Ideas?

his afternoon Rob went downstairs to ask our neighbors if they had a power drill we could use. I waited patiently upstairs for his arrival, and instead of a drill he came in with a large zuchinni, two summer squash, and this little beauty:


The problem is that we have no idea what it is, or how to cook it.


Any suggestions? My Mom thinks I should disect it and see what it looks like inside to see how to cook it. I'm not sure I'm ready to eat it yet though . . .

What a Great Week!

Ok, I'll admit it. After spending a week in Sandy with the fam I was hesitant to come back to Rexburg. Had it not been for Rob's birthday last Friday (which was AWESOME, BTW) I would have stayed in Sandy longer to keep myself from being locked up in the apartment for the last two weeks of "summer" before school starts on September 8th.

But to be completely honest, it's been a great week! The week in Sandy REALLY did the trick and got me out of the cabin fever slump. I don't feel like I've been doing anything all that different from before either. Still reading, napping, watching too much tv, interwebbing, riding my bike, and lifting weights. It's been REALLY nice to be able to lift weights again. I'd strained my wrist a few weeks back and had to take it easy, and I think that was one of the hardest things to deal with of all.

In reference to all the questions regarding my last post, sadly we didn't get any of the coconut cream pie ice cream, for two reasons. 1.) We were actually out being social with some friends and the place closed before we got there, and 2.) Turns out it wasn't actually coconut cream pie ice cream day. It was Twix ice cream day--which even though Twix is both of our favorite candy bar, the ice cream wasn't so great. Turns out I was out so early in the morning that the flavor of the day sign had not been changed from Saturday yet. Coconut cream pie was SATURDAY'S flavor. Oh well. Not like we REALLY needed it anyway. :)

So school starts in 10 days and I'm pretty psyched. I'm registered for 15 credits and feel up to the challenge once again. Most of my classes are on Mon, Wed, Fri; I only have my weightlifting class on Tues and Thurs which gets over at 8:45 am . . . so I'll definitely have time to get work done during the week. I even feel just about ready to ride my bike up the hill each day; last night I did it without TOO much heaving and hoing. YAY! It's been good for me to make the ride every day instead of just once a week. :)

Now as for the upcoming three day weekend, we've got no plans. Anyone want to come experience the wilds of Idaho and play with us?

Coconut Cream Pie . . .

This morning as Rob was leaving for work I like normal kissed him goodbye at the door and stuck my head outside to watch him leave. The smell of that sweet dewy summer morning air was intoxicating and I decided then and there I needed to get out in it. I quickly finished my cream of wheat and started some laundry so I could enjoy the morning splendor.

I decided to take my trusty bike for a ride up to BYU-I's campus. I'm trying to prepare myself to ride my bike to school (which BTW starts in two weeks--YAY!!) and since three times a week my day starts at 7:45 in the Benson building I'm working up to getting all the way up that hill without stopping, wheezing, or sweating myself chilly. I did it without stopping this morning, but the other two are still a working progress. :)

After climbing the hill to the Benson I rode around campus, dropped off Breaking Dawn at the library so the next Bella and Edward crazed girl can check it out, and checked out The Host. After some more riding on campus I decided to go downtown since I wasn't ready to go home yet and I found myself at the plasma donation center . . . wary of the last experience I almost didn't go in, but the temptation of $40 this time overtook me.

I told them I'd be using my right arm since it had the best track record and all seemed to be going just fine . . . until the phlebotomist went for the WRONG VEIN in my arm. *BREATHE* I told myself . . . *just breathe* . . . he called another guy over to correct his mistake and after a few more minutes of digging for the correct vein we hit blood . . . good right? Well by the time blood was flowing I was told there was a clot in the line . . . oh gosh.

"You know, I'd rather go home now."

"You don't want to try your left arm?"

"Oh no. It was a complete and utterly painful experience we tried that last time. The bruise only finally healed yesterday. I'd much rather go home now?"

"Yeah, we'll give you $5 though for sticking you . . . Sorry. "

"Check."

So, it took 30 minutes and I made $5 buckaroonies. At least the bike ride was refreshing and I found out that the flavor of the day at our favorite ice cream place in town is coconut cream pie, so Rob and I can go for a walk tonight and the $5 will meet it's end. :) It's so delicious, it's totally worth it.

My only regret from all this is that I have to wait 2 hours from the end of my "donation" to take a shower. *Sigh*

When in Sandy

I haven't been as good with my updates this last week because I'm for once not at home being tempted by my computer all day long. After a weekend hanging out with Rob's brother and his family I got left behind at my parents house while Rob went back up to Rexburg because he has to work, and I had some MAJOR cabin fever going on. There are only a few weeks left in the school break, but I couldn't stand being at home alone one more day.

So I'm in Sandy. It's been nice, but I do miss my honey. :( Here are a few of the things I've done/will be keeping myself busy with.

I've finished Breaking Dawn and started reading The Host. I thought it was a FANTASTIC ending to the Twilight series!

Jessie and I went on a great adventure involving a sleepover with another best friend from high school, trax, and not having enough cash to pay for trax . . . I stooped as low as rummaging through my 18 year old sister Teri's room to look for more, but could only find a quarter.

Teri and I went shopping at the mall. That was weird.

We also went swimming. That was awesome.

I've gone grocery shopping with my mom--which I LOVE doing. We're going to IKEA tonight so I can finally buy a shoe horn and garlic press. (I'm SO EXCITED! I LOVE IKEA!) And since I doubt Rob will read this before I get home, I'm also going to look for large cereal bowls for him. If you do read it honey, please let me know?

I'm going out to breakfast today and lunch tomorrow with Megan from Virginia and Kelly from New York.

I'll be hanging out with three of my four nieces today, and we're probably going swimming. FUN!

Tonight my Mom and I are going to put flowers on my Aunt Betty's grave. She would have been 70 today.

And something that I'm looking forward to--Rob is doing a little redecorating of our apartment while I'm gone. I can't wait to see what it turns out to be!

Worst Donation Ever

So I've been donating plasma the last week or so to earn a little extra money on the side, right? It's 30 bucks the first time of the week, and 40 the second. 70 extra dollars a week is nice for anyone, but especially us right now where Rob is driving 60 miles a day to and from work, and hey--it's his birthday this month--I'm trying to earn some cash so I can buy him fun things. :)

For those that have never donated plasma I'll explain the process. Basically about a pint of your blood is drawn from a vein in either arm. Then a machine separates the red blood cells from your plasma. The plasma is put into a donation container and once all has been separated from the red blood cells, they are put back into your body via the same vein. Usually a painless process, it normally takes three draw and return rotations and about forty minutes for my full donation.

Well it's been a breeze thus far. I ride my bike into town, "work" for an hour, and go deposit my money. It's nice. This morning however was horrific.

I got to the center early today to avoid the afternoon crowd--8:21. I was called up and had my blood tested, temperature and blood pressure taken, reviewed all the legal mumbo jumbo and was on the donation floor by 8:30. When it was my turn to get hooked up to the machine the phlebotomist asked which arm I wanted to use, and I'd already decided to use my left since my right wrist had been giving me some trouble the last few days. That was my first mistake.

Since it's been about four years since I'd donated from my left arm the guy had a hard time first of all finding a vein to use--eventually he found two good ones. He decided to use one that I hadn't donated from before which made it VERY painful when he put the donation needle in me. BTW--HAVE YOU SEEN THOSE NEEDLES? They are HUGE! Anyway. He got me hooked up to the machine and about three minutes into the donation my vein went crazy. He tried moving the position of the needle around to get a better flow--poking and prodding my vein. Moving the needle in and out . . . it was painful. He tried for a few minutes and after digging around in my arm eventually we decided to change arms.

So, another phlebotomist gets called over to jab a new needle in my right arm. He gets the needle right in, and hooks me back up to the machine. Things are looking up. The first full pint of blood was drawn, plasma separated just fine, and then as the red blood cells were being returned to me the problems grew. Apparently there was a clot somewhere in my donation line and it ws causing the machine to stop returning blood to me. It took a few minutes for the phlebotomist to come assist me and eventually after more poking and prodding of my vein, massaging the donation line to loosen any clotting, and eventually manually cranking the blood back into my body my blood was returned.

The machine started my second draw and was working just fine. My blood flow was normal and things looked good again; that is until the second return. Again, right as the red blood cells were being returned to me the machine stopped again. CRAP! BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEEPPP the machine went. Eventually someone came over to figure me out, and nothing worked. Not painfully moving the needle around in my arm, not trying to massage and clear the line . . . it was awful.

My original phlebotomist came back to assist because the other guy gave up. Ultimately he again hand cranked the machine so that my blood could be returned. Without doing this I would not be able to donate again within the next 8 weeks. It was painful and lengthy. My arm burned, especially below the donation site where my wrist has been hurting. It took forever, but I got my blood back. We decided then that I wouldn't try for that third blood draw and return rotation. The needle was eventually taken out of my arm. By this point it was 10:50, I felt a little woosy, and had to ride my bike home. Needless to say I rode slow and now I'm taking it easy at home.

Oh, and I'm adding this because of Sarah's comment--you better believe I got paid after all that poking and prodding!

I Like to Ride My Bicycle . . .

This is the route of my bike ride today (The blue and pink dots are where I stopped for quick water breaks):


6.3 miles, which looks like a decent ride, right? Well, here is an illustration of the elevation I was working with:

Turns out it was an AWESOME ride! One of my goals this month was to get to the top of that freaking hill on my bike, and even though this morning when I set out I figured I'd go ride on campus, and maybe the neighborhood directly east of it, I decided to take on the hill. I've got to admit, I feel pretty accomplished. It's only 305 feet of elevation gain, but it felt like a monster! What a great ride!

So . . .

. . . it's August. I haven't posted yet because it's been a pretty boring month so far. I even opened a "new post" page yesterday and stared blankly at the screen for about three minutes thinking of something to write. Apparently my creative juices were not working yet. I can't guarantee anything now either, but I can't sleep (again) so I'm trying to do something productive and don't want to read The Return of the King which I started last week . . . there are a few noteworthy things though . . .

I've been riding my bike almost daily, it makes me feel happy--and worn out!

I rode my bike up to the Benson building on campus on Monday--which is up a decent sized hill. I'd like to be able to get all the way there without all the sweating and huffing and puffing though . . .

I decided it was about time I make some money while I'm on my "summer break" and donated plasma on Tuesday. I'm going to do it again today if my iron levels are up to par.

I'm using the money to buy Rob birthday gifts. :)

I did 4 sets of 5 reps at 95 pounds tonight on the bench press and squats, and 95 pound deadlifts. (and I can't sleep? WTF?)

Rob loves his job. I love that he loves his job. I however don't like being home alone all day. I wish I had more friends in Rexburg to play with.

I've begun showering at night. It's weird, but my hair looks great in the morning!

I bought new athletic shoes last weekend--my old ones were over 4 years old and have been retired.

Please leave comments. They make me happy--and it's nice to know that multiple people are actually reading this.

I think I might be able to sleep now, so I'm off.

I Love The Discovery Channel . . .

Ok. I've wanted to blog about this for awhile now. And those of you that watch the Discovery channel MUST agree with me, they've got some pretty kick-a commercials. When this commercial came out I would (and sometimes still do) sing along--to the point that Rob started muting the TV when it came on because he got so sick of it . . . but oh! I still LOVE it!



What clinches me blogging about it today was that I found a couple of humorous parodies of it . . . the first for gamers:



And of course The Simpsons couldn't not take part of the action . . .



And finally, xkcd--a web comic Rob and I frequent did this awhile back. It's too funny!


Ohhh . . . the things you do when you've got all the time in the world on your hands . . . :)

Off to the River!

July 26, 2008 commemorates the first anniversary of us owning our car. We wanted to do something to celebrate, wanted to get outside, and wanted to get wet. The initial plan was to go tubing up in Island Park where I'd gone with my ward back in 2004. And then we found out how much it was to buy tubes, and decided we wanted to try out canoing. We could rent a canoe up in Island park for 6 clams an hour . . . but they didn't have any initially available . . . so my smartie-pants of a husband remembered we could rent outdoors stuff from the school--this is what transpired:

We rented a canoe, paddles, life jackets, and a "roof rack" kit for 15 bucks! We picked it up about 1 pm on Saturday and I just returned it moments ago. Our car was a champion hauling the canoe, and we would definitely buy a setup like this for ourselves when we get one!

Rob and I believe in sunscreen, here we are slathering ourselves up!

I'm lovin the haircut . . . I wore a headband in my hair all day and it kept everything outta my face.

Rob here is taking a little "salt" break. As you can see, the river was really calm . . .

So calm in fact that we got about a mile down the river, and rather than stopping off at the "shuttle spot" and one of us walking the mile and a half back to the car, we just decided to row back upstream. It was a great workout!

As funny as the canoe looked on the car, I think it looked ever funnier on the truck, which I used to take it back this morning, as Rob takes the car to work. It was a great experience, and we'll definitely be renting from the school again. Anyone up for an adventure? We'd love to have an excuse to get out again!

Brand New Haircut!

For those of you who talk with me often, I've been wanting to cut my hair now for a good long while. So I just decided to do it. Rob was at work and he figured he'd come home to find me like this:


Well he didn't, instead I was found like this:

And I TOTALLY love it! This is not the everyday "do" of course, just me playing with it before getting in the shower. I don't have a picture that I really like of it "done" yet, but I'll post a pict of that when I bathe my stinkie body and make myself up all cute. :)

WHAAAHOOO!!!!!

Need I say more? I GOT A 4.0! My FIRST one EVER!! I'm ECSTATIC!!

Happy Birthday to Me . . . 3 Weeks Ago . . .

Ok ok, I've already admitted it, I've been quite the blog-slacker as of late, but I'm determined to catch up a bit--I've had cool stuff going on, even if I didn't post about it . . . First off, I had a birthday! I've reached the glorious age of 26, and it's been going well so far! Here is a picture of a cake my sister-in-law LeMira made me and our MIL--her birthday is the day before mine.



Beautiful, isn't it! She's a very talented lady, and sneaky too . . . see, we had gone down to Utah for the weekend because Rob's family was starting the first of two family reunions on June 29th, which is our MIL, RuthAnn's birthday, and LeMira wanted us to be there for a cake and ice cream celebration in the morning. Little did I know she put my name on the cake too, and it was really a celebration for the both of us. She's awesomely thoughtful, it's true.



Here we are blowing out the candles, and I'm happy to report we got them all in one swift blowing. After our little party, Rob and I decided to kill a few hours by driving down to my old stomping ground, Ephraim, Utah. I went to school for a year and a half right out of high school, and hadn't been back since June 2003 when a friend got married.



This was always one of my favorite sites on the campus. I always loved how this silly crooked tree framed the name SNOW COLLEGE on this building. Campus has changed a LOT since I'd last been to town. They have torn down 5 buildings, and built one HUGE one! Thankfully it was unlocked and Rob and I got to give ourselves a little tour. It has two huge theaters/concert halls, and lots of classrooms. It's pretty safe to assume that the building is now used for the music (vocal and instrumental) and theater/drama classes--both of those buildings had been torn down. Also, the building where all the exercise science classes were taught and the school gyms and pool were at got a face lift as well. The stadium was added onto--I'm assuming the weight room was expanded since it was in that area--don't know, the doors were locked. And the school also got a new bell-tower, which Rob and I kissed under as the bells struck 3:00 PM. I was so delighted since I'd always wanted to kiss someone under the bell-tower as it was going off (and remained VL through my time at Snow). :)



This is something that completely delighted me. When I was going to school at Snow, we had a SMALL greenhouse. I mean, dinky. As I was showing the old greenhouse to Rob I noticed that on the other side of the science building they had built another bigger greenhouse, and named it after Professor Blauer. He was one of my favorite teachers on campus, I took plant taxonomy from him, and I'm sure he's absolutely delighted that the new greenhouse has been given his name. I'm proud just thinking about it. He was a GREAT teacher, and loved plants.



A cute self picture of Rob and me. We are cute.



And this is my fantastic present that Rob got me for my birthday. A bike! Huzzah! The last bike I got was for my 13th birthday, which I rode all over Sandy, Midvale, Draper and eventually Ogden for a good few years. Just this last Christmas I gave the old one to my sister Susie, since it had been sitting at my parents house ignored by me basically since I'd moved to Virginia. She uses it to haul her boys around in a bike carriage. :) Since springtime however I'd been wishing I had a bike again. So my loving husband took me down to the bike store and I rode home with this pretty purple (the last one was purple too LOL) bike. I've gotten the most use of it since school has ended, I rode to the gym and back yesterday, and I went for an hour ride this morning and it felt great. Thank you Rob!! So perhaps I'll get my next bike for my 39th birthday--it's been every 13 years so far?? It'll probably be a tricycle or something though. :) Maybe a tandem? Who knows. LOL!

So there is the first update. I have more stuff too, but I'll try and spread it out some more . . .

Can't Freakin Beleive It!

This is the final design for my landscaping class. I didn't start on it until about 9 am Tuesday morning because I'd been working on all my OTHER projects until then, and I had until the end of class on Thursday to turn it in. Remember, when I got the paper, all it had on it was the house outline, and the property lines. In those two days I spent about 25 hours working on the design, and this how it ended out:



My teacher gave us a few guidelines--first off, little or no grass, a lap pool, a 30 inch retaining wall along the back of the property, an outdoor kitchen, a small water feature, enough entertaining space for at least 15 people, and he provided the planting list. I felt like I accomplished these things well. I also personally wanted to make sure I incorporated the building materials together a bit better on this design than the last one, because that is what I got marked off on my last design--I still got a 97%, but I wanted to go full on . . .

Turns out things worked in my favor. The time I spent on the design was well worth it because I got a 100%! And this from a perfectionist of a teacher! YAY! He even wrote, "Terrific job" at the top of the grading sheet. YEAH!

Even though I'll be posting a few more things about school I've got to catch up a bit), I've now got a break until September 8th. Whew!

I'm DONE!

I feel like quite the slacker as of late. Posts have been few and far apart, and I haven't been crusing the blogosphere regularly either. Oh well, that is what many final projects, multiple family reunions, and a birthday does to a person I guess. :) It's been absolutely worth it though.

The landscaping project I posted about I got a 97% on--I'm so thankful because it was a LOT of work, and since I'm not exactly the most creative person artistically. I did have another project that I turned in yesterday, and did pretty well on also . . . so well that it's going to get it's own post. :)

Otherwise the last couple of weeks I've experienced a lot of late nights and not enough sleep. I've received 88% of the points in my floral class in the last ten days alone. It's CRAZY!!

One of my GREATEST delights of the week is that I ended up not having to take my soils final because I'd already earned a solid A! How nice is that! It was worth 37% of my total grade, and I got the full points just because I worked hard all semester. Totally the best news of the week FOR SURE! Well, it's actually been a great week . . . but it definitely ranks up there. :)

For My Mother . . .

For my floral design class I had my design final today. The purpose of this was to test my designing skills, and ensure that I knew the concepts of line, form, materials, yadda, yadda, yadda . . . For this I thought about doing some kind of arrangement for my apartment, but since where I'm living is NOT where I intend on settling in, or decorating for real I had a hard time figuring out what to do. Then I thought, "Well, my Mom might want something done . . . ". So I asked her if there was something I could make for her. This is what I made:

I took an old dusty wreath that had been hanging on her wall for YEARS, tore it apart, and remade it for her! She wanted it nice and full--so Mom, I hope you like it! I think it looks great and can't wait to see it on your wall, all bright and cheery!

The grade hasn't been posted yet--but I'm PRETTY sure I got full credit. (7/18 edit--I did get full credit :)

ps--ULTRA AWESOME NEWS of the day--I found out today that I don't have to take the final in my soils class! Because I've earned a solid A throughout the entire semester my reward is not having to worry about it! I'm estatic!

One Down . . . Too Many to GO!

I am ESTATIC to report that I've finished my landscaping project. When I received this peice of paper the only thing on it was an outline of the house and yard. I've created everything else you see--the walkways, arbor, planting, all the coloring . . . it's all taken about 15 hours.

So now that I've finished, I'm going to go to class in ten minutes and my teacher will probably rip it apart . . . color all over it with red marker telling me what I could have done better, etc. I'm NOT excited about THAT part . . . or the fact that he's going to assign another MORE IN DEPTH project to complete in the next two weeks. SIGH! At least this one is done!

Ok, The Panic Attack is ALMOST Over . . .

Oh golly . . . apparently me writing a blog post at 4 AM can blow steam productively. Just after Rob's alarm clock went off this morning he came out to find me finishing that last blog post . . . It was 5 AM. I asked if he wanted to go to the gym afterall, and thankfully he wanted me to come to bed--he'd come looking for me.

We nuggled under our covers close because I was so cold. Eventually--about 6 I fell asleep. My second alarm went off at 6:22, which I turned off and didn't end up getting up until 6:50. My test at 7:45 I wanted to get as much time as possible for because I wasn't still all that confident in how I'd do. So Rob and I rushed through our morning routine and I got into the classroom by 7:43--still kinda freaking out.

Thankfully enough the test was WAY easier than the homework. I finished with 15 minutes to spare. Then I went and requested to have my clusters approved for my minor--Geography and Culinary Arts. :)

Now I'm blowing steam. The test was fine. I bought materials for my floral notebook. I can work on my soils papers during the weekend. I just got a call from the guy that did the breaks on our car, and it is now ready. Now if I can only use THIS time for doing work instead of blogging I might relieve even more pressure.

Breathe in . . . breathe out . . .

Can't FREAKING Sleep!

Yes, that is correct. I can't sleep. Notice the time? It's been a REALLY LONG week and I got home tonight about 7:30 after spending the better part of 12 hours at school. I had a productive day. Got a project done for a class, went to the Horticulture social, struggled with my FREAKING excel homework and came home exhausted.

Once here my Mom called to see whats the plan. Rob and I are going to Utah for the weekend and will be staying at my parents. She wants to take us out to dinner for my birthday tomorrow--err, I guess tonight actually, and wanted to know where I'd like to go. She also wanted to know if I could come to a pampered chef shower with her tomorrow, and a bridal shower with her on Saturday before we go to a family picnic with her side of the family that night. Sunday Rob and I will be with Rob's family because they are all in town for two family reunions on his side during the June 29th - July 5th week.

Honestly the whole conversation totally put me past my limit for the day. I've been fighting with my excel homework the entire week and I have a test for the class in about three hours--at 7:45. I went to the "open lab" tonight for help and there was no lab aide!! WTF! Why the #%&& do they advertise a lab to get help on your homework if NOBODYISFREAKINGTHERETOHELP! After I got off the phone with my Mom I just shut down. I started silently freaking out about everything I've got to get done this weekend. Two projects for landscaping, a notebook for floral, at least 10 more hours to spend on a project for BOM . . . and eight to ten hours of driving to and from Utah . . . two family reunions/picnics . . . and on top of everything else I took our car into the school's auto shop on June 5th to get our rear breaks and emergency break fixed AND WE STILL HAVEN'T FREAKING GOTTEN IT BACK YET!! I had NO IDEA it would take THREE FREAKING WEEKS to fix a pair of drum shoes and e-brake cable. No matter how inexpensive it may end up being, it has NOT FREAKING BEEN WORTH three weeks without the car!!! Yes, we have a truck we've been driving, and because of which we haven't left town. Have you seen gas prices! FREAKING $4.09 in Rexburg, ID! And we're planning on driving to Utah and back twice in the next week? OMG! I just want to spend some time in the freaking library!

Okay. I know I'm kinda ranting here. Sorry. Anyway. I got myself ready for bed and tried to just let it all pass away into dreamland. I was ALMOST THERE and my Dad calls me. SINCE WHEN DO I EVER GET PHONE CALLS! It was our typical less than one minute conversation about how I'm doing--58 seconds to be exact. It totally got my mind racing again.

Rob came in and tried to calm me down. We came out and laid on the LoveSac to try and chill me out, because for some unknown reason I can fall asleep on the LoveSac better than in my own bed. We turned on the TV to watch something completely mindless--VH1--and Rob was out like a light. Still nothing from me. He eventually went to bed about 10:30 but my mind was still racing. I did eventually drift off sometime close to midnight, but then about 2:45 I was jolted wide awake for some reason--probably because I was so freaking hot. Ok. the TV was still on VH1, and since it's worked before I tried just falling asleep to it again . . . 3:00 . . . 3:30 . . . 3:45 . . . I turned off the TV and went in to try and fall asleep in my bedroom . . . Nope, my feelings earlier of being completely wiped out and aching for sleep are gone. Because of this I get even more worked up. I almost completely break down in bed, but leave the room first again because I don't want to wake Rob.

Now here I am. It's 4:51 AM, and my alarm is going to go off in ten minutes so Rob and I can go to the gym. We've been getting up butt early the last few weeks to go work out--and it's been great, but I don't think I'll be up for it today for some reason. It's going to be a long day.

:(

(5:00 AM--Rob's alarm just went off.)

The Family Website? What's this?

A couple of weeks back I was cleaning out my inbox and stumbled across an invitation from my sister-in-law LeMira to join the family website from May 2007. I can't explain why I didn't get right on that initially (maybe because I was all lovesick from having just gotten married??), but thankfully I signed up and found some fantastic pictures!



Here is Kimmie, our neice playing with the garden hose.



And the shocking result . . . I love how she looks so suprised!



Another adorable shot if Kimmie doing what kids to best--looking adorable!



This is Rob and our nephew Jackson. He was born a premie at 25 weeks and weighed only 2 pounds 1 ounce. I love how young and cute and happy Rob looks in this picture!



This is Lisa, Rob, Susan, LeMira and Matt all getting ready to take Rob to the MTC.



Here is Susan displaying Rob's dork dot proudly.



June 2004, one last wave good bye for two whole years! It's crazy to think that about this same time I was on a ward trip in Jackson Hole and Yellowstone with friends.



Fast forward two and a half years. We're engaged, hangin out at Matt and LeMira's house for the first time, and chillin with Jackson.



February 21, 2008. Susan, Tim, Alan, Matt, Rob and me at the MTC seeing Alan off. I had just left Virginia three days earlier and drove across the country by myself for the occasion (and to see Rob for the first time since New Years!).



And one of my favorite shots of Rob's and my wedding day. These are mot of our nephews and neices, and they were CRANKY little kiddies!

Blast From The Past!

Today I got an unexpected comment on my previous post--with some unexpected treasures. Merrilee, a friend from the neighborhood I grew up in--and someone I haven't heard from since high school told me that Dyana, one of our Young Women advisers from back in the day is trying to get a hold of me and a few other girls from the ward.



It was an awesome ward. I had a lot of great friends that helped me through SO MANY hard and tough times. These ladies shaped me partially into who I am today. I got in trouble with some, sang my heart out with others, played ball with a few, hiked and camped with many, and cried with all of them at one time or another.



Of these girls, I have no idea where at least seven of them are now. I have some connections with a few on MySpace, or Facebook, but even still I don't know what's actually going on in their lives.



These are all shots that Dyana wanted to get of us taken professionally because we were such a great bunch. We stayed in a hotel the night before and got all primped up together that Saturday morning. I haven't seen these pictures for probably about nine years. I can't believe how cute and little I was!



So here we all are: (from back, left to right) Crystal, Merrilee, Heather, Emily, Yolanda, Sarah, Brianne, Dyana, Emily, Natalie, Shawntal, Becca, Gywn and me. I'd love to hear from more of you ladies, and thanks again for the comment Merr, and the original post by Dyana.