The Real Woodard's of the OC

Moving...again

2012-02-08T16:12:00.000-08:00

So we are moving in about a week. I know, it feels like we are constantly moving, and honestly, we are. This will be our fifth move in the three years we have been married. Kind of excessive, I know, but we like it like this.

I'm a weirdo. I love moving. I love de-cluttering and going through my stuff at least once a year. I love selling off everything we have and redecorating in each new place. It helps you learn to not become attached to things. I also love meeting new people. Yeah, it is hard to constantly be starting new friendships, but it is exciting too. This move is only like 10 miles down the road so there won't be too many new changes though.

The changes to look forward to in this move: 2 bedrooms (which means a nursery), a washer and dryer, a view of the beach on our back patio, only 1/2 a mile from Brad's work (which means a car for me), 2 miles from the beach, a park less than a block away for Keeva to play, a great area with tons of nightlife and awesome restaurants, and a hot-tub (post baby I am sooo excited for that part).

Well, in honor of moving, I figured I would post pictures of our current apartment that we are moving from. We will definitely miss the vaulted ceilings because they let in so much light and make it look about double the size, but we will NOT miss the neighbors and the actual lack of space.

View from hallway entrance into living room and dining room

Our computer nook/office area

The living room

Here you can really see the vaulted ceilings well

From the dining room: to show the porch and vaulted ceilings again

Kitchen. I LOVED the cupboard space

Dining room with record player and our other orange wall

Nightmares and Dreams

2012-02-06T19:03:00.000-08:00

Ever since I was little I have had the most vivid dreams. There are so many times when I wake up and have no clue whether they were real or in my mind. Poor Brad has had to deal with a very angry me on many occasions accusing him of things that I am convinced happened, but I only dreamed.

Pregnancy has made my dreams even more intense. I was never told that crazy dreams were a symptom of pregnancy, but I looked it up and evidently the hormones do induce some nuts dreams. They range from psychedelic to just plain freaky and erase my mind weird.

Having such vivid dreams and little ability to separate them from reality makes nightmares more than terrifying. When I was a little girl I would sit in my room sobbing until my mom came and explained to me that it was all in my head. I am not sure if it is the subconscious stresses of our upcoming move, the delivery, or just everything on my plate right now in general, but the nightmares are back with a vengeance. Even a simple nap is greeted with dreams so real it takes me the whole day to shake and convince myself that it didn't actually happen. I have to go through the checklist: my baby is okay, my husband is alive, my family is all alright. I just need Hezekiah to hurry up and get here so the nightmares stop! In the mean time, I have been watching funny/adorable videos of Keeva to get my mind off of them. I thought I would share.

Until Kai is here, Keeva is the star of the home still...I wonder how she will feel when cameras turn to him instead. :) Okay, truth is there will probably still be plenty of pictures and videos of her still haha.

Enjoy:

Keeva being an over-happy puppy

Barking at the crazy Youtube dog

Keeva being destructive as usual

Swinging. This is why we need a baby.

COMMON DENOMINATOR: Leaving Keeva alone for the day tends to result in funny videos.

Feeling Blessed

2012-02-03T16:38:00.000-08:00

Many of you know that a little over three years ago, I was diagnosed is an auto-immune/vasculitis disease called Behçet's disease. Since that diagnosis I have had "outbreaks" of the disease about every 5 months, sometimes resulting in a hospital stay but usual just treated with heavy steroid treatment and antibiotics. When we received the diagnosis, I spent hours on end reading everything I could about Behçet's so I could be prepared for my future. The interent is a wonderful tool, but it can devastating and terrifying too. I learned that it an is incredibly rare syndrome and that is it even more uncommon for a caucasian woman to have. Because of this rarity, little is actual known about how it effects me and would play a role in my future. Among the research, I found a lot of people claiming that I would be in pain the rest of my life, never live to my full potential because of muscle and skeletal weakness, lose my sight, and even not be able to have children.
The last part was most devastating. I talked to my doctor and confirmed that yes, there was a pretty good chance that I would not be able to have kids. Part of the nature of the disease is that my immune system declares war on healthy cells in my body. It turns on itself and thinks that everything is a foreign invader. This is why pregnancy was unlikely. If my body rejects its own cells, an ACTUAL invader (baby) would be the first thing it would be likely to attack. It hurt to hear, but over time, Brad and I accepted this possibility and planned to adopt in the future. In the back of both of our minds we kept hope though that the lack of knowledge about the disease would mean I had more of chance, and that maybe we would be blessed with a miracle.
Fast forward to about 6 1/2 months ago. It had been almost 10 months since my last Behçet's outbreak and even with the stresses of graduating and moving, I had stayed really healthy for a change. I started to get terrible migraines that caused blindnes and slurred speech. The doctors went through a series of blood tests and even an MRI to see what was going on. As I waited patiently in the exam room, expecting to hear my good luck with health had run out and the Behçet's had progressed to veins in my brain (which could happen), a giddy nurse rushed in the room grinning and told me the doctor would be in in a second. The doctor came in and explained some of the test results. He told me I was experiencing something called cluster neurological migraines and oh, that I am also pregnant but not to worry because the MRI couldn't hurt the baby, and the migraines are probably from the pregnancy hormones.
I was in shock. I couldn't even comprehend what he was saying. I walked into the hall and called Brad who was waiting to hear the test results. I had always thought that if I ever got pregnant I would plan some awesome way to tell him; that is would be something we would remember forever. But instead, I just blabbed right there on the phone without any warning, to which he responded "Really? That's awesome! I will talk to you when I get home loveyoubye," and he hung up. I guess he was as shocked as I was. I next met with the OBGYN who confirmed with 2 ultrasounds that I was indeed about 8 weeks pregnant and that the baby looked healthy and all was well.
I should have been relieved, and I was beyond happy, but I knew we weren't in the clear. I had read horror stories about women whose Behçet's flared up while pregnant and because they couldn't take their steroid regiment they ended up hospitalized and lost the baby. I also knew that even WITHOUT an autoimmune disease, the chance of a miscarriage in the 1st trimester are about 1 in 3. I made Brad swear not to tell a soul until we passed the 1st trimester. Needless to say, he was a little too excited to keep a secret, but it turned out okay because we made it through the 1st trimester. Not only did we make it through, but I felt amazing! I was healthier than I have ever felt in my life. I didn't get sick, I lost a bunch of weight, I had energy; life was good.
The second trimester came before I knew it, but I was still scared. I couldn't shake the thought that at any moment Behçet's could strike and take this baby from me. At 14 weeks we found out he was a boy, and at 20 weeks we found out he was a HEALTHY boy. He was growing fast, his heart looked great, and all was well with him. It all felt like a dream. How could I be this lucky? The doctor explained that there was 2 ways my body could react: 1 it could have gone into attack mode and we would have lost him, or 2 the pregnancy hormone that usually suppresses women's immune system durring pregnancy could suppress my immune system to the point that I go into a "remission" while pregnant/breastfeeding. My body seemed to be choosing option2 by some amazing miracle.
The holidays came and went, and now here I am in the third trimester, only 6 weeks from my due date. I guess any normal person would count their blessings and just accept that all is well, but I am a worrier. I feel so grateful that we made it this far, and I know that my body is doing awesome in baking this little guy. He is moving so much and growing more and more everyday, but the stress of what COULD happen is still in my mind. I made the mistake when I was first diagnosed of reading about a woman with Behçet's whose baby was born covered head-to-toe in sores and so sick that it needed medical intervention to survive. I couldn't help but to wonder what I had doomed my baby to. Is he going to be okay? When these thoughts come, I have to remind myself that Behçet's is rare, and even more rare for caucasian women. There is little research on how it effects women like me, let alone during pregnancy. There is even less research about how it effects their children. One woman's story is not an indicator of how I will be. There are too many variables to even compare myself to her, and I have had the pregnancy from Heaven, so who's to say it won't continue that way into labor?
In all of the stress of these thoughts and worrying about what is going to happen, I received an update this morning from a blog I follow on Behçet's research. I love how the Lord works: when I am having a hard time, the timing of this other person's post was perfect. The post was about a new study that was released at a recent conference for vascular diseases. The study followed 15 women with vascular diseases (8 had Behçet's) and their pregnancies. The study group is small, but with so few of us they were probably lucky to find that many. Basically, the findings were that if the baby lived past the first trimester, they were born healthy babies to healthy moms. Only 2 of the Behçet's moms even had an outbreak durring their pregnancy and it was early on and NONE of them had babies with complications. This might be the most relieving and happy study I have ever read. I know most people don't even care, but to me those babies give me hope and make me feel like the chances of Hezekiah having problems are rare. Such a blessing! The only interesting thing to note, is that almost all of the babies were born before 40 weeks...so I maybe will have an early baby?
I know this was long, but I had to write it all down before I forgot how I have been feeling. I know that everyone deals with their own trials and fears, and it is sometimes good to be reminded that we are not alone, and the future is not as scary as it may seem. I am so grateful to be carrying this little boy and I can't wait for him to be in my arms. I am also excited to have a wonderful successful labor and delivery and healthy baby so that someday when some scared girl is researching Behçet's disease after a diagnosis, she can see what I went through and know that it is possible for everything to okay.... actually, better than okay: perfect.

If you are curious about the details of the study that I am talking about, the abstract can be found HERE

Finished Blanket

2012-01-31T17:22:00.000-08:00

I promised some people a couple of weeks ago that I would put up pictures of this blanket finally finished...and I am just now getting around to it. You may wonder what I do all day that keeps me so busy that I can't post, and I have nothing to say for myself except for the fact that I am lazy. Oh well, here it is in all of its glory.

In all seriousness, I am super proud of myself for finishing this project. I love the way it turned out and it is so soft and cozy. I also made it super big so that he can use it when he gets older and cuddle on the couch with it for movie time. The pictures aren't stellar because it was kind of dark in the house when I took them, but you get the idea. Again, a shout of thankyoutimesamillionIwouldhaveneverfinisheditwithoutyou to Laura for helping me out! Now just 2 more weeks until we move into our new place and I can set up the nursery with all the cowboy and indian cuteness. Excitement does not even describe how I feel!

YAY for the finished project (yes, I hand-sewed that binding like a boss)

Up close and personal so you can see the cute little scenes in the fabric. Love it.

Nesting Syndrome

2012-01-12T13:22:00.000-08:00

I thought this whole "nesting syndrome" thing was kind of a joke, and that people exaggerated it a little...but it's not. I have taken my nesting syndrome to an extreme, and now instead of just cleaning my house and getting things ready for baby Kai, we are MOVING. Technically, our lease doesn't end until late-April, but I couldn't wait that long and I really didn't want to move with a new born. So I whined, begged, and pleaded (a huge belly does wonders for sympathy) and we are getting out of our lease and into a 2 bedroom apartment (Yay for having a nursery) next month. I'm excited. The best part? We will have a washer and dryer! Wahooo! The second best part? It is only 1 mile form Brad's work so he can ride a longboard to work and I don't have to be 9months preggo and stuck without a car! DOUBLE Wahoo!

As part of this nesting syndrome, I have been making stuff for Kai's nursery. With the help of my awesome friend who I now owe my life to, Laura, I AMOST have his quilt finished (this binding is a beast). I also finished the pillow for the glider and I am working on finding stuff for a mobile and possibly a modge-podge deer head inspired by this:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/89435098/bookworm-deer-head-wall-mount

Pinterest has been my best friend in finding ideas. I am so addicted it's ridiculous. Kai's room is going to be 1950's style cowboys and indians with a modern twist. Here is a terrible picture of the pillow I made so you can get an idea of how it will looks (I will take better pictures when the quilt is done). The pillow is from the same fabric as the quilt.

I also think I have been driving poor Brad crazy with my nesting syndrome because as part of it I want everything ready NOW. He keeps reminding me I have time, but I'm not convinced. I was especially stressing about the lack of a carseat because in my psychotic mind I keep saying that what if I go into labor early and then have no way to get Kai home and the hospital won't let me leave. He reminds me that regardless of when I go into labor, we could send someone to get a carseat if it was an emergency. Like I said, I am crazy, so I was not convinced. Luckily, my mom knows how crazy I am and became a lifesaver sending me a carseat/stroller combo that came in the mail yesterday. Can anyone say excited? Yes, me! I may or may not have pushed the stroller around the apartment all evening sans baby...I am sane, I promise. Maybe not. Yay for moms and spoiled grandbabies :)

Late: Thanksgiving/6 Months

2011-12-14T13:12:00.000-08:00

I am a little behind, I know. Life has just been crazy and I keep forgetting to blog. No, I didn't all of a sudden get a life or anything, I have just caught every cold known to man this month and then have been fitting in Christmas parties and such in the gaps between. All is well though.

Let's start with Thanksgiving:

We hosted Thanksgiving this year and had our friends the Walsh's over. It was way fun and chill and we just hung out and cooked together and it turned out lovely.

My festive table setting

Yummy gravy on the lazy suzan that Brad got me when we moved here (I love it haha)

Gluten-Free Stuffing (way better than it sounds) and Orange Jello Salad

Deviled Eggs, Green Beans, Turkey

A full and delicious plate.

The only disappointment about Thanksgiving was my diminished ability to eat! I can usually down a good 3 plates of food before starting to get painfully full but I couldn't even get through 1.5 small servings this year. Darn baby got in the way haha.

After dinner, we played games and waited until about 9 p.m. to start the long night of Black Friday shopping. Walmart was a psychotic zoo and Target was much better but the lines went on FOREVER. By the time we got home (about 2:30 a.m.) I was exhausted and my feet were so swollen they looked like they could twist off. Oh joy. We did come away with about 20 movies for about $20 and an awesome little Dirt Devil vacuum that makes my life so much easier.

Thanksgiving also marked 6 months of incubating for Hezekiah. As usual, Laura spoiled me and took some lovely pictures. Here are a few:

I can't believe how big he is getting! His little kicks and jabs are so strong now and he gets the hiccups all the time. It is pretty fun. He also LOVES hot chocolate. If I drink hot chocolate (which I do a lot), he starts kicking like crazy and flipping around. Christmas will be 7 months. I am almost 27 weeks now and he is approximately 2.5 lbs. and 15 in. long! There is definitely a little person in there. His eyes should be open now and his little lungs are inflated so he can practice "breathing" the amniotic fluid. So cool.

Fun fact: He got startled the other day. I was watching Lord of the Rings and it went from a really quiet scene to a loud war scene and it felt like he jumped in my belly. Pretty funny.

In other news, for those of you waiting to hear whether we were going to be leaving Cali or not, we are staying. So, plan your trips out because we aren't going anywhere. Brad's job is awesome and worked something out so we can stay here and he can continue to work in office. As awesome as moving to Austin would have been, this is a great opportunity for him and we couldn't be happier. :)

Pumpkin Glazed Cinnamon Rolls

2011-11-08T20:20:00.000-08:00

Saturday was pretty cold here. I even put on socks and got out the spaceheater! With the rain, wind, and overall cold and gloomy outside, I got into the fall spirit. I decided to make cinnamon rolls (partly because it reminds me of fall and partly because I am preggo and wanted cinnamon rolls). Brad and I have also been all about pumpkin lately since we bought a ton of puree that was on sale, so he suggested I try to incorporate the pumpkin into my rolls. Success.

They were soooooo yummy and the whole house smelled delicious. I did half gluten-free for me and half gluten-filled (aka normal) for Brad. Here's the recipe, Enjoy!

Pumpkin Glazed Cinnamon Rolls

ROLLS:
1 cup warm milk
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour OR 4 1/2 cups rice flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened
*Like I said earlier, I halved this recipe and did half with the regular flour for Brad, and half with the rice flour for me.
GLAZE:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons canned pumpkin (We LOVE pumpkin so I added a little more)
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
*This glaze was delicious but Brad and I thin k next time we might add some cream cheese to make it even more gooey/rich delicious.

DIRECTIONS

Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl.

Mix in the sugar, margarine, salt, and eggs. Add flour and mix well.

Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour (if gluten-free, use rice flour).

Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface (again, rice flour works here for gluten-free), cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls.( Tip for cutting rolls that Brad taught me: slide some dental floss under the roll and then pull either side the opposite way. It makes a perfect cut and doesn't squish the roll)

Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan.

Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

While rolls are baking, beat together the glaze ingredients and drizzle over rolls when they are out of the oven.

Just a note: The gluten free version of these rolls is a little less gooey than the gluten-filled version. I am sure that is just because of the nature of the rice flour. They still taste delicious though I just wanted you to know that they won't be identical to the other version.

5 Months/ Christmas Pictures/ Halloween

2011-11-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we reached the halfway point in this pregnancy! Wahooo! So for the 20 week milestone, Laura took pictures of me, and also some of our our little family for our Christmas cards. She is amazing. Somehow she makes me feel like I look like a hot mama even though about 80% of the time I feel like the cantaloupe inside of me is about to burst out because I am so big (can you believe he is now the size of a cantaloupe? That is huge, but he is about a pound now and just about 10inches long.). Here are some of the pictures she took. I had a really hard time choosing my favorites so I'm sorry for the overload! Happy 5 months baking, Hezekiah!

As for Halloween, it ended up being a really chill day around here. I LOVE Halloween, but couldn't find a good excuse/place to go that would merit getting in a costume...so we hung at home with the Walsh's, watched scary movies/ghost shows, learned about the Chupacabra, ate a spooky dinner (you don't want to know), and passed out candy to the whopping FIVE little kids that trick-or-treated here. It was a fun chill night to get scared and remember why I love this holiday in the glow of my light-up colorful spiders.

Definitely a boy

2011-10-24T16:51:00.000-07:00

Today we had our 5 month "anatomy scan" ultrasound to verify the sex of the baby and make sure all of his limbs and organs are okay and developing right. We are happy to say everything is great! He was not shy at all in this ultrasound and seemed pretty proud to show off that he was a boy.

All of his little limbs are moving around great. His heart sounded great, had 4 chambers, and was pumping blood the way it should. He has 10 fingers and 10 toes and he even stretches his toes out in a creepy way like his mommy does (my mom said that is actually a hereditary thing, so I guess he got my creepy toes haha). We saw his eye sockets and his brain...and at this point is bony little face looked kind of like a Halloween mask from straight on, but boy does he have a cute profile. He even sleeps like his mommy: rolled up in a ball in the smallest corner possible.

We were happy to even get to see a little bit of is stubborn personality. We had to go back and do the ultrasound a second time because even after getting up and poking him, he wouldn't flip over and let us see a good view of his heart or foot. He even kicked the ultrasound tech when she nudged him with the ultrasound tool to get him to flip over. It was kind of funny but felt super weird to watch him kick up at her on the screen and then feel it in my belly at the same time. He is getting so big and is laying flat out horizontally in my belly with his legs completely stretched out on the left side and his head on the right. Silly boy likes his space.

Here is an overload of pictures of our little boy. I am not sure if he will be super embarrassed to have these on the internet when he grows up, but I don't really care. haha.

His cute little profile and big baby head

His leg and feet, and in the last one you can see his stretched out toes

Him proving that he is indeed a boy, and the tech's comments haha

My life just got better

2011-10-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

Today, I experience pure bliss. I, for the first time in over 2 years, ate mac n' cheese! It was delicious. Ever since I found out I had Celiac Disease, I haven't been able to devour the happiness that is mac n' cheese. Trader Joe's has cured the sadness though with their Gluten Free Rice Pasta and Cheddar (fancy way of saying mac n' cheese). It is yummmmm...

To say that it was amazing would be an understatement. I sat there with the entire pot and ate every last bite. Cheesy, carb filled goodness. Am I fat kid? Oh yes. Love it.

An evening at the beach

2011-10-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

The other night, we went to the beach to have a picnic dinner with our friends, the Walshs. It was a beautiful night, not too hot, the water was warm, the sun was setting under the pier, and we even got to watch a pod of dolphins playing in the shallow water. It was one of those perfect nights that remind me why I was so excited to move here.

I'm getting really spoiled having Laura around taking pictures all of time! Brad and I never get pictures of ourselves so it is kind of fun, and she takes gorgeous pictures. The last photo of Keeva makes me laugh, because if you know our crazy dog, that image explains her to a T:

Correction: I swear I'm not 6 months pregnant

2011-10-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

After my last post, I got so many great compliments about how good I looked. Thank you! But, I also got many comments on HUGE I was for being 16.4 weeks pregnant. I agree, I do look pretty large and in charge, but let me clear it up a little bit.

I am ROUND. Very round. I know some women get pregnant everywhere, but I basically (so far) am just getting a round blob on my belly. From the front, it makes me look pretty big (especially when you add a tight shirt and high-waist belt to the mix, and not to mention that perfect belly-popping pose). From the side, I am still fairly small. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am still pregnant, but not 6 months pregnant...more like 17 weeks :).

So for all of you who were stressed about how big I am so early, don't fret, Laura seems to be a pro at pregnancy shots, because she knows exactly how to make that belly pop :) ! I love the picture she took waaaaay more than this ugly mug that I just took in the bathroom, but here is a side shot of me at 17 weeks and 3 days:

And as for how I am feeling...let's just say I am not sure how any women gets through pregnancy without an amazing massage therapist. I am lucky I get to go to the chiropractor and have a massage 1-2 times a week...otherwise I might die. I came across this blog this morning, and I think this woman pretty accurately describes what it is like to be just about 18 weeks pregnant: 18 Weeks. WARNING: If you are easily offended, do not read it, she is a little PG-13 but hilariously accurate.

On to non-pregnancy news. Life is well in the Woodard home. We have been enjoying cooler temps here in california and the excitement of 1970's scary movies on Netflix for October. I am jealous because Brad gets to go to Rhode Island and New York next week on business...which means he will get to see a REAL fall instead of this slightly cool, but no colorful leaves fall that we have in So-Cal. Keeva and I will go to the beach in spite of him. :)

16 weeks and 4 days

2011-10-04T21:50:00.000-07:00

This week, this little guy decided to make his presence known. Before now, I haven't really been showing at all. I mean I was looking a little chunkier but that average person would never have guessed I was pregnant. Now, I feel like you can't really deny it.

Yesterday, in effort to conceal my growing belly, I wore a large shirt and felt pretty comfortable with it. Brad came home an informed me that I looked like a "frumpy nurse" and needed to "embrace the bump" he swears that the baby bump is a cute look. So that is what I am going to do, I will take my husbands advice and embrace the bump!

As I mentioned in the last post, Keeva, destroyer extraordinaire, ruined our camera, so my friend Laura kindly took some 4 month shots for me today to share with family. You should check out her stuff, she is really great: http://laurawattswalsh.blogspot.com/.

Enjoy my 16 weeks and 4 days bump (p.s. that belt really accentuates the roundness haha):

Hopefully these pictures will be a monthly occurrence so everyone out there can keep up with this bump.

As far as the pregnancy goes, I am doing super well. Women, please don't hate me for saying this, but pregnancy has made me healthier! No throwing up, no nausea or food aversion, and my auto-immune issues have been completely suppressed so far. Brad is a little worried that I am going to want to be pregnant all of the time because of how well I feel! I am starting to get to the point where finding a comfy sleep position is hard...but considering I am the queen of sleeping in, I can't complain. The doctor is really happy with my progression and she says that even for being a high-risk pregnancy, everything is just perfect and he is measuring at the perfect size! I even get to sneak in extra candy bars now and then because I am not putting on enough weight. I swear I am NOT bragging this is just the first time in my life that something with my health has gone RIGHT and I am NOT a negative medical anomaly. I am just praying the next 5 months go as well.

We have another ultrasound in 3 weeks to make sure his limbs are growing right and all is well :) I am hoping we feel him a little better by then. Right now I just get the occasional hard lumps in my stomach but no solid kicks yet. We are just excited for that next milestone.

Now for a Brad and Keeva update. Keeva is all healed from her spaying and as hyper as ever. Now Brad and I are just working to make her trained a little more and she is fighting it. Brad is working hard on his freelance, work, and everything else he decides he wants to do. He is also still growing out his hair (which I love) but the comments about looking homeless are starting to get to him so he trimmed up the beard (bummer). He still looks good though.

Well that's our update. I hope you enjoy it...sorry it is sooo long!

Epic Blog Fail and Update on Life

2011-09-28T15:52:00.000-07:00

Dear family and friends,

I suck at blogging. I love to read all of your blogs, but I never blog my own stuff. I am sorry. Truly, I am. I am not going to make any promises or get your hopes up that I am going to get better, because I probably won't...but accept this update post as a peace offering? Pretty please? Thanks

We have been keeping really busy since my last post in (dare I say it) July. We have spent the summer getting better aquatinted with Southern California by going to the beach, checking out some art museums, driving around Hollywood (it is too ghetto to get out of the car), and checking out the disgusting wealth in Bel Air and the other surrounding areas.

Due to Keeva being a psychopath anxiety ridden dog, we no longer have a camera to show you lovely pictures of what we have been up to, so the phone camera is going to have to be good enough.

In August, the Albrecht's came for a visit! We had fun being touristy and hanging out in the beautiful sunshine working on our tans.

Even little Uriah was loving the beach from his carseat. Isn't he the cutest?

Keeva got to come play at the beach too. I am not sure she liked being buried, but she didn't get an option. She puts up with a lot: crazy outfits, bows, being hog-tied, buried, etc.

For Brad's birthday, I decided I wanted to take him to San Diego since he has been talking about going there since we moved here. We didn't realize that is was only an hour drive to get there, otherwise we would have gone sooner. We got to go to the zoo, to the Natural History Museum, all over Balboa park ( an old Spanish settlement that was super cool), the downtown historical GasLamp District, and an artist's village called Spanish Village. We had a ton of fun!

{pictures are on Brad's phone so the have to be MIA until he gets home}

When we got home, Keeva had to go to the vet to get spayed. She was not a happy camper about it, but now we don't have to worry about any little Keevas running around. I think that is definitely more than we could handle. One Keeva is more than enough.

Another great thing we found out this summer, is that we are having a baby! Our little one will be here by March 17, yes, St.Patrick's Day, one of the best days of the year! I am 4 months along this week and we just recently found out that our avocado is a BOY! We are so excited and Brad is more than pumped to have a mini-me of him running around the house. He already is making plans for little league, hiking trips, and plenty of other boyish things. I think all of the grandparents are even more excited. This is the first for both sides of my family and the first boy for Brad's family. Needless to say, this little one is going to be one spoiled rotten boy when he gets here in March. :) Look at that adorable profile.

4th of July

2011-07-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

As most holidays are to me, 4th of July was all about eating...and some fireworks at Disney to end wrap it up. We were invited over to our friends house for a barbecue and games. It was a lot of fun and we were so grateful to have someone to spend the holiday with seeing as how we are still pretty new to the area.

We are loving California and everything to do around here. It seems like every day is beautiful, the sun is shining, and there is always a few butterflies to be seen flying around the palm trees and tropical flowers. Not bad. Never in a million years did we think we would end up here, and never in a million years did we think we would like it. We are grateful to live in this country and have the freedoms to do as we please, live as we please, and live where we please :) God Bless America, home of the free.

Getting Keeva to leave the bow alone long enough to take this picture was a challenge.

Mini Cheesecake with gluten free crust :)

Chocolate and patriotic sprinkle dipped strawberries

Brad trying to keep cool on the porch (check out that long hair and beard!)

Festive food/table

Chicken and veggie skewers, compliments of Jenny

Brad and Brooklind ready for fireworks

Time for an update

2011-07-03T21:10:00.001-07:00

Brad and I have been super busy the last few months moving into our new home, painting, starting new projects, going to the beach, etc. Here is what we have been up to:

A little of this...Yes, that is orange paint you see

And this...Hide and Seek is fun

And a lot of this...long walks in the sunshine

And more of that

Which leads to this...Keeva getting tired

And then this...The Getty Museum

And some of this...relaxing

And a little of this...hanging in LA

And unfortunately this...getting Brad new glasses

Because of this...Keeva destruction

Due to this...Teething

But you can't be mad because she looks like this

So her and Brad do this...cuddle time

And Brad drinks a lot of this

But we also did this...tiring days at the beach with Sam and Rachel

And for your viewing pleasure: Some Keeva and Brad dancing, and some vacuum scaring.

That's what we've been up to :)

Welcome to California

2011-05-03T13:07:00.000-07:00

So, our lives have been a whirlwind of craziness lately, and I realize with how fast everything happened, there are quite a few of you who aren't up-to-date with all of our news! So here it is:

Brad and I graduated! WAHOOOOOO! Best accomplishment this far in our lives and we are so happy to be done. I am now a college educated journalist and Brad is a college educated (BFA to boot) graphic designer!

Officially BYU-Idaho Graduates!

Brad's family of supporters

The smallest supporter, baby Uriah Albrecht, born the weekend before graduation!

Even Jenny got to come! Her and brad watching basketball together
My family of supporters

And I won the Newel K. Whitney Scholar Award! Amazing honor :)

During the final semester, Brad had been doing freelance work for a company in Orange County, so after graduation, we decided to make the drive down to meet the owners in person...and make some pit stops along the way :) We stopped in Vegas for a couple of days and had a good time there and then spent time on the beach in California.

After a good meeting with the company, they offered Brad a full time position! Within the next couple of days, we made the decision to move to California, signed a lease on the apartment, and went home to pack our things only to move 6 days later (on Easter) with the amazing help of our friends and family in Rexburg. It was crazy and waaaay fast, but we are so happy with our decision! We live in a beautiful place, Brad LOVES his job, and Keeva and I are kicking it in the sunshine while I figure out my next move in life :)

View of our apartment complex

View from the stairs

Sunset on the beach

Brad and Keeva playing on the beach (15 min from our house)

View of our pool from the courtyard

Pictures of the interior of our home is yet to come. We are still setting things up and getting furniture and things...so we will unveil it all when we finish it :) But until then, feast your eyes on those photo and plan your trip to visit!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

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

Hey everyone! Yes, we do still have a blog, and no, we don't ever update it :) Sorry...

Now that graduation is only 3 weeks away (you heard right, 3 weeks!!!!) I hope to get to my blogging self soon. In the meantime, I will post our St. Patty's Day festivities and introduce the cyber world to our new family member, Keeva, the lab puppy we adopted a couple of weeks ago.

As many of you know, St. Patrick's Day is my second favorite holiday (just under Halloween) and so I have a big party every year. Brad is a good sport and allows me to deck the house out in green and go crazy with the food. This year marked 3 years since Brad and I started officially dating. It was St.Patrick's Day 2008 when it became "official" and now 3 years, 3 houses, 3 weeks till graduation, and a new addition to our family of now 3 later we are still celebrating.

We invited over some family and friends for our party and it was a pretty good time. Here are some pics:

cute and very pregnant Hillary in the decked out kitchen. That adorable shamrock garland you see was made by my awesome sister-in-law Amy, check out her crafts here

Our modge-podge dinner table set-up

All of the cute decorations, mostly made last year along with my Dublin bear from Angie.

Keeva just hanging out in her Shamrock scarf from Amy before everyone got there. As a side note, we tried to train her not to ever get on the couch...that obviously didn't work.

The super cute framed text is from Amy of course :)

These cupcakes were me pride and joy- they may look bad, but the tasted amazing. They are rich chocolate cooked with beer and irish cream frosting. The flags are from Amy.

The traditional corned beef (i had to make a ton because there was 11 of us)

Cabbage soup, one of my favorites

Brad hanging out watching the basketball game on his cell phone haha

By the end of the night, Keeva was exhausted!

And just for fun, here are some more pics of Keeva on a movie slideshow. She is a 3 month-old black labrador puppy. We love having her around (even if she is teething and going through a biting stage). We got her 2 weeks ago and then almost lost her to the terrible puppy virus, Parvo. Poor little thing spent a week in the hospital battling for her life and Brad and I spent a week at home trying not to stress ourselves out with worry. We are glad she is feeling better and back to attacking everything that moves and wreaking havoc on our baseboards.

Well, that is what we have been up to. We are still on the hunt for jobs and we really don't have any for sure plans for after graduation. There are some pretty promising leads, but as of now, it's all up in the air. It is crazy to really have no idea where your life will end up and not know where we will be living in a month, but it is also kind of exciting. :) Wish us luck!

Christmas

2010-12-26T13:51:00.000-08:00

So by request, I am putting up Christmas pictures! Yes, I know it was last spring when I last updated! Sorry :)

I love Christmas, and I love decorating for Christmas, so I went all out this year. It was the first year that I was able to decorate because it was our first Christmas at home.

It turns out, I am highly allergic to pine trees. I touched one and my hand swelled up and turned into a rash, so Brad told me that we had to have a fake tree! As disappointed as I was, he bought me this little miniature pine tree for the side shelf. I love it.

This was the garland and bow I got for the kitchen window (sorry the pictures are so dark)

My cute cocoa set from my ward's Young Women's as my wedding present 2 years ago!

My adorable place-mats and centerpieces. Thanks Mom and Sam!

Good smelling pine cones and the cookie jar Brad INSISTED we get. haha

Kitchen (again sorry the pictures are so dark!)

Our record player all Christmased out with our stockings and candy-cane garland.

Our Christmas tree! It was absolutely beautiful in silver and red with a pearl star! Even the presents matched :)

These are the no-bake cookies that Brad and I made for the neighbors. It was fun to continue on the family traditions of baking for the neighbors.

Me, with all of the presents from Brad's family. Thanks you guys I loved it all!

Brad with all of his presents from his family! I think he liked the cooking hat the best!

I am feeling hot pink

2010-03-31T15:36:00.000-07:00

It has been so beautiful here. We never saw winter in the 4 months that we have been in Washington, and for that I am actually quite glad.

I have had so much fun spending time with my nieces and other family members and enjoying the great northwest weather and scenery.

Our time here is coming to a close and in just a week and a half we will begin our trip back out to Rexburg to get back in school. I have such mixed feelings about it. I am sad to be leaving everyone here, and leaving the area and the weather, and the magazine, but I am so excited to be getting back into school, back with our friends, and settled into our apartment. It will be nice to get back into the swing of things and the Rexburg lifestyle (whatever that is). I never thought I would say this, but : I am excited to be heading home... yes, I called Rexburg home.

Regardless, the time here has been a blast. Last week, Angie and I decided to paint her nails. She really wanted them to be pink. I explained to her the color we were painting them was "hot pink" so now she goes around telling everyone that her nails and toes are not pink, they are hot pink. It is pretty cute. While I painted her nails, she sat still for the longest amount of time I have ever seen her sit still! Who knew she had it in her. They were still chipped within the hour, but it was fun while it lasted.

St.Patrick's Day!

2010-03-17T23:13:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love St. Patrick’s Day. I love celebrating the rich culture that goes with it and I love love love to cook, decorate, and plan for the big day. I treat St. Patrick’s Day like most people treat Thanksgiving. It is a big event with lots of food, fun, and family!

Today, I went all out. Did I go overboard? NEVER! Well, maybe a little bit… but I’ve seen worse :) I think the event turned out pretty good. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and everything (well almost everything, but I will get to that in a minute) turned out splendid!

We all had so much fun getting it ready, eating, and then not as much fun cleaning it up. For highlights and how-to's on the decorations and the food, see my other blog : http://krystalscreations.wordpress.com/

The weather was absolutely beautiful. Sunshine, 60's and it's only March! St. Patrick's Day is kind of fun for Brad and I because it marks 2 years now of being together... and now our 3rd St. Patrick's Day as a couple. On this day... or the weekend before... 2 years ago, he sent me a message on Facebook asking me to change my relationship status to "in a relationship." Romantic, I know haha.

Here are some highlights from the fun day.

the table/ cuteness

Even the entire lucky care bear family showed up for the occasion

This picture kind of speaks for itself

Yeah, we are kind of cute

red hair on a green holiday, couldn't be more perfect

cute family, minus Jenny... sorry the sun kind of blew it out

Bradley and Angie playing out in the sunshine

Too bad St. Patrick's only comes once a year. I would celebrate year 'round if I could. Maybe someday I will celebrate St. Patrick's in Dublin... someday in my dream :)

Hair Cut!

2010-03-03T15:06:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Bellevue Arts Museum Indulge jewelry launch party. It was pretty amazing and full of beautiful jewelry that I will never be able to affordable, let alone think about. I was there on assignment for the Bellevue Reporter and The Scene so I was more of an observer, but when I left the event, I was given a grab bag chock full of wonderful goodies!

Some of these goodies include:

A set of soap and a bath bomb from LUSH, a handmade cosmetics store –it is amazing by the way, check out the link for sure. SOme of the best smelling and sweetest packaging I have seen. It is all set up like a fresh deli. Pretty fun
A sampling of chocolate from the City Catering Company who also catered the event and had some of the most interesting a delicious treats.
A one week gym membership to David Barton Gym, one of the most elite gyms on the Eastside. I swear that place is more of a celebrity night club than a gym.
A small plate from Palomino restaurant. I haven't checked this place out, but you better believe I will.
A copy of Seattle Homes and Lifestyle Magazine. It had some great articles and photos. If anything it gave me some decorating ideas for sure. The Eastside is so trendy, I love it.
A hair cut of up to $100 at 7 Salon... this is where my life begins!

At first I was really apprehensive about going to this salon. I love my hair, it is kind of my signature. I have long, crazy hair. Period. Brad finally convinced me to just at least check it out. My hair was getting to the point that I couldn't even get a brush through it, and it was so heavy that I was loosing my curl.

So, I looked at their Web site for starters. Holy wow, even the Web site is sweet. I started reading up on it a little bit, and their Web site claims that they find the best hair cuts for your face, bone structure, and skin color. I didn't even know you could do that! From the pictures, the salon looked beautiful as well and the stylists seemed like they were highly trained, knowledgeable and good at what they do... and that was just from the Web site.

On Saturday afternoon, Brad and I headed up to Bellevue Square to go check it out and schedule an appointment. I was greeted with friendly smiles as I walked to the counter, and they quickly scheduled me a complimentary consultation for 10 minutes from that moment.

As I waited for the consultation, Brad and I were shown back to a trendy circular couch in the center of the salon and asked if we wanted anything to drink. They brought us both water bottles and chocolate as we waited. The place was packed with good looking people getting their hair cut, and cutting hair. A DJ stood on a podium above the salon spinning dance and top-40 music. After waiting for awhile, the manager approached us, apologizing for our wait and immediately got us in with a different stylists who was free at the time. Her name was Sonia.

Sonia seemed a little overwhelmed by my hair– but honestly, I would be too if I were a stylist. She told me I needed to cut a lot off, make it less heavy and more about my face. She said my hair was its own entity and she wanted to see more of me, and less of it. :) Kind of funny, very true.

I was next taken to the dressing room where I changed into a black robe and awaited the cut. My stylists who actually did the cut was Mi Lynn. She was such a nice girl who chatted with me about Michigan, homeopathy and the West Coast. While I was getting my hair cut, another stylist brought me some more chocolate and a vanilla steamer ( I could used to that kind of service!)

We chatted. Mi Lynn cut. I lost track of time. Mi Lynn styled. It was incredibly painless for someone like me who is terrified of a hair cut. 7 Salon made the process painless, and actually kind of fun. I felt like a celebrity or something!

When it was all said and done, I LOVE my new hair. It is so light and free! I can wear it curly, straight, or in between. 7 Salon even offers complimentary trims and bang cuts for clients so I don't have to worry about it getting out of control again. I am so glad I went to 7 Salon!

Brad says I look freakishly like my Mom now, and I would have to agree... plus I think that's a good thing. You be the judge.

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER FROM BACK

IT IS SO LIGHT!

AFTER THE DYE

Beautiful weekend

2010-02-23T15:28:00.000-08:00

This weekend was so nice. It was almost 60 degrees here IN FEBRUARY! Yeah, I know! Amazizizing. So we went with Brad's family on a drive up alond the coast to La Conner... north Washington coast, and back on a ferry. La Conner is a really neat little city full of shops and boats and cuteness. I was so happy to be outside enjoying the sunshine and fresh air.

Eating on a deck over the water in FEBRUARY!!!

Valentine's Day

2010-02-23T15:18:00.001-08:00

So, because Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday this year, Brad and I decided to celebrate on Monday instead. We went down to Pike Place Market and spent the day, and then had dinner at a Mexican place in Kirkland. Brad spoiled me with flowers, a CD of She and Him ( so goood, click the link to hear them) which is Zoey Deschanel's band, and a hot pink thermos! I got him a typography book and surprised him with the Pike Place trip. We really had a ton of fun and it was a great second Valentin's Day for us :) I am so happy to be married to such a fantabulous man!

Update January

2010-02-23T15:09:00.000-08:00

The rest of January has been absolutely beautiful. The weather has been beyond wonderful! It has been warm and we have had a lot of time that we have been able to play outside. Jenny and Angie (our nieces) have spent a lot of time with us so we have been doing fun things like playing at the park! They have become my little models - unwillingly-- so I have taken a ton of pictures! Bear with me as I pick some of my favorites.

Update New Year's!

2010-02-23T14:59:00.001-08:00

For New Year's we went to Sequim to visit Joan and Tom Trindle with the family. Jeff (Brad's dad) and Lauren were on their way to BYU-Idaho to get her settled in for school, so they weren't there but the rest of us had a good time. For those of you who don't know where Sequim is...It is out on the north coast of Washington and is such a beautiful place. We relaxed, hung out in the hot tub, played games, and had an overall good time.

The coast at Sequim, WA

At the beach across from Joan and Tom's

Brad and I on the beach

Jenny playing on New Year's Day

Update December

2010-02-23T14:41:00.000-08:00

In December, the semester came to an end --finally-- and we moved out of apartment to head to Kirkland, Washington for the winter. We are in Kirkland until April completing our internships. Brad got an internship wit Studo Opolis, a graphic design firm in Lynwood and I am working for the Bellevue Reporter and their magazine production, The Scene. It is a really great experience for both of us to be out working for companies and gaining more experience for our fields.
On our drive down to Washington, we were met with some of the craziest weather I have seen. This is what it looked like descending down the Blue Mountains

Christmas:
We spent Christmas with Brad's family (we are living with them). It was a lot of fun. We had a big dinner and then Angie left cookies ...and pea pods :) ...for Santa. Here are some pictures from our festivities!

Angie with her cookies and pea pods for Santa

Angie and Nana (Brad's mom Lynn) telling the story of the Nativity with fisher price wee-people

Big happy family (minus Brad) at Christmas dinner

Update November

2010-02-23T14:28:00.000-08:00

So to continue on my updating. November was a good month. A ton of projects for both Brad and I. We worked and went to school and ate and slept. That's basically it. The cold came early and froze us, but that is to be expected in Rexburg.
Lauren came out durring Thanksgiving break and spent a week with us! We had so much fun :)
On Thanksgiving I hosted my first Thanksgiving, which was exciting for me. The Mitchell's and their friend Ben came over which made six of us with Lauren. I think it turned out pretty fabulous. We had a good time!

So Lame at Blogging.. Update

2010-02-23T14:09:00.000-08:00

So basically, I am the worst at blogging. the funny thing is that I totally read everyone else's blog every day. I guess the blog reading has made it impossible for me to have the time to write in my own. I am not even going to try to update you on everything Brad and I have been up to since the summer. But here's a basic update I suppose. I will go chronologically... Here is September and October
September: I was made Editor in Chief of the BYU-I Scroll which was pretty sweet and exciting :)
October:
Brad and I went to Bannak, Montana to visit the ghost town and take some photos... Pictures form that trip can be found on my photography Web site : Krystal Woodard Photography

For Halloween I went to Austin, Texas for a journalism conference and learned some pretty cool things. I love that city. For anyone who has not been to Austin, put it on your list of must-sees. It is a really neat city filled with art, beauty, music, cool people, and great (spicy) food. Unfortunately, Brad didn't get to go with me...but he celebrated Halloween at home with the Harris' instead. Here are some pictures from my trip.

All of us at Amy's Ice Cream... sooo good

The beautiful bridge at Sunset that millions of bats fly out of every night. Once of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life!

Keli and I

All of us in front of Moonshine. It was really tasty. It is the same place President Bush's daughter's rehearsal dinner was.

The view from my hotel. What a beautiful city!

For more pictures from my trip see my photography blog Here

Shooting

2009-08-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

Brad and I went shooting with our friends the Mitchells and their friend Ben on Saturday. It was my first time shooting a gun of any kind and I actually quite enjoyed myself. I was incredibly sunburnt from the beach the day before, but I sucked it up for a day of fun.

Our guns of Choice: me= Russian revolver, Brad= Pump shotgun

Brad testing out the AK-47

Me with the lovely Russian revolver again (the pretty gun)

it is beautiful

Brad shooting a Glock

Ben, Matt, Me, and Brad all lined up to execute the final targets (pop cans)

Matt and I making sure they were finished... poor cans

There were 8 guns in total and I definitely got my fair share of gun shooting for the afternoon. It was pure irony seeing me shoot something like an AK-47 wearing my peace sign necklace but I got a kick out of it. P.S. I died my hair "cinnaberry"

Music to my ears

2009-08-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Brad and his friends preformed at Guitars Unplugged this past semester. We just received the pictures from this event so I though I would share them with you all. Enjoy :)

They did an awesome job and it was a ton of fun! Hopefully they will all play together again soon!

Back from Washington

2009-08-14T13:36:00.000-07:00

Brad and I spent the last two weeks in Washington. One week with my family in Yakima and one week with his family in Seattle. We had a blast!

When we first arrived, we drove up to Whidbey Island for a family reunion in Palm Harbor. It was a lot of fun.

Brad giving my cousin a crab... he didn't like the crab very much :)

Everyone heading back to the grasss

Brad and my brothers Brandon and Seth doing the Michael Jackson while the tide was out

When we got back to Yakima we just hung out and Brad played a lot of video games with my brothers... they spent so much time together that they even started to look alike

After Yakima we headed up to Seattle to spend time with Brad's family. I rode a motorcycle for the first time in my life!!! Most of the week we hung out at the house with everyone and our niece Angie. She is a lot of fun.

Lee Me and Lauren at Pikes Place Market

Brad and Angie

Angie wanted to see who was inside that helmet (it was Brad)

Brad riding with his Dad on the motorcycle

Me riding on the motorcycle...I think we are going to have to get one :)

Overall our trip was amazing and we can't wait to go back up to Washington for the holidays! It is nice to be in our own home now though (even if it is in Rexburg). Brad is working full time and I am enjoying a little bit of down time that I badly needed to get some things done! One month until school starts again...

O'Mally the Ally-cat...or Hyundai

2009-07-13T18:15:00.000-07:00

Brad and I just brought a new addition into our family!
Meet... O'MALLY

We will miss our dear old friend pink panther...may she rest in peace

Adventures in West Yellowstone!

2009-07-07T21:09:00.000-07:00

Brad and I went on a camping trip with our good friend Jessica and Matt Mitchell to West Yellowstone, Montana for the 4th of July. We had a blast. The campsite we stayed at had a sign in front that said "CAUTION: BEARS FREQUENT THIS AREA"We got to see al of the geysers at Yellowstone National Park, hang out at the campsite, and even go tot a couple fireworks shows around the area! Celebrating our freedom and independence is fabulous ( not to mention a great excuse to cancel school) Here are some pictures from our trip:

Brad and his newly buzzed head

Brad has become a master carver

Our one buffalo friend (unfortunately we saw no bears)

The ridiculous amount of people waiting for Old Faithful

The Progression of Old Faithful

Almost there...

And She blows!

Matt and Jessica making peach cobbler yumm :)

Morning Glory

Beauty Pool

The Devil's Door

Trip to Utah

2009-07-07T20:15:00.001-07:00

Brad and I recently went down to Utah to look at 1976 VW Buses...we really wanted to get one because it has been a dream of both of ours for a long time, but the trip proved that now is not the right time in our lives. While we were driving down our air conditioning stopped working and our windows wouldn't roll down. We decided to make a pit stop at the farmers market at Pioneer Park and returned to our car to find it dead :( Luckily, we had Dora (our handy dandy GPS) so we found the closest auto repair shop and walked there. Turns out the belts in our car snapped and had to be replaced (a spendy replacement) So after it was replaced we decided to head back to Rexburg instead of look at some more buses. The trip was not a total bust though. We were able to walk around downtown Salt Lake City for a few hours while we were waiting and took some fun pictures with our new camera. :)

The giant dandelion

The lady in the yellow dress

Hands of time

This sweet radio tower

Me making my "cute pose"

The Tabernacle

Neon construction downtown: City Creek

Fountain on Temple Square

The Salt Lake City Temple

Is that the Sun?

2009-06-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

I see the sun today and I am pretty excited about it. It has been so gloomy lately with all of this rain and dark skies. I hate when the weather is bad for so long because it really gets your spirits down. I checked weather.com (I religiously check the weather and 10 day forecast every morning, it's an addiction) and weather.com said that it is going to get sunny by the end of the week and back up into the 80's which is the best news in the whole world.
I am so excited for 4th of July weekend to get here because it means that we finally get to go CAMPING! We both love to camp to we are so excited to head up to West Yellowstone for a few days and have a good time in nature :)
With 4th of July coming up I am reminded that there is not too much time left in this semester so both Brad and I need to kick it into high gear and get on top of our classes. It should be alright...I hope
ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!! Brad and his band got into Guitars Unplugged and will be playing "Johnny Be Good" on Saturday night. Everyone should come and support them because it is going to be awesome

Life

2009-06-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

Brad and I have been terrible at updating lately. I think we have just beenso busy that neither of us have had the time to write anything. We have been working a lot lately on our graduation plans and trying to figure out exactly what our plan is for the next couple of years. It is so exciting to think about the future and wonder what it will hold. We have been discussing our options for internships and where we will go. It is wonderful that we actually have options, I don't think most people are that blessed.

It has been really uncharacteristically rainy in Rexburg lately. On one hand it is nice because I realize how important the rain is to this drought ravished land and the farmers who try to raise crops on it... but on the other hand I really want the sun to come out and stay out so we can camp and ride our bikes and do all of the other fun summer activities that we want to do.

Brad and I are going on a lovely evening bike ride tonight. Brad FINALLY finished his bike. He has been working on it since he bought it a moth or so ago. It is orange and black (not quite as cute as my baby blue bike but I guess it will do! :) ) I will post pictures of our bikes tonight when we go on our bike ride.

I have been thinking a lot about friendships today. I ran into an old friend of mine on campus and was a little surprised to see her. As soon as I did all of these memories came back to me of how much fun we used to have. It makes me wonder why people leave our lives in the first place... I have so many friends that I don't keep in touch with as well as I wish I did. Seeing this friend made me really want to reach out and tell all of my old friends that I didn't forget them, and I love them. I guess time does that.

We are both excited for this semester to be over! It seems like it has drawn on forever when really it is only half way through. The second half always seems to go by the quickest though thank goodness. I can't wait to not have the stresses of school and work and to just be able to sleep, relax and enjoy summer (if summer ever comes!) :)

A little direction please

2009-05-18T15:43:00.000-07:00

Life is good. I feel like I have a sense of direction. Today I got really frustrated with my Spanish class. No matter what I do, or how much work I put into it I can't seem to pass the class. I am literally failing right now. The only reason I took the class was because it is required for me to graduate... or so I thought. Turns out, I had accidently registered for the wrong major: A bachelor degree in Fine Arts Communication instead of a bachelors of Science Communication. I don't need Spanish, I need Biology! Needless to say, I speedily dropped my spanish class and signed up for another english class instead.
I also planned out my entire graduation plan and found out that I can officially graduate in 3 semesters! Yes, that means that December of 2010 I will receive my diploma! YAY! It feels so good to have direction. :)

One-sided Sunburn

2009-04-07T15:54:00.000-07:00

So I look like the two face or something from Batman right now I was out working all day, driving through Midvale, Teton, Sugar City, West Rexburg etc. and it was a glorions day so I had all of my windows down and the sun roof open. I guess I didn't realize how much the sun was beating down on me becuase after I got home I realized that I was burnt to a crisp. The best part is, its not even. My elft arm is burnt really bad because it was out the window most of the day and the back right side of my nexk is fired because the sun roof allowed the sun to beat down on me right there. I even have a tan line from where the seat belt was. I look halarious. Oh well, atleast half of my body got to enjoy the sun shine and maybe it will evne turn into a tan :) haha
Too bad I couldn't have gotten sunburned like normal people- my whole body and by laying out in the sun haha
P.S. I got a job working as the Campus editor for Scroll :) I am so excited

Working? Me?

2009-04-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

We haven't updated in awhile because for a first I have been busy! I have been busy working for the Census Bureau and Brad has been working on a lot of crazy time consuming projects for school . Yes you heard me right, I have been WORKING! Amazizing I know :)

Life has been pretty great though. Brad and I have been discussing options for internships/the future a lot so that has been fun to think about. We received a huge blessing in email form a couple of days ago when I guy that Brad knew growing up emailed him and told him that Brad could internship at his graphic design company in California, or if we wanted he could hook Brad up with some other companies in the Seattle area. We were seriously so excited because it is such a huge relief to have options!

I have been looking at some newspapers. I am really interested in an internship at the Seattle Weekly, and after graduation I am seriously thinking about trying to get into the summer internship program at the Seattle times.

Thinking about the future, graduation, and getting out of Rexburg is so awesome. I never thought it would feel this good :)

Brad and i have also been discussing the option of moving to an apartment down near main street. It would be kind of fun and it would give e a change of scenery... which I like ever few months, but I don't know if I feel like moving all of our stuff again. We'll see what boils out with that one.

Regardless, I am excited to think that the future is not that far away!

P.S.

2009-03-23T22:11:00.001-07:00

ON POSTS FROM NOW ON, IF YOU CLICK THE "READ ON" BUTTON YOU CAN SEE THE WHOLE POST NOT JUST ONE LINE ;) THOUGHT YOU MIGHT WANNA KNOW

Are we there yet?

2009-03-23T22:07:00.001-07:00

So I am soooo done with this semesterwhich is kind of a funny thing for me to say seeing as how I am not in school! BUT this coming semester has so much to look forward to :)
*First of all we get to go out to Michigan to see my fam and friends so I am super psyched
*Then it will be SUMMER TIME! My favorite time in Rexburg
*I will finally be back in school so I won't be bored at home all day
*Brad and I will be working so we can have $$$$$$ wooohoo
*after ten weeks we can head out to Wsahington to visit his family and my other half of the family
*life is just good when the sun is shining anf it's warm out

End of story...I Am so stinking excited for next semester yeeeehaaa

New Blogger Template

2009-03-22T18:38:00.001-07:00

So I have working on this new blogger template all afternoon and I am not sure how the heck it is going to work. If there are some weird quirks, just ignore it. i am still fiddling :) Thanks

The Evolution of Alternative Music

2009-03-17T20:44:00.001-07:00

http://www.viruscomix.com/

I am a terrible Blogger

2009-03-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

After talking to my sister-in-law Amy I was reminded of how inconsistent I have been with blogging lately.

So what's new with us...hmm let me think.

1- Our wedding pictures came in and they look great L:)

2- We both registered for classes next semester and I got the classes I wanted...Brad on the other hand is not so happy with his selections

3- I got a job with the census bureau and Brad will start work ing for the school again as soon as next semester comes

4- We are talking about doing an internship in Washington a year from now

5- The sun is out and the snow is melting :) :) :)

6- Bebot is growing big and eating sooo much

7- Brad is working on a really cool logo for his mom's cancer products

8- Only a few more weeks and we will be flying out to Michigan for our reception

9- I got a pell grant! So on April 20th I will get $4,500 from the government! YAY

10- We are planning our summer vacation- hopefully to Washington

So ythat's the top 10 of what's going on with us. I was just at Ailinh's Baby shower and everything was sooo cute that I got a ittle baby hungry. But no worries... no baby for us for awhile. :)

The Yeti

2009-03-02T17:54:00.000-08:00

So Brad wrote this rediculous essay proving that Yeti's exist last winter. I have been publishing articles through triond lately and Brad was determined to get the Yeti essay published so he made me do under my name haha. SOooo I did...and now his crazy Yeti essay is under my pen name -wonderful!-
Here it is:
http://www.socyberty.com/Paranormal/The-Yeti.567395

And here a couple random ones I have written lately:
http://www.quazen.com/Recreation/Horoscopes/Horoscopes-and-Zodiac-Signs.563177

http://www.gomestic.com/Pets/Keeping-Red-Eared-Slider-Turtles-as-Pets.559299

http://www.socyberty.com/Holidays/St-Patricks-Day.567381

Zumba

2009-02-26T20:33:00.000-08:00

I did Zumba for the first time today. It is a Latin dance inspired aerobic exercise.
It was a lot of fun and a really good workout! I think I am going to regularly start going to Zumba classes. It is amazing how good it feels to get exercise. I haven't really been as active as I should be lately. Endorphins feel so wonderful, I don't know why I stopped exercising in the first place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf0q6qtThF4

Fake Tans + Bodybuilding= NASTY

2009-02-24T17:04:00.000-08:00

I think that orange tans are one of the grossest things in the whole world! I also think that bodybuilders ESPECIALLY women bodybuilders are disgusting. Sadly enough, some go to that terrible extreme and do BOTH!!!!

To better illustrate how terrible this looks...here is a picture of what Brad and I would look like with a fake tan and some muscles:

Recovering Turtle

2009-02-24T07:26:00.000-08:00

So Bebot wasn't eating. And then he wasn't really swimming or playing or basking so I got worried. I did some google research and found out that he was extremely sick. He was breathing with his mouth, which meant his respiratory system was failing. We found out that the water he was in was too cold for him so it was sending his body into hibernation!!
I immediately put him in hot water and then Brad and I went and bought some plants for his tank and a heat lamp.
I watched him all evening hoping that he would eat something and recover. Slowly he started getting more playful and active so I put in some carrots and a little piece of scrambled egg to see if that would catch his eye.
When we went to sleep he still hadn't eaten anything (3 days of no food :( ) But when I woke up this morning to check on him, ALL of the food in his tank was gone and he was swimming around like a new turtle!!!
I think it is safe to say he is on the road to recovery.....now we just have to figure out how to help him swim a little better

Bebot :)

2009-02-22T21:28:00.000-08:00

So Brad and I welcomed a new addition into our family on Saturday. His name is Bebot and he is 3 months old. He is a beautiful little red eared slider turtle and we love him.
We got him at a flea market and have been trying to figure out what he likes to eat since.

First Valentines Day

2009-02-15T21:37:00.001-08:00

Brad and I just celebrated our first v-day together. It was a lot of fun! I woke him up with breakfast in bed and then sent him on a scavenger hunt of heart shaped clues that eventually led to his present, which was an easel. He has been talking about how much he needed one for a while so I thought it might be nice :) I also made him a homemade card (amazing I know coming from the girl who can't craft)

*** The easel picture has the picture of me that Brad spray-painted***

After my census bureau test, Brad surprised me with flowers and the best present ever.... a hot pink fishing pole! I have been talking about how much i enjoyed fishing so I thought it was a really sweet thought! He also got me the most adorable card:)

Later we made baby back ribs **they were on sale** it was delicious!! It was also fun to cook together :)

After diner we went to stake conference, which was really nice. They talked about love a lot and it was actually a really uplifting thing to do on Valentines Day

After the conference Brad had another surprise: He rented the movie "Nick and Noras Infinite Play list" and had chocolate Martinellies with giant wine glasses! It was really sweet and a wonderful evening.
Definitely the best Valentines Day ever!!

Update

2009-02-12T08:11:00.000-08:00

So I have been the worst blogger ever lately. I guess it's because I feel like I have nothing to write about. Brad and I are are same ol' same ol'. Still looking for jobs. I think I found something for 5 weeks at least. The census bureau is looking for people to go door to door and record the number of people in each household and they pay well so I think I will try to do that! Even though we don't have jobs, things have been fine. We have been really blessed because we have been getting wedding cards in the mail almost daily still which has helped us pay our bills. I am really not worried because we know that by April we will both have jobs for sure so no worries.
We have been talking a lot lately about internships and what we were going to do about that. We have been kinda leaning toward the Seattle area which would be really cool because we would be so close to family at least for a little while. I can get an internship basically anywhere, we just have to find Brad one that is specific enough in what he wants to do. Wish us luck!
Brad has been doing some cool projects for school! He spray painted a picture of me which was really awesome. I will have to post it later.
Overall life is good and I am getting excited for Valentines day! :)

Help?

2009-02-09T10:14:00.000-08:00

So I am writing articles for the internet now trying to make money. I get paid per view/comments so everyone can help by looking at my article here:
http://www.gomestic.com/Personal-Finance/How-to-Save-Money.514833
Thanks :)

Boredom

2009-01-22T14:12:00.001-08:00

So to pass the time, as both Brad and I are unemployed for the time being, we have been playing around a lot on our mac. This is the outcome of that:

Yeah I know...we have issues but there's not much to do when you don't work. Brad has been painting a little and I have been brainstorming ideas to write about. I did have a n interview yesterday so let's just pray that it works out and I get the job.

Our Apartment

2009-01-15T14:06:00.001-08:00

So because the family has been requesting we put up pictures of the apartment, here they are!!

This is the living room:

And this is the Kitchen/Dining room:

Here's the Bathroom:

And last but not least the bedroom. The first picture is a close up of our bedspread and curtain design:

We really love our apartment and are pretty happy it turned out. This way we can stay happy and cozy in our remainder of time in Rexburg. We really appreciated all of the gifts and gift cards that went toward decorating and furnishing the apartment! :)

Honeymoon Pix ( Nothing Scandelous I Promise)

2009-01-14T09:23:00.000-08:00

This is the loft we stayed in called Morgan Hill View Loft. It was absolutly beautiful overlooking Port Townsend and the ocean! I am seriously convinced I want to move here!

And then Some Pix of the car haha:

Married :)

2009-01-11T21:07:00.000-08:00

SO Bradley and I are married now. And now we are making this our "family" blog.
The picture above is photo cred to Lauren (brad's sister) she is amazing and has some other really cool pictures that she did. Everyone should check her out her blog is adayinwashington.blogspot.com
The wedding was amazing. Everything we imagined. The reception was pretty sweet too. Just super tiring! Then we had the honeymoon...awesome. Followed by the Kirkland reception which was also lovely.
The honeymoon was in Port Townsend, Washington and Brad and I are pretty convinced that we are going to move there after graduation.
We are now home and in our apartment. We were able to get everthing we needed to make a lovely apartment through wedding presents and gift cards alone! Thanks everyone :)
I will post pictures of the apartment tommorow most likely once I clean it up a bit.

We are now official Bradley and Krystal Woodard

Snow Snow Snow

2008-12-15T23:23:00.000-08:00

Brad and I made it back to Rexburg this evening safe and sound. I wasn't so sure we would make it home without a wreck because the roads were so bad, but it ended up being okay.
I'm not gonna lie, I love the snow, it just hit so fast and so much that I was taken aback. Brad and I had bridal photos on Saturday and I thought we were going to freeze in that blizzard!!! We probably got 6 inches in Salt Lake that morning! SCARY
I just keep praying that the roads clear up and everything is okay for those traveling down next week for the wedding! Especially my family because they have to drive from Michigan. I know everything will be fine, I just can't help but to worry.
The weddinging is next weekend! I can't believe it!I seriously can't believe it's already here...I thought time was moving so SLOW but now I am like woah!

Brad and I got our marriage lisence today :) yay This is all really happening :)

FINISHED!

2008-12-12T00:17:00.000-08:00

The semester is FINALLY over :)
I am so happy, I can finally realax and just focus on getting excited for the wedding!!!! 15 more days!
SO I think for the first time since I got to college I am going to have all A's HOW IN THE WORLD DID THAT HAPPEN? I was sick for 2 weeks and missed all that school, plus I have been planning a wedding. Holy Crap I am not sure how my life did that!!

Tommorow morning I pick up my wedding dress :) amazizing I can't believe it's only two weeks away! I am so stinking excited and so ready to marry the most amazing person on this planet yahooooooooooooooooooooo

Productive

2008-12-08T22:15:00.000-08:00

I feel like I got a lot done today, which is good. I am still way behind where I would like to be but atleast I am getting something done, ya know.
I feel like there are not enough hours in the day to complete everything I need to do. Really I just can't wait until this week is over.

I have been really needy lately and I am not sur why. Poor Brad must be so confused because this is very unlike me. I am usually much more independent than this. It is the strangest thing, I just can't stand for him to leave me. He sits there bored out of his mind while I do homework just because if he gets up to go I wine for him to stay in spend time with me. I really need to stop acting like that because it is utterly rediculous.
I can't wait until we are married and he never has to leave at night. That will be nice.

I am extremly sleep deprived. Maybe thats my problem. Who knows.

4 more days left and then I can relax and focus on what's important right now...the wedding!

Maria Maria

2008-12-08T00:12:00.001-08:00

I know, two posts in one night, but I can't sleep so here's a little game I stole from Collyn's blog :

Put your iTunes on shuffle.

2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the note from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
"Time and Confusion"- Anberlin

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
"The New Year"- Death Cab for Cutie

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"Hateful" - The Clash

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
"Undercover of the Night"- The Rolling Stones

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"apathetic"- Mad Caddies

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"The District sleeps alone tonight"- postal service

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"Welcome Home" - Coheed and Cambria

WHAT IS 2+2?
"Track 6" -Silverstein

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"Tango: Maureen" - Rent soundtrack

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Retire"-1208

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"Someday you will be loved" -Death Cab for Cutie

WHAT WILL YOU BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"She's got issues"- The offspring

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Losing Keys"- Jack Johnson

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"Farther" -Third Eye Blind

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"Photographs" -The Faint

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Amber Changing"- Rise Against

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
"Creapin up the backstairs" - Fratellis

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Big Crash"- Less than Jake

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
"Lady in a Blue Dress"- Senses Fail

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
"Light Show"- 1208

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
"Linoleum" -NoFX

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
"Oustider" -The Ramones

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
"You're crashing, but you're no wave"- Fall Out Boy

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
"Hollywood" -UVR

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
"Zoom"- Young Joc

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
"Celebrator" The blood Brothers

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
"Bodies" -Drowning Pool

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
"Shoot from the Hip"- A change of Pace

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
"Maria Maria" - Santana

hmm... some of them were kinda interesting...I think my shuffel is lame because out of like 5,000 songs it repeatedly takes the same artists...weird.

So close yet so far away

2008-12-07T23:38:00.001-08:00

I am starting to get so anxious for the wedding! Less than 3 weeks until Brad and I get married :)
I can't even begin to explain my excitement!! I just feel like it is so far away with finals week this week.
I am exahsted and can't wait until the week is over, seriously, I need a semester off!
I have been listening to a Christmas station on Pandora for like a week straight and it is getting me so pumped for Chrsitmas! Even if this is going to be a different Christmas, I can't wait to see my family and spend this amazing holiday with Brad! By the time New Year's roles around we will be happily married and on our honeymoon :D

I am gonna brag for a second, I have the BEST fiance in the WHOLE world! Today he sat there for a couple hours finding and printing off articles for my resource file project! How sweet is that! It saved me soooo much time and really took a load of stress off. He is always doing sweet little things like that! I am so lucky that he is going to be my husband :)

Well, I am off to bed. I gotta get up early to get some more homework done. Ugh.

Peace&Love

Rexburg Gets a Pool

2008-12-04T12:25:00.001-08:00

At the Rexburg city council meeting on December 3rd plans were discussed more in depth for the Rexburg Outdoor Aquatic Center.
When Mayor Shawn Larsen was re elected in 2007, one of his campaign promises was to look into a community pool and recreational area. Now, this dream for many Rexburg citizens is coming to pass.
The Rexburg Urban Renewal Agency (URA), which operates under the Rexburg Redevelopment Agency (RRA), has been discussing and finalizing plans for the upcoming Rexburg Outdoor Aquatic Center according to a presentation given by John Webber, an agency member, at city council. The aquatic center is going to feature an outdoor pool open for use by Rexburg citizens. The center will also eventually have a recreational area with soccer and baseball fields.
Steven Zollinger, the city attorney, explained in a little more depth the upcoming plans. The Rexburg Outdoor Aquatic Center will be built on land located at 2nd N. and Center Street which is currently used by Zollinger Construction. The RRA has purposed a trade with Zollinger Construction for a piece of property a few streets over and of equal square footage. The purpose for the trade would be for easy public access and for use of the building that the construction company has on the property for the parks department and for maintenance purposes.[see below diagram] The land is also surrounded by other city owned properties that will be combined in the creation of the aquatic center. The RRA is confident that Zollinger Construction will agree to this trade of property.

The URA and Inland Public Properties, a company out of Texas, have been developing a contract for the construction of the aquatic center. No official contract has been reached at this time but they are hoping to reach an agreement within the next month after the city council vote on the term sheet. If this contract is established soon, construction could begin as early as this coming spring.
In order to speed the process along, council member Chris Mann made a motion to vote in favor of the exchange of property and to have a vote on the term sheet presented by John Webber. The motion was second by council member Adam Stout and every council member, excluding Council member Woodland who was not present, voted in favor of both the exchange and the terms.
The RRA and URA will continue to develop a contact with Inland Public Properties and plans should be finalized in upcoming city council meetings.

Back in the Burg

2008-11-30T21:15:00.000-08:00

Brad and I made our long trek home and we are now back in Rexburg until the wedding.
I was a really great holiday! I was so happy my Dad flew Brad and I out and it was wonderful to be able to see family, both his and mine.
The week went well and Brad fell into the family like he had been there forever which made me really happy. I was also able to take it easy and continue to heal. I feel so grateful to feel so much better. I am even going back to school tommorow thank goodness!
I have been doing homework all day, and I am sure that's how it will be for the next couple weeks until school is over. Crazy, only two weeks! WOHOOOOOO
Brad and I are both getting so excited for the wedding. I can't believe it's almost here. 27 days left :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T11:09:00.000-08:00

So today is Thanksgiving of course and I am very grateful for the things in my life today.
This year has been exceptionally good. I was blessed enough to meet Brad, I am doing really well in school, I got my scholarship renewed for another year. My family is amazing and well and everyone has a job. Brad gets along really well with my family and I love his!
Right now I am especially grateful for health. After being so sick for the last couple weeks, regaining my strength and feeling a little better every day is one of the biggest blessing ever.
I am so grateful for Brad and how wonderful he is to me. I am so excited to get married next month :)
I am also grateful that both of my families in Washington and Michigan as well as Brad's family are all blessed to have jobs right now in these scary times.
I am grateful to live in this country with the freedoms I enjoy and to have had the opportunity to vote earlier this month.
Overall i am just so grateful for my life and all that I am have been given and I feel extremly blessed.
Happy Turkey Day everyone!

Brad and I are off to enjoy good food and great company :)

Off to Washington

2008-11-21T11:11:00.000-08:00

So tommorow morning Brad and I begin our journey to Washington. We have to first drive to Boise and then we will fly out to Seattle from there.
I feel so blessed that I have gotten better fast enough that this little trip isn't going to kill me. I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to go because the doctors were a little weary about me traveling, but I got the all clear to go yesterday.
I have to take it really easy but I don't think that will be too hard...
I don't think Brad understands how much this trip means to me. This is the final tie that needs to be made before the wedding. I need him to meet the rest of my family and I am praying it will go well. I know it will I just really really want this to be prefect because this is my family and Brad is going to be my family and I want these important people in my life to love eachother when we get married!
I am really excited :) I just know they are going to love Brad and with an open mind Brad will love them too!!!
Again, I am so grateful my body decided to get enough strength that this trip is even possible. I can't wait.

Grateful for my Angels

2008-11-18T12:36:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to take this opportunity to express how entirely grateful I am for the wonderful angels I have been blessed with in my life.
My roomate Ashleigh, and my sweetheart Brad.
These two have been my everything for the past week. If one has to leave my side they make sure the other is there to be with me. They both stayed at the hospital all night next to me combatting uncomfortable chairs to make sure I was okay.
I couldn't appreciate them more!!!
Brad is there for emotional support and comfort. He keeps me entertained and makes sure I am okay at all hours of the day, even texting Ashliegh all night to make sure that I am telling the truth and I am really okay. He also has been in charge of calling my family and bishopric to keep everyone updated and assured that I am alright.
Ashleigh has been my little nurse. She cleans and sterilizes everything I am in contact with and makes sure no germs come near me. She feeds me and makes me take my medicine as well as helps me to the bathroom and the shower when I need to be there. She makes sure that every little detail is paid attention to that I am 100% comfortable all the time, even waking up every few hours to check on me.
I don't know what I would have done without either of them! I feel so so blessed to have them both in my life they are absolutly amazing!!! Like I have said, they are my angeles :)

hospital visit OVER

2008-11-17T12:10:00.001-08:00

So I am home from my 2nd stay in the hospital this week. This was the last I am sure because I can feel the strength returning and the pain leaving. I am hooked up to a catheter right now which is quite disgusting but maked things so much easier and less painful for me!
I will be so happy when this is all over. I have now had about 16 different blood tests, another 6 culture tests and lots of IV's and pain meds.
They tell me that we should be over the hump and moving toward recovery. I think that it is true because I can physically feel the strength returning and I am handeling the pain much easier now.
I think I will be making it to Washington this weeked after all! YAY :)
This has been a terrible time, but I am sure a wounderful learning experience and I am greatful for whatever it is teaching me...

Thanks for all of those that I know have been praying for me, visiting me, calling me, and keeping me your thoughts. This is almost over.

Bittersweet

2008-11-11T08:44:00.000-08:00

SO the wedding is just about planned and ready to roll. I have my final dress fitting today and Brad and I bought his suit last night. He looked really sharp! I am so excited it's only 6 weeks away, but it seems the closer to the wedding I get, the sicker I get. This week I have developed just about every minor sickness known to man. This morning I had a migrane, I am running a temperature, I have a rash, I am sore in all of my joints...just plain SICK.
I know I will get better soon it's just frustrating. nothing will keep me down from the excitement of this wedding though!!1

City Council Denies Prayer

2008-11-06T23:48:00.000-08:00

In the past month or so, I have been attending the Rexburg City Council. I had never been to a city council before so this is kind of a fun opportunity to see the inner working of government in a small town.
To start off, after the Pledge of Allegiance and a roll call of Council Members, the person conducting the council for that night will invite any public attendee to present an issue that was not scheduled on the agenda for the night.
On this particular night a man, most likely in his 40’s and still dressed in workers clothes, confidently stood up to present his issue. The man, whose name I did not catch, began to speak.
“Council members, I have noticed that we do not start out city council with a prayer. It is my understanding that it is up to each individual council to determine whether we are to pray or not.”
The council members nodded that he was correct and the man proceeded.
“I looked into this and found that other city councils in the state begin their meetings with a prayer, and I thought because we claim to be “America’s Family Community” it would only be fitting,” the man looked to the council for approval and took their silence as invitation to continue.
“Often times things are discussed here that get heated, and I think that it would make things a little more comfortable and calm if we could start with a prayer.”
The council took this information in for a moment and then the conducting Council Member told the man that this issue was debated some time ago and they came to the agreement not to begin the meeting with a prayer. The man then asked if it was possible to reconsider and the council politely told him no. The man sat down looking disappointed and defeated.
He brings up a couple good points. Rexburg is known as “America’s Family Community” and a prayer might make things less contentious, but the council made their decision without second thought.
According to http://www.acluutah.org/publicprayer.htm prayer was establish as constitutional in 1983.

“In Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783 (1983), the Court held that a state legislature’s practice of opening each legislative day with a prayer performed by a state-selected and paid chaplain did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Rather than examining the case under the usual Establishment Clause framework, the Court looked to the history of the use of prayer before legislative sessions, in both the state and federal systems, and relied on this history when finding these prayers to be constitutional.”

In research I found that the man’s claim that prayers are offered before City Council meetings in many other city councils was true. Nationwide City Councils begin their meeting with a prayer. No one is forced to participate, but it is said for anyone who would like to take part.
I wonder why the City Council didn’t even give the man’s request second thought. It seemed like a like a legitimate request to me, but that’s just my opinion.

and another stolen quiz

2008-10-29T22:30:00.000-07:00

What These Sunflowers Say About You

You are a truly warm person with amazing bursts of energy.

You bring happiness to everyone around you, and you are adored by many.

You're bright, bold, and cheery. You nourish friends you with your optimism.

You can rise to the occasion whenever you are needed. You have boundless enthusiasm.

What Do The Flowers You Pick Say About You?

Stole these quizzes from Amy...

2008-10-29T22:29:00.000-07:00

You Are a Red Crayon

Your world is colored with bright, vivid, wild colors.

You have a deep, complex personality - and you are always expressing something about yourself.

Bold and dominant, you are a natural leader. You have an energy that is intense... and sometimes overwhelming.

Your reaction to everything tends to be strong. You are the master of love-hate relationships.

Your color wheel opposite is green. Green people are way too mellow to understand what drives your energy.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Long Time No See

2008-10-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

It's been quite some time since I updated so I thought I might jus write a little something something.
Life has been pretty crazy bust latley, Brad and I have both been sick and other than that I have just been running from school to Scroll and trying to get things done and still have time for a life. It's a literal juggling act.
I just started abn exercise class. I hurt. I didn't realize how incredibly out of shape I am but today, day four, I can't walk my calves are so sore! Yes, I know I am a wimp, but oh well. If this class doesn't get me in shape I seriously don't know what will!
In other news, the weather is absolutly beautiful! I can't get over what a lovely fall this is. The leaves are beaudtiful the breeze is warm and the sun is shining. Just the way fall should be :)

So I have lost my eyelashes again. This is really getting frustrating! This is the third time in the past year they have fallen out...strange. So in order to not have bald eyes for my wedding, I have been experimenting with alternative forms of eyelashes. I tried the full fake lashes but Brad hates them! He says they make me look like a druggie, so now I have these individual eyelashes that cover up the bald spots and they seem to be working alright.
If you have any sugesstions please let me know!!!!! Thanks :)

Well I have nothing else to say except HALLOWEEN IS IN 2 DAYS!!! YAY :)

Quote for the Day

2008-10-23T10:52:00.000-07:00

This is my little thought or quote for the day. My mom sent this to me in an emial and I love it because this is how I want to be:

Powerful Women's Motto:

Live your life in such a way
that when your feet
hit the floor in the morning,
Satan shudders & says...
"Oh darn....she's awake!!!"

Thoughts on 日本

2008-10-12T19:53:00.000-07:00

So right now I am writing a speech for a class I am taking I have decided to pick the topic of Studying Abroad. Writing this speech has caused me to reflect on a couple things

1. Why is it that Americans are so prejudice and naive in general when it comes to other cultures? I look at the world around me and I can't help to be astounded by the hate I see. It really saddens me. From my experience, our culture difference are something to be celebrated because it makes us unique. I see people different than me as interesting and an opportunity to learn. I think people are missing out on how much we can really get out of each other. Could you imagine a world were we all just grew from each other instead of worrying about where we are from, the color of our skin and the language we speak, or our differences in politics? I think it would be a pretty neat place.

2. I have also been reflecting on my opportunity to study abroad when I was younger. For those who don't know, I went to Japan the summer before my Junior year as a 15 year old. It has truly been the single most influential experience of my life. I think of how different my life would have been if I hadn't of gone. Not only did I learn so much and gain so much respect for the Japanese people/culture and other cultures in general, but I learned the most about myself. I left America a troubled teenager without any faith, hope, or understanding of who I was or what I was going to do with my life. I came back a different person. I learned that we are all children of our Heavenly Father and I learned how much he loves us...and how much he loves me, something I never grasped. I learned to rely on my faith and truly seek for answers and guidance. I came back with a realization that the person I was pretending to be prior was not me at all, but an impostor in my body. I returned with confidence, a new view of the world, a renewed faith in God and Christ, and for the first time a plan. Not just any plan, but a path that I was going to take in my life, and let me tell you it was sure different than the one I had been on.
I often reflect on those days spent walking alone on the crowded streets of Tokyo and things that I was able to ponder and learn while I was there.

Studying abroad was the biggest blessing I have ever had in my life, and it virtually saved my life. Who would have guessed that it would take a foreign country for me to figure myself out... I guess I am just that hard headed :) Studying abroad gave me the strength to become better than I was, to become what I had deep inside of me.
Someday I would love to return to that place! 私は日本を愛する (I love Japan)

I am Blessed!

2008-10-11T13:28:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to say how blessed I am. I have been stressed about everything lately: school, working, money, the wedding, EVERYTHING! Even my car has been having problems, the light stopped working in the dash. I was feeling so down and overwhelmed and I think Heavenly Father saw that.
On Wednesday Brad put his car up for sale, in less than 24 hours it was sold :)
We decided on Friday to go down to Idaho Falls to deposit the $600 in cash he made from his car, and for me to get my ring soldered. Brads bank was closed by the time we got there so we stopped in this matress store to look around. Next door was Down East Outfitters and they had furniture outside, I thought they only sold clothes so we went to check it out. Not only did they have furniture but they had a HUGE anniversary sale going on.
Brad saw a couch that was huge, it's called the mammoth couch, and went to check it out. I figured it would be like $2,000 but it turns out it was on sale, and then half off the sale price due to a bent frame and only cost $400!! The origional price was $1,400. After a little mental debating we decided that that was an amazing offer and we were going to buy it. The couch is 8 feet long and the width of a twin sized bed ie it's gigantic :)While heading to the check out a beautiful black metal frame sleigh bed caught my eye...I checked the price and saw it was $199 marked down from $600! The lady working there noticed me checking out the bed and asked me if I wanted it too. I explained the other bed I was looking at was cheaper so probably not and then Brad boldly told her if she would throw the ottoman that goes with the couch in for free would get bed. She thought for a minute and then decided to take our deal.
Overall, we got a couch, a bed, and an ottoman for $650....when they were worth $2,250. Amazing huh? Not only did we have $650 in cash with us but then they offered to store it all in a warehouse for us until after the wedding for free!!! Best day ever!

Then on the way home, my dash lights (that haven't been working for two weeks and would be expensive to fix) magically turned on! It was a wonderful night and I feel so absolutly blessed! Someone above is looking out for Brad and I :)

Wedding Planning!

2008-10-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

So there has been a lot of excitement lately with wedding planning. I am pretty close to be finished with everything, which makes me happy!

I paid for the potographer...you can check him out at http://www.jasonmcgrewphotography.com/ He was a really chill and cool guy so that's a relief.

We also found the shoes that I am having the girls wear, and we got a sweet deal. Here is a picture of the pumps, there are identical flats as well:

I also bought the ties. Brad picked them out, he was very specific, he wanted red paisley. Do you know how hard it is to find red paisley ties? I have been looking forever! Here are the ones I bought:And for the part I am most excited for....I found the bouquet I want! I sent the design to Brown Florists in Holladay, Utah and they are working on making it. They are also doing the corsages and boutonnieres. I think my bouquet will be absolutly beautiful and classic so I am happy:

It has been a really exciting process and now the only thing we have left to do are Brad's suit and invitations :)

So I had the brilliant idea that Brad sell his car and just share with me (i dont use it durring the day) and then he doesnt have to pay insurance and we can put the money toward a bed for the apartment! Well I made a craiglist listing last night and within an hour someone called and came and looked at the car. I think the guy is going to buy it today! Yay! Things are really just coming together in our lives.

Love&Peace

Wonderful Weekend

2008-10-06T21:01:00.001-07:00

This was such a great weekend! Brad and I went down to Utah for conference and to do some weeding planning and we stayed with my Grandma. It was so chill and fun. We went to dinner on Saturday after conference with about 30 of my family members at the Old Spegetti Factory. It was really nice, then Brad went to the priesthood session with the boys and I went with the women to watch a movie. Sunday we watched confrence and then between sessions went to my Uncle Ricks for dinner where more of the family was. That was nice too. Afterward we played card games with my grandma.
It was just so nice to not have an agenda and just spend time with my extended family and my grandma. I really enjoy being around them and I love how they all interact with Brad. I am so excited to have him be a part of my family!!!!
Today we shopped until we dropped (literally). Brad bought a bunch of new clothes, which I picked out :), and he is going to look soooo good and classy!
Spending a full weekend with Brad 24 hours a day makes me so excited to be with him for eternity! We have so much fun together and I don't think I am bored for a second! I really do love him so much and I wish that this three months would go by quicker so we can be together forever and not have to leave eachother. It makes me so happy to think about.
Now I am home and back in the real world, it's time to buckle down and get back into school and Scroll. fun fun...not.

The countdown begins: 11 weeks and 5 days

Frustrated!

2008-10-02T10:36:00.000-07:00

I am getting really sick of being sick. I know I have never been the healthiest girl in the world, but I have also never been quite this sickly. It seems like no matter what I do, or how careful I eat, or how much sleep I get, I am still sicker than the day before when everything is said and done.
I woke up at 6 this mornign feeling like I was going to die, not able to even roll over on my side. This continued until about 10 this morning when I got the courage to take some advil.
I feel terrible for my roomate and Brad especially because I feel like they are constantly having to wait on me and nurse me back to health! I hate that.
Brad was so sweet this morning, he showed up, knowing that I was sick, with a beautiful rose and some chocolate soy milk. I don't know what I would do without him :)
I am really hoping that this sickness passes soon because I need to be healthy for my weekend in Utah. I have been looking forward to this weekend for the past month and I think it will be just the ticket to my recovery.
I just keep telling myself that tommorow I will wake up and feel wonderful. Mind of matter right? Ugh

On a lighter note, Halloween is coming! YAY. I love Halloween and I am so excited for my favorite holiday of gjosts, goblins, and costumes to approach!
Is it strange that my favorite holiday is the one centered around satanic things? hmmmm.... thats a scary thought. Oh well, I am excited nonetheless.

Good Morning!

2008-09-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

Today is a great day. Why you may ask? To tell you the truth, I really don't now!
I woke up at 7:47 wide awake and happy, yes I said it happy. For those who have seen me in the morning, you know I am generally not a happy person until about noon.
I got up, went to work just to find out there was no work to do and then walked to the bagel place to get breakfast for my two favorite people: my fiance and my roomate :)

Now I am just sitting here waiting for class to start and I know it is going to be a great day! I think I will have to do wonderful things today just to ensure that it is indeed a good, productive day.
Oh and just as a sidenote, it is going to be 80 degrees today and it is already absolutly glorious outside, high 50's and sunny, nothing better! :)
~Peace&Love~

Rexburg's Finest

2008-09-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

So Wednesday I did a police ride along with Sargent Schmitt of the Rexburg Police Department. I was honestly not really looking forward to the assignment but it ended up being a lot more fun then I had expected.
First I was shown around the little police station. It was actually kind of cute in a small town (and very Mormon) kind of way. All of the officers had pictures of their adorable little families on their desks and everyone was extremely friendly.
Sargent Shmitt said they had had a very busy night with the plane crash at the Rexburg Airport and two pedestrians being hit on Main street. He's in charge of doing the crime scene reconstruction to determine the speed of the car involved and the angles of the hit and what have you. He showed me his computer program that he does it on. It was pretty cool, and very CSI-esk just on a much lower budget!
After a tour of the station we went out on the streets for patrolling. I must say for such a small town, they sure get hooked up with cars! He was driving a brand new DODGE CHARGER! It was so pimped out on the inside to with all of the cameras and computers and sweet gadgets, I was quite impressed. He said as of now they have two of them but they just ordered a couple more.
Some Background on Sargent Shmitt:
Sargent Shmitt is one of two Sargent's on the Rexburg Police Force. He grew up in Sugar City and then moved to Rexburg after he was married. He has been an officer for 14 years. Spending some of that time working for the county. He loves Rexburg. He says he wouldn't trade living in a small town like this for anything because it is one of the best places to raise a family. When asked what the weirdest thing hes ever seen was he replied "I once got called in to check out a scene where a man had dressed all in women's clothing and make up and then hung himself." (which kind of freaks me out)
If I were to have someone pull me over in Rexburg I would rather it be him because he claims he doesn't really write tickets. "I used to write a ton of them when I was younger, but I guess in my old age I just find it easier to reason with people. Most of the time that works fine." According to Sargent Shmitt, if they aren't nice, the chief firers them because in a small town like Rexburg the officers are expected to be nice! Good to know...
Most of our time was spent just driving around and chatting. He explained that it is hard to be an officer in Rexburg at times because you have to deal so much with people and kids from your ward and hear all of the gossip. He says that can be sad, which I can only imagine. He also told me that there is a lot of "good-ol-boy" type of stuff that goes down here. For those who don't know what that is, it is when police are hush hush about things or don't write something up because it is their old friend or neighbor. Goes to show corruption even exists in the country's "family neighborhood" as Rexburg calls itself.
My ride along ended with one pull over (no ticket) and a harassment call, which Sargent Shmitt says was probably a lie anyways because supposedly the lady who made the call is a drama queen. As he dropped me off he was headed to go find out some information about a fugitive that may be living with an employee at the Dollar Tree.
Overall I learned a lot about Rexburg and what goes on when we aren't looking. Just like any other town there are a lot of drug problems. I also found it that robbery is really bad here! A guy was found trying to break into a girls apartment earlier this week (they never caught him...scary) and there was even a bank robbery a couple years ago! The most interesting thing though that I found out was that campus police are going to be no longer. Turns out it is illegal to have them in the first place because they are church paid and by law "No private company can have its own police force." The campus police had been overstepping their boundaries by enforcing the honercode as well, which happens to be illegal. I found that all very interesting.
I wouldn't mind doing a ride along again someday. It is a pretty cool way to learn more about the ins and the outs of the town, and it honestly gave me a little more respect for police officers here themselves.

I GOT MY DRESS!

2008-09-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

So, today Ashleigh and I went dress shopping. I re-tried on the two dresses that I had previously put on and then the girl ( named Britney) who was helping me had me try on a dress just to check my sizes, I didn't think I would like that dress at all, but the emotion was quite the opposite! I LOVED it! It is seriously beautiful and Ashleigh agreed saying it was "stunning."

They even threw in a veil for free and a rhinestone tiara at %10 off. Then they gave me a 10% discount for getting the full package! I was sold :) Heres the front and back...sorry for bad picture quality its a camera phone and I was making a weird face

I put my downpayment down, and scheduled my alteration time and now I have myself a beautiful dress!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brad and I also registered for Bed Bath & Beyond today and I contacted some photographers.

One lady told me she was already booked but she was soo nice about it and even emailed me a list of other photographers, florists, decorators, and bakers! She was the sweetest lady!

I also bought Brad's ring today and I am getting it engraved on the inside.... I cant write what it will say though in case he reads this because it's a surprise! Here's his ring:

Overall it was a very productive day :)

Back at School

2008-09-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

So I am back in Rexburg again and it feels wierd to be here again. My apartments pretty nice so thats cool but I am still unpacking. My schedule seems pretty sweet too so I am psyched about that!
Brad and I have been doing a lot of planning and prep stuff. We have been looking for a car and today we filled out a contract to live in Cougar Court! Exciting :)
I am just so excited to get married...but it feels like ages away

ENGAGED!

2008-09-01T00:36:00.001-07:00

So the best thing that has ever happened to me happened saturday evening in Port Townsend, WA...Brad proposed!
It was amazing, just like something you would see on a movie except better. We took a walk on the beach and then we climbed up this big sand cliff because he told me there was something he wanted to show me. At the top was a little cave like cut out from the cliff. It was curtained with hanging ivy from above us and looked out over the ocean and puget sound. It was one of the most beautiful things I have seen. Then he held my hand and pulled the ring out of his pocket and asked me to spend eternity with him! Of course I said yes! He also gave me an adorable card that told me how he felt! It was beyond my wildest expectations!
Lauren took a lot of engagement pictures at Port Townsend. Here are some. Amy also did a few when we got back to Seattle.

Washington

2008-08-28T23:19:00.000-07:00

So the week with Brad in Michigan has come and gone and it was a lot of fun! My family absolutly loved him just like I knew they would :) I will put some pictures up once I get them from my mom.
We are now in Washington visiting his family and so far it has been fun. Amy and Lauren are going to do some pictures of Brad and I so I am really excited for that! I think this will be a good week.
I am going to start posting more pictures...I just need to start taking pictures again :)

HOME

2008-08-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

I have been home for a couple weeks now and it has been amazing! I love my family so much so it has been so fun to spend time with them and hang out :)

I got to babysit some fun kids the other day...10 of them to be exact! It was crazy but a good time.

Yesterday Mom, Jules and I went shopping for wedding dresses. I know I am not engaged yet, but ,my Mom and I wanted to be able to do that togther before I head back to Rexburg. She has a hard time with the fact that such important parts of my life are going to be spent away from her. We found two dresses that are perfect! Now I just have to narrow it down. Here they are from the Eternity Gown line:

I think they are both beautiful but my Mom likes the 1st one best because she says it is more Princess-esque.

Brad will be here in Michigan in 5 more days! I couldn't be more excited. I can't wait to see him again :)

UGH STRESS

2008-07-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

I have been so so so stressed lately with everything going on in my life. It's finals week and I can't wait until it's over! I have so much homeowork to do, tests to study for, and packing! AHHH
Next week I will be in the mountains all week camping with my Dad in Washington. It should be fun, but I have to break the news to him...crap.
After that I get to be home thank goodness :) I cant wait to be home with my family to spend time with them and get to see them and plan everything! It will be the best month ever and then Brad will come to Michigan, which I am so freaking excited about!!!!!!
A month away from him will be really hard but when he finally gets there it will be amamamamamazizizizizizizizizizizizing!

Well, back to my studies.

Patience and Good Times

2008-06-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend was fabulous! Friday I went out with Sara and Sadie and then we met up with the boys later. Then Saturday Micah, Sadie, Brad and I went to the sand dunes on Egan lake and played in the water and had lunch. Afterwards we drove up to Driggs to go to te Spud View Drive-In it was a blast!

Life is wild.

2008-06-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

Life has been crazy lately. I am starting to feel a little bit better so that's a plus. Last night Brad and I were talking and he suggested that maybe all of the problems wrong with me health wise are actually just a reflection of all of the bad things I put into my body growing up, so pretty much this is all my fault. I think he's right.

So a series of events has made me think a lot about life, my past, and my future. My sister has really been struggleing lately adn then this weekend a close friend of hers commited suicide. I hate that I cant be there to comfort her but I can always pray that things will get better. I cant imagine how he must have been feeling to be to the point of taking his own life, especially a week before graduation. His poor family.

I almost feel guilty with everything going on that I am so excited and wrapped up in Brad and I's relationship, But then I think...that is my future. I already went through crap in my past and pain and hardship so I deserve to be happy now. I deserve to be able to rejoice about where I am and where I am going. This is the best time of my life.

It is really difficuly living with these conflicting emotions sometimes but that's life I suppose.

I am going to start writing a book again. I think it might be good for me. I think I am going to write a biography of sorts but with some changes here and there so it isnt completly my story.. I think it will be a good way to take on this new chapter of my life.

I am so excited for the day I can stop keeping my big secret to myself and I can tell the whole world...but not yet. :)

Brad and I went with his roomates to a Beatles tribute band called: 1963 The Tribute. It was a ton of fun! After the show there was fireworks too. Overall just a really goofd night. Here is a picture and video from the concert.

secrets, secrets are no fun

2008-05-30T16:29:00.000-07:00

So this is day 2 of my blogging adventure and I have a lto on my mind.
Pretty much, I hate secrets. Even good ones because I suck at keeping them. I want desperatly to tell the whole world my little secret...but I'm not allowed. And even as patient as I am, I am going crazy wondering when I will be allowed to tell! oh well, it will be an amazing announcement when I am able to spill :)
TGIF! I am so happy it's finally the weekend! It has been such a long week, even though I just got back from a four day weekend. Driving down to Utah twice in one week sure does wipe me out. I am just going to sit back, realx, and chill all weekend with Brad.

Something New

2008-05-29T16:19:00.000-07:00

This is obviously my first post here. For a long time I have used livejournal but it is time for a change so bare with me while I figure this out. I figure my life has changed so much I might as well start a new online chapter...so here I am.
Peace & Love