First "Utah Writing"

When we moved to Utah Jared said "Don't decorate our house all utah" haha I have to say, I like the way people in Utah decorate their houses. Lately I have been especially liking the vinyl lettering they put on their walls. I was at the store one day and saw a way cute saying that would go perfect in out second bathroom, so I bought it. I came home and Jared accused me of buying 'utah writing'. haha Yep, I will fully admit I let Utah influance my decorating taste! => And so, the other night I put up my first 'utah writing'!

So here I go, bravely putting up my first 'utah writin' aka vinyl lettering. The words came all on one strip and they were, in my opinion, too close together. So I cut them apart and spaced them out more.
Jared thought it was funny that when I concentrated really hard my tounge would come out. haha I can't explain why, i didn't even know I did it, but this picture proves it. haha
And here it is! The masterpiece of vinyl lettering in the bathroom! I just had to stare and admire it for a while. => Jared still says its a little too 'utah' for him, but that "i (jared) like it because you (alyssa) like it". Isnt he just a dream? => And I am very proud and excited for my first 'utah writing'!!

17 1/2 Weeks Pregnant!

I have finally remembered to take pictures of my baby bump! I am 17 weeks and 5 days pregnant!

We took a semi-normal picture first,
then came the fun photo-posing pictures! Those are my favorite!
Believe it or not, there is no sucking in or poking out. This is what it looks like. And the weird thing is that it is hard to the touch. I don't know why but I expected it to be squishy, like a fat belly normally is. In reality, it fells tight, almost like I should have a six-pack, it just looks like a fat belly =>
Jared and I went to the baby doctor yesterday and everything is doing well. We were able to hear the babies heart beat but then the little bugger was zooming around and the doctor chased it around my belly for a while. That was actually pretty fun. And they measured my uterus and it measures 16 inches right now. I know it needs to get a heck of a lot bigger, but it seems huge to me already!

On Sunday I had my first real encounter with my pregnant body. I wanted to wear a certain skirt, but it would not zip up all the way. =<> I hsuspect I have a long way to go before I feel comfortable with my body getting bigger, but I am sure I will be super excited about getting a pregnant belly in a couple weeks =>

Exhausting Job

In high school it seemed like I never needed sleep. I would wake up at 5:00am or earlier, go to seminary then school then dance, come home, maybe do homework, then be out and about as a teenager would, staying up and out as late as possible. Nowadays it seems I can not get enough sleep. I am sure a part of that is due to pregnancy, but a part of that is also my job. So those two coupled together it is cause from some very exhausted Alyssas. => And the other night was no exception. JAred and I were chilling on the couch, some show playing on the tv. And I cant remember if we were talking or not but all of a sudden I am being set down on our bed, and the clock says its three hours later than my last recolection. Yep, I had fallen asleep, am most likely mid talking haha And Jared thought I was sleeping in such a funny position he took a picture of it. He said I am a true poser girl because I even pose in my sleep. haha Well, what can I say, sleep is great! Especially when you are exhausted! =>

In-N-Out Loves Me!

At last I am living by an In-N-Out! It has been three years since this blessed eatery has graced my living area. => The In-N-Out opened in Orem a couple days ago, and the one in American Fork is planned to open ina week or so! Oh I am so excited!!

Jared and I went to try the new place last Friday night. When we got there there was a huge line, across and winding around the parking lot. I know Jared must really love me because he was willing to wait in that long line with/for me! ANd suprisingly it only took about 15 minutes! Those In-N-Out workers really have getting in and out down! =>
I can't even tell you how excited I was to get home and eat our food!! We got two double doubles, two veggie burgers, an order of fries, and a strawberry shake!
I was going to get a picture of all our food, but JAred was pretty dang hungry and I wasn't fast enough with the camera. haha He just dug right into his double double. He still won't admit that he loves In-N-Out, but this picture tells it all, you just know he does. haha
And yesterday I had a great increase in my work production and Jared went and got me In-N-Out as a celebration! Isn't he the greatest? The Orem In-N-Out is about 15 mins away from our house, which is not that far. But I can not wait until the American Fork one opens! We live just off the freeway and two exits up is the American Fork In-N-Out right off the freeway!! eriously like 5 mins away!!! I am going to get so In-N-Out spoiled when that one opens! But hey, pregnancy is a good excuse isnt it? => I love yummy In-N-Out!

My Little Miracles

Lately I have not done much of picture worthy things, which I guess is why my last couple entries have been photo-less. This post will be the same. But don't worry, there are a few planned things coming to take a picture of (like my stomach and a new In-N-Out opening, and Nicklecade date) so there will be pictures soon. As for right now my mind is so filled with recent little miracles in my life I just had to write them down.

The first major one is Jared! I know, he has been in my life for almost two years now, but I just can not believe how lucky I am to have a man like him! Seriously I do not know how I could do some things without him (like getting up and ready for work today, just one example) He helps and supports me in everything I do, and even the ideas of things I want to do but never get around to. And especially lately, when my body just doesn't want to work anymore, he jumps right in and goes above and beyond his 'call of duty' => I can not even think of the right words to say to acurately express my feelings of love, appreciation, respect, admiration, (the list could go on and on) I have for him! He is probably the biggest miracle that has happened to me in my life!

The second miracle recently happened last Sunday. I honestly don't know what came over me (probably too much time to think at work) but I invited three of my high school friends and their husbands to a dinner party last Sunday. Yes, me, willingly cooking a large meal for seven adults! Really what was I thinking? I was so nervous about it, but the gathering turned out fine. And my little miracle that day was the food. I had never cooked for seven adults before so I made two dinners, roast and chilie, and a side of homemade rolls. I can not even tell you how scared I was for that food. I am definately NOT a great cook, I am actually just beginning to learn how to cook, and good food turns out about half the time. I sometimes wonder what Heavenly Father thinks when I pray to Him. Especially while I was making that dinner. I do not think I have said so many prayers about food in my entire life! Jared even asked me to say the prayer on the food when they were all here, and I don't know if any of the guests caught it but I definately prayed for it to taste good. => And there were no complaints! And even some compliments! I tell you, even tho that does not seem like a big thing, or may even seem weird to some, but it was a big deal to me to have decent tasting food. I didn't need it to be the best meal they ever had, just enough to satisfy them for one meal. And I can say that this experience was a testimony builder for me, that no matter how small the matter, or insignificant the fear or worry may be, Heavenly Father knows that its important to you, therefore it is important to Him. And I am so thankful that He helped the dinner I made not turn out horrible. (and I probably wont be cooking dinner for a party for a while, I still havent gotten over the stress of food =>)

And the third miracle happened/is happening at my job. My job gets paid of piece rate (however many bundles of clothes you sell is what you get paid). And I had officially entered the training curve last week (they give me 18 weeks to get to 100% efficiency) I had been steadily progressing at a rapid rate, which I was comfortable with, and on the first week I was doing really well. But then I had a bad day. Not just in how fast I was sewing but how bad my body hurt, cutting my finger opened, huge headache. Basically you name it, I had it. That day just really shot my enthusiasm down. Then I had a weekend, expecting to get refreshed and back to the normal pace I was working at, but coming back to work Monday, I still preformed less than I would have liked. This really got me down and again I turned to my Heavenly Father. He really loves me. I can not explain it any other way. He knows the goals I have for myself and He has helped me exceed them more than I could have ever imagined! Again it is a small and insignificant miracle to anyone but myself, but in my life, it is a huge miracle!

And the last one I will talk about today has to deal with my job again. My job provides insurance. This was a big blessing when it comes to our baby. When we first found out we were pregnant there was no way we could have afforded this baby, and that scared us a little. But we figured we could just make extra money on the side and try to negotiate with he doctors and hospitals. And for the first two visits that is what we did, and as far as we knew it was working well. But there was always the lingering fear of 'what if' like 'what if the baby is premature' or 'what if I need a C-section'. Those were expenses we could not have handled. But luckily with this job, I get a good insurance plan that will help cover a lot of the costs. And a new miracle that comes with this insurance deals with Jared. He was set to have his jaw surgery on November 30 up in Idaho. His parents had kept him on their insurance plan for this specific reason. But something happened (I am still not entirely knowledgeable about the details) and the insurance company was changing and decided not to cover Jared's surgery. Well, they cant just not do surgery. The doctors have spent practically the last two years prepping his mouth for this corrective procedure, and if they just leave it how it is, his jaw will be more messed up than before they started. But again Heavenly Father, I am sure, knew this and He provided a way for Jared to get the procedure done. The insurance I get thru my work covers it, then same if not better than the insurance before. This is one big complication that we never would have thought of, and yet Heavenly Father had prepared us for it.

These recent miracles in my life have me so emotional (and yes, a big part of that is probably pregnancy) about our Father in Heavens love for us! I have not doubted that He loves me, it just astounds me when I look back and see part of the extent of His love for me and my family! I am eternally grateful for everything He does for us and how He watches over us! And I hope I can provide at least a portion of that love for this baby coming to us. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me, and that gives me the greatest peace and reassurance I have ever known!

One Project Completed!

I have a habit of making projects for myself, starting them, then delaying their finish. Yes a huge fault I am working on. Well at this moment I had four big projects to work on: finish and print first year of blog, make and publish cruise book, finish wedding quilt, cut and finish t-shirt quilt. And yes, all of those are started in one way or another => Well I am pleased to report I can now cross off the first one off the list! I officially put in my order for my blog to be made a book! Wahoo!!
The whole point of me doing this blog was to treat it as a "journal" of our years of marriage, and to print it out each year. We have been married now three months over a year and I just printed it off! Well I would have printed it sooner but I wanted to include some pictures of our cruise in it (and that kindof coinsides witht he second item on the list and I am just getting to that). So in a couple weeks I will have a hard copy of all the blog posts from the time I started until our year anniversary! Just browsing thru the book brings back so many memories I am so glad I posted some of the things I did because I probably would not have remembered them otherwise! I love it! And I am so excited to get the book!!! And to keep posting so we can have a great second year book too!! =>

My Job...

I have a full time job! The first one in my entire life! 40 hour weeks, who knew they were so killer? (ok maybe people who work them =>) Anyways, I work at Beehive Clothing sewing ladies garmet tops. When I told Jared I was applying for that job his first response, no joke, was "Do you even know how to sew?" Haha I think that is pretty funny! After over a year of marriage we still are learning fundamental stuff about eachother. (Yes I know how to sew. I am definately not perfectly great but I can hold my own) I even got put on the second hardest job in ladies tops! How is that for sewing skill? haha
I have been working there for two weeks now (i know, so long) but I discovered this morning that my body is already programed to work. The hours of this job are 6:30am to 3:00pm, and we need to get there between 6:15 and 6:20 to get things ready so we can start sewing at 6:30. Needless to say I sleep in as long as possible, at first I set my alarm to 5:56am. Jared and I have a pretty good morning routine I get dressed and he packs my lunch (I know what a stud) and then I eat breakfast (he is still packing) and I leave the door around 6:10. Thats right, wake up and our the door in less than 20 minutes! I am a little proud of that! => But just this last week I switched the alarm clock to 5:54am, but it makes a HUGE difference! There is a two minute allowance to slowly wake up, cuddle, and roll out of bed. I will sacrifice 2 mins for that. => But back to this morning. I was so looking forward to sleeping in, you dont even know! And Jared even kept me up until 10:30 (yes, two hours later than I normally stay up. A girl needs her beauty sleep! =>) to help me sleep in. But alas, that was all in vain! I woke up this morning, no joke, at 5:56 alive and awake and ready to go! It was the weirdest feeling because I was sooo tired still yet my body REFUSED to go back to sleep! Yes, this dumb job schedule is taking over my life! =>
So a little more about my job. Beehive clothing has some what of an assembly line when doing any garmet. One person does one specific job, like sewing a sleeve or putting elastic on, and then passes it to the next person who does their job and so on and so on. My job is to sew the miters on the womens square neck tops. Miters are the corners on the necks, essentially the part that makes the neck square instead of round. There are four per top. And this job pays by 'piece rate' which means they pay you not by hour but by the number of tops you do. While I am in 'training' they give me a little slack and make up my difference to 100% until I get there (and they give the trainee a set number of weeks until they need to be up to 100%) On my fastest day I sewed 252 tops (with 4 miters each mind you). And I thought I was cruising. But they then told be that I was only performing at like 37% and I needed to be up to 680 tops a day to be at 100%. Yes, that is a little discouraging, but I have 16 weeks left in my training period. I am sure I can get at least 100%. And the best part of 'piece rate pay', you can get over 100% and they will pay you accordingly. There was a lady that used to work on miters that did at least 175% and made $18/hour (of course, thats what they say, i have never met her) but it gives me a little hope =>
And another plus about this job is that it has full benefits! What a blessing, especially witht his baby coming! I am so grateful for this job, but I am still getting used to working soooo much and getting up to where I should be in production. I am excited to see how I continue to increase my production and make more tops! =>

Who Thought Of This?

There is a "tradition" out there that on your first wedding anniversary the husband and wife are supposed to eat the top part of their wedding cake. (it was supposed to be in the freezer for that year). Well, I wasn't super interested in this tradition but my Mom sure was. She kept two cupcakes in her freezer this whole time! And when we were downt here for Halloween she insisted we take part in this tradition. (yes a couple months after our year, but its not easy to get Jared back to CA haha)

So we took our cupcakes out and thawed them and got ready to take the plunge! haha Let me first just say, they do not look the same. And there was some type of liqiud in the bag that I dont even know what it was, nor do I want to.
And we were going to feed eachother our cupcakes, but of course, neither of us trusted the other one to not shove it all over the place, so we pinky promised we wouldn't. Aren't we just so mature?!? =>
Yes we did eat a bite, and were nice to eachother. =>
But trust me..... they tasted like disgusting freezer!! Whomever thought of this tradition must have never gotten married and eaten their wedding cake a year later! NOT the best idea! Oh well, as dumb, disgusting and repulsing as it was, we still took part in the tradtion and now we have 'officially' been married a year! haha But a word to the wise... be prepared for something that tastes nothing like it did a year ago, and only eat one bite! =>

Halloween in CA!

This last weekend Jared and I, along with Kalyn and her roommate, drove the 9 hours to California. Cole was getting baptized on Saturday (yes being baptized on Halloween) and we wanted to be there for his special day! So the plan was to leave on friday after my work (which ends at 3) then pick up Kalyn and be on the open road by 4:30 at the latest! Well we pull into Provo at 4:00 and do not leave that city until 5:20! And thats just to the next city down! And this little delay was not because people were slow getting in the car, we were in the car for the whole time! It was the dumb traffic!! Provo is definately NOT the place to be when trying to get somewhere in a hurry during the hours of 3-6. haha We got to my parents house around 12:30am and went right to sleep!

Saturday was a big day! The boys had soccer games in the morning and then it was Cole's baptism at 1:00. The baptism was so neat! Trey baptized Cole while my Dad and Jared were the witnesses, then he was confirmed by Dad. There was such a spirit there! And to see Trey baptise Cole was really neat!

After the baptism the fam and friends came over for lunch! It was so fun to play with all of them! This is a picture of just one of the 'groups' of lunch eaters haha (I couldnt get everyone in a picture =>)

The baptism boy was out of his church clothes so fast and out playing handball I wasnt able to get a picture of him all dressed up => But here he is with a cousin and a friend! They were rocking at handball until Cole hit it over the wall. oops =>

After lunch had died down Dad and Cameron went to work on the costumes for that night. The boy cousins were all going to be leggos! What a cute idea!!

Dutch and Cole soon found another ball to play with, but they soon lost that one too haha. They kicked it over the roof and it got stuck behind the chimney, so hero Jared was to the rescue! => What a stud!

Around 6:00 the family headed over to Gram and Pa's house to get the Halloween festivities started! Gram gave Jared and I the task of helping her with the doughnuts. So I was upstairs hanging the strings and......

.... Gram was downstairs catching them and helping get the perfect length! My dad was also helping (he is int he bottom left corner tying the dougnuts to the strings) I had a blast getting this ready! Who knew setting up games coud be so much fun!?!? =>

The young boys were the first up! And let me tell you, it was VERY entertaining to watch! haha I love these fun family games!!

This was the "little" groupof trick-or-treaters. (minus Kaden, he was just thrown in there so all the legos could be together) THey went out first and were on a shorter candy route. And my parents went out with them!

Here is the "big kid" trick-or-treating group (notice KAden is in this one, with all the girls haha) Kalyn and Kimmy both had friends come with them, but the rest are the older CA cousins! What fun costumes! Stephani, Shannon, Gram and I went to chaparone them. It was pretty fun! I still can not believe how perfect the California weather is right now yet how un-perfect the Utah weather has been lately.

Jared and I (with Kalyn and her roommate) left Sunday morning. It was a really quick trip down but I am so glad we went! I LOVED being at Cole's baptism and am very grateful to have played with family!

Bridal Veil Falls!

Yesterday Jared came home at like 3:00!! Have I mentioned I love his job? haha Ok, so maybe not love it, but I love the fact that he is the boss and can play with me whenever I desire! => But back to yesterday. Jared normally comes home anywhere between 1:00 and 3:30 for lunch, and yesterday was no different. He got home at 3, we had lunch, but then he didn't leave! And we had a whole afternoon to play!! I had just talked to my cousin Cera a couple days earlier and she had mentioned a Bridal Veil Falls that she likes to go to. I had never been there, and it was fresh on my mind, so we went! And it was GORGEOUS!!!! The falls itself is so pretty, but then we hiked (ok strolled) around through the gorgeous changing shrubbery and trees! Oh I just loved it! It was so romantic!!
While exploring Jared spotted this huge rock by a stream and wanted to go sit on it with me. He started going down and I took this picture, then I started going down and he abruptly grabbed me and yanked me (gently) back. The rock and path was surrounded by poison oak. (and trust me, me and poison oak definately do NOT mix well!) My lover rescued me from a puffy hospital filled fate! What a hero! => After some continued strolling we decided to take a drive by some of the huge houses Jared works with. Let me tell you, they are enormous and beautiful! It was so much fun! I loved the little fun afternoon we were able to have together! We will definately be going back to the falls again!

Making a Nativity Set

Last weekend Kalyn and I went to Quilted Bear and saw an adorable nativity set. They sold it in an unfinished bag (unsanded blocks, and stickers on a sheet) and we thought that could be a fun little project to do!

The day we got them we started on the sanding. It was not a hard task, just a mundane one. haha There are 15 blocks, in four different shapes, and trust me, these blocks NEEDED sanding! I didn't know you could cut wood so splintery.
This is a transformation of the block => First it was sanded, then it was stained, then a sticker was put on and a top coat completed it. =>
On Sunday we had a second session. I was ahead of Kalyn, my blocks were already stained, but we stained hers, put stickers on and top coated the blocks!
And here is the finished product! I had some drama (newspaper got stuck to all the sides of the blocks) and I tried to take it off, but trust me, the newspaper is not moving.
And here is a close up! I dont know why but I really like nativity scenes. I have a couple that I really like, but kids can definately not touch them! I though this would be such a cute/fun nativity set for kids to play with, instead of the nice ones. (I still find the thought that I am going to have a kid weird. And its kind of still in the make believe haha)

Our New Apartment!

We moved into this apartment in the beginning of October. It is on the third floor, which made it quite interesting to get all our stuff out of the moving truck and into the apartment, but we were sucessful! Our apartment is two bedroom and two bath. To me having a second bath sounded odd to have but I have come to love it! =>

This is a picture of some of our second bathroom => I could not get all of it in one shot, but this is the jist of the bathroom (shower curtain, rug, and toilet =>)
Our master bathroom does not have as much room as the spare (spare has a lot of just space) but it has all the necessities => And I LOVE having a bathroom in our bedroom!It is so nice, especially since I am getting so aquatinted with the bathroom at nigth. haha
This is our dining room. I know its not the best picture but thats what happens when its sunny outside I guess. The color splash in this room is red. And I twisted a red window scarf with a cream one, but I dont think I like it too much, so it will be changing soon. =>
When we were packing our stuff from Idaho Jared and I decided to buy tubs rather than boxes because we could easily reuse them. Well it turns out, we didnt think about having to store the tubs when we moved into a new place. Luckily there are two little storage places that come with this apartment, so we packed those as best we could, then we put stuff under Jared's shirts in his closet, and we still had a couple tubs left. So I covered them with a table cloth and put them in the spare room. => I think it is pretty cute haha. And our sound system broke in the move, but the speakers still work, so we are storing those next to the tubs, and it makes a cute little display. haha
Jared was going to go to Idaho this weekend to hunt. He left to go and 45 mins later he walks back in the door, and with ice cream in hand! It was a great suprise!! So we got to play last night and this morning but he went to work this afternoon. So while he was at work I went down to Provo and played with Kalyn! We had a day of shopping! We went to the mall (she got a way cute dress and I got a cute shirt/turtle neck that can work now and when I am big prego!) Then Bed Bath and Beyond (I still had gift cards for there from my wedding) and then we went to Quilted Bear! I had never been to that store but my Grandma loved it, so we figured we would give it a shot! And it was so fun! We had a blast in that store! I got these shelf/frame things that Jared was able to put up! He is such a great handy man!!Kalyn and I got matching nativity sets. They are so cute! You get the blocks and have to sand and paint them then stick the natvity picture things on then do a top coat! We started on the sanding and got through that, then it was getting close to Kalyns movie party so we are saving the rest for later. I am excited to finish them! I love craft projects!!
And this is what the shelf things look like! I am so excited for them! We have decorations up in our apartment! Yay!! I love decorating the house too (if things are working the way I think they should hehe) It was a fun day! I am glad I could play with my sister and my husband! I love them! And I cant wait to see how else I can decorate and what else I can do for crafts!!

Pregnancy Drama...

We went duck hunting on Saturday and that night I started bleeding. For those that don't know, that is NOT a good thing. It started while we were driving down to Utah with all our stuff. We stayed a the night in a hotel just outside of Ogden and continued our journey to Pleasant Grove. Sunday we moved all our stuff in, and I was still bleeding. On Monday Jared made sure I called a doctor and they got me in just thirty minutes after I called.
At the doctors we discovered something. Jared and I are the epitome of the RH factor. The RH factor happens when a mom is A negative (which only 10% of the population is, and like 4% of that is women, yep rare) and the dad is anything positive. And the most dangerous one is when a dad is A positive, and even more dangerous than that is when the dad is a double positive (you can be A positive and be heterozygous or homozygous). What happens is that the baby will be a positive blood-type (especially if the dad is homozygous). The moms body has never seen the protein (RH) which is on the baby's blood, and will therefore treat it like an intruder and attack it until it is gone. Yep, the moms body will kill its own baby.
And of course I am A negative and Jared is double A positive. (I hope this is all making sense) And this is the reason for the bleeding, my body has started attacking the baby. So naturally, this sent the doctors into a whirl of telling us things to do, namely have me go to the hospital to get my blood tested to see exactly how many enzymes my body has made (those attack the baby) and to get me a shot to stop my body from producing those enzymes (a HUGE needle into the hip, doesn't sound very fun) We went to the hospital, got both mine and Jared's blood drawn, but they couldn't do the shot that day because they had to wait for the results of my test to know how much to give me. So lucky me, I get to go back in today to get that oh so fun shot. But out of all that not so fun news we did get some rays of sunshine! The doctor did an ultrasound and the baby is healthy! My body hasn't harmed it yet (it is just trying really hard). You could even see its little heartbeat! And we got the first picture of our baby!
According to my period I am 9 weeks and a couple days along, and according to the ultrasound it says I am almost 9 weeks, so we are right in the ballpark we should be! Yay! The baby is 2.11cm long, and the doctor says the due date should be around May 10,2010. This was not a routine first pregnancy checkup (I have that scheduled for Thursday) so I don't know all the information yet, but it is pretty fun to have this picture!
And because I can, I zoomed in on our baby! The doctor outlines it in those while 'T's. On the left hand side is the head, and where the white dot in the middle you can see the little arm stubs, and on the right you can see the legs! I can see it. I think it looks like a little baby doll. Jared can too, he just likes to make fun of it by saying it looks like a stingray or something => There is our first baby! And today I will get that lovely shot and it can continue growing peacefully! I am so thankful for modern medicine and doctors!

Opening of Duck Season!

Jared has been counting down the days weeks and months until the opening day of duck season! He has been waiting for this practically since duck season ended last year => So this last weekend we went up to Idaho. The plan was to get there Friday afternoon, hunt Saturday morning, pack the truck Saturday afternoon and be back to our apartment in Pleasant Grove by Saturday night. As I should have known my plans never happen as planned. => But the hunting was great!

We got to Idaho a little later than planned so I ended up going with Jared to scout out the place they were going to hunt. There were so many ducks it was crazy! And it made me want to go with them in the morning, so that was the new plan. => After it got dark we went back to our storage unit to get all of Jared's hunting stuff out of it, then went to his friend Brett's house to sleep for the night. (Brett was going hunting in the morning too)
It was already late, but the boys were so excited they could not go to sleep. It was so funny to see them all giddy and anxiously excited like that! Then they decided to clean their guns, at like 11:30! We didn't get to sleep until around 12:30am, and we had to get up at 4:00am!! It was like being a kid waiting for Christmas morning, but with ducks! haha
By some wonderous happening we were able to get up and actually be at the hunting spot like 45 minutes before we were supposed to be! Being all crammed into a truck at four thirty in the morning is definately an experience everyone should have. haha
The boys had blinds (and one of their wives) but I didn't, so they rigged up this sweet set up for me! I was in a sleeping bag and even had a pillow. It was suprisingly comfortable and super warm! I loved being in there! And Jared's head was right by mine so we could talk and I could see him shoot! I must say, I really enjoyed duck hunting! It was so cool!!! The only downside to my set up was I couldn't get out until they shot all they ducks they were allowed to (21), and of course I had to go to the bathroom when they had 8 ducks left, and of course at that time no ducks were flying over. haha Just my luck.
But the boys did hit their limit! (Seven ducks a person, so 21 total) and my bladder did get relief, and they boys were so happy! They had over 60 lbs of duck! It was fun to see! =>

Jared got his opening hunt and enjoyed it very much! I loved seeing him in his element and having a blast! And I really enjoyed it too! One day I might even get a hunting license to be able to actually shoot things out there! => But until then, I will be perfectly content with just lying beside him watching him 'bring the rain' haha (ok so I don't know if thats the right place to use that phrase, but it sounds cool => )

Life Update

Life is crazy, there are always unexpected twists and turns, and thats to be expected. But it seems that this last month was full of more of those than ever before! Yes, it has been a month of homeless/vagabond-ness. We left our apartment in Denver on August 26 and have yet to move into an apartment (although we are scheduled to move into one tomorrow!) As this month of interesting adventures comes to a close, I began to look back and see if I would have predicted any of it. Jared seems to think our life could never be made into a movie. A phrase he often used to describe it "You couldn't write this stuff if you tried." And I have to say it is true. From our daily happenings to the month as a whole, no one could have guessed all the weird and random things that have presented themselves, and even to look beyond that, no one could have predicted the happenings of this year of marriage! But, thats what makes life fun! Our last month has been filled with staying with many different family members (and again, Thank You all so much for letting us invade your homes!!), looking at and debating taking jobs, searching out places to live (in various states), and just having fun and enjoying being together wherever we were! I love Jared and although at times I was sick of not being stationary, I have really enjoyed and am thankful for that time I got to spend with him! But I am also way excited to move into an apartment tomorrow and start another chapter in our lives! I think I'll title it 'Stationary Times' haha

We Are Pregnant!!

Yes, to most of you out there this is not new news, and to some this is a speculation, but I will confirm: I AM PREGNANT! I am seven weeks along, so not too far into it,but enough to feel pregnant. I have been feeling nauseous, but luckily I have not thrown up yet, and I can feel my stomach (uterous) growing, which can be less than pleasant sometimes. All in all I think I have been lucky to not have too bad of symptoms. And since I write about everything, I will tell how we found out this news.

On Labor day Jared had noticed that I was a little over a week late for my period. I knew that => I had just attributed it to our present state of flux and the stress I have felt from it. Jared did not write my excuse off so willingly. He wanted me to take a pregnacy test. I am pretty sure my exact words for a response were "I don't want to. They always say no. I don't want to waste another one, just be patient" Jared didn't settle for that either. => We had one 'First Response' test in our packed car so he went out and got it and I reluctantly took it. Not two seconds after I ran out of pittle did it say a bright and gleaming positive. Needless to say this took me by complete suprise, afterall these tests never say yes! I ran out to Jared, wanting to scream of joy and fright but I constrained myself, and brought him into the bathroom. He was about as shocked as I was. Then he thought the test could be wrong, because it had been sitting in the car, so we headed off to WalMart. There we bought four DIFFERENT brands of pregnacy tests. In Jared's mind they could not all have the same testing stuff so if one had a fault they would not all and we could get the most correct answer. So we get back to his parents house, there was a lot of pittle, and wala, EVERY test had a bright gleaming positive! We could definately not be uncertain now, we were pregnant. => (For some reason its not as beaming positive in the picture, but trust us, they are all positive =>)

We decided then to not tell anyone until we were 3 or 4 months along. That way we could have our life settled down with a little direction, and be certain that a miscarriage would not happen. Well about two hours later we had no idea what to do next, so we decided we could tell my mom so she could help and talk me thru those months and then tell everyone else later. We wanted to have a fun way of telling her (I have planned ways to tell everyone from family to friends, and all cute ways since we were first married!) We decided the cutest and fastest way to do it was thru text. I sent my mom a picture of all five pregnacy tests and wrote "Your 5 for 5 Grandma" and expected her to call me. Well, little did I know that she was in the middle of a big Walker family Labor day party, and that she would hand her phone to my dad who would then proceed to announce what I had sent to the whole family and then call me and ask me in front of them. Haha I guess thats the dangers of a big close family. Then my mom told my sister to call me, and she was at a big Pommerville family party in Utah so they all found out. Alas, my secret was out, and a total of 3 hours after Jared and I had originally found out. So I guess that took care of telling my family in a cute way, I didn't even need to tell them at all! Haha. And then the speculations came. My Mom was very excited about it, so naturally she would tell anyone who would listen, and my sister was so excited about it she told everyone and posted it on the internet (on facebook). This was definately not how I planned it all to get out, but its not bad, I don't have to do anything cute and cleaver, all I have to do is confirm what everyone is hearing => I guess thats just the lazy in me coming out. =>

Well there you have it, my world wide confirmation! We are going to have a baby! The due date is May 7, 2010 (but I am sure that will change when I get farther along) We are nervous and excited, stressed and happy. It is really a jumble of mixed emotions => And we do have tentative names picked out. (I have been making aa list since I was like 12, and Jared has narrowed it down haha) If it is a boy Jared loves the name Daxton (Dax for short), so that will most likely end up being his name. And for a girl Jared does not have as strong of an opinion, so we will just have to see. The top girl names are Callie, Miley, Loreli, Audra, oh and the list goes on and on => So we will see.
I think that answers about all the questions I have gotten. => We are going to have a baby! Holy cow that is weird!! haha

Jerome Homecoming Football Game

Jared and I went to the Jerome High School Homecoming game this Friday.It was fun to see where Jared wen to high school and to get to know his friends Cory and Tara better! And Jerome creamed the other team! Go Tigers! =>

Doughnut Taste Test

About three weeks before we left Denver I discovered a Krispy Kreme store less than 10 minutes from our apartments! How I had not known this before I do not know, but at least I found it! => I went and bought a dozen glazed doughnuts a couple times. Jared would happily eat them, and he does think they are good, but he always said that his moms are better. I could not believe it, Krispy Kremes are the best doughnuts int he world!! No homemade thing could beat them!! One of the days that we were staying with Jared's parents he and his mom decided to make their doughnuts for a taste test. The recipie they were doing made five dozen doughnuts! Thats a lot of doughnuts!! And it took them a good five to six hours from start to finish. See even on that level Krispy Kreme is better, it takes about fifteen minutes from when you get the idea for doughnuts in your mind until you are eating one =>
After the doughnuts were all finished and glazed Karen went to get a Krispy Kreme doughnut to compare. She heated both of the doughnuts for eight seconds in the microwave then cut them up in bite sized pieces. Jared's dad Drew, his sister Melissa and both of us were in on the taste test. Aaron was sick so he was put on picture duty, and Karen passed the doughnuts out. The verdict....I could not taste a differnce. I know, I know, I failed all the Krispy Kreme believers out there! But her doughnuts were very good, they melted in your mouth and everything! So as for mine and Jared's debate, yes his mom makes great doughnuts, but I would prefer Krispy Kreme purely for the instant satisfaction! =>