Sunday, June 26, 2011

14 Days!

Really?  That's all that's left between now and our due date?!  It's crazy to think there may be an end in sight with pregnancy.  At my appointment last Wednesday I was informed that I was already dilated to a 1 and 70% effaced.  Depending on how things go, this baby may arrive sooner than planned.

I'm anxious to begin the delivery process and very much done with waiting.  However, we're hoping to last to the 3rd so Alan and I can help at Riverton Town Days.  My desire to help at Town Days is battling my desire to be done with this pregnancy.  So far, self discipline is winning; I have not hiked Wind Caves again, played basketball, or walked with one foot on the curb and one foot on the road to try to put myself into labor. 

The only thing I am truly nervous about as labor approaches is the chance of an asthma attack while delivering.  Granted I'll be in the hospital and the doctor will know what to do, but I hope it doesn't happen or that it at least doesn't complicate things (too much).

Oh well!  I guess the only way to find out what will happen is to wait. 

Century Ride for MS

There are two things in life that will never cease to amaze me:
  1. How I managed to fall in love with and marry a man who's mother is so similar to my own mother.
  2. How adventurous and active this mothers are.
 Yesterday these two moms participated in a ride for MS here in Cache Valley as part of the Associated Foods Team.  The "Best Dam Ride" (which is the official name of the Cache Valley ride) helps raise funding to research causes and cures of MS and provides bikers of all ages a scenic ride through Cache Valley.  Sharon and Lisa rode together for the 100 mile ride.  Neither approached this with a competitive mindset.  Rather, they simply enjoyed themselves.

Alan, Kelly and I were the cheering squad for the two moms.  We met them in Weston where they took a short breather.






After seeing the ladies in Weston, we drove back to Utah to meet them in Lewiston.




Lewiston marked mile 75 for the bikers as well as lunch time!  Quizno's sandwiches were served (Turkey on white or wheat or PBJ) (I didn't know Quizno's even made PBJs!)



Sharon rode in honor of Jeff's daughter, Heather, who was diagnosed with MS at age 19.  Lisa-Mom rode in honor of Ken Allred, a friend in the ward who has MS.  Ken, his wife Sheril, and one of his daughters-in-law came to meet her at the finish.
 


Since both Lisa and Sharon were rookies at this event, they got to put a smiley face by their names on the anniversary banner.



Most of the participants had grease on their calves from the ride.  Lisa and Sharon were not excluded from this experience.



I'm glad our moms were able to do this together.  It was fun to cheer for both of them at the same event.  Maybe next year Alan and I can join in the fun!

Friday, June 24, 2011

Challenge #16 & #17

16. Children: Do you have any yet? If not, when do you plan on it? How many do you want? Any tips on good/bad birth control?

This question seems silly at this current moment in my life.  We are indeed planning on a child. We plan to have said child by the 10th of July. Yay!


We're hoping to have 5-7 children, though, my love of odd numbers makes things difficult, so we'll rephrase that to be 5 OR 7 children.  Birth control....I struggled with the pill.  Ironically, I take 4 different medications multiple times on a daily basis for asthma and allergies.  Yet, being on the pill drove me crazy.  It wasn't a "need" in life, I wouldn't be miserable or unable to breathe if I didn't take the pill.  Needless to say we fought, this pill and I.  However, I will most likely revert back to said drug.






17. The most recent picture of you and your significant other and what you love most about them.

 



 I love Alan.  The end.

My mind is frequently tripped out by how well we mesh.  Granted we have our moments of eye rolling at the other (ie. when Alan decides to pop his knuckles or when I get self conscious about my weight), but over all we compliment each other very well.  It's great to be able to live with my best friend, to see him every day, and to dream of adventures we'd like to experience in the future.

Timmy says it best:

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Happy Birthday to ME!

Yay! Birthday!  It came and went.  Wohoo!  I'm now 22.  (insert ramblings on my feelings towards the number 2 and being labeled with an age that contains two 2s.)

Ha ha, it was a fun birthday contrary to any apathy I may display.  Alan surprised me with a present before he went to work: the DVD set of Ouran High School.  I spent the day cleaning with my new DVDs playing in the back ground.  Alan came home for lunch and suggested we take a walk to the snow cone shack!  Simple? Yes.  Did I swoon? Probably.  Best mini date ever!  We enjoyed our snow cones before Alan returned to work and I returned to the apartment.



Sharon and Kelly treated us to dinner at the Blue Bird Cafe, which was good fun.  I was given an external hard drive as a present from Alan's parents (rejoice, my soul!).  I got several birthday phone calls and was smiling all day.

Thanks everybody!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Challenge #15

The first place that you lived together: pics if you have them!

We first, and currently, live in a complex called Bridger Village.  It's on a funky cal-de-sac just by the A&W here in Logan.   We have a two bedroom apartment that is two stories- more of a town house layout.  We have a back porch and a tiny little back yard as well as a court yard out front shared by the neighbors.  The apartment complex was built in 1969 and still has it's original stove and counter tops; some apartments are lucky enough to have the Avocado coloring but ours is the Harvest Gold, still very neat.  The carpet was new when we moved in and is still in good shape.  We like our little place!

This was the view from our front door one morning after a blustery storm.


  
These are the bushes that line the walkway to our front door!


Due to lack of space on my harddrive at the current moment, these pictures will remain sideways until future notice.  This is our front door and the Harry Potter closet before we got our decorations up.


 Walk way into the kitchen/dining area.


Our kitchen table which was put together by Camille and I in a very cold house.


This picture shows 50% of our counter space and the pleasant coloring.

Stairs...


The three doors!  Master bedroom, second bedroom, upstairs bathroom.

Challenge #14

Thoughts on marriage: what is the easiest/hardest part? if you could change anything, what would it be?

The easiest part of marriage is being happy.  It's so wonderful to be living with my best friend.  We can be silly whenever it pleases us, we go out of our way to take care of each other, and we always have fun.  It's been fun to gain another family, too! 

The "hardest" part is probably adjusting to living with somebody new and adjusting to their routines.  For the most part this hasn't been too difficult, but it is a factor of married life I hadn't considered before I was wed. 

Challenge #13

Honeymoon: where did you go? was it enjoyable?

 Alan and I journeyed to Pagosa Springs, CO for our honeymoon- courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa Johnson.  Thank you thank you thank you!  It was beautiful there! Lovely powder snow everywhere in this cute little skiing town.  Unfortunately I got sick on our honeymoon and we were not as adventurous as we had initially planned.  However, we did have a good time! 


We made a gingerbread house!  From a kit!  yay!


Alan buried in the snow.


 Our cute little resort home.


Alan in a mound of powder.  Sideways.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Swamp Monster

After we returned from our photoshoot, Cambrie and McKenzie began playing with the hose in Grandma and Grandpa's yard.  It was fun to get some shots of the girls playing around.





After Kenzie went in for her nap, Cambrie began filling a "ditch" and transformed into a Swamp Monster!





It was so much fun to spend time with Annette and her girls.  Thanks for everything!

Lil Girls

Annette was kind enough to dress her girls up so I could practice taking pictures of kids.  We took the girls to the side of a road where there was a cute, wooden fence line and a patch of wild Irises.  




Not only was this a great opportunity for me to get some practice with taking pictures but also to practice editing pictures.  Hopefully I didn't go overboard with most of these.













Ok, so obviously this next one isn't a little girl.  But the flowers were so pretty, 
can you really blame me?


Thanks for letting me practice on your children, Annette!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Sir Dudley

Once upon a time I had a younger brother who we referred to as Sir Dudley.  Sir Dudley graduated from high school this week!  We're so proud/excited/relieved that he made it through the school year.  The crazy kidlet will be attending a semester at UVU before heading on a mission.  Goodness knows what will happen after that.






We love you, Greg!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Challenge #12

Favorite part of the day and least favorite part of the day: can be anything.

My favorite part of the day was...the whole day!  Everything went according to plan and I was so happy with how everything turned out.  I will never forget the moment I saw Alan in the temple dressed to be married.  It really was the most wonderful sight and feeling that much love for him reminded me that this was a decision backed by the Spirit.

Ok, there was one part of the day I could have done without.  When we arrived at the temple that morning we were shown into a room where our paperwork was looked over and verified.  To my surprise the temple worker who walked in was my ex-boyfriend's mother who, when I was dating her son back in high school, was very vocal in her opinion that I was made for her son.  Alan had no idea who she was, luckily.  It was quite awkward to sit there with my husband-to-be and listen to this individual tell him he was getting the most wonderful girl in the world.

The only other thing I would have changed about the day would be the chance to have a dance with Dino.  I really looked forward to dancing with him but with how busy things got at the reception there just was not time.  I regret to say I'll never have a dance with my dad, at least in this life.  

Challenge #11

Your song and/or the first song you danced to at your wedding.

As shown in a previous picture our reception was packed.  We were so busy greeting and thanking our guests for coming that we ran out of time for any dancing (and there really wasn't room, let's be honest here).

However, I did have a short playlist compiled for dancing had there been time at the reception:

So Close- Jon McLaughlin
Then- Brad Paisley
Making Memories of Us- Keith Urban
Everything- Michael Bublé
The Way I Am- Ingrid Michaelson
You're My Better Half- Keith Urban
My Best Friend- Tim McGraw
God Bless the Broken Roads- Rascal Flatts
At the Beginning- Richard Marx & Donna Lewis
She's Got It All- Kenny Chesney
Unforgettable- Nat King & Natalie Cole

Alan and I also had a playlist of cheesy songs we would listen to while we were dating/engaged/away from each other.  However, I'll spare you of most of these.  The single song that sticks out most in my mind as a song for us would be Wrapped Around by Brad Paisley.  It brings such joy to my soul and makes me giggle. 

Challenge #10

Tell us about the cake/food.

We couldn't have put on the wedding reception without the assistance of Riverton City's Recreation Department.  Ann and Sheril are close family friends as well as previous employers.  Ann made our gorgeous wedding cake as a wedding gift to us.  I know it was a simple style, but I believe it was one of the most elegant wedding cakes I've ever seen.  It was quite delicious as well.



Sheril was our caterer for the day.  She helped us come up with a menu including fresh vegetables, meatballs, little smokies, cheesecake, cheese and crackers, and sprite with koolaid ice cubes to top it off.


Sheril cooked and set everything up beautifully- as always- but had to leave the reception for a family  event.  Luckily my two dashing uncles Rick and Pat saved the day by keeping everything stocked and being happy to help out the reception!



Sheril provided the cheerful aprons for our classy men.

Challenge #9

The ceremony and reception: where where they at? what day did you get married?

Alan and I were married on December 17th, 2009 in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.  


This is a special temple for me even though it's so new.  It was built in Daybreak maybe 2 or 3 miles from my parent's house.  You can see the temple from their doorstep.  Since Grandma, Aunt Debbie and Uncle Pat were visiting June of 2009 we were able to take them to the open house of the temple.  It was very special of me to be able to show my extended family where I would be married even though they were unable to attend the ceremony.  
We had a wedding luncheon at a family favorite: Mark Anthony's Italian Restaurant.  So very tasty and lovely.  The Stratford men treated us to the traditional Tahitian dance which welcomes the new comer to their family.  Don't they look great in their summery outfits?!



The reception was held at The Rose Shop later that evening.  Set in a green house, we had no decorating to worry about and everything was provided other than food and a party of people!




 Don't worry, people came in floods!  I still can't get over how many people came to support us, it was overwhelming- in a good way.  The night was a dream come true.  Everything was beautiful, everybody we love was there, and as far as I can tell, everybody had a good time.