The M&M Update....

The Wood Connection: 4,000 Facebook Fan Giveaway

2012-01-23T10:41:00.000-08:00

The Wood Connection: 4,000 Facebook Fan Giveaway: We are so close to 4,000 fans on our facebook page! In order to help us get there, we are giving away four $25 gift certificates! To ente...

New year, new me??? Maybe....

2012-01-04T11:50:00.000-08:00

I swear I am trying to be way more positive about things this year, even if it doesn't sound like it :)

So a few months ago I started working with a trainer that one of my friends suggested to me. We go for an hour a day, 5 days a week. One day we will work legs, the next arms, the next core and glutes and then start over with legs and arms. The first week that I went I was not able to walk afterwards :) Now I am on my 4th month and I am starting to get to the point that I can do most of what she asks us to do most of the time. I have lost 25 pounds so far! I am really happy with that, I have lost that much once before but it took me about 5 months to do it (not the 3 it took me this time) and I was taking a weight loss supplement as well. I am really proud of myself for sticking it out, going every day (well almost, December was hard for me) and for learning all kinds of new things.

There is one thing that still continues to be a struggle for me.... food. I crave it.... and not the good stuff. There are days that I sit and think that I would give my left arm to be able to go out to lunch somewhere. I have not followed the diet like I should have. I did pretty well for the first month or so. Second month, not so great. Third month (December)... diet??? What diet???? Yep I fell off the wagon big time.

So now I am sitting here thinking about what causes me to act the way I do with food? I have always been a pretty picky eater. I don't care for fruits or veggies. I LOVE breads or anything soft from the bakery. I drink soda like its going out of style. My biggest issue though is going out to eat. I would spend my last dime on fast food.

I see it as a treat. When we were growing up we didn't go out to eat very often. I am the oldest of 7 and eating out was not something that fit into my parents budget that often. So when we did get to go out it was a pretty big deal. Once I grew up and got my own job I was one of the few kids I knew that could care less about buying clothes, shoes, a car etc. I was happy as long as I had the money to go out to dinner or grab something on my way home. It was how I felt successful.

This also continued when I met Matt. I was working, he wasn't and so when we had a few extra dollars the first thing we did was treat ourselves to dinner out. Now that we are financially stable it amazes me how much we spend on going out. For Matt I think it is an easy way for him to see on a daily basis that he doing well to be able to go out and spend $40+ on dinner.

I just can't understand why we wouldn't want to put that money towards something that is non-consumable, something that is going to bring us joy, happiness, contentment, stability etc. down the road. Why aren't we putting that towards fixing fertility issues, making our home what we want it to be, building our savings account? For some reason we equate eating meals at home with being poor. Now how do we fix that??

Is it possible to ALWAYS be positive????

2011-08-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

I'm not even sure how to start this blog other than to say I am having an oh poor me pity day....

I have in the past hinted at the fact that Matt and I have not had an easy time having children of our own. The fact of the matter is in the entire time that we have been married we have never used protection of any kind, we weren't trying to not get pregnant. We also haven't gone to any great lengths to get pregnant either other than just having regular sex. I know that there are things about my system that don't work right and there is a history of infertility in my family. Why we haven't done more to get pregnant is complicated, very complicated.... and has changed from year to year. At first it was that we couldn't afford anything more than a doctors visit, at points it was that we were having the normal ups and downs of any relationship and didn't want to add going through the emotional struggles we knew we would face to our already long list of problems that we were having. And I guess at the heart of it all was my fear of failing. What if I put all this effort into it and it just didn't work? Could I bear that? Could our marriage bear that?

Through this all I have tried to keep a positive attitude and not let myself get into pity mode when I hear that others are pregnant. I can usually do this pretty well, however there are exceptions..... I have the hardest time hearing about parents that continue to have kids that weren't planned, they didn't want, that are messing up their social lives etc.....I just want to scream at them "don't you know what you have!!!! Don't you know that there are people, more people than just me that would give anything to have a child as wonderful as yours in their life???"

This week I seem to be having a harder time keeping my thoughts positive. It seems as if everywhere I turn there is someone I know announcing they are pregnant. Don't get me wrong, I would never wish my issues on someone else or wish that any of those people had to feel the way I feel. That is like me saying that I would rather have my own child than to have one of my nieces or nephews in my life, my life would not be as amazing as it is without all of the wonderful people I have in it.

What do you do to get rid of the negative and keep the positive?

Crazy Busy July!

2011-07-20T14:15:00.000-07:00

Well we have had yet another crazy month at our house :)

Matt got a new job with a company based in Iowa so he has taken 2 trips out there this month, one for 2 weeks (at the end of June) and the other one for 1 week. He is loving this new job, it is challenging and that is what he loves! So far so good :)

We had a ton of fun the weekend of the 4th of July, Matt got home from his business trip and the whole weekend was filled with family fun. On Saturday we went to the pool with all of the kiddos including Hadlee who loved it!

Hanging at the pool :)

Miss Hadlee

Ben even got in on the fun.

On Sunday night we had a BBQ with the Benson's out at Gayle and Alans. They were so generous to have us all over for dinner. So much good food and lots of fun times including Grandpa getting soaked with water balloons.

We ended the night with fireworks out front

Hadlee loved the fireworks!

The next day on the fourth we spent the day at the West Point 4th of July festivities including the parade and carnival. Then the fireworks at Clearfield.

Getting ready for them to start.

Hadlee was pretty excited!

The next weekend Ashlee, Jordan and I went to see Kenny Chesney at USANA Amphitheater. We had a blast and it was a great show. So glad that we decided to go.

We had an awesome spot on the grass thanks to Jordan, our little runner :) Can't wait for Tim McGraw next month :)

Not sure what was up with my shirt but I look pretty lumpy :(

We also celebrated Ashlee's birthday with a weekend of fun, sun, family and friends! We went to Pineview during the day on Saturday and then followed it up with a big BBQ at our house that night with a bunch of our friends and family.

We still have another half of the month to go! And we have a ton to pack into that time :)

Bear Lake 5k

2011-06-27T18:04:00.001-07:00

What a fun weekend! We had so much fun this past weekend up in Bloomington with our family. We have started a new tradition with the Earl family. Last year was the first time we participated in the Bear Lake 5k and this year makes it the second time. This year though lots more of our family was able to come up and enjoy this special time with us.

We had a ton of fun the rest of the weekend too! 4-wheeling in the canyon, lots of good food, homemade ice cream, relaxing, sitting by the fire, lil smokies over the fire, s'mores (gourmet of course), catching up on what is going on with everyone, making new memories, swinging in the hammock and swing, and just having a great time!

Heading out for the first ride, notice that we are all fairly clean at this point :)

Ben, Mom, Ashley, Hadlee and Tessa heading out.

We found SNOW!!!

Dad even got in on the fun in the Jeep. I think he may have had more fun than we did :)

But the number one reason we were all there was to remember our wonderful Grandma who we all miss very much! Love you Grandma Earl!!

It's been forever!

2011-05-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

Man I need to get better at this whole blogging thing! It has been a loooooong time since I have updated everyone on what is going on in our lives. So here you go......

Work: Matt is working.... I am not...... LOL...... Matt is doing very well making a name for himself in his industry. He has taken on a few big clients and and few small ones too. He is amazingly smart at what he does. I have been watching my sisters kiddos for her while they are working. It has been so fun to have Aspen and Kaigan during the day and picking the girls up from school is always an adventure.

Home: We are trying to get our yard finished up... we need to finish the gardens, get the parking pad on the side of the house put in, get a shed put up in the backyard and get the veggie garden in for the summer. The grass is finally starting to look okay and we are slowly making progress.

Family: We have been trying to spend as much time as possible with Matt's brother Pat and his wife Melissa and their daughter Lily. They will be moving to Kentucky at the end of May so that Pat can go to dental school. He recently graduated from Weber State, we are so proud of him! It was definitely a family effort so good job Pat Melissa and Lily!!! We are going to miss them tons but we are so excited for them to have this great adventure! And we will be going on lots of vacations to Kentucky in the next 4 to 8 years!

We also got to SPOIL our nieces and nephews and some of our friends kids for Easter this year. We threw a big Easter egg hunt and BBQ at our house for them all. I am not sure who had more fun, the big kids or the little ones!

Fun: Matt and I have decided that we want to buy a Rhino or a Razor this summer. We can't wait to get out there and have some fun!

I am so ready for summer! Hopefully there will be lots more for us to update you on!

Things I have learned about me... the stolen blog

2010-10-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

So I just read a friends blog and loved it so I am stealing her idea :) Thanks Carlee Hansen for the idea!

Here are a few of the things I have learned about me.

1-I am a really stubborn person. I accuse my hubby of being stubborn but the fact is I am just as much as he is.

2-There are times that I am totally okay with being lazy. I usually feel guilty about it later but in the moment I am okay with it.

3-I have no will power at all.

4-I have a super bad habit of not finishing stuff that I start. If there were one thing that I could instantly change about myself this would be it. Who knows I might not even finish this blog.... I think I just get easily bored with things.

5-I have a strong aversion to good for me things, fruits, veggies, non fattening foods. I can say that I am a junk food addict. This would be thing #2 that I would pick to instantly change about me.

6-Somehow I missed out on the girly genes in my family. How is it that I do not know how to do hair or put on makeup and make it look good. I look at my sisters and think, wow I really missed out on those classes or something.

7-I think of my dog as my kid. Hopefully if we have real kids that will change but for right now Daisy is it.

8-Living with just Matt for as long as I have has changed the amount of noise and confusion I can handle before its time for me to tell the nieces and nephews good night and run for the hills!

9-I am uncomfortable with physical contact. I am not sure why this is but it is mostly with people who are skinnyier than me (which is a lot of people). I don't like to touch my fat so why would I make them? I know, issues.... I have them....

10-I don't have a lot of favorite things, no favorite color, no favorite food, no favorite season, no favorite holiday. They all have good things about them and it is too hard to choose.

I'm sure that there will be more that I learn as I go on but here is the start.

End of summer update

2010-09-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

Well before I knew what had happened this summer just snuck away from us! Once again we were so busy that I didn't have a ton of time to take it all in or write it all down. I guess that just means that we had too much fun!

Here are some of the highlights:

Miss Lily turned 2 in June and Melissa put together the cutest train themed party for her since Lily loves trains. She got some awesome gifts and tons of sun glasses from her uncles, she is definitely a loved little girl.

We spent a weekend up at my aunts cabin in the Bear Lake area and did a 5k race with my family in memory of my Grandma Earl. It was such an amazing experience and I am so glad that my Grandpa and Aunt Christine were able to join us. We had so much fun spending time with them at the cabin and just getting to know each other again as adults. My Grandpa is such a character! I absolutely LOVE spending time with him.

Matt and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary this year! Matt had to work late that night so we ended up just having dinner here at the house but we still had a good day.

This year the 4th of July was on a Sunday so that meant a whole weekend of fun! We spent the day on Saturday going to the West Point Parade and carnival. We had a BBQ at Erin's, and one on Monday at Aunt Pat's.

Up next was Cherry Hill with the Bookers for Ashlee's birthday. This is the second year we have gone and we had so much fun!

We also had a surprise party that night for Ashlee at my mom and dad's house since she was turning the big 3-0! I can not believe that we managed to keep it a secret from her for over 2 months! We did a luau theme and Courtnee and Randi did such an amazing job on the decorations.

For the 24th of July we packed up the camping stuff and headed up to Weber Memorial camp ground up by Causey. Ashley was able to get us a reservation for the most awesome group site since she works for Weber County. We were down in a little valley area that was totally blocked off and we had tons of room for everyone. We hung out at the campground, spent a day swimming at Causey and even went for a little bit of a 4-wheeler ride up on Monte. We spent the evenings sitting around the HUGE campfire and Ben roasted littl' smokies for us instead of marshmallows :)

In August we had a bit of a rough start. Ashley's parents were involved in an accident on their motorcycle the first part of August. It has been a long road of recovery for both of them and they still have a ways to go. They also lost a good family friend in the accident. I am amazed at the strength that they have both shown in working through this. We love them so much and don't know what we would do without them!

Matt also found out at the beginning of August that he was laid off from his job. While I freaked out he just started getting his name and resume out there and before we knew it he had tons of offers coming in. While most of them would require that we move out of state he was able to find out that for now will allow him to work from home with the possibility of working for them permanently once they can see how the work from home thing works out. They have been sending him a ton of work and keeping him really busy.

We have made some good progress on our yard as well. We now have a lawn to mow!!!! I am so excited to see it coming together. We are going to wait until the spring to do the concert curbing but we are going to work on getting the flower beds planted this fall, we just can't pass up the great fall sales that are going on now!

Is it summer yet??

2010-06-14T15:43:00.001-07:00

I really can't believe that it is the middle of June and we are still having weather that reminds me of April and May! It is actually a good thing for us though, we are still in the process of getting our yard put in and the cooler weather is great for seeding a lawn, if we can ever get to that point. We are almost done with the sprinkler system, we just have to put in one more line and hook up the last set of valves. We are so lucky to have the family we do, they have shown up several nights in a row and helped us get everything put together! My dad has been awesome, patiently answering my many, and sometimes ridiculous, questions about what goes where and why things work the way they do. He has a way of making things just make sense. It has been fun to see Matt really get into doing stuff in the yard, sometimes I still have to drag him out there screaming but we still manage to get done what needs to be done. We also got our veggie garden planted, I can't wait to see how things turn out, can't wait to have an ear of fresh corn with dinner!

Right now pretty much all of our time is spent working on yard stuff. This coming weekend we do get to take some time off and do something fun for a good cause. Last summer my Grandma Earl passed away after fighting cancer for about 3 years. During the time that she was receiving her treatments she was going down to the Huntsman Cancer Institute. When Brandi and I were down at the Susan Koman Race for Life 5k Brandi said she wanted to find out if there was a 5k the benefited the Huntsman Cancer Institute and if so we should participate in it in honor of our Grandma. So she did some digging and found one that is being held up at Bear Lake. We are going to head up the night before and stay for the weekend at my aunt Jane's cabin and spend some time with the family and with my Grandpa as well. It should be a very memorable weekend!

New Year, New Me

2010-01-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

Another year another set of New Years Resolutions. Hopefully this year they will stick!

About a month or more ago my sister Erin told me that she had gone to a doctor in Ogden and got a prescription for Phentremine, an appetite suppressor. She had been on it for about a month around Christmas time and she had been able to loose 20 pounds! After hearing that 2 of my other sisters, my cousin and a friend were all taking it I figured what do I have to loose by trying it. So I decided to make an appointment to go see the doctor. I started taking it on a Wednesday and that same day went and signed up for a gym membership with Ashlee at Lady Fitness. That night I went to the gym by myself for about 45 minutes or so. The next night Ashlee and I decided to try out a basic step class. It was so much fun and I sweat my guts out! I wasn't able to do everything that the rest of the class was able to do but I kept moving the whole time. I had always thought about doing a class like that but was always held back by the fear of what others in the class would think of me. After finishing the class I realized that everyone else in the class was there for the same reason and they were too busy worrying about themselves to worry about what I was doing.

Along with changing my exercise habits I have made some pretty big changes to what I eat as well. I have had a ton of help from my hubby, my sisters and my friend Cande who came over and spent about 3 hours giving me some pointers about what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat etc. I'm not sure that I am quite used to it yet but so far so good. I have been keeping track daily of what I eat for each meal and snack, how much water I drink and how much exercise I do. I feel more responsible for what I eat, I know that I am going to have to put it down on paper and I want to make sure that I am doing it right. I have cut out the caffeine (soda) completely, almost... I get one soda (with lots of ice) on my cheat day which is Sunday.

One of the things that has been the biggest motivation was buying a scale. I have never owned one. I used to think that it wasn't important to see what I weighed. I figured if I could see a difference in the way my clothes fit that would tell me I was loosing weight. Man was I wrong! Sometimes I take a while to loose enough weight to show a difference in how my clothes fit but if I can see the difference in the numbers on the scale I get so excited!! And then I am super careful because I don't want to see them go back up!! Every time I have a craving for something that I know isn't the best choice for me I just remember that I want to keep those numbers down and then I go pick something that is better for me.

I know that it is still early, it has only been a week, but I love that I have tried something that has scared me in the past and I am actually succeeding at it!

Catching up...

2009-08-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have posted so I thought I would get some new info up here for anyone who reads.

To say that this summer has been busy would be an understatement of the century! We have had so much going on this summer it seems that we are always on the run.

The whole month of July seems like a blur. In my previous post I had mentioned that my Grandma Earl was not doing well. I feel so lucky now to have know this before hand so that I was able to spend some time with her and really let her know how much I loved her before she passed away. I am not sure what it is with us Earl's but it was very hard to go see her while she was sick. I know that part of it was that I wanted my memories of my Grandma to be of the healthy, vibrant, wonderfully funny person that she has always been in my life. To see her sick and in pain was hard for me to deal with, which also made me feel very selfish as I was staying away for reasons that only had to do with me and my feelings. I knew that it was important for her that she have a chance to let us all know her thoughts and feelings as well. In the end I feel good about the time that I did have with her. I know that I was not up there as often as some of my other family members but I was there enough to know that I was loved and enough that she knew I loved her. All in all I think that is what is important, that those feelings were made known before she passed away.

This funeral for many reasons seemed different for me. I kept thinking that there was something wrong with me, I was not as openly emotional as those around me, although I know that I was missing her as much as they were. I just could not be sad that she was gone. I know that the last 4 years for her were painful and hard. I know that she is in a much better place now and that her faith never wavered. I know that she was ready to go, she told she was. I was not surprised, but amazed to realize how many people she knew and was loved by. Even though there was very short notice given for the funeral and viewing there were so many people that came out to support and show their love for her. I have always known that my Grandma was a lovable person, I just didn't realize how many other people knew that too. Seeing all of those people there it was impossible to think that her life was anything less than blessed.

There are things about her being gone that do make me sad but mostly have to do with those that she left behind. I cry when I think of my Grandpa being alone now. He had the most faithful partner one could ask for for over 50 years. My Grandma loved taking care of him. She didn't see it as a job or a responsibility, she saw it as something she loved to do. Again I have stayed away. I am having a hard time facing that reality that when I walk in the front door at Grandma and Grandpa's it is just going to be Grandpa... I hope that my Grandpa knows that this has anything to do with how much I love him, I just can't seem to make myself face it yet. It's pretty selfish but I have to do it in my own time.

In August our attention turned to Ben and Ashley and their wonderful wedding! It was a near perfect day, the only downsides were not having our Grandmas there and me not working the cam-corder correctly! Ashley made a BEAUTIFUL bride and I just have to say I have one of the most HANDSOME brothers ever!! I am so happy for both of them, and wish them the happiest life ever!!!

Ben and Ashley asked me to help them put together a video for the wedding of pictures of them when they were little and then some of them together and their engagement pictures. I had so much fun putting it together and working with them on it! I really got to know Ashley better and had a blast working with her.

This coming weekend is thankfully our first weekend with NOTHING planned!! Time to relax!

Memories...

2009-06-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

This past week has left me feeling rather nostalgic. My family found out on Monday that there is nothing more that the doctors can do for my Grandma E. in her fight against cancer and they can only give her 2 to 3 more weeks to live. The thing that amazes me the most is that she is the one that is trying to comfort us through this whole thing. I went up and visited on Wednesday and she let me know then that she was ready to face whatever came her way. She knows that she has had a successful, fulfilled, happy life. She is such a strong woman even at her weakest point.

I want to make sure that I get some of my memories recorded while they are still fresh. And I want to thank all of my cousins and siblings for sharing their memories over the last week which has helped me remember some things that I had tucked away.

One of my earliest memories was spending long hot summer days just hanging out in Grandma and Grandpa's yard. They had a ton of grass and lots of shade and it was the perfect spot for all the kids to play. She would let us take blankets out and lay out on the lawn and play and visit. We spent hours sitting outside snipping beans or husking corn so that our mom's could help her can it or put it in Seal-A-Meal bags to go in the freezer.

Sundays were always spent at Grandma's. Sometimes we went up for dinner but most of the time we just went up to visit which always included cake and Farr's Chocolate Chip ice cream. And Grandma always got the corner pieces of the cake. And if there were two kinds of cake she always wanted "just a little piece of both, but make sure that it is a corner." If we were lucky Grandma would make home made ice cream for us, that was a special treat and man did we LOVE it. After dessert was out of the way our favorite thing to do while the adults talked was combing Grandma's hair. We would fight over the comb and she was always fair about making sure we each got a turn. Even though we loved to do it I think she enjoyed it more, give us 20 minutes with the comb and Grandma would fall asleep sitting up!

If we ever got hungry while we were at Grandma's we could always talk her into making us a sandwich, home made raspberry freezer jam or peanut butter and honey. Some of my other favorites were sloppy joes and her orange jello salad with marshmallows.

My Grandma is an amazing quilter. There was rarely a time when we were little that there was not a quilt on when we got to Grandma's. I have been the recipient of a few of Grandma's quilts. We used to hide out under the quilts while our mom's worked on them with Grandma. It was like our own little secret hide out down there. I wish that I had even half of the talent that she has in that department. Her quilts are definitely a work of art.

Grandma is also very good at telling stories. She loves to tell us about how she met my Grandpa and about the time they spent dating. She would pull out her yearbook from Davis High and open it to the picture of Grandpa in his basketball uniform and say "look at those legs! Aren't they just sexy!" I love looking at pictures of my grandparents when they were young, we would look at them and tease my Grandma about what a hottie she was when she first married my Grandpa. She would just laugh and tell us how lucky she was to have fallen in love with my Grandpa.

I don't think that there were ever any strangers in my Grandma's life or anyone that she didn't know. No matter where we went she always made it a point to meet new people. I remember taking my cousin to the airport, back when you could do that, when he was leaving on his mission. As we were walking towards the terminal there was a whole line of missionaries waiting for their flight to get there. Grandma noticed that they didn't have parents there to send them off so she went over and introduced herself to them, asked them each where they were serving their missions and wished them good luck on their missions. When we asked her why she did that she said that she didn't want them to feel bad that their families weren't there to see them off.

If you asked my Grandma if she knew someone most of the time she could tell you where they lived, who they were related to and what ward they were in. She made it a point to get to know everyone she came in contact with and was always willing to help out whenever needed.

I love you so much Grandma. I hope that the rest of the time that we have with you can be meaningful and pain free for you. You have taught me some of the most important lessons in life. Be strong, don't worry about the little stuff and be a friend to everyone. I pray that I become half the woman you are!

2009-03-31T15:17:00.001-07:00

Congratulations are in order...

2009-03-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

As if I didn't have enough sisters I am so excited to be getting another one! That's right... Ben finally did what we have been begging him to do, he officially proposed to Ashley this past weekend! I am so excited for them and can't wait for the wedding!

The love of family

2009-03-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

I just have to say this... I have the most amazing family EVER! Matt and I have recently been going through some ruff financial times. Paychecks from work are never for the full amount and never on time. We are hoping that by sacrificing now that when the company takes off we can have a part of that success.

That being said, Tuesday I had to make a choice, I could buy food for Matt and I or I could buy a bag of dog food for the dogs. I have been watching Erin's dog Bella for her since they can't have pets at their apartment and their neighbors have been giving her grief about having her there. I knew that Erin had a large bag of dog food sitting at her house so I went ahead and bought food for us and planned on asking Erin if I could take that bag of dog food. So that night I went to her house to go to the gym and when I was leaving I explained why I needed it. She of course said go ahead and take it and kept a little bit there so that when Bella was home she could feed her.

So Wednesday afternoon I was sitting here working and get a phone call from Erin asking if we had plans tonight, I told her that we didn't and she said good, we are bringing stuff over for dinner, we haven't done dinner there for a while so we are all coming over. I was excited for everyone to come over and asked if there was anything I needed to do, she said nope, just get ready for a full house!

A few hours later she and Ashlee show up and proceed to unpack their cars. Erin had talked to Cody about our situation and he had handed over his paycheck and told her to make sure that we were taken care of. They had gone shopping for us and bought enough food to feed the two of us for a month! They thought of everything, food, toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, dog food and treats, deodorant, stuff for lunches, EVERYTHING! All I could do was cry! I still am!

They are the most selfless, giving people that I know. They knew that we had been struggling and gave everything that they could to make things a little easier for us. They are both single mothers working full time to give their kids the life that they want them to have, sacrificing things that they personally want to be able to give their kids everything. And then instead of spending that little extra on themselves they give again, to us. I hope some day to be able to repay this ten times over. I know that the saying is that it is better to give than to receive, but I have to say that being on the receiving end of something like this is a very emotional, rewarding, humbling experience.

I know that I don't say it enough but I love my family!

Welcome to our Rollercoaster!

2009-02-04T13:49:00.000-08:00

Wow, the last couple weeks have once again been filled with many ups and downs...

At 8:05 am on January 28th we had our first giant up... Kaigan Jackson was welcomed to the world by his parents, although Cody was feeling a little green at first he soon recovered to take on the role of super dad!

As you can tell from the picture the kid's got a good set of lungs on him. He weighed in at 6lbs 9oz. and 20 inches long (I think). He is adorable, although he did mark his territory on both mom and dad right away. Erin did have to end up having a C-section so she spent 4 long days at the hospital before she got to take him home.

That evening Matt and I went to his brothers house for dinner since January 28th is also Matt's mom's birthday. Melissa made an awesome dinner and then we hung out with Lily while Melissa went to Young Womens. Lily is such a ham and once she got warmed up to us she really put on a show!

Lily also showed us her newest skill, she loves giving uncle Matt kisses! At first she wouldn't give Deb or I one, just Matt. By the end of the night though we all got a bye-bye kiss.

Most of the downs that we have been having are with Matt's job, right now he is the one that has to do most of the work, before the rest of us can get started, and so to say the least he is stressed! He has been working long hours and working with people that don't have the same understanding that he does and that makes it frustrating for him. I can't wait until the site is done, or just launched, and he can relax a little.

Another up that I had was when I went to shoot some pictures for a friends wedding. This was my first real wedding to take pictures of and I was way nervous. I am glad that I had my friend Anya there to help me since she has done weddings before. I am very excited and will post some pictures when I get copies of them from Anya.

And of course when the Steelers won the Superbowl that was a HUGE up for Matt, he is a Steelers fan for sure!

Today I had a very personal down moment, while reading my aunt's blog I realized that I had totally forgotten that on February 2nd it was the anniversary of my Grandma passing away. I first started to cry because it hit me right then just how much I have missed her. Then I got so mad at myself for not remembering.... how could I forget something as important as that.... how could I have let my life get so out of focus that I forget about a person that is so special to me.... not to mention those people who are still here with me that I have neglected to keep in touch with. Right now I feel like the most horrible grand-daughter ever. I have to get my stuff back in line and really get back in touch with my family. On both sides.

I just hope that my Grandma knows how much I love her and miss her!

Hectic Week

2009-01-27T07:22:00.001-08:00

So the last week or so has been quite busy for my family and I. We thought that this weekend was going to be rather uneventful, wrong! Erin had a for sure answer from the OB about when she would be having Kaigan so we didn't think that we would be back at the hospital again until then. I guess that my dad decided that we needed to spend some more time at good old Davis North!

Saturday I had asked my mom if she wanted to go to the Rod Works clearance center in Layton to see what cool stuff they had there. I just wanted to look and try to get some ideas for my living room and family room. She and my dad just remodeled their bedroom and she was looking for stuff for that room. So we headed out at around 11:30 to go see what we could find. We hadn't been there for more than 20 minutes and my mom gets a call on her cell phone. I wasn't sure who she was talking to but from the sounds of the conversation I thought for sure it was Erin and that she was going to the hospital to have the baby. I was completely shocked to find out that it was my dad on the phone. When I asked my mom why he was going to the hospital she said that he thought that he was having a heart attack.

I know not to question these things with my dad, he has been the safety and first aid trainer when he worked at Craythorn and went through the trainings every year with the guys on his crew. Not only would they cover what to do to give CPR and first aid to injured people but they also covered what to look for if someone is having a heart attack. He knew that since he was having pressure in his chest, dizziness and loos of circulation in his arms that there was something going on.

Needless to say my mom and I ended our shopping trip and went to meet him at the hospital. He decided that he should not drive himself so he asked Jordan to bring him up since she was there and it would take us too long to get all the way home and drive right back up to the same area we were already at. The one funny thing about this whole thing was watching my dad unfold himself from Jordans little sports car. My dad is a tall guy, Jordans car is a little car, still not sure how he fit himself in there!

They took him into the ER to do a series of tests and found that he was having very irregular heart beats for about 15 minutes every hour or so. When he was having these irregular heart beats he couldn't feel the difference. So the doctor decided to keep him overnight so that they could do a full series of tests. They did blood work, EKG, ultrasound and a CAT scan, then after they got the results from those back they did a stress test. Sunday they let him know that they had one more test to do and kept him for another night so that they could do an angiogram. When they did the angiogram they found 2 spots that were 10 percent blocked. Thank goodness that it wasn't more! So there will be some lifestyle changes that he will be making as well as regular visits to the cardiologist over the next couple months.

I am really thankful that they were able to find these things now while they are still relatively small and can be fixed without having to do anything major.

New Years Resolutions

2008-12-29T08:15:00.000-08:00

So I guess the trick to these things are to put them in writing where everyone can see so I have someone to answer to. So here goes...

1. I want to be a better wife. There are a ton of things that I know I can do to be a better partner in my relationship. I can't wait around for Matt to do the same things, hopefully he will see my improvements and it will be motivation for him to step up his side too. Matt does a lot for me and I know that I don't recognize it enough.

2. Be a better and more involved aunt. I need to make more of an effort to spend quality time with all of my nieces and nephews through out the year. I need to take a more active role in Lily's life, like I do with my other nieces. And with a face as cute as hers who wouldn't want to spend tons of time with her!

3. I want to get healthy. Not just loose weight but honestly get healthy. I know that the way that I have been taking care of myself is not good. I need to realize that I am worth it. Until I love myself enough to make the changes that I need to make I will be forever the way I am. This will be the year that I love myself enough to change.

4. Get a good savings account going. With all of the trials that Matt and I have gone through this year we have still managed to come out on top. However, had we had a savings account in place (with money in it :) ) those trials would have been easier to bare. One thing that we have learned is that the only people you can trust is yourself. No one else will put as much importance on your needs and goals as you do. It is time to start taking care of ourselves.

5. Go on vacation with my family. This one will be helped along hopefully by the wedding of two of my favorite people. Matt and I had such a blast going on vacation with his family this last summer I know that we would have as much fun with my family too. I think that the last time we went on a "family" vacation with all of us was in 1992! I am going to do everything I can to make this happen this year.

Well I think that covers it all. Happy New Year everyone!

Oh the Craziness!

2008-12-02T08:10:00.000-08:00

This year for the first time EVER Matt and I had the opportunity of hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house. This was such a huge change for me, for the past few years we have gone to others houses and even though we brought something for the dinner there was not a whole lot of involvement in getting dinner on the table. The first big stress was getting the house clean for the big day, and you would think that it should already be mostly clean right? I mean we just moved in a few short months ago. I guess that it might be some neurotic gene that I picked up from my mom but I just couldn't get things clean enough. I am pretty sure that Matt was looking up phone numbers for the psych ward as I was mopping the kitchen floor at 2 am the morning of Thanksgiving when I had to be up at 6 am to get the turkey in the oven. When I pulled out the carpet cleaner after that that was enough for him and I was sent to bed like a little kid. This was probably a good thing since over the next few days the 4 hours of sleep that I did get was the most sleep I got until Friday night.

Thanksgiving dinner went pretty well, we all missed Josh for sure though. After dinner Matt and Deb went to go to visit Josh but were told that they couldn't because it was a holiday?! After they got home we played scattergories and had pie for desert.

After everyone left Matt took me over to my mom's house for our annual strategy planning session where we plan our assault on WalMart for black friday savings. We decided to go over to Wally World and do some sneek peeking and figure out where everything was going to be placed so that we would know where to send the army when we got there. Even with all of this recon we still missed out on a few things that we wanted. There were so many people there! It was crazy! After we finished our assault on WalMart we headed over to JoAnn's for the fabric sale where we spent six lovely hours waiting in line to have our fabric cut. We meet some really cool people though. After JoAnn's we went to lunch and then home to mom's to look at what we scored. Ashlee and I went to Ben Franklins after that where I found the stuff to make Deb and Pat and Missy's Christmas presents.

I just have a few more people to buy for and then I should be done, Jordan and the 5 kiddo's and something to give Josh when he gets home.

2008-11-18T09:25:00.000-08:00

So I recently got the opportunity to use my new toy that Matt bought me as an early Christmas present (okay so I have been begging for it for about a year now), my Nikon D60 DSLR camera. Can I just say I LOVE IT! I have done a couple of shoots for my sisters and I have had so much fun! Don't get me wrong, I still have a ton to learn but I think I am starting to get the hang of things.

First I took some pics for Ashlee of Tessa for her birthday invitations. Ashlee knew that most of Jared's family didn't a have a current picture of Tessa so she wanted to send them each one so that they could see just how big she is getting. My parents have this really cool maple tree in their backyard that had recently dropped its bright red leaves. They were the perfect backdrop for the pictures. They turned out great and most of all Ashlee loved them.

The second shot that we did was down in Provo at the state mental hospital. I know, I know! Who would have thought! If you ever have the chance to get pictures done here take it! It is one of the best places that I have ever taken pictures! The pictures there turned out great and everyone was happy with them.

I can't wait for this winter so I can try the camera out in the snow!

Halloween fun!

2008-10-27T19:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a busy one for sure. We decided to pack as much fun in as we could in a few short days. Since my sister Erin shares visitation of her two girls with their dads she is not going to have them on Halloween weekend. So on the schedule was a kids Halloween party on Friday at my house and then Black Island Farms and Trick or Treat Street on Saturday with a sleepover at my house after that. It was a busy but fun weekend for sure.

The kids had a blast at the party at my house. We had a spooky dinner, battered fingers (mini corn dogs) curly brains (curly fries) drippy witch noses (pears and apples dipped in caramel) and ghost goo or ghost poop as Maddi called it (marshmallows). After that we played a few games and gave out prizes and then let the kids play while the adults visited.

Saturday was the long day with activities all day long. First we went to Black Island Farms in Syracuse. It is a really cool place with lots to do. There are a couple of corn mazes, a farmers market, hayrides out to the pumpkin patch and a place call the courtyard that is full of things to do. They have animals to pet, huge hay slides, a mini train for the kids, a pumpkin bouncy house and a huge tube slide!

I think that this one was the high light of Taber's day, even though the girls didn't like it all that much.

Saturday night we took the kids to Trick or Treat Street down in Sandy at the Expo center. They had a blast going from door to door knocking and trick or treating at each one. It was definitely a busy but memorable weekend.

We also learned that one of Matt's mom's young cousins passed away last week due to complications with diabetes. Nick and his family, Grace, Zach and Gary are in our hearts and prayers during this trying time. Nick was 19 years old and a freshman at the University of Utah and is loved and missed by many.

I'm ready for things to slow down...

2008-10-20T10:42:00.000-07:00

Well we are finally moved into our house... well mostly! There are always those few boxes of stuff that either had a spot at the last place and don't now or are full of stuff that you just can't or won't get rid of. For example the boxes, and I emphasize BOXES, of papers and trinkets and nicknacks that we have accumulated over the last 30+ years that for some reason hold great sentimental value. How long should I keep a hold of the poems that I wrote in 7th grade?

Other than those few things that are just hanging around everything is going great. Matt and I are both working from home, which was a challenge to get used to, and are excited for the next few months to watch the business finally come together.

Our puppy is getting bigger daily, she is 14 weeks old right now and at that curious stage, she wants to get into everything and is going through a chewing phase right now. Last night we took her over to my mom's house with us and let her just run in the back yard. She loves the grass! We need to get the yard in for her soon, she definitely needs a place to be able to run safely.

We are definitely loving having our families close to us. I have had the chance to get to know Josh a lot better this summer and have enjoyed watching him get to know my sisters and my family. I hope that the next year can be a good one for him, he deserves a good one.

I am totally looking forward to the next few months, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are some of my favorite times of the year. We are going to have a kids Halloween party this weekend for all of the little ghosts and ghouls in our families. I can't wait to have a spooky good time!

Wow! I can't believe my luck lately

2008-08-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

Since it has been a while I thought that now would be a good time to reflect on all of the wonderful things that have happened recently in life.
Matt and I recently had the opportunity to spend an entire week on the Oregon Coast with most of his immediate family. Not only was the area out of this world beautiful but we had the greatest time getting to know his family better. Matt and his brother Patrick went out on a 12 hour tuna fishing trip on one of the days. Pat ended up not doing so well and was sea sick for 11 of the 12 hours. However when they got back to the dock rather than complain about what a bad trip it was he sat and complemented Matt on what a great brother he was and how he had taken such good care of him while he was sick. Pat said that Matt would come in the cabin of the boat every so often and check on him, ask how he was doing and see if there was anything he could do to help. Then at the very end there was one more tuna that had been caught on one of the poles and Matt went in and insisted that Pat come out and reel the last one in so that he would have at least one fish to take home. I love that I am married to a man that enjoys all that life offers but also makes sure to include those around him and makes sure to take good care of those he loves too.
I also had the chance to spend some time with Matt's grandma Virgie who is an absolute crack up! She had us in stitches from the beginning of the trip clear until the end. She was just like a little kid, so excited to share a place with us that she really loves. She called us 3 or 4 times the week before the trip to make sure that we were excited to go and that we couldn't wait to be there too. She took us to the sand dunes and went on a giant dune buggy ride with us that took us to some of the most beautiful areas. There was one place that you were surrounded by sand and then all of the sudden there was the ocean. It was amazing!
It was also a chance for me to hang out with Pat's wife Melissa and their daughter Lily. Melissa and I both realized that we have a lot more in common than we thought and that we have had to deal with a lot of the same kind of things through out our marriages. And Lily, what can I say other than AMAZING! She is one of the most calm enjoyable babies that I have seen. She was an angel on both of the flights and was perfectly content when we were in the car for hours at a time. The mornings were the best with her, she was so happy and talkative and giggly that you couldn't help but smile when she looked at you. Right now she is 11 weeks old and her parents love her so much! Watching them with her was a true treat.
I also ended up being the navigator for Matt's mom while she was driving, that was fun. We only got lost about 4 times . It was fun to get to see all of the fun stuff that she had told us about from all of her trips to the coast before.
So we had a wonderful trip and now it is time to move on to buying our first house. We have found the one, put in an offer, had it accepted, had the home inspection and appraisal done and now we are just working on getting the financing wrapped up. We should be ready to close by the 8th of September. Then we do have some cleaning and repairs to do before we can move in, the previous owners had lost the house due to foreclosure so they didn't exactly leave it in the best condition. We are hoping to be in before Matt's birthday so that we can have a huge birthday/house warming party that weekend.

So in conclusion, it is nice to be in the postition we are in right now, loving every minute of this wonderful life!

Wow what a husband!

2008-04-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

So I am total new at this blogging thing but I thought that I would try it out. Right now I am listening to my husband tell me all about the joys of being in California, including the way that you get paid for bring your cans back to the store. I know that he really wants to move there for this job but I am just not convinced. He is such a romantic, burping and coughing in my ear! I really do miss him though, it has only been two days since he left to go out there for a while to get up to speed on the project that he will be working on from home when he gets back. Sometimes the most random stuff comes out of his mouth, I get the biggest kick out of listening to our sometimes one sided conversations.