somehow it's been two years since my move to las vegas from ontario, canada. a lot can happen in two years, really. i posted previously about my first year (which seems like just yesterday) yet here i am heading into my third year in the desert. things have been interesting to say the least.

i started my first full-time job here in the u.s.:




my niece was born on march 17 and the hubs and i headed back home for a visit in April to meet her:

we took a little long weekend trip to san francisco:




our biggest news in 2012 was that i got pregnant!



we headed to honolulu, hawaii with friends in november:




and my parents and aunt stayed with us for a week over christmas:







well vegas, we've survived two years together. let's see what you've got up your sleeve for year three.

i came across this article from IBF the other day via breanna rose and i was immediately immersed in it. i've talked in the past about how much i want to share on this blog, that it's important to be yourself and that i feel it is important to be real and relatable. i get that people want to put their best foot forward and "not be a downer" but i also think that the support that you can receive from your friends & readers really knows no bounds. whether it's out of fear or insecurity that people don't share the harder parts of their lives, i don't know, but no one's life is perfect, mine certainly isn't. but that's what's so great about being real; others will be real right back.


the author of the article also asked this question, but i'm very curious, so i'm going to pose it as well:

Somewhere amongst all the holiday shuffle I crossed the line into my third trimester, a fact that is hard to believe. Back when I was battling constant sickness and the most horrendous heart burn I found it so hard to believe that this day would ever come. Once I hit about 17 weeks I began to feel much better, though I was still feeling extremely sluggish, and then somewhere around the 20 week mark my energy came back and I really began to feel excited for the rest of the pregnancy. While I am definitely feeling more and more pregnant as the days pass by, everything is medically fine and I really couldn't ask for more.

hello to a new month and its intentions. hello to scarves, gloves and jackets growing tighter and tighter around my growing belly. hello cups of hot chocolate with plenty of marshmallows. hello nights spent cuddled on the couch watching movies by the fire. hello to the beginning of my third trimester. hello to celebrating two years living in las vegas. hello january.

1. Be more patient
2. Embrace change
3. Find a creative way to continue to document my life, especialy as my family grows from 2 to 3
4. Don't sweat the small stuff.
5. Waste less, spend less, want less
6. Focus on the big picture
7. Be the best mother I can be

I realized this past weekend that it's been a while since I shared pieces of the nursery. The last time you saw the nursery there were only small pieces, some of which have actually been replaced. Here's a little sneak peek at what it's shaping up to be as of late, complete with hand-me-downs and some homemade artwork.