I wrote this post after last weekend and forgot to publish it, so here it is, one weekend behind...

We've had crummy, rainy, cold weather for over 3 weeks and my relationship with this city was becoming seriously strained. Then finally, this past weekend we has some glorious completely flawless weather. I don't feel like bad weather gets me down, but then I had to keep stopping and asking myself why I was so giddy this past weekend and it was totally because of the amazing weather. Zach and I spent a lot of time outside, just our family. For the first time since Aubrey was born, I finally felt like we were in our element - enjoying the fresh air to the best we could. here's the weekend in review....


Friday night we got our first babysitter ever! I've been nervous about it all week. We had to though because we were kayaking on the rivers and watching the post-baseball-game fireworks from our boats. I felt sick to my stomach for a big part of the night because I couldn't stop thinking about Aubrey - but everything went fine with the babysitter. I have a feeling soon we will be getting too comfortable with having a babysitter and get one all the time!

Then went on a bike ride with Aubrey in our new bike trailer. Pre ride pic of Aubrey. The Burgh

Duquesne Incline
We explored around the city and the river trails. No matter how often we go out and about around the city, we're always coming across undiscovered (to us) unique areas with all sorts of personality. As we were riding through one neighborhood, I kept telling Zach, "This is my kind of trip, this is what I love!" - sun, fresh air, physical activity, plus exploring - I was beaming. Pre-Aubrey, Zach would not do this kind of thing. Anything less then bombing down a mountain at least doing something where bones could be broken, then he considered it pansy and would not be caught participating. But he loves spending time with Aubrey and so has started to enjoy these stop and smell the roses type of adventures.
Post ride picture of Aubrey -


Monday Zach had off, so we went to a church picnic. I love seeing these girls together, they are all so close in age. Remember this picture? A lot changes in 6 months!



The girls with their dads.
Then to wrap up the weekend, we got to eat dinner with some our friends from the other side of town that we don't get to see very often. I was really sad when the weekend came to a close. Zach and I haven't been doing quite as much together as we used too. With Aubrey, it's easier for one of us to stay home with her while the other goes out with their friends or to work out or whatever, so we switch off. It was really great to spend the whole weekend doing stuff together.

Congrats Daniel!

My brother received his mission call yesterday. He will be spending two years in the Carlsbad, California mission and reports to the MTC on August 20. I am very proud of him, his hard work and determination to serve a mission, and his excitement to do so! I love you Dan!

High School

Recently I've loved seeing old pictures of some of my new friends. Talk about a fashion flashback! Especially high school. I wonder if we would have loved or hated each other had we known one another then! So this is me in high school, so young! And pre-digital camera age of course.

These dresses were so in style when I was in high school. Or maybe they were our school uniforms, one of the two.

I think we were at an amusement park. Notice you can see the straps of all of our sports bras. For some reason that was the thing to do back then.

We ruled the B-team/JV soccer team. Sure we were juniors and everyone else on the team were freshmen, but whatever...

Birthday party for the girl in the purple

I distinctly remember we were singing a backstreet boys song in this picture.

Junior Class Ring Day - I was a class officer and we were supposed to plan a big hoopla to have the rings delivered. Past years had Elvis impersonators skydive in, or monster trucks drive to the school. I'm not sure if we couldn't agree on anything or what the problem was, but the best we could come up with was to have these 3 shirtless guys that happened to run by our school the day before deliver the rings. It was an all girls school, so it was kind of a treat, I guess. And we only had to pay the guys a couple slices of pizza.

A track meet my freshmen year.
A track meet my senior year - notice I'm wearing the same shirt still, four years later.

Cat Rat Day - every senior was assigned a 6th grade buddy. At the beginning of the year, we would dress up our rat (the 6th grader) in things like diapers, pacifiers, and then we would dress up too and make the 6th graders parade in front of the whole school.

Our winter uniforms - much cuter then the dresses we wore fall and spring

Winterim - Kayaking in the Sapelo Islands, my senior year. Winterim was a break we got every February where we got a few days off school, but had to do a school sponsored activity during those days. I know, poor me.

No, it's not a bride and her bridesmaids. It's another one my school's traditions that I loved, but cannot explain or justify what the point was. But this is May Day, the girl in white is the May Queen, and we are her court.
Haiti after graduation with my good friend Marie.

Stay tuned for a Zach high school flashback - now those are some funny pictures!

Water Parks and FIESTAS!

This past week we spent a super fun day at an indoor water park with some good friends. Since it was typical spring weather here (meaning cold and drizzling), it was the perfect way to spend the day. I felt such a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day b/c we managed to have a great time even with little kids! Aubrey got a gold star for the trip, she was on her best behavior ever. And then what really made it the best day ever was that we stopped by the outlet stores! Thanks Amy and Mike for planning the trip! It would not have been nearly as fun if we'd gone by ourselves!





We ended the week with our annual Cinco de Mayo party. Had to stay inside again b/c of the weather, but still had such a fun time because of some great company! Although I'm so sad that so many of you are moving - you losers! I think I found the ugliest pinata ever - it was beautiful.

Just some of the girls, Brooke, me, Stefanie, Michela, and Christen.
One of the only pictures of Zach and I together in a long time! Happy Birthday Zach! If it weren't for you and your bday being conveniently close to the fifth of May, our Cinco Fiesta tradition might never have started!