it just fitts

Fashion Friday

2012-01-27T14:19:00.003-07:00

Sorry, I took a break. The last 3 weeks have been full of major ups and downs. But I am back. I apologize for the silence.

This fashion Friday is a hair one.... I am obsessed with this haircut. I have been contemplating it for a couple months. Not sure I would want to go platinum again, but I LOVE IT.

What do you think?

ps. this is my sister's friend Becki, she runs whippycake.come (my favorite hair accessories. I will own all of them one day. :)

Simple Saturday

2012-01-07T16:09:00.002-07:00

You know how we girls seem to complicate things? I do. I overstress, I over-analyse, I over plan, the list goes on.

So on Saturday I like to look for things that might make my life a little more simple. Cody helps of course. He and I are obsessed with simplifying life, whether it be simplify the way we live, like doing without things we don't need, finding ways to save, or finding more efficient ways to do things. Its been a really nice. Its created more time for us to spend as a family, and made us aware of things that really matter, and things that really don't.

So on Saturday I will post things I have found. And hopefully you can make your life a little easier as well. Cause who couldn't use that?

So this Saturday Cody found something to help with meal planning. Click here for help from General Mills meal planner. You can search through hundreds of recipes, make your meal plan, and they also have coupons. :)

Happy Cooking!

Fashion Friday

2012-01-07T16:02:00.001-07:00

Love everything about this. Love the dress, I love blush colored things. Love the belt. I wish I had more of them. but hey, its all good. Distressed jean jacket, awesome.
What do you think?

Thrifty Thursday

2012-01-05T20:54:00.003-07:00

So I am obsessed with getting the best possible deals, repurposing things, making my own decor, ect.

So Thursday will be dedicated to the things I will be able to do myself affordably and which look fantastic! :) Cody says the stuff I make, makes our house feel more like a home (what a cornball, but you gotta love him!). I agree though, I like more rustic, imperfect, eclectic things. So these projects are perfect!

This one is also for those of you who recently welcomed a bundle, or are about to. :) It would be so cute for some wall art in your little one's room. I think I will do one for little E-Fizzy.

Click here for instructions. Enjoy! :)

Words of Wisdom Wednesday

2012-01-04T16:37:00.005-07:00

I thought I would do themed days on my blog because 1) it will make me blog, 2) so I would never be daunted by the blank page staring me in the face. I use this as kind of my outlet, and I know people who read it. So I just wanted to do something worth reading, as well as do something that helps myself.

So here we go. Our first Words of Wisdom Wednesday.

This one is from President George Albert Smith. I think it is as meaningful today as it was back when he said it during WWI.

“Though the world may be filled with distress, and the heavens gather blackness, and the vivid lightnings flash, and the earth quake from center to circumference, if we know that God lives, and our lives are righteous, we will be happy, there will be peace unspeakable because we know our Father approves our lives” (George Albert Smith, in Conference Report, Oct. 1915, p. 28).

Gives us hope in the face of the adversity & uncertainty the world always provides. :)

Back to Business

2012-01-03T16:06:00.007-07:00

There have been a few people giving me a hard time about not blogging for the last 5 months.

SORRY! But being a mom takes up a lot of my time as you can imagine. And I don't like taking time away from playing with Ezra to blog, because its not much of a necessity and he grows up so fast & I don't want to miss ANY of it. Plus between my Pinterest & Facebook I figured a lot of people knew what I was up to anyway :)

But with the new year I decided I would be better about it, and do it more while he was napping, or knocked out for the night.

So here is the deal...

Ezra is 8 months and 2 weeks old.

He has passed most of his first year milestones.

He has had teeth since he was 4 months old.

He started crawling around 6 months.

He started pulling himself up and standing at 7 months.

He started drinking out of a straw yesterday (guard your big gulps)

He has been sitting by himself since he was 6 months.

He has flown on an airplane I think about 8 times by now.

He has been on 2 road trips. (he is a travelling champ)

Oh dear he can do a lot of things....it seems like he learns a new one every single day.

He has been through all the major holidays. He had been alive for like a week when Easter hit. We did 4th of July in California (he slept through the fireworks). He dressed as a skeleton for Halloween (he glowed in the dark, it was great). He ate a lot at Thanksgiving, but hated stuffing. We did Christmas in Arizona which was awesome (more like the warm Christmases I know & love. White Christmases are HIGHLY overrated). He rang in the New Year driving home from AZ and then celebrating the countdown at home, and oh boy are we glad we spent it at home, this kid was DONE with people and any sort of noisiness.

Anyway. So that pretty much catches you up. We love our little dude, he has been so amazing to have around. Congratulations to those who also had additions to your family this year. As well as those who are awaiting the arrival in 2012, I know there are a lot of you.

Happy New Year. I hope 2012 is a great year. We have set some small goals, but even if nothing changed, I would still be one happy girl. I don't need more than I already have, and 2011 helped me realise that. Its been a good one, I hope things improve for those of you who could use some help wether it be jobs, homes, health, families etc. that you will find what you need this year. You will be in our thoughts & prayers this coming year. :)

Milestones

2011-07-09T23:26:00.003-06:00

My little E is getting to be a big boy and its driving me crazy. I can't believe how much he grows and learns from week to week.

He rolls from his tummy to his back and often as he can, he does it the quickest when he is mad. He has started to make loud hollaring noises for no apparent reason. He loves to stand as often and as long as you will let him. (He has been doing it for about 3 or more weeks now, but he is getting too good at it). Ezra will stop crying if you give him a drop of lemonade or vitamin water ;), loves straws. His favorite thing to have in his mouth would have to be his hands, so yummy; paci is a close second.

Ezra usually only gets up once during the night. Daddy usually gets up with him. Its their special male bonding time. He loves to cuddle with mom, he nuzzles right up under my face, its the cutest thing ever, and I never want it to end. He has to fall asleep either hanging on my necklace or the neck of my shirt. :)

He talks a lot, just not sure what it is he is saying, but he is sure excited about it. My little Boogs is possibly the most smiley, and bright eyed 12 week old anyone has ever seen! I love my boy. I just can't believe how quickly he is growing up. It is bitter sweet. It makes my heart ache to see him grow, and to realize that these are phases that quickly pass, but he gets more fun every day. :) Lets hope he remains mommy's cuddle bug for a few years...I can't get enough of it!

If you like hair accessories...

2011-06-27T11:28:00.002-06:00

You will want to check this out. My sister's friend makes these awesome hair flowers, bows, and appliques. Click here to check them out! She is doing a giveaway right now, so now is as good a time as any!

Looking up...

2011-06-21T16:30:00.003-06:00

So things haven't been super hard or taxing or anything like that. Its just now that things are starting to take on a schedule and I have more time to myself while Ezra naps and likes to sit in his Bumbo. I am actually really excited. I can paint things outside now that the weather is nice (consistently), set up my glue gun and craft table on the deck and enjoy the sun, the breeze....ugh! It sounds like heaven right now.

On Tuesdays I go to the park with the other moms in the ward that don't work. :) So there is a designated day, and time, that I get some adult interaction. We can talk about things that only we would understand. Like how much you love your child, but on some occasions when it just feels like you barely survived the day without pulling your hair out. :) And how many more of those you have to look forward to! I have friends in my ward, but this week I made a new friend. She is a transplant just like me, so that makes things nice, and we can relate on a lot of things. So naturally we have a lot to talk about, and she is a stay at home mom as well, so there is lots of time for that!

Cody and I have also started paying attention to the things here that we can take advantage of. Like the other day when went to the Gateway (the outdoor mall) for the Chalk Art Festival. It wasn't anything spectacular, we just got to walk around as a family, enjoy the art, and have day outside in nice weather. There are gorgeous places to hike near our house, there is the Farmer's Market in downtown SLC, the Hogle Zoo, Heritage Park, the Aquarium, Handcart Days in Bountiful, countless things that Cody would never think to do because he has lived here his whole life and barely done any of it. So I am looking forward to doing things here as a couple, a family, and hopefully being able to like living in Utah just a little bit. Because we all know I have a hard time even tolerating it a lot of the time. (Sorry, but its SO true)

So things are looking up.... I have read 3 books (since Sunday), I have had Ezra down for at least 2-3 naps a day for the last couple weeks (which usually last about 2-3 hours each), I have been planning my trip to California next week (and this time Cody is even coming with me!), and I have started making goals of things I want to learn how to do and a list of crafts I want to try and tackle. So all in all, its been one of the best weeks so far as mom, not mention my little man hit two months last Friday! Can you believe it? He's the best, not to mention the cutest! He is just growing way too fast. I love it so much, he is just getting to be more fun every day.

So here's to a good start of normalcy, and lets hope this keeps up! :)

Ezra's Firsts...

2011-05-26T14:25:00.004-06:00

Who doesn't love a sleeping baby picture??

Ezra's favorite thing is bathtime. :) I love the way he smells afterward!

Before his haircut...its getting too long.

After!

He gets cuter everyday!

On to the post!

Well its been a busy couple of weeks for our little man. He has had many awesome experiences and has been growing like crazy.

This past weekend Ezra went on his first airplane ride outside the womb, and visited Arizona for the first time ever. It was a last minute decision, but Cody bought us a plane ticket to visit my sister, her 3 children, my dad, and my mom would be there too.

Fallon, my niece who turned 6, has been telling me for the past 6 months that she "needed to hold and love that baby". So as it turned out, my mom was going to visit them for Fallon's 6th birthday, and to see her & Emery play their last soccer games. So I thought, wouldn't it be fun if I surprised my nieces and nephew and my mom and dad???
So Erin & I conspired and found me a flight that came in only 20 minutes before my mom. She didn't tell the girls, or my dad that Ezra and I too was coming to play, and my mom had NO idea.

So on Thursday, Fallon's birthday, I flew out (Ezra was a champ on the plane, and security and everything turned out to be a breeze).

I had Erin pick me up and then we went to the park & wait. Porter didn't know what hit him. He had been napping in the car and when he woke up Ezra and I were in the car. He kept staring in disbelief, and looking back at me to make sure I was in fact still there.

Then my mom called to tell Erin she had arrived. Here we go!!! So we went to find her, and I hid in the back seat when she opened the front door to greet my sister and Porter. Finally she went to open the hatch to put her stuff in the back and I nearly gave her a heart attack! She seriously shreaked out loud!

Then we went to lunch, and we were off to go pick up the girls from school. They didn't know my mom was coming either, so they thought it was just a regular school day, no surprises. Fallon gets out a little bit before Emery, so Erin walks her to the car. First she sees my mom, and she starts running...then when she tried to get in the car, Ezra's seat is in the way (I was holding him in the 3rd row, so there was no baby in the seat). She was quite confused...she just said..."a baby??", she started walking to the other side of the car to get in, and you hear her put it together and scream "EZRA!!!". Emery did the same thing. Needless to say, it was a fun day. Fallon had an awesome birthday.

We took them to swim lessons, they went to soccer practice, and were so excited to show my mom and I what they could do. Friday we went to Fallon's kindergarten program where they sang lots of cute songs. Saturday was the last soccer games, the girls did great. Emery did some awesome stops as the goaly, and scored a goal when she got out on the field. Fallon showed off her ball handling and team skills and assisted a great goal. :) What talented girls!

We had a fun weekend, spent lots of quality time and just enjoyed eachother's company. (I hadn't seen Erin, Emery, Fallon & Porter since mid-February). The only things missing were my sister Kelly, her husband Randy, and their son, Rhett. Wish you were there. But we called Kelly nearly every day! :)

While we were there, I started noticing how long little E's mohawk was...so Wednesday I decided to cut it. He stayed pretty still, so it turned out pretty good :) (If I do say so myself).

Like I said, its been crazy around here, and lots of first for the little man, with tons more to come.

Glad he could meet 3 of his cousins, his auntie, uncle Jeff, and Papa for the first time. They ate him up almost as much as his mommy does every day. :)

We will look forward to meeting auntie Kelly, uncle Randy and cousin Rhett next week when they are here!

Love you guys!

Manners

2011-05-11T21:19:00.000-06:00

I was reading through things today and came across this article, 25 Manners Every Kid Should Know Before Age 9. Hopefully I can teach these to Ezra before he is 9! :) I will copy the list for you, I thought it was interesting.

1. When asking for something, say 'Please'. -most kids know this one pretty early on
2. When receiving something, say 'Thank You ' - also one kids usually know
3. Do not interrupt grown-ups who are talking to eachother unless its an emergency. They will notice you and respond when they are finished talking. -I don't know many kids that are good at this one....
4. If you need to get someone's attention right away, use the phrase 'excuse me', it is the most polite way to enter a conversation.
5. When you have any doubt about doing something, ask for permission first. It can save many hours of grief later. -so true.
6.The world is not interested in what you dislike. Keep negative opinions to yourself, or between you and your friends, and out of earshot of adults. - I have been working on this one myself.
7. Do not comment on other people's physical characteristics unless, of course, it's to compliment them, which is always welcome. -kids say the darndest things!
8. When people ask how you are, tell them and ask how they are.
9. When you have spent time at a friends house, remember to thank his or her parents for having you over and for the good time you had.
10. Knock on closed doors and wait to see if there is a response before entering.
11. When you make a phone call, introduce yourself first and then ask to speak with the person you are calling. -most adults don't even do this.
12. Be appreciative and say 'thank you' for any gift you receive. In the age of e-mail, a handwritten thank you note can have a powerful effect.
13. Never use foul language in front of adults. -I would say don't use them at all, they make you sound ignorant and unoriginal.
14. Don't call people mean names. -almost inevitable for kids.
15. Do not make fun of anyone for any reason. Teasing shows others you are weak, and ganging up on someone else is cruel.
16.Even if a play or assembly is boring, sit through it quietly and pretent you are interested. The performers and presenters are doing their best. - this is a tough one.
17. If you bump into someone, immediately say 'excuse me'.
18. Cover your mouth with you cough and sneeze, and do not pick your nose in public. -or pick your nose at all....
19. As you walk through a door, look to see if you can hold it open for someone else.
20. If you come across a parent, a teacher, or a neighbor working on something, ask if you can help. If they say 'yes', do so--you may learn something new.
21. When an adult asks you for a favor, do it without grumbling and with a smile. -ugh!
22. When someone helps you, say 'thank you'. That person will likely want to help you again. This is especially true with teachers! -not sure this is true, but my kids better say thank you! :)
23. Use eating utensils properly. If you are unsure how to do so, ask your parents to teach you or watch what adults do. - I would add, chew with your mouth closed to this one...
24. Keep a napkin on your lap; use it to wipe your mouth when necessary.
25. Don't reach for things at the table, ask to have them passed.

Some of these obviously are more important than others. But I would agree that people should know these and try to teach their children. I will be trying my best! But I have some time. My little boy is only 3 1/2 weeks old. :)

Ezra Jonathan Fitts

2011-04-27T16:10:00.003-06:00

Ezra finally decided to join us on Sunday, April 17, 2011 at 4:06pm. He was 7lbs. 15oz. and 20 1/2 inches long.
I went into labor on Saturday night, and stayed home until I couldn't stand the contractions anymore, and they were around 5 minutes apart. I started having stronger contractions around 2:30pm, and we waited until around 9:45pm to go in.
When we got there, Ezra decided to stop labor...but since I was over they decided that they wouldn't send me home, and they would start me. So they broke my water (weirdest feeling ever) and started me on pitocin. As soon as they did that I asked for my epidural. Wow, was that the best thing ever! One of the craziest things not to be able to move your legs, or to feel anyone touching them, or your stomach, you can just feel the baby move like you used to because of the pressure they put on your insides ;).
So we hung out, watched movies and waited while things progressed. Cody got some sleep, I didn't get much...funny thing...my epidural machine stopped working for a little while, so I went natural for a bit...wouldn't recommend it. It was AWFUL! See, I and my nurse didn't notice that the light in the machine had gone off, so it stopped working. And by the time I had figured it out, I was going through contractions feeling everything. Cody tried to get me to push my nurse call button, but I kept telling him she would come back soon, and I didn't want to be THAT patient. She did come back, and got me hooked up to another machine, but I had to wait for it to set in...ugh!
Around 18 hours into it, they discovered that poor little Ezra was trying his darnedest to get his head through my pelvic bones, but he couldn't fit. He was just a little too big of a baby for my body. So they broke the news to Cody that they would be doing a C-section. I have never seen Cody so panicked. So he quickly gave me a blessing and suited up for the OR.
Everything went well, and he was out and crying within 15 minutes or so. I don't think things could have gone any better. It really was what was best for both Ezra and I. My delivery doctor, Dr. Ward was amazing, love him, he stitched me up good and prescribed some good drugs!
The nurses at LDS Hospital were awesome. They took such good care of us, I didn't have to worry about one thing!
Poor nurses thought I was going to pass out. Little did they know that I hadn't slept in almost 2 days, and my eyes would try to roll back in my head every time someone would talk to me. And I didn't want to hold Ezra too much, because I was afraid I would fall alseep and my grasp on him would loosen. Luckily they took him to the nursery that night so I could start catching up on my sleep.
We got home on Wednesday the 20th, and life has gone on. It seems like Ezra has been here longer than 10 days.
But both of us are doing well. I was off pain meds after only 2 or 3 days home, and I have been up walking, and functioning as normally as possible. I still am not allowed to lift anything over 10lbs, or do laundry, cook, or vacuum, but I unloaded the dishwasher, washed dishes, straightened my house, and just hang out with my little man.
My mom has been nice enough to stay with us and do all the things I can't for 2 weeks. Its just going to be hard to see her go! :)
Ezra has been such a good baby. He eats well, he sleeps pretty well, especially for his age, and he is just one happy, relaxed, easy going little boy! We love having him here. I just don't want him to grow up, he has already changed so much. :( Love this little boy, he's the best.

Cody and his look-alike. You can definitely tell he is Ezra's daddy.

He loves to snuggle with his mommy!

His skin is gorgeous!

He loves his hands, and his paci...

He is such a happy little guy that brings such a sweet spirit into our home. We are truly blessed to have such a sweet, loving, pure little child of God in our home. I couldn't have asked for more. :)

We love you Ezra!

Modesty Overload?

2011-04-14T15:14:00.005-06:00

I'm all about modesty, and modest is hottest and all that, and as a Young Women's leader I encourage it...but, are you kidding me? Is it just me, or is this bathingsuit taking that a little too far? I can do a one piece, I usually do a tankini that more than covers my stomach and some tasteful bottoms. Am I scandalous? WHOA! I can totally understand someone who is not comfortable with their body wearing something like this. Whatever makes you more comfortable. But I would never make my kid wear something like this because I thought everything else was skanky...my honest first thought was polygamist... Can you tell I'm at home bored out of my mind???

Eviction Notice

2011-04-12T18:06:00.003-06:00

So as most of you know my due date is tomorrow...and this wouldn't be that big of a deal had I not been hearing "you won't make it to your due date" from 2 different doctors the WHOLE time. Word to the wise if you are a doctor...DO NOT tell your patients this no matter what you think will happen. It makes it that much more discouraging when you make it to week 40!

To make matters worse, I was going to go in to talk to my midwife Gretchen about my options as far as induction and things like that (cause she can tell I am beyond done and he is just being stubborn) and what do you know, 30 minutes before my appt. she gets called to labor and delivery. So I have to see Sandae (pronounced Sandy, why her parents did that to her, I don't know), who does not believe in induction and tells me I am doing great and I am "progressing", a word I have learned to detest, it means nothing to me anymore, and I can schedule to see Gretchen again on Friday. For the love of all that is good and holy, I do not want to make it to Friday with this person still inside my body!!!

The texts and phone calls of "any baby yet?", "have you popped?", "any news?" do not help. They just remind me of the fact that yes, I am indeed still at home, waiting....my favorite are people that look me right in the eye and say "oh, you are still here?" obviously....I know you are just excited, but please refrain from comments like these to me, and any one else that is in this position. Its just awful. And if you have been in this position before and still insist on commentary like this, shame on you! hahaha.

I am glad he has made it to full term, I am glad he is healthy, I am glad we are in "the home stretch", but Little E, ITS TIME TO GO! Mommy is tired of caring you, and all of your glorious vital fluids and extras, which make me so front heavy...consider this your notice of eviction.

But we love you! :)

Happy Retirement

2011-03-20T15:23:00.002-06:00

So the time has come to say goodbye to my paying full time job. Now we wait for my unsalaried full time job to begin.

It was actually harder than I thought to let go. I have been earning my own money since I was 11, and have had a constant full time job since I was 15. So the thought of me not having a set time to be at a set place to do a job is SO WEIRD!

I loved working, I loved being able to help Cody provide for our family and get ourselves as far ahead financially as we possibly could. (Not to mention the fact I am insufferably independent and self sufficient, it drives poor Codes bonkers). I can't say that I won't be trying to find ways to make money, I still do hair at our house, I make hair accessories, and I will be trying out some other things, but as far as a scheduled Mon-Thur. or Mon-Fri. job, I am retired.
I am also excited at the prospect of being able to go back to school at some point. :) I am not sure how many of my credits will transfer between California and Utah, but even if I have to start over, I wouldn't mind. I really enjoy school.

Cody was sweet and took me out for my little retirement party. I think he has been more excited than anyone else for me to be done working. He has been beaming all week at the prospect of me being home and not having to get up early or stay at work late. What a sweetheart. He has been waiting for this for some months now and has had a countdown for weeks. I have been anxious and unsure.

For the next couple of days I have a list of things to get done, but after that, I don't know what I will do to occupy my time. Maybe curl up and read an entire book? Take naps while I still can? Deep clean every room in our house? I have a couple things I want to make for little E, lets hope I can get it all done, and hope he gets here by or before his due date in 24 days!!!!
Then life as we know it will be turned upside down!

I am very aware that I am one very lucky girl. Cody has gone above and beyond to make sure that I can stay home and raise our son and I will be eternally grateful. Not everyone is able to stay home and raise their family, but I have the blessing of being able to do so. For those of you who do both work full or part time and parent, I don't know how you do it! But I am hoping that I don't have to find out. :)

My Valentine

2011-02-15T10:57:00.002-07:00

(Not the best picture, but I like it)

I learned something a couple years ago, the simplest things in life make you the happiest. Thats why a little over a year ago we decided as a family we would keep everything in our lives as simple as possible. So this Valentine's Day we were thinking wether we would abandon that idea for our "Last Valentines Day" with just us, and go all out. But quickly decided, no way, that just wouldn't be our style.
So we tried to see if we knew some of the simplest things the other one loved. So what did Cody get this year??? Pastry! The bakery we used for our wedding is closed on Mondays, so I had to find an alternate this time, but Cody said it was just as good. The boy is a fool for eclairs and anything with custard or cream. He couldn't have been happier when I walked in the door with that box (1. because he had been trying to get ahold of me for like 45 min, but I wasn't answering my phone, and he called my work and I wasn't there. So he was starting to freak out, and 2. because he knew I had been being sneaky and knew what was in the box.)
I was told to change my clothes and put on a jacket. I got one of my favorite things in the entire world...a nice long walk OUTSIDE!!!! (if you know me well, you know the time outside, and good weather is what I miss most about home). You might be thinking, wow this guy is a go getter...(sarcasm), but no really, he couldn't know me better. That is exactly what I would have wanted, well that, and he took me out to dinner for one of my favorite meals. What can we say, we are food people! :)
But we quickly realized, sitting there enjoying our time together, how it wasn't our "Last Valentine's Day", but we get to add another member to our party next year and share with him our favorite things. I'm sure he will be a big fan of bakery treats and any amount of time spent outside. :) So I think he might just make it that much more fun. :) It may not be everyone else's idea of a wonderfully romantic Valentine's evening, but it was perfect for us.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYBODY!

Sad but true...

2011-02-10T15:45:00.004-07:00

I have had a hard time getting too psyched about our little guy getting here. I try not to get over excited, just in case. I have had friends who have lost children up to 36 weeks of pregnancy, or have them get here only to have them depart shortly there after. Its been stuck in my mind since I found out I was pregnant at 6 weeks. And the thoughts never entirely leave. I know a lot of my friends wondered why I waited until I was about 20 weeks or more to say anything about us having a baby, and that was why.

I have had so many friends with so many tragic stories that I find it hard thinking it couldn't happen to me. They are such good people, the best of people, yet they faced such awful trials.

As I hear of these things I can't help but think, if it happened to you, why wouldn't it happen to me? Why would I deserve all of this, with no problems, when you have had so much happen to you?

We didn't ask for our son, we weren't trying to have a baby. Yet there are people who can't have them, who lose them, or have to try so many things to finally have a child. It makes me feel an imense sense of guilt. God gave us a gift, we feel, that we weren't sure we deserved when there are so many out there that will probably be better parents. Or who have already endured so much.

With that said. I feel greatly blessed to have my little family. The cutest, probably most attentive husband I could have ever asked for. Someone who walks to the other side of our bed in the middle of the night because I have had to move around so much just to get comfortable, yet I have travelled too far over....:) A guy who thinks the world of me, especially when I don't think much of myself. I love this little person, who I know knows me, yet he chose me to be his mother anyway. I love the opportunity we have had of getting to come together as a family, and decide whats most important to us.

And if something were to happen, heaven forbid, I am glad I had the opportunity to grow so much as a person and be touched by a little life more than I ever thought possible. I am grateful for the closeness it brought between me and my Father in Heaven and my Savior. As we have had many conversations in quiet times, I have come to know that they think I am capable of so many great things, when I doubt I can handle much of anything (as is the case with most of us I would assume). I am grateful for the gospel and everything it teaches us about families and their eternal nature.

Sorry this post is so depressing, but it was something I needed to get out. I know the probability of something happening is slim, but it is there. And I don't think I have ever been more aware of it than I have become in the last couple of years. Don't worry about me, I am excited to play with my son, but know that have witnessed so many things, that yes, I am extremely guarded.

For those of my friends who are reading this and have gone through tragedy, know that I think the world of you. :) Love you guys!

Winding Down and Gearing Up

2011-02-04T10:21:00.002-07:00

So I hit 30 weeks this last Wednesday...something I thought would never come. Yet, at the same time it came so fast. My sister Erin put it in perspective for me yesterday when she said I was going to be officially down to single digits. Needless to say, its a surge of mixed emotions.

I have already explained to a lot of my friends, I don't do pregnancy pictures. I think they are weird, and I don't feel like sharing with the world. So if you see me, you see me. If you don't, sorry you missed out. Watching someone's midsection inflate really isn't the exciting part of it anyway. It will be most exciting watching a little boy grow and do funny things. And I am sure we will post lots of that, because if he is anything like Cody and I, he is going to be quite crazy and do things neither of us can explain.

Little E is doing well. He has been very nice to his mommy thus far. (Yes, I just dropped a hint as to what his name will be). I can still reach my toes, yet Cody says if I keep doing it we might have a baby a little too soon ;). I have still been sleeping pretty well. He usually winds down with me at night, and then we both go to sleep, which is hopefully a good sign of things to come? haha I can hope right? I still have two or three pairs of jeans that I can still button and wear, low rise has been a blessing. I am still under on weight, but he isn't, so thats all I need to be worried about. My doctor says she thinks my body has done perfectly thus far and not to worry about not gaining as much weight as most. I eat like nobody's business, ask my poor husband. But E must take most of it, which I tell him as long as he takes it with him, we will be just fine. He's a good boy.

I gave my notice at work this week. Which was such a blessing. Cody calls it my early retirement. My last day of work will be March 18th. (I pushed it back a month so I could cover some of the other girls' vacation, aren't I so nice? haha jk). So I will start prepping the kitchen for the little remodel we have planned, and hopefully Cody will be able to start on tearing out and reassembling the new bathroom. We hope to have quite a bit done by the time our little guy is blessed. We will see what happens.

Cody has been crazy busy with his job. They moved to quite a larger building and he has been preoccupied making sure everything is organized the way he wants it. He is paranoid that if someone else tries to do it, it won't be the way he likes it. So he is home a bit later, but it gives me a bit more time after I get home from work to have dinner on the table af before he gets home. :)

Next thing to tackle is our hospital tour and birthing classes the next couple of weekends. Its going to be here before you know it. I still need to pick my pediatrician, crap! Wish me luck!

Update

2011-01-14T11:49:00.003-07:00

So its been a little while since I have posted, but life just gets crazier, and keeping up gets harder. I am still working, sometimes over 40 hours a week, sometimes less (which I prefer). Doctor's appointments have become more frequent. I will hit my 3rd trimester next week, so now I will have to go every 2 weeks instead of every 4; which doesn't seem neccesary since I talk to her for like 10 minutes and she either listens to his heartbeat, looks at him on ultrasound or both and then I'm out.

We had a low key Christmas this year, no hustle and bustle, no crazy stress. We had dinner with the Fitts family on Christmas eve, came home and opened our annual Christmas Eve pajamas and put them on and watched a movie. Christmas morning we slept in, Cody made some orange cinnamon rolls, we opened our gifts and stockings. The rest of the day was just spent hanging out with eachother and enjoying the day. :) Thats our favorite kind of day.

I went home to Camarillo to see my close friend/relative by marriage, marry my other close friend from high school, Chelsey & Christian. It was in true Chelsey style, and it was absolutely lovely. They are so good together, and I love them both very much, so it was great to see them so happy. I got to spend some much needed time with my sisters, my nephews and nieces and my mom and dad. It was a great trip. I can't wait to go home again in February and stay a little longer so I can actually make time for more friends (although any time doesn't seem like enough time). :)

Little guy was breach a couple of weeks ago, but has finally turned and now is in the correct position. Which made me breathe a little easier. His legs are the longest little things I have ever seen, they are like 2/3 of his poor little body just like his dad. We have showed the ultrasound picture to a couple of people, and they all say the same thing "WHOA! Those are some long skinny legs"....He is Cody's boy for sure, but the upclose shot of his feet look like mine. We will have to see when he gets here (can you believe his due date was exactly 3 months from yesterday?!?). I was going to upload the picture, but the scanner was being weird.

I still need to get some things on the walls of his room before I can post pictures of his "non nurseery, nursery". We aren't doing any characters, baby animals or cutesy prints, his room is black and white with accents of lime green and aqua. I will have to finish that up in the next couple of weeks. I just have to find the supplies to make the shelves I want to make and put some other things up on the walls. So stay tuned!

Recently

2010-12-09T19:36:00.002-07:00

Ok, since I have been pregnant I have kinda dropped off the sphere. Its kind of nice, I must admit.
I haven't wanted much to do with most social things. Not to mention, a lot of the blogosphere has resembled more of a bragosphere, and facebook more like boastbook. I swear, people only post when they do or get something they feel someone else would want, and it has kind of turned me off to the whole idea. I like keeping to myself and doing my own thing, enjoying my own life, without everyone knowing about it. It sadly though, has been keeping me from keeping up with my friends and my family who aren't all about that. So I have missed some people and feel disconnected from them...thus, I am posting again, or at least trying, because I know people want to know how things are going with our little one.
Lately we have just been living life. I am now 22 weeks along, over half way, and its so nice to be on the downward end of the climb. I have less weeks ahead than I have behind me, and that is a good feeling.
I have known the gender of the baby since about 12 or 13 weeks. Not everyone has that luxury, and this is probably the only pregnancy where I will, so I decided to take advantage of it. I actually saw what I was having at my normal doctor's appt. She didn't catch the glimpse, but I did (finally knowing how to look at ultra sounds pays off). The next day I told a girl at work about it, and we decided to see if I was right. Sure enough, I was. We are having a little boy, and we couldn't be happier. We knew we would be happy with whatever, but this is what we had been hoping for.
I am the type of person that gets things done as far ahead of time. (I have had my Christmas shopping done since Halloween). So his crib is up, his room is painted, he has a name (a select few of our family and close friends know what it is, but we aren't announcing it publicly until it is officially his name). We have his carseat, stroller, bath, you name it. DONE! My mom has made sure there are clothes in his closet, and there are more coming. So now basically we don't know what to do with ourselves. So we have been carrying on with life as usual waiting for our little guy to join us out here.
Cody's favorite thing to do right now is poke my stomach, and waits a minute, then our little man pokes him back. I think they just might hit it off. :)
I will have to post pictures of his room when I get everything on the walls and stuff. But hey, I've got 18 weeks to go, so I have time, right? Knowing me though, I will probably have it done ahead of time. :)
Hope all is well with all my friends in the blogosphere. I will have to catch up with everyone.

Sorry, this is our house....haha so far

2010-10-11T19:18:00.003-06:00

Its been a long time coming. We have been here 6 months, so there is a lot more that we have done that we just need to take pictures of. But here are some so far...and the kitchen has even changed a bit more since these were taken. :) But we will just get started.

Front of the house on move in day... After Cody started fertilizing and taking good care of the yard. Next year it should look even better.

Kitchen on move in day...

Amazing what a little paint and fabric can do. We have a different kitchen table now, and I have my sewing room set up, so I don't have to mess up the kitchen anymore :)

another shot, different angle.

We have done the family room too. But I don't have everything on the walls yet. We did the entry and hallways as well and we are working on our room and the guest room right now. Its been fun, but we have much more to do. I will keep you posted.

Memory Lane

2010-09-08T08:28:00.004-06:00

For some reason today, I have been thinking a lot about how much I miss Moorpark College. The reason I had chosen Moorpark, rather than Ventura, was because you could see the beach from the Ventura College campus, and I knew that would be far too much temptation not to go to class. I knew this full well because I had taken a class or two at night at Ventura during high school. Needless to say my friends and I didn't finish one of those courses. :) So Moorpark (or Kraproom, as we lovingly called it on occasion) it was for me, and quite a few of my other friends.
I remember getting up, texting my friends, Mark, Greg, and Brett making sure they were up for class (usually, that was their wake-up call).
My first class was usually around 8 am. I loved the drive, to and from. I either got to drive through the country road through Somis, or through Santa Rosa or sometimes the freeway, depending on my mood.
Our lovely campus. Yeah, navigating this my first semester was not all that easy at first, but it was fun. Especially when you found yourself in the middle of the golf class...that had been a good laugh.

I remember walking under this bridge in the rain to get to my History class on the other side. The rainy season, or what us Californians call Winter,(haha) was my favorite. Everything was so green and fresh and it smelled divine.

I walked toward this building everyday after my English class, and also math, just behind it would be my Humanities class.

During the semesters I had there, I never would have guessed how fond I would become of this place. I have even taken Cody there, because it holds a lot of sentimental value for me.

It was there I took institute and met so many people, some of whom I am still friends with today. I found myself there. I learned about my passion for literature, writing, and how to mix that with music. I learned that I had loved History, but when taught by a former kindergarten teacher, it was probably the worst subject ever. I found how much I admire composers, philosophers, and people who aren't afraid to ask questions, and question the basis of opinion. I saw how funny it is when your math professor did the odd numbered equations because the answers were in the book, and still got the wrong answer. And he got the wrong answer pretty much every time he ran the formula backwards to check the answer. No wonder I didn't do very well...

Funny, fundamental, and fond memories.It was all pretty simple then, although I am sure there were times when I didn't think so. Sometimes I wish I could be right back there, doing it all over. But other times, I am glad it already happened, and I have moved on. GO RAIDERS!

Next Time I Have People Over...

2010-09-02T08:51:00.002-06:00

These were just too cute to pass up. I am not a huge sugar cookie fan, I'm more of a chocolate chip person myself (but I'm not a chocolate lover either, who knew?). So basically I would be making these for people, not for me. I just love the look and idea of these.
I follow the blog Just Cook Already, they have amazing recipes and cute ideas. You should check it out. This was their latest dessert post.

Sugar Cookie Lollipops

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1cup butter
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 x 5/32" SUCKERSTICK Paper Sucker Lolly Lollipop Sticks

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl cream the sugar and butter for 1 minute in high speed.
Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well incorporated.
Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix.
Let chill for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 300*
Roll out the dough in small batches. Make sure the it's at least 3/4 inches thick.
Cut with your favorite cookie cutter shapes.
Carefully put the lollipop sticks in the middle of each cookie. Only go half way up.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown around the edges.
Let the cookies cool completely before frosting and decorating.

16 Thoughts on the 16th

2010-08-16T12:29:00.003-06:00

Some things that have been on my mind:

1. Oh how I would love to live somewhere that has winters above 60 degrees.
2. I hate wearing shoes, therefore, any time I can get away with not wearing any, I do.
3. Why do people celebrate month anniversaries? Make it years, and then its worth celebrating. I think month anniversaries are lame and pointless. Its only 4 weeks, anyone could do that.
4. I watch way too much HGTV, not much else actually.
5. Playing Apples to Apples is one of my favorite things to do. Especially with funny people like on Saturday this last weekend! :)
6. Migraines are crap, I had one Sunday, it was awful.
7. I love naps with Cody, a nice fan, and the AC going , perfect!
8. Night time walks make any day better
9. Nielsen's Frozen Custard....get chocolate almond, divine!
10. I hate missing church, its the worst.
11. I miss Baja Fresh, Bobby's, and Olas...if you don't know what that is...You are missing out royally.
12. Beach Bonfires never get old, even if you do it every week. :)
13. I miss hanging out with my mom all day, and my sisters. Just call and come over. So much fun. Life is very different these days. :(
14. Late night toilet paper wars...Oh Malans' you made for a good target.
15. I love lime green and aqua together.
16. I despise hot chocolate.

Long Time

2010-07-22T11:46:00.004-06:00

So I know it has been quite a while, again. But I figure, anything is better than nothing, right?

Nothing exciting has been happening with Cody & Kylie Fitts family. We finally got our downstairs family room situated where we actually want to hang out down there. So that's good at least.
We are painting our family room finally. Lowe's messed up the color twice, hence the delay. Needless to say, we don't really like when you mix our paint Rick at Lowe's. :) Maybe you have other talents, but mixing paint is not one of them.
I got my craft room situated, I just have to figure out what I want to put on the walls. Now I need to start sewing, crafting etc. in there. :)
Cody has been busy hooking up all his electrical stuff,he does some unnecessary things, but it makes him happy. So thats all that matters. (ie. hooking the lights upstairs, so they turn on as soon as the garage door goes off so I don't have to enter a dark house). He is crazy. He cleaned his garage, out fitted it all with shelves galore. It looks pretty good.
We found 2 more boxes of clothing in our junk room which we are currently cleaning out for the "workout room" Cody is glad he is finally able to bring home his weight bench and an elliptical for me.
But who cares about the house??? haha its the same old thing, different week.
But on a more uplifting note....
I taught my first lesson in YW yesterday, it went surprisingly well. I have been a RS teacher, Primary, and Sunday School, but YW is completely different. The lessons, mine do anyway, depend on who is in my class. This week, I could tell what came out of my mouth was inspired, as I had prayed for it to be, but it really was! I had been thinking about it for like 2 weeks, but nothing I had thought through during that time came through in my lesson. I learned alot from being able to think about it so long, so I guess that was the purpose for me. But they needed to hear something entirely different. The last time I felt this way so completely was when I was a RS teacher. There are just certain things you know they need to hear, but the Lord knows which things they need at that point in time. Considering I don't know the girls that well yet, I was nervous that I wouldn't say the things I needed to. But WOW was the spirit strong. It was an absolutely wonderful way to spend a Sunday. I know most of it didn't come from me, I am so grateful for inspiration. My girls are amazing! I love them so much already, and its only been like a month. They have helped me already to grow and see things differently. Sometimes I wish I could teach every week. But mostly not...ha ha
How about you guys? Have you ever had those types of lessons, either where you knew you said something they needed to hear? Or someone that was teaching said something you really needed to hear?
I swear, it seems like most Sundays, the talks and lessons are written just for me. Its awesome!

So, I guess I will write my review

2010-07-12T11:39:00.005-06:00

Eclipse...we have a love/hate relationship. I have struggled with writing this for like 2 weeks now. Every time I sit down to write it, I cringe. I love that they are bringing this story to life, its an awesome book, and it will always be one of my faves. But, Robert Pattinson ruined this movie for me, personally. I know a lot of people will freak out, but I think he makes Edward look weak and ridiculous. TO ME, this is my opinion.

I don't feel much emotion behind his character, where I feel Jacob's(Taylor) emotions, he conveys them really clearly. I love his playful banter, I love the way he looks at Bella. I love the way he talks about her.

Then there is Edward....ugh. I know they are supposed to have this all consuming, undeniable love for each other, but I just don't feel it. I feel like they don't do enough to give life to Bella & Edward's relationship other than physically (there was quite enough making out in that movie, I was starting to get tired of it). Sure they are attracted to each other, and they love each other, whatever. But for me, to be truly in love, you need to be the other's best friend, the one they talk to about everything, the one you laugh with, you know the whole "be anything, do anything" type of relationship Jacob described. I don't get that from the Edward/Bella relationship in this movie, I get that from the Jacob/Bella relationship. Edward and Bella are just serious, ALL THE TIME, it was making me crazy. I know this is a serious movie, but they had time to slip in some banter at least, some real life couple stuff to make it seem like an actual relationship. (Cody and I went over this in the car ride home from the lake, he's so funny).

So with that said, I had a hard time with the movie in general. Why would you choose the guy that makes being together look so difficult? Why not choose the relationship that looks comfortable, relaxed and effortless (the physical aspects of it aside)? Edward had some moments, where I was like "alright this works" but those were few and far between. And I can't blame the actors, of course she has chemistry with one and not the other, she is in a real-life relationship with the one...So there you have it. Lets hope nothing goes bad before they are done taping Breaking Dawn parts 1 & 2, otherwise there will be no chemistry between anybody...haha Cause I don't think Kristen or Robert are that fantastic at acting in general.

Anyway. I loved the rest of the movie. I loved that the movie wasn't all about the love triangle. I needed a break from it, and I liked being able to get the background on the other characters, and see them interact more together. And my favorite couple in this movie ended up being.......Alice & Jasper! I loved them together in this movie!

The fight scenes were great, the slow motion moments were pretty cool. I liked the training scenes also. Awesome.

I loved the wolves. They CGI is absolutely amazing. They can do amazing things with computer animation ( I cannot wait to see how they get Reneesme to look). I love the wolf pack.

The campfire scene with the legend of the 3rd wife was awesome, short, maybe a little too short, but accurate. But it was nice to see it all played out like it was in my head while I was reading it in the book. Plus, it needed to be in there to explain Bella's actions during the fight.

The scene where they would trade, for lack of a better word, custody of Bella was hilarious. Both characters made me laugh. I was also very amused during the famous "tent scene". They boys were great together. Edwards protectiveness when Jacob kissed Bella made me laugh out loud. It was a bit TOO much, but what can you do?

All in all it was a good movie. I enjoyed it for the most part. The end (Cody agreed) left you kind of...I don't know. Just not in the best mood of the movie. I didn't care for Bella's speech, like everyone else did, sorry. It wasn't accurate, so I didn't go for it. It may have made more sense, but in the book that's not what happened. So I wasn't all about it.

So there is my take. Have at it. I am sure A LOT of people would disagree.

Tonights Festivities

2010-06-29T10:31:00.002-06:00

So as you can see (the poster speaks for itself), this is going to be good. Its been a long time coming, and its finally here. I was going to practice self control and not go for a couple of weeks but...
Sunday I got a calling for the 3rd time in the last 2 months. This time I will be serving as a Young Women's advisor in our ward. Its going to be so fun, I am really excited to be back in Young Womens, its such a fun place to be. I miss my girls from the Eldredge Ward; but the girls in Orchard 5th are great also, and I am looking forward to speding time with them, getting to know them better, teaching them and also having them teach me a few things as well! ;)
After having both the Mia Maid & Beehive aged girls in Sunday School I know that we are going to have a blast. I love the people I am going to be priveleged to serve with, and the girls we have in our ward are amazing.
So our first order of business? Go see Eclipse as a ward YW activity of course, what else?
I can't wait to hear the reactions of over 20 teenage girls, it may even be more entertaining than the movie itself (who am I kidding?). :)
I know most of my blogging friends are going, and you all love to write reviews! I will be looking forward to reading them.

3 Movie Reviews...

2010-06-28T10:41:00.003-06:00

First up, Valentines Day.
I heard a lot of bad reviews for this movie. Yes, its all over the place, and there are a lot of story lines, but I thought it was all around entertaining most of the movie. Cody and I decided to watch it because we laughed so hard at the trailer with Taylor Swift dancing. We had a few good laughs through the movie. I have to thank everyone that lead me to have low expectations with this movie; I think that let me enjoy it, and made me pleasantly surprised. :) I could have done without the whole Topher Grace/Anne Hathaway storyline though. Ridiculous. Anyway, don't get psyched up with this one, just watch it for what it is, a whole lot of people with worse love lives than you had ever had (most likely).

Next up on the list is Leap Year.
I thought this one was going to be good. I usually like Amy Adams, but I find that she is always cast for basically the same charachter. An awkward, accident prone, love challenged, hopeless romantic, and I'm growing tired of it. Matthew Goode was refreshing and sarcastic, which I enjoyed, but the movie was rather slow, and predictable. I am not a fan. It could have been a lot better, and had more substance. I would have liked to see them interact a little more instead of studying eachother and flirt/arguing.

Last, and certainly least, Dear John. I did not care for this movie much at all. Channing Tatum is just good eye candy, and I love Amanda Seyfried's hair,but that was about it. I just thought this one was too similar to The Notebook. And quite frankly it brought back memories of things that I would have rather left in the vault. However, it was another downer for Nicholas Sparks. Two thumbs down, thanks but no thanks. Nicholas, try another story a different story line.

Looks like we will have to hit up redbox again soon, hopefully with better results. :)

Let me know what you thought of these, and why.

California Love

2010-06-23T08:23:00.003-06:00

So, I guess I really need to catch up on this whole blog thing. ALOT has been going on this month, so I guess its been hard to focus. I haven't been home a whole week yet this month, so yeah, you could say we have been a little busy.

So I will split it up a little. We will start with our trip home to California.

We left on June 2nd, which happens to be the birthday of our wonderful brother-in-law, Brian. It was a bittersweet day, and the reason for our trip. Cody and I the whole trip had many thoughts and enjoyed this special day of his. Its nice to talk about him, and remember all the wonderful parts of his life. At the same time, it opens the flood gates and Cody & I usually end up in tears for a while. But we thought of you Bri, all day, and still do pretty much everyday. :) We love you.

The trip went off without a hitch that day. We hung out in Phoenix for a while at the airport, we had a 3 hour layover. I was tempted to call my cousins and have them pick us up and hang out for a bit. But I was a little too scared we would end up having too much fun and losing track of time. So in the airport we stayed, and I watched episodes of Glee while waiting. As soon as I stepped off the plane I knew I was home. Cody was laughing at me, but the air just feels so much better on my skin. ;) By dinner time, we were home with my family. We went to one of my favorite Mexican places for dinner, Olas. (I don't care what anyone says, I cannot find decent Mexican food or salsa anywhere up here). The salsa was as good as I remembered! :)

I spent time with my sister Erin's kids, Emery, Fallon & Porter. Emery & Fallon came with Noni (my mom) to pick us up. They always insist on being there when we arrive, its cute. They looked so old to me, this time. I still remember when they were both born, so it was fun, but it also made me realize that I miss out ALOT on their lives. Its probably been the hardest part about living here. But we won't go there, I usually end up in trouble.

The next morning we were off to my favorite place, Disneyland. It has always held a place in my heart. I love to go, and I love just being there, I don't even have to ride anything to enjoy it. I have so many fond memories of spending the day there, and it was nice just to spend a day outside in the warm, California sun. Erin and I kind of have the same thrill seeking attitude. We love the feeling of falling, so if nothing else we both had to ride Tower of Terror,we got a couple of others in also, but this was the priority. By the end of the day, the kids were spent, I was as tired as ever, and it was time to head home. I think it had been the first time in at least 2 years that I have been there until the park actually closed. Oops!

Friday we were off to pick up my Cody's sister Colette in LA, so we met them at the temple. It was nice to be back at the LA temple. Another spot that holds SO many memories, youth trips, putting up the temple lights as a youth, going with my family, commandments I had made, and the marriage that we have, which started there. Its still "my temple" as Bishop Lythgoe would say. :)

We took the kids home, went swimming and played until we could play no more. The kids all got along so well together. Erin's 3 kids, Kelly's little boy Rhett, and Colette's kids Cole, Hallie & Eli.

Saturday we had a little going away BBQ to go to for my sister Erin & her family who would move to Gilbert, AZ the next week. It was hard, but it was nice to see all of her friends come together for them. And I had the opportunity to take some time and spend it with just my mom. It was much needed. She is one of my best friends, and she always listens, and gives good, informed advice, which I really appreciate.

Sunday was when the real party began. We left for the airport after we had gone to church and eaten dinner. So we get the airport, check Colette and her kids in, and then we go to check Cody & I in. Oh, but wait, Delta had taken Cody & I off the flight and it was too late to put us back on. After an hour on the phone with them, they decided they were going to charge us even more and we still weren't going to get home on one of their flights. I am so fed up with them its not even funny, I would not recommend that airline if my life depended on it, but thats a whole other story. Anyway brave Colette decided to take the flight with 3 kids by herself. So off she went, and off Cody & I went to the metro station. It turned out fine, as soon as I had made arrangements for work, my stress was gone, and what was so bad about another day home? So we took the metro to Simi, and my sister Kelly picked us up, we got fed, we hung out with her and Randy & Rhett and some of their friends. We spent some more time with my mom, and then we went to sleep. My mom dropped us off on her way in to the temple and next thing we knew we were back in Utah. AH! Yeah, I know, it was kind of crazy, but I wasn't as stressed as I had ought to have been. All in all it was a good trip, and lots of fun. I just can't wait to go back. August could not come soon enough!

Ps. There will be no pictures for these posts, I asked Cody the night before we left if he would like me to put in my bag, but he said no, he would pack it in his carry on in the morning. Never happened, there was just too much going on in his head that morning, and so it stayed. Oh well, so we were without a camera. Sorry. (This is why I joke that our kids lives wont even be documented, because we ALWAYS forget the camera). :)

Not So Lazy Days

2010-05-17T10:30:00.007-06:00

Well our weekends are known for being the least lazy of our days of the week, probably.
It all started on Friday. I got to sleep in, but I can only ever sleep until about 9am, and then its a bit too much for me. I got up straight away, and started with the 5 loads of laundry I had to do. :) I don't mind laundry, its pretty therapeutic. But 5 loads???I don't know how we stacked that much up. There were so many towels, whites, clothes, jeans, sheets etc. WOW! Needless to say I got all but one done.
The part I do love is the folding and putting away. Because while I fold, I like to either, watch a movie, which is one of my sisters favorite things too (love ya Erin), listen to music (loud) or in this weekend's case I got to listen to a fantastic thunder storm and some rain. :) It was heaven.
Later that night I decided not to let a co-worker take the night shift from me, and I went to a get a few more hours of work in. I like the Friday night shift. Its very relaxing. I used to hate it, but I have learned to love it. I get to do my lesson planning for Sunday and get caught up on my reading. :)
I got home to a husband mowing the lawn, which he loves and listening to his ipod. Tasks and music? Who would have thought?
Saturday I think I got up around 8, Cody was not near ready to join the liveliness. So I got all ready for the day and started my last load of laundry. I think I had most of the house clean before Cody headed out to plant his veggies. :) He planted tomatoes, peppers, corn, squash, basil, cilantro, oregano, etc, and put in a new sprinkler system...I deep cleaned the kitchen, the family room, our room, the only room I don't touch is Cody's office. He is crazy, he knows where everything is, but to me, it just looks like chaos.
I got to leave for a little bit and went to my friend Jessica's parent's home. It was nice to go back to such a familiar place. Her family was my family while I was on my own, which was great. They always made me feel like one of them. I got to put some highlights in Jess' hair for her. It was nice to get back into doing foils again. I miss it, but at the same time I don't necessarily miss the salon environment. You tend to get caught up in things like designer clothes, purses, jewelry, etc. I wasn't a fan of all of that. I like my simple, fun, carefree life we have created much better. :) I do love talking to my clients and making sure they like the way they look! Jess looks so cute with the blonde, so I was more than happy to help her put it back in. Plus, it was so much fun to go hang out and play again. I had forgotten how much I miss her! Love ya Jess!

Kate & I 2004, this pretty much defines our relationship.

When I had gotten home I had to herd Codes back inside to get cleaned up. We had a dinner date with my good friend Kate. Kate and I have been BFFs since we were 12. Her husband is great, Cody and I love them both. It was good to see them again. We had a great dinner, Ry is a wiz at the grill, and Kate made some great sides. Delish. Thanks again Jones'! By the time we got home I was wiped. We both had been working hard all day long.
Sunday, and I have a love-hate relationship. I love Sunday because I love going to church, we love our ward, I get to teach Sunday school (and man do I learn a ton about the Old Testament that I never got in depth with before). And I get to hear great lessons and talks each week. But as the day wares on, I realize I am that much closer to heading back to work early the next morning...But it was a great day. It was a beautiful day outside. Cody got up and made me some cinnamon french toast, orange juice and fruit, yum! We got ready for church, and I had extra time so I baked some bread. Cody was in heaven. I made a loaf of regular, and some more cinnamon chip bread. The boy is a sucker for anything made from scratch! I got a nap in after church and I watched the sunset of the deck in the evening. It was great. Now I just have to wait it out til Thursday, when I can get back to our weekend routine.

By the time we were done with everything on Saturday, we already had a big list for this coming weekend. Wish us luck!

Its Good to Have Records

2010-05-12T09:01:00.005-06:00

Recently I have been doing a lot of thinking about records, genealogy, etc.

I had always loved having a journal, ever since I was little. My mom would always buy me these cute little journals when she got a new journal, so it was something we kind of did together. She was always a good example of journaling. She had what she called a Gratitude Journal, which is kind of self explanatory, but she wrote the things that she is grateful for, or that had made an impression on her that day. So she has multiple records of things, which I am thankful for, because she will be able to show them to the kids in our family, so they will know what she was like before they could remember, or before they were born.
My mom also has boxes and boxes of photos, which my sisters and I like to go through every once in a while. Its fun to remember those funny things we did. I don't think they have gone through them yet, but when they do the kids will love the hair, especially Erin's...the hair and the earrings in all their glory from the 80's. :)
Cody has kept a journal as well. Also he kept all of the emails, letters, pictures and his journal from his mission. Cody also gave me his tags when we got engaged, so now I have them. But I am working on putting everything into a book for him, but who knows how long that will take.
So I have been able to get to know him all over again, and its been a lot of fun. I know how Cody was as a teenager, on his mission, some things from after, and the passed 2+ years we have been together. ( I realized on Sunday that this passed Mother's Day was my 3rd in the Fitts home, crazy!). Cody is pretty much the same, minus the rap music he used to love in high school. His goals are similar, his focus is similar, and the things that are important to him have always been the same, which I am thankful for, he is such an example to me. :)
Cody has also been entertained by my old journals. He leaves them alone most of the time, unless I share them with him. I mean, I guess he should be able to read them any time, we don't do secrets, but its weird to just read through someone else's things. So he has heard all of the things from when I was a teen, and even before. And he usually just says, "Yep, that sounds just like you." or "You would say that..." Or "Wow, you have dealt with a lot". Its rather funny and its a great way to dig a little deeper.
These things mean a lot to me. I love being able to look back and see that we are the people we have always been. Our values are completely the same, and in some ways the bar has been raised (which I guess it should). I am also glad that one day when we have kids and grand kids, they will be able to have all of this stuff. They will be able to get to know us, and they will learn from the experiences we had. I always loved hearing stories, and now I just wish I knew more, now that my grandparents are gone.
But the apostles are inspired, and they tell us too, that it is important to keep record. And also, this is what inspired me to do a blog way back when. I don't care who reads it (we have found out that there are more of you than we thought, hehe), but if you do...thank you!
These are just some of my favorites that I have found in Cody's things.

My cute little skinny Cody. He didn't look much different than this when we met.
This was a crazy story to read. This is the scorpion that stung Cody's hand one day.

He tells me about these all the time. When he thinks of butchers, or butcher shops, this is what he thinks of. Pretty sick.

He still has this tie, and he still wears it. It will be fun to pass on to our future missionaries one day.

Goofy Cody. He loved everyone he served with, and we have seen some of them randomly. Its always nice when I can place a face with the names. His favorite comp married a girl named Kylie too. :)

Well, if you need a good laugh, maybe you should go through your old things. Laughing is almost a guarantee. :)

Life Is a Miracle

2010-05-05T21:31:00.004-06:00

It is one thing to know that God is there. It is quite another to have a blossoming relationship with him and his son, Jesus Christ. If ever there are questions of why things happen, we need to be able to trust that there is a finite reason for everything, that there is a grand design, a plan. There is always something to be learned, impressions to be made, and lives to touch. If you don't know that for yourself yet, you will. Whether it be by experiences of your own, or experiences of others that you must witness. It will ALL, the scriptures do not say "some" but ALL will be for your good. One day we will understand it all, maybe not at the time, but it will all click at some point, hopefully. Seems hard to believe, but I KNOW that is true.

There is a woman that has touched my life tremendously. Who I look up to very much. Many of you have seen here on the news, or in an article, or on here own blog. If Nie hasn't touched your life yet, let her do it now. Click here. It is a beautiful message. And if ever you feel that life is too hard, and there are things that cannot be overcome...think of her. Pray for her. You will find yourself having love for someone you have never met. I do. And if you haven't seen her in a while, get reacquainted, introduce your friends. She is a wonderful example of a disciple of Christ, as are many others.

Prayer is amazing. Our Father in Heaven and our Savior are so merciful, kind, and loving. I love all of it. :) And not much else in this world matters.

House Warming Guests

2010-04-07T15:37:00.006-06:00

So after getting a little bit settled into our house we had quite a group of visitors. My mom came the week after we moved in to help me start painting, decorating and getting things organized. So my projects are getting checked off one by one. We painted all the hallways upstairs and my kitchen and dining areas (pictures to come) with the help of my sister-in-law Becca, my mom and Cody helped a bit as well. I am in love with my color choices and I am still steaming on ahead. Next will be my sewing room and Cody's office.

The next week we were greeted by both of my sisters, their husbands, and their children. It was so much fun! We played games, we went to the park, we went home decor shopping, we went to lunch, all the good stuff. The boys even got a round of golf in while they were here.
My big boy Porter and I swinging on the swings at the park around the corner from our house. He remembered me pretty quickly, such a blessing. He is such a sweet, cuddly boy. We love him so much.

The boys (Randy-married to Kelly, and Jeff-married to Erin) weren't about to let the kids have all of the fun. They got into it to. When they play, they play hard and as dangerous as they can. So watch out!

Fallon had so much fun playing on everything she could get her hands on. You can see Jeff in the backgroud pushing kids on a little contraption. They had way too much fun on that thing.

Jeff and Porter. Porter sure does love his daddy!

Rhett had gotten a little tamer in his old age...haha. He isn't as adventurous and fearless as he used to be. But boy does he like to laugh, mimic, and talk, talk, talk!

Here he is again doing it just like his daddy taught him. This little guy is all smiles and go go go all the time (as long as he isn't tired).

Here is Rhett and his Mama (Kelly). If he can't see either of his parents, he likes to ask over and over..."Where Mama? Where Daddy?" (he just started talking up a storm a couple of months ago, he was what they call "tongue tied" before. so after he got his tongue clipped, he talks like crazy). But he says my name and Cody's name super well, and he likes to ask where we are too, its cute. We were impressed. :) He also liked to chase me around the house. I couldn't get enough of this boy!

Here is Emery at the discovery center at the Gateway. They had to find something to do with the kids while I was at work on Monday. This place was a hit. If you are in Downtown Salt Lake, and you need to entertain children, this is the place to go.Porter watchin' all the kids. He is content to watch whatever is going on. Such a chill little guy, and he is super cute!

Emery & Fallon enjoyed the snow while they were here. It was their first encounter and they loved it. Here they are trying to catch it in their mouths.

Here is part of our backyard; that awful split rail cuts our yard in two...new fence to come...But the view is amazing at sunset, sunrise, night time, we LOVE it!

Porter wasn't as convinced the snow was a good idea. Here is his dad trying to coax him into playing in it. Not diggin' it.

We loved having all of our house guests. It was really sad to see them go. The house is really quiet and empty now. But we know they will be back. Thanks for coming you guys. And thanks Kelly & Erin for my awesome house warming gifts and all the decorating help! See you in 4 weeks when we are off to CA for some more fun!

Easter Weekend

2010-04-05T09:12:00.004-06:00

So this Easter was great. I can't remember the last time Easter & General Conference fell on the same week. It could have been more recent than I think, but I don't recall.
Anyway, I thought it was pretty special that we were able to celebrate the fulfillment of the Atonement, the Resurrection of Christ, and listen to our wonderful Prophet, Apostles and General Authorities this weekend.
Friday started as a date night for us. We went to dinner, drove around Bountiful for a bit, and just enjoyed each other's company. Also, date night would not be date night without a trip to the grocery store! Awesome. Cody has been obsessed with this new website about food storage, and deals to stock up on. (Side note. Cody was so cute when we were dating. A couple months before we got engaged Cody was telling me reasons he wanted to marry me. He had been sitting in a lesson at church about food storage the week prior, and he got a surge of emotion. He said that was when he had the thought, I want to marry her, so we can do things like Food Storage together to prepare for things to come. So when we were having one of serious chats he blurted out "I want to marry you so that I can do food storage with you!", at the time it stunned me, now, not so much. I just thought that was cute, and we are now fulfilling his dream). Cody saved us $40, I'm pretty proud of him, our total went from $96 to $51.
Next we decided to Red Box, which is pretty common for us. We got "The Time Traveller's Wife", which I would not recommend to anyone, ever. But that is an entirely different post. Cody was cute and lit our fireplace because it was a crisp night, and we had the slider wide open. It was wonderful. I love the smell of cool, fresh air coming in, cuddled up on the couch with my babe, and the electric blanket. :) Nothing sweeter.
The next morning we got to start enjoying the 2 day spiritual extravaganza which is General Conference. How wonderful is it to hear those voices?!?! They are almost as familiar to me as the voices of my family. They bring peace, comfort and understanding ever time. The talks were all amazing, and very relevant (as always), we thoroughly enjoyed it.Then off Cody went to Priesthood Session. My sister in law Colette was nice enough to come up and keep me company while he was gone. So her and I and the kids had dinner, took some pictures of the kids, played some games. And then it was bath time. The kids had a great time in the bath. We love having them at our house, Cody was sad he missed them by about 20 minutes.
That night Cody and I decided to camp out in our family room so that we were ready for conference the next morning. No sleeping in! So we did. It was fun, but we wouldn't do it on a monthly basis or anything. We had our trusty air matress, which made for a pretty good night's sleep, and a good spot in the morning as well. It was fun to watch the snow fall in the early morning as well off our balcany. There is nothing like waking up looking out a large window with the sun glaring off of the purest white.
Sunday was the day of the rising of our beloved Savior. And what a beautiful day. The snow in the morning, and then by noon it had all melted away(which is usually how I prefer it, MELTED; sure its great to look out, but its freakin cold!). I loved so many talks. It was great. They just seem to get better and better.
This is my favorite Easter picture. Victory! He is Risen! I know my Redeemer Lives, and he loves each of us individually. Its such a special time of year. I love it.
Cody and I decided to nix the Easter baskets and new clothes this year, since we weren't going to our ward on Easter Sunday. That way we really get the full effect of what Easter really is. And we didn't miss them one bit!

After Conference, my friends from home (Camarillo, Ca) had our 3rd Semi-Annual Taco Party. Its just a fun get together every conference when some of them drive up to the rest of us for the weekend. We love getting together for anything, especially good food. Brian & Cameron always make great tacos, and they always provide the Death Sauce.
Cody has really jumped into the group quite well, and who could help but like him? He is about the nicest guy there is. Any of you that know him would be able to confirm that statement. :)
All in all it was a great Easter weekend, a whole lot of fun, laughs, and spiritual fulfillment!

Ps. My family came the last week, but I am waiting to steal pictures from my sister for that post. Also, I am still slacking on pictures of the house. But we have been painting like mad, switching out light fixtures, planning attacks, and trying to get every thing settled. I PROMISE I will get it posted sometime this month!

Attitude of Gratitude

2010-03-11T11:11:00.002-07:00

So as most of you know we closed on our house yesterday! We are super excited for this new chapter in our lives. Its really put us in perspective. We are sad to leave people in our ward, but we are happy to be able to enter into a new ward, an new adventure, filled with possible new friends and neighbors.
But really this experience has really thrown us into an attitude of gratitude.
We are grateful for the many things we have been blessed with. For both of our families that give us support by the boat load. For the encouragement from our friends, and we know how blessed we are to have all of you in our lives.
We are grateful for the gospel that brings us so much peace in our lives. And believe you me, we needed peace more than anything else in this world that past 6 months with everything that has gone on in our lives in addition to our home search. We are thankful for our the way things just seem to turn out, making us aware of a "Master plan". I am grateful for the scriptures, for direction it gives, as well as the council of the Prophet and his apostles. How wonderful is it to be able to look to them for such informed guidance.
I am thankful for the priesthood power, and the man in our home that lives worthy of it. It gives me an awesome sense of comfort. The ability we have to be sealed together and the bond it gives a family in and out of this existence.
I am thankful for temples, which are equal in beauty to how many blessings we receive from it. I am glad that Cody and I started going monthly even before we were married, it put us in the habit really early on. Even though I may have gotten off to a rough start, it has brought us so much joy to go and spend time together there. I am thankful to live in such a close proximity to so many temples (I think there are at least 5 or 6 within 30 minutes) so that we are able to get our stuff together, and just say "hey, I feel like going to the temple tonight, lets go!".
I am grateful for so many things in my life, and taking steps just reminds you of how much you have to be thankful for. I need to do better at being able to take in things every day, and not just in prayer, but just taking it in and thinking "I have so much to be thankful for".
As much as there is hardship and struggle, there are blessings and gifts along the way as well. "Count your many blessings, see what God hath done" because wow is it amazing!
PS. I took pictures of the house yesterday, but I forgot my usb cord, so I will be posting them soon! Love you all!

My New Favorite Place for Breakfast

2010-02-27T12:30:00.003-07:00

So my good friend Kiernan and I decided that we were going to go to breakfast this morning. Cody was going to be gone most of the early part of the day, so it was the perfect opportunity.
We were originally going to go to Mimi's Cafe, cause their breakfast is amazing...but as we were driving we thought we might want to go on a little adventure. So we went to a place Kiernan had heard about, but had never been called Eggs In the City. We weren't really sure exactly where it was, but knew the general area. So we decided to scout it out and just drive until we found it. After driving and admiring some cute little vintage houses, we found it!
WOW! My new favorite place! The atmosphere was so fun. It reminded me of home a little bit. It was a bit of a hipster, indie, small coffee shop vibe, which I love! (for those of you in Ventura County, think Old New York Bagel meets Central Perk on FRIENDS). The inside is kind of industrial looking with exposed silver duct work, and chalk boards, cute counter, bistro tables, and high bar stool tables. I just love the one of a kind places, not so much chain eateries.
Not only was the atmosphere awesome but the food was SO good. I got a Ham, Spinach and Pepper Jack Cheese omelet which came with some heavenly potatoes and toast. It was delish! Kiernan got this fantastic looking stack of pancakes with awesome fresh fruit and walnuts on it, and some yummy eggs. It was SO yummy and fresh.
The people that work there were real laid back and chill. Awesome. It reminded me of working the Salon Circuit back home. Which I miss terribly. You don't get a lot of places like that here in Utah, so it was a diamond in the rough! Its in a quiet neighborhood in Sugarhouse.
I love Sugarhouse. I wouldn't really want to live there, its better for people who are still living the single life, but I love to go down there and hang out in the cute little shops and the cute little random places to eat. Just gives me a little glimpse of life back in the Los Angeles area. I will be going back soon, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for something different, with a sweet hipster vibe. Check it out next time you are in town!
Hope you are having a fabulous weekend!
I know a lot of you back in CA get what I'm talkin bout! :) haha Miss you guys like crazy!

The day of love...

2010-02-15T10:39:00.004-07:00

So this Valentine's Day we decided would be a bit different. No fancy dinner, no gifts, no flowers, it just didn't feel right this year. We wanted to kind of focus on other people this year instead of ourselves. The thought of buying more stuff for us, just seemed like a waste. Do we really need more stuff? Do I really need to get another bouquet of flowers? He does that enough throughout the year...So we decided we would try to make it better for someone else.
This year we chose Colette, for obvious reasons. This is the first Valentines Day without her wonderful husband, and I really wanted to just ease the sting, even for just a minute. So Cody and I took her two older children and got some flowers and a card for Mom. (Plus, I am sure Colette could use a little more me time). Cole picked the prettiest flowers he could find, and Hallie decided she wanted to pick the card all on her own. They did a great job! We got suckers to share with Mom and the other kids that would be at the house later that night. Cole & Hallie couldn't be happier. They both love and adore their mom so much, and they should, she is amazing. Colette has been a real example to me of what faith, diligence, perseverance, love, and selflessness are. She has done so much for Codes and I and we couldn't think of anyone that deserved an act of kindness more. Not to mention she has always been a great example to me in the past couple years, and a great friend and sister. So Happy Valentine's Day Colette! We love you! And don't worry, we made time to talk and tell eachother we love eachother between all of the chaos. ;)
Hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's Day! I would have to say that we did.

Now we just need the keys...

2010-02-09T12:05:00.004-07:00

So I guess there has been some exciting things going on. For those of you who talk to us often, you will know that we have been looking for homes this whole time. When we changed our location, things started coming together, and seemed more positive. We found a few options that looked great for us, and would have worked well; instead of nothing looking like it was going to work for us, as it had for months. Our realtor has been a real trooper going through all of this with us, but I guess he should, because he is getting thousands in commission, right?

Anyway, the time has come, we have done all of the paperwork, and as of today, we are under contract! They accepted our offer and things will start moving here rather quickly, and then so will we! Now we just have to get the house inspected and appraised. Then we have about 4 weeks until we move in. It just seems so unreal. We have waited over a year for this, because we wanted to make the situation and good as possible, and man did it pay off.

So as of mid March we will be residents in a quiet neighborhood in North Salt Lake, UT! This particular city has a lot of history as far as Cody and I are concerned. When we dated we spent a lot of our time there, because it was where I lived with my roommates. North Salt Lake holds a lot of wonderful memories for us (we had our first date up there, we first talked about getting married up there, we got engaged up there, etc.) and will continue to be a place where we will make more wonderful memories. Now I just can't wait until we get these two little pieces of metal, and it will officially be ours! :)

A little Design

2010-02-01T12:23:00.003-07:00

My friend has a cute design blog....and I think you should visit it...
You can find it here. She has some cute stuff for the upcoming holiday! Enjoy! :) Happy February everyone!

Inspired by Facebook

2010-02-01T11:01:00.002-07:00

So as you know, people have been posting all sorts of things on their status on Facebook lately...if you don't know that, you probably don't have one...Anyway.
This is the last one I got. "If you have a wonderful husband, fiancé or boyfriend that works hard to provide for you and would do anything just for you and your family, then repost this as your status to give the HONEST and LOYAL men out there the recognition that they deserve....He has been the BEST thing that has happened to me!"
And for all of you that acutally READ my blog, you know Cody is exactly that. He is an exellent provider, and he has proven time and time again that he would do anything for me, or for my family. The boy is probably one of the most genuine people I know. Not only that, but he is honest, loyal, and kind. He has the biggest and sweetest heart on the planet.
The funny thing is, his grandparents were just saying similar stuff about him last night. They like to remind us a lot how lucky we are to have eachother, and I love it when they do. They seem to think we are an even match, even though I know I got the better end of the deal. ;) Its just nice to hear that people see the wonderful person that you see when you look at them.
So let your wonderful counterparts now how appreciated they are, and how awesome they are. I am sure they will love every minute of it, cause we can never appreciate everything enough!
Lots of Lots babe!

Our California Christmas

2010-01-19T08:19:00.007-07:00

So I know this has been really delayed, I apologize. Life has been crazy busy lately. But I guess we have only been back from California for like 2 weeks now, so its not THAT bad. Plus, I was sick most of last week, so I was not really "here" I was more off in lala land somewhere.
Anyway, I will tell all who are interested about our wonderfully long trip back home. Well, to my home anyway. We got there in the afternoon on Wednesday the 23rd, I would highly recommend afternoon flights, I loved it! Cody and I got to play with the kids most of the day. They were really excited to have us finally right there, and we were just as excited to see them! Little Porter has grown SOO much in just that short time since we had seen him; Rhett had as well. We thought they might be a little put off at us since they weren't that familiar to them, but they realized really quickly that they knew us, and suddenly it was like we had always been there. It was great!
Christmas Eve we helped my mom finish things up for the family. And we played some more with the kids. For the evening our Christmas Eve tradition is going over to my sister Kelly's house for homemade soup and reading the Christmas story. The kids really enjoy it, and the adults will take any excuse to get together. One more thing we do on Christmas eve is opening a brand new pair of jammies. Kelly made all of the kids matching pants this year, they turned out really cute. Here are Porter and Rhett after they got changed into their cute new pjs.

And all of the kids together next to Auntie Kelly's Christmas tree. Rhett, Emery, Fallon and

Porter. They have such a blast together, and we love them SO much!

The next morning wasn't too exciting for us. Cody and I got to take our time doing whatever we wanted in the morning. We slept in until about 9:30am and hung out as we waited for the kids and my siblings to arrive and open presents. Santa spoils these ones, he visits each of them at their home, and then again at Noni & Papa's house. Watching them get into it was a lot of fun. Their excitement is something else, it brings back a lot of fond memories. The kids made out like bandits once again.

Santa brought Rhett this really cool train. Kelly is helping him push the foot petals to get it to go around the track. Cody was way jealous. He would have loved to have one of these growing up. Rhett hasn't quite gotten the hang of pushing the petals to go, so we duct taped it down for him and he went around that track for like 30 minutes straight as content as can be.

Santa brought both of the girls some rollerblades this year, among other things. Their faces lit up as they peeled off the paper. I think I heard some squeals of excitement as well. They had to get outside and try them out right away. Though this picture does not depict it, Emery was pretty quick to get the hang of it. Jeff had to do a little bit of catching though.

Fallon was a natural. Though her speed wasn't quite as fast as Emery, she got the hang of it pretty quick. Pretty much the rest of the time we were there, they would take any chance they got to go outside and skate. Cody was nice enough to take them quite a ways a couple of times. I think he won some MAJOR points with that.

Rhett likes to see what the girls are up to. He loves his cousins so much. Here he is taking a break from his toys with his Papa. He has made up his own language, so he is probably telling Papa everything that is going on in his own special words. :)

We spent a lot of time with the family. I think I saw Porter, Emery, Fallon and Erin every single day I was home, which was nice. Randy and Kelly were home with sick little Rhett from New Years day. So we still saw a lot of them, but not as much as we would have liked to, but its more than we usually see, so we are very grateful.

During most of our trip we were able to take the kids to the park, hit the awesome Camarillo Outlets right in my hometown (reminded me of a lot of things I used to do, and stupid things I used to buy, haha ), take warm drives with the windows down, get REAL Mexican food, yummy salsa, go to DISNEYLAND, the wonderful possibilities were endless...Yes, I do miss living there, especially when its cold and snowing here in good ol Utah, ugh...

New Years was fun. We went to an adult party over at Randy's sisters house with some friends and a few family members as well. The kids were all hidden watching a movie and falling asleep in Nick & Heather's room, so we didn't see much of them. We just played games and ate some really good food, and wait to ring in the new year. It was nice to see a lot of people I had not seen in quite a while. Happy 2010!

Before we left we went to see the Christmas lights at the Los Angeles temple. It reminded me of being in the youth program, because we used to decorate the grounds every year in November as youth. It makes you appreciate all of the work that goes into it. :) But we go to enjoy it with our family this year. It was the first time we had been able to walk the grounds there since we had been married, so that was quite special as well. And it was nice that it was not too long after to our anniversary.

I am so glad we were married here in "my temple". So beautiful isn't it? The palm trees don't hurt either ;)

Here is Uncle Cody hangin out with Porter as they walk the temple grounds. Cody had a lot of fun helping with the kids. It seemed pretty dang easy to him to keep track of 4 little ones instead of the 15 in his awesome fam. Porter was a big fan of Codes, liked to watch every move he made, as well as mine. It was super cute!

Here is my new buddy Porter and I hanging out! This kid is so loving and calm, its wonderful. But with two crazy sisters that are loud and fun, you would have to be. This kid's face lights up if he recognizes any of the people around him, its priceless. Love this boy!

The kids got a bit tired after the drive to LA, and all of the walking, as you can see. So naturally we stopped at Yogurtland and got some yummy frozen yogurt!

It was an awesome, fun filled trip, with so many things going on its hard to mention it all. To all of those we did not see, we hope to see you on an upcoming trip, which we are hoping might become more often and longer, and you are always welcome to come visit us up here in snow country! Hope everyone's 2010 is going great!

ps. Cody and I suck at documenting things with pictures. So that is one thing we have decided to do better at this year. I stole all of these from my sister! ;) Love you Erin!

Update

2010-01-07T14:20:00.004-07:00

Alright party people, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. I will do a post later about our wonderful and long trip to California for those of you that are interested. Anyway, about the house. We have had second thoughts about this house in particular, but we know we are getting close to "the one".
Seriously, its like the steps to getting married all over again. You see this house and you think its cute, esthetically pleasing, just wonderful to think about it, and you know you could be very happy with it... Then it comes down to the decision, and something is off, and you just can't take that next step. Now you are looking for the one that is all of those things, but then it surprises you and ends up being everything you have been looking for, and feels just so right, and like yours, like it was made exactly for you! (Do you see the correlation now?)
We actually tweaked our location a little bit too. We decided to look in the town I have wanted to live in since day one of talking about it, a place I already know, and felt like somewhat was a little piece of home...Bountiful. We have found quite a few awesome options and reviewing the options with our realtor. Cody just feels so good about it now, I have always felt good about it, but I needed him to feel that way as well before we could move forward. I couldnt just force it on him and say, hey, I feel good about it, so lets just do it, it will grow on you...
So here we are, continueing our adventure, and wow are we excited. I cannot wait to have a home, an actual home. Not somewhere where I will have to share walls with anyone, or my floor is someone else's ceiling or whatever. I can listen to my music loud, I can jump up and down when we are playing the wii, or when Cody and I have dance party in our family room, ya its crazy fun. And we will have our own space where no one knows our life history because they knew a member of the family or something, they will get to know us for us, not just because he is so-and-so's brother, or went to high school with their son...ugh...I can't wait.
We are feeling pretty good, and know that its right there within arms reach, we just have to find it and make it our own.
Keep you guys posted! Pray for us that we find the right one, and the place where we need to be! We know we will be!

An Offer...

2009-12-22T15:19:00.003-07:00

So lately, as most of you know, we have been house hunting. We have been touring homes since October, but nothing stuck out.

As circumstances in Cody's family changed, so our areas of focus changed as well. We were now looking in the area we swore we would never live. So as of the beginning of December, we decided to take a break for the Christmas season, and try our luck again in the New Year in our new area.

We would look on websites every so often and see if there was anything we liked, but we told our realtor we probably wouldn't want to go tour any until after Christmas...but we lied. Cody found one he absolutely needed to see, and he wanted to see it ASAP. So I called the realtor last Thursday, and so this crazy journey has begun. We fell in love with it! So hopefully tomorrow we will be signing the papers to put in our first offer on a house...this is a big step for us. We are halfway freaking out, but at the same time, so excited to have a home to call our own, and finally gain some equity!

I am also really proud of us, because we have worked really hard to be able to put down as much as we can, and make our payments as low as possible. I am proud of me, because I have worked super hard, and super long hours sometimes to be able to put forth just as much as Cody, so needless to say, I will really appreciate the house we buy, because I had a big part in it! Not to mention all the things I held myself back from to save as much as we have. haha thats a big deal! :)

Tomorrow is going to be a bit hecktic, we go tour the house again at 9am, hopefully sign the offer and hop on a plane at 11:30 am. But all our saving and research has hopefully paid off! I am lucky to have a good guy that makes sure he researches pretty much everything until he is satisfied, and makes sure I am safe and well cared for.

If you would like to see the specs on it, you can go to blueroof.com, choose Utah, and the MLS# is 902727.

Cross your fingers, and wish us luck! But we know if it doesn't work out, there is just something better waiting for us. :)

More to come about what happens and our long holiday home in California.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Happy Holidays

2009-12-15T11:34:00.003-07:00

Possibly the best Santa picture ever taken. This is my nephew Rhett meeting Santa....I think he made a good impression on the little guy. Enjoy. :) And yes, his dad and everyone else is laughing.

We will be spending Christmas in California this year (Cody's first away from home, besides the mission, that doesn't really count). I am looking forward to spending time with the kids, my sisters, my parents, and since we will be there a bit longer than usual, hopefully some friends as well! I will check back and let you know how it goes, we will be there for New Years as well! :)

New Moon Weigh In

2009-11-23T08:26:00.003-07:00

So I am guilty of seeing this movie twice this past week...I wasn't sure about it at first (but I am not sure about much of anything after midnight). The midnight showing was a lot of fun, thanks in large part to Olivia and her awesome crew. But I wasn't a fan of driving home to SLC from Orem at 3:40 in the morning...
Olivia and friends did a cute give away before the movie started, and made some awesome swag bags to enjoy. It was the best midnight showing experience we have had to date! Thanks to Olivia and all of her friends, you guys are amazing!
However, I wasn't amazed with this movie right at first. Call me crazy if you must, but I wasn't. Cody was out of town with the scouts from Friday to Saturday evenging, so my best friend from high school text me and asked me if I wanted to go on Saturday and told me she bought me a ticket. So I thought I would try it again and see if I liked it better. SOOO MUCH BETTER! I didn't know if it was just because I was more coherent or what...But wow, I really loved it. And I loved this guy. He is definitely more that just "sort of beautiful", HE IS!

Holy Crow Jacob Black! You rock! haha... I loved him so much more. I have always loved Jacob, but was still taken by Edward when I read it all. But this movie made me cross the line. I am SO team Jacob (Cody says he is too). Crazy how into the story you can get, but we totally get into it. Sometimes Cody and I talk about them like we know them, I love how he gets all of it, such a sport. I just realized how postivie and wonderful Jacob is for Bella. I just think he has so much more to offer her. I know everything that happens, and I still think if she had just chosen Jacob even in the third book, she would be so content with her life, she would be so happy, and she would feel so safe. I know I would. But I really do think Taylor Lautner is the most talented of the three leading actors. He just makes you believe everything! Edward is great and everything, but come on....when Taylor is in the frame, I see right past good old Rob. The parts that I loved were when they were in the truck together, wow they have a lot of chemistry; and the way he said Bella's name right at the end...ah! It made me melt, and it felt like he really was crazy in love with her. Like there was nothing else in the world he wanted more than just to be with her. I would have to agree with pretty much everything my blogger friend, Olivia, said in her New Moon post. If you haven't seen it, and don't want to know any other details, do not read Olivia's post, or the rest of this one.

The screenplay was pretty true to the book, way more so than Twilight. I understand that they probably had a bit more of a budget to play with, but still. I love seeing all of the things I could only imagine right out in front of me. However, my Edward was way hotter than the movie version. (And couldn't they have at least waxed Robert Pattinson's chest and stomach? Really tho...it was bugging me every time he was without a shirt or when tufts of it came up the top of his shirt, YUCK!). Not only that, but Edward seemed like kind of weak & wimpy in this one. Sorry, but he did. My husband called him something funny, but I won't say it. :)

The wolves did not disappoint. I did think the guy playing Paul should have been Sam. The guy that plays Sam seems like he is like 40, and Sam isn't supposed to be much older than the others. But when they phased, AWESOME! The effects were very noticably more advanced, they did a great job. The little visions of Edward were weird. Didn't she just hear his voice? Not so much see visions of him while on the motorcycles and such? No big deal, but I did find it a little weird. Not only that, but yes, Olivia, I thought them running in period clothing was a little too much. Both times I saw this movie, the theater errupted in laughter because it was kind of retarded. All in all I loved it. It wasn't a waste of my time, and it made me want to read it all over again. Hopefully they keep moving in this positive direction and Eclipse is even better. I hear its got a release date in June not sure how realiable that is, but hopefully it won't be too long. I will be sad when its all over though, just as I was with the series. :( But look how great these two look together...haha

Enjoy!

Our First

2009-11-16T14:37:00.007-07:00

Well, as most of you know, Cody and I had the opportunity to celebrate our 1st anniversary this past weekend. And we were talking about all that was happening just one year before. We just can't avoid, when think back on that particular time, that we are reminded of the protesting and the uproar that was going on at that time. Particularly in front of the very temple in which we were sealed for time and all eternity. I remember the protesters being outside the grounds when we were coming out from my endowment, and how we were praying, wishing and hoping that it would all settle down in the 3 days remaining. There was an anthrax scare the night before, and they weren't sure they would open the temple on the morning of Friday, November 14th, and we had been waiting for the call to make other arrangements. There was actually a protest scheduled (yes, they schedule these types of things) for our wedding day, but miraculously, no one decided to show up that day, and they decided late Thursday night that all was well, and they would be able to move forward the next day. So we are very aware of the Lord's hand in our lives and working to bring us together, and making it possible for us to be married in the temple. I thank him very much for helping me begrudgingly move to Utah after a lot of prayer (I mean ALOT, I really didn't want to), so that I would be able to meet the wonderful man I was blessed enough to marry. We also think its pretty cool that we have an event in the history of our country to reference what was going on when we got married so we can tell our children and grandchildren. Not only that, but kind of stand up for we believe in, and were married as man & wife in the face of the debate. (I just think thats cool, because my grandparents met right after WW2, and I always thought that was interesting).
For our anniversary we decided to go back to where it all began and spend a couple hours doing sealings in the temple. Although we weren't being sealed to eachother, it was awesome to spend that day kneeling across from my husband again. It brought back alot of the memories, and we were able to be reminded of all the promises we had made and that were made to us based on our worthiness. Very cool to hear those very words again as we knelt together.
Tangent, I know, but we had decided we had wanted to start some sort of tradition for our anniversary. We had initially decided we would take a "honeymoon" every year and go on a cruise every year. However, a friend decided to do the same thing, and we wanted to do something that was our very own. So we decided to wait until summer to go on another cruise, and find something better to do for our anniversaries (not that cruises aren't great). So we decided we wanted to do sealings every year in the temple, and try to visit a different temple every year. :) Sounds like fun to us, so that is just what we are doing, wish us luck!
Back on track, we had originally decided to go to the Manti temple to kick off our new tradition, because neither one of us had been there, and we thought it would be cool. But it decided to snow when we were making our final plans. So instead of possibly getting stuck in the snow, we decided to maybe try that in fairer weather.
So considering everything with us started in North Salt Lake, and we went to the Bountiful temple almost every Saturday to do baptisms when we were dating, we thought that would be a good place for us to go this year. We met a really cute ward that had come down from Kaysville, and they thanked us for spending our special day with them, and congratulated us on our "feat" over and over. It was really cute.
After all of that, it was quite late, and we were starving!!!! So we decided to visit the scene of the crime (our first date) and we went to Applebees, and coincidentally, we were seated right across from the very booth we sat at that first night. :) We thought it was pretty cool. And a lot of fun, remembering that awkward night, when we were thinking "I'm not sure this is going to go to a second date...", little did we know.
We had made dinner plans, but by the time it rolled around, we still weren't hungry. So we are doing an IOU, and we will probably go this weekend instead.
We exchanged our gifts, being that the theme for one year is "time", we both stepped out of the box and didn't get eachother a watch, or a clock or anything like that...we got creative. Cody remembered what sealers always talk about in the ceremony before the couple exchanges rings "the ring is one eternal round, just like temple marriage is eternal", so Cody bought me a beautiful ring. I got him a cute camcorder, so he will be able to document our time, and hopefully we will be able to look back at the good times we spent together, and one day as a family! :) So I would say we did a pretty good job this year, we both went an unexpected direction. Can't wait to see what we come up with next year!
Hope all is well with you all, and that you may have or find traditions of your own to share. What temple should we visit next year???

Primary Program

2009-11-11T08:52:00.002-07:00

So, I do remember that I had promised a post about how the Primary Program went this past Sunday. Needless to say, I haven't been so excited for something to be OVER!
The kids were especially squirmy this week. No one would stay quiet and everyone needed to be moving constantly it seemed. Thankfully they calmed down a little bit for Sacrament. Whew! They pulled it together and they sat pretty well on the stand, for the most part.
I was very impressed at some of the children who had memorized their parts. Every year they ask that the speaking parts be memorized, but usually no one does. We had 6 kids with memorized parts, I would call that a success! When it came to the songs though, I knew it wasn't going to be that great. Usually during singing time, the kids don't care, they don't want to pay attention, they chit-chat, and the last thing they want to do is sing meaningful songs. They would rather sing "Popcorn Poppping", "Once There Was A Snowman", "Hinges", etc. So as soon as they have a theme of "Acion", we will be set.
I kind of felt like a failure of a chorister, because really, they didn't know as much as they should have. I tried my best, sang the songs with them every week, made up actions (though, I wasn't fond of the actions during the program, its kind of distracting), gave them incentive, played games with them....ugh. But a wonderfully sweet person brought it to my attention, that I can only do so much in 20 minutes a week. By the next week, they have forgotten most of what I had taught them the previous week.
We had made a CD of all the songs on the program for each child to take home. That way they could listen to the songs at home, and maybe that would help them retain the information. However, we would ask them, "Whose Mom & Dad played their CD for them this week?", I think about 3 would raise their hands. So really, next year, we really need to stress that we need the support of the parents to pull it off.
It made me think of the things I would like to do with my children as a parent. I would like to sing the songs with my children, and I hope they remember them with the fondness that I do. I didn't really need a refresher course on the songs when I was called, I have been singing them all my life. I even credit "I Love to See the Temple" with my desire to be married in the temple since I was a child, and I have achieved that. If their parents would stop and listen to the principals the wonderful Primary Songs teach, I think they would be more likely to pop those CDs in! Because out of all of the things people remember, I would say songs rank up there pretty high. People remember cute little songs, just like when the cute little annoying jingles from commercials get stuck in your head. So hopefully when I do decide to have children, that I will be able to help my kids while they are small to sing the songs, cause lets face it, besides teaching them prinicpals, its just plain cute! :)

I Don't Think I Was Meant for All 4 Seasons...

2009-11-04T08:29:00.003-07:00

So last night, Cody and I went shopping. We both had been having a pretty awful day, so we decided after we were finished moping, we were going to go to dinner and go shopping. It was a much needed date night, and its great to hang out and just laugh!
Cody has insisted for about 2 weeks now that he needs to get me a "coat", which is kind of a foreign word for me. Lets be honest here, I don't really understand the difference between coats, jackets and hoodies. They are all pretty much the same to me. So last night Cody decided that was one of the things on our list to look for, a coat for Kylie. Seriously, the ones he was showing me that were "coats" just looked like inedible marshmellows. I would look like the Michelin man.
Then I would pick out ones that I would like, and Cody, to every single one I showed him would say "no, thats a jacket, you need a coat". WHATS THE DIFFERENCE?!?!?! I have lived here for 2 years now (scary, I know) and I still don't get it. And why on earth is this place inhabited the other 6 months out of the year anyway!!??? Its TOO freakin miserably cold, and the snow can be treacherous. (I was on my way to work this morning, and the thermometer read "36"...not cool).
I have lived in sunny California for 20 years...where 55 degrees is cold. I have a vast collection of hoodies that I would wear at night to say, beach bonfires and walks on pier...now I can't even walk to my car without freezing my buns off. So the conclusion I have come to is, maybe I just wasn't cut out for the ALL 4 seasons thing...I know a lot of people "enjoy" it, but I am not sure having to bundle up beyond recognition is what I would call enjoyable. Sorry guys. If you can come up with some not so puffy alternatives, I would be open to it. Cause I am seriously considering just being a hermit until it warms up. :)

Everyone Hail to the Pumkin Song

2009-11-02T13:55:00.003-07:00

So needless to say, I am not the BIGGEST Halloween fan...crazy, I know. Somehow the allure to dress all skantily clad, does not help... I can't stand "those" girls, probably makes me dislike it even more. However, I do appreciate those creative costumes that are well thought out and are not seen very often. :) Kudos to you guys.
Anyway, this Halloween was no different from last Halloween (except the fact we are married this year, and we were just waiting last year), we weren't really looking forward to it. Cody and I aren't people who enjoy dressing up, or hanging out with mass amounts of people. So we planned to spend our Halloween with our friends (and Cody's cousin) Andrew & Allie. We got invited to a Halloween party a couple in our ward was having, so we drug them along. Andrew and Allie were so cute and went to the DI and found stuff, so they were dressed as a Cruise Ship Captain, and a Hula Girl...I on the other hand, took the easy way out and put scrubs on (which I wear every day to work) and picked up Becca's stethascope (I get the "you look like Elliott from Scrubs" alot, so I decided thats what I was going to be), Cody was my patient. I slashed up one of his shirts with a kitchen knife, and we fake bloodied up some bandages, and he had some already ripped jeans, so it worked out. (Like I said, we don't enjoy dressing up).
The party was quiet, and interesting. I don't really like going to things like that, but we appreciated being invited and thought of. So after that was over, we decided we were going to go home and eat our Costco Pumpkin Cheesecake ( I look forward to it every year), and watch a scary movie with Drew & Allie. We watched "What Lies Beneath", and I quite enjoyed my cute, dear hubby holding my arm and jumping at all the startling parts...he's so funny. So all in all, we had a fun Halloween night! :) Thanks to the Riley's and Andrew & Allie...but we can wait until next year.
But hey, I had an excuse to watch the Nightmare Before Christmas, so it wasn't so bad... :)

SO EXCITED, I can't even tell you!

2009-10-28T08:26:00.003-06:00

Yes, I am one of those girls. I just can't wait for the sequel to Twilight, New Moon! I am not so much a "Twihard" or anything like that. I simply love the books, the eternal bond it represents and the way Stephanie Meyer writes. It doesn't hurt that every time I would imagine Edward, he had a bit of Cody in him (for me).
But I just got my tickets the other day in the mail to one of the midnight showings. Cody & I are going with our friends Chase & Mikah to a private showing in Provo (thanks Olivia). Olivia, this girl I have met through the blogging circuit, has rented out one of the screening rooms in a theater for the opening night. I asked her if she had any extra tickets, and poof, she made my month. I WAS GOING TO SEE NEW MOON, and not with a bunch of crazy high school kids, like when we saw Twilight...WOOHOO!
So, I wasn't THAT impressed with Twilight at first, but as I kept watching it, and I reread the books, it has definitely grown on me. I had to get over the fact that they don't get everything right for some reason (even the way they park Bella's car for the accident scene...sigh...) You would think it wouldn't be that hard...but evidently it is. ANYWAY...
Still, I am super stoked about the second movie coming out. If you have seen the previews, you just know its going to be better than the first. It just looks so much more intense! The actors say there is a lot more action, and the movie will leave you wanting more, so who wouldn't be excited? Only 23 more days...I think....

I Love TLC Evenings

2009-10-27T10:53:00.005-06:00

So yes, I have been loving the shows on TLC lately, I've been kind of obsessed... I think Cody & I watched like 6 episodes of "Cake Boss" last night. I love it. I also like to tune into "Say Yes to the Dress". We aren't usually TV watchers, but with the weather, we have become so (and the fact that Cody hates board games).

"Say Yes to the Dress" reminds me of working at Camarillo Bridal, which is a bit humbler of a shop, but still, I remember the crazy brides that would drive us crazy because they would never be able to make up their minds. "Say Yes to the Dress" is based out of New York, and they get all kinds of people from all over the world coming to that shop. Its amazing. I just like to see all the different dresses (I am kinda glad I never had to try on that many, I think I only tried on 3 or 4). The process looks completely exhausting! But the people are funny and diverse and I just love to see how they handle each client's personality and style. If you like seeing different people's styles, I would say this is a good show, plus its one of the more wholesome things on TV these days.

My other guilty pleasure is "Cake Boss". Its about a family owned bakery in New Jersey, the family is a full blooded, crazy, Italian family. They are in your face, very vocal and absolutely hilarious. Being that they are all related (Buddy's 4 sisters run the front and the shop, while he and a couple brothers-in-law run the show upstairs with the designs and assembly with their crew) they get a little annoyed with eachother. Very entertaining. And I used to watch "Ace of Cakes" on FoodNetwork (I still do sometimes), but they didn't really focus of the assembly of the actual cakes and how they make them. On "Cake Boss" you actually see them make them from top to bottom, its interesting. Plus, they have quite the colorful clientele as well. They come up with really awesome designs and its just an awesome way to create art, and it doesn't hurt that you can eat it! :)

But I still love the usuals that I have always watched on TLC "What Not to Wear" and "Jon & Kate Plus 8"(which has gone downhill, but I liked the Q& A last night). What do you usually end up watching?

All Little Bit of Everything

2009-10-26T08:40:00.003-06:00

So needless to say the past couple of weeks have felt so hecktic and crazy. We have been working,as usual...but we have had things that were expected and very unexpected happening.
We have been enjoying the season, although it has gotten a touch too cold for me, and its not even snowing yet.
We were able to go to a couples Halloween party thrown by one of my friends from the University ward I was in before we got married, Camary. We had an awesome dinner made up of a mystery menu, it was cute. Each dish was something you would normally eat, but on the menu they were called something gruesome like "enlarged maggots" for macarroni and cheese and so on. You didn't find out what you had ordered until it was in front of you. It was a way cute idea and we had a lot of fun playing games like pictionary and watching a scary movie. And we met some fun new people, altogether a very entertaining night! Thanks Cam! :)
Cody has been VERY busy with the boys in the stake. They went shooting last week, they went to a Haunted Maze on Wednesday, they have a campout coming up...its just been wild. Not to mention he helped the Teachers in the stake with their booth on Saturday for our stake Halloween Carnival, and he did a great job. I think his favorite part was watching all the little kids in their cute costumes. He picked out some of his favorite and showed them to me when I got there. I would have to say, he has good taste! :) Our favorite was a homemade lion costume on this probably year old boy, had to be one of the cutest things we had ever seen.
We have also been visited on a pretty frequent basis by some of our kids from trek. Some that were ours, and some that were honorary because lets face it, they wanted to be in our awesome fam. But we love having them over and hearing all of the things they are going through right now. It takes us back, I don't know..like 5 to 7 years...Its just funny, because we totally relate and understand being right in that very position. Jared and John came over after their dates on Saturday and gave us a recap. It was pretty hilarious, and yes, of course we gave them some very valuable advise...haha We love it.
On a bit of a sad note, Friday though we attended a very sobering funeral, but it was very touching and beautiful at the same time. Our good friends, and neighbors lost their son of complications upon arrival. They were able to spend a little bit of time with him, and they said that the they had some amazing spiritual experiences that are really helping them get through this really hard time in their lives. If you can though, I would really appreciate if you could just mention the Hanks Family in your prayers, I know they can feel the power of the prayers said in their behalf. I just know I would appreciate it also, if something like that were to happen to me. So if you can, that would be wonderful. We are also very sad because they will be moving to West Jordan this weekend, we will miss them and their awesome little girl. We are looking forward to meeting up with them, and continuing our friendship. They have been wonderful friends and neighbors.
Sunday, Cody was able to also attend his cousin's farewell. Travis will actually be going to the same mission that Cody went to. So Cody was able to give him a few insights and tips. We are excited for Travis to have this awesome experience in his life, but it will be sad to see him go. For those of you that know him, know he is hilarious and lots of fun. You will be missed Travis, but you will have an awesome experience and we will have even more fun when you return!
Well, Primary program is coming up, so I have been spending the last 8 months, especially the last few weeks gearing the kids up for it. I will have to let you know how it goes. Its November 8th and then our anniversary is on the 14th, so I will be able to get a couple more posts in about something in particular, instead of one that is all over the place. But our life has been pretty all over the place! Enjoy your Halloween! :)

"Enjoy the Fleeting Moments"

2009-10-06T10:55:00.001-06:00

I have realized through the course of my short life, that most people are in a rush. They need to get this done, and then this, and then they need to get to something else. How awesome would it be, if we just took the time to enjoy the moment we are in? The phase we are in, in our lives.
I could have done with a little bit more enjoyment of the things I was doing say, 3, 4 , or 5 years ago. But I, like so many others, was in so much of a hurry to get to the next thing. Finally, at the ripe old age of 19, I decided I needed to slow down, take things as they came, and enjoy or learn from each experience that came into my life. I have tried to keep that ongoing, but sometimes I forget, and before I know it,I'm in a hurry again.
When I was 19, some experiences I had, made me realize that my life was in the Lord's hands, and my timetable didn't really exist, it was His. Sure, I can set goals, and plan things, and most of those things I can do on my own timetable. But not everything. A lot of things just happen when they are supposed to, and in the way they were meant to. Not necessarily when and how I would have invisioned. Like when I met my "Prince Charming", I didn't really plan on that, quite the opposite really. Neither one of us wanted to go that direction, particularly with eachother at that point. We were too busy enjoying the life we had at that moment. Which taught me the lesson again. The best opportunities come when we are enjoying what we already have.
So I got to enjoy moments like these, to the fullest.
Cody had surprised me with an "outing" and told me to wear tennis shoes. I had never even heard of Ensign Peak before that day. But it is one of my favorite memories of us. I think we had been dating for 4 or 5 months at this point. If I looked at my journal, I could probably tell you.

But I for sure remember this. November 14, 2008. One of the craziest days of my life. Sure, I enjoyed this day, but remembering all of it is super hard. So much was going on, and we still had so much to do that day. This picture was taken right before we finished at the temple, and I remember taking a wonderful, peaceful drive down one of my favorite sites, the Pacific Coast Highway with my brand new husband. :)

This post is mostly for my benefit, to remind myself not to get caught up with everything around me. But I am sure you can come up with memories of your own that you treasure, that you wish, would have lasted maybe a little bit longer. And as more come your way, you will remember to stop, relax and enjoy the moment you are in. It only comes around once! :)

Happy Birthday Codes!!!

2009-09-17T09:37:00.003-06:00

I can't believe how time flies. Its seems like it wasn't that long ago that we celebrated Cody's 23rd birthday, but I guess it was a year ago! Today my wonderfully sweet husband is celebrating his 24th birthday! He hasn't been looking forward to today (he feels like he is getting old), but as I tell him all the time, the best parts of his life have just begun!
But I am so grateful for him, and the gift he is to me and everyone in our families. But even more, here are 10 reasons I think he is wonderful! ( I could probably go on forever)

1. He loves the Gospel & he has a relationship with his Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ
2. He is possibly the most loving person I know
3. He is respectful
4. He is honest
5. He is smart
6. He loves to pray
7. He makes me smile
8. His mission in life is to make sure our family (right now is just me) is taken care of
9. He is thoughtful and kind
10. He has a HUGE heart; and he loves me more than even I know

I love this picture, it makes me smile! This was a formal night on the cruise. My favorite is when he is dressed up in his church clothes, he is so handsome!

This is a picture he took of himself on my camera when we were dating. He thought he was pretty funny. You can see by the look on his face he thought he was being rather sneaky.

And obviously this is from our wedding day. We just couldn't believe that it was here, and how happy we are and have been. Best decision we have ever made!

Happy Birthday babe! I love you more than words can express and I am glad we get to celebrate you every year, you are such a blessing and joy in my life!

7 Pounds aka Most Depressing Movie Ever!

2009-09-14T12:32:00.003-06:00

Okay, let me just start by saying that this movie had a good concept, but I hated it. If you haven't seen it, don't read this, unless you don't care whether you know the ending.
First of all, I did love Rosario Dawson's portrayal in this movie, I think she did an awesome job.
However, what the crap??!?!
The first hour of this movie probably had me the most confused I have been in a long time. There was no plot for about 3/4 of the movie. It just seemed so spliced together and abstract, it was ridiculous.
We watched it with Cody's cousin Andrew & his wife Allie, who also happens to be a friend of mine. All the way through the movie we were looking at eachother going "what the heck is this". I had recommended it, remembering that my sister had really liked it. I hated it, I will never waste 2 hours of my life on that movie again.
Honestly how creepy would it be to look into the eyes of someone you loved, but they were donated, and now were someone else's eyes? SICK! Not only that, but to only be alive because the man you loved committed suicide, and now you have his heart in your body...WEIRD! And how much guilt are you forcing on that person...I just think that this director thuroughly enjoys depressing people as much as possible.
But another lesson learned, do not text and drive!!!!
COME ON WILL SMITH! I have hated all of your latest movies, "The Persuit of Happyness", "I Am Legend", "Hancock"and "Seven Pounds", I guess I should stick to your oldies!
So I would have to say this movie gets 8 thumbs completely down....by myself, Cody, Andrew and Allie! We had to watch "Yes Man" to cheer ourselves up before going to bed. Thank you for saving my dreams Zoey Danschel!

While We Were In California

2009-09-09T12:13:00.007-06:00

We did family pictures(This was in the beginning of August). The whole operation was orchestrated by my sisters. We did these as a gift for my parents. We had a lot of fun hanging out on the beach together as a family. You just can't find any better scenery. The beach is probably what I do, and will always miss most about home (other than my family of course!)
Here are my favorites...

My Beautiful Family! Love you guys!

Ari Cheney Lewis did an awesome job editing these and the photographer (don't remember his name) was a trooper! Thanks guys!

St. George

2009-09-02T10:08:00.005-06:00

So it was a warm welcomed get away for us this last weekend. We couldn't have been more ready for time away. So we decided to spend the weekend in St. George. So we decided we would drive out on Friday right after we were done with work and things. Cody and I had realized the day before, that we had never been in the car with eachother much longer than 30 minutes, so this was going to be a first. But it was a quite enjoyable 4 hour drive (its a good thing Utah doesn't really have traffic). We talked, we laughed and just got to enjoy eachother and the open road.

So Friday night we checked into our awesome hotel, and started our carefree weekend. It was nice to have nowhere to be, and no schedule, so we really enjoyed it. We got to sleep in, go out to breakfast, walk around the shopping pavilions, and just relax. Neither one of us had been to St. George in probably 10 years or so, so we weren't really sure what there was to do. But one thing I am thankful for the i-phone is for the unlimited access to google and gps!

We also tried to do a session at the St. George Temple on Saturday morning, but sadly, it was closed for cleaning and maintenance. So sad! But we can't wait to go back, because seeing how beautiful it was on the outside, we can't imagine what it looks like on the inside! What they were able to accomplish at that time, and with such limited resources is absolutely amazing. So beautiful!

We also got to visit the Tabernacle that is in St. George. The missionaries in the area told us a lot about the history of the city, and all the things that went on there that not everyone hears about. I know a lot of the history of Salt Lake just because I live here and because its talked about a lot with church and things, but St. George not so much. But the saints actually did alot of amazing things, and had to go through a lot of hardships. Its very interesting.

The inside was true to early Latter-Day Saint style. So elegant, and beautiful. They really knew how to build buildings back then. And there were so many amazingly talented people. The wood that they used was pine, so they hand painted wood grain on everything to make it look like oak. I can't imagine how long that took! And that pulpit is where we received the famous "Windows of Heaven" speech, when we learned the true blessings of tithing! And we got to walk right up to it and stand there, it was really cool.

Then we went to Brigham Young's Winter home. I would have to say that Brother Brigham had the right idea. Hang out in Salt Lake in the Spring, Summer and some of the Autumn months, but as soon as it started to be really cold and snow, he got outta there. He spent the snowy months in the very un-snowy St. George; smart, smart man. In both of his homes there is just a different feeling, especially in his bedroom. He has a kneeling stool in his room, and I just can't help but think of how many conversations he had with the Lord in that room while he was on his knees. Just the feeling in these buildings where the early prophets spent time, and talked to eachother is so different, I love it.

But the real reason for our excursion was to see these beautiful people! Trent & Lauren Tipton were married in the Los Angeles temple the week before; and we were not able to make it to California as much as I would have loved to. So we did the next best thing and went to their beautiful reception in St. George! Lauren looked amazing, and Trent looked very handsome, they both looked absolutely happy finally be sealed together. It was so good to see you guys! Can't wait to see ya when everything calms down!
So that was our restful weekend, if only life could always be that way! Until our next getaway...

5 Minutes Peace

2009-08-31T10:36:00.003-06:00

I have been thinking and praying and pleading for a sense of peace in my life. I just feel like there aren't enough hours in a day...Life is just crazy. Things weren't like this before I was married. When Cody and I were dating time didn't seem to go so quickly, but we also didn't have as many responsibilities.

It seems that I cannot get enough time to myself or just with Cody. Our days are filled with work, coming home and preparing dinners, nights at the cabin (I don't see Cody at all until about 11pm at night), school, Cody has mutual on Wednesday nights, and I have umpteen million things to do with laundry, cleaning, primary, extra curricular activities....WHAT HAPPENED!

It seems like our life has been in an upheavel, and we don't even have kids. It makes the idea of ever having children absolutely exhausting, which is probably one of the reasons we still don't want any, not to mention the fact that we aren't ready for it. And we have had a lot going on with family things, which have us unsettled...what a mess...

All I want as this point, is 5 minutes peace, like the book I used to read with my mom...Now I know how wonderful peace and quiet really is.

All I have really noticed lately is, a lot people are really selfish, inconsiderate, and self consumed, with no thought to anyone else or how they might feel. Oh well, I better get used to it, it seems we will be dealing with people like that for a VERY LONG TIME.

Heaven help me....

My Little Baker

2009-08-24T15:24:00.003-06:00

So I have noticed as of late that Cody loves to bake. I wasn't expecting this when I married him. But when we have the option of what to make for family dinners, he says "Do dessert, I will make________". He enjoys making brownies, cookies, muffins, waffles, pancakes and rolls. I handle most of the cakes or cup cakes, because he says I make them more moist (thank you Erin).
So yesterday we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication, which was amazing! Anyway, when we got home, Cody decided to whip up some wonderful blueberry muffins. They were delish! He does such a great job! The guy has so many talents, not only is he Mr. Fixit, Mr. Builder, Mr. Electronics, Mr. AllThingsAquatic, Mr. Helpful, Mr. Wonderful, and Mr. Right, he is also a Baker! I am going to need to find some new talents to keep up! But needless to say we enjoyed our weekend, it was one of the few where we spent all of it together. I can't think of anything better!

For the Love...(Disclaimer: kinda sappy)

2009-08-24T10:20:00.003-06:00

It has recently come to my attention that not everyone has a connection like my Cody and I. Which, at the thought, I think, how can this be? Seriously, we have been told that we are a rarity. I just don't get it. I know so many people out there that are so in love and it shows. You can tell by the look in their eyes and the way they interact that they are just defined by the other.
On the other hand I have also seen people that act the way they think they are supposed to and it looks rather foreign instead of being quite natural.
Now I realize that I cannot take my relationship with Codes for granted. We have something entirely special and unique. We have the things that people long for, and we need to be constantly aware and grateful for it. I have quite a few friends that are equally as blessed as I am to have their spouses and you can just see it. And I am so happy for them and am so grateful that they enjoy the things that I enjoy everyday.
Like I say to a lot of my single friends marriage is as amazing as people say it is. Cody is my best friend, and I love to hang out with him, its practically my favorite thing to do. But it is hard enough to be married to the right person, I can only imagine what it would be like to be married to someone else, with doubt that I made the right decision. I had an undenyable answer that I will never be able to doubt and I am so grateful. A blog I read recently said it perfectly, and beautifully,
"We eat together, we play together, we drive together, we talk together, we sit in silence together, we pray together, we laugh together, we set goals together. We are together in every sense of the word. There are no words to describe how wonderful that feels. Man is not meant to be alone. God teaches us that, but it isn't until you enter into that marriage covenant that you finally gain an understanding as to why. And we're only at the beginning of that understanding :) To our single friends, keep becoming the best you you can be, for it will only make that beautiful relationship that much better when it happens!... God's timing is perfect :) It only took one time for our lives to cross, and that one time has turned into eternity :) "
It makes me happy to know that others feel the same way I do about my husband. It helps us realize that God truely knows what is best for us, and we can really see his hand in our lives even just by the people he brings into it. I can tell God knows me well enough to know, that there is no one else in this world that could make me as happy and complete as Cody makes me. :)
Enjoy your "other half"!

What's in a Name?

2009-08-13T12:59:00.003-06:00

So I know its been quite a while since Cody & I got married...9 months tomorrow actually...But I am just now changing my name legally. I would have to say, I have been kind of hesitant to do it. Obviously, if its taken me this long. Not because I think anything is going to happen with us or anything, but just cause its my identity.

I had the paperwork for days, and I just couldn't decide if I was going to drop my maiden name completely, or if I should keep it as a middle name. Cody said there was no chance in hyphenating it, so I had to make a decision. It might seem stupid to most, but I know at least one person who sympathizes with me, and we happen to be blog buddies...thank you for validating me! :) I just didn't want to let go, its who I am, and who I have always been. My name allows me to be annonymous in Utah, not many Hannas here, but there are a lot of Fitts' and everyone knows the family name one way or another it seems. And, after the passing of my grandpa 2 years ago last week, my family name has meant so much more to me. Its been hard, but as of this week, I am officially a Fitts.

California Knows How to Party....

2009-08-11T09:15:00.024-06:00

Well, yet another, much too short trip. This time we thought we would switch it up, and not go to Disneyland, but enjoy more of the many attractions Southern California has to offer. This time, we decided to take my nieces to the Long Beach Aquarium for Emery's birthday. If you know Cody, you know that he loves aquatic animals, and he is practically obsessed with fish (we have a 50 gallon tank at home). So he was as excited as anyone to go. We got to touch sting rays, and sharks in the pools outside. That was interesting. The texture of their skin was completely opposite. Rays are very slimy, and sharks have very sand-papery-like skin. It was cool though. The sharks were very mellow and just liked to lay at the bottom on the pools in the sand.
The tanks were filled with interesting fish. The girls had fun finding all of the different colors, and sizes of each fish. They also liked to point out the funniest looking ones.

There were HUGE tanks. And LOTS of people. It was really crowded, but having the kids was quite an advantage, people like to make room for them to sneak by and get a closer look.

The seals are always good for entertainment. Fallon & Emery liked them the best, I think. They would watch them all day if we would let them. They liked to watch them swim in the tanks and do flips, but they liked to see them do little tricks up top as well.

The otters were really energetic. I have seen quite a few out in the wild, and they seem to have a lot of personality. Probably one of MY favorites to go and see.

I didn't count the tanks, but there were ALOT of them. Filled with all of the fish in various areas. The tropical were the most eye-catching.The kids also go to see a diver inside the tanks, that was hooked up to a mic, so he would answer questions that people had while he was swimming around. It was neat. So that was our Thursday.

Friday, Cody and I went with Erin and her kids to the Oaks Mall. I haven't been there in probably a year or more. We relaxed, did a little bit of shopping, and just enjoyed walking around together. HOLY COW has it gotten bigger!

Just before we went and got our family pictures done, Jeff blessed little Porter at home. It was an awesome blessing, to say the least, we were very proud of Jeff. Porter, being the content little guy he is, stayed quiet and just listened to his daddy's voice. That evening we went and got our family pictures taken, since we had some new additions since last time; Fallon, Rhett, Cody & little Porter. It was a lot of fun, but the beach isn't the best for keeping one's hair in tact. But we had a lot of fun with it, we will just have to wait and see what they look like.

Just thought I would throw in a close-up of Porter, since you can't really see him, and how cute he is in the family shot.

And then on Saturday, we hung out until it was time for this little guy's birthday. We could not believe Rhett is already a year old!!! We had fun at the part with both our family & Randy's family. We enjoyed some good food, and LOTS of candy!

All in all, it was a wonderful few days! Only wish we could have stayed and played longer. The whole time I was trying to think of ways we could stay...but alas, I came up short. We are back in Utah, and back to life! We can't wait to go again and spend time with my family! Miss you guys already!!!!

In Two Weeks....

2009-07-23T10:24:00.002-06:00

I will be with these funny kids!
My two funny girls who LOVE the bath, and pretty much anything involving water.

Them, enjoying their new baby brother. Fallon actually said when Erin was pregnant, that if the baby was a boy, (which they already knew it was, but Fallon was fighting it) she was not going to love him. As you can see, she has caved and she loves that boy as much as a little girl can.

And she will always have a place in her heart for her buddy, and favorite cousin (until my kids come along, jk) Rhetty Boy. Rhett is going to be a whole year old already!!! He's growing up way to fast. Emery is going to be 7 next week, and I can't believe that either...

And then there is little Porter, whom we haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet. Bummer....But I am excited to hold and play with this darling boy! He has started smiling and making lots of noise. I know he is an exceptional screamer, I have been able to hear that much of him. But I also know he is a very sweet little guy! Can't wait to see you all in just 13 more days!!!!!! It will be a fun birthday extravaganza, family picture, baby blessing, quality time with auntie & uncle filled visit...

This is a good one of Fallon...at dance class. Her outfit is classic, and that is her "smile", its much better when you get a candid one! This little charater turned 4 in May, and we wish we could have been there to share it with her. But we will make up for it! Long Beach Aquarium here we come!!!

Weak Sauce

2009-07-20T10:28:00.006-06:00

Friday night was going to be absolutely wonderful. I got to go to my favorite Mexican restaurant "La Puente" and then it was off to a night at the movies. We went and saw "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince", which I have been waiting for since November, when it was supposed to come out. Dinner was better than I imagined, but the movie was lacking.
Its been a subject of conversation with my sister and also my sister-in-law. who both came to the same conclusion as myself. I just feel like they tried to make it more entertaining rather than accurate. I was entertained by the comedy but could have done without on a few things in favor accuracy. I just hope the last two leave me less disappointed. Lets try to stay true to the actual story...
The actors on the other hand, I think, did wonderful. They have really grown into their roles and portray them flawlessly. I enjoy the actors in these movies more than I do most. So that was the highlight for me.
Cody rather loved the movie, because he has never read a page of the series. Yet, when he found out Dumbledore actually died, he had to surpress a loud gasp...That actually made me laugh. But I am glad someone enjoyed it.....
Here is an article if you would like to hear more, I rather enjoyed other fans' insight.

We Survived...

2009-07-01T13:06:00.007-06:00

So as you can probably assume, we came home from trek as survivors. I am not going to lie, those were some of the most strenuous days of my life. I had a great family of kids. I had 3 boys and 4 girls, one of our boys was not able to make it.
My boys were absolutely wonderful. Steven (either 17 or 18), who is mildly autistic, they put with me and Cody because they figured because I had cared for special needs children throughout my life, that I would do best with him. One of the sweetest, most thoughtful kids there is. He also had his sister Wanda in our family to help out if we needed it. Jared, whom I think we bonded the most with. He is a 17 year old skater boy with fashion sense. He seriously is the funniest kid alive and a self-proclaimed metro. I seriously love him as if he were family. And then we had Brian, who was the youngest boy of the bunch at 14. Brian is a very free spirit who beats to him own drum. Very talented musically. He wrote lyrics of a new hymn for us while we were there. Crazy amounts of diversity and talent with all of the kids we had.
The girls were fun, but not what you would call athletes. So when it came to the pushing and pulling, they were a little less than enthused. They did help me out, just not as much as I knew they were capable of. The oldest was Wanda, Steven's sister. She is a great girl, and she is very agreeable and sweet, most of the time. That girl has some bite to her though, no doubt about that. She can stand her own, but mostly just a loving girl. Reannan who is either 15 or 16 was the artist. She can draw anything. She is willing to do anything she is asked, whether she does it well, or not. Kimberly who is 14, is the comedic relief, and the realist. She reminded us a lot of Cody's cousin Chantel. She has a quick wit about her, man she had me and Cody in stitches a lot of the time. Sarcastic as all get-out and just an all-around fun girl. Danielle is Kimberly's cousin and she is 14 as well. She actually turned 14 the day before we left. She is young, and she is cute as heck, but she was our girly-girl. I don't do well with these types of personalities, but I tried with all I had not to lose it. She really is a great girl, but I had to go into "mom mode" with her a bit, with a few quick quips of my own. Needless to say, we had our hands full.
Our Trek consisted of 4 days. Wednesday we loaded our handcarts and started rolling as soon as we ate lunch. We went about 4 or 5 miles, since it was so late, and called it a day. The kids played in the streams and we all got acquainted. Thursday, which was supposed to be the toughest day out there, was a little different. We headed out as usual, it was a HOT one. The men were taken from us about 30 minutes in, and off to battle in the Mormon Battalion. So we women got to pull the carts up the steepest inclines we would see all week, with extremely rocky terrain. With my girls it was quite an experience. Needless to say I found strength I never knew I had as I pushed that handcart (and I am STILL sore). We met the men at the top of the steepest incline (more than a 45 degree angle) and Cody said it was really hard to watch and be able to do nothing. Off we went with the guys. My boys were so cute with me when I got up there. Jared declared that I was not to touch the cart until tomorrow because he had to watch what I went through. We brought our total for the day to about 8 miles.
Friday was little better. It decided to rain all day long. So the trails were very muddy and slippery. We had about a pound of mud each on the bottoms of our shoes. Wet, and soggy, we coninued on as the sun came out for lunch. We enjoyed the sun while it lasted. That day we trekked about 7 miles. That night was "Bishop's Night" and our Church Meeting. A couple of kids spoke, which was really nice, they were great. And it started to storm as we got ready to eat dinner. So there was Heaven knows how many people stuck under one large tarp. GREAT! :) Luckily it stopped after 30 minutes of thunder, lightning and heavy rain. We got to have our testimony meeting by the fire. 6 of 7 kids bore their testimonies, and we couldn't have been prouder of them. Jared was my biggest surprise. I knew he had no intention of getting spiritual over the course of this trip, and he was the first of our family to get up. Such an amazing kid.
We played some games of capture the flag. I am proud to say I participated and dominated a couple of those kids. I came out with some bruises and a swollen knee, but it was so worth it. One of the kids actually close-lined himself, I haven't heard Cody laugh that hard in a long time.
Friday was a day of mixed emotions. We were sad to leave our kids, but we were so glad to come home and shower! (and sleep in a soft bed).
We had a blast, but it was a hard trip. I don't know that we would ever do it again, but we enjoyed it.
Wagoners (our family name) For Life!

Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked, and Walked, and Walked, and Walked...AND WALKED!

2009-06-18T11:10:00.004-06:00

Upon seeing this picture, whose first reaction was "ooh, that looks like fun!" First of all, I hope that nobody reacted that way...Second, if you did, I personally think you are nuts.So our current endeavor is Trek.
We will be leaving this coming Wednesday at 8am. Cody and I had been called by our Stake President to be Trek Parents. Being that we were called by the Stake President we thought we should probably accept, whether or not we really wanted to... So we will be heading up to Hardware Ranch up near Logan to reinact the pioneer handcart journey.
Personally, I am glad I grew up in California, cause we didn't do these kinds of things. Camping....sure, thats no big deal, but pulling a handcart with a bunch of 14-18 year old kids, thats probably going to be the hardest thing I have to do until I have kids of my own. I hope to NEVER have 8 teenagers (the only way God would get me to have 8 children at all, would be if they all came at the same time, and no, thats not a suggestion). Sorry Kate Gosselin, I feel for ya! I'm pretty sure 6-8 kids at any given age would make me just as high strung.
Thankfully the weather report looks rather good for next week. We just found out who our kids were going to be throughout the stake, and I am excited about 1 or 2, but we will see how their Sunday attitudes translate....
Hopefully I will get back to you with a pleasant report when we get back. I am crossing my fingers that everything goes well. This is not neccessarily how I wanted to spend some of my vacation time from work.....Heaven help me.

My BFF

2009-06-17T09:36:00.003-06:00

So seriously, Cody is my best friend in the entire world. I can talk to him about ANYTHING at any time. He is the one I call, even if its just for a laugh. I think he is about the funniest person I know, but he thinks I am. Truely the best friend I have ever had, and more. This guy just does the sweetest things just for fun. This week I got the most beautiful yellow and orange roses, "just because I love you". He has cleaned my entire home, done all of our laundry (which he hates) just because. Man, I don't think I could have asked for a better companion. And as you can see, he is just as goofy as me!

The past year, and 4 months have been the best. I cannot believe how time flies. But fortunately we have eternity! I can't believe what a lucky girl I am. Look at how unbearably cute he is! I am just so grateful for him and the life that we have together. I am also grateful for our truely unique relationship. My bff for sure! I LOVE HIM!

Codes & Ky '08-eternity

Porter Everett Milford

2009-06-08T12:31:00.003-06:00

Here are the pictures of Porter as promised!

Erin will probably kill me for putting this up, but I think she looks awesome for just giving birth. Plus, she had quite an experience in labor. He's a cutie though!

The 4th Has Arrived!

2009-06-03T08:25:00.003-06:00

My sister Erin has had her baby! Porter Everett Milford arrived on Tuesday, May 26th at 6:50 pm. My poor sister was enduced at 7:30 in the morning, but was just not dialating! (sorry if thats TMI) But he finally decided to appear after a tough labor. He was 8lbs 4oz. even though he was a week early! We're glad to have him join our little family. I would put on of my pictures on here, but my computer is being retarded. I will post one later! Hope all is well with you guys!

The 3 Amigos, soon to be 4!

2009-05-22T20:29:00.003-06:00

I recently was able to go back home to California to be with my family for my sister's baby shower & Mother's Day. Needless to say, it was wonderful to be home; I miss it terribly everyday.
But as is the case with all my visits, the highlight is being able to see these three....

Emery, age 6

Fallon, age 4

and Rhett, age 9 months

Seriously I can't think of a cuter, funnier group of kids. They are the icing on the cake. I am torn everyday being in a place where I cannot see them growing up like I used to be able to on a daily basis. Its especially hard with Rhett. I was there for the first few years of both Emery & Fallon's lives nearly everyday from the day they were born. With Rhett, I have more fingers than times spent with this little guy, and its just not fair. And I am helpless when it comes to remedies for this.

Anyway, I was grateful at least that I got to spend time with my family. And I got to spend extra quality time with my cute boy, Rhett. Kelly had me babysit him for an evening when they went out with Randy's parents. So Rhett played in the bath, and snuggled with me for a while. He did not want to stop playing for bed, but at some point, I had to draw the line! So i reluctantly put him to bed. But we sure did have fun.Lucky for me, this kid loves me just about as much as I love him! :) He seems to know me, despite my absence, and I couldn't be happier about that. As you can see below. Sorry everyone, but I am the favorite auntie! (as far as I'm concerned)

Emery, Fallon and I also got to spend quality time together. We had a sleepover! Fallon, poor thing, but so funny, fell out of bed with a thud at about 2 in the morning. I picked her up, put her back in bed, and she just said, "I fell out" and went back to sleep...poor kid. Emery was a sport despite the fact that she was sick. But we sure did enjoy hanging out just like old times.

Well altogether it was a wonderful trip. But as with any trip I take, I pretty much cry the whole rest of the day after I get back to Utah. My poor husband, but man I love him so much for putting up with me. I wouldn't trade him, just maybe my location! :) Sorry I didnt get to see more of you, I was only really able to see Doug Bell and Jason Armisted while I was there. They were nice enough to stop by my house and hang out for a bit! Miss all you guys back in Camarillo, like you wouldn't believe!!!!!!!!!!

Visitor

2009-05-04T20:06:00.002-06:00

So this past Thursday, my mom was able to come up and visit Cody & I, and stay with us. We were so glad to have here with us for 4 days. We basically just hung out, while Cody was at work on both Thursday and Friday. So me and my mom did what we do best, we shopped, and we decided to cook. My mom is seriously such a shopper, she likes to shop for other people, but she still LOVES to shop. We like to frequent fabric stores, and pick out things to go in our homes. So she helped me pick out some drapery fabric. Which I am now I can finally make my window valances, and my drapes! I finally found a fabric that goes well with our new couches, and the new paint we were able to paint in our place. It is so nice to have fresh paint on the walls in the colors we want. It makes it seem much more homey!
Anyway, so my mom also decided to take the time to teach me how to make her wonderful pasta sause. With our Italian upbringing, she was disgusted that I had allowed my husband to buy Prego pasta sauce. The true Italian she is, she doesn't use measuring cups, she cooks by smell. But she had to figure out the measurements for me to start out with. So now I have no excuses. I know how to make her awesome sauce, and she even bottled and froze some for me.
Saturday we decided to go to the Salt Lake temple and do a session there. We had a wonderful experience. It was a lot different than others, but you could definitely appreciate why it took so long to build as you are sitting in there taking everything in. I was very glad to be there with both my husband, and my mom.
Sunday, my mom taught me to make my favorite Sunday dinner. Roast & mashed potatoes. MMMmmmMMM! She had to teach me to make her yummy gravy too. I won't eat most gravy, just the kind my mom makes. So now I will be able to enjoy that without travelling 1,000 miles.
We had a great weekend, but it was really hard to see her go again. Cody had to walk my mom out, cause I couldn't control myself. SORRY MOM! But I don't really know why I was flipping out so bad, I am going out to Camarillo on Thursday!!! haha :)
But being the bad historian I am, I didn't take ANY pictures! Oh well! Good news though; Cody found our memory card!!!!

Hope all is well with you & yours!

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

2009-04-27T17:39:00.001-06:00

I have realized something...If you talk to someone on a daily basis, chances are that they will probably end up finding out a lot about you, whether they want to or not. I have learned over the course of my life not to talk badly about people to other people, even legit complaints about the ones you love. The people who don't know these people that you speak of will end up knowing this person as being mostly negative. "He did this", "she did that", they will think oh my gosh, that person sounds like such a jerk! Or oh man, that person does a lot of nasty things, AND THEY DONT EVEN KNOW THEM!
So I have recently been told a lot of negative things about certain people by a person, lets call her Anne, who I come in contact with quite often. I still consider her a friend of mine, so I will not divulge names or even the situation at hand. Merely the thoughts which I had following the situation. Considering that I have been told about a hundred mean and horrible things about Anne's friend, I dont think of them the way they probably really are. So now Anne is mad at me, because I remembered all of the horrible things she had said. But come to think of it, I havent really heard ANY nice things about Anne's friend. So what am I supposed to think about her friend? I would love to throw everything Anne told me about her friend and come up with my own opinion altogether, but I cannot help but let those things creep in my mind every time I see Anne's friend.
So in conclusion, I think everyone should be very conscious about the complaints they voice, and who those complaints are about, myself included. This is one of the reasons I try not to voice my complaints about people, I am definitely needing more practice, and it is a work in progress, but this made me very angry. WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO THINK ABOUT YOUR FRIEND ANNE???? So I encourage myself, and my lovely friends to take a lesson from Thumper from Bambi "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin at all"!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day! :) I am sure feeling a lot better after letting that all out.

"I am freakin mad" & "She is freakin crazy!"

2009-04-22T17:43:00.005-06:00

Alright, now to explain the title of this post. So Cody and I have had the wonderful opportunities to help our family members out by watching their kids. Which, we love, because seeing them on their own is a lot quieter and more controlled of a situation than when we all get together.
So we got to watch Jordan (the cute little guy pictured above) and Alexis (pictured below) which are the children of Cody's brother Casey and our sister-in-law Becca!
So the story begins. Becca dropped the kids off the Saturday right before Easter, because she had a lunch date with some girlfriends.
So all is well, we pop in some Nemo, give Jordan some fruit snacks, put Lex down for a nap, everything is grand. Jordan is entertained but feels the need to wonder every once in a while, as most curious boys do...So what do we find? PICKLES! So Jordan enjoys some yummy pickles.
While that is all happening, Lex wakes up from her nap. No big deal, she slept for at least an hour, most likely more. So Jordan plays with her on the floor. Jordan also likes to do laundry, so he helps me load the washer, put the soap in, and pushes the buttons for me. Meanwhile, I forgot to let him slam the washer door shut....so I hear this "I am freakin mad!", who the heck would have said that...I bet you didnt think it would come from that angelic looking boy up there....OH BUT IT DID! I was trying really hard to supress my laughter, but I just couldn't resist. Cody looks at me like did he really just pull that phrase? He sure did!
Then, Lexi puts on his sunglasses. So Jordan says "She is freakin crazy!" Again, I try to hide the smile on my face, but I JUST CAN'T! Kids seriously say the funniest things. It wouldnt be so funny coming from an adult's mouth, I know, but from this sweet little 3 year old face, its absolutely hilarious! I can't wait to hear what he comes up with next. (Sorry Becca, but its true. I am sure you are not anxiously awaiting his next fun phrase, but we sure are!)
Needless to say, the moral of the story is, watch what you say when there are children present. I don't care whose kids they are, even if its a complete stranger. You never know what they will hear, and what they will repeat! Cause I know he didnt get that from his parents! ;)
Well, I hope you all enjoyed that, it certainly made my day!

Totally stole these pictures from Becca's blog. SO CUTE!

The Money Train

2009-04-03T15:02:00.003-06:00

So with the economy the way it is, I know people have been effected all around us. With Cody's line of work, I thought we would be hurting so bad. Who would buy stuff for parties and other decorations at a time like this? But you know what, its crazy how much their business is not hurting at all. I am so grateful for my husband and his job, he has incredible job security. He basically has a job as long as he feels like working, and that will never be an issue. So with this blessing, we thought we would take advantage of the leg up we have at this point in our lives.

Cody is just about the smartest person I know when it comes to finance, which I am pretty sure he has decided he would get his degree in. Not only is he insanely good at it, but he thinks its fun to do. He has always been good at math, but he has just recently learned how well he does with finance and how much he enjoys it.

We as a family have decided to save a years worth of expenses (basically enough money to live for an entire year with no income) just in case. As we grow the saving will have to increase, but we are really excited to do it. With the signs of the times, theres no telling what will happen to anyone, so I think this is a great way to prepare ourselves for the unknown.

Cody got inspired by his brother-in-law Sean and a conversation they were having not long ago. Yes Angie, we were listening to everything Sean said, and we think he is very smart, you are miles ahead of the curve! But Sean said something that really stuck with us, especially me, something to the extent of Live like no one else, so that later, you can live like no one else.

So we have come up with tight budget so that we can have more than most at our age. I am so excited to begin our lives the right way. To stay out of debt, and to just be ready for whatever comes our way. And after listening to conference this weekend it sounds like we are on the right track. I hope all of us can take the time to sit down, and see where we can spend less and save more, so that when trouble comes, we are more than ready for it. BE PREPARED!

Last Weekend

2009-03-23T09:43:00.005-06:00

Alright, so it has been a while again since I have blogged...its only because we have been going about life as usual. I started this on like Monday, and I am just now getting around to posting it. Nothing exciting has happened, just our usual....going to work, hanging out, and going on date nights about twice a week. I guess I could blog about our fun date nights, but usually they are us going to dinner, talking about funny things, being us, and going home with a redbox, or going to the movies. We also like to go to dinner and go grocery shopping, we even make that fun. It doesnt matter what we do, as long as we are getting out together, I think at least, even staying in and playing games is a blast. But I will go ahead and blog about this weekend.
Friday night me and Cody decided to take advantage of the nice weather, so we went for a long walk when I got home from work. It was fun. We thought we would walk to dinner, but after walking a mile and a half, we hadnt found anything, so we decided to walk home. We jumped in the car when we got home and drove to find somewhere that sounded appealing. Every once in a while, Cody will get in an adventurous mood like this and go out without a plan. I like to do it whenever, but he is a planner. Anyway, we got to Mimi's Cafe (one of my personal favorites) and had a lovely dinner. We went home, watched a movie and went to bed.
Saturday was a fun day, I went and got my haircut by Briana (she is wonderful, and looking for new clients), went to brunch with my friend Meghan, and then Meghan and I went shoe shopping. Needless to say I came home with 4 pairs of shoes (and it didnt even phase Cody at all). WOOHOO! I also got a purse to match one of them. But those of you who know me well, know I dont pay full price for anything, including shoes. From there we went home. When I got home Cody was working hard, vacuuming, cleaning up, and dewinterizing our place (yeah, maybe we should have waited on that). But he was very proud of himself when I came home and he had vacuumed, was in the middle of doing a load of laundry, and he was washing dishes. After that, we went on our weekly trip to Costco, and made a stop at the grocery store.
When we got home, we made homemade pizza (Cody loves my homemade pizza more than any other pizza in the world, or so he says, why, I dont know...)
Then off to the movies. We went and saw Bride Wars at the dollar theater. We love going there, so cheap, saves us a lot of money if we are willing to just wait a month to go see the movies. Plus we dont watch tv almost at all, so we dont know whats come out anyway. But it was a highly entertaining movie. We absolutely loved it. Even Cody thought it was quite hilarious, so its not just a chick flick. Cody is good about that though, he will watch any movie with me and not complain. He even took me to Twilight when it came out in the theater, which is like the ultimate chick flick. But needless to say it was another fun date weekend.

Now I must go iron my clothes to go to the temple, and I will be able to post about yet another great week or weekend...

Purely Amazing!

2009-02-27T20:40:00.003-07:00

So as some people know. I really, really, really LOVE Rascal Flatts. I own every album, I know every song...you know where I am going with this. However, I have not seen them in concert yet, well, until last night. Last year, when Cody & I were dating, Rascal Flatts came to town, and Cody, despite my love for this particular band, decided to go with his brother Tyler instead of going with me. At the time I wasn't very happy, which is probably an understatement...but I guess it was worth the wait. Thankfully Rascal Flatts came back to Salt Lake City 9 months later! And Cody decided to make it up to me by getting FLOOR SEATS! Yeah. Thats right, right in the middle of the action! It was absolutely amazing!!!

Above is obviously not Rascal Flatts, Jessica Simpson opened for them. Let me just tell you, I am glad she opened, because I could not have sat through 2 hours of her....She is really nice, but she is all ballads, and it was rather boring. But she is a sweetheart. I felt bad because people only stood up during one of her songs, and sat pretty quietly the rest...

But as you can see, she is not FAT like the tabloids say. She wore the shortest shorts she could find to prove it! She has a voice though. She just needs some good songs. She was pretty good, but not great. You can do it Jessica...just write better songs, and stop talking about Tony Romo & being "so in love" it gets kind of old...But she had some good messages about the power of God, and the miracles of prayer.

Ah, yes, the main event. The opening was crazy, I wish I had gotten it on tape. They really know how to put on a show! The backgrounds were nuts, and the sound was awesome! They came down from the top of the dome on this little platform seen above. I had a feeling thats what it was when I was sitting down looking up at it before the show started...

Ok. So I think JoeDon Rooney, is about the cutest thing ever. But man is he a talented guitarist! He and the fiddleist (sp? is that a word?) battled it out on several occassions. They were strumming so fast, it was insane! But as you can see, we were pretty dang close!

Jay & Joe Don rockin out. I didn't know how much vocal talent the two of them really had until this concert. Their vocals are usually overshadowed by Gary's powerful voice. But they really do have great voices of their own, and actually sang a couple songs solo.

The stage was set up all the way around all of the floor seats, so anywhere you sat down there, you were literally in the middle of it all. Joe Don ran around the stage shredding on his guitar.

During the encore. People actually left at the "end" of the concert. I could not believe it. Everyone always does an encore, its just how it goes....who leaves when they go off the first time??? Sorry if you do, but now you know better. You miss out on some of the best stuff!

Seriously, this is the best concert I have ever been to, and I have been to quite a few, in various genres. The show was just amazing, SO much entertainment! I would highly recommend going to one of their concerts when they come around. I know we will be going again for sure!

Oh, and for those of you that noticed, there are no pictures of Cody & I. I flipped open my camera to find that my memory card was at home, so I had to be selective of the pictures I took. My camera doesn't hold very much without a memory card...so we figured, we can always get another picture of us, but this was a special event that we could not just get more pictures of.

Hope all is well with all of you guys! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

A Style Moment...(also makes for good entertainment)

2009-02-26T12:11:00.003-07:00

So my friend Anelieze (I hope I spelled that right, usually I don't even though I have known her forever) does the cutest things on her blog. I admire her, she is such a free spirit & so creative, plus, she is a religious blog updater. She recently did a style quiz. I was intrigued. What style am I? So I went to the link & started quizing. Evidentally I am quite a mixture.

I guess I am a little mix of Classic, which would look something like this:
And I am a little bit of Modern Elegance, which might look a little like this:

But mostly I lean toward French Eclectic Style, which can be seen below.

I think this little quiz did quite a good job classifying what I like. I absolutely love each of the styles I was classified as liking. So if you are like me, and wonder to yourself, how accurate are these things? Do the quiz yourself, and find out!
http://www.sproost.com/

Fun Sunday Activities

2009-02-23T10:52:00.002-07:00

So Cody & I have been looking for good ways to spend Sundays that don't include being lazy ALL day, or watching TV. So we have done various things like touring the Conference Center, Walking around Temple Square, going for walks, etc. We also like to watch church movies, but its nice to get out of the house. We like learning about our religious history, and city history and take advantage of having those things so readily available on a day which we should be focusing on all of those things, as well as the blessing of other's trials for our benefit. So yesterday we decided we would go tour the Beehive house with the missionaries. They were awesome. One was from Sweden, and the other was from Denmark. They were so much fun, and they knew so much about the house, and our former prophet, Brigham Young. It was really interesting. I had been there before, but Cody, the Salt Lake City native, had never been there. He was blown away by all of the artifacts, how small the people were back then, and all the things that they had. It was a good way to get perspective, there are so many things we dont have to do, like pump to get water into the house, and make our own clothes with little crank sowing machines...its crazy, but they did it, and probably didnt grumble half as much as the rest of us do (and we have it a lot easier). It was a fun way to spend part of our day, and make us grateful for all of the wonderful things we have. Cody will never complain about having to do laundry again! haha :) maybe not for a while. What do you guys do on your Sunday afternoons?

Valentine's Weekend

2009-02-23T09:54:00.003-07:00

So, for this Valentine's day, it was our second together, technically. Cody & I celebrated our 1 year as a couple on Valentine's day as well as the actual holiday. It was a lot of fun. We figured we would do something fun and out of the ordinary for both. We decided to go to California and spend the weekend together. We left on Wednesday after work, and came home on Sunday evening. It was a lot of fun. We had been wanting to go back to Disneyland, since we had bought season passes the last time we were there. So on Thursday we spent the day there, and it wasn't crowded. Since the freeways can get a little crazy, we took the scenic route of PCH (for those who are not familiar, its the Pacific Coast Highway that runs along the California coast). And we loved every minute of it. The water was SO BLUE, almost like the water in Mexico, it was amazing!

So that was awesome. We got to Disneyland, and were excited by all of the short lines. Space Mountain was only 20 minutes, 5 with fast pass. For those of you that go there often, thats almost unheard of. It was a great day. We had fun just hangin out and enjoying the atmosphere that Disneyland provides, without fail. We got to go on all of our favorite rides, and Cody got his churro, so it was a sucess!
Friday we just took it easy. We went to lunch at my favorite pizza place, Toppers. Picked my niece up from school, and hung out with my family. The girls had a blast with Cody, they cannot get enough of that boy. My mom made us and exellent homemade dinner, which I have missed so much. I love coming home! My cooking is good I hear, but nothing compared to my Mom's.
On Saturday, Valentine's day, we took the opportunity to be lazy. I took Cody to Rolling Pin, (the best freshly baked doughnuts...had to have it) and we went to Robek's for something healthy as well. It was nice. Then we just drove around enjoying the nice weather for a little bit. Cody & I went to Snapper Jack's for lunch, and then went to my sister's house to be with her and her kids for a little bit. For dinner, we went to a great seafood place right on the Harbor. Andria's fresh seafood is pretty much amazing. We love it.

We got some wonderful Lemon Cheesecake for dessert, it was wonderful. We are going to have a hard time trying to top this Valentine's day...thats for sure. But it will be fun trying!

The Most Excited I Have Been in a While...

2009-02-05T11:06:00.003-07:00

Ok, So I am about as excited as I get right now. I have been this exctied before, but not in a while. I am finally getting to go somewhere, since our honeymoon. I don't know about anyone else, but I get cabin fever quite often here. Its not like I can drive a little ways a get away somewhere like I could back home. Everywhere I go here just looks exactly the same. The same older brick homes, the same snowy landscape, and a lot of the same people. So we are about 6 days away from our escape to Camarillo. And I couldnt be happier about it!
This time next week, I will be at my favorite place in the world, Disneyland. I havent been since August, and for anyone who knows me, you know that is quite a while for me. We are excited to go away for Valentines Day, and do things that we cant do here, like wear shorts and go to the beach. I AM SO EXCITED! Not to mention that I get to see my nieces and nephew (also the one on the way, my sister says he is growing alot). And the rest of my wonderful family as well. Cody is excited to see them as well, he has missed them quite a bit. Which is quite a huge blessing in itself. I cant believe how much Cody misses my family, almost as much as I do. He gets a long with all of them so well, and has such a bond with them already. Its been amazing. I know my nieces cant wait to see him, they are borderline obsessed with him when he is coming and when he is there, its crazy. I just cannot wait to spend time with my family. I miss them terribly all the time. I know a lot of you know exactly how that is.
Hope all is well with everyone!

January

2009-01-23T20:32:00.002-07:00

So I know it has been a while since I have posted, and I am sorry about that. But there really hasn't been much to blog about. I guess it seems like that, because everything we have blogged (if blogged isn't a word, it sure is now) about has been something significant.
But our last month has been nice, there hasn't been too much snow. We had to take down our adorable Christmas decorations down, which I was SO sad about. We have been working on our meal planning, and planning a menu for the week. It has been working really well. We have drawn up a budget for us, since we plan on buying a house sometime this year. It hasn't been very tough for us to stick to. I got a bonus at work, and Cody will as well, so we have decided to buy new counches that I have fallen in love with. We are very excited to buy those in a couple weeks.
We are planning a trip to California next month. For our one year anniversary (since we started dating eachother) which also happens to be Valentine's Day, we figured we would take a trip to California and go to Disneyland together. Also we want to go to dinner near the ocean for actual Valentine's Day. So that will be a lot of fun. Plus, I need a visit to my family, it has been way too long.
So that will be us for the next month. Just looking about weekly or more for a home, trying to see what exactly is out there, in the areas we would like to live as we start our family in a couple years.
Other than that it has just been life as usual. Although I have gotten a bit spoiled this month. Cody bought me the entire Twilight series in hardback (I had paperback) and 2 hoodies and a new purse! I seriously am spoiled to the MAX! He takes such good care of me, I couldn't have asked for more. Anything that he can do to make my life easier, he will do. Like the other day, he took the vents off the walls and painted them white, because he thought it looked better, and it would make me happy (plus he was bored at home while I was at work). See, we need a house so Cody doesn't go crazy with no improvement projects that he can do, actually, it is driving us both crazy. I want to paint, he wants to knock walls down and build things...its just time to get our own space instead of renting!
I hope you all are well. Hope to hear from you all as we have been, its been great to keep up with everyone and what they are all doing. Keep up the good work!

Merry Christmas!

2009-01-06T11:26:00.005-07:00

Sorry, I am a bit late on this post, but life has been kind of crazy. I am sure most of you can relate. So, this was our first Christmas together, and man was it fun. Online shopping was the only was for us to go this year. We practically never have any time apart other than work, so its hard to be sneaky and shop, so I did my shopping right after Cody left for work, and while I was getting ready to go to work. Cody did his shopping right after he got home from work, while I was still at work. We both did well with our gifts this year. We were good listeners, and got the exact gift that the other had their eye on. We also bought some new stuff for eachother on our days off together, but we didnt wrap them, since we already knew about them.

This is my favorite thing ever, our Christmas tree! I was in love with it! We got all our ornaments the day after Thanksgiving when they were on sale, and I decided to hand tie bows for it as well. It turned out great, and really made it feel like home and feel like Christmas.

Here is me, opening presents on Christmas morning, we got eachother new pjs on Christmas eve, because that is a tradition in both of our families. We had a lot of fun figuring out the traditions we wanted to encorporate in our life from our families. I had just gotten out of the shower, so I am not very put together.

And here is Codes opening his, he was all about reading all the features on his gift. It made me laugh, he had to figure all of it out before he even got it out of the package. I think he read the entire box!

This is what Cody got from me. He has wanted an electric razor for quite a while. We figure it would be better for his little sensitive skin than a sharp razor. And he can do it without making as much of a mess, which I love! And I love that he now shaves more often!

I got a CHI hair straightener for Christmas this year. Cody must have listened the entire time we were dating to figure this one out. I think I mentioned it to him about 8 months ago. But being the good gift giver he is, he was spot on! I was so excited!

Here is our pride and joy....and Xbox Elite! We have been waiting for this since before we got married. It had been so hard to leave it in the top of the closet for Christmas. But we both wanted it so bad, so we decided about the time we decided to get married, to get it for our house. We have had a lot of fun playing together with it. One of our favorite games is FORZA, its a racing game and we love it! And we are excited to have people over and play Rock Band!

Well, I hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas!

Our cute little start

2008-12-27T18:05:00.006-07:00

So this would be our little humble abode. We are the second of the Fitts boys to live in these townhouses downtown, but its been great so far. Definitely nice for a little starter pad. We only plan on being in here for about a year, or maybe less, we shall see. I will start our little tour downstairs and we will work our way up.

Here we have our laundry area. Cody was nice enough to buy me a brand new washer and dryer. And man are they amazing! He wonderful, he does quite a bit of our laundry, with our schedules the way they are, he likes to help out around the house to make our lives easier.

This is a custom shelf Cody put in for me above our stove for our little nick-nacks and our microwave that we got.

Oh, I found Cody going through the cupboards while I was taking pictures. I guess I should start cooking dinner, he looks hungry.

This is our little kitchenette. I love our little dining room table. It was a major score on our part. We only need two chairs for now, but their are four. Mind you, I have a lot of things to put on the walls, but we have decided to wait to put holes in the walls while we figure out how long we will be living here.

Here is our living room. There was a prexisting hole in the wall, so I figured I might as well put something on the wall.

Another angle of our living room. I love our entertainment center (thanks to my sister erin and also my sister kelly for driving it all the way up here). Our Christmas tree has also been fun to have up. We have some rearranging to do when we have to take it down.

Now I will take you upstairs. Yeah, it is nice not to have anyone beneath you or above you!

Our cute little bathroom. There is a half bath downstairs as well, but I like this one the best. We never really use the one downstairs. Don't you love those countertops??? haha, yeah we are excited to buy a house so we can renovate when we want instead of just having to leave stuff like that there.

From the hallway. I love the rug and the striped shower curtain. I am sad you cant see our cute towels on the towel bar, but they are behind the door. Sorry!

As you walk into the second bedroom you see our computers. Cody's is the one on the right, my laptop is on the left. That is actually my sewing desk, that Cody's mom gave me. But Cody hasnt finished working on his computer desk that he is building, so I told him he could use mine for now. That will be my sewing room as well.

The other side of the second bedroom. It looks smaller in pictures Mom & Kel, don't worry. You will have a bit of space when you come stay. And I must tell you that this pillow top matress is amazing!

And our tour ends in our master bedroom. I had to make an exception to putting a hole in the wall to put my star up. I was way too excited about it to let it just sit like most of our wall decor.

Cody was also nice enough to buy us a wonderful new pillowtop bed in here, and my mom got us a matress pad, so I sleep quite nicely, especially after Cody has left for work! :) Hope you enjoyed your tour. If we stay for the duration of our lease, I will put up pictures when I have stuff on the walls. But if not, I will post pictures of our new place. Hope everyone had a great Christmas. I will post that stuff later!

Wedding!

2008-12-12T17:08:00.008-07:00

Well, they're here!!! I just got the email last night saying, "your images are now online!". I was so excited. We hadnt seen many pictures of that day at all.

This one is my absolute favorite!

Cody and his brothers right after we came out. precious!

Cody and his sisters...yes, you counted correctly, there are 8 kids in his family.

This is me and my two sisters. I was WHITE!

All the girls on our side of the family. Cody's siblings didnt bring all of their kids to California.

Me and the boy, our only little guy, Rhett! He's so cute!

Aww, I loved my flowers!!! Absolutely perfect!

We couldn't stop making eachother laugh all day.

Standing in front of the HUGE tree on temple grounds.

I wasnt kidding when I said HUGE!

It was the perfect day!

See, we really couldn't stop laughing, especially because our photographer, my friend Brenda would say weird things.

Oh the dip, Cody loves to dip.

The entrance into our reception. Lindann, my sisters and my mom did such a great job planning everything. Thank you, you guys! The boys did a great job setting up as well!

One of the shots of the room. It looked like a little bistro in a garden!

Dancing with my daddy!

Our first dance, to our song. "Stay With Me" by Josh Gracin.

A full shot.

We had cupcakes instead of a cake.

This one was ours.

The walkway to the entrance.

Some of the 19 cousins I have. Love you guys! Thanks for coming! It was amazing. And I hope if you couldnt make it, that these pictures help you feel like you were there! Hope everything is well with everyone!

Pictures were taken by Brenda Manookin of New Sky Productions 503-756-2780

As Promised!

2008-12-08T22:49:00.009-07:00

As promised I am posting a few pictures that we took on our honeymoon. I thought I would pick a couple pictures from the ports that we stopped at.
Our first stop on the coast of Mexico was Puerto Vallarta. We were at sea for two days enjoying the luxuries of our ship, The Saphire Princess, and the third morning, I woke up to see this out our stateroom window!

We walked around for a while. We even went to Walmart in Mexico where we were able to pick up some things that we had forgotten. We also stopped at the newly built mall that was there. They were doing alot of construction in Puerto Vallarta to attract more tourists.
This picture is right outside the port where there were a lot of natives, doing what they do best, bartering!

Our second stop was Mazatlan. We liked this town. There was a lot of history. We took a private tour, just me and Cody and our native tour guide. We had so much fun. He referenced this hill alot, because there is the lighthouse on top of it. It happens to be the second highest lighthouse in the world. We had a great time on our tour, seeing all of the old buildings and the new town in contrast. Plus the beaches and water were absolutely amazing!

Mazatlan has a lot of hills. When you are near the tops, the views of the water are amazing! We could not get over it. And our tour guide could not get over how crazy big our ship was. It is the one on the right. It even dwarfs the Royal Carribbean a bit. But man was it full of awesome things to do! And the view of the city isn't bad either.

Our third, and last stop on our wonderful cruise, was Cabo San Lucas! They really saved the best for last. The beaches were the best on the entire coast, and coming from a girl that comes from near Malibu, that is saying something. We spent the day enjoying the beauty there. We taxied out to lover's beach (the beach in this photo) on a glass bottom boat, so you could see the tropical fish swimming below. Cody had also been waiting this whole trip to snorkel. So we snorkeled and swam around for the day. It was awesome, and so relaxing. And Cody discovered on this trip, that he really enjoys being in the water and swimming.

The view at night was absolutley breathtaking. It was awesome to be able to eat overlooking the water and the city. We got stuck there for an additional 4 hours, but we did not mind at all! See, Cabo doesn't have a port. So your ship parks in the middle of the cove-ish area, and you take life boats into the docks. Well, one of the lifeboat hydrolic lifts to store the boat back above deck broke. So we relaxed while they were busy fixing it. But we loved the extra time to enjoy the view and relax.

We loved this cruise so much, we are looking forward to taking another one. We are hoping to go again next year. And if you are looking for a good cruise line, we would highly recommend the Princess Cruise Lines. They cruise to perfection!

We're Back!

2008-11-25T15:17:00.004-07:00

Well, we are back from our honeymoon. Cody booked us a 7 day cruise of the Mexican Riviera. It was awesome!!! We had so much fun! We stopped in Puerto Vallerta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas. It was so relaxing, and even when we (Cody & I) weren't moving, we were going somewhere! I would highly recommend cruises, you have things to do on there and you dont have to look high and low for good deals. ITS ALL FREE! We went to movie's in the theatre at night, or to a show onboard, or to any pool or lounge. And we ate whenever we wanted, whatever we wanted and as much as we wanted, for free. Let me tell you, our dining room at night was amazing. It was a 5 course gourmet meal every night, and all we had to do was sit back and relax. Most of the time when you travel, you come home tired, but we were well rested and spoiled rotten! Getting back to regular food was a struggle, and now I am the one that has to make the bed and clean the room. It was awesome, and I will post pictures of each location soon. Hope all is well with all of you!

Home Sweet Home

2008-10-29T16:56:00.003-06:00

So we have an apartment/townhouse. We found a cute little townhouse apartment over off of 3300 South behind the Century movie theater! (its probably about 3150 South 200 East) We are so excited to be able to call it ours. Cody is really excited that we have a place that we can call our own for a while. We are hoping to buy a house next year or so, but we will see how it all goes. We are going to sign the papers on Friday and pay our first month's rent! Hooray! Bills! hahaha not really, but we are just glad we have a pretty affordable, nice place to live. Its a two bedroom, 1 1/2 bath (I wanted to have more than just 1 bathroom so that people that came to visit didn't have to be graced by anything Cody or I might leave out in the bathroom, ie. Gorilla Snot Gel all over the sink....Cody...). And we have a cute little kitchen with nice wood cabinets and a nice sized family room for our furniture. I am so glad it has all come together so nicely! We are also glad we have a two bedroom, so that if we have a visitor like Kelly or my mom, we have a bed for them, and they don't have to camp out on the couch! We also needed a room to put our computers, and Cody's wireless media center for the TV, so it worked out perfectly! I will post pictures of it once we are all moved in and it actually has stuff in it. Maybe I will do before and after shots so you can see how well or how badly I did with decorating the space! :) So anything we get from our registry, I will be very grateful for! OBVIOUSLY! Hope you guys are all doing well! Love you all!

California

2008-10-16T22:04:00.003-06:00

So we have taken another trip to California, this time for a bridal shower for me, and my wonderfully adorable nephew, Rhett's blessing. Here is a picture I stole from my sister of Rhett in his blessing outfit. How is anyone ever going to be able to say no to this kid? Really? I know I will pretty much not be able to if he keeps this up! Anyway, Saturday was the shower, and I would have to say it was pretty pleasant, (coming from someone who does not like bridal showers or any type of shower for that matter, what can I say, I just do not enjoy being the center of attention). I came out with a lot of things to cook with, which I was really happy about, because I have been worried about cooking and dishes and so forth. I had a lot of fun visiting with people that I do not get to see very often. It was nice.
Sunday was little Rhett's blessing. It was a little chaotic leaving to get to the church in Simi with me, Cody and my parents (mostly my dad), but we made it. It was a great day. We then went to Kelly and Randy's house for a luncheon and we basically just got to hang out with friends and family all day. It was a little overwhelming with all of those people in two rooms. It was also Cody's first experience with a lot of people from the family, so that was good for him. But we had to keep our visit more breif than we had wanted and headed back early evening to the airport.
All and all it was a good trip, but we had to get back to work and reality. Vacations are nice tho! :)
Oh, and we are now at 29 days! :) Thank you everyone for your nice comments on your response cards, looking forward to getting more of them!

Engagement Picture

2008-09-18T15:06:00.003-06:00

Here is one of the engagement pictures we have on our announcements. I just got the proof back today, it looks awesome! I can't wait to see one in person. We are now about 57 days out! That is just a couple months and we couldn't be more excited!
Yesterday was Cody's 23rd birthday. It wasn't much like any other day for him. He went to work, but at work his brothers got him a cake and a pizza. Later I brought him some cupcakes and took him to dinner. Cody chose Applebees, so thats where we went. Cody enjoyed his endless riblets! mmhhm! Not my favorite, but he sure likes them. We did not really do much, since we have both been feeling under the weather lately. Hopefully that ends soon. We are getting bored of staying in and feeling like crap and pretty much falling asleep as soon as we sit down.
Well I hope all is well with all of you! Thanks for everything!

Counting Down the Days!

2008-09-09T09:04:00.002-06:00

We are at 66 days and counting! Everything is moving along. We are looking for a place to live right now, hoping to find something nice, clean and close to work for a decent price (we will see how that goes).
We went back to introduce Cody to Camarillo a couple of weeks ago. We did a lot of things with my family, its amazing how well we all fit together already, it makes things a lot easier. Cody was initiated by both Randy, Jeff and my dad, thank goodness he came home with a smile on his face that day.
We also went to Disneyland, my favorite place to be, besides home. We had a lot of fun, and now Cody is an annual pass holder as well! I am super excited to be able to go to my favorite place, with my favorite person!
Needless to say Cody liked California very much (who wouldn't, its absolutely amazing & beautiful), but after just about 4 days, he was ready to go back to what was fimiliar. So we headed back to Utah to find it cooling down! Gosh Dangit! I loved the summer, and man was it way too short! Hopefully Fall lasts a while, and it doesn't start snowing as early as it did last year(or nearly as bad, my sanity depends on it).
This last weekend Cody took me to his family's cabin. It sounded like fun, so we went. I however did not know that I would be working my little tail off helping to finish BUILD it! haha :) I hung insulation with Susan pretty much all day, but now, I know mine & Cody's room is very well insultated and we won't be too cold, right?
Well, thats what we are up to! Hope all of you are well! Love you guys!

We're Official

2008-08-22T16:48:00.002-06:00

Hey there!!!
Welcome to our BLOG!
I have had this set up for a little while, but we decided not to put anything on it until we were officially engaged! Cody proposed on Wednesday night, so that means I am free to post just about anything I want now! I know, no one saw this proposal coming, come on, US? Get MARRIED??? Who ever would have guessed?
I'm sure more people expected it than we were aware of. But anyway, we are looking forward to the wedding, which will be November 14th. And we will try to keep everyone updated with how everything is going, and what fun things we are up to! Especially since a lot of my family is farther away, and also my friends, so now you have a way to keep tabs on us and still be in "the know" :) Love you guys!