Nebraska Trip

Andrew, my mom and I left for Nebraska at 5 am on August 10.  We had Tevita and his wife Cristi stay at the house while we were gone.  The drive to Nebraska was quick.  I drove the first few hours and then Andrew and my mom took the rest of the trip.  The first night we went straight to my grandma Pat’s and had dinner with Grandma, Julie and Emily.  Grandma made these pizzas on bread and had fresh tomatoes.  Unfortunately, I could only have a bite of the yummy tomatoes because a few days before I had eaten a cinnamon candy, and apparently I’m allergic to Cinnamon so my mouth had blisters in it and it was excruciating to eat acidic foods.

 The next day we went boating and fishing with my dad.  We caught about 12 fish.  Andrew and my dad ended up eating it all that night.  I couldn’t eat any because I’m not supposed to eat fresh fish, especially out of the Elkhorn River, but I could tell little V wanted some. 

On Monday evening we went out to the Fremont Lakes with the Smith side of the family.  We did some boating, the boys tubed and then we barbequed.  It was a great time.  The rest of the week, we spent most of our time boating on the river with my dad.  We didn’t get in the water too much this year because the river was so low there was hardly any to swim in.  Andrew did get in one time and had the genius idea that we should stir up the flying carp and he would attempt to catch one.  HAHA that was a fail, but it was fun to watch.  Last year the flying carp were just beginning to enter the river system and now they have almost taken over.  They are crazy little creatures.  The vibrations in the water cause them to jump out of the water and go crazy.  We found it amusing to drive the boat where we knew they were and watch them fly around.  (My dad even had one land in his boat the week before we got there). 

The day before we left, we had the Oltjenbruns family out for a fish fry.  It was great to see everyone, including old friends that I hadn’t seen in years.  Everyone enjoyed lots of fish, boat rides and catching up.  The next morning we left my dads at 4:15 am and started our LONG journey home. 

We had such a great trip and already can’t wait to go back.  I love going to Nebraska and love that I get to go every year with my best friend.  We had so much fun together and I love how well he gets along and fits in with my family. 

 Cat fish

 Me and Kenz

 Corn Toss- Andrew dominated

Dad, Me and Andy

We are having a boy!

Once again I have fallen behind on blogging, but I am attempting to catch up.  So back in May Andrew and I found out that I am pregnant.  We waited a few weeks before telling our families and waited even longer before telling everyone else.  I was so excited when I found out.  I took one test and there was a very faint line, so I quickly took another which a definite positive and then for fun I took another.  Once it had sunk in I jumped around my room doing heal kicks.  Andrew was at work when I found out and didn't know I was taking the test.  It was so hard not to call him and tell him the news, but to make it a little easier I called and told him I had a surprise for him when he got home.  I then made a path through the house with string that had words taped to it.  The string led to a big box full of pink and blue balloons and under them was a piece of paper that concluded the string of words, pretty much just saying "we are going to have a baby!"

The first couple of weeks after I found out I was pregnant I felt great and couldn't even tell I was pregnant.  Starting around the third week I began feeling VERY sick.  I couldn't get out of bed without having to run to bathroom to vomit.  I would drink water and within 10 min it was coming up.  Smells were horrible.  Just being in our house made me sick, so I spent a lot of time in bed or outside where I could get some fresh air.  Being consistently sick lasted about 4 weeks and I ended up losing quite a bit of weight and am just starting to get to my starting weight.  I think being pregnant is the most amazing thing ever and I love every part of it so I tried not to complain too much, but I know there were times I definitely whined a little to Andrew.

I am now 18 weeks along and we know we are having a BOY!!  I finally "popped" last week and started to show.  I still don't look very pregnant and really just look like I'm getting a gut, but it's coming along.  Andrew and I already can't wait for our little guy to get here.  Andrew talks to the baby every morning and night and it's so fun to hear what he says.  We also registered after we found out we were having a boy.  That started out being a blast.  We took a couple of the girls that live with us along and they helped pick things out.  By the end I was tired and ready to be done.


That is all for now.  Here are a few pics.

13 weeks

17 weeks

From No Kids To 7…. Teenagers

Wow, the last 10 days could definitely be considered the busiest days of my life, so much that I haven’t been able to blog and I am determined to stay current.  Andrew and I started a new adventure 10 days ago that has kept us quite busy.    On Friday, March 2, Andrew and I woke up early to finish our packing or start our packing…. We had a ton to do.  Then Mom, Ran and Kristine came over at noon to help load up vehicles and move to our new home in Riverton.   Our new home is a day treatment and VTL house owned by Vista, the company I work for.  This means that we are now the house parents of teenage girls.  So far things have been busy, but it’s nice to have kids around and it makes our home feel more “homey”.  We are excited for all of the new experiences and challenges we will face!

25 Years and I finally Tried It

Growing up in Utah where the greatest snow on Earth falls every winter, you would think that at some point in my 25 years I would have taken the opportunity to try my luck with skiing.  Well I hadn't until Megan and her cousin from Nebraska, Kyle, decided to take me.  We went to the Brighton Ski Resort.

At this ski resort, like all others I'm sure, it seemed like everyone had been skiing for years; and that included the 5 year old's on their little ski's zipping down the mountain.  In the past I had tried out snowboarding and absolutely hated it! Seeing all of those little kids on their skis doing so well got me excited.  The first two hours were two of the most frustrating hours I have ever spent trying something new.  My body contorted in to positions that I never knew existed.  The highlight of the first hal of the day was when I decided to try and go through a little terrain...apparently I went in to the wrong section, because as soon as i went off to the beaten path the snow got really soft and deep, I did the splits, sunk in to the snow and fell head first in to the snow so that only my backside was uncovered...My skis were so far in to the snow that i could not reach them to un-clip the boots, it literally took me five minutes to push myself in to an upright position.

After our lunch break things began to get better.  I was actually able to make it down the mountain without falling every five seconds.  By the end of the day I was able to make it down the mountain with only falling maybe once or twice, and I was having fun.

I really did enjoy skiing.  Enough so that I day dreamed about the feeling of carving back and forth down the mountain for the next week.  I had a blast and am excited to go back!  Thank you Meg!

Antigua

Our second stop was in Antigua.  We learned a lot about the culture in Antigua, which was really neat.  Everyone there (the locals) were so friendly.  We started out our day by doing do a zip line tour over the rain forest.  I was a little nervous at first, especially after watching a lady do it and slam one of the workers into the tree because she didn't slow down, but it ended up being a lot of fun.  After zip lining we caught a cab to a beach from a cab driver named Charkie.  He was awesome, he took us past his house, told us about his life and gave us some advice on life.  At the beach we ended up renting a jet ski for $20 (much cheaper than Lake Havasu).  We then made our way back to the port where wedid more shopping.

 This was the beach we went to, the water was so blue

St. Thomas-2011

Our first port we stopped at on the cruise was St Thomas.  We had debated booking an excursion here, but after doing some research we decided we would "wing it" and we are glad that we did.  We ended up going to Magen's Bay.  It was so beautiful!  We took a cab there around 8 am and we were able to walk down the beach a few hundred yards to a secluded spot.  We played in the water and on the beach for a few hours before making our way back to the shopping area, where we spend a couple hours shopping.  It was a great start to the cruise!

Some kid walked by ad wrote this in the sand while Andrew was playing in the water and I was tanning.  Andrew thought it was hilarious so he snapped a picture.

Our goal was to write in the sand and take a picture at each place we stopped in. 

The Cruise

Andrew and I have talked about going on a cruise ever since we were engaged, but all we ever did was talk.  We decided that if we didn't just do it we probably never would, especially once we have kids.  So back in April we got online and decided to book one.  We didn't think about it too much, we just did it.

We waited 7 months from the time we booked the cruise to the time we left and by the time it came it was a much needed vacation.  Andrew and I were both completely overwhelmed with full-time work, full-time school and coaching basketball and we were beginning to get worn down.  Our flight left from SLC at midnight on Dec 2, so Andrew went home after the sophomore basketball game to get things ready and I rushed home after the varsity game so we could get to the airport to catch our flight.  I had imagined that red eye flying would be the way to go because we could just sleep........ WRONG!  It was the most uncomfortable flight ever.  We ended up making it to Fort Lauderdale around 9 AM, we checked into our hotel and slept until about 3pm.  That night we went sight seeing, shopping, got pedicures and ate delicious Italian food.

The next morning, Dec 3 we boarded the ship and we were off!  We spent the first two days at sea and that lead to us eating a substantial amount of mediocre food (the food wasn't as great as everyone says.  Andrew enjoyed it, but he just loves all food) and laying out most of the day.  The second night was a formal night.  We got all dressed up and headed down to dinner just to turn around and go back  to our room because I was sea sick.  I felt really bad, but we ended up having our dinner in our room, where you couldn't feel the boat move as much.  After the two long days at sea we began stopping at different ports including St Thoman, Antigua, Tortola and Nassau.  I'm going to attempt to do separate blog posts for each stop.  I can't guarantee that I'll get to all of them, but I will try.  Below are a couple pictures from florida.

 Getting Pedis in Fort Lauderdale

 Hanging out on the Serenity Deck.

Laying out

Black Friday

I know I'm a few weeks late but I'm trying to catch up on blogging.  The last few years I've been becoming quite the fan of black friday.  I love how I can get most of my Christmas shopping done in one day and I love how excited it makes me for Christmas.  This year I went with my best friend Haley.  I picked her up around 11:30 PM and we made it to Target by midnight even though we got lost.  Target was an absolute madhouse, but we each got everything we needed after hours of standing in line.  After target we got lost once again (this is a typical thing when Haley and I are together, luckily we both have husbands now that we can call to help us find our way) and then made our way to the mall.  We ended up shopping from about midnight to 2 PM.  It was so fun to spend the day catching up and shopping with Haley and I'm already looking forward to next years Black Friday!

Herniated Disc?

This morning at practice, the girls were running a sweet 16 and I decided I would run it with them. I ran with them all the time last year, but this morning it was early and I didn’t warm up and at about the 8th line I started feeling a sharp pain in my lower back every time I would bend down to touch the line. I probably should have stopped, but I finished it out and now I’m regretting it. I can barely move and every step I take shoots a pain down my spine. My guess is that it’s a herniated disc and if that’s the case I’m hoping with some rest it will go away within a few days. I guess this is what I have to look forward to as I get older .

Mr and Mrs Coach Vera

Basketball started last Monday and a couple days before I was able to convince Andrew to help me. I was a little skeptical at first and I don’t even know why. He is amazing to work with and he seems to enjoy it as much as I do. I am so excited about this season. We have some very talented girls and all of them have great work ethic.