Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

I really had great intentions of posting more regularly this year....but the year got away from me!  2011 was an AMAZING year for my family.  I think I have learned more this year than any of the ones before it.  It has been a year of hard work, change, perseverence, firsts, lasts, good times, a few bad times, some laughs and some tears and most of all a year of us. All of our experiences this year add up to one thing:  I love my life.  I love my lil' family.  Some days I sit and think about Justin, Aspen and myself and it takes my breath away....I am overwhelmed with joy these days!!  Its amazing what happens when you have gratitude for your life and when you express thanks daily.  :)  Anyway, here is a lil recap of our year:
2011 began with me graduating from nursing school and starting my first job as an RN.  I started with Legacy Healthcare as an on call Hospice and Home Health nurse.  I can't think of a job that would fit more under the category of "baptism by fire" as a fresh nurse.  I LOVED IT!!!  I learned so much about caring for people, nursing skills and most importantly confidence in myself as a nurse.  I finally learned (as my WONDERFUL nursing instructor Maureen had been trying to tell me for nearly a year) that I AM a nurse!!  As the year went on I started case managing Home Health patients for Legacy and found that I kinda liked this change of pace.  My heart is with Hospice, but sometimes you need a break from work that is that heavy all the time...............
Next up with 2011 came the most exciting day for our little family:  We bought our first home!!!!  This had been a dream for Justin and I for years, but we didn't want to rush into it and end up making a huge mistake.  It has been one of the hardest journeys I think we will ever face as a couple.  Looking back, I can see we made PLENTY of mistakes, but in the end, we ended up with the most amazingly perfect house for our family.  We moved to South Willard and it has been AMAZING to say the least.  We are blessed with amazing neighbors, great friends, views of the lake and the mountains, fruit stands around every corner and a glorious "slowed down" feeling to life.  I LOVE IT HERE!!! 
With moving came a big change for me on the job front.  I left Legacy Healthcare, a company I had been with for over 4 years.  This was one of the most emotional transitions for me.  Legacy had become family to me.  It was so hard to make this decision, but after lots and lots and lots of soul searching, I realized it was the right decision.  I miss them DAILY still, but know that it was the best thing for me and my family.  I started in Brigham City with Alpine Homecare.  I had no idea I could find another homecare family....but I have.  I have made the most amazing friends with this transition, ones that I hope I will have forever.  We have WAY too much fun together.  We are all so different, coming from different backgrounds, having different faiths, different lifestyles and it just doesn't matter, we love each other and love to hang out!  Its so nice! 
Aspen started preschool in Perry at The Peak.  She has school 3 days/week and has tumbling and cheer as well.  The Peak has been awesome!  Aspen has learned so much and is such an amazing little tumbler.  She also started soccer this year....the jury is still out on that one :). 
Another HUGE happening for us this year included adding a new member to our family:  Bear.  Bear was definatly meant to be with our family, we have no idea how we lived without him.  We bought bear after going through a heartwrenching miscarriage and he filled a spot that was so empty in our hearts.  We love him and he is a huge (no pun intended) part of our family!!  I now know why people say after owning a Newfie, you will never own another breed.  I know I never will.  :)
Other amazing happenings this year include an awesome family vacation to Disneyland (separate post to follow), my lil sister got married and Zack Emal became a part of our family, Aspen made friends with 4 lil girls that have become members of our family as well, this group of 5 is INSEPERABLE!!! I know there are so many things I am forgetting!!
Such a huge year for us, with so many transitions.  Justin and I were laying in bed, 2 nights ago, talking about how all of this (our life) is even better than what we had dreamed.  We discussed how we spent so many nights laying in bed, saying to each other, "Don't worry, just a little bit longer, or a little more hard work and it will all be better......we will get there, chin up!!"  Now we are there, and just as we had promised each other, we are NEVER going to take it for granted. 
A year in review in pics:

The Winds of Change....

Fall is coming, I can feel it.  I always get excited at this time of year, when the season starts to change.  It seems like summer is the time of year where you are always on the go and fall is when you hunker down and stay home.  Well I love fall...and I love to hunker down, so it is the perfect time of year for me!  It is especially exciting this year, being in our new home!  I get so excited about every fall decoration I put up and at the thought of watching the leaves change color on the mountain behind us.  Everyday I wake up in this home so thankful for my life.  We are starting to feel like we are "Willardites" more and more everyday.  At first we had some concerns about moving to such a "conservative" area, but the people here couldn't possibly be any more awesome!  I love the small town feel of it here, but with the convienence of being only 10-15 minutes away from a Walmart or grocery store.  Aspen is growing like crazy, she already acts like a teenager, so it frightens me to think what it is going to be like when she actually is one.  She has found a little group of girls in the neighborhood that she runs around with daily.  Listening to them play and the things they talk about cracks me up!  I am so happy for her because she has needed interaction with kids her age for so long!  She is also doing well in preschool!  We have been really impressed with her teachers and with all the cute things they do in school!  After school on Wednesdays, Aspen has gymnastics!  This is the highlight of her week!  She is so incredibly cute in her little leotard doing her summersaults!!!  I think she is a natural for sure ;).  She is also in soccer....and she doesn't so much love it.  I am not sure why, she liked it the first day and since then she says she doesn't want to go.  We always tell her she has to go since she part of the team and they are counting on her.  When she gets there she shows very little interest in the game and spends the majority of her time trying to talk to other players, trying to race or play tag with other players or spinning in circles.  I guess she is my mini-me, LOL!  She is such a funny kid!
Justin and I spend the majority of our time working on the house.  It is sooooo much fun!  I will post pics of our progress soon!!
I made a big change and quit my job at Legacy.  THis was huge since I have been employed there for over 4 years.  I now work for Alpine Homecare and Alpine Transitional Rehab in Brigham City.  This cuts down on my commute considerably.  This was a hard change for me, but I can already tell it is the right decision.
Okay.....gooooood Lord that was a long ol' rambling post.  For making it through all that you deserve a reward!!
And last but not least, the good part, here are the pics:

Aspen ready for school.  I swear she poses herself like this!  Too many barbie movies!!

First soccer game.  She is even wearing her cousin Atlee's old soccer socks...she was SOOOO proud!

No idea what she is doing....or thinking for that matter LOL!  She reminds me of Mary Catherine Gallager in Superstar LOL!

Aspen hanging out with her cute friends!

The girls found a salamander and Justin convinced them not to kill it.  Aspen loved it!

Man I love it here!

How cute is this?

Love the mornings here!

Where did summer go?

All of a sudden summer is over.  I don't know how this happened, it definatly snuck up on me.  We havn't been camping, on any vacations or even to any waterparks, Lagoon or the zoo.  Our entire summer was consumed by buying our home, moving into it and beginning work on it.  This is a great thing and a HUGE step for us, and we are thrilled; but I can't help but feel a little sad that we let the summer pass without stopping to enjoy it.  We have really been enjoying our home though.  It is so nice to have this little space that is our own :).  I love working on it and I even love cleaning it.  (Is that sick?)  Aspen starts her last year of preschool on Wednesday.  She is going to a preschool in Brigham City that has gymnastics and dance classes directly after her preschool classes, so its super convienent for us.  She is also supposed to start soccer this week!  She is so excited to have some activities that involve other kids!  I am so excited to see her play soccer, she looks so dang cute in her lil uniform!  I will post pics of her in it as soon as I take some.  In the meantime, here are some pics of what we have been up to:

Welcome to the Springer casa.  This is what the house looked like the day we moved in.  Oh the poor lawn!  We have already done so much and I will post some updated pics ASAP!  I am not posting pics of the inside until I take pics of the remodel :)

This is what it looks like every night at my house :)  This is taken from my backyard, can you see Willard Bay right above the trees?  It is so pretty!

 This is the newest edition to the Springer clan.  Meet Bear :)  This pic was taken a few months ago.  He is now 17 wks old and a whopping 48 lbs.  He is a big teddy bear!

Evenings here are so wonderful!

 Aspen loves it here.  She is constantly chasing the stray cats that live in the neighbors barn, (Odd, I know.) helping the neighbor boys feed the chickens or pick beans or looking for bugs and catching moths and mayflies.  She is turing into a lil country girl!  I dont know what face she is making in this pic, I just thought it was funny :)  She is in her nightgown, right out of the bathtub, playing in the backyard at sunset!

 This is one of the before mentioned stray cats.  Want it?  Its yours!  I will even pay you to take him!  He is a great mouser and very sweet!  I am trying to avoid taking them to the shelter...but it is getting pretty close to that.

 Our neighbors have a chicken coop that borders our fence.  Bear will sit here and just stare at them for hours.  They are pretty hilarious to watch.  We hope to have chickens with in 2 years.

 Happy boy.  Bear loves it here!

 Aspen thinks it is so special that she has a "jetted tub."  She actually has the only jetted tub in the house...isn't that odd that there is one in an extra bathroom but not in the master?  Anyway, we learned the hard way that bubble bath and jets dont mix! Can ya tell? :)

 This was the best smile I could get outta the kid before her preschool orientation.  She said she forgot how to smile....sigh.... :)

Hope all is well with all of you!!!

Im Baaaaaaaack :)

I havn't posted in over a year.  How in the world did that happen?  I gave up on blogger cus it wasn't being very compatible with my computer, so we will see how it goes this time around.  I have been keeping up on reading everyone elses blogs.....just got kinda side tracked on updating mine :)

A lil' update:  I FINALLY graduated from nursing school and am working full-time as a Hospice RN, which I absolutely love.  I never knew I could love going to work so much!  We are buying a home in Willard.  We are closing this week and couldn't be more excited for this big change in our life.  We found a bank owned home that was an amazing deal and decided to dive in head first.  It sits on 3/4 of an acre.  So look out folks, The Springers are moving to the country! LOL!  Justin and Aspen talk about all the animals they want to have, i.e. a goat, bunnies, dogs, cats, chickens.....just to name a few!!!  I can't wait.  I love how calm and slowed down life feels when you head north.  We walked into the house and it just felt right, we knew it was where we are supposed to live! I will definatly have to start blogging again just to document the trials of trying to become a country woman, haha!  As soon as we are in, I will post pictures.

Aspen is growing like a weed.  She just had her preschool graduation.  It was so cute, she sang a bunch of songs, said her ABC's, 123's, the pledge of alligence and recieved a certificate.  It made me cry my eyes out.  Her grandparents came and watched and it meant so much to her!  IT was such an awesome night.  She has one more year of preschool before she starts Kindergarten.  I am looking forward to our last year with her at home.

Well just wanted to say...Hello!  I dont know if anyone follows this anymore, but I have no problems with talking to myself.

New Blog

So I decided to try starting a new blog to see if it will resolve all the problems I am having with my old one.  I was so excited to see that I could import my old blog so I havn't lost anything, I have sooooo much that I want to post about becuase I havn't been able to for so long.....so here's to hoping this works!!!

Blogspot is no longer my friend...

So I have tried to edit my last post about 100x, but every time I do it times out, or the "page can't be viewed" or there is an error. So I guess I am wondering if anyone else has TONS of problems with blogspot or if it is a person problem between my computer and the site. All I know is I never get updated because everytime I try and put a ton of time into a post it doesn't work out, then I want to throw my computer accross the room, so I give up! BLAH! So I am going to try one last time to post the rest of my pics from December....if it doesn't work in this new post, then I QUIT!