Hurray We're Prego!!!

What?!? So, I thought I'd jump on the baby bandwagon! Here I am, and now Claire will have a sweet 2nd cousin (??) to play with! I know, I am SO worse than Veronica at keeping secrets...because I'm only 5 weeks along! I totally thought I was 6, then nope, someone can't count! Anyway, our little thang is due May 2nd! We were going to wait for a lot longer to tell people, but the whole problem was that Saren was over at our house when I took the pregnancy test (almost as a joke!), and I was freaking out. So, she was like, "What, what's going on?". So, of course I had to tell her. Then, once she knew, I knew it wouldn't stay a secret for very long. So instead of everyone finding out from her, we decided we should just open our big fat mouths and tell everyone!! Whatever, it's so fun!

I feel awesome. I feel like I have more energy than I've had in a long time. What is that about?! Probably just so freakin excited. I really hope I don't feel sick; but my mom was only sick with one of hers, so hopefully I have her genes!! I really wanted to be married for 2 years before we had a baby, but it's ONE WEEK before our two year anniversary--that can totally count, right?!?! I'm counting it anyway.

My mom, who I was most nervous about tellin, was the MOST excited of all (except for maybe Saren)!! She is so happy. I haven't seen her this happy in so long. So, that is awesome news.

Other than that, my job is going great. We start actually doing therapy after Labor Day. That will be way better than all the paperwork that I've been having to do. But, then I have to do lesson plans and homework and all that crap. Not really sure what's going to happen at the end of the year when I have the baby, because school doesn't get out until May 29...but looks like they're just going to have to be ok without me (which I'm sure won't be a problem!!).

I am really excited/nervous to be a freaking mom, I can't believe it. Eric is really excited, but I think he's a little bit in denial too!:) Anyone wanna place some bets on the gender??

Here's us being retarted on the camera as we talk about it.

New Flip Finished!

Sweet! We're finally finished with the American Fork Flip (except for some finishing touches) and I just listed it today so we'll see how it goes. It stared out looking pretty ghetto, but after a lot of work and kicking the painter's butt a few times it's looking like something I'd move into. What am I talking about, I'd move into anything called a house!

Anyways like all the other houses we've done we always want to move into it when we're done, but gotta build up the cash first, one of these days! Sorry I don't have any before pictures, but here are the after ones.

Here's the cute little porch where the cute little mexicans can sit and drink their Tecate con Limon.

Elegant baby.
Here's half of the kitchen cabinets, the rest are on the other wall. The tile is all laid "on point" or on the "diagonal". It's a pain in the butt when you get to where it meets the walls because there's twice as many cuts and they're all triangles (add's another 10% to the square footage of tile you need to buy), but it sure looks cool when it's done!

I'll post some before pictures real soon for the house we just closed on today (also in AF). It's a lot smaller but we'll probably make the same amount or more than on this one because we're getting it for such a good deal. You definately make the money when you buy it not when you sell it.

I crack up watching these people on "Flip This House" because half of them have no clue what they're doing. How they can justify spending 800 grand to make 50 blows my mind! I also crack up how they always say they're making X amount in profit when in actuality they forget the 7-8% in real estate fees that come right off the top and another 35-40% in short term capital gains tax that goes to you silent 50/50 partner Uncle Sam; in other words they really make only half of whatever they say the real profit is.

One LONG overdue post!

Oh my gosh, you are all SO right! It’s official, we’re the worst bloggers yet. I feel totally guilty every time I get on here for not having posted anything in…drum roll….72 DAYS! One thing that I feel bad about is that I feel that an entry without pictures is totally unacceptable. The problem with that is that my camera is a gonner, Eric’s no longer takes anything but blurry pictures (he’s had it since his mission—11 YEARS!!), and we just never take any picture pictures with our video camera. Oh, I actually do have one on there of KJ and I with our dirt faces from the cabin that make us look like devils with really bad uni-brows!! I’ll have to have Eric show me how to get that picture off of there so I can post in on here. That is why I am asking for a camera from Eric for my birthday. Any suggestions? Something pretty nice with a big LCD screen on the back, but not too expensive? Let me know.

Seriously though, life has been pretty crazy around here. So, as most of you know I stayed back home in Missouri for two weeks to help my family pack. Boy, that was a lot of work. I was SO not looking forward to coming back here to move from our apartment into our Mile High house. But, surprise surprise, when I got back Eric and his family had moved everything into our house and it was almost all set up already! That was my cute husband’s anniversary present to me—how awesome is that! Too bad it got ruined when only a week later Provo City (JERKS!) told us we had to move back out because the property was deemed a dangerous property, and until all the repairs were completed we could not move back in!!! So, we moved yet again. Poor Eric.

So, these repairs that we have to do on this house are anywhere from $60K-$100K. SICK. So, we decided the best option was to re-list the house. We can still make a pretty good profit on it because we took so much risk out of the house by buying it and having a group of engineers come out and tell us what was going on. They let us know that no, the house was not sliding off the mountain! Phew! So, we’re trying to resell it right now. We’ve had two offers in and accepted that have fallen through, and now it’s under contract again for the third time. They want to close on August 9^th, and so far everything seems to be in order. You never know though! But, what a happy day that would be!!:)

Now, onto the Payson house that Eric and Ryan did. It is finally closing…TOMORROW!!! Eric is in signing the closing docs as I write this!! YEAH! I am so excited to get that one done and closed. It wasn’t necessarily the best money making venture they’ve done, but they definitely have learned a lot. Apparently the Payson market isn’t as great as we had hoped. Oh well, live and learn, and onto the next one!

Speaking of the next one, the American Fork house that Eric has been working on is almost done! This one should be a great one. He’s been working really hard on it for about two months now. I have actually mowed the lawn over there twice! You should be proud of me…it’s actually a pretty big lawn. The first time I mowed it, I mowed it from like 2-4 in the afternoon. I’m an idiot! It was like 100 degrees outside! Then this time I got this huge blister. Whatever, I actually kinda like it, it looks really good when you’re done. That house has gone pretty smoothly, except we have the CRAZY painter. He is so funny looking…kinda tall, really really skinny, longer hair, all tanned like sick, old leather, and a serious chain smoker. He just didn’t show up for like 2 WEEKS! He’s good at what he does when he actually does something. Anyway, for some strange reason he tried to paint part of the outside of the house this bright Kelly green. It was the sickest thing I have ever seen. I have no idea what would possess him to think that that looked good! Apparently he was chain smokin’ something more than a lil tobacco. We nixed that, and went for something more traditional and safe—white. Sorry KJ, I know you said chocolate brown, but we just wanted to be safe!

As for everything else…my family is out here and doing well. Yes, we spent yet another day MOVING them in. I swear our whole month of May and June were consumed with moving. They live in a cute little place about two blocks from Eric and I. My brother Curtis brought my dad out here on the 4^th of July. My dad has to stay in a nursing home for two months, because unless he does that to qualify for a home health care nurse, Utah has a 12 YEAR WAITING LIST!! You did read that right, 12 YEARS! Unbelievable. Anyway, he’s doing pretty well there. We did have a scare last week when his blood pressure suddenly dropped to like 60/40, when it should be around 120/80! They rushed him to the emergency room and hooked him up to some serious oxygen. The doctors in the ER were asking my mom what his end of his life plan was…meaning, did he have a living will and want to be hooked up to a resuscitator, or did he not want to be resuscitated! I guess you can only sustain life at that low of blood pressure for a short time, like minutes!! Anyway, they don’t really know what caused it, they think he might have gotten the flu…who knows. He then spent last week in the hospital, but is back at the nursing home now.

My dad got to come home and check out his apartment for the first time on Sunday. Eric and my brother Seth carried him into the car, and then into the house. He stayed and had dinner and got to stay for like 4 ½ hours! He loved it, first time at his home here in Utah!!

Most of you know this, but I did get that job working for the Nebo School district (Springville, Spanish Fork). I am a Communication Disorder Specialist. I have training the second week in August. They did have me assigned to an elementary school in Springville, but now they’ve asked me if I would do Mapleton Junior High. I think I would enjoy that, you work more with social issues as opposed to articulation problems. We’ll see what happens. I also have applied to be either the Springville High or Spanish Fork High School assistant volleyball coach. I think I would just love that. They haven’t called me for an interview or anything yet, so who knows what will happen with that. I think that would be awesome though. It would keep me so busy!

Oh and yes…my tomato plants. I planted like 8 (I think) tomato plants in Paul and Sue’s backyard. They are growing like crazy thanks to Paul who actually does all the work for them. I think they’re about ready for all the tomatoes on there to turn red. If anyone wants some tomatoes, feel free to grab some from Paul and Sue’s. We’ve had a few, and they are AWESOME! Also, Paul planted some corn back there, and it’s growing so fast too.

Alright, this is long enough for one post! Sorry, it’s actually WAY too long for one post. I am so dang sorry it’s taken me forever to get anything up here! I'll post some pictures soon.

Happy 1st Anniversary Baby!

Well it’s officially been one year from the day we were sealed for time and all eternity! Wow I can’t believe it flew by so fast. Everyone says the first year is the hardest one; if that’s true then we got a lot of great years ahead, because I think this was the best year of my life so far.

The thing I love most about our relationship is the wonderful friendship that we’ve cultivated. It grows naturally and unobstructed like true friendships do. All the cute little playful things we do together, the inside jokes personalized for just the two of us, and all the other little light hearted things we constantly do together enrich every day, making our marriage as fun as it is fulfilling. Because our love is genuine and independent of external influences, these loving gestures are just as consistent when we’re all alone as when we’re with others. This is the kind of friendship I always hoped for in marriage and am thrilled to say is ours!

I’m also grateful for your inspiring response to the devastating accident your dad had this year. As a husband I worried that I wouldn’t know how to respond and comfort you like you needed and that this might consequently cause bad feelings to come between us; like I’ve heard so many people say happens during a family crisis. But you seemed to perceive my feelings of inadequacy and with loving understanding you didn’t require of me that which I didn’t well know how to give. You let my best feeble efforts be good enough and I’m so grateful for that kind of patience and understanding. It makes me feel like a good husband which is every husband’s greatest concern.

I’m also grateful for your support of my chosen career in a self employed capacity which is so different from what you’re accustomed to. It takes a lot of faith on the part of a wife to give her husband that kind of freedom. If that wasn’t enough, you even act excited about it all.

Daily I love to sit back and watch you interact with others and when I consider your beautiful smile, naturally cheery temperament, hot body, etc, etc. I often think to myself, “Wow, I’m married to that woman.”

Thank you so much for being the woman of my dreams and showing me more and more with each new thing how truly lucky I am.

Love you forever baby! Happy 1st Anniversary!

E

The Day After

Well Bree and I just got back... scratch that, I just got back from Navoo where we went to see Seth (Bree's older brother) get married in the Navoo temple. It was a lot of fun even though it rained the whole time. I can't believe all the detail they put into that temple it's so cool. Even in the locker room they used walnut colored wood for the lockers and the locker doors all had old fashoned latches like those used back in the day. If you haven't been there ya gotta check it out.

Anyways, here's a picture of Seth on the plane ride back to Utah the day after he got married. He's lookin pretty tired, maybe he just had a long night or somethin.

A Lot of Sweet Stuff...

Ok, I'm the worst at posting...but I've been having way too much fun to sit down and look at these boring blogs! Just kiddin, I totally blog stalk, and I love love love to read everyone else's, I've just been too lazy to write anything.

First things first, biggest news EVER! Some of you know this, but some of you don't....drum roll....my sweet family is MOVING TO UTAH!!!! That's right, for good. My sisters and mom are flying out June 5th. My dad will be going back into the rehab place that we love in Missouri while my mom looks for a house and a job. Speaking of that, if any of you know of any job openings around here, let me know. Then, once they find a place and get somewhat settled then I think the plan is to have my bro Curtis fly out here with my dad (Curt's not moving out here, he'll be staying in MO to go to school). How fun is that?!?! I am really excited to have them out here, and be able to feel like I can physically contribute more to help em out.

Next, I got to go to Disneyland FOR THE FIRST TIME!! And shame on me for not going before. I loved every second of it. It was a total girly trip which was so fun. I hate to say it, but California Adventure rides were sweeter. But, you're right, the atmosphere at DL was WAY better. I think my favorite ride was the rollercoaster at CA, then Tower of Terror, and the Indiana Jones ride. Oh so fun. I'm sure you've all seen pics on Lydia's blog, so I won't post any. Oh, and those of you going this week...HAVE SOO MUCH FUN!

Now, onto some more sweet things, I GRADUATED!! Took all my finals (which were freakin easy this time--which is a first!), and aced my classes. I graduated in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (say that 5 times fast--without getting a speech impediment:) ). Now what you may ask?? GREAT question. Someone tell me! I'm applying for some jobs in the school systems, and some jobs through BYU (I'm a little hesitant to post it, because chances are I won't get any, but who cares!). If nothing pans out, secretary for Got Crap it is!!:) Seriously, if nothing works out I may think the Lord is trying to tell me something, I dunno! Anyway, Cheney did a great job speaking, in fact, all the speakers were excellent. President Hinckley, Elder Scott, and Elder Bednar were there as well. Thursday's comencement was sooo good. I'm really glad I went, even though we got there at 1, and it didn't start till 4!!! It was a long day. Friday's graduation where I actually walked was pretty good too, although I didn't enjoy it as much as Thursday's. But, it was so fun to see all my buddies again! So, here are a couple pictures, one of me (obviously), and the other of a Cheney protestor (so gay). THANK YOU everyone who were able to come, and THANK YOU to those of you who I know would have been there if you could (KJ and Sue:) ).

Another cool thing...Eric's parents got us a 2 night stay and the Grand America in Salt Lake. It was soo beautiful. We just relaxed. Slept in, went to lunch, went shopping, watched TV, worked on my Sunday School lesson, went to dinner, and watched a movie--fabulous!! I'll put a pic of that too.


What else....Eric and I are leaving Wednesday for Nauvoo for my brother's wedding--how cool is that?!?! I'll update you on that when I get back. Oh yes, and another cool thing I have to brag about...I ran 3 miles on the treadmill the other day in 28 minutes! I was so dang proud of myself--but I remembered that I HATE running. Why did I do it?? Just to say I did.

That's it for now--have a great week all'yall.

America's Next Top "Lame Show"

So I’m watching the show America’s Next Top Model the other day; what a freekin joke! I bet you anything this all started with some producer guy who told his friend, “Man models are so lame, they’ll do anything just to get the job no matter how stupid, and what’s even worse, they’ll be totally serious!” BAM … new show!

The whole point of the show I think is to make these girls look as stupid as they can, then slam em down when they don’t pull it off (if such a thing can realistically be pulled off). Take for example the “Drowned Rat” photo shoot. “I’m sorry Cassandra, I just don’t know what to tell you! When you were trying to portray that drowning rat I just… (breathing in through teeth) didn’t feel it. I didn’t believe you were actually drowning in the sewer… I’m sorry, you won’t be America’s Next Top Model. (sad music) Take your things and leave please.” (Somber music, girl exits while sobbing).

I guarantee Tyra Banks is busting up laughing as the girls are going all out on these retarded shoots. I think the comments from the girls are just as ridiculous. “Well Brittany, you’ve just finished your “Birthing Rhino” shoot…” “Uh huh.” “And Brittney I have to be honest…. (long pause with tense music) … You Nailed It!!!!” (girl screams for joy) “So how did you do it?” “Well I was just thinking to myself if I was a rhinoceros in labor, like how would I feel, or more importantly… how would I look? So I just acted like it was real and I guess I pulled it off! Yeeee! Sorry, ha, ha. I’m just soooo happy!”

Gay! Gay! Gay!

One thing I have to admit though, this Jaslene girl knocked the “Laser Beam” shoot right out of the park! Is she a girl or is she a green lasar? I can’t tell! Dang she’s good! Pffft.