February 2012

February turned out to be a really fun month! It started out with one of the best days of the year...my birthday, of course! We didn't do anything fancy this year, just went to my parent's place and had a yummy family dinner. I felt very loved though with all the phone calls, texts, facebook shout outs, etc. Ryan made me breakfast that morning and made an extra effort to help out the day since he was home from work.

The following week, Justin and I got on an airplane and headed down to L.A. for a few days to visit friends and eat at some of my favorite places. It was such a great trip. We stayed with our old neighbors/best friends in L.A., the Rasmussens, and had so much fun. I loved having one of my best girl friends right there to just chat with and hang out, and her two boys are Justin's favorite kids in the world, so he was in heaven. I finally got to meet the newest addition to their family, little Stella. She was born just a couple of weeks after we moved, so I have been dying to see her in person. She didn't disappoint- such a cutie! The weather was beautiful the whole time we were there, so there was a lot of park playing and even a morning at the beach. Justin got to see a lot of his pals, and I actually think he remembered them! He definitely remembered our old apartment complex and playground. One of my favorite parts of the trip was the night I got to go out with a bunch of my girlfriends to one of my favorite restaurants, Natalee Thai. (Thanks to Mark for watching the kids so both Michelle and I could go!) It was great to be with people that just know me, make me laugh, laugh at me, and have fun, unfiltered, comfortable conversion. I really miss having so many awesome friends around, so I really appreciated them all making the effort to meet up for dinner. Thanks girls! Going back to L.A. definitely made me miss it a little more, but it was well worth it...I've already been looking at the calendar for the next time JR and I can take a quick trip down there again.

Justin and Bennett

Jackson and Justin

Bennett and Justin at the beach. They had a great time chasing the birds together!

Me, Justin, Brittany, and Jill. Justin and Jill were good little buddies before we moved. They're just 2 days apart, so me and Brittany basically went through everything together from pregnancy, to our similar emergency C-section deliveries, to all the firsts that come with motherhood. It was so nice to have a friend in the exact same stage as us, even their nap times seemed to line up along with all their little transitions from one thing to the next.

Jill and Justin- wouldn't they make a cute couple?!

Saying goodbye.

Me and my girls. Michelle, Stephanie, Me, Anna, Melissa, Traci, and Chelsea. Such a fun group of women.

 Valentine's Day we had a lovely, romantic dinner for 3! Rather than deal with getting a sitter and fighting for reservations, we made a really yummy dinner at home. We grilled steaks and asparagus, had twice baked potatoes, and rasberry jello with  rasberries in it and topped with cool whip. Ryan got me a dozen red roses and had some DELICIOUS chocolate covered strawberries delivered to the house that afternoon. The strawberries reminded me of when he proposed! I was served chocolate strawberries at our little cocktail table on the back lawn at sunset, at the Ritz in Orange County just before he officially popped the question and busted out the ring. I love my engagement story- Ryan did a fantastic job of giving me an experience worth repeating many times over. There has never been a moment that I have regretted saying yes. He is the greatest husband I could imagine for myself with the most integrity and the best of intentions of just about anyone I have ever met.