2011 Recap

I sort of died off on blogging in a bad way last year so I'm going to do a quick little re-cap.
January:
I spent most of the month sick from pregnancy and the hardest part was trying to hide it and act normal.
Landon began having separation anxiety (first time ever) and it was BAD!

February:
We finally told our families and some friends that we were expecting a baby in August.

March:
Jeff's job at BD Medical ended (unemployment = scary).
Jeff turned 29.
Luckily Jeff got a job quick and started at Overstock.com

April:
We found out we were having another little boy.
We found an apartment and moved to Bountiful.

May:
Jeff sprained his ankle.
Landon got hand-foot-mouth disease.
We celebrated 5 years of marriage.

June:  
Everyone complained about there being so much rain still, I loved it.
Daily walks with Landon, sometimes the only thing that could calm him down.

July:
I tried to endure the heat.  I'll admit I didn't endure it well but I did endure it.
House hunting.
Trip to Island Park/Yellowstone with my family (so fun!).

August:
In the thick of Landon's behavioral and emotional issues.
House hunting.
I turned 30 (holy!!!!!)
Weston was born!
Landon hit rock bottom when we brought Weston home.  I wish I could say it was joyous...it wasn't at all.
My sister, Stacie, came and helped for a couple days--definitely helped ease Landon's issues.
Other than Landon's tantrums, going from one to two kids was easier than going from zero to one kid.

September:
Pretty much just got through the month.
Got a break from the heat, it was bliss.
House hunting.
Pediatrician wants Landon tested for Autism (or some other neurological disorder).
Landon had his yearly ultrasound, is was a massive fight with Jeff and I pinning him down so they could do it but all looked well.
Landon started seeing a developmental specialist (in addition to the vision specialist and speech therapist he's already working with) and started a sensory toddler group.

October:
House hunting.  Found a house we liked.  Made an offer.  Didn't get it.  Got a call a couple weeks later saying we did get it!!!
5:00 am becomes our new wake-up time, but that's a blessing if Landon sleeps through the night since he hasn't been for a few months.
Jeff got a new job.
We got called to serve in the nursery.

November:
Home buying preparations.
Trip to St. George to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Black Friday shopping.
Landon went to nursery for the first time EVER without mom or dad.

December:
Closed on our house.
Lots of cleaning and fixing up to be done on it.
Decided to set up the Christmas tree 6 days before Christmas.
I got the flu, ended up in the ER.  Got home to stay awake all night taking care of Landon who also got the flu.  Jeff couldn't help much because he was sick too.  I ended up infecting many, many family members...but I thank those who came to help watch the boys and those who took me to the ER.
Celebrated Christmas.  Neither boy "gets" it yet so it was pretty anticlimactic.
Moved into our first home.
Got colds in time for New Years.

This year was great for many reasons and lots of good things happened but I'll be quite honest, it was likely the hardest year of my entire life.  Landon is the cutest boy in the world at times but much of the year he was a major trial.  We're all learning together.  2011 was great and we realized even more how wonderful our families are.  Here's to hoping 2012 is a better year!

Random Happenings

A couple of random happenings to take note of in our family.  We moved!  We're in an apartment much closer to where Jeff works which is so nice, Landon can actually see Jeff in the mornings for a bit and in the evenings before bed.  I don't love being farther away from my family again since Landon liked seeing his cousins but I LOVE our location--so close to everything!  Here's a few photos of some of the moving crew (a.ka. family/friend).

Landon thought it was cool to play among the boxes, it was like his own personal jungle gym for a few days.

A week after the move Jeff sprained his ankle pretty bad.  I thought it was broken because of how big it swelled so quickly but after 2 hours at the clinic they said it was just a bad sprain.  Here are a few photos of his foot/ankle. The swelling had gone down significantly by this point and was replaced by bruising, which he still has all over.

2 0 0 9

I am excited for this year. Jeff graduates (yeah!!) which means job hunting and re-locating. If any of you remember back to when we first moved to Provo I wasn't the happiest of campers but I really do like it here. We've been close enough to our families that we can be with them when we need to be yet far enough that we could rely on each other more than them...and it was a good way of breaking me in to not living near them at all which will more than likely be the reality within about 9 months. And I'm excited! I can't wait to move on to the next stage of our lives together and for all that is in store for us this year.

In 2009 I hope to become smarter, stronger, happier, and more well-rounded than I was in 2008. Here's to new beginnings.

Absolutely Nothing!

As I was getting ready to leave work yesterday, one of my co-workers asked what I had planned for this weekend. I told him we were going to the Festival of Trees that night (last night) and that that would be about the extent of my weekend plans. Jeff has lots of projects to work on starting first thing in the morning and then had two labs that would take up most of the day (11:00-7:00) so I would be reading and who knows what else.

He told me I should write in my journal about having a complete day to myself with nothing to do (though this happens often). He said that from the time I find out I'm pregnant or from the day Jeff is done with school, days like this will be pretty much non-existent. It's true, it's nice being able to leave without packing a diaper bag, stroller, worrying about nap-times (that goes for future kids and Jeff), etc. and I LOVE to have time to myself and I can pretty much do as I please and not have to worry about anything or anyone and I am grateful that I have this time to myself...but there's only so much reading (I've read A LOT in the past couple of years which is great because it's my favorite thing to do), or cleaning (our apartment is small so it's easy to clean), or shopping (everything's too expensive anyway), or making treats (I reserve that for Sundays) that one can do.

Any other suggestions on how I can spend my oodles of "me" time without wasting all of it?

We're Grateful

After reading this talk together for family home evening, we were able to let our creative juices flow. Okay, not really, but we did get to go back kids for a few minutes as we worked on our activity. We wrote down something we were thankful for on each feather of these turkeys then colored them. It was nice to remember how much we have and remind us to be continually grateful.

UVDL Golf Tournament

Today it was my turn. Jeff played his tournament last week and did great and today I played in my (first) tournament. My work organized a tournament today for anyone who wanted to play and since I missed it last time because I had to stay and work (they did it on a Friday) I was determined to go and it worked out great being on a Saturday.

The day was hot...and long...but fun and wonderful! I have to be honest, I really enjoyed it and I can't wait to play in it again next year!
The good (and very surprising) part of the day is that...I WON!! I WON!! I WON!! First of all, I won the "Closest to the pin" for the ladies. I also won the "Longest drive" for the ladies (which, if you remember is what Jeff won last week but for the men), and my team took second place with a 5 under par on 18 holes. I can't take much of the credit for that since 3 of the 4 of us didn't do so hot (Don pretty much carried the team) but I did have a few good shots that we ended up using! All in all, it was a great day. Good food, good company, good times...and some great prize money from each of the competitions I won to put toward something fun like a new camera or toward our trip to Vegas next week. Jeff really wants me to use it to buy some new clubs now but I think it's a bit too expensive of a sport for me to get involved with a lot right now but I definitely enjoyed it.

One Down, One To Go

Jeff played in the Annual Weber State Alumni golf tournament (thanks Zions Bank!) this year at The Barn. He has played in it 5 years of the 7 they've done it which is fun. He normally raves about the food--treats of some sort on every hole ranging from Haagen Daas ice cream to amazingly delicious cookies to drinks and then a good lunch to top off the day.

This year, unfortunately, some lady was put in charge and didn't do the tournament justice. Jeff brought me one of the cookies which was marginal but I'm grateful he thought of me nevertheless. There weren't drinks on every hole like normal. And there was no Haagen Daas icecream which I heard was a major disappointment to most in attendance...especially if they'd played before.

Jeff had a blast and I'm glad he got to go enjoy a golf day (especially since I didn't have to pay for it) but there was one particularly shining moment. Jeff was using a practice driver that he'd been looking at and as he stepped up to the tee that marked he "long drive competition" he smacked the ball perfectly. He looked back at his team members, not believing his own eyes, and the looks on their faces confirmed what he thought he saw. He had driven the ball perfectly. He added his name to the paper and moved on. However, when they were doing the awards at the end, they called his name as the winner. Yes, my friends, he had a 337 yard drive that made him the proud displayer of this little beauty (which, by the way, I'm sure will be displayed in our home for quite some time).
Needless to say, that drive (and the rest of the game) sealed the deal and made up Jeff's mind. He has loved his Callaway Biggest Big Bertha for a good 10 years but it dropped down a notch only to be replaced by this:

Out With The Old...In With The New

We did a little remodeling around our house last week. Not the kind we’d like to do but as much as we could do for being in an apartment that we can’t really change. I came home from work one day to see that Jeff had reversed the whole family room. We needed to do it to facilitate the installation of our air conditioner so I knew it was coming I just wasn’t expecting to not have to help doing it.
We also installed both of our air conditioners. This summer should be so much nicer because we have one in the family room too and not just the small one in the bedroom…though I’m not looking forward to the electric bill.
We also got a new stove and range hood. This was a surprise and one of the few perks of renting—we didn’t have to pay for it. And though it’s not what I would have picked out, it’s new so I can’t complain.
I also changed our centerpiece, not a lot, but this one has a bit more color in it and I like the vase better than the one I had before.
And last but not least our closet doors. These actually aren’t new. I made them several months ago but I hadn't put a picture on so here you go.
It's always nice to do something new and give your life a bit of variety. Since we can't paint walls and buy new furniture right now this is as good as it gets but it's fun.

Ready...Set...Go!

Reluctantly crouched at the starting line
Engines pumping and thumping in time
The green light flashes, the flags go up
Churning and burning they yearn for the cup

They deftly manuver and muscle for rank
Fuels burning fast on an empty tank
Reckless and wild, they pour through the turns
Their prowess is potent and secretly stern.
--Cake

Ok…so maybe it wasn’t quite like that…but it was close! Yesterday was so fun. We doubled up with Will and Bri and headed up to Salt Lake to the Fast Karts indoor raceway. I started off our little race but was quickly passed by Will (who actually lapped the rest of us twice in the 10-minute race). I held off Jeff and Bri with my mad driving skills (actually it was my lack of go-cart driving skills that was stopping them from passing because I couldn't master the corners and kept cutting them off). But after Jeff T-boned me (twice) I decided to save my back and let him pass me. It was a good time.

After that, we went to Hollywood Connection to enjoy some nice, friendly competition of miniature golf. I am not too good at golfing (or anything else that requires aim) but it was good practice for my upcoming golf tournament for my work that’s coming up in June.
After that we were all famished…well, I’m not sure that the rest of them were to the “famished” point, but I sure was! So we decided to head back to good ‘ol happy valley to get some grub. We headed first to Papa Johns for breadsticks, then went to Blackjack for personal pizzas, then to Pier 49 for dessert pizzas and brought it all back to our house to dine. It was an expensive date but we could afford it thanks to our nifty little starving student cards.
As a quick recap of our expenditures (for each couple):
10-minute race-track sessions: $18.00 each person
round of mini golf: $5.00 each person
order of Papa Johns breadsticks: $4.99
8” personal pizza: $12.00 each person
8” dessert pizza: $2.99
Total (not including tax): $77.98
Total we paid: A big, whopping $0
That’s right, the whole date was completely free and we had a blast!

To Be A Kid Again

This winter has just been amazing. We've got snow where we live but honestly NOTHING that compares to what is at my mom's house. Jeff and I came up this weekend to visit my family and enjoy the Super Bowl party and I was amazed at how much snow they have. In addition to the couple of feet they already had, since last night it has snowed over another foot and still going. My mom has some great neighbors that came after church to help with snow removal but we still had a share of it to do ourselves. I've posted some pics to help you see the work we did to clear it and the fun we had playing in it.