18 Months

How time flies! My baby is 1 1/2 years old tomorrow. I will soon be done referring to her age in months. Won't that be weird? I remember the days I used years to define things. Then you get pregnant and it changes to weeks. Then you have a baby and it changes to months. I long for the day I get to use years again.

She can turn anything into a toy. She's playing with the top to the essential oil diffuser here. She's quite creative. Her other favorites include my hair clips, necklaces, Chris's belts, and her wipes. She loves to wipe her face and anything else she comes into contact with. She's a clean freak already. I'm so proud!

She's quite a fan of ice cream cones. Very fun trip to Arctic Circle. She loves going down the slide. She's getting to the point of no fear, which causes TONS of fear in me!

 We're hoping she'll be our little baller. Either that, or she'll be our gangsta.

We're having our first family photos, since Rylee was born, done next week. I'll post them as soon as we get them. Soon after, we'll be headed to San Diego, CA for our first family vacation. Well, the first one including a flight and a stay in a hotel anyway. I'm nervous! I would love any suggestions veteran travelers have for me. Chris's brother, Danny, will be getting married. It should be a lot of fun! 

JoAnn's Visit

My sister, JoAnn brought her family out to see Nicole for Spring Break. Nikki is a freshman at USU. It's strange to have nieces and nephews so much taller than me!

Kyle, me, Nicole, Ashlee, Blair, and Chad.

We didn't get to see them as much as I would've liked, they spent most of their time in Logan with Nicole. But it is always fun to hear all the stories about the San Luis Valley and everyone we used to know. I sure miss living by them! I hope the boys will end up at USU too.

Leno!

Chris and I went to California for a few days before my Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference in Anaheim. I got tickets to The Jay Leno Show. You can watch the episode we were in at http://www.thejaylenoshow.com/video/episodes/#vid=1183083/?__source=recent-eps-module. I'm wearing an orange sweater and Chris is in a military-green jacket. We got to stand up and shake his hand when he entered, then we sat on the 3rd row. If I wasn't so short, you could see me. It's easy to see Chris and his blond hair though. If only our tickets were for this Thursday, we could've seen Matt Damon!

We had such a good time. We went to the L.A. Auto Show, stopped by Disneyland, saw their Christmas parade and the fireworks. For my 1st time in California, it was a great time! I've never seen so many adults in Disney apparel. It was almost freaky. As you can tell by the Tower of Terror photo, I don't do well on free-fall rides! I was terrified!! Chris is lucky I didn't kill him for putting me on a ride like that.

Kaua'i Hawai'i

Chris & I took a trip to Kaua'i Hawaii for our 2nd anniversary and to celebrate my auto settlement and starting my new company. The 1st thing they said to us when we arrived on the island was "Romance is MANDATORY". And it was! It was romantic, beautiful, peaceful, relaxing, and all-around amazing.

We hiked 8 miles round trip to the most amazing 300 foot waterfall, sailed around the Napali Coast, snorkled, attended a luau, and flew over the island in a door-less helicopter. We didn't hang out on the beach as much as I thought we would, so my tan is lacking...but everything we did do was perfect! We found rare sea shells to make me a necklace or bracelet.

I've tried to attach a video of the fire dancer at the luau, but it doesn't seem to want to upload. Sorry. The video wouldn't do it justice anyway. We had a front row seat. I was sitting there minding my own business when one of the dancers pulled me out to hula with him. After a few minutes of embarrassment he let me sit down. Not 15 seconds later, another dancer came and pulled me out to hula with him. Seriously! Twice in one night. Someone else should've had a turn, don't you think!?

I suggested we stay and live on the island, forget the real world! Chris thought I was crazy. Too bad!

I'd attach a video of the helicopter ride, but our video camara froze up on us just as we boarded. Ya, you guessed it, we didn't get a single video of the helicopter flight! Just pictures. Sad!

I hope we get to go again!

Vacation

Chris & I recently returned from a fun filled week with family. First we went to Victor, ID with Chris's family to camp, hike, relax, and of course...play golf. The weather was perfect and the camping spot was in a great location. Chris & I went 4-wheeling on amazing back country trails. We also played a long, competitive game of Hand & Foot with Chris's family. To tell you the truth, I'm surprised they still like me! The last day there, Chris, Danny, Kelsey, & I hiked to Inspiration Point in Jackson, WY. We obviously had fun with the fruit roll-up tongue tattoos!












We then drove to the San Luis Valley for a few days with my family. We hiked to my favorite waterfall with my sister, JoAnn, and 3 of her kids, Kyle, Chad, & Blair. It was beautiful! I got to teach my brother-in-law, Anthony, and Kyle how to play Settlers of Catan. I love that game! What am I saying, I love most games! Chris & I also enjoyed watching the Olympics with my mom and dad. Go Michael Phelps!!



After that, we went to the National Sand Dunes Park for my 10 year reunion. Can I really be that old!? There was a small turnout, but it was still fun to see a few old faces and catch up. Most of my classmates had cute little kids. Hard to believe they're all parents!
Chris & I also hiked to Zapata Falls. Talk about cold water! Our feet could only handle so much. It was fun to spend time with Chris. We seriously need to go on more vacations.

It was great missing that much work! Now back to reality...

House warming

Chris & I recently painted 6 different rooms in our house! It was quite a project. We've almost finished the edging in the last room. It will be great to have it all finished. We also painted our front door, as it was an ugly gray color. Now it blends nicely! Our house is starting to feel like "our home". You can see Chris does an amazing job on the yard.


A couple of months ago, Chris & I took a trip to Las Vegas, NV. We played golf, stopped by Shark Reef, visited In&Out Burger, and went by the Ferrari show. We also attended a temple session while we were there. We were lucky and got to participate as the witness couple. I doubt we get to do that again. It was quite an experience. It was a fun trip. It was supposed to be a free trip through Wyndham, but everything they gave us sucked. Our room, for instance, after a $150 upgrade had a beautiful view over the enclosed laundry facilities. It was lovely hearing all the trucks throughout the night. They've offered us another free trip, but we politely declined.

1st Year Down, On to #2

Chris & I recently celebrated our 1 year anniversary. We went camping in Hyrum, UT on the 2nd and then stayed at the Anniversary Inn in Logan, UT the following night. We had a blast. The weather was perfect. Shortly after camping the rain started coming down. We're lucky we picked the night we did!

On the 1st of June my sister & her husband, Lisa & Matt, blessed their baby, Natalie. She also won a local city's 0-3 month old girl photo contest. I got to escort her through the parade. It was fun! I hope my babies are as cute.

Shortly after our anniversary we returned home to find my scores on the National Counselor's Exam (NCE), I took on April 12, 2008. I was terrified to open it, as the test & all the study materials had cost me a small fortune, in addition to the fact that the test just SUCKS! But, I am happy to announce I passed it. In fact, I did better than passing, I kicked this tests trash! I'm on my way to getting my Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) licensure! This test qualifies me to be a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) to add to my Certified Professional Counselor (CPC) license. A lot of stupid letters if you ask me, but hopefully they each come with pay raises.

Chris continues to do well in his work with Novell. He covers the state of Illinois. He flew out to Chicago for a week last month. He received very positive feedback from companies he visited while there. He's quite persuasive, intelligent, & competent in his field. I'm proud of him. He's also loving taking care of our lawn and garden. We have one of the best yards in the neighborhood. Our aspens are taking root and the landscaping looks very nice. He's also enjoying riding the bike he bought last year now that the weather has improved. He also gets out golfing whenever he can. He loves to head to Victor, Idaho with his brother and dad for a friendly game or two of golf.

I'm currently working for an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) called Blomquist Hale Consulting Group, Inc. For those of you that don't know what an EAP is (the vast majority, I'm sure) we provide short-term counseling services to the employees of companies that contract with us. I get to see kids, teens, adults, couples, etc. I love it. It is exhausting though. I work 4 10-hour days, seeing 7-8 clients per day. I'm hoping to get my LPC soon, enabling me to open a private practice. That way I can hopefully see some Deaf clients, work less grueling hours, and possibly even make more $. We'll see...

I graduated from Gallaudet University in May 2007. Chris & his parents went out to DC with me. It was great to see everyone & FINALLY be done with school! The DC sites were beautiful as ever. I sure wish Utah vegetation grew like it does out there!

Chris & I have each gotten running shoes and are starting to run together. Chris bought me a pair for my birthday in April. I'd like to start doing a few 5Ks. Hopefully we'll get a couple in together this summer. If only they weren't always at 7:00 in the morning! I'd prefer something around 9:00 or, even 10:00.

I'm sure that's about enough for my very 1st post on this our new Francom Fam Blog.