As Fate Would Have It!

So before I get to the fun stuff, lets get the pregnancy stuff out of the way, which is also fun, but that's not "news" anymore. Everyone knows I'm pregnant :) Today I am a whopping 24 weeks! Only 3 more till I'm in the homestretch, the THIRD trimester! And in 13 days I will only have 99 days till I meet my little Angus! I have this strange feeling he is going to come early though. Just a feeling, call it Mothers Intuition. About a week or so ago Colin and I were sitting on the couch watching TV and Angus started kicking like crazy!!! I feel him kick a lot, but this was just, different! Usually he likes to stop when Colin tries to feel but he had his hand on my tummy for a good 5-7 minutes and Angus was kicking really hard the whole time! I had to try not to laugh and ruin it because Colin's reactions were just so cute! They consisted of lots of "wow", "that was a strong one", and "geez kid!". And now to embarrass my husband a little, he admittedly had his hand on my belly one night after I fell asleep and he said that Angus was kicking pretty hard and he wondered how I was even able to sleep through it. I guess I've just got used to it :)

Here is the fun story, and the reason I have the blog title I do:

Last summer as many of you know Colin and I were working in Alaska. Well the day we found out that Colin did in fact get the job at Maverick it was right before we were getting a flight ready to go. Colin came and pulled me to the back real fast, which he rarely did unless he had something REALLY cool to tell me and told me that in December we would be moving to Henderson! Well, me being as excited as I was went back out and I was telling one of my coworkers about it. This vivacious red headed lady came up to me excitedly and told me that's where she and her husband were from! So of course we chatted and she was telling me how Vegas gets such a bad rap and that it's a terrible place for a family, etc. but that where she and her husband lived and where she grew up was actually a fantastic area. It was a place in Henderson called.... Green Valley! So the time came for groups to be formed, and I was disappointed I didn't have them in mine, but my friend had them in hers and she happened to be the Tour Attendant for.... COLIN! So I told them so they could let him know that they talked to me :) He got a break afterward the tour so the 4 of us were able to talk while they waited for their bus. We exchanged information and said goodbye. After the moves I lost the stuff with their information (moving from AK to WA and then WA to NV is a lot of miles to travel, easy for things to get lost!) Time has passed and this morning I got an email from Debi (the vivacious red head haha) and she was asking if we ended up in Vegas (Henderson=Vegas haha) and that she and her husband hoped that we got settled well and that they were thinking of us and would love to get together and do dinner if we were in Vegas! So of course, I emailed her back telling her we would love to get together! Now, looking back at the place we ended up due to their suggestions was the place we were supposed to live. The Stake we live in is amazing and the Ward is even more amazing! Just more proof to me that Heavenly Father puts people in the right place at the right time to help us along the way. In this case our "angels" were Debbi and Darrell! Without them who knows where we would have ended up. The choice to live in Green Valley literally has affected almost every choice we've made, including getting our sweet kitties! And now, we have the chance to keep nurturing a relationship with them! Who knows what else the future holds!

California Dreamin'

I have this strange feeling that tomorrow I won't want to do this... So I'm doing it a day early! Saturdays SHOULD be my blog days since I have to post my baby update too, so we are going to aim for that every week.. See how well that works out...

So, California. I want to go back to the beach, like, right now! I had NEVER in my life experienced a beach like that. I'd seen the ocean in AK, and the "beach" which is more of a rocky beach, not really one you can take long, barefoot walks on during the sunset... And the waves! Oh the waves were fun! This was the honeymoon Colin and I never got. Not like it was super honeymoon-ish since I have a this baby bump, we've been married for over a year and a half.. Pretty sure we spent more time out of the hotel room than most newly-weds do haha! Pretty much every opportunity we got we were either doing some fun activity, at the beach, or sleeping due to pure exhaustion! Ok, I was sleeping, Colin would be browsing the internet! So the romantic things were mainly outside, like, long walks on the beach at sunset, fancy dinners, spending time out on the ocean on a boat, playing in the waves like two kids, going to the zoo and SeaWorld. Definitely exciting and fun and definitely something that Colin and I needed! We don't have much alone "us" time left since our Angus will be joining us shortly! This was our first real vacation together since being married. We have moved a lot, and seen a lot, but we have never just up and left for a few days together to go do fun stuff like that! Best part, Colin was paid while we were gone! SCORE! Paid vacations are the bomb!

First day we went to the San Diego Zoo. That place is massive.... I really enjoyed it, but I was miserable by the end. My feet hurt, my back hurt, I was grumpy due to some jerkface seeing that I was standing, watching the pandas and DELIBERATELY coming and standing in front of me to take a picture... that is playing with fire boys and girls... Don't piss off a tired, sore, hungry pregnant woman, EVER. But overall I really enjoyed it! Would I go again... eh not unless someone rented me an electric wheel chair. I'm sure Angus will want to go eventually, so I probably don't have any choice. I did however find my favorite bear of all time. The Sloth Bear. Oh. My. Gosh. Cutest thing ever! And he dances!

Next day we decided to go to SeaWorld. I enjoyed that MUCH more. It's so much more interactive and educational! Plus, there are plenty of air conditioned buildings and places to sit! I was SUPER excited about the penguins! I love penguins, a lot! If Colin would let me I would have a zoo, full of penguins! He keeps saying no, but I will never stop asking haha! We fed Sea Lions, saw "One Ocean" and "Blue Horizons", trained a sea star to "stay", and pet Bat Rays. I think that was my favorite part out of all of it! The shows were amazingly fantastic, but when we were petting the bat rays this one little guy came up to my hand and put his head right into it wanting me to pet him! It was an incredible feeling to bond with a creature like that. Colin had a bigger one come up and do the same thing. I could have stayed there all day!

My most favorite part of vacation though was going out into the ocean with my Colin and playing in the waves! We got out pretty far, into some fairly strong waves and when the stronger waves would hit we would stand together and hold on for dear life. It reminded me of what a good relationship should be, what we have. We have our disagreements and struggles but when push comes to shove, we will stand together when the waves hit trying to break our family apart. I am so very very blessed that I am married to this wonderful man. He treats me like what I am, a daughter of God. He loves me and respects me. And he works really hard to pay the bills and support me and to pay for amazing vacations! In the words of Queen:

You're the best friend that I ever had
I've been with you such a long time
You're my sunshine and I want you to know
That my feelings are true
I really love you
Oh you're my best friend