gniddew eht

Last weekend Scott and I got to see Timmy and Lindsey get married.

They were so fun to watch, they were both so happy :)

and they did a great job at rubbing each others faces with cake. :D

they had THE most ADORABLE ring bearer EVER!

and cute bridesmaids

and handsome groomsmen

and one nervous groom

and an excited audience :D

My little brother is married!!!!! :D

In other news:

1. We are soon going from being a one car family to a one car and one truck family.
2. I will be a full time Developmental Specialist at The Children's Adventure Center in a little less than two week.
3. Scott is still surviving school
4. I started a new blog: minhapalavradodia.blogspot.com
5. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is TRUE!
   

yromem evitcejbo

Different objects will trigger different memories for people. So below is a list of objects. After each object, I wrote down a memory I have that is linked to that object. Go ahead, do it too! :D So here's to the past! :)

1-Pillow: The first thing that came to my mind is how one of my best friends would always tell me that I say the word pillow in a funny way. She would sometimes trick me into saying it just so she could laugh at me. haha :D.

2-Spoon: Growing up we always had two or three metal baby spoons in our silverware drawer. I always prefered to use that spoon to eat my melted chocolate chips with...don't tell mom I melted her chocolate chips...We also had 1 soup spoon that was perfect for eating cereal. It was all six kids favorite spoon to eat cereal with. I would sometimes even dig in the sink to find it, wash it, and use it. Who knows how many of us did that, I wonder how many times on average it was used a week...

3-Escalator: My family rarely went to Salt Lake growing up, and when we did it was something that we really looked forward too. It was a HUGE adventure and one of the things I loved about going out of town to see Aunt Lori was getting to go ANYWHERE that had an escalator. I felt jipped if we were leaving and had yet to ride an escalator. I honestly think that when I asked to go to the mall I mostly did it so we could ride the escalator. Once I had done that I was ready to go home.

4-Headband: The closet next to my room was full of hair stuff. I looking back I rarely remember using a lot of hair things but we did have a whole shelf devoted to them if I ever decided to be girly enough to wear some. I rarely wore headbands because they gave me a headache, and still do. I always had a ponytail holder on me though.

5-Jump rope: I was always so jealous of the girls who could do double dutch. I would watch them during recess and go home and try to talk my brothers into swinging the ropes so I could learn but none of us could figure out how to work the ropes so we usually ended up playing helicopter instead. I was pretty good at jumping with just one rope though and during 3rd grade my friends and I could either be found playing 4 square or jumping rope singing to the tunes about Cinderella being dressed is yella or calling the judge...because of fudge? ;) I always hoped that I would mess up on twins or triplets and was always sad if I messed up on "a boy" or "a girl" (The song goes: "Fudge, fudge, call the Judge, Cassie's gonna have a baby. Wrap it up in toilet paper, send it down the elevator. What's it gonna be? A boy, a girl, twins, triplets, a boy, a girl...")

6-Camcorder: My family went to Nauvoo when I was in Junior High. My parents got a camcorder for the special trip and I remember filming some amazing thunderstorms in Nebraska. What a fun trip :)

7-Soda Can: You mean POP can? Oh, okay. (Scott tells me there is no such thing but I will not waiver. It's NOT soda. So there.) We would throw our pop can out our back door into the back yard and then once a summer we would go find all the pop can and crush them. I think my parents probably just wished we would crush them and put them into the 'pop can trash can' at the bottom of the stairs but I really enjoyed working with my siblings to destroy all those cans at once.

8-Safety Pin: In our family's basement behind the door at the bottom of the stairs is all of my mom's craft stuff. I always loved getting to go through the old dusty boxes she had of her unfinished projects. You can find safety pins there :)

9-Box: Under the stairs of the same basement my mom keeps all of our old clothes in boxes. Every year we would go through those boxes and find clothes to hand down to younger siblings. I feel bad for my younger siblings since they got stuck with a lot of hand-me-downs but I was always jealous because there were no hand-me-downs for me. Even my older brother got hand-me-down's from our cousins but I always had to get new clothes. Isn't that horrible? ;) My brothers did seem to get "new" clothes more often than me though since my mom's aunt would drop clothes off to us a couple times a year. I was always really excited when there was something in the pile that fit me that my brothers were willing to let me have.

10-Bubble Gum: Bubbalicious bubblegum was my most favorite. I loved the tasty flavors and the HUGE piece of gum you got. I could go for some of that right now...grape, yummmm oh, and cotton candy, even yummier! I wonder if Scott has ever tried them.

11-Suitcase: My Grandma Gale gave me a set of suitcases for my graduation present. She lived in Hawaii at the time and the suitcases have Hawaiian print on them. I love them, even still today. I have put a lot of use into them too :) I felt like a real adult when I realized that I owned my very own suitcase.

12-Cookie: cookie dough! Yumm-o. Mom would let lick the spoon which was a really big deal for her and she would always remind us of how it will make us sick but that it wasn't her fault since we were choosing to eat it. I think it strengthened our immune systems...maybe I should go eat some right now.

13-Dresser: I slept on the top bunk of a rockety old bunk bed. One night I had a dream I was falling off a cliff, when in reality I was falling of the top of the bunk bed. I woke up mid fall and hit the corner of our very very very sturdy dresser that my dad had built. It left a huge bruise on my hip. I was so proud of that bruise though...and was very afraid of that top bunk...

14-Boots: Every Saturday I 'got' to help my mom clean the house while my brothers 'had' to go to the tree farm to work with my dad and Grandpa. I was sure then, and am still sure now, that they mostly played while I was stuck cleaning. Once they got home we usually had at LEAST the kitchen cleaned (Okay, so I was slow, what's it to ya?) and they always came home with their muddy boots and tracked all over our clean floor. They would complain about how tired they were and how I should feel bad for them as I yelled at them to stay off of my clean floor. :) haha.

15-Skateboard: I never owned a skateboard but I was always sure I would be amazing at skateboarding because we had a scooter that I could do all sorts of amazing tricks on. I could jump over a POP can with my front wheel...or most of the wheel at least...and I could do other amazing things that I can't remember now but I know I was amazing. My friend had a skateboard and I tried it once...and I realized that I am not at all coordinated and that I am not amazing. haha. :)

erutrun ot gnihtemos

So now that I've been completely honest about our experiences I can explain to you that Teancum has fit into a void for me. Having something to nurture has really helped me to cope with life the past year.

Isn't he just adorable? ...Mom?... haha. My mom has really been sweet about us having a lizard. She hates reptiles so the idea of one of her children owning one was something that she had to deal with mentally :)
Anyways, back to me...I mean us...:) So Teancum has kind of been a slacker at taking care of himself. So today I got to clip his nails and give him a bath...the latter was actually to help him with a little bit of a big deal...You see, I'm pretty sure he forgot how to poo...T.M.I. you say? Yeah, okay, I'll leave it at that then...

We are both really amazed at how HUGE he is. We often laugh at his poses and the way they show off his gut. :D Or his lazy-ness...as shown below.

I am so glad that Scott talked me into having a lizard. We don't have to yell at him to stop barking...or deal with the fur (I HATE finding my own hair in obscure places so I just could not deal with animal hair on top of that. I mean, I shed... a LOT...imagine if we had a furry animal too! No, don't imagine...at least I won't...I don't want to gag...) Nothing against all the patient and loving furry animal lovers, I am just not one of you. I like playing with them, I just don't see myself owning one.

Anyways, Teancum amazes us more and more each day...his ability to not poo...(oops, sorry. That slipped)...his ability to try to escape his terrarium daily...his ability to be so adorable. He even helps Scott with his engineering homework (see above)! I'm excited to see what will come of our little lizard in the future. :)

This week was a gift as well. I LOVE my new job. I got to write my first 6 month evaluation today and my trainer kept apologizing for how boring it is to write but I kept saying, "I LOVE this!!!!" It's so perfect. I can't get over how well we are surviving with me having two jobs and Scott going to school and also working and having just ONE car. It's miraculous really. We are so stinkin' blessed!

?erahs ot ton ro erahs ot

I have been feeling like I should share something personal for the last little while but I kept writing it off, not wanting you all to have to read about my woes and feel sorry for me. I'm perfectly fine fishing for compliments and comfort from Scott. haha. But after some experiences I feel that I should share what I have been through in the last year. I hope it will help someone feel better about their own experience as well as help those close to them know how to cope and comfort.
As some of you may know, last year Scott and I had a miscarriage. I shared this experience on my sister-in-law's blog in November:

Life has an interesting way of teaching its lessons. When I turned 24 I felt like I had experienced enough for an average 24 year old. I had recently gotten married to the love of my life, and was going to school for a teaching degree in Early Childhood/Special Education. I grew up in a loving home, the second oldest of six children. My parents taught us the gospel of Jesus Christ and through their example I was able to apply the standards to my own life without any regrets. I’m a Mormon and am so grateful to have the truths of Christ’s church in my life, especially during times of trial. Trials like death, for example.

Growing up I learned a little about death through friends experiences. I personally did not experience a close loved one passing away until I was 24 years old. For the first time, I felt that deep pain in my heart. My Grandpa was like a Dad to me. His passing was difficult but because of the truths of Christ’s gospel it was bearable. Little did I know at that time, the experience of that pain would prepare me for a deeper pain that I would feel in a few short months.

After my Grandpa’s passing, Scott and I found out we were pregnant. We were ecstatic. We had been married a little over a year and had really enjoyed our time together, just the two of us. We felt that we were ready for an addition to our family and I personally had always dreamed of being a mom. I was excited to put into practice things that I have learned from great examples in my life as well as things I have learned in my schooling.

I was taking classes during the first trimester of the pregnancy. It was my last semester of classes before I started my student teaching experience. I was very busy but found time to enjoy the idea of our baby growing inside of me. We had one early ultrasound at about 9 weeks and things were looking good. We realized that the due date of our baby would affect some family reunions so we decided to call and tell our parents the exciting news. We debated if we should wait the 12 weeks most people wait, just to be safe. I felt like there was nothing to worry about though since none of my family had ever experienced a miscarriage. We told our siblings once we were pass the 12 week mark and my body seemed to be doing well with everything.

On March 28, 2010 I turned 25 years old and Scott and I went in for our 12-week checkup. We had an ultrasound and the technician was being really quiet, which was out of character for her. She was unable to tell us what she saw because she is not a doctor but for me those quiet minutes felt like a lifetime. We were taken into another room for the doctor to tell us the news we were dreading. Our baby had stopped growing at 10 weeks.

It’s been a little over 7 months since the experience and I still get teared up just thinking about it. When I dwell on it I feel like I experience that day all over again. Walking around our small college town with so many pregnant women is so difficult for me. I go to church and am surrounded by women who are expecting. But, amid all the reminders I also have the gospel to keep me above water. I have a Savior who is able to give me the strength that I can’t muster on my own.

From this experience I have learned that we are never alone. I’ve learned that life is hard but we have every reason to smile. I’ve learned God knows what he is doing, we just need to hang on and have faith

This past week I found out that a dear friend of mine is pregnant and has been for six months. I didn't find out from her, but from an acquaintance. I asked some of our mutual friends if they knew, expecting them to be as surprised as I had been. But, all of these friends looked at me with pain in their eyes as if to say, "Uh-oh, she found out." While talking to one friend in particular I lost control of my emotions. I felt so silly crying in front of her, which just made the situation worse and made me cry harder. I kept saying, "I don't know why I'm crying. It's not a big deal." My friend assumed I was crying because I wasn't the one who was pregnant but in reality it was because I felt hurt. Could my pregnant friend not trust me? Was she worried that I would explode on her? That I wouldn't want to be friends with a pregnant lady? These questions weren't the overall reason for my outburst though. Hours later as I pondered the situation and cried by myself in my car I realized what the core reason for my sadness was. I realized that this undesirable experience has yet one more consequence. It's a consequence that I have little control over. How many of my friends have chosen to keep their pregnancies from me to "spare me" the pain? In reality, it causes me more pain to know that they were experiencing happiness and choosing to not let me be happy with them. It hurts to not have a baby to hold and to love. What hurts more, though, is recognizing each day the consequences of that experience. Each day I learn something new about myself and how I have grown from this experience. I am grateful for it and the things it is teaching me about myself. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. Life is an amazing gift and I am so grateful for every minute of it. I'm so glad I get to learn from my experiences and the experiences of those close to me. I wouldn't trade this experience and what I have learned from it. It's been hard but I am moving past it and growing stronger each day.

xam eht ot dezinagro

We would like to introduce you to our new and improved living room!

I'm especially impressed with our shelves. I did an amazing job getting all my craft stuff in there and still left everything that had been there before.

I'm also impressed, as you all should be too, about this baby. Scott and I made our entertainment center that was sort of wobbly and had been held up for the last week with a chair and exercise ball into a sturdy little guy.

A job very well done :)

Now, Scott can use three computers at one time! :D haha, he is loving it.

Big T has gotten used to his new surroundings and has even decided to like his new furniture. He uses it to get some shade...while sitting in his food bowl? Yeah...he's still getting used to things.

...the fatty. Perhaps even a little constipated...

He was thrilled to get his first package from his Vernal Grandparents. They sent him a new book and a chameleon stuffed animal. So adorable! :D

And just as I promised, here is a picture of my new glasses :) I have been making flowers all week and am obsessed. So next time, look for some awesome flowers! :D

ovon ona mu

I'm listening to my companion and myself sing hymns in Portuguese from back in the day so if you are wondering what the backwards title means this time: Um ano novo=a new year :)
We've had a lot of new things happening this year so far. Big T (Teancum) has been enjoyed getting out of his tank more and more lately. He is always trying to find an escape :) He has been learning new tricks during these escapades and one of these times I will get a picture of him jumping up the steps. It's pretty fun. Here I have a picture of him checking out our shoes for the first time.

He has been a little lazy in his hunting of crickets...as you can tell...

We also have been reorganizing our living space. It was fun making a plan together and following through with it. We put more furniture into the living room but we somehow have more room now! We are really enjoying the new set up. I'll put more pictures on later but for now here is a preview:

For our New Year celebration we played Ticket to Ride and the Wii and made greasy food and really enjoyed having time together!

I also got new glasses this past week (pictures to come) and I had to get my eyes checked for Glaucoma. The eye doctor put some drops in my eyes to dialate them on a very bright day...I learned that brightness and dialated eyes really hurts! So they were nice enough to give me these grandma glasses before I went back into the snowy brightness. :D Aren't I cool?!

So life is going well still :) I am currently working at the elementary school that I student taught at. I'm an aid and work with a little guy with disabilities. I also got a job offer at an agency in Idaho Falls called The Children's Adventure Center. I will be a Developmental Specialist there. I will have similar duties to a Special Education Teacher in a public school except I will be working in more of a after school program setting. For now it will be part time and I will start in one week. They are planning on having me start full time between now and the summer time, just depending on their clientele. I'm so excited because it's exactly what I want to do with my degree! Things are really coming together for us. Scott is going to school full time and working part time at UPS. One more year and he'll be done too...we are counting down for sure! :D

?seno ykcul eht fo eno eb uoy lliw

Pay it Forward 2011:

I promise to send something handmade to the first 5 people who leave a comment here. They must in turn post this and send something they make to the first 5 people who comment on their status.

*The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it must be sent to your 5 people sometime in 2011.