Pictures... FINALLY!

The answer we've been waiting for!  Even though it was barely visible, there WAS a 2nd line!  Woohoo!!!

So, shortly after we moved into the new house in Rexburg, I was doing dishes and heard a really big BANG outside.  I just thought it was someone pulling a trailer that went over a pot hole (there are a couple big ones on our street), but then I heard people yelling.  When I stepped out onto the front porch, I looked towards all the noise and saw this... a MICROBURST had picked up someone's SHED and dumped it right on top of our neighbor's house!!!  They had to call the fire department to come get it off, which was pretty funny to watch.  Two uniformed firemen simply get up on top of the roof and literally just kick the shed off of the house!  I know it was traumatizing for our poor neighbors, but it was kinda funny to watch:)

Me and Hannah, my darling should've-been-sister.  We all went out to Applebee's to basically celebrate Hannah since she was moving to Florida the next day, and this was our way of sharing our departing moment... I guess??  She's really not heavy and I'm actually stronger than this picture makes it out to be, but we were laughing so hard that I could barely lift her and she could barely hold on.  This is a typical Tri&Han moment.  

Disclaimer:  I  was NOT pregnant when this picture was taken!  If I was, I would NOT have been lifting more than 20 pounds:)

Ross and I chillin at Applebee's to celerate our dear Hanbanan. I think this is a cute picture of us:)

 

Mom and dad came up for the weekend and we took a day trip to Yellowstone.  These elk were so close to us!  It was amazing how unperturbed they were even though there were a lot of people around taking pictures of them. 

So I finally am able to get up some new pics... sorry it took a while.  We rearranged the furniture in our living room and, although I have no idea how it got there, we found our picture importer thingy under our recliner.  Like I said... NO IDEA how it got there, but now we're able to upload pictures!  Hooray!  

I can't believe this is the last week of the semester for Ross.  He was stressed out today for about 3 hours, but that was it!  I can't believe it!  When I started the upper level music classes (and for the rest of my college experience), I was an emotional wreck the last week of school!  But Ross seems very cool and collected, and I think he's going to do awesome on his finals.  As for me, I've been sick.  Not with a cold or anything, but with BABY.  Don't get me wrong... I love this baby and I can't wait to be a mommy, but it amazes me how something SO SMALL can make a grown woman SO SICK!  I finally went to my doctor and got a vitamin B6 shot, and he wrote me a prescription for an anti-nausea med.  I was dumb and didn't fill the prescription because I was feeling better, and lo and behold, I puked my guts out yesterday for the first time.  So needless to say, filling that prescription was on my to-do list today:)  The only thing that has been affected seriously is work.  I work from 6am-2pm, and it is not easy getting up and going to work when I've been so sick.  Although I didn't plan it, I literally worked part-time last week because I either went home early, got there late, or couldn't go at all.  But my boss' wife had a baby just a few months ago, and he is SO understanding with everything.  He basically said that, with 6 weeks of maternity leave, he wouldn't say anything unless I hadn't shown up for MORE than 6 weeks by the time the baby's born.  And since I'm not planning on going back after the baby's born, it's nice not to stress about losing my job because I'm so nauseated. 

On a better note, I have my first prenatal visit on the 16th!  I'll be about 11 weeks along by then, and my doc said that we might get to hear the baby's heartbeat:)  I'm so excited!  I know that there's a baby inside me right now, but to actually hear the heartbeat will make it so much more real.  And even with finals and nausea, our life is good!  It snowed the first big snowfall today, so now it really feels like Christmastime!  We are very excited to spend the holidays with family, and I'm crossing my fingers that we'll have a White Christmas this year!  What a beautiful time of year to be together and remember all that our Savior has done for us...

*T

S.O.S.!!!

Alright, so I know my last post talked about feeling okay as long as I wasn't hungry, but that was last week.  Today is my 8-week mark, and lemme tell ya... I'm feeling it. I don't have morning sickness, but rather an all-day-off-and-on sickness.  I've been feeling kinda lousy at certain points the last few days, but today is by far the worst.  I woke up at 6:45 this morning, which was unnatural because we went to bed late last night, and I was already sick to my stomach.  The only thing that sounded remotely appetizing to me at the time was fruit, so I figured I'd try eating a little bit to see if that helped.  My mom keeps pre-packaged grapefruit cups in the fridge (we're at my parent's house in Utah for Thanksgiving), so I had one of those and did NOT feel better.  I waited a while before trying to eat again, and then had some eggs and herbal tea.  Then I went downstairs to lay down, and it wasn't until this point that I REALLY felt gross.  I haven't been throwing up at all, but I've just felt soooo sick to my stomach and my whole body feels crummy.   Ross and dad went to the ranch early this morning (part of the reason I was up so early), so he's not here to witness my first day of being a typical pregnant woman:)  I finally called my sister Maddy to ask what she did, since she got sick right around this same time during her pregnancy with Britton.  I guess the answer is just to keep little bits of food in my stomach at all times to keep it from getting worse... even though eating is the LAST thing I want to do right now.  So here's my plea... to all of you moms or soon-to-be moms out there, WHAT DO I DO to keep from being so sick???  And if there's nothing I can do, is there anything that'll help?  Please share!

*T

this is why we're smiling...

So if any of you read my sister's blog, which a billion of you do, you already know why we're smiling.  Yes, we have a bazillion reasons to smile, but we've been smiling even MORE lately!  We found out that this summer will be the summer of our lives, starting around the beginning of July... cuz we're having a baby!  WAHOO!!  We weren't going to really start telling people until after Christmas, but it seems like the word has gotten out.  I'm still in the "danger zone" of the first trimester (I'm about 7 weeks along so far... I think), but I'm feeling good and Ross and I are confident that all will be well with this little baby growing inside of me.  The only times I ever really get sick are when I get too hungry or when I get stressed out.  I was promoted to the Accounting Team at the Law Firm I've been working at, but I was mostly dealing with angry people who wanted to cancel their cases with us.  I had a guy tell me to shut up yesterday when I was trying to explain some things to him, and then he continued to cuss me out and drop the F bomb a LOT during our conversation, even after I asked him not to.  Needless to say, yesterday was my last day on that team.  I requested to move back to the Reinstate Team, which is where I was before being "promoted" to Accounting.  

ANYWAY, Ross and I are ecstatic!  We are hoping for a little girl, but what's most important is that the baby is healthy... boy or girl.  So far, I think my due date is between July 5th-9th.  My first doctor's visit isn't until December 16th, and by then I think I'll almost be done with my first trimester.  And like I said earlier, I'm still in a bit of a danger zone because it's so early in the pregnancy, but we're staying confident and optimistic that the Lord will bless us with a pure, beautiful baby this summer.  And the best part about it is that Ross will be out of school for the summer and he'll just be working.  His stress level won't be quite so high and he'll be at home more often, which is a BIG PLUS all around.  

So there it is... I'm pregnant!!!  Yippee!!!  Now we just have to wait for July to roll around... 

*T

Happy November!

So, I've received enough reprimands from friends and family that I'm making the time to write a new post.  I will admit that it has been TOO LONG since I last posted, so I apologize to any of you who have checked our blog in the last 10 weeks to see what's going on in our lives.  A lot has happened actually, so I'll try to fill you in on a few things.  We're settled into our cute little home and we are loving having our own place.  It cost quite a bit of money to get things up and running, but we've come to realize that it's not cheap to set up house.  Dad helped us get a REALLY nice shed set up out back, so we have more room to put storage stuff.  School had already started and I had a full-time job by the time the shed got here, so our 2nd bedroom still contains quite a few items that still need to go in the shed.  We've just been so busy that we're literally unpacking a box here and a box there when we have time.  Other than that though, we love our home.  It's nothing fancy or big or grand in the Better Homes and Gardens sense, but it is HOME to us.  One of our favorite items is the wood-burning stove in the living room.  This puppy can heat up our entire home in no time at all, and it stays warm as long as there are embers still smoldering.  The previous owners left some firewood from last winter, which gave us the heat we needed for about a month.  We've gone without firewood for a couple weeks now, and we sure do miss having a fire.  We have a furnace, but it is SO MUCH CHEAPER to keep the furnace off and keep a fire going.  The place where we were told to get firewood actually ran out of wood, so we're now looking for ads in the Classified section of the paper:)  That's how much we love using our stove!  It's awesome! 

As for Ross and I, life is busy.  Ross' school schedule definitely keeps him sticking to a routine, and he's been involved in several concerts and recitals already this semester.  He'll be performing in Handel's Messiah in December, as well as Opera Scenes later on this month.  Kris Ciesinski is his new voice teacher, and for those of you who haven't heard of her, just Google her.  She and her husband, Norman Bailey (who Ross worked with during last semester's opera "The Magic Flute" by Mozart) have "retired" to Driggs, ID, but they both teach lessons on campus.  They had opera careers in Europe for over 20 years, and they are a huge asset to BYU-Idaho.  Kris has really whipped Ross' voice into shape and she expects a lot from him.  It can be tedious for him at times because she is very demanding, but his voice sounds better than ever and I am extremely proud of him!  Ross was actually going to school full time and working 20 hours a week, but we figured that the best thing for his/our future is for him to totally focus on school (and keep his 2 scholarships, one academic and one vocal) and leave the working to me.  I got a job as a Paralegal at Lexington Law Firm (which has nothing to do with music, I know), and I'm working 10-6 Monday thru Friday.  I was amazed at the lack of jobs here in Rexburg, so I was forced to take this job so we could pay the bills.  It's not a bad job, but it's definitely not my dream job.  I'm just not the kind of person who does well chained to a headset and a grey cubicle for 8 hours a day... so I decided to remedy the situation.  I am starting the Graham Music Studio, where I will teach beginning, intermediate, and early advanced piano and voice lessons.  My USP (Unique Selling Point) is that I will be a traveling teacher.  I will actually travel TO my students instead of having the parents chauffeur them to me.  My mom helped me put together flyers and business cards, which I've been handing out on a frequent basis.  I have quite a few prospective students already, which is exciting!  I've realized that the hardest part will be starting since I work all day, but my evenings and Saturdays are free, and that's where I'll start!  And I'll be setting up either a blog or a website for the studio once I have some time (and some help from my tech-savvy mother), so I'll keep you posted for when I get that up and running!  But for now, I'll continue working at the Law Firm until I get enough students, or until something better comes along :)  

So I'm fully aware that I need to post photos, but I haven't uploaded any new ones since we moved back to the 'Burg.  I promise that those will be up soon!  My favorite part about blogs is the photos, so I know how important it is for you all to see what's happening in our lives.  As for now, this will be a purely written post.  I guess people will want to REALLY see pictures when there are growing children, which we don't have yet, but I'll still get some up for those of you interested enough to look at them. 

Life is still great, Ross and I are blessed beyond measure, we are still madly in love with each other, and we are happy.  There are ups and downs like usual, but I couldn't imagine a better partner to take along for the roller coaster ride:)

Happy November!!!

*T      

what a week!

Holy wowzers.  Okay, so the past 10 days have been absolutely C-R-A-Z-Y!!!  We ended up making a totally impromptu decision last Monday (August 11th) to pack up and leave Albuquerque a few weeks earlier than originally planned. Sales had taken a dive, we'd just purchased a home (with Dad's help), Ross' brother Chris was graduating, and it was my mom's birthday later on in the week, so it wasn't like we didn't think things out first... and now we're VERY happy about the decision.  So, after making the decision Monday, we packed all day Tuesday and were out of the apartment by 7:15 Wednesday morning.  After stopping for a Cracker Barrel breakfast, we hit the road and pulled into my parent's driveway in Alpine, Utah by 6 pm.  We spent the rest of the week hanging with family (it worked out perfectly because Ross' parents were in town for Chris' graduation) and we waited to be approved to live in the community where we'd bought our house up in Rexburg.  They do background checks and contact the referrals we put on the application, so it takes a couple days.  Anyway, it was a fun time for us to just relax and be with family.  We weren't expecting to hear anything back from the community until this last Tuesday or Wednesday, but we packed everything up on Monday to have it ready just in case:)  Well, I guess I should say that I worked mostly with my parents and Theresa, Ross' mom, to pack up since Ross woke up around 4:30 am with the stomach flu.  He helped us organize some things as we packed them, but the poor guy just wasn't doing well that day.  Our hard work paid off though, because we got a call from the community manager on Tuesday morning saying that we were good to go!  We finished up a few last-minute odds and ends, and we hit the road!  Mom and I got to our new place just before Ross and Dad pulled up with the horse trailer (yes folks, we packed all of our belongings into my dad's clean, scrubbed out horse trailer, AND we live in a trailer park... no worries, I have pictures:)).   Two guys showed up 5 minutes after we started unloading, offering to help us unload and mentioning that they're our neighbors and that we'll all be in the same ward.  Within an hour, we had EVERYTHING unloaded!  It was fantastic!  Unfortunately, mom and dad had to head back home as soon as they could, so my hopes of having my mother's ever-efficient help were shattered.  We hugged, they left, and the unpacking began!  To make a long story short, I'll just say that we've been working hard for 2 days and we STILL have a lot to do.  Oh yeah, I guess we were set back a day because I woke up yesterday morning with the same stomach flu that Ross had on Monday, so I was down for the count.  I'm still feeling a little weak from a complete lack of nutrients, but I'm feeling MUCH better than yesterday.  Thank goodness those things only last 24 hours.  

So, there ya go.  That's what our life has been in the last week and a half.  Once we get things a little more organized, I'll get some pictures up.  For now, just imagine LOTS and LOTS of BOXES... 

But really, life is good:)

*T      

BIG NEWS!!!

Okay friends and fam, I'm sure by the title of this post you're wondering what in the HECK the big news is.  Just to get things straight right from the start, we are NOT expecting any additions to our family in the next 9 months... so you can breathe easy now:)  However, with the help of my wonderful and oh-so-helpful father, we will be moving back to Rexburg to live in a HOME... OUR VERY OWN HOME!!!  We're homeowners!!!  Ross and I did the numbers a while ago, and although our rental situation was great back in the 'burg, we would've spent A LOT of money renting for the next 2.5 years and would've received NONE of it back in the end.  So, we started looking around, getting our feet wet as to what real estate was like in Rexburg.  We also talked to some friends of ours who work with Ross, and 2 of the couples live in manufactured homes.  To make a long story short, we found a practically perfect home in a great community where 2 friends already live, and 3 other couples (also good friends) are looking to buy!  Now, it's not the Taj Mahal, but we don't NEED the Taj Mahal right now... and I'm not sure we ever will, for that matter.  Anyway, we are so happy with it, which is kinda crazy because we haven't even seen it in person yet.  However, we were in touch with the previous owners quite a bit (a young married couple as well), and we (myself, Ross, and my interrogative, anal, LOVING father) feel that we are getting a deal and that this will be a great starter home for us.  There have been several recent upgrades to the home, and we feel confident that this is an awesome way to start out our married lives in the quaint college town we love:)   

So obviously LOTS has happened in the past week... but buying a home is just the start!  I'll post more pics and stories of our adventures to Santa Fe when it's NOT 2 am, and when I'm a little more coherent... 

LIFE IS GOOD.  We are so blessed... 

*T

Memories!

Okay friends and fam, I'm not usually one to pass on forwarded emails or texts, but this is kinda cute.  No obligation... just a fun thing for us to share if ya have a moment:) 

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together.  It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, just write anything you remember. 

2. Re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave you a memory.  If you leave a comment, I'll assume you're playing the game, and I'll come to your blog and leave a message:)  

*T