Ridiculous Birthday Month

My month of May was completely excessive.  I didn't mean for it to be--that's just the way it turned out.  My friends kept inviting me on once-in-a-lifetime girls' trips, and how could I say no??

It started with a trip to Orlando with some of my best girlfriends from our years in Buffalo.  Tiffany schemed up the idea to go to Harry Potter World, and there was no way I could pass that one up.  If you read my last post about my mom, you know that I am a die-hard Harry Potter fan.  I had a Harry Potter party for my 19th birthday, shortly before my mom passed away, and my whole family dressed up in character.

I know it sounds crazy, but Harry Potter was my "escape" during those very difficult months when my mom was so sick.  I think I read the second, third, and fourth books that year, and it was just a mindless, magical escape.  The following year, I was reading the newly released fifth book while walking across my college campus, and I walked into an open manhole because I was so engrossed. Yes, this happened.  Fortunately, the manhole wasn't very deep, and my backpack caught on the edge of it and held me up, so after a helpful person walking by assisted me in untangling myself, I walked away with scraped shins and no permanent damage.  (Only Rachel Nielson, right?  That needs to be its own hashtag.)

Anyway, I found a great deal on airline tickets to Orlando, and we made a weekend of it. We were just a little bit excited. ;)

Harry Potter World did not disappoint.  It was so elaborate--every detail perfectly rendered.  I felt like I was actually stepping into Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, and yes, Tiffany and I even busted out our cool kids Gryffindor robes and drank too much butterbeer while we were there.  I love my friends.

On Sunday, Natalie and I went to church, walked around the Orlando temple grounds, and then went and sat on the beach.  Yep, I'd say that's a perfect Sunday right there.

The next weekend was the annual Power of Moms Board Meeting and Retreat in Park City, Utah.  As always, I learned so much and came back with tons of ideas for being a more deliberate, present mother.  I love this organization, and I'm honored to work with them.  I recently wrote an article for them about isolating the perfect moments in motherhood in the midst of the crazy/hard moments.  Here it is if you are interested:  Anchored by Beautiful Moments.

Power of Moms Board Members

A couple weekends later, my girlfriends from our residency years in Denver invited me to go hiking with them in the mountains of Colorado, since their husbands are finishing school and they are all moving to different places around the country.  Again, couldn't pass up that opportunity, so I drove on over and enjoyed a couple of days of leisure in the mountains--so beautiful.  And so fun to be with kindred spirits with whom I can talk for hours!

Before I headed back to Idaho, I spent one evening at my Dad's house and got to see him and my grandparents and my older sister.  Sarah and I went to breakfast and shopping the next day, and I loved it.  Nothing fills me up more than spending time with my sisters.

And oh no, the fun is not over yet.  My little sister Laura decided to come visit me for Memorial Day Weekend!  Ryan was at a Conference in Seattle, so it was awesome to have Laura's company and help with the kids--as well as someone to snuggle with in my bed.  I love me a good SSO (Sister SleepOver).  We hiked a little, shopped a little, ate a lot, and laughed a lot.  We also took the kids to the hot springs one day, and Laura and Sal were twinning in their polka dots.

Ridiculously, my actual birthday hadn't arrived quite yet, so the day before, Ryan took me and Noah to pick out new bikes.  (Noah learned how to ride a two-wheeler a few months ago, so we wanted to be able to take family bike rides this summer.)  We then met up with his family in the Snake River Canyon and went canoeing and later had a BBQ at our house.  Funnest!

On the day of my birthday, we didn't do much.  Ryan felt bad about it and apologized for not making my birthday more special.  Ummm, are you kidding me??  I am the most spoiled rotten girl in this world.  Granted, most of the fun in May was not technically for my birthday month, but I wasn't about to stomp my foot and demand more!!  It was a perfect month from start to finish.  I am so grateful that I have such wonderful friends who invite me to do fun things with them, and I am so grateful that I have such a wonderful husband who encourages me to go and adventure and connect with other women and who is 100% capable of taking care of the kids while I am away.  I love him, and I love how sweet he is with our kids.

Ryan snapped a few photos of me and the kiddos as we rushed off to church on my 31st birthday.  When I look at these pictures, I can see the happiness in my face, and I don't think it's just because I'd had an exessively fun and relaxing month.  I have had an amazing 31 years, and my favorite part of it all is the incredible people in it--my friends, my dad, my grandparents, my sisters, my in-laws, my husband, my kids--I can't believe that I got to spend time with all of them during the month of May.  Happy birthday to me!!

More on Moab...

I mentioned before that I recently went on a road trip to meet my college roommates in Moab, Utah for a race.  And now for the details of our fun weekend together!

First of all, I need to report on this blog that three of them got married this past summer/fall.  It was a crazy few months of celebrations and girls' reunions.  Between moving from Buffalo and becoming a mother, somehow I never blogged about the weddings--but I finally wrote a blog post about it here (backdated so it's somewhat chronological).  Check it out.

Okay, so Moab.  Tia drove from Pheonix, I drove from Denver, Becky drove from Salt Lake, and Kirsten drove from Provo.  Yes, we really love each other!! :)  We missed our Katie--but Seattle is a little too far to drive for a weekend! (Next year, Katie, right??  Plan ahead!)

I was originally going to run the half marathon race (as I mentioned several times on this blog), but I ended up doing the five-mile race instead.  I felt like kind of a weeny wimping out like that--but training for a long race in the dead of winter with an infant was just too difficult.  If I were in better shape, it would've been possible...but with my 11 minute mile (I wish I were kidding), going for a six mile run meant over an hour with Noah out in the cold.  And some of the training runs were much longer than that!

This is how he felt about it:

Eventually I decided it was okay to settle on a "lesser" goal.  I am an all-or-nothing goal setter, and that's not always a good thing.  Rather than forming consistent good habits, I often set a lofty goal for myself, such as running a half marathon, and then when it's over, I stop running all together.  Or worse, I will think, "Well, I don't have time to train for a long race right now, so what's the point of running at all??"  Such a bad mindset.

So I switched to the five-mile race and enjoyed a 30 minute run with Noah every day.  We were both a lot happier!

Tia and Kirsten also ran the five-mile race, and we all enjoyed it.  Here we are after the race, looking lovely as we enjoy some free food (the best part!):

Becky didn't run the race with us because she is prego.  I got her a Twinkie to enjoy in a lawn chair while the three of us worked off our calories.  (This was a total joke because she is a super fit and thin person who felt silly that she wasn't running the race--but we were grateful to have her as our photographer and moral support!)

After the race, we did some hiking in Arches National Park.  So beautiful.

We stayed up late at the hotel, talking and painting toe nails--like any good girls' sleepover.  It was too much fun.

I love these girls, and I love that we've made it a priority to stay a part of each others' lives.  Here's to 10  more years of friendship...and many more after that!

I don't make things-but luckily for Noah, other people do

When my friend Brittany entered my apartment for the first time, she gasped and said, "Oh my gosh!!  Did you make those chairs??"

"Heck no, I didn't," I replied, "but somebody did!  I bought them from this amazingly nice and talented woman who sells salvaged furniture."

Looking a little let down, she sat on our couch and then suddenly perked up. "What about this cute coffee table?  Did you make this?"

"Um, no.  I don't make things.  I got it at an antique store in Castle Rock."

Later she went to the bathroom and came out excited.  "Rachel, did you make your cool jewelry hanger??"

By this point, I was getting a bit exasperated. "Brittany, I told you, I don't make things!!"

A few days later, I went to her apartment on a cold snowy day.  Noah was wearing his owl hat, and the first thing she said when I walked in was,  "That is the cutest hat ever.  Did you--?"  I gave her a warning look, and she stopped herself.  "I know, I know," she continued, "you don't make things!"

Yes, I just knitted this masterpiece on a Sunday afternoon.

This has become a bit of a running joke now.  Rachel doesn't make things.  And it's true, I don't.  I don't have the talent or the patience for crafts.  But I truly admire those who do, and I am fortunate to have a lot of very artistic people in my life who are generous enough to share their talents with me.

I never in a million years thought that my baby would have a cute nursery.  In fact, I kind of always thought the baby would be sleeping in a pack-and-play in the corner.  Fortunately for Noah, his grandmother and my girlfriends intervened to make sure this was not the case.  Sally bought him a darling crib and made all of the matching bedding (quilt, bumpers, sheet, quilt skirt, curtain), and my girlfriends threw me the most insane baby shower ever and gave me all of the decorations to use in my nursery.

I've been meaning to post these pictures for months, but better late than never, I guess...

  ...Welcome to Noah's room!

This wreath is made from the pages of To Kill a Mockingbird--
perfect for our little Noah Atticus!  Thank you, Tiffany!

This white dresser was in my room as a kid.
The apple on the second shelf is made out of a book (another decoration from my baby shower).  Thanks Rozannah!

Pennant banner made of children's books (made by Tiffany for my baby shower)

"My Heavenly Father Loves Me" sign (gift from Briste)

Matryoshka doll (from Ryan's mission in Russia)

A train made of toothpicks and baseball cards (more on that story below!)

A gumball frame (featuring a photo of me and Ryan on the night of our first kiss!)

Creamy the Llama (made by Aunt Sarah and Uncle Logan--this is a family joke)

A topiary made from children's books (made by Deseree for my baby shower)

Ryan first kissed me on the Heber Creeper train.  It was the most perfectly romantic night of my whole life.  The week after that blissful evening, he made me this model train out of toothpicks, baseball cards, and photos.  That was eight years ago, and I still have it.  I thought it was only appropriate to put it in our baby boy's room.

Our watermelon picnic basket has become a blanket basket

Special frames:

Mom and Noah

Dad and Noah

 Grandma Sally (my mom)*
*Noah has two grandmas named Sally

Special, handmade quilts by friends and family

Is Noah loved or what? 

Another baby shower decoration made by Tiffany (seriously, what a friend)--

a vintage Alphabet garland

My Aunt Muriel did this painting for me when I was in the midst of fertility treatments and adoption heartache. She said it was a "fertile image." :)
Ryan and I think the baby looks like Noah (before we cut off his hair).

Cute crib and amazing bedding from Grandma Nielson.
We hadn't even picked the name Noah yet when she made the animal bumpers!
"The animals, they came in, they came in by twosies twosies..."
Does the frame above the crib need to be lower/bigger?  It looks really awkward here, but the ceiling is higher than what is pictured.  Someone with an artistic eye please tell me what to do with it.

The frame features all of my favorite photos from the night Noah was born.

A dear family friend, Robyn Balli, wrote the scripture in calligraphy for me:
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you."
Every time I look at these pictures, my heart swells with gratitude for Noah, Katie, and Drew.

The balls hanging from the ceiling are made from books
(you guessed it...another shower decoration!).
I know Laney made at least one of them because she told me how difficult it was for her
(she is craft-challenged like I am, which makes me appreciate her sacrifice all the more).

Ryan bought the glowing globe for $1 at a garage sale

I think the room is really darling, no thanks to me.  I am very lucky to have such talented, loving, giving women in my life.  With his grandmother, his aunts, and his surrogate aunts (my girlfriends), Noah will never want for anything handmade.

Thank goodness some people in his life make things, even if his mother doesn't!!

My Best Friends' Weddings

Three of my college roommates got married this summer/fall.  It was a whirlwind of celebrations, weddings, and girls' reunions.

Katie got married in May, so we all met up in Seattle, Washington for a true girls' trip.  We stayed at a hotel together for the weekend (everyone except Katie, of course), and the day after the wedding, we toured Seattle and saw the sights.  The wedding was beautiful, and the entire weekend was a perfect getaway with some of my favorite people in the world.

Becky and Kirst, wearing their cool shades,
driving to the wedding.

Tia brought her baby Kai (he is my boyfriend) to crash the girls' weekend.
We didn't mind!

It was a perfect, sunny spring day in Seattle.

Beautiful bride!

Love her.

Pikes Street Market
I tried out Tia's wrap and carried Kai around the market to get practice. :)

Fortunately, the fun wasn't over yet.  Becky arrived in Washington with a beautiful diamond ring on her finger, as well.  She did a great job surprising us, and we all screamed and celebrated, thrilled to find out that we would be meeting up for another wedding reunion in August!

Becky got married August 6 in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Again, the five of us came together for the big event, though I wasn't able to participate in all of the fun because I had a five-day old baby. :)  The timing actually ended up being really good because I was already in Utah for Noah's adoption, and I was staying in a condo right on Temple Square--so I just slipped away for a few hours to attend the wedding festivities and Ryan stayed with sweet Noah.  What a wonderful week--first Noah's birth and then Becky's wedding.

Salt Lake City temple...amazing!

If I look tired in this photo....well, I was.  New baby! :)

Kirsten got married in October.  Unfortunately, her wedding was on the exact same day as my brother-in-law's wedding, so I didn't get to attend her ceremony or reception.  Kirsten is one of my oldest and dearest friends (she and I have known each other since seventh grade), so I was very sad to miss such an important day in her life.  I am grateful that I was able to attend her "bachelorette party" the night before, so I could at least share in her excitement and joy as she prepared for her big day.  I have looked through every one of her beautiful wedding photos--I wish I could've been there.

I am so grateful for Becky, Tia, Kirsten, and Katie.  I am so blessed that I found such kindred spirits during my years at BYU, and I hope we will stay in touch forever...I know we will!