Simple As It Should Be: September 2012

Here are some more pics of our summer in Utah and some now that we are back in NC! We are getting back into the swing of things. Nick is back in school and got an awesome job being an assistant to a Legal Processing professor! Woot woot! That is a big accomplishment considering this is the hardest class in law school and Nick did awesome in it! The second year of law school is not nearly as stressful. It is going to be busy that is for sure but not as much pressure as the first year! It is really nice to know what to expect and also see a little light at the end of the tunnel! I do have some thoughts though about our experience out here in North Carolina. I definitely know that we are here for a reason. I actually think we are here for several reasons. As much as we love Utah and miss it and our family and friends out there, I cannot even imagine missing out on this experience in North Carolina. This has been probably the most fun we have had in our marriage together. It is my personal opinion that everybody should live away even if it is just a little bit of time. It is really hard for me to describe to somebody what it is like and why we would even enjoy ourselves being away from "home." I can't imagine all of the experiences we would have missed out on if we didn't move here. We have met so many amazing people, we have been so many fun and cool places, and we have started a lot of our own family traditions. I know not everybody can live away but I am really glad nick and I got the opportunity. It has really been a great thing for us.

I know this year has been different having a baby and that is probably a huge reason why this past year has been one of our favorites, but I really wouldn't want to have our first year with Georgia anywhere else. Yes...being in Utah would have been great. And yes...I would have seen family more with her and we miss family like crazy. But....no...I still wouldn't have traded it and firmly believe that we weren't supposed to be in Utah and North Carolina is where we were supposed to be. Do we like living in North Carolina to be on our own?? NO....in fact--if we could have everybody in our family move here...we would love that!! That is the thing...I wish we could have the best of both worlds and live where we want to and where it feels right but have our family all here too! Just so many things have come together for us in North Carolina and I am so glad our path led us here (even if it is just for a while.) We will see where Nick gets a job opportunity and where we feel we are supposed to be after law school. It is so up in the air.

By the way...have I told you how proud I am of Georgia? She is doing great with her speech therapy. She loves her speech therapist. The other day she was crying because she wanted a toy and instead of reaching for me (her mom) she reached for Margaret (her speech therapist). Margaret has such a way of making her listen so well and make so many sounds. I don't know how she does it. I try to imitate her during the week but really don't do it like Margaret does. But...I do talk to her at least 3-4 hours/day, sometimes more. She reads more than 10 books a day (maybe like 25) and she seriously sits and reads them one after another. She would rather read books more than playing with toys. She says mama and dada and knows who we are. She can distinguish what animal is a cow, horse, pig, rooster, dog, cat, etc. I just ask her to find the animal that says, "moo or meow" and she picks the right one about 98% of the time. She gives kisses and says, "mmm-wah!" She even gave me bite marks at church with those cute two bottom teeth. Crazy girl! I am constantly amazed with what she can do and just celebrate all her accomplishments especially with speech milestones. I know she has had help from Heavenly Father and we have had help from Him as well! We are so blessed!