31 August 2008

Brittny's novel-lengthed post for the week

We didn't really have any one major thing that we wanted to write about this week so I thought I'd just give an overall recap of highlights of this week. I'll try to contain each highlight to one bullet point so it doesn't get too confusing:
  • Last Sunday we decided that 8:30am (the time that both our new old wards met for sacrament meeting) was NOT going to happen after moving all of our stuff into our new apartment. So we let ourselves sleep in and since we live in Utah... we figured that any time of day on Sunday we could go in any direction and find a sacrament meeting. So, just before 1pm we went to the building where our wards meet hoping to find another married student ward to attend. Unfortunately, we hadn't taken into account that our stake meets on half hours and so the meetings in both chapels in our building were about half over. So, we walked across the parking lot to the other building (yes... there are two buildings within that one parking lot with four chapels between the two of them. You can also go and within 4 blocks find at least 4 other church buildings - yay Utah :) ) The first chapel in the other building had already started however the second chapel had people flowing in and we were very happy to find a sacrament meeting that was just starting. As we went in however we realized very quickly that this was NOT a ward for married students... or families... it was a singles ward. Luckily, I don't look pregnant yet so we were able to inconspicuously sit in on it so we could take the sacrament. A few minutes into the meeting another couple came in and sat next to us... both with wedding rings on. I noticed this and thought it was odd... but of course, Eric and I had both worn rings before we were married (since we were at BYU this seemed like a good way to signify that we were both off the market) I didn't think too much of it. However after a minute the girl next to me asked if we were in a singles ward, and we found out that both of us were in the same situation - married students who needed to find a church meeting to attend. I joked with them that it would be funny if that Sunday was you-should-all-get-married-and-date-more-Sunday or if it was Chastity lesson Sunday (yeah... the boy in my apartment is definitely allowed to stay past curfew. I don't think Eric would appreciate being kicked out of our house in the middle of the night :) ) Sure enough... the talks that day were all centered on a talk from this month's Ensign - Making the Most of our Single Years by Russell Stevenson. We laughed quietly together though the meeting about the irony of the situation but it was good overall. If nothing else it made us appreciate that much more what a blessing our marriage is. I think if any couple is going through tough times they should go to a singles ward on dating Sunday. Not that there's anything wrong with that stage of life... but once you've gone past it, you don't ever have any desire to go back. I'm very very grateful for Eric and the blessing it is to be married to him.
  • On Monday we went to the doctors and got to hear our baby's heartbeat again. It was a really quick visit to just make sure everything was going well. It's always cool to hear the baby's heartbeat, just a little reminder that there really is a little person in there! We're getting more and more excited for this baby to come and for us to get to be parents.

    After the doctor's appointment we finally went and got my blood drawn... which should have happened about 2 months ago but I've been too chicken to go. Finally after a lot of praying, a blessing from Eric and basically being forced in we made it. Eric stuck with me the whole time which was VERY helpful. We sat me down in the chair and made sure to explain to the phlebotomist (yeah, I spelled that right the first time and I'm SO proud of myself right now :) ) that I would pass out. I also made sure to warn her not to try to make it seem like not a big deal... because I already know that but having to think about it makes it worse. She was great. She actually brought up Twilight and she and Eric had a conversation about how much I like those books which gave me something good to focus on while she drew my blood and I tried very hard to remain conscious. It worked... sorta. I stayed conscious until they had taken out the needle and bandaged my arm... then I passed out and fell out of the chair. Eric says I looked almost like I was having a seizure and he had to catch my head so I didn't slam it into the wall. I also apparently wasn't sitting as still as I thought I was so I ended up with a pretty good bruise. I meant to take pictures of the bruise earlier in the week but didn't get to it until today. Just remember that this is a picture of the bruise almost a week later... it looks way better than it did earlier in the week.


    It may look better, but it still doesn't look that great!


    Luckily there's only one more blood draw for this pregnancy and my friend Stephanie has agreed to help me learn some good relaxation techniques so that I can get over this irrational fear, or at least take the edge of it. Let's face it, there's no way I'm getting out of needles when I actually have to give birth to this baby so I better work on it now!
  • On Thursday Taylor came back to Utah!! I'm so excited to have my little sister back so I can bug her to come hang out with me again. We all made the trek up to Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's house on Friday night so we could retrieve all of her stuff. Unfortunately since Eric and Taylor had been busy in Provo and I had a HUGE project that my team's been working on all week that was due Friday night... and then we hit major construction on the way up to Logan... it was 8pm before we got up there and we hadn't realized that everyone there was waiting to start dinner until we arrived. Oops! Sorry everyone! It was really fun to go up there and be with family. Eric helped my Grandpa troubleshoot some things on his computer and Grandma helped me make a Strawberry Rhubarb pie for Eric (they're his favorite and since I never had someone teach me how to make a pie my past attempts have been... interesting... to say the least). This picture is post being cut into but it still looks better than my past pies by a long shot. Thanks so much Grandma & Grandpa for having us! And thanks for teaching me to make pie! It'll be very handy since I have 7 more bags of frozen rhubarb... and not really any other uses for it.

    Mmmmm! Pie!

  • On Saturday night we had the Criddles and the Phillips over for a little end-of-summer get together. Jon and Cody were in Eric's Information Systems group last year so they spent a lot of time working together and all three couples have become very close friends. Everyone else was out of state over the summer since Cody and Jon went on internships so we were very happy to have everyone back together. We made ice cream (which decidedly did not turn out as good as my grandma's pie), ate snacks and just hung out for a few hours catching up on everyone's summers. The boys played a few games of Wii Mario Kart and it was just a really fun time. We had definitely missed having everyone so close by, and we're going to miss having the guys in all of the same classes this year, but hopefully we'll still find lots of opportunities to get together this year.
  • This doesn't really fit on any one particular day but this week Eric has done an AWESOME job of getting our apartment unpacked and organized. I've been working late nights this week so I haven't been able to do much so I've been especially grateful for all that he's done in getting our little house put together. Tomorrow I want to get our pictures hung and the rest of us pretty well moved in but I've been impressed with all he's gotten done. Thanks honey for all you've done! Below are some pictures of the new digs:

    Entertainment Center/Living Room

    Kitchen/Dining Room

    Bedroom with a Memory Foam bed!

I guess that's about it. Eric starts school again on Tuesday so we're gearing up for things getting really busy again. Luckily, nothing can be as bad as the ISYS core was last year, but he's going to have plenty to do between school and work during this next semester. I'm going to miss having him home during the day, he's been very helpful in getting things done that I can't since I work in Salt Lake and am gone from the apartment up to 12 hours each day. I'm excited for him to be done in April, and for this baby to come so that I can stay at home and be a wife/mom and we'll get things done around the apartment again!

23 August 2008

No More Nomadic Life for Me



The outside of our new place!


This post is covering the crazy weekend we just had! Set up shop and unpack everything, because we are not moving again for a long while! I'm not trying to complain here, and I will say that I am glad to be in a place that I absolutely know I will enjoy and love, but man alive--this weekend was super exhausting! Let me give you a run down on what happened.

Friday morning I wake up and start packing everything we have into some boxes that Brittny got a hold of. That takes the majority of the day. In the meantime, I set up the utilities and I headed over to the new apartment to check everything out and get the keys from our landlord. I think it is a very good idea to get an idea of how you want to organize your furniture and things in the new place before you start moving it. It makes for a much smoother transition, in my opinion.

Then Saturday morning I wake up, go grab a U-Haul truck, and bring it back to the apartment to load things up. Some friends show up at 11:00 am and we load everything up and then have it all unloaded by 2:30 pm that day at our new place. We made really good time! When we were moving all by ourselves the last time around, it took us a full week with multiple trips in our cars to get everything transferred! I am definitely an advocate for U-Hauls and boxes to get everything done all in one go! Then I get a call from the Criddles who needed help moving all their stuff from storage into their apartment. I know how much I hate moving things all by myself, so I was happy to help out, but I was soo sore by the end of the day. And don't even get me started on my Internet woes!

On the plus side, it is wonderful to be in a place that feels like our home. This past summer it was like just being guests in Amber and Cody's place, and while it was a nice place, we like the feeling of permanence and pushing in our roots a little. Our new apartment is also a really nice place. We'll post pictures as soon as we are fully unpacked!

On the last note for this post, I thought the new bed would take some getting used to, but that hasn't been the case. I absolutely love it! It feels really good!

16 August 2008

Mattress Match-up

So, today we went bed shopping. Yeah, it might be kind of weird for some people to think that we are just now actually buying our very first bed, but so it is. In retrospect, it has been quite nice being able to get used to how Brittny and I sleep now that we are married. We also know what type of mattress suits us best. I can just envision shopping for a bed while engaged or even newly married being so awkward and difficult to make an educated decision. On top of that, not having to move a bed around to all the places we've been living in has been real nice.

But since we are settling down into a more permanent temporary housing, we knew it was time. We decided to look first at RC Willey, but that got shot down as soon as we saw the ridiculously high price tags as compared to what we found on the Internet (Overstock.com has some good deals). We ended up at Mattress Warehouse in Orem, and we are glad we went there. Brittny and I were really impressed at the way they showed us the basics of bed shopping (most of which we knew, but it was still nice) and then they let us be to try out any of the beds that we desired. No pushy salesmen looking for a commission.

Surprisingly, we found the new memory foam mattresses to be Incredible. They come with 20-year warranties as compared to the regular inner spring's 10-year standard warranty. It felt so good to have our backs lined up in good posture. Another crazy thing is putting keys down on the mattress and then lying down on top of them. You can't even feel them there! We were especially excited because we were able to buy a generic brand one for a little less than the normal spring mattress we'd been looking at getting otherwise. We've been told that it takes a little while to get used to since we get so used to sleeping on regular mattresses that don't support our weight correctly, it's like making the switch to standing up straight after walking around hunched over for years and years. We can definitely see how that's going to be true, however the other side of it is that once you do get used to it.... you never want to go back. After dealing with less than ideal beds while we were in Wymount, we are excited to get this new one.



Cool Memory Foam!! It remembers me!



Oh, and they threw in free delivery/set up, box spring, and a cover too! We'd totally recommend them to anyone looking for a great deal.

04 August 2008

The Value of Family

You know, it's hard for me to understand how some people focus their entire life into their work. It is as if they expect work to be completely and utterly fulfilling. I recently had an experience that strengthened my views regarding work and family.

If you didn't hear already, I have this sweet job at Omniture working as a Mandarin Technical Consultant. I get to use my language skills, I am expanding my understanding of the Internet industry, and they treat me very well as an employee.

But no matter how well a job can treat you, your work doesn't care about you first. It can't. At least not in this capitalistic society. Your work cares about making money, and it's easy to see that seeking only money does not bring true happiness.

Last Saturday, we had an Omniture Super Summer Shindig at Thanksgiving Point. We were supposed to be able to pick up passports to the park and all that fun stuff once we arrived at the check-in. Nope. They dropped the ball and didn't even come close to bringing it. And while they had so many rides and games and fun things to do with all of your coworkers, it paled in comparison with a simple family get together at my brother Mike's house.

We just brought some food, cooked it up and ate together. Brittny and I got to play with nieces and nephews, and the simple joys that it brought to our family were greater than anything Omniture could ever give me. The simple peace I have waking up next to my beautiful wife and knowing that we are in this together is more wonderful than any level of financial stability. This is the power of family.

02 August 2008

Eric's Birthday Present

I know it's a little early to be working on a birthday present for Eric since his birthday isn't until February, but I actually started on it 10 weeks ago, and he better like it! Seriously, just working on this present has made me so exhausted that I've been falling asleep at 10pm every night. I guess it's been stressing me out too because I've been moody. Poor Eric has had to deal with me laughing hysterically at things that aren't that funny one minute, and crying the next. It's made me really hungry, but I have a really hard time finding food that I feel like I can safely stomach.

So, what is it that I'm working on? Since I've been working this hard on it Eric already knows so I'm not in any danger of spoiling the surprise by posting it here. It'll be about 6 - 10lbs (I'm definitely hoping it will be closer to 6 than 10), about 1.5 - 2 feet long and pinkish. He'll get to cuddle with it a lot, but it will probably be pretty noisy. We'll get to teach it lots of fun tricks like rolling, walking and talking. It will require lots of cleaning up after, feeding and taking care of. It will be very demanding on both of us for about the next 18 years after I give it to Eric (ok, so probably really for the rest of our lives really). And we will love it more than I think we now realize.

For those of you who still haven't figured out what it is... it's a baby! Yup, I'm 10 weeks pregnant with our first child and we're really excited! We went into the doctor's yesterday for the first checkup and were able to hear the baby's heartbeat. That was a really cool experience because up until now we knew I was pregnant but really I've just felt sick and there's no real interaction with the baby at this point. It was the first time we could actually hear the baby itself, so we were really excited. I also got chastised for not getting my bloodwork done yet (for those of you who don't know, I have a SEVERE phobia of needles which has made going in to do bloodwork... challenging... at best). The baby is in fact due February 26th which is Eric's birthday. Yes, we know that the chances of actually delivering on the due date are pretty slim but it's still just cool that it's the same day. :)

I've been reading up a lot on pregnancy and parenting lately which has definitely been helpful. It's nice to be able to say I have an idea of what's happening to me and know what kinds of things are worrisome symptoms and what things are pretty normal. One thing I've learned... just about ANYTHING that seems weird with your body, is probably a normal pregnancy symptom. But I've also learned which things are dangerous for the baby and worth calling the doctor about. I've been pretty lucky so far and haven't had any severe sickness or anything. I've been tired, and had some morning/night sickness, but it's mostly stomach discomfort and not throwing up. God really must love me because I feel the best during the day so the 11 hours that I'm away from home at work/commuting have been ok. Of course, it means that Eric only ever gets to see me when I'm at home and kinda miserable so it sucks for him. But I can't complain too much, I watched my mom's pregnancies which were FAR worse than anything I've been dealing with, so I feel very blessed. Mostly I just have a hard time keeping exactly the right amount of food in my stomach. If I don't eat enough, my stomach gets mad, and if I eat just slightly too much, my stomach gets even madder. Plus, it has to be just enough of exactly the right things. Basically I've been eating a TON of Cheerios, and then other random things like string cheese, popcorn, yogurt, frozen waffles etc have been making up the staples of my diet. I can only eat a very small amount of food at a time (for example, I've been taking yogurt to work for my breakfast and it will take me about 2 hours to finally finish my little 6 ounce carton of yogurt) but I'm eating constantly. I guess that makes sense since I'm eating such small amounts at a time, but it's a weird shift for me. Probably my weirdest symptom has been that I've been burping like a trucker. Seriously huge earth shaking burps. My little sister wishes she could really belch so she's been extremely jealous, and Eric thinks it's really funny to hear.

So, that's it from us. We're super excited and we'll definitely be keeping you all updated on our growing baby in the weeks and months to come :)