Amazing May

Well, the semester has finally ended. Let the summer begin! We have been taking advantage of the warm weather and the new-found extra time and it's been both fun and relaxing.

Gavin's work is gearing up for the summer rush, which means a lot of extra time at work. His crazy boss couldn't make up his mind about his schedule, so for the first three weeks of summer break, he worked whatever hours his boss could come up with. The pro: lots of over time = bigger pay check. The con: less hubby for me and more crusties directed toward the definitely not-cool boss.

Gavin and I are working to get back into shape. I'm trying to break out of the old meal habits and get back into the full swing of cooking. It seems like I've only got about a dozen meal ideas and these repeat over and over again until we're sick of them. Well, I get sick of them anyway. So, one by one, I'm gathering new ideas for dinners that are tasty, healthy and moderately easy to make. So far I've found... half a recipe. :) It's a work in progress.

We're also starting a new exercise regime consisting of biking for Gavin and a combination of Zumba and karate for me. We're also going to try going on more evening walks together.

For me, summer means dusting off all the projects I put away when the semester got too busy to focus on anything besides school work. I'm working on a drawing I'd like to finish by Christmas. I also have a few sewing projects I'd like to get started. Oh, and of course I'm two books down on the Harry Potter series already and catching up on a few TV shows I get online. Guilty pleasure...

For Gavin, Diablo III comes out next week and he is so excited about that. He'll be playing that a bunch, but he's really good about not playing too much. His first attentions are always to his family. Good man.

Zoey has really benefitted from the extra attention. Her communication skills have shot through the roof and she's learning to walk as well! She can do all the actions to pattycake, she can applaud, sign 'more', 'book', and 'eat', and she can say "all done" as well as the basics. She waves hello and goodbye and is learning to blow kisses. She's just stinkin' adorable! Her personality is coming out in full bloom and it's been exciting to see other people start to experience it too.

We can't believe she's coming up on a year already. We're trying to plan a good birthday for her, but don't want to be too extravagent about it. We're thinking about either a Peanuts theme or maybe Hello Kitty, so far. We'll see. Maybe it will be themeless.

Gavin and I are starting to educate ourselves on the home buying process. We've purchased a book and met with a realtor already. We're saving as much as we can comfortably handle and we're browsing around to see what we like, want and need. We're mostly looking in the Lehi area (including American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs) and have found some wonderful deals already. It's hard to know whether this "hurry up and go" feeling is coming from peer pressure alone, or whether some of it is coming from the Spirit. We don't want to rush into anything that will be a poor financial decision, but we also want to take advantage of the market while it lasts. Our goal is to balance the two and make a choice we can feel right about.

Other than that, we have big plans to make for upcoming trips: one to Oklahoma in July (24 hours of driving straight through with a one-year-old... wish us luck!) to visit Gavin's Filipino family, and one to Disneyland in September! It'll just be the two of us, and my mom will watch Zoey. We're reluctant to leave her for so long, but we know she'll be in good hands.

Long post-- thanks for reading the whole thing! We are alive and well and busy with lots of fun stuff. Yay for summer!