Not so depressing...

This is the first baby on my fam's side and the second on Phil's, so it is a lot of fun to have everyone excited for the baby!

I can't remember how many weeks I am here, probably about 6+ months...

So, I don't think I have any more visitors to my blog because one...I haven't posted since April!!! and two...I've been told on numerous occasions I have the most depressing blog because I have left the accident pictures up for sooo long! My bad! Hopefully, this news is a little more positive....

Most, if not all of you know this by now, but just to make the announcement...we're pregnant!! Time flies by very fast because I am due in less than 6 weeks with a little girl!!! Crazy! I have gone through all the emotions every pregnant woman probably goes through, but now I am very excited with some nerves mixed in too.

Even though I thought during the first trimester, I would never make it, I have to say now, I have had a pretty good pregnancy. The second trimester was great and the third has not been bad either, expect for some back aches, uncomfortableness, and having to frequent the restroom every 10 minutes...all the usual stuff. So, here are pics of me prego in October...I have definitely gotten bigger since then.

I went to the doctor on Thursday and she is weighing in at 5 lbs 5 ounces! I was also told she has long legs...I can't wait to see her!

Many Thanks

Sorry, I have totally neglected my blog!! And surprisingly, I guess there are a select few people who care (Sheryl, I will try to be more diligent).



On April 1, Phil and I were enjoying a normal Tuesday night. We went to the gym, followed by a trip to Wal-Mart to get some groceries for Phil's trip the next day. We were traveling home when something very unexpected happened. The first thing I remember after getting in the car is waking up in the driver's seat to loud confusion surrounded by lots of emergency workers, instructions and questions. I don't think I have ever been more scared, nervous or uncertain in my life. I think Phil and I became conscious about the same time and I was just trying to remember anything that had happened, which I still don't. I remember feeling a small relief when Phil said he thought he was okay.

We were then put in separate ambulances and taken to the hospital. Finally, after I realized I wasn't dreaming or in the middle of a nightmare, the ambulance workers said we were rear-ended. I thought, "Just rear-ended, what's all the fuss about, this happens every day?" Later, I overheard them say we were hit by someone running from the cops and at speeds of 70+. Maybe a little more serious then?

In the emergency room, they were able to put Phil and I in the same room. It was comforting to be by him and felt so good to first hear the voice of Phil's mom in the hallway before she came in our room. Both of our parents were able to come to the hospital. To see faces we knew was such a blessing. Phil's head hit the windshield and he had pretty significant memory loss. Although I couldn't remember the 10 minutes before our accident, Phil didn't remember any of Tuesday or minute by minute. He kept on asking the same questions over & over again. "Where are we?" "Where we're we going?" "What happened?" I guess after asking this for the 50th time it became a little comical and his brother started telling him ridiculous stories about elephants escaping from the zoo and sharks. We knew he was halfway okay because he didn't think that was too funny.

Phil and I were examined and all the X-rays & CT Scans came back good. We just had a lot of pain in our necks & heads. The driver that hit us was life flighted and was in critical condition; I'm not certain of his current status (I hope he is okay, he was my age w/ no criminal background). In the past two weeks, we have continued to improve and will keep doing so.

My main point of this post though is not to describe our accident, but to deeply thank all our family and friends. We have felt so much support, sympathy and love from everyone! Whether it was a visit, a phone call, a text message, a delivered pizza, flowers, Red Mango, a prayer in our behalf, an email, a card, a smile, a hug, a massage, it doesn't matter; we felt them all and we greatly, greatly appreciate it. My only hope is that when you are in your time of need, we will be able to extend the support you have provided to us so fully. In this trial, I have been able to feel the love of the Lord more fully in my life from all of you. I am so very grateful for all the many things that make up my life. I know things could have been a lot worse and I know we have been greatly blessed.

Putting the Running Shoes Back on...

I would say I am a starter not a finisher. I will start many projects, goals, etc. and not finish. I hate that! I really want to be able to finish all the things I start. One of those things I have started many times, and not been able to finish is a MARATHON. I have signed up twice, and paid the $100 registration fee, all not to run. I would get to about 13 miles and get scared or busy or whatever other excuse and stop.

Last year was definitely the closest I've ever been to finishing. I joined a Salt Lake running club and it helped so much. The club was training to run in the St. George marathon in October. We would do all the Saturday long runs together and it helped so much! Sad enough, a month before the race and after completing a 22 mile run, I injured my knee. More exactly, my patella tendon. Who would of thought something so little in my body as a patella tendon would prevent me from running in the marathon. But, it certainly did. It hurt so bad to run 1 mile after I injured it and crushed all hope of finishing St. George. I think this was one of the biggest disappointments in my life. I have never come so close, so close, 4 miles from actually finishing my goal. Being that close and then not being able to finish, was so hard. All the time, all the early morning runs, all the soar muscles, all the energy, gone. I remember there were many times the month after it happened I would think about it and just cry, cry, cry. It was so hard.

Jen moved back to Utah right about the time this injury happened and we had always talked about running a marathon together. Jen said she wanted to run the Salt Lake Marathon in April. I thought it seemed a little soon, but maybe it could work. I was a little resistant, but agreed! We also got some of our other friends to join us! I'm very excited to be running this time around with such a fun group of girls. We have a blast and are into a month of training. I have never had so much fun running. We have a blog to document our training: http://www.willrunfordesignerjeans.blogspot.com/. We are running for a pair of great, expensive designer jeans (hence the name)! I still am a little hesitant every time I run, because I know there is always a chance I could have my knee re-injured and I don't want to go through all the pain again. But, I know I would always regret never trying again.

On Thursday, for one night only at select theaters there was a marathon movie, "The Spirit of the Marathon" that documented 5 runners from all around the nation and a guy from Kenya all training for the Chicago Marathon. It made me so freakin' excited, but also a little scared. It was good motivation to keep us going. I hope we will all be able to cross the finish line in three months!

Amazing Race Winners

The Amazing Race finale was last night. I love this show! I was happy with the winners, TK & Rachel. They were so relaxed and nice to each other the whole race, no freakouts or anything. It is my dream to do this race!! How amazing to race around the world traveling to places you probably would never ever go! What an adventure! On our cruise, one of the activities on the ship on a day at sea was an "Amazing Race." There was about 9 other teams that entered and it was a race around the ship with different clues & information you had to get at each location. I'm proud to say we did win, and actually I was so happy I wore the cheap little gold medal around the ship that day. But, definitely no where near racing around the world. Phil thinks it would not be good for our relationship since I have tendency to not remain calm in stressful situations (to put it lightly). My sister and I have talked about entering...maybe one day I will fill out the application and my chances will go up.

Running in the New Year

I love the start of a new year. I love the feeling of having a fresh start. A clean slate. I love looking back at the past year and then looking forward to the new year and setting goals.














However, I am not the biggest one for bringing in the new year. It usually passes without too much excitement. Hang out for a bit, watch the ball drop, have Martenelli's, then go to bed. So, when Jen mentioned to me a 5k that started at 11:30 p.m. and literally you ran into the New Year it sounded like a fresh idea on bringing it in. Could there really be such a run? Sure enough, at Sugarhouse Park for 30 years there has been this race. Now, I would only have to try and convince Phil to run in 5 degree weather? I thought that wasn't going to happen. Jen & I figured we could meet the husbands at the end with treats & hot chocolate. But, to our much surprise, they decided to run in it with us! John ended up beating us & Phil could have one the entire race. Maybe it had something to do with him going 1 lap when the race was 2.5 laps. Phil graciously waited for the top runners to come through and then he strolled on to the finish...haha! The whole point of the run was to make it in before midnight. Jen & I really wanted to make it before the new year hit & we thought we would be pretty close. Sure enough as we were on the last hill before the end, someone comes running down yelling, "20 seconds left"... Ahh, I didn't have much left, but we sprinted up to the finish line and made it before midnight!


The run was a lot of fun. It was freezing cold! The cold you can feel burning in your chest. But, it was the most memorable New Years I have ever had. Definitely one I will not forget.

Winter Getaway

Before Christmas, Phil's parents took the whole family on a cruise to the Caribbean! It was a blast! By far, the most fun trip I have ever had. Most of us, including myself, had never been on a cruise, so it was a lot of fun, not only to be going on a cruise for the first time, but to be going with the whole family! It was more fun than I ever thought it would be! We went to Grand Cayman, Honduras, Belize & Cozumel. At every stop we had a new, unique experience. Like swimming with sting rays, going on a zip-line jungle canopy tour, snorkeling on the 2nd largest barrier reef, visiting Mayan ruins. It was crazy fun! I loved going out to all the different stops and then coming back to a 3-course meal. Ahh! I was in heaven! Usually, when Phil & I travel, which has been pretty non-existent in our marriage, we try to eat really cheap. We don't have the money to go to nice restaurants or really enjoy the nice food. I guess that speaks for us when we are not on vacation as well. I long for the day when we can go out to a nice dinner and not feel guilty about it. When we were on our honeymoon, we bought a cooler to put in our hotel room, so we could have cereal for breakfast and make cold sandwiches for lunch because we couldn't afford the price of food at our resort. So, to be on vacation and not have to worry about spending money on food was awesome! It really was one of my favorite things on the trip. So sad that one of the highlights of the trip was food! I ate a lot; i admit it! But, I didn't care. I have not eaten that good in a long time! Because, this is like my electronic journal, I'm going to post some highlights from each stop, so don't be bored with below, no need to read, but I do want to keep a memory of the trip.


GRAND CAYMAN

I think everyone would say this was the highlight of the trip. My boss went to Grand Cayman this year for vacation and he had told me his favorite thing of the whole trip was swimming with sting rays. I was pretty curious and had wondered about the stories he told me about the sting rays. So, when I heard we we're going to Grand Cayman, I knew this is the thing I wanted to do. We got off the ship and booked a trip with a lady holding up a sign for Sting rays. It wasn't until we gave her our cash, we wondered if we cold trust this lady & if this trip would even happen. Phil & Blair kinda kept a watch on her until it was time to go. Luckily, everything worked out just fine.

hey loaded us up into an old, ghetto school bus and drove us to the opposite side of the island. We got on a small boat and went about 45 minutes into the ocean at high speed. We were going to a place they call "Stingray City." It is a sandbar in the middle of the ocean where you can stand and where lots of stingrays live. I don't know it they originally "lived" there, or they learned after 30 years of tourists visiting and feeding them shrimp, they should stay there.

We arrive to this sandbar in the middle of the ocean and as we look down at the crystal clear water we see gray, large shadows everywhere. Huge stingrays were swimming all around the ship. Fear started to set in thinking why are we going out there and wait wasn't the Crocodile Hunter just killed by a sting ray? Is this a smart idea? But, then, I saw other tourists out there already and it seems like this has been done many times before, so why not?

As we get off the ship, we couldn't touch the bottom. I started to freak! Not just me, everyone started to freak! Here we are swimming, we can't touch the bottom and we know huge alien-looking animals are in the water with us, that we can feel brush up against us! Ahhh!! The first initial 10 minutes in the water was CHAOS! It was a mixture of emotions I have never felt before. We we're all scared, but then we were all hysterically laughing because it was just right up there as one of the weirdest things we had ever done. Usually between Phil and I, I'm always the one who is more high-strung. Phil is always laid back and calm. I, and all of Phil's family for that matter, had never seen Phil act like this. He was probably the most hysterical out of all of us. It was hilarious! He would not stop laughing, but then a sting ray would would come up to him and he would freak out. This is the first and probably only time I will ever have to tell Phil to, "Settle down!"


I've never walked on hot coals, but if I could describe when we finally got to where we could touch, it was like that. We were all scared we were going to step on one and make the little sucker mad and he would shoot out his stinger. It was so funny to see how everyone acted. We were out there with people we didn't know, but it was like you would push someone in front of you if a string ray was coming by or cling on to someone else. It just didn't matter who you were. Just a riot!

After some time, we finally got a little more comfortable. Comfortable enough to touch them as they swam by, take pictures kissing them with the tour guide, have them crawl up your back and feed them. Except for Phil. He was given a shrimp to feed them and then five on the biggest ones (in Phil's words) started swarming him. It is weird. Somehow they use their motion to climb up you. So, he didn't like them being all around them, and he tossed it to his dad, after which they all started swarming him. I got a sting ray hickey from feeding one of them. They suck up their food like a vacuum and I guess I didn't let go of it soon enough and it sucked up my hand. It kinda hurt! One time Rob was swimming around with his snorkeling gear on and as he came up out of the water, a stingray was right on top of his head. It was hilarious!

The stingrays were actually quite beautiful creatures after you got used to them. They were beautiful to watch. They swim so effortlessy through the water. They were very friendly as well. It was about the weirdest, funniest, craziest things I've ever done. It was wild!

Edward & Bella Announced

I have now tried for an hour to get pictures from our trip downloaded to the computer, but I am clueless and Phil is out of town, so I'll have to do it later. But, in the meantime in my search to entertain myself while Phil is away, I saw on Stephanie Meyer's website they announced who will be playing Edward & Bella for the Twilight movie...Kristen Stewart & Robert Pattison. I am not familiar with either of them. I guess he played Cedric in one of the Harry Potter movies and I don't know what she's been in. I think she looks the part. Uhh...and for Edward, I don't know what to say; I guess no one would ever be good enough for me, but he might do. He has got to something with that hair though. What do you think?