Big and Little Criddle

1000 Pieces of Misery

2012-01-08T18:59:00.003-07:00

We finally finished our New Years puzzle! It was 1000 pieces of misery. We got it for the Christmas theme not realizing that because it's from a painting, about 947 pieces were all the exact same cloudy purple/gray color. Regardless, here is our proof of completing it. Now to destroy it and never even consider trying this puzzle ever again!

Happy 2012!!!

2012-01-03T22:04:00.000-07:00

These last few weeks have been so amazing! We have had the opportunity to spend so much time with each of our families. I feel so blessed because of it! That was my Christmas gift :) All of Jon's siblings were in town the last few weeks of December and we enjoyed the time we spent with them and his parents. It was such a blessing to be able to see everyone! We were able to get our family pictures taken too!

Other things we did as a family: we went to Galveston to see the lights at Moody Gardens, decorated sugar cookies, lots of family dinners, watched a few movies, spent Christmas eve together and acted out the nativity story.

Last week we spent our week in NH to see my family. We left on Christmas day and got back New Year's Eve. It was the most successful trip we've ever had. What I mean by that is we were able to go over to each of my sibling's homes and spend time together multiple times. Usually we're lucky to go over 2 of their houses. I have 4 siblings and they all live within a half hour of each other. We stayed at my dad's house and were able to spend quite a bit of time with him.

There was one day that Jon and I took a walk around my dad's home. About a mile down the road there is a farm. So, I took Jon over there and we fed the cows and some donkey's too :)

Many of you know that we are sort of cat people... or at least we always say that I (Crystal) married a crazy cat lady :) However, for me, I have always loved cats. My family had cats for as long as I can remember. There is a cat that still lives with my dad and her name is, Pickles. My mom gave her to me when I was in the 4th grade. I'll do the math for you. It was in 1994!! She is 18 years old!! We would've brought her to TX with us when we first moved here, but I am afraid she wouldn't make the trip. After seeing her this time, I can't imagine that she has much time left. She is a special cat and Sookie has a lot to live up to :)

We were also able to spend quite a bit of time with our nieces and nephews too. My oldest nephew, Seth, was getting ready to leave for BYU-I while we were out there and it was special to celebrate that with him. We played Apples to Apples with all the kids and one of my nieces, Serena, loved playing it with Jon. It was really cute :) I apologize for the lack of pictures of Jon... I kept trying to take his picture, but it turned into him taking the camera and taking a picture of me instead... figures.

L-R: Madison (12), Serena (9), Shannon and me

One of the night's we had our family Christmas party at my sister Leah's house. This is a picture from that:

My dad is on the couch next to my sister's mom-in-law and some of the grandkids in the room getting ready to play "grabbies".. oh! There's Jon in the very right corner well.. his arm and hands at least :)

Our last night there we went to my brother Scott's home and watched the BYU bowl game there. Scott was kind enough to record it so we could all watch it together at night when everyone was available. It was so fun. While Jon hooted and hollered during the game, I brought my straightener to do hair for my sisters and some of my nieces :) It was a really fun time.

I am so grateful for our families. It doesn't matter how we spend our time together- just as long as we DO spend time together. I am grateful for this season and for the opportunity I have to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I am thankful for eternal families and for the knowledge I have of the gospel that we will be reunited with those who have passed on.

2011 - The Year of Travel

2011-12-23T21:43:00.000-07:00

With the date of our anniversary where it is, I have an opportunity to review the ending year and the great times with Crystal all in one post. Each year for Christmas we purchase a new ornament that has special meaning to us regarding the events of that year. As you can see from the picture above and post title, we have dubbed 2011 "the Year of Travel".

As has been documented many times on this blog, my work schedule this year had me travelling quite a bit. With the economic climate I am happy to have a job and to go wherever I am needed, but I really would have preferred to spend more time at home. I split my time living in Houston with Atlanta, Tulsa, and Milwaukee. Pictured below is a screenshot from my phone of my itinerary for an average work month. I'd like to also add that each 'Reservation' below is not a single flight but a round trip over the course of the week.

Thought I was constantly gone, we were able to remain somewhat close with Skype chats each evening. With all this business travel and Crystal being left at home alone, we had to find some enjoyment in the travelling.

Rather than flying home one weekend in Milwaukee, Crystal was able to fly up and spend some time touring with me.

The Racing Sausages of the Milwaukee Brewers

Weekend road trips to visit friends are always welcomed.

Delicious Puffy Tacos...
I ate enough in Tulsa to get my picture on a wall - I'm sure C's so proud...

I'm noticing a food theme here...

We were even able to visit Oz.

Wishes for the Wizard (R to L): Courage, Home, Heart, Brain, Height

Now is where I can take a small moment to be serious. Crystal, the past 5 years have been the best of my life and I am so excited for all the years to come. Every day with you is a great adventure that I look forward to. I love you and can't wait to enjoy endless more anniversaries together.

Celebrating our anniversary today by going to the Houston Temple

We hope you all had a spectacular 2011. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (hopefully with less travel)

Can I get back on the boat, please??

2011-11-22T08:59:00.001-07:00

Ah, a wonderful vacation has come to a close. We returned safely home on Saturday, Nov. 11th.. It was a fantastic adventure! It was filled with a lot of warm chocolate melting cake and so many great memories. I hope this post can capture it all. It is lengthy... so skim it if you want :)

Nov. 7th we got up and headed to the doctor's office for some blood work. We were in and out very quickly and we had quite a bit of time on our hands before we needed to head down to Galveston. We decided to join the old people at a nearby mall and walk. We saw a lot of ankle weights :) It made me smile.. and we shared some laughs. We then headed to Target to pick up some last few items. We then headed to the boat. On the way we had a quick pit stop at a gas station.. and I kid you not.. there was a guy trying to fill up water bottles with gas... I hope that went well for him... yikes. Note to self: never.ever.do.that.

Our boat was the Carnival Triumph. We arrived to the port and we had absolutely no wait whatsoever! It was amazing!

First thing we did was check with maitre'd to see if we had our own table and he confirmed it with us. Little did we know that meant that our table was moved less than 6 inches from another table. After that, we headed to the Lido deck and had a nice lunch while watching dophins in the water. We wandered the boat getting to know what floors were what and where different things were. Around 2:45pm I finally recieved a phone call about my results, but I will save that for a little later. We then had "mustering" around 3:30pm. We all had to stand around packed in like sardines learning where the life jackets and boats were and where we would need to go. After that, we sailed off. We were so excited! Both of us even more so because Jon was able to shut his work phone off :) Commence 5 days of no worry and lots of fun!

After we ate dinner that night, we were wicked tired!! We didn't even bother to go to she show- we could barely keep our eyes open. We felt like old people! Haha... then again.. we had gotten up really early that day to finish packing and get to doc office. That was our excuse :)

Tuesday was a sea day. We went to the gym and worked out. After about 10 mins on the elliptical, Jon felt sick because of the motion in the ocean while trying to move on the elliptical. Running on the treadmill or elliptical is a very weird thing when you are moving on the boat. If the boat is moving, you may not land back down on the treadmill straight (esp if the waters are extra choppy). I've been lucky and it has never bothered me. Jon took some time to rest and he was fine later on. Later we played mini golf (very windy). It was such a nice day out too.

That night was formal night, Jon wore a tux and everyone raved about my awesome pink shoes.

After dinner, we changed and watched HOP on the deck... glad we didn't pay for it. Then we went to the show. We were wicked tired again.. at least I was. I was falling asleep. I can't even tell you what the show was... but I am sure there were lots of frilly outfits with feathers :) We ended up leaving early because Jon was falling asleep too. How ridiculous...

Wednesday was our first stop: Progresso. We had no planned shore excursions. We saved up enough for the cruise, parking at the port and all the gratuities. We figured that if we found something we could afford, we'd do it. Otherwise we would just wander the ports and go into local shops. We got up and got ready and we got off the boat. You had to walk through a store and then you exited to a free shuttle that took you into town. It was a very humble place.

It made me very thankful for all of my many blessings. There were a lot of markets, people trying to give you a massage on the beach and trying to have you buy stuff from their shops. We found a park with some art and statues and wandered around there.

Jon trying to have a 'stache

"I'm thinkin'"

We headed back to the shops where the shuttles dropped us off and we payed a dollar to hold a massive iguana. It was wearing a shirt!! Who wouldn't want to hold that thing??

We headed back and got back to the boat. Exercised. Jon did much better because we were parked and the boat wasn't in motion. We hung out on the deck after lunch and read books and just layed out in the sun. It was nice.

The boat was empty too- so not a whole lot of people hanging around because they were all still out on the port.

After dinner there was a game in the main lounge called 60 Seconds or less (aka: minute to win it). Jon was one of the 3 guys to be chosen to play and he rocked the house - he was the fan favorite. For the rest of the night he had people coming up to him telling him how amazing this or that was. Hehe... awesome. They had to drink enough club soda to be able to tilt the 12oz can on it's side and have it stay staying for a few seconds, they had to put cookies on the foreheads and get the cookies down to their mouth without it falling 2 times, they had to stack cups into a pyramid and then put them all back into a single stack and then the last one was blowing a feather in the air for a minute. Jon survived to the very end :) He was amaze-sauce!

The show that night was the magic show, some of the exact same tricks (and stories) from the last boat we were on :)

Thursday was Cozumel. No shore excursions planned again. Heard about a decent museum and asked at the information booth. We were told to go downtown by taxi. The guy circled the museum on the map and we felt all proud of ourselves for figuring it out. Museum was $4 and overpriced at that. They had a bunch of stuff left over from the "day of the dead" celebration and other old artifacts and a lot of things that looked like props for a play. There was even a Mayan display. After coming home we found out we went to the wrong museum- haha!

Donut?

After the museum we explored the rest of downtown before returning to the boat. There was a coke truck where pepole were lining up to get free stuff and it sprayed water on you... we got 2 free waters... lol. We picked up delicious Mexican Vanilla. Jon was all mad because he got shortchanged in pesos (He still owes me 3 more pesos!!!). Favorite quote from Cozumel from someone trying to get us to go into his store "Same junk! Less money!" lol.. we don't think he meant to call his stuff "junk".

old school mentos commercial... lol

Jon showing off his dance skillz

When we returned to the boat we ate a late lunch and then worked out. I know we wandered around and hung out on the deck. That night at dinner I was just so full!! I didn't even get dessert. We headed back to our room and I was surprised... on the bed was a cake and a rose. Jon bought it as a surprise to celebrate our 5 year anniversary (one month early). It was really sweet of him. I was also secretly glad that I hadn't eaten dessert at dinner- haha!!

Anyways, that evening was the talent show. It included everything from Kermit the Frog impersonations to Michael Jackson dance moves (skillz!) to a poker dealer belting the song 'Let It Be'.

Fri - Final sea day. Jon knew better than to exercise... I ran six miles. It felt great!! We did a lot of R&R and played a lot of yahtzee (my fav game to play at the moment... I blame bunco!)

At dinner that night we learned about a guy who died on Tuesday during dancing (where we planned to go until we passed out during the show). He was only in his 30's! I guess he had a heart condition that he knew about. How sad!

Saturday came and we were sad to leave. We were actually in the last group to leave the boat. After we ate breakfast we headed to a table and played our last games of yahtzee on the boat. As we were leaving, the cruise director came up to us and he still remembered Jon from 60 seconds or less. That was nice. We then had to return to real life. I am thankful that we came back on a Saturday because Jon still had some time before he had to fly out to Milwaukee again.

Okay... so you made it through the post!! I didn't want to break it up into parts... if I did that I would never finish it!!

So, I have had a lot of you asking me what the results were. Well, I had taken quite a few at home preggers tests and they were all negative. So, the day before the doctor's I got out all my frustration, cries and whatever else. I already knew what the results were going to be, but you always go in for the blood test just in case, right? Anyways, when I was on the phone with my doc office, I actually was able to talk to my doctor himself. He was just apologizing up and down and we talked for a good while. So, sadly, the 3rd round of cycles was negative again. It was hard to hear, but I am glad we had 5 days ahead of us of cruising. We needed it. Heh, at the museum in Cozumel there was a story about the goddess of pregnancy and there was a statue of her... Jon told me to rub her belly for good luck :)

Last thing to the post, promise. We had an appt with our doctor yesterday and due to our life time infertility maxes we are planning on doing ivf in 2012. If we continue to do IUIs we will run out of our maxes and then we'll have to start paying all out of pocket. We are waiting until all the major hollidays are over. They close their lab down during the week of Christmas anyways. However, there are a few things that could change our plans:

1. if we get pregnant on our own (which is obviously be the ideal situation) but pretty unlikely
2. if our insurance doesn't give us the go ahead.

The insurance guru at the doc office went over our insurance's policies. Because the coverage is so good for infertility treatments, they have a lot more pull on what they allow or not. Usually, they will only give the green light to IVF if you have done 3 rounds of IUI... I've only done 1 round of IUI.. but I've done a total of 3 rounds with meds and injections. So, we will have to wait and see. The insurance company should get back to my doc office by next week with their answer. So, it is possible that we might have to do IUI 2 more times.. and maybe we'll get preggers with that. I guess I am just hoping that if we don't get pregnant on our own.. that the insurance company will feel a little generous and let us go ahead with IVF... tis the season for giving... right?

Bon Voyage!

2011-11-07T10:55:00.001-07:00

We are about to sail away in a few hours and we are excited! Bring on the adventures! Sorry if the pics arent straight... It is from my phone... :)

Honey?

2011-10-29T21:43:00.003-06:00

With Crystal posting blogs so much recently I wanted to take my turn and write a quick note. My life during the week is busy and uneventful with all my travelling going on. When I get home on Thursday night, all I want to do for the weekend is relax and enjoy being home. I spend all week being gone so I want to spend as much time on the weekend actually being in the house that I work so hard for. The only downside to this is with Crystal being cooped up at home all week. She only wants us to leave the house when I'm back. We usually find a good compromise.

During the week I am way too busy to follow regular tv shows. By the time I eat dinner and get back to the hotel, it is usually in the vicinity of 8-9pm. I then (sometimes) try to get in a workout and watch an episode or two of Star Trek: The Next Generation on my laptop (supernerd, I know...) before video chatting with C at 10. We try and wrap up before 11 and I go to bed as soon as I can after that.

Thank goodness for the DVR which allows me to still follow the shows I care about (Biggest Loser, Big Bang, Bones, etc). While I realize I can track all these episodes down online, they are available only temporarily and I am paying for the convenience of the cable company to figure this all out for me.

This evening Crystal got a call from her family to update her on the blizzard (10 inches and counting!) and I took the opportunity to watch one of my recorded shows that she doesn't care to see anyways. To my dismay, the first 50 minutes of the show were of the world series going into extra innings and I only got 5-10 minutes of what I wanted to see. Now I love sports more than the average man, but let's be honest: watching a recorded sporting event, with only a passing interest in either team, when you already know the outcome, is painfully boring.

This exact scenario is the reason we gave up trying to follow The Amazing Race and Undercover Bosses. 60 minutes always went long because of a prior football game and I got sick of tracking down episodes online just to see the last 15-30 minutes. In my moment of frustration, I decided to lodge my complaint with the cable company which will remain anonymous.

As the website does not allow users to email in a comment or complaint, I clicked the button to chat with someone. My specific complaint being, I am paying more than they deserve money for their services, tv guide information, and dvr access. These things are supposed to happen automatically. When they refuse to update the tv guide when sporting events, breaking news, etc cause channels to push back their shows, any recordings I had planned become a waste of dvr space. It seems so simple to push out a tiny update to the tv guide for one channel. It is not uncommon for them to send us messages through the dvr receiver already.

Apparently it's not that simple...

I chatted with a nice lady named Honey (Honey?!?). Don't worry, I was very kind and polite. I just wanted my voice and complaint to be heard. I did not actually expect any resolution. Her solution was for me to reset the entire receiver anytime there is a delay on a channel with a show I might be interested in. I explained that I required the dvr because I travel weekly and cannot constantly monitor shows (or reset it on demand!). That's why I pay them to take care of all that for me. Her response was then for me to call sales and ask them :)

The reason for this long story was to show how our conversation ended. Because she had no answer for me, she tried to butter me up at the end.

Then it started to get a little strange...

Then it got even stranger...

So I humored her.

Anywho, that's where our conversation ended. Crystal and I had a really good laugh at how casual that conversation got in a hurry. Maybe it's a new call center tactic?

Only four more weeks of travelling for the rest of the year!

We survived!!

2011-10-24T17:55:00.000-06:00

This picture was taken before we headed into the IUI procedure on Sunday.

We got to the doctor's at 8am. They needed to collect a sample before we did the IUI. However, being Sunday, they were short staffed. There was only one nurse who was there that acted as the receptionist and then there were only 2 doctors. We didn't end up getting called back into the examination room until 9:30am. I was a little nervous but I figured that I had been giving myself shots for the last week and that I could do this no sweat. I was just so thankful that Jon was there. It really made it so much easier.

One of the Dr's came in. One of whom I've never met- Dr. Williams. He was really nice and friendly. The nurse was in the room too and she came over and showed me the vial of the sample just to confirm my name and birthdate... didn't want to end up with someone else's sample!! Jon and I joked about that last week. "what if they mix up samples and we have an asian baby??" Haha... you never know.. it could happen!

Jon was able to be in the room and he had his own seat in the corner of the room. The doctor went ahead and started (like you would your anual exam) and the look on Jon's face was priceless when the doctor showed him the speculum. He just looked horrified. After, he said that it looked like a torture device. Then the doctor showed us the catheter that he was using and explained everything. The whole procedure took only a minute and I kid you not, other than the speculum... I didn't feel a thing. After it was over I had to lay there for about 15mins. They set a kitchen timer so we would know when to leave.

Then thismorning, Anne (Jon's mom) was able to come with me. I was really thankful to have her there with me. The same thing went down for the IUI but it was another doctor (Dr. Witz) that I barely met yesterday when I was leaving the clinic place. He was really funny. He came in and introduced himself and then was talking to the nurse.. I wasn't sure when to introduce Anne, so I just waited a little as he was getting siutuated. Then, Anne introduced herself and he looked at the both of us and he said:

"this is one of the reason's why I love my job. You get to tell people, 'my mom was there when I got pregnant!' or in this case 'my husband's mom was there'"

Anne and I cracked up laughing.

Again, I had to verify the sample vial and they showed me the catheter and then it was over. I was grateful that both doctors made me feel comfortable and relaxed. I wasn't stressed out and I am hoping that this will bode well.

I know that I have been very open about documenting this and you are all going to be dying to find out what the results are. I haven't made up my mind what to do about that. I do know that having a miscarriage is a very real possibility or even a negative outcome is a possibility... but for me, writing this all down has been been very therapeutic. So, we will see. I will go back in on November 7th for a pregnancy test. Then I will decide what to write on the blog.

November 7th... heh, that's the morning we leave for the cruise. So we'll go to the dr's office and then head to Galveston to get on the boat. They will call us in the early afternoon so we won't miss the call :) The boat doesn't leave until 4pm. This will either be a celebration or mourning cruise. Either way, it is going to be a fantastic vacation that we so very need. Jon especially!! With all his travelling, he just needs down time where he can't be reached by phone, text or e-mails for work.

2 weeks!!! :)

Nothing like a weekend full of DR appts... IUI tomorrow!!

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

So, today I went into the doctor's office. I got there for 8am and when I got there there were already a few people waiting. The nurse said that there were quite a few IVF procedures today. I was fortunate enough to go in first. I barely had any wait time- sweet!!

Even with my bruised arm- the blood work was painless. She used one of those butterfly needles. Bless her :) She wasn't the best at the ultrasound. She had a hard time seeing anything on my right side. Oh well. Then she looked at my left and I had 2 good sized ones. One at a little over 20mm and the other was right under it. After it was over she said she'd call me later to let me know what Dr. G wanted me to do.

After I left I headed to the church to help clean. Jon was there and another family in the ward. I felt bad coming late, but there wasn't much I could do about it. Afterwards, we went home and then we headed over to Beth's (Jon's sister) house to babysit for a little while. While we were there I got a call from the nurse.

Dr. G wanted me to take my trigger shot between 2-6pm and then we set up an appointment for me to go in tomorrow (Sunday) morning for my first IUI procedure then I will have my 2nd on Monday morning. It's weird to go in on a Sunday and I feel bad for the nurses/doctors that have to come into work. I am really thankful that it has worked out this way though. Jon is here and in town and he can go with me tomorrow. Then on Monday Jon's mom, Anne, will come with me. I'm a little nervous because I'm not completely sure of what to expect. I've read about how it goes and it doesn't seem like it'll be a big deal. So, we'll see.

I am really excited, but at the same time apprehensive. Every thing seems to be falling into place and it is much better this time around than the other times. I looked on my patient portal where my doctor's office enter in all my stats so I'll go ahead and write them down. It doesn't look like my LH is surging (to tell if you're ovulating) but hopefully the trigger shot will do it's job and get that done.

LH: 6.31
Estrogen: 436
Progesterone: 1.67

Oh, and Andrea, because you asked what IUI (intrauterine insemination) was... here it is:

"Following intercourse, only a small proportion of the sperm ascend the female genital tract. The goal of intrauterine insemination (IUI) is to increase the quantity of sperm that reach the fallopian tubes and thereby facilitate fertilization.

Before the IUI procedure, the sperm are washed and placed into a small volume of sterile medium. This is injected directly into the uterus via a soft, thin catheter. This portion of the procedure is comparable in sensation to a Pap test. The woman is able to resume normal activity immediately after intrauterine insemination.

For intrauterine insemination to be effective, the woman must have normal ovulation, open fallopian tubes, and a normal uterine cavity. Ovulation induction with fertility drugs may be indicated for women with ovulatory disorders. The sperm of the male partner, or donor, is analyzed beforehand to determine count, motility (movement) and morphology (shape and size)."

Source: http://www.hfi-ivf.com/

One last thing... after coping the IUI stuff I decided to look up the bio's on my doctor and Dr. Secret-Keeper... one thing it said about Dr. seecret-keeper that made me laugh out loud:

"Dr.'s... clinical interests include the psychological impact of infertility treatment"

Are they kidding?? I'm no psychologist.. but I did study psychology for 4 years and let me tell you... he grades pretty low in my book with that. Sorry, I just found that a little funny :)

My Dr's full bio (this is more for my record keeping than anything else)

Dr. Jason Griffith - Medical and Practice Director

Dr. Griffith completed his residency and fellowship in reproductive endocrinology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He completed his undergraduate degree at Texas A&M University and he also earned a master's degree in physical therapy from Baylor University. After serving six years in the U.S. Army Medical Specialist Corps, he returned to Texas to complete medical school at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
During medical school, he earned the McNutt and Klein awards for academic achievement and was inducted to the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. He has published in peer-reviewed journals, as well as presented original research at national meetings. He is a fellow in the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology as well as reproductive endocrinology-infertility.

Day 11 Stats

2011-10-21T13:26:00.000-06:00

Jon made it home last night safe and sound. I love Thursdays! As he unpacked we watched a recorded episode of the Sing Off. Vocal Point from BYU is on it and they have been rockin' it. It was a good night.

So, the appointment today was much better!! My doctor (Dr. Griffith) was there and he did the ultrasound. Hands down- he is a billion times better than Dr. Secret-Keeper (that's his nickname...). Jon was able to come so that was nice. The other great thing was that the new blood girl wasn't there today and the old blood girl was- hallelujah! She took one look at my arm and was like "Woah! What has she been doing to you!??" I told you I was bruised!   I only have one good vein and the rest are real wimpy.

I have a history of having "slow going" blood so I always have to drink a ton of water to help with that. The only downside is that for my ultrasound, they want you to come with an empty bladder. I went to the restroom right before we got to the doc office and while I was waiting. The wait was longer than usual today too. So, during my ultrasound you could see my bladder.. and my doc decided to crack the "i'm a psychic" joke by telling me I'd have to make a "pee stop" soon.  Heh, nice.

Anyways, the ultrasound was much better than last time. My fav nurse, June was there too. They were all happy to see Jon.

June: "You brought a husband with you today!!"
Jon: "I do exist, I promise."
Dr. G: "Yeah, I've seen him at least 2 times- so I know he's real!"

During the ultrasound, Dr. G measured a follicle on my left side measuring in at 15mm. I have a few other medium sized ones (10 and 11) but this one is the biggest. My lining looks good and we're moving right along.   Dr. G was like "that's a beauty! Wooo-wee!! Look at that!" haha... he was all smiles and excited. Much better than the other guy that was a serious downer "yeah, looks like it'll be a while.. keep your hope alive" thanks, buddy... :) We do have a lof respect for Dr. G. He knows his stuff. Fun fact about him: he spent time in the army as a doctor.

I got my blood work back:

LH: 5.12
Estrogen: 316
Progesterone: 1.76

Today is Friday, right? So, what happens when you have a weekend and it looks like your follicles could start to ovulate? You go into the doc office on Saturday. We are listed to clean the church tomorrow too. Sorry, Jon... you'll be by yourself. I have to go to a different doctor's office too. It takes about 45mins to get there. Blah. So that'll be business as usual... blood and ultrasound. Fun. My poor arm hasn't had time to heal!! It does look much better than it did on Wednesday. Tonight I give myself a shot again and then depending on my results tomorrow I might do the Bravelle shot as usual or I could possible have to do the hcg trigger shot (to aide the ovulation). Craziness.

I'm expecting that the IUI (well, there will be two of them) will probably be some time this week. There are few downsides to that: a. Jon won't be here and b. I have no idea when both IUIs will take place. You just can't plan for it. So, if I asked someone to go with me it would be like the day before... and I would have to hope their schedule was clear.   We'll see what happens.

Well, thanks for sticking this post out. I will leave you with a picture of Sookie. She got stuck under the couch yesterday. It was hilarious. She wasn't stuck for very long, promise. LOL.. a little tight under there, eh?

Day 9 stats

2011-10-19T15:23:00.000-06:00

LH: 6.98
Estrogen: 111
Progesterone: 1.71

My visit today was business as usual: ultrasound and bloodwork. There is a new girl there who does the blood work. The other girl who used to do it is still there but she hasn't taken my blood at all this cycle. Anyways, this new girl.. I have to wonder if she's REALLY new... my right arm is seriously bruised. She's not very gentle :(

My ultrasound today was with the new doctor of the clinic (who was just added to the practice). It is usually just a nurse who does it, but on certain days this new doctor is there and a nurse sits in the room with him while he does it. This guy has the worst bedside manners of all time. Last cycle he commented on my thin lining and just looked at me and said "I just don't see this working. Our goal is to get you in and out and back to your OBGYN.. and it looks like you'll probably be with us a little longer" Nice.   I know honesty is the best policy, but there are ways to be more tactful about it, no? I even told my real doctor about this when Jon and I met with him after the negative results and he wasn't pleased. I felt like I ratted the guy out! I haven't seen the new doc since that one ultrasound last month.. until today.

My heart sank when he walked in. The nurse usually moves the screen so I can see what she's looking at and she'll explain everything. This guy is like Dr. Secret-Keeper and keeps the screen to himself.  He just makes an already awkward situation even more awkward. A nurse (old blood girl) was in the room just standing in the corner not saying anything. The doctor was quiet through most of it. He made comments here and there "lining looks good"... more silence... then said... "right side has small follicles... hmm" .... "left side.. well.. there is a larger one... but it's only one... how much of a dose are you taking each day? hmmm" You just feel like you are second guessing the whole cycle as he sits and squashes all your hopes and dreams. Then when it was over he was like "well, just be patient... this looks like it'll be slow for you. I know we want you to be progressing more, but just be patient for now." So, again, I left the ultrasound feeling like "what just happened??"

I go back on Friday and Jon is going to come with me! Hurray! I am just keeping my fingers crossed that I will progress more.   The other thing that happened with this appointment that wasn't normal was some of my blood work. My estrogen went down a little. When they called to tell me that they said "your doctor isn't too concerned about it because it didn't drop a lot" which means... this isn't completely normal. The goal is to get your estrogen levels up... like towards 800.

Dear Body, please do what you're supposed to do. Thanks. Heart - Crystal

Lots of Dr visits

2011-10-17T15:06:00.001-06:00

This morning Jon flew out again to Milwaukee. It was so good to have him home this last week! I miss him already. So, to stop myself from getting too mushy about him being gone, I wanted to share with you something a little funny. Someone in Milwaukee wanted to play a practical joke and decided to write something on the roof of their building to give people a panic attack as they were flying into the city. Jon sees this every week and the first time he saw it he called me to tell me about it when he got off the plane thinking it was hilarious :)

The picture was from google sightseeing

Awesome. Haha!

Anyways, this week I have a lot of doctor appointments. I had one this morning. Good ol' blood work and ultrasound. I have another one on Wednesday and I'm assuming I'll have one again on Friday. I just wanted to write down the stats of today's visit.

For those of you who may be wondering what the ultrasound is for, I'll explain. It's an inner ultrasound where they can measure your lining and also measure follicles (sacs that hold your eggs and release them when you ovulate) in your ovaries. Last cycle, I had good sized follicles, but a really thin lining (which means that the chance of implantation was thought to be slim). This was due to the medication I was on. I was responding great with the follicles, but not so great with my lining.

Anyways, today is cycle day 7. My lining is measuring in at 6 (last time the thickest it got was a 3). Then I had a few follicles around 10mm. A mature follicle for someone not on meds avg around 18 and those who are on meds can get as large as 24mm.

Then here are hormone stats:

LH: 7.96

Progesterone: 1.81

Estridol (estrogen): 118

My doctor says that I am right on track and right where he wants me to be. Yay!! Finally something good! The nurse, June, who did my ultrasound was all excited. She said "you respond amazing to these injections!" So, I will continue with the shots and then go back on Wednesday morning to see how I'm progressing.

Tonight will be the first night I'm alone to give myself a shot. Mind over matter. It really doesn't hurt at all... it's just the thought of actually doing it is what sketches me out. It's not a normal thing to do to yourself... so it's natural to be sketched out... right??

Last thing.. I'm not the only one who had to get a shot today. Sookie had a doc appointment at the vet. It was her yearly visit and she had to get two shots. Heh, poor thing was all confused when we got home. She could barely walk in a straight line. Now she is passed out on the couch. I have a feeling she'll be there for the rest of the day... oh to be a cat. Life would be much more simple :)

Potions 101

2011-10-15T09:48:00.000-06:00

Beginning yesterday, I started my injections for IUI. Where I have to stab myself every night. Doesn't that sound lovely? Part of my nightly puncture process involves mixing my drugs together before injecting them... kind've makes me feel like a potions master. Jon jokes that instead of alchemy turing lead into gold... we are turning sodium chloride and bravelle into a baby :) To make the act of stabbing myself with a sharp object easier... we went to the store and got Disney Princess bandaids.

About 5 minutes after taking this picture... my shipment arrived of my entire month's dosage...

Apparently I am injecting my own weight in drugs over the next few weeks... haha. We did get 2 free ice packs out of it. There is one box not in the picture because it's in the fridge. There was a sheet showing all the costs of the medications in the box showing a total of $2,300... thanks to insurance $115.00. Insurance can stink to deal with.. but when they finally buck up and listen we really do appreciate it.

Now to figure out how to concoct felix felicis...

Proof that Jon is still alive!!

2011-10-14T09:42:00.000-06:00

I cannot tell you how awesome it has been to have Jon home this week. I feel spoiled! He leaves on Monday again... but such is life. I am so thankful for him and for how hard he works. I am really proud of him. I know I couldn't do his job!!

The best part about this week is that he had to work from home because he can't connect to his client from his work office (due to security reasons)... so he HAS to work from home.. nope.. no way around it :) He had to go into his work office today, but that's usually the standard thing for him on Fridays. Anyways, he works upstairs in the "game room". Our old kitchen table is up there (thanks, Anne for helping me get it up there!! We did good work that day!) and that's where he camps out when he works from home. Nothing to distract him up there.. other than the cat sometimes.

Here is what the set up looks like:

And yes.. those are 2 laptops you are seeing... craziness.. both for work.

He goes back to Milwaukee on Monday. However, we do have something to look forward too... he has 3 full weeks there and then we are getting on a boat and CRUISING for 5 days to Cozumel and Progreso, Yucatan, Mexico!! I found an amazing deal on VacationsToGo (they have the best prices compared to everyone else) about 6 months ago and we have just been looking forward to it! How is this all going to work out with the current infertility cycle I'm on... no idea. I'm not too worried. It'll all work out. If I need to go to the doctor the Monday morning we leave, I can do that. Excitement!!

Insurance rant

2011-10-12T15:53:00.000-06:00

I will try to be brief...
Doctor's office ordered my meds from a specialty pharmacy out of Maine that apparently isn't apart of my insurance's plan.. but they covered my trigger shot from that specialty pharmacy last month.. go figure. So, today... new drug order was put in to that same pharmacy.. we figured it was a go because they covered it last time. Specialty pharmacy called and told me that insurance told them that I had met my lifetime max in prescriptions. This = false. Me = displeased. I called my insurance and they told me that they told the pharmacy that because they have their own specialty pharmacy. This = they lied to the pharmacy and put me in a panic. I am no where near hitting my lifetime max! They've only covered 2 medications for this whole process.. I had to pay out of pocket for the others because they weren't covered. Ridiculous! So then I had to call the insurance's specialty pharmacy to see if they even offer the injectables I need and they do.. so called doctor's office to give them the news and now I wait.

Chances are.. the pre-auth on my meds won't go through in time and then we'll have to wait for next cycle. If this wasn't so time sensitive it wouldn't be that big of a deal.. but I need to start my meds no later than Friday. Anyone know how to speed up the pre-auth on meds??

Patience, Crystal... Patience!! :)

Catch up and infertility news

2011-10-11T10:11:00.005-06:00

I apologize for the lack of blogging. I just get into a rythm and forget to write! Then when I go to write, I get overwhelmed thinking there is just too much to catch up on and then I just don't do it. So, here I am trying to make ammends with our blog :)

Things that have been going on:

Jon is still traveling (surprised?)
I was able to make a small trip out to NH in June. My sister, Shannon had major back surgery and I had a free flight. So I went and visited and helped out as much as I could.
Shannon was able to visit during her recovery (even got an airport card from her doctor)
Beth's family (Jon's sister) moved out to Houston- woohoo!! We love having them close! She also took some cute pictures of us (note the picture in the post). Check out her website here.
I have been called to work with the 8-9yr old girls at church. They are so fun! I just wish I was more creative with Activity Days!! Oh well, it'll come :)

So, the other reason why I have decided to blog better is because with the infertility problems that we are facing (mentioned in a previous post), I felt that it would be a good idea to document it. There are a lot of women out there who are facing infertility and I am hoping that through documenting our next cycle will help others.

During this last General Conference, Elder Anderson talked about infertility. His talk was just what I needed. Wanting to have a family is a righteous desire and a commandment that we have been given from God. However, there are those who will not be able to have children this life but they will be blessed with that opportunity in the next life which is comforting to know. However, that doesn't mean that we should just give up hope. So, we are doing all that we can to have a family. Patience is something that I need to work on in all facets of my life, but even more so with wanting a family.

After meeting with our doctor yesterday we have deiced to start an IUI (Intrauterine Insemination) cycle with injectables. I have a "learning appointment" tomorrow afternoon to help me learn how to give myself shots. Scary!! Thankfully, Jon is home this week only working remotely and he will be able to help me. I couldn't do this without him! Then, on Wednesday I go in for blood work and possibly an ultrasound. I am excited, but nervous. I will keep you posted!

**Quick edit: for just a little bit of information. This will be our 3rd cycle with this doctor. We have been doing Letrozole and Clomid with a hcg trigger shot... so because I wasn't responding the way he wanted me to (and the end result was negative both times)- this is why we are doing the IUI with shots**

another business trip

2011-05-30T21:04:00.001-06:00

Jon is leaving again tomorrow for another business trip. This one us expected to last 5-8months. Blah! Thankfully he is able to come home on weekends.

Tonight while Jon was packing we found Sookie in his work backpack. She doesn't want him to leave either. Love you, Jon. Be safe!!!

3 1/2 months later...

2011-05-11T15:05:00.002-06:00

I am awful at this blog, sorry!

The very first week of Feb. Jon was shipped off to Oklahoma for work. He was able to come home for weekends, but other than that- he was there until pretty much the end of April. It was a little lonely over here, but Sookie and I survived :)

At the end of February Jon was able to take a small break and join me, my sister, Shannon and her husband, Ron in Disney World! Shannon and I got to run the Princess Half Marathon together. That was one of the best experiences I have ever had. This picture sums up the race very nicely :)

While we were there we also had the opportunity to head over to Universal Studios... you know... where HARRY POTTER land is!!! Heck yes! We drank butterbeer (this was SO yummy!), strolled through Zonko's, saw Ollivander find wands for some kids (you betcha... $30/wand!), saw Hagrid's hut, walked through the Defense the Dark Arts classroom.... it was amazing. All the details were spot on! My only thing I thought they could've done better would have been to make the train into an eating area. You know, walk in and you get a compartment and they have the "cart" passing by with food on it that you can buy. With either like sandwiches or whatever. That just seems genius to me... but what do I know :) We had an amazing time. Might I say... magical? :)

Then in March we felt impressed to start seeing an infertility specialist. I feel just fine putting this on the blog- so don't feel like you can't talk to me about it :). The more I talk about it, the better I feel. I underwent some major blood testing and also a hysteroscopy. They followed all my hormone levels through a "cycle" that they had to jump start to begin with. Then, this last week we went to the doc to look over all of the results and I didn't ovulate. I know a lot of people have piped up and asked "is it because you run?" I wish I had that answer. I am going to lean with the negative. I just don't have my cycle. It's very rare that I will have it without the help of medication. This has happened when I've been running and when I haven't been running, when I was overweight and at a healthy weight. Nothing points to PCOS or anything like that. Which in a way is a little disappointing, because I'd like to have a concrete reason as to why I have been going through this not having a cycle thing for the last 8-9 years. It's frustrating, but I at least know we are on the right path. Jon had to get tested as well- and that really helped nix him out of the picture. Why are men so much easier to test than woman?? Seriously! :)

Anyways, I am currently getting vaccinated for chicken pox... I never got it when I was little and that showed up during some blood tests. It's amazing what they can find out about you with your blood! Then after all of that is said and done- he is going to put me on a jump start pill so I can get my cycle and then he is going to start me on a medication like Clomid. It has a different name. I would tell you, but I can't read his handwriting... sorry. :-) He says he will have us be on that for at least 3-4 cycles and if we aren't pregnant by then- then we will talk about IVF if that is something we want to consider doing. So, for those of you who may have been wondering... this is what's going on :-)

Morning Commute

2011-01-27T19:38:00.005-07:00

With my work schedule, I typically do not have time to help post very frequently. Having said that, I thought I would take a moment share with you something from my morning commute

Going from right to left we have:

Washington
Lincoln
Houston
Joseph Smith???

It just makes my morning commute so much better each day

sorry that we've been MIA

2011-01-18T14:08:00.002-07:00

It has been a little while. So, I'll just put up a few "points" of what we've been up to :-)

-Christmas was great. We went with Jon's parents and his sister, Leanna to a nursing home to go caroling. It was a wonderful way to spend our time and to also serve others. We really enjoyed it. It was good to have Leanna home from break from BYU. We don't get to see her very often anymore so it was good to see her. We spent a lot of time over that break with Jon's family. This is the first year we've really had family to spend the holidays with. I really enjoyed myself. Also, Jon was able to take some time off from work, so that was nice that we were able to spend a lot time together.

-New Years was mostly uneventful. However, we discovered that we get a pretty good fireworks show that we can see from our upstairs windows! That's another thing. I don't remember ever seeing a fireworks show on new years... ever! So, it was really neat! New Years day Jon and I went up to Kingwood to volunteer at a marathon that I was going to run. However, with this knee injury, running a marathon was out of the question. I enjoyed being able to be on the other side of everything. I'm always the one racing. It was nice to give back :) Jon was a good sport to come and help me too.

-My dad and his friend, Eleanor were able to come to town to visit us on Jan. 7th-11th. I was so grateful that they were able to come down here to see our new home. I hope that next time I can show them more things. Eleanor had quite a few migraines so that kept us home for most of their stay. I was at least able to take them to Studio Movie Grille. That was a nice experience for them. Eleanor also wanted to look around the grocery stores. So, we spent a lot of time in the grocery stores too.

-During their visit... Jon was called to Atlanta for some training for work. Yes, that's right... during the 6" snow storm that completely shut the city down. He got into Atlanta on Sunday and ended up having to take a train to a completely different hotel. Hotel wasn't prepared and didn't have any food. So, the next day he and a few other stranded co-workers headed out to see what they could find for food. Heh, the only place open was a bar. They went in and ordered and realized their waiter had an excess amount of eyeliner on and then they noticed there was only a men's restroom... it was a gay bar. We had a good laugh when he told me. One of his co workers got a few passes made at him so he took his food to go :-) hehe. Finally on Monday night he and his co workers were picked up and taken to the convention center they were supposed to be at. He came home on Thursday night.

-Then on Saturday (15th) we flew out to see my family in NH. They also has just finished with a massive storm. 18" of snow!! Unlike Atlanta, they were a little more prepared and the area was only shut down for most of one day so we didn't have any delays or anything like that. We were picked up by my dad and we headed up to my brother Shane's house for our yearly family holiday party. It was so great to see everyone too! The only one missing was my nephew, Seth, who unfortunately had to work. We really enjoyed ourselves. On the 16th we flew home in the afternoon (super short visit). I was able to see my bff, Charlene :-) She came over to my dad's house while I was going through boxes of things that my dad asked me to look at. My sister, Shannon and her family came by for a while too. It was a great 24 hours.

-Jon found out he will be traveling for 9 weeks starting at the very end of January to Tulsa for work. He'll be home on weekends. I struggle being alone at night, but I am getting better. Today we actually got an alarm system put in. Jon has wanted one for a while and we were offered a good deal and he jumped on it. I am thankful that we got one. I will at least feel a little better at night while he is gone.

-My work schedule has now changed. I am now working M-F in the mornings instead of MWF. I figure that I can make a little extra money and this will also get me out of the house while Jon is gone.

Dear Sookie,

2010-12-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

Please stop giving me a heart attack.

Love,

Crystal

please don't mind the pic quality... we did the best we could!

4 Years of Fun

2010-12-23T19:12:00.011-07:00

Just check out this fantastic looking couple!

Today we celebrated 4 years of blissful marriage! With my taking time off of work for the holidays, we took an opportunity to go through the temple together. As my normal work schedule makes this difficult, I really enjoyed the opportunity to go with Crystal.

Afterwards we found the nativity on the temple grounds and got another picture. Aren't the lights and clouds neat?

We wanted to go to a nice restaurant for our anniversary dinner so Crystal googled (Jeff: I mean binged!!) romantic restaurants Houston. Peli Peli was the first result that popped up.

It seemed to have good reviews so I decided to take Crystal to the most romantic restaurant in Houston, also conveniently down the street from the temple.

We ate under a simulated tree that changes different glowing colors.

We were excited about our food.

Here's why:

Also because we're fans of Cupcake Wars on Food Network we got excited when we found a fancy cupcake shoppe (it was fancy, so it's not a 'shop') right outside Peli Peli. We had to buy a couple specialty cupcakes. I had eggnog flavored, Crystal got pumpkin spice.

Yum! Also note the heavenly light that seems to be shining right on the cupcakes...and my wife :)

Crystal, the last 4 years have been the best of my life. So many exciting experiences, and I am so excited for the next 4 (and the eternity after that). I love you.

"Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat..."

2010-12-20T14:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, Jon has been singing songs from the "Muppet Christmas Carol" for the last month! It's finally here though! Our favorite time of year!

The stockings have been hung on the stairs with care... Holiday cards too!

Our Christmas tree is decorated and lit... and still surviving it's daily attack from Sookie ;-) She's addicted to everything that dangles! Oh and don't mind the big wooden box on the side of the tree. I cannot wait to open it! I asked my brother-in-law, Ron if he wouldn't mind doing some artwork (he is an artist who also teaches high school and coaches HS lacrosse and wrestling) for our new home. I have no clue what it is or what it looks like. I've been dying to see it!

Decorations are hung outside (okay, so two bows and a Mickey and Minnie Christmas sign...)

I love this time of year. It's a time that we get to spend with the ones we love and a time that we celebrate our Savior's birth. This will be our 5th Christmas together. Our 4 year anniversary is this week! Another really special thing about this Christmas is that this will be the first time that I have had the opportunity to spend it with Jon's family. We will be doing a service project on Christmas morning. I love being able to give to others and helping those in need. I am excited to do something new as a family!

This last year has been so amazing and I have so much to be thankful for. Well, the last few years have been completely crazy and life changing- but this last year has just come with so many exciting new things. Jon graduating with his masters and being blessed with a great job opportunity, moving across the country to TX, living close to family, running marathons... we haven't been without our struggles, but we have been extremely blessed and I hope this next year will be just as good.

2010-12-04T06:48:00.001-07:00

Shutterfly is doing a fabulous promotion through the end of the year- blog about their deal and receive 50 free 5x7 Christmas cards! They have a ton of options to choose from- and I love love love them! Here are a few of my favorites that you can choose from...


and this last one is just because the rest of my family lives in the freezing NH :-)

Here is the link for this deal

http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

*note: Shutterfly disclaimer: "Facebook profiles/postings and private blogs are not eligible for this promotion."

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is enjoying the holidays! Sorry I am so bad at updating our blog... I will try to be better.

October where did you come from?

2010-10-24T17:51:00.000-06:00

Yeah, you can say it... I've been neglecting this blog. I guess I just feel like I don't have much to write about sometimes. At least nothing that others would find interesting. I am trying to be better about that. I will work on it, promise!

So for the month of September Jon spent his weeks in Dallas working with a client. He would leave on Mondays and come home on Thursdays. I won't lie, on my end, it was a little rough without him here. However, it gave me an opportunity to get out of my comfort zone a little bit. My ward is really good about having little activities on the side for anyone who wants to be involved. I am usually one of those girls who likes to go to things like that with other people instead of showing up alone knowing no one.

So, I signed up to be apart of a book club and I was able to go to that while Jon was gone. The first book we read was: To Kill A Mockingbird. In HS I had a few hippie english teachers who very rarely had us read the "classics" that everyone else was reading. I was in more advanced classes but always ended up with weirdos for teachers. So, this was my first time reading it and I LOVED it! I am really thankful for the book club because I was able to meet some really nice ladies and make a few good friends. Other than book club I was able to sign up for a once a month "lunch bunch" group and so far that has been really fun. We just meet up at someone's house with a dish/dessert to share and we meet new people and just hang out. Nothing fancy or anything like that.

So, as some of you may have heard, there is a new furry member of our family :-) The 2nd to last week of September when Jon was home over the weekend, we decided to get a cat. Her name is Sookie (Suki... however you want to spell it). Her being around has definitely helped whenever Jon has had to travel. She is an indoor cat too. She loves everything that dangles and her favorite toy is this puff ball on a string that she carries with her almost everywhere she goes. She's funny like that :-) Heh, note: she has a lot of hair in her ears... we joke whenever people comment on it and we always say "to better hear you" haha... okay so we think it's funny.

Last weekend our friends the Phillips came out from San Antonio to visit. We loved having them here! They have a little boy who is 2 years old and he LOVED playing with Sookie. We played at the park, watched football, the boys put up a really nice ceiling fan (thank you guys so much!), and we hit up the outlet mall and just hung out. It was really nice to be able to have good friends come and stay here. Jon and I had a lot of fun catching up with their family. Thanks for coming!

This last week, Jon was in Chicago for training. He says their deep dish pizza isn't as great as every one says. I think it was just the place they got the pizza from :-) I told him that if we ever go to Chicago- we'll go somewhere legit.

This weekend we spent the night in Huntsville, TX because I had a 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) race there Saturday (yesterday, 10/23). I will write more details on it on my running blog so I don't bore you all :-) I was able to run it in under 2 hours! My time was 1:52! I placed 2nd in my age group as well. It was a challenging course with a ton of hills.

That's all for now. Life is going well and we are settling into this new area. I am still working my job with kids and enjoying that very much. Jon is enjoying his job- we both just wish his hours were a little less sometimes. His current project will keep him in Houston for the next month though and maybe longer after that. So, I don't have to worry about him traveling any time soon.

Marathon for the Cure

2010-09-28T07:32:00.004-06:00

(just so you know, a new post is in the works. I finally found my camera cord!! So much to write about!!)

So, as most of you know, I lost my sweet mom to breast cancer in 1996 when I was 11 years old. She was a great and inspiring woman. She told us to always have a dream and my dream is to end breast cancer. This is why I run. When I don't feel like going out there and putting in miles I just think of mom and know that I can do it.

An oldie- but goodie! That's my mom on the right in the pink. The woman on the left is my Grandma howe, the woman in the chair is my Great Grandma Hunt and the little girl is my older sister, Shannon.

I have signed up for the Rock N Roll San Antonio marathon (11/14/10) and I decided I would run the marathon in memory of her like I did in SLC. However, I wanted to make it a little more special this time around. So, I decided to join Susan G. Komen's Marathon for the Cure where I have pledged to raise money for the cause.

To help kick-off my fundraising I have decided to host a few giveaways on my Watch C Run blog. I have contacted a few companies and they have agreed to donate items from their stores to show support- how awesome is that?? Never hurts to ask! I'll keep you in suspense! It is going to be really awesome!

The first one started yesterday and will end on Sunday, October 3rd. This giveaway is a piece of jewelry that my friend has donated from her etsy shop "The Dangle Shoppe". I thought this was really fitting to start out with. My mom loved jewelry. It never had to be anything fancy, but she always had something on. So, this is in honor of her. I am sure if she was still around she would be entering to win it :-) Go over to the site and enter- it never hurts to enter giveaways!

Let's end breast cancer!

Me and mom :-)

If for whatever reason you don't want to enter the giveaway but still be apart of all of this you may donate over at my donation page here. Thank you for all of your support! If you have any questions, please let me know!!

Life

2010-09-02T07:11:00.002-06:00

Sorry to keep you all waiting! It has been crazy busy around here!

Well, to answer the big question- we closed on the house on July 28th :-) After work that day I got myself put together and ate some lunch and then I was off to downtown to pick Jon up! It was the first time I have ever driven alone into downtown! Okay really... why all the left exits?? And why was my left exit like seriously less than a half mile after I changed freeways and then had to make a mad dash all the way to the left only to discover I had JUST missed my exit and had to make a HUGE circle and redo it. Heh, oh well. I ended up getting to Deloitte on my 2nd try... pathetic! We got back into the car and made it up to the Woodlands where we were closing.

It all went smoothly. No hiccups, no extra papers or anything else was randomly needed. Earlier that week I had fallen on a run and my right hand was scraped up to the max... so I guess you could say my "signing hand" was hurting... but for a whole different reason.. :-) The whole thing barely took a half hour. Amazing! Our realtor, Maria offered to take us out to dinner. Yes! We were planning on going out and celebrating ourselves, but free dinner? Score! At dinner we learned that we were Maria's last closing as she was being promoted at her job- so this was a celebration for her too. Which reminds me... I promised her some fortune cookies... better start thinking about that.

The next few days went very fast. Anne (Jon's mom) was very generous in helping us getting moved in and also helping me paint. Then, Saturday Aug 31st- we got our small moving truck and we moved the rest of our stuff in :-) It was a long but rewarding day. We had some help from a friend in the ward and he called us "wimps" for the lack of stuff we had haha... he was like "this is wimpy! You really don't have some secret truck around the corner filled with stuff?" That made me feel better because I had been feeling like we had a ton of stuff because of how it was being stored.

That being said- we have settled in nicely. I love this house. I love that I have a washer and dryer and I don't have to be hoarding my quarters all the time :-) I also love all the windows. I rarely have to turn on a light during the day. It's great. I could go on and on about stuff, but I'll spare you..

In other news- my work has been going pretty well. I actually met a lady at the gym who just so happens to be in our new ward. It felt good to sort've meet someone and then we have talked since and found out we have running in common. She brings her little girl to the gym to the kids room where I'm at and we chat there too. I tend to struggle whenever I move. When I moved to Provo from NH for the first time I broke down a lot, when we were in Arkansas I cried a lot and since we've been in Texas I've had a few meltdowns. It has gotten better though. Time always helps. I usually do well with change... if it doesn't involve moving across the country away from where I feel settled. So, meeting Erika has really helped.

I've also signed up to be apart of a book club. We are reading "To Kill a Mockingbird". Okay wait for it... I've never read it. I had some serious hippie teachers in HS and we'd read fictional books that reeked of liberal stuff and crunchy granola type things... so I was in advanced classes, but the teachers were obviously too good for the "classics" and other books like the one I'll be reading this month.

Jon has been working away on projects at work and he is officially been stamped as the programmer guy. He has been able to do a lot of good for different clients and he is enjoying his work so far. He has been pulling a lot of hours, which isn't his favorite, but that's life. I think last week he was around 65 hours? Yikes! He also just got his first traveling assignment. He will be in Dallas.. so not super far... but he is still flying out there (an hour flight). He will leave on Tuesday and come home Friday and then after that for the rest of the month he'll be gone Mon-Thurs and will be home for weekends. He also might go to Tulsa for one of the weeks too. We're not too sure on all the details. We just know how he's getting to the airport and that his hotel is close to the client's office in Dallas and there are a few other people from his office going with him. Maybe I can figure out a way to go visit him without taking any time off from work... hmm...

Okay, sorry, this post was long- but I'm glad you stuck through it! Life is good. I am getting used to living in Texas and figuring my way around everywhere. My relationship with Heavenly Father grows everyday and I am thankful for that. So, even though I sometimes have mini melt downs and am missing Utah- I will get through this and I know that we are so very blessed to be here and for how everything has gone for us so far. We have our trials and it hasn't all been easy peasy, but it has been completely worth it.

Pictures coming! I have to find the camera cord... Sorry!

Lately...

2010-07-25T20:53:00.004-06:00

Okay, so we still have one or two cruise posts left to do. I apologize for the lack of updates. We really have been busy.

Since we've been here in Houston, I got a part-time job mid May working at a local gym working in the kids room. I know, it's a little cheesy, but I have really enjoyed it. I really think it's an important position at the gym because it allows parents to have their "me" time and it's also their time to better themselves and to set an example to their kids. It's really important for them.

Jon started at Deloitte on the 12th! So far he has been really enjoying himself. This last week was a little rough (65 hour work week) but he came out on top. I am really proud of him. Fridays are his favorites. He get free kolaches. If you've never heard of them.. know this... they are very unhealthy :-) It's a is a type of pastry consisting of fillings ranging from fruits to cheeses and/or meats inside a bread roll. AKA: a glorified pig-in-a-blanket. I've never seen a fruit kolache yet.. but I have tried the cheese and sausage one. It was really good. Jon will happily treat anyone who visits to a kolache :-)

Jon and I have also been in the process of buying a home. In the beginning of June we got a phone call from our realtor about a sale going on with some spec homes (brand new, never been lived in). It was a 2 day sale and she wanted us to come check it out. We were a little leery about it and we didn't really think that we'd find anything worthwhile but we decided to go anyways just to get an idea of what we both liked.

When we got to the community we learned that the builder was lowering home costs by about $25,000 and was including all sorts of things: $5000 towards closing costs, all appliances, sprinkler system, garage door opener... things like that. We saw quite a few houses and there was one that we absolutely fell in love with. We then learned that if we were interested, but wanted to think about it a little more (that would be sort've our 'option period') we only needed to put down $100 vs the normal $1,000 that you'd expect. So, if we backed out, we'd only be out $100. We felt it was worth it and decided to do it.

We spent that next week praying about it and going to the temple. We also went around with our realtor and we looked at other properties in the area (new and older homes). We both felt really good about our decision to go with the first house and we decided to start the process. It has been an exciting time. We were approved for the home and now we are just waiting for everything to fall into place. We are scheduled to close this Wednesday the 28th!!! I am SO excited! We will have pictures once we get settled in.

Our plan is to paint on Thursday and Friday and then on Saturday we are getting a truck and we will be moving all of our stuff in. It's going to be like Christmas. All of our stuff is still in boxes from when we moved out here still and I can't remember if we got rid of this or that. It'll be a lot of fun to open up those boxes and start to get the house in order.

More updates to come!! For now, here is a picture of the house :-)

Grand Cayman Islands

2010-07-05T11:23:00.010-06:00

**Jon started this post a while ago and now that he has started work- he wasn't able to finish this. so, I have taken over and I went ahead and finished it :-) He can make edits later if he wants to.**

The cruse was full of so many wonderful experiences and memories, but I must say, my favorite shore excursion without a doubt was in the Grand Cayman Islands

Just look at this heavenly blue ocean! Does it get any better than this?

For this excursion we took the Moby Dick Tour to Stingray City. Sound like a magical fish city? Well it basically is.

Similar to the Jamaica excursion, this tour had two parts. We began by taking a boat out to a coral reef and snorkeling around looking at the different ocean life. One of our tour guides says he has made a special relationship with a local moray eel and coaxed him out of his cave to show us all

I know...we should model. It should be a crime to look this good
(note: Crystal's vest is kids sized hehe)

This is the moray eel!! It was amazing!
-Crytal Edit: heh, I love that my in-laws had a nice underwater camera. Jon's face is just priceless! "Did you see that??"

The 2nd part of our trip was to Stingray City. This is seriously a must go place if you have the chance. It's a sandbar that boats pull in to and you are able to get out the boat and get into the really warm water and you are pretty much swimming with the sting rays. This was by far our most favorite experience!

These creatures were just so massive!! They were so friendly too.

We had to make sure we weren't about to step on any of them!
At first it was a little weird to have them just swimming up next to you!

Clyde coaxing some in after feeding them some squid.

They say that getting a kiss from a stingray gives you 7 years good luck!
Pucker up!

All of us- this just shows how huge they were!!

We cannot wait to come back here! It will be a while before we will be able to again. We are really happy we were able to experience this. Heh, we did see that Deloitte has an office there... maybe we'll relocate someday ;-) Who am I kidding?? It's so expensive to live there! We'll just have to make sure to make an excuse to go down there for business and we can both go together!

Jamaica: Everting Irie, Mon!

2010-06-30T14:36:00.009-06:00

Before I take you through our trip to Jamaica I will give you a little lesson that our bus driver told us: "In Jamaica we have noa problems. We only have situations, mon. Sometimes we have some serious situations, but never any problems. When everting is all good we say 'everting irie, mon"

Hence the title.

Ever since serving in New Jersey and meeting many Jamaicans (and eating their DELICIOUS food) I have wanted to visit Jamaica. The fact that Montego Bay would be our first stop made the cruise just that much better.

Under my parents recommendation (who took this exact same cruise a few years back) we decided to try the Chukka Kayak and Canopy tour. I think Chukka is the name of the river there but I'm really not sure...

We left the boat and took a long winding bus ride through some very poor parts of the city. It was very humbling to see poverty in other countries and see how much less they have than the 'poverty' in America.

Finally getting to the (Chukka?) river we suited up and got ready for adventure.

The tour began with a mile or two kayak trek down the river. We got in our banana boats (literally) and headed downstream.

That was the kayak part of the river (obviously). Next came the canopy part. We got our of our life preservers and took a minute to look cool in front of some really tall bamboo.

Before turning into human mushrooms. Very dashing. Donning our new gear, we climbed up the side of a mountain.

We were then off into the vast unknown jungle! We would ride zip lines from jungle canopy platforms. As you can see from the pictures below it wasn't possible to see the end of the zipline. Because of this the operators/guides would yell out from the forest "WHHHHHHHOPP!!!!!" (atleast that's the best I can do to spell it). Once they heard that noise echoing through the jungle they'd shove you off the end of the platform and away you go.

After spending maybe an hour or so flying through the jungle it was time to return to the river. We kayaked another mile or two before boarding a rickety truck and bouncing around all the way back. That truck was nuts! It's bad enough that the road's practically falling off the side of the mountain but then the Jamaican guides keep randomly screaming from the back with every bump.

To any Harry Potter fans out there, Crystal described the truck ride as riding the knight bus from the Prisoner of Azkaban movie. It was even more fitting because the movie bus had that shrunken Jamaican head that was talking the whole time.

We survived the truck ride and returned to camp where we were all able to enjoy the absolute deliciousness that is jerk chicken. My family loved it so much they let Crystal and me cook jerk chicken since we have been home. Yum!

Here we are with our awesome guides (and randomly our bus driver in the back) before we went back to the boat.

Jamaican me crazy, mon!

I'm on a boat

2010-06-27T15:03:00.006-06:00

After graduating from BYU and finishing our move to Texas in this beast:

Note: This truck wasn't just for our stuff - we shared a truck with friends to each save mucho dinero on the move

We were treated to be able to go on a 7-day Caribbean cruise with my parents! I have wanted to go on a cruise for YEARS! Think about it, I eat basically constantly (thank heavens for fast metabolism) and on a cruise you just eat...all the time! Like chocolate and peanut butter or anything mixed with ketchup, I was just meant for cruising.

About to leave Galveston - Don't we have the look of pure 7-days-of-cruising joy?

We checked into our room which looked and felt like an oversized airplane bathroom (complete with the super-flushing toilet). We dropped out bags and headed up to the main deck.

Over the course of the 7 days there are two formal nights where the men dress up in tuxes and the ladies in their gowns. The first formal evening was the second day.

Kinda like Titanic...except without the icebergs and screaming and death...

Here we are at the first formal night eating dinner with my parents. Two lovely ladies and two guys who look like James Bond! Rather dashing!

Alas even over 7 days it just wasn't long enough and all too soon we returned back to Houston.

I know this is a short post, but it's simply not possible to talk about everything from a 7-day cruise and this at least gives you some pictures. I will try however. Over the course of the week I will put a single post for each of our port-of-calls on the trip (Jamaica, Kayman Islands, Cozumel Mexico) so you can enjoy them to.

Jon's all grown up... well, sort've ;-)

2010-06-17T06:27:00.008-06:00

He did it!! He graduated with his Masters of Information Systems degree! I am so proud of him! He worked so hard and he had so much fun in this major. If you are interested in learning about the Information Systems program at BYU, just ask Jon. He will sell you on it even if you've never sat at a computer ever before- he loved it that much.

His graduation ceremonies were on the 22nd and 23rd of April. On the 22nd was the big convocation in the Marriot Center. The guest speaker was Elder D. Todd Christofferson, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Before we attended that we were able to spend some time with my dad, Shane and Seth. Early in the morning Jon put on his cap and gown and we headed to campus to take some pictures before the crowds. I am so thankful we did! Then we went up on to campus to look around a little bit and we also took them to J Dawgs for lunch. A must-do outing if you have never been! I miss it already! Then we ate it up at the "Y mountain" parking lot. Pretty view!

Later we met up with Jon's parents (Anne and Clyde) for graduation. Jon was wearing a "2010" blinking light pin that my sister, Shannon sent me for the marathon/graduation. It came in handy! We were able to spot him as soon as he came in and where he was sitting. He would turn it off and then others sitting around him would tell him to turn it on and tell their parents "see the blinking light? I am sitting around there". Awesome. :-) For dinner that night the whole family went out to Jon's favorite place (and mine too!) India Palace. I felt bad because the wait for the food was ridiculous that night. We waited forever! Then, Seth was a trooper and he was willing to try the food, but I don't think he was all that into it. Poor guy. Picky eater ;-)

On the 23rd we headed up to the Bean Museum on campus. We just wanted to show Seth different things to do on campus that was free. We bumped into some of Jon's family and then we headed back home to get ready for Jon's convocation. His program was having a luncheon at the Tanner Building so we headed over there for some free food. Jon was also able to show everyone the "MISM Lounge" and where he spent most of his time. Then Jon left to head up to the Marriot Center and we followed. We met up with Anne, Clyde, & J+V. Again, Jon had his light on so I could spot him! So handy! He turned it off when he walked up to receive his diploma ;-)

That night my dad took us all out to Sizzler. The food was great! I enjoyed it a lot. Then Jon and I took everyone out to Sub Zero for ice cream. Oh my goodness. I know, it's not "Blue Bell" or Cold Stone or whatever you really like- but it was my favorite place to go for ice cream. I will really miss it! Quick! Someone open up a franchise in Houston!

The next day I believe we went to the Tulip Festival up at Thanksgiving Pointe. It was a lot of fun to spend time together and see all the flowers. Heh, Jon was a little upset though. He had accidentally locked his keys in the car. They fell out of his pocket when he reached back in to get something. We had to call the police department to come and help us out. It was free and he had all the right equipment to help us out! Some police stations swear they don't have the equipment, but they will offer to break your window for you- or they will come out no matter what to break the window if there is a child or pet in the car.

Why do I know this? Because when we got to Austin during the move- I did the same thing. Only, I had to call a locksmith and pay him $50 to do it. And! He was a million times slower than the police officer who helped us at Thanksgiving Pointe! Go figure. Anyways...

Then later we went to a play up in Orem. For the life of me I cannot remember the name of it. We had a blast though. Shane was dying laughing. His laugh made the whole thing funnier! As soon as I remember the play name I'll tell you :-) (EDIT BY JON: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)

The next few days are a little bit of a blur for me. We had a picnic/BBQ with Jon's family. We also had some family pictures taken there as well. We all had a really nice time with everyone. My dad, Shane and Seth were really helpful with helping us pack up a few things in our apartment. We really appreciated all of their help! Life was busy with graduation, family, the funeral, marathon, Jon's finals and being sick that we had little time to get it all done. Thanks guys!On Sunday morning I drove my dad up to the airport. I really enjoyed having him out to visit and I was thankful that he was finally able to meet Jon's family! It was the first time! He seemed like he enjoyed himself and I am glad for that.

I drove back down to Provo and we headed up to campus to give Seth "the tour". We also went up to the Cannon Center to have lunch. I wanted him to see where he would be eating if he came up here. We went to church and then we hiked the Y! It was awesome! We had a great time. It was a little bit of a challenging hike and I know the altitude was a kicker for Shane. I did amazingly well for having just run a marathon the week before! I am glad we got to do this before we left.

Monday morning the boys left and Jon and I were left to get the moving van and get packing and cleaning! Cleaning was really quick this time around. I had a few girls come and help me, but I had done some deep cleaning each month and it really helped it all go faster. Friends came to help us pack the truck and seriously it took them 20 minutes at most to get it all out of the apartment! Awesome! Thanks everyone for all of your help! We grabbed dinner at Quiznos and ate it on the floor of our empty apartment. It was bittersweet. Villa Rose- our first home together. We were ready for the new adventure of moving to Houston and we were really excited. We spent the night on our air mattresses and we ended up throwing mine out- it had a hole in it and I just didn't want to deal with it. We got up super early and packed up the rest of our stuff and we were off to meet Nate and Jess to start our caravan adventure!

Happy June!!

2010-06-01T10:11:00.009-06:00

Hello everyone! It was a tradition between me and my mom to always be the first to say "rabbit rabbit" to one another on the first of every month. It's supposed to give you a month worth of good luck if you are the one to say it first :) Jon and I joke about it and we try to say it to one another in the morning- or if we forget one of us usually gets a text later in the day. If you don't believe this is a real tradition- look it up on Wikipedia!

It has been a while and I apologize for that. A lot of events have taken place and we will be posting about all of them little by little. First things first- we safely arrived in Houston with no problems (hurray!) and Jon finally has his official start date (July 12th).

If you are wanting a marathon race recap you can find it over at my running blog click here for the race recap post. I just didn't want to write 2 posts about it. :-)

The day after the marathon I got a phone call telling us that my sweet Grandma Howe (who was living in Worland, WY) had passed away. At that point, things were getting crazy. My brother, Shane and his son, Seth were coming in that week along with my dad. Jon's parents had already arrived and we were in the middle of packing up our little apartment.

Me and Grandma Howe summer 2006

Shane and Seth were able to bump up their flight so they could get in on Tuesday so we could make the trek up to WY for the funeral. I met them at the airport in the early afternoon and we drove up to WY and made it in time for dinner at my Uncle Roger's home. We made it safely and the only bad thing that happened was that I got pulled over. I know. Shameful! I have never been pulled over- ever! I was lucky and got off with a warning because according the sheriff- my record is squeaky clean (hehe). Shane couldn't stop laughing. I'll probably never live that down. Anyways, we arrived and were greeted by many relatives on my mother's side and it was so good to see them all. It was obviously not the best circumstance to be seeing them, but we did enjoy ourselves.

We spent the night in a hotel at the "edge of town". Boy, did we all get a kick out of that while we were out there. Shane, Seth and I had a blast spending time together. It has been a long time since I was able to spend some quality time with them. The service was on Wednesday and we gathered again at Uncle Roger's for breakfast and then headed to the church. It was a wonderful service. My Grandmother was so kind and sweet. It there were 5 things to sum her up it would be: love for the gospel of Jesus Christ, gardening, baking, playing the piano and loving her family. She is one of the greatest examples in my life. She was a strong woman and I seriously wish I inherited her green thumb! I can't grow a thing! Seriously, check out this zucchini!

Seth in front of Uncle Tom's Porsche :-)

All of my uncles spoke and they spoke about my grandparents together and they reflected on the reunion they must be having. They went in order by age (youngest to oldest). Because of the loss of my mother, my Uncle Tom stood up in her place. It was really sweet of him. I am usually good at taking control of my emotions, but I just lost it and was balling. He gave a really nice remembrance of her. My mother will always be my hero. On a side note- we read a talk from this last April conference last night for family home evening and it talked a lot about mothers and daughters. Parts of it discussed the affect mothers have on their daughters and how they need to be an example to them and a source of strength. She will always be that for me.

Grandma Howe was buried next to Grandpa Howe. It was just so fitting. She always spoke of "her Milo" and you could sense how much she was missing them. How great that reunion must have been. I am so thankful for this Gospel and for the knowledge that we have of eternal families. Yes, it's sad to lose a loved one and it's okay to mourn and take time to reflect on it. However, it always brings comfort to know that this is all a part of Heavenly Father's plan and that families are the only organization that will exist beyond the veil and that we will be able to see our loved ones again.

There was a luncheon after the service and we had some great food and got to talk with our Aunts, Uncles and cousins a little more. We said our goodbyes and headed on our way to get back on the road. We were told by our cousin, Aaron to stop off in a small town for some ice cream. So, with that in mind- we headed out. On our way way we hit a really weird storm. It was like it got very foggy and we couldn't see a thing! Visibility was totally gone. Then all of a sudden we made it out of it and we looked behind us and saw the "cloud" of whatever was still behind us. It was so bizarre! We made it to the ice cream place and I think it lived up to the hype :-)

Once we got into Utah we headed to Beth's home where we would meet up with all of Jon's family and my dad (he arrived on that day, Wednesday). It was a great trip and a wonderful remembrance of my Grandparents.

Jon with Grandma Howe summer 2006

Edit...

2010-04-16T07:40:00.002-06:00

Editing the first paragraph of my last post... I am much better, but Jon has taken a turn for the worse :-( He finally agreed with me that he needed to see a doctor to get antibiotics. Turns out what I had was called "community pneumonia" and it was contagious and I got it from a co-worker and then I gave it to Jon. Misery! Poor guy.

I told him that if he is sick- he can stay in bed at our hotel tomorrow morning (day of the marathon) and he doesn't have to see me off. He didn't like that idea. I just want him to get better, especially because finals start today! His last finals ever!! Wahoo! I am so glad he agreed to go to the doctor to get what he needs to get better.

This experience has taught us that we need to remember to rely on each other and being strong enough to ask for help when we need it (something we're both not very good at). It also taught us to be prepared for the unexpected. We don't have a whole ton of savings, but we have enough for rainy days like these and I am thankful for that. I am also thankful to be reminded to keep saving- even if it's for nothing in particular- just for a rainy day... and sometimes, when it rains... it pours! I am thankful for our Heavenly Father and for all the help and guidance He has given us to get through this really stressful time. He hears us and knows our needs. I am thankful for the Priesthood and the ability to receive blessings when we are in need of comfort and healing. I am so grateful to have this in my home. The gospel has brought so much joy into our lives and it will continue to do so :-)

April?? It's April???

2010-04-12T23:38:00.003-06:00

Okay- first off- we are still a little sick. Great. Don't get me wrong- we are doing MUCH better, but we both have coughs that result in green phlegm. Gross. Sorry, too much information? Well, I feel your pain. Looking at it is TMI! :-)

I actually went to the doctor's on April 1st and he told me that I had "walking pneumonia". April fools?? Nope. I had a full blown lung infection. Just what you want to hear when you are running a marathon in 2 weeks. He gave me antibiotics and a syrup to take with codine. He said that if at all possible, I needed to be taking the syrup during the day. So, that's right... I was a zombie for the rest of the weekend! I am doing much better and I was able run this last week and I got my lungs in check and I feel that they will be just fine come the 17th :-) Jon refused to go to the doctor- he says that if he doesn't see blood, he's not going. I guess I always feel the same way, but I have the race as my excuse. Okay, sorry, moving on...

Life has been busy busy busy! We've been starting to pack and get all of our stuff together for the big move. I have 2/3rds of our dishes packed already and most of my pots and pans. Ambitious? No. I'm just so paranoid that I am going to wake up the day of the move and find that all of my boxes were unpacked and I would have to start over. Okay, so that would never happen, but the thought of it is enough to scare me into getting the packing tape out!

My last day at work is this Thursday the 15th. A lot of people have been asking me "why the 15th? That's so random!" Okay, maybe. However, payroll will be easier for my boss that way. I get paid on the 16th and the last day of the pay period is the 15th. This way, he won't have to worry about getting a check to me once we're gone. Also, let's be honest, I don't want to be around that office when they're crazy busy and we have family visiting. I would never be around to see them! Today I started to train my "replacement" aka: my boss's wife and son. The wife is sweet as pie, but she knows nothing about computers and her son is very impatient and couldn't believe all the stuff I did. He got upset so he left and went to his dad and said "She has all these steps! There must be a way to eliminate it!" Trust me... if there was a way, I would have! They are coming back tomorrow for round 2. I am not excited for that.

I am excited for my last day, but a little sad. This job has been such a blessing in our lives. I have really enjoyed my experience there and I was able to learn a lot. I am so thankful that I was able to have a job that was honestly "economy proof".

Jon is finishing up the semester!! Tomorrow is his last day of school- ever! He has a 20 odd page paper due tomorrow at 5pm that he is working on with a group member. Yikes. I do NOT miss group papers that were worth a huge chunk of my final grade! I am so proud of him though. He has worked so hard and I am so excited to celebrate his accomplishments!

I apologize, I know this post is a little rough. I am just trying to get everything in! Other things that have happened. We had our going away party this last Friday night. I made a cake shaped like Texas and cookies in shapes of TX, a boot and longhorns! We had a great time and enjoyed seeing our great friends. We are going to miss you guys!

Just for your enjoyment, here is a picture of us at the St. George Temple last month:

Plub

2010-03-30T18:42:00.001-06:00

We just got back from the grocery store. Here's our haul:

10 points to whoever can guess how we're feeling right now...

Hibernanting?

2010-03-23T17:05:00.003-06:00

Okay... I must apologize. I promise we haven't been hibernating. I need to get out of the habit of saying "nothing really happened today that's blog post worthy". Because that's not really true.

First things first- I had my first real fortune cookie sale! I got an order of 6 doz! Jon was such a sport and helped me out a lot! I was so impressed with our packaging too! However, when we brought it to the post office the guy stamping it was just slamming the box... he should've just sat on it or something. I mean, we did tell him that they were super fragile like 10x and he could've at least pretended that he wasn't going to smash it while we were standing there watching him. Oh well. The majority of the cookies made it through okay and there were 7 out of 72 that were broken upon arrival. I blame the post office guy. All in all- I was really happy with it and I am excited about the prospect of selling fortune cookies when we get to TX.

This weekend we went to our good friend, George's wedding. His wife is really sweet and we are really happy for them! We headed down to St. George and attended the sealing at the temple. It was beautiful and the sealer gave a lot of really good advice that I am really trying to take to heart. It was so nice to be there to support and congratulate them :-)

Other big news!! My brother, Scott and his wife Angel had their 2nd baby boy this morning! He is quite the big little guy! 9lbs 7 oz! We are so happy for them! I wish we could be there to meet him. Some day :-) He won't remember if we were there or not, right? This makes 10 grandkids on my side of the family. So awesome! Both mom and baby are doing well. Congrats to Scott, Angel, Hunter and new baby boy :-)

To not make this so ridiculously long- we are starting to pack our stuff up for the big move! Talk about nerve racking! We are reserving the truck before Friday. We will be sharing a truck with our good friends, Nate & Jess. So for those of you who see us drive up into Villa Rose with a huge truck... no... we don't have enough stuff to fill that thing :-) Also, we are having a "Going Away Party" on April 9th and if you'd like to come- please contact me!

Pictures of George's wedding to come! And new baby boy if I am able to :-)

Happy Birthday to Jon!!

2010-03-15T11:03:00.005-06:00

Jon's birthday was this last Saturday the 13th :-) He's the big 2-6! I apologize for the lateness of this birthday wish- but we kept busy this weekend.

I am so grateful for Jon. I don't want to go about this all sappy like- but really, he has a very kind and giving heart. He serves others and will help anyone in need without hesitation (i.e. buying lunch for an individual who was homeless and starving). He lifts me up when I am down and he always can make me laugh. He is such a good example to me in everything he does. Whether it's serving in his calling, doing well in school, going above and beyond at work, or just being helpful around the house.

Here's to you, Jon- I hope that this year is a great one! This will be such an exciting year for us! All these new adventures and I am happy that I am the one who gets to share it with you! Houston, here we come!

Love you forevers :-)

Fortune Cookie Giveaway!!

2010-02-22T11:32:00.003-07:00

Hey everyone! I am having a giveaway and my sister-in-law Beth is hosting it on her blog! Two lucky winners will receive a box of 10 of my homemade fortune cookies :-) I am so excited to be doing this! I am exploring the idea of selling these fortune cookies and I need your input! Plus, you get free yummy fortune cookies if you win!! How can you lose??

Go over and check it out! Fortune Cookie Giveaway

Hope you are all having a great week!

Valentine's weekend

2010-02-15T09:14:00.008-07:00

EDIT: I am sorry that this is so long! There are pictures at least!!

This weekend was by far one of the most busy weekends I think we've had in quite a while! Friday night we watched the Olympic opening ceremonies. That was one of the coolest things I think I've ever seen. I loved the part where the boy was suspended in the air and the floor was made to look like he was in a field and as his legs moved the picture moved and the faster he went the faster the floor went. It was awesome! Anyways, needless to say, we had a fun time watching it!

Saturday morning at around 4am we got a scary phone call from some of our dear friends. They were having a medical emergency and we ran over as fast as we could so we could watch their sweet baby so our friends could get out the door to the ER. Out of respect for them, I won't get into details. I was just so happy that we could provide service at a moment's notice. We really heart them.

After, we headed home and I went on my long run a little after 10am. I had to get it done and I couldn't put it off. The first half of the run was really great and I was really getting into a groove- but I think I went too fast for the first 8-9miles and then the 2nd half I wasn't as strong- but I did about 18miles and I felt really good about it. I came home had a cold bath to help the legs. A few hours later, Jon and I started to get ready for our 5k!!

We were both so dead and we were laughing about how bad we were going to do and the best part- I didn't even care if I came in last. Leanna (Jon's sister) was nice enough to come along and be our picture taker! I mean, c'mon! We had to record this event! It's not like I'll EVER be able to trick Jon into doing another 5k with me... unless it's the 5k that the Houston Rockets team puts on... then maybe :-)

The race started out and Jon and I stayed together for the first mile. I even was letting him set the pace! I looked down at my Garmin and I realized that Jon was going way too fast for him right now. I was trying to tell him to slow down because I knew he would burn out too soon (this was his 1st race after all). However, after telling me he couldn't slow down (I chuckled) he continued with the fast pace. I'm telling you... listen to your wives... they sometimes know what they're talking about :-)

He had headphones in that are noise canceling and so when he talked he was yelling. So the next part is kind've funny if you can just imagine runners around us enjoying themselves and there is Jon yelling his head off.

He asked me, "How far have we gone?"

I look at my watch and say ".6 miles."

Then.. he says, ".6?? .6?? That's it?? You've got to be kidding me! Whew! I hate running! This is awful!"
I started to feel really bad at that point and I knew it was my idea that was making him miserable. I kept telling him to slow down and that he was going too fast (8:30min mile and last weekend he was comfortable at 10:00min miles)... that didn't really help. He told me to go on ahead. I continued on worrying about him every step of the way and then I turned around and I couldn't see him anywhere. I felt so bad! Anyways, I kept going and I finished at my best time post surgery for a 5k! I finished in just under 27minutes! Wahoo! I think it was like 26:58 or something. So, literally, just under 27mins! I didn't feel like I was pushing it too fast or anything and I felt comfortable. Imagine how fast I could've gone without those previous 18miles earlier in the day??

Anyways... I ran through the finish and then I turned around and ran down the trail to find Jon. I hadn't seen him since the 1.5mile mark. I ran to the 3rd mile marker and then I saw him coming around the corner! I was waving and jumping and yelling. Heh... just your average crazy person... and then I ran the last .1 miles with him :-) He did such a good job! I am really proud of him!

After the finish there were some prizes and awards. They had age divisions and then they had the "fastest couple" division. When they asked us at the beginning of the race if we wanted to be apart of that we said no because we didn't have any idea how we'd do. So, I think all the people who were in the "fastest couple group" were taken out of the age divisions :-) Can you guess what that means??? I came in 1st for my age group! Haha... and they said I was 20.... when I told them before the race that I was 24. Then... Jon took 3rd in his age group! Apparently he is 20 also :-) We both went up and got our awards and we both just looked so confused. Because we obviously weren't the fastest. There were only maybe 25-30 people who ran it anyways. So, Jon has an awesome ribbon and I have a trophy :-) We are rock-stars!

We finished off our night getting all dressed up and spending some time at a Valentine's dance and then a movie with our friends. Boy, we were beat!

Then, Sunday I made these awesome cupcake bites before church :-) I am waiting for my smaller cookie cutter to come in the mail- it'll make them a little smaller and a little easier to work with. They were so delicious!

PS: Giveaway to come in the next post!

Happy Valentine's Weekend

2010-02-12T23:27:00.003-07:00

Just a couple Valentine's for your enjoyment

Valentine's Day is coming!

2010-02-09T09:33:00.004-07:00

Valentine's Day is almost here! Okay, so this holiday is very commercialized... but what girl doesn't secretly love v. day???

This weekend for us is going to be packed with some serious fun. Jon and I are going to be baking a lot and trying out a few things for the first time. Pictures to come and a fun giveaway possibly :-) I'm still working on that idea. I'll post more information about it if I decide to do it!

Also, I have posted more information on this on my running blog... but Jon and I are running a 5k together on the night of the 13th!! That is my Valentine's gift :). Those in the Provo area should really run it- more information on how to register here: Fortune 5k

One last thing. I am in serious need of a food processor this weekend that holds more than 1 cup :-) Does anyone have one I could borrow?? I have my little mini one- but it just won't cut it this weekend and our blender won't do the job either. Please let me know if you're willing to part with yours for a day or two... or forever ;-) thank you!

Skinny is the New Pregnant

2010-02-08T13:13:00.002-07:00

Here is a conversation that I had in my office at work today:

Her: Wow, you look really skinny!
Me: Why thank you...

She turns to leave, starts to walk out, then suddenly turns back around

Her: Are you pregnant?!?!?!
Me: ?
Me: Uh...no
Her: Oh...

So, because I've lost a lot of weight recently, I'm suddenly apparently pregnant? Skinny is the new pregnant? Is that a compliment?

*Note: This is not an announcement of pregnancy, merely a funny story

We've been just a little busy!

2010-01-26T09:37:00.002-07:00

Okay, January just went by in a big blur. I apologize for our temporary hiatus, but I promise we've just been really busy.

Here is a list of things of what we've been up to:

Jon:

- started his last semester of school!

- he was finally able to sign up to take a religion class from Randy Bott (he's so awesome!)

- is working 2 jobs: one is doing web analytics for the BYU library and some for the church and then his 2nd job is being a TA for an Information Systems class: Forensics. He really enjoys both!

- has a night class on Wednesdays that he likes.. he just doesn't like the time for it (6:30-9ish?)

- is reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (hehe)

Crystal:

- Still working away at Union Square

- Just got called as the Primary President. Hehe.. I have a total of 2 primary kids :) One of them really likes dinosaurs and thinks he's "spiderman".

- Made a fondant cake for Beth's birthday

- Running like a mad woman and feeling confident for the marathon!

- (this goes for Jon too) Looking forward to the BYU vs. Utah basketball game this Saturday!

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-01T12:00:00.008-07:00

Hope you all had a fun and safe holiday! I was able to leave work early on New Years Eve and then I have today off- yippee!! Jon and I are always a little stumped on what to do on holidays when there are only 2 of us. Sadly, most of our good friends have either moved away or are out of state for the holiday break. We even looked outside last night and our complex was seriously deserted! I think we and one other apartment were home and that's it! That's okay though :-) We had a lot of fun.

This year for Christmas, Jon got me a really awesome book on Cupcakes. There are a lot of tips, recipes and different ideas on how to animate your cupcakes instead of just plain old frost them. We decided that we would make some cupcakes from the book. They were awesome! They are snowmen cupcakes with trees. I won't go into much details about what we did- just know that it took a long time and that I waited too long to frost the trees (oops). This resulted in frosting that was TOO soft but I didn't want to wait to have it stiffen up in the fridge so we just did the trees anyways. You know you love them! Also, the faces on the snowmen were supposed to be mini chocolate chips... but I couldn't justify buying a whole bag just to use them on 3 faces- so we just iced them on- so they don't look very "clean".

Now the problem is that we took so long to make them that we don't want to eat them!

Anyone want a snowman?

Christmas

2009-12-24T11:26:00.005-07:00

Most of y'all already know I am an absolute Christmas junkie: I have been listening to Christmas music since just after Halloween and have been known to listen to it in July or so if I'm having a bad day.

My love for this season is added to by Crystal and I celebrating our anniversary the 23rd. When I hear the music not only do I remember Christmases past, but also when we first got married. We have now been married for 3 years, and every year is better than the next. I love you, Crystal.

Earlier this month I swapped some favorite Christmas memory stories/traditions with some friends. We laughed with each other and noticed that we all had similar themes. All of our stories and memories were about good times with our families. Years after the fact we do not remember the gifts we received or even the gifts we gave, but rather the love and happiness that can exist in a home as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ together.

We get the special feelings this time of year as more people open their hearts to Christ's healing power. Christ always reaches out to us as he asks us to "be converted, that I may heal you...if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you and whosever will come, him will I receive" (3 Nephi 9:13-14). During this season more people allow Christ's love to influence them.

Without Jesus Christ, each of us is lost in this life "for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Only through the selfless sacrifice of Jesus Christ, called the atonement, can we be forgiven of our sins and look forward with hope to eternal life with God and our families. It is because Jesus Christ came to the world and loved each of us enough to die for us that we sing 'Joy to the World', the angels proclaim 'Glory to the Newborn King', and the wise-men watched the new star appear 'With Wondering Awe'.

Paul described his new life in Christ thus:
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

I hope each of you are able to take a moment to pause from the commercial side this season and reflect on the life of Jesus Christ and how it blesses all of us. We love you all. Merry Christmas!

I'm married to a gourmet chef

2009-12-14T01:02:00.004-07:00

For our ward Christmas activity, we held a service auction. Members could (if they wanted) offer service to other ward members. At the activity itself there were several carnival games where we could compete to gain monopoly money (I competed in an eggnog chugging contest - it was awesome!). After gaining money, there was a silent auction on most of the services followed by a verbal auction on 6 or so of the most desired services.

Crystal's offered service was a romantic dinner for two, or a dinner for a busy family. Because of her renown cooking skills, this was one of the verbal auctions. The games came and went and it was time to auction Crystal's services. What ensued was a brutal bidding war for Crystal's delicious dinner. When the dust settled and the fast talker yelled "SOLD!" this dinner became worth $450! It was monopoly money, yes, but when was the last time dinner for two cost you $450? It must be because I am simply married to an amazing chef. This Friday we're going to make good on that service with dinner for a couple in the ward. Hope it's worth the money!

Oh yeah, want to know what my offered service went for?

10 bucks

It's pretty obvious who the talented one in the family is :)

More than just a resolution

2009-12-10T12:21:00.005-07:00

As 2009 comes to a close I have been reflecting on this past year and thinking of the new resolutions that I want to set for 2010. Can you believe it's already 2010???

For me 2009 has been about getting healthy again. I was really inspired by my sister, Shannon and my in-laws, Anne & Clyde. I was just amazed at their dedication to get healthy and it really helped me to get back at it. It hasn't been easy, but it has been so worth it. From my highest recorded weight in 2009 I have now lost a total of 28lbs. I've done it all on my own. I've just changed my diet and I exercise every day (minus most Fridays and all Sundays). I've really had to work on portion control, being consistent and figuring out what to do if things don't go according to plan. It has been so rewarding.

A lot of you have asked, "what's next?" and I know I've told a few of you, but I really wanted to write it up on the blog. For 2010, my health goals are to stay healthy, lose these last few lbs and keep them off.

The big kahuna is:

Salt Lake City Marathon on April 17th, 2010.

I signed up a month or two ago for it and I am so excited!!

Most importantly, I am running this for my parents. It was really my dad who got me interested in running. He didn't run races or anything like that, but he would always run "around the block" and I would go with him a lot when I was junior high and throughout high school. These were times that I really enjoyed- even if we just walked it. Heh, when I was in high school I had to beg him to do track and cross country. Eventually, he gave the O.K. and I can never thank him enough for letting me have the opportunity be apart of those teams. I honestly don't know if I'd be running like this if I hadn't participated in cross country or track.

My mom will always be my hero. In high school I was always wishing that she could be at the finish lines cheering me on. Although, she really did push me in all my races. Whenever a hill seemed too steep or I felt like I had hit my max I would think of her and just press on. I am running this marathon in memory of her. The marathon supports the Huntsman Cancer Foundation and part of my registration fee will be donated to that. Her memory is what pushes me every step of the way and through all those really long runs. :-)

My mom always told us, "Always have a dream!" and this is one of mine (as crazy as that sounds).

Some day, I hope to run a marathon that benefits cancer with any of my siblings (hopefully all!)- now that would be amazing. Are any of you up for it? I was thinking the 2011 National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer in Florida. I can always dream, right? hehe.

Now to work on all my other resolutions....

A really fun freebie

2009-12-03T11:54:00.005-07:00

Today only you can download the entire soundtrack for Disney's movie, UP for free. Just go to this link- freebies4mom and then the code is: latimesdisney. I really LOVED this movie. I think it's one of Pixar's best. Enjoy!

Thanks to cnet for the picture :-)

I was awful at blogging this month...

2009-11-30T22:40:00.002-07:00

Just wanted all of our "fans" out there to know that we are alive and well.... just really busy and there really isn't an end in sight at the moment. Life happens, right?

A few highlights of November:

-I survived the Snow Canyon Half Marathon on November 7th down in St. George! It was the hardest course I have ever run, but I did really well and I was so glad that I wasn't wearing earmuffs for this race like the one on Halloween!! Jon and I had a really great time in St. George. It was a nice little weekend getaway.

- BYU basketball has kicked off and we've been to quite a few games so far. I am so glad we were able to take advantage of season tickets!! Go Cougars!!

- I had a 4mile race on Thanksgiving morning. The race was called "Earn Your Turkey Run". It was so cold at the start! I passed a sign that had the temperature listed and it said 24 degrees! Burr! I really enjoyed the run and was happy I did it- hehe... I had a little less guilt when we had our thanksgiving meal later on.

- On Thanksgiving we were able to spend it with Jon's sister's in-laws. It was a lot of fun and the food was fantastic! We contributed 2 pies: Apple cranberry and pumpkin banana. Then "Black Friday" we went shopping and we pretty much got all of our Christmas shopping done (not that we have a ton to do.. haha)

- The rest of the weekend was relaxed and we had a basketball game. BYU vs. Weber- it was an awesome game and BYU won! Then on Saturday BYU football: BYU vs. Utah. Another amazing game! BYU won in overtime.

Other than that... Jon is really busy with school and is just counting down the days until finals. Once finals come- that means he is done with all his crazy projects. This has been his most stressful semester- so much for "senior-itis" hehe.

I have just been busy with work and doing my running thing still. So far I have lost about 25lbs. Crazy! Let's just say... I am need of some new clothes. I'm really in need of pants. It's bad. Which brings me to a very small rant... I am a petite. Why can't stores make better petite clothes??? People tell me- just go get regular size pants and bring it to a tailor.... that's a nice idea.. but I'd rather be able to buy my pants and have them be the right size the first time and not have pay extra. Did you know that the alterations for my wedding dress equaled the amount of my entire dress?? It's ridiculous. I know... a wedding dress doesn't fall under the same category as jeans... but still! Then you have the petite sections in places like Kohls and it looks like an old lady's wardrobe exploded.... elastic waists and all. Okay.. rant done. :-)

Again, sorry we didn't post much in November. We'll do better this month.

Provo Halloween Half Marathon

2009-11-01T21:27:00.005-07:00

I'm not sorry that I'm late at putting these pictures up- hehe. I ran 13.1 miles yesterday and my quads are constantly burning and Jon has to help me up and down the stairs- so I have reasons for being late on this one. I am sorry that the post is a little lengthy.. but there are lots of pictures!! Enjoy!

This is us at our ward halloween party the night before.
Jon was Garth from 'Wayne's World'. "Party on, Wayne!" haha!
Happy Halloween!!!!

This race was one of the best races I have ever run. I woke up at like 5:30am and got ready and put all my gear on. Jon and I headed to the Riverwoods where the buses were picking up all the runners. They said the last bus was leaving at 6:45am. We got there a little after 6am and I waited for about 25 minutes until a bus finally showed up. This is probably the only thing I would've changed about the race. Tons of runners were in a line waiting and then when the bus came it passed us and ended up going to a different part of the parking lot. All the previous buses were stopping where we were all lined up so we were all confused and this just added to the mayhem. People were cutting people to get on the buses and I got elbowed by some chick (on purpose) but whatever, i'm over it.

Me before leaving the house and before the earmuffs went on!

Anyways, before I got on the bus I was in line and I was standing by an older woman (at least she looked older) and the whole scene reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite! She was like "can I touch your tutu?" It was a bit awkward. I was waiting for her to say "I like your tutu, it's real big and puffy". Then the lady I sat on the bus with was another awkward character. She kept staring at my tutu and then she started jabbering about the race start time. Heh, then there were some old guys in front of us singing "the wheels on the bus". It's amazing what kind of people you run into at 6am, most dressed in costumes and prepared to run in 30 degree weather in a canyon- hehe.

After the scary bus ride (imagine doing switch backs on a bus!) we got to Aspen Grove (above Sundance). They had one of the buildings reserved for us which was really nice. I went in and picked up my timing chip and got situated. There were even a few people who asked if they could have their picture with me- I looked that good! I ran into some people I knew and hung with them until the start.

Please don't judge me... I was making a "woo!" sound/face and um.. the picture
doesn't do it justice. Haha! I should've just gone with
the "thumbs up" ;-)

The costumes were AMAZING! Although, I have to admit- there were a ton of tutu's.. but mine was by far the best! The guy who won the costume contest was dressed as Wonder Woman! It was pretty great. There were a few "runaway brides" who wore wedding dresses with long trains (honestly.. how??) and one of my favs that didnt' win a prize was a guy who was dressed in a blue dress shirt, pocket protector, name tag that said: Bill and! he had a briefcase w/ a Microsoft sticker. Hehe.. he was Bill Gates and he ran the whole thing w/ the briefcase! Crazy!

The race ended up starting about an hour late (9am). It was due to the buses. The bus company were prepared for about 300 people and there were actually 800 people who ran this thing. So, we had to wait until all the buses got there. I was grateful though! A later time = a little warmer weather. Well, as warm as you can get at 7,000ft!

Wahoo!! I'm done!!

The first 5 miles were all down hill. It was intense! My quads are in agreement on that one ;-) I loved every minute of it though. The view of the mountains was unreal! It was so beautiful and breathtaking. Corny sounding, I know. I really mean it though. It is always so wonderful to see all of God's creations and being able to soak it all in. Anyways, after the first five miles, we ran on the side of Provo Canyon Rd. until Vivian Park and then we entered the canyon running/bike path and that took us back to where we got on the buses. They didn't have any mile markers on this course and I'm kind've glad. I just felt like I was just running and not in a race. I wasn't getting all caught up in "how many miles do I have left?" and I was just running and enjoying the scenery, other costumes (haha), my thoughts and music. At one of the last aid stations they yelled out that we were at 10.5 miles and I was like "woah! I only had a little less than 3 miles to go!" I kicked it into gear and finishing this time vs. my first half marathon was really awesome. My finish time was 2:02:04! Granted, we had the big down hill, but I ran the 2nd half of the race faster than the first half- go figure ;). I am so excited about this race. Even though my whole body is in a good amount of pain, I am really proud of myself.

After the race with my finisher's medal!

I also have to give another shout-out to Jon. He is my cheerleader and my most favorite person in the whole world :-) I told him he didn't have to come until the finish, but he insisted that he wanted to be there for the whole thing. I am so grateful for all his support. There are probably a million things he would rather be doing than go to a race- but he goes happily and cheers me on. I am so lucky to have Jon as my husband. I know of other husbands who were not so happy to be standing at the finish line yesterday and it made me sad when I saw how un-supportive they were. There were no "congrats" or even high-fives. I mean really! Your spouse just worked their butt off (literally) to run 13.1 miles and trained really hard for it and they're met with a grumpy husband way after the fact of finishing. Not cool.

I am hands down the luckiest woman in the world. I wish Jon could run with me, but due to knee problems, it just isn't an option. As much as I would love for that to happen, having him there supporting me is just as great. I love Jon and he needs as much recognition as I get- he's a real trooper putting up with my training, races and weird eating habits while I'm training. After the race yesterday we went up to Corn Belly's (a corn maze) and these next few pictures are from that :-) I love Jon- you are awesome and I know I thanked you like a billion times yesterday- but really, thank you for being there for me and helping me up and down the stairs, cheering me on and loving me no matter how I do. I appreciate all you do.

Jon before we started the maze

After a 3d fun house hehe- awesome glasses!

Here is a sign at the start of the maze... I don't think I could've run that fast
at that point anyways.. haha! I was very slow going (still am)
when we took this picture!

Sorry, we dropped the ball

2009-10-27T21:51:00.004-06:00

So, here we are over a week after our "surprise Monday guest". Sorry to keep yal waiting so long. Here's the story:

I got a call on Monday (the 19th) at work from BYU confirming that I would be home around 7pm. They told me that they might be a little late, but they would be there. I got home from work at 6pm and Jon and I were really excited and nervous. Jon was watching Monday night football and he describes me as nervously awaiting a date- haha. We waited... and waited... and finally... around 8pm our doorbell rings! Jon opens the door and there stands Lamont Morgan Jr. He is one of the BYU basketball player. He's actually a really good player on the team and he's quite short. Taller than me- but not by much!! There he was with the guy next to him w/ a camera and we shake his hand and says something like "I hope we do you proud this season". He handed me the tickets and we said goodbye. 5 minutes after he leaves I look at Jon and say "I should've asked for a picture!!" I had totally forgot! I even charged my camera battery that day so I could. Oh well. Maybe some other day :-)

So, sadly, no big win of anything and I don't think you'll see us on tv any time soon... we weren't the most enthusiastic people haha... I wasn't screaming or jumping up and down. I just kept saying "thank you". Jo Sue, you're right- we used up all our luck ;-)

All in all, it was a good experience and even though we didn't win anything- it was really cool to meet a player! Wahoo!! Go BYU!!!!

2 cent check, free Zune HD and um.. a special guest??

2009-10-16T10:15:00.008-06:00

This last week has been FULL of surprises. No, really. There are three events we'd like to share. The first is probably more comical than them all.

So, remember Comcast? I'm sure you don't... who'd want to remember that whole experience, right? Heh, well, apparently they took a little too much money from me. That's right. TOO MUCH! I got an e-mail about it saying that I'd be receiving a check in the mail to make up the difference. I was a little confused and I had totally forgot about it until it came. Want to know how much is "too much"? 2 cents. That's right. Two WHOLE pennies. They sent it in a check. The postage cost more than that! Do I even bother cashing it when they could've shoved two pennies in the envelope that they found on their lunch room floor? hehe... so.awesome. It really makes me feel remembered haha.

2nd. I am a contest freak. I enter any and all hoping to win something... hopefully more than 2 pennies ;-). I've won a few things here and there, but this time I won the "Big Kahuna" of prizes (at least in my eyes). Last week I had entered in a Buy.com contest on Twitter. They were having a 5 week "tweetnseek" contest and there was a winner each week all winning the same prizes. What's the prize you ask? A Microsoft gift pack that included: wireless keyboard w/ mouse, another wireless mouse, laptop cooling base, HD webcam, aaaaaaaannnnnnd....a 32GB ZUNE HD!!!!! They would have you answer a question and then they would select randomly from all those who participated. I entered every week with little hope- but I figured, "eh? why not?"

It was week 4 of the contest and the question was "What band/artist will you listen to first on your Zune HD if you win?" I think I answered Yellowcard and Relient K. Anyways, on Friday I got an e-mail from Buy.com saying I won. I read it a few times in disbelief. I quickly called Jon and he was ecstatic! He kept asking "you won??" Awesome. It arrived this week on Wednesday. I was so excited! The only thing is- I wish Jon could have a Zune HD too. I even offered it to him because he has been talking about wanting a Zune HD for so long now. Humph- but alas, he won't take it. I'm not complaining by any means- I just wish he could have one too. Don't you worry though- as I write this he has hooked the laptop cooler and the wireless keyboard and mouse to his laptop :-) I'm glad he's helping me use all the winnings.

3rd thing. This week I got a phone call from a 422 number.. aka: a BYU #. I missed their first call time and they didn't leave a message. It was a little odd. Later in the day they called again and I was able to get the call. It was the BYU athletic department. Why were they calling? Well, this year we have bought BYU basketball season tickets. It's our last year here and we really both enjoy watching them play.

Anyways, back to the call. They confirmed that I was a season ticket holder and then the next thing they said caught me off guard. They asked if they could send a "special guest" to my home to hand deliver my tickets instead of mailing them. I was just kind've shocked so I said, "Okay". Then... they asked "We will have a video camera, is that okay?" Again, what? Totally not understanding all of this so I said "okay" again. They said "Okay, how about Monday at 7?"
So, this Monday someone like Cosmo or who knows is coming to deliver my crappy upper bench tickets- hehe. Our seats are the cheapest. So, it makes me wonder- why send someone special to ticket holders who didn't shell out the big bucks? We'll keep you informed... I know you're all at the edge of your seats! Heh, maybe they'll say we won better tickets or something. Why else bring by a video camera? No one cares to see a special guest giving someone something they are already expecting in the mail, right? Fingers crossed!

Trip to Conference

2009-10-10T19:28:00.010-06:00

As mentioned in our last post, we had the opportunity to go to General Conference last weekend. We really enjoyed ourselves. We attended the Saturday morning session. We got there, found our parking lot, walked a few blocks, got into the Conference Center and were in our seats 45mins before they started letting people on standby in.

We were able to listen to the Tabernacle Choir practice a little bit. You always know how awesome they are, but there are some times where they just go above and beyond and they are just incredible! Then the General Authorities started to slowly walk in and we were able to point them out. It was an interesting opportunity to see them in person. President Monson waved to the crowd along with his wife. They're so cute together :-).

We had the opportunity to hear some amazing talks. I really loved the talks by: Russell T. Osguthorpe and Elder David A. Bednar. They were so heartfelt and and powerful. I loved how Russell Osguthorpe pointed out people in his life who took the time to teach him the way he needed and who helped him to learn and grow. I have so many people in my life who really helped me get to where I am today. Besides my loving family, there were those who took me under their wings and led me in the right direction and I will be forever thankful for their service and love. I often ask myself if I would've made it to BYU without their love and support and I can honestly answer that I wouldn't have made it here without them.

Elder Bednar's talk touched me so much. It talked about being more diligent at home with love, sharing your testimony with those you love and being consistent in the things you do. I know these suggestions are self explanatory and I really won't get into them- but I loved how he talked about being consistent. When we have children I really hope that they will grasp this and will remember this. It's so important to develop good habits and to be consistent with them- even if you feel like you're failing at it. The home is our safe haven and it should be a place of peace, love and even order. I really hope I can continue to progress at this so that when we have children, we won't have to completely start from scratch.

There were other talks that really touched me, but I don't want to write a complete novel :-) Jon and I really had an enjoyable time and it was a great experience. We were able to walk around Temple Square a little and were able to go on a lunch date.

I'm so grateful that were able to have this opportunity as a couple- esp. before we move. All in all, a very good, spiritual strengthening experience.

A nice surprise

2009-09-28T20:59:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, Jon came home from church after finishing all of his calling responsibilities and handed me this!
I cannot tell you how excited I am to go to a session of General Conference! The last time I had the opportunity to go was the April 2004 Saturday morning session. Every time I've asked for tickets since I've always gotten the "We ran out last month" response. I've just never had any luck! That goes for both Utah wards and my Stake back home.

Jon is the financial clerk for our ward and when a Bishopric member was handing him tithing slips the tickets were accidentally in the stack. Jon thought it was a little odd and handed it back to him. The Bishopric member then looked at Jon and said, "Would you like them?". Honestly, who would turn that opportunity down!! It was a very nice surprise :-)

That's one thing on our list of "things to do before we leave Utah" down! So, try and spot us on Saturday morning. Or... better yet... just pretend you saw us :-)

One Night in India

2009-09-19T21:24:00.005-06:00

Crystal and I want to make sure to take full advantage of our last year here in Provo. We want to attend and see as many unique activities and places here in Provo as we can before we head to Texas.

Sometimes this isn't always so fun, like at the Latin-American festival in downtown Provo a month or so ago. I'm not a fan of mayonnaise corn on the cob or lucha libre so there wasn't too much else to catch my attention and we soon went home.

A couple weeks ago, however, was the India Fest in Spanish Fork. Loving Indian food and knowing there's a temple there we can tour during the festivities, we happily went.

Crystal looking over Spanish Fork....
"Edge of Town!"

Lots of people apparently had the same idea we had

The temple from a rather less-crowded angle

I just thought this was a cool picture. I'm on the 2nd floor of the temple

The temple grounds had a llama farm!
I'm really not sure the connection in the religion to llamas though...

A little too close for comfort....

Tiiiny little cows
"Zebuuuuuuuuuu...." I mean "Cebuuuuuuuu"

Using Crystal's height as a reference point:
She's 4'11" and the Zebu only came up to about her hip when fully grown

Anyone who knows us knows we won't let an Indian experience go by without trying some of the food! You didn't get to pick what you got, they just gave you some food to try and hoped for the best I guess.

Look's good, eh?!? Okay not so much. BUT! The red stuff was good, like a veggie tomato sauce. The green stuff....not so much. It was full of tofu and I'm definitely not a tofu man (true Texans eat beef). The purple thing was amazing - it tasted like a blueberry muffin. And the bread you see in the picture - it's not like normal naan or roti bread. It was hard/stiff like a cracker and tasted just like the old Bugles crackers (remember those?)

By going to Spanish Fork we were able to experience part of India for a night. We had a great time and look forward to trying to go to the festival of colors there later this school year.

Real quick

2009-09-15T14:49:00.004-06:00

So, I heard about a half marathon that is going to be on Halloween in Provo! They encourage you to wear a costume (that you can run in of course). Okay, so I realize that this shouldn't be my motivation to do it... but I can't lie... wearing one of Beth's tutus during the race would be pretty fun :-) Anyways... So here is my dilemma.

On Saturday, November 7th I have already signed up to run the Snow Canyon Half in St. George. This Halloween Half marathon is the Saturday before that. Only a week in between both of them.

Do you think I should do it? Vote in the poll to the right. Let's see if peer pressure will sway my decision :-)

I promise I will try to keep all my running craziness to my other blog.

Oh and PS: Click Halloween Half if you want to do the race

13.1 miles down!

2009-09-05T18:29:00.004-06:00

I did it! It definitely wasn't easy, but very rewarding as I crossed the balloon covered finish line :-)

blury finish shot

I ran the Spanish Fork, UT half marathon. The weather wasn't the best. When we got to the race site, it was raining pretty good and it was super cold! I had to change what shirt I was wearing and I'm glad that I did! I had goosebumps for the whole race. It warmed up, but I was still freezing and then the intermittent rain didn't help.

&amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ut/spanish-fork/1123019670"&amp;gt;Spanish Fork 1/2 Marathon&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-run/united-states/ut/spanish-fork"&amp;gt;Find more Runs in Spanish Fork, Utah&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;

The first half of the course had more hills than I expected. I knew there was at least one hill, but there were about 5. They weren't horrible and hills are expected, but it wasn't fun for 7 miles! Anyways, the course was very pretty. There were mountains to one side and then we were running through a lot of farm land. It was beautiful.

back shot... Hey, I wasn't taking the pictures...

Jon was there cheering me on :-) I heart when he's there. It makes the last 1-2 miles of a race better. He met me at the finish and we quickly ran over to get some watermelon and water.

Afterwards, there was a raffle..and... I won something!! Hehe...

I would really like to do another half. I think I might do one in November in St. George, UT (Snow Canyon Half). As for a marathon... it's definitely in my future, but I'm not ready for it at the moment and I'm not afraid to admit it. It'll take a lot more training. If I stay on top of things, I will probably do the Salt Lake City marathon in April 2010 and if that goes okay/doesn't happen I am looking at a marathon in Houston in January 2011. Bring it on :-)

The week of firsts

2009-09-04T16:14:00.008-06:00

1. Jon started school on Monday, August 31st. It was his last first day of school. He even get's to park in graduate parking now! I'd have a picture of the parking pass (that was my original plan for this post) however, BYU isn't giving out stickers anymore. It's all done by license plates now.

2. I'm running my first half marathon on Saturday, September 5th... TOMORROW!! How scared am I? You have no idea! It'll be okay though. I know that I'm ready, I just hate the anticipation of it before it starts. Bring it on!

3. We accepted our first real job :-) So, it is for sure- we are moving to Houston in the next year. We are so grateful and blessed to have this opportunity. After praying about it and after attending the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication, we know this is what we need to be doing and Houston is where we need to be. Jon and I have been attending Deloitte functions on campus this week and Jon has been having a great time selling what he does and trying to recruit other MISM/ISYS majors from BYU to apply to Deloitte. The best part is getting free stuff whenever we go to these things. What can I say? We've been branded :-)

PS: We're famous :-)

2009-08-28T21:41:00.001-06:00

Check out these cute photo's that we got taken by a photographer: Captivated Candids

Runners, I'm almost back in the game!!

2009-08-22T20:42:00.004-06:00

Today I ran the Race4Recovery 10k. It was a race that raises awareness for mental illness. I did their 5k last year and had a lot of fun. The last two weeks I have had a pretty awesome sinus infection and was afraid it was going to really slow me down in the race.

The race started at Timpanogos Park in Provo Canyon at around 9am. The first 3.1 miles of the race my sinus problems really did a number on me and I was afraid that I was going really slow. Once I turned around I got my 2nd wind and I started to feel really good. I passed up a few people and ran the entire 2nd half fast. As soon as I turned back into Timpanogos Park, I could see the finish. Once I got a little further up I saw the clock and I was very excited.

I finished strong and my final time was 59:11. Not too shabby! Since my first 10k on July 4th I have shaved almost 6 minutes off my time.

After the race, there were massage therapists on site giving free massages to the runners. I've never had a professional massage before... even though they're always at the races... but my right hip and hamstring needed a little help. The lady did an amazing job! I enjoyed it a lot!

The best part of the race was having Jon at the end. He was waving at me when I was coming up to the finish. :-) It really made my heart happy. Thanks, Jon for being there, it meant a lot! He says he enjoyed cheering me on and the time he was able to spend outside reading while waiting for me to finish. Sorry... we didn't get any pictures together at the race :-(

Jon's Summer 2009

2009-08-19T15:25:00.004-06:00

I am finally back in Utah with Crystal again and let me just say it's wonderful. Before I left for 10 weeks without Crystal, the longest we had been away from each other since we got married was one night while I was on a few office visits. So these 10 weeks were very different from the last 2 and a half years for us.

That said this summer was great! I was working in Houston for Deloitte (one of the big 4 accounting firms). I worked specifically in Tax Management Advisory Services as a consultant on enterprise implementations - technology, right up my alley!

To save us from having 2 rents while I was gone I was able to live at home with my family (Thank you, family!). Not being able to visit very frequently it was a wonderful opportunity to spend time with them again. It was even better the 2 times Crystal was able to visit.

It was all worth it as this morning I received the paper copy of my offer to start working there in Houston full-time next year. We have until September 1st to respond. We still need to discuss, pray, go to the temple, etc before any final career decisions are made but it seems like we will be in Houston starting next year.

Boy is it great to be home!

Crystal Edit: Sneak peek of our pictures that we got done last week. The photographer sent me a few today by e-mail and I thought I would include one w/ this post :-)

More numbers...

2009-08-08T10:19:00.004-06:00

- # of miles I ran today: 10.09

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ut/provo/825124974835780922"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;08/08/2009 Route&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-run/united-states/ut/provo"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Runs in Provo, Utah&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

- Time it took me: 1 hour and 50 mins

- # of new blisters: 5 ... they're nasty and they hurt! I'm sure you wanted to know that...

- Weight this morning: a lady never tells... but for #s sake: I can say that I'm in the 120's!! Hallelujah!

-# of bowls I just washed: unknown :-) Jon will understand this.. sorry... it's an inside joke

- # of hours until Jon gets home.... 10!!!!!!!

How excited am I?? SORDIK EXCITED!! Thanks to BYU carpet crew for teaching me how to express my self haha...

In loving memory of Carolyn Howe Sansoucie

2009-08-04T15:45:00.004-06:00

August is usually the month where my family celebrates the life of my mom. We've done a lot of things in remembrance of her. We have done the "Relay For Life" under the name of: "Carolyn's Kids", we've had family reunions in her memory, I have run numerous races in support of Fighting Breast Cancer with her name pinned to my back. My mother was an incredible woman. Her testimony of the gospel was unshakable. No matter what life threw at her, she would still find hope and healing through our Heavenly Father and through the atonement.

My mom has had a significant impact on my life. She was selfless and very talented. She could sew almost anything and made baby quilts for those in need. She loved music and loved to play the piano and organ and was just beginning to learn the violin before she passed away. If I could aspire to be even a fraction of the woman she was- I would be very grateful.

Her motto was "Always have a dream!" and it is hanging up in our house. Because of her, I have never once thought that I couldn't do something or dream something big! She will forever by my hero.

Her favorite holiday was Christmas and 13 years ago today we celebrated our last Christmas together (yes, it was in August). My parents knew that December was too far away to celebrate together. I will always treasure that night- we laughed, we cried and we were together as a family for the last few hours of this amazing woman's life.

The way to a man's heart

2009-08-03T21:20:00.003-06:00

So can I just say my wife rocks?

Well it's my blog so I can say whatever I want!

Anyways, Crystal definitely knows the way to a man's heart. See exhibit A below:

Yes that's a trash can with a bow on it. The important part is what's IN the trash can...(and no it's not trash!)

Behold the goodness below:

As congrats for the summer Crystal sent me sweet goodness...in a trash can.

I was thinking, since I left home mom and dad have really gotten into eating healthy and working out a ton (and they look great by the way), but it means there's no quick and easy (read: unhealthy) food in the house. So Crystal had to send me some from the outside (she warned me before it came that momma wouldn't like it).

Anyways, where I'm getting at is I now know what it's like to be a kid at fat camp who still wants his sweets and has to get them smuggled in from outside :)

Thank you, Crystal, I love you

Numbers...

2009-08-01T11:19:00.007-06:00

I'm not a real numbers person, but recently, my life has been revolving around countdowns, hours, weight loss, etc... so, I decided I would share with everyone. To make it a little more exciting, I am including some pictures from my last visit to Houston... and one I got from my last 10k race (hehe...)

# of days Jon has been gone: 66

Us at the outdoor theater (miller park?) It was awesome!!

# of days until he gets home: 7

# of lbs I have lost from March to date: 15

Jon outside his building- isn't he handsome???

# of lbs I have to go: 10ish

In a tunnel- I could even reach the ceiling!

# of tenants I have moving out this month: 30

In an elevator in the Deloitte building- it makes your ears pop!

# of miles I ran today: 8.63

Heh, c'mon- isn't this the best picture ever???

# of days before I run the Spanish Fork 1/2 marathon: 36

Jon at his desk- George said it reminded him of a Dilbert comic :-)

Jon's building- it's huge!!

Jon in the tunnel

Soaking wet... we both got caught in a downpour before we went to
a play in Houston. We even tried to wait it out....
As you can see below, I wasn't lucky either :-)

Scale from 1-10 of how excited I am to have Jon back home: eleventeen :-)

Pioneer Day 10k

2009-07-24T12:29:00.003-06:00

1:01:49

I did it!! This 10k was much harder than the last one that I did. I averaged 9:55 miles. Okay, not the fastest in the world.. and sometimes it's embarassing to tell people my mile avg, but whatever- I smoked everyone who didn't run it, right? Look at my race bib... #1!! See? I was #1 in something!!

The first 2 miles were uphill.. and not just up little rinky-dink hills... we were all pretty much running up to the "bench" on the mountain. Heh, each mile marker had some funny sayings. After they collected all the mile markers I was trying to see if I could get pictures, but I was only able to get mile marker 3. Mile 2 said "Yes, it's only mile 2". They made me laugh :-) I kept up with this one girl for a few miles and then i started to run ahead of her and I started to go a little too fast and then she smoked me at the end! Bummer... oh well... I did shave off about 3 minutes from my last race though and this race was a lot harder!

mile 3 marker. This one was my favorite :-)

Selling my snowboard

2009-07-23T08:43:00.003-06:00

So, I'm going to be listing my snowboard on craig's list pretty soon, but I wanted to post it on the blog here to give someone I know the chance to buy it before I offer it to a stranger. I will be posting a picture of it soon.

It's woman's Burton board size 146. It has Liquid bindings (sorry... they're not the step-in kind, but you can always change that).

I really love this board, but let's be honest... if we're going to TX... I won't be able to use it. Sad day.

If you're interested please contact me :-)

ps: if you are taller than me- the board will still fit you fine... I bought it a little bigger in the hopes that I would grow a little... haha.. wishful thinking!

Calling any and all affordable photographers :-)

2009-07-21T10:43:00.002-06:00

Jon and I are wanting to get "professional" pictures of us when he comes home this summer. We've never really had those done before and we thought it would be fun to do. I know it might seem kind've lame because we don't have kids to take cute pictures of.. but oh well.

Anyways- I haven't gone to anyone in Provo before and I was wondering if anyone out there has someone they would recommend? I don't care if it's your friend or sister or even yourself :-)

Please let me know :-) I'm really looking forward to this!

Updates... sort've

2009-07-08T11:09:00.004-06:00

I apologize that there has been a lack of blogging. It's hard to write about stuff when there's nothing going on.. other than work. Jon is too busy to post right now about his Deloitte experience. I'm sure that will come in time.

On Saturday the 11th, I get to go visit him again! I am so excited! We actually have "plans" of things we want to do vs. last time I went to visit in June.. we had nothing planned hehe... It wasn't a big deal and I really enjoyed myself with everything that we did do. I just wish that I had taken more pictures!

Jon is really enjoying himself at Deloitte. He is apart of TMAS (don't ask me what it stands for...) but it's apart of tax. He has a lot of opportunities to work with his team and with clients. Last night he was able to go to an Astro's game with all of the other interns and their "buddies". I think he left during the 7th inning... it definitley wasn't a Red Sox game :-) Let's see... he takes the bus every day to go to and from work. Not the most exciting commute, but at least he doesn't have drive through rush hour.

Anyways, I will let him fill in the rest once he has time to post.

Sorry that this is a lame blog... but there really isn't too much going on on my end. Work is crazy. I am ready for another vaction. Right now is the busiest week of the year. Rent is due, all tenants are resigning, and I have to fill everyone on the waiting list for fall... did I mention that my boss is in Costa Rica? I guess this is pay back for making him do it alone last year when I was in Arkansas ;-).

PS: I forgot to post this- but I finished reading a new book called "The Girl Who Could Fly" it was such a cute book. It definitely had an x-men feel to it crossed with little house on the prarie... but I loved it and recommend it for a good summer read.

I did it!!!!

2009-07-04T15:15:00.002-06:00

Today I ran the freedom 10k run!! In case anyone cares to know my time.. it was right around one hour and 4 minutes. Not too shabby for a surgery recovered foot!! I ran it with two amazing girls and they both did awesome! I couldn't have run that whole thing w/o stopping to walk without them.

The only thing that I would've changed about it was to have Jon there at the finish line. He's always good at sticking at the finish line and being at the end cheering and is good for high five. I'd say hug... but no one wants to hug a sweaty person. That's just gross. Anyways, he would've been there if we could afford plane tickets for him to come out for the weekend, but unfortunately, they were like $700-$800!!! Craziness!

My next running adventure is on July 24th. I am running the Pioneer Day Classic.... aka: race of death. It's just a 10k... but if you've never been up foothill drive... you should. You're jaws will drop at the bottom of the hill and you won't be able to pull them back up... ever. Heh, and i'm also considering doing a half marathon on August 8th.

Sorry no pictures... you can thank me later. I wouldn't want to see a sweaty runner either. :-)

Yum!

2009-06-09T12:45:00.001-06:00

I saw a link to this blog and I didn't realize that I would be left wanting make everything on there! They're all so sinful! I'm making at least one when I'm in Texas... no ifs ands or buts! I haven't had dessert since Jon left!

Cupcakes

Because running one 10k isn't enough....

2009-06-07T19:24:00.002-06:00

As most of you know, I am signed up for the Pioneer Day Classic 10k run for July 24th. Well, July 4th is coming up and Provo is known to hold the American Freedom Festival. One of the things that they do is host a one mile fun run, 5k and 10k. I had been thinking about doing the 5k race and doing that, however, w/ a little nudge from a friend of mine, I have decided to sign up for the 10k race! Yikes! Maybe I'm crazy and maybe I'll regret it later b/c I will have another 10k 20 days later, but for now, I am excited and quite nervous. Anyone around should come and cheer us on! Bring on the free t-shirt :-)

Here is the link for it if any of you are as crazy as I am and want to sign up!

http://www.freedomfestival.org/run

I heart good books

2009-06-05T21:03:00.002-06:00

I just finished the book "Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. I absolutely LOVED it! I don't want to give any of it away. It has a lot of action in it and you really care for the characters. I wasn't able to put it down. I know I'm being vague and it's better to write these kinds of posts when you're critiquing it and talking about the story... I just don't want to give anything away. The second book comes out in September and I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Houston, take care of my Jon.

2009-05-29T17:32:00.006-06:00

Jon at Hampton Beach in NH... couldn't resist this

Ive been putting off writing this post for some time now because I have a tendency to rationalize that by not thinking about a situation somehow makes it not real, but unfortunately the time has come to face reality. We are extremely blessed that Jon was offered an internship in Houston, TX with Deloitte (especially in this economy). We are hoping that this will lead to a full-time offer at the end of the 10 weeks that he will be there.

What's the downside?

Well, unfortunately, I have to stay here in Utah. This was a decision that we had to make together and with the Lord. Trust me, it wasn't easy. If I went to Houston I would risk not getting a job for the summer and then not having a job in Utah when we came back. I'd rather have a stressful 10 weeks rather than a stressful year. I am lucky to have my job and I really like it (most of the time ;-)...). another downside... I am now the "ward widow" hehe.

The upsides?

There are a million! (Sorry that this next paragraph sort of turned into a list) Obviously, the likelihood of a full-time offer (that would be awesome!). Jon's parents have been kind and willing to let Jon stay with them for the summer so he doesn't have to pay rent at an apartment- he'll just have to earn his keep by doing yard and computer work :-) If I can't be there with him- there's no one I would trust more to keep Jon out of trouble :-). I get to visit in June and July (14 days until I see him next!!). I am thankful that my boss has given me so much time off- this wouldn't fly at Comcast. Jon will be able to learn new skills, make good contacts, learn the bus system (hehe) and he'll be able to spend a lot of time with his family (I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous). He is also going to the gym w/ his family and has a personal trainer for the 10 weeks he's there. He's going to get buff ;-) That's a plus for me too! I have my 10k (that i'm dreading) coming up in July and I'm working hard at getting ready for that- that helps the time go by.

At the Red Sox game- Jon cheering for a homerun

Even though I'm missing Jon like crazy already and he's only been gone since yesterday (Thursday) morning, I am so excited for him. I'm "sordik" proud of him ("sordik" is carpet talk for: really; a lot- but w/ a huge emphasis). He has worked so hard and has accomplished so much.

On the train heading into Boston

Love you, pettie swie.

Our trip to the "Shire"

2009-05-24T13:09:00.008-06:00

*Note: We know this is a long and probably boring post. To save any readers from miles of reading, we'll give an overview and over the next few days post more pictures and stories.

Our trip in a nutshell:

Wed the 13th: got into NH around 4pm and then spent time with my dad for the evening.

Thurs the 14th: we slept in and hung around the house and I showed Jon around. Jon previously hadn't been feeling well so we took the day easy. In the evening we saw Star Trek with my dad... IT WAS AWESOME! :-)

Friday: We headed out to Boston. We drove down to Billercia, MA to take a train. On the way, we got rear-ended at a stop sign... the guy admitted that he decided to go while looking down. We were lucky. We were in a rental car and we only had 2 small scratches next to all the other scratches the car came with. We parted ways and headed off to the train station to take the commuter rail. We missed the train by about 10 minutes and had to wait an hour for the next one.

Anyways, once we got on the train we headed to the museum of science and an old couple who we helped give directions to gave us $5 tickets vs $20/person they usually are-YES! We also were able to go to the Omni Theater (world's largest IMAX) in the museum and I fell asleep...

Jon and I went to Fire & Ice for dinner. If you ever have the chance to go- we highly recommend it. It's like a Mongolian bbq mixed w/ the entertainment of Benihana's. We then headed out to the North End of Boston (little Italy) and we walked around Fanuiel Hall and Quincy Market (shopping places). We ended the evening by getting some authentic gelato, yum!

On the way back to the subway that takes us to the commuter rail and back to the station- we had to go through.. can you guess?? Boston Garden (home of the Boston Celtics). Jon was ecstatic! We had a great time that day.

Saturday: This was the race day. My sister Shannon, her husband Ron, my friend Charlene and I all signed up to run a 5k that was being held in town. I was so excited to be able to run with family. No one really ever had an interest to do it w/ me up until now. The race started at Bedford High School. We all met there and got checked in. My nieces, Madison and Serena also came to cheer us on! Jon was able to spend some time with them while we raced. It was really fun. I shaved off about 2 minutes from my last 5k I did :-)

Later on in the day I hosted a BBQ at my dad's house. All my siblings and their families were able to attend: Shannon, Shane, Scott, Leah, us, Dad, and Charlene. It was really nice to see everyone. We got to catch up, tell old stories, eat good food and laugh a lot.

Sunday: My home stake was having a stake conference broadcast that day. We decided to meet up with Scott and his family in the morning and carpool out to Concord, NH. I saw a lot of old friends and ward members that I haven't seen in a while and got to introduce Jon to a few people and of course show him off :-) The conference was great. They talked a lot about provident living and having hope. During one of the talks, the sound went out on Salt Lake's end. The Stake President was about to start reading close captioning, but the sound came back on. We missed a few minutes of the talk, but it all worked out.

Afterwards, Scott, his family and us went out to Shane's house for lunch. We had a fun time seeing some of our nieces and nephews and catching up. Then for dinner we had dinner w/ Scott's family.

Monday: We had the opportunity of going to Shannon's work. She works at the Exeter Inn. She works with people trying to set up banquets and helps them organize all the details. We had dinner in their private dining room w/ Shannon's family. The food was amazing and not to mention, very fancy! We stayed the night in one of their rooms. We even got the "swanky" chocolate as Shannon called it. People who go here pay the big bucks to stay there and depending on how important they are- they either get 2 cookies or the box of chocolates... we got both :-)

Tuesday: After our breakfast, we headed off to the beach (a few miles away from the inn). Shannon was really thoughtful and left a lunch for us at the front desk when we checked out (thank you!). So, we walked around the beach for about an hour and then had lunch.

Later that day we headed back to Dad's house and I went on a 3.5 mile walk w/ my friend, Charlene, and Jon was able to spend some time w/ Dad. I never get to see Charlene, so it was really nice to get caught up. We've known each other since 7th grade and are still really great friends.

That night we had dinner w/ Charlene and her husband, Rich. We had a great time hanging out and getting to know one another better. Once we got home, my dad was waiting for us and we went out and saw Wolverine. It was a really good action flick.

Wednesday: We hung out at home in the morning and later we met up w/ Scott and Shane for lunch w/ my dad. This night was the Red Sox game! We went w/ Shannon and Ron. None of us had been to Fenway, so it was really fun to experience it all for the first time together. We of course had to get fenway franks! What's a baseball game w/o hotdogs? We had a lot of fun cheering and listening to Jon commentate!

Thursday: We slept in because we got in so late the night before (2 AM!). I woke up to Scott running a chainsaw outside hehe... this last winter my dad had a ton of trees and branches fall down and they are still getting rid of a lot of the debris from it. So, Scott was over getting rid of some of it.

We took an opportunity to visit the grave site of my mom and older brother, Eric, who passed away as a little baby.

Later that day we headed to my nephew, Hunter's little league game. He did pretty well. Although, I'm not sure the teams keep track of score- so I couldn't tell you who won :-). After we had dinner w/ Scott and his family.

Friday: We headed to Canobie Lake Park. It's a small amusement park that I worked at the summer after my freshman year of college. Shannon had two free tickets to go and was nice enough to offer them to us. Thanks! The majority of the rides were spinners and we both aren't the biggest fans of too many of those- but we had a great time.

Later on, around 4pm, we picked up two of my nieces, Madison and Serena, from their after school day care, took them home and played a lot of games with them. We even made home made pizza for dinner before Shannon and Ron came home. We played a lot outside and both the girls were showing us all of their gymnastic moves on the trampoline. We spent the rest of the evening there having dinner and watching a movie.

Saturday (Crystal's birthday): We met Shannon, Madison, Serena, Scott, Angel (Scott's wife) and Hunter for breakfast w/ my Dad. It was our last hurrah before we headed home to finish packing.

We got home last night at 9pm and our friend's Nate and Jess picked us up (thank you so much!) we then went out for ice cream to celebrate my birthday. it was a nice ending to a great vacation.

We made it!!!

2009-05-14T10:55:00.002-06:00

We're in NH and I couldn't be more excited. We were picked up on the 13th from our apartment at 3:30am by a nice shuttle guy and headed to the airport. Our first flight was fine and our second flight.. our seats weren't next to each other :-( Sad! I had to sit next to some old guys. They were those people in the airport that I can pick out and say "they look like they're from NH" hehe...

We'll share more when there is more.. but for now, all of our plans have seemed to fly out the window due to unexpected allergy problems for Jon (poor guy). So, we're just flying by the seat of our pants and spending time w/ family and helping my dad around the house and fixing the lawn mower... you know... the things that matter more than if you were able to go to Boston or not.

PS: The 12th (after my half day of work) I ran 6 miles outside! I won't lie- I felt pretty good about myself :-) I'll post the route on the work-out blog in a few days... for those who care ;-)

Ratatouille

2009-05-01T22:12:00.003-06:00

So, Crystal brought up a great idea to me for our date this weekend. After looking at a post by our friends, Nate and Jess (and Jess' sister who started it), she asked me if we could have a ratatouille date.

Our Ratatouille date would consist of us watching the Disney movie Ratatouille while making the same dish that they serve at the end of the movie. Normal ratatouille is more of a stew, but Jess' sister found one that is made the same style as the movie. After making (and eating - Yum!) it we saw them make it at the end of the movie and the whole process looked the exact same.

Awesome.

Here are the beginnings. The dish consists of a bed of tomato sauce and spices and such. Then there are alternating yellow squash, zuchinni, eggplant (yeah, you read that right), and red bell pepper. It's covered with some wax paper and goes into the oven (sans the movie of course).

While that was baking we made couscous to act as a bed for the dish. After it was done I plated them using a couple rounds in our kitchen. Look like rice cakes - but they taste a lot better!

Here is the finished dish just out of the oven. Looks good, eh?

And here are the final dishes, topped with some goat cheese. The thyme on the plate was just for color and removed before we ate them. I tried doing something with plating the leftover sauce but it was too thick to do anything interesting with. Oh well. We still feel like real chefs!

It was a great meal and a great date.

p.s. - Crystal wanted me to add that as you can see in that last picture, she found fresh thyme at a store.

Help! I can't find ingredients!

2009-04-28T13:50:00.003-06:00

I've been looking for some random ingredients and I can't find them anywhere.... does anyone know (in Provo) where I can find a fennel bulb or even hazelnuts??? If you know where I can go- let me know. I've looked in quite a few grocery stores and I have no luck. Or even fresh basil leaves, tarragon leaves.. etc... It's just frustrating to go into a grocery store and look everywhere.. then ask someone there and they not have it or even know what it is.

Help! :-)

Small updates

2009-04-25T22:36:00.003-06:00

It's time to post. Sorry it has taken a little while. So, I'll just fill you in on the business of our life.

Jon finished up the winter semester last week. He only had 2 real finals- he has spent more time on his students finals than he spent preparing for his own. The rest of his classes had end of the semester final projects. Grades will be in in about a week or so. He already has an A- posted! Things are looking good :-)

Physical therapy has been continuing for Jon. He now has a velcro "wrap" that he has to wear a few times a day that pulls his index finger all the way down into his palm (it hurts!). He also has a lot of thera-putty that he get's to exercise with. The therapist says he has made excellent progress. He also said that Jon's tendon may be stuck a little for the rest of his life (the place that's stuck is the size of a pin head). It won't really affect him very much if at all. So that's good.

Work on my end has been very busy. I have around 50 check-outs in the next 2 weeks. I'm so ready for a vacation! Speaking of vacation... we are only weeks away from going to NH to visit my family. I am so excited!! We leave May 13th and will be coming back on the 23rd. We are even going to a Red Sox game!!!! Heh, don't bother trying to find us on tv... our seats stink :-)

Other than that, life is pretty good. Right now Jon and I are battling a small stomach flu of some sorts. It probably isn't the flu because he got it about 24 hours before I did... maybe it was something we ate? Hopefully it goes away FAST. We'll spare you the details. :-)

Oh, and bytheway... the flusher on our toilet is broken... currently we are using a hanger to flush the toilet from the inside... good thing we don't have stomach problems that cause us to visit the restroom with more frequency.... pray the maintenance guy shows up soon!! We're too cheap to fix it ourselves w/ real parts.

Castless

2009-04-02T21:22:00.002-06:00

I apologize for the lack of updates about Jon's hand/finger. There just wasn't much to report on. Last week Jon was given some new exercises. I tried to look pictures up online of what they wanted him to do. I found this. This is the closest I could find.
We'll number them left to right: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. They had him doing #2 and #5 in hopes that soon he will be able to do #4. The only bad news that he got was that his tendon is stuck to his skin where the incision was made (don't worry, gory details stop there). He has to continue doing "scar massage". They try to make it sound like it's something that feels good... but according to the faces and pain noises that Jon makes... it's not fun at all. The Doc is hoping that the tendon will pop away from the skin in the near future. This is really limiting his motion right now- but every day get's better!

This last Wednesday he went to the physical therapist and he told Jon that he doesn't need to wear his "fishing gear" splint anymore. However, during the day, if he get's tired or is hurting- he can put on his splint that he wears to bed. The therapist is encouraging him to try typing with all 10 fingers vs. the 6 that he has gotten used to :-) Next week he get's to visit the plastic surgeon (aka: Dr. Cool) so he can see how Jon has been progressing. Then he also get's to visit the therapist 2x next week. That's the first time he'll be going there for more than just his weekly visit. They may put him in a different splint next week, but they're still unsure.

All in all- Jon is doing very well and he can do a little more. He was excited yesterday that he could finally put his left arm through his jacket sleeve... oh the small things that you really take for granted. Thank you for all your prayers. We have been so blessed and we are grateful that he wasn't injured more seriously.

Super Woman

2009-03-27T22:30:00.002-06:00

I'm not a very fast typer right now...for obvious reasons, so I'll keep it short.

Tonight was the Marriott School March Madness party. Part of that was Crystal participating in the corporate climb - a race up and down all the stairs in the Tanner Building. I just wanted to proudly say that Crystal took 4th place in the individual 1 lap race (they also had team 1 lap and individual 3 lap). She ran all around the building from one side to another and through 14 flights of stairs in a mere 3 minutes and 27 seconds! Crazy!

...almost as crazy as volunteering to run that many steps...

Way to go, Crystal! I'm proud of you!

Cute commercial

2009-03-22T22:33:00.004-06:00

**For updates on my on-going fitness goals check the other blog**

I wanted to share a funny commercial that Jon and I always smile at. I'm not trying to make a plug for Weight Watchers or anything like that, we just wanted to give yal a laugh :-). Can you guess our favorite part??? I'll give you a hint... it's the part with the laptop... or should I say... pizza box?

PS- tomorrow is exactly one month since Jon's hand accident. He is improving, but there isn't much to really report right now. We're just waiting and waiting... but this week he may start some more intensive physical therapy. We'll keep you posted!

Happy-Quarter of a century-Birthday, Jon!

2009-03-15T14:12:00.005-06:00

My wonderful husband turned 25 on Friday! it seems like just yesterday we were 21 and 22-year-olds and happily engaged. Okay, cheesy, I know... but really- time has flown by and I love Jon more each day. Happy birthday, old guy!

To celebrate we went to India Palace (our most favorite place to go) with Leanna and our friends The Phillips. We had a really good time spending time with each other. Jon even got a free birthday- mango ice cream dish.

Afterwards, we went back to our place where we "tucked in" on the basketball birthday cake I made for Jon. Now I'm not trying to brag on this blog that's supposed to be all about the birthday boy... but... I started working on the cake on Wednesday night. I baked it, let it cool and then froze it until the next morning. Thursday morning before I took Jon to school and before I went to work, I took the cake out of the freezer and iced it and then put it back in the freezer until that evening. Thursday night after work, I made tons of frosting and dyed it brown and orange for basketball colors.

Now, you need to understand... I've played around w/ fondant and things like that, but I have NEVER decorated a cake by using frosting tips or anything like that- so, If I blew it- it would have been a complete disaster. Anyways... here is the final project :-) Also note: because It was my first time doing this... it's not perfect and I know that, so please just disregard any imperfections you might want to pick out. :-)

Time with Dr. Cool

2009-03-11T17:39:00.002-06:00

Tuesday Morning Jon had an appointment to get his stitches removed with the plastic surgeon who originally worked with Jon and did the surgery. His physical therapist refers to him as "Dr. Cool". For that reason, we will refer to him as so. :-)

The appointment was for 8am in his office in Lindon (about 20 mins away). We get there and we get a room and we waited.... and waited... 45 minutes later, Dr. Cool comes in with a fake-intern (hasn't even gotten into medical school yet) hovering over his shoulder. He unwraps Jon's hand and starts taking the stitches out. Because he is a plastic surgeon, he usually makes all his stitches VERY small and tight to reduce scarring. That's great and all... but, he had a hard time getting them out of Jon's hand. He would cut two ends (and Jon's hand... twice) and then just pull up as hard as he could to see what would come out... nothing. He eventually gave up and left some of the stitches in (do those dissolve???) I'm thankful it wasn't me going through it. Needless to say, it was really painful for Jon and Dr. Cool called him a "wimp". Poor guy. He toughed it out though.

There are a few more gruesome details, but we will spare you. Thank me. You're welcome. :-) Jon wanted me to add it in.

Version 2.0

2009-03-05T21:08:00.003-07:00

On Wednesday, Jon went back to the physical therapist (Brian is his name). He updated Jon's cast a little bit. He added another pulley onto the cast. He now has his middle finger in a pulley and sling. They did this because his middle finger is right next to the damaged index finger. To explain this better- hold out one of your hands and try to move your index finger without moving your middle finger (without trying to hold your hand as stiff as a board). You can't really do it, can you? This new pulley helps relieve the tension and it also helps him to gain more mobility in his middle finger. Brian bent Jon's middle finger towards the palm of his hand and it was the first time his middle finger had been moved since the accident. It was really stiff and painful the first few times. After that- it was a welcomed stretch. Jon's job is still the same- move it ten times an hour. But, now he has to work out his middle finger and straighten out his knuckle on his index finger a few times too. What a rough life! Anyways, here are pictures for your enjoyment.

Here is Jon holding all fingers in like a fist (except for the index)
It's his new trick :-)
"I can point now!" He was really excited... moral victories...

The new sling/holder for his index finger

Common sense 101:

2009-03-02T18:29:00.003-07:00

If you live in a furnished apartment- you CANNOT remove management's furniture without permission. If you've asked for permission and management has told you you "No, we cannot take that piece of furniture out..." That does not secretly mean "why yes- go ahead and move it outside your door and we'll come and get it no problem." Or, if you move it to a whole other side of the complex... management will find out who moved furniture and the owner can evict you. By saying that- it doesn't matter if you work in a law firm office- the owner can evict you for moving his/her property. Just because my job isn't in a law firm office doesn't mean I am any less of a human being than you. I do have a degree and contrary to your belief- I'm pretty dang smart.

The end.

Normal life... sort've

2009-02-26T22:51:00.004-07:00

For all you "gore-seekers" please see our previous post for pictures of surgery and things of that nature. Please remember to scroll down to see if you've missed anything :-)

For the rest of you- we are posting pictures of "normal life" for us.. or as normal as it can get right now. We realze that it's probably too soon to post- but I will be busy for the next little while. My boss is having open heart surgery tomorrow and I will be in charge of the office for the next while.. and the BYU vs. Utah game is on Saturday- you better believe that we're going to be there (don't worry.. we are showing up hours early and leaving after every one has left to avoid too much of a crowd when walking) there's no way we'd miss it!

Jon's new favorite shoes :-) he can put them on
without asking for help. Yay for independence!

This is the day cast.. aka: torture device/fishing gear.
Note the actual fishing weight acting as a stopper on the right side of the circle/pulley.

Just another view

Jon showing it off

We just had to have a little fun. We decided to "go fishing".
We made a paper fish and attached it to the cast-
at least we caught something :-)

Just to give a more serious update: Jon has regained a lot of mobility in the uninjured left fingers and has no started moving his index finger again- his assignment from the physical therapist: 10 wiggles an hour (moving his finger down ten times and the pulley lifting it up for him) The therapist also said that in order for it to get better things will get worse for the first 3 weeks or so.. so we are in for a ride! Wish us luck for Sunday... church dress will be a challenge!

Thank you for your prayers, love and support- we greatly appreciate everything you do.

Not for the faint-of-heart

2009-02-26T15:01:00.007-07:00

*Disclaimer: for those of you who may get uncomfortable at the sight of blood- this post is not for you (that means you, Brittny! :-) hehe- oh and ps to Brittny- let us know when that baby of yours decides to come out! He's late! ;-) )

People have been asking for the pictures and gory details of Jon's accident this week. I'm not sure how many details I can provide in writing that will sound really gory, but, I hope the last picture on this blog will do just that.

Our next blog will contain pictures of Jon's 2 new casts that he just got this morning. He has one to wear to bed and one that he has to wear all day. The one that he wears during the day looks like a serious torture device. To help your imaginations- it also looks like a fishing rod and line equipped w/ a weight (hehe) on the top of his hand or some nice head gear :-) He was a trooper through both fittings today though. It was pretty painful- but he kept a stiff upper lip. He will be in the cast for 5-6 weeks and then from there he will go into more physical therapy and we were given the 3 month time line again today. So, this will put a downer on the rest of his semester.. good thing he's not in a major that deals with computers all day long or something.. haha... nah, he'll be fine :-)

Anyways... this is where you need to stop reading if you aren't prepared for pictures. :-)

This is how I found Jon in the ER- doing the Jon wave :-)
"One of these is not like the others..."

His luxurious half room w/ a nice curtain

Leanna wanted to point out that there was
blood on the wall (not Jon's)

Here is Jon before they started to give
him all his shots (including a shot in the rear)

This is the actual surgery at the plastic surgeon's place.
They let us take pictures and watch as much as
we wanted. Jon was awake for the whole thing too.

A day in the life of a carpet layer...

2009-02-23T23:38:00.002-07:00

Here is Jon... he is showing how he can count to six and a half
(note thumb- it's the half)

This is Crystal (posting under Jon's name) I won't make this post very long because it is very late and I'm very ready for this day to be over.

Today at around 3:30pm I got a phone call at work from Jon saying: "First off- I am okay, but I have to go to the hospital and I'm going to need surgery. My work is coming to get me at the BYU health center so I have to go, but I will call you later when I know more." There I am at work- not knowing what's going on or what happened or what. I have no clue what hospital he's going to or what to do. I go into a panic and I'm close to tears and I tell my boss all that I knew and he let me leave.

I picked up Jon's sister, Leanna and we headed off to the Utah Valley hospital in Provo. I met Jon in the ER and we were there for about 2 hours. From there they sent us to a plastic surgery place in Lindon. We get there and the place is open but all the lights are off and no one is around. We finally get ahold of the doctor and he started prepping for surgery.

It turns out that Jon severed two tendons on his left hand and barely missed the joint and thumb (which would've been very bad). The doctor was really laid back and let Leanna and I be in the room during surgery. Jon was awake and Leanna watched most of it- I was too much of a wimp to watch!

So, how long is the recovery process? Well, we're expecting him to be immobile for about 6 weeks (in the left hand at least). After that he will have to go through physical therapy to regain strength in his fingers. The whole thing will take about three months. Jon is okay and he is still in good spirits as always. He's not in too much pain- which is a blessing. Thanks for all of your prayers, love and support. We really appreciate it. We'll keep you updated as we know more.

Dear Stomach,

2009-02-19T22:58:00.002-07:00

I only have a few requests, but I hope you find it within your lining to comply. Please let me sleep and don't wake me up at 3:30am on the dot every morning feeling sick. It's no fun for anyone. I finally was able to eat some real food tonight- please don't make me wish I hadn't given all that effort for nothing. I'm tired of eating saltines and drinking Sprite all day. I'm so hungry- but too sick to eat anything- how lame is that? It has been since Monday night that you have served as my body's personal war zone and now I am surrendering with the biggest white flag you've ever seen. Just let me sleep and eat real meals. I think I've lost like 5lbs within the last few days (even though I want to lose weight, this wasn't the way I wanted to lose it). Just pick on someone else your own size.

Sincerely,

the girl who has been up since 4am this morning and came home after work and fell asleep and now is hoping i'll be able to go to bed.

happy late valentines day

2009-02-15T18:49:00.004-07:00

Happy late Valentine's day. I'll let Jon talk about valentine's day.. that's if he is still alive.. I'm sure you're all wondering if he is because he hasn't posted.. but I assure you- he is alive and well- just really busy.

Anyways- Here is the valentine he sent me that he sent me in my e-mail. How romantic!
Edit -
This is Jon. Just in case Valentine's Day wasn't the romantic time you were looking/hoping for, you can also use these bitter valentines:

It has been a year....

2009-02-11T23:02:00.004-07:00

Yesterday, Jon and I realized that it has been a year this week that we haven't had Comcast in our lives. What a blessed year that has been! I feel the best way to express my time with Comcast is with a few Dilbert comics. Just remember, I worked in billing and technical support. So, just sit back, relax, pull out some ice cream and celebrate with us :-) PS: The first one is my favorite!

Ever catch your boss taking a snooze??

2009-02-10T15:33:00.004-07:00

I know we have been lacking in our blog writing of anything of importance. We'll get there soon, promise. For now, I just wanted to give you all a good laugh- at least I laughed at this :-) If you don't.. well, sorry.

To help explain it a little I'll just do a quick summary. I work at an apartment complex as the office manager. I take over the front part of the office and my boss (the owner) has his office in the room in back of me. He's usually to himself most of the time and can be found whistling the BYU fight song at least once a day. I can't directly get a visual of him unless I go up to the doorway of his office and the same for him.

The other day I was working on getting quickbooks set up for him. I had a question on an account that only he could answer. I did the usual call his name out. I found that if I don't call his name before going to his door, I find him daydreaming and he is startled and starts shuffling around papers like he's been caught. Honestly... he's the owner and doesn't even need to be here- what do I care if he's not doing anything? Anyways... back to the other day. I called out for him and he didn't respond. I said his name again. Still nothing. I then approached his door and found him sleeping- head bobbing and all. I just let him be after that and waited until he came around whistling- haha! He was out for like an hour!!! I laughed all night about it.

Tag! I'm it....

2009-01-26T09:55:00.002-07:00

My friend, Amber tagged me a little while ago and I haven't done it yet :-) So, here is some useless/random facts about me!

8 Favorite TV shows:
1. The office
2. Gilmore Girls
3. Biggest Loser
4. Arrested Development
5. Ace of Cakes
6. Iron Chef (haha...)
7. Little People, Big World
8. Sports- watching the Celtics, Red Sox, BYU... and no I'm not really a Patriots fan.. never really was

8 Favorite Foods:
1. Indian food- Jon and I are always willing to make an excuse to eat it.
2. Mexican Food
3. Gum.. okay, not a food.. but Jon called me a "chain chewer" the other day. I need to go to Gum Chewers Anonymous haha
4. Tortillas
5. Fresh fruis- esp. purple grapes (frozen are the best!), black berries, raspberries...
6. Anything w/ chocolate
7. Anything in a tortilla or lettuce wrap
8. Fish- I love fish. Jon could care less about it. So, it's a limited food item in our home. Maybe once a year. This summer though, you can count on me having lobster when we're back in NH visiting.

8 Things That Happened Yesterday:
Considering yesterday was Sunday... I'll write about Saturday
1. Went to the temple
2. Took Leanna to get her haircut- it looks really good!
3. Went running on the track
4. Made awesome turkey burgers for dinner
5. Went to the BYU vs. San Diego State game w/ Jon, Leanna and Cody
6. Jon and I treated ourselves to some ice cream at Sonic after the game
7. Went grocery shopping.
8. Got stuck in the rain/hail storm

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Jon graduating in April 2010
2. Going to NH in May and going to a Red Sox game!!
3. Having the snow melt haha
4. Being able to run outside again
5. Moving to TX in the future
6. Jon competing in the Omniture contest
7. Hanging out with my awesome friends!
8. Holidays

8 Things I Love about Winter
1. Watching the snow fall
2. going to Soldier Hollow for sledding
3. Reminds me of when we got married
4. Having a white Christmas
5. Seeing the snow on the mountains
6. Having an excuse to drink hot chocolate
7. Snowboarding- whenever I get the chance- which is rare
8. Remembering the igloo I once built with my dad back home

8 Things on my Wish List:
1. A Boston Terrier
2. A Zune for Jon
3. To someday have a house
4. To have my own washer/dryer- oh to do laundry w/o quarters- what a dream! :-)
5. a new lap top- mine served a good life but is now currently in a cabinet collecting dust.
6. New clothes... always on my wish list even if I don't need them! (I second Amber on that)
7. To go snowboarding in UT (I know, shocker.. I haven't been in UT- just whenever I go back home in the winter is when I go)
8. New scriptures- mine are starting to fall apart.

So there you go, hopefully you learned something about me that you didn't already know! Now I tag Jon, JoSue, Allie, Andrea, Leanna and Vanessa!

Warmer months can't come fast enough...

2009-01-23T10:00:00.007-07:00

We are now officially in the "dog days of winter". If it's not snowing, it's freezing. If my car hasn't been plowed in- the car in front of me is stuck and then makes it difficult for me to get out as well. If tenants aren't complaining about ice everywhere- well, they will be soon. Summer can't come fast enough! However, at the same time, for the most part, I don't want summer to come at all. Just bring on the warmer temps and leave the summer months as far away as possible.

Why the madness? Well, if you haven't heard, Jon accepted an internship this summer with Deloitte in Houston, TX. Hurray! It's a really good thing and a really good fit (so far) for our family.

So, why don't I want summer to come? It's not because of the hot and humid weather that lives in Houston- but it's because I can't go with him. Sad, I know. I was gone all last summer and my boss was nice enough to give me my job back in the fall. Well, I finally got the guts to talk to him about this upcoming summer (hoping for a miracle). I told him that we needed to talk to him before we started to plan anything because we wanted to respect him. Well, after the talk he originally said that I could go and visit Jon for a week in June. I was horrified. I then talked my way into letting me go once in June and once in July. I felt like I was asking my dad to go to my friend's house as if I were in high school (hehe).

I know that we all have to make sacrifices and this will be a great opportunity for our family (the internship that is... not the being alone for 10 weeks). It will be hard- but worth it in the end. I'm excited that I will be able to see Jon. We'll plan it so I won't see him for 2 weeks, then I'll see him for a little over a week, then 2-3 weeks w/o seeing him and then i see him for a week and then he comes home in a few weeks after that. At least I'll have something to look forward too.

One of the things that I am most thankful for is that Jon will be able to live at his parent's house. It is such a blessing. Jon won't have to find housing for 10 weeks and he will have his family with him. It's also great that he's going to the place he grew up in. He won't be completely lost like we were in Arkansas last summer for our first few weeks.

Congrats, Jon! I love you and am proud of you. Keep up the good work!

The Exeter Inn

2009-01-13T16:05:00.004-07:00

My sister, Shannon sent this out to my family. She works at the Exeter Inn as the catering sales manager. She plans all kinds of events and the place itself is amazing! They just got done with a remodel and it is really nice.

Anyways, a tv show did a review on their restaurant and this is a short video about it. Just thought I'd share it with everyone. Congrats, Shannon!

Today I am thankful to live on the 2nd floor.

2009-01-05T12:05:00.005-07:00

I woke up this morning to no hot water. When you turned the hot water knob- nothing would even come out. I thought it may be the boiler, but we were still getting heat. Because I was trying to get out the door, I didn't worry too much. As I was leaving and locking up to go to work our trusty maintenance guy, Lyle was coming up the stairs and hanging wet carpet from the railing (too bad the carpet is just going to freeze instead of dry...)

I asked if the boiler was out.

Turns out a line burst.

The couple right below us woke up to a flood in their bedroom.