Best Christmas EVER!

I wasn't really getting too excited about Christmas until the Monday before. I had gotten Jason How to Train Your Dragon for Christmas, but we opened it to watch with family on Thanksgiving. Then, I had decided to get Jason a new set of scriptures. I wrote a little message on the front cover, wrapped them without him knowing, and left them on the end table ready to put under the tree once we got it.

We had the missionaries over for dinner, and one of them insisted on figuring out what was in them. He felt how heavy it was, measured it next to my set of scriptures, asked Jason about it etc. Jason does not guess gifts after guessing every gift he got from his mom one year. There was no surprise so he decided that he would not ruin any one's surprise for him. Thanks to this missionary, Jason knew what he was getting. Ugh.

Needless to say, Christmas spirit was hard to find this year. However, the week before Christmas, I was getting a little excited. Plans were coming together, and I had found a couple other gifts for Jason I was stoked about! Despicable Me and a Sharper Image Shiatsu Massage chair insert.

Though Jason was happy about all the gifts he got, the most exciting one was his scriptures. He knew that he was getting them, yet the little message inside was what made it the best present. He unwrapped his scriptures, flipped through them and then saw there was a message in the front. He read it, looked at me and said thank you. As I looked at him, his eyes were glistening and I told him he was welcome. He told me he loved me and I started to cry. I told him I loved him too. Then, my mom started crying, my baby brother started tearing up and the spirit was really strong in that moment. Poor Brittney, Bobby's girlfriend, was confused as to why everyone was so emotional. We'll have to explain it later.

Anyway, it was a great day. I will have more pictures to come.

So I'm a little crazy. Did that ever hurt anyone?

As I was visiting my make-up artist friend, Charlotte, at her work, MAC, I told her that I am trying to get back the motivation I had in college. I use to do my make up so it matched whatever I was wearing. Pink shirt, pink shadow. Green shirt, green shadow. Purple shirt, purple shadow. You catch my drift?

She started laughing at me then said, "I believe it with your OCD problem."

I thought for a second, do I really have an OCD problem? I thought my symmetrical problem was just a weirdness. If I get nudged on the right arm, I have to have my left arm nudged somehow. I have to make sure when walking on a sidewalk or some other patterned surface that I get the same amount of steps in each square. My shirts in my closet I use to have organized by style, then by color. I also feel like the world is complete when things are alphabetized or numerical.

Sad thing is, my OCD dates back to at least Kindergarten. There were 6 kids at each table and a box of 8 Count Crayola crayons at the end of the table for each kid. Some of the boxes had little windows and I would flip out if the crayons didn't go in ROY G BIV order. Some kids didn't care how the crayons ended up in the box and I would tell them that they were going to get in trouble if they didn't do it right.

Please tell me this is normal. Well, at least tell me that others have this same crazy-ness.

Magic Miracle Pills

They're nothing more than chocolate covered oreo's and cream cheese.

However, they have been the sensation at work, home and around church!

Recipe:

Take one package of Oreo's. (Jason really likes the peanut butter ones. I like the regular. I want to try the peppermint or mint ones. Double Stuff was too messy.)

Get one block of cream cheese (the 8 oz block)

1 package of chocolate Almond Bark

Blend Oreo's til finely chopped. Mix with cream cheese. Make into 1 inch round balls. Chill in Fridge for 30+ minutes. Melt chocolate. Take chilled balls and roll in chocolate. Let balls harden again. Enjoy.

BYU Vocal Point--12 Days of Christmas

What's kickin?

BG is, of course!

Yesterday, during work I felt a little queasy all day. I've mentioned before, but this 2nd trimester isn't as kind to my body as the first. I've felt a little more "pregnant" as soon as the first day of the second trimester hit.

Anyway, yesterday. I only worked from 830-145, but it was still long enough to make me feel gross. Standing, having the pressure from the counter right on my belly. I was trying to make myself as comfortable as possible, but there didn't seem to be enough cold water anywhere!!!

*Cold water, more like ice water - which I never really liked drinking before, is the one thing that makes me feel better.

I hurried to AT&T to meet Jason after work so we could get my phone replaced and working again. (Note to AT&T, you guys have PLENTY of floor space. ADD SOME CHAIRS FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS! We had gone on Friday but I was so tired of standing for so long that we left. That's why we had to go back. Then it was another hour and a half Saturday! Why does it take so long? Cause our very nice, very confused looking helper was trying to get us the best deal. = / Right.)

As we were standing at AT&T, I started realizing that BG has been kicking me all day! My insides aren't use to someone in there kicking around.I thought that it might be gas, but I could tell that it wasn't. It was in the same place a few times. Then, I felt it all over like he is a drummer in a rock band! And, because I had gas too, it was easy to differentiate the kicks from the gas.

After having the same feeling through the Ward Christmas Party, and through church today. I am so excited to say that I feel him kicking around and I'm not even trying to get a response!

As Jason and I were watching tv this afternoon, I told him, "You know what's exciting about me feeling him kick all the time?" He just kind of looked at me like, no, but I know you're gonna tell me. "You will get to feel him kicking in the next month or so too!" He got his quiet, thoughtful, so excited that I don't want to talk about it anymore, gaze.

Who's Miss February?

A year ago I got an awesome book from Deseret Book about the women in the Old Testament. There were facts about each woman, with and without a name, and their stories. I loved the book.

I heard other ones might be coming out, so I've been trying to wait patiently.

While going through the most recent catalog from Deseret Book, I saw a book that said, Women of the New Testament. I got so excited! However, I then realized it was a calendar. This is how my convo with Jason went.

Jessica: Jason! There's a Women of the New Testament book out! I want it for Christmas.
Jason: Ok.
Jessica: Oh wait... never mind. It's a calendar.
Jason: Really? Who's Miss February?

HA HA HA HA That's one of the reasons I love him. He's so seriously silly.

Thanksgiving

Towards the middle of the month, I started inquiring about Thanksgiving so I could plan accordingly. Nobody really said anything. About a week before the big celebration, my baby brother called to plan something and I told him I would host Thanksgiving at our house.

I started planning all kinds of dishes. Mashed potatoes, funeral potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, rolls, gravy, 1 baked turkey and 1 deep fried. I was stoked! For appetizers I planned mini quiche - vegetarian ones and bacon ones, salsa and tortilla chips, potato chips and green onion dip. It was going to be a feast like none other! Well, there were some pretty awesome ones, but this was going to be my first Thanksgiving, awesome event.

As I was cooking and baking, there were so many things that looked great. The vegetarian quiche were so pretty. Even just the chopped up onion and zucchini were beautiful.


The bacon cooking in the pot was absolutely divine! Though by the time I got to taking a pic, it was really bubbly.
Mom made the oven baked turkey since Jason and I weren't home in time to put it in the oven. It was beautiful.

The deep fried turkey made me a little nervous. Jason had checked it after about 20 minutes and it was a pretty golden brown color. I was thinking it would be so delicious!

When he pulled it out of the deep fryer, it was crunchy and crusty and black. Jason, Mike and Bobby assured me it was just fine, but I was nervous. I hate burnt stuff.

They brought it inside and there it was. Absolutely moist and juicy on the inside. The taste was so incredible!

I don't know if it's the pregnancy hormones, but I have grown to have a deep appreciation for beautiful food, or food that is presented beautifully.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!

Mainly cause:

• it's almost Christmas
• there's always good food
• Mt Charleston Lodge trips for Hot Chocolate
• it's cold
• snuggling
• eggnog
• Christmas light spectaculars
• baked goods
• "special" decorating

just to name a few.

Happy Holidays, my friends.

It's the most....

WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!!!

At work we got our order of candy canes (instead of suckers) in.

At home, the A/C isn't on, neither is the heat. It's snuggle time and warming my feet up on Jason.

In the neighborhood, leaves have fallen off trees, it's cold outside, I get to wear a hoodie (almost a coat), I get to drink hot chocolate and make holiday candy.

Spiritually, I have an amazing, wonderful, supportive husband, whose child I am carrying through this wonderful time of year.

New Calling

A few Sundays ago I was told that if I choose to accept my new calling, the other callings I have will be taken away. I liked my callings I had, but I will say I was ready for a new one. I was Music Committee Chairman and Ward Missionary. When they told me I would be a cub scout den leader, working alongside Jason, I WAS STOKED!

I love BSA. I love what they can do for boys and how they help them learn survival and how to be civilized respectable kids.

Tonight was our first night. I don't think it went too bad. Jason wasn't able to make it. He didn't get home from work til 730. Scouts was already over by then. It's definitely a new calling. I've never been in a scout calling. However, I feel it's gonna be so much fun.

It's too much!!!

I am teetering on breakdown. Not a bad one, just a mild, take a few deep breaths, and stretch breakdown.

So, I am taking 3 classes this semester. I had it all planned out so I would have my Associate Degree in May '11. I took 3 classes during summer and it seemed easy enough. However, with getting pregnant and fall "stuff", such as canning and quilting and the holidays, I am worn out. Not to mention that work has me working 30+ hours a week. I went part time so I could focus more on school and now, I am so overwhelmed.

I'm trying to take it a day at a time, and luckily my Accounting teacher is lenient. I thought about dropping the accounting classes, but that means delaying other classes and my degree. I seem to be focusing on things that need to be done asap, such as canning tomatoes before they spoil. Doing one class homework/quizzes that the teacher is in no way lenient. Crafts and cleaning around the house have sadly been ignored. We finally have a new kid in training, but it's still gonna be a few weeks before my hours are cut.

Anyone have any ideas for remaining calm and collected?

Most latest, exciting news

Yes, I know fellow bloggers, I haven't shared my Denver trip info, but this takes some precedence... I'm pregnant!

I'm about 7 weeks along. The baby is the size of a blueberry this week. I've already bombarded myself with information from the internet and from books I've bought. According to all the online calendars and old wives' tricks, My due date is May 13. Our first Dr Appt is Oct 11. We will definitely have a lot more info for everyone after that.

I have started a new blog all about the pregnancy. How I'm feeling. What's going on. What will be going on. Etc. I suggest if you want to be informed, go to that blog and follow it. I have personal reasons that I don't want to post every single detail on Facebook. The website is http://graffamilyextension.blogspot.com if you want to follow.

St George Temple

First off, I am so bummed that I couldn't find my camera today! We have a goal that we want to get a map of the US and maybe have it be North America. Every time we go to a temple, take our pic outside it and post it on our temple wall. Well, I quickly got over being bummed cause I looked like crap and it's a close temple so we will be able to go again soon.

The reason I'm blogging...
Saturdays of the month. The temple has been closed since July 19 and won't open again until the 2As most of you know, Jason and I volunteer at the Las Vegas Temple on the 4th and 5thnd of August. I don't think we've missed a month since getting our endowments and getting sealed so when we heard that we wouldn't be working this month, I tried to make time for us at the beginning of the month, but it didn't work out.

I worked today. I was off at 230. I kept hoping all week that if Jason got off in time, we could maybe go to the St George temple and get our "monthly" tradition in. Jason left his phone at home today and I kept stressing about his day (he had no clue what I was planning) thinking he wouldn't be home til 5 or something and then we wouldn't be able to go. As I was leaving work, I called his phone to see if for some chance he was home and it went to voice mail. Bummer.

As I was walking out to the car, my phone started ringing and it was JASON!!! He was home! I told him my plan and he jumped in the shower. I got home, checked times for sessions and we got on the road about 4 (5 UT time). We arrived about 7 UT time and I had the greatest feeling of accomplishment, peace and comfort. It was definitely interesting walking in the Endowed side instead of the Baptistry side.

I've been to the St George temple a few times for baptism purposes. The St George temple is the oldest operating temple we have. I think it is so beautiful. Big, sharp corners, neat, castle like. It's amazing from the outside. OH!! AND, it has a stinking revolving door!!! I vaguely remember the Baptistry. It was nearly 10 years ago that I went there last. And, I wasn't as big into history as I am now.

Everyone was so nice, as always. I must have had a sign on my forehead saying, "I've never been here. Please direct me in the right direction." Everyone was so friendly in telling me where the ladies dressing room is. Let me tell you... I love the dressing room!!! It was so orderly, personal and wonderful.

So, I get changed and as I try not to look around too aimlessly, there were some nice ladies there to give me my info and send me in the right direction. As I sat in the chapel, waiting on Jason and the session to start, I looked at the worn pews around me. How old are they? Looking around the room, everything had a classic feel to it. I then started pretending like I was in the Jane Austen times because everything surrounding me fit her to a tee!

The room was a little muggy. I'm sure the AC ducts aren't 100%. It felt like we were being cooled my swamp coolers. I was excited when we finally got to go into the veil room. What an awesome room! Much cooler too. LOL

The curtains, the carpet, how tiny the chairs were. I could definitely feel the history surrounding me. It was an incredible feeling. Then, as we went into the Celestial room, it definitely does not compare to the sparkliness of the Vegas temple, but it was perfect all the same. It felt like I was in a "formal sitting room" that meant sooo much more than that! When I see rooms like that, I think of the old days, and I mean OLD days when people had balls (as in dances/balls). The Jane Austen days. Sitting rooms, and organized appropriate dancing, manners, etiquette. I think if it were to be sparkly like the Vegas temple it would take away from the romanticism that thrives there.

We made our way back out the revolving door and home by 1030. Yes, it was a long evening, but it was something we needed.

Vacation

Jason has a job that does not pay him when he takes vacation. He can take vacation in April (like we did) but he won't get paid for it until August because that's when his employer pays out vacation. So, we generally have a hard time taking vacations anytime other than August cause we don't like having to stretch the funds for a couple weeks.

However, August isn't a bad time to get paid out for Jason's vaca. His birthday is the last day of the month so it works out real nice for us.

Jason has worked at the Willey for 5 and a half years now. It wasn't until last year that I finally convinced him that you NEED to take vacations. That's why they have vacation time. A little over a year ago he was hating working, hating getting up so early, hating a lot of stuff. So, for his birthday, I planned a getaway. I usually plan getaways for his birthday though (i.e. Grand Canyon camping, WICKED in LA, Malibu vaca, etc.). He is finally understanding that when you are getting to a point that you hate your job, you need a vacation, because when you get back, you are rejuvenated and don't hate your job anymore, or not as much.

This year, I was going to keep it a secret, but I was having complications of how to get to our destination - Denver. We are going to Denver for a week to spend time with the Koch's, my uncle and his family, go on a tour of the mint, go to a pre game football game (Broncos vs. Steelers), go to the Denver temple and then good quality time with our friends and their adorable kids. I wanted to take a train cause I've been dying to take a train somewhere, but with all the bus riding we'd have to do, I was pretty much over that. However, I asked Jason if he wanted to and he was pretty much over it too. So, I told him my plans.

What I love most about this situation, is last night driving to dinner, Jason and I were driving to dinner and he says to me outta no where, "I am so excited for our trip next month." I am so excited too cause I know we both need it.

Numbers Freak

Jason and I went to a "Banking Center" dinner tonight. It was the going away party for Ryan, one of my good friends that no longer works with me as of a few hours ago. (very sad face)

Ryan chose to go to Cheesecake Factory for his going away party. There were 12 of us there, and most of us were couples. We asked our waiter at the beginning of the dinner if he would be able to split the check and he said it would take too long to do it, so no. (seriously??? you won't?)

So, about half the table gets up to go get money from the ATM which we thought was at the entrance or something. But it was taking everyone like 15-20 minutes to get cash, which the waiter was pretty put out that we were taking so long... (If he split our checks, there'd be no problem, right?) So finally, everyone is back at the table and we order our food. I then find out that everyone had to go to US Bank or Chase or whatever was closest and pay a fee. For all of us B of A associates, we were a little perturbed.

The food was pretty good. It is an expensive place. I'm glad Jason and I are working on portion sizes and we decided to share everything.

It gets time to pay and Dave, our server, hands the check over. I insist I get it first. When it gets handed over to me, I feel so excited that I am going to get to divide this check up! I go through and make a list of who got what. I then figured out the total for each "couple", what percentage their total is of the sub total, and then figure out the tax and "over 7 people" added on gratuity. Yes, I found such joy in figuring numbers. LOL

This is my lovely artwork.

Yes, I even marked who paid and who didn't. But, that's because some people were paying with a card. I then was showing Matt his breakdown, Matt is my previous, previous banking center manager... my manager 2 managers ago. He was laughing at me for how meticulous I was with it all. I volunteered to show him a graph if he does better with pictures and he said, "Ya Graf, draw me a graph."

Jason just heard "draw me a Graf", and that's what he did, right next to our totals. LOL I love that silly man.

Figuring everything out was pretty easy. I may not have needed to go this distance but, I did. And, I feel good. My brain had a little work out and is ready for a good night's rest.

Enjoying the small things

I hope he's praying that my garden continues to grow and be plentiful.

One of my favorite things about vines are the tendrils. They are so cute!

Our Garden is growing!

Here are the latest pic's from our garden. I am so proud of our carrots, cucumbers and zucchini. Spinach and onions need a little more time to show their true potential.


The cucumber plants are getting little curly tendrils at the end of the vine. They are so cute! They also have lots of little yellow flowers.

This is the left side of the planter box. Carrots, green onions and cucumbers are on this side. As you can see, the green onions are growing, but some days they can't take the heat. We moved the box out of direct light hoping they won't "bake" all day in the Vegas heat.

I am so excited about all the carrots we are going to have! We will be eating a lot of carrot soup in a few months.

And last we have the Zucchini plant! Flowers have been blooming on it for a couple weeks now. They are big yellow flowers like this one. She is quite a looker.

Little Girls

At work yesterday, there were two little girls sitting in the lobby waiting for their dad to get done doing his business with the bankers. They were very well behaved little girls, at least in my opinion. They were probably 5 and 7. After at least a half hour, as they were sitting in the same chair, I started hearing humming coming from their direction.

It was a really slow day, that's why I was able to enjoy this so much. LOL

After a few minutes, it started sounding more like Yummm. Yummm. And then... there it was.
Red Robin. Sung just like the commercials. I couldn't be the only one to enjoy it, so I called over a co-worker who laughed with me.

The girls didn't know they had an audience, so the next time they said Yummm, I replied, Red Robin from across the lobby. Sadly, after a few repeats, their dad was done and started to yell at them for being loud and noisy. I assured him it was my fault for encouraging them.

Eclipse

Last night I went to Eclipse with Gretchen and Anya. We waited in line for a while and then we ended up waiting in the theater for a while. Finally the trailers for new movies started. There is a new movie about owls coming out. I started a fascination with owls a year or so ago, but the only reason this movie has me wanting to see it is due to the funny joke they told...

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Owls.

Owls who?

That's right! Owls who!

HA HA HA I loved the joke so much I text sleeping Jason hoping he would be able to respond, but once that boy is out, HE'S OUT! So, the next morning I made sure to tell him as soon as we were up. He didn't get that much of a kick out of it, but I loved it.

Eclipse was my favorite so far. I hated Twilight. Very disappointed in the movie. New Moon was pretty good. I think because it followed the story of the book and didn't throw in too much extra. Eclipse, I was expecting cheesy, bad acting, lots of drama and that's what it gave me! So nice when the movie is what you expected.

Father's Day

What a crazy fun day.

This weekend was our "special time" weekend so Sunday morning Jason and I were "studying". I got so frustrated and so upset I broke down crying saying things like, "We're trying too hard." "Making a baby shouldn't have to be this complicated." and the like. Wonderful, adorable, affectionate Jason just laid beside me and let me know that things will work out. He loves me. Heavenly Father loves me. We're not being punished, He's just waiting for the perfect time to send them to us.

After a good talk, Jason took me to 7-11 for Slurpees. Yes, we ditched church, went to the Sev and then we went up to New Harmony to visit Jason's dad. It was a good chance to get studied up on my History homework/notes. When we got there, we took his dad to lunch. We wanted to go to Brad's Food Hut, but they were closed. Imagine a Utah store closed on Sunday. LOL So, we went to a national chain... Winger's. (I personally love getting Creamy Buffalo Sauce to dip teh popcorn in. YUM!)

We had a great afternoon with Jason's dad and Tammy, but then we rushed home to make it to Jenny's in time for my dad's party. Jenny made tacos. They were SOOOO good. I personally loved that she fried the shells. (I'm getting hungry.)

After dinner and pie, "Bitsy" Brittney, Bobby, Jason and I played some Mexican Train. I was creamed! Jason and I then headed off to Brian's Battle of the Bands. (Brian is Jason's little brother for those that don't know. He is in a band called the Forget Me Now's. You'll hear of them soon.) I don't know how many bands there were, but Brian's band and another tied for first place, so they both advance to the next round! YAY!

The judges said that the Forget Me Now's had original lyrics, kept the crowd pumped, had good communication with the crowd and the only thing they really needed to work on was their precision. I think it was precision. It was late by this time so I'm probably wrong. Anyway, it was a great day. I loved being able to see Jason's dad, my dad and getting a glimpse of how great of a dad my husband will be.

Not thinking about what I use to...

I just have to gloat for a minute. I planted a garden a month or so ago to give me something to do around the house. I play WoW with Jason, but sometimes it makes me think of babies, and kids cause everyone seems to have to take breaks cause "baby is crying" or "daughter aggro". The garden has taken up more of my time.

I am also taking online college classes, 3 of them as mentioned before. I'm just over a week into them and they have got me twirling in circles.

Work is also working me a few more hours, which isn't too bad. And, I have substituted in Primary a couple times in the last couple weeks.

With all this going on, I have to say that I have succeeded in getting my brain off babies! Today was the first day that I have dwelt on babies in a while. AND, I kind of wonder, if I hadn't gone out and done some grocery shopping and seen all the cute kids/families, would I have thought about babies?

First week

I have made it through the first week of school. Yay! I'm taking 3 online courses. Yes, I like to take online courses cause when I actually have to show up to class, I find myself skipping class so I can be at home, snuggling with Jason. This then turns into failing grades and money wasted. (Now I see why my dad told me no boys or pets while in college.)

I'm taking History 102. This is everything from Reconstruction through today. I've been reading since a week before classes started cause this semester seems to be nothing BUT reading, and my first homework assignment had nothing to do with anything I read! I had to make sure I was reading the right book. Hopefully in the next week or so we'll get going onto the topics in the book.

I am also taking Accounting 220. This is Integrated Accounting for Windows. Even if I was a have to sit in a class and be taught by someone standing in front of me, this wouldn't have happened. This is an online only class. It helps you learn how to use windows, and how to use the programs most accounting firms use. This is my kind of class, because, it's all black and white. NO GRAY AREAS! WOOT!!!

My third class is Business Law. Ugh. Just the sound of it makes me want to cry. The cost of the book, which I already complained about a couple weeks ago, makes me want to cry. Luckily my work pays for books and tuition, so that will be included for my tuition reimbursement. This class is pretty tough. There are a total of 5 ways you can get grades. 25 points for your "Introduction of yourself" and 4 quizzes at 120 points each. There are a total of 565 points you can earn, and if you get 472 or less, you will have to retake the class. My first test I got a 77.5 on. I definitely need to give this class a little more attention.

Away We Go

Another semester

I started a new semester today. I'm pretty excited about it. I love summer classes cause they're shorter. At the same time, I think it makes it harder.

Either way, I analyzed my classes I've taken and the ones I need to take and have found that as long as I take 3 classes for the next 3 semesters, I will have my Associate in Accounting in May 2011! Not bad, eh?

I'm taking Business Law, Accounting for Windows and Hist 102. There is a lot of reading. Dread. It makes me sad cause I just got into reading for personal enjoyment. I know in Fall I will be able to read silly things again and I look forward to that.

BUSY Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend is always a busy weekend. I love it though!

Mikey's birthday is usually during the weekend so Friday night we had a family dinner with my mom, and then Saturday was a huge party at Mikey's house with his friends and family. We ended up watching Kyler yesterday which is always a treat and now today we are going to have a bbq and swimming at Gretchen's.

What a fun weekend before it's back to the grind of work and school.

Thank you to all the men and women who have fought and will continue to fight to keep us free.

Law School

No I haven't switched majors however, after leaving the campus bookstore today, I came to realize why lawyers make so much money... so they can pay off all the student loans they had to take out to pay for their text books!

I bought my Business Law book today and for a used book, it was $187.50

My accounting books are pretty pricey too, but holy shiz! Could you imagine being in your last years of school and all your books cost this much??? My history book was only $37.50

Maybe I should switch to a History Major. lol right.

Out at the Farm...

My dad had to make a day trip to Utah and asked if I would mind taking care of the animals. As usual, I was delighted. I showed up to feed and these were the changes I saw:

• Ginger, one of my favorite horses, now gone


• 2 new horses, Sheeza and Vixen (Vixen looks nothing like a reindeer)


• bunnies caged up every where and still some wild ones running around


• goat by the entry gate


• baby bunny bunnies every where


• duck limping

Wait, wait... what was that??? A GOAT BY THE ENTRYWAY?! I called my dad and at first he told me, "there shouldn't be any goat there" and I was like, "well dad, that would explain why she looks so sad and mad as she sits there. She must have snuck in while you guys had the gate open and now she can't get home."

But, gullible girl that I am, he then told me she was supposed to be there. I could hardly stand my excitement. I had a goat right in front of me!!! I've seen goats before and even petted them at petting zoos and regular zoos and stuff, but here was one in my dad's backyard! Jason couldn't get to the house quick enough so I could surprise him. I wanted to call him, but I knew if I did I would spill the beans about Gertrude. That's what I named her. =)

Jason called me to tell me he should be there shortly and I had to get off the phone so quick cause seriously, I can't keep anything a secret or a surprise. As soon as he showed up though, I took him out to see the happenings of the farm. Every thing seemed normal, and then, there it was. The shock, excitement and awe in his face. HE SAW HER!

Now, earlier when I discovered her, she wouldn't let me near her. I walked in slow motion towards her, but she'd bolt the other way. I sat down thinking she'd come to me, but no. However, like most kids (not baby goats) and animals, Jason was allowed to pet her and feed her right away. Then, he went to sit down and she came up and starting nudging him to give her more attention, similar to Diesel, Jenny's dog.

Jason called my dad to tell him he liked the new addition and to find out what her name is since I failed in that matter. Come on, I was excited to play with a goat! We found out her name is Ariel, but I'm still gonna call her Gertrude. It's more fitting. We also found out she is not pregnant and she is indeed a she. When I first saw her, her beard made me think she was a he. A very fat he.

Gertie, what I call her for short, is an African Pygmy Goat. She is mainly black, has some white around her hooves and a stripe down her spine. Her goatee is gray. Since I had no clue she would be there I was not prepared with a camera, but this is the best pic I could find on the Internet. I will have to take a pic of her next time I'm out there.

See how they grow

I have a compulsive need to watch our plants grow. I check them before work, as soon as I get home, when Jason gets home, and again before bed. I want to see every millimeter of their growth. This also allows me to see things before anyone else as I try to see if anything is coming up. We finally have some carrots and onions coming up. They're small things, but they are the first to make an appearance!

Those are not huge sticks in the box, this little carrot is just that little. As you can see. It's nearly the size of my fingernail.If you click on this next picture, you should have an easier time trying to find this teeny tiny onion. Like I said, I am way to compulsive.

Filling her up!

We moved the planter box to the backyard. We filled her up with garden soil, sand and garden soil for vegetables and flowers. We have planted carrots, cucumbers and zucchini in the box and the two planter boxes next to her will have onions.

Nearly filled.

Jason planting carrots.
I did not realize how many onions there would be. If you want some, let me know.She's done. Now to water and watch the plants grow.

Making a filter, making a filter...

One of my favorite dumb movies to watch is Bio-Dome. Whenever I'm making something, be it dinner, a scrapbook page, a purse, whatever, I tend to sing "making a filter, making a filter, maaaaking a fiiilter" just like Steven Baldwin does in the movie.

I wanted to wait til our backyard was pretty to have a garden, but who knows when that will be. Jason and I went and got some lumber to make a planter box. Redwood is a good strong wood so we got that. It smells so wonderful! We then took our lumber to Mike's house, he cut it for us and then we came home to build our box.

We only got the end panels done as it was getting dark and we don't have a light for the garage bright enough to allow us to continue building.

The nearly finished box waiting for it's legs to be put on.

The box is done. So now it's time to take it in the backyard and fill her up!

May 18

It's Tuesday. My first day off where everyone else is working but me in about 2 weeks. I accidentally slept in til 11. Yes I know, live it up now cause once I have kids, I won't get that. Jason finished building our planter box last night, and I would love to go start planting things, but we built it for us to do together, so I'm thinking of other things to do. I need to find something quick before I start thinking too much and Jason comes home to a ball of tears. It's happened a few times and I get so embarrassed.

I'm going to make today a day that counts.

Forgot to test today.

I've been testing for ovulation the last few days and I was so caught up in stake conference and building a planter box that I forgot to test today. It's now 1030 at night and I'm wondering if it's still even worth it. Jason's passed out on the couch and even if it is positive, I doubt anything is going to happen.

I need to get Betty White's Baby Making Quilt.

Ding.. Round Two.

Obviously, since you didn't hear an Hallelujah from my side of town last week, we are not pregnant. We passed all our tests except the important one... the pregnancy test.

A lot of things happened which made me believe I was, but I think I wanted it so badly, and even though I was trying to keep an open mind, I still only heard what I wanted to.

This means we are starting our second round of Clomid. I'm pretty excited about it.

However, I must say, I'm getting a little tired of the whole thing. This month I talked with a friend quite a bit about the going ons in my non pregnant life. We talked about how you take the tests, you take the temperatures, you analyze everything (which is great because most girls are great at analyzing and over analyzing) and once you find out you're pregnant, you still have 8 and a half months to go! I was told that it can be a loong pregnancy. From working in an OB/GYN office, I know that by month 7-8 most women are ready for the baby to be out! Some women don't even know when they're pregnant. So, in a way, I will be missing the surprise of, "OMG, I think we're pregnant!"

That got me thinking today that maybe if we don't get pregnant this round, we'll take some time off from "trying". I have just over a year left for my associates. I've noticed that sometimes when people get things they want, they don't work as hard for other things and I don't want to be one of those people that gets pregnant and doesn't finish my degree. I've already let too many things get in my way.

Furthermore, I would love to be able to just have the same mentality I did before all this and just let nature take it's course. There are women who get pregnant well into their 30's and the baby and mother are just fine.

There is a lot of thoughts going through my mind. Some of them organized, some of them a horrible train wreck. Right now, I feel that I will finish out this cycle, and if the end result is "negative", I can take all the energy and emotion I am putting into trying to conceive into becoming a better person.

Hey Reb!

Many moons ago, in a land far away (also known as Harmon and Boulder), there was a boy named Jason. He met this charming girl named Jessica who moved into the apartment building next to his.

He loved hanging out with her, but sometimes he loved playing World of Warcraft more. (He wouldn't admit it then.) Well, Jessica tried seeing what was taking up Jason's time when she wasn't around and found there was a little man, a gnome to be exact, that Jason spent all his time with. The gnomes name... Heyreb. Jessica thought it was a funny name and kind of left it at that.

When she started playing the addicting game, she found that people pick names that mean something to them, that's if they are creative enough. Some people pick random game generated names. Boo... no fun. Jason's character Heyreb started a little fling with Jessica's character and they have been to the ends of the world and back again.

Back to RL (real life). I wanted to do something fun and exciting for giggles the other night, so I took Jason to the middle of town. We ate at Jason's Deli and then went to UNLV. Jason could not guess where we were going. That's a first. We were walking around and I was asking him what things were, and what buildings were where. AND THERE IT WAS!!!

Jess: Jason, what's that?
Jason: Oh, that's the Alumni Building.
Jess: No... what's that?
Jason: That's the building where alum's come and hang out and they do...
Jess: No Jason. The thing in front of the entrance.
Jason: I don't know... OH! It's a Heyreb!!!

So we took pictures of us with the little 4 ft Hey Reb! This goes back to the tradition of when I was attending SUU and my friends and I would take pictures with all the bronze statues on campus. Yes, there are quite a few to take pics with.

(try and beat this guy's mustache Dawnie. Mwah ha ha ha!)

positive attitude towards a negative result

It's been 10-11 days since ovulation, and when I took my test this morning, it was negative. The instructions say it's only about 53% accurate this early and to wait for the actual day I'm supposed to start and take the other test.

My Plan:
-call dr office and see how results of progesterone test went
-finish semester of school
-sign up for summer classes
-start a walking routine
-clean my house and get it ready for whatever life brings us
-wait on cycle, get on clomid, try it again next month

I feel that these are things that will keep me busy, active and continuing to love life.

Update on Temple Volunteering

Right as we were about to bless our food (Bless it!) the other night, Jason's phone started to ring. Wihtout hesitation, I picked it up, answered it and handed the phone over before even saying hello. (Jason gets irritated with me when I do that, but we were having a quirly night so it was forgiven.)

Anyway, after a few minutes, Jason starts telling the person on the other end that he "would love to try and volunteer more" and "that would be great" and "ya, I think that would be awesome." 10 minutes later, he's finally off the phone and there are mom and I with, "What the heck? Quit stalling and tell us what that was about!" looks on our faces.

Jason was told that the recommend desk has changed to a volunteer or ordinance worker position and they want him to get trained for it!! I am so excited for him! I told him, "Yay, now you can meet all my friends and all my friends can meet you!

Yes, I know I won't be able to be up there with him. Though I would love the greeter position. LOL I'm still so stoked for him that he will be able to participate in something else there.

11/3 versus 1 1/3

I was really wanting waffles for dinner the other night. Waffles and French Toast are my favorite breakfast food and would eat them cold, warm, old or fresh any time, any place, any day.

As I was preparing the batter, I looked at the instructions and it said

2 cups mix
11/3 cups water

Being that I was using the generic brand, I thought, "Gee, they want me to use my 4th grade converting fractions skills." So I poured in 3 and 2/3 cups water. After stirring the batter and getting all the clumps out, I started thinking the batter was kinda runny. Actually, it was really runny. I tried calling my mom and she wasn't answering. Luckily my friend Gretchen called and said, "I think it's probably 1 and 1/3 cups."

Oh.

She was right. Looking at the box again, there is a very small, and I mean TINY space between the ones. I poured the first round of batter down the drain and the second batter turned out a perfect golden brown.

"I delivered two babies today."

My mom, little bro, sister, Jason, and two of my friends from a long time, Kizzy and Leah, went to Macaroni Grill for my birthday Saturday. Leah and I were chatting when Jenny and Kizzy walked in and I had asked her what she's been up to and how school is going.

With a no big deal attitude she tells me, "I delivered two babies today."

WHAT?! I couldn't believe that. I asked if these were her firsts and she said she has delivered about a dozen so far. It's so crazy to think of being on the other side of labor. The helping get the kid out while helping the parent remain stable. Cleaning the kid off. it's just amazing to me.

I just want to give a shout out to my friend Leah. I think she is absolutely amazing. She almost has her nursing degree. With all the BS she has dealt with in life, she still manages to be such a good friend. She deserves only the best. Love you girl.

Moroni

Our Stake, for Youth Conference this year, did an amazing program called The Book of Mormon Experience. They picked 4o something different people and assigned them certain chapters of The Book of Mormon to "act" out or prepare some lesson on. It started Friday afternoon at around 5 til about 9, then it went from 630 am on Saturday til about 9 pm.

Jason was picked to prepare a little something for Mormon 7-9. For those unfamiliar, this is when Moroni calls the people to repentance.

He decided he wanted to act as Moroni, keep the outfit and everything else pretty simple, cause this is a big deal. We made him a white robe, he made some "gold" plates and he borrowed his grandma's horn.

He walked out on stage, blowing the horn. He then flipped through the golden plates letting the kids know that what is in them is true and very precious. He did a great job. Everyone did a great job. No adults were allowed unless they were part of the program or were leaders. The presenters were to be at the stake center 15 minutes before you went on and leave shortly thereafter.

From the rumors I heard, the kids enjoyed it immensely.

I do believe that is an LH Surge!

Sorry that you guys get to know soooo much about me and Jason, but it shouldn't be anything different from how I've been my whole life.

This morning was the dawn of my birthday. Jason was a little frisky and based off my charting and test taking, I let him know that right now would be recreational and tonight would have to be obligational.

So, I just took my Ovulation Test and it is positive!!! I am so excited!!! I keep checking the test to see if it's going to change to a negative, but Jason told me it's been 10 minutes and it's not going to change. It's definitely a positive. =)

My instructions tell me that I need to call the dr the day the stick changes colors, but since they're not open today, I will call them first thing on Monday. Wewill follow the rest of the instructions and as long as everything goes accordingly, we may be pregnant this month!!!

YAY!

Easter and stuff

What a busy week we've had!

Thursday we had a work party at Red Rock Casino Lanes. The Merrill Lynch representative that works at my location threw a Bowling Night for his banking centers at Red Rock. Drinks, Food and 2 hours of free bowling were provided. It was quite a bit of fun. Only people from my banking center showed up, but that ok. =) We liked it that way.

Friday we went out with the same people, again! My banking center manager was transferred to a different location and we had his going away party at Olive Garden. I felt a little mean by rubbing it in every one's face that I am allowed to eat my Braised Beef Tortelloni cause my religion doesn't make us not eat meat on Good Friday, but we all make our own beds, right? And it was so good!

Saturday we were supposed to go to Jason's sisters house for a birthday party for Jason's nephew, but it got rescheduled to Sunday, and so we had a free night on Saturday. Jason had the Priesthood session of Conference that he went to and I was trying to get my homework finished. He got home, we ate some dinner and then we rushed off to see How to Train Your Dragon in IMAX at Aliante. He's been dying to see it. Now, for those that know Jason, he's easily amused, but there aren't too many things that get him smiling and clapping happy. I love being able to experience those moments with him. It was a super cute movie.

Sunday was hectic. Kind of. We got up and watched the morning session of conference. We tried to amuse ourselves in between sessions, and during the afternoon session, we tried staying awake and did an ok job. As soon as conference was over we went to Jason's sisters, hung out there and celebrated Dylan's birthday. Shortly after cake and ice cream, we went to Mike's house for Easter dinner. He has been grilling things in the Hibachi Egg and it reminds me of when I was younger and went to CA with the family for holidays and Uncle would always be cooking on the Hibachi. I love my brother for being the amazing guy he is.

As for today, Tuesday, I finished my last dose of Clomid. The next week or two will be lots of tests. Crossing our fingers!

It's starting...

After finding out that everything is great with Jason, I've been waiting patiently for Aunt Flo to show up. She has finally gotten here after a few weeks of being late, and I'm way excited about this because.... I START CLOMID!


I'm a little nervous going on it. It seems like you have the normal side effects from most fertility enhancing or unenhancing drugs, except one of the side effects that I'm most concerned about is hair loss. Our kids definitely do not need 2 bald parents! I know it will be ok though. I have quite a bit of it, and it's not guaranteed that I will have that side effect.


I had to call my doctor today, so I did that. And I figured I should read up more on exactly what I should be expecting. I signed a release that was explained pretty much as, "You know there is a chance for multiples? Yes? Sign here." I read that paper today. I read every word and the last paragraph kind of riled me up.


The paper work mentions multiple gestations, but this is where I REALLY understood the situation, 'As a result, gestation of three or more fetuses are frequently reduced to twins by a process called Selective Termintation.' WHAT?! Continuing, 'This method involves the insertion of a needle through the mother's abdomen into one or more of the sacs, so that only twins remain. This procedure apperas to be effective, and preliminary reports have suggested that its safety record is acceptable. However, the procedure is quite new and must be considered experimental. The possibility that Selective Termination will result in loss of all fetuses must be considered.'


Oh Shiza! Lately I've been thinking of the idea of twins. I use to want them all growing up, and then I realized, that's a lot of work, so I decided that I wanted one at a time. ( i know, I know. Like we really have a choice.) After knowing that I'd be going on Clomid, I've been trying to prep my brain for the great possibility of twins. Which made it seem like a joke that for the last 2 years, I potentially could've had 2 kids, or 1 kid and then one more on the way, but no, we want to play catch up and give you two at a time. Thinking of the catch-up idea really set me off the other day at dinner when Jason and I thought of how great a tax write-off blessing and home loan modification blessing the kids would be. HA HA HA


However, when I read that there could be three or more, and that if it did happen we'd have to terminate the extras, I was crushed. I'm not for abortion. Never have been for it. It's a touchy topic so I'm not going to get on my soap box or anything, but I've been wanting to get pregnant for so long and when I do get pregnant, if with more than 3, how could I choose which ones I would need to terminate? So, I pray this today, please, only let me get pregnant with one or two. I do not want to make that choice. AND, it still says that it can result in the loss of all fetuses. So please, please, please, only one or two.

It's not you, it's me...

Classic phrase that a lot of us dread, however, I'm totally stoked to be able to tell Jason those words. Jason had to go and do a most awkward procedure yesterday morning, and around 2:30 in the afternoon, he was told his guys are perfect. =)

I'm way excited that we are that much closer to finding out the true solution of why we're not conceiving. I also feel a little more relaxed, cause had it been Jason, I feel the procedures and billings would have been great.

Since we know it's not Jason, I will be going on Clomid. Little scary for us, but we aren't given any challenge we can't handle.

St Patty's Day

Day of luck? Maybe. I will apologize right now for not writing this in a journal, cause I may get negative, but this is to prove that to some of you who think I have a perfect life, I don't.

I woke up this morning with Jason and sent him on his way to work. I went back to bed for a little while, more like quite a few hours. When I woke up at about 9:30, I was still in a funk and thought, instead of lounging all day in my pj's, no make up on and hair in a ponytail, I thought taking a shower, doing my make-up and hair would make me feel better. Only so much...

Today I was supposed to find out if I was pregnant or not, and I can pretty much tell, I'm not. Every time I thought I might have been, the first question asked is, "Do you feel pregnant?" Being that I've never been pregnant, I have no clue what that feels like, and since I don't feel any worse, or better for that fact, than I usually do, I can honestly say, without going and purchasing another stupid piece of plastic, I am not. =( I've been trying not to let that get me down, as last night I had a burning in my heart that confirmed I will have kids, just not right now. We will have them when He is ready to give them to us.

I went to the college today to get some money back for classes that I had signed up for at the beginning of the semester. I started with 3 online classes and am down to one cause they are harder than I thought. However, I was informed by the cashier that I had to have dropped my classes by Jan 29 for a partial refund and because I dropped them the first week of Feb, there is no money due to me and I still owe the college funds for classes I didn't take. =( Perfect.

So, here I thought I was taking some steps forward, trying to get ahead in life, and as always, have been put in my place feeling lower than normal.

I'm off to go clean a Scout shirt with a smile on my face so I can enjoy the wonderful smile and hug I will receive when the wearer puts it on feeling loved. =)

Oh, and I am wearing green so don't pinch me.

Happy St Patty's Day.

Cars (not the Disney movie)

So, My dear friend Jessica ran over a pothole the other day and blogged about how she changed the tires, got a little messy, but thanks to a loving father who taught her basics, she managed to get it all taken care of.

This got me thinking of my great friend Janell. I have to say the only thing reckless that we did in high school was drive reckless cars. When Janell turned 16, she got a gold Crown Vic that looked like undercover/non-undercover police cars. We use to love following people just to mess with them. We did a lot of things we shouldn't have in her car, such as changing driver/passenger seats while driving 75 on the highway between St Joe and Oregon. We went to support her boyfriend at a baseball game one night and on the way home, we missed a turn and ended up having to make a u-turn in the middle of the highway. As we were across both lanes of traffic on the dark, two lane highway, the car stalled. Ka-put. We had already passed 2 cars so we knew that some cars were coming from behind, and as we looked toward what should've been oncoming traffic, we saw more cars coming. We felt like a stalled car on some train tracks. As I opened the door to get out of the car and make a run for it, Janell miraculously got the car started and we were able to finish the u-turn and make our "missed" turn and proceed home.

Though we took our Ford Bronco to Missouri with us, the same Ford Bronco that my mom drove us around in, that Mike drove to school, seminary and many other places, the Bronco that Jenny drove me and her to school in (when she lived with us), I was not allowed to drive it. It was a gas hog, 7ish miles to the gallon, the gas gauge didn't work, so we had to calculate everything, and seminary was about 7 miles itself outside of town, so I understood why I couldn't drive Bobby and I to seminary and school (though I have no clue why when he got his license he was allowed to drive it. Either way, that has nothing to do with this story, so I'll proceed.)

(this isn't the Monte Carlo I drove, but it is pretty similar. The one I drove was black and still a big pimpin car.)

Instead of the Bronco, I got to drive a '76 Monte Carlo. It was my mom's boyfriends car when he was in high school or something. It had a black exterior, black interior, had been refurbished twice already and was in desperate need of being refurbished again. What do I mean by refurbish??? You could crawl into the trunk from one side and crawl out the other side (Bobby did it a couple times.) It was so rusty that parts were constantly flying off the vehicle whether you were going 10 mph or 65. I was driving over the Missouri River one day with Bobby and a couple friends joking about the car and I made a comment about how one of the tires could come off and I'd laugh. As we hit the top of the bridge, the front passenger tire came right off and rolled down the rest of the bridge. Thanks to Bobby who ran and got the tire and lugnuts (yes, the lugnuts came off so teh axel plate was complete;y flat) and brought it back, but when the wheel came off, it damaged the door and front fender so we were no longer able to open the passenger door, which put a huge damper on giving people rides. I have to admit, some of the coolest things about this car was that it had swivel driver and passenger seats, and that no one in a 400 mile radius of St. Joe drove a car like mine. (That might also be why I got to be the popular unpopular chick.) I was grateful to have a car to drive, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I would've rather walked or hitched a ride.

One of my favorite stories in the Beast was Janell's and my trip to Savannah one day that our school let out early. It was spring cause I remember everything was green. It wasn't too hot and there wasn't any snow so probably about Marchish. We thought we'd drive up to Savannah (which is only a hop skip and a jump North of St Joe) and stalk who I think by then was Janell's ex. Yes, the ex that we went all around northwest Missouri to see play football and baseball.

(this is Highway 59. This is about where we had our spinout.)

We were driving on the highway 59 which is a beautiful highway. It is a little smaller than major expressways but bigger than a two lane highway/road. We were chatting away, listening to oldies, passing pokie drivers, letting the wind blow through our hair when the car takes control of itself, does a double 360 in the middle of the grassy highway and then finally stops. There is dust all around our car, filling the air in the car, and I am frozen.

What the heck just happened?!

"Janell?"

"Janell? Are you ok?" I can't see a thing or hear anything. I'm reaching frantically around trying to see through the dust and see if she's ok.

"Whoa. What happened?" she finally said.

"You ok? You hurt anywhere?" I asked her.

"Nope. Just a little startled."

"Me too."

We then started to get out of the car to see what had happened.

The dust was finally settling and we were finally getting back to the normal teenagers we were 5 minutes ago. We were walking around the car trying to see what happened. I didn't hit anything in the road, there was no smoke coming from under the hood, so the engine as far as I knew was ok. We checked the tires to see if one blew, but I didn't remember hearing anything pop. That's when we saw it. The back passenger side tire had been scalped down to the steel belts. Where was the rubber? The tread? Even still more important, HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

Janell saw the tread of the tire about a 1/2 mile back and she went to go retrieve it. As she was doing that, I finally figured out that the wheel well (what was left from it since it was mostly corroded and that's how you were able to crawl into the trunk) had somehow bent down the opposite way the wheels were turning, during the perfect part of our trip, and shaved the tread right off causing us to spin in circles.

We were able to still drive the car, but we knew we couldn't make it to Savannah or back to St Joe on this gimp tire. We got to the proper side of the road and prayed. Not 15 minutes later, a guy saw us poor helpless teenagers (who didn't have cell phones cause back then, kids just didn't have cell phones) and pulled over to see what we needed help with. We explained what happened, and he magically pulled 2 tires out of his trunk. They fit the Monte Carlo perfect. One was for the messed up tire, the other was a spare for future use. We tried to get him to follow us back to St Joe to get him cash for the tires, or replace them, but he refused. Janell kept telling me how he was an angel and I could only agree with her.

It is good for girls to learn how to change spares. Though, I would leave it to the hubs or AAA, but when you're in a hurry to stalk someone it's good to know how to do these kinds of things.