Shawnee & Brady

Graduation x 2

2011-05-19T15:50:00.000-06:00

Barrett's pal, Uncle Tyler, graduated from the U a few weeks back.

Congrats, Ty! We are so proud of you!

Brady's Graduation

2011-05-14T21:39:00.001-06:00

Hooray! Brady graduated!

Wayne (Brady's dad), Brady, Jan (Brady's mom)

This day seemed like it would never come, but we (probably me more than Brady!) are SO happy that it did. I sometimes joked with Brady that he was only going to school because I wanted him to, but I'm glad he persevered and finished. I think he's glad he did too.

I must admit, though, that this was probably the most stressful day of parenthood yet. Poor Barrett was either super excited about daddy graduating or super stressed out himself because he peed through two outfits AND blew out another two! (I usually only pack one extra outfit in the diaper bag so we actually had to go buy clothes between the commencement and convocation ceremonies!) That, in addition to him refusing to eat or sleep because of all the excitement, made for a very long day and one stressed out mommy! We survived, but just barely.

Four Months

2011-05-14T08:58:00.001-06:00

Another month has flown right by! Barrett is at such a fun stage. I miss the cuddly newborn, but I love watching him learn new things so quickly!

stats:

weight: 15 lbs. 10 oz. (61st percentile)
height: 27.25 in (98th percentile! I posted on FB it was 97% but upon further inspection of the report they gave me, it's even more!)
head circumference: 17.7 in (97th percentile)

For everyone who keeps telling us that Barrett is "so big and so alert", well, there you have it. The proof is in the pudding. He is big. Thank you daddy genes.

at 4 months, Barrett:

is a happy baby! (except when he has to get shots, is hungry, or overly tired)
smiles a lot
drools even more
blows spit bubbles
is super ticklish, especially by his collar bones
makes all sorts of cute baby noises including cooing, giggling, gurgling, and the like
has a super cute "low" voice when he talks...grandma Jan says it reminds her of when Brady was a baby
loves to chew on his hands
has a pretty good grip and of course whatever he's holding onto makes its way to his mouth
is figuring out how to reach for things
still LOVES bath time...in fact, dad can't wait to take him swimming in a few weeks
usually HATES getting dressed after bath time
doesn't seem shy one bit...in fact, he's been called a flirt a time or two

We love you little man!

Three Months

2011-04-10T19:06:00.001-06:00

I've said it once and I'm sure I'll be saying it a million more times, but time, PLEASE slow down!! Barrett turned three months old last Thursday. I seriously can't believe how big he is getting!

Brady blessed Barrett on Sunday, March 6th. I was so worried about Barrett crying during the blessing or having a major blow-out, but he was a champ. He slept right through it. We are so thankful that Barrett was able to have so many grandpas and uncles be a part of his blessing.

Later that week was Barrett's two month appointment. He weighed 12 lbs. 12 ounces and I don't remember how long he was. I don't think that measurement is very accurate anyways because he was super wiggly when the nurse was trying to measure his length. His two month appointment also meant a round of shots. Poor kiddo...he just wasn't sure what hit him! I was nearly as traumatized as he was!

Barrett is such a good little boy. He pretty much only cries when he's hungry or tired. I don't blame him. I cry then too!

Over the past few weeks, Barrett has been figuring out how to get his thumb in his mouth. He started out totally gagging on it, but he's starting to suck on it for a few seconds here and there. He has also been such a smiley baby! I love it when he wakes up in the morning because when I tell him "good morning" he gets this big smile across his face. Pretty sure those smiles make everything right in the world. Barrett is also super ticklish! (For those of you who know Brady, no wonder Barrett is ticklish!) I think he'll start laughing really soon. But for now, when I tickle him by his collarbones he shrugs his shoulders into his ears, gets a huge grin on his face and says "aackk!" or some other gurgle-y noise. So cute. I'm totally in love with this little man!

Lovin' Our Little Man!

2011-02-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

Barrett will be 6 weeks old on Friday. Time is flying by and we are trying to make the most of every moment while he's still so little! In some ways, I can't believe it's been 6 weeks already and in other ways, Barrett has been a part of our family forever and it's almost hard to remember what life was like before he came. Here are some more pictures from our photo shoot with Jen.

Oh, I love this little guy so much! It's fun to see hints of his little personality showing through. Barrett LOVES his bath! He just sits there, totally relaxed and content. I'd say that next to eating, it's his favorite time of the day. He is still a great eater, though we've entered the "spitting up" stage and that's not so great.

He's a pretty consistent sleeper and he's even let me have a few extra hours of sleep here and there. He's starting to have more awake time, which is really fun because he's beginning to make eye contact and every now and then we get a real smile, not just a "I'm passing gas" sorta smile. The poor little guy has a bad case of what I'm thinking is baby eczema on his face, so we're trying to help him with that.

I'd say that Brady and I are adjusting to this new life pretty well, though I know we'll have more adjusting to do when I go back to work part time. (Which, I'm not completely looking forward too (read: dreading, not because I don't love my job 'cause I do, but because I hate thinking about leaving this little guy!) and I'm still looking for childcare for one day...any suggestions/recommendations?) We are starting to have somewhat of a routine and that's been good for all of us.

Brady is a cute dad. I think he's taken more pictures and videos of Barrett than I have and I'm home with him all day! Bath time is usually their bonding time. Brady can't wait until Barrett is big enough to be pulled in our bike trailer, especially with all this nice weather we've been having, but in the meantime, he's settled for going on walks.

I love being a mom. I love that Barrett knows I'm his mom and that I can usually calm him when no one else can. And when he smiles at me or even just looks into my eyes, it makes the sleep deprivation and stress of a new lifestyle TOTALLY worth it.

8 Years Ago Today...

2011-01-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

...I married my best friend.

Thanks for a fabulous eight years, Brady. Here's to a whole lot more.

Love you!

Two Weeks

2011-01-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

I can't believe he's two weeks old already! Barrett is the sweetest little man! I know you are all dying for more pictures. It's just that sleep has won over blogging. :) Do know that we are hanging in there...though sleep deprived. Here's a pic from our photo shoot with the talented Jen Gibson. I cannot wait to see the rest of them!

Introducing

2011-01-10T20:40:00.000-07:00

Name: William Barrett (you can just call him Barrett)

Named William after his grandpa and great-grandpa on my side and Barrett after his dad, grandpa, and great-grandpa.

Born: January 7th, 3:18 pm

He'll share his birthday with his great-grandpa, who he's named after!

Stats: 8 lbs, 3 oz; 20.5 in

Four Generations:

So far, he loves to cuddle, is a champion eater, and HATES diaper changes.

He is such a sweet little boy. We are absolutely in love with him!

Our happy family

Maternity Pics

2010-12-27T14:21:00.001-07:00

So the other day, my sister Natalie took some maternity pictures of Shawnee. I just wanted to share with all of you how great I think she looks. She is still the same tiny Shawnee but she has the cutest round belly! (Yeah I know I am cheesy and guess what... MEH!)

We are now in the final stretch of this pregnancy and everything has gone pretty smooth. It seems like our little boy may be anxious to get her since, at her last appointment, Shawnee was already showing signs of going early... so who knows we may have him before the new year. I'll make sure to keep everyone in the loop when our little guy decides to show up.

-Brady

Support local!

2010-12-07T20:19:00.000-07:00

Looking to shop local this year (or just find the perfect unique gift)?

My work is hosting a holiday bazaar featuring local artists and crafters this Friday, December 10th from 2-8 pm. Let me know if you are interested and I'll give you the address. There will be some really cool stuff!

Go Utes!

2010-11-28T22:28:00.000-07:00

Despite the frigid temps, we faithfully cheered on our Utes vs. BYU yesterday! What a comeback! I admit that I was frustrated and feeling a bit pessimistic that we were basically handing the game to the team from down south for 3 quarters. But that 4th quarter was all about 2nd chances, and 3rd and 4th and maybe even 5th chances. And in a big rivalry game, I guess that's what it's all about. Thanks for another great season, Utah!

So Thankful

2010-11-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

Today in church, we had a lesson on being thankful. Very fitting for this time of year. Thanksgiving this past week, and the lesson, allowed me to stop and think about what I'm thankful for:

Brady--for being a hard worker, for making me laugh every single day, for being so excited to be a dad, for being my very best friend
My mom and dad--for raising me into the kind of gal I am today, for supporting me always, for cheering me on in my goals and dreams
My immediate family (3 brothers, 1 sister-in-law & a niece)--for serving missions and being good examples, for choosing good
Brady's family--for accepting me for who I am, for loving and supporting us in all we do, for being each other's friends
Good jobs
A warm house
Our health
Having what we need
The gospel
Good friends
And mostly, this year, I'm so thankful to be experiencing pregnancy and to be looking forward to a sweet little boy to join our family. I know so many women who want this so badly and I certainly don't take my experience for granted. I'm grateful everyday for this blessing.

Now that it's winter...

2010-11-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

...I guess I should post about our fall. So, sit down with a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy this really long update.

September

Another Utah football season started!
And Brady's last big semester of school also began. He has one class next semester and then HE'S DONE!!! Pretty sure I'm more excited about that than he is.
Labor Day Weekend: We went to St. George with some friends. We stayed in a super nice condo, ate good food, swam, and played games. On Sunday, we went to church then took a drive towards Zion National Park and ended up in a ghost-town. On Monday, the boys hiked "The Subway" in Zion and the girls shopped. It was a fun little get-away.

I went to see Willie Nelson at Red Butte. I'm pretty sure I was the only sober one there. And, for as "classic" as Willie is, he isn't such a great entertainer, in case you were wondering. Probably because he was just as high as the rest of them.
We went with a bunch of our family to see a Real Salt Lake game. It was an adventurous day. We all took FrontRunner/Trax to the Stadium and it was super hot at the game...a bit much for this pregnant momma. I heard all sorts of interesting conversations while on the train which made me freak out about the world that my son will be entering. Can I go back to living in my bubble?

October

I celebrated the big 3-0. And I was mostly ok with it. My cute SIL wrote this cute post about me. It made me smile.

I got to be super crafty at our ward's Freaky Friday activity. I couldn't believe how much I was looking forward to this activity! I really like to be creative, I just don't have much time to do it, so this activity was the perfect outlet for me.
Brady and I had a little mini stay-cation. We stayed overnight at The Inn on the Hill, ate dinner at Mazza, and hung out together ALL DAY (which by the way never happens these days!). Thanks to a whole bunch of gift cards, our weekend didn't cost us a cent.
I got all crafty again and made a quilt-top for our little guy. My mom had someone machine quilt it and then did the binding (because that is one skill--of many--I do not possess). It's super soft (and a lot cuter in person).

My work threw us a huge baby shower. It was awesome. I work with some of THE best people on the planet. And, my patients and clients are great too. We were spoiled with a super nice stroller/bike trailer/ski trailer/it has so many possible attachments that I can't remember them all. In the picture below, you can see the huge "calendar" on the wall...everyone is chiming in with their guesses as to when this little guy is going to come and how big he's going to be. Sometimes, I have to ignore the weight guesses because they freak me out a little bit. So do the guesses that I'm going to go 2 weeks overdue.

And then I got a super bad nasty cold. I hardly slept for 3-4 days and practically broke a rib from coughing so much. I was almost completely miserable.
And then I got to take a 3 hour glucose tolerance test while I was sick. Who thought it was a good idea to make a pregnant lady starve, then drink a nasty drink, and then draw her blood 4 times over 4 hours? Obviously not a pregnant woman. (For the record, it turned out just fine.)
We started our childbirth classes.
Halloween happened. We're not really into this holiday, but I do enjoy carving pumpkins. Brady's family has a tradition of getting together to carve pumpkins and this year was no exception.

We had a total of 2 trick-or-treaters. And too bad for everyone who didn't come to our house because we had good treats. Just ask my Sunday school class who got all the leftovers.

November

More Utah football...(even though the first two games this month were disappointing, I'm looking forward to our Utes finishing off strong this week!)

I worked 12 days in a row. Yep, I'm crazy. Earlier this year I became an Educator for Polestar Education and had my first opportunity to teach for them this month. So, I saw patients for 4 days, taught for 4 days (which I really enjoyed, but was absolutely EXHAUSTED afterwards!), then saw patients for the next 4 days.
While I was working all those days in a row, Brady painted the nursery.

I had two fabulous family baby showers. A HUGE thanks to everyone who participated. We feel very blessed.
While I was being pampered at baby showers, Brady fixed our super squeaky stairs. Hooray for no more squeaky stairs! Our house is only about 4 1/2 years old, but our stairs have squeaked since the day we moved in. We are getting new carpet up the stairs and in the bedrooms next week. (Anyone want to help move furniture?) In the meantime, our house looks like a tornado ran through it because my nesting stage is in full force and I feel like I must go through every single cupboard and drawer before we move furniture for carpet to come. So, please, don't come visit for a while. But then you're all invited to come as often as you want after my house gets put back together.
I got another cold. Or it was the same one coming back to haunt me again. At least I could sleep with this one and it's not lasting nearly as long as the first one.
We have one childbirth class to go. That means it's getting really close to baby.
And, here's a belly pic of me at 32 weeks.

Christmas Music!

2010-11-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

I LOVE CHRISTMAS MUSIC and Christmas in general!! Now before some of you start commenting that it is too early for Christmas Music, I have one thing to say to you. It is never too early for Christmas music. Shawnee tries unsuccessfully to stop me from listening to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. We have made a compromise. We only listen (when together) to Christmas music on Sundays and only after Halloween (although I may have cheated a tiny bit this year.) Then after Thanksgiving anything goes.

Now over the past several years I have acquired a fairly large collection of Christmas music, in fact it may rival some peoples entire music collection. I started after my mission when, as a memeber of the BMG music club (yeah I did that), I got an album called "City on a Hill: It's Christmas Time". It is a compilation of a bunch of Christian rockers. I loved most of it and started buying albums by the artists on that album. Pretty soon I was out of control. I buy a dozen or two albums every year (if I can find any I don't have).

I decided that this year I would share a list of some of my favorites so that my friends could enjoy the magic of Christmas through music.... so here goes. They are in no particular order (except for the first album which is hands down my all-time favorite!) and by no means is this list finished. Feel free to add your favorites in the comments so that I can possibly find a new favorite through you.

• The Christmas Sessions - MercyMe (You really need to check this album out... especially Joseph's Lullaby)
• O Holy Night - Sara Groves
• Honky Tonk Christmas – Alan Jackson
• Let It Be Christmas – Alan Jackson
• Peace on Earth - Casting Crowns
• Hear Something Country Christmas 2007 – Various Artists
• Merry Chris Rice – Chris Rice
• Christmas Offering – Third Day
• This Warm December: Brushfire Holiday's Vol. 1 – Various Artists
• The Hotel Café Presents Winter Songs – Various Artists
• Country For Christmas – Various Artists
• My Christmas List – Lonestar
• This Christmas Time – Lonestar
• Silent Night – Lifehouse
• Songs for the Season – Randy Travis
• The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection – Taylor Swift
• Wintersong – Sara McLachlan
• Unwrapped – Rascal Flatts
• Christmas Album – Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
• Brand New Year – SheDaisy
• Christmas – Brad Paisley
• Barenaked for the Holidays – Barenaked Ladies
• Christmas Hymns – Paul Cardall
• Christmas with Bing Crosby – Bing Crosby
• Christmas What's It Gonna Be, Santa? – Chicago
• All I Want For Christmas – Straight No Chaser
• Alabama Christmas – Alabama
• Christmas With Weezer – Weezer
• City on a Hill: It’s Christmas Time – Various Artists
• Elf Soundtrack – Various Artists
• A Christmas Present – Merle Haggard
• Candy Cane Christmas – Darius Rucker
• The Christmas Album – Neil Diamond
• Let It Snow Baby...Let It Reindeer – Relient K
• Make it Christmas – Rodney Carrington

Also you can check out my Christmas Radio station on Pandora.

--Brady

It's a...

2010-08-31T20:37:00.000-06:00

BOY!!!

And we are SO excited!

The ultrasound looked great today, and I, of course, got all teary eyed seeing two arms, two legs, a healthy heart and brain, little toes, and our little man sucking his thumb and kicking like crazy! I'm so thankful that everything looks good so far. And I think this little guy wanted to make sure there wasn't even a thought of buying pink. He's all boy.

Guest blogger

2010-08-29T21:08:00.001-06:00

In case any of you are interested, our friend Tyler and his brother started a blog about running called Run Write Run. They write about their training, their race experiences, trends in running (barefoot running, anyone?) and funny things that happen on their runs (ever started running with two different shoes on? They have!). Though I'm not a consistent "runner", I treat a lot of athletes that do so Tyler has asked that I contribute some "professional" advice. I'll be posting on their blog sometime soon! Here's the link to the super nice introduction Tyler gave me.

Half-way there!

2010-08-29T20:54:00.000-06:00

Can you believe it? I can't! So far, this pregnancy has gone by so fast for us. As much as we're excited to meet this little one, I'm not sure I want it to come so fast! I might regret saying that at 9+ months, but in the meantime, I want to enjoy it as much as possible. As requested by a few of you, here's the 20 week belly shot:

Fortunately, I've been feeling pretty good (now that I'm past the first trimester--that of course, was another story, but I kept reminding myself to be thankful that I was feeling so crummy because that meant I was growing a baby!). And now, thanks to the Boppy pregnancy wedge, I'm sleeping a whole lot better too.

Tuesday is our BIG ultrasound! I'm SO excited to finally find out what we're having and I'll be sure to let you all know. What's your guess? As for me, I really have no idea. One day (or minute) I think girl, the next day (or minute) I think boy. We'll find out in just a few days! Can't wait!

Our best update yet

2010-07-21T21:37:00.000-06:00

We are so happy to finally get to say that a baby is on it's way!

I'm 15 weeks along and our due date is January 13, 2011. (That ultrasound was at 10 weeks, so our little one is much bigger than it was then. At my appointment last week, they ran out of the ultrasound printer paper so I don't have the new pictures to share with you all.) We are very excited for this new chapter of our lives! We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers on our behalf for this day to come for us. We feel really blessed.

4th of July weekend

2010-07-20T22:19:00.001-06:00

Our weekend plans started on Friday with family pics. Brady's extended family usually has a family reunion over the 4th of July holiday and this year was no exception.

Friday night was the family softball game. It's become tradition that everyone seems to look forward to. Then, we always go to Brady's aunt and uncle's house where Brady and his brother Andy light fireworks. All of Brady's family slept over at his mom and dad's house (half of us slept outside in tents) and the next morning, we all go to the Hooper Parade.

Brady's dad MC's the parade. It's a good, small town parade. This year, instead of being hot, it was cool and breezy.

Later that day, all of the extended family continued the reunion at the Roy Aquatic Center. We usually swim at Grandma Marie's house, but this year there were over 70 people and the backyard swimming pool just wasn't going to accommodate that. So, they rented out the aquatic center and everyone had so much fun. (Plus, the wind finally stopped blowing so it seemed like summer!)

That's Brady!

Several of Brady's siblings decided to have a contest to see how far they could skim across the water after coming off the slide. It was hilarious! Brady's dad even joined in on the fun!

We ended the day with Hooper fireworks.

That was my sad attempt of taking cool firework pictures.

On the actual 4th, I began my new calling as Gospel Doctrine instructor in our ward. That was the one calling I always said I never wanted. In fact, I mentioned that very thing about 2 days before I got the calling. Lesson learned: be careful what you wish for. But, as it turns out so far, I'm enjoying learning so maybe this calling is more for me than the members of my class.

Later that night, we had first Sunday family night with my mom's family. My grandpa makes the best Dutch oven potatoes and chicken. And, I got my first bit of corn on the cob for the summer. Yum.

I love summer!

Robins

2010-07-20T22:02:00.000-06:00

This post is a bit out of order as far as updates, but it was such a cool thing that I decided to do a post about it anyways.

A few weeks before Memorial Day, I noticed a new nest sitting on the drain pipe thing that runs from the gutter to the ground (is there a name for that?). It was high enough off the ground that I couldn't see inside. Then I saw a robin and figured there must be eggs inside.

On Memorial Day, I was out weeding my garden and kept hearing this little faint chirping noise. Those little robins hatched! It was so fascinating to watch the momma robin (or maybe it was the dad, or both? I don't really know) fly to one of our fence posts, then to the other, like it was making sure no one saw where it was going, before flying to the nest to feed the little ones.

About a week later, I noticed four little robins prancing around my flower garden. I watched the mom/dad/both fly down and feed them, then try to persuade them to fly. Two of the birds got the hang of it rather quickly. The other two took their time learning. They would just run around the flower garden, back and forth, try to hop up on a rock and then look like they weren't sure how to get down.

It was pretty fun to watch them. I guess I've never really watched birds this way before. I hope we have more robins next spring.

Our robins nest, however, was nothing compared to what my mom and dad found in their grill:

My mom said that it nearly took up the entire grill. It was a good thing they opened the grill before they lit it!

Family Pictures

2010-07-20T21:45:00.000-06:00

Hey, I'm finally to July, so I might actually get caught up here!

I'm pretty sure we picked the hottest day of the year (up to that point) to do family pictures with Brady's family. We didn't have much of a choice...it was basically, we have to do it this day or it won't get done kind of thing. Dana Willis did the big family pics and my sister-in-law, McKenzie took the individual family pictures. We think they turned out great! Thanks to both of the super talented ladies to get the job done!

If you want, you can check out the rest of our pics on Dana's blog or McKenzie's blog.

June

2010-07-20T20:39:00.000-06:00

June was a crazy month for us. Here's why:

Brady Goes to the Subway
Brady got a permit to do the Subway and Das Boot slot canyons in Zions the first weekend in June. He went with my brother Tyler, his boss Greg and some of Greg's friends. From the sounds of things, they had a great time and enjoyed some cool scenery.

Brady got some Vibram 5 fingers for his birthday (back in May...no pics=no blog post...sorry babe!), mostly for the purpose of using them in the slot canyon. Ty, my brother, bought some for the trip too. They loved them, even though they do look a bit silly!

Shawnee Goes to Miami
I had to go to Miami for an educator training. I'm glad I don't have to fly east often, because I realized that I'm not a great flier. Especially when it comes to having layovers...I hate taking off and landing so to have to do it more than once really gets to me. I got into Miami super late (near midnight) on a Tuesday evening. I had borrowed my parents' GPS so that I wouldn't get lost. Well, the GPS doesn't recalculate for construction, so I got lost. Thank goodness for my iPhone. Brady was able to track where my phone was and guide me to my hotel. After that rough start, things got a bit better (I won't bore you with the details). The training was good, I didn't get to go the beach (but saw the water from my hotel, does that count?) and I was super glad to fly back home on Saturday. There's no place like home!

Danny & Shanna Get Married
Four days after getting home from Miami, Brady's brother Danny got married to his sweetheart, Shanna. The night before the wedding, it rained SO hard and the wind was crazy! But, the morning of their wedding, it was absolutely gorgeous!

The whole family

The family before the reception

Our nephew, Benson, wanted to take a picture with my camera...this is what we got!

The reception was outside and it was dark by the time we were cleaning up...the lights made it look so romantic, so I had to get a picture!

Brady & Shawnee Go to Browne
The day after the wedding, Brady and I drove to Browne Lake in the Uintas for my family reunion. We go every year in June and I'm so happy Brady loves it up there as much as I do.

Shooting

Ty, did you take this? I think it's going to be a favorite! That's Browne Lake in the background...The sky is such a gorgeous blue when we're up there!

My fam (minus Josh, Krissey, Londyn & Curtis)

And all of that, my friends, makes for one super busy month.

Home Improvement Projects

2010-07-18T17:01:00.000-06:00

When we moved into our townhouse 3 1/2 years ago, we painted our room and most of the downstairs. In our room, we used a suede finish and I really liked it. However, we never fully finished it because I couldn't decide how to do it. Then I got sick of it and decided it was time to re-do our bedroom. The only trouble was deciding what it the world to do for our re-do. Then, for Christmas, Brady and my parents bought me a very nice quilt/bedspread that became the inspiration for our project.

So, the month of May was our time to get the project(s) done. I only have a few pictures and will post more when I take them (and that will be when I finish accessorizing the room! and that will be...soon.).

I forgot the before picture. Imagine a light tan suede finish on all the wall with a dark chocolate brown suede finish on the top 12 inches of the wall.

We painted the room "Rainwater" and added crown molding.

If Brady doesn't look too happy in this next picture, it's because crown molding was a bit more complicated than we thought. I'm so happy we endured though, because it looks so good! And thanks to Brady's dad, Wayne, for letting us borrow his ladder and miter saw. We couldn't have done it without them!

More or less, here's the semi-finished product. I swear I took I picture after I'd put the actual quilt on the bed and moved the nightstands back in, but I can't find it. I'll find it and post it. I love that the color brightened our room.

Other projects in the works (pictures to be posted upon completion--it's my promise to the blog world so we'll actually get them done!):

Brady is making me a mirror to go over our dresser
I'm repainting a jewelry box to match our new decor in our room
Brady is repainting a picture frame that we got for our wedding (no offense to the person who gave it to us, but it was gold/brassy and super gaudy and just not our style...we couldn't take it back anywhere and we couldn't even sell it at a garage sale...it's just been sitting in our guest room taking up space...then, I decided I could paint it a solid color and it might not look so bad...I'll let you decide)
Curtains for our bedroom and for downstairs
Re-doing the pavers on our patio
Repainting the baseboards in our half bath (or rather, painting them for the first time...I don't think the builders finished them because you can see their cut marks, writing, and and putty in the nail holes!)

I actually had a lot of fun with home improvement projects and look forward to doing more.

TV Debut

2010-06-24T20:25:00.002-06:00

On April 23rd, I was "live in studio" on Channel 5's "Studio 5." In case you missed it, here it is!

The experience was fun and crazy all at the same time. I was super nervous at first, but thankfully I kicked into teacher-mode and wasn't so nervous. I freaked out a bit (inside of course--I thought I did pretty good to keep my cool!) because the hosts weren't following their scripts that we had prepared, but again, I'm thankful for those teaching moments where I have to just go with the flow!

Mini Baja

2010-06-24T19:46:00.004-06:00

If this car were a woman, I would've worried about the time Brady spent with her. This mini baja was Brady's senior project. Seriously, he put in SO many hours over the past two semesters to get this baby done. I'm proud of him and his team for finishing in the nick of time. (And boy am I thankful it's over!)

Welding the frame (I think that is one of his classmates)

I think it's impressive that a whole bunch of guys could add detail like this

The "A-arm"...this was what Brady's group was mainly responsible for...they had to design it, draw it in SolidWorks, and manufacture it

The almost-finished product

And it's done!

Which of course, now means test drive and play time!

April 2010

2010-06-24T19:19:00.005-06:00

Brady's Mission Reunion
I'll be honest, I'm never too excited to go to these things, but I am glad I went this year. Brady served in the Mexico Chihuahua mission. I always feel kinda awkward because I don't know many people (and the people I do know didn't come this time!), but it always makes me glad to see what a positive influence the mission was on my husband. I have a cool story from that night. So, one of the guys from B's mission came home when his mission was done and needed to have a "routine" heart surgery. Unfortunately, there were complications and this guy passed away. His mom came to the mission reunion to hear stories and share this experience. It gave me goosebumps, so I hope I can relate it adequately for you to understand how neat it was. On the 1 year anniversary of this missionary's passing, his family and friends all went to the temple. In our church, we use temples to perform ordinances for people who have passed on before us who didn't get the chance to participate in those ordinances while they were alive. At the end of the temple session, the missionary's father told the mother that the person whose work he did was from Chihuahua, Mexico. It gets better. ALL of the male members who were there in that session had people who were from Chihuahua, Mexico. I'm thinking there was a bit of missionary work happening on the other side, don't you?

Portland
This was trip #9. The instructor was fabulous. And the weather was great. I even had time at the end of each day to do some exploring. I found this nifty little park near Lake Oswego. I went there two evenings in a row and read. Isn't is pretty?

Family
While I was in Portland, I found out that my dad was going to be made bishop of his ward. Can I tell you how humbling it is to watch your sweet dad take on that responsibility? He'll be a great bishop.

The updates continue...

2010-06-24T19:01:00.003-06:00

I promise I haven't forgotten. This being busy thing, is, well, busy.

March

We picked a GREAT day to go ski "for free after three" at Alta with our friend, Spencer. That is seriously one of the best deals around. After three in the afternoon, you can ski the Sunnyside lift until the lift closes at 4:30. An hour and a half of skiing for a newbie like me is about perfect. And, it only cost me the price to rent skis. (Later, I ended up buying a pair of new boots off my bro-in-law AND got a great deal on some new skis...never thought I'd be a skier, but I guess if I have gear now, I officially am!) It dumped a ton of snow the morning of the day we went, but by afternoon, it was a bluebird day. We forgot to take a picture, though. As we were walking back to our car, we noticed a back-country skier at the top of a mountain across from Alta. It was beautiful to watch the way he skied down, but it sure seemed like a lot of work to hike ALL the way up there to get down in 30 seconds. BTW, I won't be a back-country skier, EVER.

March was also major studying for me as I had my Level II manual therapy exams. Many of you know I've been a frequent flyer to Portland over the past 18 or so months while I've been working on my manual therapy certification. I passed the upper quarter exam and will take the lower quarter exam this fall.

While I was busy studying, so was Brady! If I had a nickel for every minute he was working on senior project or glued to SolidWorks on his computer, I could be super rich by now. I'll do a separate post about his cool senior project.

Albuquerque

2010-05-28T18:07:00.005-06:00

We flew to ABQ over Valentine's Day/President's Day weekend. My brother (Josh) and his wife (Krissey) moved to Rio Rancho (just outside of Albuquerque) last spring for his work.

The day we got there was my other brother's birthday. (Don't be too confused...I have three brothers: Josh, Ty & Curtis--Curtis is on a mission.)

Happy Birthday, Ty!

We went out to celebrate his day (and technically Grandpa's too--his was the 14th) by eating at this really fun restaurant called Flying Star Cafe. If you're ever in NM, you really should go eat here.

Here we all are waiting for our food, clockwise from the left: Grandpa, Grandma, Krissey, Josh, Shawnee, Brady, Ty, Mom, Dad

On Saturday, we went to Old Town Albuquerque. It's kinda fun to walk around and browse the shops.

Brady, Josh, & Ty

But the main reason we went, was to meet this little lady. She was born on December 9th.

This is me and my sweet niece, Londyn

Miss L was getting blessed, so we all flew to ABQ for the occasion. Seriously, between my family and Krissey's family, twelve people made the trip to NM to be there. This little gal must be loved!

Josh gave her a beautiful blessing and Krissey and her mom made L a beautiful dress.

The proud parents with the little lady

Thanks for an excuse for a quick weekend getaway!

Time Out For Women--February 2010

2010-05-28T17:33:00.003-06:00

Have you heard of this? I cannot say enough good things about this event. TOFW is sponsored by Deseret Book. I guess it's like a mini Womens Conference (not quite sure as I've never been to one, but it seems like it). My mom heard about TOFW years ago, but they mostly were outside of Utah so we never went to one. I found out there was going to be one in Ogden, so I jumped at the chance to go with my mom and some other family members. I think I must've needed something really spiritual in my life, because I needed to hear everything that was said at TOFW. The theme was all about HOPE. We were asked to think about what we hoped for and what we had hope in as we went through the weekend. Here are some of my favorite notes:

Jenny Oaks Baker: for those of you who don't know, this gal is an AMAZING violinist and person. I still need to get her new album that she performed from. I loved her music and her testimony.
John Bytheway: Choose to be delightful. What do you say to the person who saved your life?-Always remember Him. We already know the final score--we just have to choose which team we're on.
Chieko Okazaki: We need hope because change comes.
Linda Eyre & Shawni Pothier: They talked about raising kids...something I hope for in the future. http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=6199240764391829516
Mercy River: these gals can sing!
Richard Holzapfel: Don't let temporary setbacks be the final story. God knew we'd make mistakes so don't give up on yourself--God didn't, that's why He sent His Son.
Mariama Kallon: Everybody needs to hear her story. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a dry eye in the crowd after she spoke. Basically, she was a refugee in Sierra Leone, Africa and saw horrible things that would make you believe there wasn't a God out there that cared. This part struck me most: while she was in a refugee camp, she was given a humanitarian kit from the LDS church. She said that the kit became her MOST PRECIOUS possession, because it gave her HOPE of a better life. I was touched, recalling how my dad's family puts together kits each year at Christmas time. Now, here was a woman telling us how precious that kit was to her. Can you ever imagine calling a kit with a towel, soap, toothbrush, toothepaste, and comb your most precious possession? Anyway, the story ends happily by her becoming a member of the LDS church and moving to Utah. She has an amazing testimony of humanitarian work.
Amanda Dickson: She's a cheesy character, on and off the radio, but she had some good thoughts. Stop thinking about worse-case scenarios--something best-case may happen! Hang on through the tough time--it will change! Your best IS good enough.
Emily Freeman: I had never heard of her, but loved her. My favorites: what we often think as coincidence really is/are tender mercies of the Lord. Remember we are all just trying to do our best--be less judgmental.

As a service opportunity, they collected "frivolous" toiletry items like body spray, loofahs, shower gel, gum, etc to make "hope kits" for women. Each city that has a TOFW will donate these kits to women's shelters or other women's programs. We were able to write a note about hope to go into those kits. I think they made over 300 kits! If you get a chance to go to TOFW, do yourself a favor and go. It was awesome. Plus, as a bonus, you get a very cute tote bag.

January 2010

2010-05-28T16:51:00.003-06:00

Game Night: We played "Ticket To Ride" with Brady's sisters Tami and Natalie and Natalie's husband, Casey. (We love that game!) Our cute nephew Benson wanted in on the action too! And, Casey is holding our sweet niece, Molly, who was only about 2 weeks old in this picture! On a side note, even though this was the second week of January, Brady's mom wanted to keep the Christmas stuff up until Danny, Brady's youngest brother, came home from his mission. He really wanted to celebrate Christmas when he got home, so she was nice enough to accommodate that.

I still kinda look tan from Mexico!

Emily (Brady's older sister) and her 4 kids came to Utah from Boston for nearly 6 weeks! It was so good to see them! (Why do I not have pictures of them?)

Danny came home on January 19th! Brady's youngest brother came home from serving a mission in Costa Rica. Everyone was so excited to have him home.
Night Skiing: I'm not such a spontaneous gal, but at a moment's notice we decided to go skiing the night before Danny's "talk-in-church-that's-not-technically-a-homecoming-but-still-really-is-a-homecoming." You may remember that last year I finally took ski lessons. So, this was my first time back on skis since then. I was super nervous again, especially because it was going to be dark. But, aside from it being freezing cold and windy, it was pretty fun to get back on skis.

Cory, Shanna, Brady, Tami, Danny, Shawnee

Our 7th Anniversary: Our actual anniversary was the day after skiing. Since it was such a busy time welcoming a new missionary home, we celebrated the next weekend. We went to dinner at PF Chang's (how had I not ever been there before?!? hello, chicken lettuce wraps are to die for!) and a movie. I'm so lucky to be married to such a great person. He promised a long time ago to make me laugh every day and he's certainly kept his end of the bargain. I love you, Brady! In summary, January was a super busy family month! That, in addition to Brady beginning another semester at school! Whew! No wonder I never had time to catch up on my blog. :)

We were married SO long ago that my wedding photos are non-digital...I've got to scan them in or something so you all don't have to see the same wedding picture every year for our anniversary! Anyways, weren't we cute?

In summary, January was a super busy family month! That, in addition to Brady beginning another semester at school! Whew! No wonder I never had time to catch up on my blog. :)

Hello? Anybody there?

2010-05-15T22:01:00.003-06:00

For the 2 readers who have wondered why our blog hasn't been updated in 5 months, you'll be excited to know that I'm working on some major catching up. Stay tuned. :)

Mexico

2010-01-18T20:32:00.006-07:00

Not to make you jealous or anything, but we spent a FABULOUS week in Mexico last month. It was a vacation we both needed WAY more than we realized. Back in October, when I was having a rough time, Brady convinced me (trust me though, it didn't take a lot of convincing) that I needed to get away and have something exciting to look forward to. He had already booked a trip for the two of us to one of our favorite places. Isn't he great? I think so.

It might sound boring to some of you, but we spent 5 of 7 days on the beach in Tulum, Mexico (one day at Chichen-Itza and one day going to church and coming home) just relaxing! I read three books in those 7 days...that's how much R & R was happening.

Here are a few favorite pics from the trip...maybe they'll warm us up a bit! (We have a TON of beach pictures from our DSLR that I haven't converted to jpeg yet...I'll have to do that soon so you can really enjoy the beauty of this place!)

The view from our room

Brady playing in the ocean...isn't the water awesome?

Brady and our guide, Santiago, at Chichen-Itza. I swear, Brady practically converted his guy to our church. Santiago even asked us if we had a Book of Mormon he could have...talk about a perfect opportunity, but of course we didn't have one with us. It was still a cool missionary experience.

Natalie and Casey let us borrow their waterproof camera...it was fun!

Me at the beach

One day, Brady and walked up the beach as far as we could go before there wasn't beach, only rocks. We were a bit shocked to see that we had walked all the way to see the back-side of the Tulum ruins we had seen last time we were there!

Sunrise from our room

Last day at the beach

We came home the Sunday before Christmas. Our plane was leaving late in the afternoon, so we decided to go to church in Tulum. I couldn't understand everything that was spoken, but I knew that what was spoken was true. There were maybe 25 members there and I'm so grateful for that experience.

I loved hearing Brady speak Spanish, eating guacamole every day, eating THE BEST Mexican food from El Mariachi (almost every day!), sitting on the beach with my best friend and coming home with a tan for Christmas. :)

Thanks for a great trip, Brady!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T19:23:00.004-07:00

Since I didn't get around to sending out Christmas cards, can this count? Thanks to everyone who sent us a card--we've really enjoyed hearing from all of you. Hopefully I'll do better next year. :)

2009 has been full of ups and downs, good times and not-so-good times. But as we look back, we are so blessed in so many ways and also very thankful for our testimonies of the Savior whose birth we celebrate today.

We wish you all the best in 2010!

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Shawnee & Brady

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-29T18:39:00.002-07:00

Most years on Thanksgiving morning, Brady and his brothers/brothers-in-law/dad/sometimes cousins go shooting. I've honestly always thought it was ridiculous that they went to shoot plastic bottles filled with water, old computer monitors, and paper targets taped to cardboard. During this past year, Brady has really wanted me to go shooting with him. I keep making up excuses, but this time I had no excuse. So, I went with them. And, I'll be honest, it was kinda fun (at least to shoot the little stuff...I'm not a fan of the big ammo).

After shooting, we went to Brady's mom and dad's house for Thanksgiving. It was so yummy!

The famous self-portrait

The whole crew, minus Danny and Emily & Johnny & kids

Our nephew Benson, playing with the camera on the tripod

After hanging out with Brady's family, we went to see my family. Some of my extended family had Thanksgiving at my mom and dad's. Everyone got into Beatles RockBand.

I love this time of year. I'm grateful for so many things: Brady, our families, the gospel, our house, good jobs, good friends...the list could go on.

Now that's creativity!

2009-10-30T16:52:00.004-06:00

This YouTube video is of our friends' little boy, Conner. Preston (Mr. Super Creative in my book), the dad, made this awesome costume for his son.

Plus, he was on the news.

Good job you guys!

Happy Birthday to Me

2009-10-09T22:38:00.002-06:00

I turned 29 this week. (29!!! Suddenly, I feel old.) About a month ago, one of my patients found out that I was almost 29. He's in his mid-50s and told me that 29 was one of his favorite years and that I needed to "live it up" before I turned 30. It got me thinking about my life, where I was headed and where Brady and I were headed, what I wanted/needed to do in my life, my goals and our goals, etc. I was excited to turn 29.

Then, one of the hardest things (ok, probably THE hardest thing) I've ever had to go through happened. I realize that my trial might seem small compared to some and I certainly know people who have it much, much harder than I do. But for me, it was (and still is) really tough. While dealing with this over the past few weeks, I've done A LOT of pondering, reflecting, re-evaluating, crying, learning and praying.

So, in my effort to "live it up" before I turn 30, I'm making some birthday resolutions. I'm going to be better at a lot of things. (I'll write those specifics elsewhere so that I don't have to answer to the world wide web.) I'm going to be more grateful, because I've learned, despite my trials, that I have so much to be grateful for. I'm going to be more dedicated to the things I believe in. I'm going to have more faith, because sometimes, that's the only thing that gets me through. I'm going to trust that someone knows what's best for me and that someone isn't me. I'm not going to stress about the things that I have no control over (Brady's been trying to help me understand this for years and I think I might finally get it!). I'm going to love, serve and pray for others more because I have been the beneficiary of unconditional love, countless acts of service, and thoughtful prayer and know it has power beyond my understanding.

With that, here's wishing for a great year.

For my spandex wearing friends:

2009-08-19T21:31:00.004-06:00

Or, just my bicycle-loving husband. :) This captures the personality of hard-core cyclists. I love it.

P.S.

2009-07-27T21:41:00.009-06:00

The construction trailer is

GONE!!!

(There is one still nearby, but I can at least look out my north-facing windows and not see a gigantic trailer that advertises for the construction company. Instead, they put a chain-link fence right next to my vinyl fence, which looks a bit silly from my perspective, but there's nothing to be done there except plant something tall to try to hide it. Now if they will just put in the landscaping so I don't have to keep sweeping up inches of dust on the inside and outside of my house, I think I'll be much happier.)

What We Did For Our Summer Vacation

2009-07-27T21:11:00.006-06:00

Brady and I were able to get away for a few days over the Pioneer Day Holiday. We camped at Browne (say it like "Brownie") Lake in the Uintas on Thursday night. It was gorgeous. We love that place. My family has camped there forever and Brady's family camped there when he was younger too. Sometimes I wonder if we were ever there at the same time as kids.

I'm pretty sure that Browne has the bluest sky around town. The lake was so calm, it was like canoeing on glass.

My parents and grandparents were there too...this is my grandparents' famous "Red Canoe" we borrowed for a little stroll around the lake. I can't even guess how many times that canoe has been on Browne Lake...let's just guess ALOT!

Brady in the canoe

I just love this place!

Friday morning, we drove to Spirit Lake where we hiked in to Tamarack Lake to stay the night.

All ready to go...Spirit Lake Trailhead

Brady checking out the fishing at Tamarack Lake. The cutthroat were jumping like crazy, but no luck for Brady.

More hiking before the rain came in...

The mosquitoes were super bad and it started raining, so we didn't make it to any of the other lakes like we had originally planned. We set up our tent and hung out until there was a break in the rain. We tried to make a fire, but everything was so wet and the mosquitoes came out full force! We boiled water for our freeze-dried foods (despite what you might think, they were actually really good!) and ate inside our tent. It ended up raining most of the night...I'm starting to wonder about our luck with rain and camping (remember Memorial Day weekend?). We got up early Saturday and as soon as there was a short break in the rain, we packed up and hiked out. I know it might not sound so fun for a lot of you out there, but the weekend away to one of our favorite places was just what we needed.

Elder

2009-07-05T21:32:00.004-06:00

My "little" brother left on his mission for our church on July 1st. I use quotations because even though he's the youngest, he's much taller than the rest of us, especially me! He's headed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania after a few weeks at the MTC. I'm going to miss him but am so glad he made the choice to go!

Here's a little walk down memory lane. When I was 9 and found out that my mom was going to have another baby, I was convinced I was going to finally get a little sister. I mean, I already had two brothers, it was time to have a sister, right? Well, my mom came home from a doctor appointment with her ultrasound on a VHS video tape (this was 1990). I could easily tell that I wasn't going to have a sister after all. I ran into the bathroom (I'm pretty sure we were at my grandma's house), cried my little eyes out and refused to talk to my parents for 3 days. I was so mad because they knew how much I wanted a sister. Like they had anything to do with it, but hey, I didn't know about that stuff then. To make "amends," they told me I could help them pick a name for my little brother. I think I'm safe to say that we've been pretty close friends ever since he was born.

Curtis, even though you can't check my blog, I hope you know how happy I am for you. You're going to be a great missionary. I know that you have a testimony and love the gospel. (I'll write it in a letter, don't worry.)

The whole gang before the "farewell" on Sunday

Me & my bros ( just fyi, if we all line up in birth order, we could be in an AT&T commercial!)

And if you're all curious, the "drop-your-missionary-off-at-the-curb-at-the-MTC" wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. In fact, I think it was easier than the old way. Plus, Curtis looked SO happy when he walked in with the other elders. Go get 'em little brother.

Ty, Elder Curtis & Me at the MTC (we missed you Brady, Josh & Krissey!)

We look so good! Mom, I can't tell if you were biting your lip to refrain from crying, or if you just weren't ready for the picture, but it's the only one of all of us I have!

Real Salt Lake Game

2009-07-05T13:57:00.004-06:00

Last weekend was so much fun! It was a crazy busy weekend with my family before my youngest brother left on his mission. Friday night (6/26) we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house and out to eat afterwards. It's such a gorgeous temple! The floors and upholstery were my favorites!

On Saturday, all of the kids (plus our guests, Stela & Enri) went to the Real Salt Lake Game. We had such a great time!

Me & Curtis

All of us!

Curtis, me & Brady (I think they were trying to squish my head, or just prove how much taller they are than I am!)

The whole crew outside Rio Tinto Stadium

Maybe I spoke too soon...

2009-06-18T19:38:00.003-06:00

...because this beauty showed up yesterday afternoon.

Actually, it's the trailer right next to the one that was behind my fence. But it's on wheels and doesn't look too permanent so let's hope it won't take another 10 months for it to go away! I'll just tell myself that it was too muddy with the rain to move it to another location. Yeah, that's what I'll say. :(

I looked out the window...

2009-06-17T08:15:00.002-06:00

...and what did I see?

(besides rain, dark skies, and construction vehicles and a school)

I'll give you a hint...

Can you see what's missing?
THE CONSTRUCTION TRAILER IS GONE!!
(It only took 10 months, but hey, who's counting!)
YAY!!!
Bring on the sunshine into my backyard, baby!

May Madness

2009-06-01T20:13:00.010-06:00

(Since I totally slacked on the blogging scene last month, here's a lengthy post to catch you all up to date on our crazy month.)

I must say that I think our May was busier than any other month so far this year! It was crazy and yes, I'm glad it's over but I have a feeling we have another crazy month ahead of us. Here's what we've been up to:

Graduations: My brother, Josh, graduated with his Bachelor's/Master's degrees in Mechanical Engineering (aerospace emphasis) from Utah State University on May 1st. He's such a smarty...we are so proud of him! He and Krissey moved this past week to Albuquerque, New Mexico. We are sad to see them go, but excited for their upcoming adventures!
Weddings: Brady's brother, Andy, married his sweetheart, McKenzie, on May 2nd in the Salt Lake Temple. I think it was the rainiest day of the year! We were all drenched waiting outside for them. (Sorry for the bad pics...it was pouring, people! Check here for some better ones.)
Babies: I'm going to be an aunt! Josh and Krissey announced on Mother's Day that they are expecting. I'm happy for them. And, Natalie and Casey also announced they are expecting! Babies, babies, everywhere! (and if you live in my ward, you totally understand the factory of babies going on!)
Family: With the wedding and all, Brady's sister, Emily and her family were here from Boston. We love hanging out with the nieces and nephews (and the siblings too!). Love them!
Work: Let's just say it's been alot. (Which I'm thankful for, I just wouldn't mind a slow day or a day off!)
School: Brady's doing a class this summer...bummer for summer school. But yay for only one more year of school for him!
Church: Brady took the scouts down to the swell for one of their campouts. It worked out well, because it was one of my work weekends. He loves it down there. I think he's been down to the swell/Moab area 5 or 6 times already this year!
Garden: I love my little sanctuary-in-progress! It's a lot of work, but who would've ever guessed I loved gardening? Despite sore muscles and blisters from digging up those dang weeds, I find it relaxing to be out there working with only the sound of the rock fountain. (And yes, that trailer is still in our backyard. Apparently they meant "we'll move it when we're able to next summer"..we're hoping they pour asphalt soon so it can be moved! I'm SO done with dust and construction!)

Last fall, Brady built this rock fountain...it's not quite finished, but I love what it sounds like...it's so peaceful! (at least when the construction has stopped for the day!)

Holiday weekend: Our Memorial Day weekend was QUITE the adventure. Some friends from our ward invited us to go camping and rafting down near Green River, Utah. Let's just sum it up with RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, MUD, MUD, MUD, and oh yeah, good times with friends and one raft trip down the river. Thanks for the memories...we'll be telling that story forever.

He's doing a scene from Titanic...it was hilarious!

At last, but not least, Birthdays: Brady turned 28 on May 24th. We were on our camping trip and I brought him chocolate cake and candles to celebrate. And thanks to Ryan and Tiffany for the ice cream...it worked out so well. I'm ever so grateful to be married to such a good guy. Love you, babe!

Love Story meets Viva la Vida

2009-04-22T21:47:00.002-06:00

This is amazing. I saw this video on my friend Michelle's blog. I'm already a fan of Jon Schmidt's and this just confirms why. Steve, the cellist, was in our married student ward a few years ago. Talk about talent! I think I need to get this song on my iPod.

Missing in Action

2009-04-13T21:07:00.002-06:00

Actually, we've just been really busy. And even with all our busy-ness, nothing really has been worthy of it's own blog post. :) But to tide you over (because I know you're dying to read an update), here's a list of things we've been up to:

Brady had spring break back in March...poor guy pretty much worked all week, but I took a morning off to spend some time with him. Brady always asks me if I can "call in sick" and hang out with him, but it's not my nature to do that to my patients. So I scheduled time off and we just pretended that I was skipping out on work that day. It was kinda fun!
My youngest brother, Curtis, got his mission call to the Pennsylvania Harrisburg Mission. He leaves July 1. He was so cute when he got his call. He was all nervous and then totally excited. He'll be a good missionary. I'm happy for him.
Brady's younger brother, Andy, is getting married in a few weeks. We had a shower for his fiance, McKenzie.
By some small miracle, we made it to the temple. Last summer we had been doing really well at going often and then when school started again for Brady, we slacked off. I was really happy to go.
By another miracle, I was able to hear all 4 sessions of General Conference. It was supposed to be my Saturday morning to teach Pilates, but everyone canceled so I didn't have to go in to work (that was the miracle part...I really needed to hear that morning session instead of work). Instead, Brady and I watched the morning session in our pj's and we loved that. We watched/listen to the afternoon session and drove to Hooper for Brady to go to the Priesthood session with his dad. We slept over at Brady's parents' house and then went to my parents for my dad's famous Conference/Christmas Breakfast (my favorite!) palatschinken and to watch the rest of conference. Wasn't it so good?
We got our tax returns. :)
I finally got to work in my garden! If only weeds were as pretty as flowers. I sure had plenty of them to pull. It's funny to me that I really didn't like gardening when I was younger, probably because my parents made me help them. But now, I really look forward to that quiet time. My tree is starting to bloom and my tulips are almost there. I'll post pictures soon.
Saturday was the annual Easter egg hunt/barbeque with Brady's extended family. Easter Sunday was absolutely gorgeous! It was such a spiritual day for me. We ate dinner with my extended family that afternoon.

Besides that, we've both been working alot and Brady's been busy with school and Young Men/Scouts. I think we'll both be glad when this semester is over!

And I never thought I'd do this again...

2009-03-07T19:33:00.002-07:00

A very long time ago, I went on a skiing field trip with my junior high honor society. I had never been skiing but my friends encouraged me to come and they would teach me and we'd all have a grand time. Now, some of you already know where I'm going with this. I already made mistake number one--never let your friends teach you how to ski. I don't know if I ever really told them how traumatized I was after this event. It may not have been as bad as I recall it, but I just remember thinking that I NEVER wanted to go skiing again.

From what I remember, I was excited to ski. Everyone kept telling me how easy it was. If anyone EVER tells you this, DO NOT believe them. :) I put my skis on and the next thing I knew, we were on a ski lift. (That's right, no bunny hills or anything). That kept going up. And up. And up. Then I was up at the top of a REALLY steep hill (which I later got to learn what "black diamond" meant). I remember tumbling down this hill, sometimes head over heels and other times just falling flat on my face or back. By the time I got to the bottom, I was done. I never wanted to ski again. I literally felt like Goofy in the old Mickey Mouse cartoons turning into a snowball rolling down the mountain. I'm not even joking. I honestly don't know how I made it down the mountain without breaking something.

Fast forward to when Brady and I were first married. He wanted me to ski with him (he had learned when he was in the 5th grade) and I gave him a solid "NO." I told him my story and he promised that I could get lessons. I didn't even want to do that. Every year, he'd go skiing with his brother or with friends and ask if I wanted to take a lesson. Every year, I continued to say "NO." Whenever I was traveling and people from out of state would assume I must ski if I'm from Utah, I would have to tell them that I didn't. My patients would find out I've lived in Utah my whole life and be astonished that I didn't ski. I had had a bad experience and I just didn't want that experience again.

Well, I don't really know why I changed my mind. I guess I thought that I better give skiing a fair chance and if I still didn't like it after lessons then I could be satisfied that I tried it. I've also been doing things lately that take me out of my comfort zone so I figured why not.

Yes, I went skiing. And I think I actually liked it. Long story short, I had a lesson yesterday at Alta from a really great ski instructor. She knew my story and was eager to make sure that I didn't have another bad experience. We started with the basics, which I never learned my first time on skis. I progressed to the tow ropes, one mild and one steeper. I even progressed to turns. (Apparently most first lessons don't). Then I went up the Sunnyside lift and though I took the easiest way down, I think I did a pretty good job. My cute Brady surprised me and showed up to ski with me on my next two runs. Each time I got more comfortable and confident. I even thought, "Hey, I think I could do this again."

That's me in the blue with my instructor. I learned without poles so I could really trust my skis.
Don't look too close at my form. I'm a beginner, remember?

By the end, I was exhausted, but I had a good time. I wasn't scared or anxious anymore like I had been leading up to yesterday. I got back on the horse that had bucked me off fourteen some years ago.

And, I have another lesson next Friday.

A little spring cleaning

2009-03-01T20:12:00.004-07:00

A few weeks ago, I started a de-clutter and de-junk project at my house. I had a few boxes still in our office from when we moved in that I wanted to deal with. (Yeah, we moved in over two years ago, but hadn't ever finished unpacking...I've been busy, give me a break!)

I bought a filing cabinet and planned on getting super organized. I like organization and think I'm pretty good at it, but I had gotten lazy, or uh, busy, and had multiple "organized" piles of stuff to go through. I knew this project would be time-consuming, but I had no idea what I would find and how I would feel about getting rid of so much! Plus, I have never thought of myself as a pack-rat, but I think I might feel otherwise now. Is it possible to be an organized pack-rat?

Let me explain. I found a box of my undergrad college notes. From every class I ever took. They were all neatly organized in color-coded files that indicated which semester I had taken the class. It brought back fond and not-so-fond memories. I haven't looked at them in at least seven years, so I shouldn't need to hold on to them, right? I pulled them out and stacked them in my "to recycle" pile and then I thought, "Wait, if I get rid of these, it's like throwing away part of my life." You know, all the time, money, and effort that went into every class. Then I thought I should keep them. But then that seemed silly. But then... Nonetheless, they are gone now. Well, I did save a few things that I just couldn't part with. Brady reassured me that I had my diploma to prove "I was there" and that should be good enough. I still have all my PT school notes...I'm not sure what to do with those yet.

There were other things I got rid of. Old pay stubs from my jobs in high school and college (does anyone else save this kind of stuff?)...those were well beyond the "hold-onto-for-seven-years-in case-you-get-audited" rule. Miscellaneous bills that I thought I needed to keep (like my cell phone bill from 8 years ago!?! Maybe I just "forgot" that I kept it?). Random magazine clippings that I was going to do something with someday and well as magazines that I was going to read someday that I never really got around to doing.

Then, there was the "re-organization" part. My file cabinet is sufficiently full and mostly organized. I still have a small pile of stuff to deal with, but I'll work on that. And, there are some things I just don't know what to do with yet. I'll have to figure something out for those things.

Brady was gone yesterday, so I spent the majority of the day finishing up this huge task. By the end of the day, I had:

filled the back of my Subaru with boxes of recycling (trust me, it was packed) and took it to a recycling bin

dropped off a load of clothes and other miscellaneous items to the DI

shredded a big stack of papers that had identifying information on them...enough to overheat my shredder only three times and fill (more like stuff) a garbage bag full

vacuumed my office and enjoyed the fact that I can now walk into it without stepping over piles of my recycling stuff!

And now, I feel good. I should have taken before and after pictures. :)

Six Years Ago...

2009-01-30T18:08:00.002-07:00

...last Saturday, I married my best friend. It never ceases to amaze me how fast time flies and I'm so thankful to have spent that time with Brady. He makes me laugh every day, tells me a hundred times a day he loves me (and always wonders if I get tired of him telling me, which I never do), is a hard worker, a good husband, and is going to be a great dad someday. I love you, babe!

New Orleans: The Rest of the Story

2009-01-07T22:33:00.004-07:00

Though our main reason for going to New Orleans was for the game (and, oh yeah, for Brady to work down there!), we were still able to do some sight-seeing and enjoy some warm weather before returning home to 12 degrees.

Mississippi River: watching to boats and eating beignets (french doughnuts that are super yummy and covered in powdered sugar!)

The architecture is pretty cool with all the wrought iron on the buildings...

IMAX: we watched "Hurricane on the Bayou" which was very educational about why Katrina was such a bad hurricane for the area. We saw some Katrina damage, but didn't make it to the 9th Ward District where most of the damage occurred. The movie also made me want to see a gator, but we didn't have time to do a bayou tour.
Lake Ponchartrain: this lake is HUGE! The causeway across it was 23 miles long and I felt a bit uneasy driving that far with water on both sides of me!
Jackson Square: the building and park are very nice and all around the square were street performers and artists (sorry we couldn't take a picture of them)

Cafe Du Monde: eating more beignets. :) I told you they were covered in powdered sugar!

Garden District: the houses in this area were so big and southern! Very pretty too.
And, the food was great. I had authentic New Orleans jumbalaya with red beans and rice and it was so good!

New Orleans: The Game

2009-01-05T23:47:00.014-07:00

I've told many of you some of the great details about our trip to New Orleans, but here it is for the rest of you! And to borrow our friend Sean's words, I'm still on a "sugar high" so I apologize that this is a bit long! I know you're all dying for the details. :)

We flew out on the red-eye flight to Atlanta on January 1st. It seemed kinda lame to say "Happy New Year" in the airport, but what do you do? I found it funny to see how many people were wearing their Utah Red for the flight. Our flight attendant even made a comment about this flight being the charter for the Utah fans.

When we got to Atlanta, most of the people on our flight moved as one group to get to our gate to connect to New Orleans. Strangers were coming up to us and telling us they were cheering for Utah (either they didn't like Alabama, or they just wanted some justice in the BCS!). It was the craziest thing! And, all the Utah people were instant friends, of course.

We made it to New Orleans, checked into our hotel and I fell asleep. I don't really do well on those red-eye flights! After a bit, we got ready and went into downtown. The Crimson Club was hosting a Pep Rally at the Marriott hotel where the team was staying. When we got there, people were handing out red and black beads (true New Orleans spirit). There were so many people wearing Utah gear! The marching band played, the cheerleaders cheered and Swoop did his thing too. Coach Whit talked and some of the key players (mostly seniors) also talked...basically saying they were going to give us something good to cheer about. Even the pre-4th quarter cool lady that dances danced!

Paul Kruger

Afterwards, Brady and I walked around the French Quarter. We were basically the only sober people on Bourbon Street, but now I guess we can say we've been there. Any time we saw an Alabama fan, they'd holler "Roll Tide" so we started saying "Go Utes!" The ones we met were pretty nice and wished us good luck (some seriously and some with a sense of sarcasm in their voices). We were told that about 12,000 Utah fans had made the trek down to New Orleans. The Superdome has 72,000 seats. Do the math. There were a LOT of people cheering for the other red team (which is actually more maroon than red).

While walking downtown, there was a party sponsored by Allstate, complete with a mock trophy that provided a good photo op.

Friday, we checked out of our "out-of-downtown" hotel (which was stinky and gross) and went to see a movie. We saw "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." The cool thing was that it takes place in New Orleans! Good movie, too. Then we went to check in to our "downtown" hotel (which was WAY better!) and get ready for the BIG GAME!

We walked to the Superdome from our hotel and there were fans everywhere! There was a "Fan Jam" on the plaza outside of the Superdome, where people were mingling, eating, drinking and then each of the schools' bands and cheerleaders came out to perform. We could tell we were going to be WAY outnumbered. A client of mine was there with her family and texted me to say her son and his girlfriend weren't going to make it to the game and wanted us to sit by them...their seats were WAY better than ours so we took them up on their offer.

Fan Jam

Our seats were on the first row of the lower bowl (above the plaza level and below the upper bowl) just up diagonally from the corner of the Utah endzone. They were great seats. When Utah came out, the crowd around us was ecstatic.
When Alabama came out, there was a deafening cheer. Again, we might have been outnumbered in people, but we sure weren't outnumbered in spirit! Obviously, most of you know how the game turned out and all I can say was that it was SO MUCH FUN! We cheered, sang the fight song and Utah Man song a million times and didn't even get tired of it. At first, we almost couldn't believe that we were playing an SEC team that was supposed to be "all that." But, Utah made a statement that night. My sister-in-law said she could hear the background on the TV of the crowd chanting "undefeated" and "number one."

We did it!

The awards presentation

The players came over to the Utah sections and were just beaming. Some of them even convinced the band to play the song the cool lady dances too and they danced to it. It was hilarious! You could tell they were just living the moment and soaking it all up.

I wish I'd had a video camera to catch these players dancing!

After relishing our victory, watching the awards presentation and singing a few more rounds of Utah Man, we left the stadium with 12,000 other Utah fans. The streets of New Orleans were bleeding red. The few Alabama fans still around told us they thought we should be number one after the way we played that game. They were super cordial and nice even though their Tide lost big time. We went to the Marriott to wait for the team to get back. You can imagine the hysteria of excitement and happiness that awaited them. When the crowd started dying down, we decided to head back to our hotel. As we were leaving, an Escalade pulled up with none other than Coach Whittingham. We waited for him and his family to get out and of course there was more cheering. Plus, I got a high five from Coach Whit. Yeah, that was pretty cool.
Good job Utah! And, thanks PCI for letting us be a part of history! :)

End of Year Wrap-Up

2009-01-05T23:33:00.007-07:00

Wow. It's January already. I didn't even get to post a "Merry Christmas" to you all! I hope that everyone had a great holiday season. I'm just barely getting my Christmas stuff put away tonight! We had a super hectic end-of-the-year which cumulated with the awesome game (and trip) in New Orleans. Here's our rundown:

Christmas Eve at my Grandma and Grandpa's house. One of my favorite things was that my younger brother had my cute cousin Cassie's name for the cousin gift exchange. As part of her gift, he made a life-size stand-up of her favorite actor, Zac Efron...it was so cute. (Check out this picture...it almost looks like he's really standing next to her!)

Christmas morning at our house. Brady gave me a sweet new laptop and he got Guitar Hero (though I love playing it just as much as he does!)

Christmas breakfast at my parents. My dad makes "polischenken" which are basically Austrian crepes. Yummy! Thanks, dad!
My brother had some of his Albanian friends, Stella & Enri (sorry if I spelled it wrong!) spend the Christmas holiday with our family and it was so much fun having them with us. This is the best picture I have of you guys...

We got to talk to Brady's little bro, Danny, who is serving a mission in Costa Rica. Then, we got to hang out with Brady's family.
The joyous ride home in the snow on Christmas night.
Day after Christmas: lunch with my girlfriends! Love you all! So nice to have some girl talk!
Snowshoeing...the new snow was so much fun! We went on the Kenney Creek trail up Mueller Park and it was awesome.

Day after the day after Christmas: lunch with some of our village friends who were in town for the holidays. It was so great connecting with our little friends too!
Holiday and post-holiday parties: Brady's work party complete with white elephant gifts. If anyone is in need of a light up conch shell, just let me know. We had the annual extended family grab-bag party. What a great tradition! I was also invited to one of my clients parties and it was good too. Her house is by Little Cottonwood Canyon and ABSOLUTELY beautiful!
AND, see the next post (or prior post?) for the rundown of our New Years!

Give me some SUGAR!

2009-01-03T00:22:00.004-07:00

Wahoo!!!!! What an awesome game!!! Way to go UTES! I can't even tell you all what an incredible experience being at that game was! I even got a "high five" from Coach Whit after the game! It's way past my bedtime, so I'll write more later, but here are a few pics to whet your appetite!

Guys Giving Gifts

2008-12-24T15:26:00.003-07:00

Brady has always been a great gift-giver. I'm super lucky that way. He's good at remembering things I've mentioned from way back as well as coming up with his own fabulous ideas. Unfortunately for other women out there, I guess, not all guys are like that. A client of mine told me about this YouTube video which is absolutely hilarious...

New Orleans, here we come! (Part 2)

2008-12-17T17:48:00.000-07:00

So I know there were so many of you who were hoping to come to our house and watch the Sugar Bowl with us. I regret to inform all of you that we will be unable to host a Sugar Bowl party unless you all want to meet us in New Orleans. That's right.... WE'RE GOING TO THE SUGAR BOWL BABY!!

Greg, my boss, sent me an email while I was in Chicago last week and asked if I wanted to go to Mandeville, LA to survey an Albertson's on the 2nd of January and go to the Sugar Bowl. When I first told him I would go take care of the survey but probably not go to the game, this was his reply to that:

"Are you crazy?

Airfare - free

Hotel - free

Car rental - free

The only thing that you would need to buy is game ticket. This opportunity is a once in a lifetime"

How could I really refuse that (besides, Shawnee pretty much made it clear that we should go)? So I booked my flight, hotel and car all courtesy of Supervalu Inc. and was able to get Shawnee's flight with Skymiles (60,000 of them!!). We got what I hope will be decent seats to the game, but the best part will be being in the stadium to witness the Utes show Bama and the BCS who is BOSS.

Thanks PCI!!

GO UTES!!

New Orleans, here we come!

2008-12-07T19:00:00.002-07:00

Well, the Utes anyway! We already looked into airfare and it's WAY expensive for us to get there, so we'll have to cheer them on from the comfort of our living room. Brady and I already decided to have a party that night, so any Utah fans that would like to come watch the Utes play Alabama, let us know and we'll get something organized. Go Utes!

Utah Man Am I!

2008-11-22T21:24:00.003-07:00

What a great game!!! I'm so proud of our 12-0 Utes! Bring on the BCS, baby!

The crowd was insane as they ran onto the field!

In case you didn't know, the score was 48-24 for UTAH!

Just what we love...a sea of RED! (Notice the empty seats in the stands? That was where the team down south's fans had been.)
Congrats to Brian Johnson, Brent Casteel, Darrell Mack, Freddie Brown, Louie Sakoda, Paul Kruger, Sean Smith and the rest of the UTAH team!

Think before you throw out that old computer monitor...

2008-11-10T21:21:00.003-07:00

or cell phone, or digital camera, or TV. This video is a little bit long, but definitely worth seeing to learn about e-waste. Viewer beware...it made me sad and eager to find a better recycling solution.

Watch CBS Videos Online

Subaru

2008-11-06T17:12:00.002-07:00

So I have taken some heat lately for being a "tree hugger". The main reason people say I am a tree hugger is because Shawnee and I both drive Subarus. How that makes me a tree hugger I don't know, but I am ok with that. I saw this commercial the other day and it made me realize one reason I love Subarus so much. Anyway here it is. I do love my Subaru (and Shawnee's too).

Body Worlds Tickets

2008-10-30T17:48:00.002-06:00

My work has reserved a bunch of tickets to go to BodyWorlds this Saturday (November 1st) at 4:00 and we have some extra tickets. If you'd like to come with us, the tickets are $20.50 and we'd love to have you come! This exhibit is absolutely amazing and totally worth seeing. Let me know by posting a comment or sending me an email as soon as possible. (And, of course we will be done in time to watch some Ute football! We wouldn't miss that!)

Best Husband EVER!

2008-10-26T16:45:00.002-06:00

Just a quick post to tell you all how great my husband is. This month has been super busy for us. Between work, school, Young Men's activities, traveling for work and everything else that has to get done (laundry, cleaning, yard work, etc.), Brady and I just haven't had much time together. Considering we made it 8 WEEKS apart when we were first married (that's another story for another day), you'd think that crazy-busy weeks wouldn't be that bad. For me, however, they're bad. I get tired of it basically. Well, two weeks ago, after a busy work week, I went to Seattle for a workshop. Came home, worked 5 days, finally got a weekend but didn't really get to see Brady, except on Sunday. Worked the next 5 days and now I'm back in Portland for the second part of my Manual Therapy certification. Now to why my husband is the greatest.

On Thursday morning, I got super emotional and told Brady that I didn't want to go back to Portland. I was excited for the course, but more time away from him and home was not exciting to me. Plus, I wasn't going to be able to fly home until Monday, which meant that much more time away. Being the good husband that he is, he reminded my why I had chosen to pursue my specialty certification and that in just a few days I'd be back home and that everything would be fine.

I made it to Portland on Thursday night. Friday during my lunch break I called Brady to see how things were. He told me that he thought he might go see a movie on Friday night and wondered if that was OK with me. Sure, though I thought it was strange he mentioned he was going to go by himself. He told me he'd call when the movie was over, which was going to be late. I fell asleep before he called. The next thing I know, I was waking up to the sound of my phone. It was Brady. As I'm talking to him, there's a knock on my hotel door. Weird. It's after 11 pm Oregon time and anyone would be worried about that. I told Brady, "I think someone just knocked on my door." He told me to go see who it was. It took me just a minute (I had been asleep, remember) before I said, "Are you in Oregon?"

Sure enough! Brady came to Oregon! I was so happy to see him. He had even stopped at a grocery store to bring me flowers! Even though I only really got to be with him during my lunch break on Saturday and then on Saturday night (he flew home this morning), I was so happy to be with him! Now, tomorrow it will be home sweet home for a while!

Legacy Bike Race

2008-10-16T21:01:00.003-06:00

I'm a bit behind in the blogging scene.

Last month, Brady and I (along with my brother, his wife, my father-in-law, and Brady's aunt and uncle) rode in the Legacy Bike Race that was held in conjuction with the opening of Legacy Parkway. It was a beautiful day and it was a nice 20-mile ride. Brady and my brother raced it, but I just rode it for fun. There were 800+ cyclists plus a ton of runners so it was well supported.

Brady's mom was there to catch Brady coming into the finish line. Click the picture to enlarge it...he's the one in all the red with the white jersey. Brady took 3rd place in his age division. Way to go!

Here's B on his bike and his dad walking next to him. Way to go, Wayne, for cruising on your way cool vintage roadie! :) (Hey, he beat my time!)

Here we are at the end of the ride! Krissey, Josh, me and Brady.

I did it.

2008-10-16T20:46:00.004-06:00

I jumped on the Twilight bandwagon.

And in 5 weeks, I finished the series. (I know, that is such a long time compared to some of you out there!) It took me a while to convince myself to read the series because there was so much hype about it all. Plus, I'm not really that into vampires. But, after the millionth person told me I "should just read it," I did. I admit that I didn't like the first book because I thought it was SO cheesy, but the story captured me so of course I had to finish the series. I thought the 2nd and 3rd books were okay. Then, Breaking Dawn was weird for me! At least the majority of it. I had a hard time getting into that one because it was "out there" for me. I was pleased that there is closure in the book for everyone involved. I probably will see the movie, just to see it, and I might need some girls to go with me because I doubt Brady will go. Looking at the trailer now that I've read the book, I think they have Edward all wrong. Just my thoughts. Brady is just excited that he has his wife back.

Lucky Louie

2008-10-03T07:52:00.003-06:00

(Taken from Brady's iPhone after the fans ran onto the field)

Way to go Louie! Brady and I were at the Utah game last night and what a game it was! Even though I was stressing out with 3 minutes left in the game, the Utes made a comeback to beat Oregon State 31-28, thanks to the last second field goal by Louie Sakoda. There were two guys sitting in front of us that were cheering for Oregon State but they took their loss pretty well. I love Utah football! (And thanks fans, for not leaving before the game was over like you usually do...even though it took us over an hour to get home!) Go UTAH!!

Root Canal

2008-09-23T20:58:00.003-06:00

Today was the dreaded root canal. Thanks to Ariel for putting me more at ease than I was a few days ago. I have never had a major procedure done to my teeth besides getting my wisdom teeth out or having braces (and those were a long time ago!). So, this was kinda a big deal to me. I had to have it done to one of my front teeth from an injury almost 18 years ago! When I was in the 5th grade, I fell on some ice and one of my front teeth went through my lip and hit the cement that I fell on (I still have a scar if you look close at my lower lip). The tooth looked like it would die, but then it survived until now. My dentist was concerned that the nerve was calcifying and that one day I would have intense pain. So, as a preventive measure, I had it taken care of. My dentist was right...the nerve was calcified and my tooth probably would've start dying. I'm happy to report that it wasn't too bad. I don't like needles so I didn't love that part. Even though I couldn't feel the drill in my tooth, my whole head was vibrating! I didn't like that either, but at least I was numb! I have a temporary filling and I'll go back in a few weeks for the permanent fix. I'm hoping I won't have to have a crown (have any of you had this?) but my dentist is going to try to bleach my tooth and then stay away from a crown for the time being. Anyways, my dentist is great and did a great job! Plus, I have a new quirk to add to my list...apparently my front teeth plus roots are 26 mm long...the average front tooth is 19 mm long. I have no idea why this is the case, but it is! Funny, huh?

Tag, you're it!

2008-09-16T21:05:00.002-06:00

Ariel tagged me. This is actually the first tag I've done!

♥ Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
♥ Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them.
♥ Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

1. I like routines. Brady calls it "obsessive-compulsive." I like to do certain things in the same order. For instance, when I take a shower, I always use my face wash, then I wash my hair, then I wash my body, then I shave (if it's a day to shave). Don't mess up my order and I'm good. :)

2. I hate wet socks. If my socks get wet, I have to change them as soon as possible.

3. I'm super weird/picky when it comes to eating meat. I'll leave out the details for the meat-lovers out there.

4. When I eat multi-colored candy (which isn't alot, but I do have a weakness for a few things), I'll eat all of one color, then all of the next color, so on and so forth. I can't just throw them all in my mouth at once.

5. I hate text messaging lingo/abbreviations. If you ever get a text from me, I'll be spelling out all the words.

6. I really like to cook and am really organized in other areas, but I am a bad planner when it comes to meals--dinner especially--which means I stress about dinner on a regular basis. And that makes me hate grocery shopping.

I'm tagging: Emily, Tami, Natalie, Krissey, Shiree, Michelle

Body Worlds

2008-09-11T22:02:00.005-06:00

If you haven't heard about this already, then I'm so excited to tell you about it! Body Worlds 3 is coming to Salt Lake City next week! What is it you might ask?

"BODY WORLDS 3 is a first-of-its-kind exhibit where visitors learn about anatomy, physiology and health by viewing real human bodies. The bodies are preserved through plastination, which is a groundbreaking method for specimen preservation invented by Dr. Gunther von Hagens in 1977. BODY WORLDS 3 & the Story of the Heart features more than 200 authentic human specimens including whole body plastinates, organs, translucent body slices, and a special presentation on the heart." (from The Leonardo's website)

Basically, it's an amazing exhibit for you to come learn about and see what our bodies look like. I saw the exhibit in Denver a few years ago and it was amazing. It just reminded my what a miracle our bodies are and how important it is for us to take care of them.

Many of you know what I geek I am for anatomy...what can I say? It's my job to know the human body on so many levels and be able to rehab it's injuries and get people back to health. I'm fascinated with how perfect our imperfect bodies are. I was an anatomy TA for Dr. Van de Graaff at Weber State and I know he'd be so happy this exhibit is coming here. I'm such a geek, and Brady knows it, so he "recruited" me into volunteering for the exhibit. I'm thrilled to be a part of this. I hope all of you will make the effort to go see this! You can buy your tickets online here.

My work is thinking about reserving a group of tickets so our patients can see this with their PTs to ask questions, so if anyone is interested in participating there, (or we could even arrange our own thing), let me know!

I'm hoping you all take advantage of this opportunity!

That September Day

2008-09-11T21:16:00.003-06:00

September 11, 2001. It's strange to think how clearly I remember the details of that day. I can't even tell you the details of a day two weeks ago, but that day I remember. My dad always listened to KSL News Radio in the mornings at our house. Even after he left for work, the radio was on in my parents room. I was getting ready for school (Weber State) and the news people announced that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I thought, "oh my gosh...that's terrible!" Little did I know what was happening on the other side of the country. I ate my breakfast as usual and headed out the door. As I was driving up to school, I tuned in to a station that was giving updates and sure enough, another plane had crashed into the other tower. What was going on? It was a strange feeling, thinking that something terrible was occuring. I was sad and confused and empathetic for the people.

I got to class (Physics 1210) and Dr. Johnstun, or Adam as he preferred to be called, was quite concerned. He told us that he didn't have the heart to discuss the topic for the day--projectile motion. We just talked about what we were all feeling and about what we knew about the attacks at the time. I remember also going to my Abnormal Psychology class and going into the details of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. My teacher (I can't remember her name!) was quite concerned about our well-being. I was still shocked by the events of the day...I couldn't quite comprehend it all.

I went into work that day (I was a PT aide) and I recall most of the patients calling in and cancelling. Nobody wanted to leave their families or homes and I couldn't wait to get back to mine. It was at work that I saw the images of the planes crashing into the towers and then the towers collapsing. I just cried. My boss sent us all home and we closed the clinic.

I was drawn to the TV images and news reports that night. I remember crying and crying and crying. I couldn't eat. I didn't want to sleep. I was so sad for the people. The images were disturbing. I kept wondering about the people, their families, their friends and co-workers. I kept thinking about the firemen and other individuals who were trying to save who and what they could. It was unbelievable.

I loved how close Americans became after this incident. It didn't matter what your race, religion, political party, etc was. The fact that you lived in America bound you to another person. People really cared about people. I still tear up at the song by Alan Jackson about "that September day." This election year has been intriguing to me because the country feels so divided. I hope we never have to deal with a tragedy like that again, but I do hope our country can find a way to unite like we did that day.

Changes: A History

2008-09-05T22:03:00.003-06:00

Since we've been married, Brady and I have learned to adjust to changes, especially when it comes to our ward. For example:

When we first got married (2003), we were part of the University 25th Ward with Bishop Pinegar. The ward was the 300 court of University Village plus a section of the valley.
Six months later, our ward boundaries were changed to being the 100 and 300 courts and our new bishop was Bishop Hill. We were still the 25th ward.
The next summer (2004), our stake was dissolved and we became the University 19th ward with Bishop Durham and part of the University 3rd stake. The ward now consisted of the 300 and 700 courts.
The next year (2005), Bishop Durham was released and Bishop Brown was called. Interestingly enough, through all these changes, Brady and I never moved from the 300 court. Yet, we had been through 3 stake presidents, 4 bishops, 2 stakes and 2 wards.
The next fall, Brady and I moved (2006). Now we were part of the Foxboro 1st Ward.
The next summer (2007) the ward split. We were still part of the Foxoboro 1st ward, but lost a huge portion of the people we had gotten to know since moving in...they became the 4th Ward.

Well, I guess this year shouldn't be any different, and what do you know? The trend is continuing. Last Sunday, it was announced that the Foxboro 1st and 4th Wards will be divided this coming Sunday to make a 5th Ward. Who knows where we'll end up this time!

Hello from Portland, Oregon!

2008-09-05T21:28:00.004-06:00

This weekend is my turn for travel. I flew to Portland, OR last night for a continuing education course. This course is really exciting for me...I'm a nerd, I know. It's the beginning of my manual therapy certification through NAIOMT. It's actually kinda fun to be in "the classroom" again. I was in class all day today and will be tomorrow and Sunday too. This morning, on my way to my class, I noticed the spires of the Portland Temple just off the freeway. So after class today, I decided to try to find how to get there. After a few (ok, a lot) twists and turns, I found it! It's absolutely beautiful! This picture is from lds.org, but I must admit it doesn't do it justice. The temple is surrounded by big green trees, so it's like a castle in the forest. If you're ever in the area, go check it out.

"It's dot com"

2008-08-24T22:28:00.003-06:00

(Imagine StrongBad emails from HomeStarRunner.com and you'll say this title right.)

Some of you might have noticed a small change to our blog...it's now shawneeandbrady.com instead of shawneeandbrady.blogspot.com. You can keep the links on your blogs as they are, it's automatically changed if you enter the blogspot address. Brady made this change for an unknown reason to me (he said he just wanted to), but I guess it does look cooler and it's less wordy.

Love the Olympics

2008-08-24T22:04:00.003-06:00

For the past two weeks, I was sucked into the Olympic excitement. Bob Costas is usually annoying and cheesy to me, but he said something after the closing ceremonies tonight that stuck with me. It was something to the effect of "for two weeks the world comes together in a peaceful competition...and there is hope for a better future." I have loved watching people from all countries competing and knowing what that must mean for them. And I love the stories! Every athlete has a story about what drove them to get to where they are. For instance, Shawn Johnson's family had to mortgage their home more than once to pay for her gymnastics. The South African woman who is an amputee, competing in the open water swim. I loved the gymnast from Uzbekistan who won the first medal EVER for his country. All of this reminds me of how good/amazing people really are and can be...I wish the Olympics could go on forever! I guess I'll just have to sit tight for Vancouver 2010!

On a side note, Brady starts school again tomorrow. I'll be glad when this chapter of our lives is over! We'll be changing routines and schedules this week, which is always hard for me, but it will be good in the long run. Work is super busy...we had hired someone new to take over our office manager's position (she's headed to grad school! Good luck, Erin!) and that person quit on Friday after just 3 weeks! So, we're on the lookout for someone exceptional to hire ASAP. That means work will be super crazy this week, but I'm sure we'll make do. I'll be sure to keep you all posted!

They call me "Crash" for a reason

2008-08-20T17:07:00.004-06:00

Shortly after I got home from my mission, I went with Shawnee and all of her family and extended family up to Island Park, ID for a weekend of fun. After we spent a day on the lake water skiing, I went with some of Shawnee's cousins (who are all younger than I am) to the gravel pit to do some "jumping" on 4-wheelers. I wasn't going to ride... just supervise. Can you believe they trusted me with young people.... and they still trust me. We were getting ready to leave and I was itching to show everyone how you really jump a 4-wheeler. So as you can guess I was showing off and on the "last jump" this is what happened. (WARNING: It may be graphic for some.... and hilarious for others.)

I was knocked unconscious and fell into the gravel. I ended up with a few stitches (in my chin, right elbow and forehead) and a cracked collar bone. Plus I got this cool video to show for it.

So after a little more than 6 years, I am pleased to bring you my finest moment. Shawnee's brother Tyler finally got this thing transferred from VHS (what's a VHS you ask?). Thanks Ty!

Enjoy!

Missing You

2008-08-13T10:49:00.003-06:00

Brady left for scout camp on Monday and won't be back until Friday. He's been gone so much for work this summer that I didn't think a whole week would be that bad, but it kinda is. He was gone last Thursday and Friday, left Monday for camp, then has to go back to California for work on Monday (on the trip I was supposed to go with him!) and will be there for 2 or 3 days. Oh well. We made it through 2 MONTHS apart when we were very first married, so I really shouldn't complain. I've been really busy at work and then I when I go home, I've been entertained by the Olympics. Way too much TV and later nights than I'm used to, but I have such a hard time sleeping when he's away! Miss you, babe!

Free Pilates Classes and Low Back Pain Research

2008-08-12T11:01:00.003-06:00

Just wanted to let you all know that my work is offering a free Pilates introduction class on Wednesdays at 6:20 pm until September 3rd. If you are interested, leave a comment and I'll send you the info to sign up for the classes.

Also, our clinic is starting a research study on low back pain and Pilates. There is a financial and time commitment on the participants part, but you also get a huge discount on Pilates Restorative Reformer classes for participating in the 8 week study, plus you get the benefits of regular Pilates training. If you are interested, or have friends who are interested, let me know and I'll send you more info.

Construction Trailer Update

2008-08-09T09:26:00.004-06:00

Last night we received a personal visit from the Chief Marketing Officer for Hogan & Associates Construction. He told Brady (he answered the door) that he was "alerted to our blog" by someone (no names given) and apologized for the trailer behind our house. He offered us some marketing schwag as a peace offering (he gave Brady a hat and me a bag, which I must admit are pretty nice and not "cheap" marketing stuff) and told us the trailer would be moved by next week. If we have any trouble with the construction crew or with dust, we now have the phone number for the guy in charge next door. Looks like they won't be such bad neighbors after all. :)

Hooper in the news

2008-08-07T21:29:00.004-06:00

Most of you know Brady is from Hooper, UT. (Double o's pronounced like "hooker" not "cooper".) It's a great "small" town that used to mostly be a farming community. I have come to love Hooper and the atmosphere it provides. For the most part, the people are so kind and welcoming and relaxed. Well, small towns don't always make big headlines. Except, of course, when it's about something absolutely ridiculous or tragic. This just might be both:

Here's a closer look:

Ridiculous AND tragic! How could someone (even from Hooper!) do something so entirely STUPID to make Hooper look like such a redneck, white trash place in the national spotlight? Ugghhh. Some people. You can read the story here or here.

Are you SERIOUS?!?

2008-08-07T21:09:00.004-06:00

Last Thursday, I came home from work and noticed it looked especially gray outside the sliding glass doors. Taking a closer look, I found this beauty:

Yeah, it's parked about 6 feet away from my fence. Lovely. Thanks, Hogan & Associates construction. Looks like we get to be neighbors for the next year. (Pay no attention to the sad state of my garden...starting all over this fall!)

Oh, and now, this is the view from my bedroom window:

I know my neighborhood is really excited for a school to be built, and I don't mind a school being behind my house. But did they REALLY have to park this thing right here?

My Pride!!

2008-07-28T21:57:00.009-06:00

So my brother Andy (AKA Chunk) and I recently took up aviation. Over the summer we have been building and flying (Andy has been flying) R/C Airplanes.
I got into R/C planes when I was about 14 or 15. I got a plane, engines and radio but I never really flew much. After my mission, my cousin Mark got me back into it. I flew a few times and then it all went to pieces... literally. I crashed it horribly after a repair failed and the plane came to a very abrupt stop in the park by my parents house. I gave it up until Andy suggested we start anew.

The planes that Andy and I have been recently building are called SPADs. They are made from a 2-1/2" x 2-1/2" square vinyl fence post for a fuselage and the wings a tail are made from Coroplast (Corrugated Plastic... the stuff they make signs from). The planes are relatively cheap and easy to build. They are also very durable (this will be proven later...).
I finally got my plane flight worthy and ready to go, so while Shawnee had a staff meeting I went up to my parents house in good ol' Hooper to give her (the plane) a whirl. After several failed attempts to start the dang thing, which had run flawlessly two days earlier, we got the thing going (it was a bad glow plug). It was purring like a lion so I gunned it and off it went into the wild blue wonder.

Now you may be wondering what all my rambling has to do with my pride... well I will tell you. I was just casually flying along, not too fast and not too daringly when Brian Murdock (who I haven't seen since 1999) said, "are you flying that at full throttle?" Well I was not so I decided to push it. I opened up the throttle and let her go. I climbed it pretty vertical and quite high. Then I looped it a couple times and then barrel rolled it. I thought, "I am going to do a fly by" so I brought it around. The plane was coming straight at us. EXPLANATION: When you fly a R/C plane towards you, you have to remember that the controls will be backwards from what it appears. Well I forgot that and tried to turn it left... and it rolled right. Then I panicked! I had the throttle wide open and I was lost as to what direction to turn it. Well it flew past me and SMASHED into the ground about 3-5 feet from Andy. He spun to get out of the way. The wreckage slid across the church parking lot, out the lot and across the street, where a truck nearly ran it over. It finally stopped across the street in a bush. The fuselage was smashed and broken in the middle. The prop and nose cone were shattered and there were pieces of vinyl and plastic scattered as far as 50 feet away. Now I said the are durable, but you are thinking, "the fuselage is shattered." Even with such an impact (it left a nice "almost crater" in the pavement) the wing was intact and virtually untouched.

The reason I titled this "my pride" is because my pride literally almost got my brother seriously injured and destroyed a significant amount of my work and a little money (the engine and servos should be ok). If I hadn't let my ego take control of my plane I probably would have flown it around a bit and landed successfully. As a result I still have not landed a plane by myself without crashing. Regardless I am proud of my crash.

This is Andy flying his plane with a banner that says, "Happy Birthday" for my sister Natalie (he landed fine... twice)

This is the site where the plane met the pavement (pretty close to how Andy saw it). The red on the left is from the paint on my wing.

This is the final outcome of the flight. Notice the wing is intact and I have a smile on my face.

Enough already!

2008-07-23T21:14:00.004-06:00

Sometimes, life throws a moment (or two or three or more) at you that makes you wonder what you've done wrong to deserve such a punishment. Things just keep happening and it becomes almost funny because it starts to be such a regular occurrence that you come to expect something bad to happen. Have any of you had those days or weeks? Well, it was my turn this past week. (Prepare for some ranting.) Here's the sample:

I played softball on Saturday and totally biffed it, (ever so gracefully, I might add) resulting in a lovely scraped-up leg and even more lovely, a huge contusion on my knee. (No kneeling or bending without pain, basically. The bruise keeps getting worse.)

I had to cancel my only summer trip with Brady because I wasn't told that my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary celebration was scheduled for the same weekend we were supposed to be gone. I am so disappointed to miss out on time away, not to mention out $200 for canceling the airline tickets.

I broke out with a rash on my legs and a neighbor told me it looked like chigger bites. I was pretty sure that chiggers aren't in Utah, but started freaking myself out after reading online and seeing pictures of some creepy mite that gets under your skin to drive you insane itching. After confirming that chiggers aren't in Utah, we've determined it might be some reaction to something or heat-rash. It does get worse with heat and feels a bit better with Benedryl, but still hasn't gone away. It looks like I have little bumps all over my lower legs. If you have any ideas, I'm happy to hear some advice. I should probably call a physician.

I woke up this morning with a sty or mosquito bite near my eye. It's a beautiful shade of red on my bottom eye lid. It itches too.

I didn't have my car for three days because I had to take it in to the body shop to have the paint on the bumper fixed. Why? About a year ago, some dude at the dealership backed a car into mine and messed up the bumper. The dealership covered it and all, but then a few months ago the paint started to peel like crazy! I was told they'd warranty the work and to bring in it, which I did. Well, ironically, they had NO record of it in their system that they had ever worked on my car. The manager said he'd have to "investigate" (read: make sure I wasn't lying) the case and get back to me. Thankfully, the service guys across the street knew the story and could verify I was speaking the truth. But, it took 3 days to get my car back.

That feels better, now that it's off my chest. On a lighter note, there were some good things that happened. It's always good to remind yourself of the good stuff so that the bad doesn't get to you, too badly anyways. Here's my list:

Brady took me on a date Friday night. We ate at Z Tejas (love the queso...thanks for showing us that, Sara!) and watched Wall-E.

Ariel and I are 3 for 3 in our new cardio regimen. We've been walking/jogging at 6 am and it totally helps to have someone to motivate you (thanks, Ariel) despite being up before the sun and most of my neighborhood. Anyone is welcome to join us.

I taught some great Pilates classes at work and my "students" ROCKED them!

I got new glasses (2 pair!)...they are pretty sweet!

A day off tomorrow! YES!

What do you get for staying up all night to get an iPhone?

2008-07-11T20:13:00.001-06:00

You fall asleep at 6 pm on Friday night playing with your iPhone.

Yes, his iPhone is still in his hand and he is sound asleep. (and snoring!)
Here's to another night "home alone." ;) Love you, babe!

This better be worth it...

2008-07-10T21:53:00.000-06:00

Actually, I already know it will be because it will make my husband the happiest guy in town. Yep, the new iPhone is here tomorrow. Brady is spending the night (and I'm home alone) in line at an AT&T store in SLC so he can for sure get his new tech-toy first thing in the morning. For all of you who know Brady, he loves new technology (almost as much as he loves me!) and was eager when the iPhone originally came out last year. But, he hung in there to wait for the 3G technology and while he might not fully admit it, he is so excited for this. Love you, babe! :)

Whew...what a week it's been!

2008-07-09T21:42:00.000-06:00

Here comes another long post after a drought...

So, last Wednesday night, I came home after a staff meeting at work (it was after 10 pm) and I was SO tired. I told Brady that I was just going to go to bed because I had a patient at 8 am the next morning. I remembered that I was waiting for an email and thought I'd just check it the next day, but then I got a feeling that I should just do it now, so I decided to check my email, despite how tired I was. Thank goodness for "those feelings" because I found that someone had used my PayPal account and made nearly $4000 worth of transactions! YIKES! All of the transactions had happened that night about 3 hours prior to me checking my email. Brady came to my rescue (because I didn't know where to start dealing with this!) and we called PayPal to figure out what had happened. Thankfully, we caught it in time that the transactions hadn't gone to my bank, but we still called my bank to put a stop on any payment to PayPal. What a horrible feeling, thinking that someone knows your information and is not worried about using it to their advantage. Plus, what a hassle it is for the victim. This case is much smaller than some identity theft cases, but it's still scary and unnerving.

Thursday after work, Brady and I took the back roads up to Hooper, because northbound I-15 was a parking lot! Brady's extended family has a reunion of sorts around the 4th of July. We met them all at a park and had a big softball game. I'm sad to say that I was the cause for our team losing. Here's the picture: bottom of the "9th", bases loaded, score is tied. Classic, right? It sure was. I was playing catcher and the ball was hit in front of home base. I grabbed the ball in my right hand and reached to tag the runner with my glove (left hand) just before he touched the plate. Out, right? Well, I guess it's either been too long since I've played or I just never learned/can't remember the rule that you have to tag the runner with the ball, or the ball must be in the glove when you tag with the glove. Needless to say, the runner was safe and won the game. Oh well, it was still fun. The softball game was followed with a BBQ and fireworks. Brady and his brothers organize and light the fireworks every year. He has a lot of fun, I think. That night, we slept in our tent in Brady's parents backyard.

Friday morning, Brady went on an early bike ride with his dad and I slept in. The 4th of July is a big deal in a small town like Hooper. There's a parade, booths and food at the park, and always fireworks at night. We went to the parade, walked around the park, and then had a lazy day at the in-laws'. See here for more pics. We went swimming at Brady's grandma's pool, Brady tried to fly his RC plane he's been working on (we'll save the details for a later post) had a BBQ with just Brady's parents and siblings, and then went to the fireworks and slept in our tent again. It was so nice to just relax and be lazy for a day! I started reading the book "The Kite Runner" which was a bit ironic to be reading about Afghanistan on our Independence Day, but I think it made me realize and appreciate the freedoms we have here in America.

Brady's RC Plane...one of them, at least

Andy and Brady filling water balloons...yes, there was a water fight...it's Brady we're talking about here!

Playing with sparklers...and a few camera tricks

Fireworks

Isn't this a cool picture? It's fireworks, but it looks like an "electrified" dandelion to me! I give the credit to Brady.

On Saturday, we came home in the early afternoon and I treated myself to a facial and pedicure. That is definitely something all you ladies should do now and again. My esthetician is fabulous and I'm happy to refer you if you'd like. :) Brady and I went to see "Get Smart" that night...great, cheesy show.

I loved Sunday. I was released from the nursery the week before and I got to go back to Sunday School and Relief Society for the first time in 18 months! I had been feeling somewhat sad to be out of the nursery, since I had come to love those little kids, but I was ready for a change. The Sunday School teacher was great and gave such a good lesson (thanks Jenny!). The Relief Society teacher did great too (thanks Gina!). Ironically, that lesson was about who we are as children of God and how to avoid "spiritual identity theft." Given what had happened a few days earlier, I could certainly relate. Let's just say that my spiritual cup was filled that day...and it had started to feel kinda empty.

Now, who would've guessed that a Monday and a dentist appointment could end up being a great day? I'm not sure what it was, but I was so happy on Monday. Maybe it was carry-over from a great Sunday! I had a dentist appointment early Monday morning. I went to a new dentist and I hadn't been to a dentist for...well...a long time. (Long story...I won't bore you with the details). My new dentist had been one of our high councilors when we lived in the Village and he's such a nice guy. The hygienist was so darling and did such a good job. My teeth felt fabulous and no cavities. Of course there has to be bad news (but interestingly enough it didn't ruin my good day). I have to have a root canal. YIKES! When I was in the 5th grade, I fell on the ice at school and one of my front teeth went through my lip when it hit the cement. At the time, my dentist thought my tooth would die and fall out, but it never did. When I had X-rays on Monday, the nerve to that tooth is dying so in order to save my tooth from dying too, they want to do a root canal. I haven't ever had one and I'm a bit worried, but I'm sure it will be just fine...at least that's what they tell me. At work that day, all of my patients were doing better! That always makes me feel good. Plus, I even got to take a Pilates class at the end of the day. And that, always makes me feel good.

That about brings our life up to date. I can't believe we are already 9 days into July. Time is flying so quickly!! My family has been in Europe for 2 1/2 weeks (and they are there for another week!) and it seems like they've been gone for forever, but I bet to them it's going by so fast. I'll admit that I'm jealous of their adventures. Someday...maybe someday.

Bella

2008-06-21T00:18:00.001-06:00

If you haven't seen this movie yet, do yourself a favor and go to RedBox and get this! We had no idea what this movie was about and rented it on a whim. I loved it! Apparently it came out like 2 years ago, but I had never heard of it or anything about it. It is a tear-jerker (at least for me) but it is an incredible film. I love the story, even though it's sad and happy at the same time and I love that the ending let's you decide what happens from there. What are you waiting for? Go rent this movie!!!

Browne Lake

2008-06-20T22:42:00.000-06:00

(Another new one, I know. I guess this is what you get when I haven't posted in a while!)

It's tradition for my family to have big family reunion at Browne (pronounced Brownie) Lake in the Uinta Mountains the second weekend in June. I've camped here since I was a baby and my mom camped here as a little girl. We love camping here! This reunion is for all of my great-grandparents posterity. My great-grandpa, Ira Nelson, whom I never met because he died way before I was around, worked in the Ashley National Forest and both he a my great-grandma, Hattie, spent a good part of their lives between Vernal and Manila, Utah. I look forward to this trip every year, which always surprises people because it's a HUGE family reunion (we had almost 100 people this year!) and sometimes reunions are lame, but I have an awesome family, even my extended family and beyond. This year, I was sure it would be freezing cold considering the cool spring we had. Fortunately, the weather was perfect (though it was a bit cold at night) this year and we had so much fun.

On Thursday of last week, I drove up with my brothers Josh and Tyler and Josh's wife, Krissey. We had fun spotting antelope (Josh won the ice cream) and playing "Hey, Cow!" and "Six Degrees to Kevin Bacon" on the drive up. Brady drove up after work that night. When we got to camp, my parents, grandparents and some of the rest of our extended family were already there. It was so cold and windy. Thankfully, that only lasted through that night. Brady went fishing that night and caught two 16-18" trout. I was in my grandma's trailer trying to stay warm so I missed getting a picture of them.

Krissey, Josh, Chelsie, Cassie, Jessica, Nicole, Tyler and Cody

The Brade-ster giving us "thumbs up"

Tyler, Curtis, me, Brady, Josh & Krissey

For Friday, we had planned on floating the Green River and were so happy when it was warm and sunny and not too windy.

the river runners

For those of you who haven't ever been to the Green River, it's a great river because it's mostly just flowing with a few rapids now and then.

The water is frigid because it comes from the bottom of Flaming Gorge, so it's good to not get completely drenched in a gazillion rapids like other rivers. Plus, it's a really pretty river and in most places the water is clear enough to see to the bottom. Most of us floated the river twice and had a great time. One of our boats made up this song:

Josh, Krissey and Tyler (Josh got fried the first time down the river, despite using SPF 45 three times, so he got to wear the cowboy hat)

My cute cousin, Cody, paddling...he was such a trooper!

After the river, we ate dinner and then had a talent show around the campfire with everyone.

Saturday morning we had a big breakfast for everyone and then games for the kids and adults (pinata, horseshoes, kickball, etc.). After a full morning, I sat in my camp chair and read. It was so nice to just kick back for a while. My cute cousin, Jessica, was so bored and couldn't believe I was OK with "just reading." She's just barely a teenager and I think she'll understand someday. :) Later that afternoon, Brady and some of my younger cousins went over to "the bathtub" to dam up a river to play in.

Chelsie giving us a "bubble bath"

Cody and Nicole playing in "the bathtub"

Again, the water was freezing but it felt good to get your feet wet. After dinner, I went on a ride with my parents, Josh and Krissey over to Spirit Lake, which is just a few miles away from Browne. We couldn't get all the way to the lodge because of snow!

Shawnee, Krissey & Josh on the SNOW at Spirit Lake

Me and my dad at Spirit Lake

We haven't seen snow that low still in June for a really long time! But, we did get to see some elk, deer, and great heron. We hung out around the fire that night and watched the stars and satellites appear in the gigantic mountain sky. Living where we do just isn't conducive to seeing how many stars really are out there.

On Sunday, as we were cleaning up camp, Brady said he saw something that looked like an emu. I basically told him he was crazy because emus live in New Zealand and not the Uinta Mountains. Well, I was wrong and he was right. There were two emus at Browne Lake! Again, didn't have the camera right there with me, but I have multiple witnesses. :) I learned that this couple who came camping, but not part of our group, had bought a house in Tooele a few months ago and after they bought it they noticed this pen out in there back yard. What a surprise to them when they saw two baby emus. Long story short, they kept the emus and have them as pets. The emus sleep next to their black lab and the dog plays with them. The emus come when they are whistled at, no joke. I wish I had taken a picture!

Sorry for the long post, but I needed to write about our adventures. We love Browne Lake!

Should've been a Cowboy

2008-06-20T22:34:00.000-06:00

Brady just might kill me for posting this picture, but it's so cute that I just had to post about it. Brady has been traveling a lot this month for work. One of the jobs he had to do was up in Cody, Wyoming. He was there for two days and called me the first night bored out of his mind. There's not a whole lot to do in Cody, as you can probably imagine. He came home the next day and told me he had done some shopping out of boredom, because that is something you can sorta do there on the main street. He's been wanting a cowboy hat for when we go to Browne Lake (to be like my grandpa) and he finally found one in a totally cowboy town. I think he looks pretty handsome. :)

Oh, and he bought me some turquoise earrings to match my necklace from Mexico. (You can kinda see them in the picture.) I'm a lucky gal to have such a thoughtful husband. What a sweetheart!

Way Out West

2008-06-20T22:21:00.000-06:00

The scouts in our ward sponsored a murder mystery dinner as a fund-raiser for their upcoming camp outs. The theme was "Way Out West." Brady and I were assigned the parts of "Mid-West Rail Road Representatives"...basically a wealthy business man and his wife during the 1880s. It was so much fun! I went to Hale Centre Theatre to rent costumes for us...if you ever need a costume, they have great ones! You make an appointment to be fitted and everything. It is a bit pricey, but totally worth it if you can't come up with something yourself due to being incredibly busy and running out of time, like me! The only thing I "forgot" to get was a gun and holster for Brady. Oh well. The other couples from our ward did a great job with their costumes too...I should've taken more pictures! Good thing someone else did! Anyways, it just so happened that the head of our rail road was involved in the murder and that's never good to be a part of, but in the end it was just fun to do. The scout committee and young men did a great job...way to go boys!

Happy Birthday Brady!

2008-05-24T16:52:00.000-06:00

Happy 27th Birthday, babe! I love you so much and hope you've enjoyed your day! Thank you for being so much fun to be married to. You make me laugh and smile every single day. You are a hard worker and I know you'll be a great dad someday. I appreciate your testimony of the gospel and your strength and support always. Thanks for all you do! I love you!

Our Very Own Wolf Pack

2008-05-19T22:18:00.000-06:00

My "little" brother graduated from Fremont High School today. It made me feel so old! Ahh, the good old days. Actually, I'm so glad that those days are long gone...fun while they lasted, but life gets so much better after high school. Anyways, here's my plug for Curtis. We are so excited for him and for everything he has to look forward to! He is such a cute kid and he got so dang tall over the past few years, not to mention we're jealous of his tan. Curtis played varsity soccer and lost a heartbreaker (in sudden death shootout after a regular shoot out after overtime!) in the state playoffs last Friday. The cool thing was that a couple of nights before, his coaches gave him an award for being the most improved player that had got the team to where they were.

It was weird for me to think that all of my siblings have been Silverwolves and now no one is left from our family to become a Silverwolf. As we were taking pictures after the commencement, my brothers started making the "wolf pack" signs and I realized that we had our own wolf pack. We used to always say in school that the strength of the wolf was the pack and the strength of the pack was the wolf. I'm so glad I have such a great family (including Brady and his family...they're all Silverwolves too!) to be my strength and I hope I can be their strength too. Love you guys!

Not the best pic, but there's Curtis after they read his name.

Wolf Pack, Baby! (Josh, Ty, Curtis and me)

Me and my "little" brother who is MUCH taller than me!

Salt Lake Century

2008-05-18T21:54:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, Brady and my brother, Josh, rode their bikes in the Salt Lake Century. Some of you may have seen all the cyclists out yesterday, especially near our house on Center Street and Redwood Road. They made it, all 106 miles of it! I don't know how they do it, but they do. Way to go boys!

Josh, Mike (Greg's friend), Greg (Brady's boss) and Brady pre-ride. They all look so happy!

I took this picture from the carwash on Redwood Road...there were so many cyclists...I have no idea where our boys were at this point..they probably aren't even in this picture. It was really cool to see all of them!
Brady and Josh post-ride. Brady's showing off his "biker tan" (it looks worse a day later) and you can see Josh's "glove line." Oh well, at least this year Josh had enough sunscreen on because he fried last year and probably got some heat exhaustion too!

Reflections of Christ

2008-05-04T23:00:00.000-06:00

I know I sent this link to a bunch of you, but if I didn't and you haven't seen this yet, please check it out. I absolutely love the pictures and the music. I wish I could've seen it in person! I have such a testimony of our Savior and this slide show depicts His life and ministry and to see such a beautiful thing brings the Spirit in and strengthens me.

Reflections of Christ

PS: Thanks Kira for sending this to me!

Congrats Krissey!

2008-05-04T22:45:00.000-06:00

My cute sister-in-law, Krissey, graduated from Utah State yesterday. We are so happy for her! Way to go Kris!

My brother Josh and his wife Krissey at USU graduation

April Showers Bring...

2008-04-27T17:11:00.000-06:00

...a very busy month! I don't think I've ever been so excited for a month to be over! I usually hate how fast time goes, but I'm glad we are moving out of April and into May! Hence the reason why it's been an entire month without a post from us. Sorry to all our dedicated readers. :) Here's the update of what's been happening. (Caution: this is kinda long!!)

The first weekend in April was General Conference. Unfortunately, I had a continuing education course both Saturday and Sunday. Brady recorded conference for me, but since I've had so much free time, I've just had to catch pieces of it here and there online. I'm looking forward to reading/watching all of it!

The next week, Brady's sister Emily came to visit with her cute kids, Lila, Abby & Zack. They live in Boston and we don't get to see them very often (except on their blog) so we were really excited they came. Zack looks so much like Brady and Danny, Brady's brother! Sweet Abby was so shy around us. Lila has such a creative imagination...Brady had fun trying to keep her going on about pushing buttons on horses to zoom back to "Boston, Chusenetts" to say hi to her daddy and then she'd just have to push the button to come back to "Hooper, UT."

Uncle Brady with Zack, Benson, Abby, and Lila

Shawnee and Abby

That weekend, Brady went to Moab for his annual PCI mountain biking trip. I'm happy to report that no injuries occurred on this trip. It was the 2nd anniversary of him breaking his pelvis, and I've been nervous both trips since that I'll get that phone call again. Glad to say he was safe.

The boys in Moab

Our friend John

While Brady was in Moab, I flew to Portland, OR for a continuing education course. It was a really great course, but I was humbled. First off, I'm pretty sure I was the youngest PT there. I don't really want to "look" older, but it's always interesting being a young female in a field with men. The other thing was that the speakers at the course are practically brilliant. I guess I can only hope to know half of what they know. I mean, one guy spoke for over an hour about one nerve! And, he probably could've gone on for 2 more days about it. Oh well...pretty cool stuff. I wish I had had more time to really check out Portland because I hear it's a cool town. One funny thing did happen though. So, I was planning on leaving the course a bit early on Saturday so I could fly back home that night. I had been told that the public transportation was awesome and that there was a direct line from my hotel to the airport. I was way more willing to spend $2.05 for the train than the $30+ for a taxi. So, I left as planned only to have the ticket kiosk not accept my dollar bills or cards. Uggghhh. I walked back across the street to the hotel to have them exchange my bills for coins. Then, as I was walking back to the stop, the "red" line to the airport was just leaving. Uggghhh. Not to big a deal, because I had figured plenty of time in (I hate being late so I give myself lots of time). So, I buy my ticket and look at the board that says the next red line will be there in 15 min. I didn't mind because I was outside in the fresh sunny air instead of in the conference rooms at the hotel. Well, then the blue line comes in, people get off and other people get on and the train just sits there. A bit unusual, I think to myself. But, I've still got some time. A few minutes go by and the driver of the train says that there is a power outage a few miles down the line and that it might take 5-55 minutes for it to get worked out. Uggghhh. Being a positive thinker, I think it will only take 5 minutes because this system is supposed to be the best in the west. Fifteen minutes later I'm starting to worry. I ask a public transportation worker if there's any other way to get to the airport. He tells me I'm going to have to call a taxi. But, I'm thinking that by the time I call one and it gets there, I'm going to miss my flight. Mind you, I'm completely exhausted from 13 straight working days and I just want to go home. So, I run back to the hotel and tell the same guy who exchanged my dollars my situation. Thankfully, there was a private driver at the hotel waiting for a client who offered to take me to the airport for what a taxi would cost. He was super nice and got me to the airport just in time to board my flight. Who would've guessed that the best public transportation system in the west would have a problem the day I needed it to work? As I was thinking about it later, it really worked out for the best that my dollars wouldn't work (even though at the time I was mad) because what would I have done if I had been on the train down the line when the power went out? I probably would've missed my flight.

The next week was a busy work week. Brady had tests for school and it just seemed like there were things to be done every night after work. Brady had YM/Scouts, I had a staff meeting and a music workshop for primary, etc. Then, Brady went with the YM/Scouts to Lone Rock out in the west desert for Friday night and Saturday.

Adam, Brady, Storm, Cody, Tayton, and Troy at camp

Around the fire

I stayed home and finally cleaned the house, unpacked from Portland, did laundry and worked in my garden. It's looking really good with green stuff instead of brown. It felt good to be so productive!

The crocus' bloomed!

My "Red Jewell" tree is turning green!

Here's my garden!

That night, we had our girls craft night while the boys played computer games. We made way cute wood flowers...thanks Tami for being in charge!

Brady is concentrating so hard, he didn't even know we took this picture!

Hard at work

And that brings us to this past week. Brady had a big project due for school. He had to build a vehicle that was powered by a mouse trap. He was glad to have passed. :) I left on Friday morning to go to my cousin's wedding in Boise and got home late Saturday night. Brady worked on a bunch of computer stuff yesterday to help get them out of our office. (Yeah!!) We finally have a Sunday afternoon to hang out with each other!

The mouse trap car

Brady has one more final test this week and we are looking forward to his summer break from school. We have a bunch of stuff planned for May, (including Brady's birthday!) but hopefully it won't be as crazy as April was! We sure hit the map this month and I'm glad to be staying around town for May. :)

There really is good in the world...all we need is LOVE!

2008-03-31T21:01:00.000-06:00

So, for those of you who woke up with 3+ inches of snow at your house, the world might not have seemed so nice today. I mean, it is spring, right? (Maybe if I rephrase that as, it is spring in Utah, then today was a typically Utah-weather day!) It's supposed to be getting warm, not a HIGH of 39 degrees! Oh well.

I had one of those moments at work today where I was just filled with gratitude for my beliefs and for my sweet husband. It just about made me cry and because I've been thinking about it ever since it happened, I thought I'd share with my blogging friends. I had a new patient today who is an older gentleman and was such a sweet man. His daughter has been a patient of mine for a few months and had recently told me of the struggles they've had with her mother's (this gentleman's wife) health and that they had moved her into a care facility. When I asked this sweet man a few questions regarding his injury and his current stressors (including the situation with his wife), he just started crying. (I almost did too!) Through the tears and sniffles, he mentioned that it was just a hard adjustment to not wake up next to the woman he's loved and been married to for 60+ years.

Wow. That's LOVE! It's so refreshing to see that kind of love in a world with so much gloom. I feel so much love for Brady right now and we've been married for only 5 years! I can't imagine a day without Brady in my life and I know lots of you feel the same way about your spouse. I guess the saying is true, "grow old with me, the best is yet to be." Make sure you tell your loved ones that you love them today! :)

Awareness Test

2008-03-17T12:39:00.000-06:00

For those of you who I didn't email this to, I thought it would be fun to see how you do on the awareness test. (You'll need your sound on)

P.S. Watch out for the cyclist.

Spring is Coming!

2008-03-13T20:57:00.000-06:00

I've been a bit anxious for spring to be here...I'm sure most of you know that feeling. After our trip to sunny Mexico, I thought I could handle the rest of winter, but that only lasted so long. The other day, one of my clients (one of a few who have given me gardening tips!) mentioned that her bulbs were starting to pop up out of the ground. She asked if mine were yet and I told her that they weren't. She got this worried look on her face like "hmmm...they should be coming up by now" and I started to worried that I had done something wrong when I planted crocus, tulips, and narcissus last fall. I mean, I know I don't have a green thumb (yet, anyways!) but it can't be too hard to plant a bulb in the ground, right? Even the people at Millcreek Gardens told me to just dig a hole, dump them in right side up, and wait. So, today when I came home from work, I went outside to look for signs of spring. It took me a while, but then I found this:

Yeah!!! These little guys are the first ones up and the farthest along! I had to look real close to see about a dozen more little guys just barely poking their heads up. Ok, I'm a nerd, but I really want to have a fun garden! I've been learning so much and it's kind of exciting to watch something grow and be beautiful. I don't know which ones these are...I planted them all together, but I think they might be crocus...guess we'll see in a few more days!