“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....

chinese take-out.

i really love those evenings when we just don't go anywhere.

our date night consists of "us" time.

we stay inside, watch a few episodes of person of interest, and eat chinese food.

i especially love it when john compliments my ever-improving chopsticks skills {i got pretty good in taiwan}

and i really love it when the cold warrants a warm blanket and some pumpkin hot chocolate to finish off the evening.

thanks for the wonderful night, john harman. stay-inside date nights are the best.

john harman brunt, i love you more each day. here's why:

reason #1:  i discover you know all the words to "witch doctor" by alvin and the chipmunks

reason #2:  when i ask you if you feel ready to have this baby in four months, you say, "i've been ready for like... six years"

reason #3:  you shovel the snow off our front walks without me even asking, and you even salt them!

reason #4:  you instinctively know what to order whenever we get chinese take-out

reason #5:  you study so hard for our family

a weekend in arizona.

we had an amazing weekend in arizona with the henries!  we technically went for a friend's wedding, but it was a great excuse to hang out with family.  we loved seeing ash and the boys and spending so much time with them!  thanks for the fun, guys!  we miss you already.