Cutting the FAT!!!

I am going to lose weight in the year 2012! On 12/31/11, New Year's Eve, I weigh 223.5 lbs. I worked out on the Eliptical for 30 minutes and burned 500 calories. I want to do this at least five times a week. I will work up to doing this 45 minutes five times a week. My goal is to be under 200 lbs by our one year anniversary, 07/22/12. I am doing this because I want to be healthy for my wife Kandice and our future family. I am also going to eat healthy. I will not come home and eat after work in the wee hours of the morning. I will drink a nice big glass of water and head to bed! I love you Kandice! You are my world.




I am also going to post a picture and tell a story. This is a picture of our feet. We were at St. George and visited at the nicest condo! We had our own little apartment, and it was absolutely fantastic. We were able to watch the firt BYU football game down there where they beat Ole Miss. BYU just finished their season with a record of 10-3. It was a pretty good season. I just hope they beat Utah next year haha. But this picture of our feet reminded me of the awesome time we had down in St. George on our vacation.

Vegas!

So for Craig's birthday at the end of October, we decided to go down to Las Vegas for some R&R. I also bought tickets to see Phantom of the Opera at The Venetian. It had been awhile since either of us had been there, so it was fun to go and explore. It's amazing how different life is down there. I can't fathom half of the stuff people do on a regular basis. We stayed at The Riviera which is located on the strip. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. We payed a reasonably low price considering it was on the actual strip. But it became evident why it was so cheap. The bed was AWFUL- hard as a rock! They had loud music playing outside our window by the pool from morning til night. And the night we ate at the buffet, I wanted to die. We payed almost forty dollars for minimal selection and questionable cuisine. And sadly, the casino was not generous to us. We lost more than we gained and left with our tails between our legs.
On the upside, Phantom was pretty good. It wasn't as good as I expected because the man who played the Phantom just didn't come across as a strong character which is needed in this show. His voice was iffy. The actual theatre was cool because it was like you were in the same theatre that you see in the movie. There were private boxes with dummies in them and the architecture was amazingly detailed. We sat directly under the chandelier and it was awesome! In the part of the show were it is supposed to fall, it came right at us as if it were really falling and then bounced up at the last second.
All in all it was a good trip. We had warm weather, and lots of time to spend together. Craig was able to get a massage and I found a purse at the Fossil outlet that stole my heart. Lucky for me, Craig thought I was worth it and bought it for my birthday/christmas.

We decided to add a new family member to our clan...

...And his name is Leo. He is of  feline descent. His full name is Leonitis; as in King Leonitis from the gladiator movie 300. He was born in August and we got him when he was barely 8 weeks old-in the middle of October. Craig and I decided it would be fun to have a pet around so I wouldn't be so lonely when Craig is gone at night. Leo is so much fun! It's fun to watch him discover things and be shown affection. This has led to us spoiling him... He has quite a few toys, as well as a kitty tower and he gets fed moist food at night (it's his favorite). It's a lot like having a toddler. He's very dependent on us and he wants our attention 24/7. I'd say it's good training for having a real child. Haha. We both have scratches all over our bodies as it's been quite an adventure to train Leo not to climb people's legs. He's growing like a weed- he used to fit in his food dish(below), but he's too big now. We think he will stay smaller than the average cat. We love Leo! It'd be hard not to love something so cute and fuzzy.

He has the cutest zebra stripes on his legs and little spots on his belly! He loves cuddling up with Craig for a nap.

-This Bittersweet Month-

I always find that I reminisce a lot in the month of October. October is officially "breast cancer awareness" month and it is also the month my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2005. The way I feel about October is very similar to that feeling I feel on 9/11. I can still perfectly recall those feelings of anguish, hopelessness, terror, and bewilderment.
In one tiny moment, all my hopes and plans for the future were suddenly in jeopardy. The woman I had always known to be strong, who never showed a weak moment, who was always there for me, was now in the biggest fight for her life. My dad and I cried in each other's arms as my mom told us over the phone that her biopsy resulted in the diagnosis of cancer. Our worst fears were now confirmed.
The next few months of my life were a whirlwind. I was floating in this crazy alternate universe where my mom was having surgery, and then chemo therapy every week, which would soon turn into radiation therapy. She never showed that she was sick. After rounds of chemo that left her with no taste buds, no appetite, and weakness all over, she still got up the next day to go to work. She was still my mom, still worrying about our grades and how we were doing in school (if not more so since her diagnosis). I could see she was more concerned about her sickness, and it's effect on us than she was about her own health.
We all coped in different ways. My way consisted of leaning heavily on my friends and Young Women leaders. I was already dealing with depression before the diagnosis, so afterward it only got worse. Luckily, my mom felt the need to put me into therapy sessions with a counselor. I think that was the best choice for me. I was able to vocalize my fears as well as be reassured by my mom that everything was okay.
I never felt that my mom was in grave danger of losing her life, but I think that was because of how she portrayed herself. People were bringing us meals all the time, but we (the kids) didn't understand why, our mom was doing fine. I can't specifically recall a time where she was just laying in bed being sick besides after surgery. She was still Mom.
The whole point of this post is to try to show in some small way, how strong my mother is. I am who I am today because of this strong woman. The breast cancer road was definitely a hard one to travel, but I wouldn't take it back. Our family grew so close and we learned to serve each other better. And here we are six years later, cancer-free and still a close-knit family. I LOVE YOU MOM!

Labor Day Weekend

Labor day weekend was great! I've always enjoyed it because I consider it an extension of my birthday. Craig and I went down to St. George with my dad's side of the family to stay in an immaculate condo/home. The house has an AMAZING theater room where we watched the BYU game and some awesome movies. It also has it's own private pool and jacuzzi right in the backyard! We went shopping and ended up getting Craig lots of nice clothes for a killer deal. We swam a lot and totally ate WHATEVER we wanted--It was awesome. I practically drank a whole 12 pack of Dr Pepper. We also went on a cool little hike with my parents and brother and sister; It was a little park with a bunch of red rocks that you could climb on and see the whole city. It was great to relax all weekend and be with family. I'm just sad I didn't take any pictures!

We are now also back into our apartment. It is freezing as usual! Now we face the chore of moving everything back in and getting it organized all over again. Luckily Craig is awesome and has done a lot of it himself. Hopefully this will be the last time we do this before we have to move out again in April!

Welcome to....Married Life!

I am planning to post all of our honeymoon pictures but that isn't happening yet...It is weird to say that we had our 1 month anniversary! We've made it a whole month! And man, has it been quite a month! After what seemed like a whirlwind honeymoon, we were jolted back to real life by the airlines losing our luggage. Luckily after the whole fiasco, we got our bag back intact with no help from the original airline.

It seems like all we've really done as a married couple is shop. We took all the gift cards we received from our reception and went on quite a shopping spree. A lot of them were target cards, so most of our stuff is from target...which I have no problem with. :) We got a cute whiteboard/calendar with picture frames in it, a space heater, 2 lamps, a bookshelf, and on and on. We got a big, gorgeous framed picture of the Salt Lake Temple from Bed, Bath & Beyond(random, I know). We also went to Ikea for cheap-er home furnishings. We purchased a table and 2 chairs as well as bedside tables to go with our brand new bed frame from RC Willey.

We finally got it all put together (which was no easy task) and then guess what happens?? Our basement apartment FLOODS. THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS! The neighbor was irrigating and apparently neglected their duties because it went to our yard. We had water spouting up through a drain in the cement that went straight to the ground... which was completely saturated. We did not have anything ruined, thankfully. Craig woke up to 3-5 inches of water in the living room that was quickly increasing. (I was at work) The upstairs neighbors who also share part of the basement were unaware of the flooding until Craig knocked on their door.
I was able to get someone to come in and cover my shift while I went to help out, but not until 3 pm. By then, Craig and my siblings had spent hours moving things and drying stuff out the best they could. The restoration company showed up at about the same time that I did. They surveyed the damage and tried to help us stop the water from coming up through the drain. At the end of the day we were homeless, pruney, and tired. Craig and I decided to ditch the rescue effort (since there was nothing more to be done) and hit the theater. We were both glad that we took a break and relaxed together, if only for a few hours. We ended up moving all that we could to my parents house, where we are currently living. . . . . .

Our living room

Here we are over 3 weeks later, and not much has changed. The place sat, and sat, and sat forever until they finally decided that everything was dry. Then they waited a few days more to put new padding underneath the existing carpet. Nothing is nailed down yet and they are supposedly going to clean the carpet soon. I'm not getting my hopes up yet though...

On another sad note, we traded in White Lightning (the mustang). After much deliberation, we decided it was the best decision for all of us. We will cherish all of our awesome memories with White Lightning, and we look forward to making new ones with Silver Fox. Silver Fox is our Honda Accord. He gets much better gas mileage than Whitey and will handle better in the snowy Utah weather. We were blessed enough to basically get what Craig paid for the Mustang on the trade. And we are confident that Silver Fox has lots more life in him to give.

We took a breather this last weekend and headed off to the Salt Lake Marriott for some R&R and early birthday celebrating. We went shopping at the Gateway, ate at Tepanyaki, visited the Zoo with my family, and introduced them to The Pie- our favorite pizza place which just happens to be in Ute territory.  It was great to relax with my husband and spend time with my family.

Spider Monkey!

LEMURS!

Which one is my husband???

Awesome bird show

Kitties!

We're recreating a picture that was taken when I was 2

COLORS

These are all of the purple and green shades that I envision for the wedding. There are no specific shades. We are also tying in peacock feathers here and there. Hope these help...

Wow!

Ohh how time flies. But at the same time, I feel like it is creeping by so slow! A lot has happened since the last time I blogged. I finally feel like everything is falling together for Craig and I. We are almost all set to be our own little family. :-)
First off- we bought a brand spanking new...
                                                                 *2011 Mazda 3* (in "gunmetal blue")
We weren't planning on buying a "brand new" car, but everything kind of just came together. Being that Craig is a financial whiz, we knew that the interest rates are the lowest they've been for quite awhile. We also wanted something we could rely on because let's face it, Bessy (my old 97 toyota camry) is TIRED, plus Andrew and Brooke need a car to drive. Let me tell you.... my car is AMAZING. I love it! It has blue tooth so that I can connect my phone to make and answer calls with the touch of a button on the steering wheel. It's very high tech and very safe. On top of the gorgeous car, we get free car washes for life- this is by far my favorite perk. LOVE it. The sad part of this story is that we have to sell White Lightening (craig's mustang). It's only logical that we do because
1- White Lightening does not do so well on the gas mileage and
B- Whitey does terrible with snow and rain, making it hard for Craig to get around in our crazy Utah weather.
We made a deal that we would sell W.L. after our wedding. It will be sad to see him go, but (snif) it's time we move on and get Craig a car that is safer and less expensive. (FYI, the mazda doesn't have a name yet, Craig is convinced that it is going to be Blue Dart, but I however, am convinced or shall I say hell-bent, that it is NOT.)

Second-
We signed a lease for our 1 bedroom basement apartment in Springville. It is cute and quite cozy. It's right down the street from my parent's home which we all know, I will love. Craig, being the sweet and caring man that he is, suggested we live in Springville because of the late hours that he works. I was so relieved when he suggested it because I wasn't sure how I would handle being alone a lot of nights until 2 AM. Let me just say, that I am sooo grateful to him for making this sacrifice on my behalf. It's just another testament to me, that I am marrying the right man.
We had to start renting now, or lose the place, so Craig moved to Springville the weekend of conference. We definitely like that we are close so that in the mornings so we can hang out more before he goes to work. Craig has also learned that we have a family living above us with five, yes 5 children! They are a little crazy, but we think they'll calm down once they get used to the new place and realize that poor Craig is downstairs trying to take practice tests for work.
We went out to IKEA and bought a cool chair as well as some "girly" decor, and then ended up buying a new couch at a store near by. We are so excited to decorate our place together and have a place to call home.

Third-
I finally picked out my wedding dress. I am renting it from Veronica Michael's in Spanish Fork. She had to rush order it, but it will be here in June. I can't wait to wear it. It has a lace-up back and a long train. We are hoping that I can wear it in the temple, but all the stuff I hear makes it sound like I probably won't, which is okay. I'll just buy a temple dress to wear. :-)

Sooo... that's what we've been up to. Craig takes his Series 7 test on the 22nd of April and then he gets to move on with his job and help people actually do financial stuff. I know he's going to pass with flying colors!
He also has his official graduation walk in May. I'm excited to see him in his cap and gown!

We are also going to get a short little vacation this weekend in St George with my fam. We hope to relax in the sun and heat by the pool, do a little shopping, and hike our families favorite hike in Red Rock Canyon. I CANNOT wait. This snow and rain is getting wayyy too old.

Engaged!!

So I decided now that we are officially engaged, we should have a blog! I've always wanted to have one but never had anything to write about until now... so here's the story of how Craig asked me to marry him:

My day started at 5:00 am when I woke up to go to a crazy day at work. We had all our rooms full with patients in labor and on top of that I had to do one scheduled c-section. I had finished all my morning duties as well as cleaned and stocked the O.R. only to have another c-section patient walk in which meant I would not be getting a lunch break and probably wouldn't see food until the end of my shift at 6:00 pm. After the second c-section I was pretty close to tears. I had been on my feet all day running around, and I hadn't eaten for like eternity. By far the WORST day that I had experienced in awhile! I got off of work and walked out to my car and found a note on the windshield reading:

"Meet me at the place where we first met.
Love, Craig"

Since we had already designed and ordered the ring, I knew what was coming. But at the same time I was wondering if he was trying to throw me off...(I was secretly hoping he wouldn't ask me that night because I looked like hell and felt even worse.) Anyway- the place that we met for our first date is Nielsen's Grove park in Orem which is our "special place." Craig was waiting for me in the parking lot when I pulled in. In the freezing 40 degree weather, he asked me to go on "a walk" with him. (Now I knew what was up for sure!) He lead me to a secluded spot on the path where his guitar was waiting. He picked it up and started to play a song that he wrote for us. It is such a cute song because it has secret little meanings in it about us and our favorite movies etc. The whole time he played, I bawled. Of course I said yes and then we embraced... ahh sigh.. :)

The fog of the "being engaged feeling" has made this last month fly by. We managed to set a date & place.. which will be:

July 22nd in the

Salt Lake Temple

We also booked our honeymoon- a night at the Anniversary Inn followed by a cruise in the western Caribbean. Yes, of course that's the first thing we planned. (it's the most important!) And Craig decided on the location of the Wedding Luncheon. The rest is pretty much up in the air. I've tried on dresses, but choosing ONE will be the death of me. There is also the possibility of two color schemes. Don't ask where the reception will be, cause I have absolutely no idea. Nor do I really care at this point. It'll be great wherever. And that's what I got so far!

Craig started his new job at Fidelity Investments in February and he is loving it. He did training for the first five weeks and now he's workin the phones! He works a very weird shift, 2:30 pm to 1:30 am. It's only been a week and we are both really noticing the decrease in the amount of time we can spend together. The upside, however, is that he brought me lunch at work twice last week and I could definitely get used to that. :-)


So there you go, that's what is going on with us. Yay for our blog!