Clevengers

Someday I will catch up

2012-02-01T02:18:00.001-05:00

But it's not today.

No more excuses though. Someday I may blog about his birthday, Christmas, tahoe, ect. Or maybe it can just go in his Shutterfly book. These past few months have been kind of a blur. And about the nonfunctional camera cord? Guess I will just use phone pictures for today.

McKay is growing way to fast. I felt the need to post because I felt this was a big developmental week.

Firsts for this week:

1.) Hands me books he wants me to read, then hands them again, then reads it to himself. (Used to just read it to himself. This week is the first time he handed them to me.)

2.) Throws a ball back and forth for the first time.

Love Sunny sundays. Off go the church clothes!

3.) Grabs my hand, says "ma" and takes me places (usually it is to try to go outside to see the bunny or get in the wagon.)

4.) Got in the wagon when I wasn't looking by himself.

I eat this like an apple, right?

5.) Scrubs the ground with a sponge (used to just eat it).

6.)Gives high fives for the first time

7.) Says "ba" when he comes out from under his blanket (trying to see "boo).

My favorite Monkey blanket

8.) Takes consistent 2-3 hour naps and 12 hours at night. He has seriously never been a good napper until this week, and before this week he was doing 11 hours instead of 12 at night. Guess he has needed a lot of sleep for this big week!

Other things he is obsessed with lately:

1.) As soon as he is let outside, he runs to the dirt and starts digging. He is seriously like a dog! I have had to give him midday baths multiple times this week. Sometimes I am ok with it if I'm already going to bathe him, until he starts putting it in his mouth. He is over putting non-edible things in his mouth for the most part, except dirt. Don't understand that one.

2.) Walking around with a blanket over his head, trying to play peek-a-boo, except he runs in to walls, and has battle wounds to show for it.

3.) Food! This boy is seriously a eater. Doesn't matter what it is.
Exhibit A: I was talking on the phone. McKay was too quiet and this is what I found. Mini muffin in each hand and one in the mouth. Grabbed them off the counter

Mom, what's the big deal?

Exhibit B: Brought dad pizza for lunch. Bry took the first piece- Mckay grabbed it. Bry went for the second piece- Mckay grabbed it. Bry went for the third piece- Mckay bit it right out of his hand. I guess we starve our child or something?

Will someone please feed me?
Even though toddlerhood is busy busy busy, Motherhood is still a dream come true. I love every single bit of it, and McKay makes me smile every day. My husband is hard working as ever. You can now call him Master Clevenger (passed his masters comprehensive test). Dental School in San Francisco starts in July. I cannot wait to explore the city. Monterey day trip tomorrow, Mckay is going to be in heaven I'm sure.

An Eventful Week

2011-12-04T01:26:00.001-05:00

I guess it's more like an eventful month, so eventful that I haven't had a chance to blog about it. My son is one, what?!! Still need to post on that day, but we'll just start with this week for now.

1.) Mckay got his first haircut today

Before

Look how old I am!

Why is this lady cutting my bangs straight across dumb and dumber style?? Hope mom says something.

Whatever you do, don't take away my sucker. And please excuse my mom's random curly Q hair.

After

I look goood!

2.) Bryan got accepted to dental school

He is my inspiration. He is the most hard working, tenacious, persistent person I know. Don't let someone tell you you can't do something because they are wrong and my husband is living proof of that. We had a stressful few years with lots of prayers and lots of tears. We learned patience. It would be nice if I could perfect that skill so I wouldn't have to keep learning it. We grew closer together. We learned to turn to our Heavenly Father who comforted and directed us.

It feel so good to have a plan, when we have live a pretty spontaneous life our first three years of marriage. I don't even know how to do this whole planning thing anymore.
Oh, and I finally get to use my wedding gifts that are stored in my parents attic. No more furnished apartments for us!

I'm Late

2011-11-08T21:16:00.000-05:00

But late is better than never right?

Happy Halloween, from our little cow.

Miami Zoo

2011-11-08T15:48:00.000-05:00

About a month ago we took McKay to the zoo for the first time.

My fav were the giraffes.

Bry loved the Rhino

And McKay was most excited about leaves.

The best part was that we saved $40 and got in for free. Thank you library card (and miamiflonthecheap.com)!

Pictures by Grandma

2011-11-08T09:37:00.000-05:00

About a week ago my mom took some pictures of McKay. He was kind of out of his element so he wasn't his smiley self, but she did a fantastic job. How is my sweet boy almost a year? He is growing up way to fast. He took a step on his own yesterday. It makes me sad as he becomes more and more independent. My baby is becoming a toddler. Part of me wants time to freeze and for him to stay in this sweet, innocent, and still very dependent stage forever. However I love watching him experiencing new things. He is so giddy when I take him to the park and he swings and slides. I love the excitement on his face when he sees daddy walk through the door. I love watching them play, while dad is so happy and baby laughs so hard he gasps for air. Every time he eats, he reaches over for me to have a bite and giggles when I do. He is the only person in the world that enjoys my singing. He smiles at strangers and will let almost anyone hold him. However, when he is sick, teething, or tired he is clingy to me, which I kinda love. This little boy makes my life so full and meaningful. He is my little buddy that goes with me everywhere. I am so humbled and grateful that Heavenly Father trusted me to be his mother.

Mommy Flying Tips

2011-10-07T23:10:00.000-04:00

Only in Miami...
Would our evening walk include a random woman interrupting her phone call to tell us, "You need to cover him. He's cold!"

WHAT? It's 85 degrees outside! And he has footed jammies.

This pic isn't the best quality...but you get the idea. There is a higher chance that he is sweating than him being cold.

On a side note, McKay is an expert traveler. Every time we fly people say, "Is this his first flight?" The follow up question is, "do you always fly alone?" I laugh at the first question because I calculated that McKay has been on 7 flights (14 including departure and return). 6 of them had at least one layover. Therefore he has been on 28 Different planes at 10 months. Crazy! That kid is a trooper. Because of this he actually flies quite well. Or maybe I am just less frazzled because it is no big deal now and it rubs off on him. Regardless, when I reflected how I flew most recently without any random people helping me, I realized my flying skills are improving. Especially in comparison to the first time when random people were helping me left and right. I realize this is no major feat in comparison to the many women that fly alone with several kids, but for me it is!

Because I would have loved these tips before flying with the babe, I will share a few things I have learned.

MOMMY FLYING TIPS:

1. Don't try to breastfeed on the plane- It is extremely awkward when you are elbowing large men sitting next to you.

2. You can fill bottles with water to go through security. How did I not know this till the most recent flight? I knew they did this for breast milk, but not plain water.

3. Keep it simple- backpack, shoulder bag that goes over the stroller. Check the carseat. If there is a chance there is an open seat next to you and you have someone helping you bring it to the gate, but I usually don't have those luxuries. I bring a big shoulder bag and backpack now because it fits more than my diaper bag and I don't have to check a bag. I throw a smaller bag in my shoulder bag that I'll be able to use on a day to day basis.

4. Books! McKay is entertained by books forever. He gets tired of other toys but can look at books over and over again. His favorites have mirrors or random things to feel.

5. Aisle Seat.

6. Pacifier- helps their ears. (this is the one thing everybody told me to do before first flight.) Use a clip for the pacifier so it doesn't fall in the toilet on the airplane...yes this has happened before! Don't worry I threw it away.

7. Hand sanitizer- the kind safe for babies to put their hands in their mouth after use.

8. Tylenol and teething gel- just in case.
9. If all else fails, there are people all over the place more than willing to help you! People love babies.

If anything, writing this down will help me next time I have a baby! Anyone else have any travel tips?

10 months

2011-09-12T14:32:00.001-04:00

How is my baby almost 10 months? I wish time would slow down a little.

A few tidbits about McKay at 10 months:

1. He follows me around our apartment and says "mum, mum, mum, mum"

2. He crawls around us and claps while Bryan and I do our insanity workout.

3. He eats most things (even Bryan's notes), except baby food. He is getting to the point where he wants to feed himself. Favorites are refried beans, wheat toast, cheese chunks, oatmeal, and banana. He drinks from a sippy cup.

4. If he doesn't want to eat something, he sticks his tongue out and spits it out.

5. He has just learned how to wave.

6. He LOVES books. I can read him book after book and he just sits there contently and helps turn the pages.

7. He hates getting his diaper and clothes changed. He gets extremely distracted.

Trying to change the diaper, then scurried off to get Grandpa's delicious food. Looks dangerous, right?

8. He walks around the furniture and loves scaring me by pushing chairs around the apartment.

9. He is still huge. 25 lbs and 29.5 in. He wears 18 or 24 mo. clothes. Everyone thinks his is like 18 months.

He crawled over and sat right on the scale. We were cracking up.

10. He won't let me be on my computer without attacking it, so yes he is sleeping.

11. He loves his dad. They play and crack up together for a while when his dad comes home.

12. Peekaboo with dad makes McKay so excited and giddy, but scared, so he has to hold my leg and giggle, while periodically burying his head in my leg while dad hides behind the couch.

13. The vacuum scares him so bad. I have to hold him while vacuuming, which makes things difficult.
14. He loves getting into anything and everything.
Scenario 1:

Scenario 2:

15. He sleeps 10-11 hours at night. He takes two naps that are not always as long as they should be.

16. He likes his pacifier, and can put it back in his mouth, which is nice. Don't know when you are supposed to take the binky away?

17. He is just getting over a cold. I hate when he is sick. It makes me feel so bad.

18. He loves to crawl up to me, nestle his head into my chest, and then suck my chin and laugh.

19. He's pretty happy-go-lucky.

Camping for the first time, August 2011

20. I just love this little boy! It makes me sad that he is becoming more of a little boy and less of a baby.

A city of fantastic aroma

2011-09-01T17:53:00.001-04:00

As many girls can attest, pregnancy causes unpleasant symptoms ranging from swollen fingers to off the wall cravings mixed with hormonal mood swings. One sense that intensified during these 9 months was the unfortunate ability to more acutely detect random whiffs of sickening men's cologne, ethnic foods, trash, animal poop, mildew, body odor, the list goes on. Ultimately this led to emptying anything that remained in my stomach. I predicted giving birth would chase away this hidden talent. Instead motherhood has taken this skill to a whole new level. I always wondered why mom's could instantly tell their child had a load in their pants. Apparently pregnancy prepares us for the tasks ahead. Fortunately giving birth put an end to the urge to clear out stomach contents, though the acute sense of smell has remained.

When not pregnant, this skill can be a blessing and not a curse. As we were walking through the streets of San Francisco last week, I thought about how much I love the city, more specifically the smells of the city. I love the clean, cool, ocean smell. Each street explodes with different aromas. The street outside of our hotel smelled of rich coffee in the morning. While walking to Fisherman's Wharf, we passed bakeries, a street of Italian restaurants, and little China, each which strong and amazing smells. I love the smell of fish along the coast.

AT&T Park smells of mouth watering cinnamon Almonds and hot chocolate (yes it was freezing!)

McKay joined in the Pandamonium

McKay and Grandma

Ghiradelli Square smells of rich chocolate deliciousness

In honor of mi hermana who I love!!

I am salivating right now thinking sour dough bread smell protruding out of Bodines, and about the best clam chowder bowl I have ever had (which Bry and I shared from there.)

We had the perfect, most relaxing vacation. Thanks to our parents, we stayed in a fancy hotel that smelled of rich cologne, fresh paint (not our room thank goodness), and classiness. We felt slightly under-dressed.

I think we fit in perfectly with this city, don't you? Cross your fingers that Bryan will rock his interview here next month and we will be experiencing these smells on a more frequent basis.

These are a few of my favorite things

2011-07-12T18:57:00.000-04:00

My parents still make fun of me for being extremely concerned about things at random and inconvenient times, usually when I should have been sleeping. When I was 12, I was worried that I didn't have a bank account. I know, this is ridiculous. I came into my parents room a few times a week around 10:00 at night because I wanted a safe place to keep my cash. I feel similarly about documenting the life of my son now. I often get random spurts of fear that my son is growing too fast, that I will forget everything, and that I need to take more pictures and better document our lives. The problem is, these flashes of fear still come at 10:00 at night, when I am snuggled in bed ready to fall asleep. So McKay just went down for his afternoon nap and I am ready to highlight some tidbits about him that I don't want to forget, mostly for my sake.

McKay's Favorite Things (8 months)

Swimming- We did Baby and Me swim lessons with my old boss, Amy Morris and McKay loves to swim now. He has grown up a water baby. We had him in the pool and ocean since he was like 6 weeks old but I didn't start putting him under and taking him for swims until the beginning of this summer. He loves the water and I'm so happy because swimming is pretty much part of our daily ritual.

Going Outside- Since this is my first baby, I'm not sure if this is something all babies love, but he is pretty much always happy when he is outside. Sometimes when I come home from work in the morning, I find Bry feeding McKay in his high chair outside.

Taken at Zion's in St. George

Babbling- He loves yelling "mamamamamama," "dadadadada" and "bababababa" at the top of his lungs. He cracks up when you say it back.

Eating- His thighs and belly prove it, but he will eat anything and everything (except pees, which he immediately spits out).

Look at that muffin top!

Soda- Grandpa Reed ruined him. He seriously reaches with both hands and stares with his mouth wide open when anyone is drinking a soda. This is what we came home to the other day when Bryan and I got back from a date:

Sassy (our cat)- I have videos of him clobbering her, but maybe we'll save those for another day. He can't keep his eyes off her if she is in sight.

Little Kids- He is so entertained by kids. I guess Kylie is a technically a preteen now, but he thinks she is hilarious. Without her having to do anything, he cracks up the second he sees her.

McKay and all of his cousins

Getting into stuff- His funky 'getting on all fours, rocking, and then doing the worm' crawl is slowly turning into a legitimate crawl. Cell phones, laptops, any type of chord, and trash are a few of his favorite things to get into. I'm realizing I have to be OCD about making sure things are put away.

The Bjorn- I think every new parent needs one of these things. It is amazing. I don't use it too often anymore due to the fact that my son weighs 25 pounds and would much rather be getting into stuff, but I used to do everything with him in it.

Fast asleep

Shark Pool Toy- I need to remember to take a picture but he has been carrying that thing everywhere.

Those are just a few random things I can think of right now. Life is so good. Words can't express how much I love this little dude. I still have periods of shock where I can't believe he was in my stomach and now he is huge and busy. I'm sure life will continue to go faster, which is probably why I have my random spurts of fear. Sometimes I wish life would just slow down a little. In the meantime, I am going to savor the little moments (like cracking up with McKay today while I made the bed) and keep documenting.

Coast to Coast

2011-06-14T11:42:00.001-04:00

Yes our blog has been extremely neglected, and our life is much different than I thought it would be right now. That's the story of my life I guess.

First we'll touch on the most important things. My baby is almost 7 months old! Where in the world did time go? Remember how I said I never wanted him to get older and bigger? Oh my goodness, I lied. I love this stage so much. I love his little smiles and laughs. I love the way his hair sticks up. I love when he holds my face and babbles to me.

Here are the 6 month stats for my sake:

21.4 lbs

28 in long

18 in head circumference

According to babycenter.com, he is 90th percentile in everything. Yikes! I knew my back has been hurting for a reason. We had to purchase a new car seat recently. Note to self: listen to friends and go for the bigger car seat in the first place!

PS those pics were taken at 6 months by my wonderful mother. Didn't she do a great job? Its awesome having a mom that loves taking pictures because sometimes I fail to remember to photograph my child.

As many of you know, we are not soaking up Miami rays this summer. I totally miss Miami. I miss our quick beach trips and our fun group of friends there, but Cali had our name on it this summer.

Sadly we had to leave McKay's career to have jobs of our own.

Probably a good thing, because I would have ended up spending too much money on adorable baby clothes he wore.

I got out my scrubs and stethoscope out and am living the nightlife. Honestly, I am grateful to be a nurse. I love taking care of people and feeling I am making a difference. I also love that there is the flexibility to do this part time and at nights so that I can be with my sweet boy.

My hard working husband is studying his brains out and selling alarms on the side. He is so devoted to doing what he loves. He was also the cutest dad this past week was the best full time stay at home dad while I did orientation.

Side note: write my sister Kara in Argentina. She would absolutely love it! Even if it's not very long. You can even email it to me and I can email her if that's easier.

Life is great. I have come to realize as long as I have my sweet husband and baby boy I can be happy wherever I am, whether it is my hometown or across the country. I have a goal to be better at documenting my life because I pretty much fail at any other form of journaling. I'm considering going private. Thoughts?

17 Hours...

2011-05-01T21:58:00.000-04:00

Until I get my husband back:)

I thought final's week stress would end after nursing school...

Until I realized I've probably got at least 8 more years of school stress. I am so grateful for how hard Bryan works, but Sometimes that thought overwhelms me so I try not to think about it. I have so much respect for single parents and moms with husbands in medical and dental schools, and residencies. I don't know how they do it and days like today I question whether I am strong enough. I look around at friends in these situations and they seem so put together. I am grateful for their examples and open to advice...

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to a relaxing time at the beach with the husband tomorrow afternoon.

Amishville

2011-04-27T22:52:00.000-04:00

Last week, McKay and I were able to visit my grandma, aunt and kids in PA. They live in this adorable town with large yards and windy roads. It was such a relaxing change from the craziness of Miami. Sadly, I was having too much fun and was not able to capture pictures of the adorable Amish carriages and houses. Most of all, I regret that I didn't photograph the Zonkey I saw. You read that right, Zonkey- half zebra, half Donkey. Weird, I know.

I absolutely loved my trip. We went to the cute little amish markets, did the Hershey chocolate tour, had some amazing food, and just hung out. My grandma is amazing. She is so positive and I want to be her when I grow up! One of the most important lessons she taught me on this trip is that its ok to eat a little (or a lot!) of chocolate. We're all going to die at some point anyway, right? Why not die happy.

I also learned that my aunt Diane and I are a lot more alike than we thought. It is interesting how you can grow up far away from someone but still be so much like them. She was always the "cool aunt" growing up. I always wanted to be like her, and nothing has changed. Her kids are absolutely adorable and she is the best little mom.

I am so grateful for this relaxing trip. I was amazingly able to get a nap in everyday! Now back to real life. Why do I always feel like I need to keep myself so dang busy? For some reason I can't accept the fact that I cannot do everything I used to be able to do pre-baby, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

2011-04-25T21:40:00.000-04:00

I hope your Easter was filled with lots of treats like mine.

Grandma Bonnie treated McKay to a picture with the Easter bunny during our sweet trip to PA last week

Father-Son Bonding


Chillin and watching the fish after a large, delicious Easter feast. This was too adorable not to photograph!

I keep thinking of the Chris Farley SNL skit, "diet starts Monday!" Oh chocolate, how I love and hate you at the same time.

On a more serious note, I am truly so grateful for the Savior and for the knowledge I have of Him.

Domestication

2011-04-10T22:08:00.000-04:00

Have you ever taken that love language quiz? I have taken it before but I just took it again tonight and ~~nicely asked~~ forced Bryan to take it. My top love language is words of kindness, while my husband's is acts of service of service. If there was a side note under that it would be MAKING DELICIOUS MEALS.

We lived with my grandparents for a little while and it was fantastic because my grandma made wonderful homemade meals daily. Once we moved out, I realized I needed to step it up and become more domestic. Unfortunately I was pregnant when we moved out and most cooking smells did not do good things to my GI system. Then I was in survival mode with a newborn. Recently I realized that since we weren't living with grandma anymore, I needed to step it up or the husband would wither away and my love would be unexpressed! No more quesadillas every night for dinner (even though we are still obsessed with them.) I realized I actually enjoy cooking. It's not that dreaded chore I thought it would be and can actually be fun and creative. It doesn't hurt that my husband is incredibly gracious with everything I make even when burnt or bland. He knows how to get what he wants.

I encourage you to take the little quiz you haven't already. While I write my husband notes and wonder why he doesn't very often, I realize he is doing things for me all the time and that the way we express our love just differs a little. For me, learning to cook has done awesome things for our marriage.

What is your love language?

PS, Bryan is training little Busty to be a Giants fan at a young age.

**Quick History of the nickname.

When in the womb:

Amy: What should we name our son? (asking for the billionth time)

Bryan: Buster (after Buster Posey, the national league rookie of the year last year who led the Giants to the World Series title!!!!!!!!) -husband helped me with that last statement if you couldn't tell-

Then he became Buster in the womb, shortened to Busty, and lengthened to little Busty Pants by by lovely sister Kara. Random, I know.

Stick your tongue out and smile

2011-03-24T14:20:00.000-04:00

I have a problem.

This week, I have realized I miss the days when we had a tardy bell in school. It forced me to be on time.

Scenario 1: Thought I had plenty of time to go to the gym before my interview. Got back from the gym and realized I had approximately 35 minutes to shower, get ready, dry and fix my ridiculously thick hair, and iron my clothes. Doable? Yes. Plenty of time for a post workout peanut butter and banana smoothie right?

Somewhere between getting the peanut butter and frozen bananas out, McKay starts his hunger cry. I'm feeding McKay while throwing ingredients into the blender (I know I know, I used to envy those women that were able to nurse while multitasking, and now I am one of them). Of course the magic bullet breaks and I can't get my cup out. After I few more tries, I realize only one of our hungry stomachs will get filled. Smoothie left in the blender, hair unfinished, I rush out the door, drop off McKay, arrive at my interview with a wrinkled shirt and only 1 minute to spare.

Scenario 2: I Learned from my mistake from the previous day and attempted to improve. All ready to go, I walked out of the door with time to spare only to realize my car battery is dead. Of course it is. Lucky for me, no one in this city speaks english and after 3 attempts to ask people from my building to help me, I gave up. Eventually someone had compassion on me, but I arrived at my appointment much later than I was hoping to.

Why do I do this to myself? I can't blame it on having a baby, because I have never been the queen of being prompt. Instead of being frazzled and rushed, I could give myself plenty of time and be way more put together. I really don't think my time is more valuable than your time, as others say regarding lateness. I honestly can't register that I need that much time. I need to change my mindset.

Now that I have publicly admitted my problem, hopefully it will make me more accountable to fix it. Anyone have any suggestions on being prompt?

On a side note, amazingly the first scenario led to a job offer. Somehow the director of nursing was able to look past my wrinkled shirt and frizzy hair.

Fortunately, the little Buster gives me smiles and laughs no matter how late I am. He has an obsession lately with sticking his tongue out and was cracking us up this morning.

Thoughts on Love

2011-03-15T14:21:00.000-04:00

Lately I have been feeling incredibly happy. While there are many contributing factors, they all point to LOVE.

I had someone tell me once, "you don't know what love is. Not until you have a kid will you really know love." That bugged me. Who was he to make judgments on my ability to love? At that point I concluded that I loved my husband a lot more than he loved his wife.

Not until recently have I understood what he meant. Having a child has made me love in a way that I did not know was possible. Not that I love my son more than my husband, but that my love for my son has led to a much deeper love for my husband as I watch him be a father. Both of them make me such a better person and I can't imagine life without them.

Here is a little of what we have been up to:

Taken right before we saw the Discovery shuttle launch

Everyone keeps saying he has huge feet. What do you think? Is he on his way to having his Grandpa's size 15s?

Watching Shamu at Sea World

If you ever make it to South Florida you HAVE to rent a Kayak. We finally did this last weekend and I can't believe we waited so long. It presented a whole new world to us. There is like a water highway in this city. If we are here too much longer and are looking for a way to spend $500, we may have to own one of these beauties.

3 months

2011-02-28T22:56:00.001-05:00

So here is an update on our 3 month old. I copied the following from my journal that I wrote in last Sunday:
8 things about McKay at 3 months

1. He loves TV- weird I know. We discovered this while in Hawaii and my sisters would hold him while watching TV and he would start crying when they walked away.

McKay and gramps bonding and watching a show

2. He loves watching TV while sitting in his Bumbo chair. When I need to set him down, he cries unless the TV is on. This makes me sound like a horrible mother. I don't neglect my child, I promise.

3. He has his dad's ridiculously long eyelashes. I swear they are longer than mine. I have begged Bryan to let me put mascara on his beautiful lashes since we were dating and still have not yet had the pleasure. Maybe some day I will torture our son with mascara.

You can see the luscious lashes if you look real close

4. He lets me sleep well most nights, for which I am grateful.

5. He has quite the jabber jaws. Lately he seems to be making babbling noises all day long.

6. I am obsessed with his grin.
7. He is huge. Babies grow so stinking fast!

Just for kicks. This is the same outfit. He wore it at my cousin's wedding and last week at church.

8. He is ticklish underneath his chin. Bryan discovered this a few days and I am so glad he did. I haven't been able to leave him alone since.

Paradise

2011-02-23T15:53:00.000-05:00

McKay or "busty pants" as my lovely sister Kara has named him has become quite the little traveler. We celebrated Kara going on her mission to Argentina by having our last little hurrah in the Aloha state.

We are so excited for that girl! Kara and busty pants have become besties.

I love having all sisters. Growing up I used to want an older brother, but I now I wouldn't have it any other way. We have so much fun together.

It was lots of fun being together for the last time in who knows how long.

We really missed not having Bry there. He is the cutest little dad.

The other day I overheard him talking on the phone to one of his friends. He said, "Being a dad is the best thing in the world. It's hard to have a bad day when you come home and he gives you the biggest smile."

I agree 100%. It's crazy how you can feel so much love from such a little guy.

I'm getting excited about going to Cocoa Beach and then watching the space shuttle Discovery launch tomorrow!

Danger Zone

2011-01-19T21:10:00.000-05:00

McKay and I went on our routine evening run to combat the 5 pm fussiness. Halfway through after I stopped to snap a quick "interesting swim attire on old man" pic to text to my husband, a random man popped out of no where and was staring at McKay. He then proceeded to say: "Remember, danger is all around out here, Mrs. Robinson."
What in the world?! It's not like I was already paranoid enough about living in this crazy city.
Now I have to have incredibly creepy strange men send me warnings.

2 Month Stats- in case you care

Height: 23.75 in (75th percentile)

Weight: 12 lb 10 oz (75th percentile)
Head circumference: 40 cm (50th percentile)

We have a fairly large boy. Our pediatrician said, "he must look like your husband because he looks nothing like you." Looks like we have a little miny Bryan on our hands and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I totally thought the "just out of the womb" stage was going to be my favorite but my heart just melts when he smiles and coos at me. Pretty sure every stage is going to be my favorite. I love being a mom.

Goin on a gator hunt

2011-01-16T18:02:00.003-05:00

How have we lived in Florida for almost 5 months and never seen a gator?

Well we have now, 61 Gators to be exact.

We have been wanting to go to the Everglades for a while. Rumor was that Shark Valley was a perfect place to see a few Gators. Boy was that a understatement!

The shark valley trail is a 15 mile loop. Unfortunately we don't have a bike trailer so we had to make do with what we have and did a little relay. Bryan ran 5, I ran 5, Bryan ran 5 while we switched off with the bike. So pretty much I ran a measly 5 miles while my stud husband ran 10. He had informed me that he didn't want to run any less than 10 because he just signed up for the Georgia Snickers marathon and needed a little training run. I felt like a little kid again, riding next to my mom while she ran.

Look at those teeth!

Just wanted to show how close they were to the trail! It kind of freaked me out getting any closer.

Try to spot the gator in the pic above. It is a little difficult because my photography skills were slacking. However, right after I took the pic, I was looking back at my camera and heard a giant splash. It scared to bejeeves out of me! Apparently Bryan's movement scared the gator and he went back in his swamp. I thought he was going for the kill.

McKay pretty much slept the whole time, but started getting antsy towards the end. I don't blame him.

It was a great day. We both decided that we don't want to leave Florida and regret not doing the things that were so close to us.

Some other items on our Florida Bucket list:

Go kayaking at the park right across the street from our house

Go on an airboat ride

Go to disney world (that's mostly me, Bryan doesn't care so much and it is pretty expensive. If McKay was older I could justify it more).

Go deep sea fishing

Go to this sweet water park in Orlando

Go on a cheap cruise- however just found out that apparently they charge you full price for infants. What in the world?

That is all for now. Happy Sunday

Cookie Monster

2011-01-16T00:39:00.000-05:00

If you know anything about the Van Wagenen family, you know that we like our cookies. If you ever stopped by on a Sunday there would for sure be cookies in the house.

I carried on this Sunday cookie making tradition. When I was pregnant and sick I couldn't handle making cookies so my husband knew that he would have to step up to the plate if Sunday cookies were to be made.

Last night I needed a sweet treat. I am experimenting not eating dairy because of my son's gastrointestinal issues. Of course, ice cream was the only treat in the house. I was craving cookies, more specifically cookie dough (that is my weak point).

After eating a delicious milkshake, watching his wife drool over it, and listening to her mention how much she wanted cookie dough, my husband whipped up a fantastic batch of double chocolate chip cookies.

My oh my they were delicious. My husband has far surpassed any baking abilities I thought I may have had. I love that man.

Here are some old pictures of him baking up a storm. I believe the cookies pictured below are oatmeal chocolate chip cookies or Van Wag cookies as they have come to be called.

Help

2011-01-12T14:36:00.000-05:00

We are stuck in mountain standard time.

After three weeks on the west coast McKay won't go to bed before 2 am, any suggestions? After trying for 1 1/2 hours to put him to bed last night I finally gave up. At least he was flashing me big toothless grins once I got him out of bed so I couldn't be mad. I have yet to capture one of those on my camera, especially since my camera is currently in the shop.

Now he is sleeping the day away. I am torn because I want to wake him up so he won't fall back in the same pattern but I know he will be grouchy and I am getting a lot of school work done.

On a side note, Miami has many disadvantages but I am quite enjoying the fact that I don't have to freeze everytime I get out of the shower. When we lived in Utah I always screamed when I got out of the shower because it was so stinkin cold.

Like mother like son. McKay thouroughly dislikes the transition time between his warm bath and his cozy towel in the west coast. However in Miami he is completely content in the nude.

Oh and this is what Mister Mac looked like on all of our traveling days, and pretty much anytime we are in the car.

A brand new year

2011-01-11T18:04:00.001-05:00

We celebrated the new year with our friends at my parents house in Fresno. My camera was doing funny things but here is what was captured from the evening.

Bryan is patiently waiting in his running clothes for me to finish so we can go for an evening run so I'll save new years resolutions for another day. Yay for trying out our new (at least to us) jogging stroller in our 75 degree weather!

Tahoe

2011-01-11T17:46:00.000-05:00

After an drive that was way longer than it needed to be, we finally ended up in Lake Tahoe and had a fun few days of skiing. My family has gone to Lake Tahoe after Christmas for the past several years and has become quite a fun tradition. As you may be able to tell, McKay received a lot of attention. If you ever want to increase the excitement level when people see you, I would suggest having a baby.

Friends

2011-01-11T17:26:00.001-05:00

We will always have such great friends in Utah. It was so fun to see them and go to our friend Bryan Perry's wedding.

Christmas

2011-01-11T17:07:00.000-05:00

Better late than never right? This will probably be the first of several posts. We had an awesome three week Christmas break in which we were all over the west coast. First we flew to Sacramento and drove to Oregon for my cousin Sydney's wedding. We blessed McKay the next day in Oregon. Then we drove to Utah and spent Christmas with the Clevengers. As you can see there was a theme to some of the gifts! We had a great Christmas. Christmas day we did the traditional Clevenger run and ate stolen bread. Delicious!

Pictures by Grandma Shelley

2010-12-14T15:34:00.003-05:00

In case you have not seen them yet, my mom took some adorable pictures of McKay when he was 5 days old. So tiny and precious!

Didn't she do an awesome job? I can't believe how much he has changed and grown even since then. He will be a month old in two days. Crazy! At his doctor's apt in two days we will find out how much he has really grown.

I can't even picture life without him now. Right when I held him when he was born, I remember thinking I couldn't imagine having to wait even another day to hold him in my arms. I always think about him sitting up in heaven wondering when it was time to come down and be a part of our family. I wonder what is going on in his little head. I love his big smiles he does all the time in his sleep and is starting to do while awake. I love his big curious eyes and his tiny fingers (with fingernails that grow so stinkin fast)! I love cuddling with him and I love being his mom. I feel so blessed that Heavenly Father has blessed us to be parents and to raise this little spirit.

Firsts

2010-12-05T18:40:00.011-05:00

On November 19th we got to bring our sweet son home from the hospital.

Since then there has been lots of cuddling and lots of firsts.

First beach trip

He pretty much slept the whole time and we took him out of his comfy shade for a quick photo.

First time chillin in the boppy

First time sucking his thumb

First Thanksgiving and first time watching his dad play in the Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl and then later cook an entire Thanksgiving feast by himself.

First Bath

And first time wearing his Christmas suit

Everyone has different experiences, but Bryan and I both felt an instant bond with McKay when he was born that has only gotten stronger with time. He is already 2 1/2 weeks and is continuing to chunk up. We love this little guy and love being his parents.

McKay Bryan Clevenger

2010-11-23T12:43:00.007-05:00

He's Here!

McKay Bryan Clevenger

8 lb 8 oz

20.8 in

Born November 17 at 2:00 pm

We couldn't be more in love

Isn't he the cutest dad! He's not normally a much of a picture taker but he was so excited/giddy and took tons of pictures.

My mom was able to change her flight last minute when we found out the doctor had to induce me 8 days early. We are so happy she was able to be here and fall in love with McKay like we have. We just wish she could have stayed longer! She took some super cute pictures of him yesterday that I'll post soon.

I can't explain how much I love this little guy. He is so precious, I just want to hold him all day long. I already feel like I'm starting to get to know his little personality. I kinda just want him to stay a newborn and not get older, but I'm sure he will just get more and more loveable.

People Watching

2010-11-15T11:53:00.006-05:00

One of our favorite things to do is throw together a sandwich and make a quick trip to the beach: lay out, catch some rays, get attacked by pigeons trying to steal our lunch, and of course people watch.

For some reason people in this city don't like clothes very much. On Saturday we saw a 65 year old woman wearing bikini bottoms and no top with one arm covering both breasts, walking along the beach. This was not at the nude beach, mind you. Sad to say I was not quick enough to snap a photo.

Here are three middle aged men strutting their stuff together. I rarely see speedos on California beaches, why does everyone love them here? I'm pretty sure this hat hasn't come off his head since I got it for his birthday in October. Go Giants!
There are a lot of things I could complain about in this city, but you can't beat being 2 minutes from the beach!

Me and my 38 week pregnant self. Please come soon little guy! I am getting so anxious and excited and can't wait to meet you.

Pumpkins and Disco

2010-11-01T21:07:00.005-04:00

The Dockstaders threw a hoppin halloween party when I was in Fresno a few weeks ago. It was fun to reunite with great friends.

As I was on the elliptical in our garage, thinking about what I was going to dress up as when I saw this pumpkin suit peering over the top of our Halloween costumes. I thought this would be perfect for a VERY pregnant lady like myself. Problem was, I wore it when I was 4.

SO I made a few adjustments, aka cut up the side and rocked it 19 years later.

On to the next holiday dilemma: the ward Halloween party. We had seen the pictures from the previous year and everyone was decked out. We knew we could not slide by without dressing up. So I trip to the thrift store I came up with a beauty of a dress and some random clothes for Bryan to be a 9 month pregnant disco couple..??

I love traditions. Some of my favorite Halloween traditions are pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.

...And dinner in a pumpkin. We enjoyed both this year:)

The Shower

2010-10-27T23:35:00.006-04:00

*I apologize for pregnancy overload on this blog. Don't worry it will soon be exchanged for a baby overload.

A few weeks ago my parents flew me out to watch my sisters while they went on a trip. It was so fun to see my family and hang out with those girls all week. Before they left, a few friends and my mom had a baby shower for me. It turned out way cute!

These two girls did well!

There were adorable decorations

Yummy food

And what is a baby shower without fun cupcakes?

And such thoughtful gifts. I never knew baby boys could be so much fun!

And I can't forget about my amazing mother. This is the only pic I found of her, sorry mom!

Did I mention how much fun I had hanging with these girlies all week?:)

The Bump

2010-10-26T00:52:00.003-04:00

So I didn't plan on having a maternity photo shoot, don't know why but not usually a fan. But the more I thought about it, I thought it would be fun to show my children where they came from someday. And since my talented mother loves taking pictures, it worked out perfectly!

Ready to see the bump! Watch out, it has grown immensely since my last picture... When my dad first saw my belly he started laughing, thanks dad!

.......and Wa la!

It's so crazy to think that in a month we will have this little baby boy that will be completely dependent on Bryan and I. I am getting so excited and anxious to have him.

A tribute to the husband

2010-10-08T20:35:00.008-04:00

I'm a little behind, but we didn't have internet access when we first moved here. On August 23 we celebrated our second anniversary. I seriously can't believe we have been married that long, it has flown by. To celebrate we got cheesecake factory to go and ate it on the beach. Since then, we have grown accustomed to our weekly beach picnics, but at the time it was a fun surprise that Bryan planned. After we sat down and got everything set up (right after this picture) we heard thunder and lightening, soon followed by sheets of rain. So much for our romantic dinner! We ended up eating in the car and of course right as we finished it cleared up and we went for an evening swim.

And a few days ago we celebrated Bryan's 26th birthday! He was busy with school and had a test the next day but I made him one of his favorite dinners and cake and he opened his presents. From me he got a Giant's hat which he has been wanting and a book I made of our first two years of marriage. And tonight we celebrated by going out to dinner to....you guessed it! Cheesecake factory!

This last page says it all. I am so grateful to have married the perfect guy for me. He really is my best friend, I love him:)

30 Weeks

2010-09-12T21:22:00.003-04:00

After about the 6th request, I decided it was time to post a recent pregnancy picture. This was taken right after a sunday nap so I look a little drowsy, but what can you do? Only about 10 weeks to go! I can't believe how different our life will be in just a few months. I held a newborn baby boy yesterday and it made me so excited! He was so innocent and precious. Bring on the sleepless nights!

I'm also trying to figure out how I'm whiter than when I first got here? Probably because its too unbearable to be outside. Come winter I'm gonna be black!

Miami in a nutshell

2010-09-09T21:00:00.010-04:00

What do we find cool, or should I stay stinkin HOT about Miami?

1. Nice hair and skin- Bryan keeps asking me to feel his head because of his extreme softness.

2. Cool Looking critters

3. Nightly Thunderstorms- One of our favorite past times is to sit on the balcony and watch the sheets of rain and lightening.

4. Thongs and ....harnesses? -although it can lead to an increase in pregnancy nausea, we get a good laugh at what we see old men wearing at the beach.

5. Our Close Proximity to la playa- did I mention we are 1 mile to the beach! and no worries, the beach nearest us has a clothing optional policy.

6. Good Friends- We didn't know what to expect when we moved out here, but we are so fortunate that there are about 12 other student families in the ward that have been so friendly and welcoming.

Everything is going great with our baby boy! We are getting anxious to meet this little guy.

Road Trip

2010-08-15T22:35:00.000-04:00

This all we took on our nearly 4,000 mile, 56 hour drive across the country. The back of the truck was unloaded and reloaded 4 times.

We made our first stop in Spanish Fork, UT to see this cute family. We had a fun day at the pool, participated in some head butting competitions, and played all day.

Then we hung out with Bryan's brother and family in salt lake, but sadly no pictures were taken.

Next stop: 13.5 hour drive to Lincoln, NE
Then: 13 hour drive to Lexington, KY to see the Skanchys.

We fell in Love with Lexington. It is so beautiful and green. We had a great day going to Shaker town, seeing the famous churches of the city, and just hanging out with Lyndsey and Tony. It was so much fun to see these two!

9 hour drive to Valdosta, GA.
7 hour drive to Miami
and we made it!

Here we are worn out and apartment hunting! Luckily that hunt is over.

What country are we in?

2010-08-13T07:29:00.000-04:00

After a 56 hour roadtrip, we made it to Miami! Sadly I can't find my camera/computer connecter so no pictures. We found an apartment on the first day and we are so excited! After looking at several ghetto but expensive apartments (that smelled like weed and were in the hood) and dealing with sleezy salesman, we found our winner.

If you have never been to Florida, there is water everywhere: streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, and of course the ocean. Bryan took this picture with his phone while standing in our apartment building (it is also the view from our balcony).

Directly on the other side of the street from our apartment complex is a beautiful state park with mountain biking, hiking, fishing, kayaking, swimming, camping, ect. We went there yesterday and swam and rode around. It was so beautiful, and we didn't even come close to seeing all of it.

1 mile east of our apartment is the beach. If you ever come and visit, take note that the pink bathrooms signify a nude beach. After experiencing some old men nude encounters, seeing larger insects than we have ever seen, and realizing that we can't understand anyone here (even if they are speaking english) I can't help but wonder if we are still in the United States?

We feel like we will be on an exotic vacation for the next year (despite that we will be working and going to school). It still seems surreal that we actually drove across the country to get here. We are in a hotel until the current tenant moves out of our apartment on Monday. So there will be pictures to come.

We're goin To Miami!

2010-07-08T20:31:00.000-04:00

Its true, we will be having our little BOY in MIAMI! So many changes, and we can't wait. I never would have thought we would be driving across the country to live in this humid but beautiful and exciting beach town. According to a google search the majority of people that live there speak spanish as their primary language. Guess I have some brushing up to do! I will be officially licensed as a registered nurse in three states in about a month. I'm crossing my fingers that someone will hire a 6 month pregnant woman. Anyone have connections in Miami? We don't know a soul and don't know where to live.

In the meantime, we have been doing some fun things. We hiked Yosemite Point. I had never done this hike before, but it was a lot of fun. I love hiking!

Have made lots of trips to fresno and hung out with these girlies! I hung out with Kylie while my mom and sister were at girl's camp and we had a lot of fun!

Went to Newport with the Winegars, and of course hit Disneyland. We also hung out at the beach, rode our beach cruisers, went to the newport temple, saw Eclipse with the girls, went on morning runs on the trails by the beach (including the Winegar family Fun Run), and just enjoyed hanging out with each other and relaxing by the pool.

Aren't they precious!

We sure missed Kara and Heather

Bryan had July 5th of so we went on a little hike in Santa Clarita.

About two weeks left and then we'll be going to Bass Lake for the week and then off on our trek to Miami!

The Golden Year

2010-05-24T19:38:00.000-04:00

23 on the 23rd!

Wow I'm getting old! It was fun to have an excuse for a weekend getaway. Well, ok we don't really need an excuse, since we have gotten away from Lancaster for the past three weekends, but oh well.

Saturday after Bry was done selling we drove down and went to the LA temple. I love the temple. The LA temple was so beautiful, and it was so peaceful to be there. And if you can believe it, it was still peaceful even though I FAINTED in the temple. Luckily my wonderful husband was there to catch me. A man there said I fell "gracefully" and that I "looked like an angel laying on the ground." Ha, at least I fell gracefully! Bryan could tell something was up and thought I was going to puke, fainting is better than puking right?

Despite that experience, it was still a great night, and we knew I needed to get some nutrients quick.

Because my food cravings are never consistent, we wrote down three possible restaurants so I could pick right when it was time to eat. And the winner was...COCONUT SHRIMP from Bubba Gumps. It was delicious.

We continued the night walking along the pier and shopping and Bry bought me these incredible flip flops down below as part of my birthday present. My feet were killing me from walking around and these suckers are amazing. They have yoga mats on the bottom of them and boy are they comfortable. I don't think I will ever take them off.

Then we ended the night going to Pink Berry for some delicious yogurt.

We stated the night in Santa Monica with one of Bry's mission friends, went to church the next day, walked along the beach, drove back to Lancaster, ate a delicious birthday dinner and desert that the hubby made me and opened the rest of my presents. It was a perfect Golden birthday celebration!

The Beautiful Antelope Valley

2010-05-19T21:09:00.000-04:00

Lets just say I'm not very good at this whole blogging thing. I'm lucky if I get one post a month. But my lovely sister is bugging me to update, so here it goes...

Lancaster is..... WINDY! and thats an understatement. One of the only interesting things we found to do in this city was go to the Antelope Valley festival of poppies. So of course we did that the second day we were here. Sadly, my camera was dead, but we went on a hike and it was pretty for being in the middle of the dessert.

Bryan is selling up a storm. He is doing very well, but I'm not suprised. Who wouldn't say no to killing bugs from this guy?

We went to Fresno a couple of weekends ago and went to the lake.

I sure love going to the lake. I love basking in the sun and spending time with the family. Its so relaxing and peaceful.

I ended up staying in Fresno for a week, because I am currently unemployed and am waiting till we find out for sure about a masters program Bry may be attending to seriously look for a job. It was a fairly productive week: I got ACLS certified, went to lunch with mom and sisters, was able to hang out with some great friends, saw Letters to Juliet (which was was cute), made a few Target and Ann Taylor Loft trips (Van Wagie favorites!), laid out by the pool and read the Guernsey LIterary and Potato Peel Pie society (which I highly recommend). It was a great week, but towards the end I was really missing this guy:

I look like I'm trying to be super man in this picture. We took it when we were dating and were having a photo competition with our great friends, Tony and Lyndsey. I don't think this was our award winning photo, but it makes me laugh.

The pregnancy is going well, I'm just waiting for these two things to be over...

Hopefully in the next few weeks

And I'm excited: we are going to the LA temple and Santa Monica boardwalk for my birthday this weekend. Anyone know of good restaurants over there?

Change...

2010-04-27T18:15:00.001-04:00

Change is good right?? What about when its all at once..

Bryan is a BYU Graduate

with a Bachelors is Exercise Science

We are Moving in 4 days

To Lancaster, Ca for Bryan to manage a Clark Pest control office for a few months. Then we will move to Ontario, Ca for a one year masters program at Western University.

I quit my job this week

I really like my job so it will be hard to leave. I have made some great friends at work and will be sad to leave them.

Oh ya,

I'm Pregnant

Crazy huh? I'm due November 25. We got to hear the heart beat today, we are very excited.

"P night" and dental

2010-03-18T13:29:00.000-04:00

I love my cute Behives. A few weeks ago we had a "P" night: personal progress, planning, pink, pajamas, popcorn, peanuts, punch...anything they could think of that starts with the letter "p." They LOVED it!! Then a few nights ago we had a recipe exchange and brought our fav. recipe (baked/cooked and copies of it). One of them said, "We should bring food every week!!"

I'm going to be really sad when I have to leave these girls. Here is a conversation that happened on Tuesday night:

Behive 1: Amy, I'm going to be really sad if you have to leave.

Behive 2: You're leaving!! Why do you have to leave?

Me: It depends on if and where my husband gets into dental school.

Behive 2: I'm praying he doesn't get into dental school then!

Bryan, not wanting prayers working against him, couldn't believe I hadn't told them I would probably be leaving either way. It just breaks my heart having to tell these cute girls I will be leaving.

Recent Dental News: Bryan got waitlisted at Western. We were pretty bummed when we found this out because he had gotten pretty good feedback. Oh well, I'm sure whatever is supposed to happen will, right?

Our current Plans: Move to Southern California whether he gets into dental school or not. There is a 1 year masters program aimed at getting you into dental school. It will feed you right into their dental school if you get above a certain GPA in their school. Since he is close to getting into their dental school, I'm sure they will accept him. I still think/hope he will get in this year, but thats the back up plan.

Pretty Sure I could get used to living in Southern California.

My Loves

2010-03-13T23:29:00.001-05:00

It's ironic that my husband, who will never be caught dead writing on our blog or admit to secretly liking when I show him other blogs, is always the one to remind me when it is time to update. Its true though, I could definitely improve my current habit of updating less than once a month. It gets to the point where I don't even know where to start because there are so many things that have happened. Because of my love for lists, I will use this to express my loves of the day/past month.

1. I love lazy Saturdays- Bryan promised me he wouldn't study today, and it was so wonderful to sleep in, watch a 24 episode, make breakfast, go to Costco and run errands, clean, swim, and go to Red Robin and a movie, which leads to my next love... I was grateful for an Amy and Bryan day. I need to take advantage, because we probably won't have too many of these in dental school.

2. I loved Alice and Wonderland!- That movie definitely creeped me out when I was younger, but the current one is very well done with fantastic makeup and costumes. Johnny Depp was amazing as always. It was wierd, but that is expected. Its a while away, but maybe I will be Alice for Halloween this year and I can convince Bry to be the Mad Hatter. Do you think he will go for it?

3. I love swimming- Bry and I both swam a mile today and it felt great. We are training for our

first Triathlon which is in a few weeks. Bry is taking a swimming class this semester and has shown some huge improvement in the last few months. I'm a little more comfortable in the pool that he is, but he rocks the bike. Gotta love the stretchy pants.

3. I love being done with school- It feels so good to not having constant worry about stresses of upcoming tests, ect. Its like a huge brick was lifted off my shoulders. Even though its been a few weeks it still hasn't quite sunk in.

4. I love having a job- It feels so good to be making money and to be helping cute old people. It is also a weird thing that people who have worked at the care center for several years are already asking me for advice on my first day on the job, despite the fact that they know it is pretty much my first job in healthcare. Throughout clinicals I practiced being a nurse, but always under the authority of another RN. I feel somewhat inadequate, but relieved that my nursing judgment is respected.

5. I love that Bryan had an Interview at Western University of Dental Medicine in Pamona a few weeks ago. We find out next week sometime if he is accepted into the school. We are praying that it will work out. It was so fun to LA for the weekend. I am obsessed with the weather down there. In Bryan's daily internet routine includes: email, ESPN, and weather in Pamona. I don't know why, the weather down there is pretty much always the same....perfect.

6. I love that I was able to go to New York on a girls trip right after I graduated. It was so fun to see the sights, shop, eat some yummy food, go to Mary Poppins on Broadway, and catch up with my awesome girl friends that I hadn't seen in a while. Photographer Christa took way more pics than I did, but here are a few that I took.

This turned out kind of a long post, but I am so grateful for a wonderful husband and for a place to live. I am also grateful things that after a stressful 1 1/2 years, things are starting to feel like they are working out. Heavenly Father tries us with patience, and I am grateful for that. I know that everything will work out how it is supposed to.

A good laugh for all

2010-02-03T16:41:00.000-05:00

There are two things most people that know me well know about me.

1.) I somehow always have food in my hair- don't ask me how, it's not very lady like. I was talking to my mom about this issue and she says she does the same thing, so apparently I inherited this lovely trait from her.

2.) I fall and injure myself frequently- you name it I've done it- hit my nose on the diving board, broke my leg, ran into poles, and gotten endless scrapes and bruises. I thought I might have grown out of this when I hit the age of 10, but no. At least I can have more material for "getting to know you" worksheets.

That being said, I thought I might add another story to my list. I finished school last Friday and came to Fresno for a few days to hang out with the family. We were all upstairs watching the Bachelor (even kylie and my dad), yes so superficial but addicting at the same time. It ended and it was time to go down stairs. Too my credit, I am VERY tired, almost sleepwalking, AND wearing socks; so I was pretty much destined for disaster. Before I know it I'm screaming and sliding down the stairs. My whole family is looking at me in awe. My dad is picking me up and taking me to the couch as he asks, "did you hit your head?" Oh man I can see his head spinning, "the only plausible way my 22 year old daughter that just graduated from nursing school could fall ALL the way down the stairs is if she hit her head." No, I didn't hit my head, but now I can say I've fallen down the stairs. I hope you feel better about yourself now!

On a much brighter note, next wednesday I have my graduation cerimony, and will maybe never go to school again..
And then Thurday I'm leaving to go to New York on a girl's trip! I'm so excited!!

And on February 26th Bry has an interview at Western Dental School. We're crossing our fingers that he will get accepted to dental school this year. He is such a hard worker and is going to be such an awesome dentist.

cHrIsTmAs CoOkIeS

2009-12-21T16:48:00.001-05:00

Its not really christmastime without making Christmas cookies in the Van Wagenen family, so in order to satisfy my need for traditions, we decided it would be a great Sunday Night activity. Because Bry's new favorite Christmas song is the George Strait "Christmas cookies" song, he thought it would be fun too (but mostly he likes the eating part.)

Bry cutting out some amazing stars. He was a great little assistant.

Yes, I forgot my apron.

He insisted on cleaning while I decorated, what a wonderful husband.

"I sure do like those Christmas cookies, baby!"

Life is good

2009-12-12T23:45:00.000-05:00

I love everything about Christmas: children's christmas books, christmas tree, baked goods, and the overall feeling of giving. I love the beautiful lights (FYI don't waste your time on Thanksgiving point's lights). I love blasting christmas music- it brings instant joy and reminiscence. I love walking outside and there is a beautiful blanket of white. I never thought I would appreciate the snow again after the atrocious winter last year, but it adds to the wonderful christmas feeling. I love spending time with family, and I especially love to be reminded of the birth and sacrifices of our Savior.

Thanksgiving was wild, but so much fun. There were 25 of us in one house, and I'm not sure how we all ended up with somewhere to sleep. We had an awesome family fun run, at A LOT because grandma was cooking like crazy the whole time, took some family pictures, played the traditional chimes, played Nerts, and just had fun hanging out.

I can't wait to spend Christmas with the Clevengers! Then, we'll be going to Tahoe for a few days after Christmas.

Oh and I have a new obsession- I can't turn down anything with mint and chocolate: mint chocolate chip ice cream, mint hot chocolate, peppermint patties, you name it. But, I just discovered mint M&Ms- so YUMMY!

Help! swimming advice needed

2009-10-06T19:25:00.000-04:00

My husband and I are aspiring swimmers. Since our summer races, our knees haven't been doing too hot so we've started to try new things. I have to say that swimming is something I have gradually learned to love. At first I felt like I was going to drown after one lap. Now I feel that I can get to that steady state where I feel like I can go for a while like running. I don't feel like I have good form by any means, but I could swim for a little while without drowning. I like it because I can push myself, and I feel like I can get a good workout without my joints hurting afterwards.

Bryan's swimming goal: swim 1 mile without stopping by Thanksgiving

Mine: swim 2 (I'm gonna have to start putting my time in!)

As an aspiring swimmer, I have been told that I need to buy a cap. So I tried my cap for the first time this morning, and I can't figure out the darn thing. I had already thrown away the package with the instructions on it...probably not very smart. It took me forever to get on, and I never felt like it covered my head. Then I couldn't figure out if it was supposed to cover my ears or not. If they were covered, it was nice cuz the water didn't come in, but then they started to feel very squished and uncomfortable. Any advice from swimmers? How am I supposed to put the cap on? Is it supposed to cover my ears? Oh and are there any tricks for keeping the water out of the goggles without keeping my goggles so tight that they give me a headache? Any other swimming tips would be greatly appreciated.

Her cap looks like it is covering her ears

Michael Phelp's doesn't

you better believe it

2009-09-30T14:12:00.000-04:00

As I was waiting in line to get my flu shot, the couple in front of me were both amazed at how they didn't feel it at all and there was no blood. This comforted me a little, but still felt a little like this:I kept my composure of course, being 22 and a nursing student. And then the flu shot man poked me. I definitely felt it, I wasn't crying with pain, but it was noticeable, and there was blood.

Flu shot man: Most people don't bleed. The ones that do usually work out.
Me: great
Flu shot man: (pause) So, do you work out?
Me: (feeling like I was just fed a pick up line) I sure do!

I left feeling rather good. I never seem to notice a difference in my arms, but at least I have more vascular muscles!

4 more months

2009-09-23T23:52:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately my break is extremely inconvenient. Bryan is in the middle of school and there is no way he would give up his study time to go on a trip, he's too dedicated. So, I've had to make the most of what I've got. Thursday after our last final, some of my school friends and I went on a little hike (which I don't have pictures of), which was way fun and relaxing. So much fun that we planned to go on another one the next day. One of my besties from high school, Christa randomly showed up at my doorstep that night so she joined us on our hike.

It was seriously so much fun. I am going to miss the beautiful mountains in Utah. When I'm hiking or in the mountains, I always feel like I can think and reevaluate my life and the things that are important to me.

Well Christa, with her amazing convincing power, talked me into going to Idaho with her to visit my cute sis Kara for her birthday. It was a quick trip, but it was a lot of fun to see her.

(This is from a little over a year ago. I'm diggin Kara's disco gear)

I then convinced my husband to go on a hike with me. As you can see, I'm obsessed with hiking lately.

I told him to squat so I could get more of the background and this is what I get. Looks like an angry cat on all fours to me.

And now, after completely organizing my stuff, making a huge bag of clothes and books to get rid of, writing all my missionary girls, making the house spotless, running random little errands, distracting my husband from studying, and now updating our blog, I think I'm ready to go back to school and pound out my last semester.

1 year down, many more to come

2009-08-30T22:14:00.000-04:00

We celebrated our 1st anniversary last weekend b/c the weekend before we run the half marathon. Bry surprised me and we went down to Park City for a night. We went on a bike ride around the city, ate at a delicious restaurant, window shopped and tried on some fancy coats (Bry's kind of reminds us of dumb and dumber), and went down the alpine slides. The next day we went on a little mountain bike ride.

I can't believe it has been over a year since we were married. It has flown by and has hands down been the best year. I could not have married a more perfect person for me and have realized that more and more every day. He works hard at whatever he does, always makes me laugh, and makes me want to be a better person.

Some memories of our first year of marriage:

Him singing "once in love with Amy" to me (apparently an old musical song that a cute old man in our ward brought over b/c my name is Amy) in a random make-up tune.
Laughing hysterically often and for no reason
Going to rent a "24" episode more than once in the middle of the night because we're hooked
evening bike rides
learning that Bry is an awesome cook
learning that I actually like cooking because I have a husband that loves food and appreciates it so much
bonding on our marathon training runs
teaching me how to fly fish and play catch
seeing who can make the wierdest faces or voices (yes we're immature)
Watching him try to do Taebo

Those are just a few I can think of off the top of my head. I am so excited for the many years to come. I have started realizing lately how I really need to live in the moment and appreciate the now. Sometimes we get caught up in thinking how exciting it will be once we move to a different place and he gets in dental school. Utah is such a fun and beautiful place. I know that we will miss it when we leave (but probably not the freezing cold 6 month winters).

*sadly we did not save our wedding cake to eat on our one year anniversary. Bry got sad about it when he was looking through our wedding book this morning.

We're still here!

2009-08-23T00:29:00.000-04:00

A few things we have been up to:

went on a pretty hike

This is the place monument when the extended family came to Utah and fit 21 people in one house.

Newport with the fam, I love this place! can't wait to move back to Cali someday.

Bry's bike races: The Ulcer: he rode this century (111 miles) with some guys he trained with and had a good time.
The tour de donut: he had to ride seven miles, eat as many donuts as you can, ride seven miles, same thing, and seven more. He rode great, probably could have eaten more donuts but I don't blame him, it sounds disgusting.

Today we ran the hobble creek marathon. I'll put a link to the pics when they post them. It was a beautiful race. Bry ran 11 minutes faster than his last half! I thought that was pretty impressive.

Believe it or not

2009-06-14T13:14:00.000-04:00

Our first Marathon together! The first words out of Bry's mouth at the end of 26.2 miles were "How did you talk me into this?" For the record, he wanted to run a marathon, he signed up for a marathon, and I didn't sign up for a few months later, although he would never admit to this. Regardless, somehow yesterday morning at 4:30 am we were at the top of Provo canyon, somehow we together accomplished the daunting task of a marathon, and today we feel 60 years older and can't help but moan and groan at every muscle movement. Was it worth it? Definately. It is so empowering to be able to do something you didn't think your body was capable of.
I was pretty suprised in the car ride home when I heard the words from my husband's mouth, "Next marathon, I want to..." We decided that we made some mistakes on this marathon and that next marathon we will...
1.) Not do taebo/play basketball the week of the marathon because then your legs will start out being sore, and you may have a strained calf.
2.) Organize ipod with only marathon running music, or else you may end up with general conference in your last 3 miles, which is a good thing at any time other than running a marathon.
3.) Drink metamucil the night before the marathon (Bry had some issues during).
4.) Eat goos even if you don't think you need it.
5.) Cut tonails before the race.
5.) Train harder: do speed work, do more hill training (then we might not be so sore), push ourselves harder during long runs.
6.)Set your goal pace and stick to it, don't speed up if you are feeling good (Bry fell behind because he had to go to the bathroom, then sped up to catch up to me, and then he was hurting in the end).
7.) Have camera ready at the end! (we forgot this, note our ghetto pics in our front yard because we forgot to take pictures at the race).

Overall it was a great experience. Personally, I think anyone can run a marathon. I agree that we are crazy for actually wanting to run one, but what's new?

*If you are looking for a good movie to watch, go rent Forever Strong. We loved it!*

Confession

2009-06-11T22:06:00.000-04:00

I love school supplies. When I was younger, my favorite game was to play school. My sisters and I would argue over who's turn it was to be the teacher and then we would spend hours setting up, making copies and lesson plans, coloring, assigning homework, giving each other personal responsibility points (what you get when you are misbehaving. If you get enough you can't go on the class field trip at the end of the month.) As my husband thinks is weird and my mom can attest, I have always loved school. Maybe its because my mom is a teacher, but there is something weirdly invigorating about picking out the perfect planner, binder, notebook, dividers, you name it. I love organizing my supplies and filling in my brand new planner. Is that weird? Am I going into the wrong profession?

hippies and snuggies

2009-06-07T00:24:00.000-04:00

I finally made it back to Ashland, Oregon (Bryan's hometown) after being married for over 9 months. I can for sure say that I learned a lot more about my husband by visiting his hometown and the house that he grew up in. I never realized that I grew up in a big city, but Ashland quickly helped me see that. My favorite parts of our trip were running through Lithia park (a beatiful park right by his house) almost every morning, going to the coast and going on some awesome hikes and a jet boat ride, and experiencing hippie town. I loved spending time with Bry's parents, finally meeting some of his high school friends that I have heard so much about, learning how to fly fish, and going to the famous Ashland Shakespeare festival. I can definately see why Bry loves Ashland so much. I love its beauty and diversity.

We went on this fun jet boat ride and learned a lot about the wild life on the Rogue River.

I didn't have much success, but Bry was an excellent fly fishing instructer.

We headed back to Utah a day early for Bry's intramural softball game. Sadly they lost, but I loved watching the team all season. Bry definately has some tricks up his sleeve. I didn't get any action shots, but Bry is the one with the sweet trucker hat from D.I.

Lynds and I being loyal fans.

Oh ya and I turned 22 a few weeks ago. One of my presents arrived late and was here when we got back from Oregon...

It suits him well don't you think?

Easter Traditions

2009-04-13T00:26:00.000-04:00

I love the silly traditions that go along with Holidays. Growing up I loved it when the "EASTER BUNNY" would hide our baskets. Mine would always be the hardest being that I am the oldest and I would anxiously search for it even though I already knew that I would find candy and a swimsuit like every year. Well...I made my wonderful husband carry out my family tradition with me. Being the good sport that he is, he headed out on a late saturday night walmart run to fill my basket so we could have an eventful Easter morning...

Maybe next year we'll do the swimsuit tradition...

I don't know why but I saw egg dye at Walmart and really wanted to dye eggs. Luckily we had friends over on saturday night and the girls and I dyed eggs. I'm sure Bry was happy he was off the hook.

It was way fun to have our friends over for one last shindig until we move down to the basement!

Class speech

2009-04-10T16:30:00.000-04:00

I had to give a persuasive manuscript speech for my communications nursing class. I wrote it pretty quickly, but I thought I'd post it....It only had to be 5 minutes but I could have gone on and on about the benefits of running...

I distinctly remember when my high school tennis coach would give us the dreaded 1 mile sentence after practice. I would groan, hate life, and loath my coach for every 5,280 feet of that mile. During practice, I remember watching the cross country team run mile after mile while I stayed in the comfort of my court wondering “why in the world would they choose to put themselves through that misery?” Now, more than a few years and a few miles later, I am hooked on the sport.
You are probably wondering what got me started on this seemingly monotonous and painful sport. It wasn’t the physiological or psychological benefits that we hear so much about. Neither was it the convenience or advice from the center of Disease Control that we should get 30 minutes moderate aerobic activity 5 days of the week for chronic disease prevention. For me it was out of pure competition. I didn’t want my marathon-running parents to show me up, so with minimal running experience and with my parents as inspiration, I courageously signed up for a marathon and began my running journey. Little did I know, my journey did not end at the finish line of the Marathon. At the very start of my training I began realizing the magnitude of the psychological benefits, physiological benefits and convenience of the sport. If a low stress level and a healthy heart are not enough motivation for you to hit the trails, then you have my permission to use me to motivate you: “If Amy can run, I can run,” and like me use competition to get you started.

What is it that causes so many of us to experience that so called Runner’s high? Exercise is the quickest method of raising mood during depression because the neurotransmitters Norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin secretion are released in higher concentrations during exercise. For these reasons, running produces extreme psychological benefits, including stress and anxiety relief, confidence (as you lose weight and accomplish your goals, improved memory, (which is highly valuable in nursing school), and decreased fatigued (that is definitely needed during those long clinical days.) Both running alone or with a partner are therapeutic. Those long runs by myself have many times helped me to clear my mind, solve problems, and reflect on my life. Having a running partner also has its benefits. My parents, previous roommates, and now husband have become my best friends because of the bonds we formed in sharing feelings, helping each other work through problems, and reaching goals together during long runs. So weather you decide the benefits are greater either running alone or with a partner, you can now skip those therapy sessions!

We have been taught time and time again the physiological benefits of exercise. Running both increases our cardiac output and decreases our respiratory rate. “Diet and Exercise,” we hear it again and again for prevention of diabetes, obesity, pneumonia, cancer, respiratory and cardiac problems…the list goes on.” So with our crazy busy lives: school, work, family, how do we practice what we preach and prevent disease not only in the lives of others, but our own lives?

Running doesn’t require a partner, as does tennis or almost any other sport. You don’t even need a gym membership. Throw on some shoes and out the door. In just thirty minutes you can start receiving the benefits of a cardiovascular work out. It seems contradictory that taking the time out to exercise can actually help you be more productive in the day, but this is the case, at least in my own life. Running can give you more focus, more energy throughout the day, and help you sleep better. It is a convenient, cheap, and easy way of keeping your sanity!
If you, like me need competition or some kind of goal to get you going, there are so many fun races out there! Sign up for a 5 or 10k, half or whole marathon to get you started. It is so inspiring to see everyone around you achieving the same goal. It creates tons of confidence by setting goals for yourself and reaching them.

Stress relief, disease prevention, convenience, and competition are just a few of the benefits of running. You just have to get out there, run and experience it for yourself, and before you know it you’ll like me be hooked!

Here's Bry sportin his stylish backwards hat after the Moab half marathon last year.

Bry and my good friends Heather and Lauren. I didn't end up running it because of my torn ACL incident.

We are preparing to run the Utah Valley Marathon on June 13th. There is a marathon and 5k if anyone is interested!!

I hope they call me on a mission!

2009-03-12T17:46:00.000-04:00

My cute friend Heather Parker reported to the MTC yesterday to go to Russia!! I am so so excited for her!! All of us former roomies went up to Farmington to hear her farewell talk and she did a fanstastic job. Heather, Lyndsey, Sarah, and I were all roommates last year and all of us wanted to go on a mission at some point. Wierdly, 3 out of the four of us ended up getting married in the same month of each other and Heather is the only one that is ending up on a mission.

Oh well, I'll just have to hold off on the misison for a few years. Bryan and I are pretty excited to serve together someday.

poop and caffeine

2009-03-11T01:05:00.000-04:00

Reflection of day:
5:45 alarm went off (to go work out)
6:45 I got out out bed
7:30 got to my nannying job
10:15 cleaned up POOP in a bathtub (preparing me to be a mother...and a nurse for that matter)
1:45 drove to my BOUNTIFUL clinicals
5:30 gave shots for the first time
8:00 had caffeine for the first time (in who knows how long. I really never never drink caffeine...no reason I just don't really care for soda that much...unless it is fresca.)
10:30 drove home
11:20 writing on my blog and still wide awake and hyper (which Bryan can testify), when I am usually in bed by 10

Its been a great day.

sisterly love

2009-03-01T23:19:00.001-05:00

While my parents have been in Israel, I have had the privledge of watching my little sisters for a few weekends. That might sound lame compared to going to Israel, but I sure love these girls. We have had some fun times.

As some of you may know, all of my sisters have completely different personalities. Last weekend, we decided to go on a bike ride to the school and play some games. Lauren, being the stylish girlie girl that she is, expressed her desire that everyone wear 80's work out gear on the bike ride. I soon heard kylie scream and after investigation found that Lauren was chasing kylie forcing her to put on yellow 80's leggings while Kylie (the super sporty one) was yelling "I just want to wear sweats!" I could not stop laughing. I did feel sorry for poor Ky, but admit that in the end I sided with Lauren in giving Kylie an unwanted side pony tail (Don't worry, I paid for this later). She was bitter for a while, but then decided she would pose for some pictures.

Bike rides are one of my favorite things! It was so nice to be able to get away from the Utah weather.

I took the girlies to play lazer tag for the first time at their request. They were so cute. Ky followed Lauren around the whole time. They would just run back and forth while everyone shot at them, shooting Kylie cuz she was in the back. Ky is such a good sport. Even though she got last place, she said she loved it and just wouldn't follow Lu next time!

I don't have any pics from this weekend but Bry came with me this time! It was so much fun having him here. In retaliation for forcing her Kylie to have a side pony tail, she and Bry teamed up against me and tickled me the whole weekend. She absolutely loves him. She is just excited she finally has a big brother that will play sports with her whenever she wants.

I can't remember if I already posted this but a while ago Kylie called me and told me that she had to write in her school journal something that she wished for. She wrote that she wished Bryan and I would move to Fresno. We'll see how that flies when the time comes....I'm pretty sure Fresno is growing on the hubby (although he would never admit it). I would be ok with it! It was way fun to have some sisterly bonding this past week.

1 down 3 to go

2009-02-06T17:58:00.000-05:00

I'm stoked to have completed my first semester of nursing school!

This is a creepy picture, but the only one I have of me at school!

Here is a lovely scrub picture. We got out of class early one day, and some of us decided to hury and go see Twilight on opening day. I'm sure we were a pretty funny site in our attractive primary blue scrubs.

I celebrated today (my first day of break) by sleeping in till 8, reading for my children's lit class (it's more like liesure than HW cuz I love reading), running, cleaning, talking to my sis that is in Jerusalem (it was so good to talk to her! I love that girl), and then I will probably read and clean some more until Bry comes home. Life is good.

Oh yes, and we are going ice skating tonight! I'm so excited

...we have been working on this move for a while now.

Daydreaming

2009-02-03T19:13:00.000-05:00

Sick of cold air and studying
Wishin I was in...

Hawaii,

Back on the cruise,

Or

In pismo with my hubby:)

On second thought, I would much rather be studying the fecal elimination chapter of my nursing book so I can be a poop expert:) Hope all is well!

Our First Christmas together

2009-01-11T22:23:00.001-05:00

Here is a little update on Christmas:
We headed to Fresno just in time to go to Shawn and Bay's sealing and reception. It was so beautiful I am so excited to have Bay in the family! We had a great time hanging out with the fam and were able to go up to Exeter and have dinner with the Clevengers a few days before Christmas. It was so fun to spend time with them and to get a tour of the small town of Exeter. In Fresno, it was very nice to just relax and not think about school for a little while.

The sisters and cousin Blake. We had a little Van Wagenen Christmas dinner on the Sunday before Chrismas.

Footy pajamas!

Walking and looking at the decked out Christmas lights a few days before Christmas.

Christmas Eve- We ate at Ruth's Chris. We're not too traditional when the Winegars aren't here. It was very yummy. Afterwards we came back and opened our jammies.

Christmas morning in our new jammies. Bry was pretty excited.

We went skiing at Heavenly at Lake Tahoe a few days after Christmas. I am the outcast on a snowboard, I will probably go back to skiis shortly. I have fear of ski injury, but I knowing me I will probably end up breaking by wrist on a snowboard. It was very pretty, and so much fun to be with my family.

Let it snow!

2008-12-08T19:23:00.000-05:00

Being a warm-weather lover from california, I usually cringe at snow past Christmas. I'm a fan of winter sports and Bryan is a big time skiier so I should rejoice at snow storms throughtout the winter; but instead I crave the sun. However, snow before Christmas is a different story. I love everything that adds to the Christmas spirit: Christmas music, Christmas books, Christmas decorations, hot chocolate by the fire, everyone's desire to serve and help those around them (I am so touched by the many things are neighbors and friends are doing this year), and especially the opportunity to celebrate the birth of our savior. Needless to say, when I looked out the window today, I was excited to see snow.

Bryan and I helping out with the hot chocolate station at the church Christmas party

The Happiest Place on Earth

2008-12-01T16:14:00.000-05:00

Yup we went where every little kid dreams of going. We saw all the pretty princesses, ate churros, and got "it's a small world" stuck in our head for a week straight. Despite the lack of a traditional turkey feast, Disneyland was the perfect thanksgiving vacation.

Kylie loves Bryan. She would not let him out of her sight last week. My family was joking that she has a new father.

i love my family:)

It was so fun to have a little break from school and hang with the fam. For our thanksgiving meal we went to a restaurant in disneyland and ate crepes with turkey and stuffing in them, served with vegies and cranberry sauce. It was different but delicious. We had such a fun week. It was depressing driving back from LA realizing we had to come back to school and reality.

I'm a winner!

2008-11-14T20:25:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday morning I recieved two missed calls from the same number without voice messages. Annoyed by the third call I finally answered, to find that I was the grand prize winner from the raffle at the BYU bookstore. Remembering the random calls I would recieve when I was engaged, about winning a free makeover or winning a free honeymoon if I sold my life away and bought unwanted cookingware, my first thought was that it was a hoax. "Common down to the basement of the bookstore and claim your prize" I heard her say and suddenly my lifelong dream to be a winner became a reality. I would have been happy to have won a cooking book or shiny pencil, but now I am a proud mountain bike owner.

Shooting!

2008-11-01T22:08:00.000-04:00

Bryan and I went on a shooting date at the end of last october, almost exactly a year ago. We had gone on a few dates before that, but the shooting date was the kicker for our relationship, its been all downhill since then. He taught me how to shoot a gun for the first time and I fell in love. Last week, Bryan's dad just got him a new gun and so we took it out today. I loved it! I got so excited when I shot the pumkins and milk containers.

Today we just headed towards Haramon and went on an adventure to the mountains. I miss when my mom gave me a topsy tail in elementary school.

Our shooting date! My hubby says I have a gangster stance

Who knows where we would be right now if Bryan hadn't taken me shooting a year ago!

More wedding pics!!

2008-10-24T21:09:00.001-04:00

My aunt Patti took some great pics at the wedding and I just wanted to post some of them. Bry is still mad that the nieces hugged me first when we came out of the temple. (As you can see that he is pulling Rachel's hair, tryin to get some love.) The first time we went to his sister's house for dinner and it was time to leave, Rachel and Brie told Bryan that he could leave but that I had to stay. Bry knew it was all downhill from there.

CPR certified and future Nurse

2008-10-23T20:12:00.000-04:00

Don't Worry guys, I can now save your life. After taking a 5 hour course with no break, I have now performed CPR on a mannequin a gazillion times. Does this mean I will be able to perform it on a real person in a stressful situation? I sure hope so. I just hope I don't catch a disease from performing mouth to mouth on the mannequin.

My first few weeks at Ameritech nursing school have been great. Most of my teachers are very educated and very passionate about nursing. It's also very refreshing to attend Ameritech because it is a lot different from the "bubble" at BYU. I feel a little intimidated though because most of the people in my class have been working as CNAs for many years. I've heard you can get your CNA liscence in a week, so even though its tough work, I kind of want to do that so I can have the experience before I work as an RN. I guess it'll make me appreciate it even more when I am a nurse.

I have been kind of nervous because Ameritech's nursing program is newer and I've heard rumors that I could have a harder time finding a job, but I just talked to my friend's mom and she graduated from Ameritech last June. She said that I would have no problem finding a job and that she is making $35 an hour with just her associates from ameritech. So, there you go! Its pretty cool because there are people of all ages in my class (even a grandma!) who have wanted to be nurses since they were little and finally have an opportunity. So if anyone has had a lifelong dream of being a nurse, here is your chance!

Happy Birthday Bryan

2008-10-16T23:22:00.000-04:00

I'm putting these up a little late, but here are some pics from Bry's birthday....

I got him some hair clippers...so we can save lots of money on future. We have been trying to live frugally, So we decided to get cash for all of our expenses on food, date, and other misc expenses. We put them into envelopes. This sounded like a great idea. However the only problem was that we lost one of the envelopes which had $80 in it. I don't think we will be using that method anymore.

Bry gave himself a sweet hair cut the other day. He is a natural, I don't even know why there are cosmetologists (I am using this term only because my hair school friends get mad at me if I don't.)

This was my first time making lasagna. Bryan loved it. But, Bryan loves all food, so I don't know if that is saying much.
And the cake!! (his favorite is lemon meringue pie, but his sister, Beth made it the day before, and it was amazing, so I was off the hook.)I snagged some BYU football tickets for his B-day as well. This was the first year that we both don't have all sports passes, and it has been kind of sad. It was way fun to go to a game, but it was freezing. Luckily we both were bundled up. Bryan made sure that I was dressed very warm, because somehow I always seem to be 10 degrees colder than him.

Our 1 month anniversary

2008-09-30T00:31:00.000-04:00

We can't believe we have married for over a month now. It really has been the best month ever. Here are some pictures from our honeymoon.

We had so much fun on our cruise. It was so relaxing to not have to worry about food or cars. We went on zip lines in Mazatlan. It was very fun. We felt like Tarzan swinging through the trees.

Bryan and I taking the Bus to provo to save a little money on gas. We love it cuz it is so easy and we can just study or sleep.

We went on a hike last Tuesday to celebrate our 1 month anniversary. We went up in cottonwood canyon. It was beautiful and relaxing.

Our Wedding Day

2008-09-01T01:36:00.000-04:00

We are married! Our wedding day seriously feels like a dream to us. Everything seemed to have gone so smoothly. We were surrounded by everyone that we love and felt the love from all those around us. We are so excited to start our lives together!