Quirks

The Rules:
Link the Person who Tagged you.
Mention rules on your blog.
Tell about 6 quirks of yours.
Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same.
Leave a comment to let them know.

Quirk #1--I love being organized! If things are out of order it drives me crazy! I will get in these moods that the whole closet has to be re-organized. I can't stand clutter and stuff sitting out and not put away!
Quirk #2-- When I clean my apartment..I have to do EVERYTHING (dust, vacumn, bathroom, mop, kitchen, etc) all in one day or I don't feel like it is clean!
Quirk #3--I never start something and not finish it! Once I start it...it is getting finished!
Quirk #4--I am a horrible decision maker! I can't make the simplest decisions! I hate when Brandon leaves it up to me to decide where to eat or what movie to see! I hate decisions!
Quirk #5--I love to make lists! Crossing things off the list is such a good feeling of accomplishment!
Quirk #6--I stress over things too easily. I can stress over the smallest things that are totally worthless!
Tagging: Maria, Abbey, Cindy, Cara, Emily, Steph

Back to School/Eat your veggies!

Brandon was SO excited to go back to school today (sarcasm) that he decided to start it off a little different than most people would start their first day back to school. Beware.. those of you close to turning 30 might not want to read! :) j/k. I woke up at about 3:20 and Brandon was sitting up in bed and then got down on the floor by the bed and then ran to the bathroom like he was going to throw up. He was rolling around and saying that he had a horrible pain under his rib cage. I thought.. OH NO!! I have no idea what that could have been. He has been having some heartburn so I thougth that might be it, but he said it hurt way worse than that! I didn't know what to do so I called my Mom.. sorry I woke you up! She said we definately need to go to the ER because he has been having some other issues that I won't discuss on here that we thought were cleared up but flared up again and just started the antibiotic again. We thought maybe it was something to do with that. Anyway, I took him to the ER. Luckilly there was NOBODY else waiting so they took us right back, made him drink a green mixture of litocane (sp) adn maalox thinking it was heartburn. Well, this didn't touch it! They did an ultrasound that we had to wait for the techs to come in for at 6:30. Tai and Joe came and Joe was able to give Brandon a blessing which made Brandon feel lots better. WE then found that he has sludge in his gallbladder! They gave him some morphine, which he apologized in advance for! ( He had this for a week during his appendix surgery and was MEAN! He made me cry almost every day and made Tai and his Mom cry too... and that is so not Brandon!) They sent us home with some percaset, nausea medicine and told us to keep an eye on it and watch for specific symptoms and follow up and get an opinion form the surgeon who did his appendix surgery last summer in regards to getting his gallbladder taken out in the future! They think that it will just pass itself! I was so glad that it wasn't another big surgery and it was only small. I don't know that I could handle another big surgery! Aren't women the ones that are supposed to go to the hospital. Who needs kids.. we have Brandon to use all our medical coverage! :) Haha, just kidding! He is falling apart and he is only 30! You would think he was like a 50 yr old man! So, any of you who are close to this age.. BEWARE and eat your veggies!! After this morning, Brandon set a goal to work out with me! He better stick with it!
They gave Brandon a dr's note to stay home from work/school. He was really concerned with missing school, so he asked the nurse and she said if he felt okay he should go, but take it very light and he can't drive because he is chuck full of morphine and percaset. He usually drives with one of his buddies but he had left by the time we left the hospital, so I drove him up while stopping to get his prescriptions filled so he has them at school. Don't worry that we were only about 15 minutes late to his first class! He says he is doing okay.. just super tired. I am right there with him. I feel like a zombie and can't get any work done! I am just glad he is okay and hopes he has a fun day at school! :) EAT YOUR VEGGIES AND EXERCISE!!

Brandon's 30th b-day!!

Don't ask me what I have gotten myself into, but here is the invite to Brandon's 30th birthday party! No making fun of my invitation. I am so a beginner at this photoshop stuff and had to call Elise a number of times to get it to do what I wanted! Thanks Elise! Anyway.. I am doing it on Labor Day because that is his actual birthday and he is gone that whole weekend before so I can get ready for it, and I really wanted to do it on his birthday! I am posting this so that anyone who sees this and knows Brandon and wants to come is invited. Most of you should be getting invitations by mail or e-mail! I just hope Brandon doesn't want to see the blog now! :) He never looks.. it will be okay! We hope to see you all there!

Dutchoven dinner and car racing

Last Monday we went up Big Cottonwood canyon and made dutchoven dinner with the some friends and family. Brandon was thrilled to use his dutchovens that we have had since we got married and never used! It was our first time cooking in them without help! Brandon was quite impressed with himself for a beginner! It tasted so YUMMY! We had chicken and potatoes and then of course s'mores and all kinds of treats! Brandon made jelepeno poppers. They were so hot, but good!

Over the weekend I drove up to Idaho with my mom, sisters, nieces and cousin for a family reunion. We gad quite the adventure with a 4 week old baby and a 2 1/2 year old, but it was fun to be with the girls! We kept saying we had a car full of straight estrogen.. 7 girls! We stayed overnight at Grandma and Grandpa's in Driggs and watched my uncle and cousin race in the figure 8 race. It is kind of like a demolition derby, but they drive in a figure 8 and do laps and run into each other. I absolutely LOVE these!! My cousin won the first race and my uncle took 2nd place overall out of, i think, 22 cars! i couldn't get the greatest pictures because all I had was my phone!

Timing

I am horrible with words and explaining things, which is why I could never be a teacher, but I wanted to share my thoughts. Today we went to a good friends' baby blessing which was wonderful. One of the speakers talked about Heavenly Father's plan and a time and season for everything, etc. I turned to Brandon and said "WOW..this talk is for me!" It really got me thinking all day about timing and how it affects and has a lot to do in our lives.
Just yesterday we went to Seven Peaks with my family. Cara and I were sitting there waiting for everyone to come back and some guy was leaving and was very nice to ask us if we wanted his tubes! WOW! Talk about timing and being in the right place at the right time.
Coming off the freeway and heading towards home trying to make every light green all the way up 45th South is all about timing! (although it never happens).
There is nothing better than hearing your favorite song on the radio to make your day just a little better! Or how about having to wait for the rain to stop to make a dash to your car to not get wet. Or how about just missing that horrible wreck and thinking if you would have been just seconds earlier/later it could have been you! Or how about when you are down and need someone to talk to just as a friend calls. A lot of things that happen in life are about timing good or bad. I truly believe that EVERYTHING happens for a reason whether we find out the reason or not. Heavenly Father really does have a plan for us and is looking out for us whether we want to see it that way or not! I have for sure learned that everyone's plans are so different and no... sometimes it is SO not fair, but we really are being looked after as long as we are trying our best!
In college, I had wanted to be married so badly. I couldn't figure out what my problem was, but my Mom kept telling me it was all about timing. I was sure that there was no way I was going to find a husband working at Maddox ALL THE DANG TIME! She kept telling me over and over to give it time and that it wasn't the right time. Well.. little did I know.. Brandon (my prince charming) was right under my nose the WHOLE TIME! We always talk about how weird that we had worked together for so long and nothing ever happened until 2 years later. I can now look back and see the reasons why--one being that I honestly don't know if I would have finished school if it would have been earlier and that was a very important goal to me! Even though I can see the blessings of how this situation worked out and it really was all about timing I still am not fully cured of my doubts and concerns. I wish I could be, but I am happy to report that I am making some progress!

I have always been able to feel the spirit even more through music. Yesterday while doing a lot of traveling in the car we listened to sounds of Sunday and I felt the spirit so strong and it was almost like I felt a big giant hug from my Heavenly Father letting me know that everything was going to be okay and to just hang in there!! What an awesome feeling! How can you not believe in the gospel when something so powerful like this happens!? I know it was probably because of my wonderful and loving family also...I really felt and appreciate your love and your prayers!! I will be okay and one day my dreams will come true! It is all about timing and it just isn't time right now! I keep trying to tell myself that and not worry about what I want so bad right now but it still is so hard! I am just so glad that I have such a wonderful companion by my side to go through this with and that is so patient with me! I couldn't ask for anything better! He is my rock and is sometimes the only thing that can calm me down! He is always there to let me cry in his arms and listens to me and never asks questions!
I am not a patient person at all.. I can't stand waiting in lines, I can't stand waiting for people, when I want something I want it NOW and I don't want to wait, so timing and patience is something that I really need to work on and I think through this experience I am really learning a lot about this very thing and a lot about myself. I am so grateful for these experiences that have helped me to become a stronger person!
I have learned that as much as you try to plan your life.. it really is not up to you.. all you can do is try to make your decisions through listening to those promptings and by doing what you know is right and all else will fall into place! Although life is not fair and probably never will be, I have learned to accept what I have been given and move on with life as hard as it might be. I truly feel so blessed for the opportunity to increase my faith and my testimony and feel so much closer to my Father in Heaven!

No Bears at White Pine Lake!!

We ( Brandon, me, my Dad, and Brandon's friend Nate/Dawg) have been planning this backpacking overnight trip for awhile up to White Pine Lake. It is up Logan canyon/Tony Grove. It is a 4 mile hike in and then of course 4 out and we backpacked everything in for 2 nights (gear, food, etc). I am not a HUGE fan of hiking/backpacking, but I do enjoy camping (thanks mom and dad for always taking us when we were younger), so I thought this would be fun and I would give it a try! I like to challenge myself and prove to myself that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to! And once I start something.. I am not backing out before it is finished!!


I think I was actually kind of looking forward to it, but definately not as much as Brandon was! He had all his gear out and ready to go a week before it was time to pack and kept coming up with new stuff that we needed to buy! In the whole 4.5 years that Brandon and I have been together we have NEVER once been camping. I think we just worked all the weekends when we were first married and just haven't done it since. Brandon has some really nice camping stuff, so we wondered why we waited so long. We do need to purchase a bigger tent though! i was a little nervous about making it and keeping up with the 3 other guys (yes.. I was the only girl), but I did pretty okay and I even carried all my own stuff plus some extra food and gear(about 40 lbs)! It is a good thing I have been working out like crazy! :) The thing I worried most about was bears! I was sure that a bear was going to come rip through the tent while I was sleeping and get me and nobody would know! :) Don't worry, we made it home safely without seeing any bears. We didn't even see any wildlife!!
I woke up from taking a nap and nobody was in the camp, but I heard pounding and I found these 3 trying to saw down this tree. After 3 times getting the saw stuck, sawing away, and pushing for about an hour it finally went down! The park ranger told us there would be NO firewood! Liar. The boys had tons of fun and spent a lot of time cutting wood. The next people in our campsite will like us!! :) There was also a little stream of fresh water. We had filters. The water was SO yummy coming from a fresh spring!


We had fun. I made it out with only 2 blisters on each heel ( I didn't want to be whoosy and make them stop for me to fix my shoes! :)), 1 burn on my finger ( I lifted the pot off the camp stove not thinking it would be hot!), and scraped up knuckles ( my turn at using the saw.. the tree got me!). Not bad, eh?
Our little hike around the lake.
Taking a dip in the freezing cold water. It worked great for a little cleaning. Brandon and Nate were brave enough to go all the way under!! Yikes!!

We had way too much food and burnt a lot of leftovers and gave some away to other campers!
The hike was beautiful and worth it! I am not very good at taking pictures or for that matter being in them, but here they are. The scenic ones don't even do it justice! I am glad that I went. I am exhausted so don't ask me about going on another one of these trips anytime soon! :) Brandon is asking himself how he ever did a 50 mile hike in the Uinatas with a way bigger pack! He must be gettin old! :) We had a good time, but it sure is nice to be home where we are clean, have backs and cushion on our chairs, don't stink, and have a toilet! :)