Becky and Will

This blog is retired.

2011-09-12T10:41:00.000-07:00

My NEW blog is HERE. Please update your links and follow that one instead!

Yippee!!

2011-09-06T07:52:00.000-07:00

The washer is hooked up!!!

...the dryer is not.

When we moved in, the laundry room (or what we were planning on using as the laundry room) was a kitchen, with no laundry hookups. We tore out the kitchen right away, but didn't get to hooking things up until later on. Will was able to turn the old sink connection into a washer connection. It took him a while and two trips to Lowe's because nothing would fit right, but he got it and it's great! There were washer and dryer hookups outside in a little addition on the side of the house. (They sure did a lot of weird things with this house.) The addition is right in front of the kitchen window, so we're going to tear that out as well, as soon as we get to it. Problem is, when they put the hookups out there, they also tore a big old hole in the brick wall. So not only do we have to get all the electrical lines back down to the basement, but we also have to patch the brick, which hopefully won't be too hard, but who knows.

Sneak peak:

This is the wainscoting that we're putting in our kitchen. I LOVE it! It's going to be so pretty when it's done.

The house: Before

2011-08-27T17:13:00.000-07:00

Will and I are officially homeowners as of three weeks ago. We bought a fixer-upper in the South-West Salt Lake area. I am SO excited about it! Sorry for taking so long to put pictures up - I just haven't been able to until today. Honestly, I have always wanted a fixer-upper. I love home projects, and turning something old and ugly into something beautiful. If you've ever seen any shows like "Flip that House", that is my favorite type of TV show. Our house is around 2200 square feet, with 6 bedrooms. (Yes, that is a ton of bedrooms for 3 people. BUT...there will be more people eventually, and I've always wanted a place for sewing!) Unfortunately there are a few things that have to wait to be fixed (such as the flooring) because we have a limited budget. Here are some pictures of the house:

This is the front of the house. I couldn't get Will out of the way so there he is! Notice the 7 or 8-foot-tall rosebush.

Here is the backyard. Nothing too special. Of course it needs work, just like everything else. There is, however, an apple tree that I am very excited about! I hope the apples are good for some pie making this fall.

This is *going* to be the master bedroom. They obviously didn't use it as one, but we've got some big plans for it!! (Tractors not included)

This is the bedroom right across from the master, and it will be Kaylee's room.

This is the living room. Lovely black marble flooring...in the living room, dining room, kitchen, hallway and bathroom. What were they thinking?!?

The kitchen left a ~~little bit~~ LOT to be desired. Greasy DISASTER. I don't know what these people did, but it was a mess. Everything was covered in grease. The countertops were falling off from rotting wood underneath.

Water damage? That's what I thought it was at first. Nope...grease stains.

This is...a chili pepper. Stuck to the ceiling.

The kitchen window - half broken out, covered with a piece of drywall, the other half covered in cardboard and spray paint.

This is the cupboard underneath the sink. There was a drip, and it certainly caused a little problem down there - tons of rotten wood, mold and mildew, and cockroaches. Gross!

The dining room. Should I keep that chandelier? The walls in the kitchen and dining room are all a lovely green stucco. Don't know why they wanted stucco inside their house, but whatever.

You know those little buckets of spackle? This was one BIG bucket of spackle - or at least what we used AS spackle, sort of. We used two of these buckets (5 gallon buckets) plus a box of top coat to fill in the stucco kitchen and dining room walls. That was a lot of work.

The ceiling in the living room was like a cave. Not because it was dark, but because it had hundreds and hundreds of stalactites.

Here I am sanding them down!!

Will and me after an exhausting 3 hours of scraping and sanding.

This is a stain on the wall after 2 coats of primer and 1 coat of paint. It was fascinating - I would paint over it, and it would be gone. Then it would slowly reappear right before my eyes. Finally a coat of oil-based primer did the trick!

And of course..can't forget my little helper here. She watched me scrub the floors and then she decided to take a shot at it.

These last three weeks have been great! We have gotten so much done. No more pictures for now though, you will have to be patient to see the "one-month" pictures, then in a few months (maybe years...) the "after" pictures.

We love the neighborhood here. People are so friendly and nice. We're the worst house on the block and everyone is so excited to have us move in and start fixing it up. The ward on Sunday was especially welcoming - I have literally never felt so "wanted" before in my life! It's kind of an older community, but plenty of babies and kids as well. I think it's a good mixture. I really think this will be a great place for us to live! Stay tuned for more updates...

Mini-Update...

2011-08-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

Things you don't want to hear while redoing a house:

"Where's Kaylee?"

Employee at Lowes:
"Back for more?"
Our answer "Always"

Another employee at Lowes:
"You guys almost done?"
Our answer "Just getting started!"

"Ohh, THAT'S what that was hiding..."

*groan* "You guys have a LOT of problems. There is no WAY this is going to fit. Ahhhhh..." *groan* (For the record, with a bit of wood and creativity, it fit)

"Kaylee, NO! Don't eat that! Yucky!!!" (this is the most common one)

"Oh man, we're out of that again??"

"There's a huge hole in the brick..."

"Is that a cockroach or just dirt?"

(Note: I have heard all of these the last two weeks)

4th of July...a little late

2011-07-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post this for a few days now, but 1. I have been so busy this week and 2. it's really not that exciting, so...I took forever. But we had a fun 4th of July! It was a little spread out, though. On July 2nd, we watched fireworks from up high behind Will's parents' house and saw basically all the fireworks in the area at the same time (in Provo, a lot of the fireworks were on the 2nd because that's when they did the "Stadium of Fire" show). On the 4th, we went to see the Provo parade. Kaylee loved it. After that we went to a little barbecue, also at Will's parents' house. Then that night, Will and I watched part of the last Lord of the Rings movie (it was too long to watch the whole thing at once, because I'm a wimp and can't handle more than a couple of hours). Anyway, that was our Fourth of July.

Here is Kaylee in her dress that I made for her! She had a matching bow as well, but a little boy ripped it out of her hair at church and it got lost. She has a pretty funny expression, but it's the best one I have. I sure have a hard time getting smiles out of her for the camera. She sees it and immediately gets serious.

Waterpark!!

2011-06-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

Kaylee and I went to Seven Peaks waterpark today. We have season passes so we'll probably be there a lot this summer! Kaylee absolutely loved it. She got so excited when the "ocean" waves came in the wave pool, even though one went over her head. She didn't seem to care one bit. She got a little bit adventurous and tried to crawl into deeper water, but I wouldn't let her - so she tried to stand up and walk into it, but that didn't work out so well. She did, however, stand up without holding onto anything today. I think that's the first time she's ever done that. I guess there's nothing like a big pool full of kids for an incentive! She is probably the friendliest baby I know. She LOVES playing with other kids and babies.

Here we are! Kaylee doesn't look too happy for this picture. She was about ready to go home.

And...the end has come

2011-05-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

My original pumping goal was one year. I toyed with the idea of trying to go longer, but the thought of that usually didn't last too long because I DESPISE pumping. I mean really, really despise it. At first I didn't mind it because it was so much better than what we were doing before, but after a few months I slowly starting hating it more and more each day, till about a month ago I honestly could not stand it anymore. Neither could Kaylee. She knew what it meant when I got hooked up to the pump and would start crying and trying to climb on me every time. Part of it, I'm sure, was she could sense how much I disliked it, but I also know it was hard for her because the more mobile she gets, the more she wants to play. It's hard to find enough time for my baby when I have to spend 2+ hours pumping every day, plus cooking and cleaning, and taking care of Kaylee in general. That leaves...well, no time at all for me, which didn't help either.

It got more and more stressful because my milk supply was slowly but surely dropping - even with 7 pumps a day, and often one in the middle of the night, I could barely keep up with Kaylee's eating. I'm sure my family noticed at Christmas time (and my husband's family the past few months) how cranky I was. Now, my family might not think that's anything new (I've always been the cranky one), but pumping made me a MEAN person, and I just kept getting meaner!! I was starting to be really shocked with myself. I didn't want to be so horrible and mean, but I felt like I couldn't control it. Mainly taking it out on Will, which of course is not fair at all. He is amazing for putting up with it.

So, I am quitting. 9 1/2 moths - it KILLS me that I couldn't make it to my goal. I remember crying when I started pumping, and now here I am crying that I'm not anymore. But I know for a fact that this is the best thing I can do for my family at this time. Just like I knew that pumping was the best thing I could do for Kaylee, now NOT pumping is the best thing I can do. I need to get my life back, and be able to be the mom that I want to be. Breast milk is irreplaceable, but so is this time with my baby, and I need to focus on that instead of pumping. I want to thank everyone who has supported me in this and especially thanks to Will, because he had to deal with everything first hand, and he was amazing. I pray that the next baby will nurse like a pro, and I will never, ever have to deal with anything like this again!

Gardening...

2011-05-13T20:43:00.000-07:00

Our second attempt. Last year, Will and I had a little garden in our front yard, as well as some herbs in a planter. It did not end well. For one thing, after we planted all our flowers, it snowed. A lot. (Refer to my post last May.) It didn't kill anything, but I don't think the flowers really appreciated it very much, and just never seemed to thrive at ALL. More just hang on for a while, and then look really unhappy for the rest of the summer. And our planter - well, we had a cat, and finding a place to put said planter was really hard, because the cat could get almost anywhere. We ended up putting it on top of our entertainment center, which unfortunately was also home to a bad draft. Some of the seeds germinated, but promptly died. I don't know if it was from the cold draft or the fact that they kept drying out. (Yes, yes, my fault...)

Anyway, we're trying again this year, but we're only planting some flower seeds. The good news is, they are all sprouting, and faster than the little packet said they would. The bad news is, I don't think they'll make it much farther than that. Not that anything is wrong with them, but...well, I just feel like I didn't get a green thumb, like my parents seem to have. I tend to kill everything green. *sigh*

But it's worth a try, right?

Hike

2011-05-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

We went on our first real hike with Kaylee!! We hiked up Y mountain this morning with her baby backpack that my parents were so kind to send. She loved it! Will carried her the whole way, and...well, I bet the Y isn't so easy to hike with an extra ~23 pounds. He did great though. Isn't she SO adorable?

And here we are, exhausted! Not looking quite so good as Kaylee, but not too shabby.

Easter

2011-04-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter weekend! On Friday was Rachel's (my sister in law) prom, so I did her hair for that. 5 people in the family graduated from BYU on Friday as well. On Saturday we had an Easter egg hunt, which was fun with Kaylee. It was chilly and raining, but she still had fun picking up the eggs. We have pictures, but I have to get them from my sister-in-law. (Yes, I'm kind of an idiot and forgot my camera)
That evening we had a little pre-wedding reception for Will's cousin Kelsey. Kaylee had so much fun crawling around!! She does love her freedom, that is for sure. She no longer likes to be held all the time. Will and I got to dance, which was great - we don't get to very often. Sometimes we try to at home but there is just not much room for it.

On Sunday, our choir song at church went great. I was a little worried about it because there were a couple of parts that I for some reason kept messing up on, but it turned out very well. Our choir director is awesome and she makes the best of a very small and limited choir!! Kaylee was not so happy during church, but that's normal now because I can't get her to nap and she gets VERY cranky by the end of the first hour. I'm going to have to find some way to get her to nap at church...or maybe just wait it out. I'm sure she'll grow out of it in a few months.

After church, we went to Will's parents' house for dinner. There was a lot of family visiting for BYU graduation, and it was definitely what you would call a "full house". It was fun, though, and the Kaylee loved all the excitement. She's starting to stand up on things and let go now, it's getting scary. Not too much longer till she's walking, I think. Her little cousin Tychus (he is 6 months old) is just about to start crawling, too. These babies are growing up so fast!!

After dinner we went to see Andy, Steph and Paul and have some strawberry pie. It was delicious! Kaylee loved licking the whipping cream beaters (thanks to Paul for that one). I am in trouble. This little girl needs to stop getting sugar.

I made Kaylee an Easter dress this year. I didn't have a pattern or anything to go off of really, but I think it turned out alright.

Paul's Birthday

2011-04-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

Paul has had a hard semester (not because his classes are hard, but that he never sleeps, doesn't eat well and refuses to say no to anyone that asks for his help working on projects), so I made sure to do something good for his birthday. I made him ribs, mashed potatoes, onion rings, carrots and broccoli for dinner, and a "Creeper" birthday cake. If you don't know what a Creeper is, you have to play Minecraft and find out. Or you can just look at my cake and use your imagination.

He was making the Creeper face.

I do believe he enjoyed it!

Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss

2011-03-30T07:32:00.000-07:00

Our Jazmine. :'( She was such a good kitty and we had to give her away when we moved. Actually, we got $20 for her, but "sold her" sounds bad. I can't wait till we are living in a place where we can have a cat again.

Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile

2011-03-29T21:38:00.000-07:00

Quiet, reserved, VERY bashful Will...he surprised me at our reception on our wedding day.

Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of

2011-03-28T23:13:00.000-07:00

Natural disasters. So devastating, so unpredictable...

Day 27 - A picture of you and a family member

2011-03-27T19:19:00.001-07:00

Me and my daddy!!

Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you

2011-03-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

Day 25 - A picture of your day

2011-03-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

Kaylee stands on anything and everything!!

Day 25 - A picture of your day

2011-03-25T21:57:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately...the picture is going to have to wait. I lost my camera.

Day 25 - A picture of your day

2011-03-25T06:49:00.001-07:00

Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change

2011-03-24T23:38:00.000-07:00

I wish I could change my outlook on life and never regret anything again. I am very good at looking back and thinking "what if".

Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book

2011-03-23T23:23:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love this book!

Day 23 - A picture of a childhood vacation

2011-03-23T13:41:00.001-07:00

Day 22 - A picture of somewhere you would like to live

2011-03-22T07:24:00.000-07:00

When I typed "Minnesota" into Google images, this is one of the first results. I liked living there; I think this is quite an accurate depiction of the glittering fields and frost covered trees!! We did have a house, though.

Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget

2011-03-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

This one is a little tough. After all, if it's something I want to forget, I usually don't keep pictures of it lying around. That's not the best way to forget something...so I'll go with getting stranded for 6 hours in Baxter, ND on the way to Girl's Camp in 2007. It was not the most exciting place to be stranded for hours. We stopped to buy something, and the truck wouldn't start up again.

Day 20 - A picture of something you're good at

2011-03-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

I would LIKE to say that I'm good at cooking. Not the best yet, but working on it...I'm always in the kitchen!! This picture was taken when we had a 'doughnut party', exactly one week before Kaylee was born.

Day 19 - A picture and a letter

2011-03-19T15:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Kaylee,
You have completely turned my life upside down! Not in a bad way, of course. I am amazed every day at the new things you learn and do. It's incredible to see such a tiny human being turning into a beautiful little girl. I can't believe that in only 4 more months, you'll be a year old!!! Your dad and I both think that you'll be walking before then. You're going crazy climbing on everything all day long, every day - furniture, toys, walls, me, Daddy...basically anything that's higher than the floor, you're standing up on. Not to mention crawling EVERYWHERE! I can't keep my eyes off of you for a minute anymore without you getting into something. Your favorite toys lately are Daddy's laptop, my makeup, and anything shiny. Oh, and your tongue. The last two days you have had your tongue out constantly. You were definitely "blessed" with a very long tongue like both your mom and dad! It's pretty funny to watch you. We do wish you would laugh, though. The closest you come is a coughing noise, which is also pretty funny, but we'd like a sweet girly little giggle. I'm sure you'll figure it out sometime though. I love you so much, Kaylee! You bring so much joy to our home with cute smiles and happiness. I can barely remember life without you.
Love,
Mommy

Day 18 - A picture of something you want

2011-03-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

I want a digital SLR so bad!! I love photography and I feel very limited with my point-and-shoot.

Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently

2011-03-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

This game...is taking over my life. Ughhh.

Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you

2011-03-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Will inspires me to be who I want to be. He spent four years in college and graduated in a very difficult degree, but was unable to find a good job in it after wards, even though all along he was told it would be easy. Instead of settling for something else, he decided to go back for what he loved and do something completely different. I know he will always support me in doing what I really want to do, even if it doesn't necessarily make sense at the time or be will difficult.

Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die

2011-03-15T22:49:00.000-07:00

Fiji!!! Someday.

Day 14 - A picture of something you can't imagine your life without

2011-03-14T21:46:00.000-07:00

Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band

2011-03-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

This is one of my many favorite bands...I always end up going back to this one.

Day 12 - A picture of something you love

2011-03-12T11:40:00.000-08:00

This may sound silly, but I love being pregnant!! I wasn't a huge fan of the heartburn and restless legs, but I loved having a "baby belly".

Day 11 - A picture of something you hate

2011-03-11T10:37:00.000-08:00

I hate this pump. Not because it's a bad pump, on the contrary, it's a very good pump. But boy do I despise using it!!!

Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the most random things with

2011-03-10T15:55:00.000-08:00

This is me and my friend Kim, from cosmetology school. We did a lot of weird things together when we started school, such as walk to the grocery store with clown noses.

Day 9 - A picture of someone who has gotten you through the most

2011-03-09T15:51:00.000-08:00

This is Will and me on Valentine's Day this year. He always knows what to do for me to make me feel better when things are rough!

Day 8 - A picture that makes you laugh

2011-03-08T13:13:00.000-08:00

This picture cracks me up EVERY time!!

Day 7 - A picture of your most treasured item

2011-03-07T15:56:00.000-08:00

Day 6 - A picture of someone you want to trade places with for a day

2011-03-06T20:55:00.000-08:00

Yes...I would love to know what goes through her mind!!

Day 5 - A picture of your favorite memory

2011-03-05T09:13:00.000-08:00

I often look back at this day. It is one of my favorite memories, especially when I'm having a hard time. Getting married in the temple was one of the most important goals in my life. It was so incredible to look into my new husband's eyes, and realize that it was the beginning of forever. We have been through good times and bad in this first year and a half together, but I have to say I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love him more every day!

Day 4 - A picture of your night

2011-03-04T22:00:00.000-08:00

Kaylee got a new bed yesterday! She was getting too big for her old one, not to mention she was standing up in it when I went to get her this morning. She likes it so far. Because it's just on the floor, she got up this morning and played for a while before I even knew she was awake!

Day 3 - A picture of something you made

2011-03-03T06:48:00.000-08:00

I made my parents a quilt for their 30th wedding anniversary. I started it just after Kaylee was born and worked on it until December. It was my first queen size quilt, and it was a LOT of work, but so much fun! It was great to see their reaction to it.

Day 2 - A picture of your favorite place

2011-03-02T21:51:00.000-08:00

I know that I recently put this picture up, but this is my favorite place!! Nothing better than snuggling up with the love of my life every night.

Day 1 - A picture of yourself with ten random facts

2011-03-01T07:33:00.000-08:00

1. Somehow I got a Minnesotan accent, even though no one else in my family has one. Unfortunately, after living in Utah for over two years now, I've nearly lost it.
2. I have the most amazing family in the world! My husband and daughter mean everything to me.
3. I have way too many clothes. And strangely enough, I never have anything to wear.
4. I always told myself I would never, ever, live in Utah. Ever. I was wrong.
5. I was a pregnant teenager. Married, though.
6. I absolutely love photography. I wish I could be a photographer, but so far it just hasn't happened. I get overwhelmed with the competition.
7. I'm kind of big on grammar and saying things correctly, especially in writing or public speaking. Even though I'm definitely not perfect, I did get a 36 on the "Usage and Mechanics of English" part of the ACT.

8. I love bright colors. Orange, pink, green, blue, it's all good, as long as it's bright.
9. I can never have enough pajama pants!
10. When I'm stressed, I like to clean. Especially kitchens. ...But only when I'm stressed.

Going Exclusive

2011-02-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

I have been contemplating writing this for a while. It's quite personal, but I really wanted those I am close to to know exactly what I have been through with Kaylee and why I chose to pump exclusively for her.

When I was pregnant, I was all for breastfeeding. It was the only way to go - I felt like there really was no choice in the matter. And why should there be? It's convenient, cheap, healthy, the list goes on. I learned about breastfeeding from my midwives, La Leche League, books, and the internet, and it looked simple enough. I heard people describe it as blissful, relaxing, enjoyable, natural, fulfilling...etc. I was excited to nurse and have that special, close bond with my baby. I was determined to have a natural labor, as pain medications sometimes dull the baby's senses as well and can interfere with nursing.

Labor was a breeze, a total of about 10 1/2 hours from the first contraction, and Kaylee was born, perfectly healthy and strong in every way. Imagine my utmost surprise and confusion when I brought her to my breast and...she wouldn't latch on. She just didn't know what to do. After a couple of weeks, things were going a bit better (she would actually latch), but still going pretty badly. She would latch on, but she clamped down (horribly painful - worse than labor), she wiggled, she choked, she cried, she wouldn't suck hard enough to get anything. I went to La Leche League, I asked my mom, I went to two lactation consultants, my midwives tried to help me, and I searched the internet for any bit of information that would help me.
Nothing worked.

I kept trying for weeks, but I was completely miserable, as was Kaylee. Every time she ate, it was something else. One time it would be her not getting enough milk, the next she would be choking like crazy and couldn't breathe. Another time she would be wiggling so much I couldn't get her to calm down enough to latch on, and the next she would be falling asleep instead of eating. For a couple of weeks, she wanted to eat for about two minutes at a time, every five minutes. All day long. I never knew what to expect and I never knew what to do - I tried everything that was suggested to me, over and over again. I was exhausted, sick and tired of fighting with her every single time she ate. I could deal with an occasional fit, but I could not deal with this. In those first few weeks I must have cried more than I have ever before in my life, put together. I got sick several times in those weeks, probably from the stress, which just made it even harder to deal with. I looked up pumping on the internet, and learned a bit about exclusive pumping. I'd never heard of it before, but it was intriguing to me. These women would do nearly anything to make sure their babies would get breast milk, even though their babies couldn't latch for whatever reason. The thought of doing this actually filled me with a sort of hope. I learned about it and for the first time I felt peace - that sounds corny, but it's exactly what I felt. I felt like something was telling me it was the right decision. Maybe I could still give her breast milk and not have to go through this anymore.

The bonding that everyone talks about with breastfeeding...well, we certainly weren't getting it. In fact, I didn't even LIKE my daughter. I loved her, yes. But I did not like her. I too often got so incredibly frustrated with her when she was hungry that I would have to put her down and leave her crying for a few minutes, in order to calm down. That was about the extent of our bonding from nursing. A couple of times I gave her a bottle, sometimes of pumped milk, a couple times of formula, and it was incredible, the difference. I was calm, I felt truly relaxed, and Kaylee was happy, actually getting plenty to eat. She seemed to just love eating from a bottle, which hurt me more than anything.

When she was about two months old, I finally broke down and bought a good pump. I cried when I bought it, knowing in my heart that if we started using bottles, she would never go back. I felt like a complete failure for not being able to nurse her like I was "supposed" to. For a few weeks, things went really well. In fact, pumping and giving her bottles when she wouldn't nurse seemed to even be helping! She was happier and more willing to nurse more often. But when she turned 3 months old, it all just ended. One night she woke up and wouldn't nurse (she had always nursed well at night and in the morning), and I thought "Oh well, whatever. Just a fluke." Nope. My worst fear was confirmed - too many bottles, and she didn't want to nurse at all anymore.

I still cry sometimes when I think about it. I feel like maybe, maybe if I had given it a bit longer...maybe if I had tried just a little bit harder, we would be able to nurse. Maybe I should have tried more alternate feeding methods...so many possibilities. But then I remember all those terribly frustrating times we had. I remember her screaming at 2am because she was hungry and just couldn't latch right, just couldn't get the milk out. I remember feeling angry, hopeless, confused, lost, not good enough.

Exclusively pumping is definitely no walk in the park, though. It's very hard - just a different kind of hard. It's hard to rearrange my schedule (however flexible it may be!) around pumping. It's hard to be with family and have to excuse myself for 20 minutes to go sit on the bathroom floor alone. It's hard to miss out on spontaneity. It's hard to have my husband go to bed alone, and stay up and pump by myself instead of being with him. It's hard to get up at night and feed the baby, and then spend another 20 minutes pumping before I can go back to sleep. It's hard to keep up! A pump does not work as well as a baby in keeping a milk supply stable. I wasn't sure if I could do it, but so far I haven't had to supplement with formula at all. She has gotten 100% breast milk since I started.

I will never, ever again judge a women for not nursing their baby. I will never look at a baby eating formula and think "She just didn't try hard enough". Because maybe she did.

Decorations

2011-02-06T12:29:00.000-08:00

I decided that our bedroom was way too bland and boring, so I to made some frames and painted pictures to go in them above our bed. I'm very happy with how they turned out!!! Now I just need to finish our quilt I've been working on...don't know when that will ever happen though.

Kaylee's 6 month Birthday!!!

2011-02-06T09:36:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Kaylee is already 6 months old. She is getting so big!

A Day in the Life of Kaylee

2010-11-23T08:31:00.000-08:00

Mommy doesn't know why I'm always crabby when I wake up in the morning. Well, this is what I see when I wake up, plus I'm covered in drool, my diaper is wet, and I'm STARVING. After all, I did just sleep for 9 hours straight. You'd be hungry too.

Mommy feeds me with a bottle now. She tried to get me to nurse for about 9 weeks, but I just didn't like it and told her by being as much of a pain as possible. It was awful! I never got enough, or I got too much, or Mommy would yell "ouch!!" and I didn't know why...it scared me.

Mommy says it's playtime now. In other words, it's "Mommy is going to leave you here while she goes and does something else." time. I don't understand this at ALL. Why wouldn't she want to play WITH me??

I just don't know what to do with all these funny looking toys. Sometimes they make funny noises, but I haven't quite figured out what makes them do that. I do like to hit them, and it happens a lot then.

And now Mommy is attached to this weird machine again. She does this so much, and I can't figure out what it's for. She started it when she decided to stop trying to get me to nurse so much.

I hate it when she uses that machine. I usually cry. She came to get me so I could be right next to her, but it didn't help...I still cried.

Well, I guess it's not all THAT bad. At least she can talk to me and play with me.

It's kind of fun. I guess.

Now it's tummy time! I like tummy time, I'm getting strong. I didn't like it as much when I was little, my neck got so tired.

I'm getting kind of tired though. Mommy says it's about time for a nap.

Note for all babies: Don't go to sleep too easily for naps. If you do, your mommy will try to put you down while you're sleeping. NEVER LET THAT HAPPEN!!! She'll never rock you to sleep again.

I finally succumbed. It took a while though.

Augh! I knew it. Mommy tried to put me down even though I fought sleep for a LONG time. She just won't learn!! You have to train those mommies. Fight harder, and then when you do fall asleep, they're so scared to move that they won't put you down.

And I'm back in Mommy's arms. She says maybe we'll try again tomorrow. DON'T GIVE IN!!! Mommies are very capable of learning.

Mommy decided to do a photo shoot with me today. She took way too many pictures. I didn't cry, but there was no way I would smile. That only leads to more pictures.

I'm helping Mommy cook dinner now. It smells funny.

While we wait for dinner to cook, Mommy plays the piano. I'm helping.

Then it's my turn.

Daddy's home!!! I usually cry at dinner time so someone holds me.

After dinner, it's time for a bath. I like baths. I get to splash Mommy and Daddy. I do hate getting OUT of the bath though.

When my bath is done, I cuddle with Mommy and get a bottle. Then she tries to put me down for the night. I'm having trouble going to sleep tonight.

It's going to be a long night for Mommy and Daddy. I'm starting some vigorous sleep training with them. My plan is to be very difficult to get to sleep, then as soon as they put me down, cry. Repeat until they bring me into their bed. It's going to be a long, hard process, but they'll learn eventually.

So much!!

2010-10-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

Well it has definitely been long enough since I've updated this! But I have good reason to be such a slacker - with the new baby, things had been a little crazy. To put it short, Kaylee has given me so many difficult things to deal with I didn't even know what to do. She didn't eat well, she was very fussy, she couldn't keep my milk supply up, etc., I got sick about 5 times in the first 7 weeks of having her, AND I got my wisdom teeth out the 7th week. The one thing she has done well is sleep, for the most part. When she was first born, she would usually sleep 4-5 hour stretches at night (yeah, amazing!), and now it's up to 6-8 hours, sometimes even 10. The hours aren't the best, she likes to go to sleep at around 8 and wake up for the day at 4, but hey...we're getting there. She just started playing with toys a little bit today, and she "talks" a lot. So cute! It's a good thing.

Everything else is going pretty well for us too. School and work are both going well for Will. he only has the rest of this semester and next semester, and he'll be ready to teach. As for me, I'm just trying to keep the house clean, the baby happy (that's the hardest one) and myself from going completely insane (I'm only a little bit insane right now).

So in our new ward, I didn't have a calling till last week. I knew they were looking for a choir pianist and director, so I thought maybe I would be the pianist. Last Sunday the bishopric called me in to talk to me, and Will told me that I would for SURE be the choir director. I said "No, I don't even know how to lead music! And I told them I play the piano. I'm sure I'll be the pianist." Well, things were mixed up that day and the person that was supposed to talk to me wasn't there, so they had to ask someone that wasn't in charge of that area to talk to me. They called me in, and asked me...to be the director. I was more than a little surprised and VERY nervous, but of course I said I would do it. Will said "Nah, it's a mistake. You're not the director, I bet when they sustain you next Sunday they'll say pianist." And I replied "Of course not, they wouldn't make a mistake on that. I'm the director. They wouldn't call a pianist before a director anyway, that wouldn't make sense." All week I stressed out, chose songs and practiced and practiced conducting different hymns. On Sunday as they were announcing the new callings, they said my name and...choir pianist. I was a little confused - so what WAS my calling? Was the original call a mistake? Or was the sustaining a mistake? I asked the bishopric afterward, and sure enough...with the confusion last Sunday, the bishopric member thought I was going to be the director. Whoops!!

Campout

2010-07-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

Our ward had a campout last weekend, which I wanted to go to but I thought we might be moved out by then (hah!), so I wasn't planning on going - plus I wasn't sure if I'd be up to it anyway. But the week of the camp out came and I was feeling great, and we were still in the ward...so we borrowed a tent and air mattress from Will's parents and went. A few people thought I was insane to go camping, but it wasn't that far from home and only for one night, so I wasn't too worried about it.

This is Will during the relay races - they had three teams of one adult and three kids, and they had to do a backpack race first and then set up a tent. Will's team won, of course.
The campout was a lot of fun. We all brought our own dinners, but they made cobbler for dessert and even had ice cream to go with it. Then for breakfast they made fry bread, which was surprising to me...seems like a lot of work to me, to get that much oil heated up and have the dough ready and everything, but it was good.

Baby!!!

2010-06-29T12:31:00.000-07:00

That's all I can think about lately. No surprise there really though, right? Only a few more weeks to go. I'm still feeling just fine...very tired though. I was so proud of myself because I got up at 9 yesterday, but then by 1 I was so exhausted I had to take a 2 1/2 hour nap. I doubt much will change when baby is born!! I'll be tired, but probably on a lot less sleep. Normally 7 hours is perfect for me, right now I swear I need like 10 to have any energy. Other than being tired though, I'm doing really well!! Will and I take walks every evening and I think that helps a lot, just the feeling good in general. My midwife says I'm a "model first-time mom", so that's good. I try to eat really well, but it's hard with a husband that keeps trying to spoil me by buying chocolate and ice cream for me...then doesn't understand how I can get mad at him. Poor Will. Pregnant women are just impossible.

I was so sad last Thanksgiving, someone stepped on my tripod (folded up in a bag) when family came over for dinner and broke it. It was still usable, kind of. If you balanced it just right. And the ground was perfectly flat. And someone was holding it up (just kidding). Anyway, it was a pain. So Will surprised me and bought me a new one a couple of weeks ago! We went to Bridal Veil Falls and took a couple of pictures, just for the fun of it. This picture is my favorite. We'd always pass that bench when we took walks there and wonder just exactly how that happened...

So we're officially moving! We don't have a date, because the housing place needed to get it cleaned first and they didn't know when that would be - they said around the first of July. So it should be any day now. I want to move SO bad. Not so much because I don't like it here, but because I really want to start getting things ready for the baby...and I can't really do anything right now. Not that there's much to do, I think we have everything we need now, we just need to get it cleaned and set up. But still...in two weeks I'll be full-term and this baby could come any time. I'm not really expecting it till after my due date or I'll probably just go crazy, but you never know. Anyway, we've started packing some things up and planning how we're going to move all of our large furniture - two couches, two dressers, a queen-size bed, a piano, an entertainment center, two desks, a kitchen table and a recliner. The funny thing in my opinion is how many large items we have and the only things we actually paid for were the kitchen table and the recliner. Will is an expert at getting free things. It's nice sometimes, but really...? I always blame him for keeping everything, but then say things like "Well no I want to keep THAT because I wanted to use it for ______" so I should probably stop saying it's his fault we have so much stuff.
Our ward is very sad that we're leaving. There is another couple leaving this month, and with us combined, the ward is losing the organist, the choir pianist, the only two tenors in choir, a primary teacher, the Young Women's president, a Sunday school teacher and part of the Sunday school presidency. Ridiculous, yeah?

Pinewood Derby

2010-06-19T15:29:00.000-07:00

Our ward had a Pinewood Derby on Thursday - for everyone. Will, of course, was very excited to build a car, even though he was swamped with school - he had 4 finals the day before and is still working. But that did not discourage him. We went to his parents house and borrowed their tools because we don't have much in the way of anything to build cars. Then we went to Wal-Mart and got some fishing weights, which Will hammered down flat and put in the bottom of our hollowed out car...he attempted to paint it and then gave up and told me to do it. So I made it purple and sparkley. We tried to measure the weight before we went, but had no accurate way of doing it, so when we got there and realized it was .7 ounces over the limit, we had to try and dig out one of the weights - which we did, and after we pulled it out it was perfect, thank goodness. The equipment they had there was kind of ridiculous. No worrying about ties with that stuff...the first two cars were two thousandths of a second apart. 2.8775 and 2.8777 seconds.

We ended up in third place out of 26 so I guess we did pretty good! The first and second places were both cub scouts...go figure.

Anxious Kitty

2010-06-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

She must be excited for her vet visit tomorrow...she won't stay out of her carrier. Last time we took her to the vet (3 weeks ago) for some shots, I thought she would never go in there again on her own free will. But no, she still loves it. Guess she doesn't know what wonderful surgery she is getting tomorrow. She's in heat AGAIN (for the millionth time) and I'm VERY excited for tomorrow!!

UPDATE: 3 days after her spaying, she still likes to go into her carrier.

Couches and Gelato

2010-05-29T19:47:00.000-07:00

Today Will and I decided to go to a park and take a few pictures. I always mean to take pictures...but usually forget, which is why we had no recent pictures of both of us. It also doesn't help that my tripod is broken, so getting it to work is kind of a pain.

After we did that, we went to Tiffany and Brad's to pick up their old couches. We've been wanting a full size couch for a while, but not enough to actually go buy one, so we were glad to get it. I wanted a slipcover for it, so after that we went to Target, but everything there was either REALLY expensive, or we just didn't like them. Wal-Mart didn't have anything either, but I found one online that will do just fine and is much cheaper. After Target we went to Terra Mia with part of Will's family. Terra Mia is an Italian restaurant in Orem that isn't very well known, and not doing very well. The food is great, but the set-up is kind of confusing. Think a cross between a nice sit-down restaurant, a sports grill and fast food. Yes, recipe for confusion right there. Will's dad is working with the owner to improve it and try to bring business back up. I think the main thing they need to do is make the whole thing more clear. As we were eating, we watched people walk in and immediately look completely lost, so that is probably one of the problems. Out of curiosity, I texted Andy to see if he had ever heard of it or been there. It made me laugh because he said "Yeah, they have good gelato but not very good service." Both very true. I'd never had gelato before, and...it was amazing. :) Hopefully Will's dad can help out and fix it up, because it does have potential to be a great place.

May 24th

2010-05-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

Our exciting life!!!

2010-05-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe it's not that exciting, but I like to pretend it is. I'm actually bored now because Will is working on a paper and is kind of "gone" (if you know Will you know what I'm talking about). He said he's never done homework on Sundays before, but he has so much homework that he can't possibly get it all done during the week, he's loaded down pretty heavy right now. Especially when you throw in a moody pregnant wife and a job. It just doesn't happen.

Church was good today...the Primary kids in my class were unusually quiet and I actually got some lesson in. Some days it's difficult. They love to go on tangents, and I think I need to improve my interruption skills. There is one little boy that sits in the back corner, and every question I ask about the story we're talking about (Old Testament this year) he practically jumps out of his seat waving his hand and refuses to sit down again till I call on him and he tells the WHOLE story. If I just ignore him he starts bouncing and making squeaking noises. At least he's enthusiastic, right?

As soon as I finished my quilt, I decided I should make another one, for Will's sister Alyssa. She's having a baby in September, about 8 weeks after me. She and her husband are very much into video games, so I thought it would be fun to make some sort of video game character quilt, but I really wasn't sure what. I considered a few ideas, and then told Will what I was thinking and he told me that I should do something from Zelda, their favorite game (good thing he helped me...I had no clue). So we came up with a cool pattern for a Link blanket, and because the fabric I needed for it was 50% off at Joann's, we went and got it right away so I had something to keep me occupied during all those long hours home alone. I started it on Wednesday the 12th, and just had a little bit done by Saturday (took a long time to cut all the pieces out...). Will's mom called on Saturday and told us about Alyssa's birthday party, which was probably going to be the following Tuesday. I hadn't even thought of her birthday till then, and Will asked if I could get the quilt done by then. I said no, but that I would try anyway. 450 2-inch blocks is not a quick thing to sew together. But I got the whole top done by Sunday night, not completely sewed together but all the small pieces were together. On Monday I literally spent all day long getting it together, and started quilting it. Tuesday I finished quilting it, put on the binding, started hiding all the ends of the thread, and almost had it done by 7. Then Will's mom called...yeah, the party wasn't going to be till the next day at noon, which Will couldn't go to, and we couldn't give her the quilt without him there. The next plan was to give it to her on Sunday, and I was like "Seriously? I spent the last 3 days nearly killing myself to get it done...for no reason!" Of course, no one was at fault, it was just the way things worked. Luckily, on Wednesday, we ended up going to give it to her after Will got home anyway, so I'm glad I had it done. And that way, I even had time to wash it and double check for loose threads. So it all turned out fine, and everyone loved it. Even those in the family who are not video game fans (that would include me as well, to be honest!) thought it was really cool. It was a lot of fun! Who knows what we'll come up with next... :)

Quilt

2010-05-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

Here it is!! Far from perfect, but it's alright. And even somewhat gender neutral...definitely looks more boyish, but that's better than more girlish for a boy!

Mother's Day

2010-05-11T19:15:00.000-07:00

So I don't know that I'm officially a mother yet, but I decided I was close enough, and Will agreed. He bought me a sewing machine for my Mother's Day gift. It's been a lot of fun so far!! I decided my first sewing project, though maybe a little bit ambitious because I haven't sewn in at least a couple of years, would be a baby quilt. I've never made a quilt before, and I really had no idea how, but I think I've figured it out after hours of trying to make sense of online tutorials. The blocks are just a little off in a few places, thanks to 1. my impatience (I was pretty proud of myself, for the most part I took extra time to make sure I was doing it right and even washed all my fabric before I started!) and 2. my dull scissors - they make it very difficult to cut straight and evenly. To give you an idea of how bad they really are, they worked better after I cut through sandpaper a few times. I might have to buy a rotary cutter if I decide that I like quilting enough...we'll see though. I might do it like everything else, love it for a week and then find some other thing to try. So for now I'll make do. I don't have any pictures of it yet but I'll post some when it's finished.

Silly Mother's Day picture!!

Baby!

2010-04-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

We're slowly getting baby things ready...only three more months left, give or take a week or two. We have a few clothes, a dresser and a car seat. Andy and Steph had a dresser they didn't want or need, so when they moved they gave it to us, it'll be perfect for baby stuff. And Tiffany (Will's sister) was generous enough to give us the car seat that Bennett used. Supposedly, it works for a year or so, but he's a big boy and grew out of it in 4 months, so it's hardly used. I just finished crocheting a blanket...I haven't crocheted in a very long time, and with all my oodles of time here doing nothing, it kept me entertained for a little while. My mom taught me how years ago, and I looked up some fun patterns online and did the shell-stitch. It's not quite perfect, but not bad. The crib I want is here. It looks like it'll work well for us, the only problem will be getting something else in a few months because he'll outgrow it. No big deal though. People are still freaking out at me a little bit for not finding out the gender, but I'm still wondering what the big deal is about - sure, it would be nice to know sometimes but I don't think it's worth ruining the surprise. Not to mention more hand-me-downs if we have a different gender next time. Even if I wanted to know, I'd have to keep it a secret from the hubby. He is dead-set against finding out, it's kind of funny.
I do believe this baby is trying to teach me to have better posture. Every time I slouch too much I get a foot stuck in my ribs and have to stretch out or it gets uncomfortable! He's very hyper. Luckily it seems he's turned and is now kicking my ribs instead of jumping on my bladder, that got old fast. I do prefer the ribs, I must admit. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, he's not even big yet. Probably about 1 1/2 - 2 pounds and about 14 inches long. So a funny coincidence - my first day in my third trimester will be on Mother's Day. An appropriate gift, I suppose. :)

Flower Gardens and other things...

2010-04-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

The weather has been so nice the past couple of weeks here...Will and I decided to start a little flower garden. Unfortunately it's going to get cold again (no way) this week, but I think it'll be okay - I guess we'll find out how cold-hardy Dianthus, Snapdragons and Violas really are. The Marigolds will have to wait. I thought it wouldn't be a big deal if we had a couple of frosts, easy enough to cover a few plants, but not if it's going to or below freezing for 5 nights in a row!! And who knows how many more now, the forecast keeps getting worse. But it's almost May, so I'll bet after this it'll be better. I do hope so, anyway. We shall see.

I don't know if I'm the only one having issues, but I can never seem to get pictures to work here without a lot of time and pain. They take FOREVER if they even upload, and I don't understand why. Ever since blogspot changed their picture thing, it hasn't been working for me. Before that it was fine and I never had a problem. This time I don't think I'm going to get it to work. :( Sorry, no pictures of our garden quite yet.

Anyway, enough of the whiny stuff - there is good news too!! Will started school today, he's so excited. He also got a great job on campus, programming for the campus police, or...something along those lines. I have the hardest time remembering what he does exactly, or maybe just understanding in the first place. :P It pays well, and so far he really seems to like it. I guess his two bosses were shocked yesterday because he did so well programming something for the police and they absolutely loved it, apparently no one had been able to do it the way they wanted. He wasn't sure why it was such a big deal, but hey, I'll take it. That's always good, because I guess pay raises are not uncommon if they like what you're doing, and it's already better than I expected. So that's probably the best thing that's happened to us money-wise since we got married! Yay!!

Happy Birthday, Paul!!!

2010-04-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

Andy kindly reminded me of Paul's birthday a few days ago, and we decided we should do something for him. We all pretended we forgot about it, but Andy invited him over for dinner on Monday, the day before his birthday because he has class literally almost all day on Tuesdays. Will and I made a cake, and I have to say it was pretty cool. I wanted to just do something simple for it, and write "23" on it in something square, to look like pixels. I thought we'd probably just use Starbursts. Amazingly enough, Will found some little colored square candies, I'd never heard of them or seen them before but they were PERFECT. We had different computer game scenes and random pixel scenes on the sides. We are definitely not pixel artists, but hey...for using little Chinese candies on a cake, I think we did pretty darn good. They tasted kind of nasty, but Paul enjoyed them immensely, so it worked out.

2010-04-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

I looked out the window and what did I see?

Snow is falling down on Utah County.

Spring has brought me such a sad surprise,

Snow is falling right before my eyes.

I could take an armful and make a ball,

To throw at the weatherman and make him fall.

It wasn't really so, but it seemed to me...

Winter is coming back to Utah County.

Done with school!!

2010-03-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

I'm finally finished...my last day was Friday, for about three hours. Aveda Institute doesn't even have a real sign yet. It's weird to be done and not have immediate plans for more school or a job. It's nice, but at the same time I haven't had this feeling since I was 16, so it'll take some getting used to. I would like a part-time job here at Target or something, but I doubt I'll be able to get anything. I applied at a few places, but jobs like that in Provo get filled up so fast that I don't think I have a chance. I thought maybe I'd have more luck with access to a car, but no luck whatsoever so far. Oh well. I'll just have to open a salon in my house sometime or something, that would be fun...not that I'll need a lot to keep me occupied in a few months!

Will starts school again on April 27th, and he is VERY excited. He's one of those people that is probably going to go to school forever simply because he loves it so much. Which is probably why he wants to be a teacher, which is what he's going back to do - get a teaching certification in Physics teaching. He'll be done next year at about this time. Because he has so many classes in a similar field (Engineering), he'll be able to finish it quickly. Good thing, because with a baby on the way we need to get things figured out pretty quick here! If only jobs weren't so hard to come by nowadays. Apparently, there are a ton of teachers being laid off - but not science teachers, which are in very high demand right now. Hopefully they will still be in high demand next year.

It's probably about time...

2010-03-09T20:43:00.000-08:00

I've been putting off making this public for quite a while now, and it's about time to at least put it on my blog. I suppose most people who read my blog already know, so it doesn't really matter anyway! I am 19 weeks pregnant! (For anyone who is wondering...I have been married for approximately 2 1/2 weeks longer than that.) We weren't originally planning on having kids right away, but after we got married we thought about it and prayed about it and decided that we shouldn't wait. So many people say they don't want kids because they want to just enjoy being married for a few years, but the way I look at it...you can still enjoy being married just as much, you simply have to severely rearrange some things and habits. And if you can't be happy with your marriage along with some kids, then you have a problem and it's not the kids. So why make it harder and get into couple habits, then have your life turn upside down when you're comfortable with it? We'll have couple time when we're old and decrepit. :) Anyway, we are VERY excited and happy, and just a little bit nervous.

I always thought in the past that I would go with a traditional hospital birth, and please...give me all the drugs possible. And then I got pregnant and said "Wait..." and did some research. I very quickly realized that I wanted to follow my mom's footsteps and have a natural home birth instead. There is actually a birth center here in Provo, very close by, that is basically a home birth away from home. Now I will just hope and pray that everything will go smoothly and that I won't have very large babies. ;) So far it's been very nice, no morning sickness to speak of, a little nausea if I didn't eat enough but that was about it. And that's me anyway, so no surprise there. I just barely started showing a couple of weeks ago, and now I'm feeling like every day my pants are tighter. Maternity clothes, here I come...

We had an ultrasound yesterday, which I had a hard time deciding if I really wanted or not, but it did put my mind at ease to know that everything is good and the baby is healthy. We decided not to find out the gender, and though most everyone thinks we're completely insane and out of our minds, and how can we not, and how will we EVER prepare and be ready, I think it'll be fun. Will is sure it's a girl, and I know it's a boy. During the ultrasound the sonographer told us to close our eyes so he could look at the lower parts of the body, and when he was done he said "Are you sure you don't want to know? Because I know." I guess that's how you find out if someone is really sure about their decision. But yeah, everything's going very well, and me and the baby are healthy and strong. And getting bigger.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-22T11:25:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so maybe it was over a week ago, but that's okay. I can't keep up with my blog at all. But only 20 more days of school and I'll be done!!! At least that is the plan. Then I'll have so much time on my hands I won't know what to do with it! For another 4 months anyway... :)

For Valentine's Day we had to do something cheap, but at least do something because this was our first Valentine's ever together, so we made a very nice dinner with some $5 steaks (heck yes!!), asparagus, roasted potatoes and honey-wheat rolls. Because Will has been cooking for me nearly every day for the last couple of months, I cooked it for him. I wasn't sure about making steaks, because Will cooks ALL the meat here. Whether it's raw chicken, cooked chicken, hamburger meat, he always does it. Not because I don't want to or can't or don't know how, but that's just the way it is. But I just got on google, asked Will for a little advice and made it. So maybe they weren't perfectly medium-rare, but they turned out well. Next time I'll maybe get thicker ones or cook them a little less...

After dinner we took a walk around where he proposed and down the bike path where we walked nearly every day when we were dating. Overall it was a simple but very good day.

Black, black, or black?

2010-02-09T08:46:00.000-08:00

Goodbye Dallas Roberts!!

Aveda is making a big mess. Things are very different now. The post title is my choice of color for clothing from now on, which I think looks good as a whole, but...I really hate wearing all black every day. Oh well, at least I only have a few weeks left!! I don't know what I'm going to do when my friend Kim is done in 2 weeks, because she drives me to school every day. :S I never minded walking, till she started driving me. Now I'm spoiled and really don't want to walk. I'm really not sure what I think of Aveda yet. I love their products for sure, but they are a little strange. Funny though! The first day, the teacher was introducing us to Aveda, and said "Now, everyone close your eyes. Feel Aveda come into your toes, and up to your heart. Welcome it into your body...now put your hand on your heart. No, I'm just kidding girls, you can open your eyes." I was really not taking it seriously, but thinking it was serious, if that makes sense. Anyway, if anyone wants a haircut, neck/shoulder massage, hand massage along with a 'sensory journey', come to Aveda Institute Provo!!

Drastic changes...

2010-01-26T16:57:00.001-08:00

I decided to color my hair dark...I'd been thinking about it for a while. My friend really want to do it for me that day, before Aveda took over. So we got all the color in, and I hadn't told Will anything about it at all. I'd left my phone at home by accident that morning, so I emailed him and told him if he found it to let me know. Unfortunately, he didn't get my email in time, but instead found my phone and brought it to me at school. It took him a few minutes to find me, and when he did and I saw him, I stared at him for a second, said "uh-oh" and then started laughing. The girls all around me recognized him and knew that I hadn't said anything, so they all freaked out a little bit. But yeah, it was fine! He likes it a lot. I'll go blond again no doubt, it's a nice change for a while but I don't think I'd like to keep it forever.

Christmas

2009-12-29T16:05:00.000-08:00

Will and I had a great Christmas. His day off was Christmas Eve, so we opened presents from each other that morning. I attempted to make chocolate waffles with caramel syrup like my mom used to make sometimes, but...unfortunately my syrup didn't work out so well. I cooked it for about as long as they said, but it got rock hard. Then I tried to get the wooden spoon out, and it broke. Maybe next time!
We went over to Will's parents' house at around 6 for dinner, and opened our gifts that evening because Will had to work from 8-3:30 the next day. We both got some clothes, Will got a soldering iron and I got a necklace with scissors on it (that one made me laugh, I can't help but wonder where you would find one of those), some dishes and a few other things, but the most exciting thing we got...was Will's Wii back, and the Wii Fit!! It gets very good use around here. I'll say now that the Wii Fit is one video game (if you can call it that?) that I don't mind at all if Will plays a lot, hahah!! On Christmas morning, we all woke up at 6 and got our stockings, ate a small breakfast and then everyone else opened the rest of their presents. Will left at 7:20 and called at 8:40 - they let him go home early because no one was calling in! So that was a VERY nice surprise.
For Will, I did a "12 Days of Christmas" thing for him, starting on the 14th and ending on Christmas. I wrote 12 poems to go with each day, explaining the gifts. I had a hard time deciding whether to post this or not because it's awfully goofy, but maybe someone will enjoy it...

I tried to catch that partridge bird,

But higher and higher she flew.

Then I found this handy tool,

Hope it works to get her down for you! (Bouncy ball)

I looked up and down at every store,

I couldn't find them, such a chore.

Turtledoves are so small and rare

That I had to improvise, I hope you don't care. (Turtles and Dove chocolates)

Flying to France took quite a while,

To find those French hens, just to see you smile.

But when I got home I was starving, it's true,

I can only hope that you're hungry too. (Chicken pot pie)

The four calling birds flew to my window,

They were quick and soon had to go

But they sang to me these songs just for you

Flew away and they were gone (Christmas CD)

The cost of gold rises every day,

Not to mention so many other things we must pay.

And what would you do with those pointless things?

So instead I got you these delicious rings. (Donuts)

The geese-a-laying already flew south,

But left a gift for you - or rather, your mouth.

These are quite unique as you can see,

Chocolate eggs for you and me! (Melted white chocolate with an M&M in the middle)

The swans are swimming and having such fun,

But soon winter comes and they have to be done.

Their feet get so cold, they can't swim in a storm,

So here are some socks, to at least keep your feet warm. (Socks)

I found the eight maids-a-milking in Belgium,

But they were too busy, and couldn't come.

They gave me this as in despair I wiped my brow,

I guess they must have been milking brown cows? (Hot chocolate mix)

You'd love to go dancing and learn from 9 ladies,

And take out your wife in the new Mercedes.

But working all day, now you feel like a mess,

Here's something to wear so you look your best. (Tie)

I discovered the lords the other day,

Leaping and bouncing and hopping away.

When all of a sudden, I had a thought,

They leaped to the stars, and for you, this they brought. (Starbursts)

I called 411 to ask, really I pled,

To book the 11 pipers for piping.

They heard me wrong and sent instead,

To my dismay, 11 rolls for wiping. (11 rolls of toilet paper)

I found the drummers drumming booked 12 years in advance,

Begging and pleading didn't earn me a glance.

But as they drove off, they threw this my way,

And I filled it with things for you on this the twelfth day. (Small drum filled with kisses, hugs and 50 reasons why I love him)

Piano, Lights, School

2009-12-14T08:21:00.000-08:00

Will's parents just moved here to Provo a couple of weeks ago, and had a lot of things that they didn't want, need or have room for, including a beautiful old upright piano. Two of the other daughters really wanted it, as they both play the piano very well...however, I came out lucky because Will and I were the only ones that had enough room for it. I'm so excited to have a piano again!!!

Last Wednesday, Will and I made a trip up to Salt Lake City to see the Christmas lights on temple square, as a celebration for our two-month anniversary. It was pretty funny, as on that day we'd been married as long as we were engaged and as long as we knew each other before we got engaged. It was cold (around 0), but it was a lot of fun to walk around and see all the lights. Some of the trees there are just incredible and have thousands of lights.

Things at school are going well, I'm making a TON more tips now that I'm a senior, mainly because we actually get clients!! I usually have one or two a day instead of maybe two a week. I'm really excited for my break though (the 23rd - 4th). Someone actually just bought the school and things are going to change very dramatically. It is going to be Aveda Institute, Provo, instead of Dallas Roberts. I think it will be a good change, but it's going to be hard to adjust to, especially for some of the girls there that always do whatever they want and get their way. For example, a lot of the girls don't come on Saturdays. When Aveda comes, if you miss a Saturday you pay $500, and you can miss a maximum of 2 for being sick or whatever. Like I said, I think it will be a good change, but the more I hear about Aveda the more glad I am that I only have 3 months left!! I feel bad for the guy that just sold it, our owner, because everyone gives him SUCH a hard time about everything, and says "He just doesn't care" behind his back when they're not happy with the school. But he explained to us why he sold, he said it was because he wasn't able to give us what we deserved, after having 4 back surgeries he just didn't have the time and energy to keep up with it. So I think they need to lay off and give the poor guy a break. This picture is my nail that I entered into the Christmas nail contest. I doubt it'll win (not to be pessimistic, but I never win anything, hahah), but it was fun.

Christmas and Kitty

2009-12-02T16:51:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, Will and I decided that we needed an animal - perhaps not needed, necessarily, but...really wanted. So we decided the cheapest, least needy animal would be a kitten. So the Saturday before last we finally found a pet store that actually sold pets (it's incredible around here, everyone has fish and lizards, maybe a hamster if it's a really big store, and nothing else), and bought Jasmine. She's about 2 months old and a little terror, but she's fun and according to Will I've been in a much better mood ever since we got her. Maybe we did need her after all. :P We also got our Christmas tree the other day, and she helped us set it up. Or rather, climbed up it and jumped out the side a couple of times.

Are all women created this way?

2009-11-17T21:58:00.001-08:00

"Fashion Notes"

2009-11-14T12:31:00.001-08:00

A couple of months ago at school, we started planning for our annual fashion show at the Scera Theater in Orem. The theme was music, and we separated into groups of music genres. They told us we had to find models and recommended we weren't models ourselves because we all had to work on one, and being one and working on one is a lot to do. A couple of weeks before the show, my friend who was in my group, which was Oldies, asked me to be her model because hers broke her arm and couldn't do it. I really, really didn't want to, but for her sake and the sake of my group, I agreed. I was Lesley Gore - think "It's My Party". We had to come up with some sort of routine for our 5 minutes of time on stage, so with all of our sub-groups in our group everyone got about 50 seconds. I was in charge of getting the music ready (cut and put together so it was the right amount of time for each one), so I made mine a few seconds shorter...I had no CLUE what I was going to do on stage all by myself. I am no dancer, and that's basically what I was expected to do. We never even ran through the thing before the day of the show. On that day, we got to the theater and found out the music wasn't working. Something went wrong with my burned CD, which I still haven't figured out because it worked on everything else, and I had to run home and get my laptop so I could give the DJ the original file. By the time I got back, it was too late for our practice and we had to wait. When we could finally run through it, it all went well till my song came on. In the middle of it, the DJ accidentally made it stop, so I didn't even get to go through the whole thing. Needless to say, I was a little nervous about going onstage, dancing in four inch heels and having no idea what I was going to do. It ended up going well though, I faked my way through it and didn't even trip!! I'm kind of excited to see the DVD later, and kind of...not...

This is me trying to get my updo out that night. The girls at school ratted and backcombed it until it was a giant mess, and the whole time sprayed the strongest hairspray we had into it. It was difficult.

Saturday

2009-11-08T17:37:00.000-08:00

Being poor gets difficult sometimes. I wanted Will to hang up some Christmas lights before it got cold, so here he is doing that. We had to get a little creative, because we don't have a ladder and for some reason it was easier for Will to move around some furniture than call someone and ask to borrow one. Luckily there were only a couple of places he needed it, so he wasn't in this dangerous position for very long...

We also didn't particularly want to go buy big garbage bags for leaves, and had to get creative in another way. After me finally getting Will to call someone in our ward and ask to borrow a couple of rakes, we raked up all the leaves and had to put them somewhere. We ended up just crushing them into our garbage can. (No wonder the wheel is broken on that thing...)

Christmas List

2009-11-03T10:36:00.000-08:00

I got this idea from my sister-in-law, Tiffany, to make a Christmas list online for our families. The only thing we ask is to please include gift receipts or anything we need to return or exchange in case we get doubles. Or keep in close touch and tell other family members what you bought. Most of it is available online. Here goes...

For Becky:
This sweatshirt in yellow, size medium
This camisole in black, size small
Giftcard to Michaels
Fabric shaver (at Target)
Slippers size 9

For Will:
Giftcard to any bookstore - Amazon.com, Borders, and Barnes and Noble are some good ones
Slippers size 12
His Wii back
WiiFit, if we get the Wii back
Winter coat size large tall, in navy or black
Pajamas size large tall, in dress gordon (green/white plaid)

For both of us:
Flannel sheets queen size, in grey, cream, or white (in that order if they don't have the first choice)
Winter survival kit
The Work and the Glory movies
The Book of Mormon for LDS Families

OR...just send money. :)

Halloween

2009-10-31T18:20:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, Will and I finally got around to carving pumpkins. I carved the faces out of the big one, and he carved a cat face in one of the small ones...the other small one, as you can see, is in the mouth of the big one. It was pretty sweet.

On Friday, I did Kim's hair for our Halloween party at school - it was definitely the coolest hair there:

We washed it, blew it dry upside down with a ton of gel, back combed it, bobby pinned it, straightened it and hair sprayed the heck out of it and this is what we got. Now you'd think at a beauty school they would have prizes for things such as "Best Hair" but no, there were only dumb ones like most creative and scariest. It's really too bad, because she would have won hands down. It's missing a little bit, after I took that picture we sprayed bright pink hairspray onto the tips, which made it look even better. Definitely the most amusing hairstyle I've done so far on someone, and also probably the worst to take out that night...

Trunk-or-Treat

2009-10-27T19:07:00.001-07:00

Will and I went to our ward Halloween party this evening, which was a lot of fun. We both gave talks on Sunday, so a lot more people are starting to recognize us. It was weird to hear when they announced that "Sister Castrey will be speaking" and then "And her husband", I still go "Huh?" every so often. ;) There are a lot of really great people in our ward, it's hard to get to know so many people at once...we're working on it though. For the party, there were hot dogs and a few other things to eat, a couple of activities for the primary kids, then there was a trunk-or-treat. There was also a doughnut eating contest, but the doughnuts were hung from a volleyball net and you had to eat it without using your hands at all. Will had to try when it was the Elder's Quorum and Relief Society's turn, and of course, he won. All the fat guys thought he had no chance.

People thought we weren't dressing up at all, because we weren't dressed up inside. However, we had the perfect idea for the cold weather (it was about 30), and it would have been a little warm inside. It worked perfectly and we got a lot of compliments. I think people were jealous because we were quite warm and comfortable. Yes...we dressed as Eskimos, ice fishing. It was awesome. :)

Mrs. Castrey

2009-10-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a long time since I've updated, so I'll have to condense this just a little bit. Will and I were sealed in the Draper, UT temple on October 8th. I absolutely love being married!! Things are still a little bit crazy right now, with writing thank you notes and getting my name changed, which is partly why I haven't updated.

We live in a two-bedroom duplex just a few blocks from my school. It's nice - I love the kitchen, and we even have a washer and dryer, which is very handy. Someday I'll get around to taking some pictures and post them, for now I don't think I have the energy to do that. :P I'm going to school for 9 hours every day, which probably isn't quite as bad as it sounds but it sure eats away my energy, even when I just sit there and wish that clients would come in. I have about 840 or so hours left out of 2000. So I'm on the downhill now!! I've considered going to night school also to get extra hours, which would mean 14 hour days, but after calculating my graduation dates according to the hours I'd get, it's really not worth it. I would only graduate about a month and a half sooner...and never be home. I don't think that Will would like that very much, no matter how badly he wants to get out of Provo (which is pretty bad). Anyway, that is all for now. :)

I'm ENGAGED!!!

2009-08-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

Yup...it finally happened. I had been expecting it relatively soon, but I had no idea what day. Will kept going and spending hours at his sister Tiffany's house, saying that she needed help with her 3 young kids, but I was pretty sure he was planning something (he is really bad at lying). On Saturday the 8th, Will proposed. He started out in the morning at around 10am by giving me a puzzle piece and a note in a little plastic bag. Throughout the day he took me to various places around Provo, such as Bridal Veil Falls, Y Mountain, Zupas (our first date) and gave me other pieces that represented my qualities associated with the different locations, all with a note explaining the quality on the piece.

That evening, after I had all but 5 pieces, we went to a ward talent show and we sang a duet. He had told me the day before that he had to go to his sister's place for a little while again, so I was convinced that he had to finish whatever it was, and propose later. However, by the time he had to go to Tiffany's after the show, I was only missing 3 pieces and getting a little suspicious. Driving from the church building to my apartment (I thought), I suggested just going to Wymount, where both Tiffany and Andy live, and dropping me off at Andy and Steph's while he went to Tiffany's. He got a really solemn look on his face and I thought something was wrong or I was messing up his plan, but he said it was fine. So we went to Wymount, but Andy and Steph weren't home yet, so he suggested we walk to the temple to kill time. We did and he gave me another piece. I couldn't help but wonder how it was working for him because I felt like I was messing up his plan. We went to Andy and Steph's, and Steph had yet another piece for me. Then I was expecting Will to leave and go to Tiffany's, but instead he said I had to come too...and that's when I got really confused. We went to her apartment, and her son ran up to me and handed me the last piece. Apparently he had been expecting me to suggest going to Andy and Steph's and had given them one of the pieces the night before. The reason he got solemn was because I was doing exactly what he wanted me to and I had no idea. I guess perhaps he knows me better than I thought. The piece that was at Andy's was "Family Oriented" so that kind of made me laugh.

After I had all the pieces, we drove back to my apartment and finished the puzzle. Will looked at me and asked if I wanted to go for a walk. We walked down the bike path behind our apartment to the beginning of the path, and stopped on the bridge that started it. He got down on one knee and asked me if I would marry him, and of course, I said yes. :) It was the best day of my life.

Open House

2009-07-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Will and I went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. It was very cool. It's one of the smaller ones, definitely the smallest in the area. Standing in front of the temple, you can see 3 other temples. It's crazy. It's the only place in the world where there are two temples within one city's boundaries. We almost didn't make it to the tour in time, because we got confused and at first went to the wrong temple. Usually it's not that hard to find the temple, but when there are so many in one place...yeah. I can't decide which one is my favorite in the area. They're all really pretty here.

Summer Adventures

2009-07-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe it's the 24th and it's almost August. Crazy, crazy...school is going by fast too, I only have a little over 6 months left. That is, if I keep going at the rate I am. I may be taking a leave for a couple of weeks this winter sometime, but we'll see what happens. That will just push my graduation date back a couple of weeks. Will's family is in town this week, so we've been spending time with them. It's very stressful for me, because they love games so much, and I am not so good at games and don't enjoy them nearly as much. :P It's fun though. We went bowling last night (I have bowled 2 times in my life before last night, and the last time was almost 4 years ago), then today we played Ultimate Frisbee, which I had never played before. I did alright, the best part was when I won the game for my team...I was pretty proud of myself, I must say. Then tonight we played a game called Celestial Companions. Will and I came in second place only to his brother-in-law and sister that were cheating. This picture is Will making fun of my dirty feet...this is about what they look like at the end of every day. Yuck.

Happy Freedom Day!!

2009-07-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

So I just realized I've had my blog for more than a year now because I remember blogging about last years' fourth. Weird...
Look at my *AMAZING* toenails I did for today!!! I am very proud of them. :)

My plans for today include watching the parade, hiking up the Y and watching fireworks from there, and other than that I don't know. It's gonna be a good day! :)

Long enough hike?

2009-06-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, my family was here and we all went for a hike up to Squaw Peak. My mom and dad didn't want to go all the way up, because it's a 3 mile hike literally straight up a mountain. By far the steepest hike I've ever been on in my life. It was really hard, but we all - Andy, Paul, Will, David, Mary and I - made it. It was Mary's 12th birthday, and she said she wanted an "invigorating hike". I think it met her request. The red dot on the picture is approximately where we started from. So no, we didn't cheat and drive halfway up. It was definitely a legit hike.

We were almost at the top, so I got excited and started frolicking in the flowers!! Yay!!! I'm surprised I had enough energy at that point to jump so many times to get a good picture...

Attacking the mannequin

2009-06-26T21:23:00.000-07:00

I decided to make it a man. :) Here I am giving it stubble with a pencil.

Not whiffle balls :/

2009-06-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening, I went to Trafalga, a place with mini-golfing, go-karts and such. This was apparently supposed to be my date to try new things, since I haven't ever been go-karting except around the yard in one that my brother made, I've never had Dippin' Dots, I haven't been mini-golfing since I was 15, and I've never hit a baseball or softball with a bat. I used to hit whiffle balls and bouncy balls around the yard, but that's about all. I was a little nervous because that is an AWFUL lot to do in one evening, when you're a chicken like me and afraid to do anything if anyone is watching, but I couldn't think of a single good excuse to get out of it, so I went.

The go-karts were fun, I liked them. They were pretty fast, I think they were about 0-10 in a minute or so.

The Dippin' Dots were good, of course.

The batting cage...well, I was scared, I admit. And for good reason. Apparently I don't know how to hold a bat right, and I ended up hurting my hand pretty badly. I think it's just bruised, but it's kind of getting annoying, Most of the time it's just a constant dull ache, but if I try to text or open door knobs it hurts really bad. It's still a little swelled up but I think it's going down. I can't decide if not knowing how to hold a bat proves that I'm a nerd or a girly girl. And the fact that I didn't do my hair for school for the third day in a row makes me think it might be the first one.

The mini golfing was relatively safe, except that part of the course was flooded and I accidentally stepped into the water and then I jumped because it startled me and I got even more wet. But all in all, despite the few little problems I had, it was fun.

Nerdish Tendencies?

2009-06-24T02:23:00.000-07:00

So Will and I were talking last week, and I said something about being kind of a nerd. He disagreed, saying that there was no way I was a nerd. I didn't look like it, act like it, and I went to beauty school. I told him I was anyway, and he wouldn't believe me. A few days later, we were talking about what we used to do when we were kids. I mentioned playing Commander Keen, and he stared at me and was like "You played what?" I told him I used to play Commander Keen all the time when I was younger. He was silent for a few seconds and then said "You ARE a nerd." He said he never really played it because it was too hard. Then I got all excited and wanted to play it again. It doesn't run on Vista, so of course it was difficult to get it to run correctly on my computer. We had to get Dosbox and run it through that, which involved way more than I knew how to do. He figured it out for me and I played it right through without stopping (if I stopped I lost my game), and beat it in a few hours. Then today, I decided that I wanted to play number 5 too, now that I'd finished 4. I talked to someone who is a major computer and video game nerd, who also loved playing Commander Keen, and I said I wanted to play 5. He said "Oh, that one is really hard..." So after searching online for a while I finally found a version I could download, but by the time I found it, Will had to leave because it was midnight and he is a stickler for the rules, to put it lightly. So I was very disappointed and ALMOST cried because I wanted to play it so bad. Okay, maybe that's exaggerating a little bit. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and try talking to the computer myself. It took a little while, but I managed to get it to work, amazingly enough. Not only that, but then I beat it in two hours. No cheating. :)

Ward Glare

2009-06-15T23:35:00.000-07:00

It used to be ward prayer, then it was ward stare, now we call it ward glare. That's not the point of this blog though. We have a "dessert club" every Sunday after ward prayer, and this week it was in our apartment. I took charge, of course, because I love making dessert and really, none of my other roommates can cook. One of them can't even make jello...no joke, but that's another story. I decided I wanted some variety for my ward, so I made German Chocolate bars, Special K bars and Snicker Doodles. Of course everything was a huge hit and those dumb guys that said I didn't know how to use an oven got totally proven wrong and they admitted it. So it was a good day. I spent a lot of my Saturday baking, and my friend Will helped me out. Or perhaps "helped" would be a better way to say it. Here he is making an elephant cookie.

Permed Eyelashes?

2009-06-13T23:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right ladies and gentlemen. Last week in school, we tinted eyelashes and eyebrows to make them darker. And this week, we permed eyelashes. The instructor asked me if I would be the model for the perming, I guess because my lashes are really long and she liked that, or something. I let her do it, but I was very scared, honestly, I think I would look a little goofy if all my eyelashes fell out or something...luckily they turned out fine and I still have eyelashes.

Inked

2009-06-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

I got a tattoo!! The grayish marks are left over from the guide the tattoo artist used, I just need to wash it a few more times and they'll fade.

What did they DO to my hair???

2009-05-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

Spontaneous Adventures :)

2009-05-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

So on Thursday, my roommates and I decided it would be fun to take a random, spontaneous trip to St. George and Las Vegas. On Friday we went to St. George, not really knowing how to get there but assuming we could follow the signs...which we did, and we got there without any trouble. We went shopping, but no one bought anything except for a little pink pig that Kassidy fell in love with and three pool floaties at the toy store. Yes, we went into 15 stores full of clothes and shoes galore, but we only bought things at the toy store. Go figure. We went swimming and probably had way more fun with our floaties than any 19 or 20 year olds should. We slept at a friend's house there in order to save money, and left the next morning at 6 to drive to Las Vegas. If you're wondering why we went there of all places, we're still wondering too. We don't drink, do drugs, gamble, or other things that people go to Vegas for, nor did we have money to go shopping. So basically we wandered up and down the strip for 6 hours going "Wait, why are we here again?" and looking at things much too expensive for any of us ($2,200 purses). We finally came to the conclusion that the only reason we went was to get pictures and tell people "Oh yeah, we were in Vegas". And then (before all the really crazy weirdos came out) we went home!! It was a good time.

My Bicycle!

2009-05-17T18:51:00.001-07:00

Meet my new bike, Amethyst Disaster:
I bought her yesterday. I've been wanting a bike for quite some time now, and I kept calling Andy and telling him to look for one for me since I don't know the first thing about bikes, and finally yesterday I called him and told him again that I needed one. He happened to be going to Deseret Industries (thrift store) to drop some things off, and told me he would take a look there for me. By some stroke of sheer luck, there was this one. Apparently it is worth quite a bit more than the $65 that I got it for...I do wish the purple was a cooler color, such as blue or orange, but it will do. It was pretty funny when Andy and Steph were telling me how to ride it, because I didn't realize you're not supposed to be able to touch the ground when you're sitting on the seat. So they're all telling me how to get on, and I guess I didn't quite get it, because I got on, promptly lost my balance, fell off and scraped my knee. I TOLD them that I didn't remember how to ride a bike anymore because it has been years (literally) and they didn't believe me. Obviously, they should have. But once I actually figured out how to get on without immediately falling off, it was fine. So, no worries!

Another week...

2009-05-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

Almost the weekend again!! It's been an exceptionally better week then my last one. On Monday, I did gel nails (just a type of fake nails) on someone for the first time, and I did such a good job that the teacher freaked out (although she does that quite a lot, it still means something when she freaks out about something a student did), and I got another couple of people asking me to do theirs because they looked so good. So that was a good start to my week. And now it's Thursday and I've made $34 in tips from haircuts. If only everyone tipped like that, honestly. Today, I got my hair cut again!! Yay for going to beauty school and cutting your hair three times a month! There was a girl in my class that wanted to learn more about cutting A-lines, so I agreed to be the model for the class. It was scary, especially because the girl cutting my hair kept making funny squeaking noises, but it was just because she was cutting the cape around me by accident. As you can see...it is just a little bit shorter in the back than in the front. Not too dramatic or anything. I love it!

WEEKEND!

2009-05-09T22:16:00.000-07:00

My bad week got worse. On Thursday, Andy came over with his brother-in-law, Roger, to fix our internet that wasn't working. We wanted him to come over because our Comcast rep. seemed a little bit dumb and kept trying to fix things over the phone, and telling us we had the wrong kind of router. He was really rude and asked the dumbest questions, like "is it plugged in?" I mean come on. For real? Anyway, so they came over and they were here for a while, and due to the extremely strict towing company, Andy's car was towed and he had to pay $120. Me and my roommates are going to pay him back for it, so we were all a little bit annoyed at that. And our internet worked for a few hours and then died again (at the moment it's working, finally). So that was like the grand finale to my bad week.

However...it got much better today. It was probably the most fun day I've had in a long time. Me and my roommates had a sleepover last night in Kassidy's room (yes, we pay so much for private rooms and then share them). This morning we got up and went to Babies R Us in our pamajas, then we went to a ward activity. We left early because we didn't want to play kick ball, and it was sunny outside so we went in the pool. After that we took a walk to Macey's, bought giant ice cream cones, found a random shopping cart near the Provo River and took turns riding in it on the way to my old apartment, where we found a new shopping cart and switched them. After that we went to a park and took tons of pictures, and then came home and made eggs, toast and bacon for dinner. So I am very grateful for my awesome roommates that I love so much, and I am so glad that they're actually fun to be with. By the way...that picture of us balancing, it was very difficult. Especially because I had to hit the camera button, run to the thing through the wood chips in my high heels, jump on and get decently balanced before it took the picture. Which was pretty hard. :)

Quite the week...

2009-05-07T11:05:00.000-07:00

I don't have much to blog about this week. I would have, only everything exciting that was happening ended up not happening after all. I was going to have working internet in my room finally because we got a router, but it didn't work. I was going to go flying with someone I met here at Carriage Cove, but he ended up not being able to take me. I was going to play the guitar, but whenever I try to borrow one from someone it hasn't worked out for some reason (hopefully tonight Andy will bring his). Last night I was supposed to work on a duet with someone but he couldn't. Tonight I was going to Comedy Sports (which is my favorite thing in the world) but that also fell through and I won't be able to go. Oh well, it happens I guess. At least I finally got a letter from Nick after hearing nothing for a month!! :)

My Room

2009-05-02T16:59:00.001-07:00

I finally got a hammer and some nails from Andy so I could finish decorating my room. So...here it is!

New home, again!!

2009-04-30T15:40:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already Thursday, again. I feel like the weeks are flying by so fast I can't even think...which is alright with me, I have to say I won't mind if the next two years go by fast. ;) I moved into my new place on Monday, and I absolutely LOVE it. My two-minute walk to school is probably my favorite part...I love walking, but walking for a total of an hour and twenty minutes every single day was a little too much for me when I lived at Raintree. I also love my roommates, and I get my own room!! I ended up with the smallest one, but it's still a pretty decent size, it's not huge but it's definitely not too cramped or anything. All the rooms are pretty big, and we have brand new couches in our living room. I haven't taken any pictures of my room yet, but I'm waiting for Andy to come tonight and bring me a hammer and some nails to finish decorating and get my curtains up. Then I'll post pictures of that too!! The people here seem cool too, and I'm already met my bishopric and they're very friendly and seem like a lot of fun. I met a bunch of people my first night here and went over to one of their apartments to watch a movie, so I think it's a pretty good start to my summer. :)

Utah Flooding

2009-04-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

North Dakota may have been almost totally underwater for the past few weeks, but I'm having my own small problems with flooding here in Utah. In the underpass, where I walk to get to school every day, somehow the storm drain got backed up and left a few inches of water in the way. A few inches sounds like it wouldn't be a big deal, but it's sort of a pain. At first I just ran through it as fast as I could, but when that made my shoes and socks wet, not to mention my pants and sometimes my shirt, I decided there must be a better way. I decided even though it took quite a bit out of me, I hoisted my huge bag up and jumped up onto the cement wall next to the walkway and walked over next to it. This wouldn't be a big deal, but it's been a week and the water hasn't moved an inch. I'm getting a little bit tired of jumping up and down walls that are just about as tall as I am. You might ask why I don't just walk all the way across up on the wall so I don't have to jump, but I would probably end up with a concussion, with the cement supports that go across at about 3 feet from the top of the wall. I am only hoping that it will go down soon. I don't know though, it's supposed to rain this next weekend, so it'll probably just get worse.

I'm moving out tomorrow!! I'm kind of excited, but at the same time I'm really sort of sad. I've really liked this apartment complex a lot and I've met so many awesome people. Now that I finally feel like I have friends, I have to go make new ones again. Oh well, I'm sure it won't be too hard, and at least I'll be in my new ward for a lot longer than I was in this one (3 months). I think I need to make a goal to meet more people though, and really try harder to get to know them better. It took me the whole 3 months here to really start feeling like I had some friends, and it still wasn't quite what I wanted. But then I realized I never really tried very hard till a couple of weeks ago. So that's one of my goals for my new ward and apartment. Another goal is to actually do my visiting teaching. It should be so easy with my companions and teachees living within 50 feet of my apartment (just like the rest of my ward :P), but it's not. It's so hard to get schedules worked out and getting stubborn college students here to cooperate when they think visiting teaching is for old, lonely ladies. Yeah, life is rough, I gotta say...

So I got my nails done again, only they're all the same this time! I've never had fake nails before, and definitely not ones that look like these, but I am starting to kind of like them. I always thought that this style looked really weird, the colored french manicure, but it's actually kind of fun for summer and everything. I guess. The only reason I did it in the first place was because I was in a nail class at school the other day and I was supposed to do my nails. Another girl did something similar to mine and I decided maybe it didn't look too stupid and I should try it since it was free. So there ya go...now I just have to not get so addicted to them that I leave them on for 7 years, like one of the girls in my class. She doesn't have real nails anymore actually, her fingers literally grew into her fake nails and she can't take them off, she just does them every month or so. Gross, huh? I think so.

For Dad!!

2009-04-20T19:37:00.001-07:00

We do math in beauty school. :)

2009-04-18T20:39:00.000-07:00

We did cornrows in school yesterday, and it really hurts to have it done. It also makes me feel like I should either be black or going to girls' camp. It's much more fun to take it out and go hot tubbing!!! My roommate said it would make her week if I went out to the hot tub with my hair this way, so I did. It was pretty funny. :) Everyone stared at me, and then apparently they made fun of me behind my back. It was a good night. Luckily I'm moving in a week and will hopefully never see any of them again! Not that I would really care that much anyway, I would have done it even if I wasn't moving. It was a good time.

Are you KIDDING me??

2009-04-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

Waking up in mid-April in Utah, where it's supposed to be WARM, and looking out the door seeing THIS does not make my day:

Ya gotta love it. Oh well, I guess it will get warm again soon. I hope.