It Brings Me Joy When Animals Mate

I love living in an area where there are four distinct seasons. Some would moan and groan that we only have two seasons: a couple months of summer and then winter, winter, winter. But I say it's not so. Right now we are getting a taste of spring in our lovely valley. While I love it, I hate it at times too. I suppose there are pros and cons to everything, am I right?

Let's start with the cons of Spring:

CONS

-Mud. The snow is melting, the rain is falling, and this creates mud. And lots of it. Muddy shoes. Mud splatters on the backs of my jeans. Grrr, me don't like.

-Mother Nature is temperamental. One second it's freezing, the next it's warm, the next it's raining, the next the sun is shining, the next it's snowing. Talk about weather PMS.

-Staring inside the closet every morning, feeling lost. I don't know how to dress myself in the spring. With the weather being so unpredictable, it's a risky decision. If you wear a scarf and jacket, you run the risk of it being a warm day which will turn you into a sweat puddle. If you wear capris and sandals, you can bet your bottom dollar it's going to pour rain (or possibly even snow), causing you to be soaked and freeze your pastel covered butt off.

-School ending. While this can also be thought of as a pro, for me this year, it's feeling much more like a con. The end of a semester is always stressful with all the final tests and projects, but it's especially stressful when you know you're going to graduate and thus start "real life".

-Shaving. Warmer weather means less clothing. Which means I might bare my legs to the general public. Which means I must become good friends with my razor once again. There is something lovely about the winter months of never shaving, hiding that menacing leg hair under layers of clothing, and knowing your secret is safely hidden from onlookers. Boy, shaving my legs is a pain in my neck. But I am sure my husband would view the shaving thing as a pro (sorry, babe).

Now for the good stuff. The pros:

PROS 

-Sun. It's so refreshing to come out of the cave of indoors and into the sunlight once again. Showing my pale self to the outside world is relieving. There is nothing quite as sweet as sitting in the grass, under a tree, reading a good book.

-Spring clothes. Sandals. Skirts. Shorts. Dresses. Flats. Floral patterns. Pastels. Need I say more?

-Running outside. My oh my. I forgot what a nice feeling it is. I went five miles this evening and it amazes me how much easier it was than the cursed treadmill. I do not have the attention span for the treadmill. I get bored and anxious. Running outside is such a lifesaver. The fresh air works wonders and the scenery is always changing. The only downside of outside running is the bugs. I swallowed a few today. Yummy.

-Lawn mowers. One of my favorite smells is fresh cut grass. It's luscious.

-Track & Field. I am a track and field girl at heart. Spring weather always reminds me of track meets. It's a nostalgic feeling for me. I miss the rush of racing and competing so much sometimes. I cannot wait for my sisters to get in high school so I can go watch their track meets.

Now for probably the biggest pro of all. . .

-BABY ANIMALS. Oh, you don't like all caps? My bad. But seriously, my heart sings at the thought of spring because I know it means tiny, fluffy, cute things.

Last weekend, we braved a few spring cons (mud, crazy weather) for Baby Animal Days at the American West Heritage Center. It's an event I honestly look forward to every year. Usually Brian and I go alone, and I pick fights with all the children over who gets to hold the bunny or baby chick next. This year though, my maturity reached new levels. We went to the event with some of our good friends and they brought their three little kiddos along. So that's right, we had children in our company. I was a Baby Animal Days mentor, if you will, for these young ones. And I only fought over a bunny with the four year old one time. 

And even though the animals were wonderful, the best part of the day was probably when little Lillian asked me and Brian, "Are you two married?" After we answered yes she replied to us saying, "If you two are married, that means you need to have a baby." All in the spirit of spring and babies, I suppose.

Thanks, Stebbins family for letting us tag along. We love you guys!