Val's Muses

Weight Loss Challenge Day 1

2012-02-01T12:08:00.001-07:00

Well, today is day one of my Fit Mom's For Life Weight Loss Challenge. I'm following the program designed by Dustin Maher for moms who want to be able to keep up with their kids! I'll just be posting a little update with how it is going every week. It's only a 21 day challenge but I'll be following his program for a while, afterward, I think.

My week 1 goal is to not eat any candy or sweets! I have a true problem with that so hopefully I can be successful!

The week 1 goal of the whole group is to read something fun for at least 10 minutes. Those that know me will know that I read all the time so that's not problem for me!

I'm doing the 21 day weight loss challenge!

2012-01-30T12:47:00.002-07:00

I'm going to be posting about once a week on a weight loss challenge I'm doing starting February 1! So stay tuned for those posts!

***I/We are using Dustin Maher’s Fit Mom’s For Life Program. To learn more please visit Fit Mom’s For Life.*** All opinions are my own.

Christmas

2012-01-23T20:00:00.002-07:00

Well, it's been a while but I'll be writing some posts to update! We spent Christmas in Virginia with Brady's parents. It was a fun trip! We spent the first week helping his parents do some things in their kitchen. They are remodeling it and needed Brady's strapping muscles for some projects. We went to an art gallery that first week too. Christmas was really fun. We went to Church for an hour and then came home and opened the presents. Lily kind of got into opening them, but she still didn't really know what she was doing. I got Brady a really cool techie jacket and the big present I got is a food processor! I LOVE it. I also borrowed a book from my mother-in-law called the Sneaky Chef. It just gives you ways to incorporate veggies and healthy stuff into everyday recipes. The food processor has helped a ton with making the things for that!

Lily's first plane ride!

There were these cute little carts at one of the grocery stores.

Nap time!

Christmas!

Brady's techie jacket.

We went to the National Zoo the day after Christmas

Lily really liked the small mammal house because their cages were lower so she could see them really well.

Brady and I were able to go on a date while we were there. We saw the new Sherlock Holmes (awesome!) and went to this cool restaurant that had great chicken sandwiches. We also got a present from his parents for Christmas to go to Much Ado About Nothing - a play that was going on in DC and set in Cuba. It was actually really awesome!

It was a great vacation! We spent a lot of nights watching recorded Christmas movies (which I love) and just hanging out.

We've Got a Climber on Our Hands!!

2011-12-01T00:51:00.001-07:00

Lily has recently acquired the skill to climb things. And she couldn't be prouder! Even if it is a lid to a plastic tub, she stands on it as if she couldn't be cooler. Unfortunately, she also likes to get on higher things too. Here are some photos of what she has climbed up lately:

A cart at IKEA (She was treated to a trip around the store which ended in her just rolling off onto the ground...)

The ladder - She's very helpful.

She got on top of this empty box and then fell into it.

She loves to get on her strollers and "ride" them like a chariot.

The wagon she got for her birthday. She gets in it and then rocks back and forth to move it. So dangerous. Luckily she's never fallen off.

This is a little blurry but she loves to get up on the couch now. She'll run from one end to the other.

Her high chair - minus the tray.

And finally, with a little help from her older cousins, she was able to climb onto Grandma and Grandpa Duitsman's chair.

So far she hasn't really hurt herself - she is one tough cookie. I just hope she learns how to get off of things once she's up there instead of just walking off the edge, or rolling off.

Some Fun Facts

2011-10-31T22:02:00.002-06:00

Well, Lily is over 13 months now. She's getting so big!! A few fun things she has been doing lately:

-Blowing on everything she eats - whether it's hot or not.
-Dancing to any and every kind of music.
-She wants to get chased all the time. I'll get on the floor to pick things up and she'll start walking away and then turn back and smile as if I'm chasing her.
-She now runs up to mine, and Brady's, legs and wraps her arms around them - this usually means she wants to be picked up.
-When I go into the bedroom to work on schoolwork, if we open the gate that lets her into the kitchen, she comes immediately to knock on my door. She's a smarty and always knows where mama is!

I know she does more funny things. If I can remember any more I'll post them.

Halloween was a great success. We dressed up as '50s people. Lily was a ladybug. We stopped by one of the places Brady does some work for for their Halloween party. We didn't stay very long. After that, we went trick or treating in down town in Provo. Then we went to our single's ward Halloween party for trunk or treat and the making of candy apples. We did a lot of walking but it was really fun! I'm excited for the holidays this year, but even more for next year when Lily will actually know what's going on! But she loved seeing all the other kids dressed up today.

You Know You Want To

2011-10-31T14:53:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure if this is lame or not but I am good at making all sorts of things so perhaps someone wants a surprise from me??

Here are the tagging instructions: The first 3 people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done by the end of the year if you're local, I'll give myself til the end of January 2012 if I need to mail it.
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something unusual.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on your blog. OR, since I know there are some people who read my blog who don't have a blog of their own, you can win if you are willing to make something for three random people. The first 3 people to leave a comment telling me they will win it forward get a fabulous homemade gift by me! Oh, and if you have a blog, be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it.

I feel like I should write something

2011-10-16T22:48:00.000-06:00

I know all of my readers wait on the edge of their seats to see my next blog post. I'm sorry to keep you waiting so long ... haha. Anyway. Life in the Redfearn household is always fun and a little crazy. Lily is awesome. She walks like a pro, now, even with shoes on when we go outside or to the store. She loves to watch music videos and dance. She has some sweet moves including head bobbing, knee bending, and some arm movements. She is eating all sorts of things now - and liking most of them. She still sleeps pretty well. I'm down to only nursing her at night and I'm ok with doing that for a while longer. She loves it still and I feel sad to let my baby grow up so quickly! She loves to get on top of things. Short boxes, the plastic lids to her toy bins, anything. She tries to climb everything - she can't quite make it onto the couch but she's getting close. She gets into all sorts of mischief. Take today for example. I gave her a sealed mini chocolate candy (she loves to chew on them) and she had been sitting quietly for kind of a long time. A little too long. I lean forward and look at her face and this is what I see:

She's loving that chocolate! haha. So funny. She loves to come into the kitchen and make a mess. She takes the V8 cans out of their box so she can get into it. And we have this box of peppermints we always get from Sonic and never eat. Well she loves to chew on those and carry them around. And the fridge magnets. She is basically destroying those but I wasn't really using them anyway and I can glue them back together if need be. Here's a shot of her in the kitchen:

Notice the V8 everywhere, the peppermints and even an upside down magnet! She's a rascal for sure. I took her to the library story time last Friday and she liked it, although she was squirmy and I still think she might be a bit young. Every other kid was just sitting nicely on their mother's lap.

Now onto some other non-Lily items (as if there are such things). I'm half way through my first grad school semester. It's been going well!! So far my grades are awesome and I'm managing to keep up with my word (barely). I know now, more than ever, that going into Library Science is the perfect place for me. Brady has been really looking into grad schools now. So far the top picks are Penn State (in Pennsylvania) and Indiana. I think there might have been another one but I'm not sure. He's really liking Indiana right now, but he's only half way through the list.

What the crap was that sound?

2011-10-07T00:09:00.003-06:00

So we had quite an adventure at our house the past couple of days. I love to read in bed. It's sort of a ritual that I have to do every night or I can't sleep. So Tuesday night, after I was done reading in bed, I turned off all the lights and was trying to fall asleep. There are usually noises in my bedroom because our bedroom shares a wall with one of our neighbor's rooms so I can usually hear him opening drawers, that sort of thing. So, when I first heard the noise I thought it might have been my neighbor. But it sounded way to clear to have come through the wall. It sounded like scratching on cardboard or paper. So, needless to say, I was way freaked. Brady was still up in the living room - working - so I got to the edge of the bed and prepared to make my escape. I put one foot on the ground and with my hand I yanked open the door and ran out.

I told Brady what I heard and sent him in to investigate. I was outside of our room standing on a step stool while he was inside with the door closed looking around. After a few minutes I heard him jumping on the bed, then yelp, then finally yell "It's a mouse!" He opens the bedroom door and says that it ran under my closet door. We then proceed to get one of those big plastic tubs and slowly open the door and cover the opening with the tub. We added towels to make it more secure. We took out all of my shoes, one by one, trying to chase it out and into the tub so we could go set it free. At one point, we disturbed it and it came flying at us through the air. We screamed pretty loud! (I think about this time Lily woke up from all the ruckus so I had to go get her.) After that, we took every shoe out of the closet but somehow the mouse had escaped.

We locked the room up and went to Smith's for some mouse traps. Lily really enjoyed running the aisles in her jammies. We got home and put peanut butter on them (everyone says this works best for some reason).

Lily and I went to the couch to try to get back to sleep while Brady locked himself in the room trying to find the mouse. All I could hear was the broom hitting the walls and periodic yelping. He said that he saw it several times but it wouldn't run into the tub or over any of the traps. Lily fell back asleep so I put her back in her room and Brady and I slept on the fold out couch.

The next morning, the traps were all free of mice and Brady couldn't find the mouse at all, even when we emptied our entire room out of stuff it could be hiding under/behind. We then put the traps in every room of the house because we figured either it had left our house completely or it was still hiding out somewhere.

Flash to Wednesday night at around 2 in the morning. Many who read my blog will know that Lily has had terrible sleep troubles and we've had to do cry-it-out to get her to sleep normally. Well since the last couple nights she had been off her normal sleep patterns, when she woke up at 2 we decided to just let her cry a little and go back to sleep. Unfortunately, the next morning, Brady found the mouse, with it's butt stuck to the trap from her room, just coming out into the hallway from Lily's room. It had probably crawled 10 feet from where the trap had been in her room to make it into the hallway. Lily had probably heard the mouse in distress and woke up to it. I feel so horrible!!! But, at least we know the mouse it gone now. I feel bad that it had to die but we really did try everything to capture it so we could free it. Anyway, that's our mouse story and I pray we don't have to deal with it again for a long time!

Eh, so it's not one of my strong suits.

2011-08-09T11:50:00.002-06:00

Blogging. A great concept. Except it is really hard for me to keep up with it. I have lots of funny things to share, what with an almost 11 month old baby around. I just always put it off and then forget what I was going to say. But I suppose I'll give it a try; let's see how much I can remember.

Lily now has 8 teeth. 4 on top and 4 on bottom. She is not the best teether, she gets very cranky when new teeth are coming in. But she looks super cute with all those teeth! We just got back from vacation in Caprinteria, CA with my family. It was an awesome trip other than the fact that Lily sleeps terribly when we're away from home. So she was always a bit cranky due to lack of sleep. But she loved the beach - and loved eating the sand. The good thing is that now that we're home and she's actually getting a good night's sleep she's been in a fantastic mood. Very cute. Talking, smiling, laughing. She's adorable.

There is an area around Brady's desk that she is not allowed to go, and she knows it. Today she has been crawling at warp speed toward that spot and when she sees/hears me coming to get her she starts laughing hysterically. So funny. She is so mischievous - she knows she's not supposed to be doing it and she likes it. She is finally showing Brady some love. For a few months now she has been a total mama's girl but since we've been home from vacation she's napped with Brady several times and even goes to him because she wants to play with him. She's still a mama's girl but she allows daddy to play too.

There are pics from our trip on facebook if you want to see them.

Lily 9 months

2011-07-08T22:44:00.003-06:00

Well, Lily's 9 month stats are as follow:

Weight: 21 lbs 4 oz (85.6%)
Length: 31 in (99.93%)

They had to stick her toe to get a blood sample to check her iron, which was fine, and she didn't even flinch. No reaction whatsoever. But, my baby is a stud so it's not surprising. The nurse we saw was horrified by her sleeping habits and told us that the pediatrician does the cry it out method and so we decided to really buckle down and give it one more shot. We've had do it three times now and so far it's been working ok. It's supposed to work within 3 days (usually) and it's been 8 days now. Tonight is the first night she only cried for a second and then was asleep. Every other night it's been at least 20-30 minutes. Only two nights she cried for like an hour and a half and it was dreadful. One of those nights I left because I couldn't be in the house with her crying. But after she falls asleep (usually by 9:30 or 10) she sleeps for at least 8 hours, wakes up to eat, then goes back for 2 or 3. We are going to see the actual pediatrician Monday because we felt like it wasn't quite working all the way if she was still crying for so long but maybe tonight is a sign that she'll stop crying so much. Doubtful, but we'll see. ]

She has learned to pull up to stand so she's doing that like crazy on everything, even just my legs! And she is crawling. Actual knee-hand crawling. She's so cute. And we tried baby food meat again tonight (turkey) and she actually ate half a jar (almost).

Kate's Wedding

2011-07-08T19:44:00.005-06:00

Well I went to California a few weeks ago to go camping with my family and to be in my childhood best friend Kate's wedding! It was an awesome trip. The wedding was beautiful and I'm so glad I could be a part of it. I don't have much time but here are a couple of pictures of the wedding:

On the dance floor

With Lyss

The four of us (friends since Jr. High)

I'll try to update more later.

Running

2011-06-06T22:12:00.002-06:00

All my life I've wanted to love running. But try as I might, running and I have never gotten along. I find it tedious and I it never came easily to me so I have always felt like I'll never be a runner. But I was inspired by my sister-in-law Alyssa who runs all the time. She's in good shape, but she's not a super skinny girl like one pictures when thinking of a runner. So tonight I went on my first run since becoming pregnant (almost a year and a half ago). It wasn't as hard as I was thinking it would be! Maybe it's because I walk all the time or because of my P90X conditioning but I ran 2 miles without really trying too hard. Sure I was running about as fast as a herd of turtles, but still! And I know 2 miles in the running world isn't much but for the first run of a non-runner, I'm pretty pleased. Now whether or not I'll be super sore tomorrow remains to be seen. But I am determined to call myself a runner, one way or another (rhyme not intended, but inevitable). Let the words of encouragement in the comments begin!

4 years!

2011-06-04T15:23:00.003-06:00

On June 1st Brady and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary! Since we've been married, we've both graduated from BYU, we've lived in 3 different apartments (all in Provo), we've taken trips to California, Virginia, and Texas, we've seen two siblings get married in the temple, we've had one baby girl, and we've sent one sibling off on a mission. Of course the list is much longer but I can't think of anything else right now!

To celebrate our anniversary we went to the Chef's Table. I think it's the only fancy restaurant in the Provo/Orem area. You have to wear "business casual" so we dressed up a little for it. It was soo good! We got wild mushrooms and crab cakes for appetizers. Then they gave us a "pallet cleanser" and rolls. Then came the entrée. I had the salmon with red potatoes and leeks (prepared 2 ways) and Brady had the prosciutto stuffed chicken. Delicious! Then we got a creme brulee to share at the end. Wendy babysat for us so we were able to just spend some time together. It was a great day!

Camping

2011-06-04T15:12:00.006-06:00

Well, we attempted to go camping for Memorial Day Weekend. Brady's brother Kyle and his wife Alyssa came down to go with us. We wanted to see how Lily would do since we'll be going on a week long camping trip with my family in a couple weeks. Well, Lily did fine, considering she had no room to roll around in (pretty much what she does all day long). However, I was miserable! It was freezing cold. It rained during the evening and night. We had to sit in the van for the first night and eat dinner there. Then it was so cold in the tent I could barely sleep. Lily was in our bed with us because when we tried to lay her in her bed her hands got ice cold. So a squirmy little 8 month old didn't help the sleeping situation. Anyway, I chalk it up to a fail as far as pleasurable camping trips go, but as far as whether or not Lily can handle camping for several days? I think she can do it! Here are some pics from the weekend:

Snuggling with Daddy

She was still tired after the worst night's sleep ever.

Our campsite. Yes that river was soooo loud!

With Aunt Alyssa

She's pretty gangsta!

With Uncle Kyle

Eating our delicious omelets in a bag

New Car

2011-05-05T18:26:00.003-06:00

Well we took the plunge and got a nice family car. We figured we should be one now while we can afford it rather than wait until we have more kids. Plus, the pathfinder was just too small for us. The car seat barely fit in the back. And it was slowly dying so we decided to get the van. It will have much better highway mileage and it feels like it's twice as big as the pathfinder. Yay! It's a 2007 Honda Odyssey with only 45,000 miles on it. We are very excited and can't wait until we go to Cali in June and test it out on a long journey!

New Book Blog

2011-04-29T23:23:00.002-06:00

I started a new blog about books I read and what I think of them. If nothing else it could just be used for seeing books you might want to try. The blog is here. Happy Reading!

Wings Series

2011-04-23T19:40:00.001-06:00

I love this series by Aprilynne Pike. The first two books are Wings and Spells and the third book Illusions is coming out May 3rd! Here's a trailer for it, although there are SPOILERS in it so if you haven't read the first two you may not want to watch this yet!

New Car

2011-04-23T18:37:00.001-06:00

We are getting a new (well new to us) car! We are thinking that a van is the best choice for us. We want more room and just think it's a good investment. I resisted the idea of a "mini-van" because I just never wanted to drive one but I think it's inevitable. Any drive a mini-van and want to reassure me how great they are?

7 months

2011-04-23T18:22:00.004-06:00

Lily will be 7 months in 2 days. I can't believe it! She is so cute! She's a challenging little girl sometimes but she is still awesome. I think she weighs about the same as at 6 months (I weighed her on the scale with me so not highly accurate). She is so chunky, I love it. She still stinks at sleeping, but we're getting better. She sleeps on her tummy now, which is so cute! The last couple of nights she even slept with her bum in the air with her legs tucked under her.

She is eating solids now pretty regularly. She likes pretty much everything I give her except rice cereal. She doesn't love oatmeal either but she will eat it if I mix it with apple juice. Anyway, I'm glad she's liking eating now.

We're going to start a swim class this week. I'm pretty excited to see how she likes the water. Since we're going on lots of family vacations this year that will involve water I thought it'd be a good idea to get her used to it. I got her a little swimsuit to wear for her lessons:

We've been able to go back to church full time now! Yay! Except for the days when she is fussy and won't calm down whatever we do. Here's a pic of us on our first day back:

Anyway, that's life right now. Brady is done with his semester so yay for that! And I'm starting to get excited for the many family trips we'll be going on this summer!

6 months!

2011-04-02T21:59:00.004-06:00

It's about a week late but my little baby is 6 months old! I can't believe how quickly she is growing up.

-She has 2 bottom teeth now. She's been more fussy lately so I'm wondering if she's getting her two top teeth, or at least having the preliminary pains. It took her a full month of "teething" until the tooth actually broke the skin and then after that it took even longer for them to actually show themselves fully.

-Her hair is really coming in on the top. SO cute! I can't wait until it's long enough I can put it into little pigtails on her head.

-She's 20 lbs 8 oz 28.5 in long. Healthy girl!

-We've started giving her rice cereal once a day. She isn't sure about it. She won't eat much of it but has started swallowing it at least.

-I've also started pumping so I can give her some breastmilk in a cup so she gets used to using one. We are lucky enough to have skipped the bottle and gone straight to the cup.

-We've decided to "sleep train." I am really not liking it but I know she really does need it. She's a terrible sleeper because she's dependent on us to get her to sleep, either me nursing her or Brady rocking her. Tonight is the first night and she cried for 45 minutes and was asleep but her leg was lodged in the crib bars so Brady went in to let it out and she woke up. Now she's been crying for almost another 30 mins but will be asleep shortly, I think. This SUCKS but hopefully it will be worth it! The doc said we should do it and Brady really wants to so I'm giving it a shot.

-She laughs and giggles so much! I love it. She really recognizes me and Brady now.

-She LOVES to walk outside. We've taken her on walks on every good day of weather here and she loves it.

-She won't stop rolling over! She travels all over the floor and ends up facing totally different directions with her rolling. She wants to crawl so badly, I can tell.

-She won't sit up by herself yet. She doesn't stop lunging forward so it keeps her off balance. But maybe she'll skip sitting up and go straight to crawling? We'll see!

Anyway, that's all I can think of now with what she's been doing. My birthday was on Thursday. That was a fun time. Brady took the whole day off, minus one class period, and we just spent the day together as a family. That's all for now!

Texas Roadhouse

2011-03-24T17:42:00.003-06:00

We love Texas Roadhouse! We think it's the best BBQ in Utah, and the closest to actual Texas BBQ you can find. Last Friday we went up to Draper and had Aunt Holly and Brady's cousin Emmie watch Lily while we went out for a little lunch. It was delicious! They have the most amazing rice, which it doesn't seem like a BBQ place would have a good rice but it is awesome! I usually get a pulled pork sandwich and Brady usually gets some kind of Chicken Fried Steak, or Country Fried Chicken. So good! Anyway, Provo just got one and we love it, although we've only been to the Provo one once on Valentine's Day and even then we just got it to go.

In other news, 1 week until my 24th birthday. Wow I'm getting old!

Grad School

2011-03-16T23:41:00.003-06:00

I got accepted into the SJSU Library and Information Sciences Masters program for this Fall. I'm still deciding whether or not I'm going to go. It's an online program so I don't have to be in San Jose to do it. Also, I can take 7 years to finish the 2 year degree so we'll see. Also, it'll depend on whether I can get some money to pay for it, like a grant or financial aid. I think I'll try one semester just to see. If it's too much then it's too much and that'll be that. But if I can handle it that would be so sweet!

Lily is Awesome

2011-03-16T23:27:00.003-06:00

Well, we're just coming off of colds at my house. All three of us got colds the weekend Brady's parents came, which was the first weekend in March. Luckily Lily and I are practically healed and Brady is getting there. I hate being sick! Especially when I have a sick baby at home too, so I'm glad I'm better.

Since I last blogged Lily has gotten two teeth! Her bottom two teeth have poked through and are now halfway out. At least I assume they're halfway and that they'll come out the rest of the way soon. I didn't know both would come in at once, or even if this is normal. But it's pretty cool! Although having her be a bit more fussy than usual is not that great. Lily also won't stop rolling over now. She rolled over for the first time months ago but didn't do it consistently until right now. It's so cute! She also giggles and smiles all the time and loves it when either Brady or I enter a room.

We'll be going on a date this weekend. We're driving up to Draper so that Brady's Aunt Holly and her kids can watch Lily for an hour or two. I hate leaving her, it gives me major anxiety. I know she'll be fine but it's hard! I just love her to bits.

That's all for now. Here are some great pics:

She put her paci in her mouth like this all by herself.

Loving bath time!

Bridesmaid

2011-02-11T19:26:00.002-07:00

My childhood best friend Kate is getting married on June 26th! AND she asked me to be a bridesmaid!!! I'm super excited. Let the getting in shape commence!

Sick Baby!

2011-02-11T19:18:00.002-07:00

Well, Lily has been extra fussy the last few days and hasn't slept a wink (it seems). This morning she woke up with a stuffy/runny (still not sure how that happens) nose and was coughing a bit. She also had watery eyes. So we decided to call the doc just to tell them what has been happening and what they'd suggest. Well they told us to come in because they'd had 2 cases of RSV in their office just this week so they wanted to make sure she was ok. So we went in and the checked her out. It was good news! It's only a cold, but they did tell us to watch out and see if it gets any worse. I feel so bad for her! She can't blow her own nose and is just unhappy. The doc said that nursing is the best medicine so I have been nursing her whenever she seems like she wants to. Plus since she's sick she could use more fluids.

So, we will have to either sleep with her in our arms or put her in the swing because when we've tried to put her in the crib she wakes right up because she can't breathe. Also, I'm not sure what they do when they swab a child's nose but I can tell you one thing. Lily HATED it. She cried harder than I've probably ever seen her cry afterwards. I finally had to nurse her for a few minutes in the doc's office to get her to calm down enough that we could get her dressed and race her home. So cross your fingers that Lily stays healthy and won't get any worse.

Oh, and we are once again on house arrest. The doc also said that we should try to keep her home and definitely not go to church with her for the next couple of months until RSV season has passed (after March I believe). So hopefully Brady and I can take turns going to church while the other one takes care of the baby.

Seriously?

2011-02-03T10:53:00.002-07:00

Letting a baby "cry it out"? Is this really what all these parents are doing to help their babies sleep at night? We did it for 10 minutes two nights ago and I never want to do it again. Plus, she didn't seem calmed at all, she just seemed more hysterical. I guess I need to do it for a bit longer but she still needs to be swaddled to fall asleep. So if she can't find her hands to soothe herself I'm not sure it can work. But she does get out of her swaddle often so maybe she'd do it if I left her there long enough but I seriously can't take hearing her cry. It breaks my heart. I might just have to deal with her terrible sleeping because I'm not sure I can let her cry alone in that dark room for very long. :(

Loathsome Vehicle

2011-02-01T22:29:00.002-07:00

Well, I despise my car. I've had the pathfinder for about 6 years now and it's been an ok car. It's worked pretty well but also has had it's problems. One of the problems that is especially annoying is the locks. The locks pretty much do what they want. They are automatic but something is really wrong with the electrical circuit. When you close one of the front doors it will usually cause all of the other locks to lock. So this is annoying when I close my door and then go to the back to open Lily's and it will be locked. Until tonight it has been annoying but not really anything I couldn't overlook. Well, here's what happened tonight.

I was going on some errands with my mom and Lily and we got back to my Aunt's house where my car was and it was freezing cold outside. I decide to turn the car on so that it will be warm for Lily when we get in and I leave the door open so that it won't close and lock me out. Well, I run inside and then come out and the door is shut. And locked. So there I am with my car door locked and the car is running with no way of getting inside. Well, my mom drives me back to the house to get Brady's keys so we can get into the car and drive it home. Needless to say I wanted to put a rock on the car's accelerator and let it go off a cliff. But I got the car home and it was running for only about 30 minutes before I could get back into it. Alls well that ends well, I suppose. But man I loathe that car!

4 Month Check Up

2011-01-31T10:14:00.004-07:00

We took Lily to her 4 month well baby check up and she is doing great! I did feel bad because I had to wake her up to weigh her and everything at the doctor. It stinks that the one day that she went right back to sleep for a couple of hours after her morning feeding is the one day I can't sleep in too. But, here are her stats:

15 lbs 11 oz (86%)

28.5 in length (98%)

16.5 in head (73%)

So since her 2 month visit she's only gained a bit over a pound but the doc said that was totally fine that she wasn't growing quite as quickly as before. She also said Lily should be giving us 5-6 hour stretches consistently every night and she gives us about 3-4 consistently. So... She said we could try to let her fuss a bit to see if she can soothe herself back to sleep. I knew this day would come but it won't make it any easier trying not to rush to her side right away. But as long as she's had a good feeding and shouldn't be hungry yet we should just let her try to go back to sleep by herself. We can go check on her but not pick her up, etc. So we'll see how it goes. Now that Brady has the ok from the doc he will probably hold me down in bed so I won't go get her right away.

She did well with her shots again (so far). She cried for about a minute. I felt so bad because she was so happy and smiling at everyone and then she gets stuck with a needle! But she calmed right down and fell asleep on the ride home so she's sleeping now and hopefully will be nice and happy when she wakes up.

Also, I saw my cousin's new baby girl yesterday. She is so cute!!! She's tiny but has a lot of brown hair! She's not even a week old. Makes me want another one .... In about 2 years!

Psychics and Mothers

2011-01-28T22:06:00.002-07:00

So we got Netflix recently. I've been enjoying it quite a bit. I've especially enjoyed Cake Boss, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, and Say Yes to the Dress. Not to mention to Kardashian reality shows. I know, I know. But I can't help it. Those sisters are crazy but kind of likable. But one show that I've really enjoyed is called Psych. It's a few years old but I have loved it. I haven't gotten very far in it because I watch it with Brady and he hardly ever wants to watch it. He's always wanting to watch Hulu. Anyway, it's a great show. Although I am confused as to why he would pretend to be a psychic. Wouldn't he be more impressive if he just told them he could piece things together by taking second long looks at evidence or crime scenes? Oh well, it's still a good show.

In other news, my mom is coming to town! My grandma has been having back problems and she's been staying at my Aunt's house. Well, my Aunt has so much on her plate right now (my cousin had her second baby just a couple of days ago! and she lives with my Aunt) that my mom is coming to town to help out. So we get to see her for a few days! Lily will enjoy seeing her grandma.

Hittin' the Gym

2011-01-27T22:00:00.004-07:00

She's not quite sure she likes it.

Play time

2011-01-27T16:22:00.005-07:00

Lily has recently discovered her feet! She loves to grab at them and then try to roll over. She gets up on her side and almost can roll over by herself. I think it's going to happen in a couple days, hopefully! We also got her a play gym to practice her grabbing abilities. I felt like she should be grabbing at things soon and didn't really have anything for her to practice it on, so we got her the gym. It gets a little overwhelming for her, I think, so we took off most of the toys and are just leaving one or two so she can enjoy it without going crazy.

Trying to roll over and making sure I'm watching!

Grabbing those feet.

Brady has the only picture of her in her gym so far on his phone so I'll post that later once he sends it to me.

P90X

2011-01-21T23:14:00.002-07:00

Well, I swore I'd never do it because my parents pretty much talk about nothing else, but over Christmas I tried it and actually like it. That's right, P90X. If you haven't heard of it, it's a really intense workout, composed of different dvds that you do everyday. You work almost every muscle of the body and it's so great because you switch up the order of the workouts every three weeks. Muscle confusion, my friend. That's what keeps you from plateauing and helps you keep losing weight. So, since I had the baby most of the weight came off within the first week but there are 7 pesky pounds that won't come off just naturally. So I'm making them come off. And hopefully many more of their relatives. Anyway, just wanted to say how it's kicking my butt but I'm actually surprised by how much I can do and how strong I'm already becoming. Here's the lead guy, Tony. As you can tell, he's very motivating. He's no fuss when it comes to working out. And, as Tony says about the workout, I hate it ... but I love it.

Skype

2011-01-19T16:15:00.002-07:00

Skype is awesome. Yes, I know it's been around a long time and me just starting to use it a few months ago is so late but it's so great! I skype with my older sister once or twice a week and it is so great. She had her first baby, Chloe, a month before me. She lives in California and I only get to see her a couple times a year. So, now that we skype, I get to see her and my niece every week! Plus it lets me see Chloe grow up and lets Stacey see Lily grow up. Just wanted to say how great it was and if you don't use it, you should.

I suppose I should Update

2011-01-14T18:48:00.002-07:00

Well, we had a great Christmas vacation with my family in California. Brady's parents were even able to come for Lily's blessing so they got to see their little granddaughter. We took plenty of pictures that are on facebook, so you can go look there if you want to see them. I'd post them here but I plain just don't have time! We've been back for a couple of weeks now and gotten into a sort of routine. Brady is gone a lot most days so it's just me and Lily! I love her more than anything but I do crave adult company every so often. She sleeps terribly, but just when she knows I'm going to lose it she sleeps for 6 hours. She'll normally stay up until 3:30 or later and then fall asleep for about 2 or 3 hours. The last 2 nights she's slept for 6 hours but not until she's gone to sleep at 3:30. But we manage! She more than makes up for it whenever she smiles at me or whenever she falls asleep in my arms. Her face is so angelic!

Brady got me netflix for Christmas so I've been watching a lot of tv that I normally wouldn't have gotten to see. Like "Say Yes to the Dress." It's awesome. And "Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team." Oh, and don't forget the cult classic "Toddlers and Tiaras." I can't help it. I'm obsessed!! Anyway, that's the update for now. Lily is cute, Brady is busy, and Val is just trying to figure out who she is now that she has a 3.5 month old around.

Beanie Mishap

2010-11-22T23:21:00.003-07:00

We had to go to the store tonight so we decided to both go and take Lily, obviously. Well it's been chilly here in Provo so we put a little beanie on her to help keep her warm. This particular hat was a bit big so we had to roll up the bottom so Lily could see. Anyway, we get her in the car and half way to the store she starts crying about something. I'm thinking "great, she's already upset and we haven't even gotten to the store yet. This doesn't bode well." So we get to the store and I jump out and open the back door to see what is upsetting her and the beanie had fallen down to cover her entire face. It was pretty dang hilarious! I quickly pulled it off of her but the poor thing! She all of a sudden couldn't see and had this scratchy hat on her face. I can't stop laughing about it even now. I was not expecting to find that! I wish I would have taken a picture but I felt so bad for her already I just took it off right away. After we fixed her hat she was pleasant for the whole shopping outing. She sure is a cutie!

6 is the number

2010-11-08T14:39:00.002-07:00

The Sonic Sugar Cookie Blast tastes like Christmas.

And it's been 6 weeks since I had Lily.

Christmas Bells

2010-11-07T16:24:00.002-07:00

I want to decorate for Christmas right now! And I think I will :)

The Scorch Trials

2010-11-07T16:19:00.002-07:00

The Scorch Trials is the second book in James Dashner's Maze Runner series. The first book is called Maze Runner. This series is amazing! I've never been so crazy to know what is going in a book I've been reading. And I've read a lot of books! I won't go too much into the plot, not that I could give much away because Mr. Dashner is taking his sweet time letting readers behind the scenes. But I would recommend this book to people who like books like The Hunger Games series, or other books like that. It can be a little gruesome but not too bad that I wouldn't feel comfortable. The Hunger Games pushes that border way more than these books. But it was so great I just wanted to put it out there because it is awesome. I can't wait for the next book!

Baby post

2010-11-07T16:08:00.004-07:00

Well, life with a baby is definitely intense and more different than my previous life than I could have ever guessed. I never thought going from being a full time student and having a job to being at home all day with a baby could be so hard! I love Lily more than anything, but I have to admit - it seems like all I do is sit around and feed her. And then wait until she's hungry again. Granted, the fact that she's not supposed to go anywhere (doctor's orders) makes it way harder. Otherwise we'd be walking to the library every day. But for now, we are stuck in the house unless we go somewhere with dad and one of us waits in the car with her. I am getting more stuff done than I used to now around the house than before. It's hard for me to put her down, though! She is so cute. She has recently started smiling more and making little talking noises. So adorable. Although she also is spitting up most of what she eats! Yet she is still getting chunkier and chunkier.

Her sleeping is getting better. I thought we were going in a great direction when two nights in a row she slept for a 6 hour stretch. But last night she barely went for 3 hours. But that's better than the 15 minutes she sometimes slept before. So we are getting more sleep and hopefully she'll keep up the good sleeping habits.

First Bath/Walk

2010-10-22T18:15:00.004-06:00

Today was a big day for Lily! She had her first real bath, in a tub, and she loved the water. She just sat there calmly while we washed her and just enjoyed it. But she did not enjoy being cold and wet when we took her out. But we dried her off quickly and put her in some fleecy pjs. She is so cute! Now she smells great.

After the bath we stuck around the house for a bit, then decided to go on a walk with daddy. We returned the dishes that the ward dinners were brought in. It was kind of a hard outing for me since I haven't really walked or done any exercise for almost 2 months. It felt good to be out though.

Here she is in her stroller.

Lily is so cute! We love her so much, it's crazy. Here's just a cute picture of her.

Life with Lily

2010-10-12T20:44:00.004-06:00

Being a mom is nothing like I thought it would be. It's the most amazing thing I've ever done, yet I've never been more exhausted and emotional in my life. I'm hoping the emotional thing goes away soon, it seems I cry at least once a day. Breastfeeding is hard, with weird side effects that I was not expecting. But it's one of Lily's favorite things to do. Some nights are easier than others. For example, last night she wouldn't sleep in her bed for more than 30 minutes at a time. I finally just got some pillows and went out on the touch with her and she slept for hours in my arms. Which wasn't so bad except I can never sleep soundly when I'm holding her. Every movement and noise causes me to wake up and make sure she's ok. Brady thinks I'm crazy and a 'hover mother' because I never want her to go in the swing or stay in her bed if she's awake. Which, I'll admit, does make it hard to do anything but snuggle her all day so I'm trying to be better about putting her down once she falls asleep. I just love her to pieces and want to be with her all the time.

We put her in her room and have the monitor in our room now. I hate waking up to her crying but if she's in the room we never sleep. She is such a noisy sleeper! Makes noises non-stop. I guess it'll get easier. She's only just over two weeks old. And by easier I mean it'll get easier for me to put her in her bed when she's sleeping, etc. I doubt the sleep deprivation will get any easier. The lack of rest is finally catching up to me, I was on baby high for the first two weeks but now the late night feedings are really terrible. I can barely stay awake, which is ok, but mothers probably know what I mean.

But the pros outweigh the cons by a long shot. When I pick her up from bed she smiles and after I feed her she looks up at me and smiles. She is just the cutest thing ever. Seeing her with Brady is so great. It's hard not to squeeze her to death! Anyway, life as a mom is still unbelievable. I can't believe I have a daughter and that I can now call myself a mom. It's fantastic even if we haven't really been anywhere but the doctor. She told us on Monday that we shouldn't go anywhere either, since it's flu season so I guess we're staying home. Although I think maybe we'll try to get out and go for walks soon since I'm feeling almost 100%.

She weighed 9 lbs 12.5 oz at her 2 week appointment. At her 4 day appointment she weight 8 lbs 10 oz so she is definitely plumping up! And she'd grown 1.5 inches. It's hard to believe she's already getting so big!

Lily is Here!

2010-10-05T14:32:00.004-06:00

Lily Nicole Redfearn was born September 25th at 12:49am in the morning. She was 9 lbs 1 oz and 20.5 inches long. She was 5 days late, well technically 6 days. We went in on Friday to get a non-stress test to make sure the baby was doing alright. Everything looked good but her fluid was low, I think Brady said it was 2.8 when it needed to be 5. So the nurse who was doing the test said she was calling the doctor and that she thought I should be induced that day. We weren't expecting that! So we ran home so Brady could shower before we went over to the hospital. I was given pitocin at around 2 pm on Friday. It took forever for it to get me to a 4, most of the day actually, but once we hit 4.5 dilated it went super fast. The next hour when they checked I was a 6.5 and then the next hour the doc came in and said it was time to push. I pushed for almost exactly an hour and she was out! I did get an epidural and it was totally worth it. This is right after we got to the hospital.

So that is basically the story. I was in labor about 11 hours, so not too bad. Lily is now 1 week and 3 days old. We had my parents here right after she was born and now Brady's mom has been here almost a week, she leaves on Thursday. Our fridge and freezer have never been fuller from meals that both my mom and mother-in-law have been making. I'm tired but not so exhausted that I can't function. It seems like I should be more tired. Maybe my body still doesn't know that it's supposed to be tired. Anyway, Lily is awesome. I still can't believe she's here! Brady can't either and is so cute with her! We're both doing well now and hopefully that'll continue. I feel better everyday and can't wait until I'm totally healed so Lily and I can go on walks before it gets too cold and rainy. Here are a few pictures of her, there are more on facebook.

3 Days Overdue

2010-09-22T09:11:00.002-06:00

Yes, I am still pregnant, for those of you wondering. I went in to the doc on Monday and he said that I was finally dilated to a 1 and he tried, somewhat successfully, to strip the membranes so as to help labor along. I think I have had some contractions, finally, since then but they are sporadic at best. We'll go in for a non-stress test on Friday to make sure the baby is doing alright and then we'll have our regular appointment on Monday if nothing has happened by then, which I'm not optimistic it will. At that point he just said they'd try to do some encouraging things to my cervix. On the bright side, he said there are no health problems going on, which is why we didn't set an induction date I think, so we're just kind of waiting for her to decide it's time to come. The only thing wrong is that I'm not dilating. But, after weeks of nothing, it's a good sign that something is happening, even if it is small. I never know if this is too much information to put on a blog but I'm doing it anyway, so whatever. My blood pressure was way down too, almost back to normal. I think my body has forgotten it's pregnant. And no, I'm not really in that great of a mood because I'm still pregnant. Everyone I know that was due in September has had their babies, all of them weeks early. Except me. So, anyway, I guess we know that my little girl is stubborn and has a mind of her own and will not come out for anyone. Not even for mom who cries daily at her plight. I'll update again on Monday, as I will no doubt still be carrying this little girl inside me.

39 Week Appointment

2010-09-13T10:10:00.003-06:00

Absolutely nothing to update. Still not dilated to even 1. Blood pressure is holding. So hopefully we'll see some action soon! Sometime this week, I hope. If not, we go back in on Monday and the doc said we'd probably induce about a week after my due date. Hopefully that means Friday and not Monday. Brady wants to have the baby on a weekend so he doesn't have to miss too much class, if any. So, if everyone could please pray that the baby decides to come this week that would be great. I have been having anxiety attacks from my nervousness about having the baby and not knowing when she'll come. Because of said anxiety attacks, and the middle of the night hunger that hits so badly that I'm nauseous, I've been up since 4:30 this morning! Lovely. I'm not even tired yet. I'm wide awake and feeling kind of crazy. Anyway, that's all. Boring, I know, but how do you think I feel? And poor baby is getting so big; I feel like she doesn't have any room in my short torso to move anymore! But I suppose if she doesn't like it she can decide to come out anytime.

38 weeks 2 days

2010-09-07T12:59:00.002-06:00

Had my doctor's appointment today. Still only dilated to .5 (like I have been for the past 3 weeks). But Lily is growing like crazy still. She moves non-stop and it feels like she is trying to bust out. Yet I haven't had any contractions and I feel very far away from giving birth. My blood pressure is up a little more but still under the danger zone of 140/90. So, I have a feeling she'll either be right on time or late. No such luck for a week early. Which will be sad for my Aunt who is getting married on the 17th and my brother in law who is getting married on the 18th. Oh well. I doubt we would have gone anyway. I wouldn't want the baby around so many people right away. But this waiting game is hard! I just wish I had a strict date. A due date is pretty much worthless. And I want to hold my little girl. The doctor said she was a good size. I'm really hoping she doesn't get to 10 lbs like Chloe, but every day she's in there she's getting bigger and bigger! Well, we'll see. My mom didn't really have anything happening before she went into labor with us. When she went into labor the baby came within 7 hours. So maybe I'll get lucky and be like her! But it's probably too much to hope for. Anyway, another update next Monday after my 39 week appointment.

37 Weeks

2010-08-30T13:43:00.002-06:00

I'm 37 weeks 1 day today. We had another doctor's appointment this morning and nothing really has changed. My blood pressure was way up, 129/85 - which is a huge leap from what it was last week, 116/80. But since it's not over 140/90 the doctor wasn't worried. I bet it will be next week, if this pattern keeps up. So for me my blood pressure is high but compared to other people it's still doing ok. The cramps are apparently caused by the baby's head pressing down on my lower abdomen and internal organs, etc. And unfortunately there is nothing they can really do about it. The solution is to give birth. Which won't be happening naturally anytime soon. I'm still not dilated to even a one, I'm probably dilated to 1/2 or something. But since I haven't really had any contractions I'm not surprised. So, for at least another week, I'm going to be pregnant and in pain. But baby is still moving all the time so there are no worries really. Brady's happy, he wants this baby to stay in until the last possible time. I just don't want to be pregnant anymore. I can't sleep past 5 in the morning without a heavy sleep aid dose. And getting up every 3 hours to pee is really awesome. It's even more frequent during the day time, too. Anyway, that's about it for now.

36 weeks

2010-08-25T07:56:00.002-06:00

Technically this is a picture taken about a week ago, just over 35 weeks. Today I am 36 weeks 3 days. I had my most recent appointment at the doctor's on Monday. He said my blood pressure was up a little, although it still seemed normal for me. However, I had lots of kidney problems when I was younger and so the doctor thinks I'm prone to hypertension (which I think is just a fancy word for high blood pressure) during pregnancy. So, he said that I should lie down on my left side whenever I can. And since I am done at work now and don't have much to do that is a lot. My next appointment is on Monday so we'll see how the blood pressure is doing. I've also been having bad cramping pain in my lower belly which is usually accompanied by severe back pain. If I lie down the pain is usually manageable, or goes away completely. The baby is still as active as ever so the doctor said he can live with the pains if I can. So that's where we are and we'll see what happens in a few days at the next appointment.

In other news my sister had her baby two days ago, on the 23rd. She was a whopping 10 lbs 1 oz and 22 1/2 inches long. I can't believe how big that baby is! My poor, rockstar sister was in labor about 38 hours. Her labor slowed down in the middle, or maybe she just took forever to dilate all the way, but the doctors/nurses didn't want to help her along so she suffered through it! I think she was in labor for maybe half that time before she got an epidural but once she got it, she felt a lot better. Anyway, both mom and baby are doing great and I think they are going home today. Chloe sleeps a ton so hopefully she's keeps that up once they're home.

31 Weeks

2010-07-20T10:04:00.007-06:00

Well, I've made it to the third trimester! I'm just over 31 weeks and I feel like I can't possibly get any bigger!

So far pregnancy has been pretty much what I've expected it to be. I was nauseous the whole first trimester, felt pretty great for the second trimester, minus the headaches that would come every day in the afternoon, and now that I'm in the third trimester, it's heartburn, lack of sleeping, lack of being comfortable, swelling ankles, and round ligament pain. But, on a plus side, my baby will not stop moving! Although, the sore ribs from little baby feet kicks could be seen as a negative if one was so inclined. One thing I was really not expecting is how bad heartburn can be. Before pregnancy I'd maybe had heartburn twice in my life. Now it feels like fiery darts are being shot into my heart nonstop. It's crazy! But I can't wait for this baby to come! I'll survive all this and be ok with it as long as she comes out healthy and happy. Oh, and who doesn't love mood swings? I'm sure Brady can say how much he loves them!

In other news, we went up to campus on Sunday and took some pictures to put on a graduation announcement. Here's what the finished product looks like:

I don't know if anyone who reads this blog would want a printed out copy but if you do leave me a comment with your address and I'll send you one! We're pretty excited that we were both able to finish our undergrad work and be able to graduate in August. Perfect timing for the baby to be born!

I've also been borrowing this tv show on DVD from my sister called Veronica Mars. It's a great show - although intense with a lot of crime fighting and sometimes gross situations. But I've watched the first two seasons and now I just need to watch the third and final season whenever my sister brings it over to me! Although I've heard that season 3 isn't as good as the other ones so I'll be sad if that's true.

Bree Despain Book Giveaway

2010-07-13T13:45:00.003-06:00

www.readbree.com

Go watch The Dark Divine Book Trailer and enter to win a bag full of books!

Bree Despain Book Giveaway

2010-07-13T13:45:00.001-06:00

www.readbree.com

School and California

2010-06-29T13:13:00.002-06:00

Well, as of June 18th, I'm done with my undergraduate degree!!! I'm graduating with a degree in Humanities with an English emphasis. I could not be more pleased that I actually did it. There were many times when I really wanted to quit and didn't think I could do it. Turns out I could. :) So, now that I'm done with school, I can focus on being alternatively elated and scared out of my mind about having a baby in less than 3 months. I'm 28 weeks and 2 days (approximately) and I have a doctor's appointment today. The baby has been moving around like crazy, a lot of times up in my ribs which is really weird to feel, but I love it at the same time. Every time Brady is able to feel her move he gets this huge grin on his face. So far everything is going well and we are getting more excited by the day to bring our girl home in September.

We recently got back from a week long trip to Paradise, CA. We went camping for most of the week. It was really fun. It'd been three years since we'd been camping with my family and it was great to go again. Camping for us is staying out on the boat most of the time. I really enjoyed the swimming, or floating as Brady says, and I definitely got some sun so I'm only mildly white now instead of ghost status. It was great to hang out with everyone and I'm already looking forward to the beach trip in a few weeks!

And because I think blog posts without pictures are kind of boring, who's excited for this gem? I know I am. Oh, and I'd put a pic of our camping trip up except we don't really have any since we lost our camera right before the trip. Good news: we have since found it at the BYU lost and found. Huzzah!

Side Note

2010-06-01T21:44:00.001-06:00

Brady hates this commerical so much and keeps getting annoyed at me for singing it and getting it stuck in his head. His annoyance makes me love it that much more. haha!

3 year Anniversary!

2010-06-01T21:23:00.004-06:00

Today is mine and Brady's 3 year anniversary! It's been the best 3 years of my life, that's for sure! We had a baby doctor's appointment this morning that we went to. I'm now 24 weeks along. The baby is doing well, her heartbeat is nice and strong. The doctor said my uterus is measuring a tad bigger than it should be, so I'm not quite sure what that means. He didn't seem concerned about it, and just made sure we hadn't changed the due date to sometime sooner than Sep. 19th. The baby was measuring two days further than what she was supposed to be, so maybe she is just growing fast! After the doctor's appointment I had to go to work for a few hours but after that we went out to dinner to Carrabbas. It was pretty delicious, I'd never been there before. Then we went to Costco for some groceries and Brady bought me flowers there (shown above). Now I'm at home and Brady is at the gym. It's been a pretty good day. And in less than three weeks I will be done with school.... FOREVER (unless I go to grad school, in which case, I'll be attending online and will never have to step foot in a classroom again). That's the update for us. Our baby girl is moving around like nuts now! They always have a hard time keeping her in one place to listen to the heartbeat. Silly thing! We can't wait to meet her. Roughly 16 weeks left!

It's a Girl!

2010-05-05T19:11:00.002-06:00

So we had our 20 week appointment yesterday. The technician waited until the very end to tell us what the baby was but I was enjoying looking at all of the baby's features so it wasn't too hard to wait. It's so amazing how you can see everything! The bones and organs looked great, her heartbeat is 150. She was also moving around like crazy! The lady doing the ultrasound asked if I had drank a coke for breakfast since the baby was so hyped up. But luckily the lady was enjoying it and not annoyed. She could barely capture the heartbeat because our little rascal was moving around too much. But we got it eventually. I am so excited to be having a girl. My sister who is a month ahead of me is also having a girl so they'll have to be great friends. I would have been happy with a boy too, but now I get to buy really cute clothes for her! Anyway, that's the update. Baby girl Redfearn was measuring 20 weeks 4 days when she's supposed to be 20 weeks 2 days but the lady said to keep my due date of September 19th, so that's what we're doing! It seems so much more real now that we know that it's a girl and can now pick a name and start calling her it! So fun.

Remember Me: Mixed Feelings

2010-05-01T21:00:00.002-06:00

Spoiler Alert: If you have not seen "Remember Me" and don't want the ending spoiled, move on and come back and read this after you've seen the movie. That said, moving on. So I'll admit I do enjoy Robert Pattinson. And I liked him even before he was Edward - Cedric Diggory ring a bell? Anyway, I wanted to see this movie even though I didn't really know what it was about since the trailer doesn't really give any of the storyline away. Overall, this was a great movie. I enjoyed it, despite the constant smoking, drinking and swearing, and would have recommended ... until I saw the last 10 minutes. There is a great scene of Rob being silhouetted against a window and that would have been a great shot to end with. Everything after that scene is pointless and unbelievable. There was no point in bringing in the horrendous events of 9/11 into this movie. It made no sense and I didn't buy it as a plausible ending. I felt ripped off after loving the rest of the movie. The horrible ending has nothing to do with the actors or their performance (I think they all did a wonderful job). It is the screenwriter that ruined this movie - who wanted a dramatic ending and decided to throw in 9/11 out of nowhere leaving the viewers stunned, confused and, in my case, thoroughly annoyed. That said, the first 10 minutes could have been eliminated as well. We didn't really need to see the mom get killed and I find it dumb that the guys who robbed her would come back and kill her and not the little girl (especially since once the subway doors close, they don't open again). It just seemed weird. So, in conclusion, this would be a good all around movie if they had cut out the first and last ten minutes of the film. The ending is just so terrible. The only word I can really think to sum up the ending of this film is absurd. Absolutely absurd.

Whrilwind Cali Trip

2010-04-13T18:34:00.002-06:00

So Brady, Wendy and I went to California for the weekend. We left Friday night, getting into Paradise at around 6:30 at night after an 11 hour drive. The reason for the trip was so that we go attend Ashley's (our sister-in-law, married to Kyle, with the adorable kids) baptism! She has been interested in the Church for a couple years now and she finally decided to get baptized so we felt we should be there to support her. It was a great trip. My sisters, mom and me sang a primary song with Kylee (our niece). She is so cute. Anyway, it was a great day. After the baptism we went back to my parents house and we had a big family dinner. After that, we played charades, at my Dad's request. I was dreading it at first because I hate acting games, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Now, however, my niece and nephew want to play all the time, my mom says. Fun for her! I'd post some pics of our trip but Brady and I forgot the camera! Anyway, we spent all day Saturday in Paradise and then left at 6:45 Sunday morning to come back to Provo. It took us 10 1/2 hrs on the way back. Not too shabby but I could barely move when we got home. Also, Brady and I still haven't really recovered from the sleep deprivation, but it's getting there!

Heartbeats, Finals and Scholarships

2010-04-06T17:35:00.003-06:00

We went to the doctor today and heard our little ones heartbeat. It took a while for the doctor to find it again, but he eventually did, on the far right side. We also could here the little thing kicking and moving around. Very fun! We will be able to find out what gender the baby is in a month. May 4th is the day of the ultrasound. I've been feeling pretty good recently, just some major headaches, but other than that the nausea has left the building for now as well as the worst of the back pain! So huzzah! Baby and mom are doing well!

The semester is coming to a close now. I have three papers left, 3 final exams, and then I'm home free!! One term more and I'll be done. And I counted and Spring term I will only have 20 days of class in total. Nuts! So I'm really excited to be done. It's weird, though, because I can't imagine not having homework or other things hanging over my head. For the rest of the summer I'll just be reading as many books as possible and then in the fall I'll be taking care of a baby instead of taking classes! The end is in sight and I couldn't be more pleased.

On a happy, exciting, wonderful note Brady has been awarded the graduate version of the Jack Kent Cooke scholarship. It's a lot of money that will help us pay for our rent and his school expenses! It is a huge blessing and we are so excited about not having to worry so much about the added expense of our little one! Anyway, things are looking really great right now!

Birthday and Back Pain

2010-03-29T21:27:00.002-06:00

Well, my birthday is on Wednesday! I'll be 23. I feel like I'm getting old. I tell people my age and I'm old to be in college still, as a girl, and then they find out I've been married for almost 3 years and they start wondering what I'm doing here. I guess I just got married early and then Brady and I have just been chugging along at school. Luckily, we'll both be graduated this Spring (Brady's done in April, I'm done in June), and then Brady goes on to grad school here at BYU. So we won't feel so old to have been married for 3 years with a baby. Anyway, I'm excited for my birthday. I've always loved birthdays, for some reason. A lot of people hate them, but I love my birthday.

On to some baby stuff. I have been feeling less nauseous for the last couple days - but this was only to make way for the back pain! I never knew my back could hurt so badly. I was a cheerleader in high school and had girls stand on my shoulders and I threw them in the air and yet, no back pain to speak of. Until now. My baby, the size of an apple, is wreaking havoc on my back! Little rascal. Well, that's about all of the update. The semester is almost over and I'm just working on some final projects. Then I'll have to get through the Spring term, two classes, and I'll be free as a bird. Yay for graduation!!

What will you be doing Sep. 19th?

2010-03-09T17:37:00.005-07:00

I'll most likely be in excruciating pain. Yes, the rumors are true. I am pregnant. I'm 12 weeks and 2 days, and the baby measures exactly that. We went in for our second doctor's appointment and they couldn't pick up the heartbeat with just their dopplar thing so we had to go get an ultrasound (I'm not complaining!). We got to see the baby move around. When she first put the thing on my belly the baby did a little jump. Then it was moving it's little arms around and it legs were straight up in the air! Then she zoomed in on the chest so we could see the heart fluttering and then we got to hear the heartbeat. So amazing. Brady was crying. Anyway, so that's our big news. I've been pretty nauseous up to this point but it is getting better and since I'm at 12 weeks we should be done with the morning sickness soon! Here are the ultrasound pictures, hopefully you can tell what is what!

Brady's Birthday

2010-03-01T11:28:00.002-07:00

So Brady celebrated his 26th birthday on Friday! We had a small celebration, per his request. The only thing he wanted to do is eat at In N Out, his favorite place. It was delicious. I just got him Transformers 2, because this summer he wants to get a car that he can fix up, like an old Camero or something. I gave him a haircut last night because that's the one thing he really wanted for his birthday - I know, really exciting, but whatever. It's his birthday. This Tuesday we are going to the Pizza Pie Cafe. Brady has heard such good things about it that we must go. I'm excited. And tonight I think we are going to go shopping for a new watch for me. The battery of the one I had died a few months ago and I'm really missing it! Looking at the time on my phone is not the same. I don't really have anything good to write about, but I felt bad for never updating this. Soon I will have a big update but I'm waiting another week before I do that post. ;) Until next week.

Inane People

2010-02-22T17:15:00.002-07:00

SO, as many of you know, I am an avid Harry Potter fan. It's almost an obsession, really, but that's not the point of this post. I read recently that yet another claim has been made that J.K. Rowling stole from other books to write the Harry Potter series. This claim is being made by the author's family, the author of said book is dead. Apparently in this book, the main character, a wizard, goes through a series of tasks that is similar to HP #4. Besides the obviously idiocy of this claim, and all claims like it, I just wonder why these people think that their relative was the first to come up with a series of tasks and then has their character go through them. Even if the premise is the same, the tasks are no doubt completely different. People just need to stop accusing people of crazy things, like stealing material to write books from other books. I might also point out that the idea of having a hero go through tasks is as old as the Greek myth of Heracles (Hercules). So, are the ancient Greeks going to come out of the grave to accuse Rowling of stealing material from them? No, this claim, as well as all of the previous claims, are just ridiculous. She had never even heard of, nor read, the book in question. The Harry Potter books changed my childhood and I am just tired of people trying to steal Rowling's hard earned money. She's a brilliant author who doesn't need to steal from other people to come up with awesome plot lines and characters. End rant.

Gift Cards and Colds

2010-01-17T21:42:00.003-07:00

For Christmas Brady and I got a combined gift card for Barnes and Noble from my brother and sister-in-law. Lucky for me, and not so lucky for Brady, I love to buy books and read and Brady does not. So he didn't really get a gift from them except maybe that I got to buy books without him having to pay anything for it. I got some sweet books, I can't wait to read some of them. I got about half that I haven't read and half that I already have. So, that's pretty sweet. We went to IKEA yesterday so that we could buy more book shelves for my burgeoning collection. I put the shelves together today and they look great in our living room! We were going to get two other shelving units to hold our dvds, etc. but they had sold out of them just earlier that day. Luckily, they got more in that night and so we're going back tomorrow to buy them. They should be great.
Brady and I have both been sick with colds ever since we got back from Christmas break. It stinks! I was getting better but now I have regressed and am worse! Brady isn't worse, so hopefully he gets all the way better. Tomorrow, like I said, we are going back to IKEA and having breakfast with my friend Alaina and her boyfriend David. Then Brady and I are going to a fancy lunch and Market Street Grill in South Jordan. We have a gift card so we plan to go after we finish up at IKEA. Depending on how I'm feeling, I may wish that I just stayed home and slept, but we'll see. I get pretty much a 4 day weekend since Tuesdays I only have one class in the afternoon. I despise being sick!

Somebody Call 911

2009-11-04T21:27:00.002-07:00

That song has been in my head all day (Somebody call 911, shawty fire burnin on the dance floor). I doubt I've even heard it all the way through. Anyway, as to my health, I don't have an ulcer, apparently I just have some random thing. So I've been taking that antacid thing everyday and I've been feeling great! Other than my headaches are back, like they were all through high school, but I'll take headaches over weird horrid stomach aches any day. Anyway, I am looking forward to Thanksgiving break, and even more to Christmas break. I'm getting crazy about reading Christmas books already. The library is already getting Christmas trees put up. While I love the sights of Christmas, it is depressing in that I want it to be Christmas already but it's still about 7 weeks away! It'll fly by, I know, but I want it to come sooner! That's it for now, I think.

Health Issues

2009-10-04T20:21:00.002-06:00

So, many of you who read my blog, which I'm pretty sure consists of my husband and three college roommates, know that I am sick quite a bit. I've had troubles for a couple years now with my health. Pretty much a constant upset stomach. Well, I finally went to the doctor and she told me it is either an ulcer or something wrong with my gall bladder. I've been taking some anti-acid stuff every morning 30 minutes before I eat breakfast and it actually has been helping me feel good throughout the day. So, I'm thinking it's an ulcer and I'll be going back in this week for a follow-up and will be put on a combo of 3 antibiotics so that it'll clear it up for good (hopefully). So I'm feeling much better and on my way to feeling all the way better! Unfortunately for me, usually on an ulcer people lose weight, but I am of course the exception and have gained some weight, which is really annoying since I haven't done anything to gain weight, so hopefully also I can lose some weight and get back down to a normal size. Especially since Brady and I are going to try getting pregnant pretty soon!

Camping and general hoopla

2009-09-08T11:58:00.002-06:00

So for this three day weekend Brady and I went camping! We went to a campground called Iron Mine (which reminds me of Transformers. Just imagine Optimus saying it). Anyway, it rained for a couple hours when we first got there so we sat in the back of the car, with the seats down, and watched a movie on the laptop. That only lasted for about an hour but by then the rain had stopped so we set up camp. Then we decided to go on a walk around the campground and we found a marked trail that we started to climb but it was getting dark so we just headed back down. We didn't get a campfire that night since our lighter was really low on fluid and Brady's matches aren't "strike anywhere" matches. Plus all the wood was wet from the rain.
But the next day, Sunday, it was nice and sunny. We got an early start and hiked up until there were no more markers in the woods. It wasn't a normal hike. It was more like if you were a character in Lord of the Rings, or some other such fantasy novel, and you were just traveling through a heavily wooded area. So it was actually pretty cool. Although, the higher up we got, the rockier it became so we were doing some serious rock climbing - minus the ropes. Anyway, we ate lunch up on top of one of the rocks and it was awesome. Later that night, we finally got the campfire going and ate some delicious s'mores. Anyway, it was all in all a great trip and I'm sad that camping season is pretty much over!
School has begun. I am in my last year at BYU. It's sad but at the same time I'm excited to be a college graduate - the first in my immediate family, by the way. I'm in a lot of great classes, doing a lot of reading. I'm working at the HBLL still, and hopefully will be getting a second job at the Provo Library in a week or two.
Brady and I are trying to make plans to do a Europe trip this summer. We are wanting to do it before we have kids because it'll be easier to move around quickly and go where the wind blows us. Hence the need for me to get a second job so as to fund the trip! It's all pretty exciting and I will try to keep updates on here more frequently than in the past. Until next time.

Carissa's Website

2009-07-05T12:22:00.002-06:00

My great friend and freshman roommate has this really cool website where you can buy aprons that she makes! Here's the link: HTTP://BELEZADESIGNS.BLOGSPOT.COM

Annoyances and Updates

2009-06-29T16:22:00.002-06:00

Well, the plan to take Spanish during the Summer term is done with. I have the beach trip coming up in August with my family, that we've been planning for months - the only time I'll get to see my whole famil this summer, I might add. Turns out that there was to be a test during the week I am going to be at the beach. I figured I'd just be able to take it early. But no. My ex-Spanish teacher decides he won't let anyone take tests early or late. So I dropped the class this morning and now I'll be focusing on doing my independent study course, which focuses on Christian fantasy (Tolkein and Lewis). Awesome, I know. Anyway, that's that I suppose. Now I'll have to take one more course next Spring term, but it will at least allow me to work all summer on campus before I'm officially graduated.
We've decided to go to St. George over 4th of July weekend to visit my grandparents. We're pretty excited about getting out of Provo for a weekend! We've been trying to go camping but the weather keeps not cooperating. It's sad. But we did get a bike hitch for our car and now we can take our bikes camping and to the beach! We are very excited.
In book news, I've been reading like a fiend. I finished up two books this weekend, one of them being The Warrior Heir the first in a triology by Cinda Williams Chima. It was fantastic! I loved it.
I went to the eye doctor last week and got a higher prescription. I used contacts for the 6 days it took for my new glasses to arrive and I liked them, they were just really uncomfortable! And they got worse each day I wore them. Regular contact wearers: does this get any better? Anyway, now I have my glasses and can see so much better! I had been wearing glasses with a prescription of -1 and now my glasses are -2 in the right eye and -3 in the left! That's about it for now. Congratulations if you got through it all!

Warbreaker Release

2009-06-09T19:39:00.003-06:00

So Brady and I went to Brandon Sanderson's book signing for the release of his new book Warbreaker. We waited in line for a while so I could get my book personalized. Here's a picture of us with Brandon and his friend Dan, who writes thriller books.
His books are awesome. He is also doing the final Wheel of Time books (or, really, one book split into three). He has written Elantris, the Mistborn trilogy, and Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians. If you want a good, fun read, any of these titles will be great for you. Although, as a warning, they are all fantasy novels so if you're not into fantasy, you might not like them. Anyway, fun night! And here's my signed book.

Camp Trip

2009-06-02T14:46:00.003-06:00

Well, the camp trip was a success! There were some minor problems but it was fun overall. We drove up first and instead of going right to the camp site we went up to this lookout point. There were a bunch of guys about to go para-gliding. It was so awesome! It made me want to try it.
Brady was practically salivating and jumping up and down wanting to go. So we sat and watched them for a while then went to the camp site. Setting up camp took no time at all. For dinner we made quesadillas on the camp stove and had chips and salsa. It was great. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Update

2009-05-25T15:52:00.002-06:00

Well, I guess I should write a little update about things going on with Brady and I. We are both doing Spring courses. I'm just doing Spanish and working. Spanish is going really well. I'm enjoying it, although I have class at 8 every day which I'm not enjoying too much. This weekend Brady and I are going camping at Hope Campground, just outside of Provo. We are celebrating our 2 year anniversary! It will officially be next Monday, June 1st, but we decided to go camping the weekend before. This weekend we haven't been doing too much. I put together the dresser we got for Brady from IKEA on Saturday so now he can use the dresser instead of the suitcase! We also tried eating at Chadders, the new burger place by Gold's Gym in Provo. It is supposed to be like In N Out, but I don't think it quite makes it. But, nothing can be as good as In N Out. Well, I guess that sums up what's been going on recently. I'll update after our camping trip with photos so look foward to that!

Fun Stuff

2009-03-14T20:07:00.002-06:00

5 Things I was doing 5 years ago:
Cheerleading/Dancing

Driving the Tin Box

Working at the theater

Learning to Crochet

Finishing High School

5 Things on my to do list for today:
Clean the bedroom

Crochet a bit

Do some papers and homework

Go out to dinner with Sarah and Jake

Watch Gilmore Girls

5 Things I would do with a million dollars:
Save most of it

Put it towards the Europe trip

Buy Brady a dresser

Buy many, many books

Fix the many problems with the car.

5 Places I have lived:
Reseda, CA

Paradise, CA

Provo, UT

5 Jobs I have held:
Janitor for Alaina's Dad's dentist office

Paradise Cinema 7

BYU Concessions

Kirkland's

Harold B. Lee Library

5 Things I want to be doing in 5 Years:

Being a mom

Settled somewhere with Brady in a good job

Writing stories

Working in a library, maybe

Sewing, crocheting, any other household skills

5 People I tag (Or anyone else who has the inner desire to do this):

Brady

Katie

That's it

Books

2009-02-11T20:47:00.002-07:00

Well, I never seem to have much to write about it, but I have fans who like to read what I have to say. So here I am trying to think of things to write. Which is funny because ideally I would like to write novels and stuff. In fact, I've started writing a fantasy novel with characters from my life. I haven't written much on it for a while though. I just finished Elantris by Brandon Sanderson, a BYU grad and now teacher. It was one of the best fantasy novels I've ever read! I just love to read! I wish I could just do it all the time. But school calls and I find that I have much less time to do outside reading. If you have any recommendations, I'd be glad for them!

Winter is Cold

2009-01-15T16:15:00.002-07:00

So the new semester has begun. I'm taking some great classes. Work is good. Brady's brother Kyle is coming tomorrow to hang out for the three day weekend. It's pretty awesome. It should be fun. Last night I forgot my water bottle after I closed at the desk, so Brady and I went back over there. This was around 9:30. I got my water bottle and turned around to notice that my boss' office light was on, and she had gone home 4 hours before. SO, to make sure that nothing funny was happening, I went and knocked on the door and this janitor guy answered the door, after a little while. I was like "Oh, hi, I was just making sure no one was in here that shouldn't be. This is my boss' office." And he was like "oh, yeah, come on in." And I'm thinking, uh no thanks. Plus people aren't really allowed in their boss' office unattended. I was just a little weirded out by this strange janitor guy. And I for sure didn't want to join him in Naarah's office to chat... Weirdo. Anyway, that's about it for me. I'm going to take a nap I think. Cheerio.

Christmas

2008-12-11T18:37:00.002-07:00

Christmas is my favorite time of year!! The semester is winding down, and we get a break from school. I get to go to California and see my family, not to mention my new niece who I haven't been able to see yet! She was born in August. I am just in the mood to read fun books that have nothing to do with classes. I am leaving for California in a week from today! I am really excited for a relaxing two and a half weeks and especially for my sister's wedding. Anyway, I have nothing clever to say so I'm signing off. Adios.

Election

2008-11-05T23:05:00.003-07:00

Well, we have a new president. I am interested to see what he will do with the power he has gained. And Prop 8 has passed in Cali. I hope it sticks. Not that I have much objection to gays getting married, I just feel like I have a right not to want my kids to learn about gay marriage in kindergarten and the right to have my church stay open even though we won't allow gay couples to marry there. Separation of church and state people. First amendment. Freedom of religion... Ring a bell? Anyway, that's it for now. I'm not one for politics. It makes my head hurt and makes me just worry about the future more than I should. Trust the prophet and all will be well. God Bless America.

Rain

2008-11-02T20:14:00.002-07:00

Man do I love the rain! Most people had cloudy, rainy weather but it is my favorite kind. It finally rained today for more than 5 minutes. I was enjoying all the thunder as well. Rain is just beautiful. Although, there is a downside, which is that I will have to start walking to school, instead of riding my bike, when it rains. So that'll take more time. But I am trying to really enjoy the rain before it starts snowing everyday. In Paradise it would sometimes rain for weeks at a time without letting up and I miss that weather! I can't wait until I can enjoy a good rainstorm and not have that nagging feeling in the back of my mind telling me I should be doing schoolwork. In fact, I can't wait until I can enjoy anything without that nagging feeling. Anyway, just thought I'd share my love of rainy weather!

Estoy terminado con Espanol 101!!

2008-10-23T15:27:00.002-06:00

Yes, I am finished with the first block of my Spanish this semester. Spanish 101 is done with and Spanish 102 has begun. I even got 100% on my final oral exam. Woo hoo. Spanish is hard though. But at least I'm halfway done. Anyway, just thought I'd mention that. Other than that everyone who's reading this and actually knows me should come to my Halloween Party! If you need details just leave a comment with someway to reach you and I'll give you the info. I love Halloween!

Untitled

2008-10-16T17:36:00.000-06:00

All I've got to say today is this: Gyn Exams... Eww.

No time to blog

2008-10-08T21:43:00.002-06:00

School is so time consuming. No one tells you that when you begin college, it is almost all you can do. I work a measly 10 hours a week, and the rest is usually spent going to class or doing homework. Learning another language is quite hard. I don't really enjoy it. Spanish is great and I'm glad that eventually I will be able to speak it fluently, but I have a long way to go. The grammar is very hard to remember, but I'll get through it. I've been reading the His Dark Materials series. I LOVE it. But when I told my sister this she got this weird look on her face and then said "Didn't the Church say you shouldn't read that?" And I'm like "WHAT? Hmm... I remember getting a email saying that is was completely atheist, etc. so I shouldn't watch it, but that wasn't a Church press release." But she was still thinking that I'm a devil or something. Honestly people... I'm almost done with the first book and I'm not questioning my beliefs yet. Well, I love it still, and don't think there's anything wrong with it. Anyway, now I have to go do some Philosophy and ponder the classic "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise?" question, and have to think that if there is no ear to hear the noise, then perhaps it doesn't make a noise, but who even knows? I am no philosopher and I've never pretended to be. Oy vey.

Some thoughts

2008-09-18T15:21:00.002-06:00

Well, I guess I should blog since I haven't in a while. I feel ill. Class hurts my head, but in a good way, I think. I can't stop watching Gilmore Girls instead of doing homework. I found a spider the size of Aragog (see Harry Potter) in my living room. I'm almost positive it came over in our stuff from the last apartment. We are having a garage sale this weekend. It's at 8 in the morning, so no sleeping in. I haven't been sleeping well. Brady is already back into his late night working hours, so I can't get to sleep easily. Plus I've been reading Twilight again, well the series, and I can't stop reading it, so not only can I not sleep because Brady isn't there, I am being kept up late by the intriguing story of a vampire/human romance. I don't have much on my mind right now. I'm kind of feeling dull right now. SO, until some original thought enters my mind, this is it. Cheers.

Espanol clase es muy dificil!

2008-09-07T20:39:00.002-06:00

So classes started last week! How fun. This semester is going to be so intense. It already is. My Spanish class is so out of control already, but I'm keeping up so far. But here's something I can't stand. When guys stare... Honestly! It's not like I'm some blonde bombshell (although Brady may say otherwise) I'm just an ordinary girl, so why do boys always feel the need to stare? We were waiting in line at Walmart yesterday to return some goods that were unsatisfactory and this guy (he looked like a tool to me) with buttons on his back pants pockets, pants, which by the way were cuffed, and he just thinks he can look at me all he wants. And what is with the emo dressing craze these days? Tight girl pants on boys? Either these boys are chicken skinny or are huge and so either way the tight pants look terrible yet they seem to think they look good and continue to do this. Why, one may wonder? I cannot give you an adequate answer seeing as how I myself can't seem to figure out the appeal. But whatever. To each his own, or her own, I suppose. I have just pondered what I wrote in this entry and realized that perhaps I like to rant. I just don't understand things and wish someone could make some sense of life. If anyone has any answers, feel free to let me in on the secret.

Sweet Money

2008-08-26T21:37:00.003-06:00

So we sold our weird, ugly couch. We got it for free from Brady's friends and the couch cover we bought with wedding gift cards so we made a sweet $150 profit. Awesome. But now we have no where to sit in our living room except my sister's desk chair she left with us and our own IKEA desk chair. It's quite uncomfortable but we are moving in 3 days so no worries. On another note, I have been truly obsessed with the Titanic lately and her tragic story. Not the movie with Leo in it, but the actual historical incident. It was so horrendous and unimaginable that I can't even comprehend what it would have been like to go from feeling so privileged to be on the greatest ship ever built's maiden voyage to realizing that she was sinking and you had to leave behind your husband or sink with the ship. It's probably morbid and maybe something is wrong with me, but I can't get enough of her history. It creeps the heck out of me, but it's so fascinating. As long as I can remember I've never, ever wanted to go on a cruise because of the legendary Titanic and that was before I knew so much about it. Now I definitely never want to go on a cruise. Anyway, that's it for tonight.

Raise Your Hand if You Bathed in Cologne.

2008-08-24T17:04:00.002-06:00

So, today was my last or maybe second to last time in my ward. Sad, I'll have to be moving on to a new ward and answer those same, over-asked questions. What's your major? What's your husband studying? How long have you been married? Where are you from? Where are you living? As if anyone besides real friends ever remember that kind of stuff. Oh well, I'll live. But one thing I will say is that I have a guilty conscience. A couple sat in front of Brady and I today and his cologne was really strong and I whispered to Brady "Raise your hand if you bathed in cologne" and the next thing I know the guy gets up and leaves for a few minutes and when he comes back I can't smell his cologne at all. Apparently he heard me and washed it off! I felt kinda bad, but at least I didn't get a headache from smelling it all sacrament meeting. Anyway, maybe that'll give you a chuckle, whoever might be reading this. I guess I'll go continue my sentence of having to pack everything in my house because of a certain someone's incompetence at renting causing Brady and I to find shelter elsewhere. Good day to you all. Cheers.

Saturday in the Hood

2008-08-23T19:44:00.002-06:00

Brady and I went to eat Indian food at Tandoori Grill this afternoon and it was disappointing. Brady was really hoping for good things, but he didn't like it. But oh well. Then we went to see Kung Fu Panda. Pretty funny, I'd say. I love Jack Black. Then we've just been packing all day. Moving isn't fun, but I have all my clothes ready to go, and my shoes, so that's awesome. And I'm doing the kitchen tonight. Tomorrow is the last day in my present ward. It will be sad, I think, especially for Brady since he loves some of the people there. I will be sad that I'm not in Nat's ward anymore, but that just means she needs to move into our new ward with us. Hint Hint, Nat. Anyway, I'm watching She's the Man right now. This is such a hilarious movie. Seriously. I guess that's it. I don't have anything much to say. Dinner time!

Dreams and Bathrooms

2008-08-22T09:03:00.000-06:00

Well, is it just me or is it totally creepy when people sit on the couches or chairs in the girls bathroom and just read? Half the time I go in there there is someone reading in there. There is no lack of quiet places to read in the library, especially where you aren't interrupted with the sounds of bathroom and toilets flushing. It's just weird. And totally creepy. Anyway, I was dreaming like a mad woman last night. I dreamt about spiders running across the floor and then jumping up and over people. As if it isn't scary enough with all those legs and that they can climb walls, they have to also jump 10 feet in the air. CREEPY. Then I dreamt my sisters, Brady and I went to visit my old high school friend Nikki in New York (she doesn't live in NY). We road a rickety elevator up to the 120th floor, where she lived, and there was a party and a book signing going on. It was Stephenie Meyer, and so my sisters, Brady, and I all got books signed by her. It was awesome. Then I dreamt about my friend Kate and her family, but I remember less about them. I think we might have been camping... Anyway, weird night, and every time I woke up during the night I felt spiders crawling on me. I really am starting to think I have severe Arachnophobia. It is the worst.

New Apartment!!

2008-08-20T20:45:00.000-06:00

So Brady and I finally found a great place. Luckily we have signed the contact with about 9 days to spare, so it's not like that year where we had about 3 days left until we were homeless. It's a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, newly remodeled, and it's beautiful! Wood floors in the living room, tile in the kitchen and carpet in the bedrooms. It's going to be so great. And the landlords are twins in their 60s most likely! So great. Anyway, we are so excited to move in. I certainly can't wait. The 29th is the day. Let's hope this works out well!!

I can't take the boredom!

2008-08-20T11:07:00.001-06:00

It's just too much. Here at work it is VERY slow, excruciatingly slow. I often wonder what I could get done if every time it was slow at work I could go home. Would I read twice as many books? Would I clean the house twice as often? Or would I simply get in some good lounging time? I would most definitely watch more Gilmore Girls. I could have the apartment packed in no time at all. Perhaps I could learn to speak French and Spanish. Or figure out how to make a chocolate sufle. I could work out a ton, and get really big muscles. I could adopt a kitty and have time to take care of her. Or maybe I could write a book. By now, if I had been able to go home ever boring day at work, I could probably have written at least 2 books, maybe more. Perhaps I would already be a celebrity and making millions of dollars. But, I suppose we'll never know what could have become of all the long, slow, boring hours that I've spent at work.

Busy Busy

2008-08-18T19:55:00.000-06:00

Well, it has been a busy couple of weeks! To say the least. Brady and I went on vacation to Carpenteria, CA with my family. It was a great trip, lots of relaxing on the beach and boogie boarding. Although, we did have to end our trip a day early because we found out that my grandfather had passed away. I wasn't too upset when I heard the news because he had been really sick for a long time so it wasn't unexpected. Unfortunately, I wasn't prepared for the grief I experienced at the funeral an burial. I'm going to miss him. We did have a good visit with my grandma after that. I think she'll be ok, although I'm not sure if she realizes just how alone she is going to be now. She's strong, though. She'll be fine.
On a more annoying, but sort of exciting, note, our landlords decided to raise our rent, claiming that they had others who would pay even more for the place, and that raising the rent $55 was really a great deal for us. LAME. And you know what? No one is renting the house for more than that. He totally lied to us. So stupid. But since we've had a horrible experience here, we are glad to be moving on and are excited to move into our new place. The landlords are a pair of twins, the brother doing all the handy work, and the sister handling the finances. It is all newly remodeled too, so it's really nice. And it's not a basement, which makes me love it!! Awesome. Anyway, so we are packing up a storm and trying to get ready for the move. Only about 10 days now and we'll be in our new place. Anyway, that's about it.

Tuesday Thoughts

2008-07-23T15:12:00.000-06:00

So, we went camping over the weekend. It was pretty dang fun. And we are wanting to go again. We have the beach trip coming up soon! I'm pretty excited for that. And I've been reading like a fiend and losing weight as much as possible. I'm up to 12 lbs. That's pretty good, but I want to lose at least 20 before the trip. We'll see if I can manage that. It's coming up soon. Anyway, I'm feeling ill and need to eat before I go to work for 5 hours. Cheers.

Lame People

2008-07-15T21:36:00.000-06:00

So, my poor husband got his hand cut open by an idiot at work. My husband, Brady, washes windows on campus, anything 10 feet high or higher, and a co-worker decided to throw a window scraper, the kind with a razor blade on the end of it, and it cut a huge gash on the top of Brady's hand, as well as the knuckles on the opposite hand. Now he can barely even move them and can't do anything for probably a week. Not to mention the week of work he'll miss because of it. That guy should give us his paycheck. I mean, times are tight this summer, so we need to work every hour we can and now Brady will be out of commission for a week. This sucks. I hate when we suffer for the stupidity of others. OH well, I just feel really bad for him. On a lighter note, we went to IKEA and got some great new furniture! Happy day. And my sister's official wedding date is January 2nd!

Church

2008-07-13T14:46:00.000-06:00

Church is always an interesting experience. So, I'm in a ward that is mostly young married couples without any kids, and so people move in and out all the time. Usually we don't really make a fuss when people leave, but today, one of the counselors of the Bishopric is moving on, or just getting a new calling, who really knows? But we had a twenty minute tribute to him and his family, which is fine, I'll miss him but I think it's not a very good thing to do. It was almost like saying that his calling made him better or more important than the rest of the ward. The fact that others didn't get the same courtesy just makes everyone else feel less important to the Bishop and rest of the ward. But oh well. It doesn't really matter. Just annoying and probably not a good thing to do. Just thought I'd write about it.

Inevitable

2008-07-12T11:42:00.000-06:00

Well, I guess it was inevitable that I would start my own blog. I mean, practically everyone is doing it. But that brings up the question of what I think is important enough to write down. What thoughts and musings of mine will anyone want to read? Maybe I'll just write what is going on in my life right now, for lack of a better topic. My sister is engaged. And I couldn't be more happy for her. I'm so excited to be a bridesmaid. I've never been one before. I've been a bride, which was great. It's unfortunate that you only get to wear the dress once. It was so beautiful. But now it's my turn to be in the background, which I think I will like almost as much as getting married myself. I grew up in Paradise, in northern California and it's pretty much on fire right now. I'm afraid my parents will lose their home and that would really be bad. But it looks like the fire will stay away, but who knows? We'll just have to wait and see. Fire seems like a horrible way to go. Out of all the natural disasters people seem to be more afraid of earthquakes, tornadoes, and hurricanes than fire. But with any of those three happen, there are some things left over. A house may be toppled but at least there is wood left and other things that can be used again. Not with fire. Once a fire burns your house, it's gone. There's nothing you can do but wipe it away and start over. Nothing left... Well, that's my thoughts for right now. Until next time.