She loves to see the temple (and so do I)

It's been a rainy sort of week here in Provo. Despite the rain, Nicole and I have taken some very needed adventures outside of our apartment in the past few days, and one of those adventures was a little picnic on the grounds of the Provo temple. We managed to finish up right before the rain started. If there's one thing that can ruin a picnic, it's rain! Still... I love rainy weather here in Utah, especially in the spring and summer. Everything is so green, and the mountains look beautiful.

This city has grown on me. I never wanted to raise my family in the "Utah bubble" but the longer I live here, the more I like it. And let's be honest - beautiful views like this are a great bonus that we don't have in Fresno. The mountains are right in my backyard!

This building in particular is so beautiful. I haven't been able to go in a temple since I was pregnant, but the next best thing is sitting close to one and telling my little baby girl about these wonderful, special buildings. The temples that my church has built over the years are all so important to me. I want them to be important to her too. (And really, they are all so beautiful!)

Nicole liked the temple.
She likes a lot of things, actually.
Such as "talking" to me.
She loves to tell me aaaaaall about it.

This motherhood gig is hard. I love being a mom, and I love Nicole, but boy is it hard sometimes. I'm trying my best to go out and DO things more often - for my own sanity, and because Nicole enjoys being pushed around places in her stroller - but even with the daytrips, it's been one of those rough months. That's a whole different blog post, though.

Being in the temple is something I've really been needing recently. I've been longing for the peace and calm that you rarely find anywhere else except in a House of the Lord. Fortunately, just sitting by the temple helped me feel better. It can hold me over until I can find the chance to go in.

Meanwhile, I can just keep hoping and praying that this little girl of mine will stay healthy and happy and keep making me laugh and smile. That gummy grin of hers melts my heart every time. (And yes, she's practicing her Zoolander face in that second-to-last picture ;)

Why are they called "Dog Days" anyways?

Sometimes, I love "the dog days" of summer. And other times I hate them. It just gets so hot during July and August! Who came up with that name anyways? There is nothing dog-ish about the hottest days of the year. I'm almost too lazy to go look it up, but my curiosity is getting the better of me... (I'll put my findings at the end of this post, if you're interested.)

The dog days remind me that summer is reaching it's pinnacle, and we will be slipping into wonderfully amazing fall weather in no time at all. Summer classes are over halfway done. My play closes tonight. We'll be visiting California in a few weeks. July will be a thing of the past in just a couple of days. And now I can look back at my summer and marvel that it's already almost done - and reminisce on all the weddings, activities, endless play rehearsals, new foods, and late nights.

Despite the fact that I have not spent much time with the hubs this summer (as I've said before... theatre eats my life) it's still been great. My parents and my little bro Johnathon were in town the past couple days, and we got to go inside this beautiful building and do some temple work. It was awesome.

Aside from that... there will be some big changes on this blog very soon :) I'm excited about it, but I just need to find the time to finish everything up. Keep your eye out!

And... enjoy the dog days!

What are the Dog Days? Basically, there is this star called Sirius (known as the "Dog Star"). Back in the time of the Romans, this star would be bright in the sky during the hottest parts of the year. The Romans thought it was so hot because Sirius was angry at them, and so they would sacrifice a big red dog during April in hopes that Sirius wouldn't be as angry and summer wouldn't get so hot. Whoo hoo!

For the Weekend

I love it when I come out of the Provo temple and see a sight like this.
There's nothing like a glistening water fountain with a mountain sunset in the background.

This valley can be so beautiful, and it makes me excited to think about spring. I have never been in Utah during the month of May (I'm usually home in California during that month) and so this will be my very first time seeing Provo during May. The hubs tells me that it's a pretty great month - the weather isn't too hot yet, and the world still feels like spring. Sounds like my kind of weather.

In other news, I competed in DanceSport this weekend. My partner and I got all the way to quarterfinals for our Standard Ballroom competition, which is really saying something because my partner has never done ballroom before in his life until this semester. He's off to a fairly good start, if I do say so myself. It's my fourth time competing in DanceSport, and it doesn't get old.

The best part about DanceSport? Getting to wear long, flowing skirts, putting on bright red lipstick, and then taking camera-phone pictures in the mirror of a locker room. Yep. That's how I roll.

It's too bad that they don't let the non-pro college competitors wear glittery costumes... I could have some fun with those. Anything with rhinestones = perfect for ballroom dancing.

The only downside to DanceSport is that I lose sleep and all the practicing wears me out. Fingers crossed that I get more sleep this week than last week!

On another note... I made a cake for my hubby's birthday this weekend. There is only a little bit of it left, along with some mint ice cream in the freezer, and they are both calling to me. I don't think I can resist much longer. I mean... it's chocolate cake. Chocolate!

Enough said.