Back From An Amazing Trip

I'm going to have to post this vacation in several posts because there is so much and I don't have a lot of time to just sit down and write everything - besides I don't want to leave anything out. So I'll start with last Friday because that is when all the fun began.

On Friday, July 24th - Mom and I left my Uncle Paul's house around 10:30am and headed down to San Deigo so we could catch our cruise ship. We managed to get down there and on the ship by 2:30. By then we were both very tired but very excited to start our cruise. Mom, of course, started to take pictures of everything - so I took a picture of her taking a picture of me while I was taking a picture of her when we first got to our room.

Afterwards Mom and I decided to go exploring the ship. We went to Tiffany's diner for lunch and both had a garden salad, and Mom had dessert after which I skipped.

Then we wandered around the decks, looking at the views of San Diego and enjoying the scenery.

There was one seagull that seemed to follow us everywhere we went, and as I've never seen one that close I took a picture.


Right before we started to sail everyone was asked to put on our lifejackets and head up to where our stations were at. We were on the top deck so we got to enjoy the fresh air while everyone else was crammed inside. Mom and I looked pretty silly with our lifejackets on - Mom fell asleep with her jacket on while we waited for the meeting to start. I guess she was really tired from being so excited about being on her first cruise. I couldn't have slept if I wanted to - those things were heavy! And very uncomfortable, glad I don't have to wear one all the time.

After the meeting was over we were free to do what we wanted. Mom and I went back to the room where she unpacked her suitcase. I decided to just live out of mine so she'd have more space for her things. We went to the dining room after that for dinner. Mom had the steak and I had the grilled chicken with vegetables. And they were good vegetables - not like the disgusting ones you get when you go out to eat. They had carrots and broccoli so it was enjoyable, even though I wasn't really hungry.

When we got back to our room after dinner we had a surprise waiting for us. Mom had a little stingray on her bed, made out of towels with her sunglasses for eyes. Mom didn't have a clue what it was and wondered what the heck was on her bed. When I told her it was a stingray she loved it. We thought it was so cute.

We went out on the deck for one last look at the ocean as the sun began to sink that night and were treated to a beautiful sunset over the water.

We watched the sun disappear and as it finally sank we saw a dark spot in the water - it breached several times and on the second time it came up I recognized it for what it was. We were watching a whale breach the surface for air. It was so cool!

After the sun went down and the air got too cold to stand in we went down to the main theater and finished the last of the "Guess that show" game then joined in for bingo. After that they had a comedian and he was very enjoyable. We went to bed after that and fell asleep with the ocean and the ship gently rocking us to sleep.

I promise I'll add more soon - but it'll have to be later this weekend, I still need to work tomorrow.

Time Won't Wait

It has been a little crazy lately, but not anything I can't handle. Last week was pretty enjoyable, except for the fact that the shots I had to get at the doctors to stop me from getting sick when Mom andI go on vacation to Mexico next week made me so sick on Wednesday that I could barely move and I didn't want to eat because I was so nauseated. I came home early from work that day and slept most of the afternoon away. Melinda and I had planned on going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead, but it turned out that it didn't work for her either so we are going Friday instead.

I did get to try out different hairstyles for the wedding though. Sue came over last Monday and we tried different ways on which we could do it and I really liked two styles a lot. The first picture is a side view of the first style and the second picture is what the back would look like, although the curls will be tighter. And I finally decided that this is the one I want to go for because it'll be easier to do with my veil.

These next two pictures I really liked as well - although the front was going to be a little bit different, so it wouldn't have the zig-zag part. But I really liked how elegant it looked, even though it was really simple.

Last Friday was Mom's birthday and we went to a Jon Schmidt concert. Mike and I had a lot of fun entertaining ourselves while waiting for the concert to start. Perhaps a little too much fun because Mom threatened to seperate us if we couldn't behave. :)

The concert was a lot of fun and Mike and I both really enjoyed it. He was skeptical when I told him it was a piano concert, but he had a good time and really liked the music. And I fell in love with Waterfall.

On Saturday Mike and I decided to do a scary movie night. I rented Friday the 13th - the newer one - and he brought Prom Night, Boogey Man 2, Boogey Man 3, and My Bloody Valentine with him. We ended up watching Friday the 13th - which scared him, Prom Night - which we both thought was dumb, When A Stranger Calls, and My Bloody Valentine. Friday the 13th was fun because Mike jumped a couple times. It made me laugh. And My Bloody Valentine was fun since we watched it in 3D after dark so things seemed to fly out of the screen. After My Bloody Valentine we decided to call it a night, it was late and we were both tired. Mike left all his movies here and told me to just add them to my collection. So I need to find time to re-alphabetize my DVD's in the CD organizers so they'll be in alphabetical order.

Sunday we went to Melinda and Brents for dinner and to do birthday for Mom. I had the giggles thanks to sharing so M&M's with Mike as well as sour cream and onion chips - apparently those two things don't mix. So I was nicknamed "The Gigglebox", Dana from Wayside Stories From Wayside School.

Monday Mike, Mom, and I went down to get our shots for traveling out of country. The receptionist there was a real winner. Mom dubbed her "The Wicked Witch of the West" while we were waiting for our turn. We were done by quarter after tweleve. I headed back home to pick Jack up from the groomers and get movie tickets for Harry Potter since Mike and I are going on a double date with Rose and her husband Chris on Thursday to see it. Then I ran down to JoAnn's because my friend Brigette had promised me she save me some boxes so I could use them for packing. I wasn't expecting a cart load of boxes, and they filled up my trunk and most of my backseat. I spent the rest of the day packing.

Today I really didn't want to go anywhere, so I stayed in my pajamas all day. I packed a bit, did some laundry, the dishes, played with Jack since he's stuck inside for a few days while the fertilizer sinks in, organized my boxes so they don't take up so much room in the spare room I'm keeping them in, and cooked my very first pot roast all by myself. I was so happy when it wasn't disgusting. I was keeping my fingers crossed until I took my first bite - but it was tender and juicy - even though it didn't have a whole lot of flavor so I had to add some salt and pepper to it once I took it out of the pot - but hey, it was edible, and that's what I cared about. Now I can add that to the list of things I know how to cook!

Mike had class tonight so he didn't get to try it but he can have some later this week. We have a wedding to go to tomorrow, Ashley Lamb's, so we will be heading down there around five or so. And since I decided to go with the curls instead of the French twist for my wedding I asked Sue if she could do a French twist for me tomorrow for Ashley's wedding, so she's coming over to help me with it. It is going to be a crazy week, but I need to try and stay on top of things, because time isn't going to wait.

Cooking Up A Storm

Well this week has been a pretty slow and rather tiring one, but crazy at times too. Work was pretty much dead most of the week so they kept sending us home, so I got to spend more time with Mike. He's almost all the way caught up on the second season of Supernatural now so that's good - almost two down and then only two more to go. We've got a little less than two months to finish getting him caught up - but I think we'll make it.

Mike wanted to try a few new dishes that I make this week. So I made homemade macaroni and cheese on Friday. He doesn't like the boxed kind, and neither do I. It tastes like it is made of fake cheese and it is really rubbery. So when I told Mike I knew how to make homemade macaroni he was really excited - and told me I'd have to show his mom how to do it. He said I couldn't just give her the receipe because she still wouldn't be able to make it. I figured I'd let him try it first to see what he thinks before I had his mom make it. He loved it, which shouldn't really surprise me. He's liked everything I've made so far - he isn't that picky. I had made lasagna early this week as well, and he loves that too - even though he's had it before.

I decided to be brave and invite his parents over for dinner and decided to make cream cheese chicken, a dish I've never attempted before. His parents accepted my invitation and I invited Melinda and Brent over as well, and they too accepted the invitation. I was a little nervous because I'd never made it before so I got started on it early thawing out the chicken and preparing the butter and italian dressing mix so I could put the chicken in the crock pot before I got ready for church.

Mike came over around 12:30 since I was starting my temple prep classes today and asked him if he'd come with me - he'd do just about anything for me so he didn't mind coming along. We had fast and testimony meeting and Mike and I both went up and beared our testimonys. Temple prep class was amazing, I haven't felt the spirit that strong in I don't even know how long! It was the most amazing feeling! We came home after temple prep class so I could finish up details on dinner. I was somewhat relieve, and I'm being honest here, to walk in the door and smell the warm scent of the chicken and when I checked it - just to be sure that the chicken on top was cooking as well I was relieved. I had doubled the amount of chicken called for because we had eight people coming for dinner and I wanted to make sure I'd have enough to feed everyone. So I was happy that the top pieces of chicken were white and not pink.

Arla and Albert arrived around quarter after five or so and Melinda and Brent weren't far behind. Dinner was served shortly after. Mom had dragged out her good china and got the rolls out of the oven while I was putting the corn into a serving dish. Everything was perfect. I was happy that it tasted just as good as when Melinda would make it for us. Albert really enjoyed it - and turned to tell my mom how much he liked it thinking that she'd made it. She explained that I'd made it so he turned around and told me.

Mike told his mom now she knew why he didn't come home for dinner anymore. She said she could think of five good reasons and four of them were on the plate in front of her. Everyone really enjoyed it - so dinner was a success. Melinda brought cupcakes for dessert so we had our choice of what flavors we'd like. I had chocolate peanut butter - but I wouldn't let Mike have both ice cream and a cupcake because his blood sugar has been really high lately. So he had some rocky road ice cream instead. I still want to try some of the blueberry lemonade cupcakes Melinda brought - but it'll have to be later.

But one thing's for sure - I'm feeling better about my cooking skills now that I've stepped out of my box and tried a few new things. It's good to know that I'll have more than five things to feed to Mike after we get married! :)

Love Makes You Blind

Well it has been a long but a good weekend. I got to spend some down time with some girlfriends and was brave and tried a new dish I've never attempted on my own before. My poor fiance was the guinea pig.

Saturday work was pretty slow, and I was a little stressed the whole time I was there, knowing that Rose was going to come pick me up somewhere between 12:30pm and 1:00pm so we could go to Chantel's and spend some girltime together, have lunch, and watch a couple movies. When they said we could leave after I'd been there about three hours I decided to go ahead and take the early out.

Mom was getting ready to leave when I got home, so I had the house pretty much to myself for a couple hours, spending most of it praticing the piano for my lesson this Wednesday, trying to perfect my Lavender Blue, Lavender Green song. Still having some problems with the timing I think and I'm getting a little frustrated that I'm struggling with it.

Rose came over while I was taking a break from my lesson song and playing Never Smile At A Crocodile. I grabbed my stuff and we headed to Chantel's. Her husband was asleep on the couch when we got there so we hung out at their dining table and just caught up on stuff, having a few laughs and watched while Chantel's two boys claimed all of her attention. Little Asher is trying to stand up and take his first steps now so it won't be long before he is walking around like his big brother Ryker. The boys were very entertaining to watch, Chantel usually changed them at the same time and if Ryker cried, Asher would. Even though Asher had already been changed and had no reason to cry. It is obvious that Ryker is his role model...but that goes the same way for Ryker, because if Asher cried so would Ryker. And usually they'd cry for no reason. It made Rose and I laugh a little.

Asher spent most of his time pulling on the straps of my purse or chewing on my key chains. He found my Metallicar the most appealing as he always went for that one first. Poor little Metallicar. :)

We finally got lunch just before four and afterwards decided to watch 27 Dresses, which was a wasted effort because Ryker kept turning off the TV, upset that we weren't watching cartoons. It was funny at first but then Chantel got really mad and took him in to see his daddy where he got in big trouble. Afterwards he gave it up and started bullying his little brother while Chantel was trying to feed him strained sweet potatoes. Asher kept crying, and who wouldn't if someone kept pushing down on your head and was using it as leverage so they could jump up and down? But eventually he got his dinner in him and Ryker settled down just as the movie ended. Chantel said she liked what she got to see of it, even though that wasn't very much.

Chantel kept busy with Ryker, who decided he wanted to throw some of her decorations at us, and was having a good time doing it. Rose relaxed on the couch, and I kept busy trying to stop Asher from playing with the cords that hooked up the TV as I was the one closest to him. Finally I just picked him up, set him on my hip and began to rock back and forth soothingly. As it was well after seven and with a belly full it didn't take long for Asher to fall asleep. Chantel and Rose both thought it was cute when Asher snuggled into my chest, shoulder, and neck, but continued to sleep contentedly while I rocked him. Chantel is very excited for both Rose and I to have kids so we can get together for play dates.

Rose and I left around 8:30pm or so. I told mom how they'd teased me a little when I told them my worries and fears about being married, but even though they did they understood how I felt. It is so nice to have some friends who've been so supportive of my marrying Mike because a lot of my other friends have been really rude and have said things that have really made me upset. I'm just really glad that I never put any of my friends - or even my sister through what I've gone through. I've always been supportive and encouraging, knowing that what goes around comes around. So I just don't understand why some people are saying what they're saying to me.

Sunday was a bit easier, and harder in some ways. I decided to make stew, which I've never done on my own before. In fact I've never done most of the leg work for it before, usually just watched my mom and then forgot how to do it. Saturday I made a list of the things I'd need and told mom I wanted to do it on my own to see if I could. So before church I browned the meat and put it in the crock pot before I left. I had to leave early because Bishop Britto wanted to talk to me about temple prep classes.

I came home after the first meeting because I had rolls to start, and upon getting home was told the home teachers were coming. President Nielson and his partner came over and talked to us for a little while, and asked if Mike and I were official. Even though we were official at Mary's bridal shower. He brought us some of Mary's cake - far too much for us to eat on our own, so it is probably going to go hard and get thrown out. I started on the rolls after they left, and found it hard with dad in the kitchen scrounging around for something to eat. Finally I kicked him out because the kitchen is too small with him in there while I'm trying to work.

Mike got here about 3:30pm and I discovered that I wouldn't have enough time to do rolls before the stew was ready, so I put those on hold and quickly whipped up some cornbread before finishing the stew. Mom helped a little with the gravy but now I know how to do it so next time I'll be able to do the whole thing on my own. I think that by the time I was done with the stew though I was so sick of stew that I didn't think it tasted that great. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it though and Mike, as usual, was impressed. But he is pretty easy to please. Next time I make it I'll have to make sure Melinda and Brent are available to be guinea pigs. Melinda is an excellent cook and Brent knows good food when he tastes it so I'll let them decide. I had some for lunch today though and it tasted much better than it did yesterday so who knows?

Mike went home soon after that to finish his homework so we could spend a little time together today. We spent it at the pool. We swam around in one of the lanes, usually with him chasing me as he is a much better swimmer than I am. He did laps around me and had fun dragging me around the shallow end of the pool - needless to say I didn't get much excercise. But it was fun to spend the time with him. And I got to see his scar for the first time - although it isn't as bad as he made it out to be. Maybe I'm just not fussy - or maybe it's true what they say. Love makes you blind. :)

The Family Reunion

Mike came and picked us up a little after eight. He had brought his mother's dog Peaches with him, since he had watched her the night before. Jack and Peaches seemed to hit it off, so we loaded the dogs up in the backseat of his car and hit the road.

Mike and I listened to a mixture of music from my iPod, which he'd asked if I'd bring along. It was a relaxing ride for the most part, with only the occasional pockets of rain bouncing off the windshield. The dogs napped in the backseat, and since they each had half, Jack usually napped with his nose up on the door, so only the tip of his nose was visible through the window.

Halfway down Peaches climbed onto my lap, so we stopped at the gas station to get her some jerky since she hadn't eaten at all the night before or that morning. She seemed happy with her treat, and we gave some to Jack as well, then finished off the last leg of our trip without incident.

When we got to the church we discovered that the reunion was being held inside because the wind had kept blowing the decorations and table clothes off the tables outside. Jack, Mike, and I all played outside for a bit before we put him back in the car and headed inside for lunch and activities. Everyone there was very nice and welcoming.

After a barbequed lunch including hotdogs, hamburgers, and side dishes we had a program talking about Mike's great grandparents and grandparents. No one at our table was really listening. I kept distracting Mike by teasing the ends of his hair, rubbing the tip of my finger along his neck, and teasing the sensitive hair on the tops of his ears. He was giggling and jerking away from me because he is ticklish in all of those spots. I was trying hard to control my own giggles as his twin brother Matt reached over and grabbed Mike's knee making him jerk and squirm away. Arla was watching us from across the table suppressing her own laughter while Albert talked loudly to his neighbors.

After the program was over they had a game to see who was listening. Arla knew most of the answers so all the grandkids circled around her asking her what they were so they could get a prize. Mike answered one question correctly, but wasn't acknowledged for it. He pouted about it until Arla said he could have her prize if she won one. She did. Although it was pretty girly as it was a sign with a little wooden girl on it and a bottle of purple bubble bath. Mike decided he could live without a prize after all.

We left soon after the auction started and headed home. Jack was tired and cramped from being in the car most of the day and halfway home decided he wanted a turn to sit on my lap. He was much too big and found that my lap was far too small for him to sit on but he wouldn't budge. Eventually I had to lay my seat flat and push him off my lap to get him to move. He stubbornly laid on the floor while Mike and I played a Disney guessing game - trying to guess which song came from what Disney movie. He lost horribly. But we had a good time.

We got home just before five both of us tired from the long day of traveling and being social, so he didn't linger long. Jack and I went upstairs exhausted and relaxed together on the bed, happy that the day was coming to an end.

An Interesting Weekend

Well the weekend has been an interesting one I must say. Friday work was really slow and after two hours, and getting down to 1,000 images work sent us home. I came home and played with Jack pulling his ears up into a ponytail, which he seemed to enjoy. He pranced around the room making his ears/ponytail bounce and was having such a good time that Mom and I decided to take pictures for Stephen. Jack didn't want his picture taken and instantly became camera shy, but in the end we got pictures of him with his ears tied up.

After having our fun Jack and I helped clean up the house while Mom ran to the doctors before I left to meet her at Fantasy Bridal to help her pick out her gown. On the way down I called Melinda, hoping that she would help me pull my hair up differently for Mike's family reunion that I had to go to the next day. Melinda said she'd be happy to help so I helped Mom select a dress and then headed for Melinda's.

I really enjoyed spending some quality time with my sister - since we don't do it that often anymore. And after I get married myself that time will again be cut in half as I try to settle in with my new husband and try to adapt to a married life and try to adjust to a new situation with the holidays approaching.

Jack was playing with Mom in the backyard when I got home so he had to have a bath before he could come in for the night since he was going down to the reunion with us the next day. He, as always, enjoyed his bath and we both turned in early.

Overwhelmed With Wedding Plans

I don't know how faithful I will be with a blog, but I've had a blog for a while and have never done anything with it so I figured it was time to start. And since I'm planning my wedding it might give me a little reprieve now and then from the stress of everything.

I've been engaged about two months now, and I'm still reeling from the fact than in about five months I'll be a "Mrs.". I'm so excited that I found the best man I think I could have to get married to. Mike and I are both very excited to start our lives together and having children of our own. Although we might have our hands full with two dogs since Jack is moving out with us and he wants a puppy for Christmas. Which is fine with me, as long as he trains it. He decided he wants one of the hardest dog breeds to train so he'll have his work cut out for him.

We are still unsure of which house we'll be moving into after the wedding, he would still prefer the three story house to the four story house but I don't really care either way. As long as we have enough rooms for our children when we have them.

We've booked our reception hall and photographer. I'm still looking at bouquets before I contact the florist to get a general idea of what I'd like before I make an appointment. It'll save time in the long run. Melinda has been a tremendous help with this and sent me a few links with really good ideas, and I found a bouquet I really liked on one site, with a few slight altercations.

We're hoping everything will run smooth until August when I have to get my dress fitted so we can be ready for our photos in September. We're hoping that by getting on top of things now we won't be so stressed as the big day approaches. It doesn't seem as if it can get here fast enough, but with the way the year is passing November, 27th will be here before we know it.