Any Day Now

Any day now we will be adding this little guy to our family!!
And hopefully any day now I'll stop feeling like this:
Being so sick has severely tainted the excitement of having him here any day! I've been trying to rest as much as possible, eating hot soup, drinking apple juice and water by the gallon and taking anything I can on my list of meds that are ok to take and I still can't seem to kick this thing. If anyone knows of anything else I can try to get rid of it fast or knows a good family doctor here in the Valley, let me know. I'm getting desperate!

Christmas Calendar 2010

Here's the final draft!
Hope to see everyone at some of these activities.

If you're not receiving emails and updates and want to let us know.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Zachary on the Main Street Walk 2009

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that we're in the process of organizing the Christmas Calendar right now so if you have any ideas or want to host a day or want to be sure to do a specific activity on a certain day so you can make it, please let us know now so we don't have to make a bunch of changes after we've already sent it out.

I also wanted to mention specifically that The Polar Express will be playing in 3D at the IMAX again this year!! However, they're only doing morning showings the first two weeks of December so if you want to make it, PLEASE let us know now what day would work best for you! You don't want to miss out on this activity!! It's SO much fun!

Click on these links to see previous calendars to see what types of activities you want to get in on this year. 2007 2008 2009

I've already sent out the first e-mail so if you didn't receive it and want to receive them, let me know. We're excited! It's going to be a fun year! We hope everyone who can will join us!!

Passed My Final!

Yesterday morning was my final and I passed! I'm SO excited and relieved! I'd been wanting to make a post about school for a while but wanted to make sure me passing was a done deal before I did so so here it finally is! Whew!!

This is me with my best nursing pal Kristin! No one should have to go through nursing school without a friend like her!It's been fun to think Grant's been along for this whole ride! I always wonder if he'll recognize my instructors' voices when he gets here from all the time he sat in lecture with me.
The pic on the right is halfway through the semester, the pic on the left was my last day of clinicals...SCARY!!

One of the patients on the psych floor noticed me one day and said, "WOW! You're REALLY pregnant!"

One of my favorite things has been all the different hospital settings I've gotten to experience! Banner Good Samaritan, Phoenix Children's Hospital, St. Joseph's Medical Center and the Arizona State Hospital/Maricopa County Hospital are some of the places I was able to work.
I'm excited to get to go back to the State Hospital for my preceptorship. I've met some amazing doctors and nurses who do some amazing things. I'm excited to hopefully get to be a part of it all sometime soon!

I still have to do 90 hrs. of preceptorship before I'm officially done. After that, I'll take the State Board Exam and FINALLY become an RN!

A pic I sent Mike right before I went in and watched a surgery for the first time.

Thanks so much to everyone who was praying and rooting for me along the way! It feels SO GOOD to be done!! I think everyone around me will be happy to have me not be so stressed out and bitter all the time. Mike and I stayed up 'til 3 this morning 'cause we finally felt like we could do whatever we wanted and I wouldn't make us both feel guilty about it...it was sweet!

Nightmares, Reality and Blessings

This semester is kicking my trash! I literally feel sick every time I think about school. Good news is I only have one month of class, clinicals, tests, assignments, etc. left...bad news is I don't have what is deemed by the Maricopa Nursing Program as a "passing grade" at the moment so I am beyond stressed!! I'm constantly going back and forth between having a positive "I can do it" attitude and a miserable "it's over, I'm a failure" attitude. Seriously, it changes by the minute and Mike has to be on his toes to be supportive, compassionate, etc. depending on what mood strikes and when. I think he might actually be more ready than I am for this to all be over!

Time for new scrubs!

The best thing about all of this stress is the person I get to go through it with! I look back and think about what life was like when our future was so unsure and realize that THAT was a nightmare!! It's so comforting to know that in all the rest of the trials that will come my way in life, big or small, I'll have Mike to help me through. When you look at the reality of the situation in the big scheme of things, I'm whining and complaining about a tiny drop in the bucket. I'm still super stressed (and will be 'til the end of the semester) but I am also overwhelmed by how blessed I am.

Mike and Chase during a recent trip to Eagar

My family came down for a few days last week. It just reiterated how lucky I am to be surrounded by such wonderful people! We got to see Sal who came home for fall break and celebrate Zacky's birthday. Family is really what it's all about!

Zack loves to play this Tire Fishing Game-
Mel texted me the other day and said he told her it was 'getting on his nerds'...
he is beyond cute!!

Zack LOVES pirates right now so we got him this pirate hat for his b-day.
Here's my little bro. Chase modeling it-he's getting SO BIG!

Lastly in this giant post, I want to say how excited I am for our little guy to get here! NOTHING can top it!!

This is an AWFUL picture taken about 3 weeks ago that I decided I wasn't going to post
but then decided to since I don't really have any others and I look MUCH worse now!
I really hate how I've gained just as much mass EVERYWHERE else besides my belly!
Definitely transitioning from the 'cute pregnant' stage into the 'miserable, EVERYTHING is swelling' stage!

Sunday Dinner

Mike's family has decided to do a Sunday dinner once a month. The first one was last week at Jen and Nate's house. It was great to see everyone and we had some great food!! We didn't get very good pics 'cause all we had were our cell phones but oh well.Nate made a fire and the kids got to play in the yard and go swimming.

Ry, Jen, Tam and me (stuffing my face).

Nate, Jenna, Tam, Ry and some of the kids.

We're excited to keep getting to see everyone once a month! Thanks Jen and Nate! We'll host it someday...:)

Also see Ryan featured in this month's issue of

Small Time Living.

Skype

As many of you know Celina has moved Mississippi, and because she is so far away she got us using Skype. I like it so much that I got everyone I could think of using it. Here are some pictures of my first meetings with them:

Emily introduced Trace to us again.

Chase tried attacking the computer

Cord Surprised me when I found out he already had Skype, and then Avery wouldn't say a word to us and just stared.

My mom of course freaked out about it
And Andy played us a song.
Anyway Skype is awesome and if you have it you should use it and add us to your list.

Family in Utah

This trip was crazy to me. Watching Emily with her new baby Trace was really sinking in this whole pregnancy thing. I'm getting pretty excited and nervous. It was nice seeing how good Emily and Nate are doing, they're making great parents.


I think one of my highlights of our trip was getting to go horseback riding with Nate. It was about the only thing we took pictures of. I haven't been riding in way too long and this little taste made me long for it. I really hope to own a horse someday soon. Nate seemed to be pretty consumed with thoughts of becoming a dad too because we kept bringing up how fun it would be to do this stuff with Trace and Grant (That's the name we have picked out for our kid by the way).


The absolute best thing though was just hanging out with everyone for the week. We spent the whole trip with Josh, M.Jay, Emily, Nate, and of course Trace and it went by way too fast. We did take some more pictures of Trace with our nicer camera but we're going to let Emily post those.

p.s. we also all watched the movie "The Switch" which I really liked, two thumbs up.

Sex?

I'm of course talking about the gender of our unborn child, and
it's a boy!


The baby is due to be here mid January which will be right after Ashley Graduates! Ash has had a pretty big plate lately with the pregnancy, nursing school, our recent move and to top it all off a broken foot, but she has been handling it so well. We're really excited to get this all behind us and start the next chapter in our lives!

On YouTube

I finally posted the baby news video of Mike on YouTube...hopefully it'll be easier for any of you who couldn't see it on Blogger to watch now.

Things are moving right along...we moved into a new house on ASU's Polytechnic Campus (I'll post pics when the house doesn't look like such a disaster area), I'm about to start finals week (Ah!) and I'm getting FAT! I have another appointment in about a week so hopefully I'll get pictures up then. In the meantime...enjoy the video again :)

We Have a Little Mike on Our Hands!

We just got back from the Dr.'s office! Everything looks good and normal. We were a little worried at first because she was having a hard time finding a heartbeat. She kept saying the baby must be moving a lot. Once we saw it on the ultrasound, we understood why she was having such a hard time. This baby is ALL OVER THE PLACE!! It would not hold still for a second! Mike says it's claustrophobic and he totally understands.

I'm nervous...I can't keep up with Mike as it is...I can't imagine keeping up with a newborn or toddler of the same personality. Maybe like the doctor said I just "ate a good breakfast". Wish I were that active off of peanut butter toast! But either way, she did end up finding the heartbeat and we both feel so blessed and relieved that everything went well and we have a healthy baby on the way!

New Curb Your Enthusiasm

Emily had her baby! Congratulations Sis! Super excited to see you guys running around with a baby!

I have been sucked back into Curb Your Enthusiasm. That show is so funny! Here is a small taste for your viewing pleasure that everyone can enjoy.

Small Time Living

The new issue is up!

Citizen's Arrest

I seriously want someone to defend this situation and restore my faith in the judicial system. I should probably let Whitney post this but after hearing about it I want to complain to as many people as I can about it.
Whitney (my sister-in-law) got pulled over and had no idea what for. The cop told her that someone had called the police from their cell phone and reported Whitney for swerving on the road. Again, the cop hadn't seen anything but some concerned citizen saw Whitney swerve and called the cops and gave them her license plate number. It wasn't even a bunch of witnesses, but one annoying lady. Whitney doesn't even remember if she actually swerved. This stupid cop doesn't give her a warning, but actually gives her a ticket for this! So she tells us about it and Cord and I keep saying this is so dumb, and she needs to plead not guilty. Well after going to court twice the judge found her guilty!
I'm sorry but I just can't believe this. Can I just get a random license plate number and call the police? I guess the next person that cuts me off is in trouble. How in the world is this possible! I want so bad to do something about this and just can't, except complain and get mad on this post. I'm sorry Whitney, That is a bunch of crap!

Good News!

I surprised Mike with a late birthday present last time we were in Eagar:
If you didn't already guess, I'm pregnant!!

I had Ryan and Celina video Mike's reaction because I knew it was going to be good! If you wanna watch it, I posted it...it's pretty priceless!

(Notice how he dropped the box and his last statement)

Small Time Living

I have started a new site to practice a different kind of photography and promote small time living. This is an online magazine for all of the people in our circle of family and friends. So if you have something fun and exciting to let everyone know about next month please contact us, and maybe you'll even make the cover story!

I want to try to do a creative photo shoot for each cover and have a new issue for every month. Click on the link at the left to see my first example of the May issue of Small Time Living.
I'm gonna need more stories for the future so help me out and let me know of any small, fun, or exciting news by emailing smalltimeliving@gmail.com.

Also if you have any examples for columns for the magazine or even want to write one let us know. Ashley wants to do a craft column and is talking about us needing some kind of spiritual thought column. Any suggestions would be appreciated. This magazine site is very much in construction and I'm hoping it will get better and better so that I'll keep wanting to do it.

Celebration Day

Ashley Passed Block 2! So far on both blocks she has convinced herself and everyone around her that she is not going to pass, but then still pulled off a B+, Good Job Ash!

The timing for this news was perfect because it's Ashley's Birthday today, and this news was the best gift Ashley received. Also today Ashley's sister Celina graduated from ASU and we met with her family to see her ceremony. GO Sal!
Afterward we all were treated to the Cracker Barrel while Ashley opened some gifts.
She has been hinting to me that she wanted a bike and so that's what I got her. Happy Birthday Ash!

How Could I Forget?? (The real post)

Sorry, I posted this earlier but it got all messed up when I tried to add pictures. Here's the real post:

Monday was Mike's birthday. He got up and went to work and I slept in. I didn't talk to him at all throughout the day until he was about to get off work, at which time I called to let him know that my car broke down. He came straight from work to help me out. I told him to get the jack out of the trunk but he said he knew it wasn't there. I told him to look anyway. When he did, he found this:
Inside were two of these:
I think he was pretty surprised! He kept saying "No way, no way!"We went straight to the game. It was WILD!! We are SO stoked! We LOVE the Suns!!
Happy birthday Mike! I'm glad I got to spend it with you!

How Could I Forget?? 2

Lately, Mike has become a HUGE Dudley fan! I saved a video of him making a sweet shot last night.

I Have a Problem

I have a problem that I've always had but is becoming more and more evident since I started school again. I CAN'T SAY NO!! Someone asks me to do a favor and I am automatically flattered (I really do love feeling like I'm a person who can help out and like people can come to me for advice and assistance) and in the spur of the moment, I arrange my schedule in my mind to fit the favor in.

I remember when I first started school, one of the teachers said there comes a time for every nursing student when you feel so overwhelmed you just sit down and cry and you look around and your house is trashed and the laundry and dishes are piling up and you haven't cooked dinner for the past month. I honestly didn't think that time was ever going to come for me...especially not in the second semester!! What is encouraging and frustrating at the same time is that I'm realizing that it's not school that has me so stressed, it's everything else (which has put stress on the school because I've allowed myself to get behind).

I feel like I always end up letting down and pushing aside the people who mean the most to me and the ones I want to show gratitude to and serve the most, especially Mike. Like a bishop who sets aside his family responsibilities to fulfill ward responsibilities. Only my situation is WAY smaller than that :). But I do feel like my problem is interfering with things/people that are MUCH more important!

So my question is this: how do you let people know they can rely on you, that you feel like you owe them a lot and that you want more than anything to help them out but you just can't?? I need advice stat! :)

P.S. PLEASE do not read this post and think it is directed at anyone!! My problem is with time management, not greedy people and I just want to know how other people cope!

Miracle Drug

Ash has wanted to post about when she went on Acutane (Isotretinoin) for a while now and I'm going to finally do it for her. Here are a couple pictures of her acne from random times over the last few years. In the past she usually had me touch up and hide this stuff.

This medicine seems to be associated with a lot of negativity and a lot of people tried to warn her not to do it. Ashley wanted to post this to encourage people to do it if they can. It's definitely worth it. I didn't even notice how much her acne bothered her until it was gone and her whole attitude changed. She is happier and more comfortable.
So I went and took a quick picture tonight of Ashley to compare. She's not wearing any Make up and I didn't do any touch ups to the picture. Here it is.....(I love seeing her happy)

After

Before

Awards

The other day, Mike brought home two new awards from Bank of America. I was in a grumpy mood and he tried to cheer me up by saying that they were prizes he won for me. Actually, they're incentives because he's doing so well at work!If you can't tell, we have a B of A keychain, a grooming kit and a $25 gift card

He's already number 2 on his team and he's only worked there less than three months! I'm so happy to know that he's doing something he's good at and is making him happy too!

Need more space

So recently Ash and I finally got tired of living in a one bedroom apartment, so we made it into a two bedroom. Here's our second bedroom.

Which we put right in the middle of our living room.

I actually really like it. Especially because I sleep right next to the sliding door that I always leave open at night. So we're definitely growing out of the place and we put a bid on a house, and after a little bit of negotiation they've accepted our offer.

I've heard that the house is not yours until you have the keys, so we'll see if we actually buy the house later but it looks like we're heading that way for now. It's a pretty small modest home, and not to mention old, probably just right for us.

Things Have a Way of Working Themselves Out

I wondered when I gave this to Mike for Christmas if it was the right thing to do. I've heard/seen a lot of horror stories...
Seeing as I included this with it...I was probably just asking for trouble.
I thought we'd at least be using Rock Band a lot.
Crazy thing is, he hasn't done much of either since he discovered this:
We learned you can stream Netfilx instantly through the XBox and it's basically Mike's dream come true! It's pretty much all he uses it for (and the only thing I know how to use on it). If you have an XBox 360 and haven't signed up for Netfilx, you're missing out!!

Mike's mom also gave us an awesome TV for Christmas (another dream come true for Mike!). I found this in the instruction manual when Mike was setting it up.
It didn't have an English side to it...maybe it said these things somewhere in the English directions but what do you think it's trying to tell us? The one of the little guy jumping on it was what killed me. Imagine if I had to get after Mike for doing that. Haha!