California it is...

Last week, Greg and I had one of the hardest decisions to make...Do we stay or do we go? The hardest part was if we decided to move back to California (which we did) we had about 5 days to do so before it was unsafe for me to get on a plane & fly. Although FYI, if your baby is born on a plane, they fly free for life. As cool as that sounds, I don't recommend flying late in your pregnancy, it is stressful & quite uncomfortable.

Even though last week was one of the hardest and craziest weeks of our life, we both felt so blessed in how well everything went once we made our decision. I won't lie, we both had our separate "melt-downs" in making this decision but all-in-all we truly feel like we made the right decision. We have become even more grateful for prayer, the temple and a loving Heavenly Father. I am also more grateful for Greg who had to pull my end of the weight when it came to lifting and carrying everything. He was such a trooper. This experience has brought us closer as husband & wife and has strengthened our testimonies in the gospel. I think we both realized in greater depth, what it means to 'have" each other.

There's no doubt, we were and still are a little sad to have left our first home in Hawaii, where we thought we would have our little girl and bring her home to. To have to say "good-bye" to some of our closet friends was certainly not easy. To sell everything we own in a week was nothing short of a miracle. For my work to allow me to leave and for our Hawaii insurance to cover us in California are two definite tender mercies.

We are still trying to figure out exactly what to do with ourselves now that we are here, so far we have diligently been looking for cars and a Greg a job. Even though we don't have all the answers, we have each other and are certain we are where we should be.

Baby seems to been doing well and is only 2 & 1/2 weeks from her due date. She is kicking and moving around more than ever. We can't wait to hold and meet our precious little girl. She is welcome to come any day and make our family a family of 3 :)!



packing to leave Hawaii



unpacking in California

I love conference weekends & hate centipedes

There's nothing better than waking up in the morning only to stay in bed, cuddled up next to the one you love while listening to General Conference. I really can't think of anything. I'm not going to lie, we did accidentally fall back asleep (it's live at 6am in Hawaii and being cuddled up in a dark, fan-cooled room, it was impossible to stay awake for that morning session) so needless to say, we have a few talks to makeup.  I am actually somewhat glad we do bc I wasn't ready for Conference to be over. I have been anxiously awaiting to hear the talks for weeks now...this gives me to opportunity to prolong the inspirational messages a few extra days! From the talks given thus far I have made goals to 1. "ponder" after my scripture study...something I have never been great about and 2. Thank Heavenly Father for the tender mercies and answers I receive for things in my daily life.
I know these goal are nothing extreme, but these were the areas I felt I could better improve spiritually.

Being in the last 6 weeks of my pregnancy, I am somewhat limited to the activities I can do...although Greg and I did take time to go on a walk down to the beach, where I got to watch him surf. He pulled some pretty awesome hits. He just gets better & better. I love seeing the joy it brings him after a good surf session. I can't wait til our whole little family is out on those waves. :)

                                 (full rainbow while watching Greg surf. I love Hawaii's beauty!)
Lately, I have also found myself addicted to finding and making new recipes. This weekend was a hit. We ate so many delicious things. Just to make your mouth water, I'll name a few: Orange pull-apart bread, Coconut crusted chicken, Apricot- Rosemary Chicken, and Chocolate-Oreo Mousse with strawberries (we still have more in the fridge and just writing about it makes me want more).

OH MY, I can't forget to write about this! Let me first preface this story by mentioning that we have seen sooooo many centipedes in our house lately. One centipede a year is more than enough for me but we have seen 5 in a 2 week span. One was the biggest one I have ever seen, I'm not exaggerating, it was at least 8-10 inches long (if not more) running across our bedroom floor (right by Greg's foot). The other one we found in our bathroom...this one was about 7 inches long, it was on one of my many late bathroom breaks during the night... it literally scared the pee right out of me (I was on the toilet before I spotted it). This particular centipede was not only creepy but seriously possessed and made it impossible for either of us to go back to bed. Two more were found in our living room right by our couch. We can't figure out why we've had so many. Usually when we find them, they are already dead but these ones have been creeping in our personal space. Greg does the dirty work and chops them in half while I freeze once I've spotted one of these devilish creatures. EEK, they give me the eebie-geebies just remembering them. So with that said, here's the story to the 5th one. Last night Greg was trying to teach me a few notes on the guitar, when he got up to grab me a chair, I spotted a smaller one (which apparently hurt the most if bitten by) running across our bedroom floor. I immediately yelled, "Greg there's a centipede right by your foot." To which I say, if no one has ever seen a white boy jump, Greg did! He was jumping so high around the room yelling "WHERE, WHERE!" (there was alot more coming from his mouth that I won't write down) but just picture him jumping, as high as anyone can possible jump, with guitar in hand. He jumped all over the place, he even jumped right on top of the centipede before jumping on the bed. When he jumped on it, that little thing got out of our sight and he was accusing me of seeing things before we found it again. He ran to get the scissors, chopped it in half and luckily no one was bit. The rest of the night was me bursting out in laughter as I pictured him jumping like a little girl who sees a rat. A few times we both couldn't stop cracking up. All in all, it really wasn't funny, but so tense. I hate centipedes.

Rainy Day wish list

For whatever reason, this summer has been a rainy one here in Hawaii. I really do love the rain but I would like a few sunny beach days before baby comes if it's not too much to ask, just a few....please? On this particular rainy night, I found myself searching the web and came up with this...my collage of everything I wish I had tonight.

who doesn't love rain boots and I certainly wouldn't mind having this selection to choose from before I go splash around in some rain puddles!

and this amazing little nook...

and maybe a small bouquet of fresh flowers to smell... and to place next to my little nook above...

and these amazing treats...If anyone really knows me, they know I LOVE oreos! I wish I had a personal chef to make them for me right now...don't these look scrumptious!

And of course this handsome face to spend it all with! Isn't this picture AWESOME!

Happy Anniversary to us!

1 year ago today I was sealed to the most perfect man for me. He was that "surfer boy" I had always been searching for and so much much MUCH more. he is everything I need in a companion and friend. He is the half that makes me whole. Without embarrassing him too much, one of the things I love most about Greg is his passion. He really is incredible.
For our anniversary we spent a little romantic weekend in Waikiki. Stayed at the Hilton, dinned at some fancy restaurants (my favorites being 1. Roy's and 2. Giovanni pastrami), went to see "crazy, stupid, love" (which we both recommend), spent lots of time at the beach playing & surfing, a little time at the pool, stayed up late, slept in, ate lots of warm cookies (compliments of the Hilton) and just loved having each other to spend it with. It was a perfect little, romantic get-away.

I wanted to share a few photo's taken from our very special wedding day, just 1 year ago, Aug. 14th 2010.

random happy thoughts

I woke up this morning just pondering my life, thinking of my past, present & future. I realized that even though I am not doing anything extremely fun or adventurous at this present moment I feel the happiest I have ever been. Having Greg in my life is the number one reason I feel so blessed. Just being at this stage in our life, knowing we are sealed for all eternity, knowing I have someone to love & love me in return brings such peace.
I feel lucky. I feel that I have lived a good life. I thank my family who has brought me such joy & so much laughter. If there was one word I could use to describe my relationship with my family, I would say "laughter". We can talk for hours to each other which contributes to our close relationship and when we all get together, I think we laugh more than anything.
I think some of my most growing experience would have to contribute to the many father-daughter walks I took with my dad. he is my hero.
And Greg has just added to the joy and happiness I feel each day. I have never felt closer to anyone. He is the greatest best friend I could ask for.
In my midst of my random pondering this morning, I also thought of my mission. I remembered in my "exit interview" with my mission president he said something that has stuck with me. He told me that the four most special days in my life would be
1. the day I opened my mission call
2. the day I returned home
3. the day I was sealed to my etenal companion (that one's my favorite) and
4. the birth of my first child.

It's carzy to think all except one of those days has happened and that the last one is only months away. I get nervous about becoming a mom at times. But thinking of my own family and the husband I have by my side only brings me back to peace. We are so excited for our little angel to come join us. We know she is so special. It's funny how you can love someone you have never met so much. We can't wait to meet her.

my super talented sister in law took some pictures of greg and I when we went home. I will have to post the rest of them soon. Here is one with our little bump for now.

My "Thank you" note

You know how Jimmy Falon has that funny short skit where he writes sarcastic "thank you" notes while listening to sympathetic music.... well here's mine.

Thank you Lani's for being such a beautiful beach with Sea Turtles and waves that everyone tourist on the island has to stop to take pictures with you. Thank you for being located directly off Kam Hwy, that lovely one lane road. Thank you for making your parking lot across the road with no easy access to the beach except to j-walk in front of us. Thank you for making us sit in at least 30 mins of traffic every Sunday on our way home from church... and making us late to movies... and a few time to work. And finally thank you for making me get so angry that I might have yelled something not so nice to one of the many tourists crossing the street in front of us. So I'm saying, thank you Lani's for making me work on my patience day after day after day. :)

20 weeks

Yes, it's true I reached my half way mark in my pregnancy today. 20 weeks. I was really excited to wake up to our little baby girl kicking. We haven't felt her much, just a few kicks within this last week, but today it just made me smile to fell those tiny little kicks. I stayed excited until I got on the Internet and read my weekly pregnancy update; only to find out I am expected to gain a pound a week for the next 20 weeks. All I can say is, I am sorry Greg. Although you probably don't care, I feel bad. Will you still love me? Will I still love myself?
Well back to the exciting stuff, Baby Steele is the length of a banana...about 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel and she weighs about 10 1/2 ounces (these are estimates). In our last ultrasound visit, the Dr. saw all 10 toes and fingers, 2 eyes, 2 ears, her nose & mouth, spine, brain, verified she's a girl and said she was, "A perfect baby". Who doesn't like to hear that.:).
We are anxiously awaiting her to join our family. I think Greg is a little more anxious than me. Almost daily I hear him say, "I can't wait for baby Zoey to come." (we've been calling her Zoey, but that could change.)
Greg is going to be such an amazing father. He is already such a loving, giving and caring husband. I couldn't have chosen a better partner. I love him with all my heart.

These were taken at our latest ultrasound, we have "Baby Girls" profile and little foot. We love her already.

Me loving & playing with Baby and some belly shots to share.