Steve and Chelle

The Oh-so-adorable not-yet-named new baby girl!!

2010-12-09T19:54:00.004-07:00

Hi peeps!! I don't have time to do a long post and tell the whole story, but our baby is finally here!!! She was born today, Dec. 9, 2010 at 1802 (6:02 pm). She weighed in at 5 lbs 14 oz and 18 in. long. She's super cute, and actually has hair!! Imagine that! :)

Unfortunately, she inhaled some meconium, so she's in the NICU now, and I'm about to go see her. I'll write more later. I tried to upload some pics, but it won't let me!! ACK! I'll figure it out when we get back!

Later all!

chelle

How sweet it is . . .

2010-10-02T23:44:00.003-06:00

I absolutely love conference. Every year I look forward to the spiritual feast that conference is. Today's sessions were fabulous. I think my favorite talk from today would have to be Elder Richard G. Scott's talk about character and faith. He talked about how character and faith interact to strengthen each other. I never really thought a lot about character and how it relates to religion, but it really sank in today. My favorite quote from the talk (and the day really) was this:

"We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become."

I loved this. It really hit home for me.

A few other quotes I liked are listed here (in no particular order - oh, and I'm not sure who said each one, I just wrote down things that impressed me.) Some of them aren't direct quotes, but rather the impression I got when listening.

"The road of discipleship is not for the faint of heart."
"The bedrock of character is integrity"
"Sometimes things go wrong, even when we've done our very best."
"Pornography is a weapon of mass moral destruction."
"Your testimony, when nourished, will keep you safe."
"The decision to chose faith is yours and yours alone. No one can make that choice for you."

A few conferences ago we started having Jenni sit and listed to 2 talks, and write what she heard/felt. This year, Jenni had a hard time at first. She was trying to write exactly what they said, and complained that they were going too fast. I told her she didn't have to write what they said, but write what she thought about what they said. Here's what she came up with- all by herself by the way. She had no help from me (except asking how to spell some words) and I was once again very impressed with how well she listened, and how spiritually minded she really is!

Here are her notes:

In case you can't read them for some reason, here's the text from her notes (I didn't correct her spelling mistakes 'cause I thought they were super cute!)

"I will choose faith. I will choose to repent. I will choose trooth. I will not choose to follow Satan! I will follow Jeses."

This is another testament to the idea that by small means great things can come to pass. Out of the mouth of babes- truly she never ceases to amaze me! I am looking forward to seeing what kind of girl she will become (although the thought of raising her in this world still terrifies me. I wish the Savior would come now!)

Well, it's super late, and I'm super tired. I don't want to have to doodle during the sessions tomorrow like I did today to keep myself awake, so I'm off to bed. Good night all!!!

k, thats all. Later cyber sisters!

~chelle

just a quick thought . . .

2010-09-16T11:10:00.002-06:00

I came across these quotes today and really liked them. I wish I could post more, but I have to go get ready for a job interview! Wish me luck!

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."

"The happiest people don't always have the best of everything; they make the best of everything that happens to come their way."

I have no idea who said either of these quote, but I really liked them!

K, thats all!! Have a wonderful day all!! I'll get to see my newest little niece later today (assuming my sis isn't going to be in labor all day!)

Peace out!

I'm looking . . .

2010-09-15T08:34:00.003-06:00

Hey all! Can't post a whole lot right now since I'm still getting Jenni ready for school, but I have time for a few quick things.

First, a quick update- I (finally) got the cortisone shot for my tailbone! I was super scared cause everyone I talked to said it hurt super bad, but I guess they didn't get the lidocane shot first, cause it really wasn't that bad. (And I'm a wimp, so it REALLY must have not been that bad!) My back was really sore for the next day but apparently thats normal. It has really been a liesaver. It takes a few days for the cortisone to start working, but it has really helped. I'm hopeul that my life will get back to normal! What a blessing modern medicine is!

Jenni is loving 2nd grade, and seems to have a really good teacher this year. Joe-joe is still so very ready to go to school, and tells pretty much everyone he meets that he'll be going next year! (ACK!) He's also determined that this baby is a boy, not a girl. He told me the other day that he wouldn't love her if it was a girl! Silly kid! Steve's doing good. He's currently taking a math class that is going SO much better than the last math class he took at UVU. I think the lowest score he's got on a test is like 96%. So thats awesome!

Other than that things are going great. We're just plugging along! I've been looking for a crib (ours got destroyed one of the times we moved) so if anyone has a crib they don't need, or knows someone who has a crib they don't need, we'll be glad to help give them more storage space! We're also looking for a car seat, but I'm super picky on this point. I won't use one thats over 5 years old, and I won't use one thats been in an accident. But if you know of a carseat that isn't old and hasn't been in an accident that the owner doesn't need, let me know!!

Also, since my job hunt isn't going well . . . or rather isn't going at all pretty much, I've decided it's time to start teaching piano lessons again. So if you're interested, you can see my ad on craigslist at by clicking HERE. It's got all the info you may need. Alas, since my family is so big, I cannot offer free lessons to my Nieces and Nephews. I would love to be able to, and maybe someday I will, however since I'm doing this to support Steve's income I just can't give free lessons. I hope everyone understands!

Anyway, I've got to get Jenni out the door. Have a wonderful day all!!

K thats all!

chelle

Elective Epidural?!?! ELECTIVE?????

2010-08-19T11:49:00.002-06:00

(disclaimer- if you're male, you might not want to read this! I'm just saying!)

So, I'm kind of a newspaper junkie, and since I can't do a whole lot right now (due to a broken coccyx) I read a lot! This morning I'm reading the paper and I notice the headline "To save on Medicaid, cut elective childbirth procedures." My interest was piqued since I have worked closely with many many childbirths. So I'm reading the article and it's basically saying that because there are so many college students in Utah having babies who are on medicaid, we should cut elective childbirth procedures such as 'elective epidurals and elective c-sections.' I was dumbfounded! I had to read it again to make sure I read it right. I was sure it was a misprint until I read further. I was not at all surprised to see that all the people in support of this bill were men. I mean, I get cutting elective c-sections because they are twice as expensive as vaginal births, besides most ob's won't do 'elective' c-sections. (I know. I asked when I was pregnant with Jenni because, really, the idea of something that big going through a hole that small just never really appealed to me!) Some ob's consider a vbac elective (vaginal birth after c-section) but luckily for me, my most wonderful ob did not consider a second c-section 'elective' for me since I have a dysfunctional cervix.

Anyway, I was talking to Steve about this beyond stupid idea that epidurals should be considered 'elective.' It reminded me of my first (and only really) labor experience. Jenni was 10 days late. I was at my brother's house playing games when I noticed a little trickle 'down there'. But it was so small I didn't think anything of it because everyone I had talked to had said 'Oh if your water breaks, you'll know! It's like a huge gush!' My brilliant beyond brilliant sis-in-law (props to Janelle) told me that it really isn't always like that and maybe I should call labor and delivery just to see what they thought. I did so and was told to come in and be checked out. Turns out it was my water breaking, and they started me on pitocin. I told the nurse I wanted an epidural, but she told me I had to wait until I was dilated to a five before they would do an epidural. Me, not knowing any better, figured that was just the way it was. I started contracting at midnight, and by 8 am I was only dilated to a 2, and that was only because the nurse came in and stripped my membranes, basically making me dilate. (dumb old dysfunctional cervix) anyway, around this time I was bawling because it hurt so bad, and I was throwing up from the pain. This is what my wonderful ob walked in on. He asked me why I hadn't asked for an epidural, and I told him what the nurse had said. He got SO upset with that nurse, basically saying "how dare you try and push your own belief's on my patient. This is absurd!" Needless to say, about 5 mins later, the anesthesiologist came in and gave me an epidural. What an amazing blessing modern medicine is!!! Seriously!!! It was good that I did finally get an epidural since we ended up doing an emergency c-section (still wasn't dilated to a 5 btw.) If i had waited until I was dilated to a 5 Jenni probably would have suffocated. From what I have read, the idea that you should wait until you're dilated to a 5 is a really old practice, and my nurse was fairly old. Note to self: you are in control of your health care, and if you don't like what is happening, SAY SOMETHING!!! Almost every nurse I've ever had (and I've had a lot of them!) has been more than willing to work with me when something isn't going like I want it to. As much as I love my doctors, the nurses are really what make a health care experience good or bad. I've been blessed to have had (mostly) great nurses!

The idea that an epidural should be 'elective' is ludicrous. Seriously. So I say to you Sen. Dan Liljenquist R-Bountiful, you are OUT OF YOUR MIND!! Steve called me a while after we talked about it to say that Doug Wright was talking about this on his show, basically saying the same thing I am saying. He said something along the lines of "Husbands, don't even try and mention being able to save money by going naturally. You'll probably get kicked in the face."

Seriously. Elective Epidural??? ELECTIVE????? crazy.....

well, ALAS!!! this post is long enough. I've had my fill of venting. I'm going to go see if I can fix the backgrounds on my blog and my mom's blog.

k, thats all!

later cyber-sisters!

chelle

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T13:24:00.007-06:00

If tomorrow all the things were gone I'd worked for all my life

And I had to start again with just my children and my wife

I'd thank my luck stars to be livin' here today

'Cause the flag still stands for Freedom, and they can't take that away

And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free

And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me

And I'll gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today

'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land

God Bless the USA

From the lakes of Minnesota to the hills of Tennessee

Across the plains of Texas, from sea to shining sea

From Detroit down to Houston, and New York to L.A.

Well there's pride in every American heart, and its time we stand and say

That I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free

And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me

And I'll gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today

'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land . . .

God Bless The USA

amazing!

2010-05-28T00:22:00.000-06:00

The picture isn't super clear, there are other videos on youtube with a clearer picture, but they don't have the audio commentary. Just one more example of ordinary people doing extraordinary things!

11 down . . . 29 to go!

2010-05-21T18:59:00.002-06:00

Ok, I think I'm pretty much past the miscarriage point now, so I figure we can tell everyone now. I'M PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are SO VERY excited. We've been trying for over 2 years, and had a miscarriage just over a year ago, so this is really so special for us! We were worried about miscarriage since I've had 2 of them, which is why we decided to wait until we were past that point before we told everyone. With my first miscarriage we told everyone pretty much the day we found out, and I miscarried a week later. You'd be surprised how fast some news travels, and how long it takes to get other news out! It was really hard the next few weeks telling people that I wasn't pregnant anymore.

I have been SO sick. I mean, I was sick with my other two pregnancies, but I didn't throw up much. I can hardly keep anything down now. I've lost 10 pounds in the last 3 weeks alone. It's crazy! My abs have been getting a serious workout from all the dry-heaving! It's so worth it though! I mean, being sick like this is so much easier to deal with because I know its for a good reason! I was actually pregnant when I went in for surgery in March. We didn't know it at the time of course, but I was about 3 weeks then. When I think back about that it makes me realize just how very blessed we are. A lot can go wrong in any pregnancy, but surgery, especially in the abdominal area is not recommended when you're pregnant. The fact that I didn't miscarry this one just amazes me!

Things have changed alot. I'm not working at the hospital anymore, my leave of absence ended before my dr cleared me to go back to work, and my supervisor couldn't hold the position. I was supremely bummed. I really loved my job. But maybe it was a blessing in disguise. I have been so sick that I wouldn't have been able to work anyway. (Patients don't really like it when you throw up on them. It tends to get negative feedback!) I was approved for unemployment benefits, so that has helped. I'm looking for another job, but I'd really like to go back to a hospital. I really feel like I'm in my element there.

Steve's job is the same. He doesn't really like it, but he's a trooper! He's (hopefully) enrolling at the University of Phoenix soon. We really need to get his degree. We can't live in this apartment forever! We talked to a counselor who walked us through the requirements and stuff, and it looks like all of Steve's credits from UVU will transfer over, and he already has 48 credits there. Also, he'll be going for his bachelors instead of his associates like he was at UVU. It feels right, but a lot of things have to happen before its final. (Like the counselor calling us back for one! we've left 2 messages and she hasn't replied.)

Jenni and Joe-joe are great, as usual! Jenni likes her new school, but really misses her old one. She asked me the other day why we couldn't just move back in with grandma and grandpa again. She liked that. Try explaining self-sufficiency to a 7 year old. Kinda difficult. But she's still doing really well in school. She is an AMAZING reader! And she likes to read, which really helps! Joe-joe is so excited to be a big brother. Every time its his turn to pray, he always blesses mommy and the baby in her tummy. (He also always prays that no one will "get in a crash and die". We're not really sure where that came from! He just started saying it.)

Anyway, I'll end my novel now. I'll try to post a little more frequently! I know it's been a while! :)

ok thats all.

later~

chelle

Happy Happy Birthday!!!!

2010-04-25T23:50:00.002-06:00

Dear Jan, Jenn, Ry-ry and Ethan-

Happy happy birthday from all of us to you, we hope you had a great day, and all your dreams come true!!

Jan, Jenn, Ry-ry, and Ethan all share today (the 25th) as their birthday. April is SUCH a busy birthday month for us!! Not only are the four above April birthdays, but we also have Joe-joe, Alisha (Ry-ry's wife), and Melissa (Dave's wife). (I'm pretty sure there is at least one more, but I can't remember who right now. If it's you, and I forgot, SORRY!!)

Anyway, it's late and I'm uber tired, so I'm going to be now!

Later all!

Chelle

What to write about . . . .

2010-04-13T22:42:00.002-06:00

Just so you're all aware, I don't like april fools day either. I didn't really want to do anything, but Steve really did, and he thought all y'all's responses were so funny!! He says the only reason you guys don't like April Fools is cause you all fell for it! I have to admit, I didn't think people would actually believe it. Go me!

As of this week, I have officially lost 37 pounds! Woo Hoo!!

Really, I can't think of anything to write about. Things are going well for us. I had my surgery, which went well. They found some endometriosis, which they removed, but I was still having a lot of pain. After talking to my Primary care dr. and my psychiatrist we (finally) decided to go back on Subutex. I have taken it before, with great success, but my Dr's were hesitant to put me back on it unless it was totally necessary (long story). Subutex is generally used to treat heroine addiction, but they've found recently that it very effective when treating chronic pain. Granted, most people who use it for heroine addiction treatment are on 3-4 times the amount I'm on. But I've found that a really small dose works really well for me. It's nice to not have to stress about being on narcotics, and the roller coaster ride they put you on. When I would miss a dose of the Lortab, I noticed it almost immediately. With the Subutex, I've missed one or even two days in a row before, and didn't even hardly notice. And I only have to take this once a day. What a blessing!! It's so nice to feel good again! Really, what a blessing!!

Speaking of blessings, my niece Emma said the cutest thing the other day! (Ems, I hope you aren't mad that I'm blogging about this, but I was just so impressed by it! It's totally stuck with me!) We went over to return Daniel's truck that we borrowed, and Daniel, Emma and Matthew were outside doing some yard work. I noticed Emma had a scratch on her face. It started on her cheek and went diagonally up past her eye and up in between her eyebrows. It really went RIGHT next to her eye. Almost scratching her tear duct. I asked her what happened, and she told me she fell into a bar. Daniel explained that they were doing some concrete work (I think) and they had rebar sticking out of the ground in a few places. Emma was running to the house, and tripped, falling straight into the rebar. If she had fallen even a centimeter to the side, she very well could have lost her eye. After Daniel told what happened, Emma turns to ma and says "It was such a blessing because it didn't hit my eye. I was so blessed." It was SO cute! It's just amazing how she recognized it! Even if she was told by someone, the fact that she knows and remembers that is just . . . just great. I told her that she was blessed like that because she was such a good girl. What a cutie!

ok, it's time for me to go to bed now. Again, sorry Ems if I stole your story! I was just very impressed with Emma!

ok, I can sleep easier tonight, cause I finally did a post! Yay me!!!

k, thats all. Later!

chelle

Don't be mad

2010-04-01T13:57:00.002-06:00

Steve and I have some somewhat exciting news, although I'm sure some of you won't like it!

As some of you know, Steve and I have talked about Steve joining the military for some time, although it never felt quite right. We've talked to various people about it, and had many people give us their opinions, but ALAS! We finally had to make the decision ourselves. After much deliberation, we decided on the Air Force. We found that they have the shortest Basic Training, it being only 6 weeks, instead of 12 or 14. The position Steve has signed up for is Aircraft Electrical and Environmental System Apprentice. Steve has a good background for it since he's worked with electrical. The recruiter gave us a few options of bases that would be available to us for this specific training, they are Goodfellow AFB in Texas, Patrick AFB in Florida, or Andrews AFB in Camp Springs Maryland. Steve and I decided to sign with Andrews AFB, because Steve is familiar with Maryland, and it won't be quite so foreign as Texas or Florida. He's talked to a few of the members there that he knows from this mission, and Sister Rogers, one of Steve's favorite members there, offered to let us stay with her when Basic is done, until we find a place of our own.

Obviously, this is kind of a surprise to some of you. Really, this is a good option for us. It will give Steve the chance to finish college, and will get him started on the path to a new career. It also worked out nicely because our contract at the apartment we just moved into is up in July, and thats when Steve has to report to boot camp. Steve doesn't actually have to be there until Monday, August 9, and our contract is up on July 31, so we'll probably end up at Steve's parents house for a few weeks. I'm not sure where I'll go once he leaves for boot camp. Maybe I'll see if I can move back in with my parents or something. Or maybe the kids and I will get a little studio apartment or something. Those details haven't all been finalized.

I had my doubts about this, but it wasn't until we were actually signing that I really felt this was the proper course for us. Don't be too mad girls, it's only a 4 year tour, and the likelihood of Steve going to Iraq is slim. I would have told you this in person, but I felt you may need some time to digest it before you talked about it!

Here we go again . . .

2010-03-21T18:53:00.002-06:00

Ok, so once again, I have to fire myself! I can't believe I'm SO very bad at posting! Steve has had to start posting just to keep people informed! ACK! I love that Steve started posting though! He came to me on Jenni's birthday and told me to do a post, but I was busy, so I told him to! He is so cute!

**sigh** so. update. Things are going well! We finally found an apartment that we LOVE and thats in our price range. It's just of 8th north in Orem. (I didn't want to live that close to a busy street, but ALAS! The apartment was worth it!) We're moving this coming Friday. I HATE moving! Really. Really I do. I wish it were just all done! I need Flee here to make me unpack everything! See, I'm the worlds biggest procrastinator! It drives Steve NUTS! So, I'll say I'm going to get all unpacked and have everything put in its place, but somehow, it just doesn't seem to get done. Definitely something I need to work on!

I'm having some random, unexplainable health issues again, so I'm scheduled for surgery on the 30th of this month. Hopefully they'll be able to get some answers! Seriously, my body doesn't respond the way it's supposed to to anything! It's broken. Eh. I'll get over it eventually! I read a lot when I'm in pain, it provides a nice distraction. I've recently started reading the Fablehaven series, and I LOVE it. The first one wasn't that great, but they just got better from there. The fourth one- I just about DIED at the twist at the end! I SO did not see it coming. The 5th on comes out on Tuesday. I'm excited. I also read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The first one is The Lightning Thief which they tried to make a movie of. I say tried because they failed- miserably. Seriously, they didn't even have the same story line. I mean- NOT AT ALL! I've never seen a movie based on a book be SO FAR OFF. It was horrid. I mean, the movie by itself was pretty good. If I hadn't read the book I'm sure I would've enjoyed it a lot. But seriously, it's like they didn't even try. And it really wouldn't have been hard either! The book wasn't even that long! ok, I'm over it. I love the books though! I would definitely recommend both the Fablehaven and the Percy Jackson series'.

Steve and I also bought my dad's MiniMac that he had recently bought. (He needed a bigger one) Ever since Daniel introduced me to mac's a couple of years ago I LOVE them! I've always been into writing my own music, and Mac's have a program called GarageBand. It is SO fun! I've finished 5 songs already (lyrics, music, everything) but I was using Daniels old laptop, which now is REALLY old. It's starting to have issues, and runs REALLY slow, so I hadn't worked on my music for a long time. I'm SUPER excited to start writing again! I have a blog that has the lyrics to some of my songs if you want to check it out. It's www.themelodyinme.blogspot.com if you're interested! Hopefully I'll figure out how to get the actual songs on there soon . . .

Steve is going to get his CDL (hopefully) so that means once he gets a job he'll be on the road for days at a time. I'm really not looking forward to that. Really not at all. If it didn't feel so right I would never have agreed to it. Again, I need Flee here. She always makes things like that easier! (have I dropped enough hints flee??) We're hoping to be able to get a house in the next year or two. This would definitely help!

Jenni is not happy about having to change schools. We had talked about staying here until school finished, but it didn't feel right. She loves her teacher! She'll be sad to leave, but I think she'll be ok. She's probably going to be at Sharon Elem. I'm not for sure yet, because if Sharon is year round I will have her go to a different school. I HATE year round school. I like a nice long summer break! If Sharon is year round, I'm going to enroll her at Foothill Elem over by Steve's 'rents house. It's not too far away.

Joe joe is the same! He's such a riot! He says the most random things. Today he was eating milk duds- well trying to. He was having trouble with the caramel, so he turned to Steve and said "Dad, these are really . . . . yo-yoey." Yesterday he was playing and he had to go potty. He didn't want to stop playing so he turned to me and said "Momma, I wish we didn't have pee-pee's. Or bathrooms. If we didn't have those we wouldn't ever have to go potty!" He said it like he was so sure it was true! I didn't go into the technical details about why that wouldn't work, I just cracked up. He's so funny sometimes!

So yeah. Things are great! Really we are so blessed. Even though things are tough, we always manage to get through it! Someone is definitely watching over us!

So yeah. Thats pretty much it. And since I know some of you will ask- the health issues I'm having are of a feminine nature, so thats why I didn't go into a whole lot of detail. I have no problem telling people about them, but I didn't really want to go into detail here! If you want to know more- call, text, or email!

Sorry this post was so long! Maybe I made up a little for not posting for so long!!

Later cyber-sisters!

'chelle

WoW when did we get a seven year old

2010-02-27T10:25:00.004-07:00

Seven years ago We became parents.

Wow wow wow this day is not about us. Its about Jenni.

Happy birth day Jenni. We Love you

Jenni always has a smile that can help us have a better day.

This year Jen learned to read and read she loves to read.

she will read to any one who will listen. and even those who don't.

Jen is our favorite daughter. Jenni WE love you Joe Joe too

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNI!! LOVE YOU!!!

Pity Party and you are invited!! by: Steve

2010-02-16T23:00:00.004-07:00

So last Saturday I took the time to, not only compose a new post but, changed the look of the blog changed and removed the Christmas music. Did anyone even make a comment "I think not". Two days later Chell posts a quick hi to all and comments are coming out of the wood works, ok so only 3 but you get my point. Maby I'll Just not post any more. if no one likes me I'll just stop posting. So this is what you have to do comment and let me know you are out there. Or don't and I'll just go away. ITS UP TO YOU!
in the mean time and between time see ya.
Steve

quick hello

2010-02-15T08:55:00.002-07:00

Just thought I'd say a quick hello! I've been so bad at posting lately, but I do have a somewhat good reason. I've been picking up a ton of extra shifts at work the past two months. I do this every once in a while because the extra pay is super nice, although I usually only do it a week at a time. This time, the two months was WAY too much. Just about killed me off. But only one more (VERY LONG) week to go, and I'll be back to my schedule of two days a week, which isn't at all bad. Hopefully I'll have more time to post. As for the rest of this week . . . I'm working tue, wed, thurs, fri, and saturday so you probably won't hear from me until at least Sunday. (and probably not even then since it usually takes me a few days to recover)

Things here have been going good. We're looking for a new apartment, but it's going slow with me working so much. We were shooting for March 1st to be in our own apartment, but it doesn't look super good for that right now. Who knows- maybe we'll find something great in just one day, and maybe it will take us weeks to find something passable. You never know with apartments! I'll try to keep you posted.

Anyway, I've been up most of the night with jaw issues (root canal on friday didn't go so well - another story altogether) so I'm going to go lay down for a while. I'm so glad Jenni doesn't have school today! She keeps Joe entertained well!

k, thats all! Bye for now! :)

chelle

Dont die. We havent

2010-02-13T09:30:00.006-07:00

OK OK so its been a long time since the last post with any relevant info. Sorry, we have been having PC issues . Things are going well.

Just last Friday I (Steve) called my brother and jokingly said so what time are we leaving today, (I was making reference to the BYU vs. UNLV Basketball game at UNLV. We had not made any plans to go to the game.) He said were are we going? UNLV - he answered his own question.
I said " BYU is playing"
He said "ok lets go how much are tickets"
"I don't know..."

To make a long story short- through texting back and forth all day we made plans bought tickets and left for Las Vegas at 6:00 Saturday morning. We got to Vegas 2 hours before game time so we did some window shopping at some outdoor outlet mall in the rain. F-u-n fun. When we got to the game, a sell out, we hiked to are seats, that were on the last row up in the rafters. We were sitting by two men from Gwynns Falls New York, the home town of Jimmer Ferdett. It was nice to be next to some non UNLV fans. The game was fun even though BYU lost.

The best part was that my brother and I got to spend some time together. Or maybe the drive back in white out snow conditions. Its probably been since I was in high school, over ten years ago, the last time I spent that much quality time with my brother.

Thanks Alisha and Chelle we had a good time.

just for mom

2010-02-11T10:18:00.002-07:00

A POST

you told me I had to write a post, so there. It's done.

sorry mom! I couldn't resist! I will write more later!! I'll shoot for today but I make no guarantee! Love you!

How Sweet It Is . . .

2009-12-22T21:11:00.002-07:00

Sometimes my Jenni can just be the sweetest ever!! We told Jenni and Joe-Joe about recycling, and how if you collect cans you can get some money for them. Jenni decided she wanted to do it, so we started collecting cans. Joe-Joe helped some, but didn't really get why we were keeping garbage! We finally collected a few garbage bags worth, and Steve took it to the recycling center and got $3.19 (woo hoo!!) In the car later that night, I told Jenni we got the money for the cans, and said that she could have $2 and Joe-Joe $1 because she did more work. Jenni thought about it for a minute and said "You know, I have another dollar at home that I got from the tooth fairy, so I should give Joe-Joe one of these dollars, so then we both can have $2." I couldn't believe it! It was SO sweet!

And then just today Jenni brought home a 'stocking' her teacher gave to her filled with a few pieces of candy. She took them out and had them in front of her. Joe Joe saw them and asked where she got it. She told him from school and he asked if he could have one. Without hesitation Jenni reached down and grabbed the candy cane (not one of the little dinky ones- a normal big one) and gave it to Joe- without complaining or anything! She is so sweet! She really shows us the true meaning of Christmas!!

Where would I be without my cute family??? I don't even want to know!! :)

~chelle

"The Best Dinner Ever!"

2009-12-16T09:54:00.002-07:00

Joe-joe is so funny! Last night we went up to The Hale in SLC to see A Christmas Carol, and we were running late, so we got a $3 pizza from 5buck pizza. (It's sweet, a medium pizza for 2.99 on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 4 and 8 pm) we ate the pizza in the car on the way up, and about halfway to Steve's sisters house (Joe-joe is too young to go to the play, so he was having a pajama party with Whitney) Joe-joe was eating his pizza and he said "Momma, this is the BEST dinner EVER!" I thought to myself, it's kinda sad that my son thinks a cheap pizza (that made all of us sick btw) is the best dinner ever. hmmm. What does that say about my mothering???

I still haven't seen New Moon. Still. Being poor isn't super fun sometimes. I got a blessing a little while ago that said our financial troubles would come to an end soon, but to be very weary of overspending. Steve and I have been SO careful not to spend where it's not necessary (for example, going to 5buck {or as I like to call it 5yuck} for pizza instead of little caesars, saving $2). (And I know what you're thinking - "why not forget the pizza and eat something at home" but we just simply ran out of time, and that was the cheapest alternative) We weren't way overspending before, but still, we've found that we can cut back. I'm surprised how hard it can be though. Like I said- being poor isn't super fun sometimes.

We're getting ready to move our stuff out so Adam and Stace can move in. We hope to be out in our own place in a couple of months at the most. I am so grateful to my parents though for being so generous with their home. What a blessing it is to have parents like mine!

ALAS! I've got to go be a mom now. Have a wonderful day all! :)

ok, thats all.

chelle

Christmas!!

2009-12-09T11:05:00.003-07:00

Oh how I love this time of year! It truly is my favorite time of year. I love the music, and the family time, and the tree and the lights . . . I could go on and on, but I won't.

Things here are still pretty much the same. Jenni is still LOVING school. She is doing so well! We got her first report card and she had almost all 4's! (For some reason, they don't do the A B C D grading scale because they didn't like telling kids that they failed. So now they do 4 3 2 1. I'm not sure it's really any different, but oh well!) There were like 31 categories, and she got 27 4's and the rest were 3's. I thought that was pretty cool! She is reading SO WELL! She had to give a talk in primary last week, and I had forgotten about it until Sacrament meeting just before, so I quickly wrote one, and she kinda read through it a little, but didn't have a chance to practice it. Then She told me she didn't want any help. I was little nervous, but I didn't need to be. She did SO well! She only needed a little help with 'Mosiah'. (Although, her talk was about Service, and every time she was supposed to say service, she ended up saying servants. Oh well! They got the idea!)

Joe-joe is getting more and more excited for Christmas. The first time it snowed he ran around the house saying "It's Christmas Holiday! It's Christmas Holiday! It's Christmas Holiday!!" (It was on a Sunday morning, and I hadn't slept much the night before, so I was trying to sleep a little more, and it didn't really help.) He has also started singing Christmas songs. My favorite one he sings is "We wish you were Merry Christmas, we wish you were Merry Christmas . . ." He's so cute!

Steve and I are doing good. Things are still pretty much the same. Nothing really to report about us!

Anyway, I've got to get going, but I figured since I made a new background I should probably do a new post to go along with it! Hope everything is going well out there!

Later Cyber-Sisters! Have a wonderful day!! :)

ok, thats all!!

Chelle

Pulled to PEDS

2009-10-30T21:01:00.002-06:00

Oh, how I love my job! I have decided that I was meant to work in the health care field! Really, I do believe this is my destiny! ("You are my density, I mean . . . destiny")

Every once in a while, an area or floor of the hospital is short staffed, and so they request a PCT or RN from another floor. On Mom/Baby, each PCT takes turns to get 'pulled' to another floor. Most people don't like to be pulled because you're on a floor you're unfamiliar with, and doing routines you're not accustomed to. Tonight PEDS at AF was short staffed, and it was my turn to be pulled. I wasn't super excited about it, but wasn't dreading it since my cute Sister Janice works there. Honestly, I love it here! I really love taking care of people and helping people through difficult situations! On Mom/Baby it's nice because most people are excited to be there. They are at the hospital for a good reason. Other floors- not so much! I got pulled to TCC a few weeks ago, and I didn't like it AT ALL! TCC stands for Transitional Care Center. Basically, it's where older people go when they don't need constant care like ICU or Med/Surg, but aren't ready to go home. (Sometimes, they'll go to a nursing home like my mom did when she had her hip replacement). That particular night it was full of geriatric patients, and I'm just really not comfortable taking care of old people! But here at PEDS it's totally different. I love it! The kids are so cute! It's hard to see the kids so sick, but it's a really great feeling when you make a child, that you know doesn't feel good, smile. It's so rewarding! Jan has talked about having some mom/baby PCT's orient to the PEDS floor too, and I think it's a great idea. I would love to!

We've got a couple of kids here tonight with the flu. It's so sad! The kids are so miserable! It's amazing how strong kids are though. One little girl in particular- she's six ( and she's here with her 3 year old sister, who's also sick!) she's coughing and throwing up and has a fever and to top it all off, she's got juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. When I first went in tonight, she just looked so miserable. I sat and talked with her for a little while, and we kinda played a little bit. After a few minutes I had her smiling and laughing, and I was just amazed! It really just amazes me how strong these kids are! I haven't seen her or her sister cry at all tonight. And it's been so fun to take care of them.

Really, it's such a blessing that I love my job. I like to think of it as a tender mercy from the Lord. As if He were saying "Chelle, I know you don't want to work, but since you have to at this point in your life, I'm going to make it as enjoyable as possible."

What a blessing!

My immune system is BROKEN!!!

2009-10-20T13:22:00.002-06:00

So, basically, my immune system is broken. I get pretty much everything I'm exposed to. This is what my month was like- about a month ago I started feeling really crappy, and after the dr. then the urgent care (who sent me to the ER. surprise, surprise.) They said I had the flu (didn't specify if it was regular or H1N1) so basically I was really sick for about 2 weeks, and I missed a bunch of work. Then, just as I was able to start going back to work, I got a small cough. It wasn't a super big deal, so I didn't worry about it. Then one night, I was at work, and I started having weird cloudy spots on my eyes. Turns out, I had pink eye! So I got sent home from work. Then, just as I was getting over the pink eye (still had the irritating cough mind you) I got super sick. Went back to the dr, and lo and behold I had the flu. Again. My dr said that the CDC is estimating that 95% of the influenza cases are H1N1. So, finally I got better from that, but I still have this stupid cough! So, I can say I've had swine flu twice. The second time was AWFUL!! I was so incredibly sick. I've never been so sick, even through all my heart stuff and everything- I've NEVER been so sick. So yeah- I'm done with that.I really am done with that.

At least none of my family got sick. I was pretty proud of that- I had pink eye, and swine flu, and didn't give it to my hubby or my kids!! My hands got a little dry from all the sanitizer though.

Things are going pretty well here. Steve's job is still the same. We'd really love to get a new one, but that may not happen anytime soon. Jenni is loving school. I had to keep her home a couple of days when I had pink eye, and she was SO sad. Joe joe talks so much lately. He is jenni's shadow when she's home. We're so lucky to have two kids that are so good together.

Well, being so sick this month left my house a disaster area, so I've got to go do some damage control! Have a wonderful day all!

Back at work . . . .

2009-10-04T23:36:00.004-06:00

I'm back at work and guess what . . . . I can take my computer to work again!!! YAY!!! :) I'm super excited about this! My department manager decided that it was ok for us to bring our computers as long as it doesn't interfere with our work. (Originally they asked us to stop bring them to work because some people would play on their computers instead of working, so they told us NO MORE! But it didn't really work because the people that were the problem before never really stopped being the problem. They still brought their computers to work and still played instead of working. so now we can bring our computers to work again. I don't think it ever even phased them!! oh well!)

I've been a horrible blogger lately! I've been so busy! I've been picking up a bunch of extra shifts at work, and there was the whole issue of we thought we were going to move all of a sudden, but that didn't happen. (But we thought for a couple of weeks that we were moving, so we started doing all the planning and looking for an apartment and such. That kept us pretty busy) anyway, we also went to Vegas for a few days. Just the two of us- Steve and I. It was SO much fun!! It was like we were engaged again! He did all the cute 'date' things like opening doors for me and stuff. (He still does that when we're home, but usually you have kids and stuff around so its just not the same!) It was so nice to have a few days together. It felt all too short, but to long at the same time! I loved the vacation time, but I so missed the kids. Steve and I decided that we need to be rich enough to bring a nanny along, and the nanny's friend. That way we could have our super fun time with the kids, but we'd also be able to go out when we wanted. But we wouldn't want the nanny to be just bored so that's why we would want her to bring a friend. **sigh** someday! It's gonna happen, I have faith!

ok, well, time for me to do some work. (I have been working in between writing, I'm totally not the type to slack off at work!)

bye all!! I'll try to not make it so long in between posts next time!

k, thats all! :)

Some new things . . .

2009-08-14T12:38:00.002-06:00

I'm bored with what I had. Here's some new stuff. I got a new playlist from playlist.com with some of my new favorites. I'm trying to expand my music interests, so there's some songs I've only heard once or twice, I'm trying them out!

This is an old background I used to have. I tried to create a new one real quick, but wasn't feeling the creative vibe. Eh, whatever. This works!

And for those who read Mom's blog when Gibbs says 'Saying sorry is a sign of weakness' he's saying that from a professional standpoint, meaning yeah you messed up- whatever. Stop feeling bad and fix it. Don't waste time apologizing for something you should be fixing! How do I know this? Because on a personal level Gibbs does believe in apology- He said sorry to Ducky for 'retiring' and said sorry to McProbie for not being there when he was accused of murder. So yeah. I just had to give my two bits on that!

Ok, got to go get ready! :)

have a beautiful day all!!!

chelle

I'm looking . . .

2009-08-08T09:16:00.002-06:00

. . . for a new couch. We currently have a futon, but it's really uncomfortable, and the pad doesn't stay on the futon very well. So I am currently on the hunt for a new-to-us-couch. I'm checking craigslist everyday, but haven't found anything I like yet, so here's a shout out to everyone out there- if you are buying a new couch and need to get rid of your old one, or if you know someone who is let me know! :)

Things here continue to be great! Jenni and Joe-joe are absolutely hilarious, as usual! I never imagined life being like this. You know- like when I was a little girl and I used to play 'house' it never was quite like it really is. It's so much harder than I ever imagined, but at the same time- so much better and more rewarding than I ever thought possible! I love being a mother! And I love being a wife! Truly, there is no higher calling!

Have a beautiful day today all!

k, thats all!

chelle

I'd rather be a WHALE

2009-07-30T21:00:00.003-06:00

So, I saw this at work and thought it was so cute, I just had to post it. Here goes---
(disclaimer- Jan and Jenn, you may not like this! It's not bad but you may not like it!)

"Recently, in a large French city, a poster featuring a young, thin, and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym It said:

THIS SUMMER DO YOU WANT TO BE A MERMAID OR A WHALE?

A middle aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym:

To Whom It May Concern:

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans). They have an active sex life, the get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. The play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Barren Sea, and the coral reefs of Polynesia. Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CD's. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist. If the did exist the would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis: fish or human? With their bodies, how could they have sex? Therefore they do not have kids either. Not to mention, who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?
The choice is perfectly clear to me; I want to be a whale!

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into out heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy and ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver and a coffee [or hot chocolate] with my friends.

With time we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So, we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated, and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my but in the mirror I will think, [holy cow]! Look how smart I am!"

I thought that was super sweet. I'm not chubby, I'm just super wise! Although I'm about 25 lbs less wise that I was 6 months ago! I'm happy about that, but it sounds kinda weird to say 'Yay for being less wise!!!' So I guess when it comes to gaining, it's wisdom, when it's losing - it's pounds!!!! Yeah, I like that idea!

Like I said- 25 lbs down, a whole bunch more to go!!! But at least it's going down, not up!:)

Everybody ZUMBA!!!!!

2009-07-30T20:40:00.002-06:00

So I'm sitting here at the Fire and Ice Dance Studio listening to a bunch of women doing Zumba! (or would it be Zumba-ing? or doing the zumba? I'm really not sure!) I'm here 'cause my cute sister Emilee owns the studio (and the Saratoga Rental Center it's above) and Ems teaches a Zumba class twice a week. She's out of town, so she asked me to come here and be the cashier/greeter/door-unlocker. I of course said yes cause I really love Zumba, but ALAS! I'm not able to do it today. We had some time issues today, and I didn't have time to go home and change before class started, so I'm in jeans and flip-flops. Not really conducive to Zumba!! I could take my flip-flops off, and do it in bear feet, but then there's the jeans. I can't really take those off . . . that wouldn't be pretty!! :) but YAY for Zumba!! those of you who live here in Utah Valley should totally come! It's Tuesday and Thursday nights at 8:30- the first class is free! So come try it out, and if you like it, its a super great way to exercise without feeling like you're exercising! Like I said- I love it, and I hate to exercise! Ok, I'm done with my plug for Zumba!

Things with us are great! We're still going strong. Not much has really changed since my last post. Just, yeah. Things are good!:)

Have a wonderful day all! I'll post a little more when I'm not busy critiquing a possible new Zumba teacher!

later cyber-sisters!

Update on our lives!

2009-07-17T11:41:00.002-06:00

So yeah. I have become just about the worst blogger ever! So, here's a quick recap of our lives lately-

Steve in now a Quality Control Technician instead of a Service Technician. We like it much better because he's now on a Monday through Friday schedule! We LOVE it! It's really nice to have our weekends back! Steve had PRK done a few weeks ago, and he can finally see without glasses or contacts!! YAY!!! It's been nice. It was a little rocky that first day, but it's been great since then!

I passed my CNA test and am now working as a PCA (Patient Care Assistant) as well as a HUC (Health Unit Coordinator - ie a secretary). I absolutely LOVE it. I'm not sure if I've ever written about why I got into the medical field to begin with- so here's the story: I was at the hospital for one of my niece's or nephew's birth (I think it was Ethan) and I saw a PCA come in to check on us, and I thought - thats what I want to do. I felt very strongly that this was the path I was supposed to take! So, I can now say that I've achieved it! (It may have taken me 8 years, but I did it!!!) I have recently finished training, and we've been so busy- so much so that I've actually had overtime on my last two paychecks. Basically I've worked at least 40 hours, and sometimes more for the last 3 weeks, and I've been reminded why I decided not to work full time in the first place! It's just too hard with little kids! It's been kinda hard on all of us, but now that I'm fully trained I won't be working as much. And things are finally starting to slow down too!

Jenni had her kindergarten graduation at the end of May. She did SO good! They sang some cute songs, and had these cute Graduation caps and everything! Jenni is loving summer. She loves to go play with her friends. Her new favorite computer game is Club Penguin, and she's going to start doing chores for money so she can become a member of Club Penguin, instead of just play the free games!

Joe-joe has decided to be potty trained! He literally woke up one morning and decided to go potty in the toilet! He had a few accidents at first, but is doing great now! I couldn't believe it! He wears the cutest little boxer-briefs! ACK!! I can't believe how big he is getting!!!

We're still missing our Lizzy, Flee and Dave who moved to Arizona, but we're planning to go down there this fall, so here's hoping!!!

Anyway, so things here are great. Really, we couldn't ask for anything more! Thanks for all the prayers you've sent our way! We appreciate it!

k, thats all!

later cyber-sisters!

Chelle

Just so you all know . . .

2009-06-02T03:43:00.002-06:00

. . . . I am still alive. I just don't seem to have the time for posting lately! Crazy! I used to be so good at updating! ALAS! Not anymore! No more 'puter at work. :(.

Anyway, things are good. I've been starting to feel better, but this new medication they've got me on makes me SOOOOO incredibly tired. Literally, I can pretty much fall asleep at any time! (You may ask, why then are you up at 3 in the am?? my answer to that is- I got home from work, and now I'm studying for my CNA skills test that I have to take later today. ACK! I so don't feel prepared!)

So yeah. I'm not dead. My family is also not dead. Things are good!

K, thats all! I'll post about Jenni's kindergarten graduation later!

sigh ok, I guess I have to do it!

2009-05-07T03:57:00.002-06:00

I have to officially fire myself! I can't believe it's been so long since I posted! Seriously! So I'm sorry I haven't commented much, but it's just so hard to catch up on blogs when you've been out of the loop for as long as I have! So ALAS! I'm not going to try to catch up, I'm just going to start from whats been posted most recently!

Things are good here. One of the main reasons I haven't posted in so long is I'm not allowed to bring my computer to work anymore! (I know, BUMMER!! I may just start bringing it again anyway, but I haven't decided if my eternal salvation is really worth bringing my computer to work . . .) Also, the power cord to our computer is having issues- not to mention our computer randomly overheats unless I keep ice packs under it! (Hmm. Time for a new computer?? I'm thinking . . . a new iMac! *sigh* one can always dream!)

Work is great. I LOVE it! I'm going to be re-certified as a CNA (finally) next month, so I'll be able to start working as a PCA. I'm very much looking forward to that- since that is the position that originally caught my attention so many years ago! (The reason I started working in the medical field!) I made some super cute name tags tonight, and I'll post pics of them as soon as I can figure out how to get the pics off my phone . . . . hmmmm . . . . .

My health hasn't been super great lately. My endometriosis has come back with a vengeance. I also have an ovarian cyst that has ruptured. Pain. Lots and lots of pain. I'm scheduled for a pre-op next week. I'd really rather not have surgery again, but the alternative is staying on narcotics until I get pregnant again. Not something I want to do. I've done long term narcotics before, and really, that not something I want to repeat- ever ever EVER again. (Withdrawals! SO SO not fun.)

Steve is going to have PRK done later this month. (It's basically Lasik, but altered a little due to some family history of eye problems). We're super excited about this- it will be SO nice not to have to worry about contacts/glasses/eye exams! And it will be nice to have Steve home for a few days! :)

Ok, so I think thats all. I could probably go on, but I think this post is sufficiently long enough.

Have a wonderful day cyber-sisters!

chelle

Joe-joe bear!

2009-04-20T14:38:00.008-06:00

Here's a post I started clear back on Joe-Joe's birthday (which, btw, was way back in April!). I didn't realize I'd never finished it! So, here (just a little late) is Joe-Joe's birthday post: (AGH! I'm such a bad mom!!!)

My little Joe Joe bear is 3!! I can't believe it! He's getting so big! His birthday was yesterday. We had lots of fun with family. Steve took cupcakes with him to nursery (Steve is the nursery leader with Joe-Joe.) Joe-Joe was so excited. When ever you ask Joe how old he is, he'll usually say six. Occasionally it was seven. but usually he's six. (We're working on three!) Here are some of my favorite pics from Joe-Joe in no particular order!

We go to the Summerfest Parade in Orem every year- this was from last years parade (2008) He's saluting the soldiers walking by.

This one was just a few months ago- we were at Arctic Circle with Flee and Lizzy when they were visiting from AZ. Oh how much we miss them!! But we're glad that they are where they're supposed to be! (I just wish here was where they were supposed to be but ALAS! It's not to be!)

So I don't know what it is about my kids, but they LOVE drawers! This was a few apartments ago. Hee hee! Silly kid!

Again, from the summerfest last year. It was very hot!

I don't really remember where this was taken, but it's just a classic Joe-Joe face. This is what Joe looks like when he's thinking.

Ok, these are a couple of my FAVORITE pics of Joe-Joe. We went to a BYU basketball game. He was probably 18 months or 2 years old at this point. He was trying so hard to see by himself!! Unfortunately, my children never really had a chance at being tall. With me and Steve as their 'rents, they're doomed to be vertically challenged.

Doesn't he just have the cutest cheesey face!! Really, they both are just so dang cute!!!

So yeah. Thats my darling Joe-Joe bear. Happy 3rd birthday (just a little bit late) Joe Joe bear!! Mommy LOVES you! :)

funny honesty of children . . .

2009-04-16T13:54:00.002-06:00

So, sometimes the things kids say are just . . . . hmmm. Well, they kinda tend to leave you without words. The other day Jenni was telling us about our neighbors - she was trying to make sure we knew who she was talking about and she said "He's big like mom, only he's wider." Yeah. That made me feel real good. So then we were at the store a little later and I was looking at eye drops. On the other side of the aisle was the weight management stuff, and Jenni picked up this box with a really skinny woman in a bikini. She brought it to me and said "Mommy, you should buy this stuff! Then you could look like Felicia!"

. . . . . . . .

Yeah. Sometimes they just kinda leave you speechless. :)

Funny Joe-joe

2009-04-10T13:49:00.002-06:00

So last night Joe-joe said the funniest thing!! He was watching one of his Noggin shows and I changed it to the Biggest Loser and Joe got upset. He got mad at me, and said "Uhhg! Mom you are so frustrated!" Steve thought it was so funny, he said to Joe- "Joe, are you sure mom is frustrated? Are you sure its not you that are frustrated?" Joe joe said "NO! Mom is frustrated!"

Hee hee! Silly boy! Things are good here! We've been having issues with our computer, so haven't been able to post a whole lot lately. Also, I've recently become addicted to the show NCIS. I had only seen it a few times until about a week and a half ago, and now I can't get enough of it! Seriously! DiNozzo is rather attractive! :)

Anyway, thats pretty much it. I'm going to be designing a background for a friend's music blog. I'm excited about that! but yeah. Thats pretty much it! :)

later all!

seriously . . .

2009-03-30T10:06:00.002-06:00

I am SO done with snow. I can't believe it! ITS ALMOST APRIL PEOPLE! Arizona is just looking better and better by the hour!

ok, I'm over it!

I realize I haven't blogged in a while, but I'm currently fighting an awful ovarian cyst. And I'm getting a cold on top of that. So yeah. Haven't been in the blogger mood lately. Maybe someday my body will realize that being sick and in pain is really NOT fun, and it'll decide just to not be anymore! Well, at least our insurance kicks in on Wednesday! I never realized how important insurance was until I didn't have it! The only issue is it's Cigna, so we have to go to MountainStar hospitals and clinics. Thats sad 'cause now I won't be able to deliver at AF. (If and when I get pregnant. No, I'm not pregnant right now.) It also means I have to switch my OB, which I am SO incredibly sad about. I could still go to Dr. Anderson, but then I'd have to deliver in Payson! PAYSON! yeah- His office is in Payson, but he doesn't have rights at Timpanogos Hospital, so I'd have to deliver at Mountain View. Um, I think I'll pass. At least I know a lot of good ob's that I can go to!

Anyway, like I said, I'm not pregnant now, so wit doesn't really matter. But I like to think ahead about these things!

Have a great day all!

ugh! What a week!

2009-03-24T05:37:00.003-06:00

This really has not been a good week. Seriously. I'm really just so done with this week. I won't go into a lot of details, but lets just say, I'm ready for it to be next month now! I'm ready for sun, and for warm weather and for vacation time . . .

We're thinking we're going to try to go to Arizona this year for our vacation. We've got a few friends there (namely Steve's best friend, and my best friend.) So we've got a lot of motivation to go down there!

So, like I said, my best friend is now in AZ. (there's a reason I'm not using names. just fyi) I didn't think I would take it this hard! Seriously. I knew I'd be sad, but it feels like my heart has been ripped in two! and half of it is a whole state away! Last time I remember feeling like this was when Steve went on his mission. I guess what they say is true- you don't fully appreciate what you have until you don't have it anymore! Friend, you don't know how much you are loved! I put you right up there next to Steve (in a purely platonic way of course! :P )

I think one of the reasons I'm taking it so hard is also because of what else is going on right now. The other things are really kind of messing with my emotions. I think I would have been able to handle all of these better if they didn't all happen in the same week!

I did get a really nice blessing from Steve a few days ago, which was really comforting. I really felt the spirit so strong that night, and I wrote about it in my journal- I ended up with 10 pages! I haven't written 10 pages in one night since Steve was electrocuted a few years ago! So basically, I will get through this, but it will probably be kinda tough. :(

Miss you friend. Love you even more! :*(

oh, to love what you pay for . . .

2009-03-18T10:26:00.005-06:00

So, once upon a time, I got my hair cut- I asked for chunky blunt bangs, and got WAAAAAY lots of bangs. lots and lots and lots and lots of bangs. And then- even a few more. Let me remind you . . . .
ahhh this takes me back . . . .
to this picture of me playing at my grandma's with emmy- we were playing with some house thing (it may have been a play mcdonalds set) - seriously, I wish I could find that picture! I'm pretty sure emmy has it somewhere, I'll have to see if I can get her to put it in a post . . .

This is, unfortunately, the best I can say my hair ever looked. Really, it just hung there- and the bangs! Just SO many! Usually I wore it in a ponytail with a headband holding the mass of bangs back. (Seriously- the MASS of bangs)

So, I've been wanting to get it cut for a while now- and I finally did it! I don't think I've ever LOVED a haircut as much as I like this one! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I did my own little photo shoot.

Last time I had that sad excuse for a haircut I thought I'd get rid of my layers, you know- try something new. Yeah, bad idea. I went back to layers, and they make such a difference!

She feathered my bangs into the layers as much as she could- so now as it grows in it'll look a little more natural. Not so much like a 'blunt bang'.

So I took a whole bunch of pics, and started playing around with picasa, trying my hand at editing.

This one doesn't look that great, but I thought for my first try it was ok!

I did get better! :)

a little more playing with the editing . . .

A little playing with soft glow

What would chelle look like with blue eyes? I thinks it looks alright . . . but I think I'll stick to green.

And I think quite possibly my favorite pic of me ever . . . .

I really liked the way this one turned out! So now that I've had my moment of vanity- I'll go back to being oh-so-humble! :)

Really, I don't usually like to post pics of me, but I had a few peeps ask me what my new haircut looked like, and I had fun playing with picasa! So yeah. I love the satisfaction of really loving what I've paid for! :)

k thats all!

~chelle

Daniel-san: you are officially FIRED!!!

2009-03-14T03:39:00.004-06:00

Ok Daniel. it's on. SO on. You are officially fired. So yesterday when we dropped Emmy's black filmy thingy you mentioned that there was a dance class Jenni could take. Yay, great for dance classes!

Just one problem. I DIDN'T HEAR ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE THE WHOLE DAY!!!!! Seriously!! Every time I turned around Jenni was saying something like 'mom, are you SURE the class hasn't started.' or 'Mom, maybe you should just call Daniel now. just to make sure'. I think my favorite though was "You know mom, if the dance class starts at like 12:20 I might just have to miss some days of school."

Oh my glory! We kept telling, and telling, and RE-telling Jenni that the class wasn't today, and we didn't have time today anyway, and we'd call Daniel tomorrow or Monday to find out when the class was, and that school is more important than dance, so if it is during school, you won't be able to go, but Daniel is smart and he probably wouldn't make the dance class the same time kids were at school and on and on and on and on and on AND ON AND ON!!! I'm not kidding. She talked about it ALL DAY LONG.

So, I think Jenni is just a little bit excited about taking dance. just a little.

She's the cutest little bug! aside from talking about the dance class- she said some other funny things today. We were in the car coming back from Salt Lake, and I'd been listening to KSL. Not really because I was interested in it, but because thats what was on when I got in, and I just hadn't changed it! (I know, I'm getting old! I don't get bored by talk radio!!!!!! ACK!) anyway, so finally after about 10 minutes Jenni says "Mom, can we PLEASE listen to some music now!" as if the talk show was hurting her! So I turned it to the next preset dial, but they were on a commercial, so I turned to the next one- Kbull 93. It was playing a slower country song. She sighed this great big sigh and said "UH, no mom. I want a rock and roll song!"

Apparently my daughter doesn't like country?!? where did she come from??

so then I changed it to my 99.5 where they were playing a song by Three Doors Down. She liked that one. Silly! I mean, don't get me wrong, I love 'rock and roll' as she knows it, but it just struck me as really funny! She then went on to tell me that she was going to be getting drums for next Christmas. I said "really??" she said yes. That Santa would be bringing her drums for Christmas, and she would have got them this year, but she forgot to remember that she wanted drums, so Santa will bring them next Christmas.

hopefully she'll forget to remember that she wants drums next Christmas!

ok, so really Jenni is so funny!! I'm sitting here typing this at 3:30 am cause I can't sleep, and I hear crying. At first I thought it was Joe-joe, since he's the one that cries in his sleep, but then I realized it was Jenni! So I quickly went into her room, and she's sitting on her bed crying! I asked her what was wrong and she said (still crying) "Mommy I just want to be done!" I asked her what she wanted to be done with. she replied "I just want to be done with the tubby!"

hee hee! I kindly reminded her she wasn't in the tubby anymore, that she was asleep. that was about a minute ago. She's now asleep again on the couch. (she just didn't want to sleep in her bed, and I knew if I fought it, she'd stay awake! so I caved.)

oh my jay-jay bug is so much fun! I started teaching her the hand game I used to play with Emmy when I was young- 'say, say oh playmate' with the clapping and stuff. She's really getting into it! she keeps saying stuff like 'how 'bout instead we do it like this!" and trying to change it. I told her we'd try to get the normal way down before we start trying to change it! Here's some pics from after our tubby. She wanted her hair up in a towel like mine! Then we had to take some pics from after we combed our hair. (and naturally we had to take some silly pics!)

ok, this post is officially super long now, so I'll say tah tah! or would it be ta ta. whatever. how about I just say . . .

peace out yo!

Hey all!

2009-03-12T04:34:00.002-06:00

How's life out there in the cyber-world? Hope all is going well!

Things here are crazy! I just got home from work. We've been SO busy lately! On Saturday they called and asked if I could come in at noon because they didn't have a secretary- so I did. It was SO SO SO busy. By far the busiest day I've ever worked. We have 13 discharges and 5 admits in a matter of about 3 hours. SO SO crazy! Then Tuesday was a normal busy night- but tonight! We had 8 admits- and all 8 mom's delivered within a 2 1/2 hour period! So, naturally Labor and Deliv. brought them all down at almost the same time! oh. my. glory. So So SOOOO busy! but then, after I admitted the last person- we were full! So then I started on nametags- I made TEN nametags! seriously- by the time I was done my right hand was almost throbbing! But the nametags were super cute! I couldn't believe how many we needed! I had people ask me to make like 4 others, but I had to say no because I was supposed to leave at 2. (as it was I didn't end up leaving until almost 3!) Anyway, love it love it! I really do love my job. even when its crazy busy!

Other than that things are pretty much the same! Jenni is loving school. Steve is doing really well at his job. And joe joe is . . . well, he's just joe-joe!

Life is good!

I ran over a noodle in my car because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.

2009-03-07T09:32:00.000-07:00

I stole this from my SIL's blog. Thought it was real funny!

Me- I ran over a noodle in my car because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.
Steve - I jumped on a fork in your bathroom because I'm cool like that. (ow! I don't think jumping on a fork would be that cool . . but whatever!)
Jay-jay - I loved my brother in a hole because I'm AWESOME!
Joe-joe - I licked a smurf sliding down a hill because I'm . . . sweet . . . and I do what I want.

(like Janelle, I edited that last one because I'm the mom, and I can.)

and because my mom won't know how to get this on her blog- here's hers:

Mither-lee's -- I loved a snowman at the dinner table because I'm NOT crazy. (I'm guessing on the shirt color!) hee hee!!

ok, I've got lots more to write, but I'm gonna try and sleep some more. (hopefully this time I will be successful- seeing as how I'm supposed to work tonight!)

Here's the info if you want to do it!

Pick the month you were born:
January-------I kicked
February------I loved
March--------I karate chopped
April----------I licked
May----------I jumped on
June----------I smelled
July-----------I did the Macarena With
August--------I had lunch with
September----I danced with
October-------I sang to
November-----I yelled at
December-----I ran over

Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a snowman
6-------a gangster
7-------my mobile phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbour
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18-------a spoon
19------ - a smurf
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an iPod
29-------a surfer
30-------a homeless guy
31-------a llama

What is the last number of the year you were born:
1--------- In my car
2 --------- On your car
3 ----------- In a hole
4 ----------- Under your bed
5 ----------- Riding a Motorcycle
6 --------- sliding down a hill
7 --------- in an elevator
8---------- at the dinner table
9 -------- In line at the bank
0 -------- in your bathroom

Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White---------because I'm cool like that
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink-----------because I'm NOT crazy.
Red-----------because the voices told me to.
Blue-----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want
Green---------because I think I need some serious help.
Purple---------because I'm AWESOME!
Gray----------because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars
Orange--------because my family thinks I'm stupid anyway.
Brown---------because I can.
Other----------because I'm a Ninja!
None----------because I can't control myself!

So much to write about . . .

2009-03-07T06:13:00.003-07:00

It's only been about a week, but there's SO much to write about! Firstly- my sweet grandmother has finally left this earth, and has joined my grandfather and uncle in heaven! While I'm sad I won't get to be with her anymore here, I am so glad she's finally Home. She wanted so badly to go, and she passed very peacefully. I am so grateful that Families are Forever, and even though I know I have some things to set straight, I'm glad I have the chance to be with her again. I look forward to being with them again someday. I might also add that this experience has been good for me. I didn't ever question whether or not I would see her again. I just knew. That was comforting. I was asked to play the Organ at her funeral- and even though I totally missed the opening song, it was nice to be able to contribute. (Luckily they had someone else lined up to play prelude, so she was able to play the opening song for me!)

My grandma is with my grandpa again! She's been a widow for almost 19 years. Absence makes the hear grow fonder!

This week in our house we've been hosting some new additions! namely strep, croup, bronchiolitis and another kidney infection. Since Monday . . . . Steve has had Strep, Joe-joe has had croup, and chelle has bronciolitis and a return of her Kidney infection! Fun for us not really. Needless to say, with our new favorite After Hours Medical and over $200 later, we're all starting to feel a little better! Thanks to Jan and Mom and Daddy for helping us get there until we could make it to payday!

I had another Testimony building experience this week. And this one really snuck up on me! I was on facebook, and I saw a note one of my high school friends had written. He is having issues with his belief in the church, and had posted his feelings about it, along with some video clips from an excommunicated member. He talked about how he's feeling just like this man was feeling, and he wanted people to know. He got so many comments (some nice, and some not so nice) about this. He commented on how sad it made him that some people weren't' even willing to give it a chance. They wouldn't even listen to this man. (basically they were judging him without any knowledge of what he had to say). I have long since decided that I don't want to be one of those people who won't listen to other peoples beliefs, even if they don't coincide with my own. I listened to about half of these video's from the ex-member, and had the most interesting experience! When I started watching it just didn't sit right with me. I was going to turn it off right away, but felt I should listen to more of what he had to say. As I listened there were so many things this man said that just felt SO wrong. I finally turned it off when I felt I had given it enough of a chance. I walked over to my sink to do the dishes and started thinking about what I had heard, and I just had the most overwhelming feeling coming over me that the Church is true. I mean, I already knew that- but it was a reconfirmation of that knowledge. I really hadn't expected it! I felt so strongly that I belong to the Church and I was where I was supposed to be in life! It was incredible! really, so unexpected!

Anyway, so thats our busy week. I'll miss my grandma, but again, I know I will see her again. And I may not be able to go to work tonight because of my stupid bronchial thing, but I feel that this won't be long term since we caught it fast- and they put me on two heavy duty antibiotics, so things should get better soon! And, THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!! I know that. With all of my soul I know that.

That feels SO good!

Holy Crud! She's 6 already!!!

2009-02-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

Seriously! Jenni turns 6 today!! I can't believe it! Where did the last 6 years go?!?!

ok, I'm over it now. time to brag a little!!

My little Jay-jay is not so little anymore! She is so sweet, but really has an independent side! She can be almost as stubborn as me! Ack!

Jenni came to us 10 days late- she does everything her way! She was born by emergency c-section for lack of oxygen. She was such an easy baby! She didn't cry very often, and when she did, we always were able to calm her down quickly.

When Jenni was 9 months old she fractured her skull. That night is on my top 10 worst days of my life. It was so scary. The Lord had other plans for her though, so miraculously there was no permanent damage.

Jenni says the funniest things. One of my favorite things she said: when Jenni was one we used to play the 'boo' game where we'd try to scare each other by saying boo suddenly. She was so cute at it! One day we were sitting in the kitchen, and Jenni walked in. She said all non-challantly (in an almost bored tone) "*sigh* Boo guys." It was SO funny!

I really can't believe she's 6 already. It doesn't seem like its been that long! Where does the time go??? Below are a bunch of my favorite Jenni moments, in no particular order.

She loves to play the piano, and I'm going to start teaching her soon! (She's been begging me for a few months)

We went to the park one day, and it was the first day we had our camera phones, we just happened to catch this. (And I didn't curl Jenni's hair! It used to dry curly! It was so cute!)

One of the great things about my kids is they can and will sleep anywhere! We've caught Jenni in so many funny places- but I think this may be my favorite! She just like a cat!

Jenni is a cheeser! She LOVES to smile for the camera! This is a classic Jenni face!

Again, another classic Jenni face!

Jenni dancing with Daddy at uncle Ry-ry's wedding

ok this is for sure one of my favorite pictures! Jenni was playing peek-a-boo with me and I happened to catch it! She was so much fun!!!

Another of my favorites! I don't know what it is about drawers, but my kids have a fascination with them! Joe joe did this too!! I love her face in this one!

Once upon a time we decided to move to Ohio. It didn't last more than a few days! But while we were in that part of the country we stopped at some of the church history sites. This photo was taken at Far West.

Baby Jenni!! She LOVED that swing! She would sit in it while I taught piano! She was never a problem while I was teaching- something I was so grateful for!

Jenni decided one day to dump a whole bottle of bubbles into Grandma Carol's fountain! that fountain was spurting bubbles for weeks! (although he denies it, I think Kobe might have helped!)

Jenni was a flower girl at Aunt Alicia's wedding. She had so much fun- she wore herself out!

This picture is especially precious to me now because of all that is going on with my grandma right now. But here's our 4 generation picture. Jenni loved going to see Grandma.

Jenni, Joe-joe and Steve at the fountain at the Gateway. Yeah. We had a blast!

this might just be my all time favorite. We went to Park City for emmy's birthday, and somehow I got this picture of Jenni! My super sweet Jenni I love you more than words can say! You've been so much fun to have! I'm so proud of the little girl you're growing into!

Stay good! Stay sweet! And remember mommy will always love you, no matter what!

WELCOME HOME DAVE!!!!

2009-02-27T09:24:00.005-07:00

Just wanted to take a minute to say welcome home to our favorite soldier!!!

"Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great." -Comte DeBussy-Rabutin

"Love can survive any test- but only true love can survive deployment."

Dave, thanks for all you do for all of us. Thank you for your sacrifices and your courage. Thank you for your willingness to do things no one should ever have to do.

Thank you for your goodness, and your righteousness.

Most of all, thank you for coming home safe. Flee is one of my most favorite people in the whole world, and I know how much you mean to her. Thank you.

"He fights for freedom,
He fights for faith
In so many ways he's our symbol of strength.
Not because he wants to.
Not because he's forced.
But because he is
A Selfless Soldier."

We love you!

Time for new music!

2009-02-25T08:49:00.003-07:00

So yeah- the chipmunks are super fun for about 3 minutes, then they just get to be a little too much! My kids sure do love them though! Time for new music!

So lately Steve has been playing the Sega with Jenni (for mom- the Sega is like a Nintendo) They play Street Fighter, and seriously- Jenni totally kicks Steve's trash! She beats him almost every time! Even when Steve cheats! She is her mother's daughter!

My Grandma has been having issues, and is ready to die. I'm going to do a whole post about it later when I'm not so tired.

Work was SO busy last night! I ended up staying until about 4:30 because we were so busy. I like it that way- but really, the first couple of hours were CRAZY! So so crazy! I didn't have a chance to even start my routine 'tasks' until almost 9. (I usually have these done before 7!) Anyway, It was super busy, and I stayed late- but I was tired so I drank a couple of Coke's, and then when I got home I totally couldn't sleep! So now it's almost 9 and I'm SO tired! And I have to work tonight! ACK! I better go take a nap! Enjoy the slower music!

Put it to a vote . . .

2009-02-18T10:36:00.003-07:00

So, I know that this is like my 5th post in the last 24 hours, but what can you do? When you gotta blog you gotta blog!

I've decided to make a blog for my backgrounds and I am having a hard time naming my new blog. I want something catchy- that can be the url for my blog as well (which limits me since it has to be available on blogspot!)

So far here's my favorites:

[blogname].blogspot.com -- blog title

lovablelayouts -- lovable layouts
designedbychelle -- designed by chelle
preciouspatterns -- precious patterns
tweakthetemplate -- tweak the template
tweakthattemplate -- tweak that template
tweakatemplate -- tweak a template
brightenyourblog -- brighten your blog
tweekmytemplate -- tweek my template

(and yes- I know that last tweak is spelled wrong- it has to be for blogspot 'cause tweakmytemplate isn't available!)

I'm liking the tweak ones. but really I can't decide (can you believe it! Me! Indecisive!! Yeah, I know- blows your mind!)

So give me your input- which one do you like best? Or do you have a suggestion that I don't have listed?????

again, please comment!!!!!!

I'm going to give it a few days, then I'll see what the consensus it!

Good To My Baby

2009-02-17T12:02:00.008-07:00

1. Put your music listening device on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write that song name down no matter how silly it makes you look.
4. Title this post what the answer to your last question is.
5. Good luck and have fun!

I had another list of songs here, but they weren't my songs- they were songs from moms ipod and Jenn's old ipod mostly, so I made a list of all my songs and here's what I got:

disclaimer- really these are the songs that came up! I didn't alter it! (except to take out the Book of Mormon and Doc. and Covenants and other scriptures cause I didn't think that was too appropriate!)

If someone says "Is this ok?" you say: "When Grandpa Comes' from The Singles Ward Soundtrack (hee hee! It's only ok for old guys!)

How would you describe yourself: 'Miss America' By Styx (I am so humble!)

What do you like in a guy/girl: 'Simplify' by Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband

How do you feel today: 'The World Will Know' from the Newsies Soundtrack (Yeah, I don't know how to make this funny)

What is your life's purpose: 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)' by Whitney Houston (If thats my life's purpose, then I'm pretty sure my life is fulfilled!!! I've danced with Steve, and I know he loves me!)

What do your friends think of you: 'If You Wanna Touch Her, Ask!' by Shania Twain (Um, yeah- if you want to touch me, ask. I'll probably say no, but you can still ask!)

What do your parents think of you: 'Lucky' by Brittney Spears (I really am so lucky!)

What do you often think about: 'Respect' by Aretha Franklin (R-E-S-P-E-C-T yes. Yes I do think about it!)

What do you think of the person you like: 'Help Me, Rhonda (Single Version)' by The Beach Boys

What is your life story: 'Oops, I Did It Again' by Brittney Spears (HAAA HAAA!!! That kills me!)

What do you want to be when you grow up: 'It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday' by Boyz II Men (So I'm having a hard time letting go of my past???)

What do you think when you see the person you like: 'You're The Inspiration' by Chicago (Oh, SWEET!! Really this is what came up! I love my nubbin! He really is my inspiration!)

What will you dance to at your wedding: 'Tell Her That You Love Her' by Mixed From Emmy (A mix of songs I got from Ems. I'm not really sure who sings it, lemme find out, just a sec . . . oh, Lonestar sings it!) ((and I don't think it was on our wedding CD))

What will they play at your funeral: 'It's Your Love' by Mixed From Emmy (Um this ones by . . . Tim McGraw and Faith Hill) ((oh, thats kinda sweet!))

What is your biggest fear: 'Where You Are' by Rascal Flatts (HAAA!!! I'm afraid of anywhere you are! does that mean I'm afraid of YOU??)

What is your biggest secret: 'A Secret I Can't Keep' by Cherie Call (Hands down, this has to be my favorite! Really- I swear this was the next song- I swear!!! HAAAA HAAAAAA!!!!)

What do you think of your friends: 'The Whole Armor of God' from The New Testament Video Soundtrack (Seminary video songs) (My friends are a great example of the Whole Armor of God!!)

What are you going to name this post: 'Good To My Baby' by The Beach Boys

Yay!! That was fun!!! hee hee! The secret one . . . HA! I really did laugh right out loud when that one came up! I'm gonna go show mom how to do this! haaaa!! haaaaa! That's great!

Its official!!

2009-02-17T10:20:00.000-07:00

Steve is OFFICIALLY employed!!!!!!!!!

WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

We're just a little excited about this! Steve is working as a Service Technician for DirecTV. They're not sure if he'll be in the Provo office of in the Salt Lake office! But either way! HE'S EMPLOYED!!!!!! And as soon as he's trained he'll be able to use a company van, which means I won't be left home without a car!!! YAY!!!

Of course, that's assuming we can get our car fixed. The place that is fixing it is saying is the distributor, but they just fixed that like 8 months ago. Although they're saying they 'have no record' of that, so now we have to find the receipt. (Which I think may be in the car)

anyway, we'll get it taken care of some how! Meanwhile~ STEVE HAS A JOB!!!!!

yay!

Fetch, boy!

2009-02-13T15:50:00.002-07:00

So, kids really do say the darndest things!! Here's one of the funniest things I've heard lately . . .

Steve was making lunch for Joe-joe, and he asked joe-joe if he wanted chicken nuggets. Joe turned to Steve and said "I told you no! Fetch boy, do you listen to me?"

hee hee!! what a cutie!!!!

Sometimes . . .

2009-02-12T01:40:00.002-07:00

sometimes Dad's are just so cute!!! I was at work yester-night and while in the Level II nursery (Basically our NICU) I overheard a new Dad singing to his new son. Really it was so sweet, and then I realized what he was singing- and it just struck me as really funny! He was singing 'Ye Elders of Israel'. It really is fitting- seeing as how he had a little boy, but it was just really funny to hear- in the nursery- 'oh Babylon oh Babylon . . .' hee hee!! seriously cracked me right up! What a cute daddy!!!

Well, its almost 2am, almost time for me to go home!! :) I've already done a whole bunch of other 'time-fillers' including wiping everything in a 40 foot radius down with alcohol wipes (with the exception of the babies of course!) Really, it's amazing how dirty things get! Especially in a hospital! We really are a very clean hospital, but the little things that tend to get forgotten get really dirty (like the phones that don't get used by the secretary, or the table and counter in the break room, or the microwaves, etc).

So, I got a fake wedding ring tonight (an $8.00 one from walmart) I actually really like it. Its got three round stones, the one in the middle just a little bigger than the two on the outside. It's not much, but it's nice to actually look like I'm married! I'm still anxious about my ring. I just really don't know where we're going to get the money to fix it! (since we still owe my 'rents a few months rent and we have to pay a $500 deductible to fix a broken window . . . ) at least I have a pretty one to tide me over until I can get it fixed!

ok, well I have sufficiently filled the last 20 minutes of my shift, and I'm gonna pack up and go home now!! have a wonderful day cyber sisters!

oh, and flee- I'm not sure if you got my text a few days ago or not (you know how retarded my phone is!)- so here it is again:

If you were Wanda I'd SO be your Marianne!

later!

chelle

Bummer :(

2009-02-10T20:50:00.002-07:00

I am so sad!! A few weeks ago while we were moving I noticed one of the diamonds on my wedding ring is gone! And the ones that were next to it are loose so I can't wear it until we get it fixed! :*(. I cried when I found it! Steve called his mom's cousin in LA who made the ring and he said we could fed-ex it to him, and he'd fix it for us at cost, so thats good, but still. I can't wear it, and I have to ship it to CA! I just don't like the thought that it won't be with me!! At least it wasn't the main diamond, cause that would be real real expensive to replace!

We're still plugging away at the pile of 'stuff' we have to go through. We're doing pretty good though. Everything that the family moved over from Steve's 'rents house is all unpacked and put away. We're now going through all the stuff that was upstairs with us. Seriously, we have WAY too much stuff!!!

I'm at work tonight, but luckily my shifts have been reduced to 8 hours! I really am excited about this- since I can still have a normal life. I get off at 2 am, so I'm usually in bed by 3. I can still get up at a normal time, and I don't have to worry about sleeping in the morning before I have to work. It's nice!!!!

Anyway, I'm gonna go clean stuff now. (Like my desk, phone, computer, etc) I like to have a clean station!

Have a great night. Sorry this post was so boring! I'm just not in a super funny mood. hmmmm. I'll think of something funny to write about, and write more later!

:)

Explanations

2009-02-09T00:34:00.002-07:00

So. I read my mom's blog, and there are a few things I need to explain.

For starters, mom said that Steve got a job. Thats not technically true. See he hasn't actually been offered the job- and we didn't really want to tell everyone until we were sure, but, you know, thanks for opening that can of worms mom!! :) (Although Steve just informed me that he did send a 'mass text' to our families- which apparently he doesn't consider me a part of!) [and Steve would also like to mention that he called me before he sent the text. so he's not in trouble!] And when he does officially get that job offer, trust me, I will MOST DEFINITELY blog about it! [And I think I'll just not tell mom so she can read it on the blog- cause then she won't be able to 'steal my thunder' as she put it!! Hee hee! :)]

Secondly I need to clarify- mom said that 'Steve and Michelle' broke the window in the garage. again, not technically true. 'Michelle' had no part in this breaking, and was even against him throwing things out the window in the first place. (Although, you could count flee in that since she wanted to see stuff 'splode too! So you could say 'Steve and Flee' broke the window, but that would just sound weird!)

Steve would like to add that when you decide to throw an old dish network receiver out the window make sure the cord isn't wrapped around the receiver, cause then it won't 'splode. And when you throw the 2nd receiver out the window, make sure the loose cord doesn't get caught on your leg, cause as Indiana Jones has shown us with his whip, when you wrap one end of a whip, or cord, around a stationary object, ie a log, or Steve's leg, the other end tends to make an arc- which in Steve's case ends up breaking a window. Eh. Whatever!

So yeah. Just thought I'd clarify that!!

Happy Birthday Annie and Rinny!!!

2009-02-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

My cute mother-in-law and my cute friend Rinny both had their birthday today!!!

Wow. February is the month of birthdays!

So here's my shout out to my 2nd Mom and my Rinny friend!!! (And I'm not actually sure either of them read this, but Oh well!!)

Love you both with all my heart!!! :)

I'm a little bit handicapped!!!

2009-02-07T23:27:00.003-07:00

So, I'm at work, and labor and delivery called saying they were going to section a patient and asked if we would bring the bed up. (When we do a c-section on a mother we take the bed she's going to be using on mom/baby up to the c-section area so she only has to be transferred once). I've helped someone else do this before, and I was pretty sure I could do it without help, so me, being all confident, went to the room to get the bed.

I unlocked the wheels, and started steering it out of the room. I kinda ran into the door just a little, and had to back up and try going through the door again (maybe I might have had to try 3 times before I got it right, but who's really counting???) stupid bed.

I remembered that the elevators we usually use to take beds upstairs (the staff elevators) were having issues, so I thought I couldn't use them. I thought to myself "Oh, I'll just use the regular elevators". The regular elevators are on the other side of locked double doors. I unlocked them, and fought for a couple of minutes to get the bed through. (It just really didn't want to go through!) The whole time I'm thinking "This door has an alarm on it, and if it's help open too long it will get REALLY loud!!" Seeing as how I didn't want to wake up half the unit at 11:30 pm, I tried to go faster. Which just made me more flustered! Finally, I did make it through the doors. I punched the elevator button, and the elevator came.

It was only then that I realized these elevators are too small to fit a patient bed in them. stupid elevator.

Whatever.

So, I opened the door again, and forced the bed through the double doors. (This time it was a little easier) I went down to the elevators that were supposed to be broken only to find out that they can go between the 2nd and 3rd floors, just not anywhere else (which, by the way, is really annoying!! seriously!) So I got the bed on the elevator, using my very muscular arms- heaving it over the opening where the elevator begins. (Really, it was heavy! and the wheel got stuck in the hole, and I had to lift the bed out of it, but if you lift in the wrong spot the whole top of the bed starts to come off! Jan, I think you can probably relate!!) stupid elevator again!

So I finally got the bed to the 3rd floor, and wheeled it around the corner to some more double doors (These ones are automated! bless them!) I pushed the button to open the doors . . . and nothing happened. HMMMMM.

I pushed it again, and again, nothing happened. So I walked all the way around the unit to the nurses station to ask if the doors were having problems and the secretary told me I was probably standing too close. Pshaw. So I walked back to the bed and pushed it farther away from the door, and it still didn't open. I pushed it even farther back- I had to push it about 8 feet back before the door finally opened for me. Double-Pshaw. stupid door.

So I get the bed to where I'm supposed to leave it- right in time too cause the nurse walked out just then looking for the bed (and I could hear the little baby crying!! :) oh so sweet!) I decided to use the stairs on the way back down- just because I was bugged at the elevator and decided to boycott it!

Not until I was back down at my desk did I realize that the room I took the bed out of has a broken couch in it. I was even the one who put in a maintenance request to have it fixed! stupid couch.

I am handicapped!

So instead of calling L/D I went in and fought with the couch until I fixed it. Yeah. I know. I'm ama-za-zing!

I have decided that I will no longer be moving beds all by myself- even though I've seen other nurses do it. I will just accept that this is not my forte, and I will have to ask for help!

such is life!

Mommy!

2009-02-05T16:16:00.003-07:00

Today is Mommy's birthday!! Yay!!!

My mom is 29 again! (I know!! A medical miracle!! Who knew she would have 7 kids BEFORE she was born right!)

I absolutely love my mommy!!! I have SO many fun memories of her! I remember when I was little (grade school-jr high ish) everyday after school I would go 'cuddle' with mommy. Sometimes we would talk, sometimes we would just lay. Sometimes we would fall asleep. I remember one time, we were listening to mom's rainstorm tape (kinda like a waves tape to fall asleep to, but this one was a rainstorm). Mommy and I had both kinda dozed off. She had the tape on really loud (as usual! I think my 'rents are going deaf!) so here we are both pretty much asleep and all of the sudden there was a BIG LOUD clap of thunder. We both jumped really really high!! then we both laughed about how it scared us both! It was funny! (although looking back I don't really know why one would listen to that tape to fall asleep? I mean, why listen to something that has loud thunder claps anyway???)

I remember when I was really little (grade school or younger) my mom would sometimes drive past our house when we were on the way home. Then me or em would say "Mom you past the house!!!" and she would act all surprised and back up! hee hee! she is so silly!

Mommy has always loved animals. Or rather- mommy has always loved the thought of having an animal. Daddy being the softie that he is usually caved to mom when she wanted to get a pet, but the last few years he has started putting his foot down. On day, after mom and dad had been talking about getting a puppy, and dad saying absolutely not, mom thought she'd play a little trick on dad. While he was at work, she set out a newspaper and put a bowl of dog food, and a little bowl of water on it. Then she spilled a little of the water on the newspaper to make it look like a dog had dank there. Daddy was not thrilled when he saw it! She had a good long laugh about that!

My mommy set a very good example. I can not count the number of times I would walk in her room and she would be praying and we'd have to wait outside the door until she was done. (And if you haven't met my mom, that woman can PRAY! Seriously. Sometimes I swear I could have died from boredom waiting for her to finish. That used to bug me when I was little, but now I realize just how amazing she really is!) She used to sing us primary songs, and lullaby's. I got my love of music from her. One of my favorite songs she used to sing to us is "Babes in the Wood" (which Steve refuses to let me sing to the kids. He says its morbid . . . um, and he's kinda right. But its got such a pretty melody!!)

I remember reading a story in the New Era once that talked about two boys. One boy had a Book of Mormon that was all nice and crisp. Another had one that was really worn. The first boy saw the worn one and thought his was so much better because it was all nice, until he realized that the worn one was worn from use. I remember while I was reading this story I thought of my Mom's scriptures. Her Book of Mormon from when I was growing up is at least twice the size it used to be. The pages just don't lay as thin as they used to0 because she has used it so much. I thought that was pretty cool!

Really, there are SO many memories I could share here, so so many. But ALAS!! I need to get back to unpacking! Mommy dearest I love you! Thank you for being such an amazing person, and someone I could emulate! You're the best!

oh, and you're not allowed to die at 72. Just fyi. I will still need you then. :)! (unless of course the Lord has other plans!)

101th post!!!!!

2009-02-02T17:02:00.002-07:00

So I got some crap from people about not giving any big news on my 100th post. See, here's the thing- I was real real tired that day 'cause Joe joe and Jenni had been so sick that night before. But I wanted to do a post just to show that I was still alive (I didn't want to have to fire myself after all!)

So I have decided to make a big deal out of my 101th post!!!

YAY 101 posts!!! OH FRABJOUS DAY!!!! CALOOH CALLAY!!!

Life is really great! We've been super busy moving and unpacking and cleaning and de-junking! (Seriously dejunking! You should see our DI pile!!! and our trash pile!!! It feels SOOOO good!!!) See so next time all our peeps have to come help us move we won't have enough stuff to furnish a small country! :)

I have been feeling SO good! My infection is pretty much gone! And really for the first time in months I actually FEEL GOOD!!!! I like feeling good!! Its fun.

So basically Life is FANTASTIC! I really really am enjoying having my own space now. It's REALLY nice to be able to put the kids to bed and close the door!

Doors-- ahh bliss!!!

So yeah. Things are great. really really great! :)

I'll post more when my house is more put together, and you know- clean and stuff. And I'll post pics too! :)

Have a fabulous day cyber sisters!

See you tomorrow . . . maybe!

(hee hee!! I couldn't resist! I'm a little bummed that we have 6 more weeks of winter though :(. I am so a summer person. I think I live in the wrong state.)

100th Post!

2009-01-30T08:00:00.002-07:00

Wahoo!!! I'm on my 100th post!!!! Yay me!

I'm using my very special 100th post to say that I am still alive! It seems like its been forever since I posted, but really- it's only been since the 25th. Hmmmm.

Life in the Saltzgiver household is FANTASTIC! For a lot of reasons, the biggest one being that things are really falling into place for us!

I'll write a little more about that later though! I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night! Fevers and Vomiting x 2 kids + all night = chelle is real real tired! So I'm gonna go back to sleep maybe. If I can!

Before I go can I just say a quick THANKS! Thank you all for your prayers and support! We've had a bit of a rough time for a while. We appreciate all your love and concern for us!!! Thanks!

ok thats all!

YAY for 100 posts!

work work work

2009-01-25T04:36:00.002-07:00

I'm at work again! For some odd reason I'm the only secretary who still does 12 hour shifts at night. All the other secretaries have changed to 8 hr shifts but me . . . hmmmm. I wonder why??

anyway, I finished the background I made for mither- so go to her blog and see it!! It's cute! I made it for a 19" screen, although her's is bigger than that. But most people will still be able to see most of it if not all of it.

so, um, yeah. Thats all. I'm gonna go see if I can find a movie to watch! later all!

peace out!

YAY!

2009-01-20T12:27:00.002-07:00

So, things are finally starting to work themselves out in my body!! I'm finally starting to feel a little better! WAHOO!!! I'm not taking my Zofran (anti-nausea) every meal like I was before, and I've stopped throwing up!! again I say WAHOOOO!!!! ("when was the last time you went wahoo??" -- what's it from???

anyway, thats all!

For Karla

2009-01-18T18:46:00.002-07:00

Hello all!!

Karla wanted me to do a spring background and here it is!

Also, I'm thinking about starting a blog to show my backgrounds, and add instructions on how to use them (like alliebrownslayouts.blogspot.com) and my question is this- would you be inclined to use a layout I've designed?? (basically I'm asking if you like my layouts, but I don't really like asking out right like that cause I feel like I'm 'fishing' for compliment- which I totally am not trying to do- you don't have to tell me what you liked/didn't like- I just want to know IF you liked them.) I could do layouts for different size screens- 15", 17", 19" etc.

anyway, if you'd let me know that would be great!

mwah! (thats a kiss for those who didn't get it!)

Love your guts all!

7 years . . .

2009-01-17T08:00:00.002-07:00

Once upon a time there was a cute little high school girl. She was head over heals for this boy, and he seemed to feel mutually for her! One day, this girl's piano teacher cleverly devised a plan to get them together. The piano teacher, lets call her . . . Debbie, decided to take this cute girl and some friends, and this boy to St. George on a road trip! Debbie invited her son and his friends to come along, so this boy wouldn't be the only boy among a bunch of girls!

This cute girl, who we will call . . . chelle, had been looking forward to this trip ALL summer. She spent quite a bit of time at her piano teacher's house when she was not playing the piano. One night a few weeks before the trip she and her friends decided to watch a movie at Debbie's house. Debbie's son wasn't home, but his friend, who shall be named Steve, decided to come and watch the movie with them. Chelle and Steve ended up sitting next to each other on the couch while they enjoyed Harrison Ford in "Air Force One" (the edited version of course). Steve kept making funny comments, and Chelle kept making funny come-backs.

Finally, at long last the much anticipated trip was here!! August 5th, they all packed up two cars and drove to St. George. When they finally got to St. George, Chelle was able to spend some time with the boy with whom she had waited so long to see! Unfortunately for this boy, Chelle's attention was elsewhere! **GASP**

Steve, whom Chelle hadn't spent much time with since the movie, was somehow taking all Chelle's attention! Chelle kept trying to convince herself that she still liked this other boy. She kept trying all night, but ALAS! It was to no avail!

The next morning, Chelle was helping the girls make breakfast. She was stirring eggs, getting ready to scramble them. All of a sudden she heard a cute voice in her ear. "What'cha doin'?" He asked. Chelle was elated! Steve was standing right behind her looking over her shoulder. She stuttered some inaudible response, and realized then that she was completely head over heels for this boy.

From that point on Chelle has been completely taken with Steve. They were married 3 years and a few months later. That was 7 years ago today.

The En . . . or rather the beginning of a wonderful journey through eternity!

Steve, I love you! And I've loved spending these last 7 years by your side! It has been an incredible journey. It's been harder than I ever thought life would be, but you've been amazing. I wouldn't have made it through anything if you hadn't been by my side- supporting me. I love you more than I can say, and I look forward to the eternities, and to never having to say goodbye!

I need your help!!!

2009-01-16T08:11:00.002-07:00

ok, so once again I am playing with my background (oh my gosh, seriously I am so annoying!!!) but I finally figured out how to make the background different sizes, however since each computer is different, I need some info from each of you. I have the background set for a 17" screen. On my computer it looks great- perfect size and everything. I can read all the words without them running into the black on either side and there's no white around the edge (the background is the same size as my screen). I get on my Daddy's computer and, seeing as how they have a LARGE screen (I think its like 22" or something like that) I can see white around the background. The text is in the same place though. (I can still see all the text- it's not running into the black on the edges.)

So here's my question: what does this size background look like on your computer? can you see the grey ribbon/bow along the bottom? Can you see the buttons? Can you see the black on the right side with all the while swirlies??

If you could answer these questions for me that would be awesome!! And if any of you would like help designing your own background, I'd be happy to help! (Or, if you don't want to do it, but want a personalized background I can totally do that for you too!)

anywho, thanks in advance for your help! :)

Bug and a half.

2009-01-16T00:22:00.000-07:00

So, sometimes people just bug me! They really get under my skin! They just do these things that really hit a nerve! Really stupid things for example. Here is a story that recently REALLY hit a nerve.

I know a woman who was having abdominal pain, and went to the ER 3 times here in Utah county, and then again in St. George where she lives. All 4 times the Dr.'s wouldn't do anything because they said she was just a drug seeker. Finally the 4th time the husband put his foot down. The Dr. flat out said to the husband that he wasn't going to do anything because she was a pill popper. The Dr. said "We can do thousand dollar test after thousand dollar test, but we're not going to find anything." The husband insisted that they do the tests anyway.

It turns out she had a massive infection- and here's the reader's digest version of what happened- she was waiting in her ER room to be admitted to the hospital when things turned really bad- she was life flighted to Intermountain Medical Center in SLC while her hubby was basically told to say goodbye, 'cause things were that bad. They told him there was a risky surgery they could try but she might not make it through the surgery. The did the surgery, and found 2 huge infections in her body. They emptied 4 liters of infected fluid. 4 LITERS!meanwhile her body started to die so now she has to have all her fingertips amputated, and one of her legs amputated (just below the knee). She may even loose the other leg too. And all this because the Dr. had a preconceived notion that she was a seeker. I'm thinking there's a lawsuit in the making here.

I'm not saying that the Dr's should give seekers drugs- definitely not. And I know they have to be careful because there are so many seekers out there. I'm saying that when a patient presents to the ER, don't just assume nothing is wrong and send them home. Do some actual TESTS.

I had this happen (on a MUCH smaller and less agonizing scale) to me recently. I was at the ER, and the Dr just assumed I was there for pain meds (which I hadn't even asked for, and wasn't going to ask for btw) so he didn't do any tests, consequently he totally missed the infection that was 'ravaging' my body as my PCP put it. And I spent even MORE time throwing up, in pain, and loosing more weight than was healthy. Did I feel good about that??? not so much.

My PCP said that he couldn't believe they didn't catch this, or put me on some kind of antibiotics. He now has me on 2 heavy-duty antibiotics for the next few weeks.

Yeah. Sometimes, people bug me. Thats all.

20 Questions . . . or maybe a few more . . .

2009-01-14T02:55:00.002-07:00

so, I am bored at work again!! I thought I'd do another questionnaire thing, so I googled 'getting to know you' and 'random questions' and here are my two favorite results: (warning- there are almost 100 questions here! I was really bored! Oh, and a few of the questions were omitted because they were duplicates, but I didn't want to re-number all the rest of the questions, and I didn't want to look like I couldn't count but just deleting the question entirely!)

enjoy!

1. Where were you 3 hours ago? same place I am now- working.
2. Who are you in love with? my cutest hubby.
3. Have you ever eaten a crayon? of course! who hasn't??
4. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you? um, let me check . . . yes- there's pink on my shoes.
5. When is the last time you went to the mall? Monday.
6. Are you wearing socks right now? yup. (but I'm usually not- I hate socks.)
7. Do you have a car worth over $2,000? depends on if the mechanic can fix it :( so far- it doesn't look good.
8. When was the last time you drove out of town? gosh, um . . . I don't remember. I think when I went to Vegas with Flee (October)
9. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days? no
10. Are you hot? no, I'm freezing!! (It's always cold at work.)
11. What was the last thing you had to drink? coke
12. What are you wearing right now? clothes!
13. Do you wash your car or let the car wash do it? neither- I let my husband do it.
14. Last food that you ate? nacho cheese dortidos
15. Where were you last week at this time? probably sleeping!
16. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week? yes
17. When is the last time you ran? um, about 2 hours ago
18. What's the last sporting event you watched? the college football national championship.
19. What is your favorite animal? Kitties, but Steve is allergic- so puppies!
20. Your dream vacation? somewhere tropical with just Steve (ie, no kidlets)
21. Last person's house you were in? besides my own? Um, Steve's 'rents.
22. Worst injury you've ever had? Broken arm.
23. Have you been in love? seeing as how I'm married, I sure hope so!!
24. Do you miss anyone right now? my hubby.
25. Last play you saw? oh geez, it's been FOREVER since I saw a play. I think it was footloose last summer and the scera shell.
26. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex? since the only member of the opposite sex I try to 'lure' in is Steve, pretty much my secret weapon is my eyes!
27. What are your plans for tonight? work again. drat.
28. Who is the last person you sent a MySpace message or comment? I don't use MySpace, so I'll insert facebook here- and that would be Andy Burton and Flee(I can't remember which one was last)
29. Next trip you are going to take? somewhere with my hubby this weekend (7 years! ack!!)
30. Ever go to camp? yup- Camp Shalom.
31. Were you an honor roll student in school? that would be a great big NO. I was the kid whose parents had to bribe to get good grad(like with cash money- and yes mom, you most certainly did pay me for good grades)
32. What do you want to know about the future? lots and lots and lots
33. Are you wearing any perfume or cologne? does deodorant count??
34. Are you due sometime this year for a doctor's visit? uh, have you met me?? when am I not due for a dr's visit??
35. Where is your best friend? probably sleeping!
36. How is your best friend? great I would assume! (She's always 'great' even when she's really not!)
37. Do you have a tan? negatory good buddy.
38. What are you listening to right now? 'Hey There Delilah' by Plain White Tees.
39. Do you collect anything? yellow smiley stuff.
40. Who is the biggest gossiper you know? I'd rather not answer that!
41. Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over? last spring (twice in one day in fact- our car was WAY expired!)
42. Have you ever drank your soda from a straw? almost every time I drink soda!
43. What does your last text message say? uh, let me check . . . I don't have my phone with me, but I think it was 'still up?' texted to Flee last night at about 10:30.
44. Do you like hot sauce? eew, no.
45. Last time you took a shower? Yesterday
46. Do you need to do laundry? always.
47. What is your heritage? my heritage??? what kind of question is that?? Probably my religion.
48. Are you someone's best friend? I hope so!
49. Are you rich? insanely so. I have so much money I don't know what to do with it!
50. What were you doing at 12AM last night? sleeping.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? I was named after every single person born before December 23, 1981 at 4:38 pm.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? a few days ago.
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? most of the time- when I'm not at work.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Ham or turkey
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? yup
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I hope so!
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? me, use sarcasm?? Never!
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yup.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Nope.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? it changes. Currently- brand flakes (Wheaties)
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? nope.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? not particularly
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Cheese cake, and chocolate cake batter from Cold Stone.
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? I hate to admit it . . . but their size probably. ('cause thats the thing I think people notice about me first.)
15. RED OR PINK? Red. Hands down.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I refuse to answer this question because I am trying to not talk negatively about myself!
17. ***question omited***
18. ***question omitted***
19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? grey, white, and pink tennis shoes.20. ***question omitted***
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? 'Lucky' By Jason Mraz and Colbie Callait
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? duh, yellow!
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? cinnamon, sweat pea from Bath and Body Works, roses
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Amy in the nursery. (a girl at work)
25. MOUNTAIN HIDEAWAY OR BEACH HOUSE? Beach House- most definitely.
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Football by a landslide.
27. HAIR COLOR? dirty blond/light brown
28. EYE COLOR? green/blue depending on what I'm wearing
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? nope
30. FAVORITE FOOD? something thats not yucky. (it changes. currently probably an Arby's Melt)
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy Endings. I do not watch scary movies.
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Dark Night (hated it by the way)
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Silver
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Spring (but If thats not an option, summer or fall. I'm not a big fan of winter)
35. HUGS OR KISSES? depends on who they're coming from!!
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? cheesecake. mmmmmmmm
37. STRENGTH TRAINING OR CARDIO? cardio. but I need to do more strength training.
38. COMPUTER OR TELEVISION? Computer. (I may possibly have an addiction. I wonder if they have a 12 step program for computer addicts! Oh my glory! They have support groups for it!! They totally do!! google 'computer addiction' and you'll see what I mean!)
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Forgiving Yourself.
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? don't have a mouse pad. oh but my work computer has a Dell mouse pad.
42. FAVORITE SOUND? kids laughing, music, accapella men (especially accapella Sackett men)
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? NYC, or Calgary- which ever is farther.45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? music.
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? in a hospital!
47. WHERE ARE YOU LIVING NOW? Saratoga Springs with my cute 'rents
48. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR HOUSE? um, beige
49. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR CAR? greenish blue
50. DO YOU LIKE ANSWERING 50 QUESTIONS? it passes the time at work!

chelle at work

2009-01-13T22:36:00.003-07:00

Thats like 'men at work' except I'm not a man, so I did chelle at work. 'cause I'm at work. In case you didn't catch that.

I'm bored. Again. I'm going to go do some name cards in a bit, but I'm not feeling super creative at the moment, so I'm not sure how they're going to turn out. hmm.

um, yeah. I think thats about it. Maybe I'll do another tag post. hmmmm. I'd have to think of some random questions. hmmmmmmmm.

ok, I'm off to do name cards. have so much fun all!

chelle

BLAST!

2009-01-12T12:48:00.001-07:00

yeah- so when I log onto my blog from MY computer, I can see all the cool fonts and everything, but then I get onto my blog from flee's 'puter and it's the boring blogger fonts.

BLAST.

ok, I'm going to change it again- deal with it.

looks a little different???

2009-01-11T15:18:00.002-07:00

you are probably so sick of me changing my blog, but let me warn you- I don't think the changing will stop anytime soon!! I"m having too much fun!! (And it's really a GREAT way to occupy my time at work!!)

So, I don't know about any of you, but I don't think any of the fonts blogger offers are super cute. So, courtesy of my new friend (and favorite source of blogger info) sjhblogdesign.blogspot.com, I have figured out how to put the fonts I want into my blog! YAY!!

I'm telling you, this woman is a blog genius! I've learned so much from her!!! (pretty much everything I've done has stemmed from idea's I've found on her blog!) If you are unsatisfied with the appearance of your blog, check out her blog!! There are a bunch of different blog idea's on the right sidebar!! just play with it, and HAVE FUN!!!!!

anywho, I'm off to see what else I can do to my blog!!!!

clarification

2009-01-11T05:55:00.004-07:00

so I was reading some of my comments, and I just happened to glance at one of my previous posts where I said "I know, flee, I know- but really, I'd been laying in bed for over 2 hours with nothing on, and I needed a distraction" When I read that the second time it came across as being . . . possibly taken the wrong way (um, it could sound crude depending on how you took it). I just needed to clarify that by 'nothing on' I meant no TV, no computer, no video game, no iPod, etc. (see, usually when I can't sleep I turn the TV or computer on, thereby causing myself to stay up even later because I wasn't trying to sleep. That seems to bug flee for some reason . . . although I can't imagine why!!)

I felt the need to clarify that (I wouldn't blog about having 'nothing on' in the other sense!)

anyway, almost time to go home!!! woo hoo!!!!!!!!! sleep, precious sleep! And even better- our ward doesn't start until 1!! (I think this is the first time in my life I've been excited about that!) so I get to have a good long sleep before church!!! sah-weet!!!

::) (that one's just for you flee!)

k, bye!

Hello cyber-sisters!

2009-01-10T22:51:00.002-07:00

I say cyber-sisters because most, if not all, the people who read my blog are of the female variety. So hello cyber-sisters! (Yes, I do consider you sisters, after all- aren't we all brothers and sisters anyway??) I'm at work! woo hoo. Work is SO exciting!!

We started the day with 10 patients. 8 of those 10 patients are c-section deliveries!! I was floored!! I don't think we've ever had so many c-sections at once! craziness!!

Someone brought a newspaper article in that talked about how Dr's are saying c-sections are better for babies who are close to full term. I was surprised. It actually said that Dr's are starting to do elective c-sections! I find this interesting because when I was pregnant with Jenni I actually asked my Dr if I could have a c-section and he said no. (really, the idea of a normal vaginal delivery just never appealed to me. ever. The idea of something that big going through a hole that small . . . *shudder* . . . yeah, just doesn't appeal to me at all!!) As most of you know, I did end up getting my c-section after all!! My cervix felt it was too small for a normal delivery, so it refused to dilate! (one night here at work we were talking with one of the really funny Dr's and we started talking about our own birth stories [which happens often] and I said my cervix was retarded, and didn't dilate on its own, and he thought that was hilarious. He went of for at least 5 minutes about my 'dysfunctional cervix'. It was really funny! or maybe, it was 2 am and we were all really tired . . . either way- we laughed alot about that!!) When I was pregnant with Joe-joe my Dr said he didn't like the way my labor went and he wanted to do another c-section, unless I was greatly opposed it! needless to say, I wasn't!

um, yeah. It occurs to me just now that maybe I'm boring you, so hmmmm. I'm going to attempt to be 'not boring' now! One of the things I enjoy doing when I'm bored at work is look for good quotes. They can be anything from inspirational, funny, comforting . . . anything! I'm going to share some of my recent favorites:

I wish you were here, but you're not. You're there. And there doesn't know how lucky it is.

When life knocks you down to your knees, just remember that you are in the perfect position to pray. -- or phrased a little differently -- When life gets to hard to stand, kneel.

You never leave my mind- even when I have a million things to think about.

God is the DJ, Life is a dance floor, Love is the rhythm, We are the music

Love can survive almost any test- but it takes true love to survive deployment. (That ones for Flee and Dave!)

And my very favorite quote of the day (because I can SO relate to it right now)

Life is like an hourglass. Sooner or later, everything hits rock bottom. All you have to do is be patient and wait for someone to turn everything back around.

Obviously I know that I can't just 'wait', I know there will be work on my part, but I liked the quote because, to me it says "Yeah, sometimes life stinks, but it won't stay that way!"

anyway! I think thats all for now! I hope you enjoy some of the new songs on my playlist (and some of the old ones cause I just LOVE them!)

here's the link to the c-section story on desnews.com
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705275921,00.html?pg=1

to answer a few questions . . .

2009-01-09T01:49:00.002-07:00

I had a whole bunch of comments from my last post (although, most of them were repeats) and I thought instead of trying to answer the questions in another comment, I'd just do another post. so here goes . . .

first off, Yes Jenn- you need to step up your prayers. Really, I can't believe you haven't yet. Obviously I'm still sick because you haven't stepped up your prayers yet. geez. I can't believe you're just now thinking of this. pshaw.

:)

and mom, no I'm not pregnant. Not only have I had a negative blood test but the body has it's own way of telling me I'm not pregnant, and its telling me that now (for the first time in about 3 years too by the way. I really didn't miss it.)

And Stace, I do have other symptoms, other than throwing up, but they're not super pleasant, and probably not stuff anyone would like to read about, so I won't post them here! I'm thinking I might have a bleeding ulcer (and no, I'm not cussing there- that is what it is called!) I'm going to go to the Dr today hopefully, and see what he says.

Em, I can't believe you don't remember our conversation about me being crude! Remember a few weeks ago when I was talking about my music being 'crude' meaning the recording wasn't very good (it was a crude recording- not done professionally) and you were surprised, and said you didn't think my music was crude . . . hee hee! good times! oh, and I got the cute things for my background at a bunch of places, but mostly scrapbookflair.com, and scrapblog.com. If you go to http://sjhblogdesign.blogspot.com/ she has a whole list of digital scrapbook websites that have cute stuff. I only got the free stuff, but there's a bunch of stuff you can get for cash money too!

and I really will fix my background at some point. really. I will.

um, I think thats all for now. I'm posting in the middle of the night cause I can't sleep (I know, flee, I know- but really, I'd been laying in bed for over 2 hours with nothing on, and I needed a distraction!) but I really should try and get some sleep! so good night all!!

I am still alive!!!

2009-01-08T16:59:00.002-07:00

Yes, I am still alive- even though I haven't been very active on the blogger circuit lately! I was excited yesterday, cause I actually went 24 hours without throwing up (which was the longest I'd gone in about 3 weeks) I was hopeful!

It didn't last. :*(

I threw up last night, then again this morning. bummer.

anyway, I'm going to have to call the dr. I was hoping I could wait until we had insurance, but ALAS! I don't think I can wait anymore.

bummer.

Would you like to know . . .

2009-01-04T14:13:00.003-07:00

want to know a really quick way to loose 25 pounds?? I have the solution! get really sick- so sick that you can't keep hardly anything down for 3 weeks. You'll loose that weight real quick!.

While I do like the weight loss, I must say I do NOT recommend this way of 'dieting'. It is not super fun. And then the doctors make you do some really uncomfy stuff- like drink 'golightly' (which is SO named badly) and have a colonoscopy. Really, I think I'd stick the the regular methods of losing weight if I had the choice.

anyway, I will fix my background at some point. If I can stop 'purging' as flee accuses me! (and no, I'm for sure not bulimic. just fyi. I don't think I could be if I tried.)

have a wonderful Sunday!!!

Background issues!

2008-12-31T16:37:00.001-07:00

so yeah- on my computer the background looks great- it's the right size and everything. I just checked it on flee's 'puter and it's totally too small. bummer.

hmmmmm. I might have to do something about that.

New background!!

2008-12-31T12:09:00.003-07:00

YAY!! I finally figured out how to make my own background!! (I've been working on it for about 2 weeks!) This is my first attempt at a background, and there are some things I don't like so much about it, but overall, I think it turned out great!!

I know some of the text is still a little difficult to read, so I will be fixing that soon. I am going to continue to play around with different looks/styles so my background might change often! sorry!!

I had a ton of help from the web making these, and I've given props to the people/places I got my info/graphics from on my sidebar ------>

Ok, thats all! (I gotta get back to designing new backgrounds!!)

I'm at work, and guess what!!

2008-12-27T20:59:00.002-07:00

oh, bet you can't guess!! You'll never guess!

oh wait, maybe you will.

I case you haven't guessed, I'm at work, and I'm bored. People just don't like to be in the hospital during the holidays! I can't imagine why . . .

I'm updating my playlist, since Christmas has passed. And I'm thinking of changing my background. But I really love this one. hmmmm.

I can't find any other backgrounds that I really love, so I wanted to make my own, but the only way I can find to do that is with photoshop, and I don't have that. bummer . . .

anyway, I'm gonna go for now!! later!!

You asked for it!!!

2008-12-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

So, my cute sister-in-law joked the other day that no one loved her 'cause no one dedicated a post to her. So, I am here to rectify that, and to show the world how much our Karla Kim is loved by all who know her!!!!

For those who didn't know, I lived with Karla four about 2 months before she and Seth got married. We lived in an apartment in south Orem, by Chuck-a-rama kinda. We had tons of fun!! I remember the morning of their wedding Karla came into my room and told me that their photographer had broken her arm (or leg, or some bone) and she asked if I would just take some pics for her. I called my cute friend who is a photographer, and she totally saved the day!!! Karla got a bunch of really cute pics!! It was fun to live with Karla (especially since I was still in high school, and I felt all cool- like I was on my own!)

so, the first person that loves Karla is obvious-

A few weeks ago Karla, Steve, Jan, Jenn, Emmy, and I all got to go to the Christmas Devotional together. It was a ton of fun!! We told funny stories on the way up, and ate some random health food that I believe was called pulse?? And we got to enjoy hearing our Prophet speak!

In our family, there are two favorite aunts. I can tell you right now that I am not one of them. Jan and Jenn are loved by all our cute kiddies, and pretty much all of them would say that Jan and/or Jenn are their favorites with the exception of one (if he could talk). I'm pretty darn sure this cute face would say Karla was his favorite aunt!!

Another obvious one- her darling kiddies!

The dynamic duo!! If you can't find Karla at her house, there's a very good chance she's somewhere with Stace. I swear they would be joined at the hip if it were possible!! Yay for BFF's!

I am 100% positive that every single person in this picture loves Karla!!

And lastly, there is One who loves Karla more than any of us combined- more than we can even comprehend. He knows Karla better than she knows herself, and has sacrificed so much for her, and the rest of the world. He knows her needs, her wants, her fears, her weakness, her potential- and He is waiting to help her do amazing things!
I know He loves you.

And I love you too!!

Some Christmas Funnies . . .

2008-12-25T22:24:00.003-07:00

Ok, so our security guard brought by this cute little flyer with funny Christmas sayings on them- just to cheer everyone up! It was super funny, so I'm going to steal it and use it here!

Let me say before I post this though, that I understand that mental disorders can be very difficult, and should not be made fun of in a cruel way- which people do so often. Let me state that this is simply for entertainment, and no offense is intended! (Especially since I have one of these disorders myself!)

ok, here goes:

Christmas Song Psychology

Schizophrenia -- Do you Hear What I Hear, the Voices, the Voices??

Amnesia -- I Don't Remember if I'll be Home for Christmas

Narcissistic Personality Disorder -- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me!

Bipolar Disorder (Manic Episode) -- Deck the halls, and walls, and house, and lawn, and streets, and stores, and office, and town, and cars, and buses, and trucks, and trees, and fire hydrants and . . . (and just for my siblings- clean the kitchen, the laundry room, the bathrooms, the bedrooms, the living room, and I'll give you a dime!! hee hee!!! Love you Mommy!!)

Paranoid Personality Disorder -- Santa Clause is Coming To Get Me.

Multiple Personality Disorder -- We Three Queens Disoriented Are.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder -- Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells . . . .

Agoraphobia -- I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day But Wouldn't Leave My House

Alzheimer's Disease/Dementia -- Walking in a Winter Wonderland Miles From My House in My Slippers and Robe.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder -- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause So I Burned Down the House.

Social Anxiety Disorder -- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas While I Sit Here and Hyperventilate.

and my favorite one of all --

Attention Deficit Disorder -- We Wish You- HEY LOOK!!! It's Snowing!!

and 'cause I'm really bored at work, here's some that I made up!

Acrophobia (Fear of Heights) -- Ding Dong Merrily but Not So High

Agoraphobia -- Oh Little Town of Bethlehem There's No Way Out

Antisocial Personality Disorder -- Come, They Told Me (Pa rum pa pum pum) and I Said No.

Claustrophobia -- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, I'm Gonna Go Somewhere Bigger.

Gambling Addiction -- I'm Betting on a White Christmas

Narcolepsy -- It's Beginning **snore** to Look A Lot **snooze** Like Christmas . . . **snore**

Insomnia -- It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, and I Was Still Awake.

Kleptomania -- All I Want For Christmas is Your Two Front Teeth.

ok, thats all!! :) I may just end up posting again before I leave! There really is nothing to do. My charge nurse said she would let me go home, but there are only 4 other people here- two nurses in the Level 2 nursery (NICU) and her in the regular nursery, and the Nurse for the 3 patients that we now have. So, yeah. Basically I'm here solely to answer the phones. I really shouldn't complain cause I'm getting paid time and a half . . .

anyway, goodbye for now!!

Merry Christmas to all . . .

2008-12-25T18:50:00.002-07:00

. . . and to all a good night!

So, I'm at work, and it's REALLY slow!! We usually have 15+ patients, and tonight we only have 2! So, the things I usually have to do when I first get here (which usually take me between 2 and 3 hours) only took me about 20 minutes ('cause I didn't have any interruptions). So, now it's 6:50 and I am done with everything I am supposed to do. And I have 11 hours left. yeah. 11 hours.

it's going to be a long night!!

Christmas was great! We had dinner at Steve's sister's house, and opened our jammies from Steve's 'rents, then we had our traditional family get-together last night at my 'rents house, and for the first time in who knows how many years, the entire family was there!! All 37 of us!! It really was so much fun. We had lots of yummy food, and did our white elephant gift exchange, and the kids did a nativity play. (We didn't make it in time for the play, which Jenni was SO upset about. She was going to play Mary, and had been looking forward to it for days!)

After the fam left we put the kids to bed so Santa could come. Steve and I were up until 1 am finishing everything up, then we got up at 7:30 to open presents. (So yeah, it is going to be a real long night!!!) Jenni and Joe-joe both got bikes this year (two wheelers!) They were SO excited.

We had the yummiest breakfast ever at my 'rents house, then we did presents with my family. We went over to Steve's 'rents house and spent a little over an hour shoveling the snow (with a blower) and digging the cars out of the snow. It was SO cold. We did presents with Steve's fam, then went to Steve's grandparents and aunts houses. It was a lot of fun!

All in all it has been a great Christmas! We are so blessed to be surrounded by our family.

Just for you Stace!

2008-12-22T13:41:00.005-07:00

Ok Stace. I was looking at backgrounds on thecutestblogontheblock and I found your perfect background. It totally screams STACEY. Really. I saw it and you were the very first person I thought of. So here's your task. I will past the html code below and I want you to go add it as your background (at least for a min) so you can see the background that was MADE for you!

no cheating. I want the first time you see it to be on your blog!!!

I lied.

It won't let me post the code. hmmmmmm. how can I do this then??

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. ok I have an idea

<*s*t*y*l*e t*y*p*e*=*"t*e*x*t/c*s*s">b*od*y {b*a*c*k*ground-i*m*age: u*r*l(*"*h*tt*p:*//i*3*42.p*h*o*tobucket.c*om/a*lbums/o*401/T*hecute*stblo*gontheblock*/I*wo*nder_b*est.j*pg")*; b*a*c*kground-p*o*s*ition:* c*e*n*ter; ba*c*k*ground-re*p*eat: n*o-r*e*pe*at; b*a*c*kground-at*t*achm*ent: fix*ed; *}*<*/*s*tyle*>*<*d*i*v i*d*="t*a*g" s*t*y*le*="*po*s*i*tion:ab*s*o*lute; l*ef*t:0*p*x; t*op:*3*0p*x;* z*-in*d*ex:5*0; w*i*d*th:150p*x; h*e*i*g*ht:45*p*x;*">*<*a* *h*r*ef=*"*h*t*t*p*:*//w*w*w.th*e*c*utestblog*o*n*theblock.c*om*"* t*a*rget*="*_b*lank"*>*<*i*m*g *sr*c=*"*h*t*t*p*://*w*ww*.thecutestbl*o*g*ontheblock*.*c*om*/*im*ag*es*/t*ag*.*j*pg" bo*r*d*er=*"0*"/*>*<*/*a>*<*/*d*i*v*>*

ok, so it wouldn't let me post the code (and just show the characters in the code) so here's what I did. There are no *'s (asterisks) in this code. So- very carefully- go and delete each of the asterisks, making sure not to delete the spaces. got it? If not, let me know, and I'll try again!

like I said- NO CHEATING!

hee hee. I am so demanding. How can you stand me?? But I sure do love you!

hee hee hee!!!!

(I just did spellcheck and I've got TONS of errors!! 'cause of that code up there! all kinds of little yellow boxes! Ok, really I am done now)

i lied again. I'm not done

Ok, so I just tested the code on another blog I have, and it worked but I realised something . . . you may or may not have already used this background! on my little 17" screen you can't see the whole background as it was meant to be seen (It looks really familiar when it is actually used on a blog) anyway, I am going to leave this post up anyway cause I think you will enjoy it! (you know you get enjoyment out of my randomness. don't try and deny it!!)

but so others can get the full effect, here's the link to the background that is SO Stacey:
**disclaimer: Stace you are NOT allowed to use this link! unless you really really really really want to. but erasing a bunch of asterisks is kinda fun . . . if you're really bored*****

http://thecutestblogontheblock.com/background.php?id=272

Oh FINE. Stace you don't HAVE to erase all the asterisks. Just go to the link and see the background!

I think I may be suffering from lack of sleep. and many other conditions that alter your mental status!

ok, I think I am now done with all of my randomness. I think. I could be wrong. I may think of something else to say. But I think I'm done.

UHG!!

2008-12-22T12:30:00.003-07:00

So, who wants to know what I have been doing for the last 24 hours????

I've been praying to the porcelain gods!

(ie: I've been stuck over the toilet dry heaving my guts out!)

Not so much fun. Really. I don't recommend it. And because I already know what your next question is, no, I'm not pregnant. (at least, according to approximately 8 tests I'm not.) I have been SOOOOO sick the last two days. I'm not going to go into all my symptoms here, because I don't think you all want to know! Every 'symptom checker' site I've visited has told me to 'seek emergency medical attention' but when you've been to the ER as many times as I have, going back AGAIN just really doesn't appeal to me. At all. hmmmm. I need to call my sister . . .

So, not much else is going on! I'm still not ready for Christmas (and yes, I am aware that it is only 3 days away.) I have mixed feelings about the snow. I love the way it looks, but it is so COLD! I hate being cold. And, since our car is having health issues right now, I'm not driving my own car in the snow, which makes the snow that much more undesirable. I blame my sister-in-law Nicky. She prayed for snow. (And she has enough faith to make it happen!) No, I don't really blame her, I'm glad there's snow on the ground for her sake. I'm glad for you Nicky!!

Ummmm, I can't really think of anything else to say . . . . so I guess that's all for now!

have fun all y'all.

I have decided . . .

2008-12-18T02:13:00.002-07:00

I have decided that the following people need to update their blog . . . um, now please!

Jenn - it's been 10 days! 'nuff said.
Mom - you've got plenty of time!! And you can get in there by yourself now too!
Emmy - you need to do the 'i am' tag. because I said so!
Alicia R.- I think the last post was in the spring! and it was hilarious! (and I loved the M.O.M. post! I may just steal it!)

I have also decided that the following people need to create a blog, so we can all enjoy it. And you really do have time! It doesn't take that long!

Janice - really. you need to. I need you to need to!

Daddy - yeah, I know you don't read this, but mom will pass it along- you need to do the Southern Examiner, or whatever it was called that you used to do for the missionaries in our fam. You know everyone would read it, and love it!

Marianne - I always like hearing your stories from the Temple and Primary! share the ones you can with people so they can realize how wonderful they are too!

Lamissa - We really don't see each other anywhere NEAR often enough, and it would be great to hear about what you are doing in your life!!! (like why you all of a sudden decided to quit your job!)

Rinny - dito to what I said on Lamissa's (except about the job stuff)

That is what I have decided. If you could all oblige I would appreciate it!!

I know, I'm random! But really, I have a lot of free time at work, and blogger and facebook only take up so much time! I'd like to increase the time they take up!

The 'i am' post below is new today as well! just fyi!!

k, thats all!
chelle

i am . . .

2008-12-18T00:26:00.004-07:00

So, I saw this on Karla's blog, and I wanted to do it- I would like to note though that she got it from MJ, so I say thanks to MJ and Karla for letting me be a thief! (Yeah, I know you didn't really 'let' me but oh well!!)(And I know I don't technically know who MJ is, so Karla if you'd pass on my thanks I'd appreciate it!)

I added a few of my own (not that there wasn't already enough!) just for fun!

i am... a wife, mother, daughter, sister, niece, aunt, friend, cousin, secretary, basically, I'm me!
i live ... in the moment (which isn't always a good thing!)
i have... more than I will ever deserve.
i haven't... had enough children. I want more.
i need... to be a better person than I am.
i wish... I knew how to forgive myself.
i try ... to be a peacemaker.
i could... be any one's friend .
i couldn't ... love anyone more than I love Steve.
i fear... losing my family.
i want... to be in the Celestial Kingdom with my family.
i hear... song lyrics and music . . . all the time . . .
i will... hear one of my songs on the radio someday.
i read... to escape real life.
i like... the way an orchard looks just after snow has fallen.
i admire... people who don't have to try to be good (Janice, Jennifer, Emmy).
i admit... that I need to keep my house cleaner.
i search... people's reactions to me.
i think... people see the best in others and the worst in themselves.
i do ... absolutely love my job.
i don't... handle contention well. I don't like to be around it.
i regret... not being more like my sisters.
i love... so many things, I cannot even begin to name them here.
i ache ... for the will to be good.
i work ... to make a difference in other people's lives.
i help ... keep things running smoothly.
i pray ... to be able to see good in any situation.
i cry when... I'm feeling a very strong emotion.
i am not... a mean person.
i never... swear. Never have.
i always ... like to listen to music, even when I read.
i rarely... want to be alone.
i miss ... being in Chamber Choir at OHS. It was incredible!
i don't miss ... being single.
i get nervous ... when I'm around demanding Dr's (one in particular!).
i watch... for ways to make life around me better.
i hate... when people are mean, especially to little children.
i am confused ... at how Steve loves me so much.
i need...to know that I am loved (Steve is very good about this!).
i should... try harder to keep my house clean
i can ... write and compose my own music and lyrics
i can't... walk past someone asking for money without giving some
i will... do my very best to make my family happy
i won't ... intentionally hurt anyone
i feel... so blessed to be me.

and because I'm me . . .

i tag . . . Stace, Flee, and Emmy (you better actually do it this time Emmy!!)

"Well . . . ya comin'?"

2008-12-14T14:00:00.005-07:00

Who knows what movie the above line is from??

I'll give you a hint- its animated

another hint? - It's a holiday movie

one last hint? Tom Hanks is the voice of the character who says it.

I'm pretty sure everyone in Steve's family could tell you what movie it's from since most of us saw a bit of it a few nights ago! It's from The Polar Express. We went on the Polar Express the other night to the North Pole, and the kids got to see Santa! It was SO fun! Seriously, I was almost crying the whole time! I'm such a goob!

anyway, here's some cute pictures! Steve's 'rents know the owner of the little train and he does this polar express thing every year. We absolutely LOVE it. It's one of our favorite Christmas memories with Steve's family! (although we greatly missed John and Alicia this year!)

(And I know I don't usually put this many pictures in, but Annie wanted copies of the pics, and my email is retarded and will only let me email them 2 at a time!And I forgot to upload the pics so they would be chronological! So they start from the end of our trip and go to the beginning! oops! oh well! enjoy!)

Whitters the Red Nosed Reindeer!

Whitney wouldn't sit on Santa's lap, so Steve asked her if she wanted to sit on his lap, and he'd sit on Santa's lap. She's so cute!

Hailey did not like it very much!!

Joe-joe wasn't sure how he felt about it!

I can't believe how big Kobe is! I still remember the day Steve told me Alicia was pregnant! We were in high school, and he was SO excited to be an uncle he came to one of my classes and waited outside the door until I got there! he's so cute!

So yeah. That was our fun trip to Santa's Workshop! After the train stopped at Santa's the rest of the ride back was filled with Pictures of the Savior, while Christmas music played. It was incredibly touching! (It helped that one of the songs was 'Mary, Did You Know?' which is one of my favorite Christmas songs!)

Thanks again Mike and Annie!! It was awesome, and we're already excited for next year!!

Working . . . again.

2008-12-13T22:57:00.002-07:00

So. I am at work again, and also again, I have nothing to do! I made some cute name cards tonight with a Christmas theme! It was fun! I love Christmas!

hmmmmm.

hhhhhmmmmmmmmmmm.

I did bring a book, but I'm not really in a reading mood. And there aren't really any good movies here to watch (and I totally forgot to bring some). again I say hmmmmmmm.

So, lets see, whats up with us. We put our Christmas tree up today finally. The kids had lots of fun trying to decide where to put the ornaments, and -of course- joe-joe's all ended up in one little area! He did finally get the hang of it after a bit!

Jenni is doing much better in school- for which I am SO grateful! She loves the later-gator class. I don't particularly like that she doesn't get out of school until almost 4, but hey- at least she's happy! It just makes us stuck home all day 'cause we live too far 'out there' to go do much before school or during school. oh well.

So yeah. I think thats all. Maybe I'll try reading. only 7 more hours to go!

GAH!

sometimes I REALLY don't like 12 hour shifts!

What do I do?? -- UPDATED

2008-12-05T08:38:00.004-07:00

So, I'm super concerned, and what do I do when that happens?? Naturally, I blog!

So here's whats been going on. Jenni used to absolutely LOVE school. I mean, when we had to keep her home because she was sick she would literally throw a fit. Then- about 3 weeks ago- she decided she didn't want to go to school. Literally overnight she decided this. At first I thought it was just that she was tired, but as time went on it got worse. No matter how much sleep she gets, every morning trying to get her to go to school it like pulling teeth. She just doesn't want to go. Finally about a week and a half ago (after MUCH persuading) she told us that people are mean to her- that they call her names. So we talked about what to do when that happens, and she said she'd try.

It didn't help.

It got really bad this morning. She cried, said she didn't want to go. Then when I told her she had to, she said that her tummy hurt.

I did finally convince her to go, so we got all ready, and I drove her there ('cause by this time we had missed the bus) I walked her in and talked a little to her teacher about what was going on, and Jenni- who had gone in to class- came running out with tears in her eyes saying she didn't want to stay. I tried to get her to stay, and so did her teacher, but to no avail.

We finally decided to try to switch her to the afternoon class (called the 'later gators' instead of the 'early birds') and I'm taking her today.

I'm really so worried about her. I mean, this just isn't like her! When I asked her what she wanted to do, she said she wanted to be in a different teacher's class. If this later gator class doesn't work out I'm going to have to see about switching teachers.

Meanwhile, back in the office I had to sign a waiver excusing the absences she has had, and saying I understand that if she misses too much school that means a CLASS B MISDEMEANOR for me and Steve. But I just can't FORCE her to go when she is so upset. Not to mention I don't think they'll let her stay if she was crying like that!

ARG! Parenting is so hard sometimes! I'm coming to the realization that I can't protect her from everything, and I do not like that.

So yeah. Thats whats going on right now. Super bummer. really. Anyway, any suggestions would be appreciated.

~chelle

UPDATE

So, I just dropped Jenni off for the Later Gator class, and she was REALLY excited! We went in and talked with her teacher and it seemed to go really well! She was her normal excited self!! So, here's hoping!!!

If you would, for me, please keep Jenni in your prayers! We'd appreciate it!

ugh! nightmares!

2008-12-05T04:44:00.002-07:00

So, I did actually go to bed at a decent time tonight. Then about an hour ago I woke with a HUGE JOLT! I totally had a nightmare! It was so scary! Really. *shiver*

Not much has been going on. Just the usual.

Oh- I do have a funny conversation though!! Here it is:

Me: "Joe-joe, we need to change your bummy!"

Joe-joe: "But I not stinky!"

Me: "I know, but you're wet!"

Joe-joe: "We don't need to change my bummy! We just changed it last week!"

HAAA HAAA!! It was so funny!!! Needless to say I do change my kids diapers more than once a week!! hee hee! He cracks me right up!

anyway, I think I'm going to try to go back to sleep now since it's almost 5 am!

night all!

Christmas Quiz

2008-12-01T13:59:00.002-07:00

(I didn't make this one up. I stole it from Karla!)

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE! Just copy this entire post and paste it into a new post of your own. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then Tag 5 people you want to learn more about!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I think wrapping paper looks better, but when I'm rushed (or in the car) I do gift bags.

2.Real tree or artificial? Real. For sure.

3.When do you put up the tree? Black Friday. (The day after Thanksgiving)

4.When do you take the tree down? The day after New Years.

5.Do you like Eggnog? mmmmm eggnog! (thats a yes in case you didn't catch that!)

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My bunk bed, or my bike. then when I got older we had a Christmas where my mom gave away heirlooms. that was pretty cool.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Steve. or Daddy. or both.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Kids. any kids.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes.

10.Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. You can't very easily hang an email by your doorway!

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? hmmm. Can't think of one.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? Irving Berlin's White Christmas. Hands down.

13.When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually sometime in December. (I'm the worlds biggest procrastinator!)

14.Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? yes.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Hmm. Cinnamon treats. and Banana Cream Pie with whipped cream!

16. White or colored lights on the tree? I prefer white, but I don't think color looks bad.

17 .Favorite Christmas song? "Mary, Did You Know" and "Breath of Heaven". I also really like "Candlelight Carol." And pretty much any Christmas music by Mannheim. (you can't ask me about music and get just one answer!)

18 .Travel at Christmas or stay home? I don't need to travel far 'cause all my family is here!

19.Can you name all Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph, and Olive. (That lase one was just fore Steve! Can you figure out where it comes from??)

20. Angel on the tree top or Star? I grew up with an Angel, but my tree will have a Silver Star this year!

21.Open presents Christmas Eve or morning? One of Christmas Eve (Jammies) the rest on Christmas Morning.

22.Most annoying thing about this time of year? Scrooges.

23. Favorite ornament? Thats a tough one. I have two favorites- one from my mom thats a silver-white-ish heart with red and silver rhinestones with a really pretty red ribbon. the other we got for our wedding- it's a silver snowflake with our names and anniversary engraved on it.

24. Favorite Christmas dinner? Roast and potatoes, rolls, gravy, corn, and of course eggnog. mmmmmmmmmmmm

25. Favorite Christmas cocktail? can't say. I've never had a cocktail!

26.What do you want for Christmas this year? To be able to give my kids a good Christmas!

27.What don't you want for Christmas this year? Ditto to what Karla said: to gain weight

28. What is something you have never done that you want to do for Christmas? Hmmm. I think Disneyland would be super fun, but then I wouldn't get to be with my family.

29.Who is the most likely to respond to this? Flee.

30.Who is least likely to respond? The ones that I don't tag!

Who do you tag:

Flee
Emmy
September
Stace
Jenn

It's CHRISTMAS time!!

Working girl . . .

2008-11-30T04:55:00.002-07:00

I'm sitting here at work, being bored out of my mind because I haven't done any actual work in over 2 hours. I did manage to finish Breaking Dawn for about the 5th time though. I'm thinking I'm going to read the Harry Potter series again. I very much enjoy both the twilight and harry potter series because I can read them without having to think. Meaning it's really easy reading that gets me away from life for a while! I really go for the easy reads. Someday I will probably be more into the heavier and.or religious books, but for now, easy reads are my thing!

Things are going alright. Still on the look for a job for Steve! He has been working for my brother some though, which has been helpful!

Other than that things are pretty much the same! I'm going to write up some funny survey to start spreading around the fam and friends. I did this once a while ago back when these surveys were big in the email circuit. You know the kind I'm talking about, you'd get an email with a random questionnaire asking questions about your life. You'd read about the person who sent it to you, then you'd copy and paste it into a new message and replace the answers with your own!

gotta think of some random things . . . . hmmm . . . . I'll have to come back to that.

Well, ALAS! I think it's time for me to try and find something productive to do. Have a wonderful Sunday!

Thats all,

chelle

Feelings . . .

2008-11-27T21:47:00.004-07:00

So, do you ever get that feeling that you are just not good enough? And you never will be? Like every time you turn around you're hurting someone you love?

I'm having that feeling today.

I am not perfect. Obviously. I really wish I was. Or that I was closer to perfection than I am. Really, I wonder why I do some of the things I do, and I have no answer, even for myself. I'm really having one of those "I'll never be good enough" days. (And I know what you're thinking flee, but I am, and I can't do anything about it. I just really have to get this off my chest.)

I've hurt people before. I know I have. But not quite in the way I have recently. (I'd rather not say exactly what happened) I have no way of really saying sorry enough to these people that I've hurt. It just wouldn't seem adequate enough. And besides, saying sorry isn't going to change what I've done. I don't know why I did it. really. It's very much not like me- not like I was raised. I am really having issues with this whole bi-polar thing lately. I know I can't blame my mistakes on that, and I'm not trying to, but it really has thrown a wrench into my life. I just can't seem to get back to myself- the myself that I used to be, once upon a time. The myself that wouldn't have even dreamed of doing some of the things I've done. And right now, it's not looking like I'll ever get back to that self.

I'm really not having a good day- if you couldn't tell. I usually try to be optimistic, but I can't seem to find that in me today. So, I'll be done soon, let me just say this: To those who I have hurt- you know who you are. I really am so so sorry. Words cannot express what I'm feeling. I beg for your forgiveness, even though I know I don't deserve it, and ask you to pray for me. Pray that I will- someday- pull it together and get back to 'myself' again.

I love you.

"You are the love of my life . . ." Hubby Tag

2008-11-25T07:02:00.002-07:00

1. Where did you meet your husband? His best friend's mom was my piano teacher. She tried to set Steve up with my sister first!

2. How long did you date before you were married? We dated for a year before his mission, wrote all through his mission, then we were married 7 months after he got home from his mission- so just over 3 and a half years.

3. How long have you been married? We will have been married for 7 years January 17. (Steve had to correct me on that! Ack!!! I did my math wrong!)

4. What does he do that surprises you? he loves me.

5. What is his best feature? hmmm, his eyes are amazing!! yeah, his eyes. (and he has a cute hiney!)

6. What is his best quality? his compassion. he is so good.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? He calls me My-Chelle. Or just Chelle. (Although when he writes it, he spells it Chell. He drops the last 'e'. something that only he does! and I love it that way!) He is my Steve-hun

8. What is his favorite food? Del Taco. Hands down. He also really likes his mom's lasagna. mmmm. lasagna.

9. What is his favorite sport? DUH! Football. BYU Football to be precise. (I know, my heart still hurts from Saturday's game too. bummer!)

10. When and where was your first kiss? July 19, 2001 outside my apartment by UVU in Orem.

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Just be together. We like to talk- whatever we're doing, we're usually talking about something.

12. Do you have any children? 2 Darling kiddies.

13. Does he have any hidden talents? Lots. One is he can set up any entertainment system about 10 different ways (he changes ours frequently.) I love it! He gets called all the time by peeps we know asking for help on how to set up their TV, or DVD, etc. Another one is he can make me laugh by saying just one word!! (inside joke!)

14. How old is he? He's 28. He's really gettin' up there!!

15. Who said I love you first? He did in his first letter he sent to me on his mission. He was also the first one to say it when he got home from his mission- on his parents porch saying good night! He's so cute!

16. What is his favorite music? Lots. He likes country mostly (which is funny 'cause before his mission he HATED country!) His favorite artist is Taylor Swift.

17. What do you admire most about him? There are some many things, but I think I the thing I admire most about him is his ability to forgive. especially me! He is incredible!

18. What is his favorite color? Blue

19. Will he read this? He's already read most of it!

20. Who do you tag? hmm, lets see I tag Mom, Emmy, Laura J. and Chelsea S. Have Fun!!

to bang or not to bang!

2008-11-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

So, I finally did it. I finally cut my hair again, and got bangs. Lots and lots and lots of bangs. A little too many, but what can you do? They're already cut!! So here's some pictures of a few different styles. I need input on what looks best!!!

Here's my new Dark, angular, very bangy hair! I know, I look like I'm about 10 years old. Steve says I could join The Beatles. So here's Straight with Full Bangs.

Here's Straight with Parted Bangs

Here's Flipped with Full Bangs

and Flipped with Parted Bangs.

Curled with Full Bangs

Curled with Parted Bangs

and finally Half Up, Flipped with parted bangs.

So, now I'd like you to vote--tell me which one is your favorite, or which one you really don't care for, or which one just made you laugh. Whatever. I'd like some input!! :)

to recap: Here's the choices: Straight with Full Bangs, Straight with Parted Bangs, Flipped with Full Bangs, Flipped with Parted Bangs, Curled with Full Bangs, Curled with Parted Bangs, and then Half Up.

ooooo, I'm excited to see what everyone says!!!! comment comment comment comment!!!

Chelle's Family Pictures!

2008-11-17T08:57:00.005-07:00

We finally got the results from the family pictures we took in September! There were some that were awesome, and some that were not so awesome! I've put a few of my favorite here so everyone can see how cute my family is!

My mommy and daddy! I really think this picture turned out awesome!!

Janice and Jennifer- or the girls as they are frequently called. (and, yes- they are twins if you couldn't tell!) My Jenni is named after this Jenny.

Emma

Brayden and Adam (Brady is camera shy!)

Kate (aka Kateus)

Truman

Jenny and Ethan

Mieka

Jan and Jenn and their kidlets! (all the grand kids are here!) Technically Steve and Adam are in this picture too. Joe-joe and Brady are sitting on Steve and Adams shoulders respectively)

The whole family! wow. There are a lot of us! 37 in all!

I am thankful for my family!

And thanks again Emmy, for setting this up!

Love you all!

~chelle

Tolerance

2008-11-15T11:28:00.002-07:00

Stace posted a link to an article in the Meridian Magazine that I was very moved by. You can read the entire article by clicking HERE

Really, it's hard for me to not feel anger at what the 'no on prop 8' protesters did at the Los Angeles Temple recently, just as it is very difficult for me to not be angry at the people who sent white powder to the church office building and the Los Angeles Temple. **(see more below) This article however had a lot of very good points to it, one of my favorites was this:

"Tolerance is not agreement and should not be a one way street. However, we must still remain tolerant of those who are intolerant of us. "

Wow! I was taken aback! I loved that- Tolerance is not agreement. I've always liked the phrase 'agree to disagree' and this is what tolerance should be. We are not always going to agree with everything that goes on around us, but that doesn't mean those disagreements should lead to anger, contention, and worse. We fight for what we believe in, not against those who believe differently. It may seem like the same thing, but its not. Here's another blip from that article:

"We can only be disciples of Christ when we respond to adversity in a Christlike manner. To do less opens our actions to the influence of the adversary and hurts us even more."

Anyway, I'm glad Prop 8 passed. I'm glad there is still some people willing to stand up for what is right regardless of persecution. Thank you to all those who have dealt with whats going on in California. Thank you for staying true to your beliefs. Thank you for being so strong!

**As I stated above, there was an envelope with white powder mailed to the church office building/Salt Lake Temple, and the Los Angeles Temple a few days ago (it was originally reported the church office building, then later reported as the Salt Lake Temple.) You can hear and read KSL's story by clicking HERE. This bothers me for a number of reasons- the obvious one being they were mailed to the Headquarters of the church, and a Temple of the Lord. The less obvious one is this- my sister works at the church office building. I realized that if anything were ever to happen there, ie an attack of sorts, she could be at risk! This scared me a little. I called her the night the story originally aired and we talked for a bit. I felt better after talking to her, but still, I am worried by it! I do believe, though, that no righteous man or woman will be taken before their time.

Anyway. I'll get off my soapbox now! I would highly recommend reading the article from Meridian though. It is very good. I hope I can be more like the man that wrote it!

Have a wonderful day all!!
Peace out!

chelle

Time for some optimism!!!

2008-11-14T13:39:00.004-07:00

With the world the way it is today, it seems everywhere I turn I'm hearing something negative! It's really getting on my nerves! So today, I dedicate this post to optimism and positivity! (is that a word??) so here goes . . . "I know it seems hard sometimes, but remember one thing, through every dark night, there's a bright day after that. So no matter how hard it gets, keep your chest out, keep your head up and handle it."
~Tupac

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
~Thomas Alva Edison

"Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping him up"
~Jesse Jackson
(he was bound to say something good . . .eventually!)

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace"
~Unknown "There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why." ~William Barclay

"The person who says it can't be done is interrupted by the person who is doing it."
~Anonymous

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow."
~Albert Einstein

And mom, these last two quotes are especially for you!!

"I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."
~Agatha Christie

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
~Churchill (I've got to get me a shirt like that! And I totally think they should bring that stamp back too!!)

Life is interesting! It may not always work out the way we want it to, but hey- we couldn't enjoy the happiness if we never had to endure the sorrow! (profound, I know!) So to all you fellow bloggers out there I say:

Have a wonderful day! And see the beauty in everything!

I love you all!

~Chelle

Its the most wonderful time . . .

2008-11-14T13:33:00.002-07:00

. . . of the year!!!! Yes, thats right!!! It's coming up on Christmas time, and for those of you who don't live with me- I start listening to Christmas music really early!!! I love Christmas music!! I get such a great feeling listening to it!! So, after searching for quite a while, I finally found a bunch of Christmas songs for my playlist, so while you read my next post, enjoy some great Christmas music!!!

Oh, and if you've never heard 'The 12 Days After Christmas' you should listen to it! It's hillaritous!!! The copy playing here isn't the best one, but it works!!

later!

Today is such a special day . . .

2008-11-13T08:19:00.003-07:00

Who knows what today is?????? Anybody? Anybody?

AAAAnnnnyyyyybbbboooooddddyyyy????????

Today is Flee's birthday!!!! YAY for FLEE!!! So, I know I did a post very similar to this in September (for Emmy's birthday), but hey- there are only so many ways to do a birthday post so here goes!!!!

Happy birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Flee,
Happy Birthday to you!

This month is such a special one
its birthday time for you!
We'd really like to celebrate
your happy day with you!
Zip-a-dee-ay and heigh-dee-ho
here's something we can do
We'll sing a song that we all know-
Happy Birthday- To YOU!!!

Happy happy birthday Felicia dear,

happy days will come to you all year

If I had one wish then it would be

a happy happy birthday to you from me!

You say happy,

I say birthday

Happy - - Birthday

(Steve thought of that one!)

You've had a birthday shout HOORAY
I'd like to sing to you today!
One year older and wiser too!
Happy birthday - - - to you!

Have a very happy birthday

filled with sunshine every where

may the year bring joy and gladness

and the love of friends who care

Flee, happy birthday!!! I can't even begin to tell you how much you mean to me!!! I would be so lost without you!! I am so very thankful that your 'rents and my 'rents were neighbors 40 years ago in New York! The memories we have are priceless, and I look forward to years and years of more happy memories! Thanks for being my BFF!!!! Love you forever!!!

~Moosh

41 Years and counting . . .

2008-11-10T11:34:00.003-07:00

Today my parents have been married for 41 years!!! In this day and age that is quite unheard of, and I see it as a HUGE accomplishment!!! My parents are two of the most wonderful people you could ever meet! They are both so generous and selfless. They have been such amazing examples to me in my life- in so many ways! I can't even begin to put in words how I feel about them, and how grateful I am for how much they have done for me. There really just are no words . . .

So today, I dedicate this post to them- Mommy and Daddy I love you with all of my heart! You are so good, and the Light of Christ shines through you both. I am forever in your debt- and I hope and pray that one day my children will feel about me and Steve the same way I feel about you two. I love you.

Mommy and Daddy, How far do you think I'll go?

Mommy and Daddy, how much do you think I'll grow?

You've helped me reach the stars when I've shot for the moon,

And I know I grew up way too soon.

But know that in my heart I will forever be
Your baby girl

love you,

Michelle

All Hallows Eve!!

2008-11-04T19:06:00.005-07:00

Yeah, I know- I'm getting to my Halloween post a little late, but ALAS! Such is life. I'm at work again, and have some extra time, so I am finally getting to it!

This year for Halloween Jenni wanted to be Tinkerbell, and I thought it would be so cute to have Joe-joe be Peter Pan. He had another idea! He wanted to be a cowboy! I tried and tried to convince him to be Peter Pan, but to no avail, so we started looking for a cowboy costume- also to no avail! Not until the 29th did we find a Cowboy costume that wasn't super ugly- it was actually pretty cute- although it was incomplete! The costume was supposed to have a Duster (really LONG coat) a vest, a badge, and a hat. Unfortunately there was no duster! And since that was like the biggest piece of the costume, I didn't feel like I should pay the entire $20. I found a clerk and she said they might give me 10% off. I said "Really, only 10% when more like 50% of the costume is missing?" She said yes, and she'd find a manager. I was a little miffed, cause I didn't think that was very cool, but then the manager got there, and he said he'd give me 50% off! I was glad I asked for a manager! So, it was originally 30% off, and I got an additional 50% off that, so I only paid $7.48 for Joe's costume! I was super excited!

Then the day before Halloween we were talking about our costumes and Joe-joe informed me that he didn't want to be a cowboy. He wanted to be Peter Pan.

Yeah. I said TOO BAD! I was bugged! But thats ok, he looked really cute as a cowboy, but wouldn't pose for hardly ANY pictures! Little stinker!

Here they are before we left- Joshie Brianna and Brady had already gone, and had just got back. Look how cute they all are!!!
Here's Jenni as my sparkly Tinkerbell! She loves to cheese it for the camera!

Like I said- Joe-joe didn't want to pose for pictures! And he wouldn't leave his sheriff badge alone! He wanted to hold it!

After we went to a few houses in our neighborhood we went up to Draper to John and Alicia's house. They have a party every year for Halloween. Flee and Lizzy came with us. We went around their neighborhood as well! It only rained a little, and it wasn't too cold!

At a house, getting more loot!

Joe-joe was afraid his hat was going to blow off (even though it was tied on his head!) so he wouldn't let go of it!! Even to get his candy! Silly Boy!

Lizzy and Flee at the beginning of our trick or treating!

OH Jenni was SO BRAVE at this house!! Lizzy and Joe-joe were both too afraid to go up to this house cause they had spooky music and lights and stuff, so we were going to skip it, but Jenni walked up there ALL BY HERSELF!!!!!! I couldn't believe it!! I was SO PROUD of her!!! She's usually not quite so brave! YAY FOR JENNI!!!

When we got back to John and Alicia's house we dug through the leaves for more candy! The kids had SO much fun doing this!! Lizzy found a play rake and kept raking through the leaves, and Joe-joe decided to be a flashlight holder! (it was really dark!)

Our two flashlight holders and the looker!

A (fuzzy) look at our glowing pumpkins! Steve's ;) is my favorite!!!

One last look at our cute pumpkins!! We had lots of fun this year! I never really cared much for Halloween until I had kids!!! It's so much funner when you get to see them having so much fun! And Joe-joe is finally getting the idea (although I think he only said trick-or-treat once! he did always say thank you though!)

Anyway, so it was a great night! We had lots of fun with family and friends! And the kids got lots of candy that will last them for a couple of weeks! (We only let them eat a few a day, and they're usually pretty ok with that!) So yeah, thats all for now!

later!

chelle

VEGAS BABY!!!

2008-11-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

Steve found my camera, so here's pics from my trip to Vegas with Flee and Lizzy!

Here's Lizzy just being adorable by the lake at Bellagio. We tried to wait for the fountain show, but they only plat it every hour evidently, and since it was only the half hour (like 2:30 or something) we decided not to wait! We did stay for a bit to feed goldfish to a duck that was in the lake! (I know, wierd huh! I think he had a broken wing 'cause one of them was sticking out all funny)

Lizzy feeding the duck some fishies!

The whole group of us in the garden at the Bellagio. (can you tell the Bellagio is my favorite??)

Lizzy's aunt Becca and her friend carly walking along the strip! Lizzy absolutley LOVES becca! she calls her Kekka! It's so cute!

Carly's brother Cody- Lizzy does love her boys! She fell in love with Cody pretty quickly too! And he was so great- he kept playing with her and holding her! What a sweetie! And he is SUCH a gentleman! He was the only boy there with a bunch of girls, but he was a trooper! He opened doors for us and everything! He's awesome!

Flee and I sporting the new 'in' sunglasses! don't we look hot!! And really- even though they're super ugly, they weren't that hard to see through! (I'd still never buy them though!!!)

Flee and Lizzy in the fabulous sunglasses!

"You've got a friend in me da-da-da You've got a friend in me . . . When the road looks rough ahead and you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed . . . you just remember what your old pal said, yeah, you've got a friend in me!"

oh, friend! That was so much fun!!!

The three of us in front of the Bellagio. I had more pictures, like from the Forum Shops and stuff, but I let Lizzy play with my camera when she was bugged and somehow she deleted a bunch of pics! but she took about 50 as well! Although they are all of her shirt and stuff, so ALAS they are not usable!

Anywho. That was our trip! It was fun, and . . . interesting. Lets just leave it at that!!!

later!

chelle

Steve is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

2008-11-01T16:12:00.003-06:00

So, Steve is amazing, and flee and I are both handicappers!

When I lost my camera I thought it must be in flee's car. I checked. Twice. I still hadn't found it, so Flee checked. Twice. Neither of us found it. So I had assumed I left it in Las Vegas and was SUPER bummed! So we were at Flee's house yesterday, and Flee was cleaning out her car. Steve goes to look in her car.

and he comes back with my camera!

WOOHOOO!!! I was SO excited!!! So now I can blog about VEGAS!

Oh, and by the way, there's no one I'd rather be handicapped with than you flee!!

onto another post!
(I could just do it on this one, but I'm emphasising how amazing I think Steve is!!!)

Pumpkin Carving Stuff's!

2008-10-31T00:10:00.005-06:00

So, today we carved our pumkins for Halloween! (Well, Steve and I carved while Jenni and Joe-joe played!) I got a great big one for me, Steve and Jenni both got normal sized ones, and Joe-joe got a bitty one! We didn't think Joe-joe would do to well with the whole carving thing, so he has the 'potato head' pirate. Jenni wanted to do a spider (so she could 'scare' joshie and brianna!) I did a kitty on a moon. I think my favorite though, was Steve's! He did this

;)

haha! it was so cute! I totally loved it! and it only took him like 2 minutes! It was awesome! Here's some pics

At the beginning. just as we started.

Jenni wasn't super excited about getting the 'guts' out, but she did pretty good!

more de-goobering . . .

and the icky hands!

look at all those guts!! Yeah, my pumkin was SO thick, I had to scrape a ton off the inside so I didn't have to try and carve through 2 inches of pumkin wall! We did save a bunch of seeds for roasting, but they have to dry overnight, so we'll see how they turn out tomorrow!

The finished product! Aren't they so cute!

Jenni posing by her pumkin. I had to stand so my shadow would block the sun from her eyes, so this picture looks kinda odd!

The most important people in my life! How much do I love them? Let me count the ways!!! no just kidding! We had so much fun! We got one of those pumkin carving kits and it was SO easy! I couldn't believe how easy it was. I mean, we've always worked with a pattern, but we used to have to poke the holes individually to transfer the pattern onto the pumkin, which always took FOREVER! so but the time we actually got around to carving we were SO DONE with the whole thing! But this kit had this cool little tool that was basically a spiky wheel in a handle, so you could just roll the wheel across the edges, and it put all the holes right where you needed them!

Yeah- I just re-read that last paragraph and it totally doesn't make sense! Ah well, I'm sick, and it's late! And Joe joe has kept me up alot over the last few nights! We're taking him to Dr. Cherrington tomorrow though! I'll take pics of the pumkins with candles in them tomorrow when its dark. ooo, can you even contain your excitement???? I bet you just can't wait!!!!

ok, really. It's time for bed! Oh, and just fyi- I still haven't found my camera! double ack!! I stole my mom's camera for this!

thats all for now!
peace out!

chelle

Daddy or Mommy???

2008-10-29T18:36:00.001-06:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Genealogies - Free family tree charts

Steve and Chelle

The Oh-so-adorable not-yet-named new baby girl!!

How sweet it is . . .

just a quick thought . . .

I'm looking . . .

Elective Epidural?!?! ELECTIVE?????

Memorial Day

amazing!

11 down . . . 29 to go!

Happy Happy Birthday!!!!

What to write about . . . .

Don't be mad

Here we go again . . .

WoW when did we get a seven year old

Pity Party and you are invited!! by: Steve

quick hello

Dont die. We havent

just for mom

How Sweet It Is . . .

"The Best Dinner Ever!"

Christmas!!

Pulled to PEDS

My immune system is BROKEN!!!

Back at work . . . .

Some new things . . .

I'm looking . . .

I'd rather be a WHALE

Everybody ZUMBA!!!!!

Update on our lives!

Just so you all know . . .

*sigh* ok, I guess I have to do it!

Joe-joe bear!

funny honesty of children . . .

Funny Joe-joe

seriously . . .

ugh! What a week!

oh, to love what you pay for . . .

Daniel-san: you are officially FIRED!!!

Hey all!

I ran over a noodle in my car because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.

So much to write about . . .

Holy Crud! She's 6 already!!!

WELCOME HOME DAVE!!!!

Time for new music!

Put it to a vote . . .

Good To My Baby

Its official!!

Fetch, boy!

Sometimes . . .

Bummer :(

Explanations

Happy Birthday Annie and Rinny!!!

I'm a little bit handicapped!!!

Mommy!

101th post!!!!!

100th Post!

work work work

YAY!

For Karla

7 years . . .

I need your help!!!

Bug and a half.

20 Questions . . . or maybe a few more . . .

chelle at work

BLAST!

looks a little different???

clarification

Hello cyber-sisters!

to answer a few questions . . .

I am still alive!!!

Would you like to know . . .

Background issues!

New background!!

I'm at work, and guess what!!

You asked for it!!!

Some Christmas Funnies . . .

Merry Christmas to all . . .

Just for you Stace!

UHG!!

I have decided . . .

sigh ok, I guess I have to do it!