The Haps

Colton turned 10 months this month and we are getting so close to walking. He can stand on his own, now we are just waiting for him to take a step!

We have had a pretty low key month. We've been able to do some activities. Just the other day we made edible finger paint and made a beautiful painting outside. Colton mostly liked squishing the "paint" between his fingers, but it entertained him for a good hour!

It has been pretty gorgeous so we have enjoyed lots of walks. Walks have overtaken baths as Colton's favorite thing. We could walk for 3 hours and he would be giggling and talking the whole time.

He has also taken an immense liking to pulling absolutely everything out of it's particular place, which makes getting anything done quite a task. It is like a constant bargain with myself, "ok if I get ready now, with Colton in the room, I will have 20 minutes of cleaning up to do later..." He loves it though, and I let him take my clothes out of their drawers to his heart's content.

 Always reading stories in the car.

 Loving our new portable air conditioner for the living room

Girls Weekend In Austin

 What an awesome quick few days we had in Austin!
I flew out of Salt Lake Thursday evening. I was so jazzed. I was flying all by myself. I got to watch a show on my phone at the gate, no chasing around Colton, making sure his diaper is clean and he is fed and happy before flying. Just me and my headphones and it was so relaxing!
I sat in the very back of the plane next to a really nice guy and we ended up talking most of the flight. He rents out boats on Lake Austin and he was telling me about his new neighbors, Jensen Ackles and his family (the guy from Supernatural) and I fangirled so hard haha it was so fun.
I landed in Austin and had just enough time to get to the gate for the plane coming in from Denver and I got to pick my mom up there! We got our bags, my mom's sister Melanie picked us up, and we were off to her house.
Friday morning we got ready got breakfast at Round Rock Donuts, a place that has seen many a feature on the food network, and we got delicious donuts.

Then we drove around a while and went and got some authentic Mexican food. Then we headed to the river where there is a huge park and we went on a long walk. It was beautiful and green and it was so nice to just be active and not worry about the millions of baby things I needed. We then headed downtown and walked along the shops, and got some delicious gelato.

We got home and spiffed up and went out to a SUPER fancy Italian restaurant. We had wanted to go get the Chef's tasting menu, but since it was Friday night, they didn't offer it. Well we decided to make our own tasting menu, much to the delight of our Italian waiter. We each got an appetizer, a Salad, a pasta course, a main course, and a dessert. We did it family style and ate some of each other's and we were there for probably 3 hours. It was one of the most fun nights of my life. We ate delicious food, talked, and laughed so much.

That night we went back to Melanie's and watched the Pirate Movie and wallowed in our food comas haha.
Saturday we woke up and went back to the riverwalk, but this time to paddleboard! Mom and I had never done this so it was fun trying a new experience. We got to see tons of turtles and fish and it was nice and relaxing. Towards the end though, my mom and I were both completely beat, and hot. It was so stinkin humid. So instead of going back out we poted for delicious texax BBQ, then headed home to shower and get ready and went to a nice cool showing of Avengers (because what is a girls weekend without Thor?)

That night we went to this awesome movie theater way downtown and attened my first ever sing along event. That night it was all 80's songs, so the theater full of people sang Madonna and Michael Jackson and Bon Jovi etc. for 2 hours and it was an absolute BLAST! We ordered good food, sang, danced, and laughed, and it was a riot.

It ended at about 12:30 am though and mom and I had to be atthe airport for flights at 6 am the next morning. There are very few times in my life I have ever been that tired, and the next morning was TORTURE! But I got to sleep on the plane and got home to my boys safe and sound.
I had a wonderful weekend and we plan on making it a yearly event, only next year Nicole will be able to join us!

Why Gilmore Girls Matters So Much To Me

In the fall of last year a Gilmore Girls reunion was announced, and my heart broke because I knew I wouldn't be able to go. I didn't even know where we would be living, plus the absurdity of flying somewhere just for a television cast reunion, I could already hear Jared's eyes rolling. But every time I'd hear of more attendees I got more and more determined. This would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. There are few things in this world I love as much as that show, and it would be so fun!
So in April, I casually started looking at flights to Austin. My awesome aunt Melanie lives there, so I was pretty sure she would let me crash with her, so I'd basically have to cover a flight, a ticket to the event, and food for the weekend.
Flight prices were better than I expected, and I started strategizing how to ask Jared to watch Colton by himself for a weekend so I could go to a Gilmore Girls reunion. Jared, however, was really supportive! He said I deserved a weekend away, and he knows how much I adore the show, and he was excited for me! So that was the green light!
I mentioned this trip to my mom one day and she said "well I want to come too!!" so about a week before reunion tickets went on sale, we booked our flights. I was so so so excited! A girls weekend AND Gilmore girls in one!!
So the day tickets went on sale came. I had both computers and my phone on the site. I had done practice runs all that last week so I knew how the site worked so I could get in, order tickets, and get out. Tickets went on sale at 9am, so at 8:59.50 I pressed refresh on all of my devices, I was ready, I was anxious, my palms were sweaty...and when the pages loaded at 9:00.25 there was a big fat SOLD OUT at the top of the page.
I was heartbroken, and angry. Seriously? Sold out in 30 seconds?? Did they have like 15 tickets??? There must be a mistake! But there wasn't. I wasn't the only one outraged either, people took to social media like a tornado, bashing the television festival for getting everyone excited, while offering basically no tickets.
I'll admit that I cried a little bit. I was so excited, and so prepared. I considered cancelling my flight, but decided to make the best of it, after all it was still going to be a weekend away! And boy am I glad I went. My mom, Melanie, and I had a BLAST (post to come!), and it was so nice to recharge without Colton around.
And it gets better. Something that eased the sting of not getting tickets was ew.com was going to film the event and put it online, so I still got to see it. I watched it the day after I got home and guess what? I was relieved I didn't go.
First of all, bless Amy Sherman Palladino's heart for creating this show. BUT I just do not like her in person. I have seen interview snippets of her in the past, but she dominated the reunion dialogue, and I get it, she created it, but she's not the person I care about at all.
Secondly, I am an intelligent person, I fully understand that the actors are not their characters. I am able to watch Parenthood and Tuck Everlasting, and Supernatural without hoping to see Lorelai, Rory, and Dean. But after watching the entire reunion it really dawned on me that it is not the actors that I care about at all. My dear friends are Lorelai and Rory, not Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. I think that if I had gone, and spent all that money, and 3 hours standing in the 95 degree heat to get in the theater (yes...they made people do that), I would have been so disappointed because I would've wanted to see the characters, the people of Stars Hollow, and I would've seen a bunch of rich movie stars instead.
So this all does have a point. I have been watching Gilmore Girls on a loop since I was 11 years old, and I can't imagine ever stopping. I have seen every episode at least 10 times. I still laugh, I still cry. I know it basically by heart. I especially turn to it when I am sad, or lonely. It is a great comfort to me. My first night at college I knew literally no one, my parents had just left, and it was late at night. I watched the episode where Lorelai takes Rory to college and just cried.
Last night I told Jared that I felt lonely, that I feel like I don't have a "tribe". I don't have any family close, I am still in a pretty new place, and stuck at home a lot with a 10 month old. And that was it. Since 2001 Gilmore Girls has been my tribe. Call it silly, call it a dumb tv show. Yes some of the characters drive me a little crazy, sometimes I roll my eyes at Lorelai, but I grew up with them, and they always make me feel better, and like I belong.
So I'll keep watching Gilmore Girls, and someday watch it with my daughter/s (hopefully), because it is such a part of who I am, and no reunion could ever capture that.