Lucky In Love

More Stress

2012-01-25T15:18:00.000-07:00

I must have been out of it yesterday because I hardly remember this part.... I need to go in twice a week for nonstress tests, starting tomorrow.

I'm not sure how that would work if I'm working from home. I think I should stay working in the office, just so I don't stress about Lance driving back and forth from Provo to Sandy to take me to these things!

First Time in the Hospital

2012-01-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

Yeup. I've never been a patient before. I've never worn one of those fancy gowns before. The first time I had my blood drawn was when I had to at the beginning of my pregnancy.

So yes, this was exciting.

I had a routine doctor appointment yesterday. I peed on a stick and got my blood pressure taken. You know, the usual. Two different people had to take my blood pressure, because they said it was being funny.

Then the doctor comes in and asks how I've been feeling. I just showed her my feet. She was shocked! She started feeling them, and, I can't remember what it's called, but when you press on it, the indentation stays. So, then we talked about how my blood pressure was high and I had protein in my urine, so they wanted me to go to the second floor (the labor and delivery floor) and be monitored for about an hour. She said it was too many fishy things to ignore. She also said that instead of seeing me in two weeks, she wants to see me in 1 week. I also need to take a 24 hour urine test. She also suggested me being put on partial bed rest, so I need to speak with my employers about working from home from now on.

If my condition doesn't improve, I have to be put on full bed rest.

I'm only 33 weeks pregnant! I can't have problems like this for 7 weeks, can I? My doctor doesn't think so. She doesn't think I'll last until 40 weeks. So baby Lily might be here sooner than later!

We finished the visit with my questions and concerns, and then I was off to the second floor. I didn't really know what to expect.

They put me in room 203, had me change into a fancy gown, and pee in a cup.

Then my nurse told me that they wanted the urine straight from my bladder, via catheter. That was a little painful. And awkward.

They had a monitor on the baby, to hear Lily's heartbeat. She moved a lot, so we had to adjust it several times.

They had a monitor on the top of my uterus, to monitor any contractions I might have.

They had a blood pressure cuff on my arm, taking my blood pressure every 15 minutes.

And a nice lady came in and took some of my blood.

I swear the nurse was in there the entire time asking me a million questions.

Then all of my results came back from the lab and they said I was looking good, and that I just needed to take it easier than I have been.

I thought I was already taking it easy.

All in all, I'm actually grateful for this experience because now when I am really in labor, I won't be so unfamiliar with the environment. I got to ask questions about what will be monitored during labor, if I'll be able to get up and walk around, take a bath, etc. (I'm still planning to go epidural free, at least until I cannot handle it any more.)

Also, seeing the little baby cart made me excited.

I wished for Lily to come early, but not 7 weeks early. Hang in there for 3.5 more weeks baby!

I Had a Little Breakdown

2012-01-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

My breakdowns are funny because I'm crying and laughing at the same time. I know I'm being silly, but I can't help but cry!

I got ready for church today, went to put on my shoes, and they didn't fit. I crammed them on, and then went to show Lance my elephant feet. I was crying and laughing at the same time. He wasn't sure if he should laugh or hug me.

So he did both. Good choice.

Then I put on some slipper-like shoes, since they were the only ones I could get on.

Then I sat on the couch and cried about how I didn't want anyone to see my feet.

I don't have any dress shoes that aren't high heels. I'm not sure what other options there are for Sunday shoes. I don't think I've ever gone a Sunday without a three inch heel.

I'm hoping this is still the effects from my 45 minute standing wait for Red Lobster, followed by a mile long walk to and from the Jazz game last night.

Maybe I should get some sparkly Toms! Church appropriate, no?

Yesterday

2012-01-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to my first Jazz game since last season. When I walked into the arena I felt like I was home! I've missed the sights, sounds and smells. I've also missed watching the game of basketball in person.

We parked where we used to park, back when we had season tickets. It's about 5 or 6 blocks north of the arena. I didn't think walking that far while being 33 weeks pregnant would be a big deal.

I didn't realize the sidewalks were covered with slush.

What used to take us 10 minutes to walk, took us 25 maybe 30. And now I feel like I've been riding a horse for a week straight. I cannot believe how painful that was! Is! I'm still in pain.

I think we made the right decision to not get season tickets this year. I would be miserable every other night!

We went to the Jazz game to celebrate Eric's birthday. His birthday is next Saturday, but the game next weekend is vs. Sacramento (that's where Jimmer went) and is way overpriced, probably because there are a lot of Jimmer fans in Utah. I had a lot of fun, even though I was physically uncomfortable. I wish we could go to more Jazz games.

We also went to Red Lobster. I really like Red Lobster, however, I do not enjoy standing for 45 minutes while we wait for a table. My feet grew two sizes in that time! The food was very much worth it though. And their Cheddar Bay Biscuits.... oh! So delicious.

Yesterday was also my baby shower. My best friend, Sierra, was very nice and thew me one. She put in so much thought and effort into it. It turned out really nice, everything was so cute! I feel so lucky to have so many friends who are willing to help out. We were given a lot of nice things. Now on to making thank you cards!

Sometimes

2012-01-17T10:00:00.002-07:00

I get really sad about not having any sisters close by.

New Stuffs

2012-01-06T20:05:00.000-07:00

I changed my hair again. Anyone want to guess what color(s) I am now? If you ask me, it's kind of boring... but it will grow out nicely, since I'm not sure how often I'll be able to get to Kellyanne to do touch-ups.

Before, my hair looked like this:

Um... ew?! And I actually styled my hair that day!

I don't have any after pictures. So I guess you get to keep that picture in your mind. But I covered up most of the blonde with a dark brown, and added red and blonde highlights to my hair. It looks like brand new hair! I really like it.

In other news, I have been playing with one of my new toys lately.

Behold, the cupcake maker:

I never had a muffin pan before... sad huh? Well now I do. The bad part is that it only cooks 7 at a time, and they are mini, so I can eat all 7 myself before the next batch is ready. The good part is that the muffins, biscuits, cupcakes or whatever you are making cook super fast! I made cheesy muffins last night. Tonight I'm making banana muffins. They are wonderful.

I'm not really a fan of cupcakes, or cake in general, but I love muffins!

Something else that comes in handy:

Before, I only had a hand mixer, so I am LOVING life right now.

And gaining weight like crazy.

Lamaze

2012-01-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

My first Lamaze class was good. I really like the instructor. I was worried she would push natural birth, but she said that's not her goal. Her goal is to give us all the information we need about labor so we can make our own decisions. Thank goodness!

I think whether or not you get an epidural you will be in some sort of pain, at least before, so the breathing and relaxation techniques will help no matter what. I think it's also a good bonding time for Lance and me. It also made me think about things I can take with me to the hospital. I hadn't thought of that before either. I just thought you show up, with maybe a bag of clothes/hygeine stuff. But now I'm thinking I can bring snacks for Lance, music, I can hang up a picture to focus on, a birthing ball, etc.

One thing we did that I really enjoyed was that we wrote down our list of positives and negatives about pregnancy and birth. My negatives were all fears about IVs, needles, blood and pain. Lance's fears were all about after the baby is born: being a good dad, finding people to watch her occasionally, etc. It was really interesting. We really hadn't talked about what we were afraid of before. Different perspectives, I suppose.

We also did some exercises on the floor. She showed us different positions that might be more comfortable, and showed our helpers how to make our back feel better.

Overall a very enlightening experience and I can't wait until my class next week.

Nesting

2011-12-31T11:03:00.000-07:00

I spent my days off last weekend reorganizing my kitchen.

Most everything I asked for, for Christmas, were appliances, but we didn't have any space for them! So, a few boxes full of DI stuff and some rearranging and I have a brand new kitchen. It is wonderful. It makes me want to cook. It does not make me want to grocery shop. I hate grocery shopping.

This weekend, so far, we've put together the new crib and changer that we purchased, and I've been painting a nasty old dresser that we got from Lance's parents' house. This thing is at least 30 years old. I bet it has lead paint on it.

I'm not really worried. Should I be? I'm painting over it. This is my inspiration:

I like how each drawer is a different color.

The dresser I'm working on is short and has two columns of four drawers. It is currently a chipped and faded white-ish color. Well, I shouldn't say currently, because I've started painting already. But it was a chipped and faded white-ish color. Now I have two pale-yellow drawers, two pale-green drawers, two pale-orange drawers, and two tan drawers. It looks pretty cute so far! The handles and the rest of the dresser will be dark brown.

I'll post pictures... if I ever upload them off my camera. I'm lazy about that.

Classes

2011-12-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

I just signed up for a couple of classes at the Provo hospital.

I'm starting to get super nervous for delivery. I hate not knowing what to expect. I don't know what kind of pain I'll be in. I don't know how I'll handle it. I just don't know! Hopefully these classes help me out a bit.

I signed up for a four week Lamaze course, since I'm semi-planning on going natural. I haven't completely decided yet, but if I do decide to go natural, I think it'd be best if I was prepared with some relaxation and breathinging techniques, right?

I have nothing against epidurals and drugs. I just figure that women have given birth without them for thousands of years, so I should be able to as well. However, if the pain is too much, I'll get one. No big deal.

The needle size does scare me a bit.

I also signed up for a breastfeeding class. Several people I know have struggled to breastfeed, and it is something that I would really like to succeed at, so I'm going to learn all I can about it.

Last night, Lance was talking to my belly (or I guess you could say he was talking to Lily), and he told her we were ready for her if she wanted to come early. It made me laugh. I just said, "Not too early! We don't want a 3 lb baby!"

It's starting to get exciting, and scary.

How Am I Doing?

2011-12-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

I'm 28 weeks along as of yesterday!

My 20lb weight gain goal was crap.

Last time I checked I was at 30lbs gained, and that was probably two weeks ago. I'm trying to not let it bother me, especially since Lily has at least 4 more pounds to gain.

I got down to my last two pairs of jeans that still fit... so I buckled down and bought maternity. They are too big. I need a belt. I don't have any belts that fit. So, while I am more comfortable, now I have to worry about falling out of my pants, rather than not being able to breathe.

I just can't win.

I'm also starting to worry about shirts. I'm still fitting in to a couple of non-maternity shirts that I have, and I have just a few maternity shirts. I have asked Santa for maternity clothes.

It's hard to go from having tons of clothes, to wearing pretty much the same stuff over and over again.

It also sucks for laundry, because I actually have to do it more than once every 8 weeks. This is a necessary change since I'll have to wash Lily's clothes every day.

But, all those things aside and I am a super happy camper! Lily is getting stronger and stronger. She's extremely active. I feel her kicks, bumps and flips several times a day, every day. I wonder if this means nap time will be difficult...

Lily's room is a disaster. I have no motivation to get it ready. However, I did purchase a super cute shelf from Robert's that I am going to paint all pretty for her room. Too bad her room is full of crap right now.

My Trip

2011-12-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a rundown of everything I did with my family.

When I got off the plane, I started looking for the bag claim. The Raleigh airport is tiny. I swear I walked off the plane, turned the corner, and I was by the bag claim. Also, I heard "Jenn!" behind me, from a familiar voice. It was Elise! I walked back towards them and smiled and tried not to get emotional.

I have this fear of being accused of being an emotional pregnant woman. I probably shouldn't care. Also, I'm not overly emotional. I think any reasonable person would cry when they saw their family after missing them so much.

Then we waited for my bag....

After we left the airport, we went to pick up my dad from work and we went to this great restaurant called Red Hot and Blue. It was delicious. Jessica and I shared an order of the 10 wings appetizer. We felt that was plenty of food. Jessica about died from her excitement about their mustard sauce.

Friday the girls got up extremely early in the morning to go to school. It was really only 6am, and I wasn't tired at that time anyway, so I got up as well. Emilee stayed home from school. My mom, Emilee and I went shopping for stuff for the candies we were going to make, and the items needed so I could make them a pomegranate roast. I felt like we shopped all day. We went to Kroger, and then to Wallgreens. Then we went to lunch with Dad at Steak 'N Shake. Boy oh boy was it delicious. I don't know if it was really all that good, or if I was just starving, but it was good, and the prices were great!

Oh and Dad told the story of how he gave himself a frostbite using ice, salt, and stupidity. He is neat, and I almost peed my pants.

After lunch we went to the most amazing dollar store I've ever been in. They had everything! Several things, I wanted to purchase, but didn't have room in my bag to bring them home on the plane.

Finally we went back home, and then we started making candy. Making candy is exhausting.

We made these retarded cookies. They were a great idea, we just failed. Basically it's a sugar cookie. You cut the center out of the sugar cookie and put some sort of clearish candy in there. We used Jolly Ranchers. The Jolly Ranchers melt and it makes a stained glass effect in the cookie.

I have photo evidence of our failure. However, they sure did taste good!

We also made peanut butter balls, almond joys, caramel, toffee, truffles... I think that's it. Elise is the best candy maker.

Friday night I went to a creche. There were tons of nativity scenes displayed, as well as a live nativity scene. There were also lots of musical performances. Emilee's school choir was singing. They were wonderful!

Saturday morning, Emilee had another choir concert. Which we missed, and I was very upset about it. Poor Emilee. She pretends that it's OK, but really it's not. She should probably let people know when it hurts, and stop letting people walk all over her.

Saturday afternoon, we dipped the candies we made into chocolate, and I got really grumpy. So I took a nap. Then we went to the creche again, because my mom was performing with one group, and then both my parents were performing in another group.

Sunday I went to church. This was a great experience, which I will have to write details about another time.

I made my family dinner on Sunday, and I believe they all liked it. There were no leftovers. Then we watched TV, and I fell asleep on the couch.

Monday all three girls stayed home from school. We went to breakfast at Bojangles and we got some Boberry bisuits. They were delicious!

We went home and finished up the last of our chocolate dipping, and went to lunch with dad at Cookout.

Did you know that a barbecue means that you are having pulled pork with barbeque sauce, and a cookout means you are having hot dogs and hamburgers? If you invite people to a "barbecue" at your house and you fail to have pulled pork, they will kill you.

Anyway, Cookout is just a drive through. So we got our food and took it to a pond thingy, where we ate it and told duck jokes, or goose jokes or other random jokes. It was a good time. And Emilee embarrassed herself. She was telling a joke about how different people stand when they take photos.

An American tourist stands like this. *pose*
A photography student stands like this. *pose*
An Asian stands like this. *pose*

And an Asian was getting into his car right behind her. She was so embarrassed. It was great.

Then I had to say goodbye to my dad. This was hard because I don't know when I'll see him again. I think it will be over a year, and this makes me sad.

Then my mom and sisters dropped me off at the airport. Again, I tried to not cry. I love my sisters. I miss them.

No issues through security this time. :-)

Fun at the Airport

2011-12-07T10:21:00.001-07:00

I went to visit my family this past weekend. It was wonderful.

Early Thursday AM, before the sun came up, I got up and showered. I packed the few remaining items I needed, kissed my babies (my dogs) goodbye, and Lance drove me to the airport. I was nervous and excited. I love to fly, however, I've never flown alone. And I usually grasp Lance's hand tightly as we take off. It's the most fun and most scary part to me. It seems like that's the time when things can go wrong and you'll come crashing back down. I tried not to think about that though. Lance helped me take my bags to check them, and then we walked towards the security line.

Then I cried. And I didn't stop crying until the end of my first flight when we were about to land in Phoenix.

However, before I even got on the flight it was quite an adventure. I had to do the body scan thing. Hope they enjoyed my prego body! And of course it flagged something, so I had to be patted down as well. And while I was being patted down, someone held up my backpack, asking whose it was. Then they said they had to search it. I'm sorry. I'm pregnant. I have stuffed my carry on with snacks and items to keep me entertained. At least they're doing their job. Even pregos can be dangerous.

Anyway, still crying, I boarded my flight. I could hear people around me thinking, "crazy pregnant woman, afraid to fly."

No... just never flown without my best friend and true love. And I don't really like spending days away from him. I missed him as soon as we separated at the air port.

I gathered myself together, took a deep breath, and left my tears on that plane. I was ready and excited to see my mom, dad and sister who I haven't seen since August.

My second flight was a long one. Phoenix to Raleigh. It's 4.5 - 5 hours. That's not fun for a 6.5 month pregnant lady whose legs cramp up and has to go potty a lot. I decided on a isle seat, so I could get up as I needed. I sat next to two very nice older ladies. One was from Raleigh, the other from Phoenix. The one from Phoenix was visiting her sister. She was very nice.

Then, we were descending. I could see the jagged shapes of the blocks in Raleigh. TONS of pine trees. It was very green.

And then we landed, and I rushed off the plane as fast as I could go.

I Am An Idiot

2011-11-23T14:30:00.001-07:00

It's true.

When I bought the ingredients for my brine, I waited to buy oranges. When I bought oranges, I really bought grapefruit.

Who does that?

I made the brine using the grapefruit peel anyway. Hopefully it doesn't really matter.

But really, who buys grapefruit instead of oranges? How the heck didn't I notice that what I was buying was PINK and not ORANGE? Holy cow!

Turkey goes in the brine tonight. Wish me luck!

In other news, I am grateful that I live in a time where I can drive to the store and buy groceries. Anything I want is pretty much accessible. I don't have to trade with neighbors, or plant things myself. How spoiled are we?

More Thank Yous

2011-11-22T15:38:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I put our turkey in the fridge on Friday morning and it's still really frozen. I'm starting to get nervous..... However, I am thankful for refrigerators.

I bought a brining bag, because they are humongous and can fit a 22lb turkey, plus two gallons if liquid in them. Best creation ever! I'm thankful for brining bags.

I took my marketing research test on Saturday. I hope I passed. I'm thankful my company gave me the opportunity to continue my education.

Lance is home sick today. Part of me is secretly hoping he did the dishes. But when I was home sick last week, did I do the dishes? Alas, I did not. So I won't be sad if the house is as messy as I left it this morning.

Did you know that I will be seeing my long lost family in 9 days? I'm so excited. (I'm thankful for airplanes.)

I have this desire to publicly brag about my awesome brother-in-law, Jeff Morrey. However, I can't say why. It's a secret, for now. But let's just say that he is so awesome and he made me 100 times more excited for Christmas!

Does that catch me up on thank-yous?

Mo Tab

2011-11-17T11:39:00.001-07:00

I am thankful for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

I have a Christmas Pandora station I've been listening to lately, and it has some popular songs by popular artists as well as instrumental and Mo Tab songs on there...

The Mo Tab songs are the best. For one, the songs they sing represent the true meaning of Christmas, rather than getting presents, or missing someone they love, etc. It's nice to not hear about Santa in a song once in a while.

Santa Baby = the most annoying Christmas song. Ever.

Another reason I like Mo Tab Christmas songs the best is because of the spirit they bring when you listen to them. I like the Mo Tab version of O Holy Night better than Celine Dion's version, or Josh Groban's version, or any other version. I've wondered why this is for a while, and I think I've figured it out today.

Each member in Mo Tab has a testimony of each song they are singing, and you can feel it through the way they sing. It's as if they are perfect vessels for the spirit to send its message through. They are not just trying to sound good. They are not singing for money. They are singing because they love the Lord, they love music, and they love to share the gospel with others. Most importantly, what they are singing is true.

And I love them. I'm thankful there are some Christmas songs out there that aren't focusing on presents, Santa, and kissing under the mistletoe.

Relief Society

2011-11-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

Finding something each day to be thankful for is not difficult.

Blogging every day is difficult. I don't spend much time on the computer at home, except to look up recipes.

Anyway, yesterday was a good day. Work was pretty slow, so I got to study for this big test I need to take for my marketing course. I'm not quite done with my reading assignment, but I started taking practice quizzes anyway. I was getting solid 80%-90% scores, so I feel pretty good about taking the test this week.

After work, I dropped Lance off at his second job and then I went straight to relief society.

Relief society? Yep! This is the second time I have gone since I've been in the ward... My ward does a great job about notifying me about activities and making me feel welcome, I'm just so dang shy! I'm in Primary, so I don't know very many of the sisters, so I don't go to the activities. This week I realized I'm not going to know any of the sisters unless I start going to activities. So I'm going to try to do better about that.

Last night I sat a table between two sisters who I recognized, but I don't really know. One sister's daughter, Kyla, was in my Primary class last year. (I just love that name, Kyla. As a side note, I wanted Lily's name to be Kyla Lily, (like a play on the name of the calla lily flowers) but Lance didn't agree with it....) My visiting teacher, Amy, was at the same table, just a couple sisters away, so I didn't feel totally like a fish out of water. The food was good, and I talked a little bit to some ladies. I made a little craft and then went home.

I feel really good about going to this activity. There are always new sisters in the ward, so I'm sure there are plenty of sisters who don't know each other, and we're all sort of in the same boat. We just have to take the initiative to get to know each other. I'm thankful for the relief society.

After relief society I went home to get my girls. I had thawed out my frozen cinnamon rolls in the fridge, so I put them on the counter to raise for a bit. They didn't really raise. Ok, they didn't raise at all. So freezing this particular cinnamon roll dough was not a good idea. However, after baking them and drenching them in a cream cheese-butter-milk-vanilla-powdered sugar mixture, they were excellent.

Later that night, after watching Dancing with the Stars, I loaded the girls into the car and went to Walmart. The dogs stayed in the car. I bought all of my Thanksgiving items. Well, almost all. I still need a stock pot that can hold over 2 gallons of liquid (my lovely sister in law will be letting me borrow hers), 4 oranges (I thought they'd go bad if I bought them this early), and a turkey bag. Walmart was out of turkey bags, however they were stocking the shelves, so maybe if I go back tonight they will have some.

Thanks to two of my awesome cousins and their success stories, I have found the confidence to just brine a regular ol' turkey from Walmart! I bought a 22lb Butterball. It was heavy. Not sure I should have lifted it... I will be brining it, however, I will be decreasing the amount of salt in the brine recipe I'll be using, just to be careful. I'm borrowing the stock pot to cook the brine in, and the turkey bag is to soak the turkey in the brine. I'm super excited! I want to start cooking the turkey now. Maybe I'll go buy an 8lb turkey and practice! :-)

After Walmart it was almost 11pm, and I drove to the mall to pick up Lance. He was tired. I was tired. Before now I've made sure I got 8 hours of sleep each night. But getting home at 11:30pm, and having to get up at 7am means that is not possible. Remarkably, I feel fine! Practice for when I'm getting 2 hours of sleep each night, no?

Friends

2011-11-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

I've been having a bit of stress trying to figure out how to cook a turkey.

The inner chef in me wants to go all Food Network and brine a turkey and roast it all fancy-like. I've been doing research on turkeys, and you really shouldn't brine a regular ol' turkey from the grocery store because they are injected with a solution that already includes salt.

Brining is where you soak your meat in a salty solution (that also includes other flavorings, and usually sugar) to break up the connective tissues (or something like that) in your meat, allowing it to be juicier and have more flavor once it is cooked. This isn't just a theory. I brine chicken and pork ANY TIME I cook it and the difference is obvious.

Anyhow, soaking an already salted turkey in a salt solution will result in what? An incredibly salty turkey.

So I toyed with the idea of taking a plain ol' frozen turkey from the grocery store, and thawing it, then brining it, but decreasing the salt in my brine by half. But that still makes me nervous because it is entirely experimental, and I don't want to serve a nasty salt lick to 15 people.

Another idea I had was to take a plain ol' frozen turkey from the grocery store, and thaw it in the sink, in water, hoping that osmosis would remove some of the salty solution from the plain ol' turkey. Using this method, I thought I might re-fill the sink with fresh water every 6 hours or so, to get as much salt out of the turkey as possible. And then brine it, but still decreasing my salt by half.

I'm still uncomfortable with the idea.

With the help of some friends, I have discovered where I can purchase a turkey that has not been injected with junk. However, for the turkey I want it is $85. I would pay that in a heart beat, if I could guarantee that I wouldn't mess up the turkey. Either way, Lance is uncomfortable paying that much.

So here I am, back at square one, wanting a super moist, super flavorful, gourmet turkey, but not a decision on what turkey to buy or how to cook it.

I've gotten some great tips from Tearsa, a co-worker of mine, that I might end up using if I can't find a cheaper non-injected turkey.

Some other friends on Facebook have given me good ideas of where to purchase turkeys, but I am still looking into price on those.

I found a great turkey at Whole Foods for around $50, but the closest location is in Cottonwood Heights.

I think Lance is getting frustrated and doesn't understand why I just won't cook a plain ol' turkey from the grocery store. I'm not sure I understand why I don't want to either. It's not that I'm too good. It's not that they aren't good enough. I guess I just want to try something different. I like experimenting with techniques and flavors with food and I want Thanksgiving to be a wonderfully amazing dinner. Maybe no one else that I am eating with really cares.

Either way, I'm thankful for all the friends who have been patient with my questions and who have given me tips and advice. And if you're reading this, and have more tips and advice, please do share!

Other things I am making for Thanksgiving are:

Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce
Candied Yams (I don't have a recipe... basically yams or sweet potatoes, lots of butter, lots of brown sugar, cinnamon, and toasted marshmallows on top)
Butterbeer

I feel it's a sin that I'm not making gravy out of the turkey drippings...or adding turkey drippings to the stuffing, but Lance's sister, Laura, wanted to make the gravy (she's also doing the potatoes), and Nicole wanted to make the stuffing.

Family and Cinnamon Rolls

2011-11-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

Last night Lance got to feel baby Lily kick or punch or whatever she was doing. It was pretty consistent for a while, and my whole tummy was moving, so I think she may have had the hiccups. Anyway, I was glad we got to share that. Let's say that I am thankful we got to share that, and count it as yesterday's thankfullness!

Yesterday was a pretty good day. Lance had to work at the Disney Store from 11am to 7:30pm. So we got the girls (our dogs) in the car and dropped him off. Then I came home and lounged around playing on the computer. My dad was online on Skype so I got to talk to him, and my mom, and my sisters. It was nice. Then I decided that I was going to take some of the wonderful cinnamon rolls I made over to Eric's house so they could help me eat them. That was fun too. I hadn't seen Mabel in a while. It seems like she's learned something new every time I see her! She now can clap (has been clapping since before her first birthday), say "touch down!" and throw her hands in the air, blow kisses, say "kitty, kitty, kitty, " say "tickle, tickle tickle," she knows the word "bubbles", and when you ask her what the cat says, she says "OW, OW, OW" meaning "meow, meow, meow." She's been saying "Hi!" for a really long time too. That was her first word. So stinking cute!

I let Mabel play with my phone and after she had it for a while, she handed it back to me. Then I handed it back to her, and she handed it back to me. I didn't understand what was going on until Katie said, "She wants you to turn it on for her." That made me laugh! I said, "No, Mabel. You can't make your phone calls on my phone, sorry." She got bored of the passing back and forth game. I guess cell phones aren't fun if they aren't lighting up!

My dad was still on Skype, so we chatted with my family more while I was at Eric and Katie's. It makes me feel like I pretty much got to spend the whole day with my family. I'm thankful for that.

Let's talk about these cinnamon rolls, shall we? I had a craving for cinnamon rolls, and decided that I would just make some. I had no idea how much effort you have to put into cinnamon rolls. I started at 7pm on Friday night. I browsed some recipes from some of my favorite cooks (Pioneer Woman, cooks on the Food Network, etc.) and decided to do a combination of Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls, and Alton Brown's cinnamon rolls. However, neither one of their icings appealed to me, so I made up my own. I made an awesome decision. The only change I'll make for next time is to double the brown sugar/cinnamon/butter filling! I cut the dough recipe in half, because I just wanted one pan of cinnamon rolls, but it still ended up making two pans full. So, I have a pan of uncooked cinnamon rolls in my freezer for when I go visiting teaching this week. Awesome. I had a finished pan of overly-frosted cinnamon rolls at about 11pm on Friday. And they were wonderful. And I woke up 10 pounds heavier. I'm thankful that I can blame my weight gain on Lily. :-D

Frozen Lunches

2011-11-11T14:11:00.000-07:00

Yeup, that's what I'm thankful for today.

My favorite brand would have to be Healthy Choice. Stouffer's is pretty good too.

Yesterday, I tried the new pumpkin ravioli from Health Choice, it was super good! Today I'm having one with broccoli and beef in it.

These frozen lunches help me to save money by being cheaper than eating out for lunch. You can buy them for about $2-$3 a piece, when eating out is at least $5 a person most places. I know when I actually make enough dinner for leftovers it's even cheaper than the $2 frozen meal... but I don't always make dinner. So. Yeah.

My absolute favorite frozen lunch is the Red Pepper Alfredo from Healthy Choice. It is comparable to Pizza Pie Cafe's red pepper pasta sauce, which I love.

Lance

2011-11-10T16:18:00.000-07:00

You know how people say they love their spouse more now than they did the day they married them?

I never understood it. How can you love someone more? Shouldn't you already love them a lot if you're going to marry them? What happens to make you able to love them more?

I can tell you that I love Lance more now than I did at the beginning of this year. I'm not sure how it happened. I think life throws trials, sadness, hardships and other things at you, and when you stick together and work together at helping each other you grow together, and that helps you fall more in love with each other.

Just noticing how he's changed with the news of becoming a father has made me love him more. He was always been a great guy, but now he's more patient, more caring, more loving, and more kind to me than he ever has been.

We went to Planet Play last week for a little fun. He kicked my bum at mini-golf, and I kicked his at mini-bowling. :) It was fun to get out and play, just the two of us. Usually when we go places like that, we always include other people. It was different for it to be just the two of us, but I really enjoyed it.

Obviously, I am thankful for Lance. I am thankful for his forgiving heart, and patience with me. I am thankful for his work ethic and how hard he works to support us. I am thankful for his friendship. He understands me more than I understand myself. I am thankful that he never gets upset when I say I don't feel like making dinner, or doing laundry, or doing the dishes. I am thankful that he will pitch in and do those things. I am also thankful that he has the same addiction as I do to eating out. I'm thankful that we can compromise about anything. I'm thankful for his kind, loving parents, who raised him to respect others. He is the perfect balance of his shy, quiet mom, who mostly keeps her opinions to herself, and his outspoken, talkative, friendly father who loves to make sure everyone else is happy.

I don't really like to brag, but, I have an awesome marriage. :-)

Hymns

2011-11-10T13:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was awful. I had the worst headache ever and it wouldn't go away. Tylenol didn't help, sleep didn't help, drinking lots of water didn't help, getting a bit of caffeine didn't help.

I have decided that it was a stress headache.

I stayed home from work and called my mommy. We talked for a while, then I tried to take a nap. I couldn't stop thinking about work and some issues I had the previous day, so I called my sister Emilee. We talked for a while, then she passed the phone to Jessica and we talked for a while. It was so nice to hear their voices.

Then I called Lance to see how he was doing. He had a busy day at work.

Then once again I tried to take a nap. I had to sing a few hymns to get myself to not think about work. Then baby Lily decided it was flipping time, which was pretty relaxing. I could just sit there and enjoy her company without saying a word.

Three hours later, I woke up. Sill with a headache. But the nap was nice.

Anyway, I couldn't bear to look at a computer screen yesterday, so I didn't share something for which I am thankful. (Do you like how sometimes I use proper puncuation and grammar, and sometimes I do not? I prefer to blog how I would speak, and therefore, don't care about the proper use of things for the most part...)

I'm thankful for hymns. I'm thankful for those talented people who wrote the tunes for the hymns and the talented people who wrote the words for hymns, and the talented people who perform hymns. Hymns are beautiful, and help to clear my mind better than anything else.

I remember being in Primary when we lived in Santaquin and we learned that one song that was about humming your favorite hymn. I don't remember all the words, but I remember it talking about any time you feel down or scared or sad "...Just hum your favorite hymn. Sing out with vigor and vim, and you will find it clears your mind. Hum your favorite hymn." Ever since then, I've hummed my favorite hymn many, many times. It always works. Always.

Maybe later today I will think of something else to share that I am thankful for.

Credit

2011-11-08T09:35:00.001-07:00

I'm thankful for credit.

Credit is a double edged sword. Without it, I wouldn't have a house, a car, and we probably would have gone hungry back in 2009 when Lance lost his job. However, it's tricky to not go too far with it.

I remember, the night before Lance lost his former job we were trying to decide if we should go to New York City or not. No, we didn't have the money... but the flight price was almost too good to turn down! Almost. We decided against it. The next day our lives were turned upside down.

Before that time, we used credit a lot more than we should have. We had good income, so we knew we could always pay all of our bills. After that time, we've learned to have the money for things that we want, before we purchase them. If the money isn't there, we don't go on the trip, or we don't purchase the item. We racked up a lot of debt while Lance was out of a job, and slowly we've been climbing out of it.

Last week we paid off one of our credit cards! It's a great feeling, however, then you remember how many other credit cards you have.

Lance got a second job at the Disney store, mostly for fun and for the discount, but the little extra money will help us to continue to pay down our debts while still being able to afford Christmas presents. His first official night was last night, 6pm to 10pm. We only have one car, so this means I have to stay up later than I'd like to go pick him up. But I'm happy to do it. If he's willing to work on his feet for 12 hours in a day, I can do with one fewer hour of sleep.

I am thankful for our unwise choices in the past that have taught us to be wiser with our time and money.

Patience

2011-11-07T11:44:00.000-07:00

I'm thankful for patience. Unfortunately, I don't have any.

But thank you to those who are patient with my lack of patience. Like Lance. He deals with my outbursts of, "YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME!" by saying, "I'm sorry. I am listening to you. I'm just trying to have fun."

On a side note: Pregnant women should NOT be in charge of training people.

Make that, *I* shouldn't be in charge of training people. I am so sick of it (wouldn't you be if you had to train new people over and over and over again) that if my current trainee doesn't remember something after I've told them (only once), I get incredibly annoyed. I'm sorry, take notes. You did? Great. Follow them! You missed that? Well, maybe you should take better notes. And ask questions.

I'm more understanding if you ask a question, rather than say you've checked something and it's completely wrong.

Oh yeah, patience. *sigh*

I'll be patient with Lily, about most things, I think...right?

Mom

2011-11-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

I'm thankful that my mom cooked dinner practically every night while I was growing up. She taught me how to cook and clean and take care of a home.

I'm thankful that she inspired me to cook. I love to cook. I love finding new recipes to try and new techniques to use.

Here is a dinner that I'll be making this week: Braised Chicken With Tomatillos and Jalapenos. I'll probably serve it with a cilantro-lime rice.

Also something I want to try to make soon: Chocolate Ricotta Pudding

There is something about the fall and winter that brings out the inner chef in me and I get more adventurous than normal. I have hundreds of recipes in my "to try" folder on my computer, but in the fall I always tend to add more and more... I'm super excited for the day I'll be able to stay at home and make amazing dinners every day.

PS: I'm horrible at updating my recipe blog. But maybe when I stay at home I'll update it more often. The thing is, I want to include pictures but I always forget to take pictures when I cook, so maybe I should just forget about the picture idea and just start posting more recipes. Also, my photography skill is a 1 on a scale of 1 to 100. :)

DataWise

2011-11-05T10:32:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for my job at DataWise. When I started working there in August of 2006, I had no idea that I was starting a job with some of the most caring employers I have ever known.

Yeah the work is sometimes hard and stressful, and the hours can be long, but at the end the year they make it all worthwhile. They remind you how valuable you are to the company and boost your morale for another year.

2012 will be a big year for them. I have mixed feelings about choosing this time to have a child. It means that I won't be able to participate as much as I have in years' past. I am sure, however, that what I do accomplish for them, they will be very appreciative.

Thank you, DataWise.

Emilee

2011-11-04T07:46:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for my sister, Emilee. She is a great example to me of a true disciple of Christ. She has missionary experiences at school. She makes good friends and does her best to choose the right. She sings like an angel and doesn't hide her talents.

She is a bit of a drama queen... but weren't we all at 15?

I can't wait to see her in 3 weeks and 6 days.

Bentley and Layla

2011-11-03T07:14:00.000-06:00

I'm thankful for my two doggies. I love them so much! I love how excited and happy they are when we get home from work. I love how happy and excited they are when we tell them they get to put on their collars and go for a ride in the car. I love how snuggly they are when they're tired. I love how they listen to me, and look at me, and tilt their heads to the side when they recognize words I say. I love how they don't go potty (or number two) in the house. They're such good girls.

Last week we had a little scare with Bentley. I got out of bed, let them outside for a bit, then started getting ready for work. 5 minutes later, Lance comes down holding a limp Bentley in his arms. She wasn't breathing very well, her ears were down, and she looked so sad and so scared.

We immediately went to the vet. He said she had an upper respiratory infection that could turn into the dog flu. Who knew dogs could get the flu? He gave us some medicine, and we went on our way. She did get better, and I was relieved that it wasn't life threatening.

A few days later, the vet called to see how Bentley was doing. So thoughtful!

Not Coming Back

2011-11-02T16:41:00.000-06:00

Deep down I thought maybe my family would.

Their home has sold, so if they do come back, it won't be to the same happy home.

It's not necessarily the house that I'm so attached to. It's the memories that happened in that house. It was a house that any neighborhood kids/teenagers were welcome to come to any time. The food was practically free-flowing to anyone. We often had extra people over for dinner. Lance first kissed me out by the mailbox. I fell in the ditch that used to be just south of the house. My family spent hours and weeks and months working on the back yard. My dad cut down the nasty tress that were back there, busting up his mouth. Dad used to spend hours in the yard, he turned that back yard from weeds to nice grass, using grass seed, not sod. He and my brothers built the deck, the deck hosted many parties. Dad would practice playing the flugelhorn in the music room. Eric and Jared would have band practice up in the bonus room.

It was house where a family I am proud to be a member of lived.

Maybe the hardest part is that not only is the house gone, but my loved ones who lived inside the house are also gone. I can't go see them any time I want at their new house. I can't see how their new house is becoming a home. I can't make new memories with them.

Growing up is hard. Growing apart is harder.

I'm Thankful!

2011-11-02T10:18:00.000-06:00

A thank you a day keeps the sadness away, right?

Since I'm a day behind, today I will share two things I am thankful for.

Yesterday, I had a wonderful visit to my doctor. I am thankful that Lily is healthy and growing... even though I don't appreciate that causing me to grow as well. :-)

Today I am thankful for my drive to and from work each day with my wonderful husband. It's an extra 1.5 to 2 hours I get to spend with him, that in previous years I never got to spend with him.

What Else is New?

2011-10-23T21:37:00.000-06:00

Braxton Hicks. They started last week. Sometimes they hurt. Not like menstrual cramps, but like when I got my IUD in. I get a couple every afternoon. Most of the time they're just tight and uncomfortable.

My lower back hurts like heck, usually in the morning. Luckily it goes away once I get up and moving.

Lily really kicked me last night. I guess, I'm not sure what part of her hit me, so it may not have been a kick. But it bumped really hard, and stayed there for a second, then moved away. Then she did it again. What the heck are you doing in there, kid?

Halloween Cruise and Shopping

2011-10-23T21:24:00.000-06:00

I went on a little cruise down the Provo river with Lance, Katie, Eric and Mabel this weekend. It was cute. It's more for kids than anything, but I enjoyed it! You get on a boat with about 20 other people, and you have a pirate captain who tells you a story, and sings a song. Then another pirate takes over the boat and tells jokes and gives you candy. The river is lined with Halloween lights and carved pumpkins, so they reflect off the water. It was really pretty.

Saturday we went to the Park City outlets to get me some clothing. I got two undershirts (since my undershirts and tank tops no longer fit), three tops and a dress. I'm glad I got some clothes that don't make me feel like a cow.

Seriously.

I may not be huge, but I think anyone can agree that when you are gaining weight, no matter what size you were and what size you have become, it's depressing, and shopping sucks, and you feel like no matter what you wear you look like crap. All I can think about is, when will this baby get here, and, when can I start Insanity again? I'm ready to have my normal tummy back again.

I'm only halfway done and I've gained 8 lbs. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I think you gain more in your 2nd half than your 1st half of pregnancy. My goal is to keep it under 20. I don't think it's going to happen. The worst has yet to come.

I really do have body image issues.

My 20 week ultra sound is tomorrow! Here's to hoping Lily has all of her fingers and toes, and everything is normal. But if it turns out to be Liam and not Lily, that's OK too. We haven't bought any gender-specific items yet.

Want to hear a strange (at least, I think it's strange) story? My favorite color is pink. I do not want to dress Lily in pink very much. I want her to wear purple and green and brown. The nursery will be green and brown.

The end.

Halloween Festivities

2011-10-20T17:01:00.001-06:00

Did you know that I cannot recall a time where I had my own pumpkin to carve any way I wanted?

This year, I challenged that (does anyone else get annoyed at those Olay commercials?).

Lance and I wanted to carve pumpkins! We were going to do it this weekend, but Lance's sister, Laura, invited us to her place for dinner last Sunday and said that they would be carving pumpkins as well that day. So, we went to Walmart and I picked out my first, very own pumpkin!

Then I decided that I lack in creativity, extremely, and that I am OCD when it comes to organization and perfection. Therefore, I decided to use a template, instead of free-hand carving it. So we bought a book of templates, that included some fancy tools to help make detailed carving a bit easier.

I chose this template:

I like how it turned out. I am not at all a pro... obviously, since it was my first time, but I am pleased!

I have pictures... I just need to get them off Lance's phone.

Unfortunately, a few days after carving, the pumpkins started getting all bendy and soggy on the thinner parts. So now my moon's mouth and eye is all bent in. Oh well!

Rough Week

2011-10-19T17:29:00.000-06:00

I've started about 3 blog posts and ended up deleting them all because I just go off on how horrible everything is going right now.

So, instead I'll just say that I'm still here. I'm exhausted, stressed out, depressed, and I no longer wake up wanting to go to work. This is the first time in my life where I'd rather stay home and clean all day.

Maybe a new budget is in order so I don't have to work anymore.

In other news, my best friend got married!! Yay Sierra! It was beautiful. She was beautiful. I had to give a toast and that was really scary. I think what I said was OK (from what I can remember... I was so nervous, words just kinda came out!), but I wish I had said more nice things about Sierra. I wish I had gotten across how much I really do love her.

And now for a story...

Three years ago I loved shopping. I would buy new clothes every week. After Lance lost his job, I kicked that habit in the butt. And now? I hate shopping. I love having new clothes, but I hate going to the mall, trying clothes on, justifying the cost, etc. So I'm still squeezing into my regular clothes. Some fit... sorta. My pants are all getting too tight and it's not really comfortable. I need new under-clothing as well. I just don't want to go shopping. Besides, it's no fun when you don't have someone to go with. ...As if Lance wants to hang out around maternity clothes.

I bet he would if I asked. I just don't want to go, so I don't want to ask.

Adventures of a Prego Lady

2011-10-13T17:28:00.001-06:00

Lance's company is really three companies in one.

One of them, is a jewelry company. They have some pretty cute stuff. Last week, Lori, one of the nice ladies that is in charge of bCharmed, gave me two pairs of earrings that they don't have in their catalogue yet. They are so cute! Seriously, the cutest earrings I own. They are also sterling silver. I was so happy I almost cried!

Well, Sierra's wedding is on Saturday, and I wanted to get some new jewelry to wear. I decided that maybe I should use my discount at bCharmed to get a nice necklace. I picked a nice pearl necklace with a pretty flower on it. I already have a matching pair of earrings and some bracelets. When Lance went to pay for it, Lori gave it to him for free.

Lance told me and I cried. Then we laughed at me crying. It was such a kind thing for Lori to do. The necklace retails for $35. I was so happy!

Last night Lance and I went grocery shopping. Do you know what I found? Well, Lance saw them first... We found pomegranates! I was so happy that I started crying right there. Lance laughed. Then I laughed. Then we walked closer and saw that they were almost $4 a piece.

Are you kidding me? Maybe I've never paid attention to the price before. I thought they were usually 2 for $5. Either way, $4 a piece is a lot when you want to purchase 10. So I started crying again, out of sadness. Then Lance laughed, then I laughed. Then Lance told me to buy some anyway because he knew I'd been wanting them for months. So we bought 2.

This is the first week I've been emotional. Guess it hit me later than I thought it would.

Oh yeah, we watched Lion King, and I cried in the first 5 minutes. It was so intense having all those animals bow to baby Simba. I had to stop watching. That movie is too much for me.

I think I would have cried even if I weren't pregnant. That movie is sad.

In other news, Lily moves around a lot in the evenings. I'll feel a bump on one side, then another on the other side, then up high and then down low. Really strange. I described it the other day as dancing, but really, what the heck she doing in there? Right now it's light little flutters that are almost ignorable, but pretty interesting.

Pretty Sure

2011-10-12T17:22:00.000-06:00

...that those aren't gas bubbles. I think baby Lily is dancing around in my tummy tonight.

Rant

2011-10-07T13:45:00.000-06:00

I am going to explode if I don't get a pomegranate soon. They should have been in stores a month ago. Not sure how much longer I can handle this.......... Aggggh!

What?!

2011-09-30T14:28:00.000-06:00

I found out yesterday that I am having a baby girl.

Awwww.

We have a few pictures of her, include one of her bum and legs. She already has fat rolls on her legs. It's dang cute!

This was the third ultrasound. I've had one at each appointment. It's been nice. I like seeing the baby and making sure it is alive, y'know? I worry.

Also, I really like my doctor. She is so nice and helpful. I suppose all doctors are.

I told Dr. Jones about all the headaches I've been having (one a day!), and how I never used to get headaches in the past unless it was caffeiene withdrawal, but that I had quit caffeine back in January. She told me that I could either take Tylenol or drink a Dr. Pepper each day (I told her Dr. Pepper was my favorite).

Me: I don't want to get addicted again! And I try not to take pills if I can. I've only taken Tylenol twice this whole pregnancy.
Dr Jones: "Well, don't make yourself suffer! I think you'd be OK with 1 or even 2 cans of soda each day."

Then we talked about Sunkist and how that has caffeine, and that maybe I should drink that. She's just a cute doctor.

Anyway, my official ultrasound is October 24th. That will be the one where they look at the baby from head to toe and make sure everything is developing. And perhaps they will tell me that it is a boy and not a girl.

It's not that I don't want a girl. I'm happy either way! I just really felt like it was a boy. Guess my intuition is whack.

I also had the feeling I'd have twins. (Or maybe that was just me wanting twins.....)

But anyway, it's time to prepare for Lily! I'm clueless. I also don't really feel like doing anything. It's still not real to me. And I hate organizing. Oh and my scrapbook room is full of crap.

We did purchase two large packages of diapers, and I did start my registry about a month ago. That's about as much as I feel up to. I think I'd rather wait until January to start really doing things. Any objections?

Success...Question Mark?

2011-09-21T15:48:00.000-06:00

I have planned the menu for bunco!

Goodness, cooking for 12 is not an easy task.

They can choose between Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup and Chili.

I'll have garlic toast.

I'll have a (boring) salad.

And we'll have some really easy coconut cookies for dessert.

Recipes will be on my food blog after the party... and after I make sure they turn out.

I like to experiment.

Uhh, now I need to figure out prizes.

I usually don't procrastinate this long, but it's been a dramatic month. Leave me alone.

Ok, I'm Ready to Wake Up Now!

2011-09-20T16:22:00.000-06:00

I have the ability to control my dreams. I can't choose what to dream about, but I can change the dream if it isn't going my way.

For example, I used to have this recurring nightmare as a child where this crazy guy would come to my house. We would lock all of our doors and hide as if we weren't home. And he would climb on the dog house and wait for us.

Nothing really bad happened in the dream, it was just a scary dream.

After having the dream a couple of times, I was able to change it or wake myself up when I could tell it was starting.

I've done this with many dreams in the past, whether they are recurring or not. If a dream takes a turn that I don't like, I can wake myself up, or change it.

Well, life, right now, feels like a dream. And I'm ready to wake up or change it.

Tomorrow my parents will be back in Pleasant Grove. And I will frolic with my sisters in their giant back yard. We will sit around the table and play Life Twists and Turns or Imaginiff. Then I will cook some sort of experimental dessert. Then Dad will ask us to watch a movie with him.

Lance's dad will be back as well, and we will go to Olive Garden and talk about whatever we feel like talking about.

My baby will just already be here because it's taking too long.

I think this is the first dream I have no control over. I don't like it.

Starting to Feel Pregnant

2011-09-19T14:46:00.000-06:00

At least, what I think pregnant feels like....

I have constant pressure in my lower abdomen. Sometimes it hurts, like cramps.

I get a lot of headaches. Before quitting caffeine, the only time I had headaches was when I had caffeine withdrawal, now it's practically daily. But it's never bad enough to have to take Tylenol.

I'm always hungry. It used to be, if I had Cafe Rio for lunch I wouldn't need to eat for the rest of the day. Now if I have Cafe Rio for lunch I still need to eat again about 4 hours later. Also, I can't work through my lunch break, I can't think clearly without food.

I get dizzy if I stand up too fast.

My nose is always stuffy.

My eyes ache as if I haven't slept in days.

It hurts when my dogs step on my stomach.

On a scale of 1 to 10, my patience used to be a 4, now it's a zero. Luckily Lance is already perfect so he doesn't get yelled at very much (if ever).

I still have 25 weeks to go. I bet it only gets worse.

Food

2011-09-15T17:10:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I stop feeling sorry for myself.

On those brief occasions I think about:

My favoritest fruit in the world!

And guess what? They're soon to be in season! Yippy-ky-yi-ay! Donations gladly accepted.

I'm hosting Bunco next Thursday. No clue what to cook for dinner. Haven't been in the mood to cook. I'm thinking I want Lasagna. I want to try to recreate the amazing lasagna I made a couple of weeks ago. I also want to have a salad that will taste like Olive Garden's. But then again I also want my "regular" salad. Which is mixed greens, some sort of fruit (apples, grapes, pears, possibly pomegranate?!), crasins, and a touch of cheese (such as freshly shaved parmesan), served with a vinaigrette of some sort. I also want garlic-cheese toast. I'm thinking about making peach crisp for dessert, but it doesn't really match the Italian theme, and thinking about eating those things together kind of makes my stomach flop (It could be a pregnant thing). I need to think of an Italian-ish dessert, or else plain ole ice cream it will be!

Fat

2011-09-13T14:06:00.000-06:00

That's how I feel.

My stomach is starting to stick out.

Any time I eat something, it increases by four inches. Not even exaggerating.

I threw up last week. I thought it was because I had a bite of a cold leftover burger, and because I was working hard making delicious snacks for a tailgate party. However, today while doing my hair I started to get light headed and dizzy, just like when I threw up.

So I went and laid down for a minute and I realized that when I threw up last week I had just finished styling my hair, and I haven't styled my hair since then. So apparently, I get lightheaded and dizzy when I style my hair (because my arms are up?) which causes me to become nauseous. Very strange. I'll take it though. If that's the only time I'm sick I'm fine with it.

Why?

2011-09-13T13:28:00.000-06:00

One question I don't know will ever be answered; Why?

Why, after waiting four years to have a child, did my family have to leave?

Why, while I'm pregnant and shortly after my family left, did my father-in-law have to pass away?

Why?

What am I to learn from this? That I'm supposed to be alone? That I'm supposed to be sad? That when things start to be OK something worse happens?

WHY?!?!

We went to dinner with Lance's parents Wednesday night. Thursday afternoon he was gone. Why? Nothing was out of the norm. Why Thursday? What made that day special? Why was that the "right time"?

Dad was so excited to meet our baby. He loved babies.

Dad always listened to whatever I had to say. He made me feel like I was one of his own.

He gave me my best friend, who I know will be a great husband and father like he was.

I can't help but be angry, sad, confused and bitter.

I Remember

2011-09-04T22:09:00.001-06:00

If you've posted a fake pregnancy announcement due to the latest "breast cancer awareness", I don't hate you. However, I find it inconsiderate.

Think about those who are pregnant. Those who cannot get pregnant. Those who have miscarried.

Pregnancy announcements are not a joke.

It's also as unrelated to breast cancer as cheese toast.

Besides, OCTOBER is breast cancer awareness month. Why not start a trend for 9/11 remembrance? Something like... posting where you were when you heard the news that changed America forever.

I was 13, getting ready for another day of 8th grade. I was listening to the radio, The Morning Zoo. I didn't understand.

When I got to school, my homeroom teacher had the news on, as did every other teacher in the school for the rest of the day.

I got the opportunity to go to New York 11 months after. There were large holes in the ground where the towers once stood. Roads were still shut down all around. The Subway was still out of commission. Steele from one of the corners of one of the towers had been left in place, formed into a cross. Trinity church had thousands and thousands of photos of missing people.

I will not forget.

Had to Laugh

2011-09-01T11:50:00.000-06:00

I'm eating my lunch right now. It's delicioius homemade lasagna that I kind of made up myself. I'm really sad that I didn't pay attention to everything I put in here because it's the best lasagna I've ever had! (Sorry mom.)

Anyway, I had to giggle as I walked past the other offices with a plate full of pickles as my side vegetable for the day.

So cliche. Right?

I promise it's not a pregnancy craving. I simply like pickles and I always have. This isn't the first time I've kept a jar of pickes in the work fridge, and I'm sure it won't be the last.

Thank You!

2011-08-30T11:58:00.000-06:00

Lance is amazing. Really. I always knew I married a great guy, but he's seriously stepped it up since we've been pregnant.

He used to complain about driving too much and hated our drive to and from work, including the traffic and road construction. When we found out I was pregnant, he decided he'd do all the driving because it's too stressful on me. I told him it wasn't a problem but he insisted on driving to and from work every day. (That's how I can read so many chapters of the Book of Mormon each day... I'm not driving at all!)

Dishes. I hate doing dishes. I think Lance hates it too, but he doesn't complain about it. A few times he's done it without me asking him to, and the sink was extremely full too.

Laundry. Another task I loathe. I don't mind separating the loads, but after that I hate it. Lance has been all of our laundry the past few months. He's been doing a great job too. Hang dry clothing are being hung dry. Whites are being bleached. It's been awesome.

Yesterday he took the day off of work an I came home to a clean kitchen, a clean bedroom, and a clean bathroom. I was super impressed.

I feel so lazy. I do cook, and I do dishes sometimes... and I've been cleaning too. But he's doing awesome.

We took off all of our handles on our kitchen cupboard and drawers and I painted them all so they'd look nicer. They're now bronze and red. Very hot. He installed all of them when I finished painting them.

My house is getting nicer each day.

Bittersweet

2011-08-29T12:27:00.001-06:00

That's the one word that can describe my weekend.

Layla needed to get some shots, so we made plans to go up to the Humane Society with her and Bentley. After thinking about it, I thought maybe we should take our cat, Abby, up there as well to get her shots. Abby hasn't had shots since before she was my cat. So um... 9 years? Yeah, she's kind of the neglected child. My thinking was that we should get her shots done, get her groomed and then list her for free on KSL.

Yes, we are done with our cat. She doesn't like us, which causes us to not like her.

Lance did some research and decided he would rather leave her at the Humane Society for them to find her some new parents. That was cheaper. It was a sadder option, since we have no idea what will happen to her, but I think we did the right thing. I hope she will get someone who doesn't have dogs and someone who doesn't care if her hair is all over their house, or if she pees on the carpet, or if she won't let you pet her, or if the only time you see her is when she's out of food and she's pretending to like you so she can get more.

I'm sad she's gone, but not because we don't have her anymore. I'm sad because I hope she's OK. I hope they don't put her down. I feel guilty. Lance says there is a 95% adoption rate on cats, so that makes me feel a little better.

I did have a dream last night that my family was giving up Jessica for adoption. I woke up confused and sad and wondered why Jessica? Why anyone? Then I figured it was probably my worries about Abby making me dream weird things.

Later on Saturday, we went to the Melting Pot with Katie and Eric to celebrate Katie's birthday. This was my second time going. My first time my company picked all the options, which were delicious, but it was nice to get to choose our own this time.

Way too much food.

We did a four course dinner. So Eric and Katie chose a cheese for dipping, and we chose a cheese for dipping. We thought that would be cool since we could try more cheeses that way. Which, it was cool, however, I was full by the end of it. I ate my salad afterwards anyway, thinking it would be nice and refreshing, which it was. Then we had a break while they got our broth for our meat course ready.

The meats were good, but really, dessert is where the party is at. Again we got two different chocolate sauces. We tried the Yin and Yang and the S'mores. Both were delicious. I have to say I liked the Yin and Yang the best. It comes out looking like this:

Pretty cool! The S'mores they light on fire (using Bacardi 51, I asked...). And that's cool too! It was a delicious dinner. Too expensive to say I'll be back soon. However, I will be back.

Sunday we celebrated Lance's sister Nicole's birthday. We went to Adventure and Learning park by Lone Peak high school and spent the afternoon there with Lance's family. It was nice, except for the bees. And the heat. And we ran out of non-caffeinated drinks, so I was dang thirsty! But it was still nice. It was nice not thinking, "I should visit my parents since we're so close." But then it was sad, because I wanted to visit my parents and I couldn't.

Bittersweet all around.

A Heart Full of Love

2011-08-26T11:57:00.000-06:00

It would be a shame to not share how greatful I am to my Heavenly Father for these past few months.

Back in February, Lance and I decided that we want to start a family. Well, we already were a family, but a bigger family, you know, with children. We felt really good about the decision, but we wanted to have one last big vacation with just the two of us, so that's when we planned our Disney World vacation.

After we got home from Disney World I looked for a new doctor. I really wanted a female, someone who could empathize with me, someone who has been there before and knows exactly what I'm going through. I did not want a man who only knows what other women have told him. I called around and found out that Dr. Alicia Jones was accepting new patients. I immediately made an appointment, for May 17th.

I had to go to the doctor before trying for a baby because I was using an IUD as my form of birth control, and I wasn't about to take it out on my own. Also, I heard it's good to get a physical and all that fun stuff before you get pregnant. So all that fun stuff happened May 17th.

It seemed immediate, the blessings we received just for trying to start a family. I received a raise in June, and Lance received a very large raise in July (17%).

July 9th I took a pregnancy test and it was positive. I was 5 weeks along.

Life does throw trials at you. At the beginning of August, my family decided to move across the country to North Carolina, which they did, August 15. It was really hard for me to accept because I wanted them there for my pregnancy. I wanted them there to help take care of the baby next summer so I could go back to work. I never really realized how much I had planned for them to constantly be in the picture though this whole journey.

Last week, Lance received a job offer from a very good company. It would have been a pay cut, but he would get health benefits. To me that seemed like the answer to all of my worries. I could just stay home, or only work part time and not have to worry because his job would provide health benefits, whereas right now mine provides them and his does not.

When Lance told his current boss about the offer, he did NOT want Lance to leave. And offered him another 14% raise. How can you pass that up? That's 33% in raises for Lance, just this year. We thought about it, and decided we couldn't turn it down.

I spoke to my bosses about possibilities of keeping health coverage while only working part time, and I feel comfortable with my options. I'm hoping after the baby comes they'll let me work from home 100%, while keeping my current duties. For those of you who speak DataWise, this means I do not want to go back to being a coder. I enjoy all of my responsibilities (besides checking... still finding a replacement for that one) too much to let them go. I don't think Dana and Donni want me to let them go anyway. Dana said he valued me as an employee and he'd rather have me part time than not at all.

I still have 6 months to sort everything out, but I at least feel at peace with where we are at. I'm due March 11, 2012. But I think I will have the baby on St. Patrick's day. :-)

On a side note, I'm 98% certain I'm having a boy. His name will be Liam. Still working on a middle name. If I'm wrong and it is a girl, she'll be Lily.

I have not been sick at all, whatsoever. No nausea, never thrown up. I was extremely tired for the first 10 weeks, but that finally went away. I have gained 4 pounds. I get lightheaded if I don't eat every three hours. I crave vegetables, fruit, and french fries. I have an aversion to Miracle Whip, which makes me really sad since I used to like it better than Mayo. My clothes are getting tighter and I've had to put away some of my clothes that were purchased to be fairly tight. Lately I've been craving Dr. Pepper, but when offered it doesn't tempt me. It's quite strange. It sounds good, but then I smell it and realize it won't taste as good as it did when I was addicted, and it's not worth falling off the wagon and getting addicted again. I haven't had any since January!

At my last appointment we got to see the baby and its little flicker of a heart beat. My next appointment is September 1st, and we're hoping to hear the heartbeat. Because I've had so few symptoms I worry that baby isn't growing. We'll see.

It's Hard

2011-08-13T10:53:00.000-06:00

For me, when missionaries are about to come home, I have these ideas that they'll want to hang out and talk for hours and catch up on everything from the last two years and tell tons of missionary stories.

This has not been true in 2/2 cases. They are quiet, don't have a lot to say or just don't know what to say. They're not easy to talk to. The person who comes home is not the same person who left. It's hard.

I never saw Eric when he came home. The night he came home he told us a few missionary stories. That was the last night he spent at home. He moved out and then I don't remember seeing him again until he introduced Katie to us. Thank goodness for Katie. She helped Eric adjust and move on in life. She's an amazing person and we are lucky to have her in our family.

Jared has been home for two days, but I still miss my little brother. I miss the little boy who I used to jump on the trampoline with. I miss the person who used to make up dances in living room with me and perform them for our parents. I miss the person who was never embarrassed to hug me in the hallways at school. I miss the person who would call me, just because he was near my house and wanted to stop by. I miss the silly voices he used to make. I miss his humor.

Yes, my brother came home. But he's not the same. And it's hard. I'm sure it's hard for him too. He had a lot of people to miss. I just had one.

So many things are changing right now that it's overwhelming. The only way I know how to cope is to try to put into words how I'm feeling, and to cry while doing it.

You'll Find Yours

2011-08-10T17:53:00.002-06:00

It's not OK.

I'm independent and I don't need my family. Until now.

At this time in my life when I need them the most, that's when they're leaving? It's a joke that isn't very funny.

Poor Emilee. She's not doing so well either. I know how she feels. We moved when I was 12, almost 13. I felt like my world was being torn apart. I felt like I would never be happy again.

I went from having a close group of 12 friends to 0. I had no friends. I was often alone. I cried a lot. I used to eat lunch in the girls' bathroom to avoid asking random people if I could sit with them, or to avoid sitting at a random table and being stared at. I couldn't find my way around school and I had to ask people for help.

Eventually I met Jeehie Sung. A cute, tiny Korean girl who was always smiling and happy. She sat next to me in French class. She introduced me to a group of people who were pretty nice. I got invited to a birthday party and I didn't want to go. My mom made me. I cried, I threw a tantrum, I didn't have a real birthday present. I went. And I had my real first conversaion with Sierra.

Sierra is the only friend I kept out of this group of new friends. We just get eachother. We just had this... connection (for lack of a better word) the first time we had a conversation. It was as if we were always friends.

So, Emilee.... what I'm saying is... moving is hard, extremely hard. It's sad. It's scary. It feels like your whole world is being torn apart. But eventually you'll find your Sierra.

In other news, Jared comes home in 22.5 hours. I am so excited!

The Right Way

2011-08-03T17:36:00.000-06:00

...four days later and I am now in Mosiah. I'm pretty pleased with how I'm sticking to reading scriptures every day, and how much I read each day.

I moved out of my parents house last night. It sounds funny but I had a closet there that was still full of my stuff. I threw most of it away, but I took some of it.

My parents are selling and giving away everything in their house. That really depresses me. They have a lot of nice stuff. It seems like such a waste! Maybe it was a waste to purchase the items in the first place. Basically, they are all going to be out of the house and on the road in 12 days. Mon petit frer gets home in 8 days. That means he has 4 days with his family until they're outta here. It's all happening so fast. I wish I were going with them. I love the east coast. I love the south. I love the southeast coast. I want to have a southern accent. I want chicken and waffles and grits. Mostly I want my family.

Lance and I are planning to have Thanksgiving in North Carolina (or New Jersey, depending on where my family will be) and Christmas in Utah. I'm super excited because they'll be having Thanksgiving with Leslie and Al and Kyala and Analise and Daniel! Leslie is my dad's sister. She used to live in Arizona and we had Thanksgiving with her every year, but now she lives in New Jersey along with the other people I mentioned. It will be awesome.

Jared might move in with Lance and me. That will be fun. It will probably motivate us to keep our house cleaner.

Life has many twists and turns, ups and downs. But as long as you follow Christ, you'll know you're going the right way.

Look Forward With Faith

2011-07-30T09:56:00.000-06:00

I'm two chapters away from being done with 2 Nephi. Pretty exciting stuff!

Still boycotting Facebook. Well, sort of. I got on and looked at some status updates, then un-friended a couple of people who were especially annoying with their updates.

"Where are all the cute girls at?" Pah-lease.

My family might be moving to North Carolina. I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's not really reality for me at this point. My dad got a great job offer from a company in Raleigh that would be more than what he and my mom make right now, combined. Also, the cost of living in Raleigh is 3% lower than Salt Lake. So the math adds up.

My dad went to his current company and told them about his offer and asked for more money to stay here. They being the wonderful company that they are, said something to the effect of, "We don't think it will work out for you in North Carolina, so when you come back you can have your job back." No more money. Nothing. My dad said he'd give them his final decision on Monday.

I guess it's good to know they might take him back if it really doesn't work out. But would you want to come back? I guess this is a lesson in pride. Do you stick it out in Utah where your family is? Do you really need more money? Do you want to move across the country? Will this be better for your family?

I can tell you it won't be better for me. Except around the holidays, maybe. Every holiday is a struggle for Lance and me because we have to argue about whose family to spend most of the day with. If my family moves, I guess Lance's family will get us for every holiday besides one per year, probably Thanksgiving or Christmas. It's my family's turn for Christmas this year... but I'm afraid that since it's not a big election year for my company, my bonus won't be as large as it is during the even-numbered years, therefore, plane tickets and presents might be hard to purchase. It's sad to think about. No one wants to be without their family around the holidays.

My parents don't really call me much. They don't really come over to my house much either. If they move, will I ever talk to them? Will they ever come to Utah for visits? I'm not very optimistic about it. But maybe the distance will make them realize it more. Maybe when I don't randomly drop by during the week, they'll realize that they do miss me.

If this is the right thing for them, then I suppose it will all work out for the better.

Do what is right, be faithful and fearless. God will protect you.

Facebook Rant

2011-07-23T10:43:00.000-06:00

I finally finished 1 Nephi last week. I'm proud of myself. I read in the car to and from work, so I get in about 4-5 chapters each day. Then on the weekends I fail. But, I'm sticking to it better than I ever have in my life.

I noticed that several times Nephi states that he only writes things of importance. I wonder if that was hard for him. I wonder if he ever wanted to complain about something.

I also wish people would post to Facebook things of importance. Can you imagine how awesome that would be? No more people trying to be the first to post about a story. No more people posting multiple times per day. No more stupid posts!

Can you tell I'm sick of Facebook? I am. I'm over it. I'm going on strike.

Old and Boring

2011-07-12T20:06:00.000-06:00

That's me.

I got another spray tan today. Beaches' Mystic Tan is by one get one free, so 2 for $24 right now. Good price! The trick to the Mystic is... to listen to the employees at the salon. They know what they're talking about, usually. I have really fair skin. Fair, freckly, skin. How do I not look orange? Skip the bronzer. Also, if you have a sunless tanning lotion from last year, you should throw it away instead of use it. Old lotions are more likely to turn you orange. It also helps to do a gradual tan. If you're fair you don't want to pick the darkest color.

Anyway, that's enough of that.

My girls are sitting next to me. I love them. They are so sweet. They make me so happy.

Oh! Big changes at work. Carrie quit. Who is Carrie? She was referred to by Dana as the day time manager, but I never really thought of her as that. Nothing against her, but Dana is the owner of the company, he called the shots, she didn't really manage anything. When she did try to manage me, it upset me because I was already doing or about to do what she would tell me. Maybe I'm too prideful, but, seriously it bugged me. So what does her quitting mean for me? Nothing. Ok, so not really nothing. Donni offered me Carrie's position. Really all that would entail that I'm not currently doing is going to work at 6am and leaving at 3pm. That doesn't work for me because Lance and I still have just one car, so our work schedules need to match. Lance can't leave work before 5:15 usually, so even if I did come in at 6am, I'd stay until 5:30pm. I'm not a big fan of long shifts. I'll stick to my four 9-hour shifts and one 4-hour shift.

Before Carrie quit, I had my review at work. The bosses gave me options on what direction to take in the company. I could have chosen: A: Admin Assistant direction. B: Data Processing direction. C: Checking Manager position. Previously, I had been doing all three, and when they sent me the form to fill out for the review I told them my concerns about how much work I was doing and how much stress it was causing. I chose options A and B. Goodbye checking management. Good riddance too. I'm SO over it. It got to the point where I would get frustrated seeing an edit I had previously pointed out to someone. I have completely lost my patience for it. I feel/felt like, "I have to be perfect, so why the freak can't anyone else?!?!" Just like that.

Since Carrie quit, that threw a wrench in that process. Now instead of just having to hire a checker, they need to figure out if we can cover Carrie's spot with the number of people we have, or if we need a person to cover her. However, we need a new checker either way. It's getting to be too much on my own. I still curse Rachel for quitting. That stinker.

Anyway, that's work. That's all I do. I'm old and boring.

But Thursday... maybe I won't be old and boring. :-D

Oh, Hello

2011-07-01T16:49:00.001-06:00

I got a spray tan today. That was fun. I like being tan. My friend, Vhanessa is doing full body spray tans for $20 during her grand opening. If you want one, let me know and I'll get you her info!

Tomorrow my family is having a barbecue, and I'm making the burgers. Usually we use the frozen kinds, but I wanted to try something different. I hope they taste good. I also want to attempt to make Carol's (Lance's mom's) potato salad. It is the best salad ever!!! The potato to pickle to egg to dressing ratio is absolutely perfect every single time. She is amazing. I'd also like to make deviled eggs. Those are just things you have to have at barbecues.

On Sunday the lesson is about missionary work. The lesson suggests writing to a missionary. I think Jared would enjoy some pictures and notes from random 4-to-5 year old strangers, don't you? I'm debating on including a picture of the class. Might be fun.

Oh Boy!

2011-06-20T17:38:00.000-06:00

It's done.

Tickets - purchased.

Hotel - reserved.

Now I just have to wait. *twiddles thumbs*

Lance's Draft

2011-06-17T13:33:00.001-06:00

Lance wrote this draft over a year ago, and for some reason never posted it. I think he thought it was dumb or something. Well I like it! And I like reading his point of view on things. :)

• It sucks being late to a Jazz game, because you miss the lights being shut off and you also miss the opportunity to see someone mess up the National Anthem. Well that is all besides the point, but we were late and we just got off the escalator and about to go to our portal when a guy stopped us that worked for the Arena, and he asked us if we wanted to go sit in the lower bowl. We could never turn down something like that so we headed down there in amazement. It was one of our best times ever at a Jazz game...

• For the longest time our Nephew's wanted to sleep over. It was in the summertime and we were constantly busy so we couldn't have them sleep over for a while, until one time Jenn said OK, you guys can sleep over on such and such date. I don't remember all the details but the date she gave was about a month away...Well it came time for them to sleep over and we decided to have our tent put up in the backyard and we all sleep out there. Boy do those boys like to wiggle when they are sleeping. But we all had a good time.

• We were on a vacation with Jenn's family up in Yellowstone and the first night we were there we could feel something moving underneath our tent. We didn't think much of it, and the next couple of nights we could feel something but couldn't really figure it out. Well when we were leaving I was packing up camp and it came time for me to roll up our tent and while I moved it there was a little furry mouse that had been under our tent the whole time. I guess he just wanted to stay warm...but I bet he was hungry after that...

• We were down in Vegas and we were at the Wax Museum and I told Jenn to stand by a statue of 2Pac, well I will let you see for yourself, but I don't think she realized that she was having her picture taken...So is my cutie!

Well I know there are plenty other memories we have out there. But these were some of the ones I liked a lot and I don't want to forget anytime soon. I hope you enjoy...

Love It!

2011-06-17T11:19:00.000-06:00

Search keywords that bring up my blog:

kyle korver girlfriend

LOL. I'll take it!

I've met the guy a couple of times, but I was too scared to talk, or even look at him. He has this intenseness about him...

So there you have it. I'm the married, Mormon, girlfriend of a guy I've never spoken to. Love it!

Today in the Scriptures

2011-06-15T17:20:00.000-06:00

I've once again started to read the Book of Mormon.

I have not ever finished it on my own. This is something I am not proud of, but I know that it's never too late to start.

Today I'm on 1 Nephi 5. I read about Sariah complaining to her husband, Lehi. She was pretty much nagging him, and even mocked him a little bit. I also read about how Lehi reacted.

Verse 6: And after this manner of language did my father, Lehi, comfort my mother, Sariah.

Sariah said some not-so-nice things to Lehi and instead of arguing back or proving his point he comforted her. I need to be more like this. When someone comes at me in a mean way, I shouldn't respond in the same way. I should respond calmly, with kindness.

If you know me, I've never responded to rude people in a kind way. If someone does something or says something that upsets me, my face gets red and hot, and my head spins (or at least, it feels like it's spinning) and I spout out some angry retort that is usually belittling to the other person.

I need to be more like Lehi.

OCD

2011-06-09T21:24:00.000-06:00

I organized my photos on Photobucket, so it broke all of the links to them on my blog. So today, I decided to go update the pictures on the posts. Well... didn't know it was going to move the date and time of the post! I hate it when things are out of order. OCD, I know, but it really, really, really bothers me!!

Vacation Day 6: Universal Studios - Islands of Adventure

2011-06-09T21:16:00.001-06:00

And now.... the whole purpose of our trip in the first place...

The day we visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

*So excited!*

Yes, I am a Harry Potter nerd. I love the Harry Potter books. I love the story. I love the excitement. I love the adventure. I love everything about it. I cry when I read the book and again when I see the movies. I grew up with Harry. I started reading these books when I was 11, and Harry, Ron and Hermione were 11. I'm kind of sad that it's almost over. I don't want it to be over.

Ok, enough of that.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is just a section inside of Universal Studios - Islands of Adventure. If you have ever been to DisneyLand or Magic Kingdom, they are separated into sections: Frontierland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, etc. It's like that. So it's not very big, and since it's new, it's extremely crowded. Therefore, we took our time getting over to that section of the park.

So I lied. The entire park was crowded. Blegh.

The first area we went to was Dr. Suess. It was cute, had lots of kid rides. We rode a couple. One was very spinny. Spin spin, spinny, spin spin. And yes, it made me sick, for most of the day.

The other was a train ride, which was cute. Kind of scary, considering that I'm afraid of heights, and if you put your foot out of the cart it won't touch anything. The track was thinner than the train.

Then we went to an incredibly cheesy show called The Adventures of Sindbad. It was so cheesy that you could lick the cheese off the stage.

But, it had fireworks and explosions and splashes of water, so it wasn't too bad.

We did some other stuff, but y'know, I'll just get to the good stuff.

Harry Potter!!

Walking into Hogsmeade.

Hogsmeade wasn't that crowded in the movies.

Platform 9 3/4. The conductor is talking to that little girl.

Filled with candy. Expensive candy!

The Three Broomsticks. This is where we had lunch. And....

Butterbeer.

My friend Sierra and her family have a Harry Potter party every year. At this party they make Butterbeer. Their Butterbeer is better than the Butterbeer at Universal Studios. This tasted like plain cream soda, but they put a butterscotch "cream" on top. It's good! Don't get me wrong. It is very good. I think I had four. Just, Sierra's is better.

We took a lot of pictures of the line of the Harry Potter's Forbidden Journey ride, but a lot are super dark and it's hard to tell what you're looking at. But this ride is super cool! You go inside the castle, through the greenhouse, into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, where Harry, Ron and Hermione appear from underneath the invisibility cloak and talk to you, past some talking and moving portraits, through Dumbledore's office, where Dumbledoor talks to you, past more talking portraits and then past the sorting hat where finally you get on the ride.

So here two pictures that DID turn out, somewhat:

The Phoenix outside of Dumbledore's office

The sorting hat

The line is entertaining, but the ride is awesome. It is a motion simulation ride. So, you're strapped in really well, and Hermione does a spell that makes you fly. You go up and out the chimney, and you meet Harry and you follow him through the Hogwarts grounds. It's really fun! Then a dragon chases you, but you get away. Then you're in a Quidditch match for a bit. If you get motion sickness easily it's probably not for you.

Lance and I only waited in the long line once. It is a must do, just to see all of the cool stuff. The other four times we went on the ride we did single rider. 20 minute wait or 5 minute wait? I dunno, tough call.

There are two other Harry Potter rides. One is Flight of the Hippogriff. It's a children's roller coaster. Pretty tame. The other ride is the Dragon Challenge. Now that's a sweet ride.

Two rollercoasters go at the same time. It's designed to make you feel like you are going to collide with the other roller coaster. Riding in the front is a must do. I loved it, especially at this part:

You see the other coaster coming straight at you, and then you do a back flip away from it. Totally sweet!

Oh yeah, and in the line for the Dragon Challenge is Hagrid's Hut, and the flying car.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was awesome. Definitely worth it.

The rest of Islands of Adventure was really fun.

This is a ride similar to Splash Mountain, except, I like this ride better. I got SOAKED!

Instead of falling down a slope, it SHOOTS you down the slope.

The Hulk

The Hulk is a fun ride, but again super spinny. You know how most roller coasters slowly take you up to the peak, then drop you and let the thrills begin? Well, the Hulk decided to switch it up. It starts taking you up slowly, then outta nowhere it rocket launches you, before you even reach the peak at the beginning! Way surprising. I enjoyed it very much.

It was a great day, and I hope I have the opportunity to go again some day.

New Love

2011-06-09T06:53:00.000-06:00

Eye color and eye shimmer from The Body Shop. Amazing!

I went to The Body Shop the other day to get some shampoo and conditioner and they had a deal going on store wide where if you buy two items you get one free. So, I decided to give their eyeshadow a try. I was not disappointed. In fact, it's my new favorite! It's got a nice texture, comes in shimmery colors or matte colors, lasts all day and best of all, it doesn't give my eyelids a rash, or dry them out like others do. Better than MAC? Oh yes. Cheaper than MAC? Double yes! I went back last night and got 5 more colors. So I got 6 for the price of three! Yippee! Happy day! No more eyelid rash!

I love the shampoo I bought from there as well. I think next I'll try their face wash and lip balm....

Best summer ever!

My Husband Is Really Great

2011-06-02T14:16:00.000-06:00

He bought me this:

And this:

Because I haven't bought new clothes in a while. And because he loves me.

P.S.

2011-05-27T20:25:00.002-06:00

My post about Hollywood Studios finally decided to show up in my drafts. So there you have it. A month and a half after the trip....

Vacation Day 7: Hollywood Studios

2011-05-27T20:20:00.001-06:00

I love Hollywood Studios.

Last time we came to Florida, we did NOT get to ride the Toy Story ride, which was brand spankin' new at that time. So this time, we made sure of it. The first thing we did when we got in the park was go and get Fast Passes for it. The line was already at 80 minutes at that time, and the Fast Pass return time was about 3:00pm. Talk about crazy!

By the way, it's NOT worth an 80 minute wait. Yeah, it's fun. No, it's not amazing.

Here are the things I love about Hollywood Studios.

The Backlot Tour

The Backlot Tour is a behind the scenes look at how they make movies. First, they film a few movie scenes right in front of you, edit them and then play it back like it's part of a real movie. It's really cool. Then you get on a tram thingy and you get a tour of behind the scenes stuff. We saw a bunch of props that have been used in past movies, including Herbie the Love Bug! Yes, he's a "prop."

Then, they take you to an actual movie set, which is the picture above. And then they have explosions. HUGE explosions. I could literally feel the heat of the flames on my face. And then... they do this:

And you get a little bit wet. It's really cool. Movies put a lot of detail into their sets to make them look realistic.

Another fun thing to do at Hollywood Studios is take the art class. An artist teaches you how to draw a Disney character. Last time we drew Goofy, this time we drew Scrooge McDuck from Duck Tales. Do you remember Duck Tails? Man, I loved that show. I really like how my drawing turned out, and I do NOT consider myself a good artist. So in this class, anyone can draw an awesome Disney character.

There are two AMAZING rides here.

The Tower of Terror, which is also in California Adventure, but it is not exactly the same as the one in Cali. Personally, I like the one in Cali better, because the view at night when they take you to the top and open the doors is amazing. Here it's just a view of the park, which is cool, but, I really love nighttime city views.

The Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster. This is much like Space Mountain in DisneyLand. There is a Space Mountain in the Magic Kingdom in Florida, but it's not the same as the Space Mountain in DisneyLand. Anyhow, this is like Space Mountain at DisneyLand only cooler because it plays Aerosmith music. Totally fun! We almost didn't get to ride this one at all. We were so worried about getting Fast Passes for other rides that we forgot to get one for this ride until later in the day. By the time we got down to this section of the park, all of the Fast Passes were gone, and the wait time was 90 minutes. 90 minutes! I can say that this ride is worth a 90 minute wait, but, it's also a ride I want to ride more than one time, without waiting 90 minutes between each ride.

This ride also has a single rider line. But! They CLOSED DOWN the single rider line! I was so upset!

So what did we do? I asked a cast member if the single rider line was closed down for the rest of the day, and they said that it wasn't, and that it would open up after it cleared out a bit. So we waited. And waited. And waited. We waited for an hour and a half. Hey, I'd rather wait sitting than standing. But finally they opened up the single rider line, and we rode this ride four or five times in a row with a very short wait.

It was a great day!

The next day we had to wake up super early (3am Utah time) to catch our flight, and we were home at 2:00pm.

Best vacation ever. And now... we won't be able to go on a real vacation for a long time.

Random Thoughts

2011-05-27T20:16:00.002-06:00

I've been feeling kind of meh and blah lately. I don't really feel like being at home, but then I don't really feel like going anywhere. Just in a slump, I guess.

Lance is at a Vinylmation trading party thing... He is addicted.

I don't really have anything interesting to say. So I will just ramble...

The other day, I boiled 6 eggs and made deviled eggs out of them. I ate 8, Lance ate 4. I love deviled eggs. You know what else I love? My mother-in-law's potato salad. I need to steal the recipe from her. I am so excited that it is summer, because this means I'll be able to have some more often! Hooray!

I have this co-worker named Richard. He is really neat. The other day, I went off about people who use exclamation points all the time, and multiple exclamation points. It went something like this.

Jenn: Why do people feel the need to use multiple exclamation points all the time? Seriously, you can't be that excited, that often!
Richard: Oh my gosh yes you can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still giggle about it. Mostly because of the type of person Richard is. He's not "serious," but his humor is what I would call "smart people humor." So having him say something like that really makes me laugh. I'm glad I get to work with him.

He and his wife have decided to become vegetarian. I think that is cool. I have decided to have one vegetarian dinner a week, even though Lance does not like this idea. Hehehe. This week it is Roasted Red Pepper Pasta. So.extremely.delicious. Look for the recipe on my recipe blog on Tuesday-ish.

Oh, you didn't know I have a recipe blog? Well, I do. There is a link to it at the bottom of this page. I've had it for a while, but I don't update it very often. Lately I've been trying to go through my posts and add pictures. Pictures always make cooking more fun.

Pictures make everything more fun. So here is a picture of my little brother, who will be coming home in August!!!! (Oh my gosh yes you can!!!!!!!!)

Music

2011-05-21T11:54:00.000-06:00

I have an addiction to music and I've had this addiction for as long as I can remember. I never thought it was a bad thing before last Sunday.

A brother in the ward gave a talk about listening to uplifting music, and it really sunk in. On the surface I thought that maybe listening to certain music didn't have much of an effect on my life, but in my heart I felt that I should try changing what music I listen to.

While I don't plan to completely stop listening to all of my favorite hip hop and hard rock songs (yes, I love both types of music), at work I've been listening to mostly or only classical music. And the results? More patience with co-workers. More patience with clients. I feel the spirit more on a daily basis. I feel more desire to read scriptures. I argue less with Lance. I look forward to Sunday instead of having that anxious feeling in my stomach. Yes, Sundays used to make me anxious. More so lately because my teaching partner moved and they haven't replaced her yet... 12 kids, one teacher. Thankfully one of the children's parents has been helping me a lot. She even offered to do the lesson last week!

Anyway... music. It affects more than I thought. I'm not saying classical music is the only type of "good" music there is... it's just the extreme opposite to the degrading stuff I usually listen to. Yes, I'll admit what I listen to is degrading. But the rhythms are so catchy, and I love to dance!

So, below are some of my favorite classical songs. Number one would be Palladio. So if you listen to one of these songs, pick that one!

Ugh!

2011-05-14T12:11:00.002-06:00

Blogger deleted my post about Hollywood Studios! What do I do to get it back? It's not in my drafts..... I don't want to re-write all that stuff.

Lame!

Coupon Craze!

2011-05-13T20:02:00.001-06:00

That's right folks, Lance and I have joined the coupon craze. I will never again pay for stuff I can get for free.

We planned our first "couponing" trip for about a week before we actually went, but really it only took about 2 hours.

To be honest, I felt really nervous, like we were doing something illegal. It's not every day you walk out of the store without paying for something. Good thing we did it without breaking any laws.

Here's how we did:

We went to ONE STORE, and using our coupons and this particular store's (Walmart) price match option we got....
6 boxes of Cheerios, each a different flavor.
3 boxes of O.B. tampons.
3 packages of Stayfree Maxi Pads.
2 Gillette Fusion ProGlide razors (these babies are worth $10 a piece!).
3 packages Carefree Liners (absolutely free).
2 bags Tidy Cats Litter.

We paid $18.16.

Next time I'll do better math on the retail value of what we buy, because every time I do the math it comes out differently. Regardless, it comes out to above a $60 value each time. So I'm incredibly pleased with how we did our first time out.

I can't wait for next week's deals!

Vacation Day 5: Rest!

2011-05-11T09:17:00.000-06:00

Yes this day we rested, and it was wonderful. We had nothing planned but to be extremely lazy.

DisneyWorld is a lot of walking. I mean a lot!

We slept in until about 11, then we got up and got ready for a day of nothing. We walked over to a restaurant that was near our hotel and ate some lunch. I had fish and chips. I'm not a big fan of fish, in fact I can honestly say it's nasty. But, when you're in a state that is almost completely surrounded by water, you've got to try it. Fish tastes so much better! No "fishy" taste at all. I'm sure the sushi is great too. I do like sushi here in Utah, so I'm sure it's a million times better there.

After lunch we went back to the hotel and watched some TV. Lance wanted to play basketball. He's crazy. It was about 90 degrees out and quite humid. We walked over to the basketball court that was near our hotel and there was a group of scary looking dudes playing.

Ok, so all strange men are "scary looking dudes" to me. But Lance seemed fine. So I went back to the hotel while he played basketball with these people.

After I got back to the hotel, I took a nap. Lance came back about an hour or two later, covered in sweat, I mean soaking. It was gross. I have never seen him that sweaty before.

Then we watched more TV, including the news and weather. There were a lot of tornadoes in the surrounding states, so I checked on them each day, hoping they wouldn't come south to Florida. Thankfully, they didn't.

For dinner we went to this lovely-looking Italian restaurant. The looks of it were better than the taste of the food though. I'd give it a 3 on a 10-scale. Over priced and not very delicious.

Then we watched more TV.

Basically the plan was to stay off our feet as much as possible. At this point we probably had walked 30-40 miles in four days, so our feet very much needed a rest, as well as our bodies!

It was a good relaxing day.

Oh! We looked into going to an Orlando Magic playoffs game, but the taxi ride there would have been $50 each way. Plus $100+ for tickets. We didn't like the sound of that. So we didn't go.

Vacation Day 4: Animal Kingdom

2011-04-28T17:36:00.012-06:00

Ahhh, Animal Kingdom, the home of my all time favorite ride.

You can see in my eyes how excited I am.

Expedition Everest

100% thills the entire time. It starts out a mellow ride through the canyon, and then you start climbing. And climbing, and climbing and climbing. When you reach the top you think it's going to do what most other roller coasters do, send you on a free fall. But no! Not Expedition Everest. Instead you go on a journey through the mountain with ups and downs, and then you come to this:

The end of the track

Now what? Now you go backwards through the mountain with ups and downs. I think you almost go upside down at one point. I'm not sure. It's pitch black at that point, and I'm having way too much fun to really notice what direction I am going!

Then you get stopped, and the shadow of the Yeti comes out. He looks angry, and he breaks the track and you start to move again. It's pitch black, you don't know where you're going. Then all of a sudden:

You free fall

Then you go around a corner and the ride is done. Best ride ever. It is so much fun! We rode it 5 or 6 times I think. First we got fast passes for it so we could take our picture together, but the rest of the time we just did single rider.

Animal Kindgom doesn't have a whole lot that I am interested in. It has other rides that are cool, and A Bug's Life is a cool 3D show that you can see inside the "Tree of Life" and if you walk around the park there is all sorts of wild life. But the park gets kind of old pretty fast. At least for me. I couldn't imagine what it was like before Expedition Everest was built.

There is one other ride that I would consider a "must do" and that is the Kilimanjaro Safari.

You get in a truck

and drive past lots of animals.

Very cool!

Last time and this time I was worried about the lion attacking the car. I don't know why it doesn't. Maybe they keep it extremely well fed. But I'm telling you, if it wanted to eat someone, it could, easily.

We left the park around 6:00, which is REALLY early. Instead of going back to our hotel we went to the Downtown Disney area. It's basically a bunch of shops. It's pretty cool.

There was a Lego dragon in the water. Kind of neat.

And then we went to the Vinylmation store and wasted a bunch of money.

And then we went back to our hotel.

Vacation Day 3: Magic Kingdom

2011-04-27T18:35:00.001-06:00

This day also was my birthday. Happy birthday to me!

The first thing we did was get me a button that said "Happy Birthday Jenn!" I swear I got no less than 200 "Happy birthdays" said to me. Usually I don't like the attention, but this day I enjoyed it.

Oh, Magic Kingdom, how I love you.

I'm boarding It's a Small World"

Is it just me, or does "It's a Small World" have a bad rep? I LIKE that ride! I love what it represents, and the song does not drive me crazy. I enjoy listening to it in the different languages.

I like going on the "kid" rides at Magic Kingdom. You know... Peter Pan, Snow White, Whinney the Pooh. They are cheesy, and old, but they are classics and you can't miss them.

Oh, and what is up with the Peter Pan line being an hour long on most days?! Luckily, we rode it early enough in the day that the line wasn't retardedly long. But seriously, it's not the greatest ride, why wait for an hour to ride it?

Haunted Mansion

I very much enjoy the Haunted Mansion ride. And now they have a new part of the line where you go through the graveyard. It's pretty cool.

Near Pinnochio ride

I'll never get over the amazing detail on all of the buildings.

For my birthday we had dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table. To be honest, it wasn't worth what we paid. The food was not the greatest, and I felt a little silly meeting the princesses. But it was fun.

"I hope no one gives you any bad apples for your birthday!" - Snow White

"Did you make a birthday wish? Wishes do come true!" - Ariel

To Lance: "Protect her from Gaston, alright?" - Belle

I have a picture of us with Cinderella as well, but it was taken by a pro (included with the price of dinner), and it's not scanned into the comp. Cinderella said about Lance, "I hope you didn't have to use a shoe to find him!"

It was cute.

So there you have it!

Vacation Day 2: Epcot

2011-04-27T18:13:00.000-06:00

We decided to go to Epcot first. Why? Because it's the most walking of the 5 parks we planned to visit. Lots and lots of walking.

We had a game plan. Go to Test Track, get a Fast Pass, to go Maelstrom, ride Maelstrom, then to go Soarin' and get another Fast Pass.

That right there is a lot of walking because all three of those things are on different sides of the park. But the thing is... if you don't get fast passes early for the popular rides, you may not ride them at all, unless you wait in a line that is 80 minutes long. I'm not kidding. More info on this when I talk about Hollywood Studios.

But anyway, Epcot was fun. We did everything there was to do, which is a lot, but I'll only list my favorites.

Test Track: This ride is way fun. They take you through the tests they do to cars before they sell them, such as break tests and crash tests. At one part, after you've done much rigorous testing for breaks, shocks, and heat and cold resistance, they take you to do the crash test. They line you up with a "wall" and then accelerate you to who knows how fast, but it feels really fast, and then right when you're about to hit the wall it opens and you're speeding outdoors on a race track. I think you get up to about 60 miles per hour. It doesn't sound very fast, but it feels fast when you're wearing a pretend seatbelt, and you're not in a real car. Excellent ride. Lance and I got Fast Passes for it one time, and then we did the single rider line a few times after that.

Single rider lines are awesome, if you're OK with sitting next to strangers. :-) It's the fastest line possible. Faster than Fast Pass!

Living With the Land: This photo obviously didn't turn out. But it's the only photo we took on this ride. I really like this one because you get to go through some greenhouses where they grow the food they use in the Disney World resorts.

Have you heard my story about the green beans I had at Animal Kingdom last time we went to Florida? They were SOOOOO good!

Anyway... They grow tomatoes on trees. Yes, trees. Basically they hold up all of the vines so they're not on the ground. But it looks like (and they call it) a tree.

Last time we went on this ride they had squash that they were growing in the shape of Mickey Mouse. So cute! This time they didn't have that.

The World Showcase: This is the part that requires the most walking. There is a lake, which is rather large, and around the lake is located several countries, and you walk through each one. Each country has its own unique architecture and restaurants. And usually, the cast members are from the country they are stationed in. It is very cool! I love the detail they put into each country.

Here are a few of our favorite buildings:

Mexico

Norway

Italy

America

There are many more countries and buildings but... that's all we took pictures of. We had lunch in Mexico, dinner in America and dessert in Germany.

Lastly, the fireworks show at Epcot is really cool. The end. ☺

Vacation Day 1: Travel to Orlando

2011-04-22T14:13:00.001-06:00

We got up at 5:30am so we could make it to the airport on time for our 8am flight. We slept at Lance's parents' house so we wouldn't have to get up even earlier.

It was my first flight in over a year, so I was pretty nervous about taking off. Taking off is the funnest, but also most scary part to me. I worry that they won't gain enough speed and we'll come crashing back down shortly after takeoff. Obviously, that didn't happen. Also, it's probably rare. But I always say a little prayer just in case.

Both flights went well that day. Salt Lake to Denver is the shortest flight ever. 55 minutes? It's barely time for them to get you your drink and cookie. I think I listened to two songs on my iPod before they asked us to put things away for landing.

Landing in Orlando was wonderful. The weather was extremely humid, so I was worried about being way too hot the entire time. But after raining for about 5 minutes, the humidity went away, and it wasn't humid for the rest of the trip.

Our room was awesome! From the outside it looked pretty trashy, but we were pleasantly surprised. We had two entrances. One in the front and one in the back. I would describe it as more of an apartment than a hotel room. If you enter through the front, you go straight into a living room, with a full size couch and two chairs, a TV and a pull down queen size bed.

The next room is the kitchen. It had a full size fridge, and also a microwave, stove top, cupboards and kitchen table. Very nice! Too bad we didn't bring any dishes!

The bathroom is next. It's an average hotel bathroom, pretty small.

The bedroom was nice. It was very large, larger than our bedroom at home! There was a vanity area, with a sink and a mirror. I liked this so I could still get ready if Lance needed the bathroom. The room had a king size bed, two night stands, and a very small flat screen TV, but a TV nonetheless. It also had a built in dresser, and a quite large closet. The bed was very comfortable and they gave us 7 pillows. I like lots of pillows!

I liked the room very much. I was very comfortable there.

We went swimming that evening in one of the hotel's three pools, after eating at this cute little place called "Checkers".

It's not every day that you wake up in 40 degree weather, have rain, and then go swimming outdoors.

Lance

2011-04-22T13:40:00.002-06:00

He turned 26 yesterday! I can't believe it. That's not old, it's just... a lot older than he was when I met him. Also, I never thought that my husband would be 26 and we would still not have children. I guess life does that to you sometimes.

I love you, Lance! Here's to 26 more years of life before you're almost old. :-)

My co-worker took this picture at our company Christmas party at Tuscany back in December so it's not really current, but I like it a lot.

Dad

2011-04-19T18:48:00.002-06:00

My dad's birthday and my birthday are close together so on the Sunday closest we get the family together to celebrate.

We all sing. I sing to my dad, he sings to me.

I have Fun-Fetti cake. Really the cake doesn't matter, it's the frosting that counts.

He has cheesecake topped with pie cherries. Usually two. One for him, one for the rest of us.

Happy birthday, Dad!

Didja Miss Me?

2011-04-19T18:38:00.002-06:00

I can't decide if I want to post each day as a full post or if I want to just do a summary of highlights.

I see the benefits of both.

I do this blog for me mostly. It's my journal. I write about things I want to remember. I want to remember each day in its entirety.

You read this blog. You probably don't want to read 7 blogs worth of stuff.

Something I Regret

2011-04-09T23:38:00.001-06:00

Not going to hair school right out of high school. I spent practically an entire year messing around, wasting money, and wasting time. Sierra and I often refer to that time in our lives as "the best summer ever." But I really wish I had gone to hair school.

I started the job I currently have just three months after graduating high school. I was part time and just a temp at first, so I still had tons of free time.

I don't ever plan on leaving my current job, I just wish I could do hair on the side. Or at least I wish I'd be able to cut my husband's hair, and the hair of my future children.

Maybe one day I'll go to hair school. I just don't see it in the near future.

My Favorite Birthday

2011-04-08T13:13:00.000-06:00

What a coincidince that this is the next topic to write about. My birthday is in 6 days. It will be my 23rd birthday.

23... Wow. I don't think about my age very often. When I was younger I was always wanting to be older, always waiting to be able to be old enough to do something. I remember wanting to get out of primary and into young women's, waiting to be old enough to go to church dances, date, drive, graduate high school, get married, etc. I never felt old enough.

Well, I can tell you that I am now old enough. There aren't any more age requirements left for me to be able to do something. Get senior discounts at restaurants? Pass. I think those are crap anyway. No offense to seniors, but they've had way more time to earn the money to pay. That's just my opinion. I don't mean to pick on seniors. Working in politics, I see the selfishness of every age group, race, and other demographics. Everyone wants something that will benefit them, whether or not it puts a burden on the rest of society. Yes, I'm saying we all are burdens on society. Law of consecration FTW (for the win)!

I'm way off topic, aren't I?

My birthdays are usually small and humble. I prefer to spend them with family, and maybe a friend or two. I don't like having a big party, and I don't like opening presents in front of people. I don't like being sung to. I don't like attention.

I love being with family. I love getting presents. I love fun-fetti frosting, I could eat a whole tub.

I don't have a favorite birthday. I like all of them.

In the past few years, I've gone on a "date" each year with my dad to celebrate our birthdays together. I think that's my favorite part. I'm definitely a daddy's girl. We get to talk, laugh, and catch up. It's nice to go out with him and realize that he'll always be my dad, even though I can't run to him for every little thing any more.

This year Lance and I are going to Orlando to celebrate our birthdays. His birthday is exactly one week after mine. This might be the best birthday ever. We'll see.

My Favorite Memory

2011-04-07T10:15:00.000-06:00

There are SO many memories one can have in a lifetime, it's hard to chose an all time favorite. So, while the following memory may not be my all time favorite, I like it.

Lance and I are not what you would call "lovey-dovey", nor do we publicly compliment each other, or brag about each other. I think I barely ever mention him in my blog posts. I guess we're just private that way. This in no way means I don't love him, don't think about him, or anything negative of the sort. I love him very, very much. No other person in this world could make me happier. Also, no other person could handle my mood swings, depression, anxiety, outbursts, control issues, OCD, etc.

I have issues, we all do.

Anyway, I'm going to share my first memory of Lance, who is now my wonderful husband.

The First Sighting
My first memory of Lance was when I was 12 years old. My family had not yet moved to Pleasant Grove, but we were planning on it. The house we were buying had people living in it (who weren't paying rent, and needed to be evicted), and we had to wait for them to move out before we could move in. Even though we hadn't really moved into the ward, we decided to go to church in what would be our new ward.

In our regular ward in Santaquin, we usually sat on the first or second row. My parents thought sitting there would make us kids pay attention more. When you have six kids, you have to be creative. But this time at church, we sat near the back. We sat on what I call "the first row of the back rows." If you've been in an LDS chapel, you may know what I'm talking about. There are doors on both sides of the chapel, and there is a gap in the seating to make a walkway. The first row after that walkway is the "first row of the last rows."

I was a boy crazy child. I always had a "boyfriend" or a boy I liked. If you look at my journal from my middle school and high school days, you'll notice boys' names doodled all over it, with corresponding dates of when I liked that particular boy. Crazy much? Yeah. Normal for a 12 year old? I think so. Being boy crazy, I was scoping out the ward for cute boys.

...And then I saw him. He was sitting on the left side of the chapel, near the middle, on the end of the bench. His hair was spikey with blond tips. He had tannish skin, and perfect lips. He was wearing glasses, and a t-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes. I remember being very judgemental about that. "People wear jeans and tennis shoes to church here?" No. "People" didn't, just Lance did. I guess he was in his rebellious stage. But oh my goodness he was gorgeous. I think I stared at him during all of Sacrament meeting. Cutest.Boy.Ever.

I couldn't find a picture of him from back then, but this is what I looked like.

My arms are still too big for the rest of my body. (*chuckle*)

Take It Easy

2011-04-05T09:59:00.000-06:00

I worked out today, but I'm not following the Insanity schedule. Because I got off from the real schedule, I decided to just take it easy until we get beck from Florida, which is when I will restart month two.

Today I did Core Cardio & Balance. I didn't push myself very much, and I wore the Reebok Easy Tone shoes the whole time. My calves felt nice and tight, I sweat a bit... It was a good workout.

I'm thinking about bringing one of the level 2 Insanity disks with us to Florida, so I can get up early and just do the warm-up every day. That way I won't lose my ability to do the entire warm-up without stopping. It took me a long time to work up to that, and I do not want to lose that!

I went tanning last night. 15 minutes in a Ruva bed. I am scorched. I don't know what happened. I did 13 minutes on Saturday, so 15 minutes should have been just fine. I'm burned, and burned bad in weird places. The insides of my legs, from thigh to ankle, my bottom, and my stomach are all a crisp. My back, face, arms, and outside of my legs are just fine. In fact they look freakishly white compared to the glowing red of the rest of me. I'm going to let my skin recover for a few days, then go again on Thursday, maybe.

I've been using a self tanner with SPF 20 on my face... I don't like NOT wearing sunscreen on my face, but I also don't want my face to be really white compared to the rest of me. It's been doing a great job! The tan that does get through is just enough so that my freckles come out, which is what naturally happens when I'm in the sun. Between tanning and this self tanner with SPF my face matches the rest of me (except that my face doesn't burn, thank goodness!). It's Jergen's Natural Glow Healthy Completion Daily Facial Moisturizer SPF 20, for fair skin. That's a mouthful. :) I would highly recommend it.

Guilt

2011-04-02T21:10:00.000-06:00

I didn't work out today. It's been really hard the past few days to get up and work out. I'm not improving at the videos as fast as I was last month and I'm not seeing results as fast as I was last month. Therefore, I'm feeling a bit down on myself. I look in the mirror and I look like I'm back where I was before I started Insanity. I feel like I've quit Dr. Pepper for nothing. I feel like I get up insanely early for nothing. I feel like I run, jump, lunge, squat, and push-up the life out of me every morning for nothing. I need to re-motivate myself. For what purpose am I exercising? No real purpose. Just for fun. But it's not fun anymore.

I went to breakfast with Sierra today, for her birthday, which is tomorrow. We went to Kneaders and got some French toast. Boy oh boy was it delicious! Because of that, I was late to watch session one of conference. But I heard one talk in the car, and watched another on TV.

Is it wrong to DVR the conference sessions? Because that's what I did with the afternoon session today. I went to a movie with Lance, then came home and watched the recording. I kind of feel guilty, like I didn't make conference a priority. I made it wait for me, rather than making it a priority to watch it. I mean, I watched the second session, I just didn't make any sacrifices to watch it.

To be honest, I think that was the first time in my life I ever watched an entire session. So, judge me if you want, but it's an improvement from my life in the past.

Insanity Day 39: Max Recovery

2011-04-01T11:02:00.001-06:00

Hardest.workout.ever.

It probably didn't help that I *was* going to skip it, so I started doing a warm-up from another workout. After I finished that warm-up, I was exhausted, so I decided my body really did need a "break."

Break....my butt!

This big buff guy struggled during this section of the workout.

Imagine me with my scrawny mucles.

Insanity Day 38: Max Cardio Conditioning

2011-03-31T07:38:00.000-06:00

Once again, I am a day behind. And although I posted a while ago about how it's OK for me to be a day behind and I shouldn't skip workouts, it bothers me. It bothers me a lot. On one hand, I really want to do the Max Recovery. It's like yogalates to the extreme, but on the other hand I just feel like everything will be messed up if I stay a day behind! So... I am thinking... that maybe... maybe tonight I will do Max Recovery. We'll see if that happens. But that's what I want to do. Then tomorrow I'll be right back on schedule!

Max Cardio Conditioning is like Pure Cardio on steroids. It was so hard. This workout doesn't have circuits and it doesn't have rests. So it's hard to pace yourself, and it's also hard to know how much would be the equivalent of the 2/3 I'm doing of the other workouts. So what did I do? I did it all. Omigosh ouch. I practically died with 11 minutes left. Each exercise is a minute long, and I think I only did 15-20 seconds of each of the last few. I have a long way to go.

My arms are extremely sore from funky push-up day, AKA Max Interval Plyo. But it's good. It's good.

Dr. Pepper Update

2011-03-30T11:22:00.000-06:00

It's been exactly 65 days since I've had Dr. Pepper.

I'm not counting the days, I just have my last day marked on my calendar.

I haven't missed drinking it in a while, but today I do.

Today has been a bad day. I'm just all around moody, and sad, and feeling sorry for myself, and angry at anyone who looks at me the wrong way, or says the wrong thing. I realize that no one is being any different today, and everything that is upsetting me wouldn't upset me on a normal day.

Today I have a serious craving for Dr. Pepper. I understand how drug addicts relapse. They have one stressful day and they want to turn to something they once loved, and go all out with it. I want to go buy a 12 pack of Dr. Pepper and drink as much as I can as fast as I can.

What's stopping me? Thinking about Insanity tomorrow.

Insanity Day 37: Max Interval Plyo

2011-03-29T06:53:00.000-06:00

This one didn't have three circuits after the warm up. It had two, but then a few extra exercises at the end. So I did the entire warm-up, the two circuits twice, and then all of the exercises in the last "circuit".

I forgot that these workouts are 15 minutes longer, so I should be getting up at 5:15am to get them done with enough time to shower and get ready for the day.

Anyway... this work out has my favorite move. The pogo:

I don't know why it's my favorite. It just is. I guess, I just like how it makes my bum burn. When jumping from regular squats, I think I sometimes push off of one leg more so than I push off of the other. In the pogo, you're only standing on one leg, so it's 100% that leg that is being worked. Very targeted.

This workout also has the hardest move (for me) ever. The balance push-up:

The thing that is hard about the balance push-up is NOT that you lift an arm and leg off of the floor. For me, it's hard because when you go down into the push-up, your elbows go BACK toward your body (not out). My triceps SUCK! I can go down, but pushing myself back up is nearly impossible. So pushing myself up onto one arm and leg is even more impossible. I can do this if I do a regular push up (elbows going out), then lifting myself onto one arm and one leg. But, that's not really the correct way to do it. Definitely room for improvement here.

Insanity Day 36: Max Interval Circuit

2011-03-28T06:45:00.000-06:00

Um... yeah.

The warm-up for this video is twice as long as the month 1 warm-ups, with harder moves. The stretching is half as long as the month 1 videos. There are three circuits after the warm-up, when there are only two in the month 1 videos. Each exercise in each circuit is 45 seconds long instead of 30 seconds long.

I'm happy to say that I did about 95% of the warm-up. I took a couple of rests, but I'm very pleased with how much I did, especially since it's twice as long as I'm used to.

I was dead by the end of my first time through the first circuit. It was then that I decided to do each circuit only once.

Halfway through the second circuit, I felt last night's dessert start to come up, so I started taking it a little bit easier at that point. So in all honesty, I'm not as exhausted as I should be right now. I'm tired, I've just been more tired than this after a workout.

Tomorrow I will try to push harder than I did today. Three times through the warm-up and two times through the remaining three circuits.

Oh, and... Friday and Saturday I skipped Core Cardio & Balance because I went dancing Friday night. You might think dancing is easier than Insanity, but I don't make it easier. Saturday morning my entire body was sore; abs, legs, neck... I really *dance* when I go dancing.

Two Weeks!

2011-03-25T12:21:00.000-06:00

It's getting so close, I can't believe it!

Lance is already having dreams about it (or I should probably say nightmares... missing our flight, etc.).

The Groupon today was $20 for a pass of 10 Ruva bed tans at my favorite tanning place, Beaches. This is normally $50! And, it's something I've been thinking about doing before our trip anyway.

I used to go to Beaches a lot (I mean A LOT) when I worked at Gold's Gym. A perk of working at Gold's is that you get a free gym membership, but you also get half off on your tanning. So I was buff, and tan.

But anyway, uh... I got the Groupon, and I'm going to start my pass of 10 tans tomorrow. I figured I would get burned anyway in Florida, so why not get that over with before I go?

Actually, I don't burn when I go tanning. I start out with really low minutes (5 mins, tops), and work my way up, so I'm just getting tan, no burn. By the time I'm done, I'll have a nice base tan to wear under sunscreen in Florida. Therefore, no burning! *So excited!*

This tan will also help show off my Insanity bod.

Except that I don't really plan on showing anyone that.

Except Lance, I guess.

Oh my goodness, Harry Potter world, I am so stoked! *uncontrollable excitement*

Oh my goodness, Disney World! *more uncontrollable excitement*

Insanity Day 31: Core Cardio & Balance

2011-03-24T06:49:00.000-06:00

I did a tiny bit better today than I did yesterday. I took fewer extra rests. I took extra rests, but not as many as yesterday. Still pushing.

Seems like I sweat a lot more today than I did yesterday.

Yesterday's workout made me a teensy bit sore! I was very happy about that. I like being sore because it lets me know my muscles are still being challenged.

Insanity Day 30 - Core Cardio & Balance

2011-03-23T07:04:00.000-06:00

This workout is easy and hard at the same time. It's easy because there isn't a whole lot of jumping and running exercises. It's mostly balance and strength exercises. I can *almost* do the entire workout without extra rests, but not quite. Hopefully by Saturday I will be able to do the entire workout. That is my goal!

The hardest part is the last three minutes. You go into a plie squat and do various movements with your arms. It's pretty hard. I did maybe one minute of it. Plenty of room for improvement.

So True!

2011-03-22T17:02:00.000-06:00

A coworker of mine has this lovely wife who writes a comedy blog. I love reading it each day.

Today's post spoke to me, deep down. It is so incredibly true.

You can read it here.

While I didn't join her weight loss competition, and while I'm not eating as healthy as she is... I am obnoxious. Very obnoxious. I look for opportunities to show off how in shape I am by demonstrating various hard exercises, or talking about my flat abs, or bragging about how I haven't had Dr. Pepper in over two months.... you know, stuff I've blogged about for the past month of Insanity.

I am obnoxious. And I am proud of it.

Unfortunately, I don't have three friends to be obnoxious with. The people I was competing with are... let's just say, not as dedicated to exercise as I am. I had one friend who wasn't in the competition, but who was sharing in my exercise goals, and she came down with a serious sinus infection that lasted for 6 weeks. She is just now fully healed and is just now starting up exercising again.

Obnoxious... that's me!

Insanity Day 29: Core Cardio and Balance

2011-03-22T09:04:00.002-06:00

Sorry to disappoint, but I didn't work out today. When I got up I had a really bad sore throat and my head was throbbing, so I went back to bed for an hour and a half. Man, it felt good. But, tomorrow through Saturday I will do Core Cardio & Balance. I promise!

Insanity Day 28: Fit Test #3

2011-03-21T06:43:00.001-06:00

Switch Kicks (2 kicks = 1 rep):
Day 1: 30    Day 15: 36 Day 28: 42.5          13 more kicks!

Power Jacks:
Day 1: 34    Day 15: 46     Day 28: 53             +7

Power Knees:
Day 1: 61    Day 15: 75 Day 28: 88             +13

Power Jumps:
Day 1: 17    Day 15: 27 Day 28: 32             +5

Globe Jumps (four jumps = 1 rep):
Day 1: 6      Day 15: 9 Day 28: 9               +0   :-)

Suicide Jumps:
Day 1: 9      Day 15: 12     Day 28: 13             +1

Push-Up Jacks:
Day 1: 13    Day 15: 20 Day 28: 23             +3

Low Plank Oblique:
Day 1: 26   Day 15: 38    Day 28: 46             +8

Man alive, it hurts! I can definitely see improvement from my first fit test.... I'm just happy I got a bit of improvement from my second fit test! Now on to a week of recovery so I can start up the harder workouts!

Insanity Day 27: Plyometric Cardio Circuit

2011-03-19T12:37:00.001-06:00

Is anyone sick of me posting each day about this? I kind of am. But at the same time, I think it's good to have a fitness journal. So if you've been skipping some of them, I totally don't blame you. This is more for me than it is for anyone else.

This was my last level 1 workout, so I pushed and I pushed hard. I seriously starting balling like a baby on the third time through the last circuit. Tears, sweat, pain, moans of agony... I had it all. But I pushed and pushed and here I am, exhausted. I actually finished the workout about an hour ago, so I've had some time to recover. I feel great now, but an hour ago I was sprawled out on the floor not wanting to get up, not wanting to go up the stairs, and not wanting to stand in the shower. I need a shower seat or something.

So, after one month of Insanity...

My body is more toned overall. I've noticed it the most in my stomach and my thighs.

My complexion is better. This is probably more a result of quitting soda, but I quit soda so I could do Insanity without throwing up. So, there you go, it's pretty much directly related.

I have more energy throughout the day. I'm up at 5:30am and in bed by 9:30pm. Early to bed and early to rise makes you less grumpy, ready to face any challenges, and ready to sleep at night.

I sleep better at night. No tossing and turning. No waking up randomly in the middle of the night. I also wake up fully rested.

I crave healthier foods. Fries are still a temptation, but much less of a temptation than they used to be.
I'm more confident with my appearance in general. I feel good about myself. I'm more positive.

I have gained 0.4 pounds. Yeah. Not the greatest thing, considering that I'm in a weight LOSS competition. But I know that the weight I've gained is purely muscle weight. I wish they would go by body fat percentage instead of percentage of weight lost. I don't weigh in until tomorrow, so I'll try to dehydrate myself between today and tomorrow. Haha....

Insanity Day 26: Pure Cardio & Cardio Abs

2011-03-18T07:35:00.000-06:00

Oh my goodness, you guys!! I did SO well at Pure Cardio today! I pushed so hard, I really used my positive affirmations. I was dead at the end. But it's OK. Cardio Abs was really hard. My tummy is weak. But it's good. I'm smiling because I love it.

Tomorrow is Plyo Cardio, then Monday I'm supposed to do Core Cardio and Balance, a new workout video, BUT I'm going to do the fit test instead.

On the Insanity schedule, I do Core Cardio and Balance every day next week, then the following Monday, I do the fit test as well as one of the advanced videos. I don't really want to do that. The fit test kicks my butt because I push so hard to improve from the previous. So I wouldn't have anything left to give the "Max" video!

I know, I know, trust the system. But seriously, no thanks. So, fit test on Monday, Core Cardio and Balance Tuesday through Saturday, then my first Max workout the next Monday.

I'm so ready for this.

Insanity Day 25: Cardio Recovery

2011-03-17T06:41:00.001-06:00

As I was Googling for an image to include with this post, a picture came up that was me! It was a link to one of my blogs about Insanity... kinda cool, I think!

Anyhow... I'm getting better at Cardio Recovery, even though this is only the third time I've done it. The hardest part today was, again, holding the squat position, after doing 16 squats and 16 pulses. Yikes! My legs were so shaky. Shaky legs, then you're supposed to go into this pose:

And hold that pose for... what feels like forever, once per leg. So yes, that means you hold this position for two forevers. :-) I held it! But I was shaking uncontrollably the entire time.

Yoga is very refreshing. I feel like I should do it every day either before or after my scheduled Insanity workout. Too bad I don't feel like getting up another hour earlier. 4:30am? No thank you!

Also, I think instead of it being Pure Cardio that is lumped with Cardio Abs (which is on the schedule for tomorrow...), it should be Cardio Recovery and Cardio Abs. I'm sure there's a method to why they lumped what they did, but it's just extremely hard doing those two videos back-to-back. I'm so not looking forward to tomorrow. But, I feel amazing right now.

Insanity Day 24: Plyometric Cardio Circuit

2011-03-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

This whole week has been kicking my butt! I'm supposed to be moving on to the advanced videos soon, but I'm still not as good as I'd like to be at my current videos. Argh!

I still can't keep the Reebok Easytone shoes on longer than 2 times through the warm up. The pain they cause is now extending into my legs and bottom, which is where I think it's supposed to hurt, but my feet still aren't OK with them.

My arms, abs, legs and bottom are all tighter than they used to be. My complexion is better. I actually like water, now. I can't believe it's been two months since I've had a Dr. Pepper. I don't crave it anymore.

If you look at me now, and looked at me a month ago, I'm sure you couldn't tell a difference. The main difference is the way I feel about myself. I feel better about myself. I know my muscles have gotten stronger, but they aren't very visible. Except maybe my tummy, but I don't go around showing that to people. :-)

Drama, Drama, Drama

2011-03-15T16:53:00.001-06:00

I had an online journal at LiveJournal.com during the years 2004-2006. Those were some of the hardest years of my life. I'm glad they're over. I'm glad my words (albeit immature and dramatic) aren't lost, like I thought they were.

My First Kiss

2011-03-15T12:34:00.001-06:00

I really hate that song, buy 3OH!3. Ick.

I don't like talking about my first official kiss because I hated it. Then why am I talking about it? Because I'm doing this, in case you've forgotten. I'm determined to talk about them all, no matter how painful.

But anyway, back to this "kiss". I didn't like the boy, and I didn't want to kiss him. My friend liked him, she wanted to kiss him. So she said, "If you had to choose between us, who would you kiss?" He picked me, and I guess took it as an invitation to kiss me right then, right there, in the middle of a mall. Blegh. It was awkward. And I let him do it because I was too scared to say no, or object in any way.

Looking back, I should have said something like, "Um, that wasn't an invitation. I'm just here so you guys can hang out. I don't like you." Or something like that. Maybe nicer? But then again, teenage boys don't hear nice things as what they are, so you have to say things very directly, almost rude.

I hope, hope, hope my little sisters don't have to go through anything like that. Please don't be afraid to say, "NO!" or push boys away, slap them in the face, anything like that. Boys are stupid, and who cares what they will think of you? Yes, it was just a kiss. But it was a kiss I'd rather not have on my (extremely short) list.

I'll be the first to admit it, I was not a strong person as a teenager. I was very dependent on my friends, I was who they wanted me to be. I let other people define me, and I regret it. I regret it so very much.

Luckily, I am happily married and I don't have to think about how dumb I was as a teenager.

(As a teenager) You think that what you want right now is so important and that it can't wait because the opportunity may never present itself again. I can say that God is in control, and he may present the initial opportunity merely as a temptation, and hopefully you don't fall into it.

Insanity Day 23: Cardio Power & Resistance

2011-03-15T09:24:00.002-06:00

I don't know if I'm still pushing or if I'm going backwards in my progress. It was hard today. I am tired. Especially my arms.

The end.