Christmas Card 2011

Last year we wanted to do a Christmas card with pictures of the year. But things got to busy and I didn't get it done. This year, a last minute quick project, I put one together for us and my parents. And yes....after we printed out the cards I realized that I misspelled "Merry"...but that is how I roll!! LOL, we truly hope that you all have a Merry Christmas. Love ya!!

A quote to think about...

“If I do not know the will of my Father, and what He requires of me in a certain transaction, if I ask Him to give me wisdom concerning any requirement in my life, or in regard to my own course, or that of my friends, my family, my children, or those that I preside over, and get no answer from Him, and then do the very best that my judgement will teach me, He is bound to own and honor that transaction, and He will do so to all intents and purposes.”

― Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses: Volume 3

I just thought this was a perfect quote....I wanted to remember it and thought I would share it with others...

A new update....

Wow, it has been a crazy long time since I have posted...All that I can say is...Life is crazy!! So here are some updates on us:

1. In July, after a lot of discussion and prayer, Joe decided to change his major to Business Management with an emphasis in Sports Management. Therefore, ISU was the closest University that offered that Major. Therefore, we needed to move to Idaho, and I would have to change my clinical site for Ultrasound...

2. After contacting my program's advisor at Weber State, I contacted the hospitals on her list and finally found out that I was accepted into St. Luke's in Twin Falls. Not our first choice, but with the short notice and possibility for both of us to do what we needed to do for school, we felt blessed.

3. We were beyond sad to quit working at Vivint together. Joe had been there since April 2010, and I started working there this year in April. We had desks right next to eachother....what a blast to work with your best friend!! I loved going to work with him :0) Also, after 6 1/2 years working at American Fork Hospital, I put in my notice. What a sad time!! I have loved my time at this hospital and have so many people that I love there. However, in all reality, it's pretty small and with not a lot of overturn. People that work there have been there for years, and will plan on dying there....since the economy downturn, nobody retires!! Therefore we felt that it was probably a blessing to cut the cord and try something new.

4. Since we were going to loose insurance, Joe and I decided to do a quick checkup to the dentist.....yuck!! Not my favorite people!! Joe had to have all four of his wisdom teeth pulled, and I had to have a root canal. I was peived!! I have been going to the dentist every 6 months for 6 years, and have a clean bill of health. And now a root canal....whatever!! Long story, and a few specialists later, I finally have my crown. I NEVER want to see another dentist again. I kindof think I will take my dad's advice, you don't go to the dentist then you don't have anything wrong ;0)

5. Kevin came for a visit for a few days. We were sad to not see the rest of the family, but with how far Ohio is, the price of so many plane tickets, and asking for time off for Rachel (she is a RN), we were pretty excited to see him at least. My family hadn't seen him since we were married, so it was good. And the best part of all of it, was he helped us move!!

6. Moving.....I always have dreaded moving, but it's a constant thing in our lives. However, considering everything, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Kevin, my mom, and Stephanie came and helped us pack, clean, and move everything. We are so blessed to have such a great family. Now we are renting a storage unit at Twin Falls...it could get ugly when we have to move out...Maybe we can hope for another visit from a older brother....or any other takers!! ;0)




7. We are living in the basement of my parents' home in Arimo, Idaho while we figure things out. Due to it being such a quick decision, we didn't have time to find jobs or an apartment. But we are so grateful to them for letting us stay there for a few months. It's been nice and we have enjoyed the time. In August between my classes, we were able to get buddy passes from Joe's cousin, Sarah, and we flew to Ohio!! We were excited to see the kids, Rachel, and Kevin. They are growing up so fast...it kills me!! What a fun time, we were there 18 days and had a wonderful experience. We spent time on the wii with the boys, watched movies with Beth, and went to the Columbus temple (where Joe received his endowments). We went to a Reds game, toured downtown Cincinnati, and ate at a few favorite spots for Joe (Chicago Gyros, Penn Station, White Castle, and Rally's). Fun, fun, FUN!!

8. I am in the Weber State Ultrasound program. Therefore, once a month for 2-3 days we drive to Ogden. I am beyond stressed and worried about the program. I am hoping that one of these days it will finally click for me and I will understand it all. I remember feeling worried about the xray program, but then one day at clinicals it finally clicked and I lovced it!! The first semester we only take classes. I am taking 18 credits.....YIKES!! The second semester we will take classes and do 24 hours of clinicals a week. It's going to be intense, but it will be over December 2012, so that's going to be worth it....right?!?!!

9. Joe is taking courses via CSI online that will transfer directly over to ISU. They have an agreement with eachother, so we are excited about that.

10. And Joe had an interview with Allstate in Pocatello, which could be a huge blessing!! The pay is pretty great for this area, offers insurance, and tuition reimbursment (after 1 year of working, but it all adds up). So far we haven't had a lot of bites with our job applications. So we are praying that this works out. With the time I spend in studying, doing homework and taking tests, I probably won't be able to work and do this program....sad...so this job would be a blessing for the both of us.

Well, we hope that all is going well with you!! We love ya all, and send our best of wishes your way :0) I will post pictures soon....

Our First Anniversary!!

(One of our lilies that I have in a pot inside. They were so pretty!! I had to add it here)

I know that this is rediculous, but I feel like Joe and I have been married for five years!! LOL, and not in a bad way. It's hard to imagine my life without him. It has been a fun year, with a lot of changes and surprises. We have gone from me working two nights a week at ICU and being separated, to working desk to desk at Vivint 40 hours a week. A lot of people think that is crazy, and wouldn't enjoy being together 24/7, but Joe and I thrived off of it. We didn't mind going to work and we loved having the same schedules.

Some highlights of our first year:

• Married in a special temple for us, Salt Lake Temple
• Honeymoon to Seaworld, San Diego, and Disneyland
• Moving to our new place together in Pleasant Grove, UT
• Serving together in Primary teaching the 4 year olds
• Trip to Las Vegas
• Me graduating from the Radiology Tech. program
• Me getting accepted into the Ultrasound program
• Joe working at Vivint for over 15 months (in July he would be offered a big promotion of being over all of the techs for the summer offices)
• Trip back East to: Washington DC, Palmyra, Niagara Falls, and Kirtland

To celebrate our anniversary, we went to Lagoon (we bought season passes when they were at a great deal. We LOVE Lagoona Beach...we are water babies. The wetter we get, the happier we are!! We stayed at a hotel in Salt Lake and spent the 26th (a Sunday) walking around the Salt Lake Temple. It was a wonderful time to reflect on our wedding day and all of the blessings that we have together.

They have a visitor's center that displays the rooms of the temple. It is so detailed an looks so much like the actual architecture inside. It is so beautiful, and we excited to take pictures of it.

This is a view of the Celestial Room, and the stairs lead to the room where Joe and I were sealed last year, June 26th 2010.

Joe's 29th Birthday

I am not as daring as my husband, so I didn't sing "Happy Birthday" to him at work. Instead I made plans to go to the Salt Lake Bees game a weekend before his birthday. He was beyond surprised, which made me so happy. But before we went, we stopped at Red Lobster...

Red Lobster is his favorite restaurant and we enjoyed another day of spoiling. We then drove to the game...

He wanted the game to go on FOREVER, and he almost got his wish...

And a little added surprise, Pablo Sandoval was injured and recooperating. So we were able to see him hit some balls. LOL, he hit a home run and we were both so excited and cheering, while the rest of the stadium was silent...I guess we were cheering for the opposing team ;0)

Happy Birthday, LOVE!! I hope that you know how special you are, and how much I love you!!

Joe's skin head...

I love Joe's hair. It is soft and thick. However, the poor guy hates it. If he had it his way, he would shave it all off. So after a while of hearing him complain and it getting hotter during the summer, I finally gave him his wish.

A couple of weeks later, it was getting longer again...so I biced it!! He was so happy!! He looks a little scary, but it gradually wore on me...

My 30th Birthday

Wow....I can't believe that I am 30!?!! It a was a wonderful birthday :0) It started out with being at work with my hubby at Vivint, and he comes up the stairs, belting out "Happy Birthday" so the whole office can hear. What a silly guy, and I LOVE him!! He bought me pink flowers that were in a pot (they lasted forever, which made me so happy) and balloons.




We went to Red Lobster, where he bought me my first lobster...Oh My, Oh My!! It was fantastic!! Definately a favorite, and then their steak, potatoes and biscuits....Seriously, can it get better than that? So Yummy....

Vacation back East...Day 5

We woke up in Erie, PA and was excited to go to Niagara Falls and ride the Maid of the Mist. We started out, and I resumed my phone call with Expedia/Enterprise to change our drop off location to be Buffalo (because I was on hold last night for 45 minutes, and didn't get a response back after they put me on hold).

Once again, I was put on hold for a long time again, finally got through just to hear that there was going to be a drop off fee of $700...YIKES!?!?! We had originally looked at dropping it off at Boston, and it was only a $300 fee (but we didn't do it because we weren't sure about our plans due to busy airports and such). So needless to say, we for went that plan, decided to go back to Baltimore and call our boss to explain the situation...We were truly blessed to have an understanding boss and Rachel was beyond sweet to help us fix the mess.

We said goodbye to our Niagara Falls plan, and plugged in the directions to MapQuest. Just a side note, we would be lost without MapQuest, however it seems to me that they are constantly taking us away from the freeways and bringing us into the scenic route. I knew I should have bought a map...but being cheap, and each state was $5, and we would have gone through 3-4 states...we did MapQuest. But we didn't get lost, even though we were for sure that we had missed a turn here and there because the roads were endless and a little bit questionable!! LOL, but if it wasn't for MapQuest, we would have missed our experience in the Appalachian Mountains...and what fun would that be? I don't know how many of you have watched triller movies with the stars of hillbillies of the Appalachians...but we were constantly letting out nervous giggles when we felt we were lost...and the gas stations were clueless on how to get anywhere past 5 miles away and they DIDN't have maps...



But the drive was beautiful, and we enjoyed the time together...

Joe drove the WHOLE trip...what a trooper!!



Halfway through, we started getting into farms...





We got into Baltimore at 8:00, and I just HAD to see the ocean...unfortunately, it is only a Penninsula, so we couldn't see far out, but it was fun to smell salty sea air, and hear the water coming in...I LOVE WATER!! But especially the OCEAN!! It is so peaceful and just...PERFECT!! If I had my wish...we would always be near the ocean...if only it was closer to family...







We drove, and drove, and drove, and were beyond lost trying to get the the ocean and then to get back to Laurel, MD...meanwhile we ran into the Francis Scott Key Bridge. This is the view from the bridge, it was so pretty but sadly the picture doesn't capture it right...

Vacation back East...Day 4

Joe and I had planned to drive to New York or Boston from Niagara Falls, but when we ran into Kevin, we thoroughly enjoyed being with him. It had been a long time since we had seen him, so we decided to stay with him as long as possible. We called Rachel to see what the flights looked like, and Baltimore and Boston were full, so Buffalo was the best way to go. Perfect!! Then we decided to go with Kevin. He was going to go home to Cincinnatti, but we all decided to make a trip to Kirtland, OH.

On our drive on the freeway, we encountered ground hogs!! They were pretty big, just popping out of their holes here and there along the road. Kevin had to point them out to us, it was so fun to see them =0)

We absolutely loved our drive through Hyrum, OH. In fact...it would be hard to find a more beautiful countryside than that. I thought I got more pictures, but we did get this one of a cute Amish family...

What a nice, calm, but hardworking life the Amish must have...we felt a little envious and wished that we could be theire neighbors. We drove up to the John Johnson farm, where Emma and Joseph Smith stayed for awhile. They had experienced a lot of heartache here, a death of a baby boy, tar and feathering by mobs, but it was also a place where they received amazing testimonies and where their eyes were opened to the revelations of the Lord. This is the room where Joe (my Joe)visited in the Summer of 2008 with Kevin and his family...

It was here that Joe felt the Spirit so strongly, and Kevin invited him to act on those feelings by being baptized. I can't describe what a special experience this was for the three of us. For Kevin and Joe to remember that special moment where the miracle of conversion had taken place; and for me, to feel that love and Spirit, and to express an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for my Heavenly Father allowing me to be married for Eternity to this amazing man of faith. This will always be a special place for us...

We drove around the countryside, trying to find a Amish gift shop or a restaurant, but of course, it was Sunday...but we were able to go to the Kirtland Temple, and walk around it...

I had to go to Lake Erie...and after a little bit of detours, we finally made it!! Perfect timing for the sun to set...

However, do you think Joe would be brave enough to wade in the cold water with me? NO!! But I enjoyed myself anyways...

I love this man!! He is so good to me =0)

We stayed at Days Inn in Erie, PA.....and we were planning to go back to Niagara Falls to ride the Maid of the Mist before we flew out of Buffalo, NY. I called Expedia/Enterprise to make the arrangements...and 40 minutes later, I was still on hold!! It was late, and so I decided to hang up and try again in the morning.

Vacation back East...Day 3

We left the hotel in Auburn, NY and drove to the Peter Whitmer home. My camera batteries went dead =0( So I don't have any pictures!?! Oh well...it was a wonderful visit to stand on the same foundation when the first group of Saints met to partake of the Sacrament with the Restored Priesthood.

We then drove back to Palmyra and Kevin had brought his temple clothes and was able to do a session. Joe and I decided we wanted to walk through the Sacred Grove again, and then just relax and wait for Kevin to finish the session. We decided to drive to Niagara Falls and see one of the prettiest Wonders of the World...however the ferry Maid of the Mist was closed, along with many of the close up walkways. But we were able to walk around the sidewalks and enjoy the view.





We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Buffalo, NY and we ate at an authentic Chinese restaurant, which took us over 35 mins to get!! But it was sure good...

Vacation back East...Day 2

We left our hotel room in Bath, NY and drove towards Palmyra, NY (but really thinking that we were going to Niagara Falls). We absolutely loved the drive!! It was so green, cute red barns surrounded by farms...

It wasn't until I looked further on the directions (about 45 mins away from Palmyra) that I realized we had forgotten to update our MapQuest addresses!! LOL, we decided to keep going to Palmyra and enjoy the sites there.

We first went to the Hill Camorah, where Moroni had told Joseph Smith to go to receive the plates. It was very beautiful there. We were lucky to be there when they had the Hubble satellite pictures from the Space. The pictures were beautiful and it left us awestruck that to all of God's creations, He knew and understood each of us, and we were part of His plan. It was a profound experience...how appropriate that they were displayed at one of the places where God's plan was once again shown to man kind, after it had been lost for centuries. I love this picture because it almost looks like the Angel Moroni is speaking with Joe...

This is us on top of the Hill Cumorah looking down at the valley...



After the Hill Cumorah, we walked around the Palmyra Temple...

Then we went to the Smith Farm. We really wanted to have a special experience, and enjoy this moment, so we decided to go to the Sacred Grove first, and then take the tour. These are some pictures of our moment together there...

After we we left the Sacred Grove, we went through the tour and enjoyed hearing about the hardworking people the Smith family were, and how close they were to each other. When we were finished, we started to walk back to the car (we didn't go through the Sacred Grove, like the rest of the tour group took). As we were walking past the Smith log home, a man came up behind us and asked if we wanted our picture taken. We turned around to talk to him, and instead of a complete stranger...we saw a man that was about 6'2", blonde, and big smile across his face. It was my brother, Kevin!! What a surprise!! How in the world did he, who drove from Cincinnatti, OH to Kirtland, OH end up driving to Palmyra, NY last night at the same time that we did? We hadn't decided to go to Palmyra until last night, and even then we were "thinking" we were driving to Niagara Falls, NY.

We were delighted to see him, and felt that this was not just a coincidence. We drove up to the town and took the tour at the Grandin Bookstore, where The Book of Mormon was first published...

Vacation back East...Day 1

When we got married, Joe's cousin Sarah Scheideggar gave us quite a few Southwest Airline buddy passes. We were so excited because not only were we able to go to California for our Honeymoon, but we had some tickets left over for another trip!! So we were able to get time off of work (by the way, Joe and I work together at Vivint alarms, which has been so much fun!!).

Due to booked flights and bad weather, we made last minute decisions...needless to say we changed our minds every day of the trip. But that is what was the funnest part. We decided to fly into Balitmore, MD and then go where ever we wanted to go from there. It was kind of fun, scary but fun to not have a set plan...We stayed in Laurel, MD at the Garden Inn, just a half an hour north of Washington D.C

The first day we decided to see Washington D.C.... I had forgotten how long the Mall was...it seemed to go on forever!! We got off the subway and went to the Smithsonian of Natural History...










We didn't make it to the Capitol buiding, but we saw it from a distance...


I asked Joe what he REALLY wanted to see and he picked the Washington Monument...



This is the park that we went through to make it to the Lincoln Memorial...





The Lincoln Memorial...






Inside the Lincoln Memorial...





By the time we made it to the Lincoln Memorial the Jefferson Memorial we were too exhausted to go to the Jefferson Memorial. But here it is from a distance...



We went to walk by the White House...



While we were walking back to the subway, I kept asking people if they knew where the Ford Theatre was....nobody knew!! I was very disappointed...however, we were walking to the subway and there was a sign pointing towards it. Here is a beautiful Catholic Church that we passed on our journey...



But sadly we were 30 mins. short of making it ontime to have a tour for the Ford Theatre. :0( Oh well...




Afer the long day of touring, we decided to drive to Niagara Falls, NY. So we left Baltimore and started our drive at 7:00 in the evening...we drove through Maryland and Pennsylvania. We loved the city of Harrisburg, PA, it was very pretty with the Susquehannah River running through it. We were planning on staying in a hotel at Williamsport, PA. Joe, being the Baseball lover that he is, immediately recognized the town when we drove in. It is the place where the Little League World Series are held. It was a fun little bonus for us. However, when we got there, all of the hotels were booked up because of some oil spill in the region...even the hotels in the nearby towns were booked. LOL, it was very late, but we decided to keep driving until we could find a place...at 2:30 in the morning, after sweet talking the lady to giving us a nice discout, we were able to sleep for a few hours at a Super 8 Motel in Bath, NY...boy, what a relief!!