Jeff and Vicki Hoggard

2011 - the past half a year

2011-12-31T10:03:00.003-07:00

Here is a very watered-down version of the past 6-7 months ....

May
Sold my 1995 Toyota Camry to Jeff's sister, Katie, and bought a 2005 Toyota Camry.

June
Drove all of my siblings, plus Melissa's husband John, to a family reunion in Idaho. It was good to see those who were there.

Ran my first 5k ever with my sister Rebecca. Ran with her and finished in 41:33.

Jeff's car was having problems so we bought another vehicle... a 2001 Lexus SUV. Good thing we had savings to put some money down on these 2 vehicles so monthly payments wouldn't be as much.

July
Ran my 2nd 5k with Rebecca and for the 2nd time, I wanted to see how fast I could finish a 5k. I finished in 38:22 (Rebecca finished in 40:20).

Camping trip in the Uintahs, which a lot of Jeff's extended family does every year.

August
My birthday! I had a really fun birthday, complete with dinner at Ruby River, followed by a Josh Groban concert that I LOVED!

The end of the month was a new semester, which was very difficult at times!

September-December
Almost nothing but school and work

November
Jeff's sister, Katie, got married! (on 11-11-11) :)

December
After hard work, Jeff and I finally finished the semester with A's in each of our 2 classes. :)

Had a fun Christmas! Jeff and I opened presents to each other, he cooked me a nice breakfast, we went over to his parents' house for a while, then went to their church meeting at 1:00, which was a little over an hour, then we went to Jeff's grandpa's for a little bit, then we spent the rest of the evening/night with my family.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but there's a summary of the past 6 months! It's been a hard year, but we've also been blessed so many ways! I'm looking forward to 2012! My sister Rebecca and I were chosen to go on a scanning business trip to Massachusetts and we'll go in February, I think. I also have a eating better/getting more sleep/exercising New Year's resolution for 2012. This will be THE year I will finally lose the weight I want (I'm a little sick of losing weight, then gaining some back... I want to lose it and keep it off!). I am also going to be more prepared for any 5k's I do this year.

Hope everyone has a safe and fun New Year's!

... Or not

2011-09-02T22:32:00.003-06:00

Okay, maybe I won't update my blog. I've sort of lost interest in blogging... not sure why. Now that another semester of school has started, I'm even busier.

SO Behind!

2011-07-08T14:15:00.001-06:00

So I am a bit behind on my blog. I've been really busy or tired or just plain lazy to update it, but I will soon... I promise!

Adoption Blog

2011-05-11T20:41:00.000-06:00

I made a new blog about our adoption journey, so if you would like to follow it, click here.

Adoption

2011-05-05T19:59:00.002-06:00

Last week while Jeff and I were both at our jobs, Jeff and I were talking online and the subject of adoption was brought up. I have some infertility problems where we're not sure if we'll be able to have our own or not (though if we could have 1 or 2 of our own, that would be good, but we'll see). So we are starting the adoption process and we have an appointment set up tomorrow to attend a 1-hour orientation at LDS Family Services. If we need to get our names on some waiting list, it's probably best to start now in case the wait is a long time. If it is a long time, we'll still both be going to school to get the classes we need out of the way. It'll be exciting when we can finally become parents! I have a couple cousins who have adopted and one of Jeff's cousins (and her husband) are starting their process of adoption. It'll be so neat to experience what my cousins are experiencing with their adopted kids. I'll keep updating on this blog about that whenever anything changes... but we're just starting the process, so it may be a while before anything new happens. So like I always say, "We'll see what happens ..."

Uncle David

2011-04-30T20:17:00.005-06:00

Last Sunday, on Easter Sunday, my dear Uncle David passed away, surrounded by his wife, Louise, and all of their nine children. It has been a hard week for me, the hardest being yesterday, which was the day of the funeral. My heart was heavy. Last November, Jeff's grandma died and it was harder than I thought it would be, especially since I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted the night before. I cried a little at that funeral. I did get more sleep the night before yesterday, but yesterday was still no different. We got to the church where the viewing and the funeral were being held. I was able to see and briefly visit with many, many cousins, a lot who I haven't seen in a while. I loved briefly visiting the two of the nine children closest to me in age, Julie and Linda. Julie and I shared a couple hugs and an emotional conversation. I was surprised how emotionally strong Linda was (I know I couldn't be that strong). We had a good short conversation and hugs as well. I will never forget those moments. The funeral service was so special and so spiritual. All nine of the children spoke and shared wonderful stories and memories of their dad. They also sang "Come, Come Ye Saints" (with their spouses). At the end, they played a 1976 recording of Uncle David singing a song he wrote called "Through the Eyes of a Child". After the service, we went to the grave site where he was going to be buried... on a hill close to the mountains in north Provo. It was a beautiful place. There, we sang a few more hymns and children's songs. I haven't been in Primary since I was a Primary teacher for 2 years before my mission, so I forgot some of the words to a couple primary songs. I either hummed or listened, and I felt the spirit so strong. My uncle has been a great influence to me and many others, and his death and funeral has made me want to be a better person.

I do have one memory I would like to share about Uncle David. About 8 1/2 years ago, I was looking for a car to buy since the car my parents gave me when I moved to Utah had problems that would be more expensive to fix than the car was worth. I found these two Toyota Camrys that this older guy was selling. He also had a couple Hondas he was selling... he repossessed these cars from banks and was selling them. I was interested in the two Camrys. They were both 1995... one was beige/tan and had 92,000 miles and the other was black and had over 130,000 miles. The black one was around my price range and the beige/tan one was a little over my price range. Since my parents were still in Missouri, my dad suggested I call Uncle David to take a look at the two cars and test drive them. I called Uncle David to set a time to meet at the house where the cars were (which was on Canyon Rd. in Provo, not too far from where Uncle David was buried). Uncle David test drove both cars. We both could tell the black one was more used and the beige/tan one was taken very well care of and was in nicer condition. Even though the beige/tan one was a little over my price range, he suggested I get that one. With the help of my parents loaning me the money (which I was able to pay back very quickly), I was able to get the beige/tan car that is 16 years old now and that I still have. Uncle David had many, many great talents and his knowledge of cars was one of them and I will never forget the help he gave me with that.

Below is a picture of my Uncle David that was used on the cover of the funeral program. Below that is his obituary. I love and miss him a lot!

David Lee Higginson

1943 ~ 2011

Our Father in Heaven chose Easter Sunday to call our dear husband, father, and grandfather home. He passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family from the effects of cancer.

David was born October 3, 1943 in Nampa, Idaho to John Detton and Merle Harris Higginson.

He was a valiant member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and served a mission to New Zealand from 1962-64. He had a deep faith in his Savior, Jesus Christ and shared his love for Christ with his family and countless others.

While attending BYU, he met and married his sweetheart, Louise Lewis. They were sealed for time and all eternity on June 2, 1967 in the Salt Lake Temple.

Music was the essence of his life. He was an amazing choir and orchestra teacher in Utah and Idaho, a musician, songwriter, and arranger. His children's treasured memory is singing around the piano on Sunday evenings. He was the creator of The Professional Chord System and touched the lives of so many people as he traveled around the country to share his gift.

He is survived by his wife, Louise and 9 children, David (Heidi), Michael (Marci), Amy (Brenden) Clements, Rebekah (Jim) Edwards, Brian (Lisa), Julie, Linda (Danny) Strauss, Robert, and Jared.

We're Still Alive!

2011-04-08T11:07:00.002-06:00

We haven't dropped off the face of the earth... yet. This has been one crazy semester, but thankfully it's almost over (just a couple more weeks, I think)! Jeff and I are in the same math class (MATH 1050, or College Algebra). Some of it has been a struggle, but so far we're both doing really well in that class considering how hard it is. We just have one more chapter test left, then the final, so I hope we continue to do well. We have a really good teacher, which helps a lot.

I have loved doing taxes this year and last year. Because we're both going to school, we get a pretty nice Federal refund back. And the "Making Work Pay" $800 we got back this year is really helping us get our savings back up (school is expensive!).

We're taking the summer off school to recuperate before going back in the fall. And to save more money. We also need time to clean and organize our place since we really haven't done much since we moved to where we live now almost 5 years ago, so we'll be busy doing that during the summer. Hopefully we can have our bedroom, computer room, and exercise/extra room back since all 3 right now are sort of "junk rooms" with boxes and other junk.

Speaking of exercise, I just started a "Couch to 5k" thing this week. It's an app I got on my iPhone. It's for 9 weeks, 3 times a week. It's not too bad this week, but I was looking ahead a few weeks... it's gonna be tough, but hopefully I can do it. It'll help me for my first ever 5k in June (in 9 weeks from tomorrow!).

Anyway, we are still alive (barely)! :)

Photography Giveaway

2011-03-04T14:37:00.002-07:00

Someone in my condo complex is giving away a couple free photo sessions (up to $150 value).

To enter, go to the Lee Taylor Photography website. I would love to win since Jeff and I haven't had any professional pictures taken since the cruise we went on over 2 years ago (and we don't really take our own pictures of us, so we'll just be nonexistent for the times we don't have pictures taken of us). :)

Out With the Old, In With the New

2011-01-02T22:29:00.002-07:00

Well my resolutions/goals for 2010 didn't go as planned. Most of them fizzled out after about 2 or 3 months. I tried keeping up with my weight loss goal and was doing really well, with the help of the exercise program my work has every summer of getting in as many miles as you can by doing a few different things. But then the last few months of 2010, I gained some pounds back. But... I am still 10 or 11 pounds less than I was a year ago at this time, so I can't feel too bad, I guess. This year, I want to work even harder on that and will start back in on my treadmill exercising (at LEAST 3 times a week) tomorrow. I might even try a 5k run this year with my sister. And I want to eat healthier. To do that, I am cutting out all desserts, sweet stuff, candy, etc. So yes, even dark chocolate, which I love! I also want to get more sleep, but I'm making that goal realistic by making sure I get at least 7 hours of sleep at least 5 nights a week (tonight won't be one of those nights 'cause I hate Mondays, so I stay up too late, not wanting the next day to come sooner).

For my one spiritual goal I want to do better in is going to the temple once a month. We haven't gone very much lately (shame on us!), but this year will be better.

I don't want to make too many resolutions/goals this year, so I will keep it at that and see if I can do better this year with these ones I listed.

I hope everyone has a wonderful year this year!

November

2010-11-30T21:54:00.002-07:00

Better get me in a blog post for November before the day is over in a couple hours. This month flew by. I don't even know where it went. I don't even know what happened during part of it... just school and work is mostly what I do these days. I had a cold the first part of the month and a cough for most of the month. The cough is pretty much mostly gone now, thank goodness! I am so ready for this semester to be done! Just 2 more weeks from now and I will be ALL done! I will make a new post after it's done about how I did, but right now it's pretty crazy... and I'm only taking 2 classes! Jeff's grandma passed away a couple weeks ago and her funeral was a week ago from yesterday. It was sad but it was a really good funeral service. Jeff and I had a 4-day weekend for Thanksgiving. We had my family over to our place on Thanksgiving Day and it was the first time ever that Jeff and I cooked a turkey and it turned out pretty good! The break from school and work was a much needed break, but it went by so fast that I wish I had more of a break already. In a few weeks, though, we'll have two 3-day weekends in a row with Christmas and New Year's. I can't wait! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to everyone!

Tired Week!

2010-10-27T19:54:00.002-06:00

I've been tired this week! I haven't been getting very much sleep so far this week. I work full-time, I take a couple classes, among other things I'm busy with. And I might be coming down with a cold. :( Being sick is no fun! Despite being really tired, I think I might have aced another math test. :) I really, really like this teacher, even though she goes kind of fast in the "lectures" she does (most of my notes look like chicken scratch) and she assigns a ton of homework, which takes me a long time to do sometimes. But her tests are SO much easier than the homework and she hands out a review before each test and goes over the review right before the test on test day, so the information is fresh in my memory. She's teaching the next highest math class next semester and Jeff still needs that class, so we decided we'd take that one together. It'll be the ONLY class we'll be able to take together because our majors are so different (he's in Elementary Education and I'm in Accounting).

Anyway, I am writing this post from my very own laptop! A couple weeks ago, Jeff's sister was shopping for a laptop since the one she had was 5 years old. Jeff and I went with her when she went to buy one from Best Buy. She got a Dell laptop with a pink cover. The past little while, I've thought about getting a laptop of my very own to use mainly in future classes I take. And I think the color of the cover sold me... PINK! We went back to Best Buy a couple days after Jeff's sister bought the last one they had in the store, so we had them order one in and we picked it up a week later (last Saturday). I now have my very own laptop that is a girl laptop. :D It'll be fun having my very own laptop.

No Less, No More

2010-10-09T22:01:00.002-06:00

The past month or so, I really haven't been trying to lose weight, like I did earlier this year and this past summer. I just eat almost whatever I want now. I've weighed myself maybe twice this past month and haven't gained a pound. That makes me happy that I don't have to lose pounds I've already lost. Jeff has told me before something that's called a "set point" weight... a weight which your body maintains. I lost about 25 pounds a couple years ago for the cruise we went on with Jeff's family. After the cruise, I ate very horribly and gained it all back, plus 5 more pounds. I hated being the weight I was when I gained it all back. So the beginning of this year, I weighed myself and made a New Year's resolution to lose that weight again. It's been a slow process (because I still like food!), but I've been about to lose about 20 pounds so far this year. 10 more pounds and I will be at the weight I was on the cruise. I'd love to lose that before the end of the year, but we'll see if that happens or not (maybe 5 pounds will be good enough). Then next year, I'll make a new New Year's resolution to lose a little more. I would like to be around 130 pounds, so I still have a little ways to go still. :) Anyway, I'm wondering how I am maintaining my current weight. I haven't exercised regularly for over a month and I just eat whatever. I'm wondering if it was all the exercise I did over the summer... over 100 miles of running/walking on the treadmill between May 31 and the end of August. I wish I had time to run/walk more these days, but I'm so busy with work and school and I still need my sleep!

I'm hoping this post will motivate me to lose at least 5 more pounds before the year is over. We'll see .... :)

Only Post for September

2010-09-29T21:08:00.005-06:00

I should probably get in a quick post before the month is over (so I can have at least one post per month). Life has been crazy! Good, but crazy! School started the end of August. I'm taking a math class (Intermediate Algebra) and a computer class (learning about computers and different programs on computers and stuff). I've taken 3 tests in math so far, making 100, 98, and 100. We get to drop 2 out of 8 tests for the semester, so I'm doing very well so far! In my computer class, they said if we're in the school of business (which I am with my accounting major), we need at least 80% on every test. I was so nervous getting ready for the first test which we took this past Monday. But I studied as much as I could (I probably could have done a little better, though) and I made a 91.8%. I was so relieved and so happy that I did that well on it!

I became team leader again at my work almost a month ago. I've been enjoying it (on the most part) so far and still enjoy the flexible hours with my job so I can go to school.

It's been 11 years ago today since I entered the MTC (Missionary Training Center) to train in becoming a good missionary for my church. If I had the time, I'd find and scan a photo taken of me in the Carson Valley area in Nevada (an area a little south of Carson City, which is a little south of Reno) during winter with snow on the ground. That one was probably my best picture of me from my mission. Maybe I'll find it sometime and scan it to put on here. But it's crazy that it's been 11 years! I'm getting old!!!

Well, one more long day of work with an evening class, then a shorter work day on Friday, then the weekend! I look forward to each and every weekend and especially looking forward to this weekend with General Conference!

I'm a slacker!

2010-08-28T13:20:00.002-06:00

I haven't used the treadmill since my birthday 2 weeks and 1 day ago. I guess I needed a break. And I won't be doing a 5k in a couple months, either. I know, I know... I'm a SLACKER!!! School just started this past week and I'm taking a couple classes, along with my full-time job. But... I did a Turbo Jam workout this morning. I haven't used Turbo Jam since I started using the treadmill in early June. Maybe I can run a 5k with my sister next 4th of July (which is the Freedom Run, I think). We'll see what happens.

10 miles in 2 days

2010-08-03T19:56:00.002-06:00

Wow, my legs are tired and sore! After being gone camping a week, then taking most of the next week off from the treadmill, I have a little bit of catching up to do if I'm going to hit 200 miles for my work thingy by Labor Day. Can I do it? We'll see. But here are my times for today and yesterday's 5K and 5 mile times on the treadmill.

5K (3.1 miles)

Yesterday - 48:07
Today - 44:36

5 miles

Yesterday - 77:59
Today - 77:22

A little bit of an improvement for the 5 miles, but I was happy with the 5K time. I don't think I want to try to improve that tomorrow (I may just go 3 or 4 miles tomorrow). Today was really hard and I got tired a lot. Better not push myself too much.

I'm thinking (just thinking) about running a 5K with my sister Rebecca later this month. I'm not sure I want to do that one since it's still summer and I hate the heat. There's one on October 30 that I will probably definitely go for with Rebecca. Better keep it up on the treadmill, even after Labor Day! :-)

New Look

2010-08-01T18:35:00.005-06:00

I need to change the look of my blog every once in a while... also gives me an excuse to post a blog entry since I don't as often as I used to. I can't believe how my blog posts are becoming fewer and far between. In 2008, I made 88 posts, last year I made 36, and this is the 20th post this year so far. Maybe it's 'cause our lives are kinda boring since all we do is work and go to school and play on our computers or play outdoors in our spare time. Anyway, I kinda like this new look for my blog, so I'll probably keep it for a while.

I can't believe how fast the summer has gone by so far! It's already August 1st! I kinda like the summer to fly by, though, because I'm not a big fan of the heat. My favorite seasons are spring and fall and I wish they lasted longer here in Utah. Oh well.

There's 12 more days till my birthday. This year, it's on Friday the 13th. It's cool to have a birthday on Friday the 13th every 6 years because of the day being superstitious to some people. I don't think it's superstitious, though... nothing bad ever happens to me, although I hope I didn't just jinx myself. :-) I haven't decided yet if I'll work four 10-hour days that week or just work as much as I feel like and use less than a day of vacation hours. But I think I will take that day off... 'cause who wants to work on their birthday?

Camping

2010-07-28T21:31:00.004-06:00

I am not a very big fan of camping... at least for several days. But all last week, we were up in the mountains with Jeff's family and a lot of his extended family. We were up there for exactly one week, but I was ready to come home after 5 days. I just hate feeling dirty, but I'm grateful for Jeff's parents letting me use their little shower in their 5th wheel camper. I also hate the bugs, especially those big pine beetles that are very harmless except for the heart attacks they give me. One day, there was one on my shoe and I let out a girly scream. The good things about going camping was that I had a whole week off work (and only used 32 vacation hours because we had Friday off for Pioneer Day, which was technically on Saturday), we were up in the mountains away from the rat race of where we live and work, and I got to catch up a little bit on my sleep, which was way nice. I think I got about 9-10 hours of sleep most nights.

One of Jeff's cousins bought a motorhome for really cheap and we've been talking about maybe looking for one. It would be super nice for when we went camping. But would we use it any other time? We'll have to decide.

It was hard going back to work on Monday. But we're now back in the grind. Maybe I'll take work off on my birthday in a couple weeks, which is on Friday the 13th this year. I'll have to decide if I want to work a shorter day or just take the whole day off.

I also got back on the treadmill today after a couple weeks of not using it. I need to keep at it. I might sign up for one or two 5k's coming up next month and in October and run them with my sister Rebecca, but I haven't decided for sure yet.

No More Leg Pain

2010-07-10T02:32:00.003-06:00

It's about 2:30 a.m. and I'm not too tired. I fell asleep in the early afternoon and didn't wake up till evening and had about a 6-hour nap, I think one of the longest naps I've had in a long time. I was just THAT tired! Anyway, as of my last post, I am now into running/walking on the treadmill, probably even more than before. I took a break from the treadmill for about a week to rest my legs and since then, they really haven't hurt at all. I'm guessing they were hurting because I hadn't used those muscles and then I sort of pushed myself too hard and they got hurt. I'm sometimes doing more than I was before and they don't hurt now. :-) Soon after I woke up from my nap, I ran/walked 4 miles and I jogged half of it (in intervals, of course). I love the feeling of stretching my hamstrings and calf muscles before and after exercising on the treadmill. It feels SO good!

In one week, we'll be going camping for about a week up in the mountains. I'm not the biggest fan of camping (maybe 'cause I hate feeling dirty), but this year I'm looking forward to it more than usual, maybe because I really need a break from work and I need to catch up on my sleep. Just one more week of work left before we get out of this "Happy Valley" rat race!

Leg Pain

2010-06-22T17:52:00.003-06:00

At my work for the past few years they have what's called Backstage 100 (like the Wasatch 100 here in Utah) where we add up miles if we run or walk, ride a bike, swim, or lose weight. Running/walking we count 1 mile for each mile, biking we count 1 mile for every 3 miles, swimming we count 3 miles for every 1 mile, and losing weight we count 5 miles for every pound lost. In the past, it started on the 4th of July and lasted until Labor Day, but this year it started earlier on Memorial Day and ends on Labor Day. I was doing really good on the walking/running part (on our treadmill) for the first couple weeks, but then about 1 1/2 weeks ago, I guess I pushed myself a little too hard and my inner legs a couple inches below my knee cap started hurting. I figured I just got sore from running too much, so the few days after, I just did some speed walking. But my legs continued to hurt, so I decided to take a break and just lose some pounds to count miles. I've lost about 5 pounds so far this month, but I'm slacking a little bit now (I'm just glad I haven't gained those 5 pounds back). My legs still hurt and have been taking Advil every once in a while and I bought some Icy Hot yesterday which helps ease the pain a little bit. Basically, my left leg hurts the worst and it hurts when I lift it or lower it while it's bent (like going up and down the stairs). It doesn't really hurt when I lift my leg when it's straight. I THINK my legs might be starting to feel better (I hope!), but I just need to give it time. I want to start running (even speed walking!) again, but don't want to until I don't hurt anymore. Then I'll start out really slow and work my way up. I was even starting to like running!

I am done with Farmers Market (selling my jewelry). I went this past Saturday with my dad and brother and only sold $9. I just don't make enough there to make it worth spending over half my Saturday away from home. I am going to try the Pleasant Grove Promenade starting in July on Thursday evenings with Jeff's mom and sister (his sister was saying the least she made there last year was $40... I'd take $40!). Then there's some craft thing at Thanksgiving Point that my dad and brother might do in August and September that I might do with them. I'll be going to those ones just to try to get rid of my stuff because I think I'm done making jewelry. There's just too many people who make jewelry and I can't compete with them all. It was fun while it lasted, though. I might even be able to make something for myself that I would actually wear.

In other news, my sister Rebecca and I applied for a couple temporary scanning technician positions that would be in London, from mid-July till about Labor Day. We thought it would be really fun to go there, and since Rebecca works in the scanning department and has been on a couple on-site trips before (in the states), we thought we might have a really good chance to go. We had our interviews last Thursday and I was incredibly nervous (like I always am in job interviews). There were almost a dozen applicants and a couple other people were chosen to go. I wanted to go, but another part of me didn't want to leave Jeff for over a month. So I would have been fine with the outcome either way. So I get to stay in Utah, and near the end of next month is Jeff's family (and some extended family) camping trip. Even though camping isn't on top of my list of things to do, it'll still be nice to get away from this mad house rat race we live in to go up into the mountains for a week. I can't wait!

Discouraging ....

2010-06-07T19:47:00.004-06:00

So I've been to the Farmers Market in Provo with my dad and brother twice so far (the past 2 Saturdays). I've been able to sell a little bit ($19 the first Saturday and $15 this past Saturday), but the discouraging part is that all I sell are pendants (with leather or ribbon cord necklaces I bought to go with them)... no necklaces, bracelets, or earrings. So I've been a little bit discouraged and feel like quitting making jewelry. At least I don't have very much material (not like my mother-in-law, who has tons and tons of stuff!) so that I don't feel like I'm too far in the hole. But my mother-in-law wanted to see if jewelry watch bands would sell because she sells those pretty well, so she gave me a little bit of stuff to make a few. If they do sell, I'll probably just sell watch bands and pendants (and other stuff only if people wanted it). If the watch bands don't sell, I think I will definitely quit because I don't want to sell just pendants. From the couple times going to the Farmers Market, there are just so many people that make jewelry that I can't compete with them all. I wouldn't have been able to sell my stuff there if it wasn't for my dad who makes and chip-carves jewelry and earring boxes. :-) Another reason I wouldn't mind quitting is I want my Saturdays back! Anyway, enough venting ....

Stars on Ice - May 26 in Salt Lake City, UT

2010-05-27T16:23:00.012-06:00

Jeff and I went to the Smucker's Stars on Ice last night. I got the tickets a couple months ago and decided to click on best available for seating and get the most expensive tickets. We were on the floor in the front row! I was excited about that! Okay, let's get this picture out of the way, but here I am before it started ....

See the folded up chairs along the right side of the picture? We were in these seats, like 5 feet away from the ice!

A couple more pictures of the ice before the show started ....

I tried taking pictures (with no flash, of course) of some of the skaters. I tried taking a picture of one of the pairs skaters and another of another skater, but they both ended up really blurry, so I decided, "Ah forget it, I just want to enjoy the show rather than trying to get good pictures."

Jeff and I also went to a Stars on Ice in Salt Lake I'm guessing about 4 years ago. One of my favorites there was Michelle Kwan, but she's not in Stars on Ice anymore. We got tickets this year because we wanted to see our favorite skater, Evan Lysacek, who won Olympic gold earlier this year. Yesterday morning I checked online and he wasn't going to be at the Salt Lake City stop. Jeff and I were very disappointed, but I tried to keep my chin up and kept saying that we'll still have fun because there were other good skaters that were going to be there. And we did have fun! Even Jeff, who's not as big into figure skating as I am, had a lot of fun and thought it was really cool and awesome that we were so close! :-) We bought a couple autographed photos they were selling (along with a program and a T-shirt). So instead of pictures I could have taken, I have these, and I scanned them and they're posted below. The first one is of the whole cast. I was able to see them all except Evan Lysacek in person, although he was in Stars on Ice 4 years ago, but we didn't know him as well. Several of these skaters were in the Olympics as early as 1992. Some of them have won Olympics medals.

Then I wanted one of Evan, so here it is .... :-)

The reason Evan wasn't at the Salt Lake City stop is because he was among the top 3 finalists in the show Dancing with the Stars that he got invited to before the Olympics, I believe. I've never seen Dancing with the Stars before, so when I heard Evan was going to be on it, I wanted to watch it, and it definitely was exciting to watch, especially the last few weeks! Over the last couple months, he was in California for Dancing with the Stars Sundays-Tuesdays and then toured with Stars on Ice Wednesdays-Saturdays. So I was sure he was going to be in Salt Lake, but the top 3 finalists had to be in New York Wednesday morning (after the winner was announced Tuesday night) for interviews on Good Morning America and Regis & Kelly. I guess if he wasn't one of the 3 finalists, he would have been in Salt Lake, but I'm happy he made it as far as he did. I was rooting for him and I voted for him and he ended up 2nd. Jeff and I really like him because of the attitude and class he has. After the winners were announced, Evan said, "They deserved it, they worked so hard and inspired all the other couples in the competition." The Russian skater who came in 2nd behind Evan at the Olympics should learn from him. :-) So if Evan is in Stars on Ice next year, we're definitely going again, hopefully front row seats again!

Here are a few pictures I got online of Evan and of Evan and his professional dance partner Anna Trebunskaya ....

A couple cute pictures of Evan & Anna ....

A picture of them dancing one of their dances ....

I have 3 favorite dances of theirs that were posted on YouTube. I will even rate them .... :-) Enjoy!

3. Viennese Waltz - the 'redemption' dance during the last week

2. Argentine Tango - the first perfect score of the season :-)

1. Paso Doble

4.0 GPA

2010-05-05T19:03:00.002-06:00

I checked online and my grades for this past semester are posted... all A's and 4.0 GPA! :-) I am very happy about that. I never knew I was that smart! I didn't apply myself like I should have in high school and in college when I got my associate's... I think my college GPA from before was around 3.2 something. So I'm starting my second round of college well. :-)

In jewelry news, there's this blog that somehow found my blog. That blog is called Blog Giveaways. Suddenly I was getting all these entries for my giveaway from people I didn't know and I looked on my feed of where people were coming from and a lot of them were coming from that website, so I went there and I was among several blog websites having giveaways (I'm among the several on their first post on May 4). I have no idea how they found my site, but I'm glad they did. I like lots of entries! :-) I'm excited for my first giveaway to end and find out who won. I will use the "True Random Number Generator" on the main page of RANDOM.ORG, which my sister Melissa told me about. Whatever number comes up out of however many numbers of entries I receive, that will be the winner.

I got off work a little earlier than usual today to go with my mother-in-law up to Salt Lake City to a display store, which has different things to display stuff... I think there are things to display other things besides jewelry. I was looking forward to this little trip this week and I'm excited with what I got, which is all very nice-looking and will display my jewelry very nicely! I got a bracelet stand (with 3 levels to put my bracelets on), an earring rack that you can turn, a tray to lay all my pendants in, and 3 little stands to display a few of my necklaces. I also got a few other little things.

In other news, I am super excited to go to Stars on Ice in Salt Lake this month on the 26th. I decided to pay good money for our tickets, so we should have pretty good seats. :-) So I've been on a little bit of a happy high with some good things happening. Now if only I can get more sleep so I'm not so tired ....

May Giveaway for My Jewelry

2010-05-01T22:13:00.002-06:00

I am going to start doing giveaways for my jewelry for at least a few months to see if I can get more people to look at my jewelry website and buy from me. The link is on the right. Feel free to enter and let your family/friends know so they can enter as well! I changed a setting for that website that allows anyone to post a comment. Who doesn't like getting something for free? :-) We'll see how these giveaways do, but if they aren't working very well after a few months, I will probably stop doing them.

DONE!!!

2010-04-27T21:36:00.004-06:00

I just took my last final this evening! I can't believe I made it through my first semester back to school in over 10 years!! And I think I'll do it with a 4.0 GPA, too! The only class I'm worried about is Business Communications because the final was a little hard for me, but after figuring out what I needed on the final to still get an A, I think I will get an A. If I figured it out correctly, I need about 50% (maybe even a little less) on the final to still have an A. :-) I will know my grades for sure next week on Thursday. I am really happy how well I did, even though sometimes it was hard. I think one of the hardest things was my 8-page research paper in Business Communications. But I just did the best I could and I got it back this evening and and got full credit! :-) The research paper is 10% of the final grade (and the final is only 8%). The teacher even wants me to email my paper to her so she can use in future classes. I'm surprised I did that well on it. :-) Jeff says I'm smarter than I give myself credit for... and maybe I am (in some things).

Jeff is all done with his Intro to Education class and thinks he'll get an A in that. After slacking a little bit in his online meteorology class the beginning of this semester, he's been working hard at catching up and he has assignments in one more chapter to do before Thursday, then a final test he'll take on Thursday, then he has till Monday to do as much extra credit assignments as he can.

Jeff and I decided not to take any classes this summer to save up money. We'll be working very hard this summer to clean and organize our place... it needs it super bad! We really need to de-junk, too (DI, here we come!). I can't wait to get more organized! Then Jeff will start taking more credit hours starting this fall (and I'll take one or two classes, depending on how much we can afford).

This Saturday, I will post my first of my monthly giveaways for my jewelry blog (link to it is on the right). When I post it, be sure to enter and be sure to tell all your friends and family, so they can enter and you can get more entries. :-) It'll be fun!

Home Stretch!

2010-04-20T21:12:00.002-06:00

I am now down to my last week of my first semester back to school in over 10 years, and I think I'm gonna survive it. :-) My lecture series class (my Friday class) has been over for a couple weeks now... I just need to type up a couple really short papers (like one page... really easy!) and email them to my teacher by Friday evening. Tomorrow is my math class, which will be a review for the final. That final will be next Monday. Then tonight in my Business Communications class, we had a review for that final, which will be next Tuesday. Then I'll be done! Home stretch!!! I know I'll get A's in my lecture series class and my math class. My lowest math test so far has been a 95 and our lowest test score gets dropped. :) My Business Communications grade will depend on how well I do on the 8-page research paper I turned in tonight and the big final. I will know my final grades on May 6, so be prepared for a post about it that day. :-)

3 classes was a little bit of a challenge while working fulltime. So next fall, I'll probably only take 1 or 2 classes depending on how much tuition is for Jeff. I decided not to do anymore loans for me and just pay as we go (for both of us). Re-applying for loans each year is a pain, so I don't want to deal with that anymore. My work has a tuition reimbursement program, so that should help some. We're going to focus on getting Jeff done with school as quick as we can (as quick as we can with him working fulltime as well).

I'm taking this summer off to hopefully save up some money by getting my little jewelry hobby/business going... doing the Promenade in Pleasant Grove with Jeff's mom and sister on Thursday evenings this summer, then hopefully my dad can get into the Provo Farmer's Market which will be on Saturdays. He'll sell his hobby and he said I could sell my stuff with him (if he gets in). Then I'll also start doing monthly giveaways on my jewelry blog (see post below). I am very excited about that!

Monthly Jewelry Giveaways

2010-04-06T22:15:00.004-06:00

I have been excited lately to start having monthly giveaways for my jewelry. My classes will end near the end of this month and so I will have more time to make jewelry. I want to get into it more, and I hope these giveaways will help a little. To check out my jewelry blog, click here or click the link on the right side of this page.

Our New "Toys"

2010-03-21T15:26:00.007-06:00

Everyone needs to get a "toy" or two every once in a while, right? See previous post of how my parents helped buy a "toy" for Ryan & Rebecca and John & Melissa. We decided to go to RC Willey's and the salesman was really good and told us all about their TV's and what the difference between LCD and plasma was. We decided on a 54-inch flat-screen plasma TV. And the salesman was so good, we even bought a stand to put it on (we needed one anyway) and a Blu-Ray player (which even plays DVD's in better quality). Those three things are all shown in the 2nd and 3rd pictures below. The 2nd picture I took last night. The 3rd picture I took today. Yes, we need to clean the mess from moving TV's and furniture around. This 1st picture is after we moved the entertainment center we had in the living room (and now it's in our bedroom). So that's where over half of kitty's balls went! :-) The balls somehow got behind the entertainment center and underneath it in the back (there's no way they could get underneath on the sides or front). We thought it was funny, so we took a picture of it. And don't worry, we picked up and vacuumed all the dead leaves from a dead plant we had. :-)

Day Off

2010-03-19T10:10:00.003-06:00

It's spring break at Utah Valley University (since Wednesday), so I decided to work four 10-hour days and have today off. Monday and Tuesday were very long, going into work earlier than usual and then a class in the evening. Wednesday and Thursday were long days at work, but at least I didn't have class (I don't have class on Thursdays anyway). It was a long 4 days, but now I have today off. It felt nice to sleep in. I want to get some of my homework done today, but I'm a little slow getting it started. I hate writing papers (even one-page letters for my Business Communications class). I'm hoping to get some homework done today so I have less to do tomorrow.

We're going to the temple this evening with Ryan & Rebecca. Tomorrow we're hoping to go shopping with my parents for a really nice big flat-screen TV. They decided to buy a really nice present for all their kids. They bought Ryan & Rebecca a Clavinova (I think that's what it's called?... a keyboard-piano thing). Ryan & Rebecca spent some out of their own pocket since it was more than what my parents helped them with. John & Melissa got a little camcorder. We've decided to get a big TV and possibly spend more than what my parents are helping with so we can get a bigger and nicer one. We'll see how much more we spend. I hate spending money but it's sometimes nice getting "toys". :-)

Me? A Math Whiz?

2010-03-09T21:06:00.003-07:00

Well... maybe for the first half of Elementary Algebra. I had a mid-term test yesterday and I feel I did really well on it (maybe even aced it... one can only hope!). We've had 4 regular tests in the class so far and I've had the highest grade on all of them so far. My test scores have been 96, 100, 99, and 100. The teacher takes the 3rd highest test score and makes that 100% (so for the first test, I got a 96 out of 93, I think). My grade so far in the math class (not counting the mid-term) is 104.2%. :-D We'll see how I do in math in the last half of the semester. In high school and college over 10 years ago, math was never my best subject.

I just got a grade update in my Business Communications class this evening. We've done about half the total assignments, and so far my grade is 100.35% in that class. I was very pleasantly surprised by that because some of the assignments are quite difficult and I haven't gotten perfect scores on most assignments. But she has done a few little extra credit things which is why my grade is so high. Since I started this class, I told myself I'd be happy with at least a B. I'll still be happy with that because the harder stuff is yet to come, especially an 8-page research paper I have to write (ugh!).

And just so I don't leave my other class out, I'm making 100% in my lecture series class. Half the grade is based on attendance and the mid-term journal we had to turn in almost 2 weeks ago, I got full credit on (the teacher said she didn't have time to read 60 papers, so she just looked to see that we did it and that we didn't use bullets since she told us not to).

So... wow! I have at least 100% in all my classes so far, but I don't expect them all to stay that high as the rest of the semester will be harder in Math and Business Communications.

February Post

2010-02-28T21:29:00.003-07:00

Here's my post for February (the last day of the month). I've been so busy with work and school, I haven't had much time to blog. School is going okay, but it's just gonna get harder... starting now. I had a stressful weekend of homework, but I was able to finish everything by yesterday late afternoon or early evening and was able to relax a little last night and today. And I'm only a math whiz through the first half of elementary algebra. I've been able to get the highest scores on the first 3 tests and with the curve, I currently have 104.5%. But we have another test tomorrow and this chapter is a little harder for me, but I still hope I do okay. Math was never my best subject.

I've had a goal this year of losing 5 lbs. a month and so far, it's been a success! I've lost 10 lbs. since Jan. 1! I plan to keep the weight off this time (unlike after our cruise over a year ago, I gained some weight after losing some for the cruise). If I keep at my goal of 5 lbs. a month, I'll hit my target the end of October. I can't wait! :-)

I am excited for March! That means warmer weather (I hope!). I think Utah's winters are too long! I love love love 50 and 60 degree weather! It's perfect! 70's are good, too, but start to get a little warm. So I like 50's and 60's.

Anyway, I'm off to bed to try to get enough sleep for tomorrow's test!

One Year Ago

2010-01-24T14:50:00.003-07:00

Last year at this time, we were on our cruise. A year ago today was our last full day on the ship. You can go to my posts from early last year to see pictures if you haven't seen any, or you can go to my Facebook profile and see pictures there. It was sad when that vacation came to an end. That cruise was my favorite vacation ever and look forward to when we can go on another one (although not sure when that will be, but we definitely will go on another one).

Anyway, I started catching a cold on Thursday, felt pretty sick Friday evening, felt better yesterday, but I'm pretty sick today. I'm hoping with all the liquids (mostly orange juice) I'm drinking and soup that I'll have a little later today, that I'll feel well enough tomorrow to go to work and then I have my first math test tomorrow evening. Being sick is no fun!

Being sick also made me not do one of my New Year's resolutions last week. I didn't have the energy Saturday morning to exercise, so I didn't get my 3 times in for the week. But I think I can make an exception if I'm sick. I'm thinking I'll drop that resolution, though... some weeks it's hard to get in 3 times of exercising, especially if I'm too busy and I need the sleep. I'm definitely keeping the resolution of sleeping at least 7 hours a night for at least 5 times a week. We'll see what happens, though. I still have several other resolutions I'm still doing well with.

Sometimes You Just Need a Day Off

2010-01-18T16:43:00.002-07:00

And that's exactly what I had today... a day off. Since today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day (or Human Rights Day as it says in my math schedule we got in class), I don't have class tonight. I was just going to go to work and then come home and work on my memo I have to write for my Business Communications class. But over the weekend, my back has been bothering me, so I decided to take the day off work, too. I worked on my memo and am now relieved that I have all my reading and homework done for Business Communications. Since we only meet once a week, we get quite a bit of reading and homework. I really needed the day off today. Day off's are nice! :-)

So Far So Good

2010-01-09T20:21:00.002-07:00

All of my New Year's resolutions are still going good and it's over a week into the new year! I am slowly feeling better (physically and spiritually) by cutting out on sweets and desserts, getting more sleep, exercising more, and reading my scriptures every day (and I will be going to the temple next Saturday).

School is going good so far, I guess. I've only been to 2 out of my 3 classes. My math class won't be too bad, but my lecture series class will be a little harder than I thought. Attendance is half our grade so I need to be to every class. We listen to different speakers (recorded on DVD) about different business issues and we have to write 2 "journals" (one turned in at mid-term time and the other turned in at final time) and also have to write another paper, too. Hopefully it's not so bad. I'm just not good at writing papers. The good thing about that class is that as a class, we were given a choice of going to class every Friday for 50 minutes or every other Friday for twice as long and most of the class chose every other Friday. That will free up half of my Fridays. :-) I probably won't usually have a class on Fridays, but there were only 2 or 3 of these classes and this was the best time to fit around my work schedule. My first Business Communications class is on Tuesday, so we'll see how that class goes (the one I'm most worried about).

This Is It!

2010-01-05T20:51:00.002-07:00

Yep! Tomorrow is my first day of classes! Yikes! I think the closer it gets, the more nervous I get. But I think I'll be okay and I'm still a little excited. Tomorrow evening is my Introductory Algebra class. I took a math placement test (back in October, I think) and was barely into the range to take Intermediate Algebra (after staying up late the night before having my hubby help me with a few algebra concepts). I felt I needed more of a refresher so I'm taking the class just below, and this summer I will take Intermediate Algebra. The class that will worry me the most is Business Communications. I read that I'll have to do a research paper. I really hate those! Hopefully I'll do okay in that class. The other class is a Executive Lecture Series class (taking it for my degree), which is a 1-credit hour class and we listen to different speakers, I think. Should be interesting.

Well, I best be getting to bed to keep one of my New Year's resolutions (after I read my scriptures... another resolution of mine).

2010!

2010-01-02T14:03:00.003-07:00

Wow, 2010 already?!?!? Where does the time go? 10 years ago when it turned 2000, I was on my mission in Nevada and was in Minden and Gardnerville (about half an hour or so south of Carson City). I have made several New Year's resolutions, which I made easily attainable, and I'm hoping to stick to them all this year. I suppose I will list them now below ....

1. Go to the temple at least once a month.

2. Go to church every Sunday unless I'm deathly ill. This past year, especially lately, I would stay home if I was just feeling a little bit icky. And last Sunday I stayed home because I was extremely sore from playing the Wii and I could hardly move, but maybe I could have gone and just move slowly.

3. Read scriptures every single day. I haven't done very well in that department.

4. Exercise with my Turbo Jam videos 3 times a week. Any exercise I get from Wii will be extra. :-)

5. Get at least 7 hours of sleep at least 5 times a week (I say 5 times because there might be a couple nights I might have to stay up a little later doing homework or something).

6. No eating candy or desserts, but I can eat a little every 5 lbs. I lose (and no, I'm not gonna say how much I have to lose, but I do have a target weight I want to get to and hoping to get to that by the end of the year).

7. No buying unhealthy snacks at work.

8. Eat out only once a month... but can be more if we go with family (need to save money in that department!).

Well, those are my resolutions and so far I'm keeping all of them! It was so hard not to have some pie after yesterday's dinner at my hubby's parents. But when I lose 5 lbs. I can have a little candy/dessert. And yes, we got ourselves a Wii the day after Christmas after we played John and Melissa's Wii on Christmas night. We played bowling, then I played some tennis at their place. The next evening after we got it, I played lots more tennis and the next couple days, I could hardly move. I was so sore!

Christmas was fun. Jeff made me breakfast and then we opened each other's presents. Then we went to open presents with his parents and sister, then to his grandparent's house for a little bit, then to my family's for the rest of the evening. We ate a big meal in the late afternoon, then opened presents (after I fell asleep).

New Year's Eve was fun as well. We had Jeff's parents and sister come over and they all played our Wii (they all thought it was fun) and then a board game called Imaginiff that Ryan and Rebecca gave us.

I am also sad this month. Christmas and New Year's is over and there's nothing fun to look forward to. Last year at this time, we were getting excited to go on our cruise (the ship departed Jan. 18). We very much want to go on another one.

Work Christmas Lunch/Party

2009-12-21T21:05:00.004-07:00

We had a nice company lunch at work today. We also opened our presents we bought ourselves. The past few years, they have given us each some money to buy ourselves a present. Then we wrap it up and put it under the tree at work. I have a really hard time finding what I want to buy because I can never think of anything I need or want. After going to a couple stores, I finally went to Target (Jeff came with me there), first going to the electronics department and then clear around the store before going back to the electronics department and finally settled on a nice $60 CD player. Work gave us $40 (it's been $25 in the past). So $20 for this CD player in the picture below isn't too bad! Jeff had a CD player from before we were married and I had a smaller one from before, too, but they both don't work so well, so this is a nice gift for myself, I think. And I set it on top of my computer desk so I can listen to music while I'm at the computer. :-)

During the lunch/party, they also gave out awards. I didn't get one last year (maybe because I was a new team leader). I wasn't expecting one this year, but I was the last one they gave one to and here it is below. I was surprised, yet really happy. I think if you click on it to make it bigger, you can read what it says.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-19T22:18:00.008-07:00

With Christmas just under a week away, I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! We had an extended family Christmas party (on Jeff's mom's side) tonight at our condo's clubhouse. It started out with dinner, followed with a little Christmas program where a lot of Jeff's cousins' kids dress up for the Nativity and an adult recites the scripture passage in Luke and we sing Christmas hymns. Then we do our "white elephant" gift exchange, usually with a little game that goes along with it (to trade or pass gifts). Most gifts are better and nicer than the traditional "white elephant" gifts. Our gifts we bought were a gift card to Ruby River and a Cinemark movie gift card. With the little game they had along with it, we used a dice and set a timer for 20 minutes. We passed the container with the dice and timer around and rolled the dice. If a 2, 4, or 5 is rolled, nothing happens. If a 1 or 6 is rolled, you have to trade with anybody else. If a 3 is rolled, everyone passed their gifts to the right. We ended up with our Cinemark gift card and a nice framed picture of Jesus with a little child. One of Jeff's uncles buys picture prints and puts matts and frames on them and sells them to other businesses. And he usually brings a few to these Christmas parties as gifts. I think just about every year that Jeff and I have been married, we have gotten one of them. We have a couple hanging up on our living room wall, one from last year we still need to hang up and the one we got tonight. They are very nice pictures and nicely framed and put together.

I got all my Christmas shopping done today. I feel so relieved that that's done. Stores and traffic at this time of year are crazy!!! I also wrapped all our presents, so we're all set! Actually, I still need to wrap Jeff's presents... right now, they are hidden. And Jeff just has to get a couple more things for me, but he'll do that Monday during his time off work. He has almost 3 weeks off because his work doesn't let them carry over vacation hours into the next year anymore, so he's using them all up. Lucky him! I have enough vacation hours I could take some days off, but I want to save them up (I can carry over up to 80 hours into the next year). I'm thinking if I save them up, I could take some "snow days" off next winter... I might even start this winter. I usually go to work early, and a couple weeks ago there were 2 mornings where there was snow and it made for some stressful driving to work. So when it snows next time, I could just stay home and use vacation hours. :-) I haven't decided yet if I want to start that this winter or not.

Jeff finished his last final this past Thursday. He's so glad to have the semester done and over with, especially with his Ethics & Values class that he hated. We will both be starting school here in 2 1/2 weeks. I'm excited, but a little nervous since I haven't been to school in over 10 years. I was also approved for a loan and will get all of this coming semester paid for with the loan (which of course, we'll have to pay back). Before I decided to go back to school, we were going to pay for Jeff's schooling as we go, and we will continue to do so. We just couldn't afford both of us, so we had to get a loan for me. I also came up with a new work schedule for myself (I love my flexible job). I have classes in the evening, so I'll be going in to work later in the morning than I usually do, then going straight to school on the days I have classes (since the college is halfway between home and work, no sense in going home, then going back to school).

We have enjoyed sending letters to Jeff's siblings, Katie and Jason, every week while they're in the MTC (Missionary Training Center) and have enjoyed getting letters from them and reading letters they've sent to Jeff's parents. It makes me reflect back on my time at the MTC as well as the rest of my mission. I wish I could remember more of it. But I guess I do have my journal. :-)

Anyway, enough rambling. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Wow, 2010! And oh yeah, 2010 is a new year, a new decade... I'm making several New Year resolutions and I hope to stick to most of them (if not all of them!). I want to start the new decade out right. :-)

School and Jewelry

2009-11-16T15:29:00.006-07:00

For the most part, getting ready and preparing to go back to school has gone pretty smooth. I am registered for 8 credit hours of classes (probably my limit since I'm still working full-time). I took a placement math test. Jeff and I stayed up late the night before so he could help me with a few algebra problems. It's amazing what you can forget after over 10 years of not being in school! The placement test was hard for me, but I managed to get a score barely high enough to be in the Intermediate Algebra class, but I signed up for the Introductory Algebra class because I feel I need more of a refresher since I haven't been in school for a long time. Plus, math isn't my greatest subject (and I have to go as high as calculus, but just Introduction to Calculus, for my Accounting degree... yuck!) I'm also taking some management class called 'Executive Lecture Series'. It's only a 1 credit hour class and meets once a week for one hour. It's required for my degree and hopefully it won't be too hard. And then I'm taking Business Communications. I'm excited to start school. These last 7 weeks are going to go by so slow!

On to my jewelry. I'm slowly making more and more things and getting better at it, too! Jeff's mom and sister has a whole lot more made than I do (they started earlier this year and I started in August). We had a Jewelry Open House on Saturday at my in-laws' house. Not a whole lot of people showed up, probably because of the cold and snowy weather. But... I managed to make $13, plus I'll also get $5 more because the one who bought one of my bracelets wanted matching earrings. I was happy about that (considering not many people showed up). We need to figure out how to get more people to come. Plus, I still have my jewelry blog, so please spread the word and tell them to spread the word! With the holidays coming up, a piece of jewelry will be a perfect gift for someone (and inexpensive, too!). My jewelry blog is here. I will need to get it updated sometime soon with new stuff.

Back to School for Me

2009-10-11T23:27:00.003-06:00

Yes, I am up way later than I should be. I'm not that tired right now, but I'm gonna be tired tomorrow! I've just been thinking about all that has happened recently. First of all, I decided to go back to school in Accounting. I applied at Utah Valley University for January 2010 and got accepted. Most of me is excited for it, but I'm a little nervous 'cause I haven't been to school in over 10 years! Better late than never, I guess! At first, I was going to stay being team leader at my work throughout school, but it's been recently getting more stressful for me, so instead of having that stress while going to school, I decided to step down to being data technician again. And since it's getting more stressful for me, my last day to be team leader will be the 23rd of this month. My job has been posted for someone else to apply for, and they want me to train the new team leader (at the same pay) for a few weeks or a month. I am over a team doing cataloging, so it's different than what other teams are doing (although another team has started learning and doing it, too, with some of my help). I feel good about this decision and I feel good about going back to school. It should be interesting with both Jeff and I going to school and working full-time.

Another Hilarious Cat Video

2009-10-07T16:01:00.002-06:00

This is SOOOOO funny!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxNg7ZP6E5E

We talk to our cat like that and the way she acts and looks at us sometimes, it seems she's saying the same kinds of things as this cat. Hahaha!

Katie's mission call (Jeff's younger sister)

2009-09-23T21:43:00.004-06:00

This is a picture of Jeff's sisters, Katie (on the left) and Lori (on the right). This picture was taken on our cruise last January.

Today, Katie received her mission call and all the family (plus a cousin and her husband) was able to see her open it and read it. She was called to serve in the Georgia Macon Mission and will report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo on December 2. It was exciting to find out where she would be going. She gets to go to the south like Jeff did on his mission (he went to Alabama). It'll be so exciting to have both Katie and Jason (Jeff's brother) on missions.

A Very Funny YouTube Cat Video

2009-09-10T18:13:00.002-06:00

Click on the link below, it's so funny!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KswnjMa-MQ

Our cat doesn't go to this extreme, but we turn on our bathtub faucet a little bit and sometimes she likes to get on her hind legs and stick one of her paws under the water and lick it.

Enjoy the video! :-)

School is expensive!!!

2009-09-03T15:29:00.003-06:00

Well, Jeff started his semester at UVU (Utah Valley University) taking 9 credit hours while working full-time. He has a little over a year's worth of credits done (taking a class or two every now and then while working). He took the last couple years off, one reason so we could save money. I figured if he took 9 credit hours per semester for 3 semesters a year, he'll be done in a little less than 4 years. I am counting down! I'm hoping we can pay as we go (to avoid loans and interest), but we'll see what happens with that.

I am starting to slowly build up my jewelry inventory. Keep checking back here for new stuff and tell all your friends and family! I need to start making back the money I paid on materials (and to help pay for Jeff's tuition the next 3.75 years). :-)

Happy Late Birthday to Me! (1 week and 1 day late)

2009-08-21T16:55:00.003-06:00

A week ago yesterday was my birthday. It was a good day. I was able to work a shorter day than usual (for a Thursday). Jeff's mom and sisters gave me some beads for my birthday to make jewelry with (see post below). Jeff gave me a bulletin board covered with nice black cloth to hang my jewelry on when I start selling. Jeff (with a little bit of my help) also made one of my favorite meals, a chicken marsala dish. I'll have to post the recipe sometime on a recipe blog of me and my sisters. Ryan and Rebecca (my sister and her hubby) came over for dinner spent the evening with us. I turned 31. I don't look or feel too old... yet.

As for my jewelry, I made a blog if anyone is interested. It's here. I've made a few things (to hopefully sell) since my first post. I'll be posting what I made in the next day or two. If you like wearing jewelry, this will be for you. Or if you know someone who likes wearing jewelry, this will make a great Christmas or birthday present. :-)

Camping and Jewelry-making

2009-07-26T15:01:00.012-06:00

Jeff and I went camping up in the Uintahs for almost a week. It's nice to get away (from work and civilization), but I was ready to come home after a few days. I probably didn't enjoy it as much as I probably could have because the night we got up there, I came down with a cold, so I was sick all week. I still have a little bit of a cold, but I'm getting over it. We spent Friday evening (July 17) shopping for the things we needed, then we were packing all Saturday morning and afternoon and didn't get out of the valley till maybe 7:00-ish or a little after. We didn't get up there until 10:30. I am not doing that again. If we don't start packing until the day we leave, I don't want to leave until at least the next day. We also didn't sleep well that night because we have a cot with an air mattress on top and it wasn't holding air. We would fill it up, get what sleep we could before it ran out of air and we'd have to fill it up with air again in the middle of the night. We had to drive a couple or so hours to Vernal (the closest city with a Wal-Mart) to buy a new air mattress, so we would have better sleep the next night. I didn't take any pictures up there (like I did last year), so I don't have any pictures to post from the trip.

I do have pictures of some jewelry I made for myself while we were up there. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law started making jewelry (necklaces and bracelets) a few months ago and have been selling some. A day or two before the end of our trip, I decided I wanted to make a couple bracelets. It was really fun and I thought it would be fun to start making some to sell. I'm not sure when I'll start making some because I'm slowly getting the stuff I'll need to make them. If anyone is interested in necklaces and/or bracelets (for themselves or as gifts), I'll be trying out this small little business on the side. :-) They won't be too expensive (like other jewelry), so it'll be quite affordable. My mother-in-law has so many colors, shapes, and sizes of beads it was hard to choose what I wanted for my bracelets. I also decided to make myself a necklace so I could learn how to make those. Here are the pictures of my bracelets and necklace I made ....

The third bracelet down, my mother-in-law liked so much that she made the exact same one to sell. :-)

Once I get things up and running (hopefully in a few months), I'll have to do some advertising somehow. :-) If anyone has any tips or ideas on how to do that, let me know!

Jason's mission call (Jeff's younger brother)

2009-07-10T22:52:00.005-06:00

This is a picture of Jason, Jeff's brother (picture taken on our cruise this past January) ....

On Wednesday, he received his mission call and all the family (plus a couple cousins and a friend) was able to see him open it and read it. He was called to serve in the Argentina Mendoza Mission (Spanish-speaking) and will report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo on November 4. It was exciting to find out where he would be going. He'll be an awesome missionary!!!

Love this quote ....

2009-06-24T16:21:00.003-06:00

"Our lives are not determined by what happens to us, but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life."

On Facebook, I am a fan of Chalene Johnson, the one who came up with Turbo Jam (my exercise videos) and she had the quote above in her status. I need to apply it in my own life. :-)

Bloggin' Dyin' Out

2009-06-06T20:17:00.002-06:00

I think my blogging has sorta fizzled out. Maybe because we're such boring people, haha! If anything exciting happens, I'll be sure to blog about it, but I probably won't be blogging very often. We're still alive, though!

Craziest Busiest Work Week EVER!

2009-05-15T21:47:00.003-06:00

I am SOOOOO glad this work week is over!!! I got hit with about 3 or 4 projects that my team needed to get done and QC'ed by the end of this week. I must say I have never had a busier week than this past week. I even put in some overtime, working 9 hours each on Monday and Tuesday, 10 hours on Wednesday, and 11 1/4 hours on Thursday. This morning was finishing the last little bit up and catching up on other QC of other projects that we're still working on. I still got to leave early (before noon) today, but got 5 1/2 hours overtime for the week. It has been one crazy week and I will sleep SOOOOO good tonight (I hope)! Sorry for not posting as much... not a whole lot going on, but we're doing well!

Hmmm, What to Blog About?

2009-04-17T23:21:00.002-06:00

... That is the question. Not much has been happening lately. Just good old work, work, work. And there's a bug going around that I caught. My sister Rebecca was sick last weekend, as well as a couple other people at work. It started in my throat (like all my colds do), but mostly has been a sinus cold with my ears plugging up. And today, my muscles have been achy. And I was extremely tired. So I took a couple hour nap early this afternoon after work. I just need more sleep. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow.

Turbo Jammin'

2009-04-02T17:51:00.004-06:00

I love this workout video! It gives me a really good workout and it makes my calf muscles hurt in my legs and it gets me all nice and sweaty! I love it even more than running on the treadmill. After we got Turbo Jam, I was doing it every day (except Sunday) for a couple weeks, but then I caught a little cold, but now I'm all better and have been getting back into exercising this week. It feels so good to exercise! One of these days, I will have a body like most of those on the video.

I wish we could go on another cruise so I could make some more blog posts about that. But when all we do is work and we don't do a whole lot, it makes for not very many blog posts. Oh well!

We're on the Titanic!

2009-03-14T00:15:00.003-06:00

I was looking through our cruise photos below and thought, "Wait, I think I'm missing one. Where's the one with the Titanic background?" So I counted them and yep, sure enough, I was missing one. So yeah, it looks like we're on the Titanic, but it was just a background. :-)

Unfortunately, this is definitely the last cruise post. I want so much to go on another cruise! But gotta save the money!

Our Third Anniversary!

2009-03-04T18:54:00.003-07:00

Today is our 3-year anniversary. Where does the time go? It's been a good 3 years, though, and many more good years to come! We went to eat at Outback Steakhouse today. It was good.

Yesterday, our new dishwasher was delivered. The one that came with the condo gave up the ghost a couple months ago (a few days before our cruise, I think). We bought a Maytag at the Maytag Store. Hopefully it'll last us a while.

When we were in California before going on our cruise, we saw an infomercial on TV in our hotel room of Turbo Jam (exercise videos). I really wanted it but was worried about getting it, especially when I went to an infomercial scams website and read a few negative comments. But there were more positive than negative, so I finally broke down and called the number to order. It was shipped to us really fast. And I've been using it every day. Most days, Jeff and I use the Fat Blaster video (what a workout!!). A couple times, I've used the 3T Totally Tubular video (more muscle building and using weights or a stretchy rope like what they sent us for free if we bought the videos). There are other cardio party mix workout videos that we have yet to try, but for now, we're using the 2 I mentioned. I think those videos make working out kinda fun. :-) And I feel good afterwards, which is most important.

Anyway, this isn't really an exciting post (compared to the cruise posts I did), but just wanted to post about a couple things so nobody would think we dropped off the face of the earth!

Professional Cruise Photos (Formal)

2009-02-14T18:53:00.009-07:00

We had so much fun getting pictures taken on the cruise! It's where we spent the most money, buying the pictures. But I think it was worth every penny, and the pictures will help us remember the fun times we had that week.

THE FAMILY

JEFF

VICKI

JEFF & VICKI

These next 2 weren't my favorite, but got them because of the backgrounds. But all of them after that turned out pretty well, I think.

In the picture above, even though Jeff's head got really sunburnt earlier that day (in Cabo), I wanted it because my complexion looked so good! Haha! Why can't my complexion look that good all the time??? Anyway, leave a comment and let me know what your favorite is! :-) I'll be the first to leave a comment ....

Professional Cruise Photos (Casual - On Ship)

2009-02-13T19:51:00.005-07:00

We didn't get very many casual pictures of us on ship. We had mostly formal pictures taken of us, and we have quite a few of those. These ones we got, we had our picture taken with a bright green background and they put the background in afterwards.

I will post all our formal ones tomorrow.

Oh, and today is my half birthday... happy half birthday to me! :-)

Professional Cruise Photos (Casual - Off Ship)

2009-02-13T19:33:00.005-07:00

These are photos that were taken of us not on the ship. Even though they're not the greatest pictures of me, we got them for different reasons.

Right before we got on the ship (and the date).

We liked these because of the parrot. This was after we got off the ship in Puerto Vallarta.

We liked the border of this photo (and the date). :-)

Towel Animals

2009-02-11T21:00:00.011-07:00

It was so much fun coming back to our room after dinner and finding our bed turned down with a towel animal on our bed, like this ...

There were towel animals every night except the first and last nights on the ship. Here are each of the towel animals, and you can guess what they are (some are obvious, some not so obvious). :-)

Okay, here I am kissing the frog to see if he will turn into a handsome prince ...

And voila!! I get a handsome prince AND the cute towel frog stuck around, too! :-)

Some Cruise Food (+ Family and Our Awesome Waiters!)

2009-02-10T18:42:00.019-07:00

I won't bore you with all the food I took a picture of (yes, I was camera-crazy!), so I'll just post a few (along with a picture of Jeff's family and our most awesomest waiters!). But if you want to see more pictures than what I'm posting here, go check my Facebook profile and I'll get them posted sometime soon.

Here is a picture of the family...

BREAKFAST

Yummy French Toast!

Jeff's omellette breakfast

All the cold cereal you could eat (there were other kinds besides this one)

... and all the pastries and fruit you could eat

LUNCH

I didn't really take a pictures of lunch food. I only ate lunch on the ship about half the time because of our ports (but Jeff usually went to get a little something to eat when we got back to the ship in the later afternoons, a couple hours before dinner). There were different things to eat for lunch, though... anything from Chinese food, to chicken and pasta dishes, to salads, to hamburgers and hotdogs and chicken strips and french fries. Jeff had the hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken strips, and french fries most of the time. There might have been other kinds of lunch food, too, but I don't remember.

ICE CREAM

On the ship, we could have as much ice cream as we wanted (although I didn't have it as much as I thought because I was too full from other meals). We could get ice cream in cones or bowls and in the afternoon, there was a couple hours you could get sundaes. Even a crew member made a swan out of a scoop of ice cream (during lunch). Here are some ice cream pictures ...

Getting an ice cream cone ...

Getting the ice cream ...

Ice cream sundae

Worker making an ice cream swan

My ice cream swan

DINNER
Dinner was my favorite meal of the day. We ate in their fancy restaurant called the Normandie Dining Hall. Here are a couple pictures of it ...

Our first evening at dinner, I was weird and I took a picture of our table # and the butter (I just thought the butter looked cool!) :-)

When we got to our table each evening, our napkins were folded differently

We could order as many starters as we wanted and as many main courses we wanted (mostly, I just ordered 2 or 3 starters to try them, and 1 main course). Here are a few of the starters ...

I got this one almost every night (except one night, I think). I loved their good fruit!

A few nights, they had these chilled fruity soups. This one is cherry and I also tried peach and something else (mango, I'm guessing?).

Sometimes, there would be a main course that would be available as a starter (a smaller version of the main dish) and I tried this yummy pasta/chicken/mushrooms dish.

This was a favorite starter amongst the family (kinda blurry, but you can probably tell that it's shrimp).

An interesting laid out starter that Jeff got once.

Yes, I tried snail!... not bad!

And for some of the main courses, we had ...

Salmon

Shrimp

Lobster

... and yes, I even tried duck! That wasn't half bad, either!

And for some of the yummy desserts we had ...

I just had ice cream a couple nights

Other nights, we had ...

This banana cake (Jeff got a couple sugar free desserts that he liked, since he has to watch his sugar intake)

This thing called Baked Alaska

This yummy bread pudding

This yummy sponge cake

And Chocolate Melting Cake (another favorite amongst a couple family members)

As for our waiters, they were SOOOOOO good and very nice! Rando (from the Philippines) and Burasakorn (from Thailand) were our waiters. Burasakorn wanted us to call her Tata since her name was long and hard to pronounce. They were so awesome! I miss them!

The other guy in the picture below was Andy (or Andi? Not sure how it was spelled). He was from Indonesia, I think, and he was the 'drink guy' (he went around to all the tables and if someone wanted some soda pop or other drinks, he got it for them).

Dolphin Swim Excursion (Cabo San Lucas)

2009-02-08T12:26:00.018-07:00

This was such a fun excursion!!! It was worth EVERY penny we spent on it. To read more about it, click here.

Photography wasn't allowed, but there was someone taking our pictures and we bought all the pictures with me and Jeff in it. They even threw in a few extras that were probably taken different days, like this one ...

... and this one

... and this one

Now for our pictures. The dolphin you will see in the pictures below is named Risho and he is 28 years old and 800 lbs. :-)

I was a little nervous of it at first

We were in a little group of 5 and this is all of us, plus the trainer. Just FYI for me so I never forget, everyone's names, left to right, are Adolfo (trainer), Holly, Brad, Ryan (and me and Jeff, of course). Here, we were all touching Risho.

Here we are with Risho kissing us

... and of us kissing Risho

The story behind the picture of Jeff above... the trainer had a way of telling if the dolphin wanted to be French kissed. When it was Jeff's turn, the trainer said the dolphin wanted to be French kissed. So that's why Jeff's tongue was sticking out in the picture above.

The trainer wanted us to raise our arms in the air, and Risho went around the pool like this with a basketball on his nose.

Here we are on top of Risho... not actually sitting on him, but squatting down to make it look like we were.

Swimming with Risho ....

Me on his back

Jeff on his stomach

Here we are dancing with Risho ...

Here is Risho dancing in the middle of us (I'm guessing we were clapping?)

Then Risho sang for us and we were moving our fingers while he sang for us

Feeling his belly

Feeling the inside of his mouth

Feeding fish from our mouth to his mouth

One more swim with Risho, this time with Jeff on his back and me on his belly

And two more pictures at the end of the excursion of Risho doing some tricks for us

Panoramic Picture of Cabo San Lucas

2009-02-07T17:06:00.003-07:00

Hahaha, you're so funny, Rebecca! But thanks so much for doing this for me! Here is the panoramic picture of the pictures I posted below (also, if you haven't had a chance to see it yet, the Cabo San Lucas post is below).

3rd Port - Cabo San Lucas (Jan. 23, 2009)

2009-02-07T14:09:00.020-07:00

Now for our last port... Cabo San Lucas. It was our favorite port, probably because of the things we did and it's also a very pretty place... and it was a very nice day (check out the blue sky in the pictures below!).

Here are a few of the pictures I took of Cabo from the ship ....

Since the ship didn't have a place to dock, we rode little boats to the pier. In this picture below, I think we went to somewhere in the left side of the picture

And in this one, somewhere on the right side

And right about in the center of this picture is the little beach we went to for about an hour after our dolphin swim excursion

Hmm... I wonder if I could figure out how to make a panoramic picture from the 3 pictures above. Not sure if I have a program to do that, but it would be kinda fun. :-)

I thought this picture below turned out cool. I was standing on the platform (deck) that was sticking out from the rest of the ship (see Puerto Vallarta post, 4th picture below the map to see what I mean). And you can see down below, where we got onto the boats to go to the pier. This ship is HUGE!!

A boat behind the boat we were on

While we were waiting to go to our dolphin swim excursion, we took a picture of each other on the pier. You can see the ship behind us in the distance, too. I tried to make a classy pose. :-) I really need to do something about my figure before our next cruise, haha.

The next thing we did was the dolphin swim. I will make that my next post. There was a photographer taking pictures of us, and we bought all the ones that had us in it. I'll probably just post the best ones, but if you want to see more, go to my Facebook profile. I'll get them posted there eventually. :-)

Jeff and I were pretty much on our own in Cabo. Out of his family, we were the only ones to do the dolphin swim. They went and rented jet skiis and did some parasailing, too. So after the dolphin swim, we took a 'taxi boat' to the beach in the picture above. We were the only ones on the little motor boat and the 'driver' of the boat took us on a little tour of around the beach, so here are some pretty pictures of the Cabo scenery and creatures ....

Lots of birds

The beach we were dropped off at... but here, we went past it a little bit ...

... to see this scenery

... and these seals

When we were dropped off at the beach, we went to the other side where there were bigger waves. Jeff had fun in the waves while I took pictures. He's underneath the water in this picture.

I didn't get into the water all the way, but I let Jeff take some pictures of me and a wave almost knocked me down here. :-)

Here are a couple more really pretty pictures of the beach, one looking one way and one looking the other way.

And one more from our balcony as the boat was leaving... the beach we went to is the first of the two sections of sand you see.

I will post pictures of our dolphin swim excursion tomorrow. :-)

2nd Port - Mazatlan (Jan. 22, 2009)

2009-02-06T12:38:00.017-07:00

Oooh, the post below this one was my 100th post! Yay for me!!! :-) Anyway, our 2nd stop was Mazatlan. We didn't have any excursions planned there. Jeff's dad and brother had a 4-wheeling excursion they went on. The rest of us just mostly walked the streets there and bought souvenirs (and jewelry for Jeff's mom and sisters... I'm not too big into jewelry). Jeff and I just tagged along and did some window shopping. Jeff bought one little souvenir, though.

Here we are coming in to dock (I think it's behind me and a little ways up where the ship docked at)

After we got off the ship, we rode on one of these ...

... to come here (it's a little blurry, but it says "Port of Mazatlan-Cruise Terminal" and below that it says "ENTRANCE")

Some worker or somebody stopped us and told us if we went to hear a presentation on timeshares for about an hour (at this really nice hotel), we would get our taxi rides for free that day, and married couples (Jeff and I) and single people over 30 (Jeff's sister, Lori) would get a $500 gift card for our next Carnival cruise if we went within 18 months. Yes, it's weird that Jeff's mom or younger sister didn't get one (don't ask me why!). We decided to take him up on the offer and we took a van to the hotel. On the way, I took a picture of Applebee's. Yes, they have Applebee's in Mexico!

We were outside of the hotel and this is a harbor I took a picture of

We did our window shopping after the presentation (which we didn't get any timeshares). While we were shopping, this little 'parade' of animals went by. They went one way, then a little bit later, came back going the other way. We saw ...

Giraffes

Tigers

Zebras

and Camels

Jeff and I went back to the ship a little sooner than the others. On our way back, we rode in this little taxi ...

... and then took the little vehicle trains (in the pictures near the top of this post) back to the ship. Mexican drivers are scary, especially in the little taxis. I heard that stop signs were optional in Mexico. In the taxi we rode, there was a 4 lane road (2 lanes going each way) and sometimes they would drive down the middle of the 2 lanes (when there are no other cars around, of course). And once they stopped about an inch behind a bus (it seemed like). It was a little scary for me and glad we got safely back to the ship.

Here's a picture from our balcony of the line getting back on the ship

And here's a pretty sunset picture of Mazatlan. You can also see the Cruise Terminal building in the distance.

The next post will be our favorite port... Cabo San Lucas!

1st Port - Puerto Vallarta (Jan. 21, 2009)

2009-02-05T19:33:00.029-07:00

Our first port was at Puerto Vallarta. I found this map with all 3 ports on it... Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas.

This is the morning we were coming in. Off in the distance (on the left side of the picture), you can see another ship ...

... Norwegian Star

This is the place we docked at. I think the ship turned around, so our balcony was on the other side of the dock.

Here's a pretty picture of some beach at Puerto Vallarta

This is the only morning we had breakfast brought to our room, since our excursion was at 8:00 a.m. Other mornings, we went to the Mermaid's Grille on the Lido Deck (9th floor) of the ship (like you would care to know that, haha)

Our excursion we decided to do in Puerto Vallarta was called "Whales, Dolphin & Snorkeling". To read more about it, click here. We went on this little boat across the ocean to an island (our ship is in the left in this picture).

Me and Jeff on the boat (with the ship behind us)... Jeff had a little sunscreen he didn't rub in. :-)

Looking out from the back of the boat, with the ship in the background

The island in the distance we were headed to ...

On the way there and back, we did some whale and dolphin watching, which we did see both, but we didn't take very many still shots and the ones we did take weren't really good. We had our video camera, which we used for the first time on the cruise, and got a few shots with that. If I can figure it out, maybe I'll post a couple videos later. We also bought a video they made of the excursion (which we got in the mail today). But here's one still shot of one of the best ones we have (click on the picture to see it bigger) ...

While at the island, we did some snorkeling, kayaking, and some of us rode in a motor boat around the island. We had a water camera for the snorkeling, but the couple pictures of us didn't turn out that great. But here is one of us on a kayak ...

And on the motor boat ...

Here are some pictures of around the island (might have to click on some to make bigger) ...

A bird with long legs

Lots of birds in the air!

And lots of birds on the island!

See the crabs?

Here's our excursion director (with Jeff's sister, Katie)

A Puerto Vallarta sign

Bienvenidos! (if you don't know what that means, see the picture below) ... also, check out the ship in the background!

What??? A Wal-Mart in Mexico??? :-) There was one close by, so we all walked there, so Jeff's mom could get a few things.

Why don't our Wal-Marts here get covered parking???

Siempre ... Always :-)

Wow, that's a lot of money for a box of chocolates!!! Just kidding, it was in pesos and the rate was about 12.7 to 1 U.S. dollar... you do the math (I'm not good at math)

We didn't leave the port till about 10 p.m. I took a picture of Wal-Mart from the ship... can you see it??

Our Room on the Cruise Ship

2009-02-04T17:41:00.018-07:00

For this post, I am going to give you an extensive tour of our really nice balcony room on Carnival Pride.

This was up and down the halls of where our room was

Welcome to our room (#6141... since it starts with a 6, we were on the 6th floor)

When you walk in the door to our room, there is the bathroom on the right. Every day when the steward cleaned, we got new towels that were hung up nice and neat... even folded under the toilet paper. :-)

(There was no way to take a picture of the picture below without showing me in the mirror... so I tried to wave, haha)

The next few pictures are of the room itself

(I took this picture below for fun... yes, I was camera crazy/happy at times! You can see these 2 things hanging up in the upper right corner of the picture above)

These are the chairs out on our balcony (couldn't really get a very good picture of our balcony since it wasn't very big)

Each evening when we came back to our room after dinner, our bed was turned down with these little lamps on... like this below. They also put on the bed different information (daily schedules, coupons for the spa or photo shop or gift shop, etc.) and dinner mints. They also make our bed sometime in the morning after we leave our room. They also do some cleaning, too (we even find our clothes that we leave lying on the bed or couch all folded and put on the back of the couch). I felt like a princess on the ship! :-)

Each room also had a little safe to put valuables in (opening and locking it with a credit card or driver's license)

And it even had enough room under the beds to put luggage, so they weren't in the way, which was nice!

And one last picture... this was our first formal evening (Mon., Jan. 19). Jeff's mom took a picture of us out on our balcony before we went to dinner. This is just a little preview of a post I'll do later, where I'll post all of our professional pictures of us that we bought.

Cruise Ship (Carnival Pride)

2009-02-02T18:02:00.018-07:00

I have no idea where to begin with all my many pictures, so I'll just post about different subjects... the first being pictures of the ship itself. It was SO big, inside and outside. The thought came to me several times during the cruise how a thing that big could stay afloat on the water, haha. My most often used phrase during the vacation was, "This cannot be a ship!" It just amazed me how many rooms and places inside the ship and how big some of them were. Anyway, here are some of our best pictures of the ship (some of the ones might be a little small, so click on them to enlarge them) ....

The hotel van (from the hotel we stayed at) took us to where we needed to be to get on the ship and this is a picture of the ship from the van... I was SO excited!!!

This is all of us, except Jeff's sister (Katie), who was taking the picture

The tunnel going onto the ship

The back of the ship

The front of the ship

The dome we had to go through to get checked in and all that... and the tunnel we walked along to get on the ship (this picture was taken from our balcony... yes, we had a balcony room)

Leaving the dock (I miss that day... a full week ahead of us full of fun times!)

Docked at Puerto Vallarta

Docked at Mazatlan

At Cabo San Lucas, there was no place for the ship to dock, so it was in the middle of the water and we took smaller boats to the piers. This is the beach Jeff and I went to and the ship in the distance

We were on a boat going back to the ship

The dome, the morning we got back (sad day!)

The tail on top of the ship with lights (it looked cool!)

More of the ship, the morning we got back

Bye bye, Carnival Pride! We will be back sometime (but probably on a different cruise and different ship)!

Long Beach, California (Jan. 17, 2009)

2009-01-30T13:32:00.017-07:00

Okay, I need to start posting about our vacation. It's just hard because I don't know what pictures to use, since there are almost 600 of them. Our cruise was Jan. 18-25, but we flew out to California (Long Beach) the day before and stayed at a hotel.

I took a picture of this because this is the first time I came out of an airplane not in a tunnel ...

That's because the airport is a small airport ...

These are pictures of the hotel room we stayed in ...

(In the middle picture of the room above, the door on the left is the bathroom, which I failed to take a picture of... but who wants to see a bathroom anyway? Haha! The door on the right is the closet)

While in Long Beach, we went to a beach called Seal Beach ...

Me and Jeff on the pier ...

Our shadows ...

Picture of the beach ...

We were also in a 'tsunami hazard zone'. Good thing there wasn't an earthquake while we were there ...

There was also a street of small shops that we walked down and back, and on the corner (across the street from the pier and beach) was Coldstone and we decided to get some ice cream ...

Me and Jeff eating our ice cream (notice I'm not wearing a coat in January ... it was NICE weather!) ...

Hopefully I can make myself do a post about the cruise in the next day or two. "Hmmm... what pictures to use?" is what I'll keep asking myself.

Pictures Coming Soon... I Promise...

2009-01-28T19:10:00.004-07:00

I will admit it... I took almost 600 pictures during the cruise and it'll take time to go through them all and decide which pictures to post. But I promise pictures are coming soon.... Also, anyone know how to fix the heading picture above (to make it more centered or something)? I can't figure it out.

Vertigo

2009-01-26T09:18:00.002-07:00

Jeff and I (and his family) got back from our cruise yesterday and ever since we got off the ship, I've been feeling a little bit of vertigo. To read a little about what it means, go here. When I'm in something that moves (like an airplane or a car), I'm fine. But when I'm in a building, standing or sitting, it feels like it's moving a little, like I'm still on the ship. It's a weird feeling and I hope it goes away soon. The cruise was SO much fun, though! I would recommend it to anyone and to save up some extra money to do so! Jeff and I want to do it again in maybe a couple years (if not sooner). As soon as we get all our pictures sorted out and on to my computer, I'll post some pictures and tell more about the fun times we had. But I just wanted to say we're back. I'm sad to be back, though... leaving 80+ degree weather in Mexico to come back to Salt Lake and see some of the biggest snowflakes I've ever seen. :-( I will make multiple posts with pictures over the next few days, so stay tuned!

Fortune Cookies

2009-01-14T19:36:00.002-07:00

Today was Jeff's birthday (Happy Birthday, honey!!!) and we went to eat at a place called Whistle Wok in American Fork (a place kinda like Panda Express). Actually, we got the food "to go" and brought it back home and ate while we watched a couple episodes of "I Love Lucy" (Jeff gave me a boxed set of all 9 seasons for Christmas, so we've been watching that). Anyway, I usually eat both fortune cookies because Jeff isn't a big fan of them. I opened the first one and it was so funny... "You will soon be crossing warm waters for a fun vacation." It's so fitting because we're leaving on our cruise this weekend. We thought that was funny. The other one was just "Soon, you will receive pleasant news." Who knows what that could mean. Anyway, just thought I'd share that.

In 2 1/2 days from now (Saturday morning), we'll be at the airport with Jeff's family, getting ready to fly to Long Beach, CA. Not sure what we'll be doing that day. We were thinking about going to Disneyland that day, but we all decided it would be too much money, plus I think going there for not a full day wouldn't be worth it. I'd want to go when we can spend at least a few days there. We'll be staying in a motel that night, then boarding the ship the next afternoon. I'm very excited!! And my next post will probably be after we get back and it will probably have lots of pictures. So stay tuned! ....

Ridiculous!!! (I hate snow!)

2009-01-05T19:03:00.002-07:00

In the middle of my work day, I saw out a window that it was snowing. I was like, "Oh great, more snow?" I left work at 4:00, took a few minutes to brush all the snow off my car, and drove carefully. The further north I got, the worse it was. I work in south Provo. Starting at University Parkway exit, it was a traffic jam till our exit in Pleasant Grove. It was so ridiculous (hence my blog title) and it took me over an hour to get home. It usually takes me 15-20 minutes. When I got home, the inside part of my legs right below my knees were hurting 'cause I was so tense. I also had a headache and I had to go to the bathroom really bad (I'm sure you wanted to know that, haha). I was so glad to get home! If the weather is bad tomorrow, I might just stay home and work on Saturday. But hopefully I can go in ('cause I like my Saturdays off!). Anyway, I HATE snow and I'm glad I have a blog to vent on.

First Post of 2009

2009-01-02T12:39:00.004-07:00

I can't believe we are nearing the end of the 1st decade in this 21st century. Where the heck does the time go??? In 2000, I was on my mission in Nevada. I got home (to Missouri) from my mission in March 2001. In the summer of 2001, I moved here to Utah. I lived in a few apartments, had some good and not-so-good roommates, dated a few guys. I worked at a place called LabelTec from Aug. 2001-Jan. 2003. Jan. 2003 is when I started the job I'm at now and it's been a good job, on the most part. I think in early 2003, Jeff and I met on LDS Singles website and went out once. We really didn't hit it off too well, but we said 'hi' on MSN Messenger every once in a while. Then we started going out again in 2005 (our 2nd 1st date was May 4, 2005). We got engaged Dec. 17, 2005, got married Mar. 4, 2006, and the rest is history! :-) My parents moved out here to Utah from Missouri in Aug. 2007, I think. It's been good to have them so close. Jeff got a nice job last February. We're happy he got that job... MUCH better than his old job and better pay, too. Sorry I'm rambling so much, just looking back in this decade. Now we look forward to 2009 and coming up in a couple weeks will be our Mexican Riviera Cruise with Jeff's family. It'll be fun and a nice break from work. I'm SO excited!!!

Last Post of 2008

2008-12-31T19:35:00.003-07:00

Where did this year go??? We went out to eat with Jeff's family earlier this evening (the same people as in the Ruby River post a few posts below this one). We ate at the Olive Garden. It was good, but I got full!
Tonight, some extended family will be going to Jeff's uncle and aunt's house. It's a nice, big house. It even has a home theater with stadium seating (3 rows of couches) and a big screen with a projector to watch movies. I think I've only watched 1 or 2 movies on that screen.

Anyway, Happy New Year 2009!!!

Christmas Kitty and Christmas Doggy

2008-12-26T11:59:00.003-07:00

This is our cat soon after we opened our gifts ....

This is Jeff's parents' dog Pugsy (see 2 posts below this one of him in a Santa suit) ....

STILL Snowing ....

2008-12-26T11:52:00.003-07:00

NEED I SAY MORE???

This was yesterday when we were leaving to go somewhere (Jeff's grandparents, I think). I'm glad we were kept safe in our travels to his grandparents and both sides of our immediate family.

(Oh yeah, our condo is on the 2nd floor)

Pugsy the Santa

2008-12-26T11:39:00.005-07:00

Jeff parents have a cute house dog named Pugsy. We went over to his parents' house for a yummy turkey dinner on Christmas Eve, and Jeff's sister, Lori, dressed Pugsy up in a Santa suit (complete with a hood). It was cute. :-)

Snow... Please Stop!

2008-12-22T16:22:00.008-07:00

Please stop already!! I'm sick of the snow and driving/walking in it. I hate being cold. Below are a couple pictures I took after I got home from work. I got home right after Jeff did (after I got gas). I couldn't get my car over the foot of snow in the parking spot to the left of the vehicle you see below. Jeff tried to park my car, but ended up spinning my tires (hence the darker snow right above our balcony railing). So he took this spot (he was gone getting gas in his car at the time I took these pictures) ....

And my car got to be in a covered spot, as you see in the picture below (we take turns taking the covered spot, and this week was Jeff's turn). Click on picture to make it bigger and you'll see it's still snowing ....
PLEASE STOP ALREADY!

New Favorite Candy

2008-12-21T10:03:00.003-07:00

These things are SOOOO yummy! They're Candy Cane Hershey's Kisses. I've never had them... until night before last. Jeff got a few from his co-worker where he works. He's not a huge fan of mint or peppermint, so I get to eat them and they are SOOOO good! I think they're my new favorite candy. :-)

Ruby River with Jeff's family

2008-12-14T16:53:00.005-07:00

Last night we went to Ruby River to celebrate Jeff's mom's birthday which was the day before. Here's a picture of his family while we were waiting to be seated ....
Left to right is his mom, his dad, his brother Jason, and his sisters Lori and Katie. It was a fun evening.

We also put up our Christmas tree yesterday (finally!). Yes, we're such slackers! We're hoping to get a nicer-looking one sometime in the future, but this one was on sale the day after Thanksgiving a couple years ago and it's our 1st one as a married couple ....

We also put on our balcony railing some lights we recently bought. Makes it feel more like Christmas!

My Work Christmas Party (Backstage Library Works)

2008-12-13T08:49:00.004-07:00

I actually remembered the camera at my work party last night. It was at the Wilkinson Center at BYU. We had some good food with a talent show from a few co-workers. Not as fancy schmancy as Jeff's work party, but it was nice. Here are a few pictures ....

Ryan and Rebecca (Rebecca's birthday is today... Happy Birthday, Rebecca!)

John and Melissa

Jeff and I (don't mind my looking really tired since I didn't get much sleep the night before and I have a cold)

The yummy food

Jeff's Work Christmas Party (WingateWeb)

2008-12-12T13:41:00.004-07:00

Yesterday was Jeff's work Christmas party. We left early to stop at Shane Co. in Salt Lake to get my ring cleaned. It was long overdue for a cleaning! About halfway there, I realized I forgot the camera! So you'll have to settle for a picture I got off Google Image Search of the outside of the hotel where the party was at. It's called The Grand America Hotel ....

Can I just say fancy schmancy? It was business casual dress, so I wore a blouse and some black slacks. We went into a little room where they had very fancy appetizers (shrimps, sushi, fruit and veggie plates, etc.), plus soft drinks and eggnog. It looked so fancy (even the dishes!) that I didn't want to eat any of it, haha. Through the room with the appetizers, we went into a bigger room (the ballroom, I'm guessing?) with several tables and chairs. For dinner we had rolls, then a little fancy salad surrounded by a couple slices of cucumber (I don't like cucumber), then a main dish of a small piece of steak, small piece of chicken, mashed potatoes and a couple veggies on the side, then a very rich dessert with a raspberry sauce and chocolate sauce to dip it in (complete with 3 real raspberries). I couldn't eat all of the dessert 'cause it was so rich! Talk about fancy schmancy! We watched a video done by someone at his work of new hires within the past year being interviewed a little bit... Jeff was one of them since he started there last February. Then they gave out some awards, then prizes, then it was time to go. We didn't get home till almost 10:00 p.m. last night, so I'm a little tired (which doesn't help my cold).

Tonight is my work Christmas party (I'm hoping I'll remember the camera)! I'll post about it tomorrow.

Change of Plans

2008-12-11T10:14:00.002-07:00

In my previous post (below), I said we have a Ward Christmas Party on Saturday. I've made, copied, and cut the flyers for it (and will help pass them around tomorrow) and will go help set up for about half an hour in the late afternoon. But then that evening, we'll be celebrating Jeff's mom's birthday at Ruby River. I think her birthday is actually tomorrow, but some of the family (us and one of Jeff's sisters, I think) can't do it that evening. It's fun to spend time with family!

Tonight is Jeff's work party and Friday is my work party. We'll try to remember to take our new camera to both and see if we can get any pictures, so I can have some to put on here. :-)

A Plethora of Christmas Parties Coming Up

2008-12-08T15:16:00.003-07:00

That's a cool word... plethora. Anyway, Jeff and I have a few Christmas parties coming up this weekend. It may not be a 'plethora' amount, but it seems like a lot because we will be going to a party 3 days in a row. Thursday evening is Jeff's work party (up in Salt Lake, I think), Friday evening is my work party (at the Wilkinson Center at BYU), and Saturday evening is our Ward Christmas party (which I get to help get ready and clean up afterwards since I'm part of the activities committee). Should be fun!

What's not so fun is I think I'm coming down with another cold! :-( I just had one a few weeks ago! Time to get more sleep and eat more oranges (since we still have a few left in our refrigerator)!

"New Month" Resolution

2008-12-01T18:16:00.004-07:00

Who needs New Year Resolutions when "New Month" Resolutions are so much easier to stick to? :-) Today is Dec. 1 and my "New Month" Resolution is exercise every day (except Sunday) and eat healthier all month... in fact, I'm even doing this until Jan. 18, the day we leave for our cruise. I've been able to lose 25 lbs. since earlier this year (I gained over 30 since we got married), but in the past couple months I had the flu one weekend and a cold last week and I was also lazy, so I really wasn't exercising and I gained 5 lbs. back. :-( We'll see what results come from my "New Month" Resolution. I'm getting very excited to go on our Mexican Riviera Cruise! It'll be so fun!

On a completely different subject, I'm VERY happy with the lower gas prices. Over the summer they were over $4/gallon and from a quarter tank of gas, it cost over $40 to fill up my car. I got gas today and it only cost $19.50 (from a quarter tank). Very nice! :-) Let's hope it stays that way for a while!

We're Nuts!!!

2008-11-28T07:23:00.004-07:00

At first, we weren't going to do the shopping thing the morning after Thanksgiving. But then we went online last night and found a few things we wanted at Wal-Mart. The suitcase I use when we go places is a bit beat up and one of the zippers is broken (the thing you grab to pull on the zipper broke off). So we found a 6-piece luggage set for $44.

A little while back, we were at Wal-Mart and Jeff was saying he wanted a Monopoly game, so when we saw it online, I wrote it down on our 'shopping list' and got it for only $10. Not bad! It's a classic!

When I saw this thing I have pictured below, I knew I wanted it. It's a 10.3 MP digital camera for $79. We were using a 5.0 MP camera (what I used to take these pictures). I just remember a lot of pictures we took when we went camping this past summer were a little blurry. So hopefully this new one will be better, especially for when we go on our cruise in January. :-) We also got some cheap memory cards and a case to go with it.

Jeff also wanted a Blu-Ray Player for $128. I was thinking about it, but I know Blu-Ray discs are more money than DVD's. When we finally found where they were (after getting our camera), they were out of them by the time we got to them. That's OK, though... we're content with our DVD's and DVD player. And maybe one of these years, we'll get one. So that was our shopping trip this morning. We got up a little after 3:30 and got to Wal-Mart a little after 4:30 and it was packed! Yes, we're nuts!!!

Anyway, Thanksgiving was good yesterday. We're enjoying our 4-day weekend and dinner was good with my family, although I ate a bit too much... but the food was good! I'm grateful for this time of year and with Christmas coming up... exciting times! :-)

Nothing Exciting

2008-11-24T15:33:00.002-07:00

Wow, I haven't posted anything in almost 3 weeks! I wonder if that's a new record.... We really haven't had much of anything exciting happen lately. Unless you wanna hear about the cold I started to catch a week ago. I started losing my voice on Saturday, I think. Yesterday morning, I could hardly talk at all, so I had to whisper. I'm a little better today, but it's still sometimes hard to talk. It's hard not being able to talk. Hopefully my voice comes back all the way soon.

I'm excited for this week. At my work, they're not making us work Friday since they're replacing the server (I think?). Even though I won't get paid for that day, I don't care. I'm just excited for the little break from work. So today seems like Wednesday, tomorrow will seem like Thursday, and Wednesday will seem like Friday. :-) And Thursday, we're having Thanksgiving dinner with my family. It'll be yummy!

Happy Holidays!

2008-11-05T19:14:00.002-07:00

I love this time of year... looking forward to Thanksgiving AND Christmas. And the day after Halloween, two of my favorite radio stations started playing non-stop Christmas music. I have a few of my favorite Christmas songs at the top of the right column. When Jeff and I were first married, he didn't like to listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving... but I think I've softened him up a little 'cause now he wants to listen to it. :-) Except for the cold and the snow (I HATE driving in it, but it's pretty), this is a fun time of the year! So I hope everyone has a Happy Holiday!!

Happy Halloween?

2008-10-31T13:03:00.006-06:00

I've never been much into Halloween. Where I work, they have costume contests and goodies contests. 2 years ago, some of the team I was on dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz (only 3 of us). I found a scarecrow costume online and so I was the scarecrow. Here's a picture of it (but that's not me) ....

I could have used that costume again this year, but I didn't want to. And last night I was looking for something I could maybe use for a costume. I actually tried on a button up shirt of Jeff's, some khaki pants of his, and my hair hidden with a cap. I was going to dress up as a boy, haha. I was excited about it last night, but then this morning while I was getting ready for work, I thought it was a dumb idea, so I didn't dress up. Maybe next year Jeff and I will find some costumes. This year, we're trying to save up money for our cruise in January. Anyway, so for those who are more into Halloween than I am ....

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Crazy Busy Work Week

2008-10-24T13:21:00.003-06:00

Wow, I'm glad this week is over! I am a team leader over a team working on 5 or 6 different projects and sometimes there's a lot to do and it makes for a crazy busy work week. And now it's my weekend and my weekends ALWAYS go too fast and I never look forward to Mondays! Here's a picture I found on Google Image Search ....

HAPPY WEEKEND BEFORE HALLOWEEN!!!

One Word tag

2008-10-21T18:49:00.003-06:00

I just noticed Melissa tagged me for this post a couple weeks ago. Either I didn't notice, or I did notice and forgot. :-) Anyway, here you go ....

The rule: you can only answer each question with one word.
Then tag three friends to participate!

(Words in parentheses don't count, they just clarify some things)

Where is your cell phone? work (I forgot it at work today... I think the only time I've ever forgotten to bring it home with me from work)

Where is your significant other? computer (playing a computer game)

Your hair? bun

Your mother? nice

Your father? retired

Your favorite thing? Jeff

Your dream last night? forgot

Your dream/goal in life? kids

The room you're in? computer

Your hobby? blogging

Your fear? failure

Where do you want to be in 6 years? Disneyland!! (sooner than that if possible, too... I think I'll just move to Disneyland and live there, since I mention it in every other post!) :-)

Where were you last night? bed

What you're not? boy (haha, good one Melissa!)

One of your wish list items? money (can't think of anything else, so I just want money to have when I DO think of something I want)

Where you grew up? Missouri

That last thing you did? answer (previous question)

What are you wearing? clothes

Your TV? off

Your pet? kitty

Your computer? on

What do you think of Tags like this? hard (only some questions are hard to come up with just one word)

Your mood? tired

Missing someone? Jeff (when he's not with me)

Where would you rather be? Disneyland!! (oh wait, am I allowed to have 2 of the same answer?)

Something you're not wearing? shoes

Favorite store? Wal-Mart (unfortunately)

Your summer? hot

Love someone? yep

Your favorite color? maroon

When is the last time you laughed? today

Who will participate? anyone

High School Survey

2008-10-18T14:06:00.006-06:00

Jeff's cousin Kristen had this on her blog and it sounded like fun ....

1. Did you date someone from your school? No... I was a shy little thing (still am at times, haha)

2. What kind of car did you drive? Didn't drive a car till I went to college

3. Did you pass your driver's license test on the first try? No, but that was because I was EXTREMELY nervous! But the 2nd time I knew more what to expect and passed it (like 4 days before my 1st day of college classes) :-)

4. Were you a party animal? Nope (read the answer to #1 to see why)

5. Were you considered a flirt? Nope (same reason)

6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Not in high school, but I did play the flute in Junior High Band (as if anyone cared to know that)

7. Were you a nerd? Hmmm... not really

8. Were you on any varsity teams? No (I didn't have very good knees, so I didn't do any sports)

9. Did you get suspended/expelled? No

10. Can you still sing the fight song? We had a fight song???

11. Who were your favorite teachers? I don't remember (I graduated high school over 12 years ago!)

12. Where did you sit during lunch? Umm, at a table?

13. What is your school's full name? East Newton High School (in Granby, Missouri)

14. School mascot and colors? Patriots - red, white, and blue (I think)

15. Did you go to Homecoming and who with? Didn't go (probably for reason in #1)

16. If you could go back and do it again, would you? If I knew to work a little harder to be in the top 10 (I was ranked 17th of about 100 in my class), then yes. Otherwise, no.

17. What do you remember most about graduation? Probably thinking that I was finally done with high school

18. Where did you go Senior Skip Day? I don't remember

19. Were you in any clubs? Art Club, I think... I liked art classes in high school and thought I would like it in college and majored in it, but I was wrong. After the 1st year of college, I switched majors to business

20. Have you gained some weight since then? Umm, yeah

21. Who was your prom date? Didn't go (see reason in #1 again)

22. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? I probably would have gone if there was one

23. Did you have a job while in high school? No

24. What was your favorite thing about high school? Favorite thing? Maybe graduation? :-)

25. What was your least favorite thing? Taking tests (I hated studying)

26. If you could go back and say something to someone what would you say? Since I was so shy, probably anything!

I Miss My Hubby!

2008-10-13T19:24:00.003-06:00

Jeff left early this morning to go to the airport to fly to Las Vegas for another business trip. He was going to go to Miami, Florida, this week, but they postponed that conference I think 'cause of some construction on the building where the conference was going to be held. So instead, Jeff got to go to Vegas.

I probably could have gone with him if I had asked for the time off, but he'll be working very LONG days and even though I have a mission companion who lives in Vegas, I probably would get kinda bored without Jeff. So maybe we'll make it down there some weekend, so I can show him the area where I served there.

Jeff was gone for 2 days a couple months ago when he went to Los Angeles. This week, he'll be gone almost 4 days! Hopefully time goes by fast 'cause I miss my hubby!! Keeping busy with my job and things to do at home will definitely help!

Week is Almost Over!

2008-10-09T17:52:00.002-06:00

The title to this blog post says it all! I actually did come down with the flu last weekend, complete with achy muscles, being weak, and a fever... a few times I would be really cold, even with a blanket over me; then I would take some Advil which would help my fever and I'd be really hot and sweaty. I didn't like being really cold or really hot. At least I didn't throw up (which is the worst part about having the flu)! I was able to get a blessing Sunday evening from Jeff and Jeff's cousin's husband (who lives in the same condo building we do). I was kinda worried I'd get another staph infection like I did last year 'cause I had some of the same symptoms, although not as bad as last year. The blessing helped and I was feeling better on Monday. I probably was well enough on Monday to go to work, but I decided to take the day off since Sunday night, I was still sick and wasn't sure how I'd be on Monday, so I decided to rest. I've been trying to work a few extra hours so I don't have to take a full 8 vacation hours for Monday. Maybe that's why I've been feeling extremely tired this week? Who knows. But there's just tomorrow, then the work week will be over!!

Oh, here's a funny picture of our kitty. I took some laundry out of our dryer and took it to our bedroom. I didn't close the dryer door and came back to find this ....

Girls' Night Out

2008-10-04T20:35:00.004-06:00

My mom and sister (Melissa) hung out tonight while our guys were at the Priesthood Session of General Conference. My other sister (Rebecca) couldn't make it since she and Ryan are up in Ogden this weekend, helping Ryan's parents to move. We first went to Deseret Book at the University Mall in Orem. Every General Conference during the Priesthood Session, they have a Ladies' Night and the first 100 people in line get a free gift. This was this gift this time ....

After that, they have give-aways throughout the evening and other stuff (a couple authors who sign books, a singer, etc.). But we usually don't wait around for that stuff. After standing in line for about an hour or a little more and getting our gift, we went to eat at IHOP. The service wasn't the greatest tonight, but it was fun hanging out with my mom and Melissa ....

Also, I don't really like this sudden change of weather... cold and rainy! I woke up feeling a little off-ish this morning, then as they day progressed I started getting achy muscles. I took some Advil before I left to meet up with my mom and sister, so I was able to make it through the evening. Now my muscles are aching a little again. :-( I hope I'm not coming down with the flu and that it's just 'cause of the change in the weather. We'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow, I guess.

Mission Reunion

2008-10-03T22:58:00.003-06:00

Jeff and I went to my mission reunion tonight. I wanted to take our camera so I could have a picture or two to post, but I forgot it. :-( I had two mission presidents on my mission (Nevada Las Vegas West), and the one tonight was my 2nd one... during the last half of my mission. There weren't a whole lot of people who showed up, but it was a nice little group. Other than President & Sister Hill, I only really knew an older couple who served around the same time I did. Lots of the others were after my time, since I only served under President Hill the last 9 months of my mission. We just visited a little, everybody introduced themselves, then a little more visiting, then we left. It's always good to see President & Sister Hill. We were talking about trying to get more people to come next year and I'll definitely bring our camera then to post pictures. :-)

Favorites

2008-09-26T15:21:00.003-06:00

Since I can't think of anything to blog about, I saw this on someone else's blog a little while back and thought I'd share some of Jeff's favorite things and my favorite things ....

Jeff's Favorites:

Color: Blue
Movie: Eragon, Lord of the Rings, Narnia movies (among others)
Food: A really good steak
Dessert: Peanut butter bar
Season: All (for different reasons)
T.V. show: Heroes (among others)
Place to visit: Uintahs
Book: Some of the Shannara and Wheel of Time series
Hobby: Computer games, books, movies, horseback riding, general outdoor stuff
Scripture: Mosiah 4:27
Holiday: Christmas
Thing to do: See hobbies above

Vicki's Favorites:

Color: Maroon
Movie: A few favorites... Enchanted, Chronicles of Narnia (both movies)
Food: Italian (preferrably pasta dishes like spaghetti)
Dessert: Ice cream (preferrably anything chocolate)
Season: Spring or Fall (I don't like it too cold or too hot)
T.V. show: I don't really watch much TV, but I have Full House and 7th Heaven on DVD (I watched them growing up and liked them). A recent one is Heroes... even though it's sometimes too intense for me, I keep watching it because every episode is a cliffhanger.
Place to visit: Disneyland!!
Book: I don't read very much... I'll just say Book of Mormon
Hobby: Blogging, computer games
Scripture: Alma 17:10 (it has a special place in my heart, maybe I'll share my story sometime)
Holiday: Christmas
Thing to do: See hobbies above

Stupid Work (and a wedding survey!)

2008-09-18T13:06:00.010-06:00

OK, I really do like my job... except when you have to use the Internet for your work and it keeps going down throughout the day and then they send those who have to use the Internet home early (there are others who don't need the Internet and they get to work... lucky them!). Now I have 9.25 hours I have to work tomorrow. Call me crazy, but I'm going to try to go in at 5 A.M. so I don't have to get off as late (especially on a Friday!). Hopefully the Internet works tomorrow!

Anyway, my sister Rebecca had this little wedding survey on her blog. I thought I'd do it, too! :-)

When were you married?
Mar. 4, 2006

Where did he ask you?
Behind the Mt. Timpanogos Temple (Dec. 17, 2005)

Where did you honeymoon?
Disneyland! (I want to go back!!)

Can you still fit in your dress?
I rented my dress... part of me wishes I would have just bought one

What was the worst gift you got?
I don't remember if we did get any bad gifts, they were all good!

What flavor was your wedding cake?
I think some of it was chocolate mint flavored and some was vanilla (I don't exactly remember... it was so long ago, haha)

Were you a bridezilla?
Not exactly sure what this meant, so I looked on Wikipedia said "Bridezilla (a portmanteau of bride and Godzilla) is a generic term used to describe a difficult, unpleasant, perfectionist bride who leaves aggravated family, friends and bridal vendors in her wake. A bridezilla is obsessed with her wedding as her perfect day and will disregard the feelings of the family, bridesmaids and even her groom in her quest for the perfect wedding" .... so my answer to this question would be no

What’s one thing you would change about your wedding?
I don't think I'd change a thing... I loved that day!

Do you still look at your wedding pics?
Yep, even occasionally watch our wedding/reception video my brother Jeffrey made for us

What colors did you use?
Maroon, dark green, and white

Where did you tie the knot?
Mt. Timpanogos Temple (in American Fork, UT)

What’s one funny thing that happened that day?
I don't recall anything funny... it was just a very good and happy day!

How many showers did you have?
2... one in Provo at the house my sisters and I were living in at the time (now my parents live there) and one at Jeff's parents' church building in the Relief Society room

Did you cry?
A little bit, in the temple

Did you give any wedding favors away?
I don't think so

Who caught the flowers and garter?
No garter, but my sister Melissa caught my little bouquet of flowers... even though this photo is blurry, you can see the bouquet in the air :-)

How much was your wedding dress, undergarments and all?
I don't remember

Was there dancing?
No

Where was the reception?
At Jeff's parents' church building in American Fork

Would you go back and do it over again?
You bet!

What kind of car did you drive away in?
Jeff's Chrysler Concord (he's still driving it!)

How many in your wedding party?
If I count who was in our reception line, 7 (not counting me or Jeff)

Did you do anything different in your wedding or reception?
Not really out of the ordinary, no

Did you save the top layer of your cake for your 1 year anniversary?
Yep! I was a little hesitant to eat a 1-year-old cake, but it was wrapped up VERY well and kept in the freezer (thanks to Jeff's mom!)... it was actually pretty good!

What were the songs played at your wedding?
No songs

What was the grand total spent on your wedding?
How should I know?? That's not important... what is important is that it was a very nice day for us

Who was the guest that traveled the furthest?
Probably my parents, who were living in Missouri at the time

Work

2008-09-13T17:44:00.003-06:00

I work here ....

I've been a team leader for 4 weeks now and I actually love it! I love my job now!! :-) Before, I would get so tired and feel like falling asleep, sitting in front of computer screens all day. And usually, team leaders are on a team working on one contract at a time. But I'm on a team where everyone is working on different contracts, so I get to work on and/or QC them all. It makes the day go by faster when I work on different projects throughout the day, and I'm not as tired as I used to be. I'm on a team doing cataloging, which is basically making a database record from actual books or images of books. Even though some of the time, I'm not sure what I'm doing ('cause I'm still learning!), it's not as bad as I thought it would be at first. Not to mention, the nice $1/hr. pay raise! :-) Oh, and everybody got another $1/hr. pay raise a couple weeks ago and if they maintain 70% quality or higher in a calendar quarter, they'll keep that pay raise. If they fall below, they'll lose the $1/hr. until the next quarter if they're over 70% (then they'll get it back). So $2/hr. pay raise in the last month isn't half bad! And now I make dang good money! I love my job!! :-)

9/11

2008-09-11T15:26:00.004-06:00

I'll never forget what I was doing the morning of Sep. 11, 2001. I was living in Provo (moved from Missouri 2 months earlier). My mom and brother flew out to Utah on Sep. 10. My brother was going to enter the MTC (Missionary Training Center) on Sep. 12. I had a part-time job at the time and I worked in the afternoons. The morning of Sep. 11, my mom, brother, and I went to the Provo Temple to do a session there. I remember going into my apartment that morning to get something I needed or forgot (or something). The TV was on to some news (I think), but I don't think anyone was watching it and I really wasn't paying attention to it because I was in and out the door. When we were at the temple, someone said something about it but we didn't think too much of it then. It was after the temple that we found out what really happened. It was really sad what happened. And my mom couldn't get back home for a few days after she was supposed to go back home. When I was about 17, my family went back east and we were able to go up to the top of one of the towers (I think the one without the spire on top).

I thought this was a really cool picture of the World Trade Center towers ....

Uh oh, I was tagged!

2008-09-05T23:50:00.004-06:00

THE RULES:
1. link the person who tagged you
2. post the rules
3. tell 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them

#1 Rebecca (not my sister)

#2 see above

#3
1. Even though I COULD sleep in when I go to bed late and go into work later (since my job is flexible), I choose to get up very early (4:45 these days) and get to work at 6:00 and leave work in the early afternoon. I love getting off in the afternoons. :-)

2. Even though pickles and cucumbers are from the same thing, I like pickles but hate cucumbers.

3. I've been known (at least by my hubby) to make nose crinkles for lots of emotions, namely for things I don't like or things that disgust me, or like the picture below... happy! I'm guessing a few other emotions, too, but those two are the main ones.

4. I get extremely nervous when I ride with other people. I'm not saying anyone I ride with is a bad driver 'cause they're all good drivers! My family was in a car accident when I was 10 (and my brother got hurt pretty bad, but he's fine now) and I think that's why I'm nervous when I'm riding with other people and there are lots of other cars around. Most of the time, I prefer to be the one driving.

5. I'm just getting over my cold and one thing I love about my colds is that I LOVE talking in a squeaky voice. When I say 'squeaky' in a high-pitched voice, it comes out all squeaky and it's funny. Also, when I try singing when my voice isn't good during a cold... hahaha, it makes Jeff laugh, which in turn makes me laugh! :-)

6. It's hard for me to explain things sometimes. Like I know what I want to say in my head, but it's hard for me to make everything in my head come out of my mouth. It's also been VERY hard coming up with 6 'quirks' of mine, but there you have it!

#4 tag 6 peeps (hazards of friendship) <--- I like what Rebecca (not my sister) had on her blog, so I'm keeping it, hehe

1. Melissa
2. Rebecca (my sister)
3. Mindy
4. Kristen
5. Casey
6. Megan

Anyone else not on this list who would like to do this, too, feel free! :-)

My Birthday Resolution... Not So Good

2008-08-30T23:04:00.002-06:00

But it's not my fault! A little over a week ago, I'm not sure what I did (ran too much or ran too hard?), but something happened to my ankle. So I couldn't really use the treadmill to get my mile a day. It was frustrating after the first few days because I had to walk slow and had a little limp (and I usually like to walk fast). I had to live off of Advil most days, so it wouldn't hurt so much. But for the "Backstage 100" at my work, I only needed to lose 1 more pound and get 2 more miles in to get to 100 miles. The past 4 days, I walked slow on the treadmill for 1/2 mile each day. And I did lose the 1 pound (even an extra one, but not going to count it just yet till the work thingy ends on Labor Day). I think my ankle is starting to get better slowly, but it still hurts if I'm on it too much. On top of my ankle hurting, I also caught a cold on Wednesday. It was weird... I was perfectly fine at work Wednesday morning, but in the late morning, I felt it coming on in my throat. Colds are no fun!! I'll probably stay home from church tomorrow so I can rest and so I don't give it to anybody! I'm glad I have this 3-day weekend (with Monday's holiday) to rest up.