The Stucki Family

A whole month of blessings!!!!

2011-12-22T12:42:00.010-06:00

This month has been full of blessings for our family. After a long search and years of prayers Brandon was offered a job!!! There are two men in our ward who gave him great referals and did a resume review and helped him get his neck and foot in the door we are very grateful to them and for the network the church provides. At the beginning of the year he will be working as a Business Planning Manager for.....

Things are still going well for his SEO/Marketing company, so he will continue to work on that as he is able to.

We had good feelings he would be offered the job and had been looking at renting an apartment or a house if he was offered the position. Out here renting a 3 bedroom apartment is pretty much the same cost as renting a house. We were really hoping to stay in our ward since we have moved so much and been in 10 wards since our marriage. The Allen 4th ward is AMAZING and we have callings we like and are making friends. I could not find a house in our budget to rent and had not seen one listed for MONTHS, so I started to look outside our ward. Then my visiting teacher said her parents bought a second rental property in the ward and she was moving from her house into the new rental property and she would talk to her dad! Long story short it was out of our price range but her parents went down a little on the rent and we came up a little! December 9th we got the keys to our rental house!! My dad was in Dallas so he came and helped us move as did my father in-law and one of my brother in-laws. Since we had so much help that weekend we were pretty much settled and un-packed in one weekend!!! It was such a blessing! Here are some pictures of our new place. We are going to be doing some painting and more decorating. We have NEVER had this many walls to decorate or rooms to set up. We are hoping to stay in this house for 2+ years. It is a wonderful neighborhood and our landlords are terrific!

Ethan's Room

Our Bathroom

Our Room (I am not a huge bed maker)

Aria's room

The living room, with my hubbie working.

Kitchen and eating area (we will get a table later on, that one works great right now thanks to Brandon's parents for letting us borrow it!)

The formal dining area turned Ethan's Play room

The front of the house.

Then of course our last but definitely not least blessing this month was the birth of our daughter, Aria Diane Stucki! She joined us at 9:32pm on December 14 she weighed in at 6lbs 15oz and 19.5 inches long. She has already slept 8 hours in one night which made me EXTREMELY happy. She is such a blessing and a joy in our family already. Ethan is adjusting to a lot of change right now and for the most part he is handling it very well.

First family picture!!

A few hours after she was born.

Good big brother!

Brandon got this GREAT shot of Aria two days after we got home! Love it!!

Blessed.

2011-11-28T13:50:00.001-06:00

As I sit here with my computer further down my lap than usual (big belly taking up lap space) and listen to the silence that comes when a 13 month old finally decides to stop being stubborn and succumb to sleep, I think how blessed I am.

I was talking yesterday about how I have been pregnant for almost 2 years straight (I got pregnant with Aria when Ethan was just under 4 months old) Two in a half or 3 years ago we were wondering if we would be able to have children and if we did what it would take to get them, and now here I am with an amazing son who is so much me and so much Brandon, but most of all he is himself. He is one of the happiest children I have ever met (and I have met a lot), he is an entertainer, a flirt, a kisser and hugger, he is more than Brandon and I could have dreamed of and in just a few short weeks our family will grow from 3 to 4.

We get some fun comments from people (strangers, friends and family) when they find out how close our children will be. When the strangers find out we will have a boy and a girl many assume that we are done now--we have one of each, why have more?! Because these gifts from Heavenly Father bring so much joy, and so much satisfaction.

For those that openly or secretly think I am crazy, I know you love me and I am planning on waiting longer between Aria and #3, But if the Lord sees fit to send us #3 before our “plan” we will welcome him or her into our family with immense gratitude and love. No I don’t plan on being the next “Mrs. Duggar” but what is so wrong with her? The children are well taken care of, they are raised in a Christian home (which I definitely support), they have a mother and father that love them and enough sibling love to go around a few times…is it a little crazy to me? Yes, but I am not the one to judge it. It works for them. The second commandment to Adam and Eve was to multiply and replenish the earth the Lord wants us to experience joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, and after tasting motherhood for the last little while I have learned there are few other experiences in life that teach you those things better than parenthood. For Michelle Duggar she can deal with 19 and counting…I know and hope that is not my calling but more power to her and her husband.

As almost anyone who has read my blog knows Brandon and I had the beautiful heartbreaks of loosing 2 pregnancies before getting two and the sorrow and disappointment (among so many other emotions) that come, and then the joy and gratitude and responsibility that follow when you realize that this child is Heavenly Fathers gift and trust to you. I try to be very open with our struggles to get pregnant and my fertility issues because it gives hope and I think in our society it is hushed too much. People jokingly say now “Well I guess you don’t have a fertility issue any more!” but the truth of the matter is I still do and we are not guaranteed that adding to our family next time will be as easy as it was this time.

I remember when Ethan was about a week old I thought, “Man this is the longest babysitting job EVER!” the thought was almost immediately followed with “His parents are never coming to pick him up because he is YOURS.” Growing up everyone says how wonderful, difficult, beautiful, terrifying etc…motherhood/parenthood is and how you will never know for yourself until you have children of your own and they aren’t kidding!! But I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a mother and for my little family and for the families that Brandon and I have grown up in. I think that is what I have been most grateful for this year: the plan of happiness and how the Lord organized us into families to experience this life, but more than that because I know not everyone has a wonderful family that loves them and supports them and does all that is humanly possible to be the strength they need but I DO have that and I think it is one of my biggest blessings. Aria is going to be born into an eternal family unit with parents, grandparents, a brother, aunts and uncles and cousins that love her and will do all they can to make sure she grows up to be the best woman she can possibly be. I am so grateful and so very blessed!

Weekend Fun

2011-10-18T14:55:00.007-05:00

This weekend was for the most part an average weekend what was not so average was:

1) we got pictures of it

2) Ethan had is first haircut

3) We took Ethan to a modeling thing

So it was time to trim up that mohawk Ethan had/has and the back was starting to look mullet-ish. The haircut started like this:

And then continued.....
We are such mean parents. LOL

He looks pretty good and considering all the moving and whining it is pretty even. To make up for it and to get him out of the house we went to the park (an almost daily occurrence). Ethan got pretty spoiled at the park because Brandon was there too which meant he got to go anywhere he wanted. I am at the point where I just cant chase him around the park or do all the fun things he wants to do. I limit his freedom when we go. It was a ton of fun to sit back and watch Brandon and Ethan together. I did push him for a few seconds on the swing.

Ethan loves hanging from this pole and from the monkey bars, he hangs until he can't any more or until Brandon tickles his arms and he drops either way Brandon catches him in the air and Ethan thinks this is one of the best parts of the park. I do not play this with Ethan, I am too afraid I wont catch him or something.

Here he is swiping someone else's soccer ball. I can hear him thinking...."oh, poor ball no-one is playing with you. Lets make sure the coast is clear while I swipe you up and run away..." My little man LOVES balls, especially soccer balls.

Some of you might be saying "what is this modeling thing" well I have so many people telling me Ethan is adorable etc.. and don't get me wrong I totally agree but I do know I am bias but total strangers will walk across a store just to tell me how handsome/adorable/cute etc... he is so when we heard about this modeling thing close by for Dallas Child Magazine we took Ethan mainly out of curiosity. We had no clue how these things worked or what to expect etc....We/I don't plan on doing any more of them but it was an interesting experience. He got his picture taken which went fine but after his picture and before we walked down the catwalk to the judges he fell off the stage!!! I felt sooooooooooooo sad for my little boy. He took one too many steps back, and I was like a fingertip too short away from catching him. Up until that point he had been completely happy and in awe of the crowd, but sadly during our walk/hold down the stage to the judges he was crying (and rightfully so). It was an interesting experience and I do wonder if anything would have changed had he not fallen, but either way I know my boy is pretty dang cute--modeling or not.

I am in the nursery in my ward so Sundays are very different for me. I go to sacrament meeting and Brandon takes Ethan for the most part then I go to nursery and watch a bunch of little kiddos for 2 hours then go home. Most Sundays Ethan comes to at least one hour of nursery with me. He LOVES it and since we have all the youngest nursery kids in ours it works out (we have 3 nurseries). After church this sunday we took a picture because we happened to be coordinating as far as outfits go....this is what it is like after nursery ends and the reality of a nap hits:

Attempt 1

Attempt 2 and then came the decision to just not do it and to put him to bed.

Last but not least I have taken a 30 week picture of my pregnancy and I am happy to say that I think this picture looks A LOT more like me than the picture I took at 28 weeks. I am definatley feeling like I am in the 3rd trimester now.

Hip pain= Check

Sciatic nerve pain= Check

Increase in exhaustion= Check

Waddling = Check

Increase in appetite = Check

Increase in size= Check

DECREASE in ability to sleep= Check

Why after all these increases do we have to decrease in ability to sleep? This then causes:

Increase in irritability and mood-swings = Check.

Here I am at 30 weeks. Can't believe I only have 10 more to go!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Auburn Soul Photography

2011-10-10T22:08:00.003-05:00

Auburn Soul Photography is owned/operated by a woman I used to go to church with. I LOVE her work and she does shoots in DFW and Utah. She is doing a giveaway-a-day for the next week and I hope to win something!!! I would really love the Christmas Card Session because the timing would be GREAT with a brand new baby girl and all! Frankly, right now I can't afford any photographer so it would be awesome!!

Go check out her Facebook page or website!

Pregnancy Etc...

2011-10-08T21:44:00.008-05:00

I had a friend ask how I am feeling and realized I really haven't talked much about this pregnancy. I am feeling really good physically--only got sick two, maybe three times in the first trimester. As far as the typical pregnancy symptoms go I feel like with Ethan I got one half of them and with Aria I am getting a completely different set. Weird dreams, a phantom leg thing, sciatic nerve stuff and the obvious discomfort when sleeping are all things I have/had with both pregnancies. I am carrying her very different from Ethan, she is very high and usually sideways (transverse) as of now. Ethan was head down pretty much from the start and he was high.

I am so excited to have a little girl! It is hard to not go out and buy a bunch of cute girl things!

I took the gestational diabetes test a week ago and no one has gotten back to me so I am thinking/hoping that i passed it. With Ethan I failed the first test and had to go back and do the 3 hour one and then passed that one. I really hope to not have to do the 3 hour test again, it stinks.

I am so much smaller with her too, but that is probably because I am so much more active. (having a one year old this go around is definitely tiring!!) I am also watching what I eat more, with Ethan I ate whatever I wanted when I wanted and sometimes ate even if I wasn't hungry...

She is due the day after Christmas so I am curious to see when she makes her debut, I guess everyone is curious as to when their children will actually come but seeing as I already have one child born on a holiday (Halloween) I am interested to see if I have another on a holiday. I hope to do things pretty much the same way as we delivered with Ethan.

I am very excited about my pajamas. When I was planning stuff with Ethan I wanted some cute PJ's that I could wear in the hospital (and later) and I was pretty specific in what I wanted: a top that buttoned up the whole way so that breast feeding was easy, I wanted them modest, I wanted them kind of fitted, light weight and CUTE....the problem was I could only find fairly frumpy ones in stores or they had bottoms I liked but no tops or the tops were button up but sleeveless (you get the picture) anyway I found some I REALLY like and I am getting them! I have put the link here because they are from Victoria's Secret and the girl modeling them isn't modest, they are trying to sell the PJ's and the Bra. And lets face it, Victoria's secret is not focused on modesty in their photo-shoots. But if you want to see them click the link because they are PERFECT and if you are looking for something like what I described they have a TON to choose from!

Here is a picture of me last week. I feel like it isn't even me but that isn't 100% because of the pregnancy. To me my face just looks weird, like it isn't my face. I see the picture and I think, "Oh, someone is having a baby!" and then I realize wait, that is me in that picture?!? Weird.....

Although I am excited about the cuteness of a little girl. I am nervous about having a second child-especially a daughter....girls are so much more nerve-racking to me. Brandon and I talked a lot about it the other day (my nerves about it, not his, he is perfectly fine with the idea of raising a girl). I am sure it will work out and either way, ready or not here she comes!

I am sad that my relationship with Ethan will change and I am sad for the inevitable jealousy/struggles he will have. The benefit is he wont remeber (later in life) how awesome it was to be the only child and how much attention he had. This will be his first "trial" so to speak, but having more children equals finding ways to divide your time between each child, yourself and your spouse. I read a friends post the other day about how you have to remember, amongst all the chaos of children and life, that your marriage still needs work so that one day you don't sit down and realize that you have lost the friendship/love etc... in your marriage. I hope and think Brandon knows and feels that our relationship is still the most important one I have on earth.

For now I am just going to get bigger, and love on these two amazing guys until my little girl shows up and a new kind of chaos becomes "the norm" with us.

In the hollow of thy hand....

2011-09-18T21:50:00.004-05:00

I am sitting here tonight thinking about what a wonderful blessing it has been to have Ethan in our family and the joys and struggles that we have had with him and with life since he has come into our family. I am thinking of how much he has grown in 10 1/2 months and how much more growing he will do....the lyrics of a song came to my mind it is a missionary song but very applicable (in my opinion). I think it is every mother/fathers prayer for their child and I thought I would share. I realize not every faith sends their 19 year old boys out on missions to proclaim the word of God but every mother and father send their children out at one point or another in life and we all hope that they will be sustained and strengthened in their times of trial. So, here is a link to the song on youtube (it was made by someone who had served a mission for the LDS church) and the lyrics.

Lyrics:

Dear Lord, who blesses us with love
Please send this day thy Spirit from above
As this thy Son accepts a call from thee
Help him we pray, to learn humility

Direct his footsteps every day
And keep him ever walking in thy ways
Inspire him as he spreads the gospel plan
Lord hold him in the hollow of thy hand

Chorus

In the hollow of thy hand
As he grows from boy to man
Help his understanding deepen and increase
In the hollow of thy hand
As he grows from boy to man
Let him know the special blessings of thy peace

Protect him from all worldly ways
And always send thy Spirit when he prays
Give him the courage of a righteous man
Just hold him in the hollow of thy hand

In the hollow of thy hand
As he grows from boy to man
Help his understanding deepen and increase
In the hollow of thy hand
As he grows from boy to man
Let him know the special blessings of thy peace

As he faces lifes demands
May he take a valliant stand
Give him shelter in the hollow of thy hand

What a blessing this little man is to us and I look forward to what the Lord has in store for his life. I am grateful to have been given the blessing to be his mother and for us to learn from each other.

WARNING: Really Long Post

2011-08-18T10:22:00.014-05:00

So it is officially time for an update.....I am sure I will leave out a few key things that have happened since my last post, but such is life. I will go from most recent to least recent because at least the most recent are still in my head. : )

Today is August 18th, 2011--5 years ago today (at about 4:30pm)Brandon and I were married in the San Antonio, TX temple!!! We were sealed by his grandfather, it was really cool. I am so happy I married him. Life is by no means perfect, but I know I married the right guy in the right place at the right time. All of life's other details and stresses will work out, and like other things they will work out in the Lords time and not mine. lol

Engagement 2006

Feeding the cake, we were nice to each other.

Love this man!!

Last week we went to California for my brother in-law and sister in-law's wedding. I have known Tyson longer than I have know Brandon (Brandon and I met because Tyson and I worked together). I am so excited about my new sister and seeing how happy she makes Tyson. Their wedding was beautiful and it was my first time to California. My mom was amazing and spent the 4 days and 3 nights with our son here in TX so that he did not have to deal with all the wedding travels. He was not an angel for her, but they still had fun. She took him to his first visit to a pet store, she taught him what a goldfish says, and he plays chase a lot better than he did before she was here. It was a HUGE blessing for her to take care of him.

Wedding party

Me and Brandon in front of the Oakland Temple.

Tyson and Samantha at their reception in Fresno, CA.

The Stucki Men.

Prego and the happy couple!

The day after we got back from the wedding (August 15th) we found out that Brandon's grandma Burch passed away. She had been having a few heart problems, but was doing better and from what I understand was pretty much back to "normal" but that morning while looking at her garden she had a heart attack and passed away. She was a wonderful woman and I enjoyed getting to know her while Brandon and I went to school in Idaho. She leaves behind 6 children, 28 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. She will have had one daughter and two grandchildren welcome her into spirit paradise. If you want to read her full obituary feel free to click this link. I am grateful for the time I had to know her and for the legacy of faith that she left behind.

Brandon and Grandma Burch dancing at our wedding 5 years ago. She is being buried today in Utah.

Grandma and Grandpa Burch at our wedding. Grandpa Burch Sealed Brandon and me.

The week before the wedding we got to go to one of the most exciting doctors appointments when you are pregnant, the full anatomy sonogram!!! We found out that we are expecting a little girl!! We are very excited and we were pretty sure she was a girl anyway...it is just nice to know that your instincts/feelings were right! As of now we are going to be naming her Aria Diane Stucki her name together means Song/Melody (Aria) Divine (Diane). I can't believe I am more than half way done with this pregnancy. It is so different having a baby and being pregnant, but this is how it is going to be for every child-crazy busy and time flying by faster than it used to. Here are pictures of our little girl!! (I love saying that)

Me at 21 Weeks.

Her little foot!! (I have others, if you want to see them look on FB)

The last weekend in July I went to visit my parents. It was a wonderful trip. My mom took me to the movie 17 Miracles it was really good. We also went to the pool, bowling and just had a lot of fun! Ethan loved it too and I got to sleep in because my mom would get up with Ethan and my dad put him to bed every night! It was awesome! Here are some pictures from the trip.

My big two-teethed boy.

Sink baby!

Waving while on grandpas shoulders at the bowling alley.

With Mimi at the pool!

About to ride (not for real) grandpa's motorcycle.

July 18th Brandon turned 27. We decided this year since we got a good tax return that we would do each others birthdays really nice. Brandon totally spoiled me on my birthday so with what we set aside for each other I planned us a weekend get-a-way in Houston (a 3-4 hour drive from where we live). There was an orchestra concert called Distant Worlds that was performing and it was a concert Brandon had wanted to see for a long time. The concert was amazing! Such beautiful music!! We went out to eat at a wonderful Seafood and Sushi place for lunch (amazing food and GREAT menu prices) we will definitely go back to that place next time we are in Houston. We also went to the Houston Aquarium and we got to have a great dinner on Sunday with some of Brandon's cousins. It was a very nice little weekend and it was so great to have Brandon's parents take care of Ethan while we were gone. Here are some pictures!

Aquarium, Brandon touching a sting ray.

Such awesome fish!!

WONDERFUL food!!!!!

I guess that is it for now!! Hope you liked my updating post!

Update Requested by Mimi (my mom)

2011-06-16T11:30:00.005-05:00

I have been bad about updating lately, mainly I think the reason is that I don't really have things of note to post about. My life is pretty much the same, but then I think about it and Ethan is note worthy and he is doing some pretty cute things lately so because I am pretty boring. My mom also came to visit us for a few days and that is note worthy too so I guess I do have stuff to blog about, I am just in one of those "I am a boring person" phases.

I guess one thing about me that I have announced on Facebook but not on here is that we are expecting our second child in December and we are really excited about that! I am already 12 weeks along and this pregnancy has been SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier than Ethan's and for that I am very grateful!

Anyway, onto Ethan! I am just going to share some little stories that have happened the last week or so.

Ethan is all over the place, he has learned to army crawl and when he is not doing that he is pulling himself up on things which has increased his falling because, well that is what happens to little boys when they want to be independent but cant be yet. He tried to copy other little boys (two and older) at the pool yesterday by wanting to "jump in" at me. He would sit on the edge of the pool's shallow area and scoot his little butt until he started to fall at which point I was to catch him. It was pretty cute.

We have a music mobile that you push a button and it makes ocean sounds and the mobile moves little fish and stuff from side to side. The last 3 naps that he has taken he has kind of cried but then stopped fairly quickly so I didn't go in because he is so quiet. A bit later I have heard him awake, but content so I peak in and what do I see? My son has stood up walked over to his mobile pushed the button and laid back down to watch it!!! It is pretty cool. It may have happened more than that because the mobile is on a timer but I have seen him do it 3 times and it is pretty cute.

The other day we had to lower Ethan's crib because he was standing so well and it was hitting him a little low. Brandon lowered the crib and then we put him in it and stood in a place where he could not see us while we watched him realize that his crib had gotten taller! He was frustrated for a second because every time he tried to stand up his feet would slide (I also removed the bumper because his legs were getting stuck anyway and it was frustrating to move the bumper and stuff to change the sheets) anyway his feet were slipping and he wasn't able to stand. He looked over and saw his teddy bear, crawled over grabbed the teddy bear then dragged it back to the middle of his crib and used it to block his feet from slipping. He leaned against it and put his feet up against it and within seconds was standing again in his crib. He even did his own happy dance when he was up it was pretty cute but at the same time made us realize how fast our son figures out solutions to problems when he really wants something!

After his crib was lowered he seemed to be getting his legs and feet caught so often and I needed a new bumper that was a little more secure and wider so I went to Babies R Us and had something in mind but while I was there they had these really cool bumper things on clearance, they are actually like a bumper sheet, bedding set thingy...I LOVE it!!! It was only $27 and Ethan hasn't gotten his feet or legs caught at all-this thing makes it nearly impossible!

Like I said earlier my mom came to visit and that was a lot of fun. We did a lot of things: the pool, a great quilt store, pedicures, out to lunch, watched some movies it is always fun to have my mom around. She has always been one of my very best friends.

Well I guess that is it for the typing phase of this post, now onto pictures!!

Pedicures with my mom, me, my mother in-law and my soon to be sister in-law!

Mom bought Ethan his first Hurley shirt and so we got a matching picture with Brandon in one of his Hurley shirts. : )

Brandon and Ethan "sharing" a Popsicle thing.

Big boy standing in the crib.

This was taken by my mom, while she was here. :)

Playing at the pool. He LOVES water!!! This is another great picture taken by my mama!!

Well I guess that is all for now! Looks like I did have stuff to say after all! Hope whoever reads this enjoys!

Baby Update

2011-03-08T00:43:00.008-06:00

I feel like I don't update enough about our little bundle of happiness. He got his 4 month check up today and his 4 month shots. I cant believe 4 months has gone by already and yet it seems like we have had him forever. I know that is what it is like for pretty much every parent.

So that means as of today:

He is 16 pounds, and that is
60.5 percentile for weight.

And he is 25.5 inches, and that is
58.5 percentile for height.

His head circumference is 17 inches, and that is the
64.7 percentile for head circumference.

He is generally very happy and will "oooh" along with me when I sing to him (I need to get a video of that) and I have even caught him singing himself to sleep which I think is SOOO cute!! He smiles and giggles a lot which I am grateful for. He is extremely social, he will avoid going to bed when people are around and he hears voices and laughing. Also part of his social personality is that he will smile at pretty much anyone! He still enjoys being swaddled, not the process of swaddling but once it is over with it is a comfort to him. He recently "Found" his feet and thinks they are pretty cool although he hasnt quite learned to put them in his mouth. Two weeks ago we started him on Oatmeal cereal and he is really liking it. He has started to enjoy the game "Peak-a-boo" and he babbles a lot. He loves to pretend he can walk (see video below)

This was recorded almost 2 months ago, he started this really early and when you try to make him sit up all he wants to do is stand.

Ethan is such a blessing in our home I am very grateful to have him as our son. Here are some pictures taken yesterday and today.

I forget to be in pictures with him, so it is nice when others take pictures of me and Ethan. These next few are taken by our friend Jared.

We play this game where I open my mouth within his reach and when he puts his hands out I bite them. He thinks it is cool and funny.

Yummy!! Oatmeal!!!!

"I am such a happy boy!!"

And I am oh, so cute!!!

Oh, and I am pretty good at spitting up!

Thoughts

2011-02-09T00:01:00.011-06:00

This blog post was not planned, but I was reading through a friends blog and I loved a lot of what she said so much, that I am stealing it. I don't think she will mind. : )

"You do not know your strength until it's tested. You do not know the capacity of love until it's tried. You do not know how you will respond in a crisis, or how it will feel until you are there. You do not know who really cares until you are alone."

"In some ways I feel that every morning I wake up, I step onto a battlefield of choices. You may say that sounds dramatic or depressing. It is neither. It is reality. I choose to focus on the positive things in my life, the bright moments. I believe it would be easy to look around and list off all the suffering, there is so much, but I want to look around and take note of all the miracles. I want to stop and stare at my children and take in the moment and have it forever. I want to rest my body on the soft cool grass and watch the stars. I want to have the strength to lift another and avoid the next opportunity to judge them."

If my friend is reading this I want to say thank you, for your blog I know you wrote it a few months ago but it was really great for me to read it today. The next bit of my blog is going to be some random snippets that make sense to me and some of them will make sense to others and maybe some day, whether in this post or not, some of what I say will help someone else. For my sake I think I am going to put dividers between my thoughts.

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When I think of the promise that Heavenly Father will not give you more than you can bear it makes me wish I was weaker....but there would be no point to that because if I was weaker he would still push me to my breaking point and I would still struggle just as much, in a different way.

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I don't understand why some people feel the need or right to be rude to others. When has it ever been socially acceptable to jump down a waitresses throat when they make a meal suggestion? Not sure. At least he felt bad enough after making me cry and me giving the table to someone else to give me $5 anyway.....I really do hope his day got better even though he made mine worse. In the end I let it go. He felt bad and tried to reconcile and my friend at work did a great job serving him the rest of the night and I had awesome tables tonight so that was great!

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I am really grateful for girlfriends. The first being my mom, wow, not sure what I would do in life without this woman. The picture below says so much to me. Nothing will ever put that into words how much my mom means to me, so I think I will leave it at that.

The second girlfriend I am grateful for will be moving to my city in less than a week!!!! A WEEK!!!!! Yep, after a year and monthish of not seeing each other in real life (grateful for skype) we will be within a reasonable driving distance and hopefully soon after that in the same apartment complex!!! This friend and I have dreamed, hoped and prayed for this day for quite a while and the really cool thing is our husbands are best buds too. It is going to be great! AND friend #2 if you are reading this, we need to get a picture together when I see you NEXT WEEK!!

The third girl I am grateful for tonight is a new found friend who will be leaving around my birthday, which makes me sad. Me moving or others moving away stinks, it has happened quite a lot to me. Sometimes it is hard for me to be a friend when I know it has an end date, but this where my mom comes into play. My mom has this amazing gift of making friendships that seem to last FOREVER!!! She has one friend that she has had since she was 11 and then like 6-8 others that she has been great friends with for over 10-20 years! She is able to stay friends and pick up right where she left off with these women all the time. It is such an example to me of how friendships can last through moves. Anyway I have already learned a lot from this new girl, she trained me at work but even more than that she is ALWAYS happy, something that a lot of people used to say to describe me and I hate having to say 'used to' because lately I have been too stressed and too tired to be that "Wow she is contagiously happy" person...and I want to get there again. I need to get a picture with girl #3 before she leaves me for another state.

_____________________________________________

"You do not know who really cares until you are alone."

So many things came to mind when I read that. First was this man:

He is not a big fan of this picture but I really like it, I think it shows some of my favorite parts of his personality. I guess because I know him the way I do this picture shows more than just his "fine I will smile for the camera.....again...." face. This man cares so much for me and does so much for me. I cannot describe how happy I am that I have been married to him for ALL eternity! He ticks me off sometimes and gets on my nerves but I cannot think of any person I could spend 24/7 with and not get occasionally frustrated of. lol AND I drive him nuts too! I did not know how amazing, funny, spiritual, hard working, thoughtful, and loving this man was when I agreed to marry him almost 5 years ago. I knew he would be a great father but I didn't know how great.

This picture is not one I have shared outside of close family, but tonight I decided to share it. This was taken during labor when I was dilated to an 8.5 and was only about an hour away from seeing our son. I had no medication during child birth. When I need Brandon he is there for me 150%, and not just when it is as intense as child birth. He is there for me when I need him no matter what struggle I am going through.

I have realized that I barely knew him at all when he proposed and we got married, but I am SO grateful that we were crazy enough to do it.

_____________________________________________

Sometimes living up to the standards and beliefs I have is hard, tiring and there are days when I want to give up. There is no way I am going to be perfect in this life and having a goal that I know I cannot reach is daunting and I wonder: why try? But the truth is I have to try because I know it is true. How do I know? I prayed years ago and felt the Holy Ghost's simple answer that it is and that helps me know that trying really hard is enough.

It is amazing to me that this all started with a 14 year old boy who prayed in a grove of trees in New York. Many people think he made up the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or that he wrote The Book of Mormon and then was killed for his beliefs....I love what Elder Holland says about that, and if you haven't heard it at all or it has been a while you should watch the video below:

I will admit have doubted the truthfulness of the church, in my weak moments when I have a hard time fathoming the atonement and whether it can save me, and I cant imagine the eternal aspects of the plan and of life....and I just feel like giving up, I think of Joseph Smith and his testimony of the Book of Mormon and how he was killed defending it, all of my beliefs go back to that book and I have had my own witness that it is true and I cannot deny it. I know that Christ lived and died for me. I cannot fathom it, and I sometimes wonder what makes me worth all of that suffering but I am so grateful for him. I am thankful for the Priesthood and to have that power and authority in my home and to have grown up where I could (and still can) get blessings of healing and of comfort and strength and to see that power used to help our son. In all the times when I think I am alone or when I might be looked over, I still know that I have a Heavenly Father who is mindful of me and a Savior who has suffered all I have suffered and more. I am grateful for that knowledge and for the amazing peace and healing it brings.

Precious In His Sight by Greg Olsen

Forgiven by Greg Olsen

These two pictures are two of my favorites by Greg Olsen. I can relate to both of them and I love how this artist depicts the Savior.

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If you have actually read all of this then you are probably really bored. It has been nice just to sit and think about things I am grateful for and my friendships and my testimony.

This makes me happy

2011-01-15T12:14:00.001-06:00

So do many other things, like this:

Picture Blog

2011-01-10T00:38:00.004-06:00

Well life is crazy and slow at the same time!

No real time to blog or maybe it is that I don't have much to blog about.

Christmas was great, so was Thanksgiving. We blessed Ethan on the 26th of December and had a lot of friends and family there. I love being a mom.

Our baby is a big, he is 13lbs and 23inches long....another baby in our ward who is about 2 days older than Ethan and started out a pound larger is only 9lbs right now....But we love the little chunker. I can't believe he is 10 weeks old today!!

Here are pictures! (From most recent to least recent)

It actually snowed here in Dallas today, so Ethan actually got to wear his bear suit!! I didn't think we would use this here!

We did a photo session at Picture People with both sets of Grandparents

LOVE this one of Brandon and Ethan!!

We also did some shots of him in his blessing outfit that my mom made for him.

Such a stud.

Love this little shirt on him!

Christmas morning.

HAHAH Had to put this one up, he was about to sneeze and my mom caught it just in time. LOL

Brandon got this one of me and the little man, I LOVE it!!

Guess that is it for now, hope you enjoyed the picture update!

Shutterfly Card Promotion!

2010-12-08T16:54:00.002-06:00

Shutterfly is giving away 50 Free greeting cards See details HERE!!

They have some way cute designs and that would save me a lot of time with designing my own this year!!

Gratitude

2010-11-24T19:26:00.007-06:00

"A grateful heart...comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives."

"My brothers and sisters, do we remember to give thanks for the blessings we receive? Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God's love."

The Divine Gift of Gratitude by President Monson

This shows many of the things I am grateful for. The Gospel, my Savior, my wonderful husband, and family, a prophet on the earth, our son, this Country, the beauty of the earth, temples, a place to call our own, music, friends...the list goes on and on. Some things I could not or did not put a picture to that I am very grateful for are my health, employment, things like washers and dryers and dishwashers, running water, food, clothing, technology like Skype that lets me see my family and friends, transportation, medical care, date night with my husband, warm showers, toothpaste....the list goes on and on.

In the kind of world we live in it is easy to take things for granted and to always think of what we dont have. I have to catch myself when I start doing that. I am thankful for a day when we reflect on what we are thankful for and the things that really matter in life. I am trying to take what my brother in-law said today and do it in my life. He said we should celebrate Thanksgiving once a month....we were talking about the food at the time but I think that is a great idea to make sure we take a good step back every month and look at what we have, because it is so easy to see what we lack.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

He is here!!

2010-11-02T20:02:00.004-05:00

We had a Halloween Baby!!

We love him so much!!!

Ethan Kent Stucki

October 31, 2010

7lbs 8oz

19.5 Inches Long

I am not going to type my whole birth experience out here. I was able to accomplish my goal of a natural child birth and I will just say that it was amazing and everything I hoped for and then some.

I know some of you might be interested in my full birthing story, if so please leave a comment with your e-mail address and I will e-mail it to you.

Here is our handsome man! He has completely changed our lives and we are grateful for this opportunity to have him in our family.

Car wreck, baby bedding and belly.

2010-10-12T19:16:00.006-05:00

WARNING: This is going to be a long one!

Part 1: Car Wreck

September 29th definitely went down in the books as one of the scariest days of my life. I was in a car accident. I was on my way home from work when traffic slowed down in front of me and I was almost at a stop when I was rear ended. The lady was going about 45 or 50 miles an hour and her impact slammed me into the car in front of me, then my car spun around and she hit me again on the left rear of the car. I blacked out when the airbags deployed on impact #2. (I did not know I had been hit 3 times until the police told me in the ER).

When I came conscious there was terrible smell, and pain, and fear. I couldn't find my phone and it was SO loud. I tried to get out my drivers side door but I couldn't, so I tried the passenger door and I couldn't--for some reason I thought the car was going to catch fire so in a panic I crawled into the back of the car and kicked out the back passenger door. All I was worried about was Ethan. A wonderfuly nice man had me sit in his car and tried to get me to breathe he let me use his phone (a lot) I called Brandon, no answer....I called Brandon again--No answer at that point I did think I remember him telling me he was going to the gym. I text him--no answer. I am FREAKING out we leave a voicemail with him and I am trying to think of who to call next but I have NO ONE else close by's number memorized! I decide to call my daddy. Dad picks up (thank goodness, it was a strange phone number after all) I tried to be calm but it didn't work to well. I felt/feel bad because it was their car that got totaled. Daddy calmed me down a bit. All I could think or ask about was Ethan....no one said anything comforting.

Then the ambulance was there the nice man told my dad where they were taking me. Dad called Brandon and mom. Mom called one of our friends in Dallas. When I got to the ER I was there less than 5 minutes when Brandon walked into my room--he looked so calm, I was so grateful for that calm. If situations were reversed I think I might have freaked out more than him. Then our family friend showed up about 2 minutes after him, together they helped me and made me feel ok. Brandon had me do some breathing techniques from our Lamaze class and they did help.

After the doctors checked me out they FINALLY checked for Ethan's heart beat--I hadn't felt him move. There he was 142 beats per minute (his normal rate). I can deal with physical pain but could not have dealt with loosing our baby at 35 weeks. They did a bunch of X-rays and an MRI of my head. I started to have contractions about every 3 minutes and they were pretty strong the shock and such put me into labor. I got a blessing from Brandon and my father in-law (he and my mother in-law came to the hospital around 8 or 9ish I think). The contractions stopped after the blessing and a bag of fluids. I stayed in the hospital over night for observation. Several of our ward family members called, that was nice. After 3 bags of fluid almost no sleep in a hospital bed, a REALLY waco nurse, holding "it" for 6 hours because I did not want a catheter to pee, getting pain medication and being given a menu to order breakfast they released me.

I have learned a lot of things from this experience, a lot of blessings have come from it and my testimony the Gospel, covenants and promises from the Lord has grown. I am so very thankful for the friends, family and strangers who prayed for me and Ethan and who took care of me the following week while Brandon went to Utah for business.

Pictures of the car..... poor little car. Oddly enough the door that I kicked out (pictured below) is the door that we could not open at all at the towing yard....not even with a crowbar.

Impact 3

Driver's airbag to the face, car radio to the leg

Impact #1

Impact #2

Part 2: Baby Bedding

This past weekend my mom and dad came up, they came up the weekend of the wreck too, but this time was for fun! Mom, Joy and I made Ethan's bumper and bed skirt and when I say mom, Joy and I--I really mainly mean mom and Joy. It turned out so cute! I have NO pictures of the process which I am bummed about. But I have pictures of the final project and it is perfect. We went with black and white so that we can buy whatever cute sheets we want and it will always match. The part of the bumper that faces Ethan is black Minky fabric which is SOOOOOOOO soft and well his grandmas did a WONDERFUL job. I did things like drink water, sit on the couch, give my opinion of what I liked/wanted, OH I ironed!! And I sewed 1/4th of the bumper that my mom had to seam rip and re-do because I was that good! lol : ) See pictures below!

Part 3: Belly

I cannot believe I am 37 weeks along already and yet I cant wait to have this guy come out!!! It has been a while since I have posted a picture of this bigness so here you go!

Husbands

2010-09-16T20:17:00.003-05:00

Husbands are amazing....well at least mine is. Today I came home to a great dinner with a fruit shake and home made cookies. Then we went on a nice long walk and when we came home he vacuumed. This is not an occasional thing either it is pretty frequent I love it!! He also gives WONDERFUL back rubs and foot rubs. I love him.

Here is a recent picture of the two of us. I must say our son looks a lot smaller in yellow, so I think I might go invest in another yellow shirt : )

It has been a while

2010-09-09T21:34:00.004-05:00

So I feel like I have not posted very much lately, because I haven't!

First we will start with the good news, which is Ethan is growing and very healthy!!!

The not so great news is I am growing with him. LOL This is my, "Yeah, I really am this big" face. This is Ethan and me at 32 weeks.

We were given a crib a few months ago by someone in our ward and it was SO sweet of them but it was missing a few parts and after speaking with them we decided to buy a new one. So here is a little picture (uploaded from online) of our crib. It is set up in our room but I dont want to take a picture of it right now because I am lazy. : )

It is simple and takes up less room than the other crib and we really like it. It is really dark wood (almost black) and goes with our room....anyway it makes me happy.

Brandon and I got to go up to Wichita Falls this last weekend and hang out with my mom and dad, that was a lot of fun. Mom and I hit some second hand stores and got a BABYBJÖRN Carrier that normally sells for $80 for $15!!! I guess it was a team effort mom paid for it and I got them to sell it to us for $15 instead of $20. : ) We ate great food and played games went bowling and had a really good time.

The night before we left for Wichita Falls we had a BBQ at Brandon's parents house because it was Tenille's last night before going to her first semester of college! I cant believe my little sister is in College now!!! Crazy! She is up at BYU-Idaho and had her first day of classes today.

We had a TON of rain recently (Dallas rain was on CNN the other day, so it was news worthy rain) and it was great. I love our rain storms but it did make me want to call in sick every day this week just to stay in bed.

Brandon and I have been taking a weekly lamaze class through Baby, Birth and You and we have both been very happy with the class so far and are learning A LOT!! I just hope we are able to remember all of this in the moment, the moment being LABOR! It is crazy to think that I am about 8 weeks (give or take) from having a son, but we are SO very excited!

Guess that is all for now!

Little Slideshow

2010-08-16T20:15:00.001-05:00

Pregnancy - flash slideshow maker

Honey Do's, Daddy Do's, Engagements, Nesting and All that fun stuff....

2010-08-14T21:44:00.006-05:00

This has been one busy week. Here I am with my belly picture. I will be 29 weeks along this week, so not too much longer! My in-laws moved to Texas this last week and are getting all settled into their new house. It was fun to have my sister in-law live with us for just a couple of days and she will be here in Texas until September when she leaves for her first semester at BYU-I.

My dad taught an ATV training course in Irving this week and he came up to visit and help with Brandon's honey-do list. The first item was fixing our windshield wiper sprayer. The back windshield worked but the front one would not. It ended up that the little elbow piece broke off and the hose fell down into the side of the fender so Brandon and dad took the windshield wipers off, the plastic part of the front off and the fender off to get to the hose and then put it all back together again. I am really glad dad was able to come up and do that and Brandon enjoyed fixing it too.

The little hoses that broke apart.

Brandon and dad, if you look closely you can see that the front fender is not really on the car.

The other honey-do/daddy-do was setting up the crib and our bedroom. We were given a crib from my relief society president and since we haven't put a crib together and dad has (and ours didn't come with directions) they did that Saturday evening. We are missing 3 pretty important parts and my relief society president thinks they are in the attic so she is going to look for them and call me. I am pretty happy with how everything fit.

The dresser used to be where the crib is and then Brandon and dad took the door off the closet because we never close that door anyway and it gave us more room. The door went into our storage space outside.

Then this weekend I took a few engagement shots of this lovely couple--Adam and Hly. It was fun. We got some good shots and I found some nice places here in McKinney to take pictures.

I like these tracks and the bottom one shows Adam's real personality. : )

My in-laws gave us this cute sippy cup for Ethan. The letters on his name are 3-Dish. It is pretty cute.

So, a family in our ward (he is our home teacher) they twin boys that are almost 6 months old. When he came to home teach this month she sent him with a bag of baby boy clothes, 2 blankets and a little play mat. It was SOOOOOO Sweet and the clothes are in great condition! Everything you see on the middle shelf (except for one onsie) is from them and then the two blankets up top to the left are from them as well. It was such a sweet thing for them to do and it got me all excited.

That is a brief glimpse into the last week for us. I cant believe that in 11ish weeks we will have our little boy here with us. We are pretty excited!!! More updates to come.

For days that might just suck......

2010-08-13T12:24:00.004-05:00

For the days when things are not going right and it seems like there will NEVER be light at the end of the tunnel again...I need things like this:

WOW what an example! At least I still have Brandon and not a trial like this.

She is so strong! I am grateful that I can do things without pain in every movement.

And then I need songs like this:

Don't take this post the wrong way, things are actually going pretty well for us. But I think sometimes I get caught up in the current struggles I am dealing with and for me they are tough for others they might be a breeze but I am grateful for things that help me feel like I am not alone and I am not being picked on. Life just is what it is and I will make it through. So for the next time I do have a really cruddy day and I might be getting a little too caught up in the things that are going wrong I can look back at these two examples and listen to this song.

Well Hello August!

2010-08-01T14:38:00.009-05:00

WOW the year seems to be flying by!! This post is full of a lot of things! My friend Anna came to visit for an evening which was a lot of fun. It was really good to see a friend. We love Dallas and chose to live here but I didn't realize how difficult it would be to make friends...and in San Antonio we at least had friends....anyway she hung out the evening with us and we took a dip in the pool and stuff. I had to work the next morning/day so it was a shorter trip but still great to see her.

A lot of this happens when we get together.

Then one of my only friends at work had her last day on Friday which was sad for me, but good for her. She decided to move back to Missouri to be closer to family and her church etc... She will be missed though, I learned a lot from her and she was a great example to me.

Gross picture of me, I am glad Becky turned it black and white.

Sister Kougias, the mom/wife of the family we lived with here in Dallas for a bit, bought Ethan two cute little outfits. We took dinner over to her house one night and had dinner with them and she busted out the presents for him. Pictures below, I love baby outfits they are so cute!

Cute puppy and monkey on the bums.

Brandon holding up the fronts for me. : )

It is weird to think how quickly the last 26ish weeks have gone. Ethan is getting stronger and stronger and now you can easily see him move around if you just look at my tummy. We only have about 13 weeks left and I know they will fly by and yet go slow too.

Brandon and I went to the pool yesterday which I LOVE, it is nice to feel weightless right now. Afterwards we went on a little walk and then just hung out. I love weekends!!!

Thank goodness for....

2010-07-27T18:55:00.002-05:00

My yoga ball. In my recent study of pregnancy/birth I came across a blog where a woman used one of these to help her through contractions in labor (she made it to an 8 at home before going to the hospital--not just by using one of these though) anyway I decided I wanted one and MAN O MAN I am glad we bought this little sucker! It is amazing how sitting on one little ball and bouncing can chill you out and be SO comfortable! This ball has now become my happy place. In fact I am bouncing right now as I type on my laptop. It also helps my posture. I highly recommend one of these little puppies they can be found at your local Wal-Mart (mine was $9). I kind of wonder if this little bouncing ball of joy would have made me this happy before pregnancy....but at least I have found it now.

There it is, my gratitude for the Yoga Ball.

Busy week & Fun weekend!

2010-07-18T20:51:00.007-05:00

First, can I just say I LOVE being able to change my blog background whenever I want and have it go with my mood and stuff!? LOVE it.....ok, anyway.....

This week has been good and CRAZY!! Brandon has been working a temp job full time which has been a blessing and then he has come home and had conference calls and stuff for the company he and a couple of others are starting--so he has been busy!! Then I have been working full time as well and of course building a baby full time : )

Many of my friends know that Brandon's parents have/had been trying to sell their house for over a year and a half and they just sold it this month....which means they are moving to Dallas. They had been planning on moving to Dallas since before we moved to Texas. My father in-law has been working for a company for the last 2 years and his headquarters is here. They were here mid week to try to find a house and they did. They will be living a little over 5 miles from us (about 15 minutes) but they are in a different ward and a different stake. Which is kind of funny.

This weekend my parents came over here from Wichita Falls and spent the weekend with us. Saturday we went around looking at baby stuff/fabric for the baby's crib set and Mimi bought him another outfit (see below for adorable picture). In the end the lady we met in the fabric store and mom convinced me that it would probably be less stressful and stuff if we just bought a couple things for his bed instead of making it. They were out of the fabric we wanted then they couldn't find it anywhere else because the number was the wrong one on the barcode etc... A woman over heard us and she said listen to your mom, I wanted to make mine and then I did and it didn't turn out how I wanted so I cried because it didn't turn out and then it wasn't perfect and I didn't want my baby sleeping in something that wasn't perfect.....just buy it--it's less stressful. We had a good laugh and eventually Brandon and I picked out something we like that is already made : ) I added it to my Target Baby Registry so that I don't loose the link. lol.

After the baby shopping we went and saw the Eclipse move. I still love the books more and again I am an Edward fan in the books and a Jacob fan in the movie. After the movie we came home and had Papa Murphy's and watched Iron Man--Brandon took a nap : ) which he needed. Then we went to the Dallas Texas Temple together and did some work there. It was a nice Saturday!

Today was/is Brandon's 26th Birthday!! I am SOOO grateful for him. He is such a wonderful husband and I know he is going to be a great dad. We went to church and then when we came home we had a roast and potatoes and carrots and a salad that my mom made. I made Brandon brownies and then we did some presents and stuff. Then we took a 4 hour nap : ) Brandon got 3 shirts from me and from my mom and dad he got a book that he/we have been wanting and a birthday pillowcase. With a really funny card--pictured below.

The card says "It's just another Birthday" and then on the inside it says "Don't lose your head over it! Have a happy birthday anyway" it is pretty cute!

We were going and going all this week/weekend and so I don't have very many pictures. But I do have updated belly shots and a cute picture of the outfit Mimi bought Ethan.

So cute!!

I love the little lion on the bum!! There is one more onesie in there that says "This is what Handsome Looks like" It is pretty cute.

This is a picture of me today, at almost 25 weeks. I look so gross...but oh well.

Me at 24 weeks.

Ethan Kent Stucki

2010-07-08T19:14:00.004-05:00

I had a doctor appointment today and it went really well! Ethan is 1.7 ounces and his little heart was going 141 beats per minute. He slept through the sonogram, even though the tech. kept trying to wake him up. Ethan sleeps with his hands over his face/up like his daddy does. It is pretty cute. The tech. took a GREAT profile picture and I got to see all 4 chambers of his heart and his little ribs and spine etc...etc... and everything looks perfect! It was such a wonderful way to start my day.

Here you are looking down at his face and he is sleeping with both hands up next to his face.

Cute little profile #1

Cute little profile #2 (the best one in my opinion)

Gifts for Ethan

2010-07-06T21:57:00.003-05:00

Well this little boy is already getting things! A month or so ago someone gave us a crib, which was way sweet. Then He has gotten the following items:

His first outfit and teething rings from Mimi and Grandpa.

Teddy Bear blanket that Mimi made for him. The polar bear was bought while my mom (Mimi) was on an Alaskan Cruise.

Cute little Baa Baa socks from a friend at work!

They have little tails! They are so cute and little and soft. Man I love baby stuff!!

4th of July and other things

2010-07-04T22:15:00.003-05:00

Our Fourth of July has been pretty relaxing and chill--which is something I needed after a 50+ hour work week. Luckily this pregnancy has been pretty laid back since the 16th week and I have been able to work every day.

It was nice to have the 4th on a Sunday and sing all the patriotic songs we don't really get to any other time of the year, and then to hear the testimonies and such today was really nice. Relief Society was on the Divine Roles of women and it was really uplifting. We were supposed to go see fireworks tonight, but when we got there it was an empty little down town. I got the time right and everything but somehow it was either cancelled or they moved the time or something we were kind of bummed, but oh well. Next year I will do better about planning and hopefully no one will cancel without telling people. I am SO grateful though for this country and the freedom to worship and travel as I please, to raise a family the way I want, to work and speak and watch the things I want. Even to blog about what I want is a freedom. I am so grateful.

Now for other things! Here are a couple of pictures of our place here. Our bathroom has a HUGE garden tub (one big thing that sold me on the apartment). My camera died while taking the apartment pictures so i only have the Living room and Bathroom.

Bathroom (Duh)

Living room--that is the front door in the right corner near the lamp.

Living room again--I am standing in the corner by the front door.

I cannot believe I am 22 weeks along already! Time flys but at the same time feels like it is slow too. So far I have been very blessed with an easy pregnancy. With the exception of some not so fun back pain, exhaustion and occasional mood swings (which are pretty normal) things have been going really well. I am tired of peeing....but I know that part isnt over. I LOVE feeling him move, even though sometimes it can be uncomfortable it makes me happy because I know he is there.

22 Weeks along. Approximately 18 weeks to go.

WARNING---SAD PICTURE BELOW!!!!!!

My sweet husband is a little too sweet. He got eaten by chiggars a southern bug that was put on the earth to test and torment man. These are just the bites on his feet. 76 bites on the left foot and 54 on the right. Poor guy no itch cream has worked very well (we have tried 4) and you can only take so much benadryl. He has not been getting much sleep hopefully these bites will heal soon!!!

Well I guess that is it for now.

Fathers Day Weekend

2010-06-21T11:36:00.006-05:00

This father's day we got to go visit my mom and dad in Witchita Falls (about 2 hours away) my brother Steven also came up from San Antonio. We had a really good time. Brandon I got in later Friday night and then we all slept in on Saturday and then drove into Oklahoma to a Wildlife preserve there. We drove up the mountain and walked around a bit and then drove through the park, went to the museum and had linner at a wonderful place called the Winary. The head chef is the personal cook for the Govenor of Oklahoma and had called in a new desert that day, mom and dad were the first two visitors to have it, it was a Peach Crumble and take it from someone who doesnt eat peaches it was good! We had a wonderful day and then went home and mom and I went looking at patterns for the baby bedding I am going to make and I bought my first pair of maternity pants and my first maternity shirt.

Below are some pictures of our wonderful trip.

My daddy--the best daddy a girl could have ever hoped for! I am so blessed. We were also able to celebrate his birthday (even though it isnt until tomorrow).

My wonderful husband! And father of our son, I am excited to see the father Brandon will be and I know he is going to be an amazing one.

Beautiful view!!

My big brother.

Me and my hubbie with prettiness behind us.

Prettiness. : )

You can see some baby belly here. : )

The buffalo we saw on the reserve.

I wish this place wasn't so far from where we live, it would be great camping!!!

Little prarie dogs we saw--there were a ton! Oklahoma State has a research area for them.

Group shot in the museum.

Back at my parents place sewing a polar bear blanket for our baby. My mom did all of it I stood by and provided moral support. : ) Brandon was actually more useful than me because he figured out which way to put the head and butt.

Another sewing shot.

Before we left we played two games of partners skipbo--Brandon and I won both games. : )

Lets go fly a kite....

2010-06-12T18:16:00.007-05:00

Today has been such a fun and beautiful day!! Brandon and I started the saturday off by sleeping in, and then sleeping some more. : ) Then we went to the pool for a bit. After the pool we came back home and changed and went to fly two kites that I had bought at Wal-Mart for a dollar each back when we lived in San Antonio. We walked over to a field right by our house and flew them for an hour or so. It was a ton of fun, Brandon was really good with his Ninja kite. My bumble bee kite had something wrong with it (it wasn't just a user error). We had a lot of fun. When we were done we walked home and I took a long nap....being pregnant and in the sun makes you REALLY tired! Here are some pictures of our fun afternoon.

It is SO green here!!! : ) LOVE IT!

Brandon with his ninja kite up in the air (upper left corner if you cant see it for some reason)

Bringing down the Ninja. This is right before Brandon took his kite down so that we could go home.

Up in the air, Brandon is pretty good at this whole kite flying thing!!

I am proud of this shot, I was holding my kite and the camera and it was one of the only times my kite stayed up in the air for a bit.

My bumble bee kite : )

Anyway, it has been a great day. We just got back from grocery shopping and I did the dishes and brandon made a pie and now is making dinner. I LOVE my weekends!!!

If you have not heard yet, it's a...............

2010-06-09T18:46:00.002-05:00

BOY!!!!!

We are very excited and we do have a name picked out, we will probably announce that later. No really great sonogram pictures of him. He tried really hard to be a modest baby but finally at the end after some really good smooshing of my stomach with the sonogram thingy we got a good shot. He had his ankles crossed and his legs tucked, he moved all over but kept his legs crossed almost the whole time....thankfully it was ALMOST the whole time because my mom drove down from Wichita Falls to be at the sonogram and Brandon and I were 97% sure he was a boy but we really wanted to know.

My due date still hasn't changed and he looks good! : ) Now I just have to wait out 146 more days!!!

Only Two and a Half days Left until....

2010-06-04T20:36:00.002-05:00

We find out what the baby is!! That is right! I am far enough along to tell if we are having a BOY or a GIRL!! Almost EVERYONE I talk to says Girl....frankly Brandon and I don't really care. With him being a big brother and me having 2 big brothers it would be nice to have a boy first because all of the other children would have that blessing, but I would LOVE to have a little girl first too. Really all I want is to see that it is still alive and growing and doing well--what parts are or are not attached will just help my planning. So if you want to throw in your vote there is a little poll to the right, but you only have until Monday at 2:45 to put your vote in.

This weekend

2010-05-23T17:19:00.004-05:00

My parents came down this weekend and visited. It was a lot of fun and they were way nice to us!! Dad brought down his toyota and is letting us borrow it for as long as we need. This will be a huge blessing in letting Brandon use our car to continue to work on the company he and a couple of other guys are creating as well as hopefully find something full or part time in the mean time. It is also going to help on gas mileage!!!

We went to one of mine and Brandon's favorite parks and walked around, went to Kohls, and Cost Co went out to lunch (thanks mom and dad!!) and to the Dallas temple. It was mine and Brandon's first time doing a session there so that was neat. The only time we had been there was a year ago for our best friends wedding. Then mom and dad gave me my graduation present which we will update on later. : ) It was a wonderful Saturday!!!!

Then today we went to church and it was really good!! Great messages in all of the meetings. And most likely brandon will be getting a calling in Scouts and we got a speaking assignment for June 13th.

Guess that is all for now!

Pregnancy Update

2010-05-20T19:11:00.003-05:00

So now that the throwing up is pretty much gone I have to say that the toughest part of pregnancy thus far is the issue of food. I don't really crave foods I crave restaurants which is not cool when you are on a budget. Then there is the fact that I am working a little more than full-time and it is hard to make my lunch in the morning because I might not want what I packed by the time lunch rolls around. Then this child does not like me to eat cereal which was a major part of my snack time previously--the baby LOVES milk, but not the cereal- within a minute of me eating the last bite I will throw up.

All in all the food thing is difficult but other than that I don't have many complaints. I am pretty blessed as far as the pregnancy goes. I have begun to feel the baby move and I am only about 4 weeks away from being half way done, which is kind of crazy!

Here are 3 pictures of my belly from the last 3 weeks. I don't look the greatest but life goes on. Enjoy!!

Exciting News!!!

2010-05-02T19:28:00.003-05:00

We are expecting a baby around November 2nd. I am now in the 2nd trimester and feeling better although I still get nausea a few times a week, and I don't like it when I get in these moods where I am just frustrated at everything, luckily those are few. Below are two pictures of our baby from the sonogram I had on April 26, 2010.

In this one you can see the head and tummy and then the little arm is waving at you. Our baby is a pretty cute little alien right now, if I may say so myself.

Here our baby is waving again-- just a head and arm shot this time. At one point in the sonogram our baby did a back flip, some crunches and sucked its thumb. It was a really cool experience to see the baby move around so much and it is amazing what you can see with technology these days. The sonogram gave us a lot of peace of mind that the baby is doing alright so far and made the pregnancy more real for both Brandon and I.

We are both very excited and grateful about this pregnancy and are are looking forward to the end of October/ early November.

The last several weeks

2010-04-16T22:30:00.005-05:00

The first weekend in April we went to visit my parents for Easter weekend. It was such a relaxing trip! I got Good Friday off so we were able to be there Friday night, Saturday and Sunday and I think it is the first time Brandon and I were able to fully relax since moving to Dallas and such. Also this weekend mom and I finished baby quilts we started making back in October and I LOVE how it turned out!!!!

Me and dad in the Queen size loft in the 5th-Wheel.

My baby Quilt! I made it....I still have a hard time believing that I did that, but it was all thanks to my mama, she is a wonderful teacher!

Then the following weekend we drove to Houston for a family reunion on my dad's side. My grandma turned 90 and this was the first time in quite a while that I have seen people on this side of my family. It was a lot of fun.

Steven sitting at the kids table with Regan and Jack.

Grandma and her kids and in-law kids. (missing a couple due to distance and such)

Then my 23rd Birthday was this week. It was on Tuesday and I worked so it was not extremely eventful. Sister Kougias, the mom of the house here, made dinner and a girl from week got me a cake. This weekend Brandon and I are going to go see a movie and do some necessary apartment shopping--I am excited about that.

Guess that catches everyone up on things.

New Apartment Coming Soon!

2010-03-27T17:12:00.006-05:00

As many of you know we have been living with Family and Friends for almost a year due to circumstances. Well today Brandon and I signed an apartment contract and we get to move in April 22nd!!!!! By the time we move in it will be a little over a year of living in other peoples homes and although we are extremely grateful for the people who have blessed our lives (The Halstead family, my parents and the Kougias family) we are excited to have our own apartment again!!!! Below are a few pictures of where we will be living! (Images from apartments.com)

I AM SOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!

(Hence the post and the new blog count-down)

The Latest

2010-03-20T17:26:00.002-05:00

Well about a month has gone by since I last posted. I got a job in Dallas so Brandon and I moved here pretty fast and are blessed to have some friends that are letting us live with them in their beautiful home. Thank you to the Kougias family! We are trying to get our savings built back up for about another month and then we will get into our own apartment for the first time in about a year!!

My job is going well so far. It is very corporate, which is different from the other jobs I have had in the past but I am learning and the people I work with are great. The company is Encore Enterprises, INC. they are a real estate investment firm that owns some hotels and are building some Multi-Family properties and such. I am the office coordinator so kind of a supervisory position. The job is about 50 hours a week which has been tiring but I am making money and that is nice.

Brandon is still working his little bum off trying to get something to come through for him and we have faith that something will happen soon.

Other than that we are just hanging out and being grateful for the things we have and the wonderful love and support of those around us.

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

2010-02-26T14:14:00.001-06:00

These last few weeks have been pretty busy. Brandon has been in a Lean Six Sigma course it is usually around $1200-$1500 course but someone in our church has been doing courses of it for basically the cost of books. He will get his certification in that within the next couple of weeks and has been working on a consulting project for the class and then has to do one more before he finishes the certification. This will open more doors for employment opportunities and Brandon has done very well in the class. The teacher is thinking about teaching the second phase of the class in the next couple of months and Brandon is hoping to take it as well.

As for me I have been in Dallas 3 times in the last 2 1/2 weeks for job interviews and such. The drive from San Antonio to where I stay in Dallas is 5 hours so you can do the math. The second time I went to Dallas I drove up to Wichita Falls (an extra 2 hours) then back to Dallas and then back to San Antonio (so that was 15 hours of driving in 3 days). I am going back to Dallas this Sunday for another interview on Monday and as with every job possibility I am hopeful and prayerful.

The trip to Wichita Falls was VERY worth it!! I got to stay with my mom and dad there and we went and saw the The Lipizzaner Stallions. These horses are born dark grey or black and turn white as they grow older, they can live up to 35 years and begin their training at age 9. Below are a few pictures from that event and if any of you have not seen these amazing horses it is well worth it!! I also posted a video of them that I found on Youtube! This is the second time I have seen these horses perform and still pictures, while very cool, don't do them justice. They truly are a dancing horse.

Just a really cool show.

Horsey taking a bow

So cool!!!

(This picture was taken by dad. I love how it shows all 4 of the horses hooves off the ground!)

Here is a Youtube video to give you an idea:

This may be a bit depressing....but we'll see.

2010-02-12T09:19:00.006-06:00

The last week or so has been touched by a lot of death. My high school principal passed away after his battle with cancer, a friend of mines Grandfather died unexpectedly, I heard about the death of a teachers young infant (a child I babysit is in her grade at the school where the mom teaches), my boss's aunt died, my moms best friend came to visit her father who is passing away....all of this has got me thinking about The Plan of Salvation and I am more and more grateful for the knowledge that families are forever and those we knew in this life that have passed on are probably doing better than we are right now, and they are free of any pain that they were experiencing on earth. We will get to see them again someday as long as we do our best and ask forgiveness for the mistakes we make and do what we can to never make those mistakes again.

It has also gotten me thinking about my family relationships and what is truly important in this life. I have an amazing family, and I am SO grateful to them!!

We had a big meeting for our church last sunday and what hit me the most during that 2 hour meeting/worship was that I really can do better than I am doing. By most standards I am doing pretty good.....but I know I am not giving even 90% to anything in my life right now, which is kind of sad.....everything I have wanted or planned for has fallen through the cracks the last 9 months and EVERY one of my plans has failed-- which hopefully means that Heavenly Father has a WAY better plan than I was going for, SO I am giving myself a good push and doing better because right now I am doing good my goal is to become my best self--Good, Better, Best!

There is also a GREAT talk in our church magazine from January, I am going to post it later on this week but here is a link if you can't wait: "The Best is Yet to Be" Elder. Jeffery R. Holland.

Ok, this was just funny!

2010-01-24T20:03:00.005-06:00

So I got the following e-mail today and thought it was funny. It was just one of those forwards that you get, and I decided to post it.

NINE WORDS WOMEN USE

(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with "nothing" usually end in "fine".

(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)

(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says 'Thanks a lot' - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome' . That will bring on a 'whatever').

(8) Whatever: Is a woman's way of saying F-- YOU!

(9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to # 3.

* Send this to the men you know, to warn them about arguments they can avoid if they remember the terminology.

* Send this to all the women you know to give them a good laugh, cause they know it's true!!!

Very Thankful for the Priesthood!

2010-01-21T18:24:00.005-06:00

Last night was rough! I had a reaction to the antibiotic I was on and started having tremors at 4:00am. I kept them to myself until about 5:00 something and then told Brandon. I was sick to my stomach and threw up once and the tremors kept on going, my entire body was shaking uncontrollably it was kind of scary. At 5:45 I woke Steven up and he and Brandon gave me a priesthood blessing. Within 5 minutes my body stopped shaking and I threw up twice in like 10 minutes which I think got most of that medicine out of my system (It was a 12 hour pill). It is so wonderful to have the Priesthood power on this earth! I am sitting here reflecting on how quickly peace came and how fast my body reacted to that power and how this restored power impacts my every day life and I am so grateful to be surrounded by worthy holders of this powerful gift.

What we have been up to the last Decade

2010-01-04T09:59:00.004-06:00

2000- I was 12 years old but turned 13 in April. We had lived in San Antonio for about 4 months and I was going to Stevenson Middle School, I hated it. I missed Austin and my friends there. I refer to those days as my “dark ages.” I took a photography and wood working shop course and had friends that sniffed Cocaine in the bathrooms during lunch.

Went to Lake Powell with the Gordon Family and met my brothers girlfriend then Jeremy got married in November and we all went to Salt Lake City for the wedding-except Steven who was serving his mission.

That is all I really remember about that.

Brandon was turning 16 that year and dating a girl named Brittany. He said his sophomore year sucked as far as school went. He was teaching Taekwondo and had gotten his Eagle Scout award the year before and was still enjoying the camping and other activities. He was working landscaping company, other than that he doesn’t remember.

2001- I was in 8^th grade, pretty much repeat what I said above except I failed choir that year with a 66 because I wouldn’t practice sight reading and my mom wouldn’t sign a piece of paper unless I actually did it…..good honest moms! I also had a wonderful teacher named Gail Brysch that helped me through a lot of middle school. I spent several lunches in the Library trying to teach myself sign language or snuck into Mrs. Brysch’s classroom. At the end of 2001 I was 14 years old and had started to go to dances and my first real crush was a guy named Justin.

My brother Steven came home from his mission in Montana.

I had my own little babysitting business and loved it.

Brandon was a Junior which is when Brandon said High school became really fun and he learned how to work the system his GPA was a 3.9 and it was a really fun year. He was dating a girl named Jen working for the landscaping company, snowboarding and still doing martial arts, by this time he had made nationals and state in Taekwondo.

2002- I was 14 almost 15 years old and finishing my last semester as a Freshman at Sandra Day O’Connor High school. I had made a lot of personal changes so I was pretty happy with the person I was. I was in choir and journalism and really liking school. I made some great friends and wasn’t spending lunches alone anymore. I was also taking private voice lessons and loving it!!

The summer of 2002 was my first summer working at Six Flags Fiesta Texas I worked in food service at a place called Pete’s Eats. I still had the usual babysitting business as well but this was in addition to it and more full-time.

Went to Lake Powell with the Gordon family and took my friend Lauren Aldean with me.

Brandon was finishing his last semester of High School and graduated in May. He left for BYU-Provo in August and did a year of college before his mission. At that time he was planning to do a double major in Microbiology and Computer Programming to eventually program DNA.

2003- I was turning 16 (a sophomore) and had a sort of boyfriend that I dated pretty much from this point until graduation, his name was Steven. I did FFA and raised a Hampshire pig for auction it was a great experience. I was very involved in church and choir. I went on the Choir trip to Houston and had alot of fun, we saw Jekyll & Hyde on Broadway and it was AMAZING!!! During the summer I worked at Six Flags again and had my first kiss that summer.

Brandon had finished his first year of College. He was able to baptize his then girlfriend, Jen, and he also put in his mission papers and received a call to the Veracruz, Mexico mission. He went to the MTC in July or August. He got dengue fever and food poisoning within the first 2 months of life in Mexico and he lost 40lbs in less than 2 weeks--it is a blessing he is still with us!

2004- I was a junior in High school and worked a little during the school year at a daycare center called: The Enrichment Academy. I went to Washington D.C. with my choir organization (mom came too!!) and we stood on the grounds as President Bush was inaugurated for the 2^nd time! It was my first time to D.C. and it was great!! We also sang for our namesake: Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor!! It was great!

We went on a family road trip to Montana and saw Stevens mission, toured BYU-Idaho and went to several state and national parks it was SOOOOOOO fun!!!!!

Worked at Six Flags again but this time as a lifeguard!

Brandon was on his mission in Mexico!!

2005- Went to Boston in February to attend the “National Youth Leadership Forum on Nursing” it was my first big trip by myself!! It was an amazing experience!!! In April and May I got into wrecks one little one with my dad’s truck and a 2^nd with my car Gilbert—I totaled him and it was very sad. I took Logan Bassett to my Choir banquet; it was a TON of fun!! For Prom I took a guy named Stephen Weatherholtz. Both guys went to our rival high school but I knew them both from church.

San Antonio, TX LDS Temple was dedicated I took a lot of friends through the open house and I was a soloist at the Jubilee when President Hinckley was there, it was a wonderful experience. I also went to one of the dedicatory sessions for the temple. SO AMAZING!

I got my “thanks but no thanks” letter from BYU and my acceptance letter from BYU-Idaho!!! Worked at Six Flags as a lifeguard until we left for our road trip to take me up to College!!!!!

Worked as a janitor at school had the 4 best roommates a girl could ask for her first semester of college and made a lot of memories. Was homesick beyond belief and did a lot of growing! Spent Thanksgiving with Jeremy and Emily at Emily’s parents house and went home for Christmas!! Broke up with my high school boyfriend officially and left for school again

Brandon was on his mission in Mexico and got home to Denver Colorado in September. The day he got home there was a 100-degree difference between Mexico and Denver. He decided to transfer from BYU-Provo to BYU-Idaho to spend time with his brother Tyson before he left on his mission.

2006- Started my 2^nd semester of college, changed my major and had some not so cool roommates-- luckily I met Brandon the first weekend of the semester! Within 6 weeks we were engaged. He joined APX Alarm and we came out to San Antonio to get married and work. August 18^th we were married in the San Antonio, TX Temple we had a beautiful wedding and reception in Texas and a 2^nd beautiful reception in Denver at his parents home.

We lived in Heartland Apartments our first semester as a married couple and bought our first car a 04’ Nissan Sentra. We joined APX Alarm again under a different manager: Troy King, he and his wife became great friends and supports to us. We met Jared Honsvick in November and he joined the APX alarm team….man was that the start of great friendships!

2007- Started and finished my 4^th semester of college Brandon decided to major in either Pre-Medicine or Business so he began to do a business major with pre-req’s for medical school. We found out we would be going to Richmond, VA with APX Alarm. I taught swim lessons, waitressed and worked at a portrait studio in Richmond until a client at the restaurant offered me a job at his office. I worked for him the remainder of the summer and continued until June of 2009.

We celebrated our 1-year anniversary in Virginia by having breakfast and we had a couples massage together in the morning then opened little gifts at night.

The end of August we moved back to Rexburg. I worked as a nanny for a family in exchange for an apartment that was a block from campus! Brandon worked on campus as a personal trainer!

2008- I continued to Nanny and Brandon still worked as a personal trainer. We wrote a letter to bishops in the Mechanicsville, VA area to see if there was a family that we could live with while Brandon did his internship at Asset Building Consultants, Ltd. and our prayers were answered! A wonderful family, the Halsteads, invited us to their home! We moved out to Virginia again and lived with the Halstead family for 5 months while we worked/interned with the financial brokerage--the internship helped Brandon decide to stick with Business as his degree and not go to med. school.

We celebrated our 2-year anniversary in Mechanicsville, VA. We had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and walked the Short Pump mall. It was a nice evening!

At the end of August we moved back to Rexburg for our last year of college!! I took 18 credits and we lived in Center Court apartments and LOVED our ward!!!!!!! Brandon had his IBC semester and ran a business on campus. Our wonderful friend Jared met his wife, Kashari, and they got engaged on New Years Eve!!

2009- We finished school. I took 21 credits in the winter and made the best grades of my college career! In the summer I took 6 online credits. My family came out for our graduation in April!! We went to the hot springs and went hiking etc… it was a fun few days!

We flew out to Jared and Kashari’s wedding May 16^th in Dallas

Brandon and I moved out to Virginia for our jobs at the financial brokerage and we moved in with the Halstead family again!!! Within a few weeks we found out we had been lied to and the company was headed down fast our hours were cut, our benefits dropped and we were told we needed to find new jobs. Six weeks after moving to Virginia we packed up and moved to San Antonio, TX to live with my mom and dad. Had a miscarriage in July but was grateful for so much love when we went through that.

We celebrated our 3-year anniversary in Houston, TX with my mom and grandma and did sealing’s in the Houston temple. It was Brandon’s first time to Houston.

Spent Halloween and Thanksgiving with my family and had a great Christmas with Brandon’s family in Denver and a happy New Year with Jared and Kashari!!

Man oh man how things change in the blink of an eye!!! We are excited to see what this year holds. Hope you had fun reading through this if you actually read it all, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Christmas with my parents!

2010-01-03T01:19:00.004-06:00

We got back to San Antonio Friday (January 1, 2010) around 2:00pm and had a little Christmas with my mom and dad. Then we went for a hike at Government Canyon State park and went to Jambia Juice!! Later that night we ate dinner and watched Angels and Demons. It was a really nice day!

Me and Brandon-completely wiped out from staying up for almost 24 hours and then driving 5 hours from Dallas to San Antonio. We are opening the gift from my grandma--they are the Corelle dish set we have been wanting!!!!

I got a GPS from my parents!!!!! It is pretty amazing and SOOOOOO easy to use! Brandon got a 16G flash drive from my parents.

Mom, dad and the dogs in a cool tree on our hike!

Me and Brandon at the cool tree.

It was a GREAT day!!!

New Years Day!!!

2010-01-01T22:33:00.013-06:00

We flew out of DIA on Wednesday and landed around 7:40pm. When we got home my mom had some soup for us we ate it and threw our bags into our kia, filled up with gas and drove to the Fort Worth/Arlington area to spend the night and new years day two of our greatest friends Jared and Kashari! They had spent Christmas with her family and it was the only day of our vacations where all four of us were in the state at the same time. We stayed up that night talking until about 2am and then I had to say (to myself) "Laura they will be here in the morning, go to sleep." About the only thing we had planned was dinner for Thursday which you will find out about later....I wanted to see a town-home model in a neighborhood called Austin Waters (it is in Carrollton, TX). We got ready in the morning and drove out there, here are some pictures from the drive!!

Jared with he and Kashari's monster. BIG smile w/ that one!

Kashari and I being silly : )

This was supposed to be like Zoolander--but I don't do it that good

I love this picture of the two of us, I just wish I hadnt had the seatbelt showing so bad (Kashari put hers behind her for the picture...at least I was wearing it I guess)

So, like I said above we were planning on going to look at some town-homes but we got there and there and the model was all locked up. At first I was kind of bummed but then we saw that the neighborhood (Austin Waters) did Single-Family homes as well we went over to the models (there were 3) and toured those. After we were done with that neighborhood Kashari said something like "Lets go see some more!!" I have always LOVED to tour model homes and was really glad that they were having fun too. We had so much fun that we toured model homes in that neighborhood and one other until our dinner reservation--total of 7 model homes! Below is a picture of the Jared and Kashari in the master bathroom in the first model--it was by far all of our favorites but we have BIG EXPENSIVE taste. It was a little over 5,000 square feet and was a $500,000 home.

This is the kitchen in the big expensive house! So pretty

Cute couple in Kashari's dream bathroom.

After we toured all of the Austin Waters model homes we drove around a little more and found another neighborhood called Castle Hills. All four of us LOVED this neighborhood!!! They have several pools and fitness centers they are a golf course community but the Golf club doesn't have monthly dues you just pay to play kind of thing. All the schools are within the community and they have hiking and biking trails. It was an awesome community and the homes were a lot less than the first homes we looked at. I think our favorite builders were Highland Homes and American Legend Homes. It was a lot of fun to hear each other comment on the different parts of the homes and we did a lot of dream planning, we are going to have a really fun time if some of the dreams work out!!

After the model homes we went to eat at a place called Texas De Brazil it was REALLY good. It is an all you can eat type of restaurant. There is a salad bar with the typical salad stuff but it has Grilled Salmon, sushi, salsas, and a lot more. Then when you are done with your salad bar you have these circle things that have a red side and a green side, as soon as you are ready to have them start bringing you meat you flip it to green side. Then people start bringing all kinds of meat out on skures and you decide if you want a cut or not. If you want them to stop bringing meat for a bit you flip the circle back over to the red side.

LOOOOOOTS OF YUMMY MEAT!

The front of the restaurant. First restaurant I have been to where you have to use valet parking.

A picture of the inside (from Texasdebrazil.com) and I wrote where our table was.

Us at our table!! COMPLETELY FULL of yummy food!!!

Back at Kashari's parents house playing a card game of Monopoly, it was a really fun game. Kashari is multitasking--she has the builders floor plans on her lap picking out her favorites.

We stayed up all night...well they did, I got a crappy headache and did take a nap, but anyway we drove Jared and Kashari to the airport at 4am so they could get on their 6:15am flight. Then we went back to Kashari's parents house and slept for a few hours before driving back to San Antonio. It was a wonderful trip and SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much fun to see them

Christmas 2009!!!

2009-12-29T01:34:00.011-06:00

I can not believe this has been our 4th Christmas together!! That is pretty crazy! My how time flys!! Brandon and I spent our first Christmas with his family this year. It has been really nice to spend 2 weeks here in Denver. We had a white Christmas, but from what I hear a lot of my Texas friends did too.

We got here on the 16th of December and we leave the 30th. A lot of our trip has been sleeping, eating, playing some games and just hanging out. The first couple of days we finished up some Christmas shopping and their mall here has a pet store so I got to play with a puppy and pet some baby bunnies--I miss having my own little animals, so that was fun.

This will most likely be the last Christmas we have here in Denver because Kent and Joy are trying to sell their house so they can re-locate for Kent's job. I missed my family but it was still a wonderful vacation and we tried to 'get away' from the stresses of being unemployed even though Brandon and I still applied for jobs and he had a phone interview while we were here.

Brandon and I both got pretty spoiled and it was fun to see the differences in how our families do Christmas.

The tree on Christmas eve

Me and my loot. :)

Everyone after opening presents. It was a fun morning.

Again, I LOVE skype!! I got to Skype with my mom and dad while I was here and they sent me pictures of their Christmas events as well. Here is a picture of me Skyping with my mom, I called my dog (Chloe) and she came to the computer and was looking all over for me, mom says she was specifically looking at the speakers (lol) we got a kick out of it for a bit.

Saturday night we went to a light display here in Highlands Ranch area it was fun and the weather has been surprisingly warm for December in Colorado, but then again I am comparing it to a Rexburg December. lol

Cool little train they had going through some light displays!

Pretty lights!!

More Pretty lights, the yellow ones were on some kind of timer thing they fell down like falling stars it was really cool!

A sweet lady took a picture of all of us that went. Kent stayed home that night.

Then on Monday we went and saw Disney's The Princess and the Frog at the theater here. It was a cute show, but had some voodoo stuff and what not--I am kind of getting frustrated with the fact that Disney movies are not really for children anymore...anyway that evening Joy's sister and family came over for games and pizza. It was fun so here are a few pictures of the Stucki family from that night.

All 7 of us.

Joy and her kiddos. Look at my handsome stud there in the front!! Woot woot!

Then on Tuesday we went to the temple and did baptisms for the dead for some family names that Joy had done the family history for. It was fun. If you are stumbling upon my blog and you are wondering what Baptisms for the dead are if you click here or watch the video below and you can learn about temples and the work we do inside of them, such as baptism for the dead.

It has been a really fun trip, we leave tomorrow afternoon to go back home and celebrate New Years and have a Christmas celebration with my mom and dad.

Things I have done....

2009-11-29T23:56:00.005-06:00

I got this from a cousins blog and thought it would be fun. Thanks Kim!!

Bold the things you've done

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a Praying Mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Been to the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa at the Louvre
20. Slept on a train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Dated someone you met online
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (on a rock wall)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Tied a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a Bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Visited Italy

Thankful

2009-11-28T21:55:00.014-06:00

Not sure if anyone reads this anymore but I feel it is a good little way to remember things.

We had a really good Thanksgiving it was relaxing. My grandma came from Houston and Brandon and my dad were home from Dallas and Wichita Falls. We ate good food and chilled. I work retail so I worked 8 hours on Black Friday (form 7am-2pm) It was actually pretty good and fun I like having a busy work place.

We skyped with Jared and Kashari in Idaho it is nice to have such great friends and Skype helps me feel closer to them. Facebook can only go so far being able to see them cook and interacting with them is great! Now Skype just needs to figure out how we can hug and share food!!! : ) We also Skyped with Brandon's siblings and parents in Denver--I am so grateful for Skype!!! It is SOOOO much better than a phone conversation and it is FREE!!! Anyway now that I just did a free add for Skype (lol) !!

This is when I skyped with Jared and Kashari and we went to www.makemebabies.com and were playing around with making babies. My screen froze at a great moment and I did a screen shot. They were laughing at their baby boy.....but they did get a few really cute babies from this!

Brandon talking to Tenille on Skype the other night. : )

We had our family pictures taken about a week ago, family meaning just me and Brandon. My friend Melissa Brewer took our pictures. Below are some of our pictures. I am saving our favorite for Christmas cards/e-cards. After Christmas I will add a link to her photo blog--you can get to our favorite one on her blog and we want it to be the first time you see it when you get it as a Christmas card or e-card. Brandon did about 900 miles of driving this week and he leaves again for Dallas on Monday. He has been working really hard and getting very connected in Dallas....we are hoping to be there and employed the beginning of 2010....WOW that is weird to say!! 2010!!!

(Man I have a hot husband!!!)

I also went to one of my middle school teachers surprise birthday parties, she was a huge influence on me for good and helped me out a lot. Here is a picture of us:

Me and Gail Brysch! : )

Now for my I am Grateful List:

Brandon- He is such a wonderful husband and best friend and I am very blessed to have him as my husband forever!
!FAMILY!- Brandon and I could not have gone through everything we have without them and it is such a blessing. Heavenly Father gave us both wonderful loving and supportive families. I am espicially thankful for my mom and her friendship and companionship when our husbands are gone.
My Job-keeps me sane and helps me meet people and brings in a bit of money....every little bit helps.
Jared and Kashari- They are wonderful friends and I could not have asked for more. To have a couple like them in our lives is a huge blessing, they have helped us more than they know.
Friends (In General)- I don't have very many friends here in Texas, besides the people I interact with at work I dont have anyone and i have had several friends from Virginia, Idaho, other parts of Texas and Utah checking in on us randomly adn telling me how they are praying for us or aksing how we are and it means a lot.
The Kougias family- They are the family brandon lives with when he is in Dallas and they have been so wonderful to us.
The Halstead Family- We lived with them in Richmond and miss them more than they know.
A Running "Healthy" Car- We have made 5 moves, maybe more, with this car and have not had to do anything but usual maintenance.
SKYPE!!
My health- I don't have any serious medical issues that prevent me to live life comfortably. I get sick and have a few things here and there...but overall I am healthy, and I am grateful.
My Education- College wasnt always something I wanted to finish but I am SO grateful I did.
All the people helping Brandon out in Dallas--there are so many and we are very blessed.
This country that we live in-even with everything going on we still have a land of opportunity and freedoms.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints- This blessing and knowledge is one that encompasses ALL of my other blessings. EVERY SINGLE ONE! I am grateful for my Savior and His atoning sacrifice and for the knowledge I have of The Book of Mormon and the Bible and that knowledge effects every aspect of my life.
Music- It is such a huge blessing to me and lifts my spirits regularly.

I have many many more blessings but I will go ahead and stop now.....this has been a long post sorry about that.... (if anyone actually looked at this lol)

WOW!

2009-11-16T23:18:00.002-06:00

It seems like the closer we get to 2010 the FASTER the months are going by!! I cannot believe it is November 16th, it feels like my brother, sister in-law and niece just left and that was last month!!

So a quick not so in-depth update.

Brandon and I went to Dallas in October and spent about 4 days there, we both really feel that is where we need to be and so he has been there the last 2 weeks networking, having interviews etc... I go up on Wednesday to see him and have an interview of my own on Thursday. Then we will drive back to San Antonio together on Friday and he will drive back to Dallas on Saturday night!

My brother and sister in-law came to San Antonio the last week in October and so we had the whole family here for a bit and it was really nice!! We went to a pumpkin patch and played with Penelope a ton, and had a lot of good food.

I have been so grateful for family and good friends these last 6+ months, being unemployed is really tough and it is nice to still feel so much love and support. My mom has been great especially while Brandon has been gone by helping me to get to work and hanging out with me.

That is my really quick update!! Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Forklift driving....and a big oops

2009-10-05T22:29:00.006-05:00

Tonight I went with my brother to his shop. He taught me how to drive a forklift and we took some things apart. He had me do some little driving/lifting exercises and then I got to ride the forklift. He almost put me and a crate onto a roof (it was pretty high up).

Then I drove the forklift while he directed me which way to go and lift etc... (sometimes proved to be difficult because I still have issues with my left and right)

Then I was driving something out of the shop and.....

Yeah, not so cool.....I didn't mean to take this apart!!

Yeah, so I pulled it out of it's track and bent it pretty good. I have to thank my brother for not getting upset. He just said "It's alright, bring the fork down and back up."

All in all it was a really fun evening--and because of the garage incident Steven said this event was MORE blog worthy than before. lol

Mormon Messages--Just what I needed tonight.

2009-09-24T23:51:00.002-05:00

I needed an up-lift tonight and decided to get onto YouTube and watch some of the "Mormon Messages" that are posted there. Here are a few that have really helped me this evening.

NOTE: If you want to hear these videos you may want to scroll to the bottom of my blog and mute my playlist, or you can click the YouTube link and open it that way.

My next project!!

2009-09-16T22:51:00.003-05:00

My mom and I each bought a kit for the following quilt, this is going to be my first real quilt!!!! I am SO excited!!! It is being shipped priority mail. To be honest quilting stresses me out because I try to make it perfect, but it is also relaxing and a stress relief which is a contradiction, but whatever.

Look how pretty!!!!

http://pinetreecountryquilts.com/displaykits.php?id=580

Recent happenings

2009-09-11T12:11:00.005-05:00

I went to the Botanical gardens with my friend Melissa and we had a photography morning. I think we are going to start up a photo group and do something like this at least every month. Below are some of my favorites (un-edited). It was fun and despite the drought things were still green and blooming. I used manual settings on all of my pictures, and for the most part they turned out pretty good.

These were just some really pretty white flowers that I thought grew in a neat pattern.

They had a really cool butterfly garden. It was cool to get all three of these butterflies in the shot. They click of my camera made them fly away a lot.

They have a "big bug" thing going on and we saw several of these types of bugs all over the gardens.

I love the reflection of the clouds in the water here and the lilly pads, I have always liked lilly pads.

Mom and I went to San Antonio's Parade of homes-- that was SO cool and the homes were beautiful!!! The tickets were $10 and you got into a charter bus and they drove you up to the homes and then we walked through 7 totally different homes and got to vote on our favorite. It will be interesting to see which one ends up being 2009's winner. The homes are in the hill country but still in the city they had beautiful views!! I love that kind of stuff so it was a blast for me.

This week has been pretty good. I started at The Loft at La Cantera Mall.

(This is not the exact store I work at, but it looks very much like this only the Fall line up of clothes are displayed in the window....this looks like the spring line up.)

My brother and Sister in-law bought their plane tickets to come in October and I am really excited about that!!

Count your blessings...

2009-09-04T01:21:00.002-05:00

I was thinking about my blessings and decided to do a little photo project of some of my blessings. With everything going on right now and the stresses it is very important to think about everything that is going right so that the weight of what is going wrong doesn't pull you down more. I am SO very, VERY grateful for all of the blessings I have and this picture does not come close to all of them.

SEPTEMBER ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-01T21:08:00.003-05:00

OH MY GOODNESS!! I cannot believe September 2009 is here already!

Let's try to catch up (there is not too much)

I got a job working from home for an online travel company/network marketing company. I do their promotions, and social networking and whatever else they need that I can do.

I also got hired at Ann Taylor Loft the location at La Cantera Shopping center. I start next week! I am excited about the job and the discount that I will get! (50% on regular priced items and 20% on sale)

Brandon has had several interviews and meetings and he is going to several networking groups throughout the week/month.

I guess that is about it for us right now.

Houston

2009-08-18T22:41:00.006-05:00

On Sunday we went to Houston with my mom to see my grandma (mom's mom). Brandon and I had not seen her since Christmas of 07 and we had a few days where it would work. We had a lot of fun. Take a look:

Monday Morning Brandon and I went with my mom and Grandma to IKEA. Brandon's first trip to that store so he is no longer an IKEA virgin!! It was fun to look around and see all the different ideas of how to do rooms in a house etc...

Monday evening we had Jacob and Kim over to talk and have dessert. It was great to see them again and catch up. When they left me and Brandon took a late night swim in the pool at grandmas place, which was a lot of fun.

Today we went to the Temple and did some sealings because it is our anniversary!! It was great and now we have added the Houston Temple to the list of LDS temples we have been in!!

It was fun to go to the temple with my mom and Grandma there too! After the temple mom took us out to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen--thanks mom! It was yummy!!

Brandon got me this necklace for our anniversary!! I have wanted it for a long time and it is fairly pricey so I was not expecting it because money is tight right now--but he totally surprised me with it!

Later today we also bought Grandma a bird, she has an aviary and was down to one bird so we bought her a boy so that the girl birdie wont be by herself anymore. The blue and white one is the one we bought the purple one is the girl.

We had a really fun trip and now we are back home. I have a few interviews this week and a couple of baby sitting jobs, so we will see how it goes!

3 Years of life with my best friend!

2009-08-18T22:31:00.004-05:00

I can not believe 3 years have gone by already! So much has happened it is CRAZY. I truly married my best friend and he is everything I needed in a spouse. I love him SO much and cant wait to see what the next 3 years have in store for us!

Married for Time and All Eternity August 18, 2006

San Antonio, TX LDS Temple

Fun Idea please let me know if you want to be a part of it!!

2009-08-13T02:33:00.000-05:00

I just started reading a book that is actually a compilation of letters, it is a really cool and I am getting a lot out of it for my life. I got to thinking of how many friends I miss and it is late....or rather early and my mind started to wander. I came up with this idea-it is a mix of other ideas I have heard of: time capsules, letters and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Did any of you have some kind of stuffed animal you took home in elementary school and wrote about stuff you did and brought it back to the class to share? If not that is ok, but my concept is similar.

I have so many friends that I don't spend a lot of physical time with or even talk to very much and I was thinking of some possible ways to get back in-touch. I thought it might be fun to send a Ty Beanie Baby around with a notebook and have everyone keep it for a few days(up to a week) and then send it on. At first it was just going to be a notebook but I think the beanie baby will add some flavor. Once it has gone around to everyone who wants to participate, or is willing to, it will come back to me and I will make a blog so everyone can see what they did/wrote.

I will put directions on the notebook and I will do my best to have everyone mailing it somewhere close, or in some cases be able to drop it off at the next writers house or something. I will choose a small beanie baby so that the package will be small and cheap to send.

I will be the first "writer" and we will go from there.

I was thinking I would have a few points for the writer to write about such as:

The day the person got it and what they were doing
Something they heard in the news (or read)
Big event happening in their life
etc....

IS THIS A TOTALLY STUPID IDEA? I know it is a bit juvenile but i think it could be really fun!!! I know everyone wont know each other (except for me), but i think that is some of the fun too....

Update and Cute Bags

2009-08-12T19:58:00.000-05:00

This month is going by quickly for me, but the days are going by slow. Brandon and I went and looked at furniture for a while today to get an idea of the $ we are going to need to save up to refurnish a place of our own. We sold and gave a way most of our furniture when we moved out to the East Coast so now all we have is a mattress, which is fine because right now we are living at my moms house.

It rained today for a little while, we really needed it so that was a blessing.

Mom and I made some cute bags a week or two ago, I really love mine it is going to be a diaper bag some day and moms is a halloween bag.

I can't believe it is already August 12th! Brandon and I will be married 3 years in just a few days and man has time flown!

I guess that is it for now. Below are the pictures of the bags!

This is the inside of my bag with the two pockets.

A close view of the front.

The whole front of the bag.

Moms Halloween bag, it is so cute!

One of my new favorite songs!

2009-08-01T00:20:00.000-05:00

I found this song recently and I think it might have made its way onto my list of favorite songs. I thought I would share it with everyone.

Let me know if you like it too!

My Love and I

2009-07-27T22:30:00.000-05:00

On a happier Note

2009-07-25T18:07:00.000-05:00

I want to thank everyone so much for the love and support that has been shown to us, it means a lot. We are doing better and are hoping that things start looking up for us after the rough few months we have had, but either way we know the Lord has a plan and purpose for us and all that has happened.

Some wonderful friends sent us some flowers from California and I want to post a picture of them because they are just so beautiful, and I want to share them with everyone. Flowers always make people simile and in the case of these flowers I cried and smiled.

On another note I finished my last 6 credits of school this week and will be getting my diploma here in a few weeks, that is very exciting for me and a big accomplishment.

As for the job hunt--it is going and we will be happy when it has stopped. Brandon and I are both applying for work and right now the search is just in Texas, we may have to expand it to other states in the near future but as of now we are still looking in the Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio areas.

Thank you again for the love and support.

Hard night

2009-07-22T23:21:00.000-05:00

Well, I announced our baby too early. I had a miscarriage, this was my second miscarriage, and we will not be expecting a baby in February.

I want to thank everyone for the excitement and joy that was expressed at our news and the support we received from family and friends, it means a lot to us and I wanted you to know that.

For Memory's Sake

2009-07-21T13:29:00.000-05:00

I found out on Thursday, July 2, 2009, that I am pregnant. I thought I might have been so I went to H.E.B. and got an early pregnancy test-Brandon wanted me to wait but I wanted to know. I thought it could be positive, but was telling myself it would be negative. It turned positive within a few seconds and I was surprised, excited and like: “for real!?”

I went into the front room where all of our boxes are and dug around to find the onsie that I had bought for this moment it said “I Love Daddy.” I bought it without Brandon knowing a long time ago-just incase-and I went upstairs. I stood in the door way to where Brandon was doing e-mail stuff and said “Brandon" (pause, pause) “Brandon, honey” he looked up at me and I was holding the pregnancy test and the onsie that said “I Love Daddy” he got a huge smile on his face and said “really?!” I said well this looks like a very positive to me! I showed him the test and we hugged and kissed for a little while.

(This is the little outfit I used to tell Brandon! It is VERY green)

The first people we told were our parents, Jared and Kashari Honsvick and Heather and Josh Wickern, and our siblings. We are very excited!!

By this point I have taken a total of 3 pregnancy tests because I really feel like I should feel worse! I didn't feel that great for the first few weeks and I kind of liked feeling sick because then I felt pregnant. Now at 9ish weeks I feel great, a little tired, but great. I am able to work out throughout out the week which is nice. The only semi annoying things are that I am not allowed to eat sushi, go in a hot tub or go to Six Flags-but those are normal no-no's.

Brandon is being a sweetheart. I have had some ligament/stretching pain and he brings me water and gives me back rubs and reminds me to eat it--is great. When he kisses me good bye he will sometimes pat my tummy and say bye to our "little midget" (that's what I call it sometimes). Brandon is going to be such a great daddy.

We pretty much have our names picked out-we'll see if they change in the next few months but we feel pretty good about them right now.

I guess that is it, I just thought I would post the story for memory's sake.

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage!!

2009-07-21T12:04:00.000-05:00

Brandon and I are excited to announce that we will be having a baby in February. My due date is February 19, 2010 and I am having my first doctors appointment in one week! I am about 9 weeks along and I am feeling great! I have been so blessed! I have had some nausea but not enough for me to throw up and the only real symptom I have had is that I am tired ALL the time, oh and I am moody--poor Brandon.

Hopefully next week we will have a sonogram to share with everyone. According to my baby update that I get every week the baby is the size of a grape--it is amazing how quickly these babies grow in 9 months!!

Happy Birthday Honey!!!

2009-07-18T18:30:00.001-05:00

Today my husband turned 25!

I am so grateful for him. He is such a strength to me and a wonderful support. He is so talented and has so many strengths that I admire. We have so much fun together and he makes me laugh every day. I feel so blessed to have found him this early in my life and blessed to have been married in the temple almost 3 years ago.

Today we had a small birthday celebration by Brandon, me, mom and Miguel Alba going to the new Harry Potter movie and then we came home and Steven joined the 4 of us for the cheesecake and opening of a couple presents/cards.

I love you Brandon, I am grateful for the love and friendship you give me and I hope you have a wonderful day!!

What a week!

2009-07-17T16:54:00.000-05:00

This week I have been watching a 5 year old boy from 6am to about 5:30-6:00 every day but Thursday. I wake up and drive over to his house at 6 and get to lay down for about an hour before he wakes up. Then we do stuff like the pool, splash park, movies, coloring, tracing letters, games etc... until I take him home. It has been very tiring. He is a sweet boy and very happy but it is very tiring.

Brandon and I are finally getting somewhat used to being back here and re-aquatinting with old friends as well as trying to make some new ones. We have been going to the LDS Employment meetings and we went to a week of workshops in the Dallas area as well. We know the Lord has a plan for us we are just waiting for him to show us the way.

We are so very very grateful for my mom and dad for their help and support as well as the support of Brandon's family.

On Monday I have finals for school and I am so excited to almost be done! With everything that has happened this semester: losing our jobs and health insurance, moving twice and a bunch of other things I am happy to say that I have solid B's in both of my 300 level classes! My diploma will be mailed to me from Brigham Young University-Idaho within a few weeks!

Hope everything is going well for all of you who may still read my blog--not really sure if anyone looks at this much anymore but it is fun to do anyway.

Anniversary Tickers

God Bless America!

2009-07-03T15:45:00.000-05:00

I am so grateful for this country!! I am so grateful for the freedoms and liberties we have and for the men and women in our armed forces who give their lives to protect and defend the country.

Back in Texas!

2009-06-10T22:03:00.000-05:00

Well we made the drive to Texas from Virginia. Usually I am the driver for our trips but Brandon did most of the driving this time! He did such a great job and we were towing a Uhaul- he even drove a 14 or 15 hour day!!! It took us 2 and a half days to get here and we had a lot of rain & fog the first day- it was kind of freaky. The second day went great and we stayed over at my aunt and uncles house. All in all it was a really good trip and it is nice to be back and to have the support and love from all of our family and friends.

Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

2009-06-01T17:53:00.000-05:00

Brandon and I went to the Washington D.C. Temple this last weekend. We really needed it with everything that has been going on and it was wonderful to serve.

I have tried to take a picture of Brandon and I at every temple we have gone to together. Here are all but 1, I don't have a picture of us outside the Salt Lake City Temple but we have been to it together.

Washington D.C. Temple we went with our wonderful friends Bryan and Apryl May 2009

Dallas, TX Temple when we went and attended our friends wedding May 16, 2009

Rexburg, ID Temple

San Antonio, TX Temple We were married there August 18, 2006

Idaho Falls, ID Temple (In the background)

The Latest

2009-05-29T18:39:00.000-05:00

I know I have neglected this for a while but things here have been quite crazy! To keep the story short the economy has now effected us and things went south with our jobs (we worked for the same company) and we are now going to move to Texas (My home) to find jobs. We will be moving to San Antonio and I will get a job there while Brandon looks in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and possibly Houston. The most likely of those cities is the Dallas area because it is a huge hub for jobs in his field.

With everything that has happened kind of stinks but we have been very blessed with the support of our family and friends and we know this is all for a reason.

That's it for the update, we will probably be in Texas by next weekend.

LOTS of Catch up!!!

2009-04-25T17:57:00.000-05:00

I don't have time to update everything or add half of the pictures I took so I will do a skim for you. My parents, brothers, sister in-law and niece (along with my in-laws) made it to our graduation from BYU-Idaho. We had a wonderful time together and a nice dinner with everyone at Brandon's aunts home. My birthday was great I got several wonderful gifts and you couldn't beat the company I had. We went on a beautiful walk/hike near Mesa Falls. The family left on April 14th and Brandon and I packed like crazy, we were very grateful to have Jared help us and Rhett help us on the last day. Then we drove from Rexburg to Denver, Denver to Marionville, MO; Missouri to Louisville, KY; Kentuckey to our home here in Mechanicsville, VA!!! It was a lot of driving (2,520.8 to be exact) but we are here and safe.

Below are some fun pictures of graduation, my birthday, and the trip to Virginia. I am working full time now and taking 6 credits of on line courses so I can completely finish and make my graduation real. I may not have time to update very much anymore but I will do my best!

GRADUATION Weekend!!!

Me and Brandon

I was in the graduation Choir.

The Morris family!!!

Penny playing with Uncle Steven.

Mimi came and played on the slide...

Playing with a puppy!

At the Green Canyon Hot Springs

Brandon and I outside the Rexburg LDS temple.

We didn't have a table anymore because of selling things/packing.

MY BIRTHDAY!!!

Snowball race

Mom, Dad, me, Brandon

Jared and Brandon

Tuckered out after the hike and lunch.

THE DRIVE!!!

Idaho

Wyoming

Denver, Colorado

Kansas

St. Louis, Missouri

Kentucky

Charleston, West Virginia

Charlottesville, Virginia

My Weekend in Utah!

2009-03-23T21:58:00.000-05:00

I went to Utah this weekend to pick my sister in-law up from the airport and go to a college roommate reunion and I got to see my niece as well!!! Here are some pictures!

Did you Know.....

2009-03-20T01:04:00.000-05:00

This is really interesting to watch and it makes you think about what type of individuals we are going to have to be at home and especially in the work place. We cant just study one thing and expect to make it you have to become life long learners and specialize in several different areas and adapt to change and grow more than ever. Very cool video.

Kashari's Bridal Shower

2009-03-14T17:29:00.001-05:00

I gave Kashari a bridal shower today. It went really well. I did three games and then Kashari opened presents. The first game was where she had to answer questions about Jared and if she got them wrong she had to put a piece of Bubbleshous gum in her mouth. Then we did toilet paper wedding dresses and Kashari was the judge of the winning team. The last game was one I hadn't played or heard of until my bridal shower in Texas. We blindfolded 3 girls and had a thing of make up and a bag of clothes the story is "All the lights went out and you have to get Kashari ready for her wedding." They were not allowed to ask questions like "where is your hand" and they couldn't talk to each other. It was pretty fun. After the games we opened presents and talked. I think it went pretty good.

I made two batches of muffins and cookies and printed some pictures of them off at Walgreens and put them in one of my frames to display. Kashari kept the pictures but I kept my frame : )

Kashari eating the first muffin.

The bubble gum game

Kashari with all 10 pieces of gum in her mouth.

The wad of gum!!

Toilet paper dress 1 (the team that won)

Toilet paper dress #2

Bridal shower group- minus me...I HATE that I forgot to get me in a picture or two.

Getting ready for her "wedding."

She is looking pretty hot!

Kashari and her 3 blindfolded babes.

Presents!!!

Kashari and her loot! She looks amazing huh!!

It was really fun and she got some really nice things a picture frame, some bath and body works stuff, mixing bowls, Pyrex bake ware, and a little something for the honeymoon.

Oops

2009-03-09T12:42:00.000-05:00

I forgot to Post about Valentines day!! Here are some pictures of what we did and then at the bottom of this post you can read about it! : )

On Valentines day Brandon, me, Jared, Kashari and Jake (Jared's brother) went snowshoeing and had a fire/picnic. It was a lot of fun!! We were going to try and go down to some falls near where we were snowshoeing but the road to it was closed off and it was about a 12+ mile walk/hike one way and it was around noon when we got there...so we decided to just do our own thing. Here are some pictures of our fun day.

We are moving and selling several items

2009-03-04T12:43:00.001-06:00

This blog post is mainly for the people that are asking me for pictures of the items we are selling through our school bulletin. We are moving to a furnished home in VA and to cut down on our moving costs we are selling a lot of items.

This is a black platform bed we are selling for $200 OBO it was bought new in October 2008

This is the bed with our mattress on it-the mattress is also for sale, for $600 we bought it new in October and it is a memory foam mattress (we payed a little over $1,000 for it).

TV Stand $50 OBO

Black Dresser $150 OBO

Desk $65 OBO

20" TV works great has VCR and has hook ups for media players $50 OBO

Coffee Table $30 OBO

Create!

2009-03-01T22:39:00.001-06:00

I think this is a wonderful message no matter what your religious beliefs!

Hope you enjoy!

I am pretty Excited!!

2009-02-26T15:45:00.000-06:00

I am excited for a couple of reasons:

I just finished folding, addressing, stamping, sticking and licking our graduation announcements!
I got Midterm grades yesterday and I am doing pretty well! I have 3 solid A's, two B+, a C+ and a C- and 1 D....Before you freak out about the last 3 grades you should know that more than 50% of my grade for the two C's comes in this second half of the class AND I already talked to my teacher that the D is with and he and I are both confident that I will do well and pass with a C or higher!

Now for MORE exciting news Brandon and I are planning our 3 year anniversary trip/late graduation trip! Take a look at these pictures and see if you can guess where we are going...

We are going to go to Orlando Florida to go to Discovery Cove and Bush Gardens!!! We are going to swim with a bottle-nose dolphin as well as snorkel in a coral reef with rays and tropical fish!!! The picture of the hotel room is what our room actually looks like and the hotel room is a GREAT price ($89 a night) full breakfast is included at the hotel! I am really excited!

2 1/2 Years of marriage!

2009-02-17T19:59:00.000-06:00

February 18, 2006 Brandon proposed to me, and six months later we were married! I thought it might be fun to do a photo recap of the last 2 and 1/2 years of marriage. I feel really blessed these last couple of years. Brandon is such a wonderful husband and makes me laugh every day he makes dinner almost every night, and takes me out on dates almost twice a week-basically he makes sure that I know that I am loved, and I hope he knows how grateful I am for him.

Us in Texas during our engagement. My mom took all of our engagement pictures. : )

Funny picture of us at our wedding....we both look so funny!

August 18, 2006

December 2006- Our First Christmas together

This is us in front of the Denver, CO LDS Temple on our way back to Idaho after spending the 2007 summer in Virginia.

Pictures that our friend Jared took at our 1 Year anniversary in Glen Allen, VA.

Another 1 year anniversary picture.

Us at Virginia Beach the summer of 2007

Maymont Park Summer of 2007

Christmas 2007 in Texas!

Our 1 1/2 Year mark

Snow-skiing and snowboarding winter of 2008- our Friend Jared is the one taking the picture and the one who's legs are framing the image!

Us at a NASCAR race in Richmond, VA Summer of 2008!

Us on Valentines day 2009- Me being really silly : )

Valentines day 2009- we went snowshoeing!!

I am so grateful for the time we have had already and am so grateful that we can be together forever!

I got tagged!

2009-02-13T11:57:00.000-06:00

I got tagged by Brittany, so here it goes:

7 Things I can do-

Answer the phone and make it sound like I haven't been asleep (only a few people can tell when I am faking this-my dad taught me)
Handle stress pretty well- most of the time my only "symptom" of stress is not eating
Snow ski- I am not great but I do pretty good and when we have money it is fun to go
Procrastinate- I am really good. If anyone needs tutoring in procrastination I will take you out away from your responsibilities and teach you, but not today. : )
Sing- I used to be a lot better- I just need to practice more
Roll my tongue
Sleep whenever I want in almost any position- I learned this on family road trips and it comes in handy. My parents used to tell me that the trip is faster when we sleep so I trained myself to sleep, often times my brothers would not let me sleep on them (or touch them) and so I would have to figure out how to do such without touching them. I now realize that they might have done this because of how much I move in my sleep.

7 Things I cant do- (currently)

Play the piano- I quit lessons when I was 8ish and now the only thing I can play is Mary had a little lamb with the three notes...I wish I had stuck with it.
Make it 2 days without looking at pictures of my niece
Sew/Quilt like my mom- the things she makes are truly works of art, I am SO glad we have a few!!
Touch my toes without bending my knees
Make it through 3 hours of church without borrowing someone's baby
Pluck my eyebrows- I hate it! I have to go have them waxed. I LOVE getting them waxed but plucking hurts too much and then my eyes water so much that i cant even see what i am doing- they hardly tear up when I wax them....it's weird.
Give a massage over 10ish minutes...I blame this on my popping knuckles habit. : (

7 Things I say often-

I love you
You know?
like
um
I'm sorry- I say this too much, often at times where I don't need to feel sorry but I feel awkward or like I am an inconvenience.
whatever
I'm going to take a nap

7 Things I love about Brandon-

He makes me laugh like crazy
He cooks most of the time
He notices the little things I do (and the big things too)
He is a social person- which is nice because I am too
He encourages me to do things for me- dye my hair if I want, get my hair done, have a girls night, etc...
He has been the only reason (at times) that I am actually finishing my degree. When it would have been easier (financially or just in general) for me to quit school and work he wouldnt let me (even though I offered and even said I would rather work than go to school) and I am really grateful to him for that.
It is so adorable to watch him with children! He is going to make a really good dad someday.

7 Favorite Foods

Cereal
Oatmeal Pancakes
Wheat thins dipped in Nutella
Da Pineapple Grill Sushi
White Chili soup
Steamed Asparagus
Tender steak

I tag: CarolAnn, Jeremy &/0r Emily, Mom, and Stephanie