Christmas Fun

Well, I "lost" my camera sometime around Jackson's birthday and have half-heartedly looked for it. Didn't find it until Saturday afternoon so sadly there are no pictures of Christmas to share. Santa brought our family an XBox 360 and some really fun games. It's been fun to play with Jackson or by myself. I forgot how much fun I have with games! P bought me slippers, Return of the King (extended version), "The Office" calendar and some yummy candy. We opened one gift Christmas Eve and just enjoyed being together.

Christmas day we had brunch with P's family. It was so delish! We had sausage, eggs, bacon, cheese grits, a breakfast casserole, biscuits and gravy. P's dad read a talk by President Monson and then we played some basketball. If I had known this was a tradition I would have dressed more appropriately. But we had a really good time. It has been fun to spend more and more time with his family and get to know them.

We got to pick Jackson up at 2 Christmas day. We went straight home so he could open presents. He got lots from my parents and his Aunt Kathleen. Thanks for sending them. We got Star Wars from Nate and Tiff. P isn't really into it, but we will watch them...oh yes, we will. Jackson was excited about the XBox and we played Lego Indiana Jones for a bit. The next day we went to see Bedtime Stories. What a cute movie! I highly recommend it!

Overall it was a great day! Sadly we only got to have Jackson until 2 the day after Christmas so it was almost too short...but then again it always is too short. But luckily we get him tomorrow night. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Happy New Year!

Do you ever feel like there's always something more to do?

So since I've been married it's been a bit of a struggle to be a wife, a stepmom, a daughter, a sister, a grand-daughter, a daughter-in-law, and every other title I tend to wear. On top of it all, I still want to be ME in the whole mix of it. With the holidays coming it is strange to think that P and I will have our own traditions. Aside from my mission, this is my first Christmas not at my parent's. I am excited for our first Christmas and especially watching Jackson open presents. But at the same time I realize all that I usually do and haven't done. I haven't bought any cards to give to people, I haven't made bread at all (lack of oven!), I barely made it to Grandma's to set up her Christmas lights, and I haven't finished shopping. Granted, there is still time, but those of you who know me, know I like to be on top of things. I am a bit of a perfectionist and it frustrates me that I can't do it all. But I guess that's a good lesson to learn. I am only human so I need to give myself a break sometimes. I do hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and New Year's. Hopefully I can post pictures of all the events!

Wedding Pictures

Here are some pictures from the wedding...a little late...

Jackson's 5th Birthday Party

This is Jackson, our very cute little boy. His birthday is November 30, but we celebrated a bit early!

He loves WALL-E so we had a cake made with that theme. I would have made one, but you can look at the previous post about what happens when I try to use my oven!


Singing to the Birthday Boy

This was his favorite gift from his cousin Tyler. It's a Hot Wheels race track that drops the cars and they speed off. All the kids wanted a turn with playing with this one. He got lots of cool toys and games. He was very happy.

My parents got him Moon Sand. It's kind of like Play-Do I am guessing and just as messy. I am excited to see him play with it for a bit and see what he can create! Man we love this little boy! Happy Birthday Jackson!

Pictures

If you want to check out the pictures go to http://www.pictage.com/541771 and sign in! We are so excited!

Picture Update

I emailed Aaron about when the pictures would be up on pictage.com and he informed me by Saturday at the latest. His goal is Friday. So there you have it. We can't wait!

P.S. It is pronounced pictaaaaaaaage instead of pictedge in case you were wondering.

We made the blog!

We joked with Aaron Snow that we didn't make his website or blog with our engagement pictures. But with the wedding we did make the blog. So if you would like to see a couple of pictures check out his blog. You can also see how awesome some of his other work is. The blog is: http://www.aaronsnowphotography.blogspot.com/.

Love the new apartment except...

The oven does this to my baked goods. Yesterday was our first Sunday here in Utah in our apartment. I was so excited to cook a very delish dinner and that it was. Roast and mashed potatoes and I thought, homemade brownies! I was so excited for them. I set the oven to 350 degrees. As I was putting them in right before we sat down, I said aloud...man this is hot in here! Not ten minutes later the smoke alarm is going off and the apartment is filled with smoke. P says, is something burning. We open the oven to find this. Disgusting. Burned to a crisp...at least the outside of it. So we finished dinner with smoke (had to take the batteries out of the smoke alarms so they would shut up). I was pissed! I guess I don't get to make a perfect meal. Maybe we'll get a new oven out of it! That would be awesome!

PS P insists that the inside was so delish and kept wanting me to try a bite and I refused. That's me, too stubborn when I get mad. Oh well...

And we're back...

Well I figure since I've been back in Utah for a few days, I should give an update on the wedding. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to post so if anyone in my family wants to send me some I can get them posted. I arrived in OKC last Wednesday night. Sar picked me up and we headed to Walgreen's for some stuff. Jana met us there and then we headed to the parentals. We headed to bed pretty early. Thursday morning I got up and headed to get a practice run on my hair. The rest of the day was spent at the church setting up wedding stuff. There were some awesome people there helping us. Thanks to the Davicks, Lee, and the Polings. They were so sweet to offer their supplies and help. We got most of it put together on Thursday. At least we had the boys to entertain us by running around (glad you brought them Tiff)! P came into town that night as well. Friday we got to drive downtown to get our marriage license. It was interesting to do but exciting. We headed to the Church after lunch to help with finishing touches. Then all us girls went to get our nails done. What a great time to sit and relax and get pampered. Afterwards I took P to see his parents. I took him out to eat at Nino's, my favorite mexican restaurant and it was so delish! I love the cheese dip and could eat it EVERY day. I am craving some right now!

Then it was the big day. I got up about 5 to shower and get organized. Kim came over to do my hair at 6. She was a quick worker and was done by 7 or 7:15 and it looked great. Then Sar did my make-up and I got dressed to head to the temple. We got there about 9 and got the papers in order. Then we were waiting and waiting and waiting. P's parents were lost. They took a wrong freeway turn and were far out of the way. Luckily there were some awesome temple workers who guided them in. They were only 20 minutes late. The sealing ceremony was amazing. Knowing that I am sealed to P for eternity is such a great feeling. Having an eternal companion is what is really important to me. We have a family now and it's great. We took pictures outside the temple for about an hour and a half and I'm so grateful to family and friends for being there to support us. I love my photographer. Aaron Snow! Thanks for doing a great job! This was his first Mormon wedding and I hope he enjoyed it. He is so creative with pictures. I recommend him to EVERYONE!

After pictures we headed to the airport with Jana to get our car and then to lunch. Zio's is my favorite Italian and did not let me down. So delish and we enjoyed talking with friends and family. After lunch P and I headed to the Bed and Breakfast to get checked in. It was such a cool place. We then headed back to the church to get ready for the reception. Aaron wanted some more pictures with the evening lighting with the temple and we were happy to oblige. So much fun! Oh just a side note, we are a house divided so on my toes I had an Alabama A on one big toe and OU on the other foot. Pictures to follow. Once Aaron gets the pictures online I will let you all know the link so you can check them out. Because he had a break, Aaron brought his laptop with some pictures. Tiff was good enough to print some pictures she had taken as well to make our table look great. We did a line for an hour, cut the cakes (that's right we had a groom's cake), then I sang "Just the Way I Am" with the siblings helping with music, we danced to "At Last", I danced with my dad (love you!) and P with his mom, one more dance and then we did some mingling. As the night went on I threw the bouquet and he threw the garter. We just had a great time. Then it was time to head off. Kat organized bubbles as we came out of the church.

The honeymoon was much too short but a good time. It was nice to relax, which I have a hard time doing. It gets easier though with P around. He has a calming affect on me. Overall, things didn't go perfectly but I was so happy that it didn't matter. They flowed relatively well and it was the best day of my life. I love you P! Thanks to everyone who came and supported. Missed those who couldn't come!

5 days left..

Well it's amazing that I will be getting married THIS WEEK! I can't believe it. I also can't believe how much I have to do before Saturday. First we have to move in. We attempted this on Saturday only to have it rain...all day long. So we moved stuff from Grandma's in and the big stuff will get taken care of today. And don't worry that I also have meetings this evening. Should be a nice long day! But the kitchen is almost all set up and I am VERY happy about that. I'm so excited to have my very own kitchen and can put stuff where I want! I need to take pics of the place so I will try to remember that tonight. I leave Wednesday for Oklahoma and then the real fun begins because I can finally only focus on the wedding. I am so excited to be P.'s wife!

National Championship Contenders...could it really happen?

So those of you that know me, know I love Sooner Football. It's great watching them play and Bobby does a great job coaching. Some of you might also be aware that P is a FANATIC about Alabama Football. So it's interesting that in the AP polls OU is ranked #1 and Alabama #2. If they both continue on undefeated they very well will be playing in the National Championships. How awesome would that be. P joked yesterday that we need a license plate that says house divided between our teams. But if they really do end up playing then we will be having a HUGE party to watch and if we are still living in the tiny apartment who knows what will happen when Alabama loses! :) Check out the ratings...http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/rankingsindex

Miracles DO happen!

We got some exciting news today that P qualified for a pell grant for the each semester! Maybe we will actually make it...there was some doubt...trying to have faith but you know how it goes. P also did great on his 2 papers he wrote this weekend. NICE JOB BABE! I'm so proud of him for going back to school since I never want to. :) I just feel so blessed! Hurray for miracles!

So this is what married life is like...

Yesterday P and I put down our deposit on our apartment (we got it!) and turned on the electricity. Last night we discussed how much we have and were wondering just how we will get through the month of October with the wedding and his GI bill not coming till November. As we were dicussing and getting stressed out P just looked at me and said, you were wondering what married life is like? This is it! So we are down to 2 1/2 weeks and pretty much I am running on faith. Cutting out what we don't have to have and sucking it up. But to be honest, I would rather be completely broke with P than rich without him!

...and I'm still alive...

THE END of the race :)

Well, the race went well and I feel like I have accomplished one more goal for the year. To see my results click here: http://http//www.milliseconds.com/ResultsIndividual.php?varParticipantRecID=16&varRaceID=1113. How do I make this smaller? Anyways, it has my stats and all of that. There aren't any pictures posted yet and P has a few on his phone but I couldn't email them Saturday so they will come soon.

Okay, now onto the race and the whole experience. I know you have all been anxiously awaiting to hear how it went. I got there about 7:30 am and wasn't scheduled to start until 8:15 or so. We got my bike and stuff all situated at the transition area. Then I put on my wet suit. Those things are dang tight for sure! I was walking over to the start area when I saw a long lost friend from the days at BYU, Jamie. Can't remember her last name so don't judge me. Anyways it was fun to see her and to know that she signed up 2 days before the race to do it. She didn't have a wet suit on and said the water was about 76 or so and that I probably didn't need mine. Well I already had it half way on so I just kept it on. We started in the water and it was exciting once the horn was blown and our wave started. I was surprised how well I could see in the dirty lake water as I started. It was half a mile swim, one lap around the bouys. It wasn't too bad, choked on some water a few times but survived. I came out of the water 10th according to P so that isn't too bad. Imagine if I had trained!

We ran up the boat ramp and on to the transition area...mind you Jamie was with me the whole time. But I got over to the bike area and took off the wet suit, pulled on shoes and socks, my helmut and gloves and got to it. Oh that bike ride was HARD! At the beginning I was drinking out of my water bottle and tried to put it back and dropped it on the ground. Of course I just kept going. I had 14 miles ahead of me! There was a bit of a hill at the beginning, which I thought was the "hill". I was sadly mistaken as I got further along the course and saw it up ahead. It was not a HILL it was a MOUNTAIN, literally 6% grade for a mile. I had to get off my bike and walk it up the mountain cause my legs wouldn't pump anymore. But then I thought there would be relief at the top of the mountain meaning it would be our turn around point, nope one more mile to go before that. But I felt good the rest of the bike, coming down the mountain was AMAZING cause basically I just flew. As I came back I did stop to get my water bottle. It might not have been the smartest thing since I probably lost some time doing it, but I didn't want to lose it! Luckily it was still there...no one else was stupid enough to slow down to get it. What was really mean was to get back to the transition area you had to go up hill to it. That was frustrating. But got there, took off my gloves and helmut and started the run.

Oh the run! My worst event since it took me 41 minutes to do 3.2 miles. Coach Helms would be so disappointed. P was for sure. But that's a good thing to work at, since I know how to run I'm just completely out of shape. Plus this course was in the desert. The whole thing in sand and rocks and it wasn't fun for sure. At least they had some water along the course, even had some of those energy gel things so I thought, what the heck? Uh, big mistake since it tasted DISGUSTING! I had to get 2 cups of water to get the crap out of my mouth. SICK! And of course I had to run uphill to finish. But I did run (or jog...) up the hill rather than walk and finished running.

All in all it was a good experience. I am so proud of myself for completing it. I thought about bailing last minute, but what a sense of accomplishment. I am excited to do more. Probably won't do this one again cause I hated the sand, but it was fun. I haven't competed for almost 10 years so it good to get back into something. P wants to train with me so we can do them as husband and wife. So I will be sure to post pics as soon as I get them.

Triathlon...here I come ready or not!

So today I get to take a little road trip with P down to St. George for the triathlon...yeah the one I have been "preparing" for. For those of you wondering if I am still doing it, I am, just cut back on how much I'm doing. Turns out I can switch to the Sprint distance rather than the Olympic distance. This is more my pace I think, considering how much I've really trained. I'm a little nervous this morning thinking about it. I started packing up stuff and deciding what I need. I can do this though. I'm an athlete...maybe a lazy one...but I can do it. Plus I can't face myself knowing I didn't do this one thing that I have been scared of. So I will post on Monday some pics hopefully of me dying but continuing on.

Happy Birthday Sis!

Today marks 23 years since my little sister was born. So many years have gone by! We weren't exactly friends as children but over the years we got closer. Living together in college was the best! That's where we really bonded. Now she has moved away and it's a good thing I have P cause I would be one lonely sucker otherwise! Happy Birthday Kathleen! I love you! Here's to a great year of finishing up your masters and becoming a real adult with a job and stuff.

Pain...you might just become my new best friend...

So over the past few months life has been, well, a bit stressful. And I'm pretty lazy when it comes to working out. So I've put on a few pounds. Not enough for people to notice but still, enough I know that dress won't be looking so hot in a few weeks. So I decided it's time to make changes. Since P is recently out of the Army and knows some sweet workout things, I asked him to be sort of a personal trainer, and a mean one at that. So he gave me a diet to live on (well live on is relative since I'm pretty sure I might shrivel up and die at any moment) and the work out started today. I arrived at his doorstep at 5:49 am (one minute early I might add) only to find my sweet love not so sweet but very stern and all about the business ahead of us. We stretched and then the fun began. We jogged to the Junior High (only a few blocks away and by jog I mean I was really slow and he was telling me to hurry up) only to stop halfway there and him telling me to drop and give him 10. We finished up and push-ups and sit-ups ensued, some running back and forth till I couldn't catch my breath and the burning...oh the burning of the lungs with the cool fall air. A fun little set of leg lifts, push-ups, crunches, and arm lifts then proceeded till I thought I might die. There are some other things in there I am just trying to block out the pain of them all right now.
Then we moved on to the track. One lap around (can't believe I once raced that since I could barely make it around) followed by sprints (actually liked those) and finished up with one last lap. Thankfully we walked home and I could hold his hand and he was back to my sweet man. I am excited for the results, but not sure how I will deal with the pain. At 27 it's not as easy as it was at 16 for sure. But it's worth it. Did I mention I don't get to eat sugar?! Guess I have to get it from fruit! More updates to follow...

One Month!

One month from today is the wedding! I can hardly believe the time has flown by and that soon P and I can be husband and wife! Plans are going well, and we are just tying up loose ends and finalize things. I remembered this morning in the shower that I still need some shoes! Guess I have to go shopping, dangit! :) I think October might be a little too cold for flip flops (sadly) and I think I need a bit of a heel so guess I get to go find something. Any suggestions? Let me know!

Could it be?

Yesterday P and I went to look at an apartment. It's in Provo, which of course I'm not excited about, but it's $450 a month including heat (gas) so we only have to pay for cable and electricity. Let me just tell you that I might have now found out what it means to be newly weds and broke! This place is in a 100 year old building and the bedroom might just fit my bed...and that's it. But it's only for a few months and they do month to month which is even better. It helps that P pulled out his military experience and the guy just wanted to chat about that for a while and thanked him for his service. P thinks it's in the bag, I'm hoping it's in the bag. The landlord is doing some work so the place won't be ready for a few weeks. We are okay with that and hoping we will get it. Anyways, once we find out I will post some pics once we move in and stuff. Cross your fingers!

Sar...You're the best!

Last week my BFF Sar threw me the absolute BEST bridal shower. Thanks to all who came. It was fun to see peeps I haven't seen in days, months, some even years. I had a lot of fun and got some pretty sweet stuff. Sar, you are the best! Love you!

Here are some pics of the event.

My Aunt RaNae's house with the food all set up.

My Grandma, Aunt Kathy, cousin Amy and Aunt RaNae

Opening Jana's gift

Trying on some stuff

Megan, Savannah and Ashlee

Some of the girls

This is my "little helper" for in the kitchen.

Hope you enjoy the pics! Thanks again Sar!

Cleansing...almost like a burden being lifted...

So these past few weeks I have been in the process of packing up my life. For the next few weeks or maybe more I will be moving in with my loving Grandma while all my belongings will be moving in with P's stuff in storage. It's amazing to realize just how much stuff one can accumulate over a few years. So slowly I have been throwing away, giving away and packing up what remains. It is so cleansing to get rid of stuff. It's like a stress relief. Sometimes I feel like Monica on Friends who just loves packing! I don't really love it but I love to see it all done. I wonder if I will ever be done, however because there is just so much of it. But I have to be done by Monday so we can take it all to storage. What's even better is I keep getting more stuff for the wedding! Can't wait to have my own place where I can really settle down and have an awesome kitchen cause that's where I have the most stuff. :)

FINALLY!!!

This weekend I finally finished addressing all of my announcements. It was such a good feeling. Since P wasn't feeling well, it was the perfect time to keep him company and get such a huge chore out of the way. It didn't hurt to watch Michael Phelps make history at the same time too. What is sad though, is now that the swimming portion of the Olympics is over, everyone will go back to not caring about the sport I love so much. So I'm happy the task is completed and I definitely feel a sense of accomplishment. Now onto my next task...finding a place to live! If anyone knows of a cheap basement apartment that is month to month rent please let me know! I've got 2 weeks to find a new home.

Excited About Bronze?

Last night P and I stayed up late watching the Olympics. Probably too late for me since I fell asleep. But I did awaken to watch the end of the Men's Team Gymnastics. Apparently while I was asleep the USA team was ahead and started to falter in the last two events. They did so poorly that they barely got Bronze, only because Germany didn't do a fantastic job. But what P and I discussed was, why were they so happy for Bronze? Wouldn't you have been happier for Gold? I would have. But then again they are all first time Olympians so getting any medal would probably make their day. So maybe I should go easy on the guys...

2 Months Left!

Well, so far I have made it 4 months of being engaged and am so happy to say that 2 months from today is the big day! I started stuffing envelopes yesterday...P said I had found a new love and it was stuffing envelopes! Guess he was feeling a little neglected. But I am a woman and can't really sit still for too long so as we watched the Olympics I also stuffed envelopes. It's a long hard job but coming along and didn't take as long as I thought. Now to addressing them. That might take forever. :( But it needs to be done and I hate projects hanging over my head so I am sure it will be done this week as we continue to watch the Olympics.

P.S. Congrats to the Men's 4 x 100 relay! That was AWESOME! I love swimming as most know so it brought back some really good memories. Of course I never broke any records like they did. Go USA!

Ever felt like that?

The Joys of Biking

So some of you , if not all of you who read this, know that I am training for a triathlon. You may think I am crazy for doing such a thing, which I may very well be, but what can I do? Just do it I guess. So in order to do that as well as save on gas, I have taken up riding my bike to work. This is going well so far, well, at least going to work. There are some hills and they can make me pretty tired but I just push through the pain. Going home, however, is a whole other story. You see, I live on top of a mountain and work down below. So going to work is a lot of downhill, while going home is almost entirely uphill. 6 miles of uphill gets a bit tiring, especially when it is about 600 degrees outside with a headwind of 100000 miles per hour. Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a bit but that's what it felt like. Yesterday was, in fact, only the second time I have attempted to ride home and luckily a girl I know stopped by me in her new SUV and asked me if I really wanted to ride the rest of the way home. I said of course not and gladly put my bike and myself in said SUV and rode home in air conditioning. Hopefully tomorrow will go a bit better. Don't judge that I took today off! ;)

Update on the Wedding

So in roughly 2 months I will no longer be a single woman, rather a married one. Wedding plans seem to be moving along. The latest? The invitations are now done! Well meaning they are printed and waiting for me to go pick them up. Then the fun begins! Stuffing 600 envelopes sounds like it would be fun, but I'm still a little skeptical of it all. :) Of course I have always wanted to double envelope my announcements so I went with that, but now that I am faced with the task, I'm wondering what I was thinking. All in all I am pleased with how it is progressing. The pictures are done and Aaron Snow, my awesome photographer, gave us a $100 credit for printing pics professionally by pictage.com. We ordered some of our favorites and are excited to see them. By the way, I previously thought it was pronounced pictage but found out yesterday that it is pictaaage instead. Just thought you all might want to know that random fact. By the way, not so familiar with the when it is appropriate to send out announcements. Guess I'll google it.

Let the Games Begin!

Well here I am, finally posting on my very own blog! I have been very scared and perhaps it will all crash and burn in my face, but I guess we'll see how it goes. My sister has been pushing me to do this so that she can keep up on the happenings of my life. Only took me 3 months or so to finally create the blog and one more month to write something. So all you be patient with me. :)