Thomas' Birthday

Last Sunday my lover boy turned 26. I felt bad because that was the day we were driving home from California so he spent most of the day in the car.  I know that on my birthdays I want to feel special and be surprised and acknowledged and I didn't feel like he really got that.  His brother did call him and he got to talk to his neice and nephews.  We can't believe how much our little neice Lexi is talking now!
We celebrated on Monday with a cake and ice cream and that morning I left out one of his presents so that when he got up for work he would see it.  Thomas has this Puma jacket that he loves and wears all the time.  I tease him cause he's always wearing it in pictures.  So I got him a new one :) That day he got to wear it and the new jeans I got him to work.  I don't know about him but I love wearing new clothes. He's such a hottie I should have gotten a picture of his outfit. 

Happy birthday to my Tommy-jandro!!

Another Halloween-ie weekend

My very first post was about a year ago and it was about our halloweenie weekend going to the corn maze in our hometown and carving pumpkins at my parents house.  Crazy that a year has past!
This weekend we had a really fun Friday night at my sister Bea's apartment.  She invited a few other couples over and we had pizza and carved pumkins and watched a "scary" movie.  I say scary cause it really wasn't very scary and the ending was a total letdown.  The movies was called "The Hauntining of Molly Hartly".  We loved carving pumpkins.  There were like 7 pumpkins all together and we spread out newspaper on the floor and got to work.

One of the most fun parts of the night was trying to take pictures with the self timers on our cameras.  But after a lot of tries we got some good ones.

I think only one person free handed it, the rest of us traced ours and then cut them out.  We now have our pumpkins outside of our apartment door and everytime I go to the door I say to Thomas "I like our pumpkins." 

Every year Thomas likes to make a pumpkin and have its guts coming out of the mouth like it's throwing up. 

The first pumkin is a dragon, second smiley face, third a vampire cat.

On Saturday we got up around 8:30am to go to the gym. I went to a class called "Abs that rock"  with a friend while Thomas went and lifted weights and rode the bike.  I liked the class it definetly works your abs and is a lower key workout.  I like to have a little cardio mixed in so afterwards I ran some hills on the treadmill for about a mile. 
After the gym we stopped by to pick up our co-op bountiful basket.  I was so excited because there were some pomegranets in there! I love pomegranets. 
That afternoon we went to a competitive leauge football game.  It reminded us both of a highschool game.  It kind of weirded me out to because the last time I went to one was when I was a freshman and watching my then boyfriend play.  And what do you know there he was playing on one of the teams we were watching.  Weird.  I got a little bored of the game by the fourth quarter so I whipped out the second book in the "Hunger Games" trilogy.  It was fun to be out in the fall weather and be spending time with my babes. 
That night we were planning on going to the haunted mill but I was way tired and didn't feel like paying $10 each to go.  So we made some minestrone soup and went over to my sister Bea's to watch a movie.  They have a Wii and so get live Netflix streaming.  I've been really wanting to watch the Disney movie "The Princess and the Frog"  and everybody obliged.  I really liked the movie and so did Thomas.  Nothing like a good Disney movie. 
I am loving this weekend. We haven't been home for like 3 weekends in a row.  I try to get all my homework done during the weekend so I can enjoy the weekends and it feels great. 

California Trip

My parents had planned a trip to Australia for their 30th wedding anniversary and my dad had taken two weeks off work and everything but then they decided it would be too much with the cost of plane tickets and all.  So they decided to include their kids in their anniversary trip and invited us to go to Anaheim, CA with them.  We had been planning this since before fall semester started so from the beginning of the semester I had time to arrange getting homework turned in early.  The plan was to go from Tuesday to Tuesday but I could only miss two of my Tuesday/Thursday classes.  So we left Tuesday after my morning class. 
But let me rewind to Monday night.  About 11:30pm my phone rang and I found out that my sister Bea was in the hospital cause she was possibly having a miscarriage.  We had just dropped our car off at the mechanic and so were carless.  So I looked out the window and saw my neighbor Keli's lights were still on so I called her and she was so kind to take Thomas and I to the hospital to pick up my nephew Alex.  Alex was a little trouper and went right to bed and slept until I got home from my class at 9am. 
We were a little nervous driving 15 hours to California with a one year old but until the very end he was a champ.  It was so sad once he just got fed up with being stuck in a car for so long and there was no way to comfort him.  We ended up just pulling over at the next gas station and letting him walk around for about an hour. 

                                       Mr. Stinky Pants getting all messy with his lucky charms.
The first day in California we took it easy around the hotel.  There was a nice outdoor shopping area right next to the hotel so we went there and ate at Bubba Gump's. 

                                                     Quite possibly the cutest picture ever.

                                                               Mr.Cool and his Nana

                                                     Brother in law Forest I mean... Mike

The next two days we spent at Knott's Berry Farm.  Thomas had only been on one roller coaster his whole life before this!

Our first ride at Knott's Berry Farm.  I screamed like crazy.  The little kids facing us laughed their heads off at me (so did Thomas).

 My brother in law Mike and hubby Thomas wouldn't go on this one with us.  My dad gave them a hard time for it.  The Supreme Scream shoots you straight up and then drops you twice.  The worst part is the anticipation of falling.

 Alex either wasn't happy sitting with me on the truck or he was impatient to get moving.

 This rollercoaster had a good size drop AND you got wet.

 Really wet.  There was a sign as you were leaving that said "Dryer ahead"  but you had to pay five bucks for it!

That's Thomas and I in the blue shirts.

We started out a little too fast for him that first day and he was feeling a little sick after the first couple rides.  But after lunch he was ready to get going again. I love that Knott's Berry Farm has so many adult rides.  Honestly I think that I like it better than Universal Studios where we went for my senior trip.  Everyday we packed a lunch and would eat it in the little picnic area they had outside the park.  The picnic area is filled with roosters and chickens.  At first I thought it was kind of cool but then on the second day one flew right up on our table and scattered some of our food, disgusting. 

                                       My dad was intent on catching one and he was successful.

 The were all over! I guess Knott's Berry Farm started out as a chicken farm and then they added a Ghost town to entertain people and it kept getting bigger from there.

Alex loved splashing in the puddles.

At Medieval Times

Friday night we went to Medieval Times.  Medieval Times is a dinner/theater.  The unique thing about it is that everyone is dressed up in old style clothing and you watch "knights" jousting as they act out a little play.  We were assigned to cheer for the green knight who turns out to be the evil one.  The food was great (although it all came up later) and it was very entertaining.   From the start I was feeling pretty sick.  The feeling came and went throughout the whole perfermance.  Finally when we got back to the hotel I threw up and that continued throughout the whole night.  Luckily Saturday was a relaxed day and we just hung out at the hotel by the pool.  I think my favorite part of the trip was hanging by the pool.  It was perfect temperature and so relaxing. 
We decided instead of leaving Sunday early morning we would drive through the night on Saturday so Alex would be asleep the majority of the trip.  It worked wonderfully and we didn't have a single break down! Vacation was fun but we were glad to be home and back into our routine. 
Thomas started his new job as an ER tech at the hospital and is loving it.  He works 12 hour days, but it's much better than 9 hour days at a job that sucks.  He is my hardworking man and I love him!

Conference Weekend

We LOVE little getaways! This Friday as soon as Thomas got off work we headed to Utah.  We first went to Thomas' mission reunion which was in Provo.  Mine was at the exact same time but in Salt Lake.  Thomas offered to go to mine but I knew he really wanted to go to his because his mission president who is from England would be there and a bunch of his old missionary companions.  It reminded me of what I assume a high school reunion is like.  A little bit akward.  "Are you in school? Working? How long have you been married for?"  Were the common questions.  It's funny how you can have so much in common with people at one time in your lives and then really lose touch and know hardly anything about them and resort to small talk.  We are glad we went though. 
After the reunion we were starving.  Thomas can always tell when I'm about to get cranky cause I haven't eaten.  We headed to Denny's and then to one of my best friends (Lauren) from high school's grandparents house.  They were so extremely nice! It's the first time we had met them and they just treated us like one of their grandkids.  Lauren and her boyfriend showed up about a half hour after we got there and we stayed about til about 12:30am chatting.  (I haven't stayed up that late in a looooooonnnnnnnnnnngggggg time) We are usually in bed by 9pm. 
We were planning on going back to Salt Lake to try and get into the saturday afternoon session of conference and then head home but we were enjoying ourselves so much we decided to switch those plans to Sunday.  So we watched the Saturday morning session after eating a wonderful breakfast of waffles with homemade jam.  I loved the talk by Elder Uchtdorf about the simple things in life.  He explained that as an airline pilot he noticed that young pilots in training seem to think that when in turbulence they should go faster to get through it.  But actually there is an optimum speed when going through turbulence and it is usually slower than the speed the pilot is going.  He related this to our lives.  Often when we are going through difficult times we try to pick the speed up and do more.  When really we need to slow down and focus on the important things: our relationship to God, our family, our fellowman, and ourselves.  I loved that and will really try to remember it the next time I'm feeling overwhelmed and stressed.
After the morning session Lauren, Thomas, and I went for a hike up to the giant Y that looks over BYU.  I was surprised at what a great workout it was.  I knew I needed to get some kind of excercise after 4 1/2 hours of driving the previous day and this hike had me sweating and breathing hard.  I love that while hiking you can still carry on a conversation though. 

The Y

Saturday evening we had a BBQ with lots of guests.  Lauren's two sisters and one of her brothers were there with some friends.  While the boys went to Priesthood session that evening Lauren and I headed to the mall.  Lauren had looked at a store online called Mikarose and wanted to check it out.  They had some really cute dresses and for extremely cheap.  I never look good in dresses, I always dress up in a skirt, but I found two that were super cute and all together only $26! Pictures later. 
Saturday night we played a bunch of games of PIT and then called it a night.
Sunday morning we watched half of the morning session and then left for Salt Lake to try and get tickets for the afternoon session.  We arrived just as morning session was getting out and I stood in standby while Thomas held a sign that said "Need 2 tickets." After about a half hour a nice man gave Thomas two of his extra tickets! While standing in standby I saw an Elder I swerved with in my mission walk by.  He is from Scotland (Elder Sweeney)  So I was totally surprised to see him.  I guess he is trying to go to school here but you have to find someone to sponsor you who has a lot of money.  So he is going to join the air force.  I love seeing people randomly. 
We loved conference and loved being able to watch all of it.

Outside the conference center

The conference center inside

It's HUGE!

The Mormon tabernacle choir and general authorities

Salt Lake Temple

The conference center

Boise Women's 5K

School is crazy! I have been managing my time wisely though.  6am I wakeup and excercise (Just got Bob Harper's new workout DVD's AMAZING!! I'm so sore.) And class from about 7:45am-12:30.  I watch Alex my nephew till about 4:30 everyday after class.  He's getting so big.  He walks everywhere now, it's his preferred method of transportation.  He still cries everyday when his mom or dad drops him off.  That makes me a little sad, I swear I'm nice to him.  Thomas had a shift change schedule so now he gets off work at 2pm (has to be there at 5am though) that really helps cause he can play with Alex while I do homework.  Thomas has pitched in so much around the house.  He makes dinner pretty much every night and does the dishes and cleans up. While I sit on my bum on the couch reading textbooks and typing lesson plans/papers.  So that is my excuse for not blogging.  I'm writing papers and on the computer for like 8 hours everyday doing homework and just don't have the energy to do more. 
Thomas and I had such a great weekend in Boise.  We went there for two reasons: #1 so that I could run a 5K with my good friend/old roommate Tess #2 So that Thomas could meet with the head of the MRI department at Boise State. 
I knew it was going to be an awesome weekend when as soon as we pulled up to Boise State campus Thomas got a call from the hospital saying that they wanted to offer him a job as an ER tech! Finally!
The Dept. head was super nice and sat down with us for an hour looking through Thomas' transcripts and explaining things to us.  We thought for sure he would need to do a year of pre reqs to be able to qualify for the MRI program.  But the dept. head gave us hope that he can do some pre reqs online and maybe get in for this next fall.
After our meeting we headed to the Women's Expo.  There were a ton of vendors.  There were food booths, health booths, gym booths, just everything imaginable. We came back with a couple bags of coupons and freebies.  We stopped at the Subway booth and saw Jared from the Subway commercials.  Nice guy. He seemed kind of bored of greeting people and smiling.

After the expo we got sandwhiches and headed to a nearby park called Camel's Back park to eat them.  Boise has such wonderful parks! This one had a huge sand hill that you can hike to the top and then a bunch of dirt trails that wind around for miles.  Perfect for running. 



Tess and I at the start line




Tess, Me, Ariana, Crystal



Saturday morning a couple of Tess' friends came and met us at her house and us girls drove together to downtown Boise where the race started.  I was so surprised that there were no lines for the porta potties!? That is unheard of in running race world.  The race had a buch of different waves.  First were the wheelchair participants, then the elite, and then our red wave which is the competitive wave.  Before the gun went off they have music blasting and even teach you a dance.  They sung the national anthem and we couldn't hear a word, also as the lady is singing a big helicopter flew over so that didn't help.  When the gun went off we were ready to go.  It took only about ten seconds to cross over the start mat and as soon as we crossed over the mat there was no hold up or dodging really.  At first I was just going to run easy and wasn't going for time but I knew once I started I needed to just push myself.  I started focusing on people ahead of me and telling myself to stick with them and then pass them.  There was an 11 year old girl whose headband fell off.  I wanted to pick it up for her but she looked back at it and shrugged and kept moving.  Then there was a lady pushing a stroller booking it.  I stuck with her and then passed her on the hill.  The first mile was flat, second mile uphill, and third mile downhill.  I loved it.  At the top of the hill they have these old men playing bagpipes to greet you.  At the top of the hill is an old train depot, really beautiful building.  And we started in front of the state capitol building.  This race had me the closest to throwing up then I have ever gotten while running.  I think what started it was at the top of the hill there was a strong smell of food.  Talking about food or smelling food while running just sends me over the edge.  So gross.  So my goal was to for sure get under 9 minute miles and throughout the race I was running a little over an 8 minute mile.  The last quarter mile or so is a straightaway and it kind of fools you because you are running on the left and there are people going towards the finish line on the right plus there is a balloon arc halfway through the straightaway but it's not the finish line is the start of "tuxedo row"  where men in tux tops and short shorts high five you.  Once I got to tuxedo row I just sprinted and made it through.  Official time 24:16 (and the Garmin showed that it was exactly 3.1 miles). 

We finished!!

The Smith family

Oops forgot to take the sunglasses off. 

All four of us girls ended up being split apart but I think we all really enjoyed the run.  We met in the park that we finished in and got our goodies.  I loved that they hand you a sack with all the food afterwards instead of having to stand in a million different lines to get what you want.  Post race food included an apple, cheese stick, chocolate milk, yogurt and berries cup, cookie, and ice cream bars.  There were more vendor booths in the park to look at too.  Ryan (Tess' hubby) and Thomas met us at the park after the race.  They had gone to Boise State football stadium where ESPN was hosting College Game Day while we were running.

The beauty of the blue field.

Go Broncos!

 We laughed cause they were going around town with Graham (Ryan and Tess' 11 month old son) in his stroller and it was probably funny for people to see two men and a baby walking around.  We couldn't have asked for better weather for the weekend.
Saturday night Tess and I went to a dinner and then the broadcast of the genereal relief society with her mother in law.  I love that President Monson talked about not judging other people by their outward appearances.  This past week I had to do some simulation activities for my special education class that I'm taking.  One of them was to be in a wheelchair for four hours.  People were super nice and helpful but I could also tell that they talked down to me a bit, like I was a child and mentally handicapped. When I mentioned to one girl that I was married she acted totally surprised, like a person in a wheelchair can't get married.  I was amazed at how people get around in a wheelchair.  I have a lot of my classes at a building at the top of the hill.  Going down a hill in a wheelchair is scary! You try to break but it hurts your hands.  I ended up rolling into a patch of grass and couldn't get out so had to ask for some help.  This nice girl took me all the way down the hill to my class.  I entered the building on the second floor, somebody showed me where the elevator was and got in only to realize it doens't go to the bottom floor! What!? So I had to go out the building again and go all the way around looking for an entrance to the basement floor.  It was a tiny little side entrance.  I was late for class.  Then I had to go back up the hill.  There was no way I was going to make it on my own.  My arms hurt just from wheeling around on flat ground.  Luckily this super nice guy offered to take me up the hill even though he wasn't going in that direction.  Poor guy, he was sweating like crazy by the time he got me up there. 
The next day I had to where four different eye masks that simulated different visual impairments like being cross eyed, tunnel vision, and only seeing form one eye.  People were so rude about them.  Actually only guys were rude and made comments.  Do people really think I'd just walk around wearing an eye mask because I think it's cool? But serisouly, what if I had just had eye surgery and had to wear these masks, why would you make fun of somebody?  By the end of the day I was fed up with it.  So when I walked past a guy and his girlfriend (who I always see making out in the hall next to my class)  and he laughed when I passed and said "did you see that!?"  I turned around and was like "Do you want to know WHY I'm wearing a mask?" He was shocked and didn't respond but his girlfriend said yes.  I found that I would much rather just have someone ask "what happened?" then to have them stare and talk behind my back.  Anyways I think this was a wonderful activity and definetly made me feel more compassion for those who live their whole life with these disabilities. 
Back to Boise, Saturday night we watched the Boise State football game and then Sunday morning went to part of church with Tess and Ryan.  We had so much fun hanging out with them and can't wait to move to Boise and be able to hang with them even more. 
On our way home Sunday evening we stopped in Pocatello where I spent most of my childhood and had dinner with the Larsen's my childhood friends family.  Her mom is such a wonderful cook! We counted all of the different food dishes she made and it came out to like eight or nine! I haven't been in their home for like 12 years so it was great to be back and catch up. 
We love our little getaway weekends and are so grateful for our amazing friends.