Pregnancy: A Love/Hate Relationship

So I've been thinking over the past few days and I have come to the realization that I don't love being pregnant. Maybe it's just my wacky hormones (and I do mean wacky- I kid you not, I threw a temper tantrum last week that would rival most 2 year olds. Not to mention, I can and do cry at the drop of hat these days.) Whenever I hear women say that they LOVE to be pregnant, I figure they are totally lying. Who honestly loves being pregnant?! Don't get me wrong, there are some things I do love about it but overall, it is not a comfortable or pleasurable experience, at least it hasn't been for me. I think about that and then I feel guilty because I truly am grateful to be pregnant. I know there are so many good women out there who are unable to conceive children and I know how blessed I am that I was even able to get pregnant. Trust me, there was a period of time where I was convinced it wasn't going to happen for me so when it did, I was overjoyed! So in order to vent a little as well as show my gratitude, I have complied a list of things I love & hate about being pregnant. I'll start with the bad...

Things I don't love about being pregnant:

1- The sickness. I think back to my first trimester and cringe. I don't know how I got through it. I hated that constant nausea and exhaustion more than anything!
2- The constant worry about every little thing. I am always questioning what is normal and what isn't and is my baby healthy and what is going to go wrong... the list is endless. Seriously, there are some nights I can't sleep because my mind won't stop going over the horrible things that could happen.
3- The constant peeing. I feel like I spend half the day (and night) going to the bathroom. It's gotten to the point where I can almost pee on command whether I just went or not. I especially hate the 3 AM trips to the bathroom.
4- My feet swelling. I never thought that would neccessarily be painful but it really is. I sit at a desk all day so by the end of the day, they are so sore and puffy. The puffiness in general I dislike. I am just plain puffy all over. Brandon laughs at me all the time...but in a "look how cute and puffy you are" kind of way. I don't find it cute at all.
5- And last but not least, the constant PAIN!! I have been in near constant pain since probably the 4th month. My torso is so short and he has nowhere to go and so the bigger he gets, the more he pushes my ribs out. They honestly feel bruised all the time and oh how they ache. And for the past couple of months I have had the worst pain in my upper back. No matter if I'm laying down or sitting up it just hurts! There is no relief (Brandon thinks one of my ribs is out of place... lovely). I can't sleep anymore and I am never comfortable ever! I am just huge and I hurt. I guess it's kind of a good thing because it takes some of the fear out of child birth- at least he will be out!
To be honest, I could go on but I'm limiting my complaints. I need to be positive so...
now that I'm done venting about the bad (I really do feel better just getting it out!)here's the good!

Things I love about being pregnant:

1- I love knowing that I am going to be a mom! I love it that we created this little human and he is ours and that it is my responsibilty/privilege to carry him and sustain him until he's ready to be born.
2- I love feeling him moving and kicking in there. Especially lately, he has gotten bigger so I can actually feel little limbs poking out of my belly. It's fun, we play with each other all day (even though sometimes he kicks a little too hard, I really do love it!)
3- I love knowing that pretty soon I am going to be able to meet my little boy and I can't wait to see what he will look like and what his little personality will be like. I already love him so much and feel a bond with him, I can't imagine how much it will grow when he's actually here. Just knowing he is mine and that he depends on me makes it all worth it.
4- I love shopping for baby things with my mom. I love (and am SO grateful) that she has already gotten us pretty much everything we need and that it is already set up just waiting for him to get here. I love looking at his little clothes and imagining how cute he is going to look in them. I love going in his room and just looking at all of his things- I get so excited!
5- I love the fact that even though it's been hard at times (especially the first trimester!) this pregnancy really has brought Brandon and I closer. I love him so much more and appreciate all he does for me. I love knowing he is going to be the best dad to our little boy. I love seeing his face when he can feel the baby kicking and how he likes to rub my belly all the time. I love that he is so determined to provide for us and that I will be able to stay home with our baby. I love that he gets nervous at times and is honest about it but at the same time, I know he loves this little baby and can't wait for him to get here. He has been so understanding and patient and he really doesn't get enough credit. I love that we are starting our little family and am so glad that I get to do it with him.

Ok, I really need to stop because as I mentioned above, I've been a wee-bit emotional lately. I'm glad I did this though because it made me realize how good I have it. Even though pregnancy is sometimes a pain (literally), it is SO worth it and the good really does outweigh the bad when I stop and think about it. If we didn't have the bitter, we wouldn't know the sweet right?

Time for a New Post

I just realized that it has been almost a month since my last post... I am a slacker! Just a quick little update- I'm 29 weeks pregnant now and feeling it! I feel so huge it's amazing. Other than some back and rib pain and my feet swelling up, I've been feeling pretty good. Everything seems to be going well with my pregnancy and I am just counting down the days until February! We had a great Thanksgiving which we spent in Colorado with my mom and step-dad. It was nice to be able to get away for the weekend however, it was not so much fun spending 5 hours in a car. Anytime I sit (or stand for that matter) for very long my feet start to swell up and hurt so by the time we got to my mom's house, I could barely walk. We had so much fun though so I guess it was worth the swelling. My mom made us a huge Thanksgiving dinner (she even made her own pies, I was impressed)and we just relaxed on Thanksgiving. We ended up going to see Twilight that night because my mom hadn't seen it yet. I am not ashamed to say it was my third time, I love it! The next day we went shopping in Durango then I came home and slept for 3 hours (shopping wears me out these days). We also went bowling on Friday night which was so much fun! I came so so close to beating Brandon on our last game but I choked in the last frame. He was relieved to not get beaten by his pregnant wife! Back to the shopping-my mom has gotten so many cute things for our baby, it's crazy! The kid honestly has more clothes than I do and he isn't even here yet! She also got us this awesome dresser/changer to go in his room. I am so excited because it is the same style as his crib so it matches perfectly. Here's a picture of it

That solved our problem of whether or not to get a changing table or a dresser because it's both so it's perfect! It is so funny to me how excited she is for this baby. My step-dad too, they seriously can't go shopping without buying something for him. We are so grateful for their help and it is so much fun to plan and talk about everything with my mom and to have her be almost more excited than I am! This baby is definately going to be spoiled, that's for sure! Anyway, that's about all the new stuff that's been going on. My mom did take some belly pictures while we were there so I'll put those up soon- they are lovely, let me tell you. I am huge!

Ok as promised, here is a recent picture of me and my HUGE belly


We went to this place in Cortez called Four Seasons. It's a greenhouse but at Christmas they set up a ton of different Christmas Trees with different themes. They also have live reindeer so my mom made us take a picture by them...


This one is just funny and very strange. There is a guy in Cortez who has set up this huge display of "tin" people that he made. This was Brandon's favorite one- it's pretty funny. Only in Cortez...

3-D Pictures of Baby Brooks

On Saturday we got to go do a 3-D ultrasound of our baby. My mom and step-dad came up from Colorado to go with us and Brandon's mom was able to be there as well. It was honestly the coolest thing I have ever seen. It was so amazing to be able to actually see our little baby and his cute face! It is amazing to me how perfect they look even this early in the pregnancy. It was great because he was in the perfect position for us to get a good look at his face- he cooperated nicely! I'm pretty sure he was sleeping for the first little while but then he started to wake up and just went crazy. He started covering his face with his hands and doing all these funny things. It was such a neat experience though to see our sweet little boy and get at least an idea of what he will look like when he's born. We decided he definately has Brandon's chin dimple (which his mom and I are so excited about) and my mom says he has my nose. We love him so much already and can't wait until February so we can see him in person! Here are some of the pictures we got:

I was so excited to get his profile (we couldn't get one at our 20 week ultrasound)


Here is his cute little face- he had one hand over his eye and the other one is tucked up under his neck; you can see his little elbow poking out.


Is he not the cutest?! I just love his lips!



We finally got him to move his hands and this is what he did- so cute!


Then he really started to go crazy- he turned his head completely to the side and put his hand up and started throwing out some gang signs. Hang loose!


This one is for you Ki! This is my belly at 20 weeks I think... it has grown quite a bit since then but I haven't taken any recent pictures.

The Changing Table Debate

I know this probably seems a little silly but I am debating on whether or not to get a changing table. Here is why it is such a debate: the biggest reason I don't want to get one is they can get kind of pricy and I'm not sure I want to spend money on something I may not even use that much, especially when there are a million other things that we need for the baby. On the other hand, the room we are putting him in doesn't have a closet or anywhere to put his clothes and other baby stuff so I kind of need something for storage purposes. I have talked to several friends about it and most of them told me they never use their changing tables but then some of my friends love them and use them all the time. So what are your thoughts? Is it worth it to spend the money and have a cute place to store stuff and change dirty diapers or is it better to figure out something else for storage and just change his diapers on the floor? Also, if I decide not to get a changing table, what are some creative ideas for where I can put his clothes and diapers and other baby stuff?

Being Prepared

Over the past couple of months I have been really trying to read up on and follow conservative views of the up-coming election. I say "conservative views" because there is so much garbage in the media that it is hard to know what to believe. For many reasons, this election particularly terrifies me as far as what the outcome could be. Lately, I have been reading transcripts on glennbeck.com. I love Glenn Beck for lots of reasons and have listened to him because of Brandon for awhile. I think he is honest and I agree with his political views as well as his values (he is LDS). Over the past week or so he has written 3 different letters to friends and members of his family that he has shared on his website explaining the current economic mess we are in. The first two basically explain how it happened and what he thinks is coming but it's the third that I want to post a link to. It talks about what we can do to prepare for the future. It is such a great article and I felt like it would be a good idea to share it with as many people as I can. It is so important to start preparing for what may come and I guess I'm really feeling pressure because of our expanding family. It is a pretty long article but I encourage all of you to read it and consider the ideas he presents. It definately inspired and motivated me to try and be more prepared. Here is the link: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/16799/
(For some reason it won't let me do a direct link so just copy and paste the address and it should take you right to it.)

Pregnancy Update

So I realized that I haven't updated my blog in awhile and that is really lame. Even more lame is the fact that we have actually done some fun stuff the past month and have pictures to post and I haven't taken the time to put them on my computer. First of all, just a little pregnancy update- I am now at 21 weeks! I can't believe I am half way done. It's weird because I never thought those first couple of months would end but now, looking back, it really has gone by pretty fast. We had our 20 week ultrasound last Monday. I love getting ultrasounds, it is so much fun to see him moving around in there! They confirmed the gender (still very much a boy) and just checked everything out. He is measuring exactly where he should be and everything looked normal and healthy so we were relieved and happy to know he is doing well. It's crazy how much he has grown in the past few weeks since we did the gender ultrasound. I am definately feeling him move around a lot more which I love! It is the coolest feeling. I am also feeling SO much better. I am no longer sick at all and I actually have some energy which is great! I'm finally able to enjoy being pregnant. It is such a crazy feeling knowing that in a few months, I am going to be a mom! It is the scariest, greatest, (did I mention scariest?) most overwhelming and exciting feeling ever. Honestly I've never been more terrifed or excited in my life. I'm so glad so many of you already have kids so you can give me some good advice because I'm going to need it! Anyway, I'll try and get some pictures up tonight of my ever growing belly and some of the ultrasound pictures we have of our boy. He sure is cute!

This pretty much sums up how I feel...

Our One Year Anniversary

Today is our one year anniversary!! I honestly can't believe it has already been a year- time has flown! I have to say, I am so grateful to be married to my best friend. Brandon is the best husband ever and I feel so lucky to be his wife. He has been so good to me over the last year and especially in the last few months that I have been pregnant. I know it hasn't been easy for him but he has been so understanding and patient with me. He has done and continues to do everything he can to take care of me and make me happy. I am so excited to start a family with him and I know that he is going to be the best dad in the world. Our baby is one lucky boy! I honestly couldn't have asked for anyone better for me. With Brandon there is never a dull moment and he keeps me laughing everyday. Being married to him for the last year has been the best and it makes me so excited to see what the future holds for us. Even though he probably won't even read this I just want to say: I love you Brandon, happy anniversary!!

I can officially announce...

We are so excited! And yes, I said WE because Brandon came to the ultrasound with me! I am so glad he did, it turned out to be a really cool experience and I am so happy he was there with me. My mom and step-dad were there too, they made the trip from Colorado especially for this and I am so glad they did. My mom and I had so much fun shopping after the ultrasound and let me just say, this kid is going to be very well dressed! I'm pretty sure she nearly bought out the baby boy section at every store we went too- thanks mom, I love you! Anyway, it is such a relief to finally know that it's a boy in there and it really does make it so much more real to me. I'm also relieved to know that I can trust my instincts because I've felt really strongly that it was a boy this entire time and would have felt really dumb if I would have been wrong! Brandon and I honestly couldn't be happier and can't wait for February so we can meet our little boy!

Finding Out

As many of you know, Brandon and I have different opinions on whether or not we should find out what the gender of our baby is. I desperately want to find out so that I can start buying cute baby stuff and getting prepared since this is our first. Brandon feels like finding out before the baby is born takes away all the excitement and that it's not as fun. Well, it's getting closer to when we could actually find out and we have been at odds about what to do. We both understand the other's feelings on the matter but neither of us is willing to budge. For me, I have to know what this baby is or I will not be able to fully enjoy this pregnancy. I feel like if I can find out, I will be able to bond with the baby and just really be able to feel like it's real. Not to mention, I hate surprises and waiting would drive me crazy! We have tossed around some ideas as far as compromising and this is what we have come up with... I'm going to find out but Brandon isn't. My mom is coming up here the weekend of September 6th and she's going to come to the ultrasound with me. On a side note, my doctor's office doesn't do an ultrasound until 20 weeks. That would be the end of September or first of October for me and we (my mom and I) couldn't wait that long so we set up one at one of those 3D ultrasound clinics. So Brandon will still come to the one at 20 weeks with me so he can see the baby too. Anyway, does anyone think this will work? I've heard it's been done before and I'm going to be really careful to not tell Brandon or let him see stuff I buy but what do you all think? This was really the only way we could think of that both of us could get what we want.

Flying Standby

So we are finally home from our lovely vacation in Virginia. We had a lot of fun and I will do another post soon with some pictures and stories from our trip! However, this post is dedicated to flying standby. First of all, I would just like to thank Felicity for being so great and hooking us up with Buddy Passes through JetBlue! It saved us a ton of money and we probably wouldn't have even been able to go on a vacation without them. I will say this though, I will never ever ever travel standby (at least not in August and most definately not while I'm pregnant) again. Ever! We were supposed to fly out on Friday morning at like 8:00 to Long Beach, CA and then from there to Washington DC. Well, the flight to Long Beach was completely full so we weren't able to get on that flight. They told us that there was another flight that stopped in San Diego that left at 10:30 AM. The only thing was the flight from San Diego to Washington DC didn't leave until 10:15 PM. We decided to just do it because we weren't going to make it on any of the flights to Long Beach. So, we spent the entire day in San Deigo. This was on my birthday mind you. Because we had such a long wait, we decided to take a bus into town and see the harbor and get some lunch. It was fun but being pregnant and walking around in the heat in the middle of the day was not so good for me. We ended up just going back to the airport and sitting for the majority of the day. Luckily, Brandon was so sweet and kept randomly giving me presents throughout the day which made the day so fun for me! He was very creative and I loved it! Anyway, we finally made the flight to DC but didn't get hardly any sleep on the plane. It is NOT easy to sleep on a plane no matter how tired you are. We landed in DC at 6:15 AM and then found out that our luggage was not there. After calling around the lady told us it was probably at JFK airport(long story that I won't get into) and would possibly come in on the next flight from there. Which, thank heavens, it did. By the time we got to Charlottesville, we were both exhausted and ended up just sleeping most of the day. Now the story of our long journey home. We got out of DC just fine. Except for the fact that we got about 3 hours of sleep the night before and left for the aiport at 4:00 AM, it really wasn't too bad at all. We got into Long Beach at about 10:30 AM. I don't know if any of you have been to the Long Beach Airport but it is awful! It is so small and SO crowded and just ridiculous! Anyway, we found out once we landed that the flight we were supposed to take to SLC that night at 7:15 PM was completely full and we wouldn't get on it. Great. So now we were stuck in Long Beach for a full day and probably over night. UGH. So, we just decided to rent a car and get a room for the night and try and leave the next morning. My wonderful mom was able to get us a free hotel room for the night which was great. But I was not a happy girl. I was tired and hot and hungry and I just wanted to go to sleep. We had to wait until 3 to check into our hotel though so we just ate lunch and drove around for a couple of hours. Finally, we got to our hotel and I got to take a long lovely nap. We were told by someone at JetBlue that we needed to go to the airport that night so that we could be there in person to change our flight to the next morning. So we went without our luggage and just had to sit there for awhile. We didn't get on the flight (good thing because we wouldn't have been able to go anyway without our luggage) and were told that we probably wouldn't get on the morning flight either because it was booked. The lady there basically said if we wanted to get home we would probably need to drive to San Diego and try flying out of there. She also told us in not so many words that we were dumb to try travelling standy to Salt Lake from California the week before school was starting. We didn't even think of that. So, we went and talked to the rental car people and they told us it would end up costing us close to $150 to drive the car and drop it off in San Diego. Of course. All we could do was hope and pray that we got on the morning flight. By some miracle, we ended up getting on the flight that next morning and finally made it home! I am so tired from all this traveling nonsense and am so glad we made it! I'm sure Brandon and I will look back at it and just laugh but right now, not so much!

Back to Virginia

About a month ago I posted that we were going to Puerto Rico in August for our vacation. Well, things have changed a little due to the fact that I am pregnant and we are poor. I couldn't justify spending as much money as we would inevitably have to spend in Puerto Rico (the cheapest non-ghetto hotel we could find was $100 a night) when we have a baby coming and need to start saving. So, much to Brandon's dissapointment (he really really wanted to go to Puerto Rico), we are going back to our original vacation plan... Virginia. For those of you who don't know, Brandon grew up in Charlottesville and so we thought it might be fun to go back there and visit some of his friends and see some cool historical sites. I am actually really excited to go. I have been back there once before and I fell completely in love with it. I am really just excited to be getting away from here and more importantly to be off work for an entire 6 days!! Ahh, just the thought of that makes me SO happy!

Sickness

I decided I needed a new post because everytime I look at my page and see the Prego spaghetti sauce, I gag. I am so sick of being sick! Honestly, I've been pretty lucky because I haven't actually thrown up all that much but I am just constantly nauseaous from the minute I wake up until I go to bed at night. I can't even brush my teeth without gagging. Basically the only relief I have is when I'm sleeping! More than anything, I feel bad for Brandon. He has had to deal with me feeling sick and tired all the time and not wanting to do anything. He even had to change the soap he uses because it made me sick. I haven't been able to clean or cook for the longest time because the smells of things make it so much worse. Basically, he hasn't had a wife for the past month. He has been nothing but sympathetic and understanding and I am so grateful for that but I know it's hard on him. So all you mothers out there, please tell me there is a light at the end of this horrible tunnel! Any tips on how to help with the nausea (please don't mention crackers because those make me sick too!)would be greatly appreciated. I'm hoping this doesn't last that much longer- I'm about 10 weeks so lets all pray that it goes away after the first trimester!!

I am officially...

PREGO!
Most of your probably already know but we had our first doctor's appointment last week so I'm making it official. I am about 9 weeks now (I'm due February 18th) and the doctor said everything looks really good. We had an ultrasound and got to see our little bean and hear the heartbeat. It was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced! It made all the sickness and fatigue so much more worth it to actually see that there really is a baby in there. I have been pretty sick for the past few weeks but I'm actually starting to feel a little bit better. Brandon has really been a trooper and has taken such good care of me and hasn't even complained. He's been so patient and I am so grateful for him and what a great husband he is- he will be the best dad ever! We are both so excited (and a little scared) to become parents and to start our family!

Our New Car

This is our new car!! We just got it last night and we LOVE it. Ours is actually silver but this was the only picture I could find. A couple of weeks ago I got in an accident in my Mazda 3. I was stopped in traffic on Center Street in Orem and I got rear-ended by a huge F450 truck. It hit me so hard that it pushed my car into a van in front of me (this van was huge and had a big metal lift on the back of it). Needless to say, it totalled my car. It has been a huge pain trying to deal with their insurance but everything is finally taken care of for the most part. We decided, no more little cars! It was so scary to be in a wreck like that in such a little car, I'm so lucky I didn't get hurt! So, we started looking for something that was a little bigger, but not too big. With gas prices, SUV's aren't the smartest idea. We found this 2008 Saturn Vue after an all day search. They were having an awesome deal where you could get a 72 month loan with NO interest. It is the perfect size, it's all-wheel drive, and it still gets pretty good gas mileage. We are very excited to have found such a great safe car for a really good deal!

Here are some pictures of my car after the accident...






This is the truck that hit me (it craked the radiator on the truck but didn't even dent the bumper. The van that I hit had a little dent on the back bumper)

Puerto Rico

Brandon and I are going to Puerto Rico in August!! I am so excited to finally be able to go on another tropical vacation. We were actually planning a trip to Virginia to visit some of his friends but a good friend of ours works for Jet Blue and is getting us Buddy Passes so we are only going to have to pay taxes on the tickets. Once we realized this, and the fact that Jet Blue flies to Puerto Rico, we changed our minds and decided to go there instead. We figured we needed to take advantage of this because flights to Puerto Rico are twice as much as flights to Virginia! I'm sure you're all wondering why Puerto Rico? Well, Brandon worked out there for a summer after his mission and he has always wanted to go back. It will be fun for him to show me around the island and see where he lived and do all the fun things he did while he was there. I'm excited too because I found out that Puerto Rico is just a 15 minute plane ride from the US Virgin Islands so we might get to go to St Thomas as well! This will be the cool honeymoon we wanted to take but couldn't afford. I'm so excited, I just don't know if I can wait until August- I need a vacation NOW!

For London

It has been one year today since Paige and Stenson lost their baby girl London. She was born on May 3rd, 2007 and she passed away on May 11, 2007. Even though she was only here for 8 days, she had such a huge impact on our family. Last night the family came over to Paige and Stenson's and we all shared our experiences and the things that London taught each of us with them. It was so amazing to hear how she affected each of us in so many ways. For me personally, I just remember watching Paige and Stenson throughout week she was born and even after she passed away and seeing their amazing faith and strength. Even though they were obviously heartbroken that they had lost their little girl, they knew that it was the Lord's will and that was all that mattered. Brandon and I only got to see her once in the hospital. I remember walking into the NICU and seeing her lying there connected to so many tubes and thinking, despite that, she was honestly the most beautiful baby I have ever seen. It hurt my heart to see her so tiny and helpless but at the same time immediatley feeling her sweet little spirit and knowing that we were in the presence of perfection. After she passed away, it was so sad but wonderful at the same time to know that she was still their little girl and that she would be forever. To have the knowledge that she was so special and perfect that she didn't need to be here on this earth and that in just eight short days, she had fulfilled her mission here. She had gained a body and she had taught not only an entire family, but anyone who heard her story about the gift of eternity. She strengthened all of our testimonies of the gospel and increased our gratitude for the knowledge that we have of the Plan of Salvation. My admiration for Paige and Stenson for their example of faith grew so much. I am so grateful to have gotten to know Paige so much more since then and to see that her faith has only increased. She is honestly one of the strongest people I know and I am so grateful that she is now my sister. I am so blessed to be apart of this eternal family and to know that London is still apart of it too and will be forever. What an amazing gift!

Camping in Moab

Last weekend Brandon and I went camping in Moab with Paige and Stenson. Maddy and Boston came too as well as Stenson's brother Sterling. It was definately an adventure! We got down there late Thursday night and the weather was horrible. It was so windy and cold so we decided not to put up our tent. I ended up making a bed out of foam pads inside the truck and Brandon slept on an air mattress in the bed of the truck. It was actually really comfy and pretty warm so I was happy. The next day was a little better weather-wise so we took a four-wheeling trip. It was a lot of fun and it was gorgeous! When we got back to camp the boys took off to find us another camp spot since the wind had started to pick up. The camp site we had was just out in the open so there was no shelter from the wind. They ended up finding another site that was kind of secluded in some trees so we moved all of our stuff. This is when it gets bad. Just a little side note: we have been having problems with our four-wheeler lately. It kept over-heating so Brandon and our friend Jay had worked on it the week before our trip to get it working again. It ended up working great, it didn't over-heat once the whole day we were riding. So having said that, our back brakes were a little loose so Brandon started trying to tighten them up. It wasn't working so he unscrewed the bolt for our front brakes to try it and see if it would tighten. Well, he ended up tightening the bolts too tight and it stripped something inside and basically broke the brakes. SO, we ended up not having any brakes at all. Brandon and Stenson had to go into Moab to see if it could be fixed because the next day we were planning on going on a really hard ride (the trail we were going on was the whole reason they wanted to come to Moab). To make this long story a little shorter, they came back without the four-wheeler and the next morning Brandon and I had to go pick it up. They said it would be done at 9:00 AM... we got back to camp around 1:00 PM. Needless to say, we were not very happy. It ended up costing a bunch of money and lots of time. Brandon definately learned his lesson- he is no mechanic! Anyway, the rest of the trip was a blast- the King Creek Trail was so much fun although it was a pretty rough ride. But it was like 70 degrees and so nice to be outside in the sunshine! Despite the windy weather and brake problems, it really was a fun trip.

Brandon hiking with Boston





As you can see, it was very cold that day!!


Our second camp site


Taking a break on the King Creek Trail


Brandon in his riding atire

Oh How I Miss St. George

This past weekend Brandon and I went down to St. George so I could go to the Colbie Callait concert at Tuachan. I took my bestest friend Kiley for her birthday and her friends Riley and Linda came too. It was a fun girls night. The concert was great- other than it was FREEZING cold outside! I was pretty mad about that because I was so excited to enjoy the warm weather. It didn't occur to me that even though the weather said it was supposed to be 80 degrees during the day, it would be colder than that at night. Other than that though, it was a lot of fun. Colbie was really good live and it was fun to see a bunch of people from high school that were at the concert too. It's funny because the last couple of times I've been back to St. George I've gotten really homesick. I miss the red mountains and warm sunny weather! It was so depressing to come back home to SNOW. We had so much fun hanging out with Kiley and her husband Brandon and their baby Hadley. Even though she was so sick, she was the best behaved baby I have ever seen! She is the cutest little girl and I loved being able to see her and play with her. It makes me sad because they live in Las Vegas so we don't get to see them much but we have so much fun when we do! Thanks again Ki for a fun weekend and for doing my hair- you are the best!

Since I didn't bring my camera I stole this picture from Kiley's blog

How Scary Is This?

My friend Keia had this article posted on her blog and I thought it was so good I had to post it on mine too. It is the scariest article I have read in a long time. I haven't understood what the appeal is for Obama. Also, I really haven't ever heard him talk about his policies and where he stands on certain issues. This article spells it out for you and the thought of him being elected president is terrifying!

"Beyond Obama's Beauty" Ken Blackwell - Columnist for the New York Sun

It's an amazing time to be alive in America. We're in a year of firsts in this presidential election: the first viable woman candidate; the first viable African-American candidate; and, a candidate who is the first frontrunning freedom fighter over 70. The next president of America will be a first. We won't truly be in an election of firsts, however, until we judge every candidate by where they stand. We won't arrive where we should be until we no longer talk about skin color or gender. Now that Barack Obama steps to the front of the Democratic field, we need to stop talking about his race, and start talking about his policies and his politics.

The reality is this: Though the Democrats will not have a nominee until August, unless Hillary Clinton drops out, Mr. Obama is now the frontrunner, and its time America takes a closer and deeper look at him. Some pundits are calling him the next John F. Kennedy. He's not. He's the next George McGovern. And it's time people learned the facts. Because the truth is that Mr. Obama is the single most liberal senator in the entire U.S. Senate. He is more liberal than Ted Kennedy, Bernie Sanders, or Mrs. Clinton. Never in my life have I seen a presidential frontrunner whose rhetoric is so far removed from his record. Walter Mondale promised to raise our taxes, and he lost. George McGovern promised military weakness, and he lost. Michael Dukakis promised a liberal domestic agenda, and he l ost. Yet Mr. Obama is promising all those things, and he's not behind in the polls. Why? Because the press has dealt with him as if he were in a beauty pageant.

Mr. Obama talks about getting past party, getting past red and blue, to lead the United States of America. But let's look at the more defined strokes of who he is underneath this superficial "beauty." Start with national security, since the president's most important duties are as commander-in-chief. Over the summer, Mr. Obama talked about invading Pakistan, a nation armed with nuclear weapons; meeting without preconditions with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who vows to destroy Israel and create another Holocaust; and Kim Jong II, who is murdering and starving his people, but emphasized that the nuclear option was off the table against terrorists - something no president has ever taken off the table since we created nuclear weapons in the 1940s. Even Democrats who have worked in national security condemned all of those remarks. Mr. Obama is a foreign-policy novice who would put our national security at risk.

Next, consider economic policy. For all its faults, our health care system is the strongest in the world. And free trade agreements, created by Bill Clinton as well as President Bush, have made more goods more affordable so that even people of modest means can live a life that no one imagined a generation ago. Yet Mr. Obama promises to raise taxes on "the rich." How to fix Social Security? Raise taxes. How to fix Medicare? Raise taxes. Prescription drugs? Raise taxes. Free college? Raise taxes. Socialize medicine? Raise taxes. His solution to everything is to have government take it over. Big Brother on steroids, funded by your paycheck.

Finally, look at the social issues. Mr. Obama had the audacity to open a stadium rally by saying, "All praise and glory to God!" but says that Christian leaders speaking for life and marriage have "hijacked" - hijacked - Christianity. He is pro-partial birth abortion, and promises to appoint Supreme Court justices who will rule any restriction on it unconstitutional. He espouses the abortion views of Margaret Sanger, one of the early advocates of racial cleansing. His spiritual leaders endorse homosexual marriage, and he is moving in that direction. In Illinois, he refused to vote against a statewide ban - ban - on all handguns in the state. These are radical left, Hollywood, and San Francis co values, not Middle America values.

The real Mr. Obama is an easy target for the general election. Mrs. Clinton is a far tougher opponent. But Mr. Obama could win if people don't start looking behind his veneer and flowery speeches. His vision of "bringing America together" means saying that those who disagree with his agenda for America are hijackers or warmongers. Uniting the country means adopting his liberal agenda and abandoning any conflicting beliefs. But right now everyone is talking about how eloquent of a speaker he is and - yes - they're talking about his race. Those should never be the factors on which we base our choice for president. Mr. Obama's radical agenda sets him far outside the American mainstream, to the left of Mrs. Clinton. It's time to talk about the real Barack Obama. In an election of firsts, let's first make sure we elect the person who is qualified to be our president in a nuclear age during a global civilizational war.

Subject: Kind of scary, wouldn't you think I STRONGLY URGE each one of you to repost this as many times as you can! Each opportunity that you have to send it to a friend or media outlet...do it! If you think I am crazy..Im sorry but I refuse to take a chance on the "unknown" candidate

Adventures in Babysitting

Last weekend Brandon and I had the opportunity to babysit for Brandon's brother Jared and his wife Jamie for the weekend. They have three kids: Cooper is 5, Ryder is 3, and Mylie will be 2 in June. I was excited that they asked us because I have been babysitting these kids pretty much since Brandon and I started dating and I love them like they are my own. It was definately a great experience and if nothing else it made me appreciate what all you mothers out there actually do every day. It also made me realize how lucky I am to be married to Brandon. He is going to be a GREAT dad! All of the kids in his family absolutely love him. They love to "wrestle" him and play with him and he is so good with all of them. Cooper, Ryder, and Mylie are no exception! The kids woke up really early on Saturday (7:00 am to be exact- I was NOT happy). I had to get up with them and get them breakfast and keep them entertained until Brandon woke up around 9:30. (The entire time they kept asking "When is Brandon going to wake up? and Mylie walked around going "Where's Brandon" in her cute little voice.) Once Brandon was up we got the kids ready and decided to take them up to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. They LOVED it. Cooper got to touch a stingray-he was so excited! (Ryder wanted nothing to do with touching anything so he pretty much just watched Cooper.) It was so much fun to see their reactions to seeing all the fish and sharks. It was pretty hectic trying to keep track of two excited boys though! After the aquarium we took them to McDonald's for lunch. That was rough. They were all pretty tired by then and so were we. Once we got home Brandon could tell I was tired and needed a break so after I put Mylie down for her nap, he took the boys four-wheeling so I could rest for awhile. He is the best! He even took them to Cabela's later that day and then they went looking for deer (Cooper LOVES to look for deer) while Mylie and I stayed home and watched Barney (she is obsessed). He really was such a big help and he was so good at keeping the kids entertained- it totally gave me a glimpse of how he will be with our kids. It's weird but being in those situations where you totally have to rely on each other made me love him even more! Even though it nearly wore us out, we were so glad to have been able to help Jared and Jamie since they have done so much for us. Plus, we love their kids! It was a very fun(and very exhausting)weekend!

Cooper getting to drive the boat


Cute boys!




The stingrays were huge!




My cute husband (look at Cooper's face-he was concentrating pretty hard!)




These were pretty much the only two pictures Ryder would let me take of him




This is Mylie's "mean face"- she makes this face and then laughs histerically so you know she isn't really mad at you. She is SO funny!

Ice Fishing

A couple of weekends ago Brandon and I went ice fishing at Strawberry Resevoir. For those of you who don't know Brandon, he is obsessed with fishing no matter what the season. Luckily for me, he has an ice fishing tent so I can actually go with him and not freeze to death. Otherwise, I would never see him on Saturday's in the winter because he goes pretty much every weekend. Anyway, it was pretty cold the day we went and we were some of the first ones on the lake because we were there so early (he made me get up at 6:00 am. On a Saturday). So we had to walk quite a long way from where our truck was parked to where he wanted to fish. Just to give you a picture, there was about a foot and half of snow on the lake and there wasn't a very good trail because like I said, we were some of the first ones there. I don't know how many of you have tried to walk through knee-deep snow pulling a sled but I don't reccommend it. I seriously thought I was going to die! Needless to say, we didn't get as far out on the lake as we wanted to. Once we stopped and cleared some of the snow Brandon started trying to drill his hole in the ice with his auger. It is just a manual auger so he had to drill a hole through 15 inches of ice by hand. He had sharpened the blades the night before but once he started drilling, he realized he had sharpened them at the wrong angle so the blades weren't cutting through the ice. It ended up taking him 30 minutes to drill his hole (it usually only takes 5-10). He was pretty mad. But once he got the hole drilled and everything set up and the heater in the tent, it was great. It is actually really relaxing and with the heater, it gets super warm in the tent. I love going with him even though sometimes it's a nightmare- it is worth it to be able to just sit and spend time together. He's pretty much the funniest person I know so it's always fun to be in a tent with him all day- he keeps me entertained!

This is Brandon drilling his hole- this picture does not do justice to how deep the snow actually is.


This is our little tent





Brandon's fishing hole- it's cool (and comforting) to see how thick the ice is


Chillin in the tent


Brandon the fisherman- he loves the camera!

Tag You're It!

My Husband....
What is his name? Brandon Christensen.
How long have you been together? We've been together for 3 years; we've been married for 4 1/2 months.
How long did you date? We dated off and on for 2 1/2 years before we got engaged. It was the longest 2 1/2 years of my life!
How old his he? 28
Who eats more? He does. It concerns me how much he can eat sometimes.
Who said I love you first? He said it first. It took me a good six months to say it back.
Who is taller? Brandon is taller.
Who can sing better? Brandon. He has an awesome voice but it's hard to get him to sing seriously. His whole family can sing- they are all amazing!
Who is smarter? Me of course! Actually it depends, he does have his smart moments.
Who does the laundry? We both do laundry.
Who pays the bills? We both do.
Who sleeps on the right side? He sleeps on the right side- it's closer to the door and I'm OCD about not sleeping close to the door.
Who mows the lawn? Well, we live at Brandon's sister Paige's house in a mother-in-law apartment. Stenson (her husband) has a landscaper I think.
Who cooks dinner? I ususally do unless I feel lazy. He makes pretty good blueberry pancakes.
Who drives? He does. I refuse to drive when I'm with him because he is so anal about everything and he just makes me nervous!
Who is more stubborn? Probably me. He can be stubborn about some things though, especially if it concerns going fishing or what we listen to on the radio or four-wheeling or what we watch on tv... actually come to think of it, he's pretty stubborn!
Who kissed who first? He kissed me first. It was the best first kiss ever!
Who asked who out first? This I'm not sure on because we hung out a lot with a group of our friends before we actually went on a real date. But I'm pretty sure he asked me out on our first official date.
Who proposed? He proposed on the 4th of July in front of his entire family on our four-wheeler. Literally, I was sitting on the fourwheeler. It was really sweet and funny and he definately tricked me!
Who has more friends? I think we are about equal.
Who is more sensitive? Me definately. I don't think he knows what the word sensitive even means but I love him anyway! :)

I tag: Skye, Jillian, Kristi, and Courtney

Guitar Hero/Rock Band

Our new favorite thing to do is play Guitar Hero and now Rock Band with our family and friends (especially Jared & Jamie who are addicted too). We have been obsessed with Guitar Hero for a couple of months but we just got Rock Band for Christmas and it is the funnest game ever! I'm not a big fan of video games (or any games really) but these games are seriously fun. And I'm not gonna lie, we're good. I mean really good. It's kind of a funny story about how we got Rock Band though. My brother got an Xbox 360 for Christmas and he got Rock Band for it also. So the whole day Brandon and I were trying to get him to play it but he wouldn't (he was more excited about a skateboarding game he got). He finally got annoyed with us and told us he didn't want to play it so my mom got mad at him and told us we could just have it! We were so excited but we only have a Playstation 2. So, we looked everywhere for the PS2 version so we could trade it but we couldn't find it anywhere. So finally, my sister-in-law Paige and her husband just bought it from us because we all wanted to play it so bad (they have a 360). We played it almost every night for 2 weeks until just last week Brandon finally found it for our Playstation. Yay!

Brandon & Jared rockin' out


This is Brandon's "Guitar Hero Face"


Jared makes the same face as Brandon- they can't keep their tounges in their mouths!


This is Rock Band (you can sing, play guitar, and play drums. The drums are my favorite!)