Conversation with the Doctor...

"Hi guys, so you're baby was being stubborn last time? Are you ready to try it again?"

"Definitely!"

I jump up on the table and lay down while the doctor sprays that warm jelly on my tummy. As he's doing this I think to myself -I really hope those four glasses of juice I drank before I came here help this baby to move around so we can see this time-

The doctor slides that thing up my stomach since the babies head is down and says...

"It's definitely a boy!"

"Are you sure?" I say.

"Oh, I'm sure. I'm not just sensing the testosterone levels here....there can you see it?"

"Wow, so it's a boy."

"Congratulations!"

So there you go everybody! It's a boy! We are so thrilled! Merry Christmas to us!

Modesty

You know in today's world you look around and modesty seems to be a thing of the past. During the summer you'll see scantily clad women and girls running around for everybody to see. It doesn't seem like too long ago where modesty of dress was something that parents encouraged and tried hard to teach their kids. Nowadays you'll have parents dressing their elementary aged kids in clothes that some college studies would even feel uncomfortable in...
Well this is one value that we won't have to teach our child. He/She is very modest. In fact, our child is so modest that during the ultra sound he/she kept it's legs pinned together, and made sure that it was properly covered by the umbilical cord so that we couldn't see a thing. Great, the one time when you want them to be proud to bear it all...our child held fast to it's virtues and refused to budge. The doctor tried everything he could to get the baby to spread it's legs for just a minute...but no dice. It just kept itself covered the best that it could.
So while baby's dad thinks that baby and Heavenly Father worked this out just because it would be funny to watch baby's mom have her patience tried, mom is going to remind the child of this when it's older and doesn't think it's that funny.
At least baby is super healthy and everything else is looking exactly the way it should.

I might go back monday and try it again.

My Stupid Phone

I'm about to vent my frustration in my stupid phone...actually it's probably not the phone's fault. I've had it since I got home from my mission, and it's been a great phone, and until recently has endured my abuse fairly well.
A couple weeks before Thanksgiving I dropped my phone. The screen blacked out, and the phone was only semi working. After about three weeks the screen suddenly came back to life allowing me to return text messages, write down phone numbers in my planner, and clean out my voicemail.
Then in my usual style I dropped my phone again. This time the screen was black and stayed black for about a month. It's so frustrating because I use my text all the time. I was missing events with my friends, I was missing texts telling me class was canceled, calls weren't coming through, I couldn't get my voicemail, and half of the time I couldn't even tell if my phone was on or off. The only way I could call somebody was if I had their number memorized or had my panner with me. It was so frustrating.
Then a few days ago at work I accidently dropped my phone, again...if you haven't noticed, it's a common thing for me...and when I picked it back up the screen worked again! I was so thrilled! So I returned all of my text messages, made sure I wrote down everybody's number this time in my planner, checked my voice mail and was able to tell if I was calling somebody and if my phone was off or on! It was glorious!
Then, two nights ago, I was sitting with my favorite Christmas blanket on my lap doing some reading when I suddenly realized that I was really hot. So did I gently remove the blanket that was covering me? NO, I threw the blanket off of my lap and with it threw my cell phone accross the room. Chris and I watched helplessly as it flew threw the air and landed in pieces on the tile in the kitchen. We both just stared for a minute, and then burst out laughing. I got up pieced my phone back together just to find that the screen is dead again. I've tried "accidently" dropping it on hard surfaces since then, but no luck. These things must be done only by accident apparently.
So basically the purpose of this post is to let you all know that if you send me a text, I won't get it. If you call, don't leave me a message I won't get it. *Sigh*
You can leave me a message on this blog and I might get it in time...
Hopefully I'll get a new phone for Christmas...but that might be risky seeing as how I might destroy it. lol.

It's A.....

New blog post!!! I bet I almost had some of you. No, we don't know what we're having yet, but we're so excited to find out in 7 days! Things have been super busy with finals but I finish those next week, and as long as I pass my math final I will never have to take a math class again!!!! Muah-ha-ha-ha! In high school I took up to the first two semesters of AP Calculus, but I have no idea how in the world they let me in. Most of the time in math I had no idea what was going on. So my first semester in school I started to take 1010, but had to Withdraw half way through the semester due to family and time issues. It worked out for the better anyway because I probably would have gotten a D maybe a D+ in the class. lol. When I got back form my mission I took the math test and got into math 990. Through a lot of hard work and tears I'm proud to say that I consistantly had the top scores in my class from 990, 1010, 1050, and 2010. 2020 has been a little more difficult, but I've manage to do pretty well. I went from actually hating math to having it be something I actually enjoyed. Yes, I have learned to enjoy math. I know it sounds crazy, and I can hardly believe it myself, but it's true! After 5 semesters of math I don't get as frustrated and tears are not as common as they were in the first four semesters. lol. I guess it's really given a sense of accomplishment. I've taken something that I was terrible at and had given me a complex over the last who knows how many years of my life, and I've conquered it! I'm just hoping that it doesn't conquer me on this next final. lol.

Long but worth it.

I love Brian Reagan. LOVE HIM! I think he's is very possibly one of the funniest men in the entire world. I was checking out his website the other day, and I found this story that happened to him and it pretty much made my day. I thought I'd share it with you all so it can make your day too. This is the link to the story if you want to check it out there http://www.brianregan.com/experience-writings-2.html or you can just keep reading. It takes a few minutes, but it's so worth it.

DEER IN THE HEADLIGHTS
Written by Brian Regan

One chilly Sunday night in the late 1980's, after finishing a gig in upstate New York, I decided to make the long drive back to my tiny apartment in Queens, New York. I checked out of the hotel, packed up my little Datsun 510, and started my drive through the night.
Soon into my lonely drive, I noticed a "Deer Crossing" sign on the side of the road. A while later, I saw a second such sign. Then I passed a third. The signs didn't actually say the words, "Deer Crossing." Instead, they simply showed a silhouette of a black deer against a yellow background. Since I was new to New York, having moved there from Florida several years before, I was not familiar with "Deer Crossing" signs. I thought the cute picture of the deer meant you might see a cute, Bambi-like animal on the side of the road, and you might want to point it out to your cute little kids. I didn't know it meant, "DEER CROSSING! THINGS THAT LOOK LIKE THIS MIGHT JUMP IN FRONT OF YOUR CAR AND MAYBE KILL YOU!"
Since it was dark, and therefore, there would be little chance of seeing a cute, Bambi-like animal on the side of the road, I paid no more attention to the "Deer Crossing" signs, instead getting lost in my own thoughts. I remember noting how odd it was that so few other cars were on the highway. As my mind settled into the mesmerizing brain hum that takes over during such long drives, some THING, about the size of a wall unit, jumped from the darkness into the path of my Datsun. It was a DEER! And it was CROSSING! It landed, tail on the right solid line, nose on the left divided line. It was huge. As it landed in the bright light of my high beams, it froze. My car felt like a meteorite as I hurtled toward it. I saw it and hit it simultaneously. A hideous crunch crackled through the night as the deer's enormity met my car. As the animal bent over the hood, I saw its big black deer eye that looked more surprised than I was at what was happening to both of us. As my car lifted the deer, the animal's girth popped the latch of the hood. The hood crumpled upward smashing into and cracking my windshield. A horrible rumbling sound was heard as the deer rolled over the top of my car and off the back into the darkness. A quick glance at the rearview mirror revealed only the black of night. When I darted my eyes back forward, I saw only the hood. My car was hauling down the highway, at 60 miles an hour, with the hood up, and me in it.
I hit the brakes and prayed to God as my car gradually slowed down. In the agonizingly long time it took for the car to slow, I realized I had to make a terrible choice. Should I stop the car on the road and risk having it hit from behind before I could get out, or should I veer off to the side of the road, where I might hit something I can't see? Usually, I take my time mulling over difficult decisions. This one, I had to make in an instant.
I chose to veer off. With "Please God's" machine gunning out my mouth, I turned the wheels slightly and hoped I wouldn't drive off a cliff... or into a pole... or into one of those cute, "Deer Crossing" signs. When I felt the tires leave the road and hit the shoulder, I turned them back, parallel with the road. I jammed my foot into the brake as hard as I could. Finally, the car stopped. The hood remained up. As I sat, thanking God for allowing me to live another second, my radiator made horrible hissing noises. I knew my Datsun was destroyed.
I got out of the car to examine the damage. A distant highway streetlight faintly revealed it to be extensive. The front grill was crushed as radiator fluid gushed to the ground. It was midnight, my car was no more, and I didn't know what to do.
Then paranoia took over. "What happened to the deer? Is it dead? Is it on the highway? What if somebody else hits it and gets hurt? Or killed? Is it my responsibility to drag that thing off the road?" I surmised it might be my legal responsibility to find that deer and remove it from the road. It was, even more so, my moral responsibility.
Realizing that not a single car had passed since the collision with the deer, I grabbed a flashlight from my glove box and began walking back toward where I guessed I would find the deer. As I clicked on the flashlight I noticed, maybe because of the collision, the flashlight was flickering on and off. In fact, in the "on" position, the thing was "off" more than it was "on." As I walked, on the empty roadway, back toward the scene of the impact, I was treated to only occasional strobe light images of the empty highway. Not knowing how far my car had traveled after hitting the deer, I guessed I could have driven fifty yards or so until actually stopping. I kept walking back, sweeping the faulty flashlight back and forth, seeing only snippets of empty roadway, but never the deer.
Then I started hearing things. Rustling noises emanated from the nearby thicket of woods. "Was it the deer?" I wondered. "Maybe I didn't kill it," I thought. "Maybe it's badly injured, and it's watching me from the woods, and when I get close enough, it's going to hobble out and kick me in the head."
These horrible thoughts hurried me into deducing I had covered my legal and moral tracks by trying plenty hard enough to find the deer. I ran back to my car.

"Now what?" I mused. "I can't drive the car. Nobody is out on the highway." I decided I had to walk to the closest exit to find help. Since I couldn't remember passing an exit soon before hitting the deer, I figured it would be best to walk forward on the road, in the hopes an exit wouldn't be too far ahead. I attached a note to the driver's side window that read something to the effect of, "I hit a deer, I'm wearing a silver jacket, and I'm walking forward towards the next exit." What I hoped that note would accomplish, I couldn't tell you.
About five minutes into my walk, I heard a large truck behind me. As I turned to look, I saw two headlights as the truck was obviously slowing down. I waved my arms a bit as the truck, a huge eighteen-wheeler, stopped right next to me. I looked up into the cab to see the driver, a normal enough guy, saying, "You hit a deer?"
"Yeah, I did, how did you know that?" I answered.

"I could tell by the front of your car back there. Where are you headed?"

"I'm just walking up to the next exit to find a pay phone or something," I replied.

"Hop in, I'll take you to the next exit."

So I did.

As I pulled myself up into the cab I realized that, "Hop in, I'll take you to the next exit," could actually have meant, "Hop in, so I can kill you, and no one will ever know about it."
But what choice did I have? At some point I was going to need the assistance of a complete stranger in the middle of the night. Why not trust this guy? Fortunately this man was not the killing type. He was the kind man type. He drove me to the next exit, which would have been too far to walk, got off the exit, and dropped me off at a gas station that was closed, but that had a phone booth out front.

"Good luck!" he offered, as he pulled away.

I called AAA, which I had just signed up for several months before. This was my first call to them.

"Uh, hi, my name is Brian Regan, I have AAA, and I just hit a deer."

I heard laughter from the other end.

Being from Florida, I thought, "Maybe I'm the first person in the history of the earth that has driven into a deer."

"I know it sounds crazy, sir, but that's what happened."

"I'll send a tow truck out," the guy said, still chuckling.

After about twenty-minutes, a tow truck pulled up to the gas station. A nice enough, middle-aged guy asked me to hop in and we drove back to my car. As the guy began to hook up my crushed Datsun, another car slowly drove past us on the highway. It slowed to a roll, then it stopped... in the highway. It sat for a moment, and then started backing up. As it continued backing toward us, I thought, "Whoever this is wants to lend a helping hand. How nice."

The car pulled even with us but didn't slow. It continued backing up on the highway. Back, back, back, it went. I didn't know what in the hell was going on.

"What is that guy doing?" I asked the tow truck guy.

"He's probably looking for the deer," he answered.

"They know I hit a deer too?" I queried, perplexed.

The car in the road finally stopped, farther back then I had walked with my strobe-like flashlight, and parked on the inside shoulder. With its headlights still on, I heard two car doors open and close. Then I heard distant murmuring. Then the murmuring turned into yelling, and then yelping.

"Looks like they found it," concluded the tow truck guy.

Then I heard footsteps running from that car towards us. They grew louder and were accompanied with heavy panting. Within seconds, a guy wearing a red flannel shirt huffed up to me.

"You hit that deer?" he asked, in what seemed like a breach of social etiquette, since there were no, "Hey, how ya' doing's?" or "Are you okay's?" or "I sure feel badly about how your evening is going's." Just simply, "You hit that deer?"

"Yeah I did."

"You gonna keep it?"

This question seemed rather odd to me. "Am I gonna keep it?" I asked myself again in my own head, increasing the incredulity for my own amusement.

"Uh, no. I'm not going to keep it," I replied, improving his incorrect usage of the English language.

"Can we keep it?" he followed, continuing with what, to this day, might be the strangest handful of questions I've ever been asked.

"Sure, you can keep it," I said.

A very loud hooting sound came out of his body as he turned and dashed back toward the distant car.

"What was that all about?" I asked the tow truck guy.

"Well, the rule is, whoever hits a deer gets to keep it," I was told.

"Why would anyone want to keep a deer they hit?" I asked.

"For the meat," he said.

Just then I heard from the other car, "HE SAID WE COULD KEEP IT!" This was followed by more hoots and hollers.

As I looked back towards the hootin' and hollerin' another set of headlights began to slow down near the other car. The headlights then came to a stop behind the other car. Then red and blue spinning lights popped on over the new car.

"Looks like the cops are checking up on them," said the tow truck guy.

"For what?"

"It's not hunting season. They're not allowed to have a deer."

"Huh? Am I in trouble?"

"No, you're alright. You're allowed to HIT a deer. You're just not allowed to SHOOT one."

From the distant headlights I heard, "Yes, sir! He said we could keep it!"

After a moment of silence I heard, "HEY, COME HERE AND TELL 'EM YOU GAVE US THAT DEER!"

Not sure why I was obligated to be involved with all this, I ran back towards the scene, stopping at the driver's side window of the police car. The guy in the red flannel shirt joined me.

A very typical looking state trooper looked up at me and asked, "You hit that deer?"

"Yes, sir," I answered to this eerily familiar question.

"You gonna keep it?"

Noting the Deja vu irony of the questioning, I replied, "No sir. I gave it to these guys."

More hootin' and hollerin' filled the night.

"Let me see your license and registration," the trooper demanded.

My license plate had recently expired and I was pretty hot under the collar that my good deed bequeathment of this dead deer was now going to get me in trouble.

"Uh, do I need to do that?" I queried, as if this could possibly get the answer I wanted.

"Yes you do," he assured me.

Cursing in my mind these two hootin' and hollerin' deer hunters I ran back to my car that was about to be lifted by the tow truck.

"Hang on," I said to the tow truck guy, "I need to get my registration out of there."

I ran around to the passenger side, opened the door, and reached into the glove box. As I did, I noticed a can of brake fluid I kept in there had somehow lost its cap, maybe in the collision with the deer. Brake fluid was all over the glove box and all over my registration.

I ran the sopping wet registration back to the cop. As I apologized for it being soaked with brake fluid, I handed the registration to him. He looked at it, then at me, then at his partner, who I hadn't even noticed until then. The cop in the driver's seat handed the sopping wet registration to the other cop. They both laughed as the second cop gave it back to the first. The first cop held it up to me to reveal that the brake fluid had wiped out all the ink that had been typed onto the registration form. You could still read the original form, but all my information was running like mascara.

"Well I'm in trouble" I thought as the first cop picked up a clipboard and started writing. I just stood there shaking my head at what was continuing to unfold for me. "Unbelievable," I thought, "my car is demolished, I don't know what to do, and now I'm getting a ticket. What a messed up night!"

The cop finished writing and handed me a little yellow piece of paper. "So this is what a ticket looks like," I thought, having never before gotten one in over ten years of driving.

"Give that to those guys and tell them to twist it onto the antlers," ordered the trooper.

"Excuse me?" was the only thing I could think of to say.

"Tell them to twist tie this onto the antlers so if they get pulled over again, they can show it's a gift."

"A gift?" I thought.

So I walked the yellow tag over to the two guys as they were placing this dead deer into their trunk.

"You're supposed to twist tie this onto the antlers," I instructed them, realizing this was a sentence I had never before said in my life.

This, of course, was followed with more hootin' and hollerin'.

When I walked back to the troopers' car to get what was left of my registration, I still wasn't sure whether or not I was getting a ticket. Not wanting to ask, I just kind of stood there waiting to see if I was going to be dismissed.

As the first cop gave me my dripping registration he asked of no one in particular, "What in the hell are they doing?"

Noticing he was watching the two guys with the deer I thought, "Does this officer have the shortest memory in the universe?"

The cop then leaned his head out the window and yelled to the two guys, "Hey fellas, you can't put that deer in there like that. It will explode."

Horrible images entered my mind.

"What do you mean?" the guy in flannel asked.

"You gotta gut that thing!" shouted the cop.

More horrible images entered my mind.

Then the cop turned to me and said, "You're free to go."

Thrilled that the brake fluid had wiped away the evidence of my expired tag, I ran with my dripping registration back to my car, which by now was ready to be towed.

"All set?" asked the tow truck driver.

"Yeah, I think so," I foolishly answered. "The cops gave those guys something for the antlers and then they told them they should gut it, or something."

As the troopers slowly drove past us, I could hear more huffing and puffing as the man with the flannel shirt again ran back towards us.

"Now what?" I wondered.

"You all gotta knife?" he asked.

"Not me," I answered hoping my experience with these guys was over.

"I have one," offered the tow truck guy, whose kindness apparently extended beyond my needs. "If you're going to gut that deer though, you should probably get off the highway first. It's not safe out here."

"Good idea," said flannel man.

Handing the man the knife, the tow truck guy said, "Why don't you guys follow me to the next exit and you can use my headlights to gut the deer?"

"Gee thanks," said the guy with the knife as he ran back to his friend.

A few minutes later, I found myself sitting in the passenger side of a parked tow truck watching the most hideous thing I have ever seen.

One of the two guys lifted the deer from behind as if he was going to give it the Heimlich Manuever. The other guy jabbed the knife into its belly and tugged it upwards, opening the deer, belly to chest. Then the guy with the knife threw the knife on the ground and stuck his arms up into the deer. He began pulling stuff out of the deer like someone would pull towels out of a dryer. He kept pulling stuff out until there was apparently nothing left to pull. The deer innards just piled up on the ground between the dangling deer's hind hooves. When they were done with this, they put the deer into their trunk. Then the guy who had done the excavating, picked up the knife, wiped it uselessly on some grass and walked it back to the tow truck guy.

"Here you go, thanks," he said, as his crimson red arm handed the crimson red knife back to the tow truck driver. "And thanks again for the deer!" the guy shouted to me as he ran back to his buddy who was slamming the trunk of the car.

As the tow truck guy drove me and my crushed car away from this horrid scene, I could hear the two guys getting into their car.

They were hootin' and hollerin'.

Crazy Couple of Weeks

So here's a quick update:
Chris dislocated his shoulder playing football with his Elders Quorum. It was a couple weeks ago. He left at 9:30am Saturday morning and burst through the door around 10 calling for help. At first I thought he was joking, but after I saw the look on his face I could tell he was in a lot of pain. He said that he thought he dislocated his shoulder but that the guys popped it back in and that he just needed some ice. He tried to get comfortable while I got him some ice, and said he didn't need to go to the doctor. I gave him some IBprofin, and began to hold the ice on his shoulder, but I could tell it wasn't going to help. So I told him that we needed to go to the doctor. He agreed, which was a sign of how much pain he was in. So I called my mom to ask her if I should go to the instacare or the emergency room, and we decided that the instacare would be a little cheaper...and if they couldn't help then they would send us to the hospital. While I was talking to my mom, I could hear Chris moaning in pain, and yelling "hurry, please." Unfortunately the closest instacare that I knew of was down in Lindon. So we got in the car and started driving. Of course we were cut off by just about every slow driver in the world, which did not help Chris calm down. He was sobbing, which I have never seen him do. In the 6 years I've known him I have never seen him shed more than a tear. His body started shaking and I was afraid he was going into shock. I felt so bad for him and was so frustrated that there was really nothing I could do to help. Now a little side note, when I'm in stressful situtations where somebody has been injured my defense mechanism is to laugh. It's horrible I know. But I literally can't help it. So there we are my husband is sobbing and shaking with pain, and I'm trying not to laugh...that didn't help him feel better at all, and it made me feel worse, which made me have to try harder not to laugh or smile at all. Anyway, so we finally get to the instacare, and we walk inside. The women at the desk can tell he's in a lot of pain and check with the doctor to see if we need to go to the emergency room. The doctor says that he can help us, and while Chris is just trying to stay concious in the corner, I begin to fill out the paperwork. Then I see where the form asks for the patients signature. I ask the woman if I can sign it for Chris, and she says that at the emergency I would be able to, but at here they can't touch him until they have his signature. So I turn to Chris and tell him he needs to sign. He just looked at me and the other women like "What the heck! Can't you see I'm in Pain?" So with his left hand he just drew a line on the signature line. The woman said that wasn't good enough. He was not happy about this, and scribbled something on the paper which was going to be the most we could get out of him. I forged the other signature, and finished the paper work. We then had to wait for 20 minutes for the doctor in the lobby. Finally we got to a room, a nurse cam in and gave him a few shots, they took some x-rays, and after about an hour of being there they began to try to get his arm back in the socket. It took two grown men pulling on his arm for an hour as hard as they could to get the bone back in the right place. Everybody was so relieved that went back in especially Chris. They gave him some really strong medication and put his arm in a sling and sent us on our way. As we were leaving Chris told me that he just wanted to go home and take a nap before his soccer game later that night. Obviously he was delusional. There was no way that I was going to let him play. I just figured that the morphine they gave him was still in full effect. We picked up his medication, and went home. They told him to only take the medication at night because it was so easy to get addicted to it so once the morphine wore off he realized he wasn't going to be playing soccer anytime soon.
His arm has improved a lot, and physical therapy has been helping him, but he still doesn't have a lot of movement, and it's still really weak. Because it was his right arm, I've been having to do a little extra work around the house which has made life very busy for me. But I'm just glad that he doesn't need surgery or anything.
In other news, we have our appointment on the 19th and we'll finally find out what we're having! I'm so excited I can hardly wait!
Thanksgiving was great, we had great food, and I made a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. I was so proud. My cousin Christy brought a guy who she's been dating and I'm pretty sure they're going to get married. Chris said that he is about as Rowe as you can possibly be without actually being a Rowe. For those of you who know my mom's side of the family you know what he means.
This week has been absolutely wonderful and relaxing, and we are not looking forward to going back to work and school on Monday.

You're getting a pouch....

So I never thought it was a big deal when girls said they didn't know how to react when somebody would say that they were starting to look pregnant, or getting a little "pouch"...until yesterday.
I was talking with a couple people at work and one of them reached over and patted my stomach and said "you're starting to look pregnant, that baby must be growing!" then another person chimed in and said "Yeah, I noticed the other day that you're getting a little pouch."
I just smiled graciously and said Yup. :) Inside I was experiencing for the first time what these other women are talking about when they bring this up. Now I know it's not a big deal, part of me is glad that I'm kind of starting to show...even if it's only a little bit. But the other part of me is having a little bit of a hard time with it. In my head I know that the baby really isn't that big yet, and though my clothes are a little tight, I didn't think I had a pouch yet...and when they rub my stomach, they're really just rubbing my fat. Disturbing, I know.
So I just wanted to let you all know that I finally understand what you're talking about and I can finally say I know how you feel. I mostly just feel fatter right now, but I'm looking forward to getting to the point where I actually look pregnant, and when people touch my stomach they're touching a baby...not my fat. :)

So Sweet

So this may not be the most masculine picture of my husband, but it's the best I have right now. lol. First of all he's now 24! So Happy Birthday do him!
Second of all, many of you remember how I said that Chris was reffing soccer. Many of you probably also remember me complaining about how he was gone all the time because of it. If not, just to get you up to speed at the end of the summer Chris started reffing soccer a couple times during the week and 3 or so games on saturdays. He was earning al ittle extra money, so at first I was fine with him being gone that much...but it got old pretty fast. I never get to see him during the week in the first place, so hardly seeing him on saturdays was not my favorite thing. So I'll admit I started giving him a hard time about it. Then in the last month or so school began to get too busy and he couldn't ref very often anymore, which I was fine with.
So the other night we were sitting down going over our finances, and I noticed a new bank account with $500 in it. I asked him what it was for. He said that he had been putting the money he had earned into that bank account and had been planning on using it for my christmas present. *Flashback to a couple months earlier*
It was mid summer, and I decided that I wanted to become a photographer along with being a teacher. The cameras that I was looking at were around $1000. We both decided that the camer would be my only Christmas present for the year.
Chris knew how much I wanted the camera, so he went out and took the reffing classing to get certified and started reffing so that he could get me the camera for Christmas. *Flashback to the present*
As I sat there and he told me that he had started to ref in his free time so that we could afford the camera I was so overcome with emotions. First I was so happy that I had such a sweet husband who would do that for me. Then I remembered how I would always give him a hard time when he would spend his free time reffing. How did such a sweet man get such a crappy wife? (I don't think I'm crappy, but I felt like it at that moment)Isn't it funny that sometimes we can get so wrapped up in our own world that we become oblivious to what other people are doing...even if it's for us?
I just wanted to share this story because I thought it was such a sweet thing he did. Better than flowers or even the camera itself.

*A little side note~I no longer want to be a photographer or want the camera. We've decided to get a present that both of us can use and enjoy for Christmas.

Funny video, and Great Weekend

First of all I have to post this video. This is a great example of how we all felt watching the BYU game this weekend. So Sad. Click on the link http://failblog.org/2008/10/16/log-throwing-fail/ to see the video. It's great for a good laugh. It all happens very quickly so watch closely (oneday I'll figure out how to actually put them on here).

This weekend Chris and I went down to St. George to see Les Mis, and just hang out. It was wonderful. Chris even said he enjoyed Les Mis more than Wicked! I was pretty excited. Maybe one day he'll enjoy going to plays with me, little by little. Our trip was almost canceled because a couple days before we were supposed to leave our arrangements for a place to stay fell through, and because it was UEA everything was booked. Luckily Chris's dad stepped in and found an old condo that we could all stay in. It was fun to hang out with Chris's family for the weekend. Friday was Chris's birthday and we went to Applebee's for dinner. It's always interesting walking in and asking for a table of 9. On Saturday we slept in and went shopping. Linley, whose 6, came with us in our car, and was so excited because she brought her purse and had $1.25 to spend. We went into the first store and she found a small pollypocket with a pink ballgown, high heels, and jewelry for $1.99. She picked it up and refused to put it down. After we had been in the store for a while she took Chris's hand and took him up to the front counter with her. She was ready to buy her new treasure. She set it on the check out counter, and then opened her purse and put about $.15 on the counter, and just stared at the cashier. Chris started laughing, and explained that she was going to need more money to pay for it. So he took her over to a table and helped her count all of her money. She obviously came up short and was so heart broken. So Chris emptied all the pennies from his pocket, and I pulled out $.30 from my wallet and donated to her cause. She picked up the money and laid all the change out in front of the cashier. She was so excited and just kept saying how proud of herself she was for buying something all by herself. It was cute. I bought Chris a sweater he wanted for Christmas (which he decided last night that he can't wait that long because he loves it too much). We also bought a new frying pan (wahoo) and a styrofoam sword. This was Chris's favorite purchase. Laura invited us to Christians 4-year oold pirate birthday party. We saw the swords and thought it would be the perfect present for him. So we spent $6 and bought it, after getting her permission of course.
That night we went to Les Mis. I really enjoyed it, and give it a 9 out of 10. I would have directed a couple things differently, and while the guy who played Jean Val Jean was good and had a nice voice, his voice was too young, and because he was so young they kept this fake beard on him the whole play which never really made him look different from when he was a prisoner. Javert is a pretty bad detective if he didn't recognize him. lol. And Val Jean was a little too nasally...that's probably not even a word...but it's true. Overall I really enjoyed it, and the theater there is beautiful! Sorry I don't have any pictures of the weekend. I forgot to take my camera. Maybe next time.
A little side note* I'm now coming up on week 13, and feeling so much better! I'm not nearly as tired, and I don't feel sick all the time! I love it! All my clothes are starting to get a little tight. I can still wear them but they are just a little uncomfortable. The other thing is that I'm suddenly getting really bad headaches that last for days. I've never had that before. Does anybody have any suggestions?

Real Post

Ok, I know it's been forever since I have posted anything decent. Not that all of my adventures in my technology haven't been fascinating for you all. :)This is a long one, so you may want to sit down for it.
Last week I got to go to my friend Mandy's 6th grade class, and it was a blast! A funny thing happened while I was there though. So Mandy teaches the advanced math class for 6th grade. So for math all of the advanced students come into her class room for over an hour of math. The day I was there they were reviewing for a test. Mandy had all the students get into groups at their tables and told them to pick a team captain. She would write a problem on the board and give them a couple minutes to work as a group and figure it out. The first team captain who stood up would get the points if they answered the question right, but if they got it wrong the points would go to the next team captain who was standing. Mandy would work out the problem on the board and then check the tables answer to make sure it was right. However, not everyone was excited about this review game.
There was one little boy...let's call him Toby...who refused to sit at a table and participate. Mandy kept asking him to join tables one or two, and he just continued to sit on the big bean bag and make comments like "why would I want to be at a table with all girls, or mostly girls. It's a ridiculous choice, and I'm not sitting with either" (Obviously he hasn't figured out that being out numbered by girls is a good thing). Even the other kids in the class were saying "Just come sit down" and "sit with us". To each and every one of the kids he had some rude comment so say back to them. He had pretty good vocabulary of negative words (if I do say so myself) that he would just mumble to himself anytime anybody asked him to do anything. I wish I could remember some of them because it was so hard for me not to laugh. So after multiple attempts by Mandy and the kids to get him to participate Mandy gave him an assignment to work on in the hall. As he was leaving the classroom he said under his breath "I'm going straight to the principal's office to report this!" Unfortunately Mandy didn't hear what he said and continued with the review.
About 10 minutes later an older teacher came in and told Mandy she was needed in the hall. Mandy left the classroom after a hushed discussion with the older teacher and disappeared for 15 minutes or so. This next part is my favorite.
So when the older teacher came in the class had just finished the problem that Mandy had given them, and started to stand up. The class was a little noisy, but not above anything that is unreasonable for group activites like the one they were doing. So this teacher comes in and tells all the kids to sit down, be quiet and get back to what they were supposed to be doing...she didn't know that they already were. So when the kids tried to explain to her taht they were playing a review game, she wouldn't listen and ordered them to be quiet. When she saw that not everybody had out paper and a pencil to do math she started questioning them as to why nobody was working. Finally somebody explained to her that they were supposed to be revewing as groups from the problems on the board. So she went up to the board and wrote a math problem. Then as the tables started to work together to figure it out she said "why are you talking? I shouldn't hear your voices." The student explained again that they were supposed to work together as groups to figure it out. The teacher said "fine, but as long as I don't hear you talking." You should have see the frustration and confusion on the kids faces. I so wanted to jump up and say, I know what they're doing I'll take over...but she scared me, so I didn't. She would solve the problems in the most confusing way i've ever seen, and then award points to the team who got it wrong. Needless to say when Mandy finally came back the kids were all in an annoyed mood. lol.
You thought it was over but there's more. Oh yes. So Mandy came back in followed soon after by a rather cheerful Toby. While the advanced class was leaving she came and told me what had happened when Toby went to the principal. When Toby went to the principal's office he announced that his teacher was disrespecting him. His principal sent him back to Mandy. Toby sat down in the hallway outside of Mandy's class and started bawling. Mandy went out to talk to him and he started yelling at her saying "Teacher's will be the death of me!" Pretty dramatic. He proceeded to tell Mandy all that was wrong with the world and continued yelling at her. She got a little queezy and sat down on the floor next to him. When she did this he yelled at her saying "why are you sitting down?" lol. She asked him what he wanted and he said he wanted to be homeschooled. She said that she was sure he didn't want her to home school him and it was something she couldn't help him with. So she asked him again, what can I do to help you? He told her that she didn't need to stand up in front of the class to teach. That she should just give an assignment and sit down. He told her that because she didn't grade the reveiw games she shouldn't do them, and that she should just homework and assignments that can be graded. She explained that there were 31 other kids in the class who wanted to play the review game, so that's how she was going to do it, but she could give him assignments to work on individually if he really wanted. He agreed, and they both came back to class where he proceeded not to do his assignment but walk around the classroom making cheerful comments.
Little side note* Apparently that morning after the principal told him twice to not ride his bike on school grounds he said "Principal's are going to send me to my grave."
So I know I'm going to sound crazy, but all of this makes me so excited to be a teacher!

Power Point and 6th Grade

This last week I got to spend some time in my friend Mandy's 6th grade class. It was a blast and made me so excited to teach. The kids were so fun and so smart it was a blast. There was one interesting experience that I will have to post later this week.
One thing Mandy did was she had taught the kids how to use Power point, and then we went to the computer lab where each of the kids got into groups. They were assigned a topic about Ancient Greece and then instructed to make their own power point presentations. At the end of the week they were to present their power point to the rest of the class and teach what they learned.
I loved the idea of having the kids create their own power points and then use them to teach each other about a specific topic. It's a great way to get the kids excited about what their learning. I had a couple of the kids who asked me questions about creating the power point, and because I am not very experienced with Power point, I couldn't help them. I felt pretty dumb.
Luckily, I learned how to use Power point in my tech class this week, and I've been playing with it in my spare time. I learned how to make the picture go to the background (maybe it sounds dumb for you, but it was an exciting moment for me), I learned how to add sounds, video clips, change what happens when you move from slide to slide, change the color of the slide, add graphs and charts, and personalize the Power point. I'm still not a pro at it, but I know a lot more about power point now than I did a week ago.
I am so excited to be able to use this for my future classes. For the younger classes I could use it as part of my teaching, and for the older classes I could start teaching them about how to use it, and have them create some power points of their own. What an amazing age we live in!

Reflection-Internet Safety

This week has been insane, and stressful. That's life sometimes and you just have to roll with the punches.

This week we learned a lot about internet safety and how to evaluate a website. Since the internet is here to stay it is very important to make sure that we as teachers help the kids in our classes understand the dangers of the internet, and how to use it wisely. That's right. The internet is not going anywhere, and we need to use it in our teaching. Not only is it a wonderful tool for us as teachers, it can be a great enhancement to the classroom, and your students education. With kids as young as 3 learning how to use the computer now days, we have a responsibility to help our kids understand how to use it as a powerful tool, but how to be smart and safe while using it. Teach them not to open emails from people they don't know. Explain to them the dangers of giving out personal information online, and give them rules about when they can use the computer and where they can use it.

One important part of teaching our kids how to use the internet is teaching them how to evaluate the websites they use. They need to know that not every website contains accurate information. They should be able to ask themselves some key questions to find out if the website is a good website to use as a resource. Some examples of questions are:

* What are the resources this author/website uses to back up the material?
* When was the information on this website last updated?
* What kind of domain does it have? (.edu, .org, etc.)

By teaching them some internet basics they will have a better knowledge of how to safely use it for the rest of their lives.I have found some really great websites that help teach kids about internet safety through games and videos made specifically for them. If you want to check them out go to my uen site (link in post below) and click on Internet Education. They are listed under my bookmarks. :)

Proud to Introduce....

Baby Adams. He/She is 9 weeks old, and apparently likes to do the jig. When he/she first popped up on the screen he/she was dancing around. The doctor said it looked like the jog. lol. It was so fun to see the baby moving around, but even better to see the heartbeat. It's been an interesting pregnancy so far. Competely different than my last one. I don't get morning sickness...I get all day sickness. And sometimes I don't even have the energy to lift my arm. But I have to keep telling myself that it's good to be sick and tired. I'd rather deal with it then have it suddenly dissappear. It's been hard for me to not worry...but it's getting better with every week that goes by. I'll be honest, it took me a few weeks to get even a little attached, but now I am.

As most of you already know, we bought a baby crib. Ironically the smell of it makes me completely sick. I don't know why. So for weeks I haven't been able to go into the second bedroom. I bought a air freshener plug in and that has seemed to mask the smell of the wood enough I can go into the room without holding my breath. Anyway. We are thrilled, and even though we're not quite out of the woods as far as miscarraige goes, we feel really good about everything. OH and the doctor forgot to tell us the due date...but I'm guessing it's at the end of April, beginning of May.
(This next part not for the weak of stomach)
Oh on a side note, after my appointment today I went to AF hospital for lab tests and blood work. It was a super fun experience. Since high school they never seem to be able to find any working veins (it's a wonder i'm still alive). I warned the nurse of my vein problem and she did what all the other nurses do, she said "I'm sure it will be fine." I just looked at her and smiled...I knew what was coming. I've seen it a million times. So she spent 10 minutes looking for a vein, and finally decided on one in my right arm. She put the needle in, and started moving it around. She finally got it into my vein, but no blood was coming, and it kept slipping out...and then my arem started turning blue. My vein blew. So she wrapped my arm and apologized, and ran to get a smaller needle. So she starts feeling around my left arm for a second vein. The only one she can find is pretty deep, but she decides to go for it. So she sticks the needle in and moves it around a little, and the tiniest drop of blood came out. We both looked at the "gushing" blood, then at the 7 tubes I had to fill up. We knew at this rate we'd be here all day. After 10 minutes I hadn't even filled up an 8th of the tube when suddenly the blood stopped coming. Vein number 2 blew. The nurse was astonished and said she had used a pediatric needle so it should have been fine. I just sat there and told her that it happens to me alot. She wrapped that arm, and went to go get the nurse in charge. The nurse came and decided that she didn't want to try anymore veins from my arm, and after examining me for a couple minutes decided to try the vein on the back of my hand. If you've never had to have blood pulled from that vein let me tell you...not pleasant. Anyway so they start dumping all the blood into a big tube so that they could just divide it into the smaller tubes later. While they were draining my of my blood supply I suddenly felt really nauseas. The nurse looked at me and said "are you breathing?" I realized I hadn't been, so I told her I forgot because I was trying not to throw up. She told me to take deep breaths and got one of the other nurses to bring me some ice water (best water I've ever had by the way)and a lollipop. So while they finished I drank the water which helped, and watched as they wrapped my hand in that medical tape. They made me sit for a minute and eat the sucker and drink my water before they let me go, which I was grateful for. So there I am, two blown veins, both my arms and one of my hand covered in florecent orange pumpking medical tape eating a sucker. I suddenly felt like a little kid. lol. Luckily the room stopped spinning and I made it to work ok, and will only look like I've been beaten for a week or so. lol. The joys of being pregnant. Wouldn't trade them for the world.

My UEN!

http://my.uen.org/myuen/212976 ~There it is, my website for my future class. So copy and paste this link if you want to check it out!

UEN Reflection:

I’m really excited about my uen site! I think it’s a great way to keep myself organized. I really like how there is a public site and there I have my own personal site. I’m excited about the calendar on the public site so that the kids and their parents can see what’s due that week, and activities and class events that are coming up.
I’m absolutely thrilled about the Pioneer Online Library. What an amazing resource to have as a teacher. Just by logging in to the Pioneer site, you have access to state curriculum, local and world news, journals and data bases, as well as some great search engines and lesson plans with neat information about kids. You can also find media that will work for you lessons. I am really hoping for the opportunity to teach in a Spanish immersion program, so I was really excited at the Spanish resources available through the Pioneer online library. Through UEN you can also find really neat interactives that you can have your kids play. Under the 5th grade core curriculum, which you can view through UEN, I found out that in 5th grade they focus alot on emotional and physical health. One unit teaches about good and bad nutrition and how excercise can play a big rold in overall health. I found a really neat game that helps teach these concepts in a fun way.
I was also really excited about some of the lesson plans offered. I searched for a 5th grade lesson plan about health and found one that teaches kids how to have a good self esteem. This lesson plan also included ideas for activities, and a worksheet the kids can do. What an amazing resource to have!
I had a lot of fun playing with the Culture Grams. I think you could divide the kids into groups, have them pick a country in the world and create a presentation with basic information about the country, fun facts, and pictures. It’s also got a great feature that teaches the kids how to pronounce certain words and phrases in the country’s language.
I also really like that I can post links on my bookmarks for the public page. From there I can post links that might be helpful to parents. By creating current curriculum resources you can create lesson plans, find worksheets to use, and activities to play with the kids. I created a curriculum for 5th grade language arts, and was able to find a worksheet called Eye Spy a Pattern which helps teach students how patterns and things work together. I also really liked the idea they had about creating candy boxes to help kids learn about volume and dimensions. My UEN is full of great tools and resources that will really help me to be creative and come up with fun ways to teach my students core curriculum.

It's Alive!

What's alive you ask? Well, my dream of creating a website! That's right. This week in my class I learned how to create a website. On Tuesday we used the free google sites to create a pretty basic website. It was a good starter tool. Anybody can do it and it really doesn't take long. I love the idea of having a class website, but there is another website creator that is even cooler. It's my.uen.com here you can create your own website, but it includes a lot of pretty cool tools. It's got a calendar which I love. You can add dates when things are due, post reading and other assignments, or even just post what you plan to cover for that week. I think it's a great way for parents who are wanting to be involved, and make sure their kids stay on top of things to see clearly what they need to help their kids with. When I was in school my mom was always having to call our teachers and make sure that we were caught up and not missing anything. I think it will help the parents save time and even better, it will help me save time. If I were a parent I would love to just jump online and see what my child was learning and what he needed to turn in that week.
Another thing that is cool about this website, is that it offers a public and a private site. So the public site is for the parents and the kids, but the private portion of the site has so many neat tools. It's got a tool to help with lesson planning, and tools that connect you to libraries and online resources for your lessons. Pretty much any online document, journal or resource from U of U, BYU, etc. is available on this website. They've got a special library section for kids and teachers. It's amazing!
We're going to spend more time during the semester learning more about the how to build our website. I'm really excited to continue learning about building a website. I think it's going to be a great tool to help me connect with the parents and kids. I'll post the links later so that you can see them if you'd like. :)

La Obra del Senor

Last night I had the opportunity to go out with the sister missionaries. Sister Gonzales is from Mexico, and the other sister is from Guatamala...I can't remember her name off the top of my head...It was such a neat experience. It was interesting sitting there remembering what it was like as the missionary to love the family so much and seeing them receive inspiration on what to say and how to teach certain concepts. You really could feel the spirit in the room so strongly and the authority they had to teach the gospel. We went to a young family in Provo. The mother is from Mexico, the father is from Guatemala. They have 5 young under the age of 5, and the mom's brother is living with them too.

I felt like I was on a mission again...almost. I felt a love for these people who were wanting to bring Heavenly Father more into their lives, and yet I had no anxiety of being the missionary. That was nice. :) Anyway, the sisters taught them about the Book of Mormon and Prayer. It was a great lesson, and I was able to bear my testimony a few times, and answer some of their questions. The mom was ready to get baptized, but she wasn't married to the dad, so they're trying to bring him up to speed so that they can get married and baptized together. Which usually seemed to be what I ran into on my mission, the mom was ready and you just had to bring the dad along so they could take that step together. So at the end of the night the dad said the prayer! Which I didn't know that it was such a big deal. As soon as we left, and the front door was closed, the sisters started jumping up and down and were saying what a good lesson it was and how they couldn't believe that he prayed.

I watched them just fall in love with this little family all over again and experience the true joy that comes from seeing people you love accept or progress in the gospel. On my mission I experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows I have ever known. I was so glad that I could be apart of one of those highs with the sisters last night.

I am so thankful that I served a mission, and I'm even more thankful that they asked me to go with them. If you ever have the chance to go out with the missionaries, do it! It is such a neat experience, and you'll be glad you did. I came home last night singing hymns and Primary songs, and I even dreamed about everybody I had loved on my mission. Now I'm mostly just rambling. I wish I had the words to express how much I needed that spiritual boost. I'm so grateful I went. I love the gospel!

Excited about Excel!

I'm thinking that my reflections writings on the side won't be enough to provide my teacher the information she wants, so I've decided to just make it a post.

This week in class we spent one day on Microsoft Word, and the other on Excel. For the most part I'm pretty familiar with Word, but I was surprized to learn a couple new things. For example, in word you can add "Word Art". So what you do is you can type a word or a phrase and then click on word art and pick how you want this word or phrase to appear on your document. You can change the shape the words take too. I figured this is something really nice to finally know how to do because if you are creating a handout for the kids, or something to take home to the parents it will help it catch their eye. Up until this point I would always just create my own word art, or find something online that maybe said the phrase and then paste it to the document. So I'm excited about that. Oh I also learned how to make a spreadsheet in word and then make the lines dissapear so it all looks organized and semetrical. :)

Thursday we learned about Excel, which I'm also semi-familiar with because I have to use it at work so much. When I am creating spreadsheets at work I always feel like there are better and faster ways to be doing it. The thing that I'm most excited about was learning how to create a graph! Yes, I know many people already know how to do that...but you have to remember that most of my technological progress has happened since I've been home from my mission. I didn't know anything about blogging, facebook, or even texting! I've come along way, and learning new things is fantastic. Doc (my teacher) explained that there maybe better options than excel to keep track of grades, but it's a great tool if we don't have anything else. I've been playing with excel alot since class on thursday, and feel a lot more comfortable with how it works.

Oh, I also had to build a computer this week...not really, but just put one together online. It took me a little while to figure what everything meant, but I did it. I added every upgrade I could, and in the end my dream computer, which was an apple by the way, would cost me a little over $15,000! Yup, that's right. I was amazed at how quickly all the up grades added up and how expensive they could be...but that's why it was my dream computer! :)

My Sweet Husband

This past week has not been a very healthy one for me. I was having stomach issues early in the week and then as soon as I got over those I got slammed with a -oh so fun- cold. On top of being sick other things in my life have crept up and made for a frustrating week to say the least. Chris was so sweet and did what he could to take care of me. He cleaned the kitchen, brought me water, and gave me hugs whenever I needed one. He also gave me a couple blessings this week which helped me calm down and not be so frustrated.
Today we were just laying together on the lovesac just watching a movie and I realized that once we have kids it will be really hard to just have that time with just the two of us. Don't get me wrong I'm so excited to have kids...I'll admit I've been "baby hungry" for a long time now...but it made me a little sad to that once that first one comes how much things will have to change. I'm sure I won't think that when that finally happens. Anyway, a little while later I went upstairs to lay down for a bit, and I heard Chris singing/whistling some song the way that he always does, and it just made me smile. I just love him. He brings so much happiness into my life.

On a side note, I'm required once a week to write down things I have learned from one of my classes. If you would like to read the weekly updates on what I have learned and how I'm going to apply it into a classroom it's on the sidebar under Reflections. :)

Lazy Days

For the last two and a half weeks or so I have been incredibly lazy. I had a break from school and took advantage of it! While most people would use that precious spare time to organize their house and prepare for the next semeser I did the opposite. I let my house become a disaster, hung out in pajamas, didn't really bother going to the gym, and just read lots and lots of books. in the last two weeks I've read The Kite Runner, Persuassion, Breaking Dawn, Pride and Prejudice, and I'm working on A Thousand Spledid Suns.
So that has been my break. The laundry has not been done, dinners have not been cooked, sinks have not been cleaned (dishes still are done, I'm not that disgusting) and I probably should vacuum at some point.
I can honestly say that I'm not looking forward to starting school tomorrow. The only bit of consolation that I have is that by Christmas I will be completely and 100% done with math! Good Riddens. Honestly it hasn't been as horrific as I thought, actually I'm pretty proud of myself for how well I did. However, the stress and the tears, and the time that goes into it is just more than I want to deal with. :)
After this semester I've got two weeks off of school, and two weeks off of work. I am deffinitely looking forward to that!
But I'm getting ahead of myself...the semester hasn't even started...*Sigh*

La Familia Lavendar

I wish so badly I took a picture last night. One of my favorite families from the mission came and spent the evening with myself, Chris, and Emmy Paiser. They are the most wonderful family, and their daughters are beautiful, and have grown up so much!The parents can speak a little english, but speak in spanish all the time. The two older girls can speak both, and then the youngest for some reason speaks mostly english. Her mom was telling us how it was the wierdest thing. Natalia (the baby)speaks to her parents and sisters in english, and they have no idea how she's learning it. She'll say "It's mine, It's mine" instead of "Es mio,Es mio". She will ask for milk, and tell people to come in spanish, but that's about it. She also says "No" to everything. It's hilarious. She was eating ice cream and I asked her if she like it, and she said "No". The last time we saw her she was only a few months old.
It's been two years since Emmy and I saw them, so we were thrilled. Chris didn't understand a word of what was going on, bless his heart, but he stayed in the room while they were there, and just enjoyed watching Natalia. We hung out at my house, then went to the mall, and ended the night at coldstone. They just moved to Utah, and are really wanting to come to Utah county. I hope they do. Hermana Lavander is an amazing cook, and she promised to teach us how to make tortillas again, and one of my favorites Albondegas. It's a meatball soup, and it's amazing.
I am so happy for the chance that we had to teach them and help them come back to church. They're story is amazing, and I had one of the most powerful experience on my mission with this family. Seeing people come back to church is just as exciting as see somebody accept the gospel and get baptized. I wish I had the right words to describe how much I love them! I'm so thankful that I served a mission, and that I can now have the amazing people as treasured friends.

The Gospel

You know, I just wanted to say how thankful I am for the gospel in my life. It has molded and shaped my life and is so much of who I am today. When I look at my life, and those close to me I can see how the gospel has brought so many blessings. Those who have a testimony of the restoration of the gospel, Heavenly Father's plan for us, and the atonement of Jesus Christ have an inner strength and peace.
The gospel of Jesus Christ provides a solid foundation for us to stand on when the storms in our life are raging. It is so amazing to be standing in a moment where things are crumbling all around you and just when you are about to lose hope a light will break through those clouds and you know you're not alone and that "this too shall pass". One of my favorite stories in the scriptures is at the end of the Book of Mormon with the Brother of Jared. I love that story, and have turned to it so many times in my life.
I love the Book of Mormon. I love the insights we gain when we read and study the writing of the prophets. I'll be the first to admit that I don't read my scriptures as much as I should, but it's something that I'm working on. When I puck up my scriptures it's like reuniting with an old friend. There are so many things that we can learn about the gospel through those inspired words. It's amazing to me the peace that can come into our lives from five minutes of reading everyday.
I love the plan that Heavenly Father has set out for us. It's so simple to understand. It breaks my heart when people refuse to accept or even learn about that plan. It's amazing to think that our Heavenly Father knew us before we cam to this life. He loved us, and he desired that we could experience all the Happiness that He had. He created this earth for us so that we could acquire physical bodies. Here on earth we have the blessing of experiencing good and bad, happiness and pain. He gave us apostles, scriptures and prophets to help us to know what we needed to do in order to get back to him. One of the greatest gifts He has given us is agency. We have the ability to choose between right and wrong, good and bad, and whether or not we will follow what He has asked us to do. He knew that not all of us would make the right choices, and because not one of us are even close to perfect, He sent His son.
The atonement is the most incredible act of mercy, charity, and love in the history of the world. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, came and did everything that his Father asked him to do. He set the example, taught a higher law, called apostles and gave them the priesthood. He established a church, but most importantly he willingly sacrificed his own life for me, for each one of us.
I would like to say a few more things about this life before I move on. Since the church has been established people have been asked to sacrifice. Sacrifice is something that is so important in the gospel. Christ sacrificed his life, many of his apostles and followers did the same. Christians were slaughtered for their beliefs. Fast forward to Joseph Smith and the early saints of the restored gospel I could spend pages talking about the sacrifices they made so that this gospel could move forward. Their faith was amazing. Today we are required to make different sacrifices. It is amazingly easy to get caught up in the things that the world says are good. Who doesn't want a nice house, a nice car, and the "freedom" to do whatever you want. It condenms marriage and children and makes those things seem restricting and would like to make it seem like those who are married and who have children are unhappy. You see people who get caught up in money, alcohol, and other things that can end up destroying their lives.
These may be more extreme examples but it's amazing how Satan will sneak them into our lives. We accept one little thing then another, then another, and after some time passes we may find ourselves on a completely different path. When we tolerate even the tiniest sin and make excuses for ourselves it is so much easier to ignore those promptings of the spirit on bigger and bigger things.
Heavenly Father has surrounded us with things to help us in this life. He constantly has His hand stretch out toward us no matter how much we are or have rejected him. He asks us to make covenants with him throughout our lives, and to obey a few simple things. I know that when we keep the promises we make with God, and we do what He asks us to do, He will pour out blessing on us.
I have a few people who I love very dearly who have made these covenants and promises with our Heavenly Father, but who are choosing not to keep them. If it breaks my heart to think of the promises the are breaking and the things that they are missing out on I can hardly imagine what our Heavenly Father thinks. Some of these friends read this blog, and others do not. I wish they could see what they are missing out on...but because they have so much they don't feel like they are missing anything. I wish I could help them to understand how the gospel can bless not only their life, but everybody around them. I hope and pray that one day they will understand.
After this life we will be judged. We will have to look our Heavenly Father in the eye and talk with him about our life. I imagine He will give us a very in depth kind of interview. He will know the intents of our hearts, and when we come up short...because we inevitably will...our Savior will step in. If we have repented and applied that atonement in our lives and are completely sincere we will be forgiven of those sins. We will be perfectly clean and pure and ready to live with our Father in Heaven again.
I know this isn't the most eloquent of explanations of the gospel, nor is it the most detailed. It's also probably just a jumble of thoughts and words but I needed to say it. I don't get to say these things as much as I would like to, but I just felt like I needed to get it off of my chest today.
I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints contains a fullness of the gospel, even the very gospel that Christ taught to his apostles, and that has been taught from the very beginning. I know that God is in the very fabric of our lives. He knows us, and loves us. He has given us everything we need in this life to return and live with Him. We have Families, priesthood leaders, scriptures, apostles, prophets, and so much more. I know that the atonement can be a very powerful thing, and that if there is something that you need to take care of, just talk with your bishop. If you do, I promise that a weight can be lifted off of your shoulders. Heavenly Father wants so much to be apart of our lives, and is just waiting for us to reach out to Him. I know that even though there may be times where it seems like too much to live the gospel and be obedient to the commandments, it is so worth it. If you incorporate into your life the standards of the gospel you will feel a renewing energy, and peace enter your life. You will be grateful, and your posterity for generations to come will be grateful. It is so easy to forget and to seek happiness from the world, but the happiness that you will find is only temporary...things of this world are only ever temporary. Things of God, however, are eternal. When we seek for those eternal things, and live by eternal principals, separating ourselves from the world, we will find eternal blessings and happiness.

If you have read this far, thanks for letting me get on my soap box. I hope that I didn't offend anybody with this post, but I felt like I needed to put it out there. The majority of the people who I was thinking of while writing this most likely won't read my blog, but there are a few who will. For those people, I love you. That's why I said these things. I'm here if you need somebody to talk to, or even if you just need a friend. I hope you have a great sunday!

I am a Princess....

You Are Pocahantas!

Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Amazing Dinner

So it's weird, growing up I hated cooking. I somehow always got my little sister to do it for me. You know the old trick. You put on your best puppy dog eyes and you say "but you make it so much better than I do." Even though it was usually something like chicken noodle soup or Raman Noodles it still got the job done. Karma must be a real thing because now Chris gives me the same look and says the exact same thing, and even though I invented this trick, it still works on me. lol. Anyway back to what I was saying. So since I've been married I actually enjoy cooking. I'd like to think I'm pretty decent...but it's just in my own mind and Chris doesn't dispute it.
So I'm always looking for good recipes and my mom kind of invented this one and it's become the new favorite in our house. I should have taken a picture to post on here...maybe next time. Anyway, it's really yummy, colorful and actually good for you. Oh and the best part it takes 15 minutes. It's kind of a throw together what you want recipe, but I thought I'd share it with you so you all can enjoy it to! I call it:
Mom's Chicken Tortellini ( I know, super creative)

What you need:
2 chicken breasts
1-2 cups spinach (de-stemmed)
1-2 Roma tomatoes
1-3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup red onion (cut up)
1 pkg Tri-colored Tortellini with Cheese (Macey's, frozen section)
1/3 cup Olive oil
1/4 Cup Mozzarella Cheese
Basil, Oregano, Salt and Pepper
Any vegetable you like (zucchini is really good in this)

Grill the chicken and when done cut into 1" cubes. While the chicken is cooking de-stem the spinach. Dice the tomatoes into small pieces. Chop the garlic up as small as you can, or use a garlic press. (I have one of those chopper things that I throw the garlic into. But if you use a chopper don't use it for the onions, trust me on this one.) Cook tortellini in boiling water. ( put a little salt and oil in the boiling water with the pasta, apparently it's an old Italian secret). Heat the olive oil in a large skillet until hot. Add the garlic and onion. Sautee for 2 minutes or until garlic is barely golden brown. By this time the chicken should be done. Drain tortellini. Add spinach, chicken, tortellini, mozzarella, salt, pepper, basil, oregano, tomatoes, and any other vegetables to the skillet. Cooke on low to medium heat until cheese is just starting to melt. Serve with fruit and whatever else you want. We like it with watermelon, a peach shake, and croissants.

So that's my yummy recipe. Try it. It's impressive. People will think you are an incredible chef. Really you can just throw whatever you want together. I don't like tomatoes very much so I don't add many, but I love onions and spinach so I load up on those. Oh and just so you know I usually chop up 3 garlic cloves, but I like it with a little more garlic flavor. My mom only puts one to two and uses a garlic press, but for me the flavor is a little dull. Try it and let me know what you think.

Power Yoga

I can't believe they snapped this of me when I told them not to! :) Ok, so I'm pretty sure I would snap in half and end up paralized in a hospital if I even attempted to attempt this one.
So one of my mission companions, Blanca, and I decided to take up power yoga. We go every Tuesday and Thursday for an hour and a half class. I love it! It's been five years since I took yoga, and I'm really rusty, but it feels so good to be stretching and moving in those ways. My favorite are the sun salutations and of course the relaxation/meditation part at the end. Not to be stereotypical but it's so...cleansing. It's something I definitely plan on doing for as long as I can.

Princess Fashion Show

Chris's little sister got a bunch of Princess stuff for her 6th birthday from her cousins. She was so excited to show us, I decided to turn it into a fashion show. We got a little carried away. Linley definitely pulls the look off the best...but Chris doesn't look too bad himself. lol.

I never knew that my tough guy had so much...pizzaazz...lol.

He loves it!!!

So there is our fashion show. Hope you enjoyed it!

One Year of Pics

So we finally loaded up our pics from the last year of our marriage. I thought it would be fun to post some of them.
Our first ginger bread house.

We spent our fourth of July at a wedding for our good friend Cory. This is a picture of her reception at the Huntsman Cancer Center. It was beautiful and over looked the fireworks at the U. Saturday mornings are spent with Chris playing soccer. I love watching him play.
Me Saturday morning after cleaning.
Chris and his brother playing soccer in Montana while we were camping.
It took us a total of 10 hours to get to our camping site in Montana. This is Chris's excited face.
A quick pic ofc us at Mary's graduation.
My sister and my mom. They grow up so fast!
Me and my beautiful sister. I can't believe she's 18, and done with school.

For Halloween Chris and I had a contest to see who could make the best pumpkin. It turned out to be a tie.

Here's us in Las Vegas out side the Bellagio, waiting for the water show.
Us in Disneyland. We went in October and it was perfect!!!
Here's what our room looked like when we got back from our honeymoon.
Us trying to navigate our way through Seattle.

So there you go! My goal is to take a lot more pictures this year.