sidelines and sat down supporting his left ankle. Five minutes later (after a very brief icing) he started carefully putting weight on it and five minutes after that he was back in the game (because "it doesn't hurt anymore").

They won. Robb's injury improved his shot, oddly enough :) He mentioned the pain coming back after leaving the gym and by the time we got home he discovered his left ankle was three times bigger than his right.

Picture taken after some serious icing and wrapping

What it looks like now. As of this moment, Robb promised to stay away from the court...but we'll see how long that lasts :)

How do I love thee?

I must say that February the 14th is infinitely more enjoyable now that I have a permanent Valentine of my own. I can't begin to express how much I love this boy. We decided to stay home and avoid the Valentine's crowd. Robb bought me flowers and I got him a fishing license (hence the origami fish)...romantic, huh?

Dinner was amazing, but dessert was life-changing...not even joking. I used this recipe, if you're interested in having your life altered as well.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Happy Valentine's Day!