a much needed update...

So, I've been a terrible blogger this year. There is so much that I could have/wanted to blog about, but life gets crazy and blogging always seems to fall by the wayside. So instead of elaborate posts about everything we've been up to the last 4+ months, you're just going to get a top 10 list.

What's been going on with the Mootes (in no particular order)

1. Brian graduated! He survived a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Computer Science and finished with his best semester GPA ever, a 3.8!

2.  We have taken 3 trips to St. George so far this year and loved them all. We especially love swimming in the pool/hot tub and 4 wheelings in the Teryx.

3. Brian was also accepted into the dual MBA/MSE program at the University of Utah and received a fellowship with a 50% tuition reduction and a small stipend. So we will be in SLC for 2/2.5 more years.

4. Oliver will be 1 year old in exactly 1 week! What a crazy, fun, tiring, exciting, exhausting, heart-warming year it has been. This topic will definitely get its own post soon...hopefully.

5. We are going to Europe for 2.5 weeks at the end of the month. We will be in southern Germany/northern Austria for a week and then move on to Rome and Tuscany for the last week and a half. We are SO EXCITED. Much of my potential blogging time has gone to planning this trip.

6. We are going to Georgia for the summer again! Yep, we will be teaching swim lessons to help pay for our Europe trip and Brian's masters program. We are excited to swim and be with my family for a bit, especially with our new niece arriving any day now.

7. We moved out of student housing! We hate moving and are hoping to find a place where we can stay for the full 2 years we have left as starving students, but we are glad to be out of our old place. Bottom line - moving is hard! We are glad to finally breathe and relax again, for now.

8. I have had the opportunity to take Italian lessons once a week from an Italian living in our complex. It has been a fun get away for me, and I definitely could use the brush up on my Italian for our big Europe trip. Giving up my Thursday nights was one of the few sad moments of moving for me.

9. We got a King mattress! For those of you who know Brian, you know how big a deal this is! He is planning on making an awesome frame to go with it. We can't wait to use it once we get back from GA.

10. Oh and by the way, I'm 12 weeks pregnant...surprise! We were pretty surprised ourselves but are so excited to meet our new addition this Thanksgiving. More on this one later!