dear world, could you get any more beautiful?

thanks for the gorgeous snow, even though it means we spent our entire weekend shoveling the driveway, i still love it.

xoxo
paige

things i love about growing a baby.

this is a picture of my belly. and i love it. although there's a lot of discomfort {to put it lightly} associated with pregnancy, overall, i am finding many reasons to love it! here are a few:

1. i have a perfect excuse to wear john's t-shirts

2. feeling the kicks of a tiny human being all day. {she's my constant companion, and we're becoming good buddies}

3. constantly eating

4. having people tell me i look cute everywhere i go. {although i'll admit that i frequently don't feel it}

5. rubbing my belly for good luck

6. gaining weight and not feeling guilty about it

7. preparing for baby girl to get here {aka we may have started nesting over here}

a date with the hubbs.

it's been an embarrassingly long time since john and i have been able to go to the temple. finally, last saturday we were able to go, and it was lovely. {alberto's steak breakfast burritos on the way home!} thanks for the wonderful date, hubbs.

christmas favorites.

here are a few of my favorite pictures from this christmas week. best christmas present: skypeing with my brother sam who is serving a mission in cusco, peru. enjoy!

john's birthday!

we had friends over for john's 28th birthday.  [whoa.  28?  really?  that's only two years away from 30.... and then i'll be married to an old man!  {okay, not really}]

we went to slab pizza,  had chocolate bundt cake, and the boys played black ops 2 until about 4:30am.  perfect birthday festivities, in my opinion.  

happy birthday john!  you are simply the best.  i'm so glad i get to be your wife.  you are a stud.

the lights at temple square and eden's choir performance at assembly hall.

i did it. i done graduated.

at times nursing school was very difficult.  but i persevered.  and now, i can't believe that i won't be continuing on in january!  i've been school for what feels like a long time, and now, i don't know what i will do with all my free time.... grow a baby perhaps?

reminiscing.

oh china, how i miss you.

life as of late.

the past few weeks have just been great.  for some reason, i find that i am so blissfully happy right now.  maybe it's the fantastic snow we got this morning, or maybe it's the spirit of christmas.  all i know is that it's so wonderful to be alive, and it's wonderful to be married to that man of mine.  and i firmly believe that i am the luckiest girl in the world.  some pictures of life lately:

1.  peruvian in tribute to elder neff, who i am really missing a lot right now.

2.  byu nursing graduation party

3.  hot chocolate at the black sheep cafe

4.  christmas shopping with leslie at traverse mountain

5.  john's {early} family birthday celebration - complete with chocolate cupcakes and cookie dough ice cream

6&7.  stroller shopping!

8.  raspberry muffins for breakfast

9.  pure hotness

10.  slab

11.  grocery shopping @ 1am

12.  mom running inside after shooting the deer with a bbgun

13.  the crazies waiting for jenna's play to start

14.  my most recent pregnancy craving {is eating in-and-out 3 times a week normal?}

“the optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious of the rose.” – kahlil gibran

sometimes, i think i miss all the beautiful roses because i am too focused on the thorns.    so, i have decided to focus on the roses all around me.  just to list a few:

thorn:  our messy house

rose:  a warm, comfortable, lovely home to live in, where family can come visit and where rent is entirely free

thorn:  homework

rose:  the last few opportunities to prepare for my future nursing career before i go out on my own

thorn:  my ever-enlarging body, consistent acne, finding it increasing difficult to find a comfortable position to sleep in

rose:  i'm growing a baby ya'all!  and she is going to be absolutely delicious.

thorn:  spending less and less time with john as finals approach

rose:  knowing that john is sacrificing so much for our future family, that he is working hard so that he can provide for me and baby girl {i am so grateful to him for that, and the amazing husband he is, and the father he will be}

focusing on the roses makes me so happy.

our thanksgiving weekend.

we had a wonderful thanksgiving weekend with john's family.  we all congregated in idaho falls and had just a blast!  leslie made an amazing meal, and i am happy to report that all the delicious food we ate over the weekend got me caught up on my pregnancy weight gain.  (i was previously a few pounds behind.... ;)

we also watched wreck-it-ralph, which was funny and cute, went on atv rides {not me, obviously}, played a lot of zombies {john + other boys}, and did some black friday shopping.

it was tons of fun!  thanks george and leslie for hosting all of us in your beautiful home!

my best friends' wedding.

two of my best friends just got married!  

they looked so handsome/beautiful and i am so happy for them.  

and will you take a look at that belly?!  25 weeks and going strong!

the end of an era...

well, it's here.  the end of my nursing school career.  two weeks from now i will be completely done with school and graduated.  and i'm kind of ambiguous about it.  {mostly because i will miss all of my wonderful friends in the nursing program!}  thinking about all the hard work i have done to get here, it just doesn't feel real that {if, heaven willing} when i pass my nclex, i will go from having "sn" after my name to having "bsn rn" after my name.  i am both thrilled and terrified to be the one in charge.  it's what i've wanted since i was in eighth grade, and i've wanted it a thousand times more throughout my labor and delivery clinical.  i just can't wait for the fun times that are ahead.  i know i've chosen a wonderful field to work in and that i can make a difference in people's lives.  and i couldn't be more thrilled about it.

while john was in new york....

while john was in new york, i caught up on some much-needed girlfriend time.  mady, lauren, and i went to the twilight movie {is it kinda sad that i loved it?}, got breakfast with lauren's soon-to-be husband, ate chinese food, and caught up on what's been going on in each other's lives!  this is us at over-the-counter, east millcreek's secret hole-in-the-wall breakfast diner that makes amazing home fries.

new york.

via

john has been in new york this week, and, as you can imagine, i am super jealous.

he has sent me a couple of pictures of what he has been up to - angelo's pizza, times square, shake shack, etc.

of course, the main reason for the the trip was an internship search.  he is honing in on investment banking, which i think is just great.  especially if it means there's a possibility of moving to new york for awhile.  oh please, let it be so!  i love it there.  

oh, doesn't angelo's pizza look delicious?  i might start licking the screen....