BB

 

 

 

BB, a childhood friend living in New York, flew to the island in late March to see my enormous belly and the sun. For two weeks, we lounged by the sea and reminisced on years past, on life before she was earning a PHD in neuroscience and I was growing a human inside my body.

Coconut bark

Base:

2 cups unsweetened coconut (you can use flakes or chips)
1/2 cup cold-pressed coconut oil
2 tbsps raw honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Topping (optional):

Dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
Almonds (or other nuts)

Place shredded coconut, oil, honey and vanilla in food processor and blend until smooth. Line a glass pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread mixture evenly to about 1/4" thickness. Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler over the stove. Drizzle or spread chocolate over the coconut mixture and sprinkle with nuts or dried fruit as desired. Transfer to the freezer and leave to set. After about 45 minutes, remove and break into small pieces. Serve right away or store in a container in refrigerator for future use.

After soccer

Thirty-eight weeks

 

Photos by our good friend Krystal Wares

Oregon

 

My parents, driving the Oregon coast for their honeymoon. We're moving to Portland in August, where Trenton will start a graduate program in International Development. His first and last semesters will be held at Concordia University, with the second and third hosted at the International Centre for Intercultural Exchange in Italy and Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador.

Thirty-two weeks

 

 

Photographs by Trenton, taken on Valentine's Day.

Baths every day.

Bliss

The island has been so generous lately, so completely giving. 

The lodge

Zarahemla

 

 

 

When our bellies were full of homemade caramel and chocolate milk, we left the lodge at Camp Zarahemla to see the forest and explore the abandoned waterfront. I've written before about my love for the woods and Pacific Northwest, but will say again -- there's so much magic in this place.

Portland

Exploring the city that may be our home in the coming months.

Two years

 

We celebrated our second anniversary a week early in warm, rich Hawaiian air -- air that tastes like jungle and sun and salty ocean. Waimea Valley, a tropical Eden tucked in the Ko'olau Moutains, is home to a small, delicately-lit restaurant that serves the most delicious seared ahi and taro creme brûlée. Completely, wonderfully delicious. Days later, we spent our actual anniversary flying to Portland and driving several hours to Trenton's childhood home in Kennewick, Washington. Unpacking my suitcase at midnight, I stumbled upon a drawer filled with letters and postcards sent before we were married. The most recent one, dated days before Trenton proposed, is a perfect tribute to our two years together.

"You should know I fall in love with you all the time. Its not a stale, stagnant love, left over from before your mission or sustained out of habit, convenience. I fall in love with you again and again, over and over. I fell in love with you when you kissed me on the couch the morning I got to Kennewick. When you gave your homecoming talk. When you fixed the sprinklers with your dad. When we picked cherries at your Grandpa's. When you sing 'Call Me Maybe'. When you drive. EVERY TIME you put your hand on my knee. When you call me "Em". When you split your meal with me. When you speak Portuguese. When you helped my Dad with the boat. When you helped me win cards, when you didn't help me win cards... When you called my snoring cute. When you called me after work the other day just to say 'I love you' before you got in the shower. When you let me sleep on your lap driving to Idaho. When you told me you'd come to Utah. 

The list grows and grows a bit more each day. I could fill all these pages with those little moments. Moments when my heart races a bit, when I stop and think 'This is the best person I know' or 'I am completely happy'. 

I love you! I love saying the words almost as much as I love hearing them from you. How great is love, Trenton? How great and important -- vitally important to God's grand scheme, the master plan. Love makes us the best versions of ourselves, helps us to learn and grow and see. Love makes service natural, fills us with gratitude. I used to wonder how my parents are such good people, and now I know. Its because they've got more love than anyone else I know. Love for each other and love for our Father in heaven. Love for our Savior. 

So thank you for loving me and letting me love you back. It has changed my life."

Twenty-two weeks

December brought the first flutter kicks from our baby. He wiggles and squirms all day now, especially when Trenton speaks Portuguese into my belly button or I drink a cup of hot chocolate. The best and strangest feeling.

Rivers and roads

 

 

The night before Thanksgiving, a few good friends crowded into our studio apartment for pumpkin soup and bread pudding. We sat on the floor and talked about gratitude, then hummed along as Seth played his guitar and sang The Head and the Heart.