Ultrasound

I know, I know it's been a few weeks since we had the ultrasound. I had to get the printouts scanned in and then adjust them so I could post them. And I've been having a really hard time getting them to post normally. So, here they are finally!

This is my favorite one! This is her profile. You can see two of her very healthy heart ventricles.

Apparently, this one shows it's a girl!

This shows her Popeye arm!


Here are her cute little feet!

Never Alone

Have your heard this song? I love it! It's by Jim Brickman and sung by Sara Evans. I had a moment with this song...the first time I heard it. I don't expect everyone to understand the full impact it had on me...but, it was cool and still brings tears to my eyes and lump in my throat.

There was a time this past year that I was really worried about Nathan. He was working at a job that was not good for his health and safety. On top of that he was having problems regulating his blood sugar levels and kept having dangerous lows. We couldn't figure out why. This one particular day he was sick with a cold (which can cause unexpected lows too)...it was a Saturday morning and I was letting him sleep in as I set out to do our laundry. We had to have quarters to do our laundry and we were fresh out.

I can't remember all the details of the morning but, I was stressed out about going to find quarters somewhere. I'm pretty sure it was snowing too! I went to Smith's and they wouldn't give me quarters. They said they couldn't because their change is automatically dispensed by those coin machines. They have to fill those things up with change...they couldn't get me a roll of quarters for a ten dollar bill?!? I could understand if they were super busy but it was early Saturday morning and I WAS THE ONLY CUSTOMER IN THE WHOLE STORE! I was even willing to buy some gum or something too. I was so annoyed.

After stopping at two gas stations, I thought the third one was a long shot but, went in and asked the lady and she was thankfully, really nice and let me trade my ten dollars for a roll of quarters.

It wasn't just the quarters...it was a number of things I was stressed out about that morning...but, mostly I was worried about Nathan. I felt kind of alone. As I drove home I was praying that I could know that everything was going to be alright, and that I could feel the love of Heavenly Father, and that I could know that we weren't alone in these struggles that were overwhelming me at that moment.

Then this song came on...I don't even know why I was listening to it from the start but the whole song was sung to me, through the radio, just for me. I got back to our apartment before the song ended but sat in the car to hear the rest of it. I cried the whole time. I was trying to remember the lyrics so I could find the song on the internet.

I couldn't find it at first but, eventually did with Nathan's help...who didn't even hear the song and then I downloaded it.

Here are the lyrics I got from Jim Brickman's site:

Never Alone

May the angels protect you
Trouble neglect you
And heaven accept you when its time to go home
May you always have plenty
The glass never empty
Know in your belly
You're never alone

May your tears come from laughing
You find friends worth having
As every year passes
They mean more than gold
May you win and stay humble
Smile more than grumble
And know when you stumble
You're never alone

Chorus:
Never alone
Never alone
I'll be in every beat of your heart
When you face the unknown
Wherever you fly
This isn't goodbye
My love will follow you stay with you
Baby you're never alone

I have to be honest
As much as I wanted
I’m not gonna promise that cold winds won't blow
So when hard times have found you
And your fears surround you
Wrap my love around you
You're never alone

Chorus

My love will follow you stay with you
Baby you're never alone

So when hard times have found you
And your fears surround you
Wrap my love around you
You're never alone

Ahhhh! I love it. It's a tender mercy!

Jeanna requested a link to listen to the song...I found one but, you have to download Rhapsody. I did it to make sure it works and it took less than a minute and it's free. Do it! It's worth it!

http://play.rhapsody.com/jimbrickman/escape/neveralone?didAutoplayBounce=true

I hope it works for you!

Are You A Morning Person?

I am. I have a hard time staying up late. When I do, I usually have a headache for most of the next morning. I guess it usually depends on for what reason I am staying up. The reason usually does have an affect on how I feel the next morning. It's even harder to stay up late while pregnant.

Something usually wakes me up right about 5:50am. I go back to sleep until about 6:10 and then get up and get ready. I don't like the sound of random noises waking me up so it's nice that my body or my eyes or something just wakes me up in the morning. And it's nice that it's pretty consistent on what time. However, today whatever that thing is that wakes me up....hoodwinked me!

Although it is much harder to get up and get out of my warm bed during the winter months...Today, I got up an hour early without realizing it. I got up, got showered, got dressed, did my hair, did my make up, harassed my husband who was still trying to sleep, etc. I even looked at the clock about 6 times during all of that and didn't realize!

Then when I was all ready, I woke Nathan up, so I could tell him I love him and tell him goodbye. He looked at me? He looked at the clock? And then looked at me again..."Are you going to work early today?" I looked at the clock, studied it for a moment and then rolled my eyes. How annoying! I layed on my bed for a minute and then decided I'd make myself an nice breakfast and then just go to work early and try to MAYBE get off a little early.

My husby is definitely a night owl. He's not grumpy in the morning though...not to me...even though I lay on him and harass him, and try talk to him, which means he has to open his eyes so he can read my lips AND I have to be right in his face so he can see my lips. However, I think he might be grumpy to others...

The first time I met his sister Jill, she managed to ask him, "Are you still really grumpy in the morning?" He just looked at her like, "What? Me? Grumpy in the morning?" and then that look quickly changed to a very similar look, "WHY would you bring something like that up, randomly, in front of my girlfriend?!?!" I thought it was pretty funny!

Wicked

I love the music from the musical Wicked. I love the whole idea surrounding this play....basically, it is a preclude to the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_(musical). It's the story of how the wicked witch of the west became the wicked witch of the west!!! I've always liked the Wizard of Oz and I love broadway shows! So...

The play has intrigued me ever since I heard of it. I was an EFY counselor at BYU for 5 weeks in the summer of 2005 and at EVERY talent show the song "Popular" was performed. I asked one of the counselors, that was incharge of the talent show pretty steadily throughout the summer, about this song and he said that every talent show audition had AT LEAST 4 girls auditioning to singing "Popular" but they could only pick one per week. All of the ones they picked were really good!

I found out the song "Popular" was from a play called Wicked. The title alone intrigued me. I love the word wicked and tried to get it to catch on as a slang word in high school...but it was spelled with a "y" "wycked." I think it WAS a slang word for awhile in the 90's but, wasn't started by me....and it wasn't with a "y".

Anyway, I found out my cousin Amy had the novel Wicked (originally a novel, published in 1995; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_(novel)). I didn't read it because I was in school at the time and didn't have much time for recreational reading. But, my sister borrowed it from her and read it, and she really liked it. I think I'd like to read now!

I finally got the music, from a friend, for my birthday this year and have been listening to it ever since. Not constantly, of course, but, I REALLY like it. As I have listened to the music and have gotten the gist of the story, I have had a lot of questions.

My sister-in-law, Jill, convinced her mother and a few other ladies on the Freitas side of the family to drive down to LA just to see Wicked. I wish I had invited myself. They had a great time. But, since THEY had seen it I asked my mother-in-law some questions and she filled in some blanks for me. She didn't want to reveal too much though and spoil it for me...which I appreciated. The information she gave me though made me even more curious.

So, I have asked Julie some questions too! Remember, she read the book....she revealed a little more...but, again, not too much.

Well, last week I was listening to the music and wanted SO BADLY to SEE IT!! I googled "Summary of Wicked" and found a good synopsis and learned even more! (Here is the synopsis site http://mercy_bell.tripod.com/wickedsynopsis.html).

There are parts of the website that tell more detail and they are clearly marked "Spoiler" and when they are done revealing too much, it says "end of spoiler" and goes on with the synopsis. I wanted to read the spoilers because I want to know the whole story!!! But, I also like the element of surprise in movies and shows, etc.

I did break down and read one of the spoilers though. And my inference is that the spoilers have to do with elements that link the stories (The Wizard of Oz and Wicked). SO COOOOL!!!!!! I think the spoilers have to do with other things too though, just relating to the Wicked story...things that are inferred in the play and maybe not revealed until the end of the play...I don't know, but I like the idea!

I REALLY have to hold myself back from looking too far into it because I've looked at pictures from the musical and of course looked up other information online...but, I don't know if I want it spoiled. I want to be excited the whole time I watch it and surprised, etc. But, I just like it so much that I just want to know all about it! So, take the survey to the right and tell me if I should read all the spoilers or not...

My cousin Amy just saw it in LA on Saturday....I'm starting to feel like I'm going to be the last one, on planet earth, to see it.

WHAT THE!!!!

DANG IT!!! HOW DO THEY RATE THIS!?!?! SO, MUCH FOR MY COLLEGE EDUCATION!

Self Appointed Vending Machine Inventory Observer

My first year at BYU I had a ritual before my Book of Mormon class. I would go to the Spencer W. Kimball Tower (SWKT) vending machines, purchase a fudge bar (yummy cool treat, zero fat and only $.50), and then go to the Joseph Smith Building (JSB) and eat my fudge bar while I studied for my Book of Mormon quiz. That was THE ONLY vending machine ritual (habit) I have ever had.

The thing I've bought the most from vending machines is WATER (besides those two semesters of a fudge bar every Monday, Wednesday and Friday), when you're thirsty and there are no decent sources of water around...you just gotta get a water from the vending machine....if it's a dollar or less..it is SO worth it!

As a personal rule/decision I don't really eat from vending machines...oh sure I've bought the occasional candy bar or soda in those times of desperation, that I'm sure we have all experienced at times. But, in general, I try my very hardest to avoid buying food from vending machines. The foods in vending machines are usually high in fat and in most cases the food costs 5-10-15 cents more in vending machines than in the store.

Despite this personal standard, it does not keep me from visiting the vending machine at work at LEAST twice a week. Let me explain....

We used to have a really stupid vending machine at work. It only had about ten choices of food (candy or chips) and about 4-5 choices for soda and they were in the can. Not much variety and you could not see how many of the items where left. There were display chambers that showed you what was available but, the inventory was unseen. What it if you were debating on buying that bag of chips? And after much pondering and weighing of the fat content against the desire to crunch on something salty you went to purchase them and BAM!!! GONE!!!

The up side was that it was maintained by one of the employees wives and she got everything at Costco and so the prices were reasonable (comparable to deals at grocery stores, etc). The downside of THAT...I imagine the items where sold out a lot. She only came once a week and with how many people that work where I work...I can't imagine there wasn't much left when she returned to restock.

Well, that employee is no longer working here and shortly after he left, they got their crappy vending machine out of here. We had no vending services for about 2-3 weeks. I don't know what customer service did!?!?! I think they are the major consumers of the vending machines (not based on scientific data...just observance when I have been in the break room and seen whomever is buying from the vending machine). During that 2-3 weeks of no vending machine...

I WISHED so badly that I had money to go buy two vending machines. I'm convinced that if I had that money and my company allowed me to be their vending service....I could have worked only 2-3 days a week and been making the same amount of money...I could quit my job!!! But, I wouldn't quit my job because then I wouldn't have medical benefits but, I'd have a second income, equally as good as my current income...if not better!!!

Now we have TWO vending machines with an AMAZING amount of variety!!! Not maintained by me!! Dang!

But, back to my comment above: Despite my personal standard of not eating from vending machines, it doesn't keep me from visiting the vending machine at work at LEAST twice a week....

I am The Self Appointed Vending Machine Inventory Observer. I really enjoy just going and seeing what's in there. I like to keep track or see what runs out first....you know...what are the popular items!?!?! Items change places though...so you have to stay on top of regularly observing. I used to report this information to my supervisor but, she had a baby (on maturnity leave) and she knew me well enough to know that I'm not crazy just curious.

It's not an easy job. It takes great dedication (regular observance) and self control (sticking to my standard). One week they had my most favorite chips, Miss Vickie's Jalapeno Chips (spicy, crunchy and no transfat!). Lucky for me, they went fast, a popular item...I'm not surprised. Also, lucky for me I only had 60 cents and they are 75 cents. They ALWAYS have those little Coconut Crumb Donuts that come in a little package of six donuts. If I was a consumer of vending machine products....THOSE donuts would me my number one purchase...the first purchase of everyday. But, again, lucky for me I'm not a vending machine consumer and again, only have 60 cents and they are 90 cents. (over priced!!!!)

Anyway, I guess you could say I'm obsessed with observing the vending machine and refuse to ever buy the high fat, over priced items therein. I guess my obsession may really lie with people...and what they like to consume.

I am also the self appointed Time Clock...but, that's a whole nother story! (Is "nother" a word? Wow!)



















Wow! I could not find a picture of the Coconut Crumb Donuts but, I found this recipe I'm going to try in the VERY near future! Check it out, if you like the Coconut Crumb Donuts!

http://www.living-foods.com/recipes/crumbdonuts.html

The Jimmy Chunga Show (What?!? What about Mister West?)

I'm so bummed!!!! Every morning I listen to The Chunga & Mister Show on 101.9 THE END. Well, Mister has been gone since Monday. They just keep saying "Mister has the day off." Turns out that upper management didn't renew his contract.

Jimmy Chunga and Mister West have been friends and associates for 20 years. They have been doing this morning show together for the past 7-8 years at least. When I moved to Utah in '99 it was the Chunga and Marcus show. Marcus got abruptly fired for doing something the station didn't agree with (he was kind of a rebel and an idiot)...that's all they said, no details but it seemed like a little scandle. Marcus shortly ended up on another radio station...I can't remember which one, and I'm not sure if he is still on.

I have always thought that Chunga and Mister balanced each other out so well...and represented Utahns in the Salt Lake and Utah Valleys. Chunga runs the show and is a very funny aspiring actor. He can do A LOT of really good impressions of people and characters. Chunga gets inappropriate sometimes and (by good assumption) he was raised LDS but, is not active. He knows EVERYTHING about the culture and is far from anti. Mister is a journalist and reported on the Top News Stories and Hollywood Headlines. He also reported on the Really Stupid News. Mister is an active member of the church and was pretty good at letting Chunga be funny and even laughing with him...but, was good at moving on when he was getting out of hand. They are kind of the odd couple. Crazy zanny free spirit and a straight arrow.

I got my mom hooked on Chunga and Mister when I carpooled to BYU with her. She didn't like it at first, but it didn't take long for her to LOVE IT! I'm not even exagerating. She still listens even when I'm not in the car. Then when they said they were going to finally explain where Mister has been (because listeners were getting suspicious) my mom WAITED IN THE CAR even after she got to work to find out. Then she said she wanted to cry! I wanted to cry too. My mom was going to email me right way about this, but when she opened her email...I had already emailed her to tell her the news.

I had also emailed my husband about it. His response was, "I don't think I could care less. I'm not really a talk show person." I knew that but, I responded by saying, "I know. I just thought you should know why your wife is suddenly so depressed." It was sad and the feeling was similar to, if my own husband got layed off! What is Mister going to do?

Well, I've given it some thought. They didn't give much details, of course. It's an internal matter and the station would probably like to keep it that way. But, Chunga said that though he is VERY sad that Mister is now longer with him on the show, there are no black cats in this situation, which sounds like the station may have offered Mister a new contract and Mister, for whatever reason, didn't accept it. Maybe he wanted more money. Maybe he just doesn't want to do the show anymore...he teaches the Deacons on Sunday. Maybe he wants to get back into doing real news and journalism.

I like to think it was Mister's decision to leave for all of above listed reasons and more. Chunga illuded to the fact that the station probably gave him compensation...a lot of people that called in were upset that the station would do this right in the midst of the holidays. Heck, if the station gave him compensation and he gets to spend more time with his family for the holidays...it's a blessing. Even though I don't think he was away from his family all that much.

And the show goes on. I'm scared for who will replace him. If it's someone annoying or stupid or TOTALLY inappropraite...despite how much I like Chunga, I won't listen. I'm coping. There is still the question...why mess with a good thing? Which once again leads me to think that it was Mister's choice to move on.

Too Many Things To Plug In

My parents' heater is on the fritz and we can't seem to program it anymore. It turns on at random times and is in sleep mode when we are all home and freezing our tooshies off. Well, one night last week it was particularly cold outside so, it was just about as equally cold in the basement.

Now to give you a little background...

Our bedroom is in the basement. We have four outlets in our room. We have installed six outlet expansion units on two of the jacks and one jack has a six outlet power strip. This makes a total of 20 electrical sockets in our room.

But, we have a lot of plug in!

TV
Dish Box
DVD Player
Nathan's Laptop
My Laptop
Alarm clock
Nathan's phone charger
My phone charger
My night stand lamp
Nathan's night lamp
Blow Dryer
Fan

Some of the plugs are bigger so it prevents us from using all 20...so, don't worry! And we are rarely using every single thing that is plugged in at the same time....wait! We are NEVER using everything that's plugged in at the same time. But, it's not easy to unplug things and it's very hard to add any appliance to the mix.

Remember it was cold in the basement!

I pulled the little space heater from the closet and I was so excited to plug it in, in our room and get nice and warm. Reality soon hit me though when I remembered that we have way too many things to plug in. I walked around the room looking at each outlet and just about to say, "Huh...we're kinda full." I remembered there is a socket right outside our bedroom door!!! I ran out with the heater and plugged it in, in the hall and brought it back in and threaded the cord to go under the door. As I did this, I sang, "I'm a genius!!!" (opera style) I was also giggling with glee. Then Nathan said, "Why don't you go blog about."

Turkey, Stuffing and Gravy

I have a confession to make. I don't like turkey and stuffing or gravy. Every year I try a little just to make sure I still don't like them...and though they are not totally repulsive (they used to be) I can only handle a very little bit. I do LOVE mashed potatoes, corn, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and everything else at Thanksgiving dinner. But, because I don't like turkey, stuffing and gravy, some have called me unpatriotic! That is way harsh!

Nathan's Uncle smoked a whole turkey this year! I tried some of that and it was pretty good. I still couldn't have much.

The weird thing is...I love chicken. I feel like the textures are pretty similar but, the taste is TOTALLY different.

One of our home teachers suggested we cook our turkey with bacon. They tried basting their turkey with bacon grease a couple of years ago and it was SO GOOD! But, it was only skin deep. So, last year they decided to put bacon in the bottom of the pan AND baste the turkey with bacon grease. That helped to get the flavor deeper. This year they said they were wrapping their turkey in 5 lbs of bacon! I'm interested to find out how good it was...it was probably REALLY good! The funny thing is, that turkey is one of the more leaner meats...but, you add 5 lbs of bacon and that goes out the window. Kinda funny.

Peanuts: Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, guess who makes the gang's Thanksgiving dinner?

Snoopy! With the help of Woodstock.

They made toast with butter and popcorn. They served it with pretzel sticks and what looked to Nathan like Jelly beans and to me like Good and Plenty (pink and white candy coated licorice). Pepper Mint Patty was SO MAD! She yells (in her man voice), "Where's the turkey? Where's the stuffing? Where's the mashed potatoes?" Etc. It was hilarious especially because she had invited herself.

Last Night At Dinner

We are living in my parent's basement. It's not so bad and we are totally grateful! They have space for us and are willing to let us live with them, and we are able to save money and Nathan can go to school. But, I have to share one thing I DON'T LIKE about living with my parents. THIER DOG!!!!

This is a dog my mom inherited from my oldest sister (Liz) and her family. They moved and had to live in an apartment for awhile until they could find a house they wanted to buy. Well, they couldn't have pets at the apartment so they gave their dog to my mom. My mom instantly embraced it. We didn't have many pets growing up so it was weird to see my mom let this dog attach itself to her so quickly. And when Liz's family found a house, my mom wouldn't give the dog back. She loves it and none of us really understand why.

Toby is a shitsue. This dog is pretty dumb and blind, especially when the sun is out. He stinks too...all dogs do. My mom calls him her son! And when Peter (my real brother) says mean stuff to the dog (because it is so dumb), my mom says to Peter, "Be nice to your brother!" Super weird...and very very funny because she says it totally serious and then when we all look at her appauld she giggles.

Tonight at dinner my mom was feeding the dog from the table....with HER FORK!!!! I have seen her do this before, when she was DONE eating but, tonight she wasn't done and she used it after. I freaked out! I was like, "MOM!!! You CANNOT feed Toby with YOUR FORK!!! He's an ANIMAL!!!" I covered my face in horror and disbelief. She just laughed and said, "He doesn't put his lips on it and neither do I." Gross!

What's even weirder is that she will not, WILL NOT share a fork with anyone else...not even anyone in our family!!! She has always said, "I don't like germs." Apparently, she likes dog germs. Gross! (This is a case similar to "Love the sinner but hate the sin." Well I love my mom, but that is just gross!)

After a little time had passed and she was still feeding Toby from the fork she was eating with, I nonchalantly said, "Mom, do you know I have a blog?" She said, "Yes! I read it!" I said, "DO YOU WANT ME TO BLOG ABOUT THIS!?!?!?!" We all laughed but, I WAS NOT KIDDING!

(If anyone leaves a comment saying anything remotely close to "Dog's mouths are actually very clean, much cleaner than humans." I will puke!)

Jell-o Slide (you know like a mud slide)

I don't talk to many people at work. There's always work to be done and "they" don't really like us to socialize because they like us to at least look like we are working every second. Aside from the fact that I don't talk much at work....from what I can tell my desk mate is a pretty quiet person. We rarely talk. We usually just joke about pretending we are sick so we can go home...or just walking out for lunch and not coming back...or pretending like we thought it was Friday (even though it's a Wednesday) and taking a four day weekend. We are all talk though. A lot of the work this time of year is pretty tedious so we just have to amuse ourselves with vain discussions about fleeing.

A few times, my desk mate and I, have had little discussions about The Office (TV show). One time we giggled about putting one of our co-worker's stapler in jell-o. Again, just vain discussion...something to giggle about for a few seconds.

Well, I sent my desk mate the following email on Monday afternoon......true story.

"Dang! I totally had a wonderful surprise for you today….but, it totally didn't work.

I put your stapler in jell-o, along with some other random items from your desk. Ok, it wasn't YOUR stapler…it's an old stapler that I had at home…but symbolically it was YOUR stapler because I didn't want to ruin your stapler.

Here's the story: I got this idea, of course, from The Office. But, I got the idea to do it to YOU when I sat at your desk, to get away from sick girl, while you were out of town. I swiped a cool round tac and a yellow binder clip and last night I found this old stapler at my house and added that to the mix. However, I made many mistakes along the way…and they are kind of comical so, I thought I would share them with you….

First, I made a smaller sized box of jell-o and it barely covered 1/3 of the stapler. I thought this would be easily remedied by making another box or two and it would be pretty cool because there would be layers of jell-o. The first box was orange, the second box was lime, and the third box was cherry!

I waited until the first batch of jell-o was set and then made the second batch. With each layer I added the tac, binder clip and some large paper clips. All seemed well until I waited too long to make the third batch last night and ended up having to make it this morning. Jell-o is not a fast thing you can just throw together but, I had started this project and I was determined to follow through. I made the last batch using ice cubes instead of cold water…that did help it set but, it wasn't fully set when I came to work. I figured I'd put it in the work fridge to give it a chance to better solidify and then leave it on your desk, when you went to lunch. I tried.

The stapler still wasn't fully covered by jell-o so, when I flipped it over onto a small plate, to get it out of the cool whip container I had made it in…I think the stapler was forced to shift in the jell-o and caused it to instantly start falling apart....jell-o slide!!! (like a mud slide)

I quickly shoved the mold (cool whip container) back onto the jell-o so it wouldn't fall off the plate on all sides. A lot of the cherry jell-o ended up on your desk. I think I did a good job of cleaning it up so I don't think there are any sticky spots…but, if there are, let me know, I'll come clean them up.

Well, that's the story. I hope you had a nice lunch.

Your desk mate,
Becky

PS – In the future I think I would only do the stapler…I think the other office supplies made the jell-o weaker. Also, the layers make a stapler/jell-o prank very vulnerable…no layers next time. And I think they used extra gelatin on The Office to keep the jell-o form. Or, I'm just an amateur." (end of the email)

Pretty fun experiment...I don't know if I'll try it agian....we'll see.

This was my desk mate's response.

"Oh my gosh. You are hilarious! You spilled jell-o all over my desk while I was at lunch? HAhahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!

That is funny. We should do that to Katie sometime."

Happy First Anniversary!

Yesterday (Sunday) was our first wedding anniversary! I can’t believe it’s already been a year. Nathan said, “One great year down and 49 more to go.” I’m pretty sure he is just referring to how, making it to your 50th anniversary is a major accomplishment…I don’t think he meant that after that…we’re through.

We pretty much celebrated on Saturday night. We decided to go out to dinner and decided on Ruby River. I’ve been there before, but man! I forgot how expensive it is! We ended up getting two appetizers and sharing them…which was a great idea. We got the sampler platter and the smoked trout. It was lots of food and a great variety! And we were able to avoid busting our budget. We haven’t been out on a date to an actual restaurant in a long time. It was really nice! It was fun to reflect on the past year and the things we have experienced and accomplished, and “where” we want to be next year.

After dinner Nathan took me to Gardner Village. We had heard about this place but, we had never been there. I thought it was just an outdoor mall with some eating places and such. It was very different from what I was expecting. All of the shops are in old buildings, houses, and cabins so in that sense it IS an outdoor shopping plaza. All of the stores seem to be specialty shops. There are a few furniture shops, quite a few boutiques, a candy shop, an ice cream shop, a bakery, a bookstore and art gallery/store and a number of Christmas shops. All together I think there are at least 10 to 12 building/shops.

The shops and grounds are decorated with Christmas lights and there are random elf scenes throughout the grounds that include elves doing various things to get ready for Christmas. No animatronics but it did kind of remind me of Christmas in the Park; in downtown San Jose (I miss that!). Some of the workers throughout Gardner Village were dressed as elves. One lady had braided pig tails that stuck straight out of the sides of her head. It was cute.

After we were there awhile I became curious about the houses and buildings. I asked Nathan if they just moved a bunch of old houses and buildings to this spot and put little shops in them? I often think Nathan knows everything and in the midst of asking him something, I realize, he probably doesn’t know that, why/how would he?….and then HE DOES!!!! He told me all about it. I think he read it on the internet! He reads everything, that’s pretty much why I always THINK he knows everything and then it turns out he DOES.

This is from the Gardner Village website and this is basically what Nathan told me, but if you want the whole history here’s the link: http://www.gardnervillage.com/history.php

“Archibald Gardner was one of the original settlers of Utah in 1847, when the first wave of pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.

In 1849, Archibald Gardner entered into the doctrine of plural marriage. He took two new wives: Abigail and Mary Ann Bradford. He eventually married 8 other women, for a total of 11 wives, fathered 48 children, and saw his family swell to 270 grandchildren. Archibald provided separate homes for his wives. The children were all taught to be industrious at a very young age. Farms were worked by each mother and her young children. In the 1800's, basic needs were food and clothing. The farm provided food for the family, and the Gardner's mills provided clothing, and the needed items for the homes…”

One very large store is the old saw mill. It’s huge and very cool to walk around…I think there are 3 or 4 stories! Archibald’s Restaurant is in the mill as well. We had discussed eating at Archibald’s before we decided on Ruby River but, Archibald’s was SO busy, that I was glad we had already eaten.

I failed to mention that it was all pretty busy. Saturday was their annual Moonlight Madness Sale. All the stores were going to be open until midnight and they all had coupon drawings as you walked in their shops with amazing deals. Everything is pretty expensive there so they may have been amazing deals but, still way pricey.

It was so fun! I highly recommend it. We didn’t even buy anything. Just enjoyed looking at everything!

Earlier that day we took the top of our wedding cake out of the freezer. When we returned from our anniversary date Nathan cut us each a slice of cake. It was white cake with raspberry filling and butter crème frosting. I must admit, I thought it was going to be nasty and taste like the freezer but it was DELICIOUS!!! We took the rest of it to church and fed it to our Sunday school class of 12 & 13 year olds. They loved it! And they didn’t believe us when we told them it was a year old. They are so funny!

I know they are all probably going to be very different but, I think I’m going to like anniversaries! I definitely love being married!

What do you think it's going to be?

Well, we went to our second baby doctor appointment today! It was good and pretty fast. The coolest part was hearing the baby’s heart beat again. The first time we heard it, about four weeks ago, it was REALLY fast. They said that was normal. The nurse found my heart beat too and it was much slower.

This time the baby’s heart beat was slower then last time and the nurse said it is normal for the heart beat to get slower and more regulated throughout the pregnancy. She also said that her prediction is that it’s a boy. She told us there is an old wives’ tale that if the heart beat is a slower beat, which she said it was today that it is going to be a boy. Then she said, “But, people disprove that all the time. I still predict it’s a boy!”

It was exciting! But, next time, December 14th (Nathan’s birthday), we’re going to try to find out with an ultra-sound! As long as we can see the baby’s “area” and it’s not blocked by a foot or something we should be able to find out!!!

If you think you know what the baby is, cast your vote/prediction at the poll to the right!!! ---->

My Own Blog ~ How Exciting!

Believe it or not! I started this blog at the beginning of August! No joke! I just haven't posted anything until today. I must admit my sister Julie inspired me with her new blog "The Orange Oracle." She's pretty hilarious and I'm looking forward to her future posts. I, on the other hand, am neither hilarious nor nearly as wise as her…but, I hope to add a little to the wide world of blogging.

My husby and I are expecting our first child April 26th. I must admit I'm so scared for labor and delivery. Before we got preggers I was scared to be pregnant and granted I'm only 4 months along...so far, it hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I've even come up with a list of the exciting parts of pregnancy.

1. Excited when you find out you are pregnant.

2. Excited when you aren't so sick anymore.

3. Excited to finally get to know what you are having (boy, girl)

4.Excited to finally show (little belly).

5. Excited to finally be in labor and get that big boy or girl out!

6. Excited to finally have the baby.

The only thing exciting in between those exciting times is when you tell someone that you are expecting and THEY are so excited too! Of course, I haven't experienced it all yet so, PLEASE tell me if there is more I should be excited about!

My friend Lindsey has filled in somemore blanks for me. I would have to agree with her, I'm looking forward to those exciting times she clued me in on, too!

"...you are definitely correct about all those moments! I think the only ones I'd add would be feeling the baby move & have hiccups, and then the feeling of the first time you can bend normally & sleep without your bladder waking you up 39 times a night after the baby is born! Then, of course, there's all the exciting moments of watching every new thing the baby does... aawwww.... babies!"

I figure if I focus on the exciting parts of pregnancy & life in general, I won't worry too much about how scared I am for labor and delivery.