What's ahead: Part two

One thing that is definitely ahead is Springtime! Unfortunately, Rexburg didn't want to admit that so on the day and night of the first day of Spring, we had about 2-3 inches of snow! So, what does that all mean? Snowshoeing adventure, of course! We love going snowshoeing and Lily loves being outdoors and participating in the adventure. We have had her in her Kelty baby backpack since she met the standards (16 lbs). We have gone on two snowshoeing outings the past two weekends, and the first one was an intense vertical climb at Kelly Canyon...and then down, down, down. Lily even once said while we were out, "bear...bear...bear." I freaked out a little and prayed that she really didn't see a real bear. We watch a lot of Frozen Planet and maybe she attributed the snow and the trees to seeing bears...I don't know, and I don't want to know if there was a bear around us. We did see moose tracks, and Lily can say moose. It's more like, "MMMMMUUUU," and you might think it's a cow, but she is well versed in her Alaskan animals. This weekend we went to Harriman State Park. I don't get the whole spending multiple fees to go and enjoy the outdoors, but they do a good job with keeping it nice? Harriman is a summer place and a winter Nordic Ski place, so I guess they have to groom the trails and make sure no one burns down the forest in the summer. Nevertheless, it was breathtaking. We went as a family to Harriman earlier this year; that's when Daniel got to use the GoPro (by the way, he makes excellent videos and I need to post some). It was pretty fun that go-around. This time, we went with our friends and we all had a blast! It was the first time for my friend and her little boy (and her baby girl), and her little boy was a pro. He looked so cute in those tiny little snow shoes. We saw great scenery and had some back-country fun too. I'm glad we are a snowshoeing family! Long live the Kelty baby backpack!

One more thing that is coming up is another grand adventure in this Bohman family: We have decided, as a graduation present and for other reasons, that we are going on an Alaskan cruise in May! We are extremely excited and I have a wall calender where I have been counting off the days. It will be a seven-day cruise touring Southeast and Glacier Bay then dropping us off in Whittier! We will then head to Anchorage and stay with the fam. for a bit so Daniel can get sworn in to the military by his dear ole' daddy and we can do some family history and bonding! This is certainly going to be an adventure to remember! I was nervous about bringing the Lily B. along with us for that long, so I did some researching on cruising with a toddler. I was impressed to find out that so many cruises are accommodating to families with small children. There are some draw-backs (like not-potty-trained babies cannot be in the pools even with a swim diaper). There are some ships that have splash zones but ours does not, bummer. But, we are going on an Alaskan cruise and it will be in May....so I'm not too worried about it. So far, everything has been planning out well and I even get to see my old playground in Juneau and show all the fun to Daniel. What's better is that I now have a friend that I lived with in Hawaii that's actually living in Juneau and we will get to spend the day with her. I know Lily is going to love it and be the main attraction to all the old early birds that are going before the crowds. We are all going to love it! Oh, and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to go because they said that women who are over 24 weeks pregnant cannot sail. We didn't realize this till the other day, so we frantically checked the calender and saw that I will only be 21 by then. Whew. That was close.

can't enjoy a walk to the park without looking through the Kmart adds.

No snow will stop them!

Cheese! Oh yes, she loves the food and the word. You have to give it to her cause she says please.

A result of too much cheese: Buddha Belly

Snowshoeing adventure at Kelly Canyon. It was actually pretty warm that day (40s maybe).

lovely scenery

Did I say it was mostly vertical?

St. Patty's day fun!

green smoothies for everyone. Lily was not so into them until we gave her a straw.

Spring.

She is ready to go outside to play.

Snowshoeing adventure at Harriman State Park!

This is part of Henry's Fork River.

There were a couple of swans out there on this frozen lake; blast that they're white.

Lily stole my sunglasses so I had to wear hers. I'm glad there's not a pic of me.

Her new favorite lounge chair.

Little Bohman #2, due Oct 5! my bro's bday!

I'm being nostalgic: here are some pics from my adventures in Juneau; 2005-06.

The deckhands on board the Spirit, 2005! We had so much fun.

my favorite animal...ever!

kayaking by Mendenhall Glacier, 2006

What's ahead

You know that feeling you get when you are doing homework and it's toward finals...and then you realize, "I'm graduating in 3 weeks!" Ah, I can't talk about it enough; this is a dream-come-true for me. Mind you, it hasn't happened yet, and I am counting on passing my classes, but I'm just going to assume it WILL happen. I don't know if I have mentioned this before but I will be the first college graduate in my family on both sides for 4 generations (my great-grandaddy, Dewey graduated from the University of Alabama and became a high school Biology teacher). I used to be nonchalant about college: carefree, having fun, not doing assignments I didn't agree with, taking time off. But, I finally realized, thanks to my husband and my close friends, that college (especially at a Church school) should not be taken lightly. There are moments when I want to throw in the towel. Like the time when I just had a baby and I didn't know how I was going to do school and take care of baby and then get an internship. But, it all worked out in the end and I was able to do it. I had a lot of help along the way, and most of it was from Heavenly Father. I don't think I would be graduating if I didn't rely on Him. Even though I started college at the University of Alaska Southeast back in 2005 (I was 19) majoring in Marine Biology, and will finally be graduating from Brigham Young University- Idaho in 2013 (28) with a degree in English and professional writing, at least I will be finishing what I started. The road has been rough and long, but it's also been interesting to see how I have changed and matured over the years. I honestly don't know what I am going to do with myself when I wont have any documents to edit or a Shakespeare play to read, in addition to some crazy contemporary poetry. The funny this is, I told Daniel that I wanted to go to Graduate School. It will be when the kids are older, but I'm already excited about it. Even though I complain about the rules of the game, I like learning and being open to new avenues of education. I'm sure I will find plenty of things to do (after I give myself a long vacation)--maybe sewing!

March and a dash of February hilghlights

Ok, it's super early to be writing in the blog, but I'm up because of the little one and I have to get going to my 8 a.m. class soon, and I am thinking about writing in the blog.....so why not, eh?

March is a fun month: it's usually one more month till the end of the semester  (in this case it's our last, so it's even better), it's a transition month to Spring--ok, not full-on Spring but we warm up here in Rexburg to the 50s some days, and that is something to go outside and celebrate, we get to celebrate St. Paddy's and Easter--I'm not really a big celebrator, but since we are building our family and since my dear friend's fav holiday is St. Paddy's (she goes all-out), I would like to test out my celebrating skills this year. I've got some pretty sweet ideas for both (thanks to my lovely friend and Pinterest), and I hope they work out. All-in-all, it's a great month for life! (get it?...Easter...Irish...Spring...Life...ok, maybe it's too early for jokes)

Here are some updates from February. My birthday just so happened to take place; it was more than I could have asked for and beyond. Daniel always does a great job making me feel special on this day of getting older and wiser too, but this year he really did a number. Of course, the way to my heart is food, and my day was started by a friend taking me out to breakfast at my favorite place: Chick-fil-A. Oh, how savory it was that early in the morning. :) Daniel continued the festivities with a lunch outing to a good sandwich place here in town, and then a surprise dinner to a really nice restaurant. I can't remember the name, but it was an Asian Fusion restaurant that served a wide variety of sushi items as well as gourmet entree's. Daniel and I went all out (he had a coupon if you spend 75 dollars, you get 50 off). We had a delicious appetizer of coconut shrimp, then a rainbow roll (always a favorite), soup, then the entrees of Lobster and Lamb chops. Whew, then they brought out some divine cheesecake as a complimentary dessert for my birthday! Everything was out-of-this-world good and I highly recommend it...if I can just remember the name. Anyways, that is the long story of how much I love food. :)

We wanted to have a snow-shoeing adventure up in Teton Pass a couple of weekends ago, and we got all pumped and ready for the fun adventure and set on our way on a nice Saturday. After the beautiful drive up to the Pass, we realized we forgot Lily's hiking backpack. Can't really do much snowshoeing if you have to hold a toddler the entire time, so we decided to book it down to Jackson Hole. Come to find out, they had some end-of-the-season sales and Daniel got some good deals on clothes and even a pair of skis! It was a beautiful day and it was actually pretty warm. Lily loved it; of course, when does she not love being outdoors and around tons of people? She saw so many dogs (her new obsession) and got to walk around eating cheese off the ground. That gal is so fun.

Lillian's new favorite word is "No" and she will express it in the most colorful ways. A normal conversation goes like this:

Me: "Lily do you want to change your clothes?"
(Imagine some real Southern Sas that she inherited from her mother)
Lily: "No."
Me: "Lily will you come with me to change your diaper?"
Lily: "No."
Me: "Lily do you like dogs?"
Lily: "Arrff."

Yeah, that is how it typically goes. Just the other day she was practicing all the different ways she could say "No." It was really funny, she cracks me up.

Dad and Lily's new trick!

Cleaning off the car for my birthday.

Birthday breakfast at Chick-fil-A!

This is how Lily gets ready for Church.

Our indoor camping trip.

We got all dressed up for the birthday date. Thanks, Hakaan for watching Lily!

My mouth is watering just remembering how good it was.

Lily at the duck pond. She would not let go of the stale bread this nice lady gave us and then decided to munch on it while we were there.

This girl loves hats...doesn't keep them on long, but she loves to take them on and off and pose!

She is a big fan of my fav. hat.

Celebrating Grandpa Craig's birthday at Cocoa Bean.

Exploring BYU-Idaho campus on a pretty day. She got a little hungry.

She definitely has a strong personality, there's no doubt about that. But, she is a darling and so sweet and she loves her cuddles and one-on-one time with both Mom and Dad. She loves to dance so much that that is the first thing she will ask for in the mornings...and Bolt. She decided she wanted to learn how to dance yesterday on Campus, cause she walked straight into a ball-room and started waltzing around.

Well, that's enough for this update. Breakfast calls and British Literature awaits...