One More Thing....

I also just have to post about how excited I am. I really hope I'm not jinxing anything by saying this though!

If all goes as planned, we will be back in our house on June 1. I am so excited I could cry. I have so appreciated my in-laws for letting us live with them. There aren't words for how lucky we are to have had them put up with us. But I have to say, there is just nothing like having your own space. I have just been day-dreaming about being back home --- what we will do and everything. And it will be summer time so we can enjoy the backyard and warm summer nights. I can send Chloe outside to play while I am working right next to the back door and I can hang my clothes up to dry on the line (that we will put up) outside.

I hate getting so excited about this since we still have 2 months to go and who knows what shape our house will be in --- but I just can't help it. We have made so much progress with our finances over just the last couple of months! Shane selflessly sold his 4-wheeler and that gave us just the boost we needed. Now, all that is left is his credit card --- that should be paid off by August, if not before. We have been so lucky to have good work for the last two months too.

I really can't explain, but 2009 was a cursed year. Nothing good happened last year. It was terrible - absolutely awful. In just these first 3 months, 2010 is light years better than all of last year combined! We have made some poor decisions and we had to pay for them - literally. Everyone makes mistakes and we will make many more, but I am hoping that we have been given a second chance to be responsible, self-sufficient, completely independent adults.

I don't want to sound ungrateful for what my in-laws have done. I cannot even imagine the sacrifices they have made for us to live here - rent-free. I have really tried to do my part but still, there is nothing that can compensate for letting intruders into your home for a year --- intruders with 2 DOGS! Two dogs that poop a lot..... I can't imagine what kind of situation we would be in now if it weren't for their generosity and kindness. We would have lost our house though, that's for sure. I will spend the rest of my life trying to come up with a way to show my appreciation.

We are still super stressed about moving back into the house. We haven't even thought about the food we will have to buy when we're back there - just to get started!! We've been mooching off the parents all this time so we have nothing!! We will still have to make many sacrifices... So we watch our tv shows on Hulu rather than getting satellite again or we hang-dry all of our clothes rather than use the electricity on the dryer... All the little things add up. I am so looking forward to being the home-maker I always wanted to be and just being grown-ups again.

So you may see us asking for moving help in a couple of months because we need to get it done super-fast so I can get my office set up and working right away. :) Hopefully we can rent a small U-haul or something so we only have to make one trip.

OH -- AND WE REALLY NEED TO START LOOKING INTO SELLING OUR CAR AND GETTING SOMETHING BIGGER BECAUSE MY CAR DOES NOT FIT TWO CARSEATS. TRIED IT... DOESN'T WORK!!!! So if anyone needs a car..... :)

Chloe's 2nd Birthday!!!

I love Blogger..... If you want these events/pictures in chronological order, please start at the bottom of this post :)

Chloe is TWO!!!! Crazy.... Anyway, we went to the zoo on her birthday day. It was actually pretty pleasant in the morning and then at lunch time it got windy so we left (good thing we had already seen everything!!). She got her presents from Mommy and Daddy that day too. She got a new (old) doll. She has loved my Cabbage Patch kid that I got when I was a baby so I tried to find one just like it and guess what!!! eBay is amazing. The mold of the doll is exactly the same - she still thinks it is George, so mission accomplished! We also got her some earrings and the thing she asked for..... fish. Yes, folks - she wanted fishies! So we got her some but I think it turned into more of a present for Shane than Chloe. You should see him..... We went from having just a regular little fish bowl with two tiny 13 cent fish to a 5-gallon tank with a filter, two 28 cent fish and one of those sucker fish who eats the algae. ALL HIS DECISIONS.

Anyway, we had a party on Saturday. The sun was out and it wasn't too bad when the wind was blowing. It was a little chilly, but I was running all over the place so I didn't notice too much. We ate hamburgers, chips, and fruit salad. I was very happy that all the family/friends showed up that did so thank you for coming :) We went inside for cake and ice cream and Chloe actually attempted to blow out the candles herself. It was precious!

Then, for the completion of Chloe turning two, she had her dr. appointment. This is funny people.... She is 2'8" (10th percentile), 25 lbs 9 oz (40th percentile). So like her mommy, she is short and fat! Ok, she's not really fat but she is short and I LOVE IT!!!!! I want my girls to be short :)

Shane's friend got Chloe a big pink bunny because he thought to himself, "what would I want?".... It worked because she loves it!

Showing off her presents from Aunt Nell

She was really so excited to open everything. Really, she loved it all so much!

Blowing out the candles!!

Chloe and cousin Nick - who is just about 2 months older than her.

Everyone came!!!

This is how Chloe looks at her fish.

The baby elephant still looked like a baby!!! I was so excited that it was still small.

eating Corn dogs...

Heartbeats!!

Ok - so you kind of have to know what you're listening for and you have to turn the speakers up really loud, but after the dr. says something about hearing my heartbeat, you can hear the baby's. It was exciting. I was getting pretty anxious about it all so I am just relieved now :)

Playin!

Today, we went up to a birthday party for our niece, Halle. It was at Classic Skating in Draper and Chloe had so much fun! We got the "Sponge Bob" birthday room and there was a bubble machine that she could not get enough of. I don't know how or why, but don't the pictures of the bubbles look cool??

This is Chloe's scared face after I tried to have her ride in one of those little machines things that they have at grocery stores. She did not like it. She literally screamed after I turned it on... Oh well. That's 50 cents I won't have to waste again!

Shane and I spent $15 on arcade games... namely SkeeBall and Galaga. Shane is proud to report that he got a high score of 480,000 points on Galaga. I married a geek. Oh well. I spent about an hour, collectively on Skee Ball. There were a bunch of bounce houses(?) too that we eventually got Chloe in. We took her down the slides and she LOVED them! Good exercise for mom and dad too!

Photo Shoot!

Ok - so my friend, Amanda makes the cutest hair accessories (check out her blog!) and she so kindly asked if I would let Chloe model some for her. Of course I obliged :) I'm sorry, but my baby is just too cute. She did so well too - considering it was 50 degrees and I was changing her clothes right there outside. She even pretended to read a book - she was actually acting for the camera! Hopefully we'll have another nice weather day so we can get out and take her "2 year" pictures...

YIPPEE!!

In case you missed my FaceBook announcement, I am pregnant :) I know I should wait until I'm further along to tell people and blah blah, but I've known for a month and I've been to the doctor and just cannot hold it in any longer! I'm only 9 weeks along and am due September 27. And I just have to say, I am one of the lucky ones who does not get sick :) Were it not for the 4 pregnancy tests and dr's visit, and the lack of visit from "Aunt Flo" then I would have no idea that I am pregnant.

Anyway, I'm so excited. I have been ready for this since Chloe was about 6 months old. Yes, I want lots of babies. LOTS AND LOTS. I can think of nothing better than having a huge family for years of fun. I can't imagine having less than 4 kids --- and even that is a very small number for me. Unfortunately, I am not the only decision maker and having c-sections might make that decision for me.... I think I will keep doing that just due to the ease and comfort and everything. Be as judgmental as you want. It is what works for me and I feel like I handle it extremely well. We'll see though. I still haven't totally decided.

Anyway, I am so excited. It has been the hardest thing for me to hear about all of these people getting pregnant and having babies. I don't like the idea of my kids being so far apart. Yes - to me -- to ME (my own personal preference) is that 2 1/2 years is too far apart for kids to be. 2 years would be a max for the next one. I just look at how close my siblings were/are now and how I was kind of an only child for years. I want them to grow-up together.

Well, that's that folks. I won't be losing my 40 lbs by April. But hopefully I will manage this pregnancy better than the last and lose the weight fast after.... We shall see :) Because I know you all care SO much, I'll be sure to keep you updated after each dr. appt :)

Married to MacGyver and such...

I guess it's been almost a month-ish since my last post... SO I'll make stuff sound interesting for an update! 

One night, Shane ..... made the inside of the car stink.... so I rolled the window down and we had a battle of the window controls. ANYWAY, we ended up blowing a fuse! We were driving and all of the sudden, the panels went black - the car was still running but all of the interior lights were gone. Anyway, Shane thought that maybe by turning the car off then on that it might reset something. No such luck.... We were luckily less than a mile from home, but he got all MacGyver and started crawling under the dash (see below) to find the blown fuse. That is not easy for a 6'3" guy to do in a small car. The little book made it seem like there were literally about 10 possible fuses blown! (sometimes having a foreign car can complicate things) Anyway, I'm so glad that he is smart enough to know how to fix these things. I would be so lost.... He has been able to fix nearly every mechanical problem we have had with anything --- literally, anything. I always joke that I secretly married him because of his handy-ness and boy is that paying off!!! :) While he may not have done the college thing -- there is no substitute for the knowledge he has. I am so grateful for that. We have probably saved hundreds if not thousands because he just knows how to fix things (aside from the unmentionable vehicle which we recently off-loaded that NO ONE will EVER be able to fix!!!!!!). As we speak, he is fixing a light in our closet that has not worked in his life-time. *fingers crossed!*

Next is little Chloe... She has had such a rough couple of weeks. This is a picture of an owie she got after tripping and hitting the metal part of the couch. Thank goodness she didn't get a black eye!! No - it is not the owie on her cheek that she has had for months! She has the Bradford habit of picking and picking and picking!!!! It is finally slowly healing though!

NOW she has a cold. A mean-nasty cold. I don't know where she is getting these from because we do not leave the house and she had already had two colds this year. I bathe her, give her plenty of water, and a daily vitamin. Someone is just tracking something in! Anyway, here she is today, calm for a few minutes watching Toy Story while I worked. She was up until 2 last night, but Shane was nice enough to stay up with her while I went to bed. I hate seeing her so sad :( Her little nose is all red and chapped from the tissues and her cough is so awful. It is just a cold though -- plenty of phlegm! 

Lastly was Valentine's Day. I really wasn't even tuned in to the fact that it was Valentine's time at all. It came into my mind every once in a while, but I really don't care that much! Anyway, Shane came home from working on Friday and I was outside with the dogs. When I came in, these were sitting on my desk :) 

Aren't they just beautiful! While he doesn't get me flowers often, they are always so pretty. I was totally surprised. THEN, on Sunday, I came out from church and there was a balloon and chocolate sitting in the front seat of the car for me. He did well this year :)

P.S.>>>>>> My mother-in-law brought me a treat from Costco on Friday. 4 pounds of chewy goodness, just for me :) I had to take a break from eating any today. Does anyone want the chocolate, licorice, and cappuccino flavored ones?

Not Much...

I don't really have a lot to post on - I was just getting sick of seeing those large behinds every time I went to my blog! Life is normal. I'm having a really hard time with my gym goals. I missed a couple of days because we were all sick and then.....I'm really disappointed in myself, but I am at least trying to eat healthier and all that jazz.... Don't judge me just yet!

We saw Avatar 3D last weekend. It was pretty awesome. Not at all like the previews, but you can't accurately describe that movie in a 30 second blurb. The previews before the movie were AWESOME!!!! So worth the money - even for just those. Anyway, we were pretty close to the screen, but it was ok. Still loved it. We came out of the theater to about 4 inches of snow though!

We just did our taxes tonight - we are still waiting on one W2 from one of Shane's jobs last year but so far, so good! Not good if we want/need to get any new loans this year --- our income is HORRIBLE --- thus the situation we're in! :) But we're getting there. Things seem like they are starting to turn around.... I just hope that everything that happens this year will be for the best. There are some great things in store - I just know it. Either way, 2010 will have some great happenings for us.

Anyhow, hopefully I can get off my lazy can one of these days and go take some pictures. I think it's supposed to snow again - maybe this week and there are some pretty places up Provo Canyon. I'm no photographer, but I like to pretend sometimes!

Oh - and I know that we so totally shouldn't take family vacations when we're dirt poor, but we are going to start doing the National and Utah State Parks! We are going to go to Arches first this year, and hopefully later in the year we can go to Yosemite! I never saw much of the West Coast so this will be fun new travels for me!

Oh and I guess I have a few pictures I can post from the last couple of weeks....

Chloe and Shane at his birthday dinner at TucanosChloe giving her cousin, Bridgette a kiss

Going to play in the SNOW!!!

Ands just in case you haven't seen her pigtails yet :)

Sickening

I may not look like this - but it's how I feel!!!

Ok - So I am officially sick of being fat. Yes - I am. When I turned 19 I was so awesome. Of course, I didn't think so at the time, but I would give just about anything, literally, to be that thin again. Then - I got my job. I went from walking around BYU campus for half the day, being on my feet at OfficeMax for another 4-8 hours, and just being active --- to sitting at a desk for 4 hours a day -- which quickly became 8 hours a day.

Unfortunately, my eating habits did not change. I was able to pig out - seriously - a bag of popcorn, pop tarts, ice cream, Little Caesar's pizza and breadsticks were all staples in my diet. That did not change - my weight did.

I got my job in February. By December, I had gained about 40 pounds. I saw a picture of myself at my sister's wedding and wanted to cry. I was in denial up until then. It still took me a few months to get the motivation to diet and exercise and just when I started to, I found out I was pregnant. I knew that if my body wasn't used to such a strict regime that I shouldn't take chances when I was pregnant so I kind of lost that battle.

I tried to walk a lot while I was pregnant but it was hard! I was always so tired and just wanted to sleep. By the time I got over that, it was too late. I gained about 30 pounds with Chloe - that is a total of 70 +/- pounds in 2 years. Well, luckily, most of my baby weight was water and that came off fairly quickly - 2 weeks. But I was still so overweight. BTW - this whole time, I had a gym membership....

Now, here I am. Almost with a 2-yr old and no closer to my goal weight than the day I had her. You may ask "why is she putting all this out there? telling everyone how overweight she has become," or you might be saying "why does she think I care?" I don' think you care... But by telling everyone, they can see either how awesome I am for accomplishing something, or how pathetic and lazy I am for not dropping a pound.....

Also, I am doing this because I have e been watching my sisters and sisters-in-law get into shape and just slim right down! I have seen my friends from high school just melt the baby weight away. I don't want anyone to try and patronize me. Just accept what I say! I am doing this because I feel uncomfortable in my own skin and HATE HATE HATE the way I look. And I have lots of expensive clothes that have been in storage for a long time because I refuse to give up on my dream. I know I'll never get down to what I used to be - I wish I could.... maybe I can?? But I have got to lose at LEAST 30 pounds. My target date is April 5 because the Clark County Fair is that weekend and I don't like my old friends seeing the fat cow that I have become :(

Below is what I used to be. I have posted is before and it has always been my "inspiration" picture. Yes, it is a vain picture, but I am glad I have it to use now.

PS - I am going to TRY 2-a-days at the gym for a month to try and kick start things. Wish me luck!

Reclaimed wedding pictures!

I had to scan all of these in, so that's why there are only a few. I blew a couple up so Shane and I could actually have a real wedding portrait. I love them :)