Viva Las Vegas

From Blonde to Blue

2011-11-26T11:04:00.001-07:00

{So I'm blogging from the blogger app on my iPhone. This is genius! Maybe I will blog more often? I am obsessed with my phone and take most of my pictures with my phone. So if I can Facebook from my phone I might as well blog too!!}

Colton is deathly afraid of masks so we didn't attend as many Halloween festivities as we would have liked. {How do we know he doesn't like masks? 2 words Nacho.Libre.} But trunk-or-treat at church was a hit because no masks were allowed😱. Colton was definitely leery of Mark when he came over dressed as Dracula but luckily he warmed up to him. Colette was a pink kitty cat but let's be honest...she didn't look very cat like. My grandma thought she was a mouse an a fellow trunk-or-treater thought she was a possum LOL!! Oh well, I couldn't pass up a 5.99 costume from Children's Place. Joe and I didn't plan ahead for costumes {lame I know} but the night before I was at Target and saw Cookie Monster t-shirts for 9.99 so i thought that was probably as festive as we would get this year. I then had this genius idea that I would spray paint my hair blue!!! I've never spray painted my hair but how hard could it be?? So i picked up some blue hair paint at Hot Topic {mistake #1}. Right before we left for TOT I started spraying and smelled the most horrible smell. The paint smelled like a combo of cheap perfume and cigarette smoke {gag}.... I should have known then that this would end badly. But there was no turning back now. I finished it up thinking what a fun mom I am:) When Joe saw me he was mortified. I had just had my hair done a few days prior and so it had been the perfect shade of blonde. I dismissed his concerns and told him of course it would wash out with no problem and I would be back to normal easy peasy {mistake #2}. TOT was a blast and we all ate way too much candy including Colton {don't judge}. That night after the kids were in bed I hopped in the shower. It looked like a smurf died! I kept washing and scrubbing my hair and the blue just kept dripping. The water finally ran clear so when i hopped out of the shower I was a little surprised/worried when I saw blue streaks and noticed the overall tone of my hair had a blue tinge. So I grabbed the paint can and read something to the effect of "if you have bleached hair you may not want to use this." Maybe I should have read the bottle before I went all gangbusters in my attempt to look like Cookie Monster {mistake #3}. Well thank goodness for my hair girl who got me back to normal the next day. Joe might have given me an "I told you so" but it was still kind of fun living on the "wild" side for a night😉. Colton was definitely the cutest Elmo ever and Aunt Sara was adorable in her ladybug costume. Maybe next year we will be one of those families who goes all out in themed costumes...as long as I can wear a wig or go all naturale:)

I DIT IT

2011-10-29T16:40:00.001-07:00

I sewed!!!! And the end result isn't hideous! The project was called a drawstring gift bag. Really it is a small pillow case with a drawstring:) But how fun that I could quickly and fairly easily make cute pillowcases to spruce up a bed. It might have taken me hours and my back might have been killing me by the end and there might be a ton of imperfections but WHO CARES!!! I actually created something!! Silly me bought waaayyy too much material for this little project so I figure I will make a few more to see if I can perfect my skills before I move on to the next project! Something I learned...I cannot cut a straight line...must buy a cutting board!! Next project...cloth napkins...and will probably be the exact material as above. That is ok though I like color in the kitchen!

I'm Sew Excited

2011-10-15T14:24:00.002-07:00

I turned the big 3-2 this year...yikes. But recently I have had this major urge to become more domestic!!! I am missing the crafting/creative gene...but I am determined to be MLM (more like Martha). Joe surprised me with this on my birthday...

YIKES....YEAH....all in the same breath!!!! When my step mom was out here last month I asked her to go the fabric store to help me pick out fabric for Colette's bedding and curtains in her room. I had some ideas in mind (see my pinterest board) but knew that I would be completely lost if I went by myself. My inspiration was this cute frame that my bestie in California made for my baby shower...sadly she didn't even get to come because she was on bedrest...but her twin boys Dexter and Davis (aka Colette's new boyfriends) have arrived and I can't wait to meet them!

So Sara, Glenna, Colette and I set our sights on Scrapbooks, Etc. (my new favorite store) to find some nursery cuteness. And wow....there was so much to pick from...and I am so indecisive....so this was no easy task. In the end I this was my selection! HOW CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait for it to be done:)

Together these fabrics are nursery MAGIC!!! And something she hopefully loves as a toddler too. If not I will have to find a way to add a crib bumper to my bedding...that or have another baby girl:) But I know she will love it because it is ADORABLE!!!! The best part....besides falling in love with the fabric is that Glenna offered to come back next month to help me sew it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was even before I had a sewing machine...so now I need to practice before she gets here....which brings me to this....

I signed up for an online sewing class? (Who am I...Sewing????) Let's be honest...this is sew not me {smile} but if I want to MLM then I need to become one with my sewing machine and with a newborn and a toddler there is no way I'm going to make it out of the house for a sewing class so online seems to be the perfect solution. The class takes you through a set of projects that introduce new and more challenging skills each time. So far I have done the pre-work of buying my supplies and watching the start up videos...now I need some free time sans any awake kids to start sewing (guess I could be doing that now...but it feels nice to be blogging again).

So I'm putting it out there...much like I did with this post...yeah still don't have those abs...so much for accountability...but hoping I see this project through with more commitment! And as a side note...despite my shred-worthy abs I have started working out again...and with more vigor than I did after baby #1. As of today I am wearing non-maternity pants...don't know about tomorrow...but feeling good about today...and if you got into your pre-pregnant jeans quicker DON'T BURST MY BUBBLE:)

What's the Haps?

2011-10-15T13:48:00.001-07:00

Still going to the lake...I didn't get to go this time...didn't think Colette would appreciate speeding around on a boat a few weeks after being born and there was no way I was putting on any kind of bathing suit...GROSS...but truthfully I was a little freaked out letting Colton go without me... but not only did he have Daddy to keep an eye on him...2 uncles (DeeDid-my brother David and Mock-new brother in-law Mark), and 2 cousins (Emma and Gabriel...Colton says their names too but not sure how to spell his interpretation of Gabriel:)!!

Tailgating at the ASU vs. USC game {Go Devils}. Pop Pop and Gi Gi (my Dad and Glenna) were in town so Colton was in heaven! Colette mostly stayed in the air-conditioned Tahoe but when she woke up she of course wanted momma:)

My attempt at being crafty...still want to add some embellishments and need to actually hang in his room...but this was my first Mod Podge experience so no judging!

Little Miss Colette wants to be held and only by momma...so in order to get anything done...out comes the Moby....in fact I'm "wearing" my little girl this very moment.

She was actually closer to 6 weeks in this pic but I forgot to order the stickers. She did not love this little photo shoot so this is one of the only pics where she isn't crying. I love how she holds her little arms up...she usually has them up by her face...when she isn't being swaddled...which she is most of the time:)

How fun is having a girl??????????? I {LOVE LOVE LOVE} the pink, the headbands, the tutus!!!!

Our Princess

2011-10-15T13:10:00.006-07:00

photography by Jacquilyn Avery...{love}

On August 20, 2011 at 8:10 PM our princess Colette Rosa Vega was born! And here is her story.

We knew we wanted to get pregnant again fairly soon after Colton was born and when he was 9 months old, the Saturday before Christmas, we found out we were expecting! Right away I felt different. I didn't experience nausea like I did with my little man and this time I had cravings...mostly fruit and juice...and sometimes pot roast:) So when we went for our ultra sound it was no surprise that there was a little girl cooking in my tummy. I had a great pregnancy...other than my last trimester being June-August....that was no fun...remind me not to do that again!

When I went in for my 39 week appointment on August 18 the nurse told me that my blood pressure was super high and that most likely the doctor would send me to the hospital that day. Well she was right!!! I definitely was ready to have this baby (August in Phoenix can you blame me??) but as I was driving to pick up Joe at work I felt so emotional...nervous, excited, relieved, anxious, and scared all wrapped into one. When we got to the hospital they did my blood work and determined that I would indeed be admitted because of preeclampsia. In some ways it was like dejavu...I mean it had only been 18 months since I went to the same hospital for my little Colton (kind of feels like I have been pregnant for 2 whole years:)). Both times they told me that my BP was scarily high and that I would have to go on magnesium sulfate to avoid seizing during labor...freaked me out with Colton but this time... no sweat! Luckily for me my body handles the mag fairly well but it can cause you to be extremely loopy and to have major hot flashes...sounds lovely, eh?

So the inducing began (NO FUN). I was only dilated to a 1 so first they put me on cervadil which is a 12 hour hormone that is supposed to help you dilate. During that 12 hours you just lay around...well I had to lay around because of my BP. So I caught up on Netflix (Mad Men has to be the dumbest show ever...only watched 3 episodes then I gave up) and told Joe to go to the gym, run errands, and go home to see our baby boy. I knew this little girl wouldn't be making her arrival anytime soon. After the 12 hours they checked to see my dilation progress....it wasn't much...so we did 3 rounds of gels which are also supposed to help your progress with dilation...and they did...slightly....but only to a 4.

So now it is Friday and the next step is to put me on pitocin. I was on it for about 12 hours but wasn't really progressing and was still only a 4. So that night I had another round of cervadil. By Saturday morning I'm starting to feel a little discouraged. I had been stuck in this hospital bed, was feeling gross, and didn't think this baby would ever come!!! But there was a ray of light. In walked Dr. Williamson...the same doctor who delivered Colton. I was so happy to see her!!! I told her that I needed her to be my good luck charm and she assured me that she would be the one to deliver this baby!!! She put me at ease when I broke down about not wanting a c-section. She calmed me down though when she said she wasn't talking c-section so I didn't need to either. Neither the baby or I were in distress so we just needed to be patient. I mentioned to her that I was bummed that my freshly colored and washed hair was now gross after not having a shower in the last few days (I had my hair done the day before I was induced so it seemed like providence that I went to the hospital the next day...I love not having to do my own hair). So the smart doc told me to shower, freshen up, then we would start another round of pitocin and if that didn't do the trick she would break my water. So shower I did...well I wish I could say I did it on my own but I was still hooked up to my iv. So I had to swallow my pride and sit on a chair in the shower as Joe held the shower nozzle for me. Being pregnant and going through labor...for me....feels like a complete loss of dignity. But dignity aside it felt great to have clean hair and re-apply my makeup. I was feeling energized and ready to have some magic happen.

So around 1pm they started me on pitocin again and at 5pm I heard/felt this sound/sensation and POP my water broke!!!!!!! I pushed the call button and with tears exclaimed the good news. The doc came in and said she was literally on her way to break my water for me!!!! They ordered my epidural right then...and I kind of felt like a wimp because up to this point the contractions had been very manageable...but that is because my water was cushioning the pain...but boy was I glad they ordered it when they did because by the time the anesthesiologist came in I was in a lot of pain! The epidural numbed my right side but not my left so that was bizarre (not fun at all) feeling contractions only on one side...so finally they came and gave me another dose and this time I was numb on both sides!! Well my contractions were coming fast and strong and I could feel this baby starting to make her way out. I don't remember feeling that with Colton but I was in such excruciating pain and pushed for so long with him I think I was a little delirious. But sweet Colette only made me push a couple times and then voila...she made her grand appearance. Sweet little girl was 8 lbs. 0 oz and was 20 inches long. Just a half a pound bigger and longer than her little brother was. We noticed a pattern on her white board in the delivery room...08/20/10, 8 lbs, 20 inches, born at 20:10.

Baby Colette is 8 weeks old today and we are so in love {even by Big Brother Colton...it was touch and go when we first brought her home but now he loves his baby}!! She is uber-squishy (95th percentile for weight at her 1 month check up), loves to be held by momma only, still sleeps a ton, lots of hair, noisy eater, skinny feet, and gets a million kisses a day!!!

Precious Newborn

2010-04-28T01:21:00.001-07:00

This little boy of mine has stolen my heart and keeps my arms and hands full most of the day! Here is his birth announcement that I just adore! To any family and friends who I might have missed…please send me your address and I will get one sent to you!

Colton Cruz

2010-03-18T19:45:00.007-07:00

Where did he get his name? Well, Daddy came up with it. When we found out it was a boy Joe called me one day and asked me what I thought of the name Colton. I liked it so we added it to our list. While pregnant I never really thought of the baby by a particular name though. Probably because Joe kept coming up with such great names (I don’t think I came up with any). But we just couldn’t decide and would have a different favorite each week.

A few weeks before he was born, Joe asked what I thought of Colton Cruz. I loved it! It has such a great ring to it. And I love alliteration in names. But in my mind I still wanted to wait until he was born to decide for sure. Everyone kept saying “you’ll know when you see him.”

On the video of him minutes after he was born you can hear the nurse asking Joe what baby’s name was. He said he didn’t know but that we had some ideas like Colton. I can’t say that when I looked at him “I just knew what his name was” he was still just baby boy to me LOL. I am pretty indecisive as it is so I asked Joe what he thought it should be and Colton Cruz Vega it is.

Here are some pictures from his first few days of life:)

My Husband The Super Hero

2010-03-18T19:20:00.002-07:00

As you read, labor and delivery was no walk in the park for me. But honestly I couldn’t have done it without Joe. He was so amazing through it all.
First of all he was a great breathing coach. He spoon fed me probably 1000 ice chips. He held my hand. Told me I was beautiful and wonderful. Sprayed my face with an Evian mister. Let me squeeze his hand off during the bad contractions. Propped up my numb leg at an insane angle so I wouldn’t lose my mind all together. Held my leg while I pushed. Let me give him a few punches (only towards the end and I wasn’t trying to punch him it just happened). And he was an absolute rock. He had to watch his wife go through more pain then he could have imagined. He listened to me cry and scream. He saw me feel terrified, confused and sad and through it all he was calm, reassuring and gentle. He watched our baby be born and then we shared the sweetest most precious moment as we got to hold our little boy and know that together we did something amazing.

My sister, Sara, was also part of our big day. She came to the hospital Wednesday morning at about 6 am. This was the moment she had been waiting years for. We convinced her that she should probably go to work for a few hours and that more than likely he wouldn’t come until that evening (LOL). So she came back after work and actually stayed until the end. She was amazing as well. I didn’t know if I would want her there for the actual delivery and she was positive she didn’t want to be there. But when it came down to it she never left. It was never a spoken decision by either of us but she must of known that I needed her and she stayed. I feel so lucky to have her. She too was a rock and helped me through it all. She brushed my hair and put her cold hands on my forehead when I asked her. (Evidently the delivery room was an ice box. I sure wasn’t cold). She too fed me ice chips and misted my face. Sara helped me stay calm and helped Joe bear the burden of it all. Towards the end she was also able to capture some moments on video. She kept it G rated and now we have some amazing memories documented forever! Colton is lucky to have such an amazing Aunt:)

The Day My Life Would Change Forever

2010-03-18T18:41:00.002-07:00

On Wednesday, February 24th at 2 AM my water broke. It woke me up and I thought to myself “am I peeing myself? can I keagle and make it stop? nope…OMG my water broke.” So as I am in the bathroom I call Joe’s name and the 2nd time he heard me and woke up. I told him my water broke and I have never seen a happier face in my life. Little did we know the adventure that we would experience over the next 30 hours:) Joe was so amazing through the whole thing. He was my rock and I feel blessed to have such an amazing husband.
Before leaving for the hospital I took a shower, blew dry my hair and even put some make up on (duh! I wanted to look good when baby arrived). I eat an apple and on the way to the hospital a Luna Bar. Little did I know that would be the last thing I ate….for 30 hours:) (Ok I did get to eat ice chips, a couple of popsicles and I had a few Air Head Suckers.)
We arrive at the hospital carrying in our bags and some pillows. Later on a nurse told us we looked like first timers with all of our stuff. Maybe next time we’ll leave our stuff in the car until we are settled into the labor and delivery room so we can sneak it all in:) So while in triage the nurse tells me she is cursed because everyone she has admitted on her shift has had high blood pressure-including me. This is strange because throughout my whole pregnancy my BP was just fine. We are in good spirits though and Joe is helping me breathe through my little contractions.
After getting settled into our labor and delivery room a few nurses come in with worried looks. They tell me my BP is so high that they worry about me having a seizure during labor. A seizure? It sounds so ominous and I have these images flash through my head from all the episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and ER I have seen over the years. They proceed to tell me they need to put me on Magnesium Sulfate and that the downside is that it will make me feel really hot and maybe even groggy. They leave the room and I burst into tears because I don’t want to be loopy during labor. But Joe takes my hand, kisses my head and looks me in the eye. He assures me it will be ok….this was the first of many times he had to do this:)
So I’m having contractions but nothing unbearable. But when they check me to see if I am dilated (one of the most painful things I had to experience) they tell me I’m only a 2. I think I was a 2 for about 24 hours. That was annoying to say the least. You see the magnesium is a muscle relaxer and the uterus is a muscle. So while my body is trying to progress the drugs are working against it. They give me some pills to help me dilate but that didn’t seem to help very much. At one point they put me on pitosin but when exactly I don’t remember. It all seems to be a big blur.
The contractions are getting intense and I’m not dilated enough for an epidural. I am in so much pain and started to get vocal about it (let’s just say I could never be a Scientologist). They offer me Staydol which is pain medication they administer through the IV. In our childbirth class they talked about the downside to this drug that it can make your baby sleepy and groggy when they are born. I really don’t want to take it but I am in so much pain. They tell me that by the time the baby was born the Staydol should be out of his system. I cry some more and Joe tells me it will be ok.
Soon (I think) after the Staydol I am finally dilated enough for an epidural. I was nervous about the gigantic needle I had heard about but really it wasn’t that painful. The Staydol+Epidural brought some much needed relief and I fell asleep. A couple hours later I wake up and have this strange sensation. I can’t move my left leg and I am feeling the pain of contractions again. I am a little loopy and I start to panic. Sara was there in the room and she saw a look in my eye and knew something was wrong. I felt like I was going to lose my mind. I start to have what I can only explain as a mini panic attack. They bring the nurses in and they determine that the epidural has gone down to my legs. Last time I checked I didn’t have pain down there. So the anesthesiologist's assistant comes and administers another dose which didn’t seem to work so then he comes and gives me some more….still doesn’t work. By this time I am screaming and crying and so confused that I am in so much pain. This lasted a couple of hours. Finally the anesthesiologist comes back to my room and tells me that the doses that were given to me were so high that I should be feeling nothing. So he makes the determination that my epidural has come lose and he will have to give me another one. The tricky part is my contractions are so close together and I’m screaming bloody murder at this point and so he has to wait to stick me in between contractions. Well it works this time and I got to rest again. For how long I’m not sure but finally they tell me I am a 10 and can start pushing. I started crying just so relieved that there seemed to be an end in sight. Prior to that I felt like I just wanted to give up and made a comment that if they had to do a c-section do it (this is sad because that was the last thing I wanted). I asked the nurse if she was sure I was a 10 and she told me she had been doing this for years…she was sure. So finally I start to push….and continued pushing for OVER 2 hours. Needless to say by this point my epidural has started to wear off and I feel like I’m having a natural childbirth. I’m sure there was some pain relief but I was sure screaming like there wasn’t. Finally the doctor comes in which is a good sign…the baby is almost ready to come out. But I am beyond exhausted at this point and feel like I have no energy or will to push anymore. I think I asked if they could just pull him out on their own…just reach in there and make him come out. They probably just ignored me:) Thank goodness for our nurse Paula she got in my face a few times and kindly but firmly commanded me to look at her and told me that I had to push. I listened and finally at 8:43 on Thursday morning our little Colton Cruz made his appearance to the world.
Because of the amount of medicine that had been given to me over the last 30 hours they had the NICU doctors down in our room waiting to check him out to make sure he was ok. And he was absolutely perfect! He weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz and was 19.5 inches long. As they are checking him the doctor is taking care of me and she tells me “don’t worry, the next one will be much easier.” Really. She just said that. I thought the afterbirth of the delivery would be painful but really it was nothing after what I had just gone through.
Finally after Colton is given the ok they bring my boy to me and I just stare at his perfect face. And kiss him over and over again. And at that moment, all 30 hours of torture simply melted away. I forgot about the screaming and the crying and the pain and just like that I was a mommy. I held this perfect little soul who seemed to know me and be comforted by my voice and the beating of my heart. His little cry sounded like a kitten and I knew at that very moment that my life had changed forever.

2010-02-24T12:38:00.001-07:00

We are @ hospital trying 2 have a baby:) My water broke at 2 am but dilation is very slow to happen.Hopefully this baby comes today!We are ready 2 meet our boy!

"I Love to Laugh....Ha Ha Ha Ha"

2010-02-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

In our home, growing up, we would watch the same movies over and over and over and over...you get the point...again. It all would depend on which movie was somebody's favorite. Some that I can remember were Bambi, 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, The Sound of Music, Beauty and the Beast and Mary Poppins. Because of this I feel like I could quote entire movies. My mom, sister and I like to play the "what movie is this line from" game. They are much better at it then I am but one thing that did stick with me...the songs. The laughing song from Mary Poppins was always one of my favorites which seems appropriate these days because I laugh at everything. Or so I'm told. I have always thought Joe was funny. I love his sense of humor and he can always get a chuckle out of me. But lately, he cracks me up all day long, I mean hysterical laughter. So the other night Sara was out with us and the same thing happened. Little did I know that when I got up to go the bathroom (shocker I know) they made a bet to see who could make me crack up first. Sara said something to him like "wow, I must be really funny, because Melissa is laughing at everything I say." Joe burst her bubble and told her he thinks it is a side effect of pregnancy and not to get a big head:) Well I guess I have noticed that I've been laughing a lot but in their defense they really are pretty funny.
At least I am laughing all the time....and not crying or being witchy:)

A Watched Pot Never Boils

2010-02-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

Still no baby....

No contractions....

No dilating....

I'm not complaining because his desire to stay warm in cozy in my belly has given us time to finish up things we put off until the last minute...like taking child birth classes at the hospital. Some might call it procrastination but we like to think that by waiting until the last minute the information will be fresher in our minds:) Tomorrow we take a nursing class...Joe is "thrilled" about that one. Actually he is being a good sport about all of it. He was a trooper and sat through the two, 4 hour sessions of the birth class. I think we both learned a lot and feel better prepared for some an idea of what to expect when it is go time. And Joe being Joe kept me giggling through all of it. His expressions and questions were priceless. One of his favorite things he learned...men should practice their Kegals too!

We are so excited for Baby Vega to arrive....still no name....but when he gets here we hope he enjoys sleeping in this...

And swinging/bouncing in this...

Strolling in this...

And cruising in the Tahoe in this...

This little guy already has so many cool things! He is going to be set and very well dressed might I add! We feel so blessed with the abundance of baby showers that were held in our honor!

Thank you to everyone and their generosity and of course for those that made it all happen:

My Mom for our Ohio shower

Amber for the Utah shower

Kami and Marci for our AZ shower

Joe's Team at work

The Academic Counselors & Directors in the International Division

And the UOP Student Services Directors

6 showers...BEYOND BLESSED!!! We received the coolest gifts from family and friends including gift cards that allowed us to buy some of the bigger items.

So only 6 more days until the due date and we can't wait to see this cute little face...

And kiss these cute little feet (shaped just like Daddy's)

Insomnia

2010-01-11T01:45:00.004-07:00

Wow....I still have just less than 6 weeks to go. I wonder how much bigger I can get?!? The other day someone asked me "are you sure there aren't 2 in there." I chuckled, smiled politely, and said that no it was just one baby. Let's be honest though, my gut instinct made me want to slap her. But of course I didn't. I know that this girl has never been pregnant so let's just chalk it up to ignorance:)

So, right now it is almost 2 am and I can't sleep. I'm sure this is just preparing me for the sleepless nights ahead of me when the little guy arrives. Right now it feels like he is doing acrobatic moves in my stomach so is it a wonder I can't fall asleep:) Too bad I have to get up for work in a few hours. Blah!

I’ll Be Home For Christmas

2009-12-30T21:11:00.002-07:00

We made it back to Ohio this year and I couldn’t be happier! Our trip was full of family, eating out at my favorite Ohio spots, a very Merry Christmas and my very first baby shower!!!
Where did we eat you might ask? Well feast your eyes! I realize this may mean nothing to you if you have never been to Ohio or the Mid West in general. But to my friends and readers who have….I know you are so jealous right now:)

Sliders from, White Castle…mini steamed burgers with pickles and onions…open 24/7!!

Would you judge me if I told you that I went to Graeter’s Ice Cream 4 times in one week? Well go ahead judge away. But this picture below represents pure bliss. Ask Sarah Jessica Parker…she would agree!

Schmidt’s Sausage Haus is a German restaurant in German Village…go figure….the highlights of this gem are their Pretzel Nuggets, the Buffet which offers up a variety of Bahama Mama's, Bratwurst, German potato salad, etc. and then my personal favorite…the JUMBO cream puff!

Tommy’s Pizza…hand’s down…best in town!

La Chatelaine-bring on the baguettes, mac-and cheese and quiche!
You haven’t had good old fashioned comfort food until you eat at an Amish Restaurant.

Another place we hit up was Thurman’s Cafe. This restaurant was on a food show that Joe watched and evidently all of Columbus saw the same program because we waited about an hour just to sit!Chris, David and Brian are excited to chow down on their massive burgers.

And this ladies and gentleman is The Thurmanator…2 12 oz patties, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, ham, mushrooms, grilled onions, and who knows what else. And Brian is just the man to attempt this eating feat! The rest of us had more normal sized burgers.
Joe can’t eat as much as he once could so he didn’t order it but it was a historical moment that he wanted to be a part of!

There you have it…a clean plate…and no puking incurred! He swore he wouldn’t eat the rest of the day but it was Christmas Eve and he had a family dinner to go to later that night. Hahahaha
Ok, enough about eating….

Somehow when I pictured being pregnant it never occurred to me that I would be bigger than Joe. Well, joke’s on me:)

Taking family pics are often painful and everyone is goofing around so it is impossible to get a picture where we all look normal. Please see Exhibit A.

This is a little better

Mom likes this picture because it makes her look small:) Joe doesn’t like this picture because he is puffing out his chest. I like it because I’m not in it!!

Joe and Delaney on Christmas. They are best buds! She was so excited to get her very own Nintendo DS-I and she was showing off her gaming skills! They took a break to both look cute for this pic though!
Delaney, Susan and Jordan all smiles after opening presents at Grandma and Grandpa’s!
Delaney is so excited for “Baby Joe” to arrive:)
My mom and sister threw me my very first baby shower! It was so fun and my Aunt Linda was gracious enough to host it at her beautiful home!! As a side note…I didn’t realize how uncomfortable I must look at times with this blossoming belly of mine.

No event would be complete without Smith Girls!! Kathleen is like a 2nd mom to me and Gina like a sister! We have tried in so many ways to make our families officially related…maybe this next generation of babies will do the trick! I’m so glad they could make it to my shower! I can’t wait to use the Buy Buy Baby gift card they gave me!

My cute cousins-in-law, Jenn and Lydia and Aunt Linda! Jenn makes adorable bows and jewelry (sorellafashions.com). Pregnancy has made me crazy for hair accessories so I of course had to purchase a few!! Good thing I’m not having a little girl or I would have cleared out her inventory!
My Aunt Susan aka Tah, her daughter Delaney and my Grandma! Weird to think that by me having this baby that will make them a Great Aunt and Great Grandma. They have always spoiled me…still do actually so this will be one lucky baby:) Delaney might have to share some refrigerator space at Grandma and Grandpa’s but I’m sure she won’t mind:)

Me and Emily who hardly EVER get to see each other but when we do it is like no time has changed! Love her to pieces!!!

One of my best friends from High School, Andrea and her little mini me!!! Sadly I am horrible at keeping in touch, and she is rarely on FB (my main source of connectiveness), but it was so fun to catch up for a little bit! Someday when I go to Ohio again we’ll try to get some real visiting in! Crazy to think that I will be traveling with a little one soon…

And yes I took this of myself and I am posting it because it is the ONLY picture where I don’t have a double chin. Please tell me that double chins go away after the baby is born. Or do I just live in a fantasy land where I am never bigger than my hubby and I magically get skinnier after the baby is born. Crap! I think I know the answer to that.

How do you say no to that face?

2009-12-26T13:24:00.003-07:00

This was not a staged photo op. Fiona kept getting in my bag while I was packing and looking at me with those puppy dog eyes that said "you wouldn't leave me behind....would you?" Sadly she and Madd did not get to come to Ohio with us. It was just going to be too complicated and costly to take them with us so we decided to leave them in AZ. Luckily they are getting super spoiled by our friends Ryan and Ashley and their 3 boys so I don't feel too bad!!!

Christmasfied

2009-12-12T21:22:00.001-07:00

Our house that is. It might have taken a little longer to get the decor up this year but I’m pregnant…that is a good excuse, right? Well now that it is up it feels like Christmas is here! It is easy to forget what time of year it is when the weather doesn’t seem to match.

Joe was bound and determined that our house would have outside lights this year. So here is he on the roof…even though they were annoying to hang I think that boys love any excuse to get on the roof. The “fun” part was after he hung them all they stopped working. So he went to get new strands and now our house looks lovely.

Growing up my family always had colored lights which I loved and I always assumed I would carry on the tradition as an adult but… when it came time to set up the tree the white lights just called to me. A couple of years ago Joe was begging me to set up a tree so I surprised him when he was out of town. Thus I got to pick all the ornaments. They all have silver and gold undertones….and have lots of glitter and sparkle.

Ok….well Maddox and Fiona’s ornaments are an exception to the silver and gold theme.

Joe gave this ornament to me the second year we were married. I had mentioned in passing that I felt so bad I forgot to buy us our “First Christmas” ornament the prior year. So Christmas morning 2005 I was completely shocked to open this as a gift it even made me cry. Such a thoughtful hubby!

Fi Fi was born in 2006 but her first Christmas with us wasn’t until 2007. She is such a sweet girl and I can’t imagine our family without her!

For some reason we have never had stockings...maybe because we have never had a fireplace before. So a few weeks ago Joe surprised me with an early Christmas present. He saw this Juicy stocking in a Nieman’s catalog and thought it was perfect for me.

Joe picked out a Phoenix Suns stocking for him, a leopard print for Sara with a blingy “S,” and then paw prints for the pupps. We are short one hook so the dogs will have to share this year. It is exciting to think that next year we will be adding a stocking for our little boy!!! He’ll need an ornament too!

Swimsuits in November

2009-12-12T20:48:00.001-07:00

Have I mentioned that I love living in Arizona? There are many great things about this state and one of them is the weather…well 9 months out of the year at least. So we thought we would take advantage of the sunny skies and take the boat out the Saturday after Turkey day. It ended up being a bit of a disaster as the boat broke down after Joe got done wakeboarding but we still had fun! There is something about fresh air, sunshine, water and the smell of the boat that just makes me happy!!!

Love that grin!

Crew was so happy that there was a wet suit just his size…well maybe it was a little big but it did the trick!

Parker and Elaina are BFF’s and there could be some slight crushing going on. Soooo cute!!!! They especially had fun at Build-A-Bear together.

Happy Girls Carter didn’t get in the water but look at that face! Couldn’t be happier…well maybe at the Lego store:)

Conner is smiling but that is part shock to how cold the water was

Look at Crew’s face in the next 3 pics. He was not expecting the water to be so cold. He went from shock, to scared, to “get me outta here.” Poor little guy. Parker’s little bros jumped in so he couldn’t wimp out! The cold water put Conner in a trance Joe wasn’t trying to look GQ but OW OW!!! I love this pic of him!!! I am one lucky gal! No I did not squeeze myself into a bathing suit on this day. Thank goodness for stretchy tank tops and gaucho pants!

The kids still had fun even though we had to be towed in

Ashley and Crew

Thanksgiving Extravaganza

2009-12-07T22:02:00.001-07:00

Thanksgiving has to be one of the best holidays of the year! I mean what is not to love??? A whole table full of side dishes! And days of leftovers! Yum, I am hungry just looking at this spread!

For the past 3 years our friends the Watson’s have driven down from Utah to join us in our feasting. It is pretty much a set in stone tradition so if they ever decide they are sick of us and don’t come down we won’t know what to do with ourselves!! Well this year they brought the newest addition to their family….Copper. He is a yorki-poo just like Madd and we fell in love with him! He is such a cuddly poof ball!It was fun watching Maddox teach Copper how to chase him around. And of course Fiona bossed them both around. Oh Fi Fi she can be quite the girl dog sometimes;) Good thing she is so cute!

Speaking of Fiona she loves to be held. She will jump and jump until you pick her up (what will she do when she isn’t the baby anymore). Well as you can see below her wishes came true with a house full of kids that love to tote her around.

In the past I have always bought free-range, non-frozen turkeys from Sprouts. Well my sister-in-law said Trader Joe’s sold the same kind so since TJ’s was closer to the house I decided to pick one up there. By the time I went to pick it up they only had Kosher turkey’s left. They were a little more expensive but I figured it was worth the convenience. Well imagine my surprise on Thanksgiving morning when I go to cook the bird and find feathers still attached. Not a ton but enough to notice. I couldn’t find any needle nose pliers so I had to use my fingers to pull out the tiny feathers. It kind of grossed me out but I got the job done. Sadly I overcooked the bird a bit so we’ll never know if Kosher is tastier or not. It still tasted fine it was just drier than I would like. Oh well, I’m pregnant…that is a good excuse for anything:)

Ok, this picture is horrible of me but come on that face is priceless. Talk about shoveling in the food! How embarrassing. This is good for me to swallow my pride…..er mashed potatoes:)

Sadly our disposal AND dishwasher decided to stop working on Thanksgiving. And this is only a portion of the dishes I had to wash by hand!!!! Talk about lame timing!

All in all it was a great feast but I was glad when the cooking and cleaning part was over!

Hello 3rd Trimester!

2009-12-07T20:10:00.001-07:00

Well, I have less than 90 days till this little one arrives which is both exciting and scary:) He has become quite active and moves all the time! This morning I swear he was doing somersaults!!! I love the feeling though. The other night Joe was fascinated with watching my tummy move around. It is kind of sad that daddy’s don’t get the same experiences we do. Although when all is said and done they are probably ok with not having to bare children:)

So some things to note….my feet have started to swell. Not just my feet though it would seem my calves like to retain water as well. It all started Thanksgiving weekend and I have a feeling that I will get to enjoy this fun side effect until he is born. It is so strange to look down and not recognize my feet. On Sunday I wore tall boots to church and could start to feel my feet tingling a little bit. When I took those puppies off at home my legs were indented around my ankles. NOT CUTE! Thank goodness it is cooler weather so I don’t have to show off my swollenness to the world! Thank goodness I only have to wear skirts once a week. Maybe I need to invest in some maxi dresses for extra coverage:)

I also have started getting leg and foot cramps at night. Talk about annoying to be suddenly woken up by the most intense charlie horse!!! And if it is in the top of my foot it is so hard to stretch it out and make it go away. My friend suggested stretching with my heels instead of my toes which offers some relief. Sometimes I have to get up and hop around though which is fun in my half awake state:)

Another new development is not being able to breath at night. I think it is a combination of not being able to take deep breaths and then with us turning the heater on at night it dries out my nasal passages so I end up breathing through my mouth. I hate that! I don’t think Joe appreciates the mouth breathing either. I can’t help it though!!! The only thing I can think to try is getting a humidifier to add some moisture back in the air. It helps if I turn the heater off but Joe probably doesn’t appreciate that much either. He is always worried about me being cold but this baby keep me nice and toasty!!! If those things don’t work I might try sleeping sitting up:)

And to answer everyone’s question…no we still don’t have a name picked out. But at least we have a list of names. Joe has actually come up with every single one of them. I’m hoping at some point it just hits us with what “the” name should be!!

But we do have something picked out that is almost as important as a name….we have a diaper bag!!!!!!!!! I looked at a ton but in the end Joe helped me pick the winner. I don’t know if he picked it because he liked it the most or because it was on sale:) So here is my early Christmas present!!! I love it and can’t wait to fill it with cute baby things! Mine actually has white writing instead of blue and the inside is black and white. It comes with a little changing pad and two Juicy bibs that I can’t wait to put on our baby. He is going to be a stylish little man! I told Joe that we will have to get him his own diaper bag so I don’t have to share. He looked at me so innocently and said “when will I ever go somewhere with the baby without you?” So naive and sweet he is:)

How Cute are These?!?!?

2009-11-17T20:43:00.001-07:00

Bottom line our kids are going to be conflicted. When it comes to college football Ohio State is my number one. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again….I bleed scarlet and gray! It is in my blood….I can’t deny who I am. So I feel obligated to make my kids love the Buckeyes too.

I obviously didn’t choose Ohio State for college though. I chose BYU. I LOVE BYU. Rise and shout the Cougars are Out!! And no question…I want my kids to go to BYU. I don’t think there is a better school and the experiences they can have there are priceless!

Now to make things even more complicated….we live in Arizona and Joe loves the Sun Devils. Heck, even I enjoy a good ASU game. So needless to say…our kids are going to get confused on which school to love the most!

But look how cute these shoes are?!?! And the website I found didn’t sell ASU or OSU so that makes one decision easy I guess:)

Baby Balooga

2009-11-14T15:09:00.001-07:00

So far this has been a great pregnancy! I really can’t complain….ok the nausea at the beginning was hellacious so I can complain a little bit. But otherwise… no heartburn, no stretch marks (I’m sure it is inevitable that I will get them but I faithfully apply cocoa butter lotion), no acne (ok, maybe a few pimps here and there but nothing major), no throwing up (except that once), and no cravings (I always imagined these intense cravings where I would have to have black olives or else but nothing like that at all). I feel like a whale but besides that I feel pretty good about things!

Our little guy is moving around a ton which is really fun to experience. I only feel him down low though…really low….like below my waste band. So until he stretches out no one will get to feel the baby kick:) No kicks to the ribs yet but I’m sure that is just around the corner. I am 25 weeks today which means only 3 more weeks until the 3rd trimester. In some ways it feels like time is flying but at the same time creeping slowly along. I am excited for him to come but there is still so much to do to prepare first.

We registered at Buy Buy Baby which was a blast. They are owned by the same company as Bed Bath and Beyond which is where we registered for our wedding. We loved the service so we thought we would go with them again. Plus we can use those 20% off Bed Bath and Beyond coupons that always come in the mail at Buy Buy Baby!

We decided to go with a baby jungle animal theme for the nursery. Here is the cute bedding we picked.

Here are some tummy shots of me at 23 weeks.

More Memories of the Birthday Weekend

2009-11-14T11:31:00.001-07:00

What Celeb Bash happens without a little Swag!

Notice my Dad in the background watching the OSU game. He said he would be happy to help as long as the game could be on at the same time:) Amber showing off her swag bag making skills. What can’t she do?!?!?

A view of the yard as the magic starts to happen! We loved the drapery so much that it stayed up even after the party!

The Party Goddess herself! Rejli Wodecki is an AMAZING party planner. She is a friend of ours from when we lived in South Phoenix and then she got a job at UOP and Joe is her boss. She was kind enough to lend her creativity our way.

So I was told that during the day while the house was being set up Sara went back and forth to Target, Party City and a few other stores about a million times that day. Thanks sis for all you did!

I love this pic because you get a great feel for the layout. So that table hovering over the pool is where my fab cake was displayed. The two couches were the VIP areas. At night the fire pots were on as well to make the VIP areas extra VIP. And then the far grassy end is where the tables were set up for people to eat. This yard is amazing for entertaining!

The backyard Cat Walk

Uh oh, Somebody caught Sara taking a break. Maybe she was tired from all those Target trips:)

Fake Slacking!

We need a break!!!

The Bar/Karaoke/Lights being set up. Our friend Jason has the coolest light system. A little birdie told me that he used my party as an excuse to buy a fancy new laser light that he had been wanting:) It was pretty awesome so no complaints here!

Joe working his tail off! I don’t know he pulled off such an amazing night! I’m sure it was so stressful but he looks pretty happy in this pic!!! The things you do for love:)

Amber dirtying herself up. She is the most wholesome girl I know so it was great to see her in her nose ring, tattoos, and sassy outfit. Her husband thinks I’m a “bad” influence on her but she did this all on her own!!!

Love these girls!

Our two Amy Winehouses. They didn’t find out that they had planned the same costume until they were getting ready! They were both HOT STUFF though!

The Oreganos’ Guy setting up all the food. Joe did a great job of ordering. There were some leftovers but not tons! Sadly I hardly ate anything that night because I was too busy saying hello to everyone. It was like our wedding:) It is tough work being the guest of honor:)

Here is a view of the front yard during the day. This was such a cool entrance with the roped off area and the lights! I felt like I was entering a super hip club:)

Ok, these pics are some of my favorites! Amber and Sara wanted to get the true essence of the train wreck that the real Amy Winehouse is:) LOL!!!

Friends waiting for my arrival! The very pregnant girl is my friend from work Leslie Grimm. She is only about 2 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy but she is about 5 inches shorter than me and is having TWINS:) Love that belly!

My brother David the photographer! Wig and White Suit compliments of Joe:)

Me and Glenna! Love her and lucky to have 2 great mom’s!

Fabulous 30

2009-11-12T22:23:00.002-07:00

Hands down I have the best husband in the whole world! You can try and argue with me but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!

In July of 2005 my sweet hubby turned 30. We had only been married a little over a year but I knew it was my wifely duty to throw him a fab party! I didn't just want to throw him any old party but I wanted it to be a surprise party! I came up with the idea to throw him a luau themed bash. So the planning began! I created an evite, secretly bought decorations from Oriental Trading, ordered food from his favorite Hawaiian restaurant, hired Polynesian fire dancers to come and perform and in the midst of all that kept it 100% a secret from Joe! Well the night was a success! He was surprised, we had a great turn out, and overall I felt like I had pulled off an amazing party. Ever since then I have told Joe that he owes me big time! I never let him forget that I threw him this party and that when the time came I expected something equally as cool.

Well my friends...cool does not even begin to describe the soiree that Joe put together for my 30th birthday! He way outdid any measly luau that I put together! Bless his heart, he thought of EVERYTHING!!! No detail was forgotten! And the night was one that we will talk about for years and years to come. Not everyone was able to make it and for those of you that missed it...well...YOUR LOSS!!!! Pictures and words can't even describe the amazingess that was my 30th birthday party but I will do my best to recreate it for you in this blog post!!! To those of you who helped make this day one of the most amazing of my life THANK YOU!!!

So obviously the party was not a surprise. Since I had been telling Joe for years that I wanted a party he knew he couldn't get away with pretending he had forgotten. Since the party itself wasn't a surprise I requested that the details be left a secret. To help make this bash extra special my Dad and Stepmom flew out to AZ and so did my Mom!!! It was such a blast having them here and having them meet my friends!

On the day of the actual party I was told I had to be out of the house by 10 AM and I wasn't to be back until 6:30. No problem!! My mom and I met up for mani/pedis and lunch and after that I hit the mall!!! After a few hours of shopping and browsing I went to the MAC counter at Nordstrom (my happy place) and had my make up done! I love make up and think I do a pretty good job of applying it on my own but I wanted to look extra special for my par-tay. And as always the MAC girl did not let me down!!!

I was told that I wasn't actually supposed to go home after this but instead I was to get ready at our friends house who live in our neighborhood. What came next is a series of events that left me speechless, grinning from ear to ear and completely overwhelmed in the best way possible!!!

So we go outside to leave and I see a stretch limo roll up!! The door opens and I see this handsome devil-my husband dressed as Slash!

Ok, so at this point I don't know what to think but there is excitement in the air! I get in the limo and I start to see familiar faces! My Dad and Stepmom are there looking all dolled up, then I see my mom also looking quite fab! But then there are a few other people I start to notice...with wigs on! First I recognize my good friends Jason and Jenny Burrell from work. They are dressed as Dog the Bounty Hunter and Rachel Zoe! And then I'm looking around and see this girl at the end of the limo. It takes me a minute....but then I realize it is my very bestest friend Amber who flew down from Utah to surprise me!!!!! She was dressed as Amy Winehouse so it took my brain a minute to figure it all out!! I had NO idea she was coming down so I was laughing and crying as we are driving around in this decked out limo!!!

So we roll up to our house and I see...wait for it...search lights in the sky!!!!!! I think at that point I squealed, clapped and said "those are for me?!?" I had actually seen the lights in the sky as I was driving to our friends house. I thought they looked awfully close but little did I know they were outside of my house!!!

Not only are there searchlights in front of my house but a cheering mob of "fans" are there clapping and cheering for me!!! There was a huge group of my friends outside of my house and many dressed as celebrities!! Not to mention paparazzi (my talented photographer brother David) to take our pics as we get out of the limo. And then anyone who wanted got to climb through the limo for their own celeb moment!

My handsome Dad, Me and Joe

The very fashionable Rachel Zoe

Bet you didn’t know I was friends with DOG!

My beautiful mom!

My other beautiful mother!

The talented, the gorgeous, the one and only Amber Watson as Amy Winehouse

Notice the red carpet! Fancy!!

Our niece Reyna and Joe’s sis Sarah

Penelope Cruz (Joe’s cousin Amy) and Kim Kardashian (Joe’s sister Sarah) joined us for the evening!

Lief and Nikkel Nielsen AKA Sharon and Ozzy! Rock on!

Ryan and Ashley Jaten…as the good looking people that they are naturally

Brad as Elton John and his real life wife Cindy:)

My adorable sister Sara as Amy Winehouse and her date Obama. I wonder what Michelle thinks??!?

More Rock Star Friends-Denise Moreno and boyfriend

Poor Gavin Rossdale! Gwen decided to bring Johnny Knoxville as her date! Kami and Tim you guys were hot stuff!

Cecilia Melo and her husband Dustin aka Bangelina!

The Bradshaws with their cute little Ruby

Scott and Rejli Wodecki-Dog the Bounty Hunter and his Wife! SASSY!!!

Does she look old enough to have a 30 year old daughter? I think not!

My Father in Law looking spiffy in his suit!

Ok, phew! A lot of pictures! And this is only the beginning of the party!

Our backyard was transformed into the coolest VIP area you could imagine! Our couches were OUTSIDE by the pool, the bar was stocked with every mocktail/mocktini ingredient you could think of, the food was catered from Oreganos (one of my all time favorite restaurants), there were lights strung through the trees, another red carpet, a dance floor, a DJ, swag bags, outdoor drapery that Amber and my stepmom whipped up that day, an amazing cake, and friends EVERYWHERE!! It was absolutely magical!!!!

Oh and did I mention that we had performers?!?!? Joe hired a b-b0y crew to come and put on a performance!! I felt like we were watching America’s Best Dance Crew!!

Me and Karinne my old neighbor who is also pregnant!

At one point in the night we had a red carpet cat-walk where some of the celebs got to strut their stuff!! Ow ow!!!

The President of The United States of America!

Sara a cutie Amy Winehouse.

Marilyn and her Dapper Date

Peg and Al Bundy

Dog and his Wife!

Sharon and Ozzy

A Sassy and Classy Amy Winehouse

Rock on! The man who made this night possible!!

Slash making sure everyone knew who the Daddy is:)

The Godfather

Even animated characters made it to the party!

Brad and Angelina left the kids at home but so glad they could make it to our little event!

Clark Kent and a sassy Lois Lane

Marilyn Monroe…all the way from Brazil

Uh Oh…Slash in trouble by Dog the Bounty Hunter

The crowd watching the cat walk show!

Karen Hinkle as Audrey Heburn

Jared and Rosie Wright as Ryan Seacrest and Kat Von D-HOT STUFF

Our Baby Boy making his first runway debut

The Birthday Girl! Who knew 30 would be so fabulous?

Well these are just some of the great pictures from that night. There will definitely be more to come!

{My Oscar Winning Speech}

Thank you to my dearest Joe who put on the best party that I think pretty much anyone has EVER been to! He is the best husband any girl could ask for! I hope you know how much I love you! Thank you to my best friend and sister Sara for helping him with all the planning and implementing! Thank you to my parents for flying out here and for all your help! Thank you to Amber, my best friend since we were 4 for flying down here to surprise me. Thank you to Rejli Wodecki (the Bounty Hunter’s wife) for lending her party planning expertise! And thank you to all of you who came in my honor and made this a night that will never be forgotten!

1st Pregnancy Puke

2009-10-09T16:09:00.003-07:00

Today was a big milestone for me as a preggers. I PUKED!!!! Now don't get me wrong...I would have been perfectly happy to go 9 months without throwing up but now I feel like I've "joined the club." Hopefully it will be the first and last time though:) I believe it was the smell of the garbage that did me in. It came on so suddenly that I didn't think it was really happening but it very quickly became a reality so to the toilet I raced!!

Other exciting baby updates is I feel the little guy moving!!! It doesn't feel like a jab or a kick yet...more like a little amoeba moving around:) I absolutely love it because it is like he is reminding me he is there and wanting to say "hi." Joe can't wait until he can feel it too. Sometimes he likes to put his ear to my belly to see if he can hear anything:)

Still no name or bedding picked out for our little man though. Last Saturday I left the house with a plan to get a pedicure, buy maternity clothes and scout out baby stuff. Well I got the first two accomplished, but I was so worn out by the time I left the mall that sadly Babies R' Us was out of the question. Maternity clothes shopping is EXHAUSTING...and frustrating. Not only are maternity clothes hard to find...but they are EXPENSIVE too!!! Luckily I found some cute jeans at the GAP. I haven't shopped at the GAP in years but looks like they get my business again!! Motherhood Maternity is a necessary evil I guess. I found some black pants and a black skirt there that are pretty cute but a lot of other stuff there just seemed tacky (sorry to anyone who loves that store). Pea in the Pod is located in North Scottsdale so it is very inconvenient to go there not to mention overpriced. Part of my problem is I haven't popped out enough to wear anything that isn't form fitting. Shirts that just hang are not so cute on me which is fine but they sell more of the flowy shirts. Errrgg! So I have found that for now a lot of my pre-maternity shirts work as long as I have my pants with the magic tummy panel!

I Heart October

2009-10-04T12:29:00.015-07:00

This has to be one of my favorite months out of the whole year. As I read other people's blogs and facebooks I have found that I'm not alone in this love of October! Here are some of the reasons.

Football Season

Apple Cider and Doughnuts!

The changing of the leaves, the sound, the smell....I sure miss that!

My Birthday, October 6th!! I love my birthday, absolutely LOVE it. This year I am turning the big 3-0. It is hard to believe that the time has finally come!! This year Joe is throwing me a big bash on the 10th. It is a pseudo-surprise which makes it even more fun. For Joe's 30th I threw him a big surprise Luau birthday party. It was very stressful to plan but it was soo fun and it turned out to be an awesome party!!! So ever since then I have told Joe that he owes me...big time:) Well he has been super M.I.A lately so I know he is coming through. Since the party itself isn't a surprise the details of it are. My Mom is even coming out for it and so is my Dad and Step mom. If any of you haven't received your invite yet then give me your email address and I will pass it on to Joe. The more the merrier!

Halloween decorations...I don't feel like I have enough though so I will continue to scout out spooky skulls, ghosts and witches!

Pumpkin everything-muffins, cookies, candy, pie, shakes, etc. etc. So delicious!

Halloween Candy-Why are miniature twix and kit kats so darn good? And boy am I a sucker for candy corn and pumpkins! But only the original as pictured below. I don't like the brown candy corn!Cooler weather-while it is still fairly warm in AZ, night time brings on just enough chill for a hoodie or a cute sweater. Now that my belly is expanding I might have to buy some maternity hoodies. Darn...I hate excuses to shop:):) This one looks cute!!

Baby Boy

2009-10-04T11:17:00.008-07:00

Here is our sweet baby's profile. He has gotten so big since the last time we saw him!Same pic, just rotated for a different angle. Can't wait to kiss that sweet face!

Any idea what this is a pic of??

If you are still stumped read the fine print:)

And here is his sweet little foot. Long and skinny like his mommy's foot or wide like daddy's? We'll see:)

Frogs And Snails And Puppy Dog Tails

2009-10-01T16:23:00.005-07:00

That's what little boys are made of! That's right...this cute little baby making my tummy expand is a cute little BOY!!!!!!

{thank goodness for bella bands that hold up my un-buttoned pants each day}

Admittedly I always pictured myself having a girl first because I love all things girly, but I couldn't be happier to know that we are having a son!! I'm already smitten with him and I've only seen him in black and white:) My love of pink and bows will have to be used on my little Fi Fi. She doesn't mind...too much:)

At my last doctor's visit they said I could just schedule my ultra sound and next regular appointment for the same day. But that would have meant waiting a whole extra week to find out the gender. Silly doctors! I would happily come in two weeks in a row just so I could find out as soon as possible!!! Besides seeing very clearly that our bundle of joy is a little boy everything else checked out perfectly in the ultra sound. His heart, brain, lungs, stomach, fingers, toes, lips and nose are all just as they should be!! We have some great pics that I will post as soon as Joe brings them back from work. He is quite the proud poppa already and wants to show everyone pics of our little guy!

Other exciting news is these last few days I have started to feel baby boy Vega move around!! It is such a funny feeling but I love it. I feel like subconsciously I am always waiting to feel him move. But I'm sure soon enough it will no longer be a little flutter and I will be very aware of him all of the time:)

This week we received our very first baby present. One of the girls that works for me brought me this little blue box from The Children's Place. I was sooo excited to open it...who doesn't love presents!?!?! When I opened it I found an adorable pair of overalls, a puppy dog bib, onesies and little socks. I wasn't prepared for the tears that accompanied the present though. I was suddenly so overwhelmed, that these little tiny clothes would soon fit my little tiny baby, MY little tiny baby.

So now that we know we are having a boy it is time to pick a name and go shopping!!! This weekend I want to hit up Babies R' Us, Buy Buy Baby and USA Baby to scope out bedding among other things! I have no idea what theme I want to go with! I will try very hard not to buy much but if something is too cute to pass up then maybe a little splurge here or there wouldn't hurt:) I can't wait until it is time to register for baby showers!!! I don't know how long I can wait:)

Optimus Prime

2009-08-20T19:11:00.005-07:00

Today I am 12 weeks and 5 days pregnant!! Sometimes I feel like time is flying and all I can think about is the getting to the next milestone in my pregnancy. Other days time seems to drag and I'm appreciative because there is so much to do before our little one arrives. This week we had a big decision to make. Do we or don't we go for the Nuchal Translucency screening test. The purpose is to measure your baby's risk for the possibility of Down's Syndrome and few other chromosomal disorders. The test consists of a high powered ultra-sound and some accompanying blood work. I never really considered myself high risk for chromosomal disorders but I didn't want to pass up an ultra sound where we might be able to find out or get an idea of the baby's gender. We had a few reservations about the test only because we knew people that had tested with false positives and therefore worried over nothing. In the end...we decided to do it!!! If our baby really did have one of these disorders I would want to know so I could prepare.

The doctor I have been seeing has 2 offices. Once in Mesa and one in Ahwatukee. I had been to the Mesa office because it was slightly closer but the high tech ultra sound machine was located in Ahwatukee. Let's just say that from now on I will be traveling to the Tuke because that office is so so nice!!! We went straight back to the ultra sound room and there was a big flat screen tv on the wall that they use as the monitor. The tech nurse was the sweetest lady ever!! She kept telling us how cute our baby was:) And of course we agreed. We saw its cute little hands and toes, arms and legs and of course we just thought everything was amazing:) Well, the baby was not in the needed position so after measuring our baby (7 cm) and taking a look around she told me to lay on my side which might get the baby to move. So I did that but baby wasn't budging. So the next tactic was to drink some grape juice. Well that did the trick. As soon as I drank the juice the baby started fidgeting around and even got the hiccups. It was about the darn cutest thing I have ever seen. It will be amazing when I actually get to feel those hiccups. So, once the baby was in position she was able to measure the spot on its neck and it measured way below 2 mm which is great!!! So without the bloodwork we are assuming that all is good. Our little one seems to be right on track with where it needs to be!!

The nurse who thought our baby was so cute kept printing pictures for us so we left with about 10 different shots. Here is a profile shot that I just love!! Such a sweet little baby!!!!

This next picture shows a side of our baby I wasn't expecting...

Ummm, does anyone else see the resemblance? Yes, my baby looks like a TRANSFORMER!!! That is ok, it is the cutest darn transformer I have ever seen:)

So did we get to find out the gender?? Nope!!! Little one had its legs crossed the entire time!!! I was a little disappointed but what are you going to do! We will have to wait about 6 more weeks to find out if we will be buying pink or blue! In the meantime I am going to be holding pencils and rings over my belly and spitting on crystal Draino to see what the universe is telling me. The Chinese conception chart tells me it is a girl. My mom is telling me it is a boy. The Intelligender kit that I bought at Walgreens...well it was confused...which is my fault because I forgot to check the results after 1o minutes. I know there is no full proof guesstimator but it is fun to speculate!

Little Kicker

2009-08-16T11:47:00.002-07:00

Today I am 12 weeks and 1 day pregnant!! 2nd Trimester here I come!!! I am looking forward to hopefully more energy and less nausea! I'm still not "showing" so I'm looking forward to that as well. I bought my first pair of maternity pants this weekend. I guess I don't need them quite yet but my regular pants are getting a little snug so I figured it would be a nice option for work.

Last week I had my 2nd doctor's appointment. We went at 11 weeks and 3 days so the doctor wanted to see if we could hear the heart beat. She used a hand held device where she pressed the wand on my lower stomach and we were supposed to hear 2 heart beats....mine and the babies. She tried and tried for a while, well it seemed like forever, but couldn't pick up the babies heart beat. Joe said that he wanted to grab the wand out of her hand and try himself. He retrained himself though:) I was trying not to worry but of course I had a million thoughts racing through my head. She seemed calm though and explained that sometimes at 11 weeks it is still too early to hear.

The doctor said since we couldn't hear the baby we would get to take a look at it again. So she brought in the ultra sound machine and I waited with bated breath!!!! But there it was....our sweet little baby, much bigger this time and now it was kicking its little legs and moving its little arm buds. I think our adorable baby just wanted us to see it again and show us its new tricks:). And of course we saw the little fluttering heart beat just as strong as it needed to be. It is so amazing to see a little tiny baby that is inside of ME!!!!!!!!!!!

Seeds and Spots

2009-08-02T14:40:00.004-07:00

So as of today I am 10 weeks and 1 day pregnant! It is funny how you want something so much and then when it comes you are kind of miserable:( Sadly that is what I have been experiencing for the past few weeks. My worst symptom has been the constant, never-ending, never-ceasing, always present NAUSEA. Boooo. How annoying and frustrating and wearing and constant.....did I mention it never goes away? Well I know it could be worse so I shouldn't complain too much:) I have not thrown up once!!!! That I am thankful for. Well, I finally lost my mind a couple weeks ago and literally cried all day long (I'm sure that won't be the last time that happens:)). I think the nausea actually started to make me crazy. I decided at this point I would do anything for some relief. I started taking ginger pills, Vitamin B6, Preggie Pops (suckers/lozenges), Morning Sick Magic (B6/Ginger/Raspberry Leaf combo) and finally I made an appointment to do acupuncture. I was a little nervous about going because typically needles and I are NOT friends. It was pretty painless though and I plan to go back during the next few weeks. She placed the needles on the tops of my feet, insides of my feet under my ankles, my shins, wrists, tummy, forehead and top of my head. Then basically you lay there for 20 minutes on a massage table and let the healing energy do its magic. After she removed the needles she gave me ear seeds. Literally they are seeds on very sticky adhesive that she puts on pressure points in your ear to help with the nausea. So since then I have to report that I feel a TON better. I still feel a little icky from time to time. But I actually feel like a semi-normal human being again. My co-workers were starting to worry where the old Melissa went....Joe probably thought the same thing he just knows better than to say anything! So who knows if it was timing, the herbs, the acupuncture, or the seeds, or a combination of them all? I don't know and I don't care. I'm just glad for some relief!
I am not showing yet BUT I do have this weird spot on my hand. I call it my pregnancy spot. I'm not sure what week it popped up but I always stare it. If you look at the bottom right hand corner of my hand you will see a dark spot that looks like a bruise. I know it is random but for some reason it is so fascinating to me. Probably wouldn't be so fascinating if it popped up on my upper lip or something:)
Well there is my pregnancy update. I go for my next appointment on the 11th and I'm curious how much longer my pants will button. I fully plan to invest in some Bella Bands when they start to get a little tight though. I might have to go buy some looser tops though. Even though I don't have a cute belly bump yet I am definitely starting to expand so my cute shirts are not so cute anymore.

Belly Laughs

2009-07-19T14:54:00.002-07:00

This book was recommended to me by another friend who is pregnant. Any mommy or mom to be would get a kick out of this read. Jenny McCarthy is very candid and a bit irreverent but it had me laughing out loud over and over! I feel like Joe should maybe read it so he can be prepared but on the other hand.....he might be scarred for life! Yeah, maybe I'll just paraphrase for him!

Hey Baby!

2009-07-16T14:17:00.003-07:00

Here is the first snapshot of our lil sweetie!! WE ARE PREGNANT and couldn't be happier!!! For those of you are looking at the picture above and thinking it looks like a blur....I understand:) And, no there are not two babies in there. The round circle is the yolk sac which provides essential nutrients for the baby at this stage in gestation. The baby is under the yolk sac. At the time of the ultra sound I was 7 weeks and 3 days.

So how did we get to this point? Well...I don't think anyone needs a lesson on the birds and the bees but here is our story:) I come from a pretty big family and always knew that I wanted to be a mommy! But when we got married I just didn't' feel it. For years I didn't feel the urge, the promptings, the maternal heart strings...none of it. I wasn't worried about it though. I knew that when it was the right time I would know. I don't remember when it actually started to hit me but it was definitely in 2008. I didn't realize I wanted a baby but my body knew. I found myself tearing up when others would talk about getting pregnant or would show off pics of their newborns. So we began talking about when we would be ready but the logistics of adding a baby to our already crazy life just didn't seem possible. But when the thought of having a baby consumed my every thought I realized that the decision was up to me and I realized I needed to have more faith! A lot can happen in a year and even though life was crazy at the time I didn't have a crystal ball and couldn't anticipate what our lives would be like by the time a baby would actually arrive. So it took 8 months of being off the pill for us to get pregnant and although life is still crazy we couldn't be happier!

Well every month seemed like a waiting game. But up until this point the wait always ended up in disappointment. I started to feel weird the Thursday before Father's Day. I felt achy and shaky, like I was getting the flu...but with no congestion. On top of that I was on fire but when I took my temperature I had no fever. So this went on for a couple days and then Sunday morning I woke up feeling sick to my stomach. I finally decided to take a test but was sure I was jumping the gun. I just felt so weird and bleh that I figured if I was PG then the test would surely show it. Well Joe wasn't home when I took it so when the two little lines showed up I was just in complete shock. This wasn't the first time I had taken a test and was so used to getting a negative result so a positive brought tears and screams and laughs all in one. So here is the tricky part. We were having family over that day for Father's Day and I knew if I told Joe he would spill the beans to everyone. I didn't want to tell anyone yet so I waited ALL day with this little secret inside. After everyone had left Joe came in the room and asked me if deep down I knew I was pregnant. This threw me off guard because all day I knew but didn't tell a soul....well actually I did tell my dog Fiona:) And then he looked at me funny and asked said "wait, did you already take a test?" So I told him there was a Father's Day present for him on his side of the bed. Inside a gift bag was a cleaned off pee stick!! Needless to say he was ecstatic and it was so fun to have our private little moment where we realized we were going to become parents.

So, we are due February 27th and are hoping to find out the sex at our next ultra sound on August 18th. Our first ultra sound was so amazing. All of a sudden the doctor says "there's your baby." Wow!! Those words brought me to tears. I had a baby...inside of me:) And then there was the little heartbeat going so so so fast!!

We can't wait to share our journey with you!! I can tell you so far I have not thrown up at all which is a bonus. But on the down side I am nauseous 24/7 and no I'm not exaggerating. I wish I was but the stomach ache never goes away UNLESS I am eating. But eating is the last thing I want to do so I force myself to do it! I am hoping this doesn't last for the next 7 months!

So Proud

2009-06-29T17:42:00.009-07:00

Well, my little brother did it!!! Chris graduated from boot camp! I am so proud of this kid! He has such a good heart and always wants to help his family in any way he can. He lived with us for over a year and during that time we never got in one fight or tiff. He is so funny and everyone just loves him!!!

We were all feeling a little bittersweet when he made his decision to enlist. Bitter because we aren't really a military family and have never experienced someone close in the armed forces. There is always the fear that they will have to go to war. But on the other hand sweet because he wants to serve our country!!! He survived 8 hellish weeks of boot camp and my sister, mom and brother David were all able to go out and support him. I sure wish I could have been there too!

So now that boot camp is over what will he be doing? He will be a cryptologist which according to www.navy.com that means: Cryptologic Technicians Interpretive or CTIs specialize in foreign languages. CTIs not only interpret and translate information in foreign languages, they use their skills to advise top-level decision-makers. And in order to protect U.S. interests, CTIs develop tactical and strategic information about our enemies on an up-to-the-minute basis.

Pretty impressive!

My beautiful mom so proud of her son! Those 8 weeks were probably the hardest weeks of my mom's life as well as Chris'. Saying goodbye to him and knowing he was enduring so much was just heart wrenching for her. She literally wrote him EVERY day!!! He said getting those letters were what kept him strong enough to keep going.

Out to dinner! I know Chris was so happy to finally eat real food. He especially missed steak dinners and Chipotle!
Sara and David supporting Chris with Navy shirts. They are so proud of their bro! Sara bought me a pink Navy sister shirt, yay!

Here is a pic of Chris' graduating class. I guess they had to stand like that for an hour straight. Chris is in the 3rd row from the left, 6th one from the back.

I can only imagine my mom, staring at Chris the whole time. That is what she does when she hasn't seen us for a while....just stare:) Love you Mom!

Look at that grin on Chris' face!! Free at last!

Sara and Mom just beaming at Chris.

Chris is probably in shock right now that he can act "normal" for a few hours:)

Climb to Conquer Cancer

2009-06-03T20:02:00.009-07:00

A few months ago our work sponsored a hike up South Mountain called the Climb to Conquer Cancer. Last year I signed up but slept in and didn't go...shame on me so this year I recruited friends and family so I wouldn't flake. I had already started working out so I figured this would be cake!! Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Well the hike up was a little over 5 miles and we were quite proud of ourselves when we reached the top!! Boy did we feel it in our hips!!! As much as we enjoyed the hike we were looking forward to riding the bus down. Funny thing is as while we were waiting in line for the bus the event coordinators informed us that the buses had broken down and there would be no more for the next 45 minutes. Well, Joe and I had a wedding to go to later that day so we figured it would be quicker to just hike back down. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Going down the mountain was painful and as we were trudging down guess what we saw....buses. We flagged them down but they said they couldn't pick us up. What??? Hilarry threw herself down on the pavement but they didn't care. Sara was limping because of blisters. They could have cared less. So what did we do?? We called our friend who lived down the street to come rescue us!! We were so exhausted from our 9 mile hike that we slept the rest of the day and didn't make it to the wedding:( But at least we had a good excuse. I am happy to know that we hiked for a good cause.

2009-05-30T21:50:00.001-07:00

Ok so blogging from phone is more like sending a text 2 your blog OR making a status update on Facebook or Twitter.This is kinda fun!One more reason 2 heart BB.

2009-05-30T21:45:00.001-07:00

Test blogging from my Blackberry....can it be that I can blog from my phone? Well now there really is no excuse not to. Then again I have a character limit:(

How Did I Live Without You?

2009-05-29T20:30:00.018-07:00

My Blackberry that is. I resisted buying one for so long merely for the fact that I didn't want to spend money on a new phone. But fate intervened when my cell phone kicked the bucket the Blackberry Curves were on sale. WHY ON EARTH DID I WAIT SO LONG. People raved about them and I thought they were exaggerating. I mean come on....how great can a cell phone actually be?? Now those with iPhones definitely have me beat on coolness but 1. I don't have AT&T and don't want to leave Verizon and 2. iPhones don't work well for girls with acrylic nails. So back to the Crackberry....I mean Blackberry....how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.....

1. Google Maps-not only can you pinpoint where you are but you can do local searches and even turn on GPS navigation. Sweet! I can always find the nearest QT or Sonic now.

2. Facebook-love that I can update my status and check up on all my friends with just a few clicks. Boy this comes in handy when I am stuck in line somewhere or bored in the car.

3. Email-Email me any time and I can read and reply whenever I have time!

4. QWERTY key board-makes texting and emailing a dream

5. Internet-I am addicted to Google so now I can google anytime, anyplace!

6. Camera-The Blackberry actually has a decent camera with a flash that helps me capture fun moments like these...

My tire blowing on the freeway. Not so fun but luckily when I took it in they found a lot of other things that needed repairing before my warranty expired.

My anniversary present from Joe. Love you sweetie!This sign was so random and in a pretty nice side of town so it struck me as ironic and I had to snap a pic.Sara was helping us move (who knew this would be such a frequent occurrence) and I made her put on Joe's head lamp. I mocked him when he started buying them but I have to say they can be pretty handy....and make for funny pics.Doesn't she look happy??My Dad and Glenna sent Joe this King of the Grill Apron that he finally gets to use now that we have a grill again!!! This was pre washing machine incident when he could use both hands to cook.This was the moment I was dreading....1oo,ooo miles means no more extended service warranty on the Beemer:( That means I have to actually start paying for oil changes, breaks, and anything else that goes wrong. 2 days after we hit 100K, the parking break went out and I had to pay to fix it. Booooooo. Knock on wood that is the only thing that goes bad. Hopefully she stays nice and healthy for me so I don't have to shell out any big bucks.And then there are the self-portraits. I don't know what it is but I take pictures of myself....frequently. I can't help it. Easily amused? Vain? Bored? Who knows. But I know I'm not the only one that does this.....right???? :O)

So there you have it. Thanks to my phone you have a random sampling of our lives captured via the Blackberry!!

Joe vs. The Washing Machine

2009-05-28T23:16:00.010-07:00

A little over a month ago we moved....again:) We love the house we are in and just adore the neighborhood. The Encanto District is this historical gem located in downtown Phoenix. I have to give Joe all the credit for finding it because I had no idea it even existed. The houses are all so different and charming with lush lawns, huge trees, gorgeous flowers, etc. You honestly don't even feel like you are in AZ.

A week after we move in I started to realize that the laundry I was doing smelled really musty and mildewy. Gross. Nothing beats the smell of fresh laundry so this was really bugging me. Well, our landlords had left their front loader washer and dryer for us to use. I was super excited about that because I hear they are all the rave. Come to find out front loader washers can give your clothes that mildewy smell if you don't follow certain precautions. So one night we are out to dinner with a friend and I am explaining my frustration. Voila he has a solution because they too have a front loader and had the same problem. He told me that all we need to do is loosen this drain that is in the front and let out the excess water. So we get home and lo and behold....there is the drain. I try to loosen it but it is on there pretty tight so Joe gives it a try. Even he is struggling with it...so he gets down on his hands and knees and puts all of his muscle into it...he finally gets it and SLIP the top of his hand slams into the metal casing around the drain. As soon as it happened he knew he would need stitches. Luckily we live right by a hospital so he was able to get into triage within about 1o minutes of the incident.

To make a long story short he severed 3 of his extensor tendons in his right hand and had to have surgery to get them re-attached. He has to wear a split for 6 weeks and afterwards will begin physical therapy. His 6 weeks is almost up and he is starting to get some movement back...thank goodness. We are hoping for a full recovery but who knows how long that could take.

Here is a little look into his journey. The pics aren't too gory but still a little bloody.

This is Joe with the look of "I can't believe this is happening to me" Poor Guy:(

Luckily Joe only got a few drops of blood on his favorite Modern Amusement shorts. As he was sitting in the chair waiting to go back for x-rays I took advantage of the paper towels and cold water to get the blood out!!

Do you see any tendons??? Luckily he didn't go deep enough to damage any nerves!

Getting stitched up...no I did not take this picture or else I probably would have passed out. Thank goodness Ryan was with us that night. Not only was he entertaining but he was able to document Joe's pain and suffering for us.

Only 6 stitches...but 4 days later they took them out anyway so that they could do surgery! Poor Joe had never had surgery before so he was a little nervous. We didn't find out until he was there in his hospital gown that they would actually have to intubate him. He was a champ though and handled the surgery like a pro.

Bandaged, doped up and ready to go home!

Here is his swollen and mangled hand a few days after surgery. I didn't get queasy during this whole ordeal until he took his bandage off and we started to clean his hand. I don't know if it was the smell or the thought of me hurting him that did it but I let the nurse take over so that I didn't pass out. I have a hard time with the thought of pain. Just thinking about it makes me light headed.

So there you have it. Curses to that stupid washing machine. We glare at it every time we walk by it or use it.

When I Grow Up I Wanna Be Famous

2009-05-28T22:06:00.014-07:00

Oops I Did it Again.....I'm a Slave For You.....Toxic.....Womanizer....Gimme More.....Piece of Me....Boys....Baby One More Time-Need I say more??? Classics by the great Britney Spears:) The girls and I had a fab girls weekend of eating, laying out and the Pussy Cat Dolls/Britney Spears concert.

Before we got to see our beloved Brit Brit in concert we dined at the Tuck Shop. It is a hipster spot in Phoenix that claimed family size portions. The food was good...definitely frou frou....but let's just say that we were still hungry when we left so after the concert we hit up In-N-Out!!

Lyndsee and Mel! Bff's since 1997! We met Freshman year at BYU in a family science class! Thank goodness for Scott Rodriguez, the guy in our class she was trying to avoid so she started talking to me:)

Hil and Jaimi looking hot and sassy!! I became BFF's with these gals in 2000 I think. Jaimi and I had a class together at BYU....Drama for Elementary School Teachers. I had a crazy roommate at the time and was looking for a place to move. So I asked her if she needed an extra roommate. She didn't have room in her apartment but her neighbor did so I moved in!!!! Condo Row baby!! 2 Hot Blonde's and 2 Smokin' Brunettes ready to channel our inner teenager
Behind us on stage are the Pussy Cat Dolls! Meow!! They were H.O.T. and they sung live!!
Britney's album was the Circus. So the whole concert followed that theme. AMAZING and a little freaky:)

Britney channeling her inner SlumdogCheck out the packed stadium!! We actually had great lower level seats that we bought the day of!!! Nothing like waiting until the last minute. We were so worried we wouldn't get in. But we were not going to let anything keep us from this show!

Britney whipping those extensions around. Work it girl!

I am so so so so glad that Lyndsee, Chris and Chico drove all the way from Santa Fe, New Mexico to hang out with us!!! We are lucky to have such great friends...even if some of them are scattered across various states.

Lyndsee is the queen of photo ops! I need to learn all of her sassy poses:)

Girl Crew

2009-05-28T21:05:00.010-07:00

I consider myself very lucky to have such a great job in this crazy economy. Not only do I have a steady income and job security but I have girlfriends at work that I don't know what I would do without! We have had a chance to travel together to San Diego and Dallas and both trips we had a blast!! Funny story about these girls...the nickname they have given me at work is Vegsters. I told Joe that I had a nickname and he thought I was just being silly or trying to sound cool:( Well at one of these work events he kept hearing "Vegsters" everywhere we went and he realized "awww, my wife actually does have work friends." Here are a few of the ladies that are in the "Girl Crew."

Leslie Grimm and I are surprise soul sisters. We are always amazed how much we have in common. I heart this girl and hope we are friends for life!

Jen Beane is a crack up. This girl can bust a move on the dance floor!

Nicolette Miller is one of the FUNNIEST gals I know! We bonded when our offices were in the same building. She is good people!

Jenny Burrell is one of the kindest, sweetest girls I have ever known. She is the type of person that people just love because she is so genuine and sincere. She just makes you feel good when you are around her!

Kristen Griffin is a classy, sassy gal and has a killer yoga bod!!

Leslie, Brenna, Me and Nicolette on our Dinner Cruise in San Diego. We had a hilarious dinner conversation. Who knows what it was because whenever we are together we are always cracking up!! All I know is that everyone else wished they were at our table because we were having so much fun:)

Hot Mamma

2009-05-28T19:48:00.019-07:00

This year was the best Mother's Day ever!!!! My mom came out to AZ for a few days and it truly made my heart overflow with happiness. Sadly it had been almost 2 years since Joe and I had seen her:( We cannot ever let that happen again. If I have anything to do with it she will move here someday!!!!!!!!! {fingers crossed}

We of course wanted to make the most of our time with her so we took time off work so we could spend every minute together. Sadly I got sick right before she arrived so I was down with a cold for a few days. Bummer. Not only did that cut out on time with my mommy but it also made me miss out on some enjoyable eating extravaganzas. It is no fun to eat out when you can't taste anything.

Mom and Sara outside of Matt's Big Breakfast. This is one of our favorite spots to eat since we have moved to Central Phoenix. Unfortunately I was sniveling and sneezing at home while they enjoyed their food.

We took a lot of pictures of the three of us during Mom's visit. Most of the time Sara would make a silly face. So even though our head's are cut off we all look semi-normal in this one:)
Still a little sick but at least I showered and got ready this day:)
Silly Girls. These two ladies crack me up to the point of tears and trouble breathing:)
Waiting to eat at Oregano's. I could eat there at least twice a week and not get sick of it. So if you out of towners ever come to visit us you can count on eating there with us!

How lucky were we to get our mom to ourselves that weekend!

Awww, aren't we cute? This was actually take 3 of this pic. The first shot Joe had a fake/forced smile-shocker {wink}, the 2nd there was a ton of light that made me look like an angel (not hard to imagine I am sure:), and then this is the third where we look happy and in love!So what did we do besides eat out while Mom was here??? Lay out...every day....for HOURS at a time. Poor Joe couldn't get in though because of his hurt hand. Darn that washing machine!! I don't know how much he appreciated being stuck inside while we basked in the sun. But he knew we were having quality mother/daughter time as we soaked up the rays. Mom got a sunburn...bless her heart....her pasty skin wasn't quite prepared for the intense AZ sun.
We are all squinting in this pic but I just noticed that we are standing shortest to tallest and darkest to lightest hair....do you think we look a like? Growing up everyone always told me how much I looked like my mom which I gladly took as a compliment. Well, since Sara has been living in AZ I have noticed more and more that she looks so much like my mom. Not to mention they have such similar characteristics. Sara and I don't think she and I look anything a like but we always get a kick out of it when people tell us we do. We don't see it but maybe it is that we both look like our mom but in different ways. Posing outside of Sprinkles Cupcakes. Decadent, Rich and almost Heavenly. My personal favorite is the banana with vanilla icing. Strawberry and Red Velvet are pretty delish too.

My turn to be in the pic"Sisters, sisters...." I sure love this girl. She is my best friend and I can't imagine my life here in AZ without her. She is hilarious and so much fun to be around. I feel so lucky to have her as my lil' sis. Growing up I never would have thought we would end up as close as we are. 7 years age difference seemed huge when we were kids but now we are thick as thieves!Joe was our photographer most of the weekend but here is a sweet pic of him and Mom!! Love them both to pieces!Joe is not flipping anyone off (or flicking as they say in Ohio). Poor guy has had to wear that dang splint for SIX WEEKS. We love you Mom and hope you come back soon!!!

Oh, What the Heck

2009-05-28T19:04:00.012-07:00

So it has been months since I have blogged. I wish I had a good explanation but I don't. Laziness? Yes. Procrastination? Uh huh. Moving 3 times in 9 months? Yeppers. Teaching Online Classes? Yes siree. Watching tv and facebooking?? Guilty as charged.

Maybe it just comes down to the fact that there are only so many hours in the day and blogging actually takes some effort so it gets pushed to the back burner. Sad. Kudos to all of you who make the time to blog. Rest assured I still read your blog even if I don't write on my own.

I guess this is the story of my life though. As a kid/young adult I would go through journal phases. Sometimes I was great and wrote every day and then I would slack off and go months without an entry. Cei la vie. Funny thing about journals....my mom sent me a box of stuff she had found of mine. Among the little treasures were some of my old journals. Wow. Joe sure got an insight to the mind of his wife as a young girl. We sure got some good laughs and some tears actually, over some of my passages!!! What did he learn? Mainly that I was boy crazy:)

One thing I don't like about blogging is that you can only add pictures one at a time. That being said here are some cute pics of my little cutie pies I have taken over the last few months.

This is the rodent that our little Fi Fi tracked, captured and brought inside to show off. I wish I could have captured the look on this little guys face. Wonder what his dying thoughts were? Well even though I knew it was dead I didn't want to get too close for the pic.

Madd and Fiona in the car and on their way to our current house. They are probably just as tired as we are of moving. They are glad to have a dog door and grass at this house!
This is what I like to call Madd's crazy or lion hair. He rolls around and pushes his head on the carpet and this is the end result.
This is my little cupcake at the vet's office. Poor little thing had a kidney stone the size of a quarter she had to have removed. She has been a much happier girl since her surgery! She now gets to eat prescription food.

Here is Fi in her favorite spot in the car.....behind my neck on my back. She is such a little burrower. If there is a blanket or a pillow she always finds away to get all snuggled in. I guess it is the same in the car...this is her way to burrow or snuggle.A rare moment where he stays still enough for me to take his picture

Triple Date

2009-02-17T21:05:00.010-07:00

Valentine's Day 2009 was filled with snowboarding for Joe and a massage/shopping for me. Pure perfection! For dinner we dined at the delectable Harvest Restaurant at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah with 2 couples that are some of our best friends.

Amber and Jeff Watson

and Ryan and Ashley JatenWe had a DELICIOUS dinner that I thoroughly enjoyed because I cheated from my diet:) Come on...can you blame me??Our hunks-a-hunks of burnin' love

Lovely Ladies (Amber and I were all about the red lips...va va voom)
We couldn't pass up the prom style pics on the stair case. It screamed photo op!

Yes we are posing:)

I hope your day of amore was as wonderful as mine. I am grateful to have a husband who indulges my love of this day. I don't care if it is commercial, I adore everything about it...the pink, the red, the hearts, the flowers, the cupids, the conversation hearts, the chocolates...what is not to love???

Teacher's Pet

2009-02-11T21:07:00.004-07:00

I am officially a teacher again!!! No I did not quit my job at UOP but I decided to start teaching on the side as a practitioner faculty member for The University of Phoenix Online. I always get asked why I stopped teaching. Well it wasn't on purpose. I knew from an early age that I wanted to teach. And my year as a 4th grade teacher was one of my best! My goal after graduating from BYU was to move to So Cal to teach. My friends Hilarry and Jaimi had moved to Arizona and persuaded me to move there for the summer since it was on the way to Cali. So after my school year ended at Grovecrest Elementary I packed all my worldly belongings into my 91 Plymouth Sundance and headed to AZ. While there I started applying for jobs in school districts around Huntington Beach (my dream location at the time). I even drove down to HB to interview for various jobs. Well the right job and the right house never came available so I decided to stay in Arizona. I figured I might as well apply to graduate school at ASU and then go back to teaching. But then I became very broke and decided I needed a job as well. That is when I started working at UOP in October of 02. I then realized that I could get my master's for free as opposed to ASU which would be very expensive. I didn't start my program till sometime in 03 and then I graduated in November of 04. Well by that time the school year was already under way and I had moved up the corporate ladder and couldn't see myself taking a pay cut to go back to teaching even though it was my passion. I also assumed we would start our family fairly soon and I didn't want to go through all the hassle of teaching if it would only be for a few years. Those that have taught know what it is like to put together lesson plans and how annoying it is if you can't use them the next year. So alas I never left UOP and while I would love to teach elementary school again some day I don't see that happening any time soon. My master's is in Adult Education and Distance Learning so teaching college courses for an Online University is perfect! Right now I am certified to teach the first class that all of our Bachelor's students take called Skills for Professional Development. AT church I teach a primary class for the 5 turning 6 year olds so I still get a little dose of being with kids:)

Oprah's Main Squeeze

2009-02-09T21:07:00.002-07:00

I would have to say that being an audience member at the Oprah show would be pretty amazing. I mean come on...she's Oprah. Who doesn't love her?!?!? Well the other day I went to a leadership seminar at work and the key note speaker was Oprah's boyfriend, the one and only Stedman Graham. We got signed copies of his book You Can Make It Happen Every Day but most likely, I will never read it. As I mentioned in a previous post I typically don't buy into self help. This is not to say that I think I am perfect. Obviously I am not. So why do I steer clear of self help? For one, I don't like reading non-fiction. I can't help it. I wish I did, but I don't. Give me a novel and I won't be able to put it down but give me a non-fiction book to read and I will lose interest and fall asleep...even if the information is valuable. I can appreciate the genre I just can't get into it. Reason number two why I don't seek self help....I guess I feel a lot of times it is hokey (sorry to offend anyone). I know what is working and what isn't in my life and I don't need a kumbaya to tell me how to add meaning or purpose to my life. This may seem harsh but I am just being honest...putting it out there....feel free to agree or disagree.

I'm Like a Firecracker I Make it Hot

2009-02-07T22:20:00.003-07:00

The countdown is ON!!!!!!! 4.24.09 is when Britney Spears brings her tour to Phoenix! I have never seen Brit in concert (ludicrous I know) so I cannot let this opportunity pass me by!!! Britney has definitely been through a rough patch but I will always love her!! I think when I am old and gray I will still rock out to songs like Toxic and Oops I did it Again. Her songs were part of the anthem of my college years and I am not ashamed to say that I love her! So what better way to celebrate Britney's comeback then hanging with my girlfriends from college!!! Lyndsee is coming up from New Mexico to go with me, Hilarry and Jaimi to the concert!! We are already planning our weekend extravaganza. It will include laying out at a resort, Yogurberry, In-N-Out, Sprinkles, Oregano's, going to the lake, doggie play dates and much, much more.

Anyone else planning on going to the concert?? This is one that can't be missed!!! April can't come soone enough!

He's Just NOT That Into You

2009-02-07T14:12:00.003-07:00

Last night we went to see the movie He's Just Not That Into You with our friends Dave and Jilynn. The movie had a great cast and was hilarious and heart breaking all at the same time. I'm not sure when the book came out but I actually never read it. For one, I am not really into self help (more about that later) and two, I was probably married when it was published:) But I have to say that watching this movie was uncanny to say the least. The obsession, the endless analyzing and justifying, the hoping, the tears, it is all true....I lived that and most girls I know did too!!! I am so glad to be married for many reasons, but one big reason is the time I don't have to waste any more over the obsessing, hoping, etc. My single years were fun but this movie reminds me why I wouldn't want to go back!! While I don't have to analyze my own guy problems anymore I do get to hear all the fun dating stories of my single friends and analyze what his text did or didn't mean and help them decide what they should or shouldn't say back. Despite my ambiguity towards the self-help genre the concept of the book and movie could have saved me a lot of heart ache and wasted energy back in the day!!

BTW...Ben Affleck is missing from the picture above but he was one of my favorite characters in the movie!!!

Farewell to Tidbid

2009-02-06T19:33:00.008-07:00

For the last year and a half one of my little brothers has been living with us. We convinced him to move here so he could get a job at UOP and go to school for free. That he did but recently he decided that he wanted to enlist in the Navy. I have to admit I was skeptical at first but he has done his research and is committed so I am proud of him!! He flew home to Ohio so he could enlist from there and visit friends and family before he goes. Before he left Arizona we decided to take Chris out for an eating extravaganza at a new Brazilian restaurant in town, Foga de Chao. Chris loves steak so we figured this would be the perfect place for his last dinner in AZ!

Melissa, Chris, and Sara...we will miss you brother!!!!

Dr. Dave and Koren (and the triplets in her belly)

Joe's Cousin Amy and her son little Gabriel who isn't so little anymore

Joe's sister Leslie and her fiance (now husband) Josh

Lief and Nikkel Nielsen...our friends from the "South Side" :)

Chris and Joe both decided to give themselves a little breathing room after the meal

Foga de Chao was delicious and the company was great but we sure miss Chris. It isn't the same around here without him. At least Fiona doesn't get put on top of the refrigerator anymore:)

25 Randoms

2009-02-04T22:16:00.003-07:00

I have been slacking a bit, I know. So here is my lazy attempt at a blog post:)

1. As a kid I was obsessed with books about WWII and slavery.
2. I never loved a pet until Maddox.
3. As a kid I was diagnosed as being allergic to mushrooms but that never stopped me from eating them.
4. My first credit card I ever opened was as a freshman in college...at Express.
5. My first kiss was on my 16th birthday
6. I once worked at a Western Wear store and had to wear wranglers and boots..and I despised country music...but now I love it.
7. I was fired from my job at Teriyaki Stix for missing a meeting....but it was during one of my classes.
8. That being said I skipped way too many classes while at BYU and graduated by the skin of my teeth
9. I played the flute in middle school....and I was first chair.
10. I have never broken a bone
11. I like my drivers license picture and hope I don't ever have to take a new one. I actually get compliments on it all the time.
12. I have never purposefully drank alcohol.
13. I have done laser hair removal
14. I have not seen my natural hair color in over 10 years
15. I hate tomatoes, fish, coconut, and nuts in brownies/cookies...oh and cooked raisins
16. I rarely leave the house without make up on...not because I'm shallow but because I love it!17. I used to have blond hair with red high lights...think Christina Aguilera style
18. I have a handful of designer purses but have spent a fraction of the resale price when purchasing them.
19. I once drank a bottle of dimeatap cough medicine because I thought it tasted good.
20. I am fiercely afraid of sharks and don't really like to go in the ocean because of it.
21. I attempted to get scuba certified but I can't pop my ears...but secretly I am ok with not being able to do it because of my fear of sharks.
22. I love watching tv including reality.
23. As a tween and teen I was boy crazy and always had crushes on missionaries.
24. When I was in college i was so poor that I sold plasma for cash.
25. I drink diet soda because I like the taste of diet. Regular soda is too sweet to me and I don't like how it coats my teeth.

The Fiesta Bowl- 2nd Home to the Buckeyes

2009-01-10T12:13:00.021-07:00

I moved to Arizona in the summer of 2002. Little did I know that the Grand Canyon State would bring a little bit of Ohio to me 5 out of the last 7 years in the form of the Fiesta Bowl. It is so heartwarming to see crowds of scarlet and gray all congregating to cheer on the Buckeyes. It is almost like being in Ohio but with palm trees

In January of 2003 my Dad and his friends all flew out here for the National Championship game against Miami. It was such a charged game and in the end we were victorious. I think my Dad and I both might have cried a little bit we were so happy (sorry Hil). It was so fun and I know my Dad will never forget that day! Thanks Daddy for buying me my first Fiesta Bowl ticket!

I can't find pics from the Kansas or Notre Dame Fiesta Bowls but we were there!!! In 2007 the Buckeyes came for another National Championship against the Florida Gators. This was a huge game and we were hoping to buy tickets from scalpers. Prices were ridiculous though and we couldn't justify spending $1200.00/ticket. If you think we look sad because we couldn't get tickets you should have seen our faces after the Buckeyes were humilitated and annihlated by the Gators. Needless to say I was less than happy that the Gators pulled off another National Championship again this year. Boo Gators.
Well in January 2009 the Buckeyes graced this great state once again at the Fiesta Bowl vs. the Texas Longhorns. Once again we thought we would try our luck with the scalpers. And this year we got in! See if you can tell where our seats were from this pic!
You got it...2nd row, end zone. You probably think we spent a fortune but contrair e got a smokin' deal of $20/ticket!! It was soooooo amazing to sit that close. I typically don't like sitting in the end zone because it is hard for me to follow the plays. But I have to admit that it was so exhilarating sitting right there in all the action. You felt like you were on the field with the players. My brother Chris came with us and was so excited to experience his first Fiesta Bowl like a rock star!
Joe and Chris loud and proud!
Sara actually had free tickets from a friend at work. Her free tickets got her in but she and her friend were way up at the top. We had plenty of seats around us so at half time they joined us in the sweet seats! {Side Note-Sara at age 22 finally pierced her ears. I think she actually pierced them twice as a kid but always let them close up. She's all growed up now:)}

This picture should have included Joe and Sara's friend but the lady taking the picture cut them off. Well, it is a cute sibling picture anway. I know my other sibs are JEALOUS that they don't live in AZ and miss out on all the Fiesta Bowls:)
Sara and Chris hoping for a Buckeye win!
Chris got a new camera for Christmas so we thought we would take some self portraits...of course. Do you think we look a like?
Oops, Chris cut himself off
Yes, our mascot is a nut...literally. Go Brutus!
Thanks Hon for coming and cheering on my team!! You are the best!!!

TBDBITL....if you don't know what that means....google it!

I told you...right in the action! We saw lots of butts!

So the game was a blast but in the end we lost. Boo Longhorns. Burt Orange is an UGLY color and I don't care if Matthew McConaughey is a Texas fan. At least it was a good game and we didn't embarass ourselves. There is always next year.

Scratch That From the Record

2008-12-20T15:49:00.003-07:00

In my last post I foolishly said I was going to try and make homemade cinnamon rolls. Hahahahahaha, that statement is now pretty hilarious. Let me explain. My friend Jilynn invited me to come to a free cooking class at Shar's Kitchen this morning. Talk about enlightening. I realized that making bread was overwhelming and terrifying all at the same time. Well that, and Shar pretty much convinced me that it is next to impossible to create heavenly dough unless you own a Bosch mixer. Why even try without one??? She went so far as to scoff at Kitchen Aid owners (guilty). I have to say I thought I was pretty cool when I got my K.A. . It has always been a trusty little tool in the kitchen and so far I have no complaints. But then again, I have never attempted to make my own bread either. Not only does Shar swear by the Bosch she also grinds her own wheat. Whoa!!! Talk about intense. She passed around samples of her cinnamon and dinner rolls in both whole wheat and white whole wheat. And they were delicious, melt in your mouth the way only homemade can taste!!!! I felt inspired to become the Domestic Goddess I dream of becoming, but unfortunately I did not have $600 to drop on new kitchen accessories. Not to mention the money I would have to spend on things like dough enhancers and wheat gluten (who knew you could buy those things?!?!?). Now I do have to say the idea of becoming more self-sufficient sounds appealing even though it sounds a little pioneerish to say I grind my own wheat. But the idea of homemade bread always on hand does sound a bit glorious. So for now I will continue to purchase bread from the store and most likely Christmas morning we will feast on cinnamon rolls that come from a can. Don't judge me:)

Holiday Jubilee

2008-12-16T21:50:00.004-07:00

Friday night Joe and I went to his work Christmas party. We got all dolled up and had a great night!! Sadly this was our last Christmas party of 08. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Since we are staying in AZ for Christmas I need to figure out how to make the day special for us. Number one on the list will be a breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls (stole this tradition from my Mom!!). I've never made cinnamon rolls from scratch so who knows, maybe I'll go out on a limb and try this year!! Joe's sister is having an open house so I'm sure we'll go over there to see her and the kids. Next on the list will be......well I can't think of anything yet, but we do have Suns tickets for Christmas day. It seems weird to me to go to a sporting event on Christmas day, but what the heck, this year is all about creativity:) I'm sure we'll also throw in a few movies, lots of eating and more visits to Joe's family for our Christmas Jubilee:)

Out of the Dungeon and into the Light

2008-12-14T09:31:00.004-07:00

Well friends, we did it again....we moved!! No, not to our new house because that would mean pigs learned how to fly or the world ended....you choose:) But truly it is a Christmas miracle that we have a beautiful home to live in for the time being. A couple months ago you will remember that I blogged about the joys of moving. Since we were paying a double mortgage we put renters in our Phoenix house and moved into a friends house who had moved to Utah. We were beyond grateful to have a place to stay that was big enough for all of us! But truth be told it was a little bit of a dungeon.

It was a little dark and dreary even though it was a brand new home. It was probably a combination of the layout, the color scheme and the lack of light....that and the fact that we had boxes everywhere. Well that house was foreclosed by the bank and we were forced to find someplace new. We really had no idea where we would find a place to rent. Most places require you to sign a long lease, pay big deposits, and you pay even bigger deposits if you have pets. The situation was looking bleak. But last week at our church Christmas party we met a couple who was moving to Utah and had their house up for sale. They said they would be willing to let us rent their place as houses are staying on the market for a while!!! We were ecstatic. The house is beautiful and it is in the neighborhood that a lot of people from church live. So yesterday we packed and moved and packed and moved. Not my favorite things to do in the world but we got most of it done. The dogs are currently acting out scenes from Born Free as they do laps in our gigantic yard. I think we are all happy to be out of the dungeon and into the light!

So all in all it is a Christmas miracle. Oh and I forgot to mention....we had to bring our refrigerator from the previous house to the current house. We didn't bother to measure or anything we just loaded it on the trailer and voila it was a PERFECT fit. Phew!! Talk about a relief!!!!

Weekend of Whimsy

2008-12-07T16:26:00.006-07:00

Friday night marked the first of many holiday parties that we get to attend! We went to The University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ for my work party. It was so fun to get dressed up and have a night out on the town. I loved being able to introduce Joe to my co-workers and at the same time see who their significant others are. That always fascinates me for some reason. The party was about 3 hours but the night flew by with all the mingling we did.

Saturday Joe and I slept in which is something Joe rarely does. I love it when he does though because it means he doesn't distract me from my slumber:) When we got up we headed to the movie theatre to watch Australia. We have been so excited for this movie to come out and it was AMAZING and we LOVED it!!! You MUST go watch it! The amazing Baz Luhrmann was the writer, producer and director for the movie. He also wrote, produced and directed Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge, two of our other favorite movies. Australia is an epic story filled with adventure, romance, drama, history, heartache, oh yeah and Hugh Jackman without a shirt:)

Last night we had our church Christmas party. We are still trying to get to know people and make new friends. Everyone we have met so far is really nice so hopefully we can get to BFF status someday like our friends in South Phoenix (we miss you) :) We had a delicious dinner at the party and then afterwards we headed out to see another movie James Bond:Quantum Solace. My favorite part of the movie is at the beginning when they were in Siena, Italy. It was so cool to see a movie filmed in a location that you have been to. Even the roof tiles that they were running on looked familiar to me:)

Shred Envy

2008-12-01T21:41:00.003-07:00

I decided to start my New Years Resolution a month early! Today marked Day One of my 30 Day Shred. I first read about this so called Shredding on my old roomie, Naomi's blog. Hil read about it there too and so she started and blogged about it, then Katie did the same, and it seems like everyone else I talk to is shredding. So I jumped on the bandwagon and headed to Wal Mart to buy my $9 copy. Just look at that chick's abs. Sadly I have never looked that. And I don't know if it is possible but a girl can dream:)

I am happy to say I was able to do all of the level 1 workout without stopping. I definitely felt the burn though and worked up a great sweat. As a side note I hate to sweat and p.s. I always turn bright red when I exercise:( My workout regimen is also going to include 2, 30-minute personal training sessions a week with a group of friends. The price was soooo reasonable I couldn't say no.

So there you go, I am hoping that by me putting it out into the universe that I am doing this that somehow I will feel accountable?!?! Wish me luck and let me know if you want to have a shredding party:)

Happy Turkey Day

2008-11-27T09:05:00.003-07:00

So far this Thanksgiving holiday has been quite the um, adventure, you could call it. But nevertheless I am filled with much gratitude.

I'm grateful to have electricity. When we arrived in Parker we had none (mix up with the service provider). So we were in the dark for one night, but its ok cause we were tired and just went to bed.

I'm grateful that our refrigerator is no longer full of rotting, decaying food. I don't think I have ever experienced something so disgustingly horrid in my life. Obviously if you have no electricity the fridge doesn't stay cool...therefore your food rots to a state where you have no idea what it ever was.

I'm grateful that most of the baking is done already. For some reason our oven in Parker only has one cooking rack. Since Mr. Tom is currently occupying that rack I am unable to bake anything at the same time. By this point you might think that I am having a nervous break down due to all the complications we have experienced, but nah, I'm trying to stay calm and composed.

On a positive note I'm grateful to have a house filled with friend and family this week. I'm grateful that Amber and Jeff abandoned their family to spend the holiday with us!!!!! I'm grateful for helpers who keep running to the grocery store when I realize we are missing crucial ingredients. I'm grateful to have cell phone coverage so I can hear from my loved ones today. I'm grateful that I have now blogged for 4 days in a row. I'm grateful that Jeff brought his Internet connection with him and is letting me partake. I'm grateful for my Ugg mules that Joe bought me last year for Christmas. They are truly the most comfy, toasty slippers ever!!

So to you and yours Have a terrific day of giving thanks!!! And if your day seems stressful just be glad you didn't have to clean out a foul fridge:)

How Early is Too Early??

2008-11-25T12:43:00.008-07:00

Growing up my mom was always adamant that we didn't start our Christmas decorating/celebrating until AFTER Thanksgiving. And it made sense...why short change one holiday by looking to the next one pre-maturely. Since I am a product of my mom I have always thought the same....until now. Last year I started decorating prior to Thanksgiving because I wanted our house to be pretty and sparkly for our Turkey day guests. I am not decorating this year in hopes that a miracle will happen and we'll be in our house before Christmas and I can decorate there (wishful thinking maybe??). But just because my tinsel is packed away does not mean I'm boycotting holiday cheer. In fact, I have already changed my ringtone to Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You AND I even sing along when I am scanning through the radio stations and hear a holiday jingle. So in the spirit of celebrating Christmas before Thanksgiving is even here I have a Christmas questionnaire to post.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I think wrapped gifts are prettier so I try to wrap anything for family (although I'm not that good at it). But for anyone else, you are getting a gift bag!
2. Real tree or Artificial? I love real trees but we have a beautiful pre-lit tree that doesn't shed pine needles so I can't complain.

3. When do you put up the tree? See my intro:)
4. When do you take the tree down? After New Year's

5. Do you like eggnog? DELICIOUS I wish they sold it year round. When I see it in the dairy section I know the holidays have arrived!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? It is hard to remember what was for Christmas and what was for birthday's.....I do remember one Christmas morning though that the biggest box was for me and that was exciting! Mom do you remember what it was???

7. Hardest person to buy for? My grandparents, they have everything!!!

8. Easiest person to buy for? My mom (even though she always says she wants socks) or brothers-they are easy to please.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No, not yet.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Neither. I am a slacker when it comes to Christmas cards. Maybe someday when we have kids I will send some out. Blogging is hard enough!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I honestly don't think I've ever had a bad Christmas present.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Santa Claus, While You Were Sleeping, Love Actually

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? In December. I'm a bit of a procrastinator

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes, I think re-gifting is amazing! Especially for gift exchanges. Last year I got a shot glass checker set as a white elephant and I have saved it all year so I can re-gift in this years White Elephant:)

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Russian Tea Cake cookies, breakfast casserole, mashed potatoes, Uncle Bruce's cookies and his wassail, turkey, pretty much anything. I love the feast!

16. Lights on the tree? I grew up with multi colored and thought I would continue the tradition but white lights go better with my tree theme:)

17. Favorite Christmas song? I love them ALL!!! Oh Holy Night is one of my faves. The Mariah Carey song, It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Feed the World, So this is Christmas.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? This is a sad answer. My whole life I have spent Christmas in Ohio. I never missed a year even when we lived in Texas or when I went to college. Last year was the first year that I didn't go. Joe and I stayed here in AZ because of our casa. I missed my family terribly but we still had a great day together. This year we will be staying in AZ again:( Sorry family. I wish we were going to be with you!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? I just sang the song in my head and I think I might be missing a few, Dasher, Dancer, Donner, Blitzen, Cupid and Vixen???? Is there really a reindeer named Vixen or did I create that in my head??

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star but I am open to angels too:)

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning. BUT Tradition is that we open one gift Christmas eve, it's always a pair of pj's. :) I am proud to say that I am the one who got my family to start this tradition. I knew other people that did it and thought it was so fun!
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Expensive plane tickets.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Well my favorite ornament is the one that Joe got me to commemorate our 1st Christmas together. I actually never bought one and he had one made at the mall as a surprise. It was so thoughtful it made me cry.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Basically the same think I eat for Thanksgiving!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I haven't thought about it. Anything from Sephora or Nordstrom:) Really I am so easy to please though, anything will do!

26. Favorite Christmas Memory? I like to turn off all the lights and just sit in the glow of the tree. I could do that for hours. It is so soothing and just makes you feel like all is good in the world.

I Heart Boy Bands

2008-11-24T11:06:00.003-07:00

Last night was the American Music Awards on ABC. If you missed it then you MISSED out!!!!! One of the highlights of the night was a performance by NKOTB. Yep, New Kids on the Block, baby!! I am not embarrassed to say that as they were being announced I got a gigantic grin on my face and at one point a childish scream escaped my mouth and I started clapping. I couldn't contain it, it just sort of bubbled out from somewhere within my soul:) I was obsessed with NKOTB as a tween. Hannah Johnson and I were BFF's and would constantly gush about how in love we were with Jordan(me) and Joey(Hannah). Here is what they looked like back then. Funny that their look used to be H.O.T.?!?!?!?I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I just knew in my heart of hearts that I would meet them someday. Well..... I never did BUT when I was in high school the Back Street Boys came and performed for our school. It was before they were anything big but they won me over none the less. I still love their songs....and I know I'm not alone in this(Hilarry:)) And most recently I have realized that I have an innocent crush on the the Jo Bros, aka The Jonas Brothers. I think they are adorable and their songs are so cute (hello, who doesn't sing along when they hear Love Bug??)

So there you go I heart boy bands. Over the years that has included Boyz II Men, New Edition, N'Sync, 98 Degrees, One For All, and even a little O Town. DON'T JUDGE ME:)

Blogging Blues

2008-11-23T15:02:00.003-07:00

I don't know what my problem is. Just over a year ago I decided to start a blog. I was so excited and dedicated to journaling about our lives online. And recently I have hit a funk. Sometimes I even forget I have a blog {sad} . I still diligently read my friend's blogs, and I still stalk blogs of people that I am curious about {could you be one of them??:)}, but somehow I completely neglect my own. What is wrong with me?

So what is going on with the Vega's?? Well, our house is still not done. This saddens me and makes me chuckle, maybe even belly laugh, all at the same time. Why you ask? Money, the economy, contractors, banks, money, money and more money:) We did start going to our new ward in Gilbert even though we don't live in our house yet and have met a lot of people that have built custom homes and been in very similar situations. This makes me feel better, like we aren't alone in our plight. I am trying to be patient. I wonder how much longer we will have to deal with this trial? Someday we will look back and realize that it was a blip in time. But right now it feels slightly longer then a blip, maybe a bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepppppppppp:)

Next week we will be spending Thanksgiving in Parker, AZ. We have a house on the canal so we figured we should take advantage of it and get out of town!! Our dear friends, Amber and Jeff Watson will be driving down from Utah with their two kids. We are ecstatic that they are joining us for the 2nd year in a row. Amber's little brother Austin is in town and will be with us as well. Of course my brother Chris and sister Sara will be part of the Thanksgiving crew as well as Joe's Dad, his nephew Emilio, cousin Amy and nephew lil' Gabriel This is my 4th Thanksgiving where I have prepared the meal. It is a lot of work but I love it!!!! I will be picking up my 23 lb. free range, organic turkey from Sprouts on Tuesday night and Wednesday the baking will commence. This year I have decided to introduce some new dishes into my repertoire. My typical menu includes, Turkey, Velvet Mashed Potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots, Pomegranate Salad, Green Bean Casserole, Baked Corn, and Stuffing. Hungry yet? This year I will add a brie brioche, baked artichoke/spinach dish, as well as an amped up green bean casserole, oh and some homemade mac and cheese. YUM, YUM, and Double YUM!!!! And let's not forget dessert... there will be pecan pie, chocolate pie, pumpkin cobbler, and pumpkin cheesecake....Just call me Martha.

Married to a Gangsta

2008-11-06T18:10:00.006-07:00

We were kind of party poopers for Halloween this year. I actually love Halloween and everything about it but for some reason we never really do anything fun:( So if you are reading this and you had a party that you DIDN'T invite us to....shame on you:) Hopefully next year we will be in our new house and we can have a HUGE party.

But my dear sweet husband did not skip the chance to dress up this year. At work Joe and his team entered a costume contest and dressed up as a Rap Label. Evidently there is a rap name generator online that they used to come up with some authentic rap monikers.

So please check out Busta Dirty and his crew Def Reg!

Proud to call him mine

Love for Leelou

2008-10-27T20:11:00.002-07:00

When I first started blogging I had a hard time finding cute templates.....until I found Leelou. Not only are her templates adorable she adds in all the sidebar and gadget options so you don't lose your widgets when you decide to change your background. Now she is having a launch party with free giveaways, so check it out!!!

Birthday Bliss

2008-10-16T17:25:00.023-07:00

I have to say that I have had an awesome birthday month!!!! My sweet hubby had the perfect idea of celebrating my B-day in Utah which made it extra special. Not only did we get to go to general conference:

I also got to see best friends, visit my alma mater, and eat at my favorite restaurants. It was an excellent way to celebrate turning the big 2-9:)

Joe had some exciting things happen to as he got to meet up with two mission companions that he hasn't seen since Brazil!!!!! It was hilarious to hear the stories that these 3 told. You would have thought it was just yesterday that they served together as missionaries.

One of my best friends is Amber Watson and lucky for me I got to hang out with her all weekend!!!! She is always so kind to let us stay with her family any time we come to Utah. Here we are facebooking, or blogging, or something, side by side on our lap tops:)Amber has been one of my best friends since we were 5 years old and I know we will be lifelong friends!!! We have such great memories and when we get together we stay up till the wee hours of the night reminiscing over ALL of them:) Luckily we only live a state away so we get to see each other a couple times a year!!!!!! Amber got me a darling charm that she had custom made for me at a local boutique. I will take a pic and add it later!!! It is too cute!!!! I was spoiled with great gifts by friends and family!!! Thank you to everyone for the calls, texts, facebook messages and blog comments!!! Just being remembered made my day!!!!! Here are some of my other fun presents!!!

This week I went to Oregano's with Hilarry, Jaimi, Karli and Katie. Hil and Jaimi have been two of my best friends since junior year at BYU. These girls are gorgeous and hilarious. Our conversations are never dull, that I can assure you:) They treated me to a DELISH dinner and dessert (pizookie of course), an impromptu photo shoot(natch) and some yummy perfume!!! Thanks ladies!!!!!!
We kept trying to get the perfect shot of all of us, which shouldn't be that hard but we are all a little picky:)

This one was a self portrait and Hil cut herself out:(

Take 2....

Here is a group shot of the ladies sans Katie:(

Jaimi and I were cold so they brought us blankets. Hil was making fun of us and wanted to document the moment.

Race for the Cure

2008-10-12T20:33:00.003-07:00

This weekend, Joe, Sara, Chris and I ran in the Susan G. Komen, 5k Race for the Cure. Our company was one of the local presenting partners for the Phoenix activities so we thought it would be a great opportunity for us to do something as a family and also show our support for an amazing cause. This was the first time I had ever participated in a charity run so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was actually quite inspiring to be surrounded by people who were all running for a cause. As people passed me by (did I mention I'm not really a runner?) I noticed that some had signs posted on their backs. You saw messages like "in memory of....." and "running for..." or even pictures of loved ones pinned to their shirts. One very old man who was jogging had "in loving memory of my daughter" on his back. I thought, how sad that he outlived his child, but there he was so strong and wanting to make a difference. So as I huffed and puffed I knew that if these people could survive such horrible things that I surely could run for a few miles. 3.1 miles doesn't really sound like a lot and I wish I could say I ran the whole thing, but in reality I probably ran half of it. I wasn't one of the first to finish but I definitely wasn't the last either. Joe was sweet enough to stick with me, encourage me, and keep me motivated. I'm proud that I did the race, especially because I had zero training (silly me). So my legs are a little sore but I was honored to be part of this event. It was so cool to cross the finish line and have masses of people cheering you on (ready and waiting with ice cold water bottles). I am so grateful that breast cancer has not directly effected me or anyone in my family and pray that it never does.

Could It Possibly Be??????

2008-10-11T18:31:00.003-07:00

Click THIS link for a chance to win a free purse!!!! Those two little words "free" and "purse"....combined in one sentence is music to my ears:) Good luck and I'll let you know if I win!!!! Fingers crossed....a girl can never have too many handbags!!!

Countdown to 11.21.08

2008-10-08T16:26:00.004-07:00

Does that date sound familiar to any of you??? Yes, it is the Friday before Thanksgiving but it is also the day that the movie Twilight comes out. I have mixed feelings about this movie because I really enjoyed the book and usually movies disappoint me if I first read the book. Hopefully I can go in with low expectations and just enjoy it for what it is:) Here is the movie poster that we should start to see in our theatres soon! I still think they could have found someone more attractive to play Edward, but who knows, maybe I'll change my mind once I see him on the big screen. I'm sure that there are going to be crazy lines for this movie but if anyone wants to get a group together let me know:)

29 Things About Me

2008-10-06T00:05:00.005-07:00

Well, I am officially OLD!!!!!! Today is my 29th birthday. I only have one year left to enjoy being a 20 something...weird. So in the spirit of celebration here are 29 facts (mostly trivial) that you may or may not know about lil' ole' me.

1. I hate sea food. Joe tried to get me to eat oysters once.....not a good experience for me, or anyone sitting by me for that matter!

2. As a child I was diagnosed as allergic to mushrooms but that never kept me from eating them....especially on pizza:)

3. I had a perm for most of life until my senior year when I had my hair straightened....best move ever!

4. As a child I always wanted blue eyes because everyone on my Dad's side had them. I eventually learned to love my green eyes though:)

5. I was always the teachers pet growing up and LOVED school....except Ms. Shrimplin in 2nd grade. She hated me and was so mean to me. I have always wanted to find her and tell her how much she scarred me!

6. I have never broken a bone.

7. My only surgeries have been tonsils and wisdom teeth.

8. I played the flute from 5th-8th grade

6. When I was a senior in high school I was a dancer in our high school musical, Hello Dolly. On opening night, in the opening scene, my skirt fell to my ankles during one of our dance routines. I was so mortified, and so was my partner....he ran off the stage. I wasn't far behind him though.

7. I don't know how to sew (and actually have no desire to).

8. I applied and got accepted to The Ohio State University, University of Utah, Ricks College, and BYU. I of course only wanted to go to BYU but I needed a back up plan...or two.

9. I never lived in a college dorm (by the time I got my acceptance letter the on campus housing was filled up).

10. I played lacrosse my senior year of high school. The coaches were two of my favorite teachers so I decided to go for it. It was the first and last team sport I ever played!

11. I had a paper route in middle school and was even a "model" for the how-to manual.

12. I once did the gallon challenge where you try to chug a gallon of milk in an hour....it's impossible and you puke. Disgusting I know.

13. I met Donny Osmond at Cafe Rio in Provo. Hil and I were done eating when we saw him in line. So we discreetly got back in line behind him. We couldn't think of a good reason to talk to him so we played it cool, tapped him on the shoulder and said "Excuse me, do you know what time it is?" Lame, I know.

14. I went to 5 different elementary schools and 3 high schools.

15. My first credit card was for the store Express. That bad boy got me through many tough times:)

16. When I was around 4 or 5 I had an imaginary friend named Buzzy Bee. Don't worry, I only had him because my friend had one. I never actually saw him or heard him talk to me, I swear!

17. Growing up I was fascinated with reading books about WWII and slavery-not the happiest topics but I learned a lot.

18. As much as I love to read I don't like non-fiction. For some reason it just doesn't keep my attention. But give me a novel and I'm glued to it!

19. I was a cheerleader in 7th grade. Go Team!

20. Also in 7th grade I got chicken pox and scabies within months of each other....pretty traumatic...especially since I was a cheerleader and had to bare my legs.

21. My ears are double pierced and my right ear also is pierced in the cartilage (it was cool in the 90's). Despite the 5 holes I only wear earrings in 2 of them.

22. I was once in the audience of the Ellen Degeneres show. I was supposed to play a game with her and Taye Diggs but she messed up. I still got a prize though!

23. I don't know how to drive a stick shift car.

24. I hate tomatoes but love tomato sauce and salsa.

25. I had a 4.0 in graduate school....until my last 2 classes. I got a little trunky I guess:)

26. One of my nostrils is smaller than the other....noticeably (TMI maybe??)

27. I have never shot a gun.

28. My first car was a 91 Plymouth Sundance. It was a great little car....until the bumper had to be drilled on to the body so it didn't drag on the street, the AC went out and the driver door didn't open. I had to get in and out of the passenger seat which was quite embarrassing.

29. I never had a nickname growing up but now my husband and siblings call me Melkat. It is my first and middle name put together. Melkat20 was my first email address so the name just kind of stuck.

4's or 8's? How about 6's

2008-10-02T21:56:00.007-07:00

Ok, Hil tagged me for 4 and Lynds tagged me for 8, so I'll meet them in the middle and go with 6. Thank you girls for helping me get out of my blogging blues!!!

Places I go over and over:

1. Work

2. QT
3. My unfinished house
4. Parker
5. Yogurberry
6. Church

Who I email regularly:

1. Lyndsee
2. Hilarry

3. Sara
4. Mom
5. Joe
6. Hannah (does texting count? :) )

Favorite TV shows:

1. Gray's Anatomy
2. The Bachelor/ette
3. Desperate Housewives
4. So You Think You Can Dance
5. American Idol
6. One Tree Hill

Favorite Restaurants:

1. Cafe Rio

2. Flemings
3. Gecko Grill (AZ)
4. Tommy's Pizza (Ohio)
5. Red Robin
6. Oregano's (AZ)

What Happened Yesterday:

1. Slept In
2. Went to 2 movies with Joe
3. Ate at Gecko Grill and Red Brick Pizza
4. Got my car emissions test and re-registered
5. Got my car washed
6. Watched premier of Private Practice and Dirty Sexy Money

Looking Forward To:

1. Going to General Conference on Saturday
2. Seeing friends in Utah this weekend
3. Eating at Tucano's for free on my birthday (Monday)
4. Finish reading The Time Traveler's Wife
5. Re-joining the world of blogging (sorry friends, hope you've missed me)

6. Cooler weather

What I love about Fall:

1. The leaves changing color
2. College Football
3. Chili and Potato Soup
4. Halloween
5. Candy Corn
6. My Birthday

On my wish list:

1. For my house to be done already!! !#$%*&^%!$%
2. To have a baby
3. To be a stay at home mom
4. To have more of my family move to AZ
5. To win the lottery
6. To be skinny without dieting or exercise:)

Who do I tag?

If you are reading this then consider yourself IT!!!!!

Sacred Recipe

2008-10-02T09:54:00.004-07:00

Have you ever tasted the deliciousness that is a BYU brownie???? If you have, then like me your mouth waters at the thought. If you haven't, then today is your lucky day because here is the recipe. It could change your life:) This picture alone brings back many great memories:)MAKES ONE 9-BY-13 PAN OF BROWNIES.PREP AND COOK: 90 min. COOL: 1 hr.

1 c. margarine

1/2 c. cocoa

2 Tbsp. honey

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

1 3/4 c. flour

1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. chopped walnuts

12 oz. chocolate icing (Use your own icing recipe or purchase some chocolate frosting. You can also search the Internet for chocolate icing recipes.)

MINT ICING
5 Tbsp. margarine

dash of salt

3 Tbsp. milk

1 Tbsp. light corn syrup

2 1/3 c. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. mint extract

1-2 drops green food coloring

1. Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.

2. Prepare mint icing: Soften margarine. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.

3. Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing. Remove from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate icing.

Happy Eating!!!

Mini Me

2008-09-14T22:13:00.003-07:00

This weekend we went to Parker with some friends of ours. We had a great time relaxing and playing in the water. Joe's friend Brady came with his wife and kids and their youngest daughter Stella, was just cute as a button. Joe kept saying that we looked liked we could be mother and daughter.

What do you think?

A Day I Will Always Remember

2008-09-11T07:27:00.003-07:00

7 years ago today I was getting ready to go to work as a 4th grade teacher in Pleasant Grove, Utah. The morning didn't seem any different than normal, until I got the call that 2 planes had crashed into the World Trade Center. I of course called my family since we were spread across the country and thankfully we were all ok. Thank goodness none of us were direct victims of this crime. I remember so vividly going to work and looking at 28 little faces who were scared and confused. I fought tears back that day, and tried to let them know that we were ok, all the time trying to convince myself that we truly were free from threat. I guess none of us really knew if there would be more attacks. I had never scanned the horizon so much.

This morning, I am still fighting back the tears. No historical event that I have experienced influenced me like that of 9/11. I'm grateful to live in this country and for the proud men and women who have given their lives for our freedom.

My heart aches.

My 100th Blog Post

2008-08-21T16:20:00.004-07:00

This just so happens to be my 100th post as a blogger. Yeah for me. I have been wondering what my 100th post would be about. I'm so happy that my 100th post is about something I LOVE!!!! So if you didn't know already, I'm so excited to announce that the new Bachelor will be..... Jason Mesnick, the castoff from last season. Girls, I know you must be so excited!!! I want to have lots of Bachelor parties come January!!!! Let's for sure play the rose ceremony game online. It will be like our version of fantasy football!!! If you aren't a Bachelor fan then I encourage you to give it a try this season. It will totally be worth it!

Yeah, I Was Hoping to Be Emma

2008-08-17T14:27:00.004-07:00

I do love Jane Austen and one of my favorite characters of hers is Emma Woodhouse!!! I actually have never read any of her books (gasp) but do love the movies and have seen them countless times. Sense and Sensibility, Emma, and Pride and Prejudice are my favorites.

On our plane ride to Italy I watched Becoming Jane Austen and The Jane Austen Book Club which were very cute. I figured I would take advantage of watching two movies that Joe would probably never watch with me:)

Take the Quiz here!

You are Emma Woodhouse of Emma! You like being the queen of your social circle (small and provincial as it may be), and feel it's your duty to help those less influential than you. You often meddle in the affairs of others, though you do it with a pure heart. You are often deluded in your flights of fancy, but your good intentions and creative spirit make you someone anyone could like.

So take this quiz and tell me which character you are!!

Sorella Fashions

2008-08-14T20:45:00.006-07:00

I love jewelry and I am always looking for something unique that stands out, something that speaks to me, if you will. Actually now that I think about it accessorizing should be a sport in the fashion Olympics.... if they had such a thing. So I wanted to let you all know about a great new website that showcases custom made jewelry. I added a link on my sidebar but wanted to post about it too so you know to go check it out. My cousin's cute wife Jenn is the master behind these designs and has been perfecting her craft for over 4 years now. Her line is called Sorella which means sister in Italian.

Some of my favorites are....

The Lucy earrings...love the little flower bead to accent the goldThe Amanda Necklace...love the layered look

And The Natalie.....love the wood beads!!!

So please, take a look at her site and the next time you are looking for a unique gift or simply want to treat yourself then think of Sorella!!

Here is a blurb from her site

Designed with the fashion-forward in mind, Sorella Jewelry can add a sparkle to everyday casual wear, a fun flair for a girl’s night out and a touch of sophistication to complete just about any look in your wardrobe. With various styles, lengths and colors to choose from, Sorella suits the young and trendy to the bold and classic, making it great for gift giving or adding to your own collection.

Handmade jewelry made from a variety of materials for any occasion. Swarovski crystals, freshwater pearls, gemstones, shell, wood, Czech glass bead, acrylic, even vintage inspired.

Have a specific style in mind? The couture line caters to your unique fashion needs with custom orders available for all lines of jewelry, including the Bridal line (coming soon) which is designed to dress you and your bridal party for that special day. Find what you want, and get ready to flaunt with Sorella fashions by Jenn.

Ciao Bella's!

What Color Am I?

2008-08-13T21:05:00.004-07:00

I was hoping to be pink but this works too

you are lavender
#E6E6FA

Your dominant hue is blue, making you a good friend who people love and trust. You're good in social situations and want to fit in. Just be careful not to compromise who you are to make them happy.

Your saturation level is very low - you have better things to do than jump headfirst into every little project. You make sure your actions are going to really accomplish something before you start because you hate wasting energy making everyone else think you're working.

Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Does this sound like me??

Husbands Say the Darndest Things

2008-08-13T09:09:00.003-07:00

Usually people write posts on their blog about the cute and witty things their kids say. Well I obviously don't have kids but I do have a husband and he is actually quite funny!!

Let me preface this story by saying that Joe usually goes to sleep before me. I like to stay up and reach, catch up on tivo, blog, etc. Joe would prefer that I go to sleep at the same time he does, but that is a whole other story. But when we go to bed at different times I of course don't want to wake him up so I tip toe as quietly as possible when I come to bed.

Please read below for a hilarious (at least to me) exchange we had the other night.

{Enter Melissa into her dark bedroom....Joe is peacefully asleep}

Joe: "Who's there?"

Melissa: "Melissa"

Joe: "Who??"

Melissa: {a little louder} "It's Melissa"

Joe: "Who?????"

Melissa: {much louder and enunciated} "MUH LISS UH"

Joe: "My wife?"

Melissa: "Yes hon, your wife"

Joe: "What's the password?"

Melissa: "akakfja;klfj" {I can't tell you the password but I did say it and he finally accepted it and went back to sleep}

So I forgot to tell Joe about this incident but a couple days later I relayed the story to him and he of course cracked up. He said he remembered that but thought it was a dream.

So honestly I have never needed to use our password to identify myself but I guess it came in handy that I had one!! Who knows what would have happened if I didn't say the right word:) Anyone else out there have a code or password they use with their spouse?

Wordle

2008-08-12T21:26:00.003-07:00

Do you ever get bored as you are surfing the net? You are up to date on all your blogging friends, you've read all the celebrity gossip and you just don't know what to do. Well here is a solution to your boredom. I just found this fun website that arranges words on a page. You have the ability to change the font, the color scheme and the direction of the words to spice it up. Doesn't sound very fun you say??? Try it, you'll love it. This is my first attempt but don't be surprised if you see more from me in the future:) I guess depending on my level of boredom will determine how many wordles I create.

The image below was created from the words on my blog!!

Here is a Twilight wordle. I probably could've come up with more words to make it look cooler but you get the idea.

Riding Diiiirty

2008-08-07T14:04:00.003-07:00

Here are some more pics from our weekend at the cabin!

Not the most flattering picture of me but one that shows how hard core I am in my Fox gear!! This was taken after a ride through the forest on my RZR. I don't typically like to get dirty but if I can wear pink then I am up for the challenge.

Here is a great picture of the guys before their paintball adventure. From left to Right-Sterling Pratt, Justin Bighorn, Chris Purcell, Joe Vega, Seth Bighorn, Dave Hansen. As you can see they all have a love of camouflage apparel.

The Saga Ends...

2008-08-06T17:42:00.004-07:00

The 4th and final book in the Twilight Saga came out Saturday, August 2nd. I was so excited to get it to find out if Bella actually turns into a vampire....don't worry I won't ruin it for those who haven't read it yet:)

I am curious to know what you all thought of the book??? I liked it, despite its predictability. It was all a little too perfect though. My opinion is the author tried really hard to please everyone (Edward vs. Jacob lovers). I personally am an Edward fan if you didn't know already:)

I did enjoy the book though and would love to hear your comments!! Someday I would like to read the series again from start to finish because there is so much you forget. I have said the same thing about Harry Potter but never attempted the feat. There are so many other good books out there that I have never been much of a re-reader

Lucky Dog

2008-08-06T17:28:00.008-07:00

Here are some cute pics of Maddox when he got to ride the RZR with Joe last weekend:)

He is such a sporty little guy. Fiona is more of a delicate flower and would probably puke her guts up if she went off-roading:) She does well on the boat but on curvy roads she can't keep anything down.

We took a trip up to Mormon Lake last weekend to get out of the heat!!!! This is a small little town by Flagstaff. It is so beautiful!!! If you have never been to AZ you would be surprised that places like this exist!Our friend's grandparents have a cabin up there that we stayed in. It is small and quaint but a welcomed relief from the hustle and bustle of the city. But relaxation wasn't the only reason we went. About a month ago Joe, my brother Chris, and some friends made this same trip to the cain to ride quads and paint ball. Sounds harmless enough but on one of their quad rides they actually got pulled over and were issued $1200 worth of tickets...each!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I didn't forget a decimal point....over a thousand dollars in traffic violations per person. Long story short they were riding quads on the street that weren't street legal. To make matters worse some of the bikes weren't registered nor did they have insurance. So they went to court to fight the tickets. They didn't get out of them all together but luckily their fines were greatly reduced:) PHEW!

After This Weekend I Will Never Do "Blank" Again

2008-07-30T18:07:00.004-07:00

My favorite morning radio show is the The Johnjay and Rich Show on our local KISS FM. These guys seriously crack me up and I often find myself laughing out loud when I listen to them. They are so random and I love it!!!! I have had the chance to meet them a few times (thanks to my friend Katie) and they really are just as funny and cool in person.

I tune in daily as I make my morning commute and then continue listening from my desk. So Monday morning, as usual, they were doing a segment called "after this weekend, I will never do ________ again." People call in and fill in the blank with what they will never do again. You can imagine the types of things people call in about, usually very wacky. So I'm listening and this guy calls in and starts telling this story that sounds very familiar. I'm listening and chuckling to myself that someone else had the exact same experience that Joe and I had. I even think to myself, "I'm going to call Joe and tell him about this coincidence." So I keep listening, and then I realize that the caller is JOE, my Joe:) Wow, how sad that I didn't even recognize my own husband's voice. As a side note I did think the guy sounded very nice:)

So in case you are wondering here is the story in a nutshell. A while back we went to the San Diego area for a long weekend. While there we decided it would be fun to take a little day trip. So the girls took advantage of the rental beach cruisers from the hotel and the guys chose long boards for their mode of transportation. We were staying in Carlsbad and wanted to ride to the next town over called Ocean Side. There is a yummy fish and chips place right on the coast that Joe and I love!!! It is about 5 miles between the two towns but it was a beautiful day and we were up for the exercise. The beach cruisers were a blast despite the fact that there really were no gears. It was a challenge with the hills but we made it ok. The guys on the other hand hit a few bumps in the road....literally. Crashing on a skate board is pretty typical but not the safest thing to do when you are on a major road. The guys would catch a rock, crack, or bump, go flying into the road, and would have to jump up and get back on their board while cars are flying by. Not only was this painful but it didn't help their egos any. At one point they even got caught up in some rail road tracks which was funny to watch but skate boards are not meant to sail smoothly over tracks!!! The people in cars probably thought they were cookoo!!!! Since there were about 6 of us riding bikes and boards you couldn't see everyone all the time. The guys would try to act cool like the crash never happened but then when you caught up to them you noticed more scratches or even grass in their hair which was a dead give away of their run-ins with the pavement.

So after that weekend Joe still rides his long board but I'm not sure he'll be doing another 10 mile ride any time soon:)

Who's That Girl????

2008-07-18T13:21:00.005-07:00

Yes friends, that is ME, in July of 1991. I remember this moment so clearly and when I saw this picture pop up on my friend Hannah's Flash Back Friday blog I had to share it with all of you!!!! This picture was taken at her 12th birthday party and if you are interested you can read a full recap of the story behind the dress by clicking here. Hannah does such a great job telling the story, PLUS she has pictures of her, Becky Harris, Marci O'Day, Rachel Tracy and Sarah Mohr all in the dress as well. If you knew any of these girls at any point in your life then you won't want to miss out on adorable pics of them!!!!!
Here is a picture of me in my actual wedding dress 13 years later!!!!!!

You've Had a Birthday Shout Horray

2008-07-11T11:48:00.007-07:00

Yesterday was Joe's birthday. I personally love birthdays and feel it is important for that day to be special and fun filled. This year Joe wanted to go to Sunsplash which is a water park here in Mesa. For you Ohioans it is very similar to Wyandot Lake. So we went to Sunsplash with some of his nieces and nephew and actually had a blast (I have to admit that I was skeptical about the idea). I haven't been to a water park since high school and I forgot how fun it is. It brought back so many memories of all my times at Wyandot Lake.

Despite our great time I went down this one water slide that made my life flash before my eyes. I will never, ever, ever, ever go on it again nor would I let any of my children. It is called the sidewinder and it an open slide with a steep vertical drop that sends you flying(literally) down the first wall to the bottom where your speed and force sends you up the OTHER vertical wall. It looks like a half-pipe that you would see skateboarders drop in to do tricks. This is not me but I wanted you to feel the fear just by seeing a picture of this slide. So in honor of my hubby here are 5 fun facts that you may or may not know about Joe.

1. He sings when he is happy. I love it....usually. See number 2.

2. He is a morning person and couldn't be cheerier in the morning hours (fyi I despise the mornings).

3. Joe is an excellent snow boarder and wake boarder (HOT...very attractive to me to watch my spouse excel athletically)

4. Joe loves to watch Discover type shows on tv. Most times he would prefer to watch a documentary or non-fiction type of show over a sitcom, etc. Therefore he seems to know something about everything!!!

5. Joe thinks all meals would be better if I added mushrooms and all desserts better with marshmallows.

I love you Joe and hope you had a FAB birthday!!!!

I'm sure Joe would love to hear from any of you that would like to comment and send your birthday wishes to him as well. (I know it is a day late but we were partying it up yesterday and didn't have time to blog).

Leave Me a Memory

2008-07-11T09:48:00.004-07:00

Happy Friday Everyone! I was looking at my good friend Hannah's blog and she had posted a little game/tag and I felt it was my duty to keep it going!!!! And besides who doesn't like a little game to make your Friday even better!

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Got it? Good.

Will You Spend Forever With Me??

2008-07-08T13:08:00.006-07:00

Who watched the finale of the Bachelorette last night??? Who was surprised that DeAnna picked Jesse, the cute snowboarder over Jason, adorable, single dad ??? Well, Jason was definitely my favorite and I was rooting for him all along. Jesse did grow on me through the course of the show and his proposal at the end was perfect. I hope he and DeAnna stay in love and get married!!!! Jason on the other hand will not have any troubles finding a date but I felt horrible to see him so broken hearted!! Maybe he can be the next Bachelor!!!!!!

So the finale got me thinking about love. I love, love....I even have a perfume with that same moniker. Basically, I want everyone to be in love. I read about it, I watch it on tv, I surround myself with it. But experience has taught me that we never know who we will fall in love with or who we won't for that matter. Someone may seem perfect on paper but your heart just doesn't feel it. Sometimes people get so stuck on the idea of a "type" that they don't allow themselves to be open to possibilities (single friends I am talking to YOU). A lot of people I know end up with someone very different then who they imagined. I am happy to have found a husband who appreciates me for who I am and who I can count on to be my rock. He is a great friend and I appreciate him watching The Bachelorette with me....and liking it:)

City Girl

2008-07-06T20:59:00.004-07:00

I have always known I was a city girl. I'm meant to live close to malls, freeways, movie theatres, the theatre, Target, a variety of restaurants, salons, and people!!!! Growing up my biggest fear was that we were going to move to a farm or to Alaska (weird I know). Now when I say city that can obviously mean suburb as well. I have actually never lived in a down town area although I think it would be very glamorous!!!

So why do I bring this up? Well two reasons. One I just finished watching a series on the CW called Farmer Wants a Wife. The concept was they found a hunky farmer who was single and lookin' to settle down. So they brought ten girls from "the city" to the farm to compete for his affections. In the end he chose a sweet girl from Dallas who was pretty country herself, so it wasn't too shocking. Since the show just ended they obviously have not been able to be together so we'll see if they actually stay together.

The second reason I have rural vs. urban on the brain is I have been reading a story on THIS great blog/website about a city girl who fell head over heels for a rancher. Ladies, if you need something to read then you should check it out. It is a charming tale of romance that I think you will get a kick out of!! Not only will you love the story you can find some amazing recipes on the site as well!! The site owner/author is pretty witty and a decent story teller.

During college I visited a friend on a farm once and I remember it was a big deal that I had a toe ring (It was the 90's). But toe ring or not I just don't see myself fitting in the country life!!! Thankfully I married a city boy. Joe does say that he would love to live in a small town someday but I'm hoping he'll forget:)