The Thornes

December Happenings 2011

2012-01-05T16:27:00.000-08:00

I had the urge to write in the blog, but I didn't really want to just go over our Christmas activities. But since that's all I can think of, that's what I'll do (I'm not too original).December is usually such a busy month, this year was no different. We even had to skip ice skating with Jer's family (which we've never missed) because my family party was already planned.We went ice skating and to a big party with some of our friends. (me, Meredith, Lisa)

(Jer (has a mustache because of a work thing, we know it's creepy looking!), Dave, Matt)

(me, Ashley, Sexy Santa, Lisa, Meredith)

I went to see one of our friends in "The Nutcracker", it was my very first time seeing it! So cute!(me, Ashley, Lisa)

We had other friends come in town that we haven't seen in awhile and got to spend time with them. We got yummy goodies from neighbors, and gave out cute magnetic list paper (because it doesn't make you gain weight).With Jer's family, we had a Polar Express party, which was fun as usual. Along with watching part of the movie, having hot cocoa, and a sock/snowball fight, the kids also got to decorate their grandparents as Christmas trees. They were good sports and the kids had a good time with it. (Don't tell that I posted the pic!)

We also had a visit from Auntie Claus, but we didn't have our camera :( We got a cool melon cutter, and Ella got some activity packets and toys, and a cute little outfit.My family Christmas party included yummy food (everyone brought something healthy this year!), singing, chatting, games, white elephant exchange, and the live nativity. It's crazy how many kids there are now that all us cousins are getting married and having kids of our own.

Christmas Eve was the annual party at Jer's aunt's house. We had yummy food, a white elephant exchange, and a visit from Santa!

Christmas morning we opened presents and went to church. Ella loved the kitchen Santa brought her!

For New Year's, we made plans with some of our friends. We went to Harvest Restaurant at Thanksgiving Pointe for dinner (yum).(Matt, Meredith, me, Jer, Mike, Ashley, Lisa, Dave)

After dinner we went to our friend's house where I made warm melting cakes. (not sure what Jer's laughing at here)

We played a game, chatted, had a countdown, and drank sparkling cider. It was such a fun night spent with some fun people.And I forgot to mention, one of my friends gave Ella her very first haircut a couple days before Christmas. I don't know if you can tell, but it's pretty shaggy in some of the pics from before the cut. She has bangs now and she's looking so much more like a little girl.

Catch up

2011-11-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

So much has happened and I haven't done any blogging :( And now I'm finally getting around to it :)In October we went on a family vacation with Jer's family. We headed down to San Diego to check out the Zoo, Legoland and SeaWorld and had SO much fun! We also stopped at the La Jolla Sprinkles Cupcakes, and the San Diego Temple (my favorite of all the temples, but I've never been able to see in person until now!) While we were there, we had our 6th anniversary. We weren't able to celebrate til a couple weeks after we got home though (Ella had her first sleepover while we went to dinner, a movie, and out for dessert).The Zoo was HUGE, we walked over 5 miles that day checking out all the awesome animals!

Hey, it's Rafiki from "The Lion King"!

She wasn't too thrilled about this photo op!

I thought this was a kind of fox, but it's not. It's a panda! The coloring is so pretty!

I could watch the gorillas (and monkeys and orangutans) all day, they're so fascinating!

On to Legoland!

They had a lot of rules and were SUPER strict about a lot of them (like if a kid was barely a centimeter too short for a ride, they couldn't go on it). The ride that we went on here they wouldn't let 2 adults ride together, and Ella was too little to go on it (which seemed odd, I mean I have a lap and there was plenty of room next to me). So we waited in line for awhile to find out we couldn't even ride together. I suggest skipping most of the rides here and just checking out all the cool Lego creations instead!

Sleeping Beauty in the Fairytale Land ride

Yay for Hagrid and Harry Potter!

This was awesome. They had the car frame underneath and built the Legos around it!

What's San Francisco without a little homage to "Full House"?

I'm not big into Star Wars, but they had a whole section full of scenes from the movies, pretty cool for fans of them.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cURD8wJfNwwHAD to post this video of Ella fighting sleep, so cute!

On to SeaWorld!

So crazy how the glass and water can distort how you see things, the dolphin's head is above the water and to the right of it's body!

One of these is not like the other. Cool fact about starfish: If they lose a 'leg', sometimes when it regenerates, 2 grow back instead of one!

Being silly at the hotel

At the BEAUTIFUL temple!

Ella was making sure she was clear on the safety protocol!Phew, that's a lot of pictures!I'll post soon about the holidays. Hope you have a WONDERFUL December!

It's not funny when it hurts people

2011-09-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

There's a Facebook 'game' that has people in an uproar. It's upsetting to me and some of my friends. I know other people have blogged/written about this on their blogs, but I feel like I should as well, even though I have a very small readership.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's the Breast Cancer Awareness 'game' where you post in your status whatever the rules say. In the past it's been the color of your bra or where you like your purse (which, to the unknowing reader, seemed crude). This year it makes it seem like the poster is pregnant and craving a certain candy, dependent upon when their birthday is. To some it might seem like a funny joke to get people thinking you're pregnant when you're not. To those who are struggling to even get pregnant or get a baby, I assure you it definitely ISN'T funny. It's yet another reminder of what you want, but for whatever reason you can't have. It's not a joke, it's hurtful. For those who are lucky and have never had to struggle with IF (InFertility), you can't understand how it is to be on the other side. The one who ALL you want is a baby of your own, the one who has to see pregnant bellies everywhere, hear people complain about their children, and/or read posts about pregnancies on Facebook. Each of these things tears their heart out in a different way. Each of these things causes distress. We want to be happy and supportive, but we mourn what we still don't have with each happy 'announcement'. (Yes, I realize I have a baby, but I still count myself as part of this group because of our past experiences, and we have no idea what the future has in store).

Besides the pain these kinds of statuses can cause, what the heck does it have to do with cancer awareness? How is it educating anyone or doing the cause any kind of good? I assure you that cancer is already something people are aware of, some more than they'd like. Most people I know know someone close to them who've had it, I know many who've had it and conquered it, or died from it. I guarantee they aren't getting any extra help from this game.

I'm sure I have more thoughts rattling in my head, but that's it for now. I don't mean this to offend anyone, I only mean it to educate those who don't know or understand why it's so upsetting. Maybe some still won't get it because it's hard to know unless you've been in those shoes. All I ask is for a little sensitivity to those who need it, and for people to at least TRY to understand.

The Yard II

2011-08-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

And here are the afters! Beautiful lawn with a crab apple tree in the front, along with day lilies, dogwoods, rocks, and some other bushes. The back has lilacs, I'm so excited for them to bloom (in the spring I'm guessing?). Hopefully we'll be able to getting around to planting a vegetable garden in the spring too!

As for news in our family, there's not much going on. Jer's job is great and he's really enjoying it! Ella's saying more 'real' words, but most of what she jabbers sounds French. We also got an '09 Nissan Rogue last night, I'm so excited to have my own car again! I was beginning to feel trapped and anxious, now I can actually run errands or do fun things while the sun is out and I'm feeling alive and awake, as well as have a way to get around in case of emergency.

The Yard

2011-08-17T20:49:00.001-07:00

It's been in for over a month now, and I'm finally getting around to showing the before and afters. These are the before's, the weeds, then the clearing and sprinkling system going in, and the dirt loads that were brought in.

Busy July

2011-07-30T22:01:00.001-07:00

I haven't blogged in awhile (as is my habit) so thought I'd better remedy that. I'm limited on pics at the moment, but a couple are better than none (which is what this post started with).

We've had a fairly busy July. Jer's been working at ACS, and doing independent contracting on the side for a company called SEO.com. He interviewed with them a bit ago and only offered him the i.c. job, but it was a foot in the door. More on this later.

July 4th weekend we went to Oakley for the rodeo, as usual. We attempted sleeping at the

cabin, but by 1 a.m. it was clear Ella wasn't going to sleep away from home, so we packed up and drove home, arriving around 3 a.m. We were exhausted to say the least. Our mattress was also getting all lumpy and uncomfortable, so we went mattress shopping over this long weekend and found ourselves a lovely bed which I'm in love with. I knew it was *MY* bed from the moment I lay down on it, but of course we had to check around and make sure.

Our yard was finally finished, but they're still tweaking it a bit. Jer mowed our lawn for the first time today, pretty exciting if you ask me.

Jer's family took a trip down to Lake Powell. Because of the whole cabin situation and Ella not sleeping away from home, we opted to stay home and let Jer go (he'd been looking forward to it and we'd missed last year's trip because he was in training for his job). Well, a couple days into the trip he received a phone call and email offering him a FULL TIME position starting asap with SEO.com where he'd been doing independent contracting!!! Of course he accepted and came home early (yay for me, we'd never been apart that long) so he could go to ACS and quit!! WOOHOO! Major blessing! Jer's adjusting to the new job, but it's so much better for him.

We're all much happier since the change.

While he was in Lake Powell, I had the week off work (because I thought I'd be going too), Ella and I had the car and had some fun. She played at my parents while I went to get my shot, we went to Wheeler Farm, twice. We went to Hogle Zoo

for her first time w/an old H.S. friend and her cute son,

we ran errands and went to the bakery. We kept pretty busy, it was a fun and exhausting week!

The 24th weekend we had a family bbq at Jer's parents (as usual),

but it also brought a lot of anxiety as Jer and I were assigned to speak in sacrament meeting. It was my first time speaking in church since I was a youth speaker over 11 years ago, so I was a bit of a shaky, nervous wreck! But my topic was Roots and Branches (spiritual and ancestral) and Jer's was Our Legacy. Pretty good for the day we spoke on. I told some colonial, pioneer, parental and personal stories, and Jer told about how Ella got her name and making sure we're leaving a good example for the future. I think we did alright, though Jer told me to start with a joke, so I did. I think the only person who laughed was the Bishop, but I didn't get too mortified!

Oooh, and we welcomed a new niece, Jer's sister's family were able to adopt a new beautiful baby, we're so excited to have her in the family. Ella's not the baby of the family anymore, but that's ok!

As for Ella and her shenanigans, she's just getting more and more fun and exhausting! She jabbers like you wouldn't believe! She's got a big personality. Sometimes I look at her and wonder when this little person appeared out of the little baby she used to be. She has 11 teeth, 3 of which are molars. She says shop (shaw), shoes, go, mama, dada (which she usually whispers), lunch/sandwich (cheh), book (keh), and can shake her head 'no' with the best of them. She smiles and giggles all the time too.

Sadly, I'm getting more wisdom teeth in the same place as I had them removed 2 years ago. It's very uncomfortable and frustrating to be 'teething' again!

*Update, I went to the dentist and it's not wisdom teeth! I thought I might be crazy when I found that out! It's from stress and the constant change our mouth bones go through. I guess I need a massage or something!

Hopefully I'll be able to add some pics soon, until then I hope my writing kept you somewhat entertained, I know this was kind of a long post.

All About Ella!

2011-06-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

Ella just had her 15 month check-up. She's 18.5 lbs (because she had a tummy bug a couple weeks ago and is still gaining her weight back) and 28.5 inches tall. Her head is slightly bigger for her body in the percentile charts, but the Dr. jokes that's just because she has a bigger brain. She's a petite little miss, but the Dr. isn't worried about it, he says she's just meant to be a smaller person. She's healthy and happy and thriving, that's what matters most.She has such a big, cute, silly personality. She loves jabbering (I've been told by a few people that she 'talks' more than most babies they've known), dancing, walking/running around, 'helping' with the laundry, getting into her dishes, cuddling her toys and blankies, hugging (and patting your back when she does it), blowing kisses, squealing, and I think singing. She hums along with songs sometimes, it's so cute. She keeps us pretty entertained and busy these days.
She has 2 molars coming in, so she's been a little whiney lately, but pretty good considering how uncomfortable they must be, and then 8 teeth in the front of her mouth.
She loves it when people come to visit, she loves being around people in general (as long as she's not being closed in on by a lot of them). In sharing time for Primary, she wanders the aisle in front of us and will go to random kids we don't really know. She loves the kids in there, and they all seem to really like her (even the boys)! She loves being with females (especially her older cousins), but is VERY wary of strange men, and men in hats (including her dad). If a man comes around wearing a hat, she flips out and buries her head in my shoulder or scrambles to be picked up - even if it's Jer in the hat. She loves getting into my shoes and makeup, which I like to say makes her a girly girl, but Jer just thinks she does it because she's a baby/toddler. I think it's both, I'm pretty sure if she were a he, he wouldn't be as excited by the opportunity to hold my lip-gloss!
I love her so much, I can't believe how big she's getting! It's an incredible thing to watch a baby grow up, I know I'm blessed to have her in my life.

(This is before they started working on the yard, I'll do a post on the progress once it's finished)

As for our yard.... well it was 'supposed' to be finished by the end of May, but because of the lame rain it got pushed back, but now I don't know what the hold up is and we're worried it won't be finished until sometime in July (and we have parties/BBQs planned already, eek). Here's to hoping it gets finished in time!

Issues

2011-06-04T21:06:00.001-07:00

Ever have one of those days where you go over in your head the conversations that you had throughout the day and wonder if you were the dreaded 'me-monster'? Did I talk too much about myself, did I make everything about me? Did I sound so stupid? Am I over-reacting? (probably yes to that last one)
Well, I've had one of those weeks. Maybe it's my social anxiety that makes me stress over my interactions with other people, thinking that they must judge/hate me because I'm so weird or annoying or say all the wrong things or focus too much on myself (in reality I don't know if that's true or not). Sadly, past experiences of things people said about me to my face have made me more paranoid than I should be, on top of my anxiety disorder (I've been told that I'm annoying, not wanted around, weird, etc.).
So how do you tell the difference? How do you know if people genuinely care and want to talk to you? This seems to be an issue I've had my whole life, trying to figure out who's fake and who's genuine. What's the secret to knowing?
I guess I could try to not care, but I think we all know that's not gonna happen.

In other news, Ella walks! It's all she does anymore, it's so crazy to watch her. She falls (a lot) and I figure she'll crawl since she's already down, but she pushes herself back up and keeps walking around looking drunk! We had to put a gate up at the stairs too, I knew the day would come, but she's been so disinterested in them for so long I was sorta thinking we'd never need a gate. I was wrong.

Our yard was supposed to be started a couple of weeks ago and finished by the end of May, but because of the rain nothing's happened yet. Hopefully they'll get started on Monday. I'll be sure to post before and after pictures (our weeds are actually quite impressive from all the rain, but I don't see in any point of pulling them because there are SO MANY and the landscapers will be taking care of them anyway). We'll be getting sprinklers put in, then top-soil, then grass and plants and rocks. I'm REALLY wanting lilacs (they're my favorite flower)

and a dwarf weeping cherry tree (because they're so cute and pretty).
I'm excited for it to be finished so Ella and I can have picnics in the grass instead of on the driveway!

Crazy girl

2011-05-26T14:28:00.001-07:00

Ella has been a pretty busy little girl lately. Getting into everything, trying to walk around and eat random things, 'helping' me w/the dishes and laundry. Sometimes I wonder what the point of all her toys is when she's more interested in the tupperware!?

The other day when I was feeding her yogurt, she laughed about something and it sprayed all over me. All I could do was laugh because of how worried she looked after she'd done it!
And just yesterday she was super busy while she was supposed to be napping. I went in since she wasn't sleeping to see her blankets on the ground, her pants on top of those, and her diaper nearby. She was just standing there, half naked, with a big, pleased grin on her face. When I went to get her out, she kept dancing around in the wet spot on the fitted sheet. She's so talented and silly! I was a bit frustrated because I was tired, but I laughed about it because what else can you do? Yesterday seemed to have a theme of peeing on things, for the first time in her life she peed between getting her diaper off and getting into the tub, that was pretty funny too.
She gives the best hugs and squeezes tight, it's wonderful. And sometimes she'll give me kisses, which always seem to make her giggle when she's done, it's adorable. I try to soak up every day with her because she's growing up WAY too fast.

This is by no means a complaining post, just an update of how silly Ella is these days.

Hobbies

2011-04-21T15:58:00.001-07:00

Just a quick fyi, Jer and I each have our own 'hobby' blogs if you'd like to check them out.
The names are self-explanatory:
Jer's ADHD Thoughts
The Bakery Hopper's Blog
Happy Reading (and commenting)!

Stats and such

2011-04-05T12:38:00.000-07:00

Here are Ella's stats from her 1 year check-up.

Height: 27.8" (might as well just say 28)
Weight: 16 lbs 8 oz.
Head: 17.3"

She's small, but the Dr. says she's growing fine. She has, and I quote, "the little toddler belly" and she's proportionate, just petite. I have friends and family with babies younger than her who weigh more than our little miss, but as long as she's healthy, I'm not concerned. She's just right for her own self.

She now has 4 teeth on the bottom (2 of which just popped up today) and 4 coming in on the top. Poor girl has been super fussy lately, but I can't blame her!
She's gotten more cuddly lately, probably due to teething and vaccinations, but I love it.
She grabs her stuffed kitty, holds it to her mouth (like she's kissing it) then sets it back down, it's so cute.
She likes to take her socks and pants off during her afternoon naptime. She'll undo the teething cover I have on her crib too. Once she even took her diaper off and tossed it out of the crib (and didn't have an 'accident' w/o it on).
Her hugs are THE BEST! I love feeling those squishy little arms on my neck.
She loves free-standing, though she loses her nerve when she starts leaning forward so she plops down and crawls instead of walking.
She's still shy around stairs, I try working with her on it every day, but she has no interest in them.
She loves when daddy gets home from work. As soon as she hears the garage door she looks toward the back door waiting for him to walk in. They're so cute to watch.

1st Birthday Bash!

2011-03-26T20:33:00.000-07:00

First of all, I can't believe I have a one year old. After all the waiting and struggle to have a baby, it's surreal that she's been with us for a year already! And we've been able to keep her alive and thriving at that!
A lot of this post will be for 'journaling' purposes, so it may not be too entertaining, but the cute pictures can keep you entertained!
For Ella's birthday we had a family party at Jer's parents house. We decorated with some cute balloons outside and inside (clear and purple w/white polka dots and pearl pink) and some pink and white streamers.

Luckily we had more people come than we thought. Both of our parents were there, all but one of the families of Jer's siblings was there (Justin's family), my oldest brother, Chris, and his oldest 2 kids came (Lorie just had Jefferson 9 days ago so they didn't come! Rich's family was sick and Andy's family lives in AZ). We had water, fruit, little deli sandwiches, cupcakes, and ice cream. I made 2 kinds of cupcakes: chocolate w/vanilla almond cream cheese frosting (dyed pink and used neufchatel instead of cream cheese) and white cake w/chocolate frosting (I was going to dye the cake pink, but forgot to, oops).

For Ella's 'smash cake' I marbled the chocolate and white cake and put chocolate frosting on it.
She was a little overwhelmed by all the attention, but she got over it I think.

She didn't know what to think of it at first, but really got into it after a couple minutes. Her little cousin who's 3 weeks older than her came up and was eating her crumbs that had fallen to the seat of the high chair, it was so cute and funny.

She got lots of fun presents from everyone, she really is super spoiled. I feel so lucky to have the family that we do, they're so loving and supportive to Ella (and us).

The presents she got:
From RaKell: Winnie the Pooh toy chest full of assorted books, activity books and paintbrushes, Goldfish shaped snack box, a cute knit hat, 2 outfits, a swimsuit, a pair of super cute sandals, and a couple of little stuffed animals and finger puppets
From us: 2 pairs of gripper feet pajamas, block sorting box, 4 pack of princess books, and Jer made her a DVD slide-show to music of her 1st year
From my parents: pillow bag w/4 Suzie's Zoo books and a handmade kitty
From Jer's parents: life jacket, swim suit, sun hat, Little People house
From Chris's family: VTech my first laptop
From Rich's family (they sent a gift w/my parents): B. You linking rings
From Jenny's family: a bunch of different books, touch and feel, peek-a-boo, etc
From Josh's family: Princess Activity Hut
From Jake's family: little shopping cart full of little boxes w/different foods on the front

I was serious when I said she was spoiled, that's a pretty big list. It took a couple of days to find homes in our house for all her fun stuff.

On another exciting note, she took her first half-step that night. She hasn't done anymore by-herself walking since, but that's still pretty big news to me!

I love her so much. It's crazy to look at the pictures through the last year and how much she's changed. She's starting to look like a little girl now and it makes me so sad and excited at the same time.

Here's to the next amazing year of your life, little miss, can't wait to see what's in store!

New Dinner Plan

2011-03-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

So, if you know me, you know I'm really indecisive. This is very evident around dinner time in our house. Usually around 4:30 the conversation goes something like this:

Me: Jer, what do you want for dinner?
Jer: I don't care.
Me: What are you in the mood for?
Jer: Whatever you feel like making.
Me: I don't know what to make, that's why I'm asking you.

And around and around we go. I don't even remember what we eat half the time, and we probably eat out more than we should (though part of that is because the nights Jer has class and Ella and I go with him, we're in such a hurry to get going that there isn't time to make something).

Well, this isn't really a problem anymore. Yay! I've tried meal planning before, but it never stuck or worked and I couldn't stay motivated, but awhile ago I saw a cooking segment on Studio 5 where the guest said something about a theme night every night (different genres). I thought to myself, that might work, and what will it hurt to try? So I worked up a list of something different every night (crock pot, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, etc), and wouldn't you know it actually works?! We're on our 3rd week and it's made life so much easier. I just look at my chart to see what kind of food we're supposed to have that night and then narrow it down from there; example: Wed is Italian night, last week we had chicken tetrazzini, tonight we'll probably have spaghetti). I've made allowances for left-overs (pulled pork one night, pulled pork tacos the next) and random nights where we can have sandwiches or breakfast for dinner (or something else), but I'm so happy to say THIS IS WORKING!
Just wanted to throw this out there in case anyone else could benefit from this idea!

Photo Shoot

2011-03-15T21:44:00.001-07:00

For Ella's 1st Birthday, I decided to attempt to take her pictures. Partly because I'm cheap, but mostly because I don't have a car just waiting around to be used and my job can be inconsistent through the day, which makes scheduling things really frustrating and difficult. So I dressed her in her cute "Introducing ME!" shirt and the tutu I made her and set her up in her room (she gets really great natural light in there).
These are some of the resulting pics (I took a bunch, but she's a mover and most of them didn't turn out), along w/some other fun ones I had to throw in for your viewing pleasure.

"The Queen"

Deep in thought

Giggly girl

Goofy smiler

Adorable

Precious smile

Busy w/her toys

Busy-body

Snuggling w/daddy

Reading a book

Lovin' ice cream

I sure love my babe! I can't believe she's gonna be 1 in less than 2 weeks! Time is a crazy crazy thing.

Strange

2011-01-26T17:17:00.000-08:00

I realized the other day that I've been admitted (not including the testing, etc) to the hospital in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. This seems like a lot of time in the hospital for a relatively healthy younger person. 2010 was the only 'happy' reason I was in. I'm really hoping that 2011 won't be following that trend. It's expensive and annoying and depressing!

In case you were wondering why:
2007- first laporoscopy hysteroscopy w/lysis of the intra-uterine septum (to get rid of the strip of tissue in my uterus so a baby could grow there)
2008- second "
2009- D&C
2010- labor and delivery (yay!) :)

I'm only a month late..

2011-01-25T15:59:00.001-08:00

Better late than never, right?
Christmas was a little different this year for us, mostly because of Ella, though I'm sure she didn't know what was going on. Sometimes she was interested in pulling the wrapping paper off the presents, sometimes she just wanted to get moving again (since she started crawling at the beginning of Dec.)
We put the tree up on our old T.V. stand to keep her away from it, as well as the presents. She was pretty good about staying away from it all though.

Some of what we did was:

Have a visit with Auntie Clause (Aunt RaKell) and getting fun presents:

(Ella got a snowsuit, little teddy bear, and wooden ornaments-Thanks Kell!)

We made a gingerbread family:
We went ice skating with the Thornes and Ella got to ride in her cousin's little sled:
Had a Polar Express party in our P.J.s with the Thorne side:

(Playing with Gracie and Kai)

(Crawling with Oliver and Kai on the table after dinner.)

Helped mommy shovel the driveway in the cute snowsuit from Auntie Claus:
Dressed like and elf and got a cute Christmas tutu from Aunt Amy at the Berrett Christmas party:
Went to see Santa at the mall with Aunt Erika and cousin Kai, as well as see him at Aunt Shirley's Christmas party:(She was happy as a clam sitting there with Kai, she was giggling and even tugged on Santa's beard a bit, but when she looked him strait in the face, she lost it. They even had a sequence of pictures of her face clouding up. It was so funny and cute, but sad too. I, of course, rescued her while Kai just chilled, nothing phased him. Hopefully we'll have many more cousin outings as they grow up, it's fun to be out and about with them.)

Got cute boots from cousin Kai in the cousin gift exchange:
Ella got lots of other fun presents: a cute flower picture to hang in her room, cute butterfly and flower stickers to decorate her room with, a curiosity cube toy, and some fun new outfits from Grandma and Grandpa Thorne. From my parents she got a handmade teddy bear with a pocket for a rice bag (you can heat or freeze). From Santa she got some new pajamas and a dolly. From us she got some new clothes and a couple of toys. I think she had a pretty good 1st Christmas, and I know we were pretty happy to finally be able to share our Christmas with a little one.

More about Ella lately: she pulls herself up on pretty much anything she can find. Her 2 bottom teeth finally came in- to stay this time (I never knew teeth could pop up and go back down-talk about torture!) She jabbers and giggles, loves to feed herself her snacks and loves to pinch. She'll be 10 months old tomorrow!!! She's so perfect and so wonderful and I love her SO much, I can't imagine not having her.

I won!

2010-12-18T21:23:00.001-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I won a contest for emailing the show "Good Things Utah" on channel 4. The contest they've been running all month (there's a winner every day) is "The Greatest Gift You Ever Gave". I wrote in about a gift I gave my mom:

GTU,

For as long as I could remember, my mom NEVER wore her diamond engagement ring, just her plain wedding band. She always kept it in it's box in her jewelry drawer, and as I got older I became curious as to why she never wore it (it's simple but very pretty). She told me it was because the prongs had worn down and she was afraid the diamond would get lost. I felt so bad about this that when I had the money to, I snuck it out of her room, and took it to the jewelry store to have it re-pronged and cleaned. I almost didn't recognize it when I went to pick it up. I could hardly wait to give her her ring back, and when she opened the gift, she was so touched that she started to cry a little. It made me so happy to have given her so much joy and I love to see her wearing her ring again after so long (my parents have been married 40 years now)!

When they said they were going to announce the winner, I figured it probably wouldn't be me. Then they said my name and I thought....maybe it's a different Julianna Thorne (yeah right, I'm pretty sure there aren't that many of us in the world), then they read my email. I was in shock and kind of giddy! Anyway, I won this:Left to right: "Mickey's Magical Christmas", "Mickey Saves Santa: and other Mouseketales", "Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving", "The Muppet Christmas Carol", "A Muppets Christmas", "Santa Buddies", "Snow Buddies", "Phineas and Ferb: A Very Perry Christmas", "Mickey's Christmas Carol", and "The Nightmare Before Christmas".
Over $200 worth of Christmas Disney DVDs! We've only heard of a couple of them, but they'll be great for when Ella's a little older, and for our future kiddos.

THANK YOU, "GOOD THINGS UTAH"!!

Oh, and by the way, has anyone else noticed how much more the word 'Christmas' is being said on T.V? I'm loving it! For awhile there they wanted to be PC or whatever and wouldn't say Christmas, but now people are saying it again! Yay!

Hawaiian Thanksgiving

2010-12-09T16:45:00.000-08:00

This year we went to Maui for Thanksgiving with Jer's family. It was a much needed vacation for us because it's been such a stressful year.

I almost wished we hadn't gone at the beginning of the trip because of how rough the trip to get there was. Our flight to San Francisco was delayed, then when we got there, our flight was delayed, then delayed again, then delayed again, then they had to switch out planes so it was delayed again. We were in that airport at that gate for about 8 hours I think. Because of all the delays, we missed our next flight out of Honolulu to Maui, so after the 6 + hour flight out of San Fran (Ella had a REALLY rough time, meaning we didn't really sleep on that flight-yes, ours was the crying baby on the long airplane ride-though Jer slept through most of it, lucky for him), we got to hang out in the Honolulu airport (which was basically closed since it was the middle of the night) for another few hours before we could re-check-in and fly to our final destination. I felt so bad for Ella, she was SO SO tired, and so out of her element in all these new, unknown places; on top of that she had a grouchy mom who was trying to take care of her the best she could under the circumstances.

Anyway, I hate to complain, I mean we were going to Hawaii, so we should have been happier. I kept thinking that, but it was hard when all I could think was-we wouldn't be having these problems if we were home.

We FINALLY made it to our destination, packed in the rentals and headed to the Marriott Ocean Club. After bathing the baby, ourselves, and settling in, we took a nap that made all the difference. The vacation had *officially* begun.

We spent a lot of time on the beach and the kiddie pool, though Ella wasn't a fan of the ocean. Every time the waves rolled in she'd start to whimper, poor thing. Hopefully the next time she sees the ocean, she'll love it and the beach as much as I do.

We also spent a lot of time in Lahaina enjoying THE BEST shave ice in the world....Ululani's. SO delicious! We got shave ice from there nearly every night. I wish I had a picture of the tastiness.

For Thanksgiving, we went to a Luau. It was fun, but I missed the traditional food and pies.

Every time we went anywhere, people would see Ella and smile. I swear she brought so much happiness to people. We didn't go a day without someone saying something to us about how adorable she is. A group of people who were about to leave a restaurant we were at had to stop and tell us how cute she is and that they couldn't leave without telling us what a cute, sweet baby we had. At the luau, there was a man sitting across the way from us and he kept talking to Ella. He was obviously a little tipsy, so it was kind of funny to watch him make faces at her. One of Ella's cousins, Jonah, is so protective of her that he was a little upset that this guy was talking to her. At the end of the luau, the man came over to say goodbye to her, and after he left, Jonah came over a little perturbed. He asked if it bugged us when people talked to her, I told him no and that it was nice to hear that she was cute from other people. He said, "Of course she's cute, we don't need other people to come tell us that!".

We ate a lot of good food, had a lot of good family time, and relaxed quite a bit. It was a much-needed vacation.

Our trip back was uneventful and it was very nice to be back home.
We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!
Now onto Christmas, hopefully we'll be able to start some fun traditions now that we have Ella!

20-30

2010-12-09T16:25:00.000-08:00

This is late, but I told myself I'd finish, so here are my Thanks-giving #20-30:
20- Vacations, especially when they're REALLY needed.
21- Beautiful places on this earth that are a treat for the senses.
22- The Gospel of the church I belong to. It brings so much hope and peace to me, especially when I'm feeling the most down.
23- Decorations. They can really warm up a space; even if I'm not very good at it, our house looks a lot homier now.
24- The beautiful sky that seems to go on forever sometimes. It always amazes me when I have the chance to sit and stare at it's vastness.
25- Hot cocoa. It's a nice little chocolate fix, and it's nice to get warmed up.
26- A washer and dryer. I can't imagine having to do laundry in the winter the way they did "way back when".
27- Our dependable car. Even though I don't get to use it that often, I'm glad it's a good, safe vehicle to get us around.
28- Cupcakes and other treats that are a little pick-me-up when I'm having a bad day.
29- Learning new things. How else do we grow and know how to do stuff?
30- Ella. She's the answer to so many prayers and is so much more than I ever could have hoped for. I'm so lucky I get to be her mama.

4-19

2010-11-18T04:48:00.000-08:00

I'm playing catch-up again, but at least I'm doing it, right?
I'm grateful for:
4- My husband who tries to do so much for us
5- Our extended families who love and support us
6- Jer's parents, without them, I wouldn't have him
7- My parents, they love me and teach me and brought me up to know right and wrong
8- Our warm house, with warm blankets
9- My intuition
10- My sense of smell, I love the smell of my freshly washed baby
11- My sense of sight, especially when I get a new prescription and new glasses!
12- My sense of touch, I love being able to feel Ella's soft skin and hold her little hands
13- My sense of hearing, Ella's little voice is the sweetest thing I get to hear
14- My sense of taste, chocolate is still one of the best things I can put in my mouth and just enjoy
15- Our employment, even though Jer's isn't the best, at least he has a job. And even though I wish so badly I didn't have to work, at least I get to do it from home so I can be with Ella
16- My soft, cozy bed. I wish I could spend more time curled up on it
17- Friends who keep in touch and care
18- All our nieces and nephews, who are so sweet and loving with Ella (aka Ella Bella)
19- Electronics, although they can be a huge distraction, they also are a major help with SO many things!
That's all for now, I'll probably be catching up again soon.

Thanks-Giving 2&3

2010-11-03T14:36:00.001-07:00

So I missed yesterday, so far I'm not doing so well with making sure to do this every day. Oh well, I'm making up for it now.

I'm thankful for temples and for all the awesome things we can do in them. I'm thankful to have the blessing of being able to be with my family forever, and to help those who have gone on before be blessed as well.

I'm also thankful for the trials we go through. I NEVER thought I'd say that, and, honestly, sometimes I'm really not that grateful for them. Even though they majorly suck while you're going through them, I'm grateful for the knowledge and strength we can get from them.

Thanks-Giving 1

2010-11-01T20:48:00.000-07:00

I have other friends doing this, so I thought I'd steal the idea. I'm going to blog something I'm thankful for every day this month (or at least try to).
Today I'm thankful for prayer and the comfort it brings us. How amazing to be able to speak to our Heavenly Father whenever we need to, about whatever we need. It's one of the only times I can talk without feeling like I'm saying something stupid or being dumb, and I always feel less alone when I pray.

6 and 7

2010-10-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

Well, Ella's 7 months old today! It's so cliche to say, but I can't believe how the time has flown. I was planning on doing a 6 month post, but time got away from me. At her six month check up she measured small, but the Dr. says it's fine because she's proportionate and has chub in all the right places, she's just meant to be more petite.Happy waking up from her nap

She now sits and plays on her own for quite awhile. She'll tip over and roll to her tummy and scoot backwards. She spits and talks and squeals. She loves watching her daddy and playing with him, it's so cute to see them together. She's been cutting a bottom tooth for awhile now, but it keeps going into hiding. She gives big, wet, open-mouth kisses, and I love every single one I get-a wet cheek means you're loved around here. We love every little sound she makes. She loves applesauce, and just about any other mushy food we've given her. We were at Leatherby's a couple weeks ago, and though I wasn't planning on giving her ice cream, she kept opening her mouth every time I'd take a bite and I couldn't leave her sweet little face hanging so she got her first taste of ice cream and absolutely LOVED it. If I ever tried to take a bite instead of giving her some, she'd get pretty angry and let me know how she felt. Jer couldn't stop laughing. That bite's not for you, it's for me, see?

This past Sunday at dinner at Jer's parents, we set all the babies down to take some pics, I stole this one off of my sister-in-law's blog.Kai (3 weeks older than Ella), Ella and Oliver (7 months older than Ella)
It's going to be fun watching them all grow up together!

As for us 'grown-ups', we're plugging along. Nothing new going on with us, just work and playing with the babe. We were called as primary teachers in our new ward, so that's been interesting. We teach the 8-9 year olds, they can be sweet, but also very difficult.
I bought a bunch of tulle to make tutus, so if you want one, let me know.

Some day I'll get pictures on the walls, and some day we'll have some kind of yard besides dirt and rocks, but for now we're just trying to get through the day to day; we're both pretty exhausted from work by the end of the day. We're feeling like those boring old adults we used to make fun of. I tell Jer, "we're not old and boring, we're just responsible adults".

5 months

2010-08-26T16:18:00.000-07:00

Ella's 5 months old today, I can't believe it. She's growing so fast!
She sticks her feet in her mouth, 'shares' my food with me (so far she likes Peach & Blueberry yogurt, rice cereal, and Orange Julius). She smiles so big that she scrunches her little nose and forehead up, she giggles and squeals and wiggles all over the place. She's rolled from back to tummy and tummy to back (but hasn't in a little while). She loves all the attention she can get, though she has a hard time being completely surrounded (by all her adoring cousins). Every body loves her. She's such a beautiful baby!

In other news, Jer's just finishing up training in his new job, and will probably be getting a promotion in a few weeks. I don't understand all the details, but he'd be one of the people who the workers go to for answers/help. I'm pretty proud of him. He also started back to school at UVU in hopes of finishing his Bachelor's degree, it will be a busy next few years around here.

We also moved into our beautiful house this past weekend. I'm still in disbelief that we're in our house with a GARAGE and a BASEMENT and a yard! We're mostly unpacked (thanks to my awesomely helpful mom), but I haven't decorated yet. Give me some time, it hasn't even been a week yet! The adjustment has been pretty smooth for Ella, too. I was worried she'd have a hard time, but she's been perfectly fine!
This has been the craziest/busiest year/summer of my life, I swear! But it's been great!

Picture update

2010-07-11T23:04:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots from Ella's blessing. She's wearing the dress I was blessed in so it's pretty old (as far as clothes go) but she looked SO adorable in it.

Our cute little family

With both sets of grandparents

With her step-great-grandma Thorne

In home news, it's moving right along pretty fast, it's freaking me out. Mostly I'm nervous about the yard and how to get things planned out so we can get it started as soon as we move in so it won't be a muddy mess when spring rolls around. I know we need to at least get grass in, but where do I want shrubs and trees and flowers and a little food garden, not to mention a play area? I've never had to do anything like this before and I'm freaked!
I'll post pics of the house once we get them loaded into the computer, until then I can give you an idea of how it's looking. It's all framed, exterior walls are up, the roof is on, the windows are in, the ac and furnace are installed, and garage floor is poured. I'm excited to see how much they get done this coming week!

Hobby Blog

2010-06-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

Since other people have started blogs about their hobbies, I decided to start one about mine...looking for great bakeries and trying out the goodies.
The Bakery Hopper's Blog
If anyone wants to join me, let me know!

What's been happening...

2010-06-26T09:50:00.001-07:00

Ella's blessing was beautiful, Jer did an awesome job and made me cry, along with an old roommate who came, and possibly some other people. My younger cousin gave a hilarious testimony, which luckily I was in the mother's room for so that everyone in the congregation couldn't stare at me while they were laughing. We are so lucky to have had so much support and so many family and friends come for Ella's special day.
Jer made this video for the luncheon after the blessing, it makes me cry when I watch it and relive all the feelings of how we came to this point. You'll probably want to pause the music player at the bottom of the page to hear the music and sound of the video. Enjoy!
Some of the pictures from Ella's photoshoots are in the video, and I have to credit the great photographers: Chase Lester Photography and Erin Wood Photography, click on their names to check out their blogs and work.

Ella's 3 months old today and getting bigger and bigger, I can hardly believe how fast time has gone. She's a little wiggler, sometimes when I go in to feed her or check on her, she's turned herself 45 degrees in her crib, this morning she had turned and scooted so that her legs were sticking out of the slats in the side (we don't have a bumper because I've heard they can be hazardous). She grabs her toys on her floor gym and chatters away. Lately she's been discovering her tongue and playing with it. It's so fun to watch her learn new things. She's been sleeping pretty well for the last month too, averaging about 6 hrs at night, sometimes even 9 hrs if I'm lucky.
Working is still hard, but luckily I can work in the morning now when she does most of her sleeping, although I am pretty exhausted in the afternoon, so I don't know how much fun poor Ella has with me.

In home news, the hole has been dug and the foundation has been started, it's pretty exciting to watch it go up. We met the neighbors across the street and they seem super nice, so that makes me less nervous about moving.
So far we're having a great summer and we hope you all are having a great one too!

Busy busy busy

2010-05-26T15:20:00.001-07:00

Wow, I haven't updated in a long time, but then I have been pretty busy enjoying our little angel.
I started back working when she was 6 weeks old, boy was that harder than I thought it would be. Because of issues with beyond my control, I ended up having to work at night (4-10), right in the window when she's most awake and interactive, along with bedtime. It was SO hard and made me so sad every night, not to mention the extra stress it caused. Luckily I've been able to work my regular shift again this week, and it has made life for all of us better, and we're all much happier too!We are lucky enough to have a couple of photographer friends who took some adorable pics of Ella, sadly I don't know where they are all on the computer, I'll have to find them later and post more. Ella is 2 months old today! I can't believe it, she's growing so fast! She smiles and coos at us, as well as bats at her floor gym toys. She even talks in her sleep just like her daddy. She's a pro at pouting, but she's had that down since birth. She's perfect in every way and we couldn't feel more blessed. I still cry sometimes when I look at her because I feel so lucky to have her in my life. We'll be blessing her June 6th (our last Sunday in our current ward :( ) Which leads me to my next bit of news, if you haven't heard yet, we're moving. We sold the condo and have had it appraised and inspected, now all we have to do is close (next week!!!). We've been trying to go through our stuff and get some of it packed up, we're hoping to get a lot done Memorial Day too. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed though, I look around and just wonder how it's going to get done along with everything else (taking care of the baby, working, laundry, etc). We'll be moving in with Jer's parents until our house it built (which should be started as soon as we close on the condo!). Just about everything is off the walls-it's kinda creepy in here now and doesn't feel like home anymore, it's weird.
Well, I think that's about it for now, I probably won't be updating for awhile again with everything coming up.
YAY for summer!

She's here!

2010-04-03T20:08:00.000-07:00

Ella was born Friday, March 26, 2010 at 2:31 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. She has hair, it's a little shaggy in the back even, though it's lighter than we expected-more light brown, but at times it almost looks auburnish. We can't be happier that she's finally here, although this last week has been extremely surreal.
I'm guessing people will want to hear the story, so here it is:
On Friday morning at about 3:10, I woke up with a majorly painful stomach cramp that went away after maybe 10 seconds. I'd had contractions the day before, but nothing too strong or worth watching the clock for, but about 7 minutes later I got another contraction, and then 7 min. after that I got another one and they were lasting longer. I couldn’t sleep through them, so I decided to get up and work. I figured that if these were real labor pains, and since it’s my first baby, that I wouldn’t need to worry about going to the hospital for another 7 or more hours. Boy was I wrong. In the space of working 40 minutes, my contractions quickly got closer and closer together, when they were fluctuating around 4 and 5 min. apart. I woke Jer up and told him we needed to go to the hospital. He didn’t really believe me and didn’t really want to get up, I can’t blame him though, I wasn’t really sure if we should go or not either since we didn’t know if they’d just say it was false labor and send us home, although the contractions felt pretty dang real to me.
We got to the hospital around 5:45 (my contractions were fluctuating between 2 and 4 min apart at that point) where they put me in a room for observation. I wouldn’t be admitted as a patient until it was confirmed that I was in active labor, but luckily my water sort of broke while I was laying there contracting, so they had to keep me after that. They started my I.V. and Jer and I tried to rest while we could. It was the strangest feeling knowing we'd have a baby by late afternoon, especially since we actually had plans for that weekend since we were just expecting to have her on the 30th-oh well, having our baby topped anything else we could have done.They started me on pitocin to help labor progress more steadily, and I stuck it out without the epidural until about 10:45, by that time I was dying every time the contractions would come and didn't think it was worth it to endure the pain just to be 'tough'. (I don't understand how the breathing technique you learn is supposed to help, it did nothing to calm me down when the contractions came-I guess it's just supposed to put your mind on something else?)
The Dr. came in and checked me every so often, along with the nurses. I was slowly progressing, and the Dr. said we'd probably have the baby around 4 or 5. Another time he checked me he said that I'd probably be pushing for 1 or 2 hrs, so I was extra relieved to have the epidural to try to get at least a little rest before the hard work started. At almost 2 p.m. I started feeling like something was changing, so I told the nurse, and right before she was going to check me, the Dr. came in to see my progress. To our surprise he said that I was fully dilated and ready to push. Jer and I looked at each other thinking the same thing...."already?". The Dr. left to get changed, and the nurses got things set up so I could start pushing. I was surprised they had me pushing when the Dr. wasn't there, but my nurse reassured me that he'd be back in time to 'catch her'. Jer even helped the nurse while I was pushing. The Dr. came back and helped Ella come into the world after only about 25 minutes of me pushing. I couldn't believe she was finally here, but I also was having a hard time believing she was ours, she had such a round head! She was much bigger than any of us thought she'd be (by nearly a lb.) the Dr. even asked where I had been hiding her. She also had a bigger head than my body could handle, so I had to get 3rd degree stitches (the scale goes to 4), but she's perfect and amazing and healthy, and that's all that matters (as long as I can still take care of her in my condition too). I love her so much that I cry when I think about it and how grateful I am to finally have her. She really is our little miracle baby, our little angel. Jer has been amazing, he's such a good daddy and does so much to help me out with her. He'll hate that I'm typing this, but he's so cute with her, we're so lucky to have him.She sleeps like crazy, but not so much at night, which has made it a little hard to deal with life, but we're adjusting. I know I should sleep when she sleeps, but it's hard to not just pass the time staring at her, she's such a marvel. She nurses pretty well for the most part, it's just hard to keep her awake and keep her mouth open wide enough when she does (if anyone has any suggestions they'd like to share, I'm open to new things to try; I feel like I've tried just about everything I've read).Thanks to everyone for the support and love, we've been well taken care of, and Ella is definitely adored and spoiled.

On another note, Jer's still looking for a job, so if anyone has any leads, they'd be much appreciated (he's looking for something to do with customer service/support, possibly marketing or something like that).

So much

2010-03-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I was waiting for more pictures from my other showers to post more, but I haven't gotten any (which is my fault) so this will have to be a picture-less post, hopefully it won't be too long and boring.

The Sat. after my Dr. Seuss shower, I had a friends/old co-workers shower. There were 5 of us there and my long-time friend Joanna threw it for me at Mimi's Cafe. It was very laid back and nice to see everyone, especially since I work from home now, I never see co-workers or ex-co-workers anymore. I got some really great gifts and Joanna made me a super cute diaper cake. I regret I didn't take any pictures of it before I started taking it apart when I got it home (hint hint Joanna, I need pictures!). It had a bunch of baby odds and ends on it, along with lots of cute little hair clips, which for some reason I was extra excited about!

The following Sat. a bunch of ladies from my ward threw me a great shower. Sadly a few people couldn't make it, but they were sweet enough to drop gifts off at our door. Back to the shower, there was great food (Tori knows me and my salad taste too well, Denice makes awesome cookies and Elisa and April seem to know that I've been on a major fruits and veggies kick lately). April had us play a couple of fun matching games (which worked out for all of us, we all got prizes) and everyone was so sweet and gave us some really great, useful, and cute stuff!

The Sat. after that (this past Sat.) was my family shower that one of my sisters-in-law, Lorie, threw for me. She's the sweetest, we're so lucky to have such awesome family. There was good food and some fun guessing and matching games. I got lots of wonderful things and a few beautiful quilts (I didn't seem to get the crafting gene, but luckily it runs elsewhere in the family). I love being able to get together with my aunts and cousins, my mom's side has always been really close and I LOVE it (which isn't to say I don't love my dad's side, I just don't get to see them as often).
Phew, 4 showers in a row, I think I'm all showered out, but I'm so grateful for everyone's generosity and love! We're so lucky, and can I just say this baby is so spoiled and she's not even here yet?

The last few days we've been trying to get the last minute things so that we're not completely scrambling when she does come. We're slowly getting closer to being as ready as we can be. At least we know she'll be dressed, warm, fed, clean, and of course LOVED!

Here's my progression so far if you're interested, if not then just don't read this part:
Week 36: Total weight gain 21 lbs, 70% effaced, 1/2 cm dilated, she's so low the Dr. can touch her head. Lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions.
Week 37: Same as week 36
Week 38: Total weight gain 22 lbs, 80% effaced, 1 cm dilated, baby just seems to get lumpier and lower. I'm pretty sure I'm going to miss being able to feel her move around after she's born, I love that she's been so active. The Braxton-Hicks seem to have backed off a bit, but the back pain and pelvic separation are enough for me to try to handle right now.
Week 39 (yesterday's appointment): Same as last week. Baby's really low. Dr. said he'll induce me on my due date if she hasn't come by then! Ella will be here by March 30 no matter what!

After the appointment last week, we stopped at Jer's parents and got to meet our newest nephew (he's SO cute) as well as get our car-seat and stroller (having those definitely is making things seem that much more real).

Well, with the way I've been posting lately, it's very possible I won't post again until after the baby's born, but I'm sure there will be LOTS and LOTS of pictures and video for that one! Stay tuned!

Baby Shower

2010-02-27T10:03:00.000-08:00

I realize we haven't posted anything in awhile...mostly because nothing really has changed. Jer is still looking for a job/waiting to hear back from jobs and luckily I'm still working.

We finally got our crib, and just last night picked up a mattress for it, things are starting to look more like a baby's actually coming (besides my growing belly).

I had my first baby shower last week with Jer's family. It was so fun and they went to so much trouble to make it super cute w/the food and decorations. If you couldn't tell, the theme was Dr. Seuss and the baby got some Dr. Seuss books and stuffed animals, as well as "Oh Baby, the Places You'll Go: A Book to be read in Utero" to go along with the theme. I tried reading it to her/my stomach the other day (because that's what you're supposed to do with it) and could barely get through it I was crying so much. It's amazing to think we'll finally have our little angel in less than 5 weeks. I'm still so scared that she's going to die though, I'm not sure if this is a normal fear or if it's because of everything that's happened in the last 3 years? I try not to stress too much about it though, I'm trying to have faith that everything will be fine.
Well, back to the shower. I got a ton of wonderful gifts from everyone that came, and I had some friends come that I haven't seen in a long time.

Belly shot of Kim and her miracle baby with me (above)
Kim, Joanna & Makenna, me, Riley and Heidi

As for games, the main one was where everyone estimated a length of yarn to what they thought would go around me. My sis-in-law, Janeen, was right on in her measurement, and then there were a couple others that were pretty dang close. It was fun to see how big around some people thought I might be.

My next Dr. appointment is Tues. for my 36 week check up. I'll be going in every week from then til our little girl comes to join us! It's crazy!

Feeling Blessed, but Seriously Stressed

2010-01-16T15:27:00.000-08:00

Most of you know (thanks to Facebook) that Jer lost his job nearly 2 weeks ago. It was SO unexpected and out of nowhere that we were feeling pretty shocked. It has been a hard past 2 weeks. I've had to learn to not worry too much because I can tell the baby doesn't like it. The day he was let go I had some contractions and they freaked me out a little (even though I know they're normal-but when they're induced by stress, that can't be a good thing). Jer has felt this is something he's needing to go through and learn from. He's gone to workshops and seminars, and has learned a lot and has been sprucing up his resume and a blog he put together to show what he can do with graphic stuff (Click to see his Portfolio and Marketing blogs. Pass them along to anyone you think can help.)
In the midst of this situation we've felt pretty lucky though. Lucky that the car accident happened in Nov, he wasn't hurt and we got a decent amount of money from it. That money was going towards our house fund, but we think now that it'll come in handy with helping us get by until Jer gets a job. We're also lucky that we have the internet, and within minutes of posting on our status' that Jer was out of a job, we both had tons of responses in our inboxes and in comments. Our neighbors have given him leads and offered help, even passed his resume along. We're lucky I still have a job, and that I can do it from home (though it won't cover our expenses, it's still something).
So in the midst of this trial, we know things could be much much worse and we're counting our blessings.
Now I just need to learn to stop stressing that we still have everything left to get for the baby except clothes.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts, prayers and help with the job hunt, we are so blessed to know you.

More ultrasounds

2009-12-10T11:28:00.000-08:00

I promised a few weeks ago that I'd post some of the ultrasound pictures from my 20 week appointment. The scanner was nice to me today and worked, so here are a few. We have about 8 pictures, but a lot of them are very similar profile pictures so I left some out. Plus, because I am the way I am, I'm not going to post any of the ones showing she's a girl.
The first is of her body and head, you can see some of the umbilical cord at the top
This one is of one of her legs and I think both of her feet. I think it's so cute!
And this is, of course, her cute profile.

Car Accident, Thanksgiving, Gingerbread Houses, and Disneyland

2009-12-07T07:28:00.000-08:00

A lot has been happening since my last post, and since I've been slacking I'm squishing it all into one post. Sorry it's gonna be a super long one!

First, the car accident which happened about 3 1/2 weeks ago. Luckily I wasn't in it and luckily Jer wasn't hurt, and luckily it was the blue car, which is paid off and not as nice as our other car. He was on the freeway, traffic was bad and he had stopped. A semi (without a load) didn't slow down fast enough and ran into him, pushing him into the suv in front of him. The semi driver didn't want Jer to call the police and said we could just take care of the damage on our own-yeah right! I was a mess when he called to tell me what happened. Crazily enough, he was able to drive the car home. The other insurance was ridiculous and slow about everything (of course). We finally found out where to take the car, and the day after Thanksgiving we were planning on taking it in, but it wouldn't start-we're assuming the battery died because the trunk can't latch anymore. We were going to jump-start it, but the hood was too crunched to have access to the battery. Long story short, the car was towed last Monday and we FINALLY got a rental car. Right after we landed in California for our trip just 2 days after getting the rental, Jer checked his messages to find out that our insurance has decided the car is totalled. So, we're planning on trying to be a 1 car household. It'll be tough sometimes, but won't be too bad, especially since Jer carpools most days to work.

Amidst the car drama, we had a great Thanksgiving with my family. After making yams my very first time, I've been appointed to the yams every year we're with my family....hopefully my beginner's luck will hold out. The Sunday after Thanksgiving we had our usual family dinner with Jer's family and decorated gingerbread houses. Jer and I shared one, and although it's not perfect, I think it still turned out cute-ish. Here's the before and after shots:

Now for Disneyland. I've never been there during the holiday season and it's SO pretty and extra magical there with all the decorations and lights! I loved it. When we got home I was kind of sad because besides the gingerbread house, we haven't decorated yet!
We flew into Long Beach Wed night and got to the hotel, which was within walking distance of Disneyland! We could even hear the fireworks going shortly after we settled into our room.
Our first day we split between California Adventure and Disneyland, the 2nd day we were in Disneyland all day, and our last day we split again. I think my favorite rides (that I was able to actually go on) were the interactive ones-the Toy Story 2 Midway Games in California Adventure and the Buzz Lightyear ride in Disneyland. I was a little disappointed I couldn't go on a lot of the rides, but it was still a really fun trip, and at least I didn't have to stay off the rides alone since Jer's mom doesn't like a lot of the 'scarier' rides and one of my sisters-in-law is pregnant too.

This is a video of some of the fireworks, I think it was my favorite section because of how they choreographed them to the Nutcracker Suite...

We had so much fun in Disneyland and just got back yesterday in the early afternoon. I think I'll need a few days to recover though, I don't think my poor feet and hips will ever be the same, I'm still super exhausted from it all!

For your viewing pleasure, here's a better picture of my pregnant belly when I was about 22 1/2 weeks since you can't really see it too well in the other pics....

The Baby

2009-11-14T08:58:00.000-08:00

As many of you already know, we found out what our baby is this past week. It was Jer's first time to an appointment with me, so he'd never seen the baby live on the ultrasound. He kept saying how weird it was that there was this little baby moving around in me. When the ultrasound tech told us what we were having, he was a little disbelieving. Not because it wasn't what he wanted, but because he didn't really know what he was looking at on the screen, so the tech got lots of good pictures/positions to prove that she's 100% positive that our baby is a GIRL! We, of course, are super excited. I'm so relieved that everything looks normal on her too.
It's fitting that we're having a girl, a boy would have been fun too, but that's all either side of our families is having these days. We even just found out that we'll be getting another nephew on my side around the same time, along with the nephew on Jer's side just a few weeks before. Our little girl (wow, that's still a little weird to say) will be surrounded by boy cousins her age, they'll be fun to watch.
After watching the DVD of the ultrasound, I realized why I've been extra sore lately, and not just where the ligaments are stretching. Our sweet little girl looks to be a kick-boxer, and even though I can't feel all of her movement, apparently I can feel the after-effects of them.
I wanted to post some of the ultrasound pictures, but our scanner is being mean and not working, so I'll try to post them another time.
20 weeks down, 20 to go!

Pumpkins and Cupcakes

2009-11-01T13:54:00.001-08:00

We don't really get in to Halloween around here, it makes me a little sad because I used to love getting all dressed up and answering the door for the cute little trick-or-treaters. We didn't even have candy this year, I felt really bad about that. Maybe next year things will be a little different.
Even though we don't do much, we did do our annual pumpkin carving at Jer's parent's house last week, which is always a good time.This is my ugly bird-witch. It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, mostly because I was planning on carving the whole thing, but the warty pumpkins have THE WORST rind to cut through, it was almost impossible to just cut around the stem as it was.This is Jer's awesome tribute to one of his favorite bands, 311. I think it looks really cool, he did a good job with it.
It's always funny to watch the kids being crazy and creative with their own pumpkins, this annual activity might be one of our favorites.

Tonight for family dinner I'm in charge of dessert, and decided to make some Halloweenish themed cupcakes. I've been wanting cupcakes all week, but didn't have a reason to make any, until today. I think they turned out cute. They're lemon flavored with vanilla icing. On some I put toasted coconut, and on others I added, with some melted chocolate chips, ghost faces. (sorry the pic isn't so great, but you get the idea, right?)I've taste-tested them, they're good. Hopefully everyone else will think they're as tasty and cute as I do, although I'm nowhere near as talented as my friend Emily-the cupcake making queen!

We hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween!

Anniversary

2009-10-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

This past week we had our 4 year anniversary. It's hard to believe that it's been that long, but sometimes it's hard to believe it hasn't been longer.
I'm so lucky I ended up with Jer, I can't imagine having gone through all the stuff we went through these last 3 years with anyone else who would have been as understanding as him. I'm surprised sometimes to remember back to what I was like when I was on some of my pre-surgery hormone pills and how horrible I was, and he still loves me, even after that. I'm a lucky girl.
Our actual anniversary was Tuesday, so I went up to his new job and we went to lunch at a little deli called Pazzo Vita. It was good food, but it was even better to see him in the middle of the day, and finally see where he's working now. He's really starting to enjoy his new job, I'm so proud of him. We had our actual anniversary date last night. He came home from work and had flowers for me! I thought he just picked them up at the grocery store, but he actually ordered them special. Purple ones for my favorite color, and pink and blue ones for the baby! I thought that was so sweet!
After I got all fancied up (meaning I made my hair curly) we went to The 5 Alls. Jer told me about this place a couple years ago, but we still hadn't been there. I told him this year that I wanted to go, so he made reservations and we headed up. It's a cool little restaurant that's sort of medieval and they serve you 5 courses. It was really good food, and A LOT of it. Jer got the steak and shrimp and I got the chicken (possibly the best chicken I've ever had at a restaurant). It was expensive, but definitely worth it. We brought back 3 boxes of food, mine, his, and the bread they put out. I'm sure we'll go back, but who knows when.

As for baby news, I'm 17 weeks along and had another check up this past week. Everything's going good. I'm gaining weight (although I think I'm still in the 'is she getting fat or is she pregnant' phase) and the baby's heart was sounding great. I think I've started to feel it moving around here and there, but not on a regular basis yet. It's kind of cool. We'll find out what it is November 12. I'm surprised I'm not more anxious about it, but I think it's mostly that I don't care what we have as long as it's healthy; finding out what it is will just be a bonus. I personally have NO idea what it is, but I've had a lot of people tell me they think it's a boy. Recently I've started to hear more people thinking it's a girl, so it's about even. It'll be interesting to find out for sure so we can settle on a name and I can call it by it's name instead of calling it 'it' all the time.

Thanks for all the prayers, love and support!

2009-10-06T09:10:00.001-07:00

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While I was waiting for work I made this,
hope you enjoyed it!

Growth

2009-09-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

I went to the Dr. today and heard the baby's heart beat for the first time, it was crazy! I also got to see just how much the baby has changed in a month, so much it's amazing to me. It's so weird that this little miracle is happening, and you can't really even tell until you get to see inside yourself! The lady who did the sonogram said the baby was moving quite a bit, though I couldn't feel it yet.
Here are 2 of the 3 ultrasounds I've had. The 1st one was just a little dot-the heart. Exciting for us, but maybe not so much for the rest of you, and sort of hard to see anyway.
This one is from 8 1/2 weeks, it looks like a little blob:And here is the one from today, 12 1/2 weeks, I love how you can see the fingertips above it's face!You can see the cute little profile in there too, as well as a foot and part of a leg if you look closely. It's amazing how tiny it still is though! If you want to see the ultrasounds better, just click on the picture, and it should blow up for you.
We'll keep you posted! Thanks for all the comments on the last post, I don't think we've ever gotten THAT MANY before!

Watch out world...

2009-09-20T18:30:00.000-07:00

Watch out world, a miniature Jer or me will be joining us at the end of March. That's right, we're pregnant! I'm now a little over 12 weeks along, and so far things are looking good. I've already had 2 ultrasounds, and I'll have my next on Wednesday. I can't wait to see how much the baby's grown since my last appointment. We are planning on finding out the gender, but we'll have to wait until November for that. We'll scan the ultrasound pictures in eventually for your viewing pleasure, but for now...no pics yet.
We're both thrilled, but still a little nervous. Every day starts getting a little more surreal for me, especially since we've started announcing it.
Thank you for all the hope, support and prayers, they've meant a lot to us, but we definitely still need them!

Ice Cream Cake

2009-08-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

I made my very first ice cream cake last week and figured I should do a post on it.
The story behind making it in the first place is that one of the young women (Maria) in our ward is always talking about wanting one, and that started making me want one, and curious of how to make them. I wasn't about to go buy one (they're so stinkin expensive), especially since we have this handy-dandy internet thing that has all sorts of free info on it. So I finally gave in and set a day to make the ice cream cake, with Maria.
I baked the cake in 2 rounds the night before so I could put them in the freezer/fridge to chill over night. 30 minutes before Maria came over, I got the ice cream out to soften a little. I was going to have her fill the empty cake round (lined with plastic wrap) with it so it could set up in the same shape as the cakes, but she came late (what else do you expect from a teenager?) so I did that job too. I put it in the freezer and let it start setting up, which is when Maria got to my house (nice timing, huh?). Since we needed the ice cream to set up for awhile (I didn't know how long), we put "The Skeleton Key" on. Maria loves scary movies. I'm not a big fan (I used to be, but hate them now), but since I've seen it before I was alright with it. I kept getting up to check the ice cream, and probably half-way through the movie, I figured it was ok to put the cake together. We paused the movie, and got all the stuff out. The cake ended up looking like a big ice cream sandwich, but that's ok. I hurried and frosted it with and 8 oz container of Cool Whip, then popped it back in the freezer before the ice cream could melt too much.

This is what it looked like before we cut into it:
And this is how it looked on the inside:
Yellow cake with Rocky Road ice cream. It was very good and I'm pretty proud of how it turned out, especially for my first time!

Pioneer Day Party

2009-07-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

Just about every year, Jer's parents have a party for the 24th. Food, fun, friends, family, swimming....all that good stuff. If any of you have seen any of the pictures from when we got engaged, my arm is wrapped in an ace bandage because of the 'fun' we were having at the 24th of July party in 2005.

This year we invited some friends (one of Jer's old friends and his wife and one of his younger brothers) and we had a good time. The guys did a Scottish pole toss, and everyone joined in the gunny-sack races. We tried a 3-legged race, but Jer and I lost horribly. I'm pretty sure I've never gunny-sack raced before, I'm sure I looked ridiculous trying! Mike and Ashley were pretty good at it though, maybe they should go pro? The boys had so much fun they had to race twice, so I was able to get some video of that:

After some swimming we enjoyed us some burgers and salads, and you can't forget the dessert. All in all it was a good day, even if I had to work and Jer got to have the day off.
Thank you Pioneers for giving us another GREAT reason to party in the summer!

Lake Powell Trip '09

2009-07-20T11:59:00.001-07:00

We went to Lake Powell last week, and had so much fun. It's amazing to me how much work goes into a trip like this though, especially grocery shopping for 18 people!

We spent most of the time lounging around, working on our 'tans' (or at least getting rid of the tan lines):Looking at the beautiful scenery,

(I love the clouds in this one):

Rode the jet ski:
And went down the slide:
Jer jumped off the boat, but we don't have a picture of that. I didn't post a lot of pictures because they all seem pretty similar, so this is what you get. We had a great time, it was a nice break from life.

Rodeo

2009-07-06T08:09:00.000-07:00

July 3rd we went to Oakley for the annual rodeo, it was pretty fun, and there were some crazy animals. One of the horses tried to climb out of the stalls before anyone was even on it, it was funny to see everyone's reaction to that.

Jer took some pics of the action, so here they are....

And of course we can't forget the fireworks, though it was a shorter show this year.....
If you look closely, you can see a smiley face made out of fireworks in the top of this next picture

We're so grateful for our freedoms and all that our country's service men and women do for us, they sacrifice so much. Jer hates the song, but we really are Proud to be Americans, "where at least we know we're free", even when the world and economy are crazy, we still have our freedom!

Upcoming

2009-07-02T15:32:00.001-07:00

Well, we don't have a lot going on at the moment, and like we always tell people, we lead a pretty boring life, but here's a little of what's been going on and our plans for July.
Jer and I went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house, and then I got to go again with the youth. It's a beautiful temple, and I'm excited to go when it's dedicated because my parents will be temple workers in it. Here's a picture of the angel Moroni since being hit by lightning, it's so crazy to see up close in person...

Lately I've been pretty down, I think it's a mixture of the weather, not having much to look forward to, and being disappointed every month. Hopefully I can pull out of it soon. My hormone pills need to be changed because of some scary side-effects they were giving me (besides all the symptoms of being pregnant, even though I'm not), so hopefully that can help too.
We do have some things to look forward to in the next couple of weeks though, and we're pretty excited about them. I'll be sure to post some pictures (if we have any of interest) when we get back. This weekend we'll be going to Oakley for the rodeo, we'll stay overnight Friday and come back for fireworks at Jer's parent's house. The rodeo is always entertaining, and if the animals aren't enough, we're always on the look out to find the most interesting looking people that show up with their mullets, etc.
Next weekend we're doing a youth conference type activity for the youth in our ward. Since most of them aren't old enough to do the actual Youth Conference, we decided to do something special for them. One of the big things we'll be doing is go up to Salt Lake to see some sights and have them learn some Church history, it'll be fun.
Right after Youth Conference, we'll be headed to Lake Powell with Jer's family. I'm so excited, I've been needing a break from things for awhile, so hopefully I can get some relaxing in and not burn to a crisp.

Jer got me some planters awhile back, and we bought some flowers for Mother's Day, so now they're hanging off our balcony. I went out to water them one day (awhile back before all the rain) and this is what was there...I was surprised it let me get so close . I really do love this picture though, I'm considering printing and framing it and hanging it up somewhere.

A Tribute to my Grandma

2009-06-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

My last living blood grandparent passed away Saturday, June 6, 2009 after struggling with colon cancer that had spread to her liver, and eventually took her life. She'll be greatly missed, but we are so happy that she is out of her failing body and in a MUCH better place with her husband and other loved ones who have passed on before her.

She was a smart, funny, talented, loving, incredible person. Her mind was sharp till the very end. She loved her family, she loved playing games, she loved to sew. She stood up for what she believed in. She was patient and kind. She encouraged and taught when needed, but she was never overbearing. She spoiled us kids with love and generosity and guidance, and every so often she'd spoil us with treats too. As I got older, I wanted my kids to be able to know her because she was such a great Grandma, but as time has passed, that wish diminished. I asked her to tell them to hurry up and get down here when she got up there. I'm happy to know that my kids have gotten to meet her now, just not how I planned before.

She was the Best Grandma a girl could have.

I remember having sleepovers at her house when I was little, she'd let me watch movies and have junk food, or she'd read me a story and tuck me in. I used to hate the peanut butter sandwiches she'd make because she'd put a bunch of butter on the bread, and then put peanut butter on-it was weird and not so tasty, but a funny memory to have now, and a sweet quirk to remember about her. Another funny thing I should mention is that one time she was talking and Jer cut her off. She looked at him sternly, but with a twinkle in her eye, and said "Shut up, Jeremy!" We laughed so hard at that because it was so unexpected, and someone needed to call Jer on his bad manners!
She was an amazing homemaker, and has made many quilts, even won some awards for a few of them. She made the best chocolate covered marshmallow eggs at Easter, even the marshmallows were made from scratch!
She amazed me.
She led an incredible life, from living through WWII and the depression, dating and breaking many hearts (being engaged more than once), going to USO dances, to getting married and settling down and having 7 kids (raising them all to be wonderful people who are strong in the church), going on a mission to Shreveport, Louisiana, and to being a wonderful Grandmother and knowing all that we were up to and supporting us when she could.
My main regret is not spending more time with her.
I know my words cannot do her justice, but at least I've scratched the surface.
I love you Grandma, and I'll see you again some day!

Something to hold on to/hold us over

2009-05-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

This is just something I felt like sharing. I don't know who wrote it, but Jer's sister, Jenny, sent it to me to help us get through our difficult days.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I know you think I'll never come
But it's just that my work here's not done
There's just so much I need to know
Before I come to earth to grow
So don't give up, I'm on my way
Even though it may not be today
I cannot wait to be loved by you
For you to teach me all that's true
And although I am anxious
I'll patiently wait
'Cause I'm promised to you
And I think that's GREAT!

Love,
Me

Here's to 'some day'

Hiatus

2009-04-02T06:39:00.000-07:00

Well, some of you may have noticed that we haven't posted anything for awhile. I thought I should just put up this post to announce our break from blogging. Jer has banned me from reading other blogs as well (most, not all) as some of them are really hard for me/us to read, so we won't be in the blogosphere for awhile.
We'll be back someday, we're just not sure when exactly.

Have a good next few months!

Catch Up

2009-02-16T20:55:00.000-08:00

It was brought to my attention, by my lovely friend and old roommate Becky, that I haven't blogged for awhile, and that I'd better get on it. I had no idea what to blog about, but after looking through the camera, I realized I had a little catching up to do, so here you go Becky, and any other fans I may have out there.

So awhile back I promised you a picture of my first attempt at a decorated cake, so here it is. It was winter themed, and I made a lot of really cute little intricate snowflakes and trees, but sadly most of them broke when I tried to move them, so I ended up with dots, star snowflakes, and swirls and a few little extras. Jer's family thought it looked great though, so that was enough for me. It was fun to make, and even more importantly, it tasted delicious.

Next up is the lunch I had with 2 of my old roommates from my first year at Snow College, Becky and FayLyn. FayLyn was in town from Michigan for the holidays and to bless her newest baby, so we hung out at her parent's house and had soup, crackers, Christmas goodies, and we chatted, and played with FayLyn's 2 cute little girls. Sadly our other roomies couldn't make it, one had just had a baby, one lives in Washington state, and the other one-well I think she might be back in Japan? Anyway, it was so fun to get together, even if it was just half of us. Here are a couple of old college pictures, and then the picture we took at the lunch more recently!
Cinnamon Roll Hug- Christal, Becky, Courtney, FayLyn, me, Melissa, Tarah and Ribekah

Becky pretending to be scary, and me pretending to be scared

me, FayLyn, and Becky

There's not any easy way to bring this next one up, and it's a very sad subject for us. The end of January we found out I was pregnant (yes, we took pictures, no, I'm not going to post them), we were so excited that the insemination had worked, but extremely nervous and cautious too. We wanted to keep it a secret til we got to 12 weeks, but we did tell a few people. It seemed things were going fine up until a couple weeks ago when I started spotting. We know this is a normal thing, but it made me nervous, so I had Jer give me a blessing (which left me waiting for something to happen), and did the 48 hr blood test to make sure my hcg levels were still rising. We found out that they were, and that they were high enough to check the heart. We went in for an ultrasound, but we weren't able to see anything. The Dr. wanted to see me a few days later to make sure the heart was actually there, so we went in Feb. 9 for another ultrasound where we found out the baby had stopped growing. I had a blighted ovum, meaning everything else was still growing (which is why my hcg levels were still rising), but the baby had essentially died. I was distraught at this news, but at the same time we were both expecting this to happen. The next day I went in for a D&C so the passing wouldn't become a problem. Jer's been really good about consoling me, but it's still been really difficult. That's now 2 miscarriages and 3 surgeries, I'm really hoping this is it for the heartache part because I can't handle any more. It's been hard enough trying to get back to normal from the surgeries, then not being able to get pregnant at all. Then we do get pregnant and this happens, I'm afraid this is the only ending I'll have whenever I'm pregnant. Anyway, we're ok, I'm just trying to get through this and lie low till I'm all healed up. Hopefully our next one will be successful (cross your fingers/pray for us). We're lucky to live where we do where we're surrounded by family and good friends to help us through. My beautiful flowers from my friend Denice are still blooming, and my cousin and his wife, Matt and Kate, brought us dinner and cookies the night of the D&C and helped cheer me up.

Sorry to end on a depressing note, but that's it for now. We hope you all had a good Valentine's day.

We finally have an answer, YAY!!!

2009-01-21T08:39:00.000-08:00

This month I changed OB/GYNs and we did the insemination. After the procedure, the Dr (who is absolutely wonderful) talked to me a little about what tests I've had and haven't done. He decided we should do what he called a "day 22 blood test", so last Friday I went in for a blood test to check my thyroid and progesterone. Why my specialist never thought to run this test, I don't know, and I have been pretty upset with him about it since I got the results. But after having vented on Facebook and getting a few reactions and words of wisdom, I'm trying to just chalk it up to life experience. Although, it has been a painful, depressing, anxiety-filled 8 months we went through (not including nearly a year and a half for surgeries), for what seems like nothing because it probably could have been mostly avoided. Anyway, the results of the test were that my thyroid is fine, but my progesterone is a little low-at about a 10, and the Dr said it's best if it's over 15. This is the reason we haven't been able to get pregnant yet, and if I did get pregnant, then it would have ended up in an early miscarriage. But, this is not a big problem, it's easily fixed. All I have to do is start taking progesterone and then if I get pregnant, continue on it for the first 3 months. Simple as that. So why is it that a reproductive endocronoligist specialist never thought to check that and wanted to go directly to the bigger procedures? We may never know, but at least we found out what's wrong and how to fix it and hopefully we can move on and end up with a baby finally!

Our Christmas Festivities

2008-12-29T21:35:00.001-08:00

Wow, I can't believe it's come and gone already! It seems like I only just put up the tree!
Sorry there aren't any pics of any of this (at least not yet), but here's a little of what we did...
The Monday the week before Christmas we went ice skating with Jer's family, then to the Pie for some yummy pizza. Every year we go ice skating, and I love that tradition of theirs, it's so fun to get all bundled up and attempt to glide around various ice skating rinks and watch the nieces and nephews. We also had an office party with Jer's brokerage where they did a white elephant gift exchange, and we ended up with a 24 oz can of beer, it was quite a shock to pull it out of the bag!
The Monday before Christmas was a party on my mom's side, it's usually really fun, but there was some unexpected/shocking news from one of my cousins which sorta ruined the party for many of us and really upset me, but it gave me some extra bonding time with my grandma (who's dying of liver cancer) and one of my aunts who has gone through what Jer and I are going through now.
Christmas Eve we were expecting to end up with Jer's fam at his Aunt Shirley's but my family decided to do a last minute Christmas Eve dinner, so we went and hung out at my parent's house (since we don't do as much with my side as we do with Jer's), had a nice ham dinner, and enjoyed each other's company. Jer also had me open a present, it was "Sleeping Beauty", which I'd asked for a few months ago, I was so excited to get it!
Christmas morning was lazy for us. We got up around 8:30ish and opened our presents. Jer got "X-Files: I Want to Believe", "The Dark Knight", and "Pirates of the Great Salt Lake". I/we got a Wii Fit (I wanted it REALLY bad, but Jer plays on it too). So far I've really enjoyed having it, and it's been fun learning yoga and working out on it.
After opening our stuff at home, we went to Jer's parent's house and had a big Christmas brunch there with some extended family. When it came time for the presents, the kids went into the usual frenzy, and the family room was covered in wrapping paper and boxes. It came time for the adults, strangely there was only 1 thing under the tree for me and nothing for Jer. Turns out my mother-in-law had hidden our presents because they were too big to wrap.... Jer got a telescope (yay for him, it seems really nice), and I got a KitchenAid standing mixer!!! I almost cried when I saw it I was so excited. I was up until 2 a.m. making a cake and the frosting decorations for it (pics to come eventually) because I was SO excited. After we settled down from that, we headed to Jer's step-grandma's to give her her present-a hankie I embroidered her initial on, I think it turned out pretty.
The day after Christmas we went to Jer's family's cabin outside Oakley, and hung out with the family there and came back Saturday. I was sick when we got back, so Jer's first official day of being 2nd Elder's Quorum President he was flying solo at church (Oh yeah, I forgot to announce that...now you know, pretty crazy stuff).
So as you can see, it was a pretty busy month. Now all we need to figure out is what we're going to do for New Year's Eve.
Also, since I didn't get the one thing that I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted more than anything else, we're planning on doing our first try on insemination in January sometime, so wish us luck.
We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

P.S. Oh yeah, since I've been wanting a sewing machine, my mom told my grandma and she wants me to have hers... SCORE!

Just for you

2008-12-16T13:11:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas! We hope you enjoy our elf dances- and don't expect to see these moves outside of the computer!
Don't forget to pause the music at the bottom so you can get the most out of your viewing experience!

The Thornes

2008-12-16T13:10:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Thornes

2008-12-16T13:04:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Funny video

2008-12-10T12:56:00.000-08:00

My work friend, Cytel, emailed me this link.

The Dog House

I thought it was so funny, I HAD to share it with all ya'll.
Enjoy!
And I hope all you guys stay out of the doghouse this year!

What do YOU want for Christmas?

2008-12-02T11:43:00.000-08:00

What's on your Christmas list this year? Seriously, I'm curious-but don't expect that we'll be getting the things on your list for you, and we won't expect the same in return.

Our list this year includes a lot of stuff, so I'll shorten it to the MAJOR things we REALLY want.

A Kitchen Aid standing mixer -I don't care what color, as long as it's not ugly(Jules)
A Telescope -one of the less expensive ones (Jer)
A Sewing Machine- a simple inexpensive, multi purpose one (both of us)
Misc. movies (both)
Misc. games (both)
Money (both)
World Peace, etc.
and last, and what I want more than anything else,
A baby
It's possible you could help us out with that last one, if you don't mind praying for us.

We hope you have a wonderful holiday season, and stay busy and happy with close friends and family!

Now that I've decorated/updated my blog, I need to do the same to our house!

Just a little

2008-11-08T19:37:00.001-08:00

As promised, here are a couple of pictures of what I've made from what I learned in my cake decorating class. I'm planning on making a chocolate cake with peanut butter between the layers and chocolate frosting all over, then adding some flowers, vines, and dots. I'll make sure to take pictures and post them once I have gotten around to doing this-the problem is that I don't really have anything to make this cake for-but I guess I'll do it anyway.
Remember, these are just practice daisies and I'm a beginner, so please don't judge too harshly...
I was thinking maybe if I get broken off petals next time, I could place them on the cake like someone's been plucking them, or like they're just falling off like they do in nature.....

What's been happening lately?

2008-11-07T21:31:00.000-08:00

We haven't posted for a couple of weeks, so I figured we should probably write something. The problem is, I have no idea what to write about. As I've stated in a previous post, our lives aren't that exciting, and we don't have a lot going on. Halloween isn't a big deal for us because all the stuff we go to is more geared towards little kids, so we just ended up making plans last minute with some neighbor friends.
I've had a bad case of the blahs the last little while, I'm not sure why though. I just have no motivation and I'm so sleepy all the time-it must have something to do with the time of the year. Do any of you have this problem, and if you do, what do you do to help it?
As for my cake class (Someday I will post some kind of picture of what I learned), it sort of ended up being a bust. I missed 2 classes towards the beginning, and after that I was going alone-so it wasn't as much fun as I'd hoped. It also ended up being a lot more expensive than I had planned (what with buying a kit, etc.), so I ended up not going anymore because they decided to change some of the curriculum, which meant buying even more supplies (in case you didn't know, money doesn't grow on trees, especially not in our house). Anyway, I did learn some techniques, and I can teach myself the stuff I don't know-or go to youtube and look it up.

Something exciting did happen this past week though, my good friend, Emily, who moved out of state came for a visit with her baby and we spent an afternoon at her parent's house making super cute and tasty strawberry-filled cupcakes. We had fun experimenting with the different decorator tips and the frosting (which we ended up with way way extra). It was so good to have girl time with her! I can't wait for her to come visit again for Christmas!

In other news, I went to a shoe party last night at my neighbor, Lara's house. I'd seen her at church, and we're friends on Facebook, but I'd never actually talked to her face to face (I'm intimidated by people most of the time). Anyway-the party was really fun, and I ended up buying stuff twice. By that I mean that I picked out a cute headband and necklace and paid for them, then after more inspection of the shoes, and much debating over a cute pair that I never thought I'd own, I bought those too. I think I'm really going to like them-though they are pretty high compared to what I usually wear. I call them my 'fancy shoes', although I've been informed that the more proper name for them is 'sexy shoes'.Today, I went to the spa to use a gift certificate I'd been given. I had the Deep Sea Masque done, and it was wonderful. I love going to the spa and wish I could go more often-yet again that money tree problem. I decided to stop by my parent's house to say hi on my way home, and found out my mom was at the exact place I had just left using the gift certificate I'd given her. We totally missed each other, and I thought it was such a funny coincidence that out of all the days in the year, we happened to pick the exact same day to use our gift certificates-like mother like daughter I guess. I just have to say, if you've never been to the spa before, you have to experience it-it'll make you a better person, I promise!

Hawaii!

2008-10-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here's the deal: Jer and I went to Hawaii last week with almost his whole family, the problem is is that we are horrible at actually getting many shots of us on trips we take, we usually stick to taking lots of pictures of the kids and the scenery. We're doing better, but this trip we actually ended up taking WAY less pictures of everything, so you'll just have to deal with what I post.
When we left Salt Lake it was snowing, so that made us extra excited to get to Hawaii and enjoy the warm weather. We arrived on Maui on Sun. Oct 12 at night, and boy were we exhausted from our flight-although it was the best one so far. There were screens on the backs of all the seats and we could pick just about anything from the menu to watch for free. It was awesome!
So after gathering all our luggage, getting the rental cars, and picking up some groceries, we went to the hotel. It's the Marriott Maui Ocean Club (I think), and it's beautiful there. We made some sandwiches and then crashed. The only problem is is that just about everyone was waking up around 3 or 4 am because of the time difference (4 hrs behind us), so it was hard to sleep in (not counting Jer, he is a master at sleeping in).
I won't bore you with the details of each day, so I'll summarize instead. Every day we basically would hang out at the pool, then go to the beach, or vice versa. Then at night we'd go somewhere different for dinner. One night we went to Whaler's Village and saw a free hula show after dinner, another we went to a luau, etc. A few of the days we went to beaches away from the hotel so we could either snorkel, or watch surfers. My favorite part was riding/jumping in the waves, it's so much fun I could do it for hours!
Jer and my last day was a day before almost all the rest of the family, so we went and watched surfers, ate at a yummy organic pizza place (Flatbread in Paia), and headed to the airport with his sister and her family (they had to get back early). We were sad to leave before everyone else, but at the same time we got a head start on the long ride home, and this time we didn't even get the screens :( It was actually a really rough ride home because we were on the emergency exit row, and the seats don't go back AT ALL, and did I mention this is like a 5 hr flight and it was the red-eye? All of this equals exhaustion.
We finally made it back to Salt Lake at about 8:45 am (we stopped in LA both ways), and my wonderful brother, Rich, came and picked us up. It was sorta surreal to be home, but so nice at the same time. Once we got home Jer went to bed, and I unpacked and started some laundry, then took a lovely nap myself. The bed at the hotel was nice, but there's nothing like your own, and it was heavenly.
So, that was our trip, and now here are some pictures.
Don't mind how shiny I am in them, my skin has issues with humidity.

This was on the way to the luau
This was after the luau

Beautiful Hawaiian sunset

Us with the diminishing Hawaiian sunset
Hanging out with the fam watching the surfers. Notice my awesome fashion statement of glasses under my sunglasses.
These are just some of the many surfers that were out. It was a wonder they weren't running each other over there were so many.
This guy brought his dog surfing with him, it was so cute and fun to watch!
And since Jer is so on top of things, he recorded the dog surfing for your viewing pleasure...

Three!

2008-10-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! We made it to 3! If you haven't guessed, today is our 3rd anniversary. I'm so lucky to be married to such a wonderful, creative, funny, loving, understanding man! We've been through a lot these past few years, and we've only become closer because of it. He is the perfect one to be by my side through all of life's ups and downs.
Here are a few pictures from the past....

Here are a couple from when we got engaged

This is one of our wedding announcement pictures

This is one of my bridals

and here are some shots at the temple

I love you Jer!

P.S. I will post about last week's trip to Hawaii later.

Ever wonder....

2008-10-10T18:36:00.000-07:00

....what you'd look like way back when?
Well, Jer and I don't need to wonder anymore. I took this off of Lindsay's post, I thought it was too fun and cute, so I had to do it myself: I "Yearbooked" myself and Jer, enjoy!
Here I am in 1952:

I almost look like I belong in this hairstyle!

Here's Jer in 1952:

Only slightly goofy looking, I guess.

Here I am in 1966:

If it weren't for my hair's lack of body, I might be trying to pull this look off today,
too bad for all of you to miss out on such a sight! (j/k)

Here's Jer in 1976:

I must say, he looks P.H.A.T. (pretty hot and tempting),
especially in that turtleneck and hairstyle!

Here I am in 1994:

I guess I should feel lucky I hid all my 'real' pictures of me w/a perm from when I was younger!

and, last but not least,

here's Jer in 1990:

This makes me really glad that Jer doesn't have blond hair!

You can go try this out for yourself HERE, but I'm gonna warn ya, it'll suck up your time because you get so into it! Have fun!

I'm shocked, but flattered

2008-10-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

Today in my internet surfing, I found THIS. You have to check it out or else this post won't mean much.
I thought it was hilarious, so I hope you do too.

Gilgal

2008-10-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

When I post, I always seem to forget something, so I had to post again today.

Jer and I went to the Gilgal Gardens yesterday. I've been there before, and over the weekend we tried to see it, but it got too dark too fast, so we had to go back. That place is crazy by the way, very different art-work, etc. Plus, you get really hungry walking around because it's right by the Wonder bakery, so you're smelling yeast and bread baking, and it almost drives you crazy. I guess most of the statues/art have something to do with different scriptures, and LDS beliefs. This type of art isn't really my style, in fact it sorta creeps me out (especially when it's dark), but here are some of the pictures we took and what they're named....Captain of the Lord's Host

The Sphinx

The Monument to the Trade

The Monument to the Priesthood

Daniel II: King Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

There are a lot more sculptures in the garden than I posted here, and the story behind them about the artist is actually pretty interesting. You can see and read more at the website if you click HERE.

After checking out Gilgal, we went to the Gateway to the Apple store, then Office Max, then to Old Navy. This was a big sacrifice for Jer, mostly because he doesn't like Old Navy (not sure why, too preppy for him?). I got some new jeans and some REALLY cute tops. Thanks Jer for letting me shop and for going with me and enduring without complaining! He's so great!
That's all for now.

A mish-mash of events

2008-10-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted for awhile, so I thought I would write about the YW activity we had last night. It was really fun, very much looked forward to, and well-attended. We had 3 YW come! Well, technically 2, 1 of them won't be 12 for another couple of weeks, but we invited her along anyway. We met at 4:15, left after 4:30 and drove downtown to see the Joseph Smith movie in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. After finding out about ticket information (they don't do tickets anymore), we wandered around the Mezzanine level where there's a chapel with an organ which has it's keys switched (white ones are black, black ones are white), and the President's room (which has pictures of all the Prophets in it). We needed to head back down to the theater, but started talking to a sweet old couple, and the older gentleman left to go somewhere and we heard him fall. We were all a little freaked out. Apparently he missed a step or blacked out or something and fell on his hip, I was afraid he'd broken it. He got up after a couple of minutes, seemingly fine, just a litte out of it. After making sure he was fine, we made it to the theater to see the movie. I've seen it before, but it's been awhile and let me tell ya, I think it hit me harder this time than the last. I was crying and sniffling (trying to hold it in a little), but at least I wasn't the only one. It was so hard to watch what he went through, and to know that it was so much worse than the movie even made it look. One of the girls was pretty emotional for awhile, it was so sweet to see how much it touched her.
When we left the movie we took the girls to the top to see the view, then out to find some food. We took a couple of pictures by the reflection pond, walked around a little (and found out the ZCMI center food court was closed) and went to Crown Burger to get food. I was starving, but burger grease makes me really sick, especially when I haven't eaten for awhile, so I didn't get anything and endured the ride home until I could get some food.

On another note, I went last week with my friend, Denice, to Ikea and I bought a TON of stuff to decorate our home more. I got a set of large canvas squares with different pictures of Orchids and put them above the bed. I switched the order from what's pictured below, though.From the picture, you'd think the orange would be too much, but they totally calm down our room (the bedding and curtains are red, not relaxing at all, but Jer's choice), Jer isn't so sure about them, but he's getting used to having them up. His exact words when he saw the pictures was, "flowers? why'd you get flowers?". This made me feel pretty bad, but I figure it's my room too, so he needs to just get over it and enjoy the feminine influence. I also got a cute apron for cooking, bedside table lamps for our room, new throw pillows and cases for our couch, coasters for our coffee table, and a couple of other odds and ends.

On yet another note, tomorrow I start my cake decorating classes. I'm SO excited, I can't wait. I'm going with an old friend, Charlotte (who I went to Middle and High School with and we were in the same home ward). It'll be fun to get out and learn about this, I've been wanting to for awhile, so I'm hoping I'll be at least a little good at it. If not, Charlotte pointed out that at least we'll be able to laugh about it. It'll be a good distraction, and it'll give me more to blog about, I'm sure (maybe I'll even include some pictures).

An update

2008-09-18T11:40:00.000-07:00

I guess I should have done this a week or so ago, but you know how it is being busy with life outside of the internet, right?
Anyhow, I had been emailing with my specialist's nurses about different concerns because of pains in my lower abdomen. They told the Dr. and he decided he needed to see me, and while we're at it, why not get Jer tested. So Jer's now been tested and I've been seen and this is the situation. Jer's pretty much fine, and the Dr. figures that since we're still not pregnant, even after charting my temperature, doing ovulation predictor tests, and keeping track of all our 'activities' and following the directions that he and the nurses have been giving us, that the next step is insemination. Jer and I aren't really wanting to jump to that just yet, especially since it's $300 a try and the Dr. said there's (only) a 6-10% success rate.
Now through all of this temping, etc, I've gotten a little stressed and frustrated, and it's pretty much all that's ever on my mind. So I asked the Dr. if it would be ok if we quit temping and tracking and testing and just live our lives and see what happens. He said we can try that, so it's the plan for now. I'm currently trying to figure out how to change my mindset to enjoying just being me for awhile (not being a hormone-crazy monster from pills or pregnancy) and to being more selfish. Yes, selfish-I really am not sure how to be selfish, but I figure maybe it'll help take my mind off of wanting a baby to take care of. Jer's very impressed with my plan, so we'll see how it goes. I just need to de-stress, or like my friend, Tori, said, 'distractions'.
Oh yeah, and the Dr. gave me a note to give to Curves to discontinue working out there because of my lower abdominal pain-apparently all the exercise I should be doing is walking. I'm pretty frustrated about it because I feel like such a slacker now.
Well, that's it for now, we'll see how this all works out.

The Birthday Post

2008-09-11T11:02:00.000-07:00

I've seen other people do this, so I thought I would too.
Today is Jer's birthday. That's right, on September 11, 1980, Jeremiah Virgil Thorne was brought into this world. Here are some of the things that make him him and so lovable.

1. He's good looking, I mean just look at him!

2. He loves me and puts up with me, which isn't always easy.

3. He's a hard worker and puts his full effort into things when he's put his mind to it.

4. He loves kids.

5. He's understanding.

6. He's generous.

7. He takes good care of our little family.

8. He has great taste in music and is always finding new, cool bands.

9. He's incredibly creative.

10. He's like a little kid in so many ways-it's endearing and sweet (not at all bad, don't take it that way).

11. He's handy to have around the house. He fixed our toilets when they were having issues.

12. He knows lines and lyrics like you wouldn't believe.

13. He's in good shape, and works to keep himself that way.

14. He's fun to be with.

15. He's funny and can always make me laugh or smile.

16. He's adventurous.

17. He's easy to talk to.

18. He likes driving, even in bad weather(unless it's so bad you can't see), so I basically have my own personal chauffeur.

19. He has nice hair-he won't be going bald any time soon!

20. He's good at calming me down.

21. He's helpful.

22. He's easy to get along with.

23. He's very random, which makes life really interesting.

24. He does what he can to make me happy.

25. He has good taste in clothes (most of the time).

26. He has a good heart.

27. He's really good with words. Some of the things he writes blow me away.

28. He's the most wonderful guy I've ever met (which is why I married him).

I love you Jer, I can't wait for 70 more of these (give or take)!

Question Time

2008-09-01T13:26:00.000-07:00

1. Do you like bleu cheese? I don't know. I would probably say yes because I like just about all cheese.
2. Have you ever smoked? No, I prefer to be addicted to my wife.
3. Do you own a gun? No, but I know a pretty good NRA joke. More of a handshake actually.
4. What flavor Kool-Aid was your favorite? I'd have to say fruit punch or cherry
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? It would depend on what the appointment is for. Physical checkup when I was 15, oh yeah.
6. What do you think of hot dogs? I actually like them. Super easy to prepare. I ate them for a couple weeks straight on the mission. That is when I became converted to mustard.
7. Favorite Christmas movie? I grew up watching and quoting Christmas Vacation.
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? I have this breakfast drink that I make. It's got Carnation Instant Breakfast and then I decided to put a banana in for more substance. To top it off I drink it with a multi-vitamin. I'm getting healthier by the day.
9. Can you do push ups? Yes. I can do 50 pushups fast, but started doing them slower for the muscle growth. It's such a deep burn. I usually do 100 of them.
10. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? I am getting more used to my wedding ring. I wear it now to cover the tan lines.
11. Favorite hobby? I like finding new bands to listen to. I love to create story ideas and write them down. I also love to be creative whether it's with plastic cups, toilet paper, or just thoughts that come to me. But hugging Julianna would have to be the best thing, especially when I'm creative with her.
12. Do you have ADD? If I don't have my iPod, our computer with an internet connection, or my writing notebook, I'll probably get bored. I need to keep my mind occupied.
13. Do you wear glasses/contacts? Yes. It's crazy that a little piece of plastic or whatever it is can go on my eye and instantly make me see.
14. Middle name? Virgil. I hated it when I was younger, but it's my Grandpa's name and I have grown up and heard many good things about him.
15. Name three thoughts at this exact moment. I'm excited to start learning how to design and maintain websites. Netflix seems like a good idea, and I look really good right now. "Hey everyone! Come see how good I look!"
16. Name three drinks you regularly drink. Water, Milk and Soda Pop if it's around.
17. Current worry? I'm worried that mean jerky people won't get what's coming to them.
18. Current hate right now? I hate people that are know-it-all's about any topic. Whatever your specialty is, they know more than you and always will. They should run for king/queen of the world and tell us how to live our lives.
19. Favorite place to be? If I have accomplished something great or have a good story idea, I don't care where I am.
20. How did you bring in the New Year? I had some major computer questions for my friend Chris and our wives had some girl time. Later we watched The Office.
21. Where would you like to go? I would really like to go to Heaven. But for now I think Wimbledon or Wendover would be cool.
22. Name three people who will complete this. Chris Maguire, Justin Crossley, Mike Chadburn.
23. Do you own slippers? No.
24. What shirt are you wearing? A bright yellow Dole Hawaii shirt. It represents fun times in Hawaii.
25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? I don't know if I ever have. I've heard that they're heavenly though.
26. Can you whistle? Yeah.
27. Favorite color? Blue.
28. Would you be a pirate? I'd dress up but I wouldn't BE a pirate. Dealing with a bunch of stupid guys on a pirate ship would get really lame.
29. What songs do you sing in the shower? Just about everything. Mainly in a high falsetto voice.
30. Favorite girl’s name? Yasmeen.
31. Favorite boy’s name? David, but only if Hasselhoff is attached to it.
32. What’s in your pocket right now? Nothing. Probably lint. I got robbed today.
33. Last thing that made you laugh? Probably something funny. Very funny.
34. What vehicle do you drive? 2007 Nissan Altima. I have gotten 540 miles off a tank.
35. Worst injury you’ve ever had? When I was attacked by two dogs at the same time on the mission.
36. Do you love where you live? How could you not love Eagle Mountain? The price is great.
37. How many televisions do you have in your house? Three - one in the family room, one in the bedroom, and one in the spare room. I got one up at college years ago, we got one from Wal-Mart because of the DVD combo, and I secretly got the family room TV, but later kind of got in trouble.

Quirks

2008-09-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

We were tagged by the Bohmans, so here are the rules...

• Link the person(s) who tagged you.
• Mention the rules on your blog.
• Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
• Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them.

This is a hard one, I don't know how to pinpoint our quirks, but I know we have them.

1. Jer takes a notebook and pen to church every week, but he doesn't take notes. No, he's constantly writing stories and coming up with new ideas. I'm sure people look at him sometimes and think, 'Wow, he must be really religious, taking notes and all,' but nope, that's not the case.
2. Jules has this thing about even numbers, though it used to be a million times worse when she was younger. Bites of food that she puts in her mouth have to be an even number, down to the amount on each side of her mouth (or each side has to at least get the same amount). Steps she takes usually have to end either in an even number, or each foot has to have stepped the same amount of steps. Weird, I know.
3. Jer talks in his sleep, usually early in the morning when Jules would get ready for work. It's always funny, and makes no sense, and always would startle Jules making her think something was wrong.4. Jules breaths loudly when she sleeps. No, it's not snoring, it's just loud breathing. The snoring only happens when she's stuffy. Back in college, her roommates heard this really loud breathing and they couldn't figure out where it was coming from, until they followed their ears up the stairs and into the room where Jules was napping, they all thought it was pretty funny.
5. Jer is crazy amazing with quotes from movies and music. When people have a question about who said this in what movie, or what song did these lyrics come from, Jer is usually who they go to for the answer because about 98% of the time, he'll know the answer. It's crazy.
6. Jules can't snap her fingers. No matter how many times or how many people try to 'teach' her how, she still can't do it. The only noise that she makes is like a muffled/whispery sound of a snap.

So those are our quirks...now I tag the McGuires, the Crossleys, the Arthurs, the Loughmillers, Becky, and T&D Johnson!

The Dark Knight & Crappy AC

2008-08-06T01:08:00.000-07:00

Julianna hasn't posted anything for a week or two so I thought I'd add something of my own. The last couple weeks have sucked as far as our AC goes. Last summer, our AC decided to not work. When I say not work, I mean it was blowing out air, but not cold air. It was the oddest thing. I would check the air filter and it was fine. I know as much about AC units as the next ignorant guy and so I would look at the compressor and pretend that my staring would somehow teach me all I need to know about AC and what makes it work and not work. Anyway, we would tell people about our "problem" and the first thing they would all ask is, "have you changed your filter?" That's a standard test, but unfortunately a completely clean air filter will not filter the cold air from coming through the air vents while letting the other air pass through freely. Our AC went out during the hottest week of the summer and when we called the guy to come look at it, he did the convenient thing and came a week later, at which time the AC was working fine. That's actually what he said too, "You're AC is working fine. There's nothing wrong with it." I wanted to say, "well it is now, but I actually called you last week when it wasn't working." he went on his merry way and eventually our AC started working. This summer, we were dealing with the same problem and called another AC guy that we actually trust. He came out and ran a bunch of tests and actually spent a good 30 minutes checking various things and then gave us his best diagnosis. We needed a new compressor which was still under warranty, but he would charge us for labor. The funny thing is that if the guy fixed it last summer when EVERYTHING was still under warranty, we would have saved $789. I have secretly wished upon a star that the guy hired from the builder to install it and service our AC unit will have eternal problems with his own AC unit. And his problems will involve WAY more than the air filter.

In other news Julianna and I went to see The Dark Knight one night and we both enjoyed it. Usually visible makeup on guys gives me the heebidy jeebies, but the Joker's makeup was very attractive...for a psycho! I actually wanted to see it on the IMAX and so I did just that on Tuesday night. It's been a long time since I saw a movie twice in the theater and liked it just as much the second time; it didn't work for Transformers. I also got to see Julianna's celebrity crush, Christian Bale, for the second time. Quite the leading man. By the way, it's been out for only 3 weeks and has cracked the top 10 movies of all time.

Flickr Mosaic

2008-07-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

I took this tag from Adiel's blog, I thought it was pretty cool....

The rules of the tagging:
- Type your answer to the questions into Flickr search.
- Using only the first page, pick an image.
- Copy and paste each of the URLS of the images into the mosaic maker.

1.What is your first name? Julianna
2.What is your favorite food? BBQ Chicken
3.What high school did you go to? Riverton High
4.What is your favorite color? Purple
5.Who is your celebrity crush? Christian Bale
6.Favorite drink? Water
7.Dream vacation? Europe
8.Favorite dessert? Dark Chocolate
9.What you want to be when you grow up? Happy
10.What do you love most in life? Family
11.One word to describe you? Interesting
12.Your flickr name? I don't have one, so I put in 'none'

The result: (click on it to make it big and easier to see)

1. Julianna, 2. BBQ Chicken By Chef Jerry Jr., 3. 20080425_Riverton vs Bingham_013, 4. Purple fingers, 5. Forearm, 6. water droplets in the shower - o.k. bokeh, 7. Oldest wooden bridge in Europe, 8. Chocolate Chip Muffins Step_5_READY TO EAT, 9. I Love New York, 10. Joy of life, 11. Call of the Raven (formerly Nature's Special Effects), 12. Sunny Side Up

News!

2008-07-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the double post today, but I forgot to write about this last week.
In the last month or so, I've been wanting to change positions at my job to work in home for many reasons, but when I'd apply for positions that I'd find, I wouldn't hear anything. Finally, I was able to apply quickly enough to interview, and I got the job!! I started training this morning, and will continue training in office for the next 4-6 weeks, after that, I'll be home! Jer and I are both pretty excited about it.

Memories Anyone?

2008-07-21T16:22:00.000-07:00

I saw this on my old roommate's blog, so I thought I'd do it too. It can be about either Jer or myself.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you!

LAKE POWELL!!!

2008-07-11T19:53:00.000-07:00

Jer and I just got back from Lake Powell. We went down and hung out with his family, it was SO fun. I was initially nervous about going because of the heat and being dirty and gross lake water, but I got over it...plus it wasn't unbearably hot-except for at night. Jer got a lot of writing done, and I did some reading, on top of playing in the water. I went out on little kayak rides just about every day by myself, and Jer and I went out on the wave runner a couple times too. I learned to drive one, though I'm not that great at it, hopefully someday I will be.
Jer jumped off the boat, and I was going to, but once I got close to it, I started freaking out because of my fear of water and heights. Jer was trying to get me to jump, so I freaked out more and started crying and hyperventilating. Yes, I cried, I admit it. I cried in front of my nieces and nephew who had just jumped before me, I'm such a wuss and had a bit of a break down. I was shaking for a half an hour afterwards. Eventually I did jump, I ended up jumping 5 or 6 times actually. It was scary every single time, but at least I can say I did it. It doesn't look high, but it felt it. The slide was a lot easier and more fun to go down, that's for sure. Here's a video Jer's mom took of us jumping off the boat...

Here are some pics of the lovely views.....

Here's a video of Jer falling off while tubing, he's on the far right...

He tried an air chair too, but I don't have anything of that. Needless to say, he fell off tubing and the air chair enough to be pretty sore, but he's a trooper, and super tough.

Wish me luck!

2008-06-24T12:34:00.001-07:00

I got a new calling in church on Sunday. It's pretty exciting, but I'm a little nervous. It's actually a calling I sort of wanted, but not for another few years.... I'm the new Young Women's Secretary. We have a very small amount of youth in the ward, so most likely there will be more leaders than girls, but I'm sure it'll be great anyway.
I'm going on Thurs. night with another newly called YW leader to the Stake Youth Conference. That night they're having a dance so I guess we'll be chaperoning. Me, a chaperon? How crazy, I never thought I'd see that happen.
Well, wish me luck in my new adventure.....

Camping Pics

2008-06-21T12:02:00.000-07:00

Enjoy the view! These first ones are from around our campsite...

Here are some shots from our hike....

Yeah, we're hot, even when we're camping

The cute, furry, rodents....

The one above is chowing down on fruit loops

Some random shots....
These flowers were actually super tiny

And pictures from the drive home....

We've been....

2008-06-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

Camping! Jer and I went to Boulder to camp with his family and old neighbors. It was pretty fun, but I'm not much of a camper. I always get allergies which lead into sinus infections, so I just stay away. We stayed in his parent's motor-home, so it wasn't like the REAL camping I grew up with, but it was close enough.
I still need to upload the pics, but I'll post them once I have. I got some shots of some cute little squirrels (chipmunks?what's the difference?), and beautiful canyon-y walls and other scenery.

Jer's Writing

2008-06-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple years, Jer has gained an interest and love for writing. He is always coming up with different ideas for stories and short stories and I'm usually the person who first hears him say, "hey, I have an idea for a story." At that point he shares the idea. One of our neighbors asked him if he has any of his writing online or on a blog, which gave him the idea of putting them online. Feel free to go to his blog and read some of the stories. They're usually pretty short and entertaining. His goal is to get something published which he is working on. Just thought I'd let you all know.

They grew and changed

2008-05-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

So many of you may not want to see, but I thought I'd share anyway.
My bruises have grown and changed quite a bit since the initial pictures. Hopefully this means they're getting better or something good like that. My mom was worried I might get a blood clot because of the one right by my knee so I called one of my aunts (who is a nurse) about it-she said I should be fine, but my mom really made me nervous.
Anyway, here are the new pictures. I took them with Jer's new phone, hopefully it's good quality.The first picture is also the first bruise picture below, so you can compare and see how much they've changed....kinda creepy.
My feet are pretty messed up still too, but I'll spare you.

Super Sale!

2008-05-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

I forgot to write about the AMAZING sale Joanna and I found on Sat. while in St. George.

While the boys were being boring sitting on their computers, we decided to go to the shopping area and see what we could find.

Old Navy had screen tees and flip flops for $5, so we definitely couldn't pass that up!

We saw some dude on the corner with a sign saying "SHADE Sale up to 75% off", so we of course had to check that out too. We went inside the store and there was a sign that said "Everything $8 or 4 for $20", I was like...ok I'll get a couple of things. As Joanna and I were sorting through everything, a lady ran around letting everyone know that they were going to close soon and didn't want to pack all the left overs up, so now EVERYTHING in the store is just $3!!! Holy cow, what do I get, and how much is too much for me? Will I even wear some of this stuff? Who cares, it's 3 bucks!

After our shopping spree, I ended spending (combined Old Navy and Shade) about $51. I got 3 shirts and metallic flip-flops from Old Navy, and 10 shirts from Shade. Not a bad haul for that much money. I got v-necks, cap sleeved, long sleeve, and long sleeve mushroom tops at Shade. The fabric probably cost more than what I paid for that stuff!

Anyways, I don't shop a whole lot, so I was pretty excited, and I just had to share.

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-27T18:21:00.001-07:00

For Memorial Day Weekend we went to St. George with our friends, Chris and Joanna. We had a great time.

We got frozen custard at Nielsen's....

Went to dinner with Chris and Joanna....

Went sight-seeing....

Saw Jacob Hamblin's house....

Got artistic with my photography....
Window-shopped and saw cute plates....

And....

wrecked on a Vino scooter.....

Those are shots of my legs and feet. Luckily I didn't break any bones, it just hurts to walk. Also, the bruises are even worse looking now-lucky me.

Besides that, we had a good weekend.

It's been awhile

2008-05-18T21:52:00.000-07:00

So, obviously, we haven't blogged for awhile-mostly because I really don't know what to write about, I feel like I live a pretty boring, repetetive life. Anyway, I went visiting teaching today and found another blog to read (Lee and Marie), so I went to check it out and found a million other people on their list- many of whom are in our ward. It's crazy to see just how many people are blogging these days.
On another subject, Jer and I are pretty excited (I'm not sure who's more excited though-him or me?). By Friday night, I will be done with my hormone pills. Some of you may not realize what a big deal this is. Hormone pills are horrible little things that make me a horrible person to be around a lot of the time (according to my mom, Jer deserves a medal for putting up with me). This week also marks 2 months since my surgery. This means that we can hopefully move on from all this sad, painful, no babies chapter in our lives to starting our little family. We'll see how it all works out.
Another exciting thing is that Jer and I are going to St. George for Memorial Day weekend with our friends Chris and Joanna (who we went on our cruise with). After all the stress of the past couple months, it'll be nice to get away and have some Nielsen's Frozen Custard (best dessert ever!) and be lazy.
Well, that's all I've got in me to write now, plus it's past my bed time.

Tagged for info

2008-04-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

Post these rules on your blog.
Answer these 15 questions about yourself on your blog.
List:
3 joys
3 fears
3 goals
3 current obsessions/collections
3 random/surprising facts

Tag five people at the end of your post by leaving their names .
Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

3 Joys
*Jer
*Family and friends nearby
*Surgery behind me, and hopefully babies soon

3 Fears
*Pain
*More problems with my body which will push having kids back further
*Not being loved

3 Goals
*Being happier
*Taking better care of Jer and myself
*Being a mom

3 current obsessions/ collections
*Dark chocolate
*Necesseties
*Jer (says him)

3 random/surprising facts
*I hate having a messy house, but it's messy all the time because of Jer's stuff
*I hate being unorganized, but don't have the time or energy to be
*I am frugal, and it bugs Jer to no end (except when we don't have any money)

Now for tagging people...... Joanna, Tarah, Adiel, Emily, Camille

Surgery

2008-03-26T11:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I'll write a bit about the surgery I had Fri. March 21. I had been told my check-in time to the hospital would be 10:30 a.m, but on the morning of the surgery, I got a call at 8:50 saying the Dr. was fast this morning and they needed me in as soon as I could get there. Turns out we ended up getting to the hospital 10 min. before my original check-in time because Jer still had to get ready and traffic was insane for that time of day.
After getting checked by nurses and getting the i.v. in, I was wheeled into the operating room where I was put on the operating table and had my limbs wrapped in egg foam thingies while the anesthesiologist was making my vision all weird. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in the recovery room with a nurse who wouldn't pay attention and a bladder that needed major attention. I was finally wheeled to patient recovery where I was reunited with Jer who had pretty exciting news. The Dr. had told him the surgery went well and that he got all of the septum out. We need to see him in one week to get the balloon out of my uterus and then we'll be on our way. Jer asked if we'd need to see him in another couple of months like last time but the Dr. said no. No more testing, no more surgery. After 2 months, we can start trying to start our family again.
This time around I have more cuts on my belly because I'm participating in a study that will hopefully give the Dr's more answers to why and how women get uterine problems. While under anesthesia and getting the surgery done, the assistants took a fat sample from my lower abdomen, a stomach lining sample from the side of my abdomen, as well as some uterine lining samples.
While still at the hospital, I was pretty sick from the anesthetic, which made my abdominal pain that much worse. The nurse gave me as much pain killer in my i.v. as she was allowed, but nothing seemed to help, she was really nice and felt pretty bad though. Eventually the nurse's shift was over and a new nurse came in. She was so fake I couldn't stand it and she only made me feel worse. As soon as she came in she was trying to get me to get dressed to go home. I understand I needed to do that, but I was trying to explain that I was in too much pain from throwing up and needed to get the pain back to a level I could handle. She pretty much ignored me and told me to start getting dressed anyway. Not until she witnessed me getting sick and crying and dying of pain did she finally leave me alone about going home and try to help.
Finally, I was released from the hospital and Jer and I got home around 6:30 or 7. He helped me walk in to our condo(last time he carried me) and I've been in bed ever since. I do get up and walk around a little, I'm supposed to, but I haven't left home since Fri. I'm so bored and uncomfortable. I just have to remember that it eventually gets better, so I just have give it time and have a little patience.
Thanks for the all the support and concern!

Cruise!

2008-03-05T21:06:00.000-08:00

Above is a view from the airplane.

Jer and I went on a cruise Feb. 23-28. This is the cruise that Jer got me for Christmas that we went on over my birthday. It was so much fun. We went with my college friend, Joanna, and her husband, Chris. Joanna and I have been on a cruise together before, and we were both really looking forward to going on another one with our hubbies instead of my parents. We even went and got cute matching pedicures a couple of days in advance.....french tips with a little white and blue flower on each big toe with a little sparkly thing in the middle of the flowers-fancy us. We left on the morning of Fri, Feb. 22, flew from Salt Lake to Atlanta, then after a 2 1/2 hr layover, flew to New Orleans. Long day of flying, but it was so fun to get to Louisiana for our first time. Once we got off the plane and gathered our luggage and Chris (he had different flights from the rest of us J name people), we got in a taxi and went to our hotel. The Marriott convention center hotel was... WOW. It was beautiful and big and the beds were oh so comfy. Joanna works for Marriott, so she hooked us up big time. After dropping off our stuff we walked around town, found Bourbon Street, got accosted by some street performer/shoe shine dude, saw a bunch of drunks, and realized we were in the midst of a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah, so we left that area, found a nice restaurant, ate, went to the hotel and crashed.This is the street our hotel was off of, just past the palm tree is one of the entrances to the Riverwalk Shopping Centre, it has great views of the Mississippi River.

The next day (Sat, Feb. 23) we got up, walked around, went to Decatur St. to Cafe Du Monde and got their famous beignets (basically scones with lots of powdered sugar on them) so yummy. Here's Jer enjoying one :

After this, we checked out of the hotel and went searching for where to get on our boat. We were pretty excited to get the vacation started.
We explored the ship a bit, ate lunch and went through the necessary training for in case of emergency. Jer goofed off a bunch with his life vest, it was pretty funny.Our first day after boarding the ship was my birthday (Sun, Feb. 24), a day at sea, formal night, and the fancy midnight buffet. Sadly, the food wasn't as good as it looked, but it was fun to see.

The next day (Mon, Feb. 25) we stopped in Cozumel, Mexico. When we got off the ship, we didn't really have any plans, but as we were walking, we were approached by a snorkel/glass bottom boat salesman, and we got a deal (compared to what the people who booked the excursion through the cruise line paid). We got all we could drink beverages, snorkel gear, glass bottom boat, and 2 snorkel stops in beautiful water for $45/person (the people who booked through the cruise line paid about $73/person). It was fun, but I got stung by mini jellyfish (luckily it cleared up after a couple of hours) and I got really worn out so I chilled in the boat while most everyone else was checking out the fish. After that we changed and walked around town.

The next day (Tues, Feb. 26) we were docked in Progreso, Mexico. We didn't really have any plans for this stop either. We walked around, took a 20 min. tour of the town (for just $2/person), stood on the beach, and went back to the boat. Progreso is a really cute and quaint town, but the main attractions are the Mayan ruins about 3 hrs away by bus. We didn't go that route this time, though it would have been pretty cool.

That night we sang some karaoke, it was fun. Through a strange turn of events, Jer and Chris were dubbed "the bad husbands", though they redeemed themselves by singing some karaoke too. I'd post the video or pics, but the video won't post and the pics are really dark.

The day after that (Wed, Feb. 27) was another day at sea, and boy was it rough. The ship was rocking like crazy and it was chilly outside-everyone was inside filling up all the space making everything crowded and uncomfortable, so we napped, watched t.v. and read in our room most of the day.

Our waiters were awesome. They were funny and friendly. Our head waiter was Muhameed from Turkey and our asst. waiter was Dewa from Thailand.
The next day (Thurs, Feb. 28) I woke up feeling absolutely horrible(I'm still sick, and so is Jer)- sinus infections are nasty little things. Luckily it was the day of debarkation and we traveled home, it was so nice to be back with more space and our own bed.

If you want to see more pictures and hear more of the trip, check out Chris and Joanna's blog entry.

We had a great time and I think we both needed that for our sanity with the next big thing coming up - my surgery.

I love...

2008-02-16T11:30:00.001-08:00

I was tagged to do this so here goes....

I love Jer, our parents, our families, our ward, where we live (except in bad weather).

I love chocolate, cookies, brownies, tasty baked goods like that. Fresh rolls are high up on the list too.

I love my friends and their cute little growing families.
I love Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.

I love the gospel that we have, and the blessings of the temple.

I love our new prophet and apostles.

I love cuddling up in a warm, soft place.

I love being loved.

I love being happy and having fun.

I love animals...from a distance.

I love music and movies and good books and comfortable clothes.

I love having a sense of smell and taste when the things to smell and taste are delicious.

I love beautiful weather and beautiful scenery. I love flowers and butterflies. I love the mountains here in Utah.

I love fun pictures.

I love feeling fulfilled and checking things off my list of things to do.

I tag anyone who wants to do this to do it, it's kinda insightful.

Surgery, crazy weather and Valentine's day

2008-02-14T21:24:00.000-08:00

My 2nd laporoscopy hysteroscopy with lysis of the intrauterine septum surgery has been scheduled for March 21st at the LDS Hospital, so now you know.

So yesterday was pretty crazy. I'd heard there'd be storm coming, but it wouldn't hit 'til between 4 and 6. I figured I was good to do my stuff. After work I go to Curves (around 3) then head home and get there around 4. I left Curves, and there were some flurries of snow in Lehi, but I figured I'd get home before it got too bad. As I drove further west into Saratoga Springs, the wind was blowing like crazy (I heard later on the news it was going up to 70 mph) which blew the snow horizontally and made visibility really bad. I considered taking the back road into Eagle Mountain, but figured the main road would be safest with less twists and turns. Bad idea it turns out. I didn't get too far on the state road past redwood road, maybe a mile, when the traffic came to a complete stop. I figured we'd get moving eventually, but I was wrong again. In the course of 4 and 1/2 hours, I moved about 2 car spaces ahead. At the beginning I was at the back left corner of an R.C. Willey delivery truck, and the wind was blowing so hard that the back end slid my direction. I was freaking out and praying like crazy that it wouldn't happen again and hit me. I was almost positive I was gonna die, either by the R.C. Willey truck blowing over on top of me, or by sliding off the road and flipping multiple times (you get a very morbid and active imagination after being stuck in one spot for a long time).

The radio said that the road I was on was now closed to traffic, lucky me and the other people on the closed road. What the heck were we supposed to do if the road was closed? The radio said the road was closed because of how many accidents there were, which I ended up seeing when we were finally able to move.

When the police officers finally let people through, I had to get pushed a few different times. Every time we'd get stopped, I'd get stuck again. Even when we were moving I'd get stuck. Luckily the guy behind me was very helpful and held back so I could back up and readjust my weak little car. Up until this winter, my car was pretty good in all seasons, but this winter has been so crazy and weird that it hasn't been able to do so well in deeper snow on the roads.

I'd become so crazy with the interminable waiting that once I was able to move I was talking to my car, calling it baby, telling it we can make it, you can do this. I think I had gone insane for a little while there, but I'm pretty sure I'm back to normal now.

So, after leaving Curves at 3:30, I finally got home (safely I might add) at 8, sobbing with relief and gratitude that I'd made it home, and safely to boot. I have to add that at about 1 hr into the wait, I needed to go to the bathroom, it only got worse and luckily I made it to the bathroom in time.

Jer had an ordeal of his own, you can read about that on his blog (under Jeremy's personal blog in the other blogs we read column). When he finally got home, he gave me some flowers he'd picked up with his Dad earlier, they're very pretty and I'm very lucky to have him.

Needless to say, it was a long and exhausting night. They didn't open that main road until late this Valentine's morning- so I didn't go to work. Jer and I spent all of Valentine's day together, it was nice. We went to the Gateway Apple store to get our computer back, went to Subway for lunch, then to Hollywood video where we picked up "The Painted Veil" and "Martian Child".

We got home and hung out, then made spaghetti alfredo together, and I made a peanut butter and peanut butter and chocolate chip bundt cake with chocolate frosting.

We ate dinner at our kitchen table (probably the 4th time we've ever eaten at the table) with lit candles and sparkling cider, and now we're watching "The Painted Veil" on our futon mattress on the floor in the living room, it's nice and cozy. Oh, and today marks our 3 year kiss anniversary, exciting right?

Happy Valentine's Day!

10 Random things about Julianna and a weekend trip

2008-02-11T12:20:00.000-08:00

This will be a mixed blog. It'll have 10 random facts about Julianna, and pictures and stories from Julianna's trip to L.A. to see "Wicked".

10 Random Things... this is hard, I don't know where to start...

1. I love animals, but I'm allergic to them. It's very sad, I know. I grew up with cats and a dog, then I get married and away from the animals and now they make me sick :( Jer tried to get me a dog from the humane society when I graduated college, but that was a bad idea and he ended up taking it back. It was a sweet doggy though.

2. I hate onions.... and I'm allergic to them too. When I ask people if there are onions in the food I'm going to eat, they ask me why, I answer that I'm allergic, they reply that that's too bad, onions are great-I quietly think to myself NOT REALLY.

3. I am afraid of pain. If I know pain is coming, I'll cry before it even sets in, it stresses me out.

4. I'm a slight germaphobe. I used to get sick all the time when I was younger, so now I'm super cautious about things I touch. I carry hand sanitizer in my purse everywhere I go.

5. This is no surprise to many, but I'm a chocoholic. I try to limit my intake, but it's too hard to resist sometimes. Good quality dark chocolate is heaven to me, give me some and I'm basically putty in your hands.

6. I got homesick on my trip to L.A. We were only gone overnight, but it was really hard when I went to bed to be sleeping in the same bed as my mother-in-law instead of my husband. I missed him a lot and I wasn't expecting that. It made me feel like a little kid again.

7. My dream since I was little was to be a mother, an actress/singer, and/or a model. So far, none of those are working out, but if this next surgery works out, I'll have the first and most important one going for me.

8. I hate having messes, but I can't ever seem to get the drive to clean them up when we have them. If it's a kitchen or bathroom mess, I'll take care of it, but when it's paper clutter I leave it- most of it's not mine anyway and I don't want to accidentally lose some important document of Jer's.

9. I worry about money all the time, even though it stresses me more than it should, and I probably shouldn't really worry. I'm getting better though.

10. I don't have a favorite movie. I like a lot of different ones, but none that are my absolute favorite.

On to "Wicked"

Friday, Feb. 8, 2008 I left the SLC airport with all but one of the girls on my husband's side to go to L.A.

A couple of shots from the plane. Above is over Utah Lake, below is somewhere in Cali

When we got there, we got our luggage and rental cars and headed to the Holiday Inn. When we got there, they didn't have our confirmation number on file and couldn't find us in their system. I was getting a little nervous, but no one else seemed too worried (are you seeing a trend here? I'm a worrier, it's not easy being me sometimes). The place finally found our reservation and we went in and had some nap/rest time before we got ready to go to dinner and the show.

This is the view from our hotel room

For dinner, we ate at the California Pizza Kitchen (my first time eating there). Then we drove down to the Pantages Theatre and went in to enjoy the show.

Driving by the Pantages

I took some pictures of the foyer and the actual theater. There weren't signs saying I couldn't, and I had my flash off. Plus, I wasn't planning on taking pictures of the actual performance, I have more respect than that. Anyway, the theatre was so fancy and stuff that I HAD to get some shots on the inside, I only took 4 pictures (with the flash off, mind you) and I was putting my camera away and an usher came over and started hassling me. I know this is his job, but I had my camera put away by then, and I told him I was done taking pictures, that I was sorry if I'd done something wrong and that I had put it away. He just kept saying pictures are prohibited, pictures are prohibited, so I had to slowly and precisely tell him that I had put my camera away. He finally left me alone, but I didn't know what the big deal was, there were people all over the theatre taking pictures WITH their flashes on.

The foyer is so ornate

Map of Oz on the stageThe ceiling in the theatre

The show was amazing. There was a twist at the end that I wasn't expecting, but I loved. It was a fun night.Mimicking the sign above us. I'm on the far left, 2 of my nieces are in the middle, and one of my sisters-in-law is on the right end.

Above are the prints of John Travolta, Meryl Streep and John Wayne. Notice that John Wayne has a fist print instead of hand prints.

The next day we went to Grauman's Chinese Theatre for a few minutes, then got on our tour bus and checked out some of the star's homes. That was fun.Bob Barker's HomeThe house Harrison Ford built with his friends before he became famousBella Lugosi's old house, recently purchased by Johnny DeppMost of our group at a stop by the Hollywood sign
Justin Timberlake's houseChristina Aguilera's houseDavid and Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham's house

After that we went to go for lunch at Pink's-it's a famous hot dog place, but the line wrapped around the building so we headed to Beverly Hills and ate at the Panini Cafe. It was really really good, and now I can feel fancy and say I've eaten and walked around in Beverly Hills. After our paninis we went to Sprinkles-a famous cupcake bakery. I gave in and bought 3, one chocolate marshmallow (chocolate cake with marshmallow center and chocolate ganache frosting) peanut butter chocolate (peanut butter cake with chocolate chips and chocolate frosting) and dark chocolate (belgium dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate frosting). After we all got our cupcakes, we walked to a Catholic church lawn and ate our cupcakes picnic style. I ate one, and saved the others for home(the peanut butter one's for Jer, and the dark chocolate one's for my Sunday morning breakfast). I should have taken pictures of the cupcakes, but this is the website so you can check it out if you want: http://sprinklescupcakes.com/index.html
I did take a picture of the scenery above while we ate though, the sun was setting and made the palm trees glow, it was beautiful:

Once we ate that, we headed to the airport.

When we got to SLC, we grabbed our bags and got on the shuttle to get the car we'd all carpooled in. The shuttle driver was a jerk. First he was really patronizing and lectured one man over the intercom for something that wasn't even a problem. At each stop the driver would stop completely, announce which stop it was, and then go from there. When he got to our stop, he didn't stop or say anything at all, he barely even slowed down. We didn't even know where we were till he passed by it and we all started asking him to stop or go back. He said he couldn't go back, and he'd stop at the next stop. He kept making it seem like it was our fault that we missed our stop....grrr, jerky people really bug me.

All in all, the trip was awesome, and I love listening to my soundtrack of "Wicked" to reminisce about the show. I want to see it again SO BAD!

President Hinckley

2008-01-27T20:01:00.000-08:00

We just found out about the death of our beloved Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley (on myspace of all places). Jules cried, Jer just seemed to be in shock. This is such sad news, but we know he's in a much better place, and with his dear wife again. He will be missed and remembered. He did so much for our religion and worked constantly for everyone.

Snow Removal

2008-01-21T20:26:00.000-08:00

This isn't a big thing or special in any way, but on Monday, January 21st, the day of the big snow storm I offered to come remove some snow from around Jules' car at work, without her asking (she had mentioned she'd be digging it out when she got off). I don't have a snow shovel and was wondering how I would remove the snow. When I got there I realized I would have to use my ice scraper. While I was scooping snow away I couldn't stop laughing. I've never removed snow with an ice scraper. It kind of sucked doing it, but my ironical laughter kept me going. It's a good ice scraper.

Lava Hot Springs

2008-01-19T19:44:00.000-08:00

This weekend (well, more like Fri night-Sat morning), we went to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. It was Jules' first time there, and Jer's 3rd.

On the way up we stopped in Logan so Jules could eat at the Fire House Pizzeria, and Jer could reminisce about his good ol' college days. That was fun.

When we got to LHS we checked into our luxurious ghetto motel and got ready to go soak in the springs. The air was freezing cold, so it was a good thing the springs were only about 50 ft from our motel.

There was a lot of steam coming from them, and the water was wicked hot. Just when you started to get used to the heat, the water temp would go up, it was crazy.

Sadly, it was really busy with kids and college people all over the place, so it was pretty much impossible to find a quiet, romantic corner. Oh well, we had fun anyway.
It was fun to go, but it was so nice to get home. Motels really make you miss your own bed.

Enjoy the pics!

Post Christmas

2008-01-14T18:43:00.000-08:00

So we wanted to talk about some of the presents we both got for Christmas and the efforts that Jer went to hold a surprise form Jules with one of the gifts.

First of all, the coolest gifts that we got were a customized Bobble Head for Jer, which is one of the coolest things ever. It looks a lot like him. And Jules got a Western Caribbean cruise which leaves out of New Orleans and will be celebrating her Birthday as well.

Jules took pictures of Jer from head on and from the side and he was going crazy with curiosity as to what she was doing. He did guess what it was a couple weeks before which made Jules upset but the Bobble Head was still cool to get.

Jer started planning the cruise in September and secretly got one of Jules' friends numbers out of her phone when she wasn't looking. He began planning the trip with her friend and the friend's husband. The whole trip was booked and planned without Jules knowing exactly what was going on. She did happen to see an interesting purchase on the bank statement but still didn't know what it was.

We're here

2008-01-13T21:22:00.000-08:00

We decided to start our own blog so that ya'll can read about what we're up to.

We'll try to update it regularly, and hopefully you'll enjoy it and check in once in a while.