Heidi and Sio Latu

February.

2010-10-10T23:52:00.005-06:00

February continued to be frigid! Looking back on it, were we really that broke that we couldn't afford to fix our heater? Absolutely. How did we make it? We pay our "fire insurance". haha. But seriously, I'm so grateful that we did...and that I didn't lose any limbs to frostbite ;)

February is blah. Not much happened. We did however, almost get attacked by potatoes. Around Christmastime, we inherited a huge sack of potatoes from a local business. I gladly accepted cause my hubby loves potatoes. I remembered that you were supposed to keep them in a cold, dark environment, so I put them under our stairs. When I actually had ambition to cook, I would send my hubby down to get a few and use them. A few? With how much your husband eats? Yes, a few. These were massive-sized potatoes. Then one day I sent Sio down again to get some potatoes and this is what he came upstairs with:

I have never seen such funky potatoes!

How on earth do potatoes get like this? They weren't downstairs for THAT long. Creepy! It could totally be a storyline in those old "scary" movies. Dun, dun, DUN!!

Funky potatoes aren't the ONLY exciting thing that happened in February (they came a close second)...we had another visit from the adorable Tongan twins! Remember them? This time they came with their little sister. 3 kids under the age of 2, YIKES!

Poor little thing had an allergic reaction to the baby lotion, but still SO adorable!

I can't even handle how cute they are. They were obsessed with my little wicker deco balls! They soon discovered that they could throw them down the stairs like a regular ball and loved it. I had to re-arrange most of my living room decor and put it up a few feet. Well noted for when I have my own little kids :)

Humongous eyes and the longest eyelashes, they are getting so big!

I love this picture. Sio absolutely loves kids and they love him! Don't they look good on him? I just wish they were ours. We did try to keep them, but there parents are a little attached.

And, of course, Sio and Fuapau had to get in some rugby playing somehow in February.

January.

2010-10-04T23:39:00.004-06:00

Since I ended my blog in March about Christmas, I figured I better start it now in January...

Started January off with a great birthday! The big 2-5! Wowzer. That's so crazy that I'm so old. We didn't do anything too exciting for my birthday, that I remember. But, I am getting old, so maybe ... I did?? haha. We had the usual birthday party at the parental's house and I think Sio remembered what day it was :)

I do remember spending most of January stressing over how I was going to keep my husband in the country. It was that dreaded time, time to renew paperwork! I hate paperwork. Bleh. Even though this time around, it wasn't as bad as initially, it was still horrible and repetitive. But, I guess it's a small price to pay to keep my love here with me.

Paperwork aside, the hustling for money was another story! I asked about everyone I knew about 3 million times how I could scheme, steal, beg, or borrow $545. Coming out of winter, we were SO broke. Sio was working temp jobs, trying to get something permanent and it wasn't looking too promising. He was working so hard and then would go twice a week to donate plasma. I tried giving plasma too, but they rejected me! I was so upset, but I expected them to tell me I wouldn't be able to do it. I thought it would be for my health, not for having horrible and rolling veins! ha. Oh well, such is life.

To add to it, sometime in the frigid winter months, our heater broke (maybe it was in January?). We were so broke and ghetto, that we couldn't afford the $100 or so to fix it (cause we had to pay $50-ish for the service call, hoping it was something small). Needless to say, we spent the last few winter months with 1 electric heater on our main floor....with lots and lots of blankets! Then, when I was ready for bed, I would just take the heater upstairs with me and crawl into mounds of blankets. Eww. I hate snow and cold!

OH MY GOSH! I am such a horrible person. I was just looking through my pictures and realized it was a FANTASTIC birthday. My husband proposed! Gosh, see, I told you I was getting old!

Now, let me explain further. When Sio and I were dating, we were married 2.3 seconds later, almost literally. Because of the different cultures, SO many things are different...proposing being one of them. The proposal, if you could call it that, was him and I in our friend's kitchen. It was really early in the morning and he told me that he loved me and wanted to marry me. I FREAKED out. We had only been dating 4 or 5 weeks. Eek! Anyway, me answering his "proposal" was a week or so later, as I was leaving his house in Hyrum saying "we're getting married" ... then I had to leave like 2 minutes later. haha.

I always dropped little hints to Sio about never REALLY getting a proposal...or we would see cute proposals on sappy movies and I would make a big deal about it. First anniversary, nothing. Next birthday, nothing. Next Tuesday, nothing. I flat out told him I wanted a proposal, NOTHING. Men!

We were at my parent's house for my birthday shin-dig, etc. and Sio had disappeared. I had no idea where he went and didn't really think anything of it. He came back a little while later and was being kinda sneaky. I suspected flowers or some kind of gift because my sisters were whispering and kinda freaking out. He called me into their little "visiting teaching" room. There he had an absolutely gorgeous bouquet of my absolute favorite flowers, gerber daisies! He somehow got ahold of my wedding ring previously, got down on one knee, said something adorable, then asked me to marry him! Not the most romantic setting (cause I'm pretty sure I was still in my pajamas and looking a hot mess), but it was so beautiful and perfect!!! He'll get the romantic bug eventually :) He definitely has his moments and when he does, I cherish them.

First Step.

2010-10-03T23:45:00.002-06:00

I have changed my background to fall themed.

Now, all I need to do is find something in my life to blog about.

Christmas

2010-03-06T22:24:00.005-07:00

I just realized that I haven't blogged in forever! I didn't even post the fun pics that we got at Christmas with the family.
We ended up doing everything on Christmas Eve since everyone was there. It was lots of fun! I love my family!

Before the festivities, my sisters Stephie and Melissa
were getting all girlied-up, so I had them do me up too.

Finished product. Thanks Bah!

Isn't my husband a stud? I think so!

We act out the nativity scene in the scriptures
every year. I love my face in this picture,
looking up at Sio with googly eyes.

My bro-in-law, Jason, being "the angel." This is
an extreme improvement from years past when
he was wearing leopard underwear!

Just a great picture of my beautiful sister, Sarah

My nephew, Brayden as "Baby Jesus" (kind of
wrapped up like a burrito)

Oh man, my face is priceless!
And Sio posing like some male model
or something. hahaha : )

My Dad reading the story.
(my Mom managed to escape pictures since
she was the one behind the camera)

Stephie, Melissa, Me, Sarah, & Carissa (Josh's girlfriend)
I absolutely love this picture! My mom made us all
aprons for our presents. It was the best present
ever! She did such a good job and they fit our
personalities so well.

Josh, Sio, Scott (Stephie's boyfriend), Jason, & David
My mom also made all the boys some pajama pants.
They were all perfect and fitting as well!

Little known fact...

2009-12-06T22:28:00.007-07:00

I'm on a blogging role! Somebody stop me!! (Name that movie...anyone?)

I was going through my pics and decided to do a post about a little known fact about me. I love sunsets! And I love taking pictures of them. If I'm driving or whatever, I have to stop if I see a beautiful sunset. I just think that they are a little bit of heaven's beauty, here on earth. So, here are some pictures that I have collected over the years...

I thought this was really cool when I was driving through the canyon. Probably not the safest, but thank goodness for digital camera's so that I didn't have to stick my eyeball in a little square to get the picture! :)

This was a HUGE rainbow that I discovered one day just outside my house.

Time Out For Women

2009-12-06T22:16:00.003-07:00

At the beginning of November, I had the opportunity to go to Time Out For Women. It's sponsored by Deseret Book and they go around to different cities all over the place. They have speakers and singers on a Friday night, and Saturday all day. My favorite speaker/singer was Hilary Weeks. She was so freaking hilarious and has a beautiful voice and beautiful songs, you should look her up! It was very uplifting and an amazing opportunity to spend some time with all my sisters and extended family. We got to go to St. George and get away from the cold. The weather was so nice! We got to stay in an amazing condo and I can't believe that I didn't take pictures of it! Here is a shot of me and the girls in my family during one of the breaks:

Stephie, Sarah, Mom, Me, and Melissa

I think I skipped a holiday...

2009-12-06T21:54:00.005-07:00

Oops! I skipped Thanksgiving. We just went to my parent's house again (obviously, since his family is a world away). We had a good time. I didn't get many pictures, but I did get a few of us making pies. The girls decided that we wanted to learn a few of mom's secrets, so she taught us how (and gave up some secrets) to make rolls, pies, etc. My little brother thought this apple slicer was the most amazing invention ever and kept going on and on about it, even though we have had it since he was little. It was funny.

I think my little brother's obsession was wearing off on my nephew...

And my husband... :)

Christmas

2009-12-06T21:21:00.004-07:00

The next post (according to Sarah) is supposed to be about New Moon...I went and saw it, it was good. The End.

Now on to more fun things...like Christmas!! The last 2 years for Christmas, we haven't done a big tree. Sio's just not into holidays and I didn't feel like buying a big tree and putting it up by myself. We happened to inherit a big tree this year from little brother, Deebs. It had only been used once and I got it for FREE. Woot. I bought a few bulbs and few boxes of mini lights. The only other things that went on it were a few hand-me-down decorations from my mom. It works for me...and hey, it's a huge leap from last year. Little baby steps... :)

To my surprise, Sio was actually excited and willing to help decorate it. It was hilarious when we were putting the bulbs on because Sio had to make sure that they were in the exact and correct spot. He kept moving them back and forth, deciding which spot was just right. After a few minutes, I just left him to do it and was laughing because my OCD-ness is wearing off on him. hahaha. That's totally okay with me! He was very proud of himself afterward.

We didn't have a star or angel or anything bright to put at the top. I just grabbed one of the stars that normally decorate my living room and had him throw it up on top and call it good.

You can't see this very good, but I'm hoping it's just my computer cause you can see it good on the preview thing on my camera. Here is another one, I don't know if you can see this one either, but I turned the light on behind the tree to try and make it better.

I think it's a little better and a little taller than the one that we had in 2008 and 2007...

We're not going to do anything for each other this year. Well, maybe something small, but I doubt it. I'm glad that he doesn't like to fuss over things like that. I have learned to cherish the important things and am glad, less stress for me! We'll leave that until we have kids and need to make it special for them.

I'm glad that we decided to do a big tree this year! I forgot how much I loved sitting in a room with just the lights on the tree at my parent's house when I was younger. It's very calming and makes you reflect on the wonderful things in life. And I'm sure my electric bill is going to be next to nothing this month! :)

Work

2009-12-06T20:35:00.006-07:00

Per Sarah's request...the next post is about work. And I just so happen to have pictures for this one. I schedule all the door production for work and so I work with the door guys a lot. They make it their goal in life to give me grief and do anything they can to be pains in my butt. One of the guys, Nick, was on a kick and was zip-tieing EVERYTHING of mine he could find.

my business cards to the holder...

my phone to the clip...

my pen to the arm of my chair...not sure why on this one?

my staple remover...shut. not much use for it now...

my stapler...shut. not much use for this either...

I kept finding more and more things that they had zip-tied. I thought I had found them all until I went downstairs to clock-out and go home and found this...

what's this? a real post?

2009-12-06T20:11:00.008-07:00

I've been chastised by Sarah to do a real post. It's about time for one anyway...and WAY overdue, right? My life just isn't that exciting. I'm going to take her list literally, so for my first post...BUNKO!

Bunko was at my house a few months ago. I won my own bunko and I swear I didn't cheat! I got the most awesome blanket and use it and abuse it. It's a brown fleece throw with pink and cream flowers and it's sooo fuzzy. I love it :) Hopefully fun was had by all...you never know. I made scarves for everyone. Here are a few pictures (and if I happen to come missing after the next bunko, I and everyone else will know why-sorry Kayleen!) I got everyone wearing their cute scarves!

Vickie, Sarah, & Kayleen

Danielle (and the rest in the background)

JaNae, Melanie, Michelle, and Liz

Vickie, Sarah, & Kayleen again :)

This is why I might disappear...haha. I had a "comfort" theme going and Kayleen put on the gel mask and some other junk.

I got this right before she took it off :)

2009-11-22T19:18:00.000-07:00

no new posts for several months = one boring life

:)

my official welcome back into the blogging world...with a ginormous slide!!

2009-08-15T14:49:00.008-06:00

Not having a computer is so weird!! My computer has been broken for what seems like months, and I can only do minimal things at work. Thus, no blogging. I'm back (but still do not have a computer...I happen to be visiting my parents)!!

Life has been pretty boring for the most part. We have been working lots and not playing much.

I made raspberry jam!! I even picked every single berry (well most of them, I did have a little help) and made it and everything! It turned out really good. I got 17 big ziploc plastic containers full after my 2 different pickings, which is nuts! I have been eating pb&j sandwiches for every meal it seems, but they are quite delicious. Now it makes me want to have a yard with a garden so that I can plant lots of stuff (including a few raspberry bushes) so that I can make lots and can some and have fresh veggie stir fry! yum!! Maybe I'll take the little 3'x3' chunk of dirt in my concrete patio and grow a few things. But that will probably have to wait until next year now.

We did have a family reunion this year. We have one every 2 years on my mom's side. It turned out that most of my family couldn't or didn't come this year, but it was still fun. We went to Swan Valley, ID. There is a church-owned girl's camp up there and it has a HUGE slide going down a hill. It was so freaking fun to go down it. And it was good to see some cousins, although I saw a lot of them that came down to my sealing.

We have a family auction every time so that we can raise money for the next reunion. I got a white crocheted baby blanket that is so cute and family cookbook that my cousin put together, which is fantastic!! I made some tiles with sayings on them. They turned out really cute, I should have taken pictures, dang it.

Sio had to work, so wasn't able to go. It was sad, he would have loved the slide and the outdoors. Maybe he'll get to at the next one in 2 years. Here are some pictures:

Here are 2 of my cute nephews being goobers as usual. They are a few years apart in age, but they love hanging out with each other and get along great!

This is the view from the cabin. Gorgeous, right?

This is the cabin and the HUGE slide.

The view of death. :)

Before going down the slide, I would ask everyone to give me their game face and it was so freaking hilarious! I have some great pictures that I may use as blackmail. My little nephew wouldn't go down for anything, but he finally went with me and then once with my mom. He liked it, but was still hestitant after going.

Now, before watching this, let's keep a few things in mind.

a. I have a fear of heights.

b. I have a fear of falling.

c. The slide was HUGE.

d. I am a goober.

e. I can't help my fears and did it anyway and it was SO fun :)

Well then.

2009-07-05T11:55:00.002-06:00

Well, it's been awhile since I posted, so I think that I will. Nothing too exciting to share, really. The new job is going really good for Sio. He is championing doing both jobs, but is still trying to get into a regular sleeping habit and doesn't sleep very much when he should. Mostly I think he's just distracted by other fun things that he could be doing besides sleeping.

As for me, work has been SO busy lately. I have been putting in lots and lots of overtime (and now I'm greatful that I didn't request to be put on salary with my position a year ago). One of our competitors shut down for good and so we have had swarms of new customers and I've had to stay late just to get any work done. Staying late has also meant that I don't get to see Sio much before he goes to work, but he's asleep for most of that time anyway, so it has worked out well.

Oh! I totally scored on some baby clothes a few weeks ago (and before the questions come pouring in, I am not pregnant!!). I was helping my mom clean out her basement and my sister had a whole bunch of boy clothes from her son that she was just going to give to D.I. and I decided to inherit them instead. I got a box each of 2T, 3T, and 4T and tons of little shoes! I even got a bag of little girl clothes, although I don't know how cause I don't have any "real" nieces. hmm. It remains a mystery. In any case, I was so excited and now it makes me even more baby hungry!! Like I wasn't enough already... :)

Time to go spend some time with the fam and have my nephew's birthday party...

The job hunt is over!

2009-06-07T21:09:00.002-06:00

I'm so excited!! Sio finally got a real job (he has been doing landscaping for a guy under the table since he got layed off). I guess technically the landscaping is a real job, but it just didn't have insurance or benefits, so I don't count it as a real job. He got hired at Schreiber's finally!! He has applied there twice, and finally got it after forever. It's not the ideal job obviously, but it's hard for him to job hunt when there is a slight language barrier, he doesn't have very many options. I know a ton of people that work there and I have never, ever heard a bad thing about it. They pay good, have great benefits, and let you work pretty much as many extra hours of overtime that you want (or so I've heard).

He's going to be working the graveyard shift (by choice), so that he can work there and still do landscaping during the day. He is going to be dead tired and I'm going to miss him terribly, but he really wants to do it so that we can save up money to go and see his family. And if gets to be too tiring, then he will just cut back on the landscaping and do it minimally. I think it will end up working out fantastically, but we'll cross our fingers!!

We are so lucky that he got a job! With so many people that applied, we would have never had the chance without an "in." Our "in" is a guy in our ward. He has really taken to Sio and they get along really well. He just so happens to work in the human resources department there. He doesn't do the hiring, but he has been putting in a plug to the lady that does every chance he gets. He is so great and we are so lucky that he was able to help us out! At first we didn't think he got hired after his test, cause it took them a couple weeks to get back to us. It turns out they had a big audit and weren't focused on anything but that. We need to do something really nice for this guy, anyone have any ideas?

It's funny because I told everyone after the sealing and that entire weekend was over, that I expected life to go back to normal and that I was done with the trials for awhile. So far, so good...but I definitely won't be holding my breath.

It has finally come...and gone!

2009-05-30T00:15:00.004-06:00

The day I have been anticipating for nearly my whole life has finally come and gone!

I grew up in this valley. Every time I have come out of the canyon and back into the valley, the first thing that I look for is the temple, even when I was little. It is something that I can look for no matter where I am or how foggy or horrible the weather is and know where I am or where I need to go. It is something that I have wondered about and have an been intrigued about for as long as I can remember.

We went to my parent's house in Syracuse the day after our sealing and stayed the night cause we were celebrating my sister's birthday. We drove back on Sunday night. We came out of the canyon and as usual, and I immediately looked for the temple. But this time was a very different experience and feeling. I realized that I no longer wondered what it would be like or how I would feel, I knew exactly what it was like and exactly how I felt. The feelings are something that I never expected, but always hoped for and some days didn't think would ever happen. I am so greatful for that day and for all the days leading up to it, even the hard ones. Maybe even especially the hard ones. Those days made it all the more special and meaningful and any trial was and is worth it.

I am so glad that we had so much support from wonderful friends and family. I am especially glad that my grandparents were able to be there. They have made a special bond with Sio in the short time that they have known him and it was very important to both of us that they were able to be there.

And let's talk about the delicious food! Originally we were just going to go to the Coppermill, but Sio's boss (whom he had only known for about 3 weeks) offered us a feast...and we took him up on it! We went and BBQ'd at Mack Park and it was so awesome. The weather and the atmosphere and the food and the company were all perfect!! I'm so glad we did that rather than going to somewhere formal like the Coppermill, it was much more fun and much more yummy!

Here are a few pictures. If you want to see all of them (most of them are hilarious!) then you can go to my Facebook, cause there are almost 300 of them and would take forever and too much room:

Everyone - mostly:

Us and the grandparents :)

The guy in the jacket and the one to the right of Sio are his REAL cousins. We were so excited that they could be there. The only thing that would have made it better is if his family was there...

Me and my sisters. Aren't they gorgeous? We have done this at everyone of our weddings. Everyone looking all sexy and then there's me and my white stockings and white legs!! haha.

This one is for our friends Alli and Kyle. ha. They did this at their wedding and Sarah(the photographer) stole the idea. This is us being sad that they couldn't be there ;) ...although we really were.

The beginning of the beginning :)

The BBQ at Mack Park afterwards -

The yummy watermelon/coconut otai that we made - it's SOOO good.

It really was the perfect day, in every aspect. Thanks everyone for making it great!

That's all for now :)

More family pics

2009-05-29T23:35:00.013-06:00

We recently got more pics of Sio's family in Tonga and of his adorable daughter:

Here she at a church thing in her beautiful Easter dress that we got her:

And here she is being a gangsta with Sio's little sister, Lesieli! haha.

And this picture I absolutely LOVE. Sio's little bro Ofa, his wife, and their baby Isabela (remember the one that I named?) at the baby's baptism. The white hat and dress are beautiful and I totally want the outfit. Very classy!

Can't believe I forgot this...

2009-05-02T02:14:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that I forgot this! We got the first pictures 3 weeks ago! I'm such a slacker. Here is my beautiful step-daughter, Hiva:

She had just woken up from a nap, thus the tired look and the person behind her...but the shirt says it all :)

Only 20 Days To Go!!

2009-05-02T02:01:00.000-06:00

I think that I have gone to write a new post for a couple weeks now. I start to write and then I don't finish it. Then I come back to edit it and don't finish it. Things have been very interesting in the last month or so. I hate getting on here to write about all my problems. I don't have kids, so I don't have that to focus on. But it's hard not to talk about those things when that's been what's happening.

My mom told me that problems come in 3's. This is so true. Within a span of about 2 days, one of our cars broke and is going to be expensive to fix, my doctor told me that the 300mg (18mg is a normal daily value) of iron that I have been taking for the last 2-1/2 months hasn't been absorbing into my body and that I need to have iron transfusion treatments, and my husband got layed off yet another job. In the midst of all these problems, there have also been some wonderful things happening.

Things have been progressing with the steps we are taking to get to the temple. My husband has had the opportunity to bless the sacrament for several weeks now and it has been a great blessing in our lives. He has progressed so much spiritually in the last few months and even more so in the last few weeks that I am in awe. Through all of these things that have been happening, he still stays strong in his faith and gives me the strength and encouragement to have that same faith. We are getting our temple recommends on Sunday and he is also getting ordained to be an Elder the next week. Then 6 days later, we will get our endowments. Wow. Some days I never thought that day would come, but it is so close and I'm so excited to finally have that in my life.

We also got a new calling! We are now officially working in the library!! woot. I was very surprised by the calling, but after our first week there, I think it's going to be fun and that we will meet lots of people. I will be soon be pro at running a copy machine. :)

We have also gotten back into Rugby! He stopped playing last year, but I knew that he wouldn't be able to stay away! haha. Hopefully this time we are not gone every weekend and spending loads of money on gas!

It's also the season for Spring Cleaning!! I have been de-junking and de-dusting my house over the last few weekends. The sick part is that I enjoy it. I love to organize! I have not cleaned or organized my office/junk collecting room for over a year. I would hardly go in there and so I just ignored it. This is not like me! I still had wedding cards/gifts and other random things all over and finally got all of that room re-organized and presentable again. I also never go down to the basement (my husband uses it for his nintendo playing) and there has been lots of extra junk in there from when my sister's lived down there that they STILL haven't done anything with, so I went through that and cleaned it all out! It felt good. I even inherited a few things. Some cleaners, hangers, etc. Hey, it's their problem if they haven't taken care of it in over a year, right?

A few good things that came from going to my follow-up appointment with my doctor is that since I have been taking my Metformin, all my levels have really normalized and are now where they should be or close to it (except my iron, of course). I'm excited! I want to start trying for kids since we are both so baby hungry and have been for forever, but my doctor said to wait a few more months and then try. I hope it all works out! We are keeping our fingers and toes crossed!! I also found out that as of mid-April I'm down 30lbs since I've been married (and probably a few more pounds since I have been actually been able to start going to the gym since most of the medical crap is out of the way now). yay!! Before I got married, I went to the OB-GYN and we discussed a few things about my husband and his habits, etc. She told me that most people take on the eating habits of their spouse after they get married. I think this really freaked me out since my husband could eat a horse and still be hungry. He's got the perfect metabolism so this doesn't affect him at all, no matter what he eats. I, on the other hand, am not so lucky in the metabolism area. If I ate like he did, I would be as big as a horse! I have been trying to watch what I eat more and not eat so much (or maybe it's because my husband eats so much that there's not much left for me. hahahaha.) and drink lots more water. I have only been to the gym a handful of times in the last year or so, due to the anemia and lack of motivation. Now, I'm trying to get to the gym a couple times a week and running lots on the treadmill. Once I get there, I like it...it's the getting there that is hard!

Well, this last month or two has been an interesting journey. Anytime that you are trying to do something right in your life, there are always horrible things that bombard you and try to distract and get you down. This last little while has been no exception. It has been a huge test of strength, but has been so worth it and I have learned so many new things about myself and my husband. It really is true that we wouldn't know happiness without trials. I never thought that I would say that I am happy or would be happy for the trials in my life...but I am.

We got a chance to go to General Conference, it was great! I was dumb though and wore old heals that don't have much support left in them and almost died when we walked only 2 blocks from our parking to the Conference Center! I had to take my shoes off part of the way, it was gross. My husband was shocked at the anti-mormons on the corners and what they were saying. He said that if someone did that in Tonga, they would have been beat up in less than 5 minutes. haha.

Here's my hubby after conference across the street by the temple. Isn't he a hottie in his white shirt and tie? :) And the other is obviously one of us...

Here's one of me before a MASSIVE spring cleaning session. I should have taken a before and after, cause I was all sweaty and gross after this:

We also tried to get a new cute picture of us together, but it just wasn't happening. The lighting wasn't working, we were laughing at each other, and the pictures just weren't working. The first is Sio being a goober. I had no idea that he was pulling this face until after when we looked at it on the camera. Hilarious...and slightly creepy. The next pic is me getting back at him for his little move:

We tried about a million times to get a cute picture, this is the best we could come up with:

That's all for now :)

Ode to Injuries

2009-03-20T23:36:00.006-06:00

Okay, I'm really bored. It's past 11 o'clock at night and I'm not really tired. I have been browsing through the camera and came across these pictures. This post is an "Ode to Injuries". baha. This means that I'm REALLY bored.

This first picture is a few days after I had my surgery. Let's recall that the stitches were supposed to be about 1" long...and they ended up being 2.5" long! The stitches were driving me crazy and I couldn't stop touching it. It felt so good to get them out!!

The next 2 photos are of my poor husband. He started giving plasma when he got laid off and has just kept doing it for extra money. He was in the middle of getting plasma when a girl was just finishing giving plasma and she was getting up to leave. Her body didn't like that too much and she passed out right as she was passing Sio. He reached out and grabbed her and prevented her from hitting her head and crashing to the floor! Isn't he a stud? He got some massive, painful bruising. But, he is the hero of the plasma place and now every time he goes, people know him as "the guy that saved that girl" and always commend him for his boy scout efforts.

See the tiny hole near the inside part of his elbow? That's where the needle goes in, why he got bruising around it and so far from it...who knows!??!

Ah heck, while we're on a picture scavenger hunt, let's put some more random ones up. This one is one of my favorites of the goober. He's adorable.

Eww! This one was definitely hiding in a deep dark folder! I totally forgot about this. This was before I was married. This is what happens to Heidi when she takes anti-biotics with sulfa in them. Apparently I'm allergic to it, rash and swelling all over my body. I found out the hard way.

haha! This one is when I was playing with my nephew and his tool set. I can't believe they fit me...well they kinda did.

And this one is how I will always remember my husband, doing what he does best...EATING!

I remember this night! We were dating and this was the first time that he saw me with my hair curly. He absolutely loved the curly hair and couldn't stop staring. It was hilarious...and slightly awkward :)

And we'll end on this one. Just a cute picture of us together, although it was like 3am and we look exhausted. We were!

That was a random post of pictures. So sorry for the randomness. The exciting news is that we should be getting pictures of the new baby niece that we got last week!! I can't wait. I also get to see my step-daughter for the first time and Sio's older brother for the first time...and hopefully lots more pictures of his family!! I'm so excited and can't wait. You better believe that I'm going to post pictures then, so there will be another picture overload soon. Prepare yourselves for more cute pictures and especially some cute babies!!

Isabella Grace Latu

2009-03-15T20:59:00.002-06:00

I named my first baby girl today! Well, not my baby girl...Sio's little brother and wife just had their first baby! She was born on Friday the 13th (haha) and weighed about 8 lbs. Sio was talking to his brother yesterday on the phone and he said "Do you want to name their baby?" My first thought was "Are you nuts!?!? Why would I want to name their baby? Why would they want me to name their baby? That's weird!!" I thought he was joking and I just laughed it off and told him no. Sio was on the phone again this morning, this time with his parents and he said "They want you to name the baby." At this point, it wasn't really a question, but a request! I'm sure I could have declined, but I decided to do it. I didn't want to offend them or anything. And I was kind of honored to do it. So, I looked up names for awhile on the computer trying to come up with names that were cute. I found several but I kept coming back to one of the names in my top 3 girl names, Isabella or Bella. I know this isn't a shock since it's such a popular name right now because of the Twilight series, but I liked it before the series!!! So, Isabella Grace Latu, although they changed the middle name a little - Isabella Mo'ui he kelesi Latu. I like it better. It has a Tongan name in it. "Mo'ui he kelesi" means "saving grace" or something to that effect. I hope it fits her...I haven't even seen a picture of her yet!

Lately I have been very obsessed with baking muffins. Who knows why?!?! Muffins aren't really my favorite, but I do like them. I have made blueberry, raspberry, and banana muffins all in the last 2 days! They are very tasty, especially the raspberry!

I have also lately been obsessed with cleaning!! Before I was in the stage of my house always being a little cluttered, dishes in the sink, stuff on the floor. Now I am in this mode of everything has to be spotless! No dirty dishes in the sink, no crumbs on the counters, nothing on the floors! The no crumbs on the counters is a challenge with a husband that leaves bread, ramen, and cereal crumbs everywhere he goes! I have always been OCD about things, but lately I don't know what's gotten into me...it's very strange.

Now on to another subject, one that I hated in the past. School. I liked school and did really well in it, but my only problem was GOING to school. I have now decided that it's time, time to go back to school!! I'm kinda apprehensive about it, but also kind of excited. I decided that although it's not my favorite thing to do, I may as well do it a little at a time and get it done eventually instead of procrastinating and not get it done sometime this century. I'm going to try and get into a night class or two starting in the summer. Yay!!

Um, the end.

Umm

2009-03-06T09:56:00.002-07:00

Not sure why I didn't post something about this sooner, haven't really felt like it.

I found out on Tuesday that the lumps are just swollen lymphnodes. No cancer. He wasn't sure why they had gotten that big and why they hadn't gone down after 10 days of some ridiculously strong anti-biotics. Sometimes that happens, apparently.

Got the stitches out on Wednesday, now it's peeling like crazy and I can't help but pick at it. :)

One down, one to go!

2009-02-27T22:20:00.002-07:00

Got the results for the "pre-cancer" in my cervix. Apparently it's what they call a "low-grade" so the only thing they want me to do is go back for another pap smear in 6 months. Yay. I love those. I think I've had more of those in the last few months than I ever have in my life.

I'm glad that's over with! Now we're just crossing our fingers for Monday on the results for the lump in my neck. I do have 2-1/2 inches of stitches down my neck from it! The doctor originally said about an inch...yeah, not so much. I took the bandage off and was very surprised! I guess they had to though since they ended up taking the largest of the 3 lumps out. It's almost over!!

So, I'm going through baby withdrawals! I have been around babies so much the last couple weeks and now this week, nothing! If you have a baby, bring them over. Oh man, I'm pathetic...maybe I should just get one of my own. Great solution, right?

Now it's time to go do the dishes :(

Well, that was fun...

2009-02-25T16:46:00.003-07:00

I'm sitting on the couch watching TV and full of Lortab :)

The surgery and recovery went really well, better than I thought. I was surprisingly not nervous or scared, just wanted to get it over with and be done with all of this. I guess after it was over, they went and spoke with my mom and he said they removed the biggest (I think) of the 3 lumps. He said that it didn't look cancerous and then he gave it to the guy that will do the testing (can't remember what he's called) and he also said it didn't look cancerous, but that it was very strange and he had no idea what it was. Weird. This is a similar thing that happened to my mom when she had the mass removed from the inside of her throat. At first it was cancer (according to 3 doctors) and then after they removed it and biopsied it, it mysteriously wasn't anymore and all the doctors were baffled. The results for it should be back by Monday.

They didn't end up doing the other surgery yesterday. They just took samples so they could biopsy them and we'll hopefully get those results back on Friday.

Pheww. Now I better go cause this Lortab is really kicking in...

get ready for a cuteness overload!!

2009-02-22T21:54:00.009-07:00

This weekend our friends Fuapau and Kata came to stay with us. They live in Oakland, CA right now, but have been here for a few weeks visiting family in Salt Lake. They are hopefully going to move back soon. They better cause I don't think I can wait that long to see them again! They have the CUTEST (don't even think of arguing) twin babies that I have ever seen. They are so well mannered and just so easy. They hardly cry at all, it's amazing.

We all went to dinner last night. Then tonight we had all of them over for dinner. It was so fun to see everyone. Here are lots of pictures:

Her bellybutton is as round as a quarter and sticks out like 3/4"!!

Sio doing a balancing act, I almost killed him!

Boy is 4 months old and girls are 8 months old

Believe it or not, the boy is a Tongan baby too!! Blonde hair and blue eyes!!

The dad of the twins is on the right, the dad of the boy is 2nd to the right.

TONS of pictures, I know. I just couldn't decide which ones to post, so I did all of them :)

I was so sad when they left. It was weird, I didn't think I would be so emotional when they were gone. I'm gonna miss them so much and might have to make a trip to California just to see them again soon. I need a baby, maybe that will help...

Ugh.

2009-02-13T16:10:00.003-07:00

I went to my regular doctor yesterday. I love him. He will just tell you how it is and won't feed you lines. He was able to access all the labs/tests/crap that I have had done over the last couple weeks and it turns out my OB-GYN was skirting around some issues. She didn't want to freak me out, I guess. I have "pre-cancer" on my cervix. I didn't know that you could have "pre-cancer." I guess you can. Let's add that to the list of fun. I have to have dead tissue and junks removed with a freezing technique (kinda like when they freeze warts off your hands) from my cervix. That will be the day before they remove the lump. yay. And FYI to all my good buddies out there that lucked out to have the same disease, the "pre-cancer" on the cervix is because of the PCOS.

He also decided to do more blood tests and load me up with meds. Among the many was 300 mg of Iron a day. That's almost 17x your normal daily value!! Eek. Hopefully it starts making me feel normal again. I have to go back in 2 months to see if it works or not.

Daisies :)

2009-02-11T19:33:00.003-07:00

I just had to post pictures of these beautiful flowers that my mom's friend brought me today at work just to let me know she was thinking of me!! They are perfect. I love daisies! Gerber daisies are my favorite:

Surgery, Bowling, & Roasted Pig!

2009-02-11T15:44:00.007-07:00

I just want to say thanks to everyone for your words of encouragement and prayers. It really helps me keep my sanity through all of this :)

So, I went back to see my OB-GYN after taking some really nasty and smelly antibiotics for 10 days. Turns out it didn't get smaller. She didn't even do an ultrasound, she just felt it and could tell that it didn't go down enough to her satisfaction. I was not shocked by this because I had been feeling it over and over again for the last 10 days and knew it hadn't gotten smaller. It was weird because Saturday or Sunday I actually started noticing that it hurt a little and that it got harder to the touch. I don't know what that means??

I went to an ENT today to see what he thought we should do about it. At first he suggested going on more antibiotics, doing an ultrasound, and watching it. Then he realized that I had it for months and had already had an ultrasound done. He then decided that I will be getting a needle biopsy done next week. This will test the fluids that are in it and hopefully tell us what it is. He said it could be swollen lymphnodes from when I was sick that have just taken an extraordinarily long time to go back down, thyroid cancer, lymphoma, etc. Really he had no idea. He also decided that I should get it surgically removed the following week!! I don't know if this will change after they get results of the biopsy, but I am in the schedule so that I won't have to wait longer. He said the needle biopsy will help let them know the underlying issue, like if it's thyroid cancer, they will know that they need to do something with my thyroid and will be able to do it at the same time the lump is being removed.

We also discussed my anemia. He said for now, he doesn't think the two are related. This means that I go to yet another doctor tomorrow and he will further test other things to see what is causing the anemia, since my OB-GYN had already ruled out what the obvious factors would have been.

Doctor on the 12th. The needle biopsy on the 18th. Pre-op on the 23rd. A follow-up on some other things with my OB on the 24th. Surgery on the 25th. pheww. Did I remember them all?

Things are definitely stressful! Trying to deal with insurance changes in the middle of all this, keeping doctors appointments all straight, trying to not worry, and trying to plan getting sealed in the temple...all while trying to work and attempting to have a normal life.

Things could definitely be worse. Thankfully, my work is so easy to deal with. They have always been easy to work around schedules. I basically make my own schedule and can for leave for things when needed. I was a little worried with the economy how it is and how things would play out. They layed a guy off yesterday and had everyone cut back on their hours. My boss reassured me yesterday that I am a vital part in the company and that no matter what happens, with the economy or my health, that I will always have a job if I want it. That was a huge relief!

I am definitely worried, but know that things will work out. I am drawing strength from friends and family and they have showed me that you can still be positive in the most horrible of situations.

**In better news**
We are going bowling! We have only been once together and it was really fun, so I'm super excited. My work has a party every year about this time and for the last couple of years, we go bowling and have pizza. I'm sure it will be really fun!

We are also going to a wedding on Valentine's Day. Please excuse me while I barf! No offense to anyone, but that is way too cheesy for me! The groom is Tongan and friends with Sio, so at least the food will be really good! We are having roasted pig among many other delicious Tongan food! wahoo! We'll get to see a lot of friends from Salt Lake that we haven't seen in months and months and do some much needed catching up with everyone.

We were planning on being sealed in the Logan Temple in July. Turns out they are closed for the majority of the month for repairs. We are moving the date up to May if everything works out! We are trying to work it around when my Grandparents can be there. We really, really want them to be there. They and my parents both got married in Logan and it has always been my favorite. They are very special to both Sio and I, so cross your fingers that it all goes according to plan!

Thoughts

2009-02-07T15:25:00.003-07:00

It's been very interesting trying to prepare myself mentally for the doctor on Monday and the news on Tuesday. I think after getting a Father's blessing last night from my Dad, that it is definitely something more than a few lumps...I just don't know what. I know that Heavenly Father will help get me through whatever it may be, I just need to focus on that and know that He doesn't give me any trials that I can't handle.

I have always loved this quote and thought I would share:

“The more I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company…a church…a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you…we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
--Charles Swindoll

My mom also just showed me this one and I really like it:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, whom am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
You're playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
--Nelson Mandela

Blessings and Trials

2009-01-30T17:17:00.004-07:00

Lots of interesting things have been happening in the last week. My goodness, when it rains it pours!

Sio started the job hunt on Monday, filled out applications on Tuesday, and turned them in Wednesday. By Wednesday afternoon, he had 2 interviews scheduled. Thankfully, Thursday he was hired. He's going to be working at Miller's. Not sure if that's a step up or down from Icon, but beggers can't be choosers, right? He will actually be getting more hours, better pay, and WAY better insurance rates. We used to pay $150/month, which I thought was a way good deal. Now we'll only be paying $60/month. Score!

At the same time of all this great news, we got some not so great news. I had to go into the doctor on Wednesday for follow-up blood tests and a physical (which was 2 weeks earlier than planned since our insurance ends on the 31st). While the doctor was examining my throat, she found a lump under my jaw line, near my ear. She asked me what it was, I had no idea. I remember noticing it a few months ago, but thought nothing of it. She was worried about it and I had an ultrasound done.

After worrying like a mad woman for a day, I called the doctor to find the results. They had gotten them, but she didn't have a chance to look at them yet. The nurse tells me that "there will definitely need to be some follow up, but the doctor will look over them and give me a call". What?!?! You don't say that to a person that is already worried and not tell them what's going on! Then that gives you more ideas to think about and worry about. Geez.

After calling back twice, I finally got to talk to the doctor. They are not sure what it is yet. There is significant inflamation and swelled lymphnodes, they think. I guess normal ones are supposed to be less than 10mm and I have a clump of 3 or so that are 2cm! They are hoping that some anti-biotics will kill it. I will then go in for another ultrasound and if they haven't gotten smaller, they want to do a needle biopsy. I'm kinda freaking out. It could be anything, hopefully it's nothing.

I also found out that my iron levels are ridiculously lower than they were last time, and that is not supposed to happen. It's only been a month since I had them tested last. This means that I could be bleeding somewhere in my body or something in my body is stealing the iron from my blood. I'm on lots of iron and that will be tested in 10 days when I go back for my ultrasound. If the iron counts don't go up, more tests!!

This all came in perfect timing with Sio losing his job and us getting our insurance cut at the end of the month. I was really worried about how everything was going to be processed. There is the COBRA law that lets me continue the same coverage we had, but for $471/month! Luckily, we only have to pay that ridiculous amount for February since the waiting period for Sio's new insurance will only be a month. The best news is that they can't discriminate against pre-existing conditions, which completely saves our bacon!

The really great news is that Sio is getting the Priesthood this Sunday! I'm so excited. It puts us one step closer to the temple and I can't wait! My family is coming and we're going to have some yummy food and hang out. We haven't seen each other in a month or so, so I'm really excited.

Hopefully this lump turns out to be nothing and that everything will work out. I know the insurance switch is going to be a nightmare, but I'm just glad that I have it at a time like this after going without it for so long.

It's official...I hate the economy.

2009-01-25T18:06:00.003-07:00

So, we found out earlier last week that Sio was going to lose his job. They gave him 2 months and said that would be the end of it. They are down-sizing a lot. Turns out they didn't want to wait that long after all. They ended up laying him off a few days later on Thursday.

This came as a huge blow, since this year we are trying extra hard to save any extra money that we might have for Tonga. It also sucks because we finally had insurance and I was finally able to start going to the doctor for my medical problems. Now we have until the end of January and it's over with.

I figured hard times would come, not only because of the economy, but because me and Sio are trying to get our lives together and get to the temple in 7 months. Seems that the adversary always tries harder when you try harder. I knew it wasn't going to be easy, I just wish the trials didn't come in this form. I'm just crossing my fingers and praying that he finds a new job soon and that we won't have to feel like we have to start selling our possessions off one by one.

If anyone knows of any job openings, let us know for sure. And please also keep us in your prayers.

Christmas. Family Reunion. New Years. Birthday. pheww.

2009-01-04T21:37:00.010-07:00

It's been almost a month since I posted. I haven't really felt like doing it, not sure why? There has been a lot of stuff that has happened with the holidays and what not, so this is your warning that this post is going to be loonnngg. :)

Christmas was very low key this year. I just wasn't in the spirits like I usually am. I just didn't feel like going shopping. I decorated the house a little. I didn't even make any treats for the neighbors! We decided not to do gifts for each other. We don't really need much or feel like we need to buy each other's love and it's worth going without when we are trying to save all we can for next December when we *hopefully* get to go to Tonga.

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with my family. We don't have to family hop on holidays obviously since his parents are in Tonga. It was really fun to see all the family. We did the traditional playing games and eating junk food all night long. We always play Monopoly and this year we got "The Christmas Story" themed one, complete with bunny suit and all. We got a nice starter kit and a 72-hour kit for our food storage.

We got snowed in at my parent's house with the crazy storm (mostly due to them threatening us with our lives that we couldn't leave until it got better) that happened on Christmas. We didn't give much of a fight and got to hang out another day with the fam doing absolutely nothing. It was great.

The week after Christmas we had a "Devenport Family Reunion." Reason for the quotations being that what we do for family reunions doesn't really count, I guess. They happen whenever my Uncle John's family decides to come down from Alaska (which they did because most of their kids and grandkids live in Utah now and they came to visit for Christmas). My dad's other brother, Uncle Jim (a.k.a. Germ), then decides to come up from New Mexico and we all get together. This usually entails food, politic talks, and catching up on everything we missed in each other's lives for the last few years. We spent a couple hours eating yummy food, then we had to drive back for work the next day.

Our New Years was very low-key as well. We stopped by Sarah's "party" (don't cry Sawah :)) for a little while and then stopped and rented a movie on the way home. Got back just in time to get settled, watch the countdown on TV and get a kiss, then watched our movie. Well, Sio watched it, I fell asleep about 30 minutes into it. Oops. We then spent New Year's Day doing absolutely nothing all day long and being lazy and it was fabulous!

On the other hand, the birthday didn't start out so well. I had to get up and work all day. Then, we decided to drive down to my parent's house that night (cause Sio was going to get a little help with the birthday shopping from the madre). We ended up driving down there in another snow storm! It freakin' sucked! It took forever to get anywhere and the husband stresses me out when he drives. ugh. Our car then informed us that it had low tire pressure. Grand - we decided to keep driving. Then, our heater decides to almost stop working. It was blowing, but now blowing cold-ish air and not doing a thing to defrost the windows, making it difficult to see. We had to keep wiping at the windows and rolling and unrolling to wipe the outside. My window decides to fall and crash into the door of my car!! It fell off the track while we were driving and wouldn't go back. We had to pull over and attempt to fix it. It wouldn't work at all, so my husband got on the passenger side with his coat covering the window and I attempted to drive while both us tried not to freeze to death.

We finally got to my sister's house, but still had to book it back to make it to dinner before all the restaurants closed for the night. Not much was open...so we ended up going to some place called "Crazy Buffet" which I found out interprets to "you have to be crazy to eat here because we serve mini octopus in about 10 different ways and shouldn't even be allowed to be open to the public for fear of killing people off or starting a mini human-octopus race (a.k.a. The Humopus people)" So, so gross! I managed to find some fruit and hard-boiled eggs that didn't look too hideous. I'm just glad I came out of it alive!

We were supposed to do my birthday and my bro's birthday on Sunday, but it got moved to Saturday. We all went to eat at the "Happy Sumo" for some sushi and stuff. Good thing they had something besides sushi because I was still gagging over the mini octopus from the night before!! I had some tasty - and safe! chicken teriyaki with some veggies. It was really good and the restaurant atmosphere was really cool. It was kinda loud, so I didn't get a chance to talk to everyone, but we had yummy food and opened presents. I got some really cute girl clothes! yay!!

We made the trek to my mom and dad's house so my dad could help us fix the window. We had to drive with a blanket over the window opening. Luckily I got a really cute crocheted beanie and mittens to keep me warm while we drove. We ended up having to tape up the window until we can get it fixed. On the way home back to Smithfield, the tape wasn't adhering to the window because it was so blasted cold outside and it started flapping all over and coming off!! We barely made it to Harmon's grocery store before they closed and before the window went crashing down again. We found some extra sticky tape and it worked wonderfully the rest of the way home.

Pheww. Now it's Sunday. We just spent a relaxing day at church and taking naps and hanging out. I'm almost over the sickness. Oh! And between all the holiday madness I have been going to the doctor. I'm on meds now and hopefully will get this disease straightened out! It has been going really well so far. I have to go back in February for an update.

I'm glad the holidays are over! They were fun, but they are always stressful. Now we can get back into the normal swing of things. Whatever normal is...

Christmas...kinda

2008-12-07T02:04:00.003-07:00

So, I know everyone has been awaiting pictures of my spectacular Christmas tree...so here it is.

Spectalur? Not so much. This is my sad attempt at a Christmas tree. It's no more than 3' tall and is very sparse, but it works. Sio is not in to holidays much cause they were never made a big deal when he was little in Tonga, so he doesn't care. My mom always has extravagant decorations and an awesome tree, so I don't mind much either. I'm not one to go all out and decorate. I'm actually lucky that I got it done this early. Usually I finally remember to get them out right before Christmas and it usually doesn't get done, even then.

Yay for Christmas. And I'm loving this no snow thing. Woot!!

It's been a while...

2008-12-03T18:49:00.002-07:00

So, I just realized that it's been awhile since I posted. Not much is new. I had bunko over at my house about 2 weeks ago, and it went really well. Everyone had lots of fun and enjoyed the yummy food. I had tons of leftovers! I always make too much for things.

We have decided that we are going to Tonga in December of 2009!! Yay. Now all we have to do is come up with about $10k to do it. No problem, right? Wrong! If anyone has any grand ideas on how to come up with some extra money, let me know. I may try getting a second job...although it would be weird. I don't know what I will be able to do for a couple hours a night, part-time. Maybe I could just rob a bank...or some rich person could feel generous and hook me up...or money could start growing on trees... All I know is that I will do whatever it takes to be able to not only meet my wonderful in-laws, but to have my husband see his family again. He misses them so much, it makes me sad. He really was a mama's boy and he really misses his little sister and daughter.

Thanksgiving was good. We had lots of fun with the family. We ALL went to Twilight, which was good. And almost everyone came to the yummy dinner. I made the 3-layer jello pudding. Pistachio and pineapple, lemon, then strawberry with real strawberries, and then whip cream on top. It was quite delicious if I do say so myself.

I can't believe that it's the first week of December and no snow! Not that I'm complaining, I hate it. It is strange though, usually we have snow on Halloween. I also can't believe that I have absolutely no Christmas shopping done. Crap! I better get on that. I really haven't even thought about it. Double crap!! But I'm excited for Christmas and to fall asleep to the bright Christmas tree at my mom's house (literally BRIGHT. like at least 1000 lights, not even exaggerating!!). The smell of Christmas and the fun music. Yay!!

2008-11-17T17:58:00.006-07:00

This last weekend I begrudginly went to a New Kids on the Block concert with my sister, Sarah. I was not excited about this at all. Originally, my older two sisters, Melissa and Sarah were so supposed to go. They have had the tickets since the day they came on sale and were so excited to go. They used to listen to them all the time, had all their posters, etc. I liked them when I was younger, but only inherited the NKOTB tape when my older sisters grew out of them. Melissa ended up having to work, so I didn't really have a choice, my sister needed someone to go with.

I turned into a little giddy 12-year-old girl. It was such a blast!! I got butterflies in my stomach when they came out on stage and all the words to their songs came back to me. It definitely took me back and I had a great time. We had the best seats too. They got $140 seats and I only paid $40 for mine, so it was a bargain. We even got to touch them as they walked down the aisle! The stupid part is that I didn't get any pictures! I took my camera, but later I saw that the tickets said "No Cameras, No Recorders." I actually listened to them and didn't take mine in, but it turns out they were letting people bring in cameras, just no recorders. Dumb!! But here are a few pictures I found anyway. We also got to see Lady Gaga, whom I didn't really know, she has one song I recognized and Natasha Bedingfield! Love her. When it was over, we were both exhausted, couldn't hear anything, and our throats hurt so bad from screaming our guts out!

There is so much to do this week! I have got a lot of crap to do and not much time to do it. I still have to finish painting my kitchen (which my brother and his friend might come do cause they need money, which would be so nice), figure out the food for bunko, and get my house in order.

Twilight is also coming out this weekend!! I'm so excited. I hope the movies are as good as the books were. I think I need to plan a girls night and go see it, because I don't think my husband will want to go.

I finally have insurance and get to go see the doctor! I hate the doctor, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I'm going to have to get lots of labs done and probably a pelvic ultrasound. Hopefully I can get on meds again and will hopefully be able to get pregnant in the next year. Yay!

Oh! I got my haircut, my roots were horrible. I never think about getting one and don't do it enough, but here are the results! I ended up cutting about 5 or so inches off and it's still so long!!

And here is a picture of my adorable husband, just because he's adorable. It's from back when we were first married, but I love it.

That's all for now. I hope everyone has a great week with no snow (cause I hate it)!!

The Weekend

2008-11-09T20:57:00.002-07:00

Wow! This weekend has been very enlightening and fun!! We decided to go to Syracuse to visit my family on Friday after work. I was supposed to get off work early and we were going to go to the Grizz hockey game (I got free tickets and parking from work), but it turns out that Sio wasn't feeling very well and I didn't get to leave early because I was trying to get ready for the big day of payables at work! Dang it. We just ended up getting to my parent's house and hanging out for a couple hours and playing with my crazy, hyper nephew and crashing (literally, we were SO tired) in the living room.

Saturday, Sio had plans to go to a USA vs. Uruguay and USA vs. New Zealand double-header rugby game in Salt Lake. He went there and got to see some of his friends that he hasn't seen in a long time. So, me and my mom ended up going shopping!! I know, I know. I don't usually get excited about shopping and actually usually dread it...except when it's not clothes or not for me! I had the daunting task of finding prizes for my monthly bunko group. I have been thinking over and over again what to get. At first I was going to get some rubbermaid wrapping paper organizers. With Christmas coming, they would have come in very handy. I don't think anyone gets as excited about things that help you organize (not sure why, you weirdos!?!?) as I do, so I decided to bag that idea. I did score big, though! I have discovered a store called Rod Works, and it has become by new favorite for decorating items and cute ideas ( www.rodworks.com or visit their Layton store!) I got tons of cute prizes (and even a few Christmas decorations for myself!). Now all I need to do is scrub my house clean, finish painting, kick the husband out for the night, and decide what to do for some yummy food! If anyone has ideas on food, let me know!!

When we got home from the big shopping excursion, I had to cook dinner for my whole family. I was nominated to make veggie lasagna since my brother was coming (he's a vegetarian). I was so excited to see my family. We haven't ALL been together in so long and it was great that my brother was there again. We have all missed him so much and are so glad that he is able to realize what is important in life. We had a great time eating, cracking jokes, and talking with each other! I'm retarded and didn't pull out the camera to document the fun, but hopefully I remember to next time, probably Thanksgiving.

Sio and I decided to go home on Saturday night. Oh man, it was crazy. Sio was exhausted, so I drove home. We were in the canyon and I noticed this car behind me that was driving really fast and then suddenly started going really slow. I thought they had seen a cop or something, so I slowed down a little. I thought it was a little weird, but ignored it. The same car later caught up to us. They were driving crazy! They were weaving in and out of traffic, swirving in the lanes, and would speed up and slow down. At one point, they were behind us with another truck to our right, he got on my butt quick and when I tried to get into the other lane, he followed not caring or paying attention that I was already almost all the way in the other lane and I had to swirve back just before we got hit!! That was when Sio woke up and was freaking out. Obviously they were drunk driving, so I grabbed my cell and called 911. I had to talk to dispatch and follow the drunk driver (until Icon on 10th west) until a cop showed up. We were then instructed to pull up behind the cop and fill out witness statements. It turns out that there were 2 guys in the car who were completely and ridiculously hammered. And of course, it being Logan, 4 cop cars showed up for the action. They ended up hauling them away to jail and thanked us and sent us on our way! It was a crazy night. I'm glad that no one got hurt. I don't know if they will need us, but they made it sound like they might because they made sure that we gave them current and convenient phone numbers. I guess we'll see what happens next!!

Here It Is!

2008-11-02T18:58:00.004-07:00

I'm finally getting around to writing something in this thing (pushed a little by the sarcasm on my first post, thanks Kels). This is not going to be the most exciting post, because I don't have pictures of an adorable baby to post, but I will have pictures of me and my adorable husband, family, and friends (and their adorable babies!). One day we will get around to making lots of babies, but for now it's just us.

Nothing too exciting to post. We have been busy with work and trying to have lives at the same time. I can't imagine how much more nuts it will be with a baby in the mix!

We got back recently from spending time with my Grandparents. We took time off work and went up there for about a week with my mom, sister, and bro-in-law. We did lots of yard work and dusting! It's all good though, we got 3 square, delicious meals a day and time with the best Grumpa and Grandma ever! It was so nice to get away from reality and relax and be away from work for awhile. It was weird to come back, but I was ready to get back into the swing of things.

Things have been so crazy lately! We have been going thru a lot of self-realization and couple realization and it has made us much stronger and better people. I never knew that I could love someone so much, sometimes it blows my mind.

I finally started painting my house! Something I have been putting off way too long. I have lived in this condo for 1-1/2 years and it's time to start putting some color in it! Here is part of my red kitchen, although it is not close to done (my husband claims he is the better painter, but we both suck, hopefully something decent can come out of it!). I've decided the paint job looks much better in the pictures! haha :)

That's all for now :)

2008-10-12T22:19:00.000-06:00

So, I decided to do the blog thing.

More to come later :)