Meet Bella

For Jayah's fifth birthday, we decided to get her a puppy. And since she doesnt get a little sister this year, we decided on a girl puppy. 

Meet Bella. Our American Bulldog puppy. 

This was on the second day we got her, the day we gave her to Jayah.

This is when we bought her a bed. It matches her cute collar and everything!

 She's pretty cute, huh? Well cute is all she is! I have never had a dog before, so she has been somewhat of a challenge for me. Sometimes I am sure that I hate her. I just hope and pray that this puppy is no indication of how I will be as a mother...

This is trying to take her on a walk. She definitely hates her leash.

In her defense, she has gotten a lot better. She has less accidents and doesn't bark and whine all night. Jaymeson thinks she gets a little jealous of me because every time we sit on the couch together, she barks and snaps at me. That is the only time she barks or snaps at anyone, except the little kids in the neighborhood who try to carry her around like a baby. Jaymeson is also sure that she is going to become my best friend, so much so that I will want her to sleep with us. I disagree. She stinks!

Jayah sure loves her though!

The day Jayah met Bella.

Getting Bella's first shots.

 In pregnancy related news, I am now 25 weeks and very fat. I feel the baby kicking constantly, and sometimes I am sure he is break dancing in there. 

Feeling pretty good these days, think I am starting to get a little heartburn though...

Anyone know of any heartburn solutions? (other than Tums)

...I have started to crave things like mustard and sour skittles. In which I haven't been holding back one bit. Probably why I have gained 16 lbs! In the words of my nurse, "Wow, you sure have jumped up!" Thanks. My belly measured at 24 centimeters though, so I guess I am "right on track". 

My next appointment is the glucose test, and also my first shot in the butt. And then I will be in my 3rd trimester. Woot! 

Did I mention we bought a house? We closed a month ago. I love it! It's nice having our own space and having room to just be. It is mostly put together, but I am sure things will always change. Our neighborhood is super cute, with a park right in the middle of our little square. There are TONS of children for Jayah to play with. I can even watch her at the park from my kitchen! One of our neighbors said it is like recess all the time out there. It was a long and hectic process to get here, but we are finally here!

  

 

Oh yea! I got a Samsung Tablet! Happy birthday to me... 4 months later. My dad got me an Amazon giftcard for my birthday that I have been just waiting to find the perfect thing to use it on. I wanted to buy a crib with it, but Jaymeson and my dad convinced me that I needed to use it on myself. It was hard, because I dont like spending unnecessary money, but they were right! Sometimes you just need to spoil yourself. And I cant remember the last time I did that! I love it so far, but still getting used to the Android system. 

Speaking of that, does anyone know how to watch tv shows for free on this thing? I dont mean like on Netflix, I mean current shows. How am I supposed to keep up to date on American Idol without cable!?

Jayah had her first school pictures a week or two ago. She is just so cute! She is loving her Kindergarten Prep class. She also had Kindergarten Orientation last week! I can't believe she is FIVE and almost in Kindergarten! 

April 2013

Jayah eating milk and cookies at Kindergarten Orientation.

 She started a soccer class at her school. They flew in some Brazil soccer players for a 7 week soccer camp, and she is loving it! I am so impressed by how talented she is athletically. Jaymeson and I took her to the park last week and played some soccer with her and she did so well! I can't wait for her to start on a team and to be able to be her coach! I miss soccer so much! 

 

She is also enjoying her dance class. She is quite the little ballerina! She is having a performance this summer where they are dancing to the music from The Wizard of Oz. She gets to be the wicked witch! Her teacher has been so impressed at how well she is doing, that she even gets to have a solo or two in the performance

Anyways, I think that is all for now. Work has been super busy, but I will try to post more often. See ya next time!

Meet the Parents, Part 1

It started on a cold and dreary Wednesday afternoon in Draper, UT. We (I) spent a few hours packing and preparing snacks and lunches for the long 24 hour trek to Houston, TX, while Jaymeson spent a few hours primping, (yes, primping) so he'd look good when he pumped the gas every couple of hours.

After the preparation was complete, we got onto I-15, and started driving south. Twenty-Five minutes into the drive, we missed our exit. Made a short detour, and got on our way.

Okay okay, I won't be that ridiculous about it. :)

Jaymeson and I had seven goals to accomplish on this trip to Texas. One: Eat real Mexican Food. Two: Eat real BBQ. Three: Eat Blue Bell Ice Cream. Four: Wrestle with an alligator. Five: Not get any tickets. Six: See dolphins. And Seven: Spend time on an island.

The drive wasn't too bad. Jaymeson was determined to stay awake the entire time. I drove most of the way there, and he drove most of the way back. We didn't have bad weather either way, which was nice. On the way there, I took Jaymeson on a surprise detour to the Dallas Cowboys Stadium! He was so excited. Jaymeson is the biggest Dallas Cowboys fan you will ever meet. We did a tour around the stadium, and bought a few souveniers, and had a good time making lifelong memories.

Jaymeson's now 2nd favorite Cowboys hat. (I bought him the 1st at the stadium.)

Here is Jaymeson, just working, at the Cowboys Stadium.

After our Dallas detour, we went on to Aggieland! College Station, TX, home of Texas A&M University. Four out of Six of my siblings, plus three spouses, one niece, and one set of grandparents live there. My mom, my littlest brother, and one of my uncles happened to be visiting at the same time as well. We spent the night hanging out with my family, telling embarrassing stories, and being competitive with one another. It was fun! Jaymeson really enjoyed hanging out with my family. Goal number one was accomplished here. (As well as a few other times on this trip...) We went out to dinner with the fam. to Pappasitos! My favorite Mexican restaurant.

Welcome to Aggieland!

The next day was Friday, and also my birthday! My brother and sister in law made a really nice breakfast for me and Jaymeson and we spent the morning with them. Then we went off to have lunch with my mom and my grandpa, where we accomplished goal number two! (and also goal number three) My grandpa took us to his favorite cute little BBQ place. Jaymeson was shocked at how good the BBQ was there, and he has been craving it ever since. We also had Blue Bell vanilla ice cream, which is my favorite, and the best ice cream in the world. It is only available in Utah at Carabbas and Outback Steakhouse, where you can order a 1/2 gallon for $50. ...right. Then my grandpa took us on a tour of the Texas A&M campus and stadium. Jaymeson learned a lot about the Texas A&M traditions and I think he fell just as in love with the school as I am. Maybe someday I'll get to go there. :) Then we headed off to Houston, (Just an hour and a half away) where my dad, one of my little brothers, and my little sister were. (Shannon was also in College Station, she just loves me so much that she followed me to Kingwood :) ) We spent the evening with my dad, going through old pictures and telling stories, and checking out some fun Christmas lights around the city. And then my dad took us to see the new Sherlock Holmes. We went pretty late... and I warned them I would fall asleep, but they didn't believe me. Needless to say, I'll need to see that movie again.

Heaven on Earth

Us at the A&M Stadium

Us at the famous "Santa's Village" in Kingwood

The next morning, we ate breakfast and headed off to Galveston. Which happens to be the place where I was born, and also an island! Check off number six and seven off our list. We walked along the shoreline, toured the city, and then I ate my first real seafood at Joe's Crab Shack on the seawall. It wasn't as bad as I thought either. There is just something about eating food that still looks like its alive that just gets to me. Afterwards, we toured more of the city, including the ship that I was named after (The Elissa), and took a few rides on the ferry. We rode it a few times looking for dolphins, and just as I was getting discouraged about finding some, Jaymeson goes "Watch, right before we get there, we'll see some..." And right as he said that, there they were! Swimming next to the ferry. It was so fun. Jaymeson was so excited to see dolphins, it was so cute! That night was New Years Eve, so we drove down Moody Gardens to see the Festival of Lights. We also toured the "Rainforest Pyramid" and watched a 4D movie. :) It was fun! Then we went up to the Kemah Boardwalk for a firework show. I had never been to the Boardwalk before, so it was kind of fun. Carnivals, and restaurants, and shopping. It was a pretty foggy, and humid night so the fireworks weren't that great, but it was fun to see the reflections of the fireworks on the Gulf.

On the beach

On the ferry

Crab Legs

"Gotta go eat at Joes"

Us at the "Elissa"

Me and my Dad at Moody Gardens

Next day, Jaymeson and I decided to see if we could accomplish our fourth goal: to wrestle with an alligator. We headed off to Lake Houston and scoped the area. Kingwood is a cool little community. It's nicknamed the "Livable Forest" because it is just that... a livable forest. Trees everywhere! There are also fun trails throughout the city called "green belts". We walked along the shore down the side of the greenbelts, and searched for alligator eyes. We saw some snakes, and a bunch of turtles out on the logs, but no alligators. As we were walking along side of the shore, Jaymeson saw "little teeny feet", as he likes to say, swimming underneath the leaves, he reached in and pulled out a BABY turtle. Seriously, it was TINY! It could fit into the palm of a brand new babies hand. He was so excited about it, that we decided to take it home to surprise Jayah. We headed off to a pet store (where we did see baby alligators) and got the right supplies so this little turtle could survive the trip home. That night, we spent time with my dad, visited the Houston Temple, had more real Mexican food, and watched the Dallas game. We headed off late that night, back to Utah.

See that teeny green circle in the middle? That's Rafael.  :)

Me and my Dad at the Houston, TX LDS Temple

Overall, it was a short and simple trip. It was good to see my family, and good for my family to finally meet Jaymeson. Everyone got along really well, and Jaymeson was sad to leave. He even talked in a Texas accent the whole way home. :) We're both excited to go back again sometime this Summer, and bring Jayah with us. Every time I see her, she asks me if it's time to go to Texas yet. Haha!

Here's Jayah, very excited about her turtle! :)

The bad news is, we failed to accomplish goal número cinco: to not get any tickets. Monticello police snuck up on us just after getting gas, and we got a ticket, just a few short hours from home.

Dang.

A special surprise...

I had the opportunity to surprise Jaymeson and his daughter with a very special video yesterday morning that brought them both to tears.

Jaymeson had a lot of videos and pictures of Jayah growing up, learning to walk, and learning to talk on his old blackberry phone. He no longer had the phone and had no way to get the pictures and videos off of his tiny little SIM card, which made him really sad that he would probably never be able to see them again.

After weeks of trying to figure out a way, I finally found someone (Justin Smith) who had the same phone that Jaymeson used to have, that could put the SIM card in and download all of the information for me.

After I looked at all the adorable little videos of Jayah, I decided I wanted to put together a special video to make him cry. (That was my goal... and it worked. haha)

Kristi Teshima and I worked on this video for weeks. We had a few other people help us gather more pictures and videos, and I secretly questioned Jaymeson about songs and sayings that meant things to him and Jayah until it slowly all came together and we had enough material to make a video.

I came over to Jaymeson's house early Saturday morning while he was still sleeping, stuck it into his DVD player and turned it on. He woke up to the sound of one of the lullabies he used to sing Jayah to sleep with and came out to see the video playing in the DVD player.

It was a very sweet moment for him, and I'm grateful I was able to capture and put together something special for him that he will have for the rest of his life.

Here it is: :)

Day 31 - A picture of yourself, plus some thoughts.

Well, day 31 seems completely pointless to me, but I hate the feeling of not finishing... so here it is.

A picture of me. (and Jaymeson)

And that's it! Thank you Photo Challenge for filling the last few months of my blog.

Now, I have some random thoughts for the day.

I was just sitting here talking to my roommates and I was thinking about something that I learned from my recent volunteering experiences that I think everyone should know and apply to their own lives.

Last semester, I volunteered at a mini shelter for children who are taken from their broken and/or abusive home lives to stay until they are put into foster care. I worked with the younger kids so my sole role was to play. I got to sit there for 4-8 hours every Saturday and just play with kids from ages 0-8 years old. These kids are hurting, they are struggling, and they are confused. We weren't allowed to probe them for information or answers as to why they had bruises all over their faces, but we were allowed to listen if the children had grown to trust us and had freely given us the information. The purpose of this little half way house that I volunteered in was to help and show the children what a normal lifestyle is like. Most of the kids had been forced to grow up way to fast, and we wanted them to be kids. To forget everything else, and just be kids.

Before I was able to start volunteering I went through extensive background checks and "training". Which is where the source of this blog post comes from. The most important thing that I think I learned in training was to "validate their feelings." It took me a while to figure out what exactly that meant, but when I did, it opened up my mind, and my relationships to a whole new level.

"Validate their feelings". How simple and important is that! We may not understand, or agree with the way people are feeling sometimes, but regardless, they still do feel that way. And it's important to show them that it's okay for them to have those feelings. It's so easy to say "I understand why you feel that way", or "I'm sorry you feel that way" and it makes people feel that much better and helps them open up more to take them one step closer to a resolution.

Anyways, that was just a random thought I had earlier and thought I would share. That little piece of information has definitely helped strength relationships with my family, and my friends, and with significant others.

:)

Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change

Geez, it's been a while since I last posted. I've been so busy with work, and everything else that I haven't had time to write. Plus, I've been spending almost every waking moment at a certain someone's house, who doesn't have internet, that I haven't even had the opportunity to write. But now, he's moved (thank goodness), and will soon have internet. :)

I really need to finish this photo challenge thing.

So, a picture of something I wish I could change.

There are oh so many things that I want to write about this, like living in Provo, being friends with fake people, my job, my school, the uncontrollable ADD that I have, etc.. but I'll keep it simple and talk about my house.

Our house is amazing. I love the girls I live with, and it's a huge house for just the 3 of us, it's just so old. Me and Sarah have seriously considered ripping up the carpet, and knocking down walls (which are all possible with the help of my amazing boyfriend, who seems to be good at everything of the sort), we just have never had the time to do it.

Right now, we have hideous dark green carpet, and hotel room curtains in every room. And we've been told it smells like old people. So, we have plans to put hard wood floors in and upgrade the curtains, and stain the patio, and somehow lock in a "younger" scent to our home. We just need to find the time.

I don't have an accessible picture of MY home, so here's a picture of some random home I found on google.

Weird... I searched my address in google and a picture came up...

So here is it, ladies and gentleman...

Our home. Hopefully one of these days, I'll be able to post a picture of our newly remodeled home. I'll keep you updated. :)

Up next: Day 25 - A picture of your day

Day 5 - A picture of your favorite memory

Remember how I have a terrible memory?

...yea.

After trying to review my brain to remember a favorite memory--

I've settled on my 9th Birthday. December 30, 1997.

My dad is a cool guy. He's been in rock bands and country bands my whole life.

While my mom was pregnant with me, his band

(High Velocity, right Dad?) was on tour in Galveston, TX.

My mom went out to visit him, and while she was there, went into labor.

This picture is from a special trip I got to take with just my dad, back to Galveston.

Geez, look how nerdy I was.

I had never been there before, besides for a few days

in the hospital after I was born.

My dad and I went down that direction for a funeral

of one of his family members.

I think it was one of his uncles, or something.

On the way back, we spent a couple days in Galveston.

My dad showed me around everywhere.

We rode the trolley, he took me to the beach,

we toured the ship that I'm named after, The Elissa.

We rode the ferry, and watched for dolphins.

Speaking of riding the ferry... this picture is hilarious!

This is me being scared of the seagulls on the ferry. Haha!

That was an awesome trip. It was one of the few times I got to spend

with just my dad, and I loved every second of it!

P.S. My dad is a nut.

On the way home from Galveston, I remember that he

got pulled over while I was sleeping.

When he stopped, it woke me up, and I asked him

what we were doing, and he told me that

the cop just wanted to stop by and say hello.

Thanks Dad. Haha!

Next...

Day 6 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day