The Salmons

The Sunday Blues

2011-04-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but Sundays tend to be a little hectic for me. What ever happened to the day of rest?

Well, Sundays just managed to get a little more hectic for the Salmon family. Troy got called as 2nd counselor in the bishopric a couple of weeks ago. Wild right? I think what hit Troy the most was the fact that he is now a High Priest and would have to hang with all the old guys the rest of his life. No more Elder's Quorum socials for us! I think what hit me the most was how much time he'll need to put into this calling, leaving me a single mom for a good part of the week.

Because of General Conference, this was his first Sunday on the stand and my first Sunday sitting alone with little Pipster. Let's just say it was an incredibly long day.

I'm used to Troy being gone for a good portion of the day because before this he was the executive secretary. He usually had early mornings and late afternoons. I would get myself and Piper ready and was always relieved to know that Troy was already there waiting for me with a pew saved for us. This was the first Sunday where I had to get there early enough to find my own seat. Those of you who know me well know that I suffer from a severe disability of being chronically late so this was a challenge for me. I managed to make it a few minutes early though and I found myself a good seat.

Piper is just a little ball of energy constantly on the move and ready to discover something new in the world at every given moment. Holding her during church is a LOT of work. By the time the sacrament was passed it felt like I'd been holding her for a good 2 hours. I was already drained. Usually at this point I would trade off with Troy, but that wasn't going to happen and I began feeling a bit sorry for myself. I sat there and realized that this was going to be my life for the next couple of years. She started to get pretty disruptive and so I had to take her out in the hall and missed the rest of sacrament meeting. I then moved on to Sunday school where I was alone again for a good portion of the meeting until Troy showed up, but then I had to leave again because Piper was fussing and ready for a nap. I finally got her to sleep just in time for Young Women's but it didn't last long once the Young Men filed into the room for a joint lesson. They were as loud as ever and tried to peek at Piper under her car seat cover.... those little punks. She was wide awake and lasted for a good 5 minutes of the lesson before I had to take her out again before she ran the spirit right out of the room. So much for church that day!

I had choir right after church, but had to run home quickly because I had run out of wipes and Piper was in serious need of a diaper change. I got home to find that Piper had blown out of her diaper and her adorable little outfit was now covered in poop. I then had to quickly find her something new to wear and then rush over to choir practice. Luckily Piper loves music and was pretty good for most of the practice and even joined us in song for a few verses haha.

I got home and Piper was in dire need of a nap, but felt the need to put up a good fight. I finally just put her in her crib to cry it out while I scrambled to try and make some mashed potatoes in the 20 min I had left before I needed to be at Troy's parents for dinner. Troy got home just around the time we were supposed to be leaving and looked at my progress with the potatoes and said "Running a little late?" I'm pretty sure I gave him a serious stink eye.

At this point I was starving and exhausted with a bad headache.

We made it to Troy's parents and Troy got to stick around for about an hour before he had to leave again for another meeting.

Do you feel sorry for me yet? Cuz I sure did. Haha

On my drive home I was thinking about my day and my terrible attitude. I thought about how this was going to be my life for the next few years and the sooner I accepted it and changed my attitude about it the better off I would be. Sure, I would likely have a lot more tough Sundays, and Tuesday and Wednesday nights while we're at it (more meetings), but there is a reason why Troy has been called at this time and in this particular calling. He needs my support. I decided that this would be the last day I would let myself indulge in my own pity party. I have faith that Heavenly Father will give us both the strength and energy to carry on. I'm confident that as time goes on we'll be able to see this as a big blessing in our lives. I know that although we may be spending less time together that we will be blessed to grow closer to one another. I've already felt it. I also know that Heavenly Father will bless us to be the parents we need to be to our sweet little Piper. I'm very grateful to have a husband who is a beacon of strength to me. He is such an example to me of faithfulness, and service. I have not heard a single word of complaint from him so far even though it's him that's enduring the long days and meetings. He is a very compassionate and caring person. Troy is one of the most non-judgmental people I know and is always looking to lend a hand to those in need. He loves the Lord and always strives to do what's right. I love him and know that he'll put his all in this calling and he'll be great at it.

I will do my best to support him and when I'm feeling worn out I'll do my best still wear a smile on my face because I know that's what the Lord would want me to do. I know he'll be there to bear us up.

"And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up" (D&C 84:88).

Wish me luck.

6 & 7 Months

2011-04-06T13:22:00.001-07:00

Piper will be 8 months old in a week... SERIOUSLY?! How did this even happen!!! It's all just going way too fast! The last two months have somehow come and gone in a big blur so I thought I would just combine months 6 and 7 together.

Each month is more fun than the last. Piper is becoming quite the little character and she makes us laugh all the time. She's had several big developments over the last two months.

First of all she started crawling about a week before her 7 month birthday and she is on the go non-stop these days.

Here's a little video of her when she had barely started.

It only took her a couple weeks of getting on her hands and knees to figure out how to crawl. Before crawling her favorite thing to do was get into the downward dog yoga position with her butt high in the air. I really wish I'd caught a picture of that. It was really funny.

Now that she's mobile she follows me everywhere. I'll be working in the kitchen and she's always right there at my feet. She's my little shadow.

Piper is now sitting up like a pro. She learned how to crawl before she mastered sitting up by herself.

More movement = more injuries. Piper has been getting a lot of bruises on her head recently because she slips on the hardwood. She has also just barely started to pull herself up on things which usually ends with her falling down. It's a little stressful! The sound of her head hitting the floor makes me ill every time. Would it be weird if I had her wear a helmet everyday?

Another favorite pastime she's acquired since starting to crawl is following her best friend Sushi around. She adores this cat. The instant he walks into the room she goes crazy and heads straight for him. What's amazing is how good he is with her. She'll be yanking on his ear or tail and he just let's it happen until I can unleash her death grip! What a good cat. He'll go over and rub up against her and knock her over and she thinks it's hilarious.

I love these pictures of them together. They are a little blurry, but you get a good idea of their relationship.

I sing to Piper all the time. She loves it when I bust out into song. Often it's just something I'm making up on the spot and she gets a kick out of it. Recently she's started singing/yelling with me. She'll usually sing out really loud and will hold it for a long time, but this was the best I could get out of her this morning for the video.

Troy says that there's no chance of having a quiet daughter with me as her mother.

Piper is such a happy happy girl! I love it! It doesn't take much to get a big smile or laugh out of her. The instant she hears someone else laughing she joins right in. I'll be laughing at something funny and suddenly realize that Piper is sitting there laughing with me. She's a cheese ball.

Her happiest time is probably the morning. My all time favorite part of the day is getting Piper out of her crib in the morning. When I walk into the room she gets the biggest smile on her face and she starts panting like a little puppy dog. She basically starts convulsing out of excitement in her crib just at the sight of me. There's no better way to start your day. Even if I'm exhausted her happiness and excitement is contagious.

Something to know about Piper is that she NEVER STOPS MOVING! EVER. That girl has been a squirmer from day one. Her legs are bouncing or kicking constantly. She cannot hold still. It's usually pretty funny, but gets extremely tiring during church.

Another thing that doesn't stop moving is her little tongue. Or should I say abnormally long tongue. She's got that thing sticking out all the time or else it is twisting around in her mouth.

Piper does this thing we call the diaper dance. Almost every time I change her diaper and I'm attempting to put on the new one, she does this little squirmy dance where she moves her body from side to side. It's actually pretty cute, but makes fastening the new diaper really difficult.

Piper is doing great at eating her solids these days. So far she seems to like everything I've stuck in her mouth which is great! The only difficult part is keeping her focused on eating! Like I said, she doesn't hold still very well so if she's distracted by something she does not make it easy getting that spoon into her mouth!

Piper loves other kids and can't get enough of them. She loves seeing and playing with her cousins.

She also loves cartoons. The only time she'll really pay attention to the TV is if there is a cartoon on. It's a really nice distraction when I'm trying to get something done.

Piper's newest trick is clapping! She just learned how to do this over the weekend and I think it is adorable! Here's a video of it. You even get to see her sing a little again.

Piper just brings so much joy to our lives and we are having so much fun with her right now. It amazes me how quickly babies learn things and how much they grow and change over such a short amount of time. It's so exciting, but also so sad all at the same time. I'm just so grateful for this little girl!

The Hair

2011-04-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

When Piper was born she had the most beautiful thick head of hair. Everyone was telling me it would likely rub off, but after a couple of months of the same gorgeous hair I thought I was in the clear.

It wasn't until she was about 5 months old that her hair started to fall out. I would go take her out of her crib and I could see a ton of her hair had rubbed off on the sheet. It was actually really sad.

Time went on and things started getting a little bit crazy! Chunks of her hair were all at totally random lengths. The back was short and rubbing off and the top was really long with some receding hair lines. Even in the short areas there were still some random hairs that were really long. I would attempt to do her hair, but it never took long before it was all over the place again.

I would pull her out of her car seat and people would begin laughing at her... that's never a good sign.

You wouldn't laugh at this face would you??

Her Uncle Mason had begun to refer to her as Doc. Brown from Back To The Future.

She even had a little rat tail going on in the back

Alright, so maybe it was getting a little out of control. But I thought it gave her character! That little rat tail also helped me measure how long her hair would have been if it hadn't all fallen out! It would have been so cute and long... so sad.

Anyways, my sister in-law Cassie finally convinced me to let her cut it.

This was the last day with her wild hair I actually got it to go in cute little pigtails!

Then came the cut

I was actually pretty sad to see her hair go at first. But her new hair has really grown on me and is a lot easier to manage than before. It has even gotten more curly which I LOVE!

I forgot to take a picture after the haircut, but here are a few recent ones I took where you can kind of get an idea of her hair these days. A big improvement!

Here we are this past weekend in St. George. Piper getting ready to go swimming for the first time! It was 85 degrees... sigh.

Here's Piper hanging out with nothing but her socks on.

She gets it from her Daddy! Haha just kidding!

So I Don't Forget

2011-03-10T10:23:00.000-08:00

It makes me so sad to think that I've already begun to forget little things that Piper did when she was a newborn and that was only 7 months ago! This post is an effort to preserve some of those memories.

Newborn to 2 Months Old

2 week Check up
Weight: 7 lbs 13 oz % 32
Height: 20" % 37
Head Circum: 36 %50
Piper grunted all the time, particularly when she was sleeping. This resulted in her sleeping in our closet so I could get a little more sleep.

Piper tuted ALL the time! Somehow she always knew the exact moment to let it rip in order to bring the most humiliation to her mother. ie. While standing next to a stranger in the grocery store. Of course I'm forced to make a comment to my baby like "Wow baby girl!" So people know it was not me.
Had a little Jaundice
The colic began
Slept between 4 to 5 hours at night
Went 4 hours between feedings during the day
Went on her first trip to Lake Powell (5 weeks)
Smiled for the first time (5 Weeks)
Started to sleep a bit longer at night
Colic hit it's peak (7 weeks)
Laughed for the first time = HEAVEN!

2 Months Old

2 month Check up
Weight: 9 lbs 3 oz % 14
Height: 21.5" % 18
Head Cir: 37 %10
Did not poop for 8 days (TMI?)
LOVED the swing
No more colic!!!!! (10 Weeks)

3 Months Old

Started to watch and reach for things
Loved to sit under her Ocean Wonders Play Mat
Started to pay attention to the TV
Happy happy girl!
Went on her first plane ride & vacation to Hawaii. She was a perfect angel and loved to watch the waves.

4 Months Old

Became very vocal and began to distract the Young Women from their lesson on Sundays
Started to roll over back and forth
Very ticklish
Loved and still loves attention and does not like to be alone for too long
First Christmas with the whole Salmon fam and most of the Kane clan in Utah
First New Years in Nampa, Idaho
Began to really enjoy her bath time while kicking and splashing in the water

5 Months Old

Began her love for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Fell in love with our cat Sushi
Fell in love with her Jumperoo play center
Her beautiful hair began falling out in random patches :(
Started to sleep in her crib in her own room
Tasted solid food for the first time

Mommyhood

2011-01-26T12:58:00.000-08:00

Leaving the hospital after having Piper was probably one of the most terrifying things I've ever experienced. Even though I had been an aunt since I was 13 I felt completely unprepared for what was ahead of me. When the time came to leave I had not really been able to get Piper to breastfeed. I have never had so many different people see/touch/squeeze/fondle/twist/(I could go on) my breasts in my entire life and even after all that I was still unsuccessful! I was confident that Piper was going to go home with me and starve to death and it would be all my fault. Luckily after a couple of more days of trying and a little formula later Piper and I both got the hang of breastfeeding for the most part. I would NOT have been able to do it without the encouragement from good friends and family and particularly my sister Charity. She came over a couple of days in a row and kept me calm and kept me persistent until I got it down. Not without a lot of tears though of course. A couple days later my mom came for ten days which was a huge lifesaver also. She helped me out in every way and I could not be more grateful that she came. Unfortunately when she left a got really sick and things just seemed to go downhill from there.

I don't know if there is really anything in the world that can prepare you for being a mother. I felt like all I'd ever heard was how wonderful it is but I have to be honest, the first few months were incredibly hard for me. Now I'm not saying this to scare anyone or to be a Debbie Downer, but I hope that I'll be doing someone a favor by being completely honest so they know they aren't alone if they have a similar experience as me. Piper was a pretty colicky baby and something inside you just snaps when you've been listening to a screaming baby for so long and there's nothing you can do to console it. I just felt so helpless and I started to feel really anxious and felt like I had made a big mistake. Those feelings led to feelings of serious guilt and all of that combined made it difficult for me to bond with my sweet little girl. I felt like my whole world had been completely turned upside down and I was too scared to leave my house and began feeling pretty trapped. I started to resent Troy even though he was doing his best because I felt like his life had hardly changed at all and mine was a mess. Of course I loved Piper so much and things weren't always bad, but I just had my moments where I felt like I was sinking! Again, if it hadn't been for good friends and family who were willing to listen to me and make me feel totally normal and not such a bad psycho mother I don't know what I would have done. Everyone just kept promising me it would get better and after about 2 months things really started to turn around for us. Piper began to be a super happy and easy baby!

The first time Piper smiled at me it completely melted my heart and seriously made EVERYTHING worth it for me! As she got a little older and her personality started to shine through I felt such a strong connection with her I seriously felt like I would explode with love for her. I really started to feel like I was getting the hang of things, I began to know what to expect and how to read Piper a lot better. Since then motherhood has been such a treat for the most part. I forget what life was like without my baby girl and she brings so much joy to Troy and I. It is so much fun to watch her grow and develop. I swear things just change so quickly it's insane! My baby is almost half a year old! She's just the cutest thing and I love her happy and curious nature. She's been very alert since she was born and she loves to squirm and move around all the time! I'm so excited for what's ahead with her and I'm happy that I was able to get through those hard times at the beginning. I know that Heavenly Father was really looking out for me and I'm comforted in knowing that he'll always have my back with raising my sweet angel baby Piper.

Welcome To The World Little Piper!

2010-12-16T10:49:00.000-08:00

My due date was August 10th. I went to my doctor's appointment that day to see if there was any progress and there wasn't so my Doctor scheduled me for an induction a week later. I really thought I had a whole week ahead of me to get ready for the baby, but I was wrong.

That night I couldn't sleep very well because I was having severe back pain, but I just brushed it off as Piper pressing on my sciatic nerve. The next day I was driving Troy to go pick up his Dad's truck and on the way there I started feeling a little cramping and Troy could tell I was uncomfortable and asked if I was ok. I said ya, just some cramps and Troy proceeds to say "You're getting pretty ripe aren't you." I laughed and said ya I guess. Well right he was! After I dropped him off I was heading home in his car and felt a little trickle down under. The thought crossed my mind that my water may have just broke, but I passed it off as one of my regular tinkling episodes I'd gotten used to throughout my pregnancy. I decided to stop by the mail box before going home and right as I was unlocking the box I felt a big rush of water and quickly grabbed the mail and wobbled back to the car while trying to cross my legs. I put down some flyers on the seat so I wouldn't get it wet and quickly drove home. I knew Troy was about to walk into an important meeting and so I called him and told him I thought my water had broke, but I thought I had a lot of time so I told him to just go into the meeting and I'd keep him posted. I called my doctor's office and they told me I needed to come into the hospital as soon as possible so I texted Troy and he told me he would meet me there after his meeting. Nice... hahaha! I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to drive while you're in labor and so I told him I would have to find a ride and at that point he told me he was on his way home. Apparently he got up in the middle of the meeting and told them his wife was in labor and he needed to go. One of the clients said "The things you kids come up with these days." Haha!

Well Troy came home to me frantically trying to keep it together while I packed up a bag and thought of all the things I felt like I needed to get done before we left. I realized there was wet laundry in the washing machine, dishes in the sink and meanwhile I was being struck with minor contractions. Troy finally grabbed me and told me I was being crazy and that we NEEDED to go the hospital, NOW. So off we went! I was feeling pretty excited and nervous at the same time.

We got to the hospital and checked in and I thought I would have a while before I really had to get to work, but they had me get into a hospital gown right away and checked to make sure the right kind of fluid was coming out. The discovered some meconium (baby's first poo) and decided to set me up to petocin to speed things up. I found out after they hooked me up that I wasn't going to be able to eat until after the baby was born. I was actually really hungry so that was a big motivation for me to get that girl out of me! I just kept talking about when I was going to be able to eat... haha food is clearly a big priority for me. All I was allowed to eat was some ice chips with snow cone syrup on it which was actually pretty awesome.

Troy and I really didn't know what to expect, but my sister Charity soon came to our rescue and really helped us relax by explaining things to us and offered us a lot of comical relief. We also had some awesome nurses helping us out and I really appreciated them.

When the time came for my epidural I was starting to get pretty uncomfortable, but I was still really nervous about the giant needle that was about to enter my spine... Turns out the doctor had to do it twice because he couldn't get it in my spine properly. Definitely not pleasant! I felt relief for a little while but then I started getting really bad pain in my back and ribs and it started to make me throw up so the doctor came back and increased the pain medicine a little bit so the numbing would go a little higher. After that I felt awesome! Turns out the pain was due to the fact that I had gone from a 2 to an 8 within 2 hours. It wasn't too much later that I started pushing little miss Piper out! All everyone kept saying was how much hair she had. I didn't push for long before Piper literally came flying out! The doctor almost didn't catch her and just like that we were officially parents! The whole labor was not nearly as bad as I was anticipating and the time seemed to fly by! We went into the hospital around 3 p.m. and piper was born at 12:00 a.m. plus 9 seconds on August 12th.

When Piper was FINALLY brought over to me after getting her lungs suctioned out due to the meconium I was in heaven! Snuggling up to this sweet little baby was like a dream come true and I couldn't have been happier. At that point I was absolutely exhausted! We got wheeled up to our room and I was really looking forward to a little sleep, but the nurses had other plans. They gave Piper a bath and went through all kinds of paperwork and information with me until 3 O'CLOCK IN THE FREAKING MORNING!!! I was so tired! They finally left Troy and I alone and took Piper with them so we could get a few hours of much needed sleep.

Well turns out the labor was the easy part and I was really terrified for what was ahead of me! I was suddenly a mom to the sweetest little angel, but I really felt like I had NO idea what I was doing!! All I can say is that Piper is now nearly 6 months and thankfully still alive and healthy!

My Graduation

2010-11-09T21:37:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a lonely week at home with Troy being away on a hunting trip and I figured it was about time that I post some seriously needed updates.

So it's a little sad that this big event took place all the way back in April and I'm only writing about it now, but I really wanted to document my feelings from my graduation day... well what I can remember 7 months later.

My last semester of college seemed to have sped by. I was super lucky to have made it through the whole semester without my pregnancy really getting in the way of my school work, although I'll admit that I threw out the pregnancy card once or twice. By the time my graduation date had crept up on me I couldn't believe the day had finally come!

It was an awesome day! I was so happy that my parents made the arrangements to be there for the ceremonies and really appreciated their support. Another huge highlight was not only having the Prophet there, but the entire first presidency! I actually got two thumbs up from Pres. Uchtdorf, or Uncle Dieter as I like to call him ;). Hearing from President Monson at the convocation and shaking his hand afterward was seriously a dream come true for me. I felt like the whole thing made up for me not graduating from BYU-Idaho and it was really special. A couple of days before the big day I needed to take a break from my studies and turned on the TV. I happened to come across the biography of Pres. Monson and watched as story after story was shared about all the individual lives Pres. Monson touched through his continuous acts of service. I was struck by all the good he's done in his life by just doing simple kind and thoughtful things for people. He was always so in tune with the spirit and always followed through with the promptings he received. I realized that I could easily follow his example and become more service oriented. After having that experience I was even more excited to hear him speak at my graduation. I remember feeling the spirit really strongly testifying to me of how proud Heavenly Father was of me for sticking it through and getting my degree. I got pretty emotional as I sat and listened to the prophet's encouraging words and felt my sweet little baby girl kicking away inside of me. I thought about how I hoped this accomplishment of mine would better the lives of my children and I again felt a waive of the spirit confirming that it would and that I had done what the Lord wanted me to. I know that I received a lot of help from above throughout my time at school and I'm so grateful for that. My time in college was a time of serious growth, I learned so much more about myself and what I can accomplish. My confidence soared and I realized that I had been cheating myself for many years. It was definitely not always easy and I was often pushed to my limits, but I'm so grateful for all the experiences I had and for all the fun I had in the process. It's still crazy to think that it's over and I don't have to worry about that paper I've procrastinated doing or the test that's looming around the corner! I thought it was pretty classic that on the day of my graduation I was worrying about a late project I still needed to hand in. I will never learn. Well anyways, I hope that even though I don't have to worry about deadlines anymore I will still push myself to continue to learn and grow.

So long college. Thank you for some of the funnest times of my life. Thank you for helping me find myself. Thank you for helping me find my husband. Thank you for your challenges, life lessons, failures and accomplishments. Thank you for great friends and great memories. I'll miss you, well most parts of you at least.

My first semester at BYU-Idaho - Winter 2006

Fall Semester 2006

Winter Semester 2007

Fall Semester 2007

Winter Semester 2008 - My Last Semester at BYU-I :(

Troy's Grad - Summer 2008

My Graduation from Weber State - April 2010

Baby Update

2010-08-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well there's 4 days left until my due date and I thought I'd fill people in on my progress... or the lack thereof. I am currently not dilated at all and my doctor says this baby is showing no signs of coming out anytime soon. I suppose that's ok because I haven't made it to my due date yet, but I don't know how much longer my body can put up with this! I have had such an awesome pregnancy and so I shouldn't complain, but I really feel like my body is starting to shut down. My back is giving me some grief and by the end of the day my feet are unrecognizable and HUGE! I am also suffering from a serious lack of energy, just a trip to the grocery store takes it right out of me! The truth is I'd be willing to put up with this discomfort and WAY more if it means a healthy sweet little baby girl, but I would not be disappointed if she decided to make her appearance! My next appointment is on Tuesday which happens to be my due date. My Doctor says that if I haven't made any progress by then that we'll start looking at scheduling an induction. I like knowing that there's an end in sight by scheduling something, but I'd prefer her to come on her own so.... HURRY UP BABY!!! Oh by the way, we're naming her Pyper. The jury is still out on her middle name though.

Girl Time!

2010-06-24T19:57:00.001-07:00

How is it possible that it's been 3 months since I last posted on my blog! Wow! There's a lot that's happened. I'll start with where I left off. As most of you know by now, it turns out we're having a little girl. I am beyond excited!! I can't wait to have a little mini side kick to hang out with and dress in adorable girly clothes.

We thought there was a chance we weren't going to be able to find out the sex of the baby at my doctor's appointment because she was tucked down nice and deep in my uterus . She was all snuggled up down there pretty much bent in half with her legs tucked in underneath her blocking the view of her ... cha cha. Anyways the doctor starts shaking my belly and jabbing and poking me right above my pelvic bone trying to make the baby move to higher ground, but it wasn't working. I had to roll onto my side for a while in hopes that she would shift a little. She was too comfortable and didn't really move, but the doctor still managed to get a view of her ... hoo ha ... and confirmed she was a girl. I was so excited! I think it took Troy a minute to get excited about it. He had initially wanted a girl, but then we came across a boy name that we really liked and he got his heart set on a boy. Don't worry though, he's back on team girl and very excited.

There were a few things the doctor couldn't get a great angle of because of our baby's position so I had to head back for another ultrasound two weeks later. I was kind of happy it worked out that way because I honestly don't think there's anything cooler in the world than getting to take a peak at that little growing baby! When we went back we caught a glimpse of her holding onto her feet, how cute is that!

It seems like we just found out what we were having and now I'm just about 6 weeks away from my due date! This is all happening a little too fast! I'm excited, but also terrified! First of all I'm freaking out just thinking about what I have to go through in order to welcome this baby into the world and then I'm scared about how I really have no idea what I'm doing as a mother! I guess there's no turning back now so bring on the adventure!

I had a doctor's appointment this week and they gave me some information to pre-register for my delivery and a list of things I should pack to bring to the hospital. I also had to schedule all my remaining appointments. I have one in two weeks and then it will be weekly visits from that point on. It all really hit me that this baby girl is getting ready to make her debut. I'm scared!!

Boy or Girl??!!

2010-03-20T09:43:00.000-07:00

As I just mentioned in my previous post, we finally find out the sex of our baby on Wednesday. I feel like I might be overtaken by the anticipation I'm feeling. I just really want to know... RIGHT NOW!!! I don't know how couples wait to find out, I'm just not that patient. I'm really excited to know what it is so that I can really start to prepare and get SHOPPIN! I'd also like to stop referring to my baby as an "it." It makes it sound like it's not human.

People have been asking what I think it is, or what I hope it will be. I've been telling people I really don't care and that's mostly true because I'll be ecstatic with a boy or a girl, I mean, it's my baby so who really cares. But I'll be honest, whenever I walk by anything that has to do with little girls my heart completely melts. I was over at a friend's place the other night and her little girl pulled out all of her little toy hair styling tools and started doing my hair for me. I could have died it was so cute. Now on the other hand little boys are pretty dang cute too and a lot of fun and the thought of my other kids having a big brother to take care of them is pretty awesome too. Not to mention if I have a boy then he will be exactly one year younger than my sister's little boy and she has said his cute clothes would be passed on to me. BONUS! Also all of my baby's cousin's who will be close to it's age are all boys so if it's a boy then he will have a bunch of friends. So needless to say there are pros to both sides. Troy says he has no preference and that he likes the fact that we have no choice in the matter.

Well, just 4 more days and we'll know. Let's just hope they go by quickly and that our baby will be willing to cooperate during the ultrasound. If it's anything like it's mama, it'll have no shame.

Until Wednesday....

OH! P.S. - I've been feeling the baby move a little bit over the last two weeks and last night I was feeling all kinds of activity going on in there so I quickly grabbed Troy's hand and pushed it down hard on my belly and he felt it move for the first time!! So exciting!

Spring Break Coming To An End

2010-03-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

Well tomorrow is my last day of spring break before I have to head back to school. It's been a well needed break and I have seriously hardly thought of school the entire week. As nice as it's been, this could mean trouble. I really needed to do some school work over the break, but I just couldn't bring myself to doing it. I'm now about to embark on the last stretch of my college career. I only have 4 more weeks of school left until I graduate! I can't even believe it! It's going to be a wild 4 weeks trying to get everything done.

I'm so excited for the summer! I pretty much plan to sit by my in-laws pool all summer long, but I've got some other fun things planned in between.

Things to look forward to:

A trip to Calgary for Falisha's Wedding (one of my very best friends)

Getting a lawn and planting a delicious garden (can't wait)

Getting a nursery ready for our little baby (we find out what it is on Wednesday!!)

Young Women's Camp

The Manti Pageant

A trip to Kelowna to party with my whole family

Youth Conference

A trip to Lake Powell

Oh ya and HAVING A BABY!!!

I'm sure there will be some more adventures included as the summer goes on so I have a feeling it's going to be a pretty exciting one! I can't wait to be done with school and to let the fun begin!

Goodbye Spring Break, now bring on the SUMMER!!

Back To Young Womens

2010-03-15T11:48:00.001-07:00

Well I've been put in as the first counselor in the young women's in my ward. It was pretty unexpected because three weeks before that I had been called into the relief society activities committee. I went to one planning meeting and the next thing I knew I was being released and put into young womens! When I found out I immediately felt overwhelmed, seeing that I'm still fairly new in the ward I really didn't know any of the young women or any of the other leaders. I also felt a huge responsibility to these girls. It's a tough world out there for teenagers right now and there's a lot working against them being strong and active members of the church. I really hope that I can be a great friend and leader to them. Another overwhelming thought was me hitting up girls camp this summer considering I'll be about 7 and half months pregnant haha! It's been really fun so far though and the girls are super sweet and welcoming. There's only about 8 of them in total that are active and I think about 4 more who aren't so it's a pretty small group. They all seem pretty close which is nice. I'm still trying to get a handle on what my responsibilities are and I'm just kind of coasting along trying to keep up with what's going on, but I'm loving it! I'm planning a lesson right now and we have an activity planning meeting coming up and I'm just trying to figure out what resources are out there for fun ideas and lesson aides. To the ladies out there who are currently in young women's or have been in the past, do you know of any cool websites or other ideas to help me out? Let me know!

Why am I such a Psycho?

2010-03-15T11:46:00.001-07:00

Alright, I'd like to say that for the most part I've kept pretty sane throughout this pregnancy thus far. I don't think I've turned into a comeplete pregzilla (I just made that up, funny right?) and I hope my husband still feels like he's married to the same person. But, I'll be honest, I have had my crazy moments... and I'm not proud of them. For some reason there are just times where something triggers some wild emotion in me and I've reacted a lot more drastically then I think I normally would have. I suppose by putting them out in the open that I hope to receive some kind of liberation from the guilt I'm feeling. Plus, I think these will be somewhat entertaining for me to look back on one day.

Towards the very beginning of my pregnancy I was feeling extremely emotional and I experienced a few outbursts. One took place after I had returned from an annual shopping trip with the girls in the Salmon family back in November. Troy's dad was sweet enough to surprise us all with some cash to go shopping with (I was so excited I started crying of course) and when I got home Troy thought it would be a good idea to throw the extra money I hadn't spent into our little savings jar for a new couch. It made total sense, I really wanted a new couch and Troy had been putting the extra money that he came across into it so why shouldn't I? The truth is I really wanted to keep it for myself, but I put on a brave face and handed over the cash. Afterwards I went upstairs into my closet, and naturally laid on the floor hiding underneath all my hanging clothes and literally BAWLED my eyes out!! Like I mean, gasping for air, body shaking, snot dripping kind of bawling. A little dramatic? Yes, yes it was. After a while Troy came to find me and would have probably had a hard time finding me behind all my clothes had it not been for the sobs that gave my hiding spot away. The poor guy had no idea what to do with me, he told me I could have the money back and that it wasn't a big deal which made me cry even harder because now I felt like a selfish brat. He tried to coax me out from under the clothes, but I wouldn't budge so he came in after me and tried to console me. Haha he looked really scared and confused. I finally came out with mascara smeared all over my spotty red face and once I had regained my sanity I decided the money should go into savings for the couch. I held on to a grudge about it for a while though. Haha! Poor Troy boy. I'm really sorry I went crazy on you honey. At least we can laugh about it now, but I'm still sorry.

The next outburst happened a couple nights later. I was having a rough day and for some reason I was really irritated with Troy that night, I can't remember why. Later on we were getting ready for bed and troy finished before me and climbed into bed. When I came out of the bathroom all the lights were off in our bedroom and suddenly my irritation doubled. As I tried to find my way to my side of the bed I ran into the wooden chest we have at the end of the bed and then as I was trying to find my phone that I had on my night stand and I ended up knocking over a glass of water that I had left there the night before. I lost it. I collapsed on the bed and once again began to bawl my eyes out. I really didn't even know why. Poor Troy had no idea what to do with himself and leaned over and tried to rub my back and ask if I was ok. I screamed "DON'T TOUCH ME!!" Evil pregnant Jemaica was clearly making an appearance and Troy decided it would be best to just back away. It didn't take long for my next mood to swing into place and before he knew it I was skooching over to be cuddled and consoled. I can only imagine what was going through his mind. "COO-COO!!"

My latest outburst took place a little over a week ago. I was running late for class because I had been waiting in the parking lot for a spot for a good 15 min. The technique for getting a spot at Weber State is not to keep driving up and down the aisles (who decided on the spelling for that word anyways) but to stay put at the end of one of them until a student walks down it and goes to their car. It's common knowledge that if you've been parked waiting there then you get first dibs on the spot. Well I had done this exact thing and after waiting for those 15 min a guy finally walked down my lane and so I pulled up closer and put on my blinker. After waiting there for a few seconds this girl turns down the other end of the aisle and stops and begins to wait also. This is the same girl who had passed me about 5 times in search for a spot. Amateur. I began to wonder what the heck she was waiting for because the spot was clearly mine because not only had I claimed the aisle by waiting there for so long, but I had my freaking blinker on. THAT SPOT WAS MINE! Anyways the guy pulls out of the spot in my direction blocking me and suddenly that sneaky girl pulls right in! Oh boy was I ticked. I laid on the horn and pulled up behind her and rolled down my window. I began yelling at her as she got out of her car and told her that was clearly my spot and that she ought to get right back into her car and pull out if she knew what was good for her. She proceeded to say "M'am, (yes she called me M'am, what am I, 40?) you should have been faster, I'm late for class." and she starts walking away from her car. This REALLY set me off! How could I have been faster, I was being blocked!! This girl obviously had no kind driving/parking etiquette and I felt an immense need to teach her a lesson. I decided it would be a good idea to speed up as she crossed in front of my car and then slam on my breaks just to give her a little scare. I know, I know, I'm a psycho! Let's just blame it on my raging hormones ok. Anyways I started yelling at her again telling her that I was late for class too and then I said something stupid along the lines of "you better learn the system around here if you plan to survive girl!!" Who even says that? She continued to walk away and I was left there helpless, without a spot and even more late for class. After another few minutes I finally found a place to park and really felt like I needed revenge. At that point I remembered I had a banana in my backpack and so I went and smeared banana all over her door handles and windshield. Don't worry, I used a plastic baggie to make sure my hands stayed clean. I'll admit that for the first little while it felt really good and I was pretty proud of myself for showing that girl a thing or two, but as time went on I was a little ashamed of myself. I realized I had totally pulled a crazy one. I started to think of better ways to have handled the situation and then I thought about how my baby's hearing has developed and it heard it's mommy going off like a psycho person. I guess I could have done worse to her car, but it still wasn't right and I wish I had more control over my emotions than that. So to the dumb girl who stole my parking spot, if by some slight chance you come across this blog post and realize that this story is about you, I'm sorry for losing my temper and smearing banana all over your car. (But if you ever pull a move like that on me again, I will kill you.) Just kidding!

Well anyways, I'm sure by now I've scared everyone and you are all planning on staying away from me until I deliver this child in August. I promise that I will do better at controlling myself in the future and I've really tried to learn from these outbursts of mine. Heaven help me during these last 20 weeks.

P.s. Turns out I'm not as creative as I thought I was. The whole pregzilla thing already exists.

Update # 4 - Graduation

2010-02-11T19:44:00.001-08:00

I started my very last semester of college in January and I'm happy to say that the semester is just about half way through! I will be graduating on April 23rd and guess who will be speaking at my graduation... only PRESIDENT THOMAS S. MONSON!! I nearly cried when I found that out this week! It felt like a little tender mercy for me! I was pretty heartbroken to not be able to finish my education at BYU-Idaho and it was a struggle to motivate myself to finish my degree at Weber State. But I decided it was important to me and that I needed to do it. While at Weber State I have definitely missed the enlightenment I received at BYU-I and the unique environment that's there, but I feel the fact that the prophet will be speaking at MY graduation makes up for everything and is almost like a little reward for me for pushing through and finishing what I started. I am SO excited for April 23rd!

Update # 3 - Big News

2010-02-11T16:55:00.000-08:00

So Troy and I have taken the plunge, we've got a Salmon in the oven. I am currently 3 months and 2 weeks pregnant! The 3 pregnancy tests that I took all said positive and all the symptoms have been there, but it wasn't until yesterday that all doubt was wiped from my mind. Yesterday was my first doctor's appointment and we were able to have an ultrasound and hear the baby's heartbeat. It was one of the coolest most sweetest moments of my life. We watched this little human on the screen having a little dance party in my belly. It was so cute to see it's tiny arms and legs kicking and waving around. We could see it's heart beating away in it's chest like crazy and I just couldn't believe that was inside me! It was pretty incredible. I can't wait for my next appointment.

So far I have been pretty lucky with my pregnancy. I haven't been too sick and I've been able to carry on with life like normal for the most part. The only time I feel really nauseous is when I am hungry so it's been pretty important for me to keep something in my stomach at all times. This means I have snacks with me where ever I go. I have several classes with some of the same people and I swear they must think I eat 24 hours of the day. I do have a pretty trigger happy gag reflex at the moment, but thankfully I haven't thrown up once. Those of you who know me well know that I have a ridiculously sensitive sense of smell. Well that sense of smell has been times by a hundred with my pregnancy, it's a little out of control and it doesn't help the gagging situation. Truthfully I really can't complain. I have been very blessed and thankfully it has not interfered with my classes and I am able to easily finish up my last semester.

So mark your calendar's for August 10th because that's when little baby Salmon should arrive. Look out world!

P.s. I'll post a picture of my ultrasound when I get it scanned

Update #2 - The Cat

2010-02-11T16:25:00.000-08:00

About 3 weeks ago Troy called me and told me he was going to be late getting home that night. When he got home he walked into the family room holding something behind his back, I asked him what he had and suddenly I stinky bag of cat food was shoved in my face and Troy told me to come out to the car. I couldn't believe what was happening!

You need to understand that I have a small obsession with cats and even when Troy and I were just friends we clashed on the subject. I remember going on a road trip with a group of friends, Troy being one of them, and while we were stopped at a gas station I noticed a little cat hanging out by the front door so I knelt down and started petting it. Troy was utterly disgusted by my actions! Haha he made me go and wash my hands as he explained to me that cats are filthy diseased animals. There have been several arguments throughout our marriage over whether or not we would ever have a cat and Troy insisted that it would NEVER happen! I may or may not have threatened to leave him if he wouldn't let it happen someday...

Next thing I know he is walking me to the car and there is a teeny Siamese kitten sitting in the front seat! I was shocked! You'd think I would have been so excited, and I was, but I have to admit that I was also a little worried about whether I was ready to take care of a cat at this point in my life. I always assumed that IF a cat ever came into the picture it would be when we had a bunch of kids running around so they could play with it and both the cat and the kids could be entertained. Then I started to think about how awesome Troy was for actually giving in and getting me a cat. It was one of the sweetest gifts I've ever gotten, mostly because I know what a sacrifice it was for Troy. He really must love me. I found out that he had been searching for the perfect cat for a couple months which made my heart melt even more. So of course the cat was staying.

I named him Sushi and he's a pretty cute cat. I'll admit that I have had my moments of pure frustration with him though. As I type this he insists on licking my hands which gets pretty dang annoying after a while and your skin begins to feel raw from his rough tongue. I have never seen a more needy cat in my life. This little guy follows me everywhere and if you are sitting down he NEEDS to be sitting on you begging for attention. This usually includes getting in my face, clawing at my hands and arms, or trying to eat my hair. He is usually just a ball of energy and runs all over the place jumping from couch to chair to coffee table. He loves to attack my plants and my feet as I walk by. There are those moments where he just likes to snuggle up and sleep on your lap and keep you warm. Those sweet moments often get interrupted by a horrible stench that takes over the room. It's amazing that such a small little thing can smell so rancid. I do like how he greets me each time I come home and it is pretty hilarious watching him play with his toys sometimes or chase his tail. Let's just say that Sushi and I currently have what they call a "Love-Hate" relationship. I expected cats to be a lot less high maintenance, because that's how I remember my old cat being, but then again I don't remember him as a kitten because I was just a baby. So I'm just waiting for Sushi to grow out of his annoying needy/crazy kitten stage and hopefully we will form a beautiful relationship! At least he loves people and he's a pretty friendly cat, I suppose I shouldn't hate him just because he loves me so much. OK..... he seriously just farted on me! Maybe I'm not such a cat person after all!! Heaven help me.

Update #1 - Christmas

2010-02-11T16:24:00.000-08:00

Well it's time for some updates! It has been a while since I've written on here!

Christmas has come and gone and I loved every minute of it. We hosted the annual "Nog Fest" at our house this year and we were able to celebrate with a bunch of great friends and keep the Rexburg tradition alive. It was a lot of fun and there were some serious outfits worn. I think the winners of the evening were Trevor and April, check out those suits!

Yes, that is a moose head on our wall. We borrowed it from Troy's office and as cool as it was for the party I was not not intending it to be a permanent decoration. Unfortunately the thing is STILL hanging on my wall and it's pretty much the first thing you notice when you walk into out house. Charming...

Here's an awkward shot of Troy and I with the moosey

Another highlight of the Christmas season was the fact that nearly my entire family was together here in Utah except for my brother Noah who couldn't make it. It was such a blast and it was so nice to spend some quality time with everyone. I got to meet my baby nephew Crew for the first time and I got to see two of my nieces who we don't get to see very often. It was great! Hopefully I'll be able to see everyone again really soon.

Ok one more link

2009-12-16T10:20:00.000-08:00

So my sister-in-law just posted a personalized video she made for my niece from Santa Clause on this website. It's awesome! You can even make them for adults so I made one for Troy! I figured I would share the link with those of you who have kids old enough to recognize who Santa is. I'm pretty sure I would have freaked out if I got a video from Santa as a kid.

Check out the one I made for Troy

http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/da2555417ef857fe8b01625aba63f815

Ukulele Boy

2009-12-16T09:39:00.000-08:00

So my friend posted this link on his facebook and I fell in-love with this little boy! I swear I've watched it like 10 times. He's hilarious and really good! Anyways I had to share it, enjoy.

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

Belated Halloween

2009-12-02T09:37:00.000-08:00

Here's a very late post on our fun Halloween festivities

First of all we had a family Halloween party over at Troy's parent's place. I wish I would have gotten more pictures of everyone because their costumes really were great.

We dressed as Mimes

Claire the Bumble Bee

Abe the Transformer

That weekend we headed to Nampa, Idaho to visit our friends and spend Halloween there. Friday night Callie and Tyler had organized a really fun Murder Mystery game so we all came in character and were ready to solve the crime!

I was Penny Loafer and Troy was Cal Culator

Trevor and April

Here's a shot of the whole group enjoying some dinner

Our wonderful Hostess Callie starting off the game

Cal and Penny paying close attention

Isn't Cal a sexy beast?? Haha he cracks me up

Halloween night we dressed up again and headed to a party. Troy and I were your classic KKK and witch. Just kidding, he's actually a ghost. After all these years of dressing up I had never actually been a witch so I was pretty excited about it.

Here are the Biggest Losers, Callie and Tyler. Clearly they have a few more pounds to lose.

Trevor and April were April and Michealangelo (sp?) from the Ninja Turtles

Before the party we headed out for a bite to eat. Here's cute little Ducky Brenda and Creepy 70's Paul

These two stuffed their faces all night long. Sick.

Here's us girls at the party

We can't forget about our adopted children Bryce and Doug dressed as Mario and Luigi

I figured I'd end this post with a disturbing photo of Paul.

Enjoy.

We had so much fun that weekend and were sad to head home. Luckily we'll be seeing most of these people again really soon.

*Special thanks to Callie for many of these wonderful photos

Semester Coming To an End

2009-12-02T08:47:00.000-08:00

It's true, my semester is nearly over. This is actually my last week of classes and then I have 2 exams next week. Unfortunately I also have 3 papers due between this week and the next that I have not even started. It makes me want to vomit just thinking about it. I really don't know why I do this to myself, for some reason I really like torturing myself. Here's the thing, when it comes to school I really have very little motivation left. I seriously just want to be done SOOOOO badly!! Luckily next semester will be my last and I will graduate in April... I think I just heard a chorus of angels after typing that. I will finally be finished and have a degree in communication. YIPPEE! It really was important to me to finish since I only had three semesters left when Troy and I got married and left BYU-Idaho. I'm not going to lie though, it's been tough. Weber State has this weird obsession with making their students right freaking LONG research papers. I've seriously had to write one for almost every class that I've taken there and I HATE research papers... with a passion.

Anyways, I'll be really proud of myself when it's all done. My dreams of graduating in April were almost ruined the other week when I registered for classes and realized that two of my mandatory classes were at the exact same time and day. I went to go see what I could do about it because one of them was an HR class which I already took at BYU-I, but they told me there was no way they could accept it. To top it all off they told me that they were only offering those two classes during the winter semester which means I would have to wait an entire year to graduate because of ONE STUPID CLASS I HAD ALREADY TAKEN! Needless to say, I was pretty upset about it. Finally I found an advisor that was willing to help me out and I was able to substitute the class with something else. I was so happy it worked out! So for my very last semester I will be taking:

Negotiations
Gender Communication
Acting I - (Fun hey?)
Small Group Facilitation
Senior Seminar
Training the Trainer

It will be a busy semester, but I think it might actually be kind of fun! Anyways, that's my update on school. Maybe I should go get started on those papers...

Our House

2009-11-24T14:13:00.000-08:00

Ok so I've promised several people that I would get these pictures posted and it's taken me a while so I'm sorry. Troy and I moved into our house about a month ago and have loved every minute of it. We're so happy it's finished, Troy put a lot of work into it and it turned out amazing. So here are the pictures

View of the entry way

View from the front door

Mud room

Library

Other side of Library

Family Room

Kitchen

Other side of Kitchen

The bonus room above the garage

That is a little tunnel for kids to run through on the left

Other end of the bonus room and view of the hallway upstairs

Bedroom #1

Other side of the room

Bedroom #2

Master Bedroom

(The color looks better in person)

Master Bathroom

The tub of my dreams

Entry into our closet

And there you have it folks! That's our new home! I didn't take pictures of the other two bathrooms or our laundry room, but you get the idea. If any of you are visiting Utah and need a place to stay be sure to let us know, we'd be happy to have you.

Year One

2009-10-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

It kind of blows my mind that Troy and I have already been married for over a year now. It seems to have gone by so fast and yet it seems like we've been married forever. There's one thing for sure, it's been one heck of a year! We've been so blessed in so many ways and have had so much fun together. It really hit me how much we've been lucky enough to do this year as I went through my pictures. We are pretty dang spoiled and have a lot to be thankful for. Here's a quick recap of our year together;

The happiest day of my life

A quick trip to Vegas as part of our honeymoon

(please note that the hotel gave us money to gamble as part of our hotel package so we used it... that's allowed right?? We won $10)

Lake Powell

Halloween

San Francisco

Our first Christmas together

Visiting our friends in Nampa, Idaho

Heidelburg, Germany

Paris, France

Italy

Building our house

4th of July

Trip to British Columbia to visit my family

Hawaii

Looking at these pictures really helps me realize how good we have it and makes me forget how much a cried the first few months of marriage, how bad our home smells after Troy uses the bathroom, how much I hate folding laundry, how many fights we had over building our house, how many times I've had to tell Troy "not tonight honey," and how much weight I've gained in a year. All that aside my life pretty much rocks the house and that's all thanks to my man!

Ok, but in all seriousness I'm so grateful to be married to such a kind, funny, hard working and loving guy like Troy. He makes me laugh all the time, his creativity amazes me and he is such an example to me. His patience blows me away each time I make him late for church, or make him tread through my battle zone of clothes on the floor, or purposely try to annoy and tease him. I truly lucked out. I've loved having him by my side throughout all our adventures this past year and I can't wait for future adventures together.

I love you Troy Boy!

Hawaii

2009-09-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

Ok it is about time that I get this post out! Troy and I were lucky enough to go to Hawaii in August, that's right it happened in August and I am blogging about it now. Lame.

Anyways, Troy and his dad needed to head out to Laie because their company is doing th HVAC for the temple renovations there. The wives got to go along and I was SOOOO Happy! Troy just called me up one day and said "hey do you want to go to Hawaii in two weeks?" I love my life.

They have a little house right across from the Polynesian Cultural Center that they have been renting out for their workers and so we got to stay there. It was a really nice place. My sister-in-law Cassie and her husband Mason decided they couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a free place to stay and transportation so they came along too. It was my first time in Hawaii and it was a blast! I fell in love!

This was the view behind the house we were staying in. Gorgeous!

Troy and Mason sportin the farmers tans!

For the first two days we hung out at the Huki Lau beach and the North Shore. Can I just say how much I love the Ocean? Cuz I really really do. The next day we headed to Honolulu and stopped off at the Dole plantation. It was pretty fun except I got really irritated with an asian woman that worked there who said "ALOHA" literally every 5 seconds with a strong asian accent. I finally just had to get out of there. If you heard it, you would understand.

Here's Troy with his dad and sister Cassie enjoying some pineapple treats.

After the Dole plantantion we went on our merry way to Honolulu in hopes of checking out Pearl Harbor and the Swap Meet and the stadium. Unfortunately Pearl Harbour was completely out of tickets for the day so we didn't get to go. We did head over to the Swap Meet though and we all left with a few souvenirs.

Troy and I stayed in Honolulu while the rest of the group headed back to Laie. We did some boogie boarding at Waikiki and then met up with some good friends Paul and Nancy with their cute daughter Abigail. Paul is getting his masters in Honolulu right now. We grabbed some yummy dinner with them and went and ate it on the beach.

Here's cutie pie Abigail building a sand castle

The Garner Family

It was really awesome catching up with them. We hadn't seen them since they had graduated from BYU-Idaho so it was a real treat, not to mention we were in HAWAII!!

Thanks for the good time guys! Hope to see you again soon!

What a beautiful sunset at Waikiki beach

The next day we hung out at Huki Lau Beach again and there were some serious waves that day. I caught a couple with the boogie board, but they started getting bigger and bigger and I was getting a little nervous. Of course I hesitated a little longer than I should have as a GIANT wave came toward me and I got SLAMMED! I was a mess when I got up and my chest was burning like nothing else, everyone was asking me if I was ok, but all I could say was "Burning, burning!" That salt water is a killer!

The Green Family

Terry relaxing on the beach

The next day we did some snorkeling at sharks cove. We saw loads of fish that day and I really enjoyed it... when Troy was by my side. I didn't like being out there alone and I really didn't like it when the fish got incredibly close to me. They were clearly used to being around people. I know, I know, I'm a pansy. I let fear take over my life!

That day I tasted the best fish tacos EVER, and I don't even like fish, but they were delicious! I topped it off with a yummy snow cone. Did I mention I love Hawaii?!!

Troy and I spent the week driving around in this sweet Mustang Convertable. It was a lot of fun and we thought we were really cool until we saw pretty much every other tourist on the island driving one too...

We still enjoyed ourselves

On our last night we headed over to the Polynesian Cultural Center for the luau and the big night show. I was really impressed with that place and it was a lot of fun. One thing that added to the fun was the fact that we got to meet up with Angie and Mike and their adorable kids Brylie and Tyken. It was so awesome to see them, I think it had been almost 4 years since I had seen Angie. They were nice enough to come meet us at the PCC for a short but sweet visit. Brylie and I became best friends for the short while we were together, holding hands and all, but I have an incling she might be like that with everyone. She's hilarious!

We were feeding all the fish some food! And by food I really mean little rocks and the occasional pellet we found on the ground haha.

Thanks for coming to see us Wynes family! It was great to see you!

The next photos are at the Luau. It was a lot of fun.

Here's a few glamour shots of Troy and I

Roasted Pig. Yummy!

I treated myself to a delicious Pina Colada. This is what it's all about folks, hanging out in Hawaii sipping a Pina Colada. I'd been waiting my whole life for this!

Sharesies!

Alright so the M.C. lady called up everyone who was celebrating an anniversary or honeymoon. Troy and I had just had our one year anniversary the day before we left on our trip so we decided to go up. She had us all say where we were from and how many years we were celebrating and then we enjoyed a nice dance together to some hawaiian music.

This is how Troy and I danced together. You can tell we're still newlyweds ;)

Cassie and I got a picture with the guy who performs with fire like a mad man in the night show. Cassie insisted on a picture with him because she thought he was sexy. Don't deny it Cass.

The night show was really really awesome and I'm so happy we went. My favorite were the Tahitian dancers because of the way they can move their butts. It's seriously incredible. I keep practicing in the mirror, but it just doesn't even come close.

On our last day in Hawaii we headed to the beach again. It was a little overcast that day and pretty windy so I passed on getting in the water and just hung out on the beach. Troy, Mason and Craig all went in to do a some boogie boarding and got beaten up pretty bad in the HUGE waves, but still had a lot of fun.

I was able to get a nice shot of Mason's back. This is what happens when you let Cassie put sunscreen on your back. Hilarious!!

We flew back home that night. I had come down with a bit of a cold and took some Sudafed P.M. which pretty much knocked me out for the whole flight.

The trip was a blast and we all had a lot of fun together. I really hope to be able to go back someday.

I Love Hawaii!

Camping Trip

2009-09-22T08:38:00.001-07:00

Troy and I planned a camping trip with some friends back in August. We had been planning on doing it all summer and finally picked a date and made it happen. It turned out the only weekend we could all do it was on the weekend of our first anniversary. I'll be honest, I didn't necessarily picture us spending our anniversary camping in Idaho with a couple of our friends, but it was a lot of fun and I'm glad we did it. We picked a nice little spot in Idaho which was the half way point for all of us to meet at. Troy and I left after work Thursday and were planning to meet up with our friends Paul and Brenda and the campsite that night. Our friends Taj and Alison were coming the next day.

Troy ran out of gas on the way. Running out of gas happens to be one of pet peives so I was not very impressed about it. I guess he was a little turned around and figured the next town was just a few miles away. Try 60. It was actually really incredible how long that empty tank of gas lasted us, once we had completely ran out we coasted down the side of the road for an entire mile!! At that point I just had to laugh. Here we were in a big truck pulling a huge boat creeping along the freeway. By the time we stopped we were only a mile away from the next town which wasn't too far from our campsite. Paul and Brenda had already arrived and were nice enough to come to our rescue and bring us some gas.

Here's the man of the hour filling up

Brenda and I looking a little cold

So once the jerry can was FINALLY empty (it took FOREVER) Troy goes to start the truck and the battery was dead... so Paul came to rescue once again and luckily had jumper cables with him and gave us a boost. Way to pull through for us you guys!

We finally made it to the campsite and had to set up our tent in the dark. The dark did not keep me from discovery FOUR earwigs in our tent! Our campsite was infested with them! I told Troy I wouldn't sleep until they were dead, he couldn't beleive what pansy I was being (first time camping together) but he was a good sport and got out of his sleeping bag and killed them for me. What a good man! He finally forced me to stop looking for them and shut off the flashlight. I slept with my hood tied tightly around my head to protect my ears/brain that night just in case. In the morning I woke up to a spider crushed under my head on my pillow. I was so glad I had my hood on!! The earwig routine went on for the next two nights, I have no idea how they kept making it into our tent! By the last night I think Troy was ready to kill me. :)

Here's a nice shot of our campground spot. It really was a nice campround. We were right beside a pretty lake and the place was really well kept. Everything except for the one bathroom Brenda and I venture off to one night. I swear there was every bug/spider/beetle imaginable crawling around that bathroom, if you think I'm exaggerating ask Brenda yourself! I could hardly squeeze out a drop I was so terriffied in there! If you haven't noticed... I really don't like bugs.

Anyways, in the morning we woke up and Paul and Brenda cooked up a delicious breakfast and we discovered a giant owl sitting in the tree above us. I wish I had taken a picture because he was really cool. After breakfast we decided to head out on the lake with the boat, we probably would have gotten in the water, but it was actually a really windy and cold day. The waves out on this lake were crazy so it made for a choppy yet fun ride.

Taj and Alison showed up in the afternoon and we just had a good time hanging out for the rest of the day. That night we had a sneaky little visitor, Mr. Racoon. We were all sitting around the fire and Alison got up to go get something from her tent when he scared the crap out of her. We tried to chase him away, but he just ran up the tree above us and watched and waited. We quickly packed up all the food into our coolers and finally chased him away. Well he was sure to come back. Paul had towered all the coolers and bins on top of each other and this little guy climbed to the top and reached the smaller zipped up cooler bags. He managed to unzip the coolers and eat the dozen eggs that were in there. You'd think that would fill him up, but he then tried to get into our big plastic bin and actually broke one of the hard plastic handles off the thing! I was amazed! If the other coolers hadn't been on top of it we would have lost a lot of food that night.

Here's the little thief!

The next morning consisted of a lot of lounging around. We were all trying to get warm in the sun.

We mocked Troy for bringing his full on lounge chair, but everyone wanted a turn to lay in it.

Here's Taj taking a nice little nap

Troy trying to reclaim his chair from me.

That afternoon we decided we'd better just suck it up and brave the colder temperature and just get in the water. We headed out for some tubing, wakeboarding, and surfing.

Blowing up the tubes.

Taj and Paul taking a ride

The girls going for it

Alison did a great job Wakeboarding

I wish I would have taken some pictures of Troy surfing, he really got the hang of it and managed to stay behind the boat for a really long time. By the end of it we were all freezing, but I think we were all happy we did it.

That night was our last night and we all just hung around the fire again trying to stay warm.

Please don't judge the fact that I am wearing capris, socks and flip flops. Hahaha I wasn't prepared for how cold it was!

We left Sunday morning just in time to shower up, pack and rush to the airport to fly to Hawaii!

We had an awesome time with our friends and hope to make it a tradition except next year we hope Tyler and Callie, April and Trevor, and Dan and Elizabeth will be able to make it!

Secondhand Serenade Concert

2009-09-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

Back in July, Troy and I headed out to Thanksgiving Point for the Secondhand Serenade concert. Before the concert we met up with Falisha and her boyfriend Scott as well as her roommate Sydney and her boyfriend Nate. We stopped at JCW's for some yummy dinner and were on our way to the concert.

Falisha's feet fit the BYU flip flops on the wall at JCW's perfectly!

The concert was outside and so everyone brought blankets and hung out until the show started.

Sweet pose guys!

This is how I pose with my little handicap husband!

The cute couple

Alright, so we got a little bit bored waiting for the next band so on the count of 3 each person had to flash a pose on the spot. This was Falisha's.

Scott's

Sydney's

Nate's

Troy's

And then there's mine.... I'm pretty sure I won for the ugliest pose..... who am I?

There were 3 opening bands:
"We Shot the Moon" - I really like these guys
"Parachute" - Awesome
and I really can't remember the third band so I guess they weren't that good.

After they had all played it was finally time for Secondhand Serenade. They put on a good show, but to be honest the main guy is kind of a try hard loser haha. Luckily I still enjoy his music.

There was practically no security at the concert and so Troy and I decided to see how close we could make it to the stage. We went to the side of the stage past all the tour buses and actually ended up climbing up on the side of the stage right beside the drummer! Haha it was a little ridiculous that nobody stopped us and nobody seemed to mind us being there, but we couldn't hear the music as well so we decided go back down.

Here's a shot from on the stage

It was a really fun night and I was really happy we went because it had been a long time since Troy and I had been to a concert together. It was also great to spend some time with Falisha and to get to know her cool boyfriend and friends.

Scroll down for post on trip to Canada

2009-08-06T15:24:00.000-07:00

I did it again... scroll down to see my new post.

Scroll Down for 4th of July Post

2009-08-05T10:39:00.000-07:00

I made a new post about the 4th of July, but since I started the draft on July 20th that's when it says I posted it. So if you want to read it, scroll on down!

Selfish Blogger

2009-08-04T14:34:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I'm a selfish blogger. I check for updates on my friends blogs a couple of times a day when I'm bored at work just hoping for a new post from someone. I have high expectations from everyone else and yet I'm terrible at posting to my own! How selfish of me!

Well don't you worry, I have a few posts in the workings so that I can make my fair share of contributions to the blogging world, you know, pull my weight in the relationship. I would have done them sooner, but my dang laptop has gone crazy, REALLY crazy and I've only had it for like 4 months. What the heck is that all about? Anyways it's getting fixed right now and I've been waiting to get some pictures off of it, but am going to just upload them to a different computer and make things happen.

Watch for future posts on:

The 4th of July Celebrations
My trip to Canada
A house update
The Secondhand Serenade concert

Fun things happening in August that will surely bring about new posts and pictures are:

Upcoming camping trip with friends
A trip to Hawaii
A trip to Lake Powell

Bring on the fun!

Some Friendly Advice

2009-08-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

So I went to take the laundry out of the dryer last night and instantly noticed that something was very wrong, not only did it smell a little funky, but the inside of my dryer was covered in BLACK! Then I spotted the culprit, a BROKEN SHARPIE PEN! The ink pad stick thing that's inside the marker had come out of the pen. There was another pen in there too, but luckily it hadn't opened.

Troy has a bad habit of leaving crap in his pockets, the usual scraps of shredded paper was enough to deal with, but this really topped it off. I mean COME ON!! How do you not know you have pens in your pocket?

I began to pull out the items of clothing and each and every one was speckled with black ink. I suppose it could have been worse, thankfully I had taken out the majority of my clothing to hang to dry, but I had a few shirts in there that are completely ruined. Most of Troy's clothes that were in there were his work t-shirts and shorts, nothing too important. I don't know if he was more upset about his clothes or his broken sharpie pen.

Even though it could have been worse, I'm still really annoyed about it. My biggest concern is that once the dryer gets heated up again the ink will rub onto more clothes and I REALLY need to do some whites.

So my advice to all my other newlywed friends out there who may not have learned this lesson yet for themselves is - CHECK YOUR HUSBAND'S PANT POCKETS BEFORE YOU DO THE LAUNDRY! You could tell them to do it themselves, but the chances of that happening are very slim. I suppose it's best to learn this lesson now, as I can only imagine the things I'll discover in my children's pockets some day.

Some other measures I can take are:
1. Never let my husband/children use any type of marker or pen
2. Never allow my husband/children to use crayons
3. Never allow my husband/children to own any chapstick
4. Never allow my husband/children to have anything that could possibly ruin our laundry

Haha we'll see how that works out.

Now I ask you for some advice! What should I do about all the ink in my dryer? Is there any way I can get some of it off so it won't get on to any future laundry? Any ideas?

Hello Canada!

2009-07-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

Troy and I were lucky enough to be able to head to Kelowna, British Columbia to visit my family at the beginning of July. My parents moved there last year and I hadn't really had a chance to spend much time there since then. Both my sisters and their families headed out there as well and my brother Uriah and his family live about 40 minutes from my parents. It was a happy little reunion except we were missing Gabe and his family and Noah. Maybe we'll get us all there next year.

We made it to Kelowna and I fell inlove. It is so beautiful there and I love where my parents live. They have a beautiful view that overlooks a vineyard and the okanagan lake. It was so much fun being with my family and it felt so good to be back in Canada.

This is the view from my parents place at night
(Please note that many of these photos are from my brother in law Paul - the photographer)

We did a lot of hanging out the first day because it was raining, but it was fun to catch up. We did manage to get out of the house for a quick trip to my parent's neighbors place to pick some cherries. They had loads of cherry trees and were happy to let us take some off their hands. They mentioned that it was a good idea to pick them before they got too ripe because they hadn't sprayed them for worms. We were sure to only pick the ones that didn't have any holes in them and went crazy eating away as we picked tons of them. We thought we were in heaven... that was until someone happened to notice a worm in their cherry that didn't have any holes in it. We all began to get a little nervous and started to break open some of the cherries we'd carefully picked. To our surprise, and COMPLETE DISGUST, 7 out of 10 of the cherries seemed to have little white worms squirming inside of them. I thought I was going to vomit. We had all eaten SO MANY! For those of you who know my mom and her frugal do not waste attitude you'd get a kick out of the fact that my mom tried to convince us that they were fine. HAHA I DON'T THINK SO MOM!! It was traumatizing, but we still managed to have a good time. I was trying to scare my neices and nephews into beleive that the worms can survive in your stomach for a week and can multiply. Haha they beleived me for a few minutes and were mortified! It will be a sad day when I can no longer trick those kids!

See how deceivingly delicious they looked?!

Haha this is my brother Uriah having the time of his life

Saylor and her cherry stained fingers

Denham and Lawson, these little punks were pelting us with cherries from up in the trees

Just after the discovery of the worms. I'm checking out my cherry and my sister Charity is doing the same thing behind me.

If you look closely you can see the little white worm on the left side of the cherry. YUCK, they were squirming all over!

Although I think most of us felt a little queezy we still managed to have a good attitude. Here's the group that went - all smiles.

The next day we headed to Vernon to hang out on the beach and went out on the boat. We did a little tubing and Troy even pulled out the water skis.

Troy picked this life jacket out all by himself!

That night we went to my brother's house for little Willow's baby blessing. I was really happy we were able to be there for that. Troy and I spent the night at Uriah's place and stayed up playing games with him and Christin. It was a lot of fun spending some time with them since we hadn't seen them in nearly a year.

Here's Christin and Willow

My sister Ariana and I.
Can you tell that she's 8 months pregnant here? I didn't think so.

One of the highlights was spending time with my adorable neice Ridley. She is too cute and too funny! Looks like the lazy eye gene has passed on! Haha I love this picture!

Another lovely highlight was when we woke up in the morning and noticed there were little white things on the counter surrounding the bag of cherries Christin and Uriah had picked the other day. Guess what they were? That's right, the worms had made it out of the cherries and through the plastic bag onto the counter. We were SO grossed out! I'm sure if my mom were there she would have said something like, "well there you have it, they've all crawled out so now you can eat them!" (She's going to kill me if she reads this... I love you mom!)

The next day we headed downtown in Kelowna for a nice walk along the boardwalk. It was really pretty down there.

My mom and my nieces

Thursday the 9th was my Troy-boy's 25th birthday! That's right, he's a quarter of a century! I made him a delicious breakfast and then we all sang happy birthday to him with 3 different songs. It was hilarious watching him squirm, he gets uncomfortable with all the attention! Haha! We all spoiled him with gifts and lots of candy and I think he was pretty happy with his goods! Later on we headed to the beach by my parent's place and spent the day laying out in the sun and having fun on the boat.

My Dad the captain

My sister Charity has a unique ability of manipulating anyone to do whatever she wants them to and by some miracle convinced my mom to join us tubing! Let me just say a few things to explain what a big deal this is! I can probably count on one hand how many times I've seen my mom in the water, it's a general rule that she won't get in unless it's about 80 degrees! The next thing is that my mom had never been tubing before and was absolutely terrified. We all got in the tube and my dad took off with my evil brother Uriah as his guide, there were a few very scary moments where we were going way too fast and even got some air. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

My mom screaming "NO!!"

A nice butt shot of Chairty

Now it's the boy's turn

I really like Troy's face in this one

After a fun day of being in the sun and some serious whiplash, we left the kids behind and went to dinner at cool German restaurant in peachland. They were having a Schnitzel buffet that night, Troy was all about it, but I opted for a delicious sandwhich instead. What a fun day!

Me and the birthday boy!

Dan and Charity

Paul and Ariana

Friday was another fun filled day. We headed out to Vernon again for a good time at a waterslide park. I figured it was going to be fun, but I didn't realize how much fun it was going to be! We had a blast! There was one slide in particular where everyone sits on on tube and goes down the slide together. There are a bunch of drops and then you are caught in a pool at the end of each one. As you come down you crash into the other people in each little pool. It was HILARIOUS! I came down right on top of Troy on one of them and my sister Ariana came down right after me and I got hurled out of my tube and had a heck of time trying to get back on while avoiding other crashes. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday was our last day and we headed to the beach again, this time we decided to go check out the high docks that were out in the water and once again Charity managed to convince me to jump in with her. It was kind of scary and freezing cold, but I'm happy I did it. We never made it to the super high ones, but we watched the boys and my fearless neices and nephews do it. I was impressed! We got home later that afternoon and packed up our stuff to get ready for the long ride home. We had decided to follow behind Dan and Charity and drive back through the night. I was REALLY sad to go and didn't want to say goodbye. I think it was a mixture of PMS and the fact that it was SO nice to be back in Canada and to be with my family and feel that sense of home that I had REALLY missed.

Here's all my nieces and nephews minus Kayla, Mercedes and Willow. They're awesome

The whole group

After a tear filled goodbye we were on our way. I was impressed with how long I lasted driving, I couldn't have made it without the red bull I drank and the sunflower seeds. My tongue was raw by the end of it!

It was such a great week and I was so grateful to be able to go. Thanks for all the fun family! I can't wait until next year!!!

4th of July Celebrations and Saylor's Baptism

2009-07-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

Because the 4th fell on a Saturday this year, we had the 3rd off from work. It was a beautiful long weekend and one that I was really looking forward to. I spent Friday doing birthday present shopping for Troy and then headed over to my sister-in-law Cassie's place to get my hair done. I lvoe getting my hair done!! That night we headed out to a golf course in Bountiful that does a huge fireworks show the night before the 4th every year. We met up with Troy's family there. It was a lot of fun, we had loads of food and just ate and hung out until the show started. I knew I wasn't going to get through the night without being made fun of for being Canadian, and of course the moment I walk up Troy's brother asks me what I'm doing there because I'm not American, real funny Nick! Even with the harassment I had a really fun night and the fireworks were awesome. Here are some photos from the night.

Troy and his dad Il-Craigo

Troy couldn't resist taking this photo of me, I had managed to sit directly in front of the American Flag and he thought this was a beautiful site. Haha. God Bless America.

The kids getting their glow sticks from Whitney

Jess and Nick with Sawyer and Hal

Claire Bear

Dominica and Ron

Troy and I had rode the scooter to the golf course and were sure happy we did as we wizzed past the long line of cars and people heading home. That place was crazy!

The next morning we headed out to Riverton to attend my niece Saylor's baptism. It was the first time that I've attended a stake baptism. I think there were 5 kids getting baptised that day and they actually have the system down pat. It was pretty interesting. Anyways, I was very proud of Saylor and she looked absolutely gorgeous. She's a really good girl and we love her very much.

After the baptism we headed over to my sister's place for a delicious lunch and party. Troy and I then headed over to his parents place for a fun 4th of July pool party and more delicious food! I ate WAY too much that day.

Troy and I spent the night getting ready for our big trip to Canada we were going on the next day. We didn't have time to go see the fireworks by our house, but we could sure hear them! It was a good weekend! I hope all my American friends and family had a great 4th of July, this country sure knows how to celebrate!!

Canada Day

2009-07-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

Alright so this is a little late, but I just wanted to pay tribute to my wonderful native land of Canada. For those of you who don't know, July 1st was Canada Day. Canada Day celebrates the anniversary of the British North America Act that took place on 1 July 1867 which united Canada as a single country. Although I wasn't able to be in Canada to celebrate, I was sure to remind all the Americans around me that it was my country's national holiday and showed my pride. Troy and I commemorated the day by singing the national anthem and going and getting a snow cone. Oh baby was it good!

(Meow!)

Although I seem to get made fun of relentlessly around these parts, I am very proud to be Canadian and to have been raised in such a beautiful country. No matter what happens, I will always consider myself to be Canadian.

Happy Birthday Canada!

Our House In The Making

2009-06-03T15:07:00.000-07:00

Troy has been hard at work the past couple of weeks and our house is coming along smoothly! It's been really crazy how fast things are moving!

We had planned on having a ground breaking ceremony, but we just ran out of time so Troy and I decided to just do one with the two of us one Monday night. We packed up a shovel and a bottle of Martinelli with some champagne glasses. I was actually happy that we were doing it alone and was looking forward to it all day. I was pretty dissapointed when we got there and saw that the hole for our house had already been dug out. Troy managed to forget to tell me that small detail.... needless to say I was a little bit irritated. I finally decided to just get out and shovel up some dirt anyways, even though the whole purpose of a "Ground Breaking" had been ruined. Troy had worn shorts and was getting attacked by misquitos so we had to go in the car and drink our Martinelli's. We sipped our drinks while listening to classical music on the radio and looked out on to what would soon be our home! It was quite the moment, not what I had expected but good just the same.

The celebration

Here are some pictures of the progress so far. They will begin framing this week. Thanks for all the hard work you've been doing Troy Boy! My husband is a Wizard.

Just after the cement was poured

On to the framing

The first floor is now completely framed and they are currently working on the second floor. It should be done by the end of this week! WOOOO BABY!!

School!!

2009-05-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

If I were a young arab boy, this is what I would look like right about now. I've been pretty busy the last couple weeks because I started my semester at Weber State. IT'S BEEN CRAZY! I'm doing the summer semester to be able to graduate sooner. I have school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I go to work the rest of the week. They're trying out a new summer program where they have split the semester into two 7 WEEK blocks. Yes, 7 weeks! I'm taking 3 classes the first block and on online class the second block. 7 weeks is not a lot of time to make it through an ENTIRE course and the teachers wasted no time in dishing out the homework. After only 2 weeks of classes I had my first exam in all 3 classes. YIKES! Talk about intense! I am now on to my 2nd round of exams and I feel like I barely finished the last ones! It's been tough to keep up, but I did pretty dang good on my first exams so that made me pretty happy and made all this craziness worth it.

My first day of school at Weber was a tough one for me, I began to really questioned why it was that I felt that this is the school I'm suppose to be going to and I was really homesick for BYU-Idaho. I got lost a couple of times, my books were beyond expensive and I didn't know a soul. Weber is so completely different and it will take some getting used to. Going to school in Utah is a pretty unique experience because everyone knows about the church here, member or not, and it comes up in the class discussions often, not always in the best of ways. On my first day there were already people bashing the church in my classes and that really would not happen anywhere else on a regular basis. It's pretty interesting. A couple guys shared stories where they were able to persuade some members to change their beliefs... please.

Well after class I had had enough, I broke down, shed some tears and cursed Troy for taking me away from BYU-I! Hehe! Once I realized I was being a bit dramatic I decided I just needed to look at this as a new adventure and make the most of it. Since then things have gotten a lot better and I'm starting to actually enjoy my classes, but just for the record my heart will always belong to BYU-I! I can't wait to brainwash my children into going to school there, just so I can have an excuse to go back! I'll be back Rexburg, oh yes, I'll be back!

Well anyways, just a couple more weeks and I'll be through this first block, hallelujia! I hope I can last and that Weber doesn't confuse and corrupt me too much.

Please offer 5 hail Mary's on my behalf.

Thank you.

Our Trip To Europe

2009-05-15T11:49:00.000-07:00

Well our trip to Europe has come and gone and it feels like it was forever ago! We left on April 22nd and came back on May 3rd and visited 3 countries during that time. It was a whirlwind of a trip, we were constantly on the go, but we loved every minute of it.

Here we go! It's gonna be a long one!

Our flights there:

We had some pretty eventful flights to kick start our trip. Our first flight was from Salt Lake to Newark, I think it was about four hours. As we were finding our seats on the plane we walked past this guy who was spitting off all these random facts and was showing off his oscar that was very worn, anyone seen the movie Rainman with Dustin Hauffman? Well this was the real life rainman the movie was based on! That was pretty cool! Next up was our 9 hour flight to Frankfurt, Germany. As we were waiting to board our flight we realized we had a very diverse group of passengers on our plane. There was a big group of orthodox jews, a big group of germans all with matching cowboy hats (returning home from Texas) and a large amount of heavy metal junkies. Apparently there was a Heavy Metal Festival going on in Germany so we were on the flight with about 5 different bands going to the same festival. These guys were all old balding guys with nasty strangly long hair, and fading tattoos all still holding on to the dream. Long story short, it was pretty much the flight from hell. I was tired and they were drunk, loud and foul. Towards the end of the flight I couldn't take it anymore and basically told one of them to shut up. DON'T MESS WITH ME WHEN I'M TIRED MAN!!!

This is me passing out in the Frankfurt Airport... soooo tired!

So we finally made it to Frankfurt and my bag happened to be one of the last ones to come out and we ended up missing our shuttle to Heidelburg. The worst part about it was the fact that Troy had told me a million times not to check my bag because "Something is going to go wrong". I had perfect faith in the baggage system and told him he was crazy if he thought I was going to bring a carry on bag for our 12 day trip to Europe! Well of course, it turns out that MY CHECKED BAG was the reason we missed our shuttle. Man I hate it when he's right. To top it all off the shuttles only come once every hour and when we went to take the next one it was FULL! We ended up waiting for TWO HOURS at the airport for a stinkin shuttle because of MY CHECKED BAG. I REALLY hate it when he's right.

Germany:

We finally made it to Heidelberg and it is was more beautiful than I remembered. We had an awesome time touring around with my family over there. My cousin took us around the first day and then we met up with his daughter Lara and we toured the castle and then had a delicious german meal at her mom's. It was a great time.

The second day my Uncle and Aunt took us around to all the surrounding towns and little castles and we had a great time. We were sure to stop by the super market and load up on delicious chocolate and candy. I just love Germany so much, I think it's one of my favorite places. It's SOOO beautiful, everything there is just so well kept and clean and it has such an enchanting charm, I just love it! It could just be the German in me coming through bringing me back to my roots. I have to say that the whole time I was there I missed my Mom a lot. It just didn't seem right to be there without her and I know she was probably pretty jealous that we were hanging out with her family. Speaking of her family I just have to say how incredibly sweet they were to us. They did everything they could to make sure we had a good time and were taken care of. My uncle also told me a lot about my ancestors and that was really neat to hear. I was pretty sad to say goodbye to them and hope to see them again soon!

With my sweet aunt and uncle

Paris:

We took an awesome train ride from Germany to Paris, the scenery was incredible! Once we got to Paris Troy and I had a fun time trying to figure out how to get to our hotel from the Train Station. Without the travel book my sister Charity gave me for my birthday we would have been completely hopeless, it was a life saver! Our hotel was perfect and it was right in the middle of the city by the Opera House. It was called Hotel Choiseul Opera and we would would reccommend it to everyone!

Our first destination was the Eiffel Tower, the thing I was most eager to see in Paris. It was awesome! We climbed 700 stairs to the second level and it was an amazing view! They had all kinds of fun facts to read and cool displays up there, we had a lot of fun! This thing is HUGE, in fact Troy and I lost each other for about a half hour and we were both a little worried, well I was worried, Troy was just mad! Haha oopsies!

The next day we went to the Louvre, this place was UNREAL! It is a GIANT palace and the palace alone would have been a sight to see, but it was full of some of the most beatiful and historic art. We could have been there for days, but after 4 hours I was so tired and wanted to get out. We were trying to find our way out and were having a hard time, at one point I started to panic a little because we kept thinking we'd made it to the exit, but we actually hadn't even gotten close and I needed out ...NOW!

We FINALLY got out and headed over to the Notre Dame cathedral and that was pretty cool. After that we went on a little boat tour down the Seine River, it was a lot of fun and luckily it had a glass canopy on top because it started to pour! The next day we walked through some really pretty parks and went to see the L'Arc de Triomphe and then we were on our way to to catch another shuttle to the airport to fly to Rome!

Rome:

We got to Rome after midnight and needed to take another shuttle to get to the city center. We were pretty tired and HUNGRY! One of my best friends, Elena, happens to live in Rome with her husband, Vince. They were nice enough to come pick us up from the bus station and we stayed at their place. It didn't take long for Elena and I to start reminiscing and laughing our heads off!

The next day we slept in a bit and then discovered a market near the apartment and enjoyed some fresh fruit and some italian treats. After our brunch we headed over to the Colosseum and took a tour that was pretty interesting! I learned a lot. That night we went out to an awesome pizzaria in this random little neighborhood with Elena and Vince. It was the best pizza I have ever tasted! It was a lot of fun to spend time with them and we followed up our pizza with what else... gelato!! We seriously ate it daily! SOOO GOOD!

At the Colosseum

The next day Troy and I went to the Vatican. Elena and Vince's apartment is just 2 blocks or so from the Vatican. We went and lined up in this giant winding line for about an hour. There was this lady who seemed to be looking for someone and worked her way up the line until she was right in front of us and stayed there. I figured it wasn't a big deal until next thing we knew she was lifting the rope and letting about 25 people cut in the line with her!!! NOT COOL! Turns out she was with a tour group and I have a feeling this wasn't the first time she pulled that trick. I was really annoyed at this point, but it was no use yelling at these poeple because they didn't speak english or at least were pretending they didn't. Once we got in it turned out to be a lot more expensive than we expected and there were no maps or anything to show you where you were going or what you were looking at, which also really annoyed me. Then to add to the equation the place was just CRAWLING with people! It took me some time to get over my bad mood, but I finally forgot all about it once I was able to take in some of the incredible art in the place. It was beautiful. Interesting fact: The Vatican City happens to be it's own Nation and is one of the smallest in the world. The citizens have to show their passport to the guards to get in and they even have their own currency. Who knew??

Inside the Vatican

This is at St. Peter's Chapel where the pope gives his sermons every Wednesday. It was beautiful!

That night we left on a spontaneous trip to the coast and stayed with a friend of Elena and Vince. We caught a ferry in the morning and headed to a little coastal town named Amalfi. It was the most perfect little Italian town with the homes built into the mountains! I loved it and it was fun to see the ocean! That night we had dinner at Vince's family's place and they were just the cutest people! They actually had lived in Calgary for several years so it was nice to have something in common. After dinner we drove all the way back to Rome.

On the Ferry to Amalfi

This is Amalfi! Isn't it gorgeous??

Eating Gelato of course!

Elena and I

The next day was our last day in Italy and we spent it running around seeing some more tourists spots. We went to the Spanish steps, the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. It was a really fun day and we were really sad to have it all come to an end and have to say goodbye. Elena and Vince dropped us off at the bus station and we made plans for a reunion in 2012!

At the Trevi Fountain

We hopped on a plane to Frankfurt, spent the night in a hotel and flew home the next day. It was an awesome trip and we really had a blast! Thanks to everyone who helped make this trip possible for us! It was a dream come true! I sure hope we can go back someday!

*We took a lot more video than we did photos so maybe I'll post some of those another time.

Bathroom Etiquette

2009-04-10T13:51:00.000-07:00

Alright, I just came from the bathroom at work and I happen to be a little irritated. I really hate it when someone comes in and goes in the stall RIGHT beside me when we are the ONLY TWO people in there and there are about 10 other stalls to choose from!!! This just happened to me, but to top things off this lady then proceeded to take a doo doo while humming some cheerful little song! HAVE YOU NO SHAME WOMAN?? Not cool lady, not cool at all.

A. Have some decensy to put a little distance between me and your horrible stench

B. Do not hum/grunt through a song while you're doing your business beside someone else.

C. What the HE%% did you eat last night?

I apologize for my crudeness, but you really have to put up with a lot in the bathrooms here and I'VE HAD IT!!

Me No Irregal!

2009-04-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

Well I had my immigration interview this morning and I was REALLY nervous about it. They send you the appointment notification with a list of all kinds of documents to bring with you, a lot of it was unclear and I was really worried that we wouldn’t have what we needed and my green card application would get denied.
Troy and I woke up early to go to his office and make copies of document after document just in case we needed them. We brought everything we could think to prove that we were legit, we brought bank statements and insurance statements, our wedding album, I was even tempted to take a giant frame off our wall that had a bunch of pictures of us from our dating days! Haha I didn’t though!

We got to the immigration office at 7:30 am and there were already a lot of people there from all over the world. You walk in and a security guard asks you for your appointment notice and then you have to put all your things on a belt thing like they have at the airport and then walk through a metal detector. Haha Troy didn’t pass because he had a knife on his keys! Hahaha good one Troy! He had to take it off and go leave it in the car.

After walking in I understood why they didn’t allow knives, that place could cause anyone to panic and start stabbing everyone! It’s not what I would call warm and welcoming, the waiting area is just a big white room with chairs and the occasional government poster. The government might as well just put a giant sign on the door that says GO BACK TO YOUR OWN COUNTRY! WE DON’T WANT YOU HERE! It was scary and there was definitely a lot of tension in the room. For all I knew Troy and I were about to be separated FOR LIFE!

Our names got called and we were brought into a woman’s office, she was actually quite friendly and suddenly I wasn’t so scared of being deported until the first thing she asked me for was my license and I realized I had left my wallet at Troy’s office. DANG IT! It also had my employment card, my birth certificate and my social security number in it. OOPSIES! Luckily she was really nice about it and moved on with the interview asking us how we met and if I’d ever been involved in prostitution (I said no). It really wasn’t as scary as I thought! After a few more questions and showing a couple of documents, she said all we needed to do was bring in copies of the documents I was missing and after that we would receive my green card within 7 to 10 days. Yes, I did just say 7 – 10 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe it?? Well maybe you can because you don’t know this process, but I was told this could take at least a YEAR and we had just applied in December!! I was also told that things were backed up and so I wasn’t expecting to get it anytime soon! This is GREAT news! In another 7-10 days I will not have to worry about immigration things for another two years (when I will have to go through a whole other application process for a permanent green card). I will also be able to come and go from the United States as I please and will not be trapped here! Although it’s been stressful and a lot of work, not to mention expensive, I’m very impressed with how quickly this all went!

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

I got Tagged

2009-04-04T08:05:00.000-07:00

Alright so here it is Amy! My sixth picture from my sixth folder! Aint it a beauty? I laughed when I realized this was going to be it. I performed in a show called Broadway Review in College and I was a nasty old theatre critic who sang "I Hate Musicals". This was my costume, saggy boobs, front bum and all!

Alright so the six people I tag are Suzanne, Megan, Whitney, Jessica, Cassie and Angie. Those are the only other people who have ever commented on my blog so I don't know if anyone else even looks at it to realize they've been tagged. SO there it is ladies. Go to your pictures on your computer and post your sixth picture from your sixth folder. Can't wait to see what you come up with!!

Europe Here We Come!!

2009-04-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

Troy and I are heading to Europe at the end of the month and couldn’t be more excited about it! We were initially supposed to go on a cruise last month through Troy’s work, but I had to get special permission to leave the U.S. because I’m in the process of getting a green card and I’m not supposed to leave. Sadly that permission came the day AFTER the deadline for the cruise. I was pretty sad, but my spirits were lifted when I found out we could use the money for a trip somewhere else if we wanted! We decided there would be more opportunities to go on other cruises and so Europe was our first pick! We were able to find flights for $580 so why not?! Most of you know that my mother Waltraud (A.K.A Traudi, Voltron, The Traudster) is from Germany and her family still lives over there. Family in Germany = free place to stay and good company! So our first stop in Europe will be Heidelberg, Germany. This is the gorgeous and charming town my mom grew up in. We’ll be staying with my uncle Edgar and aunt Barbel and I’m really looking forward to seeing all my family there because it has been about 10 years! Heidelberg is an old college town and so there are a lot of fun things to do.

Our next stop is PARIS! La ville d’amour! I have been dreaming of going to France for a long long time. I’ve grown up speaking French and cannot wait to go experience the real deal. They will likely make fun of my French Canadian accent, but I’ll deal with it. So the plan is to take the train from Heidelberg to Paris. I’m really excited for the ride because it will surely be a gorgeous view. We will only be staying in Paris for two days and will be making a mad dash to try and see everything we want to. Let me know if any of you have any suggestions of the top things to go see. It’s gonna be rushed, but it’s gonna be great!

Our next destination is ROME! Italy has always been a big one on my list of places to go. Luckily I happen to have one of my best friends living with her husband in the center of Rome! We HAD to take advantage of that! Friend in Rome = Free place to stay and awesome company. I have to say that as excited as I am to see Rome I think I am even MORE excited to see my friend Elena and to meet her husband Vince. Elena has the ability to make me laugh like no one I have ever met, she has got to be one of my most favorite people in the world and I just cannot wait to see her again. It’s been a good 4 years! It’s gonna be awesome! After four days in Rome we’ll fly back to Frankfurt and fly home from there.

I wish we had a some more time, but Troy and I can’t be away from work for much longer than the 12 days. I guess I can’t complain. I’m just happy to be going and now I have the permission from the U.S. government and a brand new Canadian Passport so I can! WOOOO! Life is good!

Getting Older Sucks - Women Against Aging!

2009-03-25T11:31:00.000-07:00

So I’m coming to some sad realizations that I’m growing up. Listen, there are some pretty great things about being older and maybe I’ll make another post about the happy things another day, but today I’m going to focus on some negative ones because that’s just the kind of mood I’m in.

Do you remember the good ol’ days when in your mind you were virtually invincible? Do you remember when your body was hardly affected by anything and you could just bounce back in no time? The days when you could stay up all night eating every form of junk food imaginable and still be able to function the next day? Well those days seem to be slowly fading from my memory.

I’ve recently had my 24th birthday and it’s really hitting me that time is going fast and that in a blink of an eye I could be that older lady with the front bum, saggy boobs and wildly outdated style. What a SCARY thought! I realize that some of you who are reading this are older than me, I realize that I could be being a little dramatic here and that I’m “Still Young” and “Only 24!” or “Haven’t Seen Anything yet”. Let us not point fingers today and compare who’s older or younger, who’s boobs are saggier, who’s stretch marks are larger or who has the most obvious wrinkles. Let us join together today as WOMEN of all ages AGAINST AGING!

Now for my rant of reasons why getting older SUCKS! Maybe some of you will be able to relate.

Alright, so it makes me REALLY mad/sad that I can no longer get away with eating what I want when I want it and not have to deal with the repercussions. I have been lucky and have never really had to worry about my weight much, I was never crazy skinny, but I was a good healthy size and I was happy with it. Well that healthy size has since turned into not so healthy or cute for that matter! Suddenly those fries I love to eat are catching up with me and my butt is strangely beginning to mimic the texture of that berry crisp I ate over the weekend. I blame this on my age and my slowing metabolism. CURSE YOU!!! It really makes me mad, because it’s not going to be an easy change for me to suddenly be cautious of every calorie that enters my body and it’s not going to be easy to fit a good work out into my schedule. The more I worry about it, the more I want to eat! I love food and I love being lazy! There, I said it! It’s just not fair and I know it’s just going to get worse! Getting older SUCKS!

It really bugs me that I now have to be so conscious about every aspect of my health. I couldn’t have cared less about my health when I was a teenager, but now there are so many illnesses, conditions and unwanted physical features that haunt me that I’m forced to change my ways! Cancer seems to loom around every corner, I’m always feeling around for suspicious lumps and bumps! I drink more milk out of fear that my bones are going to break, yet not too much because I don’t want to get fatter! I now worry each time I crack my fingers or back that I am setting myself up for crippling arthritis! I’ve become a fan of anything pomegranate, blueberry and any other berry they seem to be coming up with these days because of the “Antioxidants”, I DON’T EVEN REALLY KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!!! I have never been real great at washing my makeup off at night, I generally just wait to wash it off in the shower the next morning, now I worriedly examine my face after being told that this is going to cause early signs of aging! I drink an annoying amount of water each day at work causing me to pee practically every hour because I want my skin to be healthy, young and moisturized and I want my metabolism to speed up. I’m getting more into the habit of flossing my teeth each day because I’m terrified of having to get dentures by the age of 30! I could go on, but you get my point! I swear all this worrying is going to put me into an early grave, WHICH IS THE THING I’M TRYING TO AVOID IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!!! Man, it SUCKS getting older!

I know, I still have so much more to look forward to! The after-baby-body, the varicose veins, the wrinkles, my nose and ears getting bigger (Seriously? WHY DOES THIS EVEN HAPPEN?), the floppy relief society arms and I can’t forget the menopause. Aren’t I lucky. All I have to say is that it’s a good thing that Heavenly Father gives us some things to be happy about in between all this CRAP, but I don’t feel like talking about happy things today. I’m sorry if this post has depressed you, it’s been a rough day. Please feel free to join me in my rage against aging!

Weber State here I come

2009-03-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

I've been accepted to Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. I'm pretty happy about it because I really just want to finish school and Weber has a great organizational communications program. I'm starting in May and only have 3 semesters to go and I'm done!

There was a while there when Troy and I were planning on getting married that I thought I could be content with just having my associates degree. I knew that Troy would be graduating from BYU-Idaho and that I wouldn't be able to finish there and I really couldn't imagine going to school anywhere else! After I thought about it for a while I realized that it really was important to me to finish, I am so close to being done! I was so heartbroken to have to leave BYU-I, but I decided to look at other school's websites and programs. When I got to Weber State's website I had an overwhelming feeling that this was the school I was suppose to go to and that I needed to get my degree. During the transfer process I was really worried I was going to lose a lot of the credits that I had received for the classes relating to my major, but things could not have gone smoother and people have been REALLY helpful! As different as this school is going to be from BYU-I, I am really looking forward to the experience.

Going to University has really been an awesome experience for me, I have gained so much confidence in my abilities and I've learned so much about myself. I have had so much fun and have made so many awesome memories with some great friends. I'm really grateful to have had the chance to get an education and in a year from now I'll be getting ready for graduation with a bachelor's degree! I can't wait!

We're Building A House

2009-03-21T21:53:00.000-07:00

It's true, Troy and I are building a home! How crazy is that? We're building an adorable little house in West Bountiful, Utah. It's been a lot of fun coming up with ideas for our floor plans and thinking about the ideal home, there's a lot to consider! I have to admit that Troy has been the brains behind most of it! Really when it came down to it my main concern was the size of my closet and kitchen!

The final copy of our floor plans are just about finished and then we'll start taking bids on the different jobs and get to work! I can't tell you how excited I am. I cannot believe that this is actually happening, I never thought that we would be taking such a huge step so early on in our marriage, but we figured now is really the best time to be doing this and take advantage of the market. We got a great deal on our land and will be able to get great deals on the labor because so many people need the work. I guess it's time to grow up!!

There are so many great things going on in our lives right now that it just blows me away how blessed we are. I truly feel completely undeserving of all our blessings and hope I show my proper appreciation to the Lord. Life really is just so great right now.

So the plan is to begin building within the next month or so and be in the house by November. I just can't wait! I just keep picturing the exciting years ahead of us in this home of ours. I think of our family starting and growing and many firsts taking place in this home. I think of our kids running through the rooms and many fun memories being created there! I have so many high hopes for the kind of home this will be and I just get so excited. I want it to be a home of love, comfort, fun, laughter, learning, happiness and friendship. I want it to be a home where the door is always open and where people are always welcome. I'm just so excited and will do my best to make sure it is all these things!

Here's an idea of what our house is going to look like.

Isn't it cute??

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Salmon - Yes my name is now Jemaica Salmon...

2009-03-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

Many of you already know our story due to the fact that it was all I could talk about for a good year, or maybe you were actually there to witness the many ups and downs of our relationship, but for the rest of you, here it is! I'll try to keep it as entertaining as possible.

Troy and I first met in November of 2006. He was actually dating a girl I had become friends with in one of my classes at BYU-Idaho. Her and I were working in the Library on a group project and Troy decided to come and take her to lunch. She introduced us and the three of us sat and spoke for a little while as we made some final touches to our project and I ranted about the computer I was using and how angry it was making me. Troy just sat there and laughed at me, I was sure he thought I was a crazy person, but surprised me when he blurted out how he HAD to set me up with his best friend Paul. I of course said yes because, let's face it, I was desperate. No offense Paul :)

Well we ended up going on a couple double dates, but things didn't pan out with Paul romantically and Troy and his girlfriend ended up breaking things off also . Throughout it all some great friendships were being formed and I started hanging out with the guys more and more. Off and on Troy and I would find each other harboring feelings for one another, but they never went anywhere because we were sure the other was not interested. I still remember the time Troy told me I was an "Attractive Girl". My stomach flip flopped and my mind quickly raced to the thoughts of romance, hand holding, and wedding bells... until I was rudely awakened by another thought saying "Snap out of it Jemaica, it was just a friendly compliment" oh but I was wrong!! So our friendship blossomed when a group of us headed to Nampa, Idaho for a little weekend getaway.

Turns out Troy was hoping for a little action that weekend, but never got it! Haha! By the time the summer break came I considered Troy a good friend and had a baby crush on him. And by baby crush I really mean I secretly registered for a class I knew he was taking in the fall! Hehe! Oh come on, you know you've thought about it!

I was ecstatic to find out that Troy and Paul were coming to Canada for a visit at the end of the summer. I showed them around Calgary and went to Banff for some camping. We had a blast and Troy and I were flirting like mad, I was SO excited.

Well by the time Troy left Canada I was pretty sure we were going to start dating and we were only a week away from starting a new semester and seeing each other again. That week could not have gone any slower for me. When I got to Rexburg I had realized that I had left my cell phone back in Canada and so it took me some time to be able to get a hold of Troy. Turns out he had texted me a few times and was really bummed out when I never wrote back. We finally got a hold of each other and basically hung out every day the rest of that week. Our first "Date" was a funny transition from the friends zone to something more. Troy and I were just hanging out after class and decided we were hungry and would go grab something to eat, next thing I knew he was opening my doors and paying for my food! I thought, wow this is new! It took

Troy about two weeks to actually make a move, I remember going home to my roommates every night and they would ask me if something had happened and I would dramatically drop to the floor and so NO! I jokingly asked them to remember me in their prayers. Later I found out that one actually really did pray that Troy would do something, I guess she hadn't gotten to know my sense of humor quite yet! Well the first hand holding happened at one of my roommates soccer games, I mentioned that my hands were freezing and Troy took the opportunity and warmed them up for me! The first kiss took place after a marshmallow fight, it was all over us and we went to the bathroom to clean up. I guess I had a little marshmallow on my lip that Troy to the liberty of helping me with!

Things were great and we were super happy until about a month in when Troy started to get a little freaked out. You see Troy had some serious commitment issues and this was usually about the point in a relationship where he would take off running! Well let's just say I had tied his shoelaces together so he didn't get far! We worked things out and kept going. We usually had to deal with his anxiety attacks on a monthly basis, but still kept going. I would just tell myself he was scared because he knew I was the one... it made me feel better ok? So this went on for 5 months at which point Troy couldn't take it anymore, his anxiety got the best of him and we broke up. I was devasted, I had been sure we were going to get married and we had already been talking about it. It was a huge shock for everyone and for the next two months I went through life like a depressed zombie. It all seemed like a bad dream. Suddenly Troy started to show up in places and we were "running into" each other a lot more often and talking and flirting again, I loved it and hated it all at the same time. One day I snapped, it was just getting way too hard and I drove to his apartment so we could talk. I told him I couldn't keep doing this anymore because my heart was still too invested in him and I wanted to be able to say hello when I saw him and that was all. Well after some more talking Troy came out and told me how he missed me and would find excuses to run into me and couldn't stop thinking about me! Suddenly we were hugging and it felt as if I just woke up from a really horrible nightmare and everything was going to be ok!

Slowly but surely things got back to normal again and they were better than ever. Troy was sure he wanted to be with me and was planning his proposal. I had gone back home to Canada for another summer, but I was sure now that we were going to get married. Troy went and got a ring and was planning to surprise me one weekend in Calgary, but I ended up finding out about the surprise and told him because I felt so guilty. He was so mad at me! He decided at that moment that the only way he was going to catch me off guard was if he came the next day. So the next morning he got up way early and spoke to my parents on the web cam to ask my dad's permission (they were on their mission in Indonesia at the time, but were about to get home) and went and picked up my ring, went to one class and jumped in the car to start his long drive. He covered all his bases so I would have no clue. It was 10 p.m. on a Thursday night and I was waiting for Troy's usual phone call and decided that I would do my nails in case he decided to come surprise me the next day. I wanted my nails to look good with my ring! Next thing I knew there was a knock on the door and I was thinking who on earth could that be? I opened the door and there he was on one knee and he BLURTED out "Will you marry me?" It was a great surprise!

We had a reception in Calgary the week before we got married and were married in the Salt Lake City Temple on August 15th. It was a gorgeous day and had a reception in his parents backyard that night. It was all so perfect!

Troy and I went on our honeymoon at Zion's National Park and Las Vegas. We had a blast.

I began my internship at the church headquarters and Troy began working for his family's HVAC company right away and suddenly we've been married for 7 months! Life is pretty great right now and it's only getting better!!

I'm really impressed with those of you who are still reading this. You must really like me! I mostly just wanted to have our story down in writing! I hope you enjoyed it!!

Life in Rexburg

2007-04-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures to give you a feel for what my life is like in Rexburg.

This is me hard at work at my desk in the Internship office on campus. I love my job!

This is my roommate Keri. She just got her mission call to Frankfurt, Germany. Man I'm going to miss her!

This was a little late night escape to Denny's in Idaho Falls during the last week of school.

Cute shot with some of the girls in my ward. Tonya, Alyson, Erin and Tiffany.

Hanging out at the Pinnacle office.

My roommate Alyson and I. This girl is hilarious!

Causing a little trouble! Haha I love this picture! That's a firecracker...

Playing Lazer Tag in the Benson Building on campus. So fun!

This was on Valentine's day. I played a little prank on Angie and put up this poster in the building we work in. People were congratulating her all week! Hahaha

Partying it up Karaoke Revolution style!

Me and Angie. I love this girl!

Some more roommates. There's Keri again, then Sally and Carrie. We're squished in the back of a car.

I sure love the college life!

PICTURES!!

2007-04-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few pictures from last weekend. I was in Utah for conference and had some fun playing with the kiddies! It was a great weekend, I was lucky enough to have tickets to the Saturday morning session and it was so awesome! I loved actually hearing the Tabernacle Choir sing in person, it was great! I'm in Utah again right now so you can expect to see more pictures of the kids in the near future.

My Exciting News!!

2007-04-06T21:25:00.000-07:00

Ok so here it is!! I got my very own first car ever!!! It's a '93 Acura Integra and I love it!! I can't tell you how awesome it is to have a car now! It's only been a week but it's be a week of pure bliss! The best feeling was just after I got it, I woke up one morning and was thinking about all the errands I had to run that day and started to think about who I would have to ask to drive me around and then it hit me... Wait a second I HAVE A CAR!!! SO great!
The car has some quirks and I've already had some pretty adventurous experiences with it haha, but in my eyes it's flawless and I'm so happy! Freedom at last!
I'd like to send a special shout out to my Mom and Dad for helping me out! Thanks guys!!!

BORING!!!!

2007-04-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

Alright so I've just come to the realization that my blog is boring.
I need to do better at updating this thing! I promise that I will have a new post with new pictures very soon and I will reveal my exciting news! I'm starting to think that it's going to be a dissapointment to some people but I'm sure excited about it! Let's just clear some stuff up right off the bat, I am not engaged, in fact I am still very single. I have not won any great prizes or vacations and I have not yet become famous... not yet! So with all that out of the way I'll leave you for a little while longer to wonder what it could be, just until I get a chance to load my pictures on my computer that is!

Well moving on, can I just tell you how much I hate that last week of the semester! It's killer! Not only do you have to study like crazy for your exams and finish up final projects but you also have to worry about packing everything up and cleaning the entire apartment for white glove. It's an intense week that I just dread so I'm procrastinating as usual! I'm leaving as soon as I'm finished with my exam on Thursday night and I'm heading to Utah to watch my sister Charity's four kids for 7 days as her and husband enjoy themselves in Mexico! It should be a lot of fun! Some people are a little worried for me and I think Charity is terrified I'm going to hate her children by the end of the week but I mean come on! How hard could it be? I'll just bribe them with candy and ice cream sundaes every night!! They'll love me even more than they already do!! Man I'm going to be the best mom! Haha! But seriously, I'm looking forward to spending time with my little monkeys before going home to Calgary for the whole summer! We're going to have a blast!

2007-03-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

Well not a whole lot is new but it has been a while since I've posted anything so I figured I'd throw on a few pictures and give a little update. Things have been going well, I'm just as busy as ever! This is my last week of classes before my finals week and I am blown away by how quickly this semester has gone! It's out of control! They've shortened our semesters here by a few weeks and I didn't realize what a difference it would make! It's been short but sweet and I'm kind of relieved to get a break from classes for a little while. Here's a few pictures of me and my old roommates from last semester Carly, Nadia and Kate. This was at a slam dunk contest the other week. Stay tuned for another post next week... I'll have some exciting news to share!!!

Ridley Sage Kane

2007-03-09T11:13:00.000-08:00

Isn't she just the cutest?! I just wanted to show off my youngest niece Ridley. She's Uriah and Christin's baby! I hadn't even seen a picture of her since the beginning of November and Christin finally just sent me one. I just think she is so unbelievably adorable that I had to post this picture for everyone to see! I have some pretty dang cute nieces and nephews! I have no idea how my future children are ever going to compete! I guess they'll always be cute to me right?? Anyways enjoy! If you want to see another one of my cuties go check out little Kayla on Gabe and Estelle's blog! Aw I love them!

So I'm 22...

2007-03-09T11:00:00.000-08:00

It's true. I have officially turned 22! last weekend was pretty jam packed! Not only did my sister and niece come to visit and I performed in a show but I also had a birthday on Sunday! It was probably one of the best birthdays I've had in a few years! My roommates spoiled me with a delicious dinner and FOUR different birthday cakes! We had a bunch of people over that night and it was just a lot of fun to visit with all my friends and play some games. The highlight of my day probably was when my parents called me from Indonesia since I hadn't spoken to them in a few months. It was also a treat to speak to all my brothers and sisters! Thanks to everyone who dropped me a line and made it a special day!

Broadway Review

2007-03-09T10:03:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I performed in a show here on campus called Broadway Review. You basically just pick a song you'd like to perform from a musical and audition with it. I sang "Broadway Baby" from the musical "Follies". It happened to be during Mother's weekend, where tons of mom's come to visit their kids at school and there is a bunch of different shows and entertainment put on for them. Since my mom is on the other side of the world right now my sister Charity kindly filled in and stayed for the weekend with my niece Liberty. It was a lot of fun and I'm really grateful they came and supported me! Here's a few pictures, one is with my old roommate Kate who played the piano for me and the other one is of me with my sister and niece.

And so it begins!

2007-02-28T08:43:00.000-08:00

Well this is my first blog and I don't really know what I'm doing! I guess I'll just fill everyone in on what I've been up to lately.
I'm currently at school at BYU-Idaho in Rexburg. I'm having a blast here and although initially it was a shock to live in such a small mormon town, I've really grown to love it! I'm majoring in Communications with an Organizational/Human Resources emphasis. I can happily now say that I am a Sophomore in school as I am currently in my third semester! I hated telling people I was a Freshmen because they automatically assumed I was 18 years old and fresh out of High School! I still think I'm the oldest female sophomore on campus, good thing I don't act like it!
It's been a really busy semester and I'm on the go for at least 9 hours everyday before I get to go home and relax for a bit before I take off again for something else! I work every morning on campus at the school's internship office. I'm a student secretary and I really enjoy my job and the people I work with. I'm also a Director over student involvement in a society on campus called the Newel K. Whitney Society which basically overlooks the other associations and societies on campus. I'm getting a lot of great experience from my involvement there and it is geared directly to my major so it's been really great!
Well that's pretty much the main part of my life right now! Things are going really well for me and I'm really trying to live this time of my life to it's fullest. I've made some great friends here and have had a lot of fun but I really miss my friends and family at home and am looking forward to going back to Calgary in a month and a half!
Well, until next time...