Paul + Mindy

Bonding With My Beauful Baby Girl

2012-01-06T20:52:00.001-08:00

While we have been in Utah visiting family we have also got to see some great friends. Paul has a month off for winter break. What a blessing it has been to be able to come and spend so much time here and so that Lady A could come and meet family. My mom has said that she has grown so much just in the three weeks we have been here so far. I would have to agree!!

I have been able to share with some about our experience trying to nurse when Lady A was born {it wasn't until she was 7 1/2 weeks that she figured it out}. I was so excited and we have been able to keep going at it. One friend was really excited for us and asked me if I have been able to bond more with my baby girl since we have been able to nurse? I think my answer shocked her but I told her 'No!' I know that this experience is different for every mother and can very from child to child. It also seems like there is a big push now for nursing, while a lot say that the health benefits for the baby and mom are the best, the money it saves is huge and I have gotten the impression that many feel the only/best way to bond with your baby is from nursing.

For me it was at the moment when I decided to move on from finger feeding her to using a bottle during the power outage of Nor~Easter Alfred that we were able to bond more than we had so far. We were without power for 9 days, Lady A went in to get her tongue clipped, we were spending our days at the University to stay warm and the last three nights we spent with some members of our church who had just gotten their power restored. When Lady A was three weeks old I decided we had to move on and start using a bottle.

I remember the first time I used the bottle with her and I remember instantly feeling an immediately stronger bond with her. I was able to hold her, cuddle her, sit and enjoy her while I fed her. She looked up at me like she was so happy to be moving on too. It was cute to watch her little nose move up and down as she ate from the bottle. I really felt an instantly closer bond with her.

Being able to bond with her came from knowing that she looks to me for comfort. Spending time to cuddle with her. Being there with her as she learns and grows. I have loved getting to know her and being able to help her with the things she needs.

While we were taking pictures she started getting a little fussy. Since she was finger feeding at the time this is how I comforted her.

I love this picture!!!

Her looking up to me knowing that I am there for her are the things that help us bond.

I am pleased to say that I have been able to bond with Lady A from day one and that I didn't have to wait until she started nursing. I hope that all mothers out there find ways to bond with your children.

A Busy Week on Vacation

2011-12-31T22:23:00.000-08:00

This week has been another really fun one. Paul and I went to the Salt Lake Temple earlier this week and to the Draper Temple this morning. Wednesday we left Abigail with Grandma Yeates while we went to Salt Lake {our first time leaving her}. I'm sure she was so excited to have a lot of time with you. I have to admit I was nervous, she was doing so good on her schedule but would she do the same for someone else? I told Grandma what to expect from and was hoping Abigail would be good for her but she could have an off day and make a liar out of me. Well when we got back to pick her up, Grandma said that she did great. For today I was thinking she did so well for Grandma Yeates there was no way the same thing would happen twice in a row. Again, I told Grandma Nuesmeyer what to expect, the routine for going down for a nap and how long to expect for a nap. Sure enough when we got back my mom told me that I really knew my baby girl, she did everything I said she would. Grandma said she has the sweetest little disposition and personality. I would have to agree!! They also said her Great Grandpa Nuesmeyer asked if she had a good nap or was enjoying her bottle, Abigail looked right at him and shook her head 'yes'. They both laughed out load because it seemed like she knew exactly what he asked and had an answer for him.

Last night we went to Temple Square to look at the lights with one of me really good friends from High School. Katie thought Abigail was adorable and it was so great to see her, catch up with everything. When we were leaving to go Paul and I decided to take Abigail out of her coat and flannel pants so she didn't get too hot in the car and so that when she fell back asleep in the car we would not have to wake her up to take it all off at home. Well it kind of back fired. We drove around looking for a McDonald's to get a shake and fries and Abigail would not go back to sleep, instead she cried and cooed and fussed for a bit. Well that finally stopped and for a while I heard a slurping coming from the backseat, the same noise you made when Abigail is trying to suck on her fist. The noise was still going after about 10 minutes so I got in the back to her help her put her binkie in her mouth. When I opened up the flap to the car seat she had your left thumb in her mouth, her lips were open around her thumb and her tongue was doing all the work. It was the CUTEST THING EVER!!! We could say it was just a fluke thing but she did it again that night. I had to run into Wal-mart and when I came out she was crying again. I tried to give her the binkie but she spit it out and plugged her mouth with her thumb.

Bailly LOVES her new little cousin.

Your cousin Gabe loves holding you too.

Hogle Zoo Christmas Lights

Cool lighting shot for the lighting designer!!

More lights

Us in an egg

Temple Trip to Salt Lake

{our first time leaving Lady A with a sitter}

It was too windy and cold when we went to Draper so we didn't get a picture there.

Lady A, Me and Katie O

The Lights at Temple Square

So content!

Kind of a dark shot but this is Lady A when she was sucking on her thumb.

To end the week we went to Paul's Grandmas house for her 85th birthday party. Abigail was a big hit. This is the three youngest Great Grand Kids and her cousin could not have been more excited to hold her. After the photo op, Lady A kept sticking her tongue out.

Gratitude: Day 14

2011-11-15T07:32:00.000-08:00

Communication Devices: ie. the phone, Internet, video chat, etc!! I miss my family but am glad I can talk to them whenever we want.

It's no secret that I have really missed home, especially with the weather out here and the problems we had with finding a place to move. I have so many questions and wonder all them time if I am doing what is best for Abigail. There have been a couple of hard days where we haven't connected and it drives me to the end of my rope. It has been a blessing to be able to call my family and get advice or even just have someone to talk to. Now we just need to get the grandparents hooked up to SKYPE so they can see their cute little grand baby.

Gratitude: Day 13

2011-11-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

Mt. Dew

Oh how I have missed Mt. Dew, with the caffeine it's one of those forbidden items to partake of while being pregnant. It has the perfect citrus taste commingled with the carbonation. Yummy!!!

I couldn't even begin to tell you how much I have had since Lady Abigail has joined our family 4 weeks ago/

Gratitude: Day 12

2011-11-12T22:22:00.000-08:00

Sleep

Lady A hasn't completely conquered sleeping all the way through the night but she does pretty good to only wake-up once between 9 and 7. This has been a huge blessing to Paul and I. With things being so stressful lately and Paul having a show opening soon {he's assistant lighting designer, he has been so busy} it has been nice at night to go to bed and know that we will actually get a good amount of sleep or Paul can stay up and do homework with no interruptions.

Ellington Fall Festival

2011-11-12T01:51:00.001-08:00

Yep ~ Momma made the beanie!!

Well, we had our ward Fall Festival last night. With the power outage we got to know all of our neighbors a bit & so I decided to ask the couple with the two little bis if they would like to come since the boys missed out on their first Halloween. They decided to come with us & I was so excited. When we got to the church everyone was really welcoming. My neighbor even commented to me on how friendly everyone was. Their oldest is just over a year & I don't think he knew what to think of all the booths but I think he had fun.

It was a last minute decision to go & so I didn't have costumes ready for any of us. As cheesy as it is I had Lady A wear her orange beanie & I put a green flower with it. She went as 'the cutest pumpkin in the patch.' Next year I'll do better at coming up with costumes.

Gratitude: Day 11

2011-11-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

RedBox

Paul and I have been renting movies all week movies quite a bit lately. It has been a great way for us to unplug and spend time with each other. It's a great date night where we can stay in {our heated apartment} and made even better because we have gotten so many free codes lately.

Gratitude: Day 10

2011-11-10T21:16:00.001-08:00

Paul loves to cook!!

Don't get me wrong, I can cook and would if I had to, but I married smart so now, I don't have to!!

He is always trying new things {for example, he cooked a whole chicken tonight}& has taken the time to perfect some of his favorites. What makes it better is that he really does enjoy it, he finds it calming & I know that I will never go hungry. It's the perfect combination!!!

Gratitude: Day 9

2011-11-10T21:01:00.001-08:00

Baby Formula

Ok, this one might sound a little odd. I had my heart set on breastfeeding Lady A but nature had a different idea. We had been working at it but then the power went out {for 9 days}. We were spending our days at the University & nights at our freezing cold apartment eventually we moved into the basement of a ward members place, so it was hard to find a private place & at home we needed to stay bundled up. My poor baby needed something, hence, the formula!! Since we went so long, now that we are somewhere warm, Lady A is doing even worse cause we weren't able to keep up with our practicing. I'm still pumping & we try every time, we'll just have to see which one of us cracks first.

I am so grateful that during our time without power there was still a way for me to feed my baby & keep her happy.

Gratitude: Day 8

2011-11-09T06:03:00.001-08:00

Disposable Diapers

Growing up I remember changing my youngest brothers diapers. With 6 kids my parents found different ways to save. One of these was by using cloth diapers. I really didn't mind it, but I also didn't know any thing else. It wasn't until my last brother that I really found out about the convenience of disposable diapers but we stuck with the cloth, disposables were new & expensive.

Now with my own baby girl I am so grateful that they are more affordable {with coupons}. I could use the cloth if we needed to, really, that's what I grew up knowing, but I'm glad we don't need to. The disposables even have a yellow line on them that will turn blue when the diaper is wet!! I know that Paul is very grateful for this as well, the idea of cloth diapers just about gave him a heart attack.

Gratitude: Day 7

2011-11-09T05:45:00.001-08:00

POWER!!!

Today I have been sitting around feeling sorry for us thinking all I want is to go home & have my home be warm. It's been hard for me to think of something I was grateful for. By the end of the day I still hadn't come up with anything & needed to make the hour drive from where we were starting to go get Paul from school.

It was just before 8 by the time I got Abigail & Bentley in the car. I was on the phone with Paul letting him know we were on our way & my phone made a tick sound in my ear. I didn't think anything of it until I got off with Paul and noticed that I had a missed call & 2 text messages roll across the ticket on the bottom of my phone. 'POWER!!!'

I had just gotten out of the neighborhood & puked over to call Paul. I can not even convey the feeling of joy ay that moment. We decided to have me go back & pack up all out stuff so we could go home tonight. It would be about 2 hours before we got there so our place would have time to warm up. When I walked back in the front door the family we have bern staying with knew exactly what was going on. Allyson helped me load everything up and get it all in the car, unfortunately the trunk of the car bit her on the nose.

Yep, there sure was power. By the time we got home it has been 9 days & 9 nights. Turns out that when the power was originally turned on {Friday night} it blew a fuse. That's right, to come change a little tiny fuse it took them an extra 3 days &2 big guys with their big trucks. AHHHHH!!!

There is still a crisp feel in the air so I turned the heater up. As soon as I sat down to enjoy being in my own place my body felt so sick. Hopefully it's just the stress from this last while &i can just sleep it off.

Gratitude: Day 6

2011-11-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

The Gospel/church in my life

Today Lady A. and I stayed home {at someone elses home}, the ward is only doing sacrament today, because she is only three weeks old and I worry so much about having her pick up a cold from others. Which would be made worse by the fact that we are occupying a room at someone elses home right now. {I would hate to get them sick} Church was canceled last week because of the storm and since no where had power. I'm missing it a bit now and could really use a good spiritual pick-me-up right now. Maybe next week if things are back to normal Paul and I can switch off and each go to an hour.

Having the gospel in our lives has been such a blessing to us. We have been able to see the hand of the Lord work in our lives so many times. I'm grateful for my parents faith and example to me of following the gospel. Hopefully I can do half as good a job as they did with my own kids!!

Gratitude: Day 5

2011-11-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

The Generosity of Others

The nights are only getting colder here which means the apartment is getting colder too. I couldn't think of Abigail having another freezing cold night so I got in touch with someone in the ward. After a couple of phone calls we had a place to stay. This family has only been here a few months longer than us and I couldn't put a face with the name. But they opened their home to us and were great enough to let us bring Bentley. If he was a bigger dog with more fat on him I would have been fine to leave him at home by himself, but he's only about 12 lbs and would freeze at night. The kids have enjoyed having dog to play with and we all know Bentley loves kids. Which is great because it looks like we will be spending another night out of our place and they have invited us back.

How else could you move to a place and not know a single person but still feel so at home and like family!?! This ward has been truly wonderful and so great to help us out in so many ways.

Gratitude: Day 4

2011-11-04T12:00:00.000-07:00

UConn Theatre Peeps

This week with the power being out we needed to find some way to stay warm. Paul invited Abigail, Bentley and Me to come hangout at the Grad Lab this week. Of course we were hoping it was only going to be a day or two but as it turns out we have gone up to the school every day since Tuesday.

I wasn't planning on taking Abigail to the school until next semester when she would be a bit older and the fall cold and flu season would be well behind us. Everyone was great to not get all touchy-feely with her and when she slept they left her alone. Between staying home and keeping away from strangers or going to the University where there are tons of people but warmth, I chose the lesser of the two evils.

The other Grad students have been so great to let us stay there. I have even heard from others that they would never feel comfortable enough to go hangout at their significant others department. I have not had a chance to meet anyone yet so I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into, but everyone was so great!!!

Gratitude: Day 3

2011-11-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

My Sister

I have had my heart set on breast feeding sense before we ever found out that we were going to be having a baby. It's just something I have always wanted to do, thought would come so naturally and be great to do for the baby and me. As it turns out Lady A. doesn't like to eat that way. To try and help her work through it we have had her tongue clipped and I have been finger feeding her so she can get used to the skin to skin feel of nursing. With the power out and momma at the end of her rope, I was thinking it was time to go to the bottle, but was having a hard time with that idea. I know a lot of people use the bottle and formula, my own niece and nephew did but for some reason I'm having a hard time with the idea now that I'm faced with it.

Out of the blue my sister called me and after a long chat I felt a lot better. I haven't taken her off of the finger feeding we have been doing just yet because it's only been one day since we went to the Dr. to clip her tongue so we need to at least try but I'm not sure how much longer the two of us will last.

Thanks for the call Sis. I really needed that!!!

Gratitude: Day 2

2011-11-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

We have a gas stove

Being without power for 4 days and nights now it has helped us to realize there are a couple of things that we will want in our house when we buy or build our own. One of these items is a gas stove. Sunday morning Paul wanted omelets but I didn't see how that would happen. He said in Brasil they had gas stoves too, all you had to do was turn on the gas and use a lighter to get it going. So we had omelets for breakfast and warmed up soup for dinner. I was able to keep the babies food warm by boiling water through out the day. What a small and simple blessing it is to be able to warm up water.

Gratitude: Day 1

2011-11-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

My wonderful little FAMILY

Now I know you're thinking it's Pauls fault that we are out here in the first place but he really has worked so hard at his education and providing for us and wanting to be able to provide for his family in the future. Having our first baby so far from family and everything familiar was not something I was looking forward to, Paul made sure that he did everything he would need to so he could be there for me, even when it turned into a 5 day ordeal at the hospital.

Lady Abigail has been such a blessing to us. I catch myself looking at her all the time and just thinking 'WOW!!!' Wow...I'm a mom. Wow...she is so beautiful. Wow...she was inside of me? Wow... what color will her eyes be, what will her little personality be like?... The list goes on...

Of course there is Bentley, our cute little miniature schnauzer. His little personality has brought so much to our family. When we were looking for places to live out her in Connecticut we found that most places accepted pets, mostly just accepted cats. Why? He only weighs 13 lbs, is house trained, doesn't shed and is not trained to do his business inside the house. If we ever need cuddle time or someone to play with at the end of a long day, he is always there.

Final . . . See ya when we see ya!!!

2011-08-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

Paul wanted to have everyone over for one last night together before we headed off so on Friday, the 12th, we asked our families to come help us finish loading the trailer then we could all visit one more time before we headed out. With all the guys there it was pretty quick work to get the trailer loaded, no messing around. It was great to have the trailer because being in my last trimester I did not want to drive across the country in a UHaul towing our car. Also since it was our Anniversary and we are heading out anyways, we wanted to make a fun trip out of it so we have some stops planned and places we want to see along the way.

One of my brothers was planning a trip out to California but once he heard we were packing the same weekend he put his trip off so he could help on Wednesday and pack the big heavy items. What a great family!! That is what they all did last year on New Years as well. We were moving in the freezing cold and needed some help to load up the UHaul and they were willing to rearrange plans to come and help.

For the last seven and half months we have been living with my parents and I have really enjoyed it. It was hard to keep a secret so I told my mom the day after we found out we were pregnant. When Paul started his job during the summer and needed tools my dad went through his stash and gave him the last few tools on the tool list. I love that my family can make everyone feel so welcome. I have four brothers whose personalities are all very different and they all treated Paul as one of the brothers. On Sundays our niece and nephew would come to church with us. Paul would sit with Gabe and help Sacrament Meeting not seem so long, sometimes I wondered who the adult was between the two of them. Gabe would always ask for a piece of gum and I had a stash in my church bag. The rule was they could have a piece after the Sacrament was passed. Bailly always had a bag of books and crayons to help when the meeting went longer than their attention. When I was cleaning out my bag to give the gum and treats to my mom I started crying. I have loved taking them to church with us, watching them learn about the gospel and Gabe as he tried to learn all the motions and hand signals to the primary songs. I miss everyone already and it's been half a day.

The 12th

Dad and Mom Nuesmeyer

Paul's family
Justin, Analey, Vonda and Richard

The Northern Nuesmeyer clan
Bentley really loved his cousin Bosco!!

The Central Nuesmeyer clan
We heard that Tonka went all through the house that Sunday looking for Bentley.
My mom said he looked kind of sad when he couldn't find him.

More cousins. Bentley loves these guys and so do we.
I can not believe how grown up they all are.

On Thursday my brother was heading out to California so he came in and gave me a hug. When we went to say bye we both stopped in our tracks, that seemed such a final thing to say at the time. We both opted for "see ya when we see ya." He's the last brother at home with my parents right now and over the summer the three of us have really enjoyed being 'neighbors.' I got a little chocked up at the idea of not knowing when we would see everyone again.

The 13th

Time to head out. I was giving my parents a hug and I lost it. This isn't like a trip or even a mission where you know exactly when you'll be back home to see everyone again. My dad has put on a really tough face all summer telling us how excited he is for us, which made the idea of leaving easier, but when it came down to it we were both loosing the fight of trying to hold back tears.

We had to stop by Paul's parents house to drop off some things we forgot to give them last night so we stopped by to see Paul's grandma one more time. She is ready to go and be with her husband and Paul doesn't know if she'll be around when we make it back to Utah with our little girl, so he wanted to be sure to see her one more time before we left.

Bentley, always up for a good long car ride, has no idea how long this car ride is going to be. He's just happy to be in the car with us and not left behind.

Happy Anniversary ~ 5 Years and 3 days

2011-08-13T12:25:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it, we have been married five {5} years now!!
It seems like it has all gone so fast.

We both got home from our missions in 2005, me in February and Paul in December. Two weeks after he had gotten home we met. I had been set up on blind dates so much since I was home I had sworn them off ~ just because I am a return missionary and the guy is a return missionary DOES NOT mean we are perfect for each other. Come on people!!!

For that reason we were not really 'set up' but I wanted to meet my best friends boy friend and did not want to be the third wheel so I told her that they needed to find someone else to come along; guy, girl, brother, sister ~ I did not care, just so long as I was not the odd person out. His friend, Paul, was available to go out with us all and needless to say ~ No, it was not love at first sight. He was wearing wrangler's, cowboy boots with a huge belt buckle, no thank you!! He, on the other hand, thought I talked too much. But we were trapped, neither one of us had cars yet and so our ride home depended on when our friends wanted to call it a night. By the end of the night, however, our opinions had changed.

He asked if he could call me and go on a second date and invited me to come to his homecoming talk the following Sunday, but he was so nervous that he did not ask for my number. He gave a great talk and while most everyone in his family thought I was a tag-along with his group of friends and that he was going to date the sister from his mission who came to his homecoming, Paul knew different. One of the many traits about Paul that I love, he knows what he wants and will go for it, not matter the opinions of others.

In January I went up to USU and Paul worked and went to SLCC. I found out that he was going to propose to me over Spring Break and told him I was not ready, I wanted more time. But he knew what he wanted and was not going to give up. While I was at Snow College I remember hearing a talk by someone in the Presidency of the church. They counseled to not study scriptures and attend the temple with someone you are dating. The reasoning behind it is because the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Love and there is no way to tell them apart and discern the difference. When we are dating someone we need to make sure we get to know them and love them, and not mistake that love of the Spirit that we feel as love for the person we are with. Even though Paul had asked me to go with him, when I told him why I needed to go by myself and not together, I needed to be sure for myself with no doubt, he was very understanding.

He asked in June and we were married by August, we had known each other a whole seven and a half months. I would not change a thing!!! I am so grateful that we got married and did not let life, school and money get in the way. We hear it all the time, that couples find reasons to put off moving forward and I'm so glad we did not let the ideas of the world get in the way of our own happiness. Why would someone want to put off starting the rest of our lives? That just doesn't make sense!! So we have struggled through school, finances, surgery and misfortune together ... so much better than doing it alone, we have also had great times together, and all of this has helped to strengthen our relationship.

After 5 Years of marriage we have

4 Diplomas

3 Surgeries

2 Moves

1 Dog and

a BABY on the way

We are now starting a new chapter in our life together, 2,500 miles away from everything familiar.

For our anniversary this year we have been packing everything up and loading a trailer. Which means it also went into my Parents anniversary and my Brother and Sister-in-Laws anniversary. They were all great enough to change their plans so they could help us load. With the stress of moving and having the guy we were going to rent from back out on us two weeks before we left I was right on the edge. Then, on our anniversary I was outside cleaning up after the dog and stepped right next to a hornet and got stung on the side of my foot. Well I lost it, I hobbled forward a little bit and sat on the lawn and let it all out, happy anniversary to me!!

Hopefully this is not a sign of what is to come.

Chasing the Train

2011-07-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

About a week and a half ago I picked Paul up from the Trax Station and we were going to babysit my sisters kids while her and V went to see an early screening of the latest and last Harry Potter movie. It was going to be tight cause I had to pick up Paul about the same time that Staci and V needed to drop the kids off to get to their movie on time. So my parents were going to watch them for just a bit until we got back.

I picked up Paul and as he got into the car I thought he looked a little light but obviously didn't think too much of it and we just drove home. It wasn't until we were actually in the driveway that Paul realized he forgot his tools and lunch box on the train. We happened to have a Trax schedule so I ran through the house like a tornado to get it so we could see where to meet the train. As I ran through the kitchen I yelled {not mean just load enough so all the kids could here me} 'Put your drinks down, get your stuff. We have to go chase the train, Uncle Paul left his tools on it.' Well our five year old nephew didn't see the importance of this and decided he needed to finish his milk. Our niece and V's son were at least in the garage but in no hurry to put one foot in front of the other. Poor Paul was just in shock over leaving his tools and worried about how much it was going to cost us to replace them all. I finally got all four of them in the car and we were off.

I had Paul co-pilot {I'm a little bit more of an aggressive driver} and keep track of the time and which stop the train was closest too on the schedule. As we got going I realized that we were going to have to go all the way to the North end of the line {we live past the South end of the line}. Paul called the train security and they said that the main offices were closed and so if someone turned it in he was going to have to wait until the next morning and call the lost and found. That made his heart sink a little more. All of downtown is a no fare zone and there are so many transients that ride the train to get out of the heat, we knew we were never going to see those tools again. As we were getting close I told our niece {she's nine, almost ten}, that I was going to give her the keys and my phone. She needed to lock the car after Uncle Paul and I got out and only unlock it when we were coming back. I never mentioned to the kids that while we were searching the train it might take off with us and that we would just hop off and catch the next one back.

Paul got out before I had even parked. Once we finally got to the hub station , I gave Bay the keys and my cell phone and reminded her NOT to open the door for ANYONE. But wait it gets better there are two trains there...ahhhh....which one do we search?? I went to the one that I thought came from the South station where I had picked up Paul from. What a sight that must have been as pregnant little me went running after a train. I decided to go right up to the conductor and ask her if anyone had turned in a bag of tools. Paul found me and said he checked both trains but the one we were on, he was sure wasn't the train he left his tools on. Then the second train pulled away.

The conductor got on her radio and asked if anyone had seen a bag or had one turned into them. I told Paul I bet this was the train and that he should go check the center of all the cars again where he was sitting earlier. A few more burst over the radio and she tells me 'Someone turned in a bag to my boss we'll see if that's it.' A few seconds later Paul came up with his lunch box and thing of tools. Wahoo!!! Don't mean to brag but I knew we were on the right train.

The whole time I was able to keep a distant eye on my car full of kids and a mini schnauzer. As we got to the car Bay unlocked it for us and it was then, as I was getting in, that I realized what I had done. Bay told me that V's son started crying cause he thought we were on the train that pulled away and even when she pointed out to him that they could see us on the train that was still there, it wasn't enough to keep his heart from racing. Are you kidding me, I left three unattended kids in a car in downtown. I will make a great mom!!! Oh I felt just terrible.

We went over the apartment afterwords and waited for their mom's to get home. I told them what happened and apologized like crazy. Staci just laughed as I was telling them about the kids being in no rush to get out of the house and the panic that ensued when they thought we were on the train that left. All she said was 'That sounds about right.'

Time Is Flying So Quickly

2011-07-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast time is flying by. In just a month, exactly we will be leaving for our new place, all the way over on the east coast. Yep, we got the place we wanted and I'm so excited to get there. There were about a handful of couples that applied for the the place but we got it. Then when we were reading over the contract I had so many questions and the Landlord was very helpful with taking his time to answer all of my questions. I was afraid he would just give up on use and move onto the next people on his list, but he didn't. He said that everyone we called had great things to say about us and went on and on. Not that I think the two of us aren't pretty swell people but then we were racking our brains to remember who we put as referrals and what they could have said. But, it's good to know we've left a good impression with people.

Last week I went in to do the glucose test at my Dr.'s visit. The next day a nurse from the office, luckily not one that I know, told me I failed my test. I can not even tell you how many times she told me 'you failed your test.' Really?? So you are giving me less than great news, could you at least say 'the test came back positive,' that way it doesn't sound so horrible. Well I scheduled my 3 hour glucose test for Monday morning because Paul had a Dr.'s apt in the morning too so they would over lap. When we got to the hospital everyone was telling me that the Dr.'s office never sent down the order so I had to wait until they could, they weren't going to be open for another hour and a half. Aaahhhhh!!!! Well the supervisor for the testing lab said to go ahead and get started so I only started a half hour late. Yesterday I got the news that I passed!!!! Yea!!! I don't exactly know all of what is involved in taking care of gestational diabetes but I really didn't want to have to worry about as we drove all the way across the country.

In a month we are also going to be celebrating our 5th anniversary. Can you believe it five years? It most certainly dose not seem like it has been five years. I couldn't imagine putting them off for school, work or other silly reasons. He has been my best friend and someone I can talk to about anything and everything, no matter what time in the middle of the night I start thinking about things.

In the world of baby news, we have 3 months left as of last Saturday. In 4 1/2 weeks we will be leaving, in 5 1/2 we will be in our new place, Paul starts the Grad program for lighting a week later and 6 weeks after that is my due date. Needless to say our lives are going to change A LOT in the next short little bit. My family has been great examples to me as I have watched them raise their kids, hopefully I can take that and share it with our little angel.

Happy 4th of July!!

2011-07-05T09:48:00.001-07:00

The 4th of July has always been a great family holiday growing up. We celebrate our country's independence, my dads birthday and my brothers birthday. We now have a niece to add to the celebration. Paul and I weren't able to make it to last years party but we heard that it was a blast. This year the family went a step further and rented Sumo Suits. Paul was so excited then found out on Sunday afternoon that he was going to have to work the whole day of the 4th {I mean the whole day, 15 hours}. He did get a little break in the middle so he was able to come visit for about 45 minutes. Just long enough to get in the sumo suit and visit with the family!!!

The chase...

The hit...

One of our cutest nieces ever!!!
Her mom made her fun 4th of July dress.

Other activities included Volleyball

...and the slip n' slide in the sumo suit!!

The weather was nice and overcast all day, it was perfect for a huge party in the back yard. We even heard that some who were there turned down their own families to come and spend the day. I love my family and that they can make anyone and everyone feel so welcome!! There were extended family and friends from everyone there, I really couldn't believe how many people showed up. It was so much fun and a great Holiday party to be our last before we leave.

25 Weeks . . .

2011-06-30T09:48:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday I hit 25 weeks and think I am finally looking more pregnant than just like I am putting on some weight. While I still have not gained back all the weight I lost at first, my tummy is sure growing. I have been pretty pleased that I have been able to wear my normal pants for so long. Just two weeks ago, however, I finally had to resort to the hair elastic trick for the top buttons of my pants.

On June 4th I had my first bowl of cold cereal with real milk since the morning sickness started. Oh how wonderful a day that was. I have missed milk so much. Since then I can't seem to get enough, whenever it is snack time, I head for the cold cereal. The past couple of days I have even had a glass of milk to go with lunch. OH happy day!!! If there is one thing my little girl will get from me it will be my love of milk.

I have been saving up and this is about half of what I have left.
Coincidentally, since I have been drinking milk my tummy has really started to show as well!!

We were actually talking about this the other day. I don't like veggies ~ blah. Paul doesn't like milk, he'll only drink chocolate milk. How in the world are we going to raise a healthy child when we are so picky? I told him that I would start eating more veggies if he would drink milk with out the chocolate syrup in it so that we can be better examples. We'll see how far/long we can go.

Too Much Time vs. Not Enough Time

2011-06-17T14:23:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast the summer has gone by!!! It seems like there is so much to get done and yet I still have so much time on my hands. The problem with having too much time is that I really have no rush or urgency to get stuff done. Why? you may ask ... Because I always have tomorrow to finish what I don't get done today. There are a number of projects I want to get done for baby Yeates coming in October but that seems like such a long time away.

On the other side of the coin: there is not enough time to get done everything we want/need to before we leave. Last semester I was on top of packing and getting ready for the move but as our deadline approaches to head out to Connecticut {if we forget something there's no turning around to get it} I'm not feeling the same pressure to get everything packed. Granted, most of the 'household' stuff is still packed and in storage, but we moved down here during the winter and have slowly gotten out one box after another as we have needed things. But I still have the whole month of July to get all this stuff packed again.

My family has been trying to plan a couple of activities together because Paul and I really don't know when we will be back. Will it be all three of us or just me and the baby during finals week? Who knows!!! The weekends are filling up quickly with parties and camping and all sorts of other stuff. I have some projects that I want to get done so I don't have to take out a bunch of half finished things for baby but I seem to be so busy with this or that, I don't have time to start working on blankets and stuff for her room.

Where to start? But why? I can always do it tomorrow......

The good news is, I think we have finally found a place to move into. A lady in the ward we want to move into was great enough to go check it out for us and send pictures. We won't know for a bit if we get it or not, the gentleman renting it out is going to be out of town until after the 4th of July, and doing some renovating on the place as well that he doesn't think will be done until the middle of July. We were told, and we could see from the pictures as well, there is a lot of work going into it and it's looking really nice.

The house....

The backyard....

Sharing the Good News!!!

2011-06-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

I have the hardest time when it comes to things like Christmas and Birthdays. To see a box there all wrapped up and have no idea what is in it just kills me. I am really good at keeping things confidential too. But as it turns out if it is my own secret, and especially if it's a good one, I can't seem to keep things to myself.

Well the day after Paul and I found out, I came home from church with a huge headache. I had heard that there were certain pills not to take while pregnant but had no idea which ones to stay away from. So I walked up to my mom and asked, when she told me to just take an Excedrin I told her I couldn't because there was a situation. She looked at me funny and I couldn't hold it in, I blurted it out that we were having a baby. Aaahhhhh!!!! Firm Embrace!! She was so excited for us. The family came over for dinner that night so the three of us were very hush hush. Well I couldn't tell my mom without telling my dad so we were going to tell him on Monday when Paul got home from work. Turns out my mom couldn't keep the secret either. He was acting a little funny and hanging around like he knew something was coming. I asked him if he knew something and sure enough, He did!!

We had decided that because of last time we were going to wait to share with others, or at least too many others, because we wanted to make sure everything was ok. I went in at 6 weeks, so only after knowing for 2 weeks, and had an ultra sound. The Dr. said everything was great so far. YES!!!

We do monthly birthday dinners at my grandparents and I wasn't sure at the end of January so I was talking to my sister and cousin what signs they had. Sure enough, two weeks later they both asked. My poor brothers who still live at home had to deal with me not feeling well so I told them what was going on too. Chad + Heather came over one Sunday and Ryan + Katie came the next so we told them too. How could I tell most of my family but leave some of them out? It just wasn't going to happen.

Paul was working down at the Hale Center Theatre at this time so we had decided to see if his parents wanted to go out to dinner with us. I had seen a commercial for Wingers the night before, and because the power of suggestion seems to be working great on me, that's where we went to dinner. After work I picked him up and we hurried over to the restaurant. We asked the waitress if she could play something off for us and tell the other couple joining us some story about being needing to take a survey and give them this 'order summary.' The waitress did great, the thing we didn't plan on was how low the lighting would be. Paul and I were bursting at the seems. He had to look away so he didn't start laughing while he watched the confused look on his mom face. Then we both just stared at them waiting for the moment that it clicked. She looked up at our grinning faces and asked if we were expecting...there it is!!

A bit later, after the zofran had started to kick in and the morning sickness calmed a bit. We went to his parents house and told Jake + Brandy and Analey. Then I had to go home and get right to bed.

For the rest of the family we decided to share the good news at Paul's graduation party. We would be past the first trimester and be able to do it all at once. On the dessert table we had suspicious looking blue and pink chocolates. Yes, those bottles were full of sixlets!! When most everyone had arrived Paul thanked them for coming out and their support while he had been in school, and for those who hadn't heard he told them about going off to Grad school at UConn. Then he said because things are better in 3's, we found out in February that we would be having a baby this October. YEA!! What a crowd shocker. We let them know that we had found out just the day before what we were having so everyone had to take a piece of chocolate to make their guess about what we were having. When everyone had gotten a chance to eat and after a freak five minute down poor of rain had forced us all inside, it was time for Paul to share.

Every one's reactions were great!! It was a girl!! I had asked around in my family about about a week before and most of them said girl, they were right. Those who had a pink wrapper waved it in the air, they 'knew it.' Some didn't believe it. But I guess if the ultrasound tech was wrong we'll know soon enough. Our nephews reaction was the best. 'Oh man, another one!!' He's four and has a sister and another girl cousin, he was kind of hoping for a boy cousin.

The FAMILY
Pauls Dad, Mom, brother, sister-in-law and our niece.

Doing what he loves!!! He couldn't feel more at home.

The Party moved inside!!!

Paul's grandparents weren't able to make it so we decided to go and share with them the following Monday. We were exhausted on Sunday and it was my mom's birthday, so we slept until church then visited with family in the evening. We were both so excited to go and tell his grandparents. Paul was bummed to find out, when he told them, they already knew. He didn't get to share his good news, others beat him to the punch. At least it was good to be able to visit with them and not worry too much about if I was going to make it without having to run for the bathroom. Next time we'll tell the Great Grandparents first!

Paul ~ Outstanding Senior in Design

2011-05-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a while so I'm going to do a couple of posts to back track and fill you in on the events from the last few months.

As Paul was finishing up his last semester in the fall he was asked if he would be able to make it back up for an awards ceremony. The Theatre Department wanted to award him as one of their top Seniors. There was one awarded for acting, managing and design. Wahooo!!! Way to go Paul. He has worked so hard at what he loves to do and I couldn't be more excited for him.

The whole evening was quite the event. The University was taking the Arts out of the HASS Department and starting up the Cain College of the Arts and Dr. Craig Jessop will now be the head of the college. Every Department was show cased on stage and they displayed some of the students work in the museum right next to the concert hall.

Here are some photos from that night!!

Paul's Showcase

Theatre Department: Seussical

Interior Design: Fashion Mix. It looks more like it should be costume design but this is a yearly event that the Professor likes to do and has a couple of students help him with it. The dress lit up ~ pretty cool!!

Music Department: This young man is from the Bronx and has a wonderful voice.

Guest: Audra McDonald. You might recognize her from Private Practice.
She would not hold still long enough for a good picture so this is the best I got.

There he is ~ Outstanding Senior in Design.
What a handsome young man.
At this point we still had no idea where we were/if he would end up going to school for his Masters. We also had no idea that we were about to be parents.

Tender!!

Us and Dr. Craig Jessop

He was thinking about taking the whole sign, I opted for a photo of the sign

Ice sculpture. It looked pretty cool but it's hard to show all the detail in the picture

2011-05-27T20:09:00.000-07:00

Now that I am feeling a bit better it is time to start creating again. Especially fun little things for our little one coming in October.

This is just a simple project I did. It is a bracelet and earring set made with the birthstones of my husband, the baby in October and me. It was even easier to do because the 'pearl' beads came already assembled in a chain. I got the other two birthstones and attached them in between. Very simple but I love the way it turned out. Kind of like those big chunky cluster bracelets women are wearing these days but without having to be too big and too chunky.

Most of you know by now.....

2011-05-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

Paul and I found out on February 5th that we were going to be parents. This has been something we have both wanted for a long time. After a number of years and a long night in the ER/OR on Halloween we decided that we needed to let whatever was going to happen, happen. We turned things over to the Lord and instead of trying to put everything on our time table we decided to put it in the Lords hands. Who knew that this was the right time? We are planning on moving across the country, Paul was applying to Grad schools on the East coast, and I will be looking for a job while having a new born.

This year is going to be a pretty full year!!!

We were able to keep our secret for a while. The thing that gave me away...morning sickness, and I had it bad!!! My first Dr.'s apt was February 17th and I was doing pretty well but shortly after that, it was all down hill. I tried B-6, Unisom, the vitamin B suckers and all sorts of other remedies people had told me about. Nothing was working. Because of the morning sickness and my hesitation to eat knowing what was going to inevitable happen, I lost 10 lbs at the beginning and I have only put 5 of it back on. The nurses said that if it got bad to call them and I could get a Rx for zofran. If anyone is thinking of using these little pills I say go for it. Not that I was 'great' once I started taking them but I could finally eat and make sure my baby was getting the nutrients that is needed. Be warned of the side effects though. You know those papers the pharmacists always stuffs in the bag, these are ones you should actually read so you can know what is coming. The headaches were the worst, but well worth the trade. The past few weeks I have been able to go from 3 pills a day to only 1 in the morning. Yea!!!

I have been waiting to see what kind of cravings I would get but there hasn't been anything. Instead I seam to be very open to suggestion. The night we went to tell Paul's parents I had heard a commercial on the radio for Wingers and that was all I could think about all day, so we had wingers. Another thing that has gone on that is really perplexing is that I am eating chocolate. I DO NOT like chocolate but it seems that every time it is around I will have a bit or two. Not a whole bar or anything, just a bit, but I am definitely eating more chocolate than I ever have before and I still don't think it tastes all that great. Crazy!!! Paul knows that most of the time if he wants something specific for dinner he just has to mention it and I'm hooked.

If any of you are expecting pictures of a '+' on a stick, don't hold your breath, you are just going to have to take my word for it. And no, I didn't take any pictures of the proud dad hold it either, GROSS!!! I think those are things for the parents to share but don't need to be put on display.

Instead here is a picture of me at 15 weeks!!!

Mama's Give Away

2011-05-05T22:22:00.000-07:00

So I found this really cool Mama's giveaway and was so excited about it that I checked it everyday but when it finally opened up I get so busy and forgot about it so I am trying to enter in as many ways as I can in ONE night. Oh wow. But check out the stuff offered and the shops, there is some great stuff.

I'm not a mom yet but I am an Aunt, Sister, Daughter, Grand~daughter, friend and Wife. I would love to take these prizes and be able to share them with others. How fun!!!!

Check it out ~ I've been featured!!

2011-02-07T09:36:00.000-08:00

So a couple of weeks ago I got an e-mail from a lady {Jesseca} saying that she wanted to feature me on her blog and was wondering if I would do a giveaway. Well since she was the fist to ask I went ahead and told her I would donate two items for the giveaway. Check out her blog to enter. Good luck everyone!!

I am so stocked about it, I can't wait to see who wins.

AHHH!!

Uinta Basin in January

2011-01-19T14:38:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday I was able to go with my parents out to visit my grandparents in Vernal. I always love going out to see them and never leave hungry. It was just a short trip but since they live so far away I try to go out every chance I get.

On the ride home I thought the scenery was absolutely beautiful, the Uinta Basin is gorgeous. I loved the look of the red rock with the white snow on it and the blue sky. I took the picture on my phone through the window {it was too cold to roll it down}. I hope the picture does it justice.

I Love....Living in Salt Lake

2011-01-13T14:44:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows I was excited to move from Logan to come to Salt Lake, it was NO secret at all. Logan doesn't really have that much in they way of jobs {I'm not talking about a college student job, there are tons of those available at $7 an hour}, something I could really get into and enjoy. As well, I don't speak Spanish and so it was hopeless.

I love being down here closer to family and am thankful for my parents help while we look for jobs. In the past week and a half my sister and I have spent more time together than we have the last 4 years. We even had Bailly and Gabe over to make cookies on Friday night and then go door bell ditching. We successfully ditched one plate. Everyone else caught us or weren't home. My grandparents have a huge security light that came on so my Grandma came to the door as we were putting the plate down and we scared her, that was not our intent. We all had so much fun. Even Bentley enjoyed his time out of the house.

Gabe is all bundled up and ready to be stealthy!!!

Having time to spend with my parents has been such a blessing as well. They are my hero's. My dad has always worked hard his whole life to provide for my mom. And my mom ... She graduated from BYU this past August and is now doing her teaching hours and finishing up other classes. She is gone before the sun comes up and is out long after the sun goes down. I am so proud and excited for her. She has always wanted to get her college degree and she is now realizing it.

We have also been able to spend some time with my brothers. They get together and do movie nights and we are finally able to join them. Over Christmas weekend we watched 2 movies on the big screen and realized that it has been a long time since we have caught up on what is out there. I am also excited to get to know their wives, my sisters-in-law. They are both very talented and it will be great to do girls nights with them.

Favorite Movies

2011-01-12T10:57:00.000-08:00

Over the passed Holiday Season I had tons of beanie orders which meant I had a lot of time to sit and keep my hands busy. But I can't just sit there in quiet so there were a couple of movies that became my fall backs whenever I needed some noise in the background {this is a practice that I came REALLY familiar with while in school. Anyone in a project major knows what I'm talking about}. It couldn't be a movie I hadn't seen because I would just sit and watch it instead of working on my projects.

The movies that became my crocheting background noise this past Holiday Season were:

Now I need some different movies to have as my background noise. What are those movies you put in when you just want some noise while you work on projects?

Hello Twenty11

2011-01-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

Time for goals!!!

Well I dare say number one on the list is GET A JOB!!!

Paul will be applying to grad schools on the East coast so we could be moving again in a few months. So again this year we will want to stay organized and ready to pack up and go.
{We have set up a deal that if I get a job first we will be staying here or if Paul is accepted to a Grad school first then we will be moving. We'll see which way things work out soon enough}

Daily Scripture study.

Finish my Personal Progress.

We need to work on our date nights too. To spend time with each other in purpose, not just because we happen to be home at the same time.

I'll make this an on going list so I can add to it as I think of things/goals to work on this year.

How did I do? My 10 Goals for 10.10.10

2010-12-31T19:12:00.001-08:00

In October I gave my self a list of goals to work on for the rest of the year. You may remember them, 10 Goals for 10.10.10 Well here is my end of the year report.

Now it is time for a recap!

~ Loose weight. While I haven't reached my specific goal {I knew I wouldn't do it in just a few months but that it would be an ongoing thing} I was more diligent in getting to the gym and I did loose some weight. I am pretty pleased with the progress.

~ Finish my projects. I finished my table runner and I LOVE how it turned out. It is made of yellows, oranges and browns. I don't have a picture of it right now on the computer so I'll have to try and get one up next week some time. The window treatments, are half done and now boxed up for the move. The picture collage turned out great. I love it and I think my Mother-in-law really liked it too {it's hanging in her front room}. Hand made Christmas gifts: well something had to give. I got a few of them done but not one for everyone so I'll get around to finishing those this month.

~ Read the Book of Mormon. Maybe this one will be a New Years resolution!

~ Clean the Fridge. It didn't happen until two days ago and mostly because we had to since we were moving, but I got it done and it looks GREAT!

~ Continue Attending the Temple. We set a goal for our Temple attendance earlier this year and have been able to make it and I want to continue with that. With everything going on this month it was hard to make the time to go. Since we knew this was going to happen we decided to go twice next month.

~ Sort through my closet. Again, this one was mostly due to the fact that we are moving on the last day of the month {year} and there is no reason to pack and move stuff I won't be using or needing. But it is done and I was able to get rid of a lot. YEA!!

~ Finish my Personal Progress. Oh I am so close. One of the things I need to finish is reading the Book of Mormon

~ DI and De-junk. I could not even count how many bags and boxes we dropped off to the DI. If moving is good for anything, it is a great chance to go though your stuff and get rid of what you don't want to pack and move around with you.

~ Meal Planning. This is one I still need to work on. Who knows if or when I will ever master this one.

~ Levi Quilt. I packed all the old pants and stuff I would need in one box and I think I have enough to get working on one for us. Before my mission I made one for a great friend of mine as a wedding present. I loved it and wanted one for myself, they are such great quilts to take and use at the park or camping, so nice and heavy. While we were packing I found the digital pattern I designed for her quilt, I knew I had it somewhere. Now that I found the pattern I can get started on my own.

It Has Been Foggy

2010-12-15T17:48:00.000-08:00

About a week ago when Paul came home from work he told me to put a coat on and go with him for a little car ride. He works up at the Temple and with the fog that was hanging around he had to show it to me. It was almost too foggy to even see anything, but I must admit, it still looked pretty cool.

A Christmas to Remember

2010-12-13T13:18:00.000-08:00

I got this poem on my mission from an Elder and loved to share it as our thought when ever we had dinner with the members around Christmas time. I still love it and so I wanted to share. It seems really long typed out like this but trust me, it's worth it.

A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER

Christmas usually makes us think

Of shopping in the snow,

Of caroling, loving, giving, sharing

And that special mistletoe.

It reminds most folks of Santa

And presents 'neath the tree,

And Christmas had always brought

Those same thoughts to me.

But something happened late one night

To change the way I feel,

An unexpected incident

That made the season real.

I had just come from talking

To a real close friend of mine,

We were pondering the season

In a voice much like a whine.

For complaining seems to be the norm

When Christmas gets this near,

'Just can't wait for it to get over'

Is all you ever hear.

Well, it was snowing really hard

I was miserable and cold,

And the packages I had

Were getting awfully hard to hold.

So I thought I'd just stop and sit

While I waited for my ride,

I found a bus stop shelter

I went and sat inside.

My Christmas spirit was not the best

As I shivered from the cold

And all the holly jolly stuff

Was really getting old.

I sat there with my attitude

When I noticed 'cross the street,

A Nativity no one cared for

It looked old and pretty beat.

The thought had crossed my mind,

'How sad, does no one really care

Now that Santa's the important one

To children everywhere.'

People passing, no one cared

The cradle had been tipped,

And the dress on Virgin Mary

Was looking worn and ripped.

I figured, well it's so commercialized

And now Santa is the one,

That children think and care about

'Cause he brings all the fun.

That's all the time I spent on that

So I'm just as guilty too,

Until I saw the incident

That changed my point of view.

I saw a man dressed in a suit

A Santa Clause no less,

He was fixing up the manger scene

And cleaning up the mess.

As I sat there watching him

I didn't feel the cold,

I felt the love and warmth he had

For a birthday long ago.

He looked down at baby Jesus

Then he knelt down reverently

Took his hat from off his head

And laid it crossed his knee.

I heard the prayer he said that night

It's one I'll not forget,

He said, “Bless the children I've not seen

And all the ones I've met.

Please help the parents of these kids

To make them understand,

That You're the reason we are here

I'm just here to lend a hand.”

He Said, “I didn't mean to be important

I didn't mean to be the one,

That everybody thinks of first

When You're the chosen Son.”

He wiped his eyes from tears of love

As he continued on,

“I want the folks to realize

This way they think is wrong.

Please help me have the power

To teach these people true.

That the spirit of the holiday

Is not me but You.

I see in all the homes around

They decorate in me.

I was supposed to be for fun

It's You they need to see.

I'm sorry I'm complaining.”

He said still on one knee,

“I just wish I had the power

To help some of them see.

'For God so loved the world he gave

His only begotten Son'.

How can they compare my gifts

To this special Holy One.

He stopped talking for a moment

Just knelt in fervent prayer.

Beside the manger scene he fixed

With tender loving care.

He put his hat back on his head

Slowly rose up to his feet,

He zipped his coat, said good-bye

Then wandered down the street.

It wasn't 'til that moment

I noticed people everywhere,

They all had stopped to listen

And they had heard that Santa's prayer.

'Cross the way was an apartment

With windows that faced the street

And faces in every window

Probably people he'd never meet.

Will he ever know

The 'power' he received,

If I hadn't seen it for myself

I'm not sure that I'd believed.

But now I knew the 'power'

Is in each and everyone,

As we treat Christmas as a birthday

For an Only Begotten Son.

I know Christmas in our house

Will never be the same again,

It changed one night I heard Santa say,

“In Jesus name, Amen.”

Connie Walker

Christmas 1993

Change...

2010-12-03T09:24:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe it is all coming to an end. We have been married four years and four months and the only life we have known together has been up at school. Paul is graduating IN TWO WEEKS and then we'll be moving. The past four years seem like they have gone by so fast, yet not fast enough at the same time. Paul is really going to miss living here, he loves it, I think it's ok, but I am a city girl. Since I have graduated I have come to enjoy it more but am still ready for a change.

Who knows what the next chapter will hold? We are both looking for jobs in a wonderfully terrible economy and it seems that because I am not bilingual, I am of no use up here, so hopefully I will have better luck when we move. Paul has had the opportunity to meet some great people up here as well as in SL who are great contacts for work too. As a matter of fact, a teacher at a high school up here is having Paul come in as a guest teacher for the tech students in her theatre program. He could not be more excited, seeing as that is the whole reason he wants to do grad school, so he can teach.

He will also be applying to grad schools but they don't make their decisions until Feb-Mar so we have some more waiting to do. I'm hoping it takes us back east. We had a blast on our trip to Boston last March and would love a chance to live a chance to see the other side of the country.

DownTown Boston

Us and the Ocean. Paul loved the Down Town Street Market. He said it reminded him of Brazil.

Paul Revere house. Church.

Bunker Hill monument. USS Constitution.

How would you like a cemetery to look over in the mornings. Boston City Hall.

Salem! A monument to those who died in the Salem Witch Hunt.

More of Salem.

Boston Temple. We made the last session on our way to UMASS.

Christian Science Center. That was a long day of sitting at the airport.

Right now I have put the job search on a mini hold, I'm still looking but have to take time to pack as well. Our living room is a mess. I had the bright idea of pulling everything out of the closet so I could see what we had, what we could get rid of and hope that having it all out would help motivate me to get cracking. Nope, hasn't worked yet, and I am dreading having to deal with the spare {catch-all} room. The good thing about moving is that you get to de-junk all that stuff you have been holding onto for really no reason. I just need to get in the right mood then watch out. I'll just open the door and start throwing it all out.

Ramblings....

2010-11-23T06:02:00.000-08:00

We went and spent this last weekend down visiting our families. Paul's extended family does a Thanksgiving Dinner on the weekend before so that everyone can make it. I was also attending a Boutique as a vendor selling my crocheted stuff. It was a lot of fun and I did pretty well ... the beanies were a hit. By the time the family dinner was winding down it started to snow ... and snow ... and snow!!! I could not be more excited. On Sunday when we woke up to go to church there had to be 14 inches of snow on the car. I love it. I love it even more now that I am not a missionary and don't have to bundle up to walk around in it everyday, all day long. I love the mountains and being able to look out my window and see them covered in snow. This coming weekend we are going to be able to spend some time with my family as well. It has been a while since we have stayed down there and visited with everyone.

This coming weekend we are supposed to go down and visit as well but there is a huge storm coming today and I hate driving the canyon in bad weather ... hopefully by the time we leave on Wednesday the roads will be cleared enough that we can make the drive.

Being able to see everyone has made me that much more excited to move back down. It seems that we are forgotten about since we live further away and we hear about all the fun stuff after it happened, even if we won't be able to make it to everything it would be nice to be thought of and invited. Let's face it though, I am also more of a city person myself, so I am just excited to be moving back to a bigger city. I do, however, feel bad for Paul. He had a job up here that he was hoping would work out but it didn't and so the plan of moving by the end of December is back on. He LOVES it up here and is really bummed that we will be leaving. I just keep telling him that there is another great adventure out there for us, and we are hoping it takes us to Boston for Grad School.

It Has Been A Year

2010-10-31T16:55:00.000-07:00

Last Halloween I kept Paul from the ward Trunk or Treat and Chili dinner so I promised him this year I would do all I could to not end up in the ER.

Here's our story ~

Saturday we were going to the ward house for a chili dinner and then the trunk or treat. We were also going to have some of Paul's theatre friends over after the last show for a little BBQ and party. At about 2 in the afternoon my right side starting cramping up, really fast and really intense. I took some more IBUprofen but it did not help at all, when Paul looked at me he said I was completely white and that he wanted to take me to the ER. I told him that I would be fine and that he should go get some chili and hand out the candy at the trunk-or-treat. If I wasn't feeling better by the time he got back I would let him take me to the ER. Instead he called his mom to ask what the symptoms were when the appendix was going to burst. While Paul was on the phone with his mom I could hear everything she was saying, I was crying more and more as I realized I felt all these things she was talking about.

We went to the ER instead of the dinner, we were both starving by this time. The ER Dr. and nurse that were helping us were fantastic. The guess was that I either had a bladder infection or was going to have my appendix taken out. After they took a couple things of blood to run some tests I started feeling even worse. The nurse gave me some stuff for the nausea and Paul found another priesthood holder to give me a blessing. I know that miracles happen but I wasn't expecting one, I was just wanting some comfort. The blessing Paul gave me was very comforting but one part stuck out to both of us. When the other brother who assisted left, Paul and I sat and talked for a minute. {In today's lesson I taught, we talked about the atonement. How do you know that the LORD knows us, knows what you need to be comforted? There is no way that Paul would have known what to say to me to give me the comfort I would need. This is how I know that the LORD knows me and what I need even before I would know it.} Needless to say we both knew it wasn't going to be my appendix or my bladder. In a bit the ER Dr. came in and told me that my white blood cells were a bit higher then he would like but that wasn't the most interesting result he got back. The pregnancy test came back positive as well. For half of a split second Paul and I looked at each other just as happy as could be. But the Dr. kept a very professional face and continued that the reason I would be having pain like this is because I already miscarried or it was a tubular (ectopic) pregnancy.

The Ultra sound tech was called in, it was about 9 p.m. now, so that he could try and find the baby. Sure enough he found it, where it wasn't supposed to be, so then they called in the OB and his team to take me into the OR. Funny little side note, his name is Gary Fowers, so that should be easy enough to remember {Paul has an uncle with a VERY similar name}. When Dr. Fowers got there he took some time to talk with us and about our options, he said I needed to go in for immediate surgery. The chances of having an ectopic pregnancy is about 1% but after you have it once your chances of having it happen again jumps to 15%. Depending on what was going on inside of me there is a chance that the tube exploded or that they would just clean it out and everything would be fine, but they would not be able to say until they actually had me in surgery. The way they were going in was with a laperoscapy {SP}, the three different incisions. Dr. Fowers explained how the surgery would go, they would use one incision to put air in my abdomen (about a 5 mm tube) and also suck out any fluid through there as well. In my belly button they would put the camera and then one more hole where he would actually use his tools. He said if any of the air was left in there it would push against my diaphragm and work its way out through my right shoulder, so if my shoulder hurt, not to worry about it. When I told him my shoulder already hurt and that it was hard to breathe he turned to the other Dr. who was assisting for the surgery and told him to get the 10 mm tubes ready. I had too much fluid in me to start small and go bigger if they needed to, they were just going to start with the big tubes.

In the morning my Dr. came in and told me about the surgery. I was so full of blood that they had to clean some out before they could even get to my tube. When they got to the tube they couldn't find the baby, it had detached from the tube and fallen back into my abdomen. So they cleaned out my tube, found the baby, then used 9 liters of saline to clean me out. He said that he put the saline in me then tipped me upside down, side-to-side and all around to swish the fluid around in me and get me cleaned out. I had been bleeding internally for about 5 days, so I had more then a liter of blood pooling up in my abdomen. They went back to my tube to see how it was doing but it was still bleeding with no sign of clotting. Now I only have one tube but it doesn't cut our chances of getting pregnant to 50-50 but instead 80% because the tubes can pull eggs from either ovary. They kept me for awhile in the Hospital because my blood count was so low. Normally the count should be around 40 and mine was at 24, if it went to 22 the Dr. was going to give me a blood transfusion. They did a couple of test through the morning and my count was going up so they let me leave.

It was a really emotional week and very personal to me and Paul. I have been so grateful for Paul and all that he has done for me. The Dr. said if he had let me sleep it off like I had wanted and waited to go in on Sunday, he most likely wouldn't of been able to wake me up.

Today's lesson was more for me than I think anyone else. I know the LORD knows me because no one else would have been able to comfort me the way I needed except for the one who has already been through it all. I am so grateful for my testimony of the Savior and for the sacrifice he made on my behalf.

How are the Goals Coming??

2010-10-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a little up date on the goals so far.

~ Loose Weight: I'm actually loosing it {slowly but surely} and I'm super excited about it.
~ Finish Projects: I have three almost done completely. The window treatments are coming along, but I'm a little 'A Type' so I keep getting so far then taking them apart and starting over - they'll get done though so don't worry. The table runner is on the sewing machine as I type. The pattern is a little crazy because it is all curved so it is taking some extra time and patience. The picture collage is for my MIL. We made it last year for Mother Day but the family has been added to and I wanted to revamp and change a couple of things. It would have been done this last weekend but there were technical difficulties in uploading my images on-line. It's all fixed now and I just need to go and pick them up.
~ Read the Book of Mormon: Well I have started but I definitely need to more disciplined to get it finished by the end of the year.
~ Clean the Fridge: We just went shopping and filled it up so I'll wait until it empties out again.
~ Sort through the Closet: Yep, still waiting.
~ Finish my Personal Progress: Going well. One of the YW asked me if I was going to finish it and her mom suggested to the others that I put some stuff up for the End Of The Year program {for the life of me I can't remember what it's called right now}. My goal is to finish by the end of the year - I'll need to be disciplined to finish by then.
~ DI and De-junk: we still have our box.
~ Meal Planning: On it. I really don't want to have to pack and move food.
~ Levi Quilt: I still have the jean's but I haven't designed a pattern yet so I need to do that first.

All in all I think I am doing pretty well at passing myself and continuing to get things done. I really want to go over all the base boards and door frames and clean them as well. I'll have to see if I get that far but it might be left until I week we are cleaning out to move. My goal is to get as much done before hand so it isn't all left until the end - Here's to hoping.

10 Goals for 10.10.10

2010-10-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

While we were sitting in Church Paul pointed out to me that it is 10.10.10. At the beginning of the year we were a bit slow to come up with goals for this year so to make up for that I am going to list ten {10} goals that I want to complete before the end of 2010.

~ Loose weight. I never really struggled with weight or trying to look like the Hollywood now girl but it is something I have caught myself thinking more of now, since I've been married {Paul loves big meals and I never wanted anything to go to waste, so I ate it and it all went to my waste}. I have a certain goal in mind but I have never tried to loose weight so I don't know how my body will react to it. For now I will leave this one at "loose some weight" and it could carry into next year.
~ Finish my projects. I'm sure I could go around the house counting all the projects that I need to finish {that number could be pretty high}. Instead I will list a few off the top of my head that I really do want to finish by the end of the year and before we move.

Window Treatments
Table Runner
Picture Collage
Homemade Christmas Gifts

~ Read the Book of Mormon. This is the Virtue Project for the YW's Personal Progress and it would just be a good one to do.
~ Clean the Fridge. This serves double duty because it needs to be done and I will have to do it since we will be moving shortly as well.
~ Continue Attending the Temple. We set a goal for our Temple attendance earlier this year and have been able to make it and I want to continue with that.
~ Sort through my closet. I'll leave this one until closer to the end. If I loose the weight I want to then I will get to keep a lot of these items. Wink, Wink!!
~ Finish my Personal Progress. I started it with my YW and want to finish it here with them even though I have been released.
~ DI and De-junk. We have a constant DI box so that we can put stuff in it as we go. I really need to do this with all the stuff we have in the spare room/office/craft space {one room...many purposes}.
~ Meal Planning. We have food storage items that I would rather use then toss out or have to pack and take with us when it is time to move. I want to plan our meals so that we can use up as much of it as possible. This will take some creative meal planning and patience to use it all.
~ Levi Quilt. I'm not including this with "finish projects" because I haven't actually started it. I made one for a great friend of mine as a wedding present and didn't want to give it away when I finished it. I loved the flannel on the back that made it so nice and soft and how wonderfully sturdy and heavy it was since it was made out of jeans. Fantastic to curl up in. I have always wanted one for myself and it is time to get busy and make mine.

Yesterday my SIL and brother and their little girl came up so that she could take some family photos for us. She was wonderful enough to come up on such short notice. It was a lot of fun and she did a wonderful job.
Here is a sneak peak at the photos.

Bentley LOVES Paul and Paul loves him right back!

Conference Weekend....Fall 2010

2010-10-04T09:59:00.001-07:00

This past weekend with our niece and nephew up was so much fun. I don't know that they have ever sat through a conference session let alone, all four so it was interesting to say the least. Every time the speaker would change he would jump up and shout that it was over. We printed out some worksheet pages and Gabe was so excited to have his own journal pages. We cleaned off the little table in the living room and Bay set it up like it was a desk so she could play office while she listened. As conference went on Bingo became more of a Black Out contest between Paul and I. P.S. I won!!!

For the Priesthood session I have always done a girls night with some kind of craftiness or just getting together to watch a movie with some friends. Then the guys come home, tell us what it was about and we all have a treat. This year, everyone backed out, but instead of being defeated and since I had the kids this weekend, we invited the neighbor and her three kids to come over and make soaps. I forgot to get a picture with all of the soaps when they were all over but here are the ones we had. So much fun.

On Sunday, Conference Black Out continued and the kids were better at sitting through the first session. To help get some of the wiggles out and because fall in Cache Valley is so beautiful we decided to have a picnic in between sessions up the canyon at Second Dam. Bentley had the time of his life barking at everyone, Gabe was just excited to be out and Bailly loved all the changing colors. After we ate it was over to the water to skip/toss rocks. They both took off their shoes and got into the freezing cold water .... but they had a good time and that's what matters.

Sunday Morning Session...Everyone loves Uncle Paul.
No, we did not pose Bentley like that. After I took the first picture he turned around and sat there. We all got a pretty good laugh out of it.

Adventures at Second Dam,

We went to see Uncle Paul's set he designed. She loves this kind of stuff.

The last session of Conference was pretty easy. A friend of mine came over the kids were pretty good at sitting still by the end. Although, Gabe was really excited when we said it was all over.

We learned that while they were up here their little puppy that they had only had for a week was really sick and most likely not going to make it. I think I actually took it harder than they did. Chewy was so cute and I hope the kids and my sister know how much I love them. They can visit Bentley any time they want.

Chewy and Chad. This was the first time we all met him. Poor Guy!!

I love having these guys up and am going to miss it when we move. So for now we are going to have them up here as many times as we can before Paul graduates. Many more fun adventures to come.

I Love....Conference Weekend

2010-10-01T17:23:00.000-07:00

I love the Fall season. The temperature {supposedly, but not this year} has a crispness in the air that is perfect for evening walks, BBQ's and Conference Weekend. I have to admit, I have been anticipating the change in the weather and this weekend since the beginning of August.

This is also our last fall here since Paul will be graduating in December and so it will be time for us to move on, so we need to make the most of this last season. One thing we have enjoyed is inviting our niece and nephew up on some weekends and we are having them up again this weekend. I have been having fun making soaps and so while Paul goes to the Priesthood Session for Conference the kids and I are going to have the neighbors over and we are going to make some Halloween soaps. With this being our last winter up here I want to have them up to visit us as many times as we can.

Going through the stores you can definitely tell the fall/winter holiday season is upon us. It is getting me so excited for the decorating. The Fall colors in the canyon have been absolutely beautiful this year and with all my trips through the canyon to head down for job interviews, I have gotten to watch the trees as they have changed. Maybe we should do a craft and go and get some leaves.

It really is crazy to think that we'll be moving in about three months. I was outside earlier today right before the sun started to set and the rays were coming through the trees and over the little pond from across the street. We really have enjoyed were we have lived for the past four years. The neighbors, the ward, the scenery being next to the zoo and being so close to so many parks and trails. As I have been thinking more about moving the more I think I will miss living at such a great place. It's also been a bit stressful to think about, we have no idea where we will be moving to or what will be going on with work or grad school for Paul. So much to think about.

Released ~ What's Next?

2010-09-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, right before church, I was called in and released from my calling as a YW advisor and Camp Director. It was a short lived calling but one I loved to do. While I was in there, being released, I was told that there is another calling in my future but a number of people are inquiring about me and so it hasn't been decided exactly what calling will be extended to me. It's nice to know that I'm loved and wanted, so that helped. The only thing is that Christmas is hard for me, seeing a box under the tree and not knowing what is in it, that drives me crazy. Now I have to wait to see what me new calling will be. I had so much fun working with the YW and sharing my stories with them. It was great to watch the girls take charge and work on their Personal Progress and apply the things they have learned in their lives. Thank you girls for being such a great example to me. You are all wonderful and I'm so excited for what you have to look forward to.

I know the leaders care so much about you and are there for whatever you need. They have a lot of experience behind them and have so much they can share with you.

I wish all of you girls the best in all you do.

H.O.P.E. Festival this October

2010-09-13T11:23:00.000-07:00

It is that time of the year again where I am going to be able to participate in the H.O.P.E. Festival at USU. This year it will be held on October 27th from 10 am - 7 pm. Last year I did pretty well selling my beanies and hand made soaps. The website hasn't been updated but click here to check out how it went last year. From all sales on the 27th {from the festival and from my etsy shops} 25% will be donated to CAPSA (Community Abuse Prevention Services Agency).

My question to all of you is what would you like to see at the festival? What kind of crochet items would you be interested in seeing?

Here are some of the colors to choose from!

What about soaps. Which ones would you like to see more of? I even mix some together for a number of scents. Is there something you would like to have mixed together and try?

Here is a list of my soap scents.
Almond (Cybilla)
Apple Jack Peel
Apricot Freesia
Arabian Spice
Basmati Rice
Berry Wine
Buttercream & Snickerdoodle
Celestial Waters
Chai Tea Cybilla
Christmas Spice
Cinnamon Sugar
Cranberry Realistic
Dark Rich Chocolate
Dragon’s Blood
Earth Musk
Fresh Mango
Ginger Pear
Gingersnap
Island Coconut
Mayan Gold
Moonlight Pomegranate
Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey
Peach
Pumpking Spice
Red Apple
Sandalwood Vanilla
Sleigh Ride
Strawberry
Turkish Mocha

Good Things to Come

2010-08-08T13:29:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I saw this on LDS.org and it really hit home. The following Sunday we were down visiting our families and I went to church in my parents ward. In Relief Society the teacher shared the same clip with us and I still love it.

Gummi Bears Episode1 - A New Beginning1

2010-08-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

Paul started singing the theme song today and was so excited when we found this on YouTube.

Enjoy everyone!!!

24th of July Weekend

2010-08-02T23:40:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago our niece and nephew came up to go to the annual Stake Activity at the water park {this is the 3rd year Bay has come up for the Stake activity} it has turned into a tradition that all of us look forward to and really enjoy. They came up on Thursday night so that we would be sure to make it to the party on Friday.

It seemed like Friday was dragging on waiting for the swim party. Dinner was at the park just down the street then it was off to the swimming pool. We were all so excited to get into the water ~ because we were all in the water we didn't get any pictures. Gabe had Paul take him up to the twisty slide when we first got there. Bay however, isn't as adventurous in the water as her brother. She was content to hangout in the shallow pool. I think Gabe developed a little crush on Bay's friend, it was so cute. When it was just about time to go Bay finally said that she wanted to go down the twisty slide. She loved it but the line for the slide was closed so we couldn't go again.

On Saturday we had lunch up on the balcony. It was a great spot to see all the floats from the parade come by after it was over. There was also the Pioneer Celebration just down the street at the park. The kids had so much fun at the festival. They were able to play in the fun house, watch some dancing and we even got a cotton candy that was half the size of the kids.

Look at how big that is!!!

Gabe is demonstrating some of the many different ways to eat cotton candy.

When we got home we started on our crafts. Check them out here!!

Paul loves to get right in there with the kids.

We even at dinner outside on the lawn, it was such a nice day out. The city also does the fireworks right across the street from our place. So we took some lawn chairs out to the sidewalk to enjoy the show.

Since we had to wait to finish the block on Sunday {they had to dry} Paul told the kids that they had to go to both of their classes if they wanted to finish their blocks. Wouldn't ya know ~ it worked!!! I never would have expected that.

After we were done we the blocks we got everything cleaned up for the kids mother to come and get them. It took a lot longer for them to get here. While we waited we had some friends come over to play games. Bay was on my team while Gabe watched Ghost Busters. As always, I had a super great weekend with the two of them up visiting. I am really going to miss having them come stay with us when we move.

I sure hope they know how much we love them.

Camera Tricks

2010-07-26T06:41:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had our niece and nephew come up and spend some time with us. If I have time later today I'll write about the fun stuff we did but for now I wanted to show a fun picture we did.

I was trying to do something else here and this is what ended up happening.
Our nephew is playing pick-a-boo ~ with him self!

So then we took another.
The kids had a lot of fun doing this one. I think Uncle Paul did too!!

Paul is going to be such a great dad. He loves spending time with these two and is so patient with them. I have so much fun watching him when he gets to hang out with our niece's and nephew, he is just a big kid at heart. This weekend he even got that little stubborn one to say his prayers...it was so cute!!!

Temple Cleaning Service

2010-07-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

Many of you may know that Paul has found a job working security at the Temple. He has come home with some really neat stories and has been able to see almost every inch of the magnificent building. Before Paul got this job he was hired as a temp for a couple of weeks to paint the room on the 4th floor {that's right, the fourth floor is one entire room}.

This past month the Temple has been shut down for some renovations and cleaning. Stakes and wards from around the valley are invited to volunteer to come in and help during cleaning. When it is time to clean the chandelier in the Celestial room the spouses of the Temple employees are invited to help clean.

After mutual on Wednesday I headed up to the Temple. Before everyone else got there Paul asked if he could show me the room he painted and take me around a bit. On the picture below there is one window that has open window treatments, the big window above it is the 4th floor. While we were up there I peaked out the window and saw a family down by the water fountain. I didn't think they would notice me but I started waving and sure enough, they all waved back, the little kids were putting their whole bodies into it. We also went up to the very top left window. This is a room that has access to the rafters. I got to peek in and see the original hand work done by the pioneers. The trusses were huge and to think that it was all placed by hand was crazy. You could see the markings from the hand tools used. The brick work was more rough than the exterior of the Temple, you could see where the stones were chipped to make the bricks.

The chandelier was all the way down in the middle of the room and all the furniture was moved out. It was such a neat experience to be in the Temple and doing service for all those who will be going through. Going to the do a session will never be the same again. Paul hopped in the genie and vacuumed the drapes from top to bottom and also did all the mirrors. I worked with a group of others who have been doing this for years. You could see the time and care they put into cleaning every inch.

I can not even express what a great experience it was to be in the Temple and have the chance to see the handcrafted work of those who spent so much time building the Temple

The 4th on the 3rd!!!

2010-07-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

We had decided to stay up at home for the 4th of July weekend and invited Pauls family up. We went up to the Minnetonka Cave and luckily got up there where we only had an hour wait. If we had gotten there even 20 minutes later the wait would be 2 hours or longer. I also invited a friend of mine who is here from Romania. This was her first 4th of July and she is only two weeks shy of being here for a year.

After that we stopped off for Raspberry shakes then headed home for a BBQ. It was a great time and when it was all over Paul and I had decided that one of the best parts was that we got to stay put and didn't have to drive an hour to get home like usual.

This is the only one we are allowed to touch.
So many people already had so it was dead.

The Wedding Room!!!

The group of us at the end of the cave.
Then we had to turn around and head out the same way we went in.

Here's the group of us waiting for our turn to go in.

Thanks everyone for coming. We had a great time!

Youth Conference

2010-07-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

The weekend of June 25-26 our stake had Youth Conference and I had the chance to spend time with some of our young women and new leaders in the Presidency.

They had some great activities for the Youth including a faith walk. The kids were blindfolded and walking along a path while holding onto a rope. They had to listen to people along the path and decide to follow them or not. Some choose the wrong way and ended up out in the field wondering lost. The Devotionals were great and I think the kids got a lot out of them, I know I did.

It was fun to be able to spend some time with our Young Women and get to know them more. They are such great YW and have strong testimonies. I am so grateful for the chance I have had to get to know them.

To pass some time waiting for the next activity our ward played still the flag!!

Faith walk

Games in the field.

Minute to win it. Our Girl won, she's the one with the pink!

The First 80 Years

2010-06-27T13:56:00.000-07:00

I have some catching up to do.

On the 12th of June we had a birthday party for my Grandpa and Grandma Nuesmeyer. They have been married 17 years and are both celebrating their 80th birthdays this month.

My mom had decided to have a party and invite both sides of the family. Her and my aunt went to town. Delegating assignments and making sure as many people knew about it as could come. I was in charge of the video montage for them. Since I had only meat my Grandmas side of the family once or twice it was going to be hard to get pictures of her kids, grand kids and great-grand kids. I e-mailed as much as I could and was able to get a few.

After scanning a bunch of pictures for both of them I put it all to music. I can not tell you how many times I watched it, making sure the timing worked out, that all the pictures looked good... When I finally put it up on the big screen it looked so different from what I had been watching on my computer monitor ~ I loved it. After words there were a number of people who came up to me and told me they really liked it, they wondered where I got all those photos, and if they could have a copy. Of course!! What would be the point in doing all that work if I wasn't going to share? Whenever I make these videos I love to give CD's with all the pictures on them so that the rest of the family can enjoy the pictures as much as I have. This way they can print them off, look through them and have a copy for themselves.

I was so happy that everyone enjoyed the video. If I ever get a YouTube account I'll put them up so you can see them.

I had a short history from both of them.
So many fun facts.

The Birthday Couple!!

The Nuesmeyer side of the family.

Paul about to land on his pocket of keys while playing Volleyball.

And...Because we don't like to waist anything...
the after party with the balloons.

They lied to Me!!!

2010-06-22T17:31:00.000-07:00

This is what the package looked like.

This is what I pulled out of the box.

I guess I am just not that familiar with frozen dinners ~ which really isn't a bad thing. When I saw the picture on the front it looked so good. Yum ~ I love the red spicy sauce. But when I took the tray out it looked a bit less than appetizing. Now the cheese and the red sauce are going to be all mixed together in some kind of gross goop!!

Last Chance Products!!!

2010-06-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

Mary Kay is introducing some fantastic new colors and products.

This means some are being discontinued. Check out my Last Chance Products and stock up cause once they are gone there is no going back. At check out anything from the Last Chance Products will be discounted 25%.

Here are some of the products available. Happy shopping!!!

I love my Eye Definer/Eye Crease Brush
Two Brushes in One!!!

Fun Eye Shadow colors!!!
Dusty Lilac

Vintage Gold ~ one of my favorites. Now I get to find a fun new color!!!

Raisin

Limited-Edition Tropical Fruits Collection

Any orders from my Last Chance Products over $50 this week will receive free shipping and a free mascara!!!

I Love....Cold Cereal

2010-06-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

I wish it would warm up out there. I love my cold cereal but it's hard to eat when it's so cold in the morning but I am willing to suffer through it. Lately, so I don't miss out on my bowl, I will have one later in the afternoon.

Another breakfast favorite is my moms breakfast casserole. It's favorite, but not as much. So if I don't have breakfast casserole it's like 'that's ok 'cause cold cereal is a favorite too.'

An ONLINE “E-PARTY” Fundraiser for the Utah Hemophilia Foundation

2010-06-11T23:51:00.000-07:00

You are invited to an ONLINE “E-PARTY”!!!

I am hosting an ONLINE “E-PARTY” with Mary Kay to help support Paul's cousin. The Utah Hemophilia Foundation is doing a BloodRun 5k and 1 mile run. I can't participate and we already have plans for that day so Paul won't be able to either. So instead we thought we would support his families cause with a fundraiser ALL DAY on June 12th!! For all sales made 10% will be donated to the Utah Hemophilia Foundation.

The party is going from 12 AM ~ 11:59 PM on Saturday, June 12th.

Here is all you have to do:

· Get comfortable!! You can even shop in your jammies!!

· Visit my web site at www.marykay.com/myeates!

· View and shop for the latest and greatest in Mary Kay Products!!

· Don't forget the Dad's and Grad's on your list!!

· Don’t forget birthdays, weddings, graduation and anniversary gifts!! Let ME know and I will even gift-wrap for you for FREE!

· You will also receive a FREE GIFT with a $40 or more purchase made on-line!!

· Make sure to register for: The chance to win Life Happens… Get Away With the Girls Sweepstakes from May 1 through June 30th, 2010. Enter for a chance to win an all-girl, stress-free, luxury escape. One lucky winner will receive a getaway for four to the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills with spa treatments, world-class dining and $5,000 cash!

· All orders will go directly to ME and will not be part of any mega list sold to other companies. I will confirm your order with you and arrange for delivery {between Cache Valley and Utah County} or shipping with you via email or phone. {I offer FREE Shipping on orders of $40 or more in the USA!}

· You can pay online with a credit card or arrange to pay upon delivery {Deliveries will only be made to those between Cache Valley and Utah County}.

· It is so easy and fun plus you will be ordering from the #1 Best Selling Brand of Skin Care and Color Cosmetics for the past 17 years!! WOW!! It is so great to try these wonderful products and know they are 100% satisfaction guaranteed!!

Please put UHF in the COMMENTS SECTION on the order page! This will let ME know that you joined my ONLINE “E-PARTY” and I will don't 10% of your purchase to the UHF!! If you would like to get FREE PRODUCTS and hostess your own ONLINE “E-PARTY”, make sure to let ME know in the Comment Section or email me at Myeates@marykay.com. I will send you the details and an “e-message” that you can pass on to your email list of friends!!

Don’t delay…this “E-Party” invitation self-destructs in 24 hours!!

Have Fun & Happy Shopping,

The first two who place phone orders over $20 will receive a free mascara!! I will take calls starting at 8:00 AM Utah time.

P.S. if you have any questions about any of the products you can email Mindy at Myeates@marykay.com

Brotherly Love

2010-06-07T12:50:00.000-07:00

Last night we spent most of the evening at my in-laws playing games...It was a great way to spend a Sunday evening. In the course of all the game playing my SIL told Paul that she had a wart and a friend told her that the way to get rid of them is to heat up the tip of a fork and burn it into the wart. We all had our own reasons for wanting to see this.

I wasn't going to be the one in pain so I was all for it.
Paul would be doing the stabbing and I think he might have been a little too excited for the opportunity.
Paul's sister is hoping it will work and she won't have to go into the Dr.'s.

The first run was pretty unsuccessful. The fork didn't get hot enough. But the second time...the fork was hot enough. There was cringing and screaming, I almost thought there was going to be some swearing! Don't worry, I caught it on film for everyone to see. Results to follow....

Bentley's Favorite Movies

2010-06-05T17:12:00.000-07:00

The other day we decided to watch a movie, one of the many Disney that we have, I believe it was 101 Dalmatians! It was so funny to watch Bentley hang out on the edge of the bed and watch the movie. He was so interested in the movie.

While at school I got into the habit of having music on or a movie going in the background. With all the time I have been spending working on the DVD for my Grandparents, on Thursday, I decided to load up the DVD player and keep working. I put in a movie for Bentley, Lady and the Tramp. He loved it. Bentley loves movies with any kind of animals in them but it seems that he enjoys movies with dogs the most. He was so content to sit and watch the movie. During the more intense scenes Bentley would get up on his hinds legs and bark at the TV.

More Photos

2010-06-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I spent some time scanning more photos for the video's for my Grandparent's 80th birthdays in June. I went down to stay at my parents last Wednesday evening, taking along with me my computer, scanner/printer {it's small so I wasn't worried about taking it} and my external hard drive so I would be able to spend the whole next day scanning.

As I went to set up for my operation I found that Paul and I had forgotten to pack my computer power cord. My laptop won't last more than just a few minutes any more without the power cord plugged in. I was pretty upset about it and instead just sat down and looked through the photos finding ones to include in my pile to scan once I get around to it. If I was back at home I would of had tons of people I could call and ask to borrow a cord but down there, I was at a loss. I decided to call around to people in my parents ward. After I called a number of people someone suggested the family that lives right across the street. She had one so I spent the night scanning, and I didn't finish for some time.

Here are some other great photos that I came across......

Back in the day there wasn't an MTC in Provo,
it was a Mission Home in SLC!

I'm sure my mom will love me for this.

Look at that blonde hair.

Photo Heaven

2010-05-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

I am in Photo Heaven right now. In two and a half weeks we will be having a birthday party for my Grandpa and his wife of 17 years. They are both turning 80 this June. My mom and my Aunt have really been getting into it and getting all the details done. I think it will be great. The part I am doing is making a video for both of them of their First 80 Years. When I started out I knew this was going to be quite the task.

For my Grandma (she isn't my biological Grandma but she is the sweetest lady you will every meet, so I love to call her Grandma), well I have only met her family a couple of times. I am working with her son up in Alaska to get family pictures. This is going slow because he is my only contact and I don't know any of her family in SLC to get a hold of to ask for photos. This is still a work in progress. I know, I need to work faster.

For my Grandpa, he is a fantastic story teller and when he gets going the whole family knows not to interrupt him. I mean he remembers the best details, kid from elementary school, he still can recall first and lasts names. I think it's also because he's stories are so different than ours, they didn't have computers, the Internet even electricity was new. He told us that when he was growing up and the house was newly wired, everyone would go stand outside on the lawn and one brave soul would go turn on the lights. What a different time. Back to the pictures. Since it's my own family and I have a bit more contacts I have been going everywhere to get photos. There are some great ones, ones I've never seen and that no one else knew were around except the one person who had them. I want to share some with my family that I have collected so far.

That little baby in the middle, that's my grandpa!

I know that my grandpa is on the back row, second to last.
My Aunt Judee is the little girl in front with her back turned to the camera.

Uncle Ken and His dad
{My Great Grandpa}

Cinnamon Cake

2010-05-20T18:28:00.000-07:00

This is the recipe for a Cinnamon Cake from my Mary Kay Director. It was so easy to make and it tastes delicious. Go ahead and copy the card to print it off. It takes just minutes to mix it up and even to bake. Once you try it let me know what you think, I would love to hear from you!!!

If you like the design of this card here is where you can buy them.

Bentley is 1!!

2010-05-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

I can not believe that Bentley is a year old. On May 14th he turned one and for his birthday we decided to take him to PetSmart. I always feel bad when I take him out to use the restroom and have the leash on his collar and it pulls around his neck. For my birthday present I wanted to get him a harness. It makes him look so grown up, my parents said the same thing too. Paul got him a new bone and some wet dog food. Then, just for because, we got him a toothbrush. We haven't tried it yet but I'm sure it will be an adventure.

Here is a picture of Bentley and his spoils from a great birthday!!!

More Coupons

2010-05-06T18:41:00.000-07:00

I am still learning to do coupon shopping and here is my purchase from Walgreen's this week. I was able to get these items for $14.01. There is still plenty to learn and figure out but I think I did pretty good this week.

Coupon Shopping

2010-05-05T08:59:00.001-07:00

I have a friend who has been coupon shopping and finding fantastic deals. for some time now. Seeing all the great deals she has found I have decided to try my hand at it as well. Holy smokes, if you take the time to look you can find some great deals out there.

This is my first venture. ShopKo had a deal going that if you spent at least $25 on P&G items you can get a $10 prepaid MC in the mail.

Here is what I found at Wal-mart. All this rang up to $75.25 but I only spent $40.93 on it and got four (4) free movie tickets from it. Tampax is running a special on some of their boxes ~ a free movie ticket in each one. In the Sunday paper there were coupons for $1-$2 off each box so instead of paying $6.97 you could pay $4.97-$5.97 each. I even checked the special before I went and made the purchase, there are three movie theaters up here that will accept the tickets so we won't have to go to a big city to use them. I'm stocked up for some time now and I got two date nights out of it. Sweet!!! I can't tell you the last time we have gone to see a movie in a theater. All last night we talked about what movies we wanted to use the tickets on.

Get your deal here:

Check to see what theaters are participating for your area.
Clip coupons and head to the store. Find the one packaged with the extra pink ticket in the corner. I only found them at Wal-mart.
Enter your movie ticket codes here.
Print your tickets!
NOTE: the code on the ticket will expire October 31, 2010. The ticket will expire 30 days from the date issued online.

Garden ~ Balcony

2010-05-02T13:53:00.000-07:00

We are doing another balcony garden this year. One of the value projects for Faith is to plant, care for, and harvest a vegetable garden.

This is what it looks like after two weeks. I think we are going to need to move the peas to a bigger planter soon. With the plants right next to window they are all leaning towards the window. Paul is pretty excited about all the tomato's and onion he should be getting.

Talley's Folly ~ Set Design

2010-04-29T17:36:00.000-07:00

Paul had the opportunity to design a set for the Covey Center for the Arts down in Provo. The show is Talley's Folly and was being put on in the Brinton Black Box Theatre.The weekend we went down to dress the set everyone said they really enjoyed it and were so impressed that he was able to get such a 'full' set in the black box. The show was Talley's Folly written by Langford Wilson. It is a show about two older, single people living in the 1940's and the unlikely romance between them.

Last Saturday we had the opportunity to go and see the show and took Paul's parents and his sister, who just got home from her mission last Thursday. It's always nice to hear that people like your designs. Check out what the Covey center wrote about Paul's set here.

Katie Roundy from the Deseret News came and saw the show and had wrote this up..

......The Brinton Black Box Theater provides an environment conducive to the intimate setting, as the audience is privy to a lovers' spat.

The set itself is quite impressive. The weathered boathouse takes up most of the stage. In a creative fashion, the rest of the theater is painted to look like a river, leaving the audience in the water......

Our Balcony Garden

2010-04-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

In Personal Progress one of the activities we can do is plant a garden. Paul and I had so much fun doing this last year and watching everything grow we wanted to do it again.

On Tuesday the Relief Society had a class on pot and planter box gardening. The couple that instructed the class are in our ward and have their own garden shop here in town. It was so interesting and informative, now I just hope I can implement all this new information.

We went to the store and got a starter kit to start growing our seeds inside. Then we had to get seeds. There was this huge wall of seed packages. Paul loves tomato's so he got 4 or 5 different types to plant, same with peppers, I got one jalapeno pepper to spice up all those tomato's and for homemade salsa, YUM. This year I want to try strawberry's and peas. I remember growing up our neighbors did peas and they were so tasty to eat right out of the garden.

We could have done better last year but really, we didn't do too bad either. I'm excited to see what we can grow this year and knowing a little bit more about how to take care of my plants.

St. Patrick's Day

2010-04-08T08:48:00.001-07:00

This is the green Paul was wearing on St. Patrick's day because I kept on pinching him. It is such a ridiculous hat. I couldn't stand it any more and told him I would stop pinching him if he would just take it off.

LEED AP

2010-04-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

I have completely slacked off during the month of march. There seems to be so much to do that I have not really had a chance to sit and share, so I'll try to take it one step at a time. On March 14th I reached my year mark since I took the LEED AP exam. That was the longest Spring Break ~ and not in a good way ~ of my life. It was spent studying every day in the Library with a friend from 10-5 ~ it was nice to have someone there to go through all the material with. Then I decided to drag it out even longer and sign up for my test on Saturday. Paul always laughs at me because I can work myself up over things and this was no exception. I didn't eat anything all morning cause I did not want to let me tummy get in knots. By the time I finally sat down to take the exam I had calmed myself down. Once I got into the exam ~ I whipped right through it. They give you two hours to take the exam and if I remember right I was able to do it in an hour. Once I realized I had so much time left, I went back through it and took my time looking over all the answers I had marked. 'Click' I hit the finish button and the screen came up with a congratulations!!! I actually ended up with a terrific score ~ I believe one of the highest. Paul was a really good sport by coming with me. He knew I would need someone to cry to if I didn't pass and I would be too excited to drive if I did pass and he wanted to make sure I got home safe.

Now I just wish that since graduation I could have found a job that would allow me to use that knowledge. I'll just keep searching!!!

After the exam we went to the Draper Temple Open house, it was the last day of the open house so we really wanted to make it. Having worked on a temple for my internship it was fun to know some of the behind the scenes stuff that goes on to design a temple.

I can't believe that was all a year ago!!! Time flies.

A Reason To Celebrate

2010-03-13T22:50:00.000-08:00

Paul ~ Thank you so much for taking me out for my birthday.

I haven't had to worry about what day my birthday has fallen on because ever since I was in College it has always fallen on Spring Break. This year it was the week before and on a Wednesday so Paul had classes and I ended up being sick. But for my Birthday we were able to get tickets for Fiddler on the Roof that was playing at the Hale Center Theatre. This is one of my Dads favorites and I remember listening to the soundtrack on so many times on family vacations. So not only did Paul get us tickets to go he was able to get enough to take my parents as well.

I absolutely loved it!!!

Anytime the cast started singing I wanted to start singing at the top of my lungs, it put a huge smile on my face. It was a great production of the musical. The opening scene "Tradition" and the dream sequence were the best of the whole show. It is amazing what they are able to do on such a small stage and a theatre in the round {that means there are seats 360 degrees around the stage}. The dead wife of the butcher was flying in the air, the bed was spinning and there were huge puppets. I had heard about he puppets from Paul. He knew what the set was looking like since he helps in the change overs but he had also told me about the puppets because one of his professors was the puppet master and in charge of designing them and getting them built.

If you have a chance to go and see the show before it ends ~ I would recommend it!

Very well worth it.

Three Months Later

2010-02-03T19:20:00.000-08:00

On Halloween night I ended up in the hospital instead of at the ward trunk-or-treat. I thought my cramps were just a bit more intense than usual and I wanted to sleep off the pain. Paul, however, took one look at me and told me he was going to take me to the hospital. Apparently the walls and I had the same white complexion. It didn't register with me just how much pain I was in until I was in the ER and my arms had been perforated so the nurses could find a good vein to get blood and run some tests.

Turns out I was having cramps, but of a different sort than I thought. I had been bleeding internally for a few days and lost so much blood that I was right on the fence as to whether or not they were going to have to give me a transfusion. A couple of days later when I went in for a check up the Dr. told me that I must have an amazing tolerance for pain and if Paul had let me have my way, he would not have been able to wake me up on Sunday morning. For the following week I sat at home watching movies (love the 5 Disc DVD changer) and having neighbors help me out when Paul had a class that he couldn't miss.

We decided to take some time for ourselves before we shared with others. We needed time to wrap our heads around what just happened and things of a personal nature like that, well I got teary eyed every time I thought about it let alone talking about it. It's crazy to think that it has been 3 months, even when I have talked to some of my family they can't believe how much time has past.

Over Christmas when we went to all the family dinners we had so many ask us how we were and what they could do to help. I want to say thanks to everyone.

I love all of you!! Thank you so much. And a special shot out to my friend in OK. I hate to know that she went through the same thing but it has been great to have someone to talk with who knows exactly what the last three months have been like.

Holiday Crafts

2010-01-20T10:45:00.000-08:00

This post is coming a bit late - but better late than never. For Christmas, since things were a bit tight, we decided to do homemade gifts. There is something a bit more special about a gift that someone has put themselves into. As many know I took the opportunity this last summer to reteach myself how to crochet. Last year I made scarves and my mom absolutely loves hers. She said that people have given her so many complements on it and asked where she got it. This year we decided it would be fun to make a couple more for family. I hope they enjoy them.

I have come across a couple of cute beanie ideas and decided to put them all into one. With two new nieces in the family , who are just adorable, I decided to make all of our nieces and nephew a beanie. Of course the spiral design would not work for our nephew so I made it with a straight design and made the band a bit thinner.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera everywhere we went over Christmas break so I did not get any pictures of them in their beanies. However, Pauls mom sent us a couple. Oh my goodness I could not be more excited about how cute they turned out. Bailly already had a white one so I made her a grey one that would still work with her little flower clips. If I ever remember my camera I'll be sure to get more pictures and put them up.

Aggie Ice Cream

2010-01-16T11:28:00.001-08:00

One of the great things about being up here at school is the Ice Cream. The school makes their own ice cream and their signature flavor is Aggie Blue Mint. For Christmas we used Aggie Ice Cream gift cards for a present in a family gift exchange. Pauls cute Grandma Yeates ended up with the gift cards so we told her we would get her some ice cream and bring it down with us the next time we came down. I have an Uncle who also loves the Aggie French Vanilla and he said he wanted one of those. We are going down to visit with family and so Paul can go to the dentist. Others have found out about the Ice Cream we are bringing down with us ~ you guessed it ~ we are now bringing quite a bit with us. So we decided to open it up and ask if there is any more family out there that would like a 1/2 gallon of Aggie Ice Cream.

Flavors Are:
Aggie Blue Mint, Aggie Bull Tracks, Caramel Cashew, Choc Chip Mint, Choc Chip Cookie Dough, Chocolate, Chocolate Almond, Chocolate English Toffee, Cookie Fudge, Cookies n' Cream, French Vanilla, Lemon Custard, Maple Nut, Peppermint (just a couple left), Praline Pecan, Raspberry & Creme, Raspberry Sherbet, Rocky Road, Strawberry, Strawberry Cheesecake, Toffee Crunch, Vanilla.

It is $5.75 for a 1/2 gallon. Just leave a post or get a hold of us by 8 pm tonight. If there are more who would like some we can go get it and bring it with us tomorrow.

A Sophisticated Dog

2010-01-12T11:58:00.000-08:00

Paul has mentioned a couple of times that he wanted to try and put a pair of Mr. Potato Head glasses on Bentley, or maybe a pair of wire rim glasses. With the bushy eyebrows and goatee we both thought it would be pretty funny. Over the Christmas break we were able to go down and spend some time with family. One of our new nieces happened to get a doll that had wire rim glasses. Her parents took the glasses off the doll so that our niece didn't tare them off and try to eat them or pock herself in the eye. So we inherited them.

How handsome! I don't think Bentley was all that amused but the rest of us sure were.

A fantastic chip dip

2010-01-06T10:15:00.000-08:00

For New Years it seamed like everyone we had invited over decided to stay 'home' ~ all those various places they went to for Christmas ~ and so it looked like it was just going to be me and Paul. A girl I used to work with, she was fired a couple of weeks after I was and we also know each other from school, said that her and her husband were going to be up and wanted to come over. Fantastic ~ so it would be the four of us but she said they were going to make a chip dip first then come over.

As I have mentioned before we borrowed some movies from my sister and the next thing on our list of movie series was Harry Potter. Paul and I only have 2 and 4, very random and I have no idea why we have bought those ones and out of order. So we loaded up the 5 Disc DVD changer. Paul had also turned out cable back on ~ there's no TV service without it, uhgg ~ so that we could watch the ball drop. Well our microwave must be a minute slow. When we changed back to the TV the ball had already dropped ~ we all know it is recorded and replayed because we are two hours behind NY - but we caught the last five seconds of a countdown on another channel. Then back to our movies.

I felt a little guilty because I could not keep my eyes open any longer and took about a 20-30 minute nap. Come to find out so did Paul and my friends husband, I did not feel too bad after that. We only watched the first 2 that night, then two movies the next two nights as well. Wow ~ I needed a break after that and so we have not started on the Star Wars movies just yet. Ya know I do not think I have ever watched them all in order so it will be interesting what I pick up on.

Back to the Chip Dip.
Amazing!!!!
Ummm the melted, slightly crisp cheese on top and the
spicy pepperchini was what did it for me.

Try it out and let me know what you think.

Christmas Meatballs

2010-01-04T10:57:00.000-08:00

For the Yeates Christmas party every year someone makes a huge crockpot of meatballs. Paul absolutely loves them and so this year for New Years we made some of our own. The recipe is easy enough but like all crockpot meals, you have to plan the time to let it sit and cook. They are pretty delicious and the friends who were over for New Years said they really liked them as well. Give them a try and let us know what you think.

Just like my last cards these ones are ready to be saved and printed when you need them.
ENJOY!!!

Personal Progress

2010-01-02T11:12:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to be in Young Women's. To be able to work with the girls, to go to camp and to work on my Personal Progress. It is like being on the Mission again and having goals to work towards. LOVE IT!! When I was in Young Women's - a long long time ago - I received all the Gold medallions. Just a little while after I was out they changed the program a bit and the medallion went to silver. Within the last couple of years my mom has been in YW and was able to receive the silver one - I much rather prefer the silver over the gold - and now I have the opportunity to get it.

The church has changed the program again slightly and added the value of virtue. The medallions have been changed slightly but there is still one in silver. Every time I go to mutual or class on Sunday I get excited all over again. Sometimes I wish I could run a USB cord from my brain to the girls and share with them everything I have learned. Since that technology is not around I will have to settle for teaching them how to recognize the Spirit.

On my brief sabbatical from living my life the way I knew I should, there was one thing that kept me from doing anything truly ridiculous and keeping me from harms way. It was all those lessons I had heard about how to act as a daughter of God, I knew he loved me NO MATTER WHAT, that I could talk to him anytime; these were all things that I remember hearing in class on Sunday's. When it came down to it I knew I was not as happy as I had been when I was doing what I knew I should. One night in my bedroom it hit me like to load of bricks and so that night I 'accidentally' lost my cell phone with all of my 'friends' numbers. That is what I want for these girls, and everyone, is to know that they can always come back and that they are never alone.

I just got an e-mail from the YW president with a link to the article in the New Era about the changes that are happening with Personal Progress. That's right, I am all fired up again. My mom has always been a great example of living the gospel and putting others first. I hope that I can do the same and show the girls through my example how excited I am to work on becoming a better person, improving my skills and my faith.

I Love...

2010-01-01T09:51:00.001-08:00

The 5 Disc DVD Changer. Over the break Paul and I decided to watch some of the movie series that we have, or borrowed from my sister. First of all, we would both much rather watch a movie at home. You can start, stop and pause whenever you want to. You can get much more comfortable on your own sofa than in a crowded theatre where you cannot put your feet up and, in my case, where your feet do not even touch the ground in those newer seats. I canmot remember the last movie I went to where no phones started ringing and some Nimrod didn't actually answer it like he wasn't disturbing anyone else. Ah it is like phones in church...they just are not needed. All that is happening is the person who wants to listen to the lesson or speaker is being disturbed and the person who paid to see the movie is distracted. If you do not want to listen or watch then stay home and play on your phone. Ok...there is my little soapbox moment.

Last week we did Lord of the Rings - the extended version. For movies like that, where they come on two discs, the DVD changer is fantastic. Just push the button and bam, nothing more than a 5 second intermission. Last night we watched the first two Harry Potter's. There was no need to get up and change out the DVD. Our friends that were over thought that was fantastic.

While it does not happen very often that we just sit and watch movies back to back - they really are great on the occasions that we do. For instance while I was home recovering from surgery I could not bend at the waste to make myself sit up, I had to have Paul help me. Before Paul would leave for school he would load in a bunch of movies for me and I would be able to stay there in bed or on the recliner. Fantastic!!!

Chicken Salad and Dressing....yummy

2009-11-28T09:41:00.000-08:00

We love Cafe Rio, but can not afford it as often as we would like. The part I love the most is the dressing...uuummmm. My mom mentioned that she had received a Chicken Salad and dressing recipe from a neighbor that is like the Cafe Rio salads. There is a bit of prep time needed and we weren't sure if the payoff was going to be worth it. Well it was, it makes a lot but is so good. The dressing alone is worth the time. We usually make the full amount of dressing so we can have some left over for later. The chicken and rice are really good as well.

Just like my last cards these ones are ready to be saved and printed when you need them.

ENJOY!!!!

Christmas Music

2009-11-09T17:34:00.000-08:00

Lately I have heard a lot of people who have mentioned and do not really like it when people play Christmas music "too early." Now I am not one who can listen to it before Halloween - mixing the two seems a bit odd to me but I will start listening to it in November.

Christmas is not about making a list to make sure you get exactly what you want or even about the presents. To me it is a feeling - I am happier and seem to have a smile on my face for two months straight, no matter what. People are better to each other and more forgiving. Except on those few day right before Christmas when all the last minute shopping is being done.

Listening to Christmas music is a way for me to make that feeling and cheer stretch. Ask my mission companions, since we don't get involved in Halloween it was all they could do to keep me from listening to Christmas carols in October. So to those who say it is too early, I do not think so.

I have changed my player on the blog to Christmas. Normally I don't have the player start automatically either. Having the music play while trying to read someones blog can be kind of hard. But in honor of the season and reason, the player will start automatically if you scroll down to it - just pause it yourself.

I Love......My Husband!!!!

2009-11-06T16:54:00.000-08:00

With everything that has gone on this past week, Paul has been absolutely wonderful. Taking care of me, Bentley, school, dinners and the house he has truly been great. Today was a great day - I was able to get up and move around and no pain pills were needed. Since I am feeling better today and felt like I could handle more then just a bowl of Raisin Bran or Cream of Wheat, Paul decided to make me one of my favorite dishes. Growing up my mom would always make us our favorite meal on our birthday and I always wanted Apricot Chicken. Tonight it turned out just as good as my moms. There are two different recipes but they only very slightly. Just fix up the chicken and serve over rice.

Just click on the cards, to open them, then right click on them and 'save image as.'
Now you can save them where you want and print them off.

~Enjoy

Family Birthday Party

2009-10-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

The last Sunday of every month my grandma holds a monthly birthday party. We are not able to make it every month so when we are in town on those Sundays we always try to make it. For the month of September it was my grandma and a son of one of my cousins. It is always a great time to catch up with the family. It wasn't warm enough to pull out the slip-n-slid but my grandpa made sure that the bikes were all working. My niece and nephew do not have bikes of their own and so they haven't mastered the skill of riding a bike without training wheels. I got on the little bike and showed my niece how easy it was. Since I was on the bike I was not able to get a picture to share with everyone.

Uncle Ryan tried to teach my nephew how to ride the bike and my mom tried to help my niece.

This is the little pink bike I was riding

Bike lessons

What a Weekend

2009-09-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we had so much stuff going on. Paul did the lighting design for The Glass Menagerie and it was the opening weekend. On Thursday night we went to see it for a date night. We always hate leaving Bentley in the kennel when we head out. He hasn't had an accident in a really long time and since we were only going to be gone for a few hours we decided to leave him alone at home and not in the kennel. The show was interesting, not one of my fav's but it was fun to go and see Pauls lighting design. I thought it was great, one of his bests, he keeps getting better every show. He loves what he does and I think that is such a blessing. When the show was over we offered to give a friend a ride home. She was working the show and here husband was at home with their sleeping baby. By the time we got home we were both excited to find that the house was in order. Bentley was able to stay at home by himself and not make a mess.

On Friday we went to the Hale Center Theatre and saw The Scarlet Pimpernel. My friend was playing in it but we got the one with a different caste. Then we noticed that one of Pauls friends from school was in the show. I didn't know the story behind the show, which I think is better. The costumes and set were amazing, it is so fun to see all of them.

On Saturday Paul was going to the Hale to work on change-over and I went to the Relief Society Broadcast with my mom, aunt, Grandma and sister-in-law. It was such a good session and it was fun to be there with so much family. After that we went to Arctic Circle for ice cream and fries. We sat and visited for almost an hour. My mom, aunt and Grandma shared stories with us about when they were growing up. We started talking about the weather as well and how cold Wednesday was going to be, we all call it 'sweater weather.' Of course we are all excited about it and my aunt told us that she already had the sweater picked out that she was going to wear.

I really enjoy being able to spend time with my family when we get a chance.

A New Calling

2009-09-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

This was actually two Sundays ago. We went to ward council and one the councilors in the Bishopric said he wanted to visit with us for a bit. As soon as we sat down I knew what it was about, we were getting a new calling. It was hard because we have only been in the calling we have now for a little less than a year and I did not want it to be over.

Paul is now the second councilor in the Sunday School and we are teachers for the kids that are 12-13. We were told that there were a number of names that was suggested to the Bishopric, then one of the councilors brought up our names and the Bishop said he wanted us back in the ward. He also told us that they wanted teachers for the class who could bare strong testimony as they taught and that is when they thought of us. Such a nice compliment.

We started teaching that Sunday because no substitute had been found yet to teach the class and the last teachers to be over that class just up and moved taking the manual with them. I was not to nervous about going into the class because we already know the kids in there. They are just a year older than the primary kids we used to teach, which means, soon our primary class will be our Sunday School class. I had no idea what we were going to do for a lesson and I did not want to spend the hour playing hangman. Paul, however, was right on top of it. He started out in Abraham 3:22-23 'the noble and great ones.' We then went on discussing who these noble and great ones where. One thing that Paul and I both came home from our missions with is an even greater love for the scriptures and a knowledge of how all the scriptures work together. Abr 3:26 was next, talking about our 'estate' and what glory we could have. We ended up taking about giving away our sins to know the Lord and those who are here on earth that want to follow in word but not deed. I added and bore testimony when I felt to. But the rest of the time I sat there smiling to myself to have such a wonderful husband. Someone so familiar with the scriptures to be able to teach at a moments notice, he can testify of the gospel and know its truth. He is a great husband and will be a great father.

I love you Paul.

Family Vacation

2009-09-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my family went camping up at Marsh Lake. The whole family as able to make it except my sister, she stayed home sick. My youngest brothers girlfriend came up as well, it was fun to be able to spend time with her and get to know her. She went out on the canoe with me to take my niece and nephew. One morning when we were having breakfast we got talking about the our families last name and how she can never remember how to spell it. Then it was brought up that Paul and I are the only ones in the family with a different last name. Long story short, when Brittany found out Paul's full name she said that was her Grandpa's name as well. Turns out she is another cousin of Paul's, the same way that most everyone we have met here at school, they all go back to the same great-grandparents.

Thanks to everyone in the family that helped make it so we could come down. We had a GREAT TIME.

This is a video my brother put together so I thought I would just post it instead of making another one or adding tons of pictures.