Happy Turkey Day!

I know I'm a day late but I wanted to put up pictures with this post. This year our family decided to have Thanksgiving in McCall and it was probably one of the best ideas we've ever had. There's something about not having a big family dinner at your own house that makes one of the most stressful dinners of the year less stressful. Don't get me wrong we were all running around trying to figure out how to get everything done in time. We have three rooms complete with kitchen and dinning areas and we were moving furniture around, taking tables and chairs for other rooms to accommodate everyone in one place.

I think that's probably what it all boiled down to, we had three ovens and three convection/microwave ovens to cook everything and we didn't have to worry about cleaning the house to make it presentable for company since these places are already free of clutter.

My sister and her boyfriend showed up from Sun Valley just as dinner was ready and we had all three ovens cooking something. We recently found out they are pregnant! Yes my baby sister is having a baby! It's a good thing because this family needs more kids...I never realized how lacking our family was in the kid department until Speed came a long.

Everything turned out great except the pride of my mothers cooking...the gravy. There was a hole in the pan and all the yummy goodness dripped to the bottom of the oven causing much remorse in the gravy department. Nonetheless it was a wonderful dinner with all the trimmings and company we could possibly want.

I had an even cuter picture of my boys but it wouldn't load right

Grandma had curlers in her hair as she was helping Flash in Scrabble but she wouldn't let me take the picture until they were out :P

Speed adores my sister and has found a new friend in her boyfriend

My older brother with his girl

Some of the FNG's came up with us for the weekend

The Boys

They had to tell me to stop talking to take this pictures...I had no idea

I'll be 34 weeks along next week and the doctor told me the baby's head has dropped. I'm not really sure what that means though my doctor thought it was significant. My mother says she should be arriving any day now. Though the idea of having LB (Lady Bug) is very exciting I hope she doesn't come until after December 18th. School will be officially out and I can focus just on having a new born in my life and not on all the projects I need to get done.

The last few months have been difficult. I've had a scare with the baby coming early when I was 24 weeks and had to go to the hospital...though it turned out everything was fine...it was still a possibility. Sleep has eluded me and I finally broke down and asked my doctor about sleeping pills. I've been diagnosed with gestational diabetes which means I have to watch my diet...something really difficult for me. It's a common fact that college students will eat anything just to get through the school day. I've over planned my budget with time trying to get everything done for everyone and prepare for the baby so having to plan my diet carefully has been a timing challenge.

In a couple of weeks it'll be all over and I've never been so grateful for Thanksgiving Break. My family and I are going up to McCall for Thanksgiving and I will be in charge of making the Big Meal since my mother will be less then able. She had surgery this Friday...nothing huge or life threatening but surgery all the same. Right now she's just trying to focus on recovery and therefore will not have the physical or mental aptitude to make a 12 lb turkey.

But though this semester has been difficult I have had some great experiences. I've gone to several football games with close friends of mine as well as family (Flash, Speed, my dad, and younger brother). I've had a baby shower and a Halloween Birthday Party both of which turned out very well. Most importantly I've been sealed to my husband...something I felt like was long waited for though afterwards it felt like no time had gone by at all. I've even been able to enjoy a few books, the whole Twilight Series actually and though I don't enjoy them nearly has much as the rest of the world seems too (I feel Edward has control issues and is a Drama King but Jacob isn't much better so I'm for King Jacob either) I find great joy in analysing them with my friends.

I've also enjoyed seeing my family grow closer together. I feel closer to Flash now then ever before and Speed has grown so much in school and church.

A difficult semester yes...thank goodness life hasn't stopped and as long as the good keeps coming I'll take the bad.

Getting Distracted

For one of my school projects I have to create an online help for a freeware program called PhotoScape, an digital editing program a lot like Photoshop but free. This means I get to test (a.k.a. "play with") the program to get a feel for what I should be writing.



It's really easy to get distracted. This is my lasted distraction:

Taking a Year

So I've decided to do something kinda scary and maybe no very well thought out....

I'm taking a year off school.

I only have a year left that's including 150 hours of internships I would be doing during the summer time. For the last year I've been married mine and Flash's goal was to get me out of school as soon as possible. This goal was meant to help enrich our family income and try to show the importance of education to our children but some how I just couldn't see myself going to school next year and here's why.

I'm having a little girl in January. Now even if I was able to make myself stay away from my little new born two nights a week (that's what my schedule would be next semester) and work my office schedule around both school and my little girl I cannot see how I would survive a 150 internship hours without her.

I'm incredibly lucky to have a job that allows me to have my children close by while I'm working, with a baby-sitter handy for those times I need a break. I'm fully aware that is unusual in this day in age where family and work is still separated. Though we have seen a evolution of jobs giving both mothers and fathers more time with their families outside of work, I have not only seen but experienced first hand how families and jobs can coexist and still be professional. Just a little less then the average work place....especially the average accounting place (that's the kind of work I do though that's not what I'm going to school for).

It's not uncommon to hear screaming babies, laughing children, and the pitter patter of little feet running around the office halls where I work at the same time financial consultation is taking place.

I don't want to give that up. Not as a new full time mom. I want to see my child while I'm at work and internships don't allow for that, school barely allows for that, and frankly I not only want to enjoy my first year with my baby but to solidify the bond that we are already sharing. Right now I'm the woman that is carrying her but I want to be the woman that raises her.

When that year is up my role will not be less important or less demanding but I will at least have had my chance before giving her up to someone else for 150 hours plus school time. Luckily many of my classes take place at night so she will be with her father.

I know what I'm doing is selfish and like I said before probably not well thought out but I just can't give her up yet.

There are a few other reasons like being able to focus on my work and moving up in the company a bit but really it's all about the baby.

It's not very comforting when the guy about to stick a needle in you says, "My fingers aren't working very well today" at 7:15 in the morning.

I'm at the hospital taking my second glucos test because sadly I failed my first by 7 points. This test involves three hours of waiting so I figured I do some blogging; especially since it's the last day of the month.

So far things have gone well though like my last post said I'm way to busy for my own good. A part of me is actually looking forward to the three hour wait because maybe I can get some serious work done. I've already tweaked one of my essays and I'll be working on the templates for the website I'm developing as well. I guess being forced to get up and be alert isn't too bad.

This last week MiniFlash now called Speed - he wanted his nickname to be something cool and has recently feel in love with Speed Racer the movie - got to spend almost a whole week with us. It was my turn to see what it's like to be the time-to-get-ready-for-school mom and I think I did pretty well all things concerned. I had to change my schedule at work and missed some classes but I think if it came down to it I could very easily do this every day - minus the missing classes of course. But I won't be a student forever.

And I won't be this darn busy forever either.

Today is Halloween and one of my girlfriends and I are having a combined birthday party. My birthday isn't for another month and her's was a month ago but there's a running joke that we are twins and so we decided to have a little fun on Halloween this year. Flash and I already have our costumes picked out. There will be pictures and a post following this one telling you all about it.

I have a half an hour before my next needle poking session and I should probably work on that essay.

I Never Want to Be this Busy Again

You know you're too busy when the thought of "getting ready" for the day makes you cringe. And I'm not even talking about shaving, putting on make-up, blowing drying your hair, and wearing a nice outfit - you know the flawless look.

No I'm talking about simply taking a shower. When did my life get so crazy that the thought of needing to be clean even every other day was no longer a necessity?

At least my teeth hasn't suffered....yet.

From a Year to Eternity

On September 27th Flash and I were sealed together in the Boise, Idaho Temple. The year of anxious waiting melted away as we knelt across the alter together early that Saturday morning promising ourselves to each other for eternity.

When my alarm clock went off at 5:15 that morning my baby began moving with excitment feeling much like popcorn within my belly as if to say, "Get up! Get up! Get up! We're getting sealed as a family today!" She has never made movement like that during my pregnancy and I knew she was as eager as we were to join our family together.

The rites and ceremonies that took place that day were joyful and peaceful. The sealer's words rang true in my heart as he spoke of eternity, the resurrection, temple attendance, and love within families.

Here's a few pictures my mom took of our family and friends that came to celebrate this occasion with us:

MiniFlash and my in-laws Flash's mom, sister, and cousin

My family and a long time friend

My little brother and Flash, who is very excited to see my brother there

My parents who acted as escorts for us

One of my best friends parents who I'm very close to

FNG (Friday Night Girls)

MiniFlash's Grandpas

Family Picture

Job Satisfaction

I have a great job and I find a lot of satisfaction in working for a company that strives to help protect the common man against the big bureaucratic machine that is the IRS. I'm aware there are very nice people who work at the IRS, my best friend's mom is one of them, but there is this big crevasse between the common American person and the IRS that needs to be bridged sometimes.

Which is where the company I work for comes in and it's highly satisfying to help people.

But then there are the clients that blame you for their $25,000 penalties when they don't file their taxes on time, who gives us less then the required amount of information needed to deliver their taxes on time, and who call every five minutes to make sure things get done on time even though they still are with holding information and blame you the whole way through the process if it doesn't get done correctly.

I understand we need to be a bridge for the gap between government and the common person but seriously whatever happened to taking responsibility for your own actions.

Needless to say everything was taken care of and then some but I was a little ruffled by the end of delivering the required documents and walked back to school for the rest of my days classes.

I was thinking about urgency and the line we need to draw with our clients when their urgency becomes irrational. As I mused about this I walked on to the bike path leading back to my campus when I found myself smiling and breathing in the wonderful smells of the foliage next to the river and realized it doesn't really matter. This bike path always does this too me and I found myself forgetting about the frustrating experience of human nature.

If only all jobs allowed you to travel to your happy place when you're feeling low and slightly disgruntled.

The Rock

No actor could claim the title "The Rock" as worthily as a simple man from Idaho could. And that man is my dad. For the last couple days I've been experiencing some pains in my uterus area that gave me cause for alarm considering my baby is only 24 weeks along. I finally was convinced to go to the hospital last night at 10:30 (MST) and finding someone to go with me was difficult.

Everyone I knew needed to be at work the next day including my husband and since emergency visits are expensive we didn't feel it wise to have him take off a day from work. No matter how understanding the situation is Flash does not get sick or vacation pay. So we decided he'd stay home and I called my parents to come hold my hand during a very scary visit that could end up telling me my baby's life was in jeopardy.

I knew my mom would already be asleep and my dad answered the phone and without missing a beat said he's be right there. Now understand first my mom would have been there but she's an insomniac and takes sleeping pills to help her get a good nights rest. She was out for the count and second my parents live half an hour away from me. So both my parents get stellar points for my dad coming to this emergency visit alone.

But then my dad gets to the hospital. I'm already in a hospital gown and hooked up to monitors when he comes through the door and sits by my bed side and waits with me.

And I write this with tears in my eyes, "MY DAD IS AMAZING!!!"

I always knew this but last night he gave me exactly what I needed. He did not go off about how the baby could be in danger, he did not play down the situation either. He just had this calming air of we'll see when we'll see and when we see we will deal with it. He was a total rock. When the pains would come on strong he would coach me on breathing steady and let me chat his ear off when I needed it. When I needed to get a pelvic exam he didn't go running in the hallway, even though I told him he could, he stayed with me the entire time saying, "I've had four kids and been through enough exams with your mom. I'm fine" and stayed put just like the rock he is.

So dad thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You were a great source of strength to me in a time I felt totally out of control.

Now everyone knows who really is "The Rock".

P.S. For those who are wondering the baby and I are fine. I need to drink lots more water and attend the bathroom more often but everything should be just fine.

The Beginning of My Career

I've been going to school since the Spring of 2002 so minus the 2 years I spent as a missionary I've had about five years of educational experience. By the time I graduate from school I'll have the right to claim super senior status and then some.

I've gone through probably four different majors in the hopes to find something that would bring satisfaction in my life. I discarded a couple because they were unfullfilly and impracticle. Other because it would take me too long to graduate. When I finally settled on Technical Communications it was because it was the quickest way for me to graduate in something that would actually give me a career and generate revenue. It's also something I enjoy ...which helps.

Eventually I decided to try my hand at web design(a part of my major) realizing it was something I could do easily from home. Relatives of my husband offered to help me by offering an internship enabling me to re-design their website.

I started the internship at the beginning of June and for three months I realized how much I still need to learn. But helping Hyde Away Ranch re-design their web site has been a lot of fun. One of my favorite things about this career choice is it lets me have a reason to be a know-it-all.

Learning about miniature horses has been a lot of fun. The website won't be updated until September 26th so enjoy the way it looks now because the difference will be amazing.

You've Had a Birthday Shout Hurray!

Five Years Old. I met MiniFlash when he was three so I've officially known this kid for two years. We debated throwing a big party similair to his 4th but decided to keep it down to the three of us.

We rode our bikes to the park close to our house to play and have some fun. It was a bit hot so we didn't stay long. While we were out we got some snow cones (mine and MiniFlash's favorites). He looks a bit flushed in his photos because we had just gotten back from riding in the hot hot sun. I told my Flash the snow cones was the only way he could get me to ride my bike to the park that day. :)

So here are the pictures of our big boy and Flash attempting to make a cake and uncooked the middle.

The Big Move

Back in February Flash and I decided to move in with my family to save money for a house. The original plan was to stay for at least a year. There were other plans such as paying off the truck and finding a house in the same city as my parents. It's a nice city that's not too big and not too small and we liked how our lives were developing there.

We quickly realized though that if we were to have MiniFlash in our lives as often as we wanted we would have to move to the same city as his mom. A city that is bigger, more crowed, and with more traffic. Something Flash WAS NOT looking forward to but as I said the realization hit home pretty hard with MiniFlash going to school with his mom that chances were we wouldn't be seeing him as often.

So we decided to start looking for a home in August after Flash had taken his journymans exam. But one day I come home and Flash had found a house that was not only in our price range but had a lot of potential. We would need a bigger home eventually but there was enough property around we could add on.

This was in April by this time we sold Flash's old house and we set things in motion immediatly. By the end of May the house, or should I say the loan was in our name and we had moved.

MiniFlash decided he wanted to "help pack".

Here are a few pictures of our bedrooms

That green square is chalkboard paint. Those dots on the walls are starch treated fabric from a Transformers fabric we got a Wal Mart.

1 Down an Eternity to Go

Yesterday Flash and I enjoyed our first year anniversary together. Flash gets up every weekday at 6:30am and head off to work by 7:00am. Normally I'm awake and he'll give me a kiss goodbye as I'm eating breakfast and watching the Today show. If I'm still asleep he'll come in quietly and give me a gentle kiss and an "I love you" before heading off to earn his keep.

Yesterday morning I was still in bed (not asleep but in bed) and Flash came bounding into the room yelling, "Happy Anniversary!" landing on top of me and finishing it all with a hug that squeezes the breath out of you. We laughed and congradulated each other on surviving our first year together and joked about calling in sick to work to spend the whole day together.

But alas we decided to be adults and he went off to work while I stayed in bed realizing I still had 20 minutes before I really had to get up.

About the time I was ready to get up I heard the truck pull in on our gravel drive way indicating Flash did not have to work that day. I then had the idea that we could actually take the day off for our anniversary. Once he came in it was decided and I emailed my work to let them know I wasn't coming in.

We did everything from laying in bed to going to Home Depot to buy a new faucet for our kitchen. We hung up the decorations I got over the weekend and headed out to Caldwell to transfer our old truck plates to our new one (smaller, greener, more economical version of what we had before). We went to my parents house who were also taking a day off and played on the Wii fit (I'm very sore in the legs and abs)while also visiting with my brother who just came home from BYU-I for the fall. We saw an early show of "The Dark Knight" (Christian Bale and Heath Ledger are amazing! AMAZING I tell you) and then went to dinner at Olive Garden.

We had a wonderful day together and I feel so blessed to have that man in my life.

Sealings and Shots

Last week our little family went to a BBQ with my in-laws. It wasn't our week to have MiniFlash but his mom was nice enough to let us have him for a couple hours and even past his bed time. We don't see Flash's side of the family very often and I don't even remember the last time we all got together. Since we've only been married for a year (only! HA! My anniversary is this coming Monday and I'm totally excited) and we don't get together much I'm not really familiar with anyone.

At least I know everyones names so I guess that's a start. I'm pretty much a wall flower in new situations unless I'm in charge and then a flourish, possibly even in an annoying sort of way. Not that I'm trying too hard I'm just having fun. Being a wall flower and uncomfortable is no reflection on the group of people I'm with, I'm just shy.

So I thought I'd be in for another round of uncomfortable conversation and being out of the loop on jokes but this time around it was pleasant. MiniFlash had a great time playing with his cousins Travis was his weird self as usual and I wasn't just a wall flower. I wasn't in my element but I wasn't a wall flower. I felt close to comfortable. I left feeling very happy and pleased about seeing my in-laws instead of feeling like I didn't contribute much.

Sunday we got one step closer to getting our paper work done for the sealing, meaning the bishop gave us back the letter Travis wrote because it needed some updating. Things have changed a bit since the last First Presidency letter one being the pregnancy. This time around we stressed the point of needing the sealing done before the baby was born. We feel it would be more unifying for our little family if MiniFlash doesn't feel like he's being pushed aside while the baby gets sealed to us. Being born in the covenant would be so much easier. The bishop received the new letter on Wednesday and asked us to bug him again on Sunday for the final touches. Keep your fingers crossed.

Thursday was the day Miniflash got his 5 year old shots in preparation for going to school. It was emotional. He screamed and cried most of the time we were there even during the exam and had to be held down by three people (two of which were Flash and I) while two others put five shots in his legs.

I think the scariest part for him was being held down so hard. Every time he talked about getting five shots to other people he wouldn't start crying again until he got to the part about being held down. We explained to him before bed time why it had to happen that way and hopefully he'll be able to look back on it with understanding instead of hate and fear.

But he's not complaining about his legs hurting this morning and last night he only crawled on the floor a little bit before realizing he could actually walk so I think the worst is over. Like what happens to most of us hopefully he'll forget about his shots.

Today he gets to go with me to Grandma Hydes house, his mom's grandma. Flash's ex-in-laws are giving me my summer internship and that will be explained another day but MiniFlash loves Grandma Hyde and I'm sure it'll be a good day.

Peaches

The title of this post is actually something I copied from the Grey's Anatomy blog. It's the title of a song I have stuck in my head by the Presidents of the United States which was pretty popular in my high school days. It's not that I'm thinking about peaches and have some sort of prego craving for them. But when you're up really early on a day you don't work the opening line of that song just fits, "Early in the morning gonna eat a lot of peaches," which just seems like a silly thing to be doing or singing about.

This blog is not so much an update as it's the prelude to many updates. Since the only real news that's been heard from me was my pregnancy I thought I'd update in parts cause there's sooooo much to tell. So this is the rough outline of what I'll be talking about in the next few days:

- The Big Move to Boise
- School update and starting the Internship
- Treyson Turns Five
- Jen Turns 30
- 4th of July in Oregon

I say rough because I could remember something I wanted to talk about that's not on the list but that's what I've got so far. And there will be pictures!

The Skinny

I've sat down at the computer to post something five or six times but I always draw a blank. It doesn't help that lately I haven't had the Internet at my home so I try to do a post update at work. So as the blank persists I click on the little red X and just move on to what I should be doing instead.

But now I have the Internet at home. I can post away feeling no guilt. Except of course for the gnawing pain in my stomach telling me it's time to eat. Normally I would just ignore it and eat after I'm done and the gnawing pain would eventually go away. Except now that I'm pregnant when the pain goes away the mock throwing up starts and that does not go away until baby is no longer hungry.

Ok so now I have some carrots to munch on so baby is satisfied I can continue to post. Except MiniFlash is calling to me from the bathroom asking for some clothes to change into for the day.

Ok now that MiniFlash is dressing himself I can get back to updating the world on my current activities. Except now I'm thinking about the pile of books laying around the office that need to be put away, the boxes of pictures and memorabilia that need to be organized, the stack of bills that need attending too, the clutter of dishes in the sink that have been ignored for days, the shopping list on the refrigerator that needs to be cleared, and the many frames of pictures and decorations that need to be mounted on walls...

(Laughs weakly) Guess I can't avoid the other things I should be doing at home either.

Cooked Onions

I've never been a fan of onions. I pretty much dislike everything about them. From the moment I crack that thin layer of whatever protective coating you would call that flaky stuff the water works start up and I'm not even emotionally upset about anything. Unless the fact that I actually have to touch an onion counts. Next comes the juice. You can't touch any where on your body, especially your face or eyes, because then the stinging will begin. Why it doesn't hurt my hands but the rest of me is off limits I'll never know.

The smell isn't so great either. It makes your breath and your hands stink. And it just DOESN'T GO AWAY! Have you ever seen that part in the Labyrinth when they get trapped in the Bog of Eternal Stench and the little dwarf guys says you get touched with that stuff and it'll make you stink FOREVER. Well that's what working with onions is like, it turns my hands into the Hands of Eternal Stench.

But I've always been able to tolerate it ok. I hate raw onions but I'm ok with the cooked stuff that is hidden artfully within a meal thereby only claiming the right of adding flavor like a seasoning and not being an actual part of the meal.

That is until I got pregnant and it's tragic.

Cause even though I don't like onions and would prefer them to be hidden within a meal I love sauteed onions and mushrooms. What's more I love sauteed onions and mushrooms on hot pastrami sandwiches. Something my family makes often.

But alas now that I'm pregnant my dislike for onions has turned into an all out war between my tastebuds and my stomach. And just so you know my sense of smell has sided with my stomach. It's like all of a sudden my tastebuds have become Germany a normally peaceful and good country but ruled by a horrible leader and my sense of smell is the United States coming to Englands defence from total annihilation.

So now I'm a bit queasy and not seeing much end in sight. Unless you count seven months from now but I was really really hoping I could have a hot pastrami sandwich without wanting to throw up sooner then that. Especilly since sushi's been taken from me too.

Boo hoo

You Can Tell From Six!

Open Sesame!!

The internet has provided the ordinary person an opportunity to go beyond the everyday hum drum existance to create a world that is beyond the reaches of modern physics. The identiy of scrawny John Doe an ordinary accountant with no distiguishing features was altered to the internet screenname of Lord Alatáriël Súrion of the fair folk beautiful and daring who enters in on many adventures.

Screennames and passwords - heaven forbide identity thieft should reach the realms of imagination - were created as an alter ego. Ten years ago I created a password for my email account that I thought signified me as a person and it became the password for my various online accounts. This secret password was like the key that unlocked the alter ego I created for myself something - much like my screenname - was another part of myself.

So imagine my disgust when I was asked to change my password to add symbols and numbers. Imagine my farther disgust when I was asked to not only make sure my password had numbers and symbols in it but I wasn't allowed to use up to 10 of my previous passwords. My password was not just a word, it was part of my alter ego - a part of me they were asking me to destroy.

But - I have a plan! I think we live in a day and age where voice activation is the only way to truly secure our alter egos. To keep them safe from the evil intentions of evil doers we must use our voices (literally). This will save our passwords from being corrupted by the internet society that refused to see we can keep our alter egos safe!

Of course then we'll probably have to start using robotice equivalents mixed in with our own voices to duplicated the symbols and numbers of the typed passwords era.

Falling Into It

Yesterday was Easter and Flash and I got to spend it with Mini Flash this year. He's getting so big now and he's only four! Every time he comes back to us I feel like I'm looking at somebody new. So the three of us were sitting around the table eating ham, cheesy potatoes, and broccoli when MF has to go potty.

It's pretty normal for MF to be in the bathroom for a really long time. I think he likes to play with the water when he washes his hands in the sink. Flash isn't totally aware of this very slow nature of his little boy (it doesn't end with the bathroom, he takes forever getting dressed, eating, brushing his teeth, even walking) and commented on how long he took.

When MF finally came back to the table the conversation goes something like this:

Me: We were beginning to think you fell in the toilet.
MF: Why did you think I fell in the toilet?
Me: Because you took a really long time coming back to the table.
MF: But why does that mean you thought I fell into the toilet.
Me: It's just something you say sometimes when someone takes a long time in the bathroom. It's like a joke.
MF: Oh.

This conversation wouldn't be worth posting about if it wasn't for the next conversation that happened this morning. MF was hungry and I went to fix him a piece of toast leaving him to play on the computer upstairs.

Me: Here's your toast sweetheart.
MF: Thank you.
MF: I was beginning to think you fell in the microwave.

Oh how I laughed.