A Formidable Tigress

Another Position Change

2012-02-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

I found out yesterday that I will be taking over as the Service Coordinator Leader/Supervisor within the next month. It will be another adventure and I'm looking forward to it :) Time never stands still, and as always: "Life is interesting, never what I plan it to be... learning to let go and go with the flow." Learning is the key word. I'm excited and I hope that I will be able to live up to my expectations for myself. Here we go!!!

Our Little Pup

2012-01-28T22:08:00.000-07:00

As promised... here are a few pictures of the little puppy we're planning to have for our very own by this Summer. We are still trying to decide on the spelling, it is pronounced "Oh-lee." Any thoughts on this? Please share so we can make a decision! (Oly, Oley, Olley, Olly, Olee, Ohly, Ohley, etc.)

This is a picture from mid-January. I got this picture message to me on my cell phone from Greg's brother as they were telling me we should get him.

Sleepy head in the car today.

Precious little guy.

Two awesome guys :) We were getting ready to drive him back to Greg's brother's house where his brother Teddy is, because Kent will be taking care of him until our lease is up and we can move to a place that is pet friendly.

I've Been Far Too Busy

2012-01-25T00:34:00.000-07:00

I feel like a slacker because my last post was in October and a lot has happened since then. The holidays have come and gone, it was a good end of the year. We celebrated Thanksgiving at our place with Greg's brother and girlfriend, and with Christina and Corban because Greg's family all got sick. We had a good little meal and then had fun playing some Wii games, I thought that I would show a couple of pictures showing us enjoying the fun times.

Christmas came along and we enjoyed a very dry December. We got snow only one day and it quickly disappeared. One thing we did in December that I had been wanting to do is go to the Festival of Trees where there are cool ginger bread houses, decorated Christmas trees, quilts, and other crafts that are donated by community members and then auctioned off to raise money to benefit the Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City which serves families with very sick children and children with special needs. Here are a couple pictures to show you a sample of the things we saw. We went with Greg's siblings.

Greg and I set up our Christmas tree for the first time. We bought an artificial tree and lots of ornaments on super clearance last year after Christmas so we were excited to have it decorated this year. This is how it turned out. We played around with the G and L ornaments and then ended up just leaving them side by side this time. We thought the tree turned out cute. As time goes on we plan to continue to collect little ornaments on our road trips like we did this past year so we can have more unique ones.

On Christmas Eve we had the opportunity to celebrate with my extended family in the area. We went to my aunt, Doreen's house and it was great to see them all. The food was amazing and we enjoyed a little reenactment of the nativity story. Here are a few pictures from that night.

Christmas day was on Sunday and we sang in our church choir. Greg's family and Christina and Corban joined us for Sacrament Meeting and then we all went to Greg's mom's house to open gifts and celebrate. I didn't take many pictures. Here are a couple pictures from the day. The first is a picture of all of us "kids" with our gift from Renee: really cool water bottles stuffed with a little cash and candy :) The second is Renee's surprise gift from her sister, Marie, and her brother-in-law, Wade... an iPad! She was flabbergasted and we were too.

The day after Christmas we flew to California... HOME. We went to lunch at a park after we landed and just the smell of the coast made me sigh with pleasure. I miss the green scenery, the crisp air, and the rolling hills. Maybe some day I'll be able to live near the coast again. It was good to see family and friends, waiting over a year is just too long! We didn't take many pictures while we were there because the camera died on the first day. Here are just a couple I took while there. We got to meet Thailer, Erin's boyfriend, who is a pretty cool guy and we even opened a few gifts there as well. Corban was in heaven I think. Greg was excited for his yummy gift!

So that is the fast-forward version of the past 3 months in a nutshell. Whoa.

I headed back to work and have been working like crazy because it is our biggest month for new referrals. When I checked earlier today we had 82 referrals since 1/3/12!!! That means we have to assess each child to determine if they are eligible or not and get the process going to provide services if they are within 45 days from the time the referral is made. I've also been helping to train a co-worker who just switched positions like I did last year while our supervisor is on vacation, we have had some fun little adventures :) I hope I'm helpful.

School has also started back up for Greg and me. So far, so good. I am happy with my classes and the choice of textbooks they are using this semester, I actually enjoy reading them. We also have a few new developments we are contemplating, including getting a puppy named Olley (not sure how to spell it). When he was little they called him Rolley Polley Olley because he was a chunker. He is an awesome little pup, but we aren't allowed to have a pet in the place we're at right now so Greg's brother said he'd take care of him until our lease is up in July since he owns his brother, Teddy. I'll try to post a picture of him sometime. The other big thing we are thinking about doing is investing in some property like buying a duplex where we could live on one side and then rent out the other. It's a baby idea that I need to do more research on. It's sounding more and more worthwhile as I take time to think about it. I'll let you know what we decide.

Farley/Winkler Carving Party

2011-10-28T19:06:00.001-06:00

Greg's family decided to do a last minute pumpkin carving party this Monday. I did not end up being able to make it, but it sounds like they had a blast. Here are some pictures from that night.

Chad and Greg starting out

Kent and his girlfriend, Amanda

Several people carved Angry Birds characters :) See the three bird and the pig?

Greg's dragon master piece.... it was really cool

Greg and his master piece

CrazY Life

2011-10-28T18:56:00.000-06:00

We've been busy bees lately. Greg and I are both halfway done with this semester of school... I'm even registered for next semester! We pretty much do homework most evenings. Greg quit his cashier job back in September after we had discussed the situation extensively. It felt like the right decision for us, even though we're going to miss the extra money. We'll survive though, and he's looking into some scholarships to supplement our income.

Another thing that has been insane is that at the beginning of October a big chunk of the ceiling in our back room caved in! It was a big ordeal and I was not happy with the way our landlord dealt with it. They finally fixed it all by last Friday (including replacing the entire roof.... it turned out the apartment next door had a similar cave-in in the bathroom this spring!). However, when Greg and I got home on Friday evening from visiting his dad, one of the walls that was not supposed to be painted on (only the ceiling was supposed to be painted) has a big spot above the window that was white like the ceiling... not like the off-white/pale yellow of the room! Greg called the landlord on Monday since we had heard nothing about them finishing or planning to come back and she gave a lame excuse and then said she could send her husband to fix it but he is out of town until next week. You can guess how happy that made me. Greg had to pull everything out of that room for the repairs and we still have stuff in our living room and kitchen because of it.

On a happy note: Greg and I went with his brothers, Chad and Kent, to a BYU game last Saturday. It wasn't the most exciting game but it was fun and we had pretty good seats (super cheap) that Greg found from a guy with season tickets. We enjoyed our time and we were happy to see the Cougars win :) Here are a few pictures from the day. The first is a shot from my seat looking straight forward. The second shows the marching band shaped as a Y, and then the others are of us.

Moab and Arches

2011-09-10T12:14:00.000-06:00

Greg and I were lucky enough to escape from our mundane apartment life last weekend since it was Labor Day and we had some extra days off. Coincidentally it was my birthday as well. Greg had been telling me how cool Arches National Park was, so we used our favorite "name your own price" on priceline.com and away we went.

We missed our exit down which led us to a yummy detour for Greg (he ate his jerky all weekend long).

By the time we got to Moab it was time for dinner and we drove the main drag looking for something interesting. This was the most interesting and enticing... luckily they had amazing food. So amazing that we ended up going back another night when we were there. Greg's tummy was happy.

We saw some pretty cool sights. We didn't get to hike and play around as much as we had hoped because my back has been hurting a lot the past month and it decided to get extra angry over the weekend. But luckily I could at least drive around and do little walks to see cool things.

This is the Delicate Arch (the one featured on the UT license plate)

Greg climbed this rock to get a good picture with the balancing rock :)

We took a scenic byway since I didn't think I could handle a ton of hiking. We found a dirt road turn off and went up-up-up. It wound around over and over. Finally we got to this point and decided it would be best to turn back. There were huge rocks coming up from under the dirt and we weren't sure if the car would safely clear them. That was probably the most fun part of the trip - off-roading in my little car :)

One of the many beautiful shots (the camera did not give this area the justice it deserves)

This is the Sand Dune Arch... so cool. As we walked into this area the temperature dropped dramatically and we were surrounded by huge red walls and red sand. Greg was saying he felt like it was a big playground for kids because they could escape the heat and roll around in the sand. I agreed.

The lighting is weird in this one, but I still like it. You can't quite tell but he's a few feet off the ground.

So that was our trip in a nutshell. Lots of driving, some chill time at the hotel, homework assignments online, a little walking, yummy food, and an aching back. I'm glad we went so we didn't have to stay in Orem for my birthday... I wanted something special to enjoy since I've been a little down lately and missing people that I love. I wish I could have gone home instead, but luckily we'll be doing that December.

Jackson Hole

2011-07-04T13:42:00.000-06:00

We were in heaven once we got to Jackson Hole. We stayed in a little single cabin which I sadly failed to take pictures of. It was perfect though, and it was a great temporary stopping point between camping and real life.

We enjoyed window shopping most of the two days we were there, but we found several gems while in town. Here are some silly and cool pictures of our time there.

Driving Down Through Grand Teton National Park

2011-07-04T13:28:00.000-06:00

After day 5 of camping we drove down through Grand Teton National Park to Jackson Hole.

We saw some beautiful sites that I thought I'd share.

Yellowstone Camping

2011-07-04T13:19:00.000-06:00

Greg and I camped for 5 nights in Yellowstone National Park this last week. It was great to get out of town, have beautiful scenery, relax a bit, and walk on some trails. We saw a lot of stuff while we were there.

The first day we saw the best waterfall of all, all the others did not compare. It was in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, right next to our campground.

Our second day we drove back down south for a bit and went to the mud pits and smoking caldrons that smelled unpleasant but were pretty cool. I had to use use a latrine and that experience made me wish that I could smell the mud pits instead because it was so nasty!

Greg got an up close and personal encounter with a bison on a trail and got a few good pics :)

One another day we drove around to see Old Faithful and other cool locations. We found some very beautiful hydrothermal features along the way.

That same day we had a fun experience watching a herd of bison walk/run on the opposite lane of the road we were on.

We saw a ton and did many things during our time in Yellowstone. We also had plenty of time to just sit and read or rest. We read the Hunger Games Series while there. I read books 1 and 2 plus a third of book 3. Greg read books 2 and 3 :) Now I need to finish before I have to start work again!

Car, College, and a Trip to the Hospital

2011-06-11T10:46:00.000-06:00

We've had a lot going on. Good things for the most part.

On Memorial Day we bought a new car! Here is a picture:

This week I also got my acceptance letter to the online Master's program at the University of Missouri Columbia in Early Childhood Special Education! Woohoo!

On Thursday, Greg's 13 year old sister had surgery on her leg up at Shriners in Salt Lake City. We got the privilege of staying with the other kids to watch over them. Yesterday afternoon we went to Seven Peaks (a big water park in Provo) and had a blast with Kurt and Carrie. Then we drove up to visit Renee and Sadie at the hospital. Here are some fun pictures from the visit (they're a little blurry because it was the camera on my phone).

My Sweet Sir

2011-05-24T22:16:00.000-06:00

I know the lighting of this picture is not the best. I shot it on my phone this morning because I wanted to capture the fresh flowers. Last night at 10pm Greg came home after a full shift at work with this bouquet in his hands for no particular reason :) He said he had a long day at work and he only got through the last hour because he was thinking about bringing me flowers. What a sweetie. I sure love him.

Tulip Festival with Christina and Corban

2011-05-07T09:08:00.000-06:00

Greg and I joined Christina and Corban earlier this week to check out the Tulip Festival before it ended today. Tulips are my favorite flowers, so I was a bit excited :) Sadly, the weird weather led to an odd array this year, but it was still beautiful and we enjoyed our time together. It was nice to finally get out in the sun (despite the cold wind).

I snapped a few pictures while we were there that I thought were cute (you can click on them if you're on my actual blog to enlarge them):

Life is Always Full of Changes

2011-05-07T08:58:00.000-06:00

We found out last week that Greg's awesome Indiana dig has been postponed due to the wet Spring they have been having. His professor said that he was told the heavy equipment would sink if they attempted to bring them on the site :( So we're crossing our fingers that the new dates chosen will work out for Greg to go too. And... he is now scrambling to pick up shifts at work for next week :)

I have had a whirlwind in my life the past couple weeks. I am switching positions from a Developmental Specialist to a Service Coordinator. This new position will be more paperwork and less home visits with intervention instruction. I hesitated when I heard of the opportunity because I have loved my job and the families I work with, but as I thought about it last weekend I felt like the change might be perfect timing for this stage in my life. When I was first hired on at KOTM I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't get to do the full Early Intervention process myself. I was interested in the intake part of the program, and have felt that it would be good for me to have the experience of qualifying children with standardized tests, keeping track of legal paperwork, and really helping with outside resources when needed. Switching will allow me to be able to experience the total Early Intervention process. Also, I just sent in my application to MU for grad school, and I think this position will be a little more conducive to leaving work at work and not bringing it home with me every night as I try to study.

The decision was made earlier this week that I will be switching positions and now I'm making sure that all of the families I work with keep getting the services they need. I don't want anyone to fall through the cracks. Luckily I have some awesome people I work with who will be taking over for me :) It helps to know that as I walk away, someone competent and caring will be right there to pick up where I left off. I will miss the families I work with immensely, but I feel like this is the right thing to do.

So... as I put on my blog page from the beginning of this blog, "Life is interesting, never what I plan it to be... learning to let go and go with the flow." This seems to be the theme of my entire life :)

Greg's Upcoming Adventure and a Couple Other Tidbits

2011-04-18T21:38:00.001-06:00

A really cool opportunity has been plopped into Greg's path and he's snatching it up. A couple weeks ago his history professor at UVU mentioned in class that he has been part of a dig in Indiana involving WWII German aviation parts and vehicles. He said that last year they had some success and will be going again this May. He said they were short some students and he wanted people he knew to join him before publicizing to everyone. So Greg jumped on it and was able to take the 11 days off of work and will be receiving 2 credits toward his major!

Kind of weird, right... German Nazi planes in Indiana? It turns out that during WWII the US military decided that the Germans had better technology. Orders were given to gather as much of the aviation technology as possible when it had been abandoned and ship it all over to the US to reverse engineer the products. Everything was originally sent to Ohio but as more and more was sent over it was dispersed to various airfields, one of which is in Seymour, IN. Then toward the end of the war orders were given to get rid of all of the inventory so the airfields gave things aways, destroyed parts, and a lot of things were actually buried in big pits... including complete aircrafts. The hope with this dig is to recover many artifacts. Last year they found a ton of things, most of which were propellers and such. They got special permission from the city this time to dig on private land that they think holds even more interesting pieces.

There are a few reasons why this is such a cool experience for Greg. First, he loves history and any type of dig for historical artifacts would be amazing for him. Second, it's in Indiana just 45 minutes away from one of his mission areas. Third, this is a great thing to add to his resume/experiences for his history major. And fourth, he really just deserves a break from the every day humdrum of life. He's been working really hard in school and at Wal-Mart. He deserves an adventure of his own (since I ditched him earlier this month for my own business trip).

He has promised me that he will take a lot of pictures while he is away, so I will totally be sharing them on here once he gets back :) Here's the website for the museum in Seymour associated with the airfield: http://www.indianamilitary.org/FreemanAAF/Museum/FF_museum.html My mom searched out more information on the project and came across it.

Ok, a couple other tidbits...

Last week was my Spring Break which sadly did not feel like a break, but I did accomplish a lot. The biggest thing I did was take the GRE. Yikes! I didn't study much because I have been very busy, but I decided I should just bite the bullet and hope I do well. : / I did alright and in a couple weeks I will have all the official scores. I don't know if I've mentioned on my blog yet that I have found an online master's program that I am going to apply to? It's the Early Childhood Special Education Master's through the University of Missouri Columbia. I've almost got my ducks in a row to have a complete application. I'm hoping to start classes this Fall.

Greg has had some other not-so-exciting adventures over the past few weeks that I thought I'd share. I finally talked him into going to his annual cardiology appointment that he had been putting off and he got to be a part of some fun tests. The first was a two week heart monitor that he wore (he said it made him feel like a cyborg) and they even gave him a little cell phone to go with it that would transmit data to the manufacturer to monitor him 24/7. The second was an MRI which he had been dreading because he threw up during his last one... and he did it again this time, poor guy. Greg had his follow up with the cardiologist today and they said the MRI showed that the leak from last year looked more mild than last year which is great news! The data from the heart monitor showed that his heart rate drops pretty low sometimes, but not enough to be too freaked out, and they want him to see a specialist to look into possible reasons so nothing is missed. So next week he'll get to be poked and prodded by the specialist. I'm glad he's doing all of this despite the "sucker sores" on his chest and the very large bill we received in mail for the heart monitor. Good thing we have insurance... otherwise that one test would cost us $5,000 alone. Whew.

We are truly blessed. We even just celebrated our six month anniversary last week. Life keeps on keeping on. I hope your's is bringing you just as many adventures and blessings.

A Little Trip to a Familiar Place

2011-03-31T17:58:00.000-06:00

I am currently in Clearwater Beach, Florida... the water is not so clear at the moment because there is a big storm blowing through and that's why I decided to do a quick diddy on here while I'm all alone in my hotel room :) Otherwise I'd be exploring the pier and beaches.

Here's some shots of my cute little room at the Days Inn... I got a steal of a deal on priceline.com for it!

And this is the view of the Marina from my door :)

I flew out here for a conference that really intrigued me. It's the 8th Annual Addressing Challenging Behavior Conference put on by the National Training Institute. I got here yesterday morning so I could make it to the keynote address in the afternoon which meant flying all night with a couple layovers. So far the conference has been worth the trip. They haven't said anything earth shatteringly new, but it is refreshing to be surrounded by professionals from all over the country with different perspectives and lots of experience. I love where I work, it is a great company, but sometimes I feel that people don't know the latest or most effective strategies going on out in the world. I've met some nice people who have re-inspired me to continue my journey in the field of Early Childhood Special Education.

One lady I met yesterday was from Kansas and she had taught for 21 years. Right now she is working for an organization that contracts her to coach preschool and kindergarten teachers in a very large elementary school concerning Positive Behavior Support (PBS). We talked about how it's important to prevent unwanted behaviors and promote good behaviors consistently and effectively. I just thought the whole time, wow... I'd love to do something like that once I have years of experience on my resume.

Another lady that I met today at lunch works in Germany managing the Early Intervention program for the Army families overseas. She said she is also over Italy, Korea, and Belgium. She was very interesting and we talked about many topics. She said that she was a NICU nurse and then as she retired she was asked to help head the EI programs abroad. They have educators and specialists from the states move to the various locations and serve the families. That sounds really cool to me! Too bad I'm not in a position to do something like that right now. I also got to hear her feedback about the RBI (Routine Based Interview) which my program just received formal training on this week. Some of my coworkers are nervous or don't want to change the way we do things, but our state is jumping on the bandwagon for this intervention strategy. I think it will be a great change for our program; it's time for it to happen since this research has been out since the '80's and over 20 states use it including the overseas branches.

So far in the trainings I have learned about the Pyramid Model that is the basis of the information at the conference (I'm pretty sure I learned about it in school because it was very familiar to me) and the last session I went to discusses Parent-Child interactions through play groups and home visits specifically for infants and toddlers. The presenter had some good things to say about really coaching parents and being a facilitator without taking over the relationship/interaction. I have been trying to focus on that more because all the research points to parents as the interventionist and professionals as coaches. It's just a matter of wearing two different hats when doing early intervention: engaging the child and then helping the parent to engage the child. Sometimes the hardest part is getting the parent involved.

Anywho... I don't know why I just rambled all these things that you probably aren't interested in. I am just excited to get a break from the grueling pace of work and to fill my own bucket. I miss being in school regularly and getting insight on different strategies. It's hard to look up when you've got your nose to the grind. But this reaffirms that I do need to keep going with school. I found a master's program in Early Childhood Special Education online a few months ago that I am going to apply to this summer. I am hoping I can take about 6 credits a semester and finish about the same time Greg finishes his bachelor's, but I do have a habit of biting off more than I can chew so we shall see ;)

Our Newest "Professional" Photo

2011-03-13T15:25:00.000-06:00

I just thought I'd share a new picture of Greg and myself :) We went to Target with all of Greg's immediate family right after Christmas so Greg's mom could have a more current family photo to display and they all said that Greg and I should get our own picture together as well. So I'm finally sharing it! Oh, and this is one of the haircuts I've given Greg... I think I'm getting the hang of it ;)

One Crazy Week

2011-02-20T00:46:00.003-07:00

This week was super packed and busy. On top of our normal work and school we:

Went to the BYU vs. University of Utah basketball game on Saturday thanks to Greg's Farley grandparents
Had Greg's littlest sister, Sadie, over to spent the night and come to church with us
We taught our little 12-14 year olds about how to build their own testimonies of Joseph Smith and modern day revelation
Greg got a second calling to be the Elder's Quorum Secretary
We exchanged Valentine's Day gifts a day early because I was too excited to wait :)

We ate some yummy Krispee Kreme donuts and Sadie took our pictures after the BYU game

I found this Jazz jacket on a super deal and bought it without being sure if I'd give it to him for v-day or his b-day, but I gave it to him for v-day so he could wear it that week

He was a little excited about his new jacket :)

I found this coat really cheap too and got it because I wasn't sure if the other one would fit right and Greg has no real jackets, just hoodies. Turns out both fit and we're keeping both since together they cost less than a normal one :)

One of Greg's backpack straps broke a while back so I gave him mine while I toted around his messed up bag since he has more walking to do and more books to haul. So he decided he'd look for a new backpack for me, since I use it often for work, and then filled it with all kinds of random goodies. He said he scoured the candy aisle looking for non-chocolate candy since I've been avoiding chocolate for the last couple months... he's so good to me :)

We celebrated our the actual Valentine's Day together by eating at Rib City in American Fork just like last year
Our eldest nephew, Jacob's, 8th birthday was Wednesday so I had to make sure we got him a gift in time
On Wednesday we went to the Utah Jazz vs. Warriors game thanks to Christina who had a visiting teacher mention that she had free tickets :)

Christina's 28th birthday was yesterday so I went to dinner with her and Corban at Noodles & company because Greg had to work in the evening, then we went back to their apartment and watched a movie
Greg's 24th birthday was today and he was able to get the day off so we enjoyed each other's company most of the day and then met up with his family for dinner at Chili's and played together at their house afterward

This gift from Greg's brother, Chad, (Bucky Balls) was the party favorite and everyone was fighting to get a chance to play with the cool little magnetic balls.

This was our creative attempt to have the right candles on Greg's birthday pies :)

We finished the night off by putting the balls back together into a cube (much harder than it looked). Kurt was a big help as Greg yelled "fix it" over and over again :)

Overall, it was a pretty great week... just a little exhausting. :) And now a new one is just beginning... luckily I get Monday off to actually clean house and go grocery shopping, and then I get to spend two days of work in a training to help me better serve families and I don't have to be rushing from appointment to appointment like normal.

Five Reasons It's Fun to be an Aunt

2011-01-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

I had Christina drop Corban off on Saturday for a few hours so she could have a break and get some stuff done at home. I was reminded why it's fun to be an aunt.

1. I let Corban jump on our bed when he comes over... but I always remind him it's not okay to jump on any other bed unless he asks his mom first :)

2. I can tie him up on his request and take pictures of him being silly.

3. I play all kinds of games with him, including MarioKart on my Wii and cheer him on like he is winning even when he is the loser so he has no clue :)

4. We read books together and guess the endings.

5. I get to give him back after a few hours :)

P.S. This is what our room looked like the day before we had Corban over :) We're finally getting all the details in order. And some day when ALL the rooms are set I'll take pictures to share. I know I keep saying I'll do it, that's why I'm including this picture now.

A Gimpy Holiday Break

2011-01-06T21:25:00.001-07:00

So... with all my grace I managed to miss the last step on our apartment the Saturday before Christmas and hurt my right ankle and foot again. Yes, the one that caused me so much anguish a couple years ago. Luckily I had a two week break so I was able to baby it a ton and keep it elevated like it should be. It was definitely not how I had envisioned our two week break, but at least I didn't have to miss a ton of work.

Something I learned out of this experience, and still am learning, is that Greg is so wonderful. He has gone out of his way to make sure I have the things I need and that I'm as comfortable as I can be. He helped me a ton when I first got hurt, getting me crutches, giving me a priesthood blessing, making me food, etc. I am grateful for his love and support. I'm not the best person to be around when I am hurt or feeling down, and he has been a trooper.

The week of Christmas was full of family time. We even spent the night at Greg's family's house on Christmas Eve. Renee's Christmas Eve gift to all of us was a pajama outfit. We all changed that night and took pictures together, but the group ones turned out blurry :( Here's a silly one of me and Greg though :)

After that we all sat down together and read scriptures about the coming of our Savior and His birth, and sang songs to go along with the scriptures. After that, all the kiddos went to bed and then Greg and I laid out our stockings and our "Santa Gifts" as per their family tradition. We were in charge of taking care of ourselves since we're married, so Greg went and got us a new and very cool game called Small World. And he bought some amazing chocolate :) I had silly little things I threw in like lovey bears, chomping alligators, and tons of little love notes to Greg. It was fun.

On Christmas morning we rolled out of bed late and joined the family for yummy crepes made by Chad and Renee. Then we took turns opening gifts. There was a whole lot more than I had expected and we were very grateful for what we received. We were especially excited about our new games we had gotten each other and had received from others. We now have two shelves of games in our entertainment center because we love games so much and have collected them over the years :)

Overall it was a good Christmas. I missed my family for sure since it was my only Christmas away from home, minus my mission. But Greg's family does a good job of making me feel welcome. We spent the next few days just playing all the games together. I didn't take many pictures because I was trying to stay stationary like a good girl :)

The New Year started without much of a bang. My foot and ankle were hurting a lot and I was feeling down. We had a huge storm earlier in the week, so I shut myself in the house and didn't leave for 4-5 days. We ended up having Greg's cousin/friend Ryan and his roommate over for a late night game when Greg got off work and enjoyed some yummy treats.

Now I'm back to work. I've made it through a whole week almost. Christina was able to bring me my old moon boot from California so I am using that to care for my injury. I met with an Orthopedist on Tuesday and he told me I have a couple weeks more of the boot. He's hoping it's just a really bad sprain since he couldn't see a fracture for sure on my foot or ankle with xrays, but he said he's a little worried it's more than a sprain since I'm still in a lot of pain and I still have some swelling and bruising. If I'm still in pain by the first week of February I will have the privilege of an MRI. So I'm crossing my fingers, and limping along :) I'm also hoping all the ice melts!

Gingerbread Houses

2010-12-22T23:39:00.000-07:00

Greg's family has a tradition of making "gingerbread houses" out of graham crackers. This year was my first time doing it with them because I went home for two weeks last Christmas. Greg's mom, Renee, went to WINCO and got a little bit of many different kinds of candy to decorate with.

I wasn't sure what to do since it had been years since I had done something like these houses, but I came up with the idea to make the fourplex that Greg and I live in :) It actually turned out quite cute, I even made the dumpster with trash, our rocky road/ parking lot, and some of the cars outside.

What did Greg make? A Mayan Temple. Yup. I sure do love that he marches to the beat of his own drum. Can you see why we get along so well? : D

Everyone else did a good job too. Kent even made a playground at a park, and Carrie decided to do Whoville and she had tons of funky little houses. It was fun, and I got to see how serious the Farley-Winkler bunch are about their tradition. We started around 4pm; Chad and Greg finished around 9pm. Phew.

Here are the other pieces of art :)

Kurt's train

Carrie's Whoville

Sadie's apartment/department... she was never clear on what she meant

Renee's little cottage

Kent's playground at a park

Chad's big house

And in the end we put all our masterpieces in a display case to enjoy for the rest of the holiday season :)

Thanksgiving in California

2010-12-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

Greg and I drove to Northern California to spend Thanksgiving with my parents, the Heller family, and Erin. The drive each way was extremely long because we hit storms each way! But we made it safely there and back... unlike several other people we passed by who had not driven as carefully.

We had a good time in Cali, we mostly just chilled at the house and enjoyed our break. Our nephews were really excited to see us and loved pouncing on Greg. We helped Jacob and Nathan play Battleship against each other, and we all watched "How to Train a Dragon" one afternoon. When the boys weren't around we convinced Erin and my parents to play games with us too :)

The Saturday after Thanksgiving was our little open house at the Healdsburg Ward Church Building. It was good to see some old friends, co-workers, and family ward members. We had great help from some wonderful people. My mom did all the leg work to have tarts like Greg really wanted for our wedding (he's not a huge dessert fan but he LOVES tarts). I thought the evening went so well and turned out beautifully simple. Here are a few shots to capture the decorations thanks to my sister, Sarah.

After the party Greg and I drove to Roseville and stayed at a nice Extended Stay Hotel that we got for cheap on Priceline.com. We will definitely try that website again!!! In the morning we worked our way through Tahoe and Greg snapped this shot. It was absolutely gorgeous :)

Our Quilt

2010-12-20T18:51:00.000-07:00

Greg's Grandma Rowley gave us a quilt for our wedding. Apparently she made one for each of the grandkids for when they get married, in case she is not able to do it by the time they each get the chance. One day we were over at Greg's mom's house for dinner and she had us pull all of the quilts out to have first pick of the lot. I thought I'd show a part of it and a couple shots of Greg taking advantage of the pile of quilts - it fit him perfectly!

More Wedding Pictures!

2010-12-04T14:44:00.000-07:00

So... I got more pictures a while back from our wonderful photographer, Liz Bowles, and I thought I would share some more favorites :) There are a lot, but I wanted to show a variety to capture the day. Thanks again to everyone who made our day the best day ever! We are still madly in love and having a blast together when our schedules let us see each other ;)

Presents :)

2010-10-31T22:26:00.000-06:00

When we got back into town from our honeymoon we had Greg's family and my family over to my apartment to open gifts. It was awesome to see all the wonderful things people gave us to help us start our new life together. I had Carrie take some shots for us to remember and I thought I'd share a few :)

Corban became our present picker so he wouldn't be bored, and he did a super job!

Some of my super Cali friends gave us one of my most wanted gifts: a spice rack! Plus some cash and notes "To spice up our marriage". Way cute idea, I love them! I can't wait to see them in a few weeks!

Park City Honeymoon

2010-10-31T22:11:00.002-06:00

Greg and I got married on the Friday of our four-day Fall Break, and decided to just go to Park City for two nights for a mini-honeymoon since he's in school this semester and we didn't want him to miss classes. The goal is to go on a cruise in 6 months once his next semester is over. He's thinking Alaska, but we haven't researched anything yet.

Anywho... we drove to Park City after our open house and stayed at a really nice Marriott. We didn't take a whole lot of pictures because we were so worn out and mostly just wanted to rest, but we got a few shots that I wanted to share.

The first two below are included because I think the story is funny. When we got to the hotel and I opened my suitcase which had three pairs of shoes on top Greg said "Oh no! I forgot to bring other shoes!" The next day he wore my flip flops, which were not as small on him as I thought they would be, to the store to get some shoes :) What did we find at Walmart?!?! A $3.00 pair of tennis shoes!!! That's the second picture. And then at the outlets we found an a amazing deal in which he walked away with three more pairs of shoes. I think he's set with shoes now ;)

We tried to capture the amazing colors that surrounded us as we drove around, but the camera does not give nature justice. I told Greg I felt like some of the scenery was painted on a canvas with mustard, it was amazing.

We also tried to capture the PC Mountain and this is as good as we got. I'm okay with that.

Our time spent together in Park City was great. Especially the time we spent soaking in the hot tub to rest our sore bodies from all the stress we had been going through. I was not ready to come back to the real world when the time came. But we jumped right back into life the next day, and have been running at full speed since then. We are hoping for a tiny break to breathe sometime soon. I finally got all my things out of the old apartment and Christina helped me clean, but now we have to organize our new place before I can feel more sane :) Once we have things figured out I'll try to post pictures of our little home.

By the way, I love being married to Greg. He has been super helpful and supportive as I've been stressed out. He was able to get the really big/heavy things moved with some help, he is always pointing out my good qualities, and he tries hard to help me be a better person. He rocks my socks, and I told him that I hope it stays that way forever.

Mr. and Mrs.Farley

2010-10-31T21:46:00.001-06:00

We have now been married for half a month! Weird. Life has been super-crazy-busy with wedding prep, family in town, apartment hunting, moving, cleaning, plus trying to just stay afloat with all my job duties. But I wanted to take a quick moment to put up a few of our pictures from our private photo shoot with our amazing photographer, Liz Bowles, before more time goes by and we've been married 6 months without me posting about it ;) These are just a few that we have, and we'll be getting others soon... I'll share my favorites of those too, of course.

Our wedding turned out well in pretty much all aspects except for my poor dad having to deal with a giant kidney stone which has still not been taken care of yet :( I am so grateful for all my family and friends who helped me, especially my mom, Mary, and Christina.

The week of the wedding was warm and sunny, compared to the week before which was wet and stormy! We were married in the Mount Timpanogos Temple at 10am, and I think our sealer was perfect for us. He talked to us outside the room and had the same humor and opinions as us. His counsel to us as we covenanted to our Father in Heaven and to each other was perfect for us to hear. It was wonderful to be in that room filled with so many people that have meant the world to us during our short lives, there to support us as we started our journey together. I cried... a lot. Greg just smiled. I was grateful to have three of my best friends (Annmarie, Barbara, and Natalie) come from out of state to be in that room. Greg was able to have two good mission companions come to support. And we had tons of close family and extended family with us as well. And afterward we had a hug line as they left the room :)

As we exited the temple we were greeted with cheers and were able to take pictures with family members and friends. One of my absolute besties, Laurel, was outside waiting for us and she made my cry AGAIN! I love that girl. After the pictures we went over to Greg's uncle Leon's house for a luncheon that his mom set up. It was tons of different salads and other yummy foods, along with homemade pumpkin pies that she and his brother, Chad, made. It was awesome. She made a little speech and then my dad made a little speech, which was humorous because he was kind of off from the meds :D I love my dad!!!

After the luncheon we went over to Mary's house where the open house was being held and finished preparing for the evening. She, my cousin Michell, and my uncle Jeff did so much to make our day special. The open house was beautiful, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We had BYU Food to Go desserts, fruit/veggie platters, and a yummy lemonade with a cool ice ring made by my parents.

By the end of the day I was ready to go. I can't stand on my feet for very long in one spot because I have foot issues, so at one point I explained to someone that it felt like shards of glass were being shoved up into my feet, despite my comfy shoes, and I needed to sit down! Ugh. I changed out of my dress into my white and blue dress that I love. Then Greg and I walked through the aisle of bubbles between our friends and family to our awesomely decked out car :)

And we drove away as a "Just Married" couple.

BIG News :)

2010-08-19T07:57:00.005-06:00

After lots of thinking, praying, fasting, talking together/with our family and friends... Greg and I have decided to get married! We had been talking about it a lot the past couple months but we became officially engaged last week.

We had planned for a 3 month engagement (because I have always been a fan of short engagements after longer dating periods) but due to family scheduling conflicts we have finally decided on October 15th as the date! We have booked our sealing room in the Mount Timpanogos Temple that morning. We are hoping to do an open house in California during Thanksgiving weekend so we can be with my whole immediate family at that time as well.

I'm excited and nervous/stressed, but I also feel peaceful and calm. Greg is wonderful and amazing. He is the love of my life and my best friend. He has helped me in so many ways and I think he evens out my anal and stressed natural-self that likes to come out often. He somehow almost always manages to cheer me up when I am down, or make my day better even if it was already good. He's handsome, witty, silly, caring, and loves learning. I am grateful he is in my life.

Manti Roadtrip

2010-08-09T19:22:00.003-06:00

This past weekend I had the chance to drive down to Manti to see one of my besties, Claire. I hadn't seen her since my trip to Hawaii, so it was an overdue visit.

I was able to go to the Manti Temple which was gorgeous inside and out, and I ran into my old friend, Karen Whitaker (I should have taken a picture with her, but I didn't think about it!) I did invite her to lunch though, and we ate with Claire, Betsy, and Nichole at Miller's Bakery.

I also went out to this little shop called Sugar Plum Cottage and we all got Snow Cremes which are snow cones with soft serve ice cream and a cream on top. They had soooo many flavors that the lady had created and they actually tasted like what they were called.

I also received a short tour of Manti allowing me to see the Pioneer Cemetery, the old Pea Factory, the airport, and a few other things.

And last, but not least... I dominated Claire and her sister Betsy in Monopoly. :D An overall great weekend!

Bryce Canyon

2010-07-24T12:02:00.003-06:00

Last weekend I went camping in Bryce Canyon with Greg and his family. It was very beautiful. People say that it's red rock but the secret is that it is full of ORANGE rock! You can't tell so much with my pictures because they didn't catch the vibrant colors, but it was gorgeous! All the orange and green made me happy.

We hiked on a few different trails during the time we were there and got to see views high above the canyons and inside on one of the canyon's floors. It was a good experience to spend more time with Greg's family and to see how they interact when they are stuck together for a few days.

I wouldn't object to going back down there sometime, there are so many things to explore and places to escape into solitude.

The Last Bit of Our Trip Home

2010-07-11T14:54:00.004-06:00

The Friday we were in California was spent with Annmarie. The three of us drove to the Sacramento Temple and spent a few hours there. We were also able to arrange to meet up with one of my best friends from high school, Amanda, to spend a little time with her and her daughters. It was great to see her as a beautiful mother and to catch up for a little while. When we drove home, we had yummy homemade milanesa thanks to my daddio.

Saturday was our last day there and we just played around the house, packed, and drove to the airport. We were lucky enough to catch some fireworks going off all around Salt Lake City as we were landing.

Overall, it was an amazing vacation. I wish we could have been there for an extra week! But life just keeps going, and it feels like I've been back for over a month instead of a week. Time flies.

San Francisco

2010-07-11T14:48:00.001-06:00

My parents were able to take the Thursday we were in town off, and the four of us spent the day in San Francisco! We walked on the Golden Gate Bridge, went to the beach on the Presidio, got lost a bunch, ate some Argentinean Empanadas, walked around Ghiradelli Square, and saw Wicked at the Orpheum Theatre. It was a jam-packed day that was a lot of fun.

Beautiful Sonoma County Drive

2010-07-11T14:43:00.003-06:00

While in town, on Wednesday we piddled around the eastern part of Sonoma County and drove up to the entrance of Hood Mt. Park so we could have a good look over Santa Rosa. Then we ended the night playing games with family and friends, our favorite :)

Six Flags!

2010-07-11T14:37:00.002-06:00

On the Tuesday we went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo and ended up having a nice man give us his extra tickets so we could get in free! We played all day long and rode our favorite roller coaster, The Medusa, three times :)

Redwood Trees and Beaches

2010-07-11T14:29:00.003-06:00

The Monday we were in California we drove out to Armstrong Woods to introduce the redwood trees to Greg, and then drove down the county coastline. We stopped at Goat Rock Beach and strolled down to the part where the Russian River meets the Pacific Ocean. We saw seals, listened to the big waves crashing on the shore, enjoyed the sunshine, and loved the scenery.

The Beginnings of a Much-Needed Trip Home

2010-07-11T14:19:00.002-06:00

Last week I had the opportunity to vacation in Sonoma County with Greg. We were able to do all kinds of fun things while we were home.

We flew in on a Saturday and my good friends, Annmarie and Nicole were there to pick us up! We went to the Oakland Temple to do some work, and then spent the evening with my parents.

On Sunday we went to church with my parents and it was fun seeing all the Healdsburg Ward members I grew up with. Then my dad made us a yummy BBQ dinner and we enjoyed each other's company.

Women's Conference 2010

2010-05-23T17:52:00.009-06:00

I had the opportunity to take a few days off and go to Women's Conference with two of my aunts and my mom! It was crazy and hectic, but it felt good to ditch work for a little bit and really good to spend a little time with some great women.

The lighting on my camera was kind of whacked out so the pictures aren't the best, but they document a rare occasion of all the sisters together. This is Doreen, Mary, and Carole (my mom)

LOVE! Perfect for them to have in their picture :)

There were thousands of women there at the conference.

Mom, Mary, and me!

My mom and Mary on Temple Square on the way back to the car after researching family history and eating some yummy food at the Lion House Bakery with Greg.

Tiptoe Through the Tulips!

2010-05-23T16:57:00.019-06:00

I have been meaning to share some gorgeous pictures of the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, UT. I went with Greg and his family at the end of April despite a blustery day and it was well worth it. Here are some highlights of the day :)

This is our bunch minus Kurt, who is taking the picture. Renee (their mom, Greg, Me, Sadie, and Carrie)

A cool one of us :)

The Farley - Winkler family (well, some of them)

Me and my Sweet Sir

Thought this one was hilarious

Greg said it looked like the little bunches of tulips were tulips on crack

I thought this pathway looked neat

I think these are my favorite tulips

Carrie found a new friend :)

Greg restaining Kurt so his mom could get the camera to take a picture of us all... Greg was all smiles and having a little too much fun, maybe?

This was in the shape of a butterfly, but it was so big you couldn't get a good picture of it from the ground.

Love this self-portrait by Sadie. What a cutie :)

San Diego and Back

2010-04-10T22:36:00.005-06:00

My dad's father passed away last month and we had the opportunity to drive down to the memorial service that was held for him at the beautiful Riverside National Cemetery in southern California. We drove down to show our respect for our grandpa and to support my dad. Volunteer veterans performed a very traditional and respectful ceremony to honor his life and service in the Marines during World War II, and then my dad spoke to our extended family about how death is not the end of life because of the Savior Jesus Christ and the love of God, and how important it is to remember the good things Grandpa did. He did a really good job. I was very proud of him. I am glad we could make the trip out there.

One perk of this trip was that we could drive down and stay with my sister Sarah's family in San Diego. We were able to go down in the middle of the week because it was our spring break and spend a few days with them I thought I'd include a couple cute shots of my little nephews :)

"Baby O" in a happy mood

Hilarious little guys as we waited for lunch before taking off for the memorial service :)

General Conference!

2010-04-03T19:53:00.003-06:00

I went to General Conference in the huge Conference Center for the first time this afternoon. My friend Barbara came to visit this week and invited me to go with her because she had two tickets. We asked if Greg wanted to join us and hope we could get him a standby ticket. We all waited in line for a bit and we were told by one of the guys in charge that Greg had pretty much no chance of getting in.

Luckily as I went to peel an orange at a trashcan I overheard a small group of people discussing how they had one ticket and didn't want it to go to waste, but thought it would be weird to go up to people in the standby line because everyone had a group they were with. I spoke up and told them I knew one person that would love to have it! They grilled me on who he was and explained it was a very special ticket that they didn't want to give to just anyone... turns out the ticket was way up front with all the family members of apostles. So Greg totally lucked out and even got a hug from a cute little boy who thought he was a cousin :)

We had fun and it was totally worth the trip!

Mi Familia

2010-04-01T20:00:00.005-06:00

This last Christmas my whole family had the opportunity to get together and have our pictures taken. Here are some of my favorites... glad to finally have them to share with you all :)

The Heller Family (Nathan, Sarah, Jacob, Ian, Owen)

Me n Baby O.

Corban, Nathan and Jacob being the silly boys they are

Corban giving his mommy, Christina, a good smooch on the cheek

The original Rivers family: Laura, Erin, Sarah, Carole, Tracey, Christina

The whole bunch: Ian, Laura, Sarah, Owen, Carole, Tracey, Erin, Jacob, Christina, Nathan, Corban

Silliness, the Rivers' way

A new shot

Grandma and Grandpa's hands, with the four grandson's hands :)

The girls: Erin, Laura, Christina, Sarah

Me playing peek a boo :)

Ian getting in his tree climbing

The momma and poppa who started it all

Vacation to Oahu

2010-03-13T20:23:00.013-07:00

I had the wonderful opportunity to escape to Oahu for about a week and a half at the end of February since my good friend, Clarissa, had moved out there in January with her best friend, Nichole. I had a blast for the most part and figured I should share some memories :)

I arrived on a Friday night and the girls picked me up in a rental, we planned to go up to the North Shore the next day to the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC). Well... we awoke to tsunami sirens because of the earthquake in Chile, so we stayed inside until the late afternoon and then ventured out. We still had fun, but it was a little sad to think we might not get an opportunity to see the PCC like everyone recommended.

On Sunday we went to their old ward they had just most out of on Friday and then drove up to the Temple and BYU Hawaii. It was fun to just go exploring and stop when we felt like it :) We had some good adventures.

I spent Monday in downtown Honolulu checking out the Capitol Building (which is amazing), mission homes, a palace, some churches, and other historical sites. Claire met up with me after she got off work and we wandered Chinatown, where we had some of the nastiest Chinese food I've ever tasted.

On Tuesday I visited the Hawaii State Art Museum downtown and saw some really great pieces. Then I met up with Claire and we went down to Waikiki to see the sunset over the ocean :) Afterward we ate some grubbin breakfast food, and Nichole joined us.

On Wednesday I rode the bus down to the swap meet at Aloha Stadium with Nichole and we had a blast going through a bunch of booths looking for good deals. I was surprisingly in the mood to spend money (which is rarely the case) so I found some good deals on things I had been wanting to get for myself and for others like an apron for cooking, a wallet for Greg, some jewelry for myself and others, etc.

Once I was done there I walked to Pearl Harbor but sadly missed the last boat to see the USS Arizona because the dumb guy ahead of me in line took too long to decide what he wanted to do :( But I enjoyed the movie presentation they had and walked around the areas I could.

Afterward, I hopped on the bus to meet Claire to go eat something, we then met up with Nichole and stopped at "Auntie Pastos." Sadly our pizza was burned by the cook, but we ended up getting free creme brule because of it... good stuff!

On the way home we had some crazy guys on the bus who kept singing random songs in their language and every once in a while one would yell out "Michael Jackson," "Kahuna," and "God bless America!" It was weird and awkward. Apparently one of the guys was missing an eye and was turning around making faces at the people who were sitting behind him and when he wanted his friend's attention he'd blow a raspberry noise. I just tried ignoring them because I figured they wanted attention. When they went to get off the bus the guy with two eyes turned to us and said "Sorry you ladies had to put up with us," then he turned to me and said "I love you!" and blew me a kiss. I was cracking up... another man told me he thought I dealt with the whole situation well because I guess the man had put his hand on my shoulder as we were sitting there, but I just moved forward in my seat... I had just thought I had sat back a little and touched his hand so I moved forward. Ah... my life of random crazy men who bother me.

On Thursday I rode the bus to the Aloha Tower Marketplace to take go on a short Whale Watching Cruise. One of the mothers I work with had told me whale watching was her most favorite thing in Hawaii and suggested I try it, so I decided to give it a go :) I went on the Star of Honolulu and it was fun! I saw whales 15-20 times, enjoyed the island coastal view from the ocean, listened to good music, people watched, and made a lei. It was well worth the money and 3 hours I spent.

Afterward I met up with Claire and we used a coupon to eat at a restaurant called "Zippy's," then we rode the bus to get a second rental car because we were able to reschedule our visit to the PCC for Friday, and she was able to get the day off!

On Friday we made our way to Haleiwa as Laurel puts it, it's the equivalent to Sebastopol if you've ever been there). We at brunch at "Breakers" and it was de-lish. Then we went to the PCC and had an absolute blast! It was like a little amusement park with historical facts, people dressed up as natives from various polynesian islands, and lots of shows to share their cultures. We took a canoe ride down the middle of the complex first and got a condensed tour. Then we checked out the villages one by one. We didn't hit them all, but it was fun. I also enjoyed the canoe parade where everything stopped for 30 minutes and the workers danced on canoes in the little river with traditional clothing and dances from each island. Then we ate a buffet dinner, took a little tram tour to BYU Hawaii and the Temple, and then enjoyed the evening show: "HA: The Breath of Life." I loved the Fijian dancing with fire!

Saturday we spent a little time on a Waikiki beach near a lagoon. I swam in both the lagoon and the ocean, and then laid in the sun for a little bit. It was nice :) Then I was off to the airport for an overnight flight home.

I am glad that I actually took a real vacation for myself. I was able to do things that I wanted to without much worrying and it felt good. Everything wasn't perfect, but I was able to let go and go with the flow for the most part, I am so glad I went!

When I returned home I had a great surprise on my bedroom door from Christina and Corban! They heart attacked me, how sweet :)

Chicken and Broccoli Braid

2010-03-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to put this recipe up online for friends and family, it's easy and always tastes great. I learned about it when I was in college and you can pretty much use any filling... even apple pie filling or pizza toppings.

Preheat the oven to 375F

Filling Mix:
1C cooked chicken (chopped)
1C broccoli (chopped and blanched in the microwave 2 minutes)
1/4 C chopped green bell pepper
3/4 C grated cheese
3/4 C ranch dressing
*Optional: you could saute some chopped onion and add it to the mix for flavoring

Crust:
2 packages of store-bought crescent rolls

Mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl.

On a cookie sheet, spread out the crescent rolls like the pictures below (make sure to press the creased parts together to get the holes out).

Spread the filling mixture down the center.

Cut the edges into strips about 1 inch away from the filling, and then braid over the top (one stripe from each side so they overlap).

Bake 20-25 minutes or until the dough is golden brown... sometimes the inside part of the dough is not done, so make sure it's good and golden but not burnt.

Cut and enjoy :)

Months Just Flew By

2010-02-21T15:35:00.000-07:00

Hm... I'm not doing so hot with staying up to date with my life on here. I figure it's okay though because my two older sisters blog enough updates to make up for it ;)

So, biggest bits of news?

I have a new (well, not so new anymore) boyfriend named Greg. We officially started dating around Thanksgiving, but started going on dates in October. He's a good fit for me. Our sense of humor is the same, he's kind and gentle, hilariously silly at appropriate times, wise and serious at other times, has a large repertoire of vocabulary, loves games like I do, and so many other good things :) He served his mission in Indiana and we enjoy sharing stories from that time period of our lives. Below is the first picture we took together I think (self-portrait by me). It's kind of a weird angle, but we decided it was cute. He's 6'7" in case you are wondering... this is us standing normally.

Christina and Corban moved into my little apartment at the end of November/ beginning of December. We've been trying to figure out the best layouts of new furniture, wall hangings, etc. I think it's finally coming together. I have been lucky enough to help get Corban to daycare every once in a while and we try to take turns making dinner during the week. I am gone a lot though, so she often does more of the cooking for the two of them. It's been good for all of us to live together I think. I've labeled this time period my "practice mommyhood" and I think it's true sometimes :)

At the beginning of December I had the opportunity to fly to Dallas, TX for a Zero to Three Conference. I went with three co-workers and had a blast for the most part. I wouldn't say it was all the training I had hoped for, but I gleaned some wisdom and techniques that I have been able to implement in my daily life. We rented a car and were able to explore a little. We went and saw the Cowboys Stadium and it was a really neat building! My co-worker, Linda, was from Austin, TX and wanted us to experience a great Texan BBQ. She was so upset when we visited a supposedly amazing place, where the food was actually quite disgusting. We did end up finding a couple good places though, and we even boarded the plane with happy bellies from some good BBQ at the airport of all places.

One reason I love my job is that I have a lot of the same vacation days as the school district. I was able to have two full weeks off for Christmas at the end of December and flew home to California with Christina and Corban. We were there for a little over a week and had a lot of fun, but we were happy to arrive back home for a little break before starting up with work again. While home, we had a total of 7 adults and four children in my parents little three bedroom house... kinda crazy. But I am glad we were finally all together once again... it had been over 3 years since we were all in one place. It was also great to see so many good friends who I dearly miss and wish I lived closer to. I even got to spend time with two very old friends, Amanda (Hutchings) O'Kelly and Lisa Smallen! I hadn't seen them in so long... like close to the time I graduated. I got to meet a couple of their kids as well. Time flies!

New Year's Eve was spent at Greg's house, he currently rents a room from his mom. I was invited over to plays games late into the night/morning. It was a lot of fun. I am happy that I have found some people who are almost always up for games like I am :)

Something sad that happened in this span of time is that my blackberry phone and my laptop died within a week of each other! Luckily I had a good warranty on my laptop and ended up with a newer, better computer than I had had! And luckily enough, my dad had saved his old AT&T phone from work that I have been using until I decide what to do about getting a new one. I think it is so lame that now the company is charging $30 a month if you have a smart phone of any type... I just want to use my phone to keep track of my appointments and easily sync it to my server at work! Ugh.

In January I also started taking an Institute class with Greg at UVU, focusing on the second half of the New Testament. I have been a little disappointed in the quality of the class, but I am glad we signed up for it together. One perk is that I won us some free movie tickets through a scripture chase last week. Random, I know :) We were lucky that we sat down and read the first 6 chapters of 2 Corinthians together the night before and that my memory works sometimes like taking a picture of the page so I can quickly remember where something was said. Ha! The married girl in front of me and I got the big $25 gift cards from it because we each have a "partner" who comes to class with us, and the others who had given some answers do not. That teacher is so weird, but hey... free date on her :)

The weather has been odd this winter (that's what Utahns and Idahoans say every year though). It has been an exceptionally dry winter I think, but I did get the opportunity a few times to play in the snow with Christina, Corban, and Greg. I even bought Corban a penguin sled which he named "Penguino" all by himself :) Christina bought an orange saucer a few weeks later but there has not been enough snow to use it yet :( We'll see if we get blasted once more before Spring officially begins.

This past week has been pretty fun. I took Christina to a little play at a local theater for her birthday and Greg watched Corban for us. It was the best play, but I hope she enjoyed the little time away watching some talented people. On the weekend I was able to celebrate my first real romantic Valentine's Day and it was so fun :) We went to the 40th anniversary of the Young Ambassadors matinee and it was full of awesome music and dancing from over the years, including alumni from 40 years ago. Then we ate in American Fork at a yummy little place called "Rib City," exchanged little gifts we got for each other, and then watched "Fried Green Tomatoes" because I had been recently complaining about how Utah drivers sometimes make me want to "towanda" them! Please see the clip below to see what I mean if you don't understand... and if you do understand, you should still watch it for kicks and giggles :)

I also celebrated Greg's 23rd birthday on Friday. We just stayed at his home. I got to see his family birthday present opening traditions for the second time and that was cute. We had yummy food and played a few games, then we watched a movie. It was low key, but enjoyable.

Okay... so those are the highlights of the last few months. I have other stories and pictures, but this will do for now. I hope you all are doing well :)

Hello Again!

2009-11-15T22:50:00.005-07:00

Long time, no type...

I've been meaning to do an update for all my loving family and friends but was holding out for a time when I finally had my apartment in order and had some pictures to share. But I think that will be for another time, like once Christina is moved in and I am on my Christmas break or something. Who knows, maybe I'll be inspired earlier than that.

Things are going really well for me. I moved to down to Orem last month and I'm loving my apartment so far! I'm finally starting to feel that I can settle down here for at least a little while. I'm getting involved with my ward (I am a Ward Missionary yet again... surprise!) and I'm making new friends in my community. I've been lucky enough to go on some fun dates with new friends as well :) To those of you who don't know, things with Marcos and I were too complicated so we decided to move on with our own lives. I'm glad for the experiences we had together though and hope the best for him.

I've kinda been on a musical kick lately and have been to several concerts/performances lately. It's been quite enjoyable. I've gone to a few orchestra concerts, the ocTUBAfest at BYU, a concert put on by the choir of the UVU Institute Choir, and I got to see a great version of "The Little Shop of Horrors" at the Hale Center Theatre a few weeks ago :) For a while there I was considering joining a local symphony or orchestra if they would take me with my rusty clarinet skills. But I had to sign a contract that I wouldn't practice musical instruments in my apartment. So I joined the ward choir like usual, and have toyed with the idea of looking for a local choir/chorale who would take me with no voice training. I'm just going to wait and see how I feel about it come Januaryish.

Work is going really well, I've got almost 30 kids on my caseload, and it just keeps growing. I've learned a lot over the past couple months and I'm feeling fairly confident in my skills. Actually, I had my mid-year review on Friday and was told I was doing great for a new employee! Always good to hear that :) I feel there is always room for improvement, but it's nice to have a pat on the back.

I got a call from one of my BYUI teachers, Brother Allen, the other day inviting me to go up and be part of the portfolio review committee for my major. It was an honor to be sought out :) I might try to go up and help out next year, but I am not available this year. It was neat to be able to answer questions as a graduate and talk about my career since college. Weird!

I am excited to drive down to St. George this coming weekend with Christina and Corban where we will meet up with our oldest sister, Sarah and her family! We finally get to meet Baby O (who is turning 1 this week.... CRAZY!) We're hoping to play around a bit on Saturday. So hopefully I'll remember my camera and start taking fun pictures again. It's been a while since I've really busted my camera out.

I'm also excited that I will be going to the Zero to Three Conference for training in Dallas, TX the first week of December :) It's a conference I'm really interested in, plus I'm going with 3 co-workers who I think I'll have fun with, and I've never been to TX before. It will be an adventure!

So that's the basic update on the life of Laura. If I can get my act together, I'll start up on posting the random hilarious things that seem to happen to me on an almost daily basis for your enjoyment. Like a guy emailing me through my mission alumni website "trying to make friends with single sisters who served in his mission and share stories" who quickly ends up asking extremely personal questions regarding things like my sexual history. Where do these people come from!?!?! Anyways... always a good laugh for me and those who know me, I guess :)

Hope all is well for you! Love ya mucho!

Mt. Charleston

2009-09-02T19:32:00.003-06:00

So I finally have a few moments where I am in the mood to update this blog. Life has been busy like always. I finally got assigned a family to have on my caseload and we did a last minute IFSP meeting in their home yesterday. It went well and I will be able to start visiting their home twice a month to give them strategies for working with their child with special needs.

Next week will start the semester for our playgroups at the center. I am co-teaching three with different employees and I'm looking forward to the experience. Things are going really well at Kids on the Move :)

Last weekend I was able to visit Vegas again for a three day weekend (I took Friday off since I wanted to go down on a three day weekend but can't go this weekend). I was able to spend time with Marcos and the boys, and Theresa :) I had fun and it was totally worth it except for the part where I got totally sick with a flu bug or something! But it came and went within about 24 hours and I kept on trucking.

Marcos, the boys, and I drove out to Mt. Charleston to play on Saturday and it was really pretty. Too bad Vegas isn't as cool and beautiful as it.

Marcos had fun climbing random trees like the monkey he is and we were all impressed. He's giving a thumbs up in the picture below if you can't tell. When he got down he said "ok, it's your turn!" I just laughed. They all played football and chased each other around a bit while I cheered them on since I was really not feeling well.

Cristian decided that he wanted to take pictures of everything so I let him have full reign of my camera. Little did I know that he was going to decide that I should be the model in most of his pictures. He had me squatting by flowers, posing in certain ways, and then took several pictures of Marcos, Brian, and I together. The one below turned out the best of Marcos and me, even though it's a little weird of a picture I thought I'd share.

I took over the camera a few times to take some of my own picture, and Marcos would have the boys pose for me in random places. The next picture has the boys on a log looking down at me... Marcos was teasing them to get them to both smile at the same time :)

Cristian's 8th birthday is this coming Saturday so I got him a few books and gave both boys a cheap little frog toy that was squishy, stretchy, and felt like a real frog. They had a blast. The picture below is Cristian's frog peeking out from behind my seat.

I had to put this last picture in because it's a self-portrait of the main photogrpaher of the day! Isn't it beautiful???

I didn't get to spend as much time with Theresa as I had hoped, but I think she might be able to come up at the end of next month to play with me one weekend :)

I'm still living at my Aunt Mary's house. It's been fun to get to know her more and we have good conversations. I've been researching places to live, but haven't quite figured it out yet. I'll keep you posted.

Good Stuff

2009-08-09T20:13:00.002-06:00

This is just a little update from my life over the past few weeks.

I was lucky enough to fly to California for a couple days to visit family and friends, and to get some of my things that I've had to leave in my parents' garage over the past few years. It was great to see good friends for a huge total of like 3-4 hours :( Next time I visit it had better be for a longer period of time! But I am glad I went. I miss Cali and I always miss my family. My dad was able to take time off so we packed his car with some of my things and some of Christina's things and drove back out to Utah. It's always fun roadtripping with him :) He's my bud, we understand each other.

I finished the first week of my new job on Friday and start back up tomorrow :) I must say that I am so blessed to have this new position. From what I can tell, KOTM is a great place to work. I've had the opportunity to go on various home visits with other developmental specialists, a physical therapist, and a speech therapist so far. This next week will be full of more co-visits to help me familiarize myself with the styles/personalities of the people I will be working with. A few of the many perks to this job are making my own schedule each day/week, they are paying for me to credential in Early Intervention through the state of Utah's Baby Watch program, and the people are all so friendly! I think I'm going to like this...

The other day I opened up my unofficial transcript to see if my degree had been posted and I saw a special note that said "Cum Laude". It turns out that I graduated in the top 10% of my class! Isn't that awesome? It made me feel good :)

The single's ward I have gone to for the past two Sundays seems to be really good. The people are kind and the meetings are very spiritual. Last week when I went I ran into three people I knew! One was my visiting teaching companion during this last winter semester, one was a man who lived in the Jax Beaches Ward when I served there, AND the last was my old roomie Kim Johnson! Kim just got back from her mission in Helsinki, Finland last month and her parents had moved to Cedar Hills while she was away. The world is such a small place. I was excited to see Kim and hope we can spend some time together before she heads back up to school next month.

Things for Marcos have been tough over this last month and it seems like one thing after the other has blown up in his face (car problems, broken cell phone, dying grandmother, etc). He's still trucking along, but has been under a lot of stress. Last weekend he moved (like he had planned) so he is now in another area which will require new missionaries and a new ward. Things didn't work out to have the missionaries smoothly transition him to a new set, so he'll just start fresh. I think he needs more time anyway to get things in order and I think it might be good to have a new set of missionaries teach him all the lessons over. I'm hoping to visit Las Vegas Labor Day Weekend since it's my birthday and I get a three-day weekend :)

On Wednesday I went to Salt Lake City for a training module on the Cognitive Development of a Young Child. Afterward I was able to catch up with a few good friends, one of which was Clarissa :) We went to Chili's and got a great deal: $20 for an appetizer, an entree for each of us, and a dessert! I was stuffed after the appetizer so I pretty much had my whole entree for lunch the next day. I always love spending time with Claire, she is such a caring and loving friend. I'm hoping we'll have more opportunities to hang out now that we only live 40 minutes from one another.

Mary (my aunt) and I have taken turns traveling this whole time I've been staying with her. She is great for letting me stay with her while I get settled in my job and figure out where I want to live for good. She finally got back from California this Wednesday but will be flying out to Texas this coming Tuesday. It's been fun in the short periods that we've been under the same roof :) We've had my cousin's two year old son, Carson, with us the past few days and I've enjoyed playing a little bit with him. He's a cutie. I am grateful to have the opportunity to build better relationships with my extended family members out here.

So that's the scoop... overall things are amazing in my life right now. There is always room for improvement, but I am working on getting my life in order to make it even better. I have learned that life can be as good as you choose to make it. It takes a lot of effort to get there, but I am beginning to realize that everyone has been correct in saying that the effort pays off. This mortal life is amazing and you only get one shot at it, make sure you give it your all. God knows your heart and deepest desires, He wants to bless you with more than you can imagine... but that requires faith on your part. Reach out to Him and He will guide you to true happiness - I've learned that from real experience :)

Graduating and Moving On... Is This For Real?

2009-07-23T14:24:00.007-06:00

I finished Student Teaching last Friday and am now staying with my aunt, Mary, in Cedar Hills, UT. Great news! I was just offered a position at Kids on the Move in Orem, UT to be a Developmental Specialist starting August 3 :) This is the exact job I've been wanting really bad for a while now. I think it's the best first step in my career for the path I want to take. I'll be going into the homes of children ages 0-3 years old with special needs and providing intervention strategies for parents to work with their children. I'll also be in charge of a couple group sessions at the facility each week. I am stoked!

There has been so much going on in my life the past few months and I have slacked on the blogging. The first thing I should mention is that I started dating a man named Marcos a couple months ago. He is a very good man who has taught me a lot about charity, faith and courage. We've had a lot of good times and it was hard to move away so far and so soon. I'm hoping to go down an visit at the beginning of August when he gets baptized! He has two sons (7 and 3) whom I was also able to spend some time with. Below is the first picture I have of the two of us, it's a little funky because it's a self-portrait and he thought I was weird for taking a picture like that... but I like it :)

At the end of June I was able to have Annmarie and Barbara drive out to visit. They are so wonderful to me, I love them so much. They came in to my first grade class and helped us to make homemade ice cream in bags (we also did this a few times at my apartment). The kids loved it and I couldn't have done it without AM and B. We also got to see Lion King Live at Mandalay Bay and then met up with Marcos and the boys to watch the Bellagio fountains, then just the girls walked the strip. Below are some pictures from that day.

Right after the show: Me, Annmarie, Barbara

Watching the fountains go off to music: Me, Cristian, Marcos, Brian (you can only see his leg)

Cool silhouette of Barbara in front of a weirdly lit wall

Me and B all sweaty but having fun :)

Me and AM taking silly pictures after visiting the temple (I stopped the car so she could climb out the sunroof)

Christina and Corban drove down to visit for the 4th of July weekend and we had a blast. We went swimming a few times at my complex, had some good food, played around, walked around the temple, and watched the fireworks from the outskirts of the city. To be honest, the fireworks were not as amazing as I had imagined they would be. But it was still a fun weekend :) My friend Theresa joined us with Marcos and his elder son that night. Below are some pictures from the weekend.

Corban giving a kiss to nasty statue guy at one of the stores on the strip... it was quite hilarious

Laura vs. Alien... who do you think won?

Marcos monkeying around

Shadows in the garden at the temple (Marcos, Corban, Me, Christina)

Self Portrait of me and Christina

Me, Christina and Corban outside the Las Vegas Temple

This last Friday after I finished up with school I went to Lake Meade with Marcos and the boys. They jumped in to go swimming and I snapped shots because I didn't feel like swimming at the moment. Then we fished for a few hours and the boys were all in heaven. I would have been if it weren't so hot. But it was still fun and the boys each caught a fish... I helped Brian reel his in :)

So that's my life in a nutshell over the past few months. If you want to see more pictures you can check them out through facebook. Love you all!

Quick Family Update

2009-06-07T13:11:00.006-06:00

So much has happened since I last updated this blog. More than I have time to write about. I am finishing up my time in the Special Ed Resource Room :( I have one more week and then I'll be back in the first grade class that I started in for a few weeks. It's hard to believe I'm half way done here. I have enjoyed my time despite a few discouraging moments and I am grateful for my experiences here.

The last few weeks have been kind of insane. I spent the last two weekends up in Utah visiting family and it was so worth the total of 24 hours I spent driving back and forth, but I am still wiped from traveling so much. I was glad to be able to take a day off for the second trip to attend my uncle's funeral services and see so much of my family I have not seen in years. We celebrated his life and the amazing things that he did. He was such an example to me, a kindred spirit that I will always look up to with great respect.

Below are a few pictures from the two weekends. I took many more, but they take forever to load on here. I will put the best ones up on facebook if you're interesting in seeing them.

Here are the 5 Riding siblings: Carole (my mom), Mike, Mary, Ken, and Doreen

This is me, my nephew Corban, and my cousin Melissa's son Dillon

This is my sister Christina and my nephew Corban

Here's a silly one of me and Corban :)

This picture is from a night that we went to Temple Square with my uncle Jeff and Aunt Doreen

Things are going well for me, there are just so many things that I need to get done and figure out very soon. Who knows where I'll end up??? I'm starting the process of applying to various positions and hopefully will begin to get interviews and job offers.

I have to head off to church now but I will try to do another quick post with some more pictures of what's been going on in my life in Vegas when I get home.