12-12-12 Update on Pria's new moves

She's begun to wiggle her body more strongly. She was strong from the start kicking her little legs and waving her arms, but I feel this week she is going through a growth spurt. She pushes her legs against anything touching her feet and flaps her arms so much I have to constantly watch her to make sure she stays in the same spot. Otherwise she pushes herself to a new position or angle. Her eyes focus on me at farther distances in the room. Her smiles and giggles are no longer reflexes. Although she does smile and giggle while she sleeps still. She follows noises and lights turning her head more. She grabs and pulls things close to her. I've lost some strands of hair and almost had some earrings ripped out haha. Quite the grip...
And her sleeping pattern is slightly changing. Still sleeping great at night (half) waking up to just nurse twice briefly. She has 2 long naps during the day and a bunch of tiny 15 minute naps the rest of the time in between short feedings. She is growing rapidly and I am trying to soak it all in while I can but happy for her new little developments.

Pria's Blessing

Pria had her blessing today. Dustin, my dad, Grandpa Sam, Uncle Brooke, Bro Ginn, Bro Correia, and Bishop Christensen were part of it. We recorded the blessing. Dustin did a great job and it was from the heart and felt with the spirit. It was Pria and my first day back to church. We timed everything perfectly and she slept all Sacrament. Family and friends were staring at her sleeping and taking phone pictures.

"Pria as you are welcomed into this world we bless you with a healthy body. That as you grow you will understand your body and know how it should be treated. That you will have health and strength to serve your Heavenly Father and have joy throughout your life.

We bless you with a strong testimony. That you will build a personal relationship with your Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They will always be there for you to strengthen you to guide you and to comfort you. We bless you with the spirit that it will be with you throughout your life. That you will have strength to overcome the adversary as he tries to lead you astray.

We bless you with this testimony that you will build it and cherish it throughout your life that you will have the faith and the strength to return to your Heavenly Father. We bless you with a desire to seek knowledge, both spiritual and temporal. That you will be a source for others to turn to for understanding and help. And with that knowledge we bless you with a deep understanding of the plan of salvation, that it will comfort you throughout your life and will help you be an example for others and help you be a missionary. That you will be able to have the courage to share the gospel and to always choose the right.

Pria, when the time is right, we bless you that you will find a worthy and loving husband who will take you to the temple to be sealed for all time and eternity. I bless you with a family.. and as you raise your family, you will remember the love and righteous example of your mother.

Respect and love your mother. She will be your best friend.

I bless you that you will be an obedient child of God, that you will honor your parents and you will keep the commandments of your Heavenly Father. I bless you with all the blessing which God has for you at this time. I bless you with his love and I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen"

Powell White Elephant Xmas

The Powells got together that day to also celebrate Christmas with a traditional white elephant exchange that is always amusing.

Routines and chocolate

I've figured out her routine or pattern of how she likes things. Positions, what she likes right after she nurses, when she typically falls asleep...
Of course this routine of specific things applies if there isn't too much stimulation of being out of the house and my least favorite...if I don't eat chocolate or cheese.
I LOVE chocolate! I had chocolate like every other day before. Ugh. And how do you avoid dairy. I don't drink milk or have really cheesy things that much, but I do enjoy some fancy cheese on crackers or Dustin's moms lasagna recipe we made the other day.
This week Pria has a new (awesome) habit of almost sleeping through the night as long as I avoid these foods and eat my greens for the day. She sleeps the whole time minus like 2 feedings that are really short and she goes right back to sleep. And I don't even have to get out of bed to stay up with her for like 2 hours each time. Of course this has only been this week and it could change next week, but for now... I like it.

Should I have been sleeping?

Today I am exhausted.

She is sleeping and I should be sleeping too. But I can't. I can't help but watch her, touch her, listen to her.

I love to watch her lips purse together and make bubbles. I love to stare at her long eye lashes, button nose, and chubby cheeks.

I enjoy feeling her little hand wrapped around my finger, running my fingers through her hair, rubbing her soft tiny ear lobes. I love to massage her strong legs and touching her warm tummy.

I love listening to her coos and breathe in and out. Listen to her stretch. Listen to her deep sleepy sigh...

While she sleeps she will suddenly reach over and grab a hold of my top and hold on like I was going to get up. I smile and start to fall asleep... A minute passes and she stretches, yawns, and starts to wiggle...

Should I have been sleeping?

Random Notes

As many moms may agree, it is difficult to get a lot of things done when you have a kid or more... like updating a blog. I want to write important thoughts and small growth spurts of Pria. So when I have a minute while nursing or when she is asleep on my chest like right now, I quickly type in thoughts for the day in my phone in a notes application. Here are some short notes I wrote the last couple weeks.

11/10 - At the end of Chucks wedding (my mom's boss who is now Uncle Chuck :)), Dustin hugged me because it was cold and he was saying bye to me (Pria and I needed to leave a bit early). He said, "I haven't been able to do this in a while..." And he smiled. It was sweet. I realized then that Dustin and I hadn't really had our own time and probably won't have it too much for while...

11/13 - Pria had her first shower/bath with me today. She thoroughly enjoyed it. She was very alert looking around and at me, licking the water off my arm and closing her eyes happily. It was fun. I think she liked the skin on skin. I used Burt's Bees baby shampoo. We don't have a portable baby bath (and don't have room for one really) and our sinks won't really work. I think I prefer the shower with her though :).

11/14 - We call her our 'little bear'. She's a grunter. Makes the "nom nom nom" noises when she eats. She has had a strong neck from day one. Lifting it is not a problem for her. She's a snacker during the day as of now. Eats small amounts but very often... Likes her hands in her face. Ticklish on her feet and neck. Likes her body massaged when being burped. Likes a lot of movement. Sleeps during loud noise/talking.

11/15 - Pria weighed 10.10 pounds and was 21.5 inches at the Pediatrician today.

11/16 - Pria likes to keep her hands up by her face and sucks on them to sooth her. Listening to Sweet Pea radio or Paul Cardall radio on Pandora calms her. Driving in the car calms her down as well. She fusses when getting into the carseat though. She likes to be against your chest swaying and walking around instead of sitting. If you are sitting she likes being rocked. No sitting still and relaxing anymore!

11/19 - Spent 3 hours at the grocery store today to get thanksgiving ingredients, just me and Pria. 2 of which were in the parking lot. Went through 3 diapers in the process... It's a lot harder going places now...

11/20 - Pria loves to stare at light. It captivates her and she goes silent for a moment. So she likes a lot of movement, music, loud humming noises like hair dryers and vacuums, bouncy car rides and bright light.

11/21 - I've found that staying in bed waiting for Pria to wake up right next to me makes the day go better, rather than getting up while she's sleeping and getting stuff done. She cries less knowing she wakes up next to me, I am aware what she needs as soon as her eyes open and I let her decide what we are doing next. I've been doing that to see how it compares to trying to make things on my schedule. Positive results. I have a high maintenance little princess. It's her way or the highway... I've read that when babies spend less energy crying, that energy is spent more towards their development. Also that when you devote your attention to them, preventing major crying to get your attention, they have higher self-esteem later down the road.

The Story (It's a looong one)

Here is my birth story for those waiting to hear. One day and two long nights...
I did it all natural without any drugs or epidural. No inducing. No iv or hook ups to machines. And no hospital. Just how I planned. But you can't plan everything...
The night before I started writing down notes and my thought process in my phone since I was up all night and that was a distraction and something to do. I only have notes I wrote that day up until we checked into the birth center. The rest I will try to remember as best I can to write down.


THURSDAY 10/25
6:00pm: "It should happen this weekend. I started feeling deep cramps early this morning and apparently they say you feel like ur having a bad case of menstrual cramps right before. So unless this is false labor I'm in the early stage labor which is an "easy" part and can last 12+ hours. Then there is active labor, transition labor, then delivery. So, three stages of labor and then delivery. I'm not looking forward to the transition part."
10:00pm: "I think animals can sense when a woman is pregnant. And can sense your emotions as well. Both the cats keep following me into each room I go into and sit down next to me when I stay in one spot. They have been doing this the last couple weeks. It's cute. They probably won't be doing that once the baby is here..."
FRIDAY 10/26
12:00am: "Contractions are average 45 seconds long and 5-15 minutes apart. They aren't very comfortable. They are just like strong cramps that I use to have a year ago only spaced apart. If this doesn't happen today I will have to stall until Sunday because I reeeeally don't want the on call midwife for Saturday...."
4:00am: "I'm in my rocking chair having contractions that are 5 min apart. I've found myself trying to think of ways to distract myself during each contraction. At first I was trying imagery with ocean waves crashing on the shore (each contraction was a big wave that finally calmed down). Then I somehow had the primary song, "Popcorn popping on the apricot tree" stuck in my head so I was doing short 'ch' sounds to the beat of that song."
7:00am: "I am TIRED. I want to sleep so bad. I've tried a few positions all over the house. They all feel useless, especially trying to lay down. I don't know when to call my midwife because they say to stay home as much as possible during the early stage. I don't know how I will have the energy for when this gets harder. My one concern is, how long will this process take for me?"
9:00am: "We are headed to the birthing center now. We called in and asked Rosanne (my midwife) what she thought with the contractions I was having and she said to come in. It is a bumpy uncomfortable ride in the car... Sitting is definitely not a good position for me during contractions."

Once we got there Rosanne examined me and watched me have a contraction basically to see my reaction and how long it was. Dustin and her just stood there ha. I was 4 centimeters and Rosanne said, "Looks like you are going to have this baby today!" I was relieved she was the midwife on-call that day. The one on Saturday was our least favorite that I knew would make my experience not so great. We walked into the back area where the "birthing house/rooms/area" was at 9:30am...
Everything is kind of a blur now. I swear God does that on purpose so you forget the details and will want to do it again. So I am trying my best to describe what I remember.
In the living room/waiting area I knelt on the floor leaning against their window seat/bench as Dustin sat right next to me holding my hands, pushed on my lower back, let me lean into him and made sure I was drinking water. Rosanne left us alone for quite a while since she wasn't quite needed yet and wanted this to be our alone time. The tub wasn't filled yet and I kept thinking, shouldn't they be starting that? The contractions were harder and stronger at this point and I was unaware that time was actually going by. I felt like time was paused and I was not getting anywhere.
Dustin was in charge of texting some family members to let them know what was going on and we let people know around 10am I think. We wanted it to be just us at the birth center until the baby was here.
A couple hours later we finally got into the tub at like 11:15am. I swear it took an hour to fill the tub just 1 foot. I leaned over the edge a lot while Dustin massaged my back and Rosanne recommended I try leaning back against Dustin after probably an hour. There was a nurse there who was training that day... It was her 3rd birth, and she was very good at wiping my face with a cold wash cloth and massaging my arms and upper back.
They kept checking my temperature and the baby's heart beat with a fetal monitor. I actually remember getting really frustrated whenever they checked my temperature because they would put it in my mouth and then I would start a contraction and my mouth was clamped down on this thing and I needed to breathe.
It is recommended to keep your jaw relaxed and your mouth open as much as possible. They say that there is a relation between your mouth and down there and that keeping your mouth open and relaxed, helps you open up as well. I tried really hard to relax my mind and my mouth with each contraction. Dustin was always right there holding me reminding me to relax my jaw and was chanting the words "open" or "out" over and over. It's a mental thing.
It wasn't working.
I was at 7 centimeters around 3:00pm and we got out of the tub because apparently it was relaxing my body too much and I was not moving along.
The 2nd nurse that was training the other one said I should lean over an exercise ball and sway my hips back and forth. I did this for probably 2 hours trying to breathe out deeply and long breathes, not short ones where I clench my jaw.
I read in a book that my sister-in-law Jen, let me borrow, called, "Ina May's guide to Childbirth" that some women have a fear in their head sometimes that can delay labor and make it longer. I kept trying to think if I had one of these, thinking that may be why it was taking so long. I couldn't think of anything. It simply must have been that I was so tired from staying up the previous night.
Around 5:00pm I was at 9 centimeters and we were moving around quite a bit trying to find the best position for me. I tried standing and wrapping my arms around Dustin's shoulders (that one didn't last more than 5 minutes), then walking around the living room (moving as slow as a turtle...), leaning over the couch, sitting over the toilet (I didn't like the idea of it so I actually think it paused my process with that thinking), and then back to kneeling on the bed. I remember during this whole phase I kept looking at Dustin for some kind of encouraging face because I was wanting it to be over so bad. I could tell he felt bad that I was struggling to keep up my energy but once I looked at him he would say something encouraging like, "You are doing great."
And then he would hand me a juice box. :)
At 6:30pm they said I could start pushing. Finally. I had felt the need to push earlier on but they said I wasn't dilated enough yet. I was OVERLY tired and could hardly hold my self up at all. I felt limp and useless and defeated. Rosanne asked me if I wanted to get back in the tub. I wanted to have a water birth but I was afraid it would slow me down again. They laid me on my back in the most uncomfortable position for contractions and pushing but I had to so they could try to help me. Rosanne broke the rest of my water and had to help my cervix with each push. It made it more uncomfortable with her hands down there but Dustin said later she was doing that to massage me to make it easier later... I can't imagine if she didn't do that annoying process how much worse my recovery would have been. The baby wasn't in the best position either. Rosanne kept moving me from side to side trying to get her to move. She would start to and then moved back...
Dustin was on my right, the training nurse on my left, Rosanne in the middle and the other nurse was monitoring me and the baby.
We moved to a birthing stool towards the end. I sat on the stool while Dustin sat on the bed and I leaned back into him. At one point Dustin was actually pushing on my stomach trying to push the baby out. He said he could feel her moving around as he pushed her.
After each contraction/pushing I got more and more frustrated. I felt like I wasn't progressing. I was so tired. I don't know if Rosanne did it to motivate me or if she was serious but she started to say, "I don't want to have to transfer you to the hospital, you can do this, I want you to have this baby here, today." I didn't like hearing that I would have to be transferred.
I gave it all I had left.
The head was out. "Keep pushing Alyssa! Keep pushing, her heads out!" Ahhhhh!
She was finally out. I couldn't believe it. I did it? Wait, seriously?
All in what seemed like 1 second, our baby girl was on my chest and all the women were wiping her, Dustin and I were holding her together, a nurse was cleaning out her nose and mouth, Dustin was clamping the cord, one nurse was moving me to the bed and bam she was here.
Finally.
9:31pm

The baby and I took a nice little nap while Dustin did paperwork. My mom came at midnight with food and was there visiting with Rosanne and help baby for a while. They said we could go home at 1:30am or could stay there if we wanted to. We wanted to go home to our own bed and home so we left at 2:30am because it took a while gathering all our things, doing the carseat and saying goodbye to the help.
And that is the story. That is what I could remember. I can't tell you exactly what the pain felt like. I think that part was definitely erased from my memory as best as the man upstairs could so I could do this again.
I am happy she is finally here.

Answers to the regular questions....

Here are a couple quick questions some have asked:
-How was the labor? - Check out the story here in a previous post. But overall, minus how long it took and the fact that the birth wasn't in the tub, I think everything went how I wanted it to go. I got the midwife I wanted (out of the 4 that work on call there), I didn't have any major problems that required me to go to the hospital, I was able to at least labor in the tub, it happened before Halloween, it was on an even day (for some reason I just wanted the date to be an even number...), Dustin participated with as much as he could, and she came out healthy and beautiful and perfect!

-Will you do it again? - Yes I will. It was painful and long but it was one day out of this baby's life and I have forgotten the bad stuff or at least it is fuzzy.

-Did it hurt? - Well it was no walk in the park...

-Did I cry? - No.. I was first of all exhausted and second I don't cry very well...

-How is it at night? - So far so good actually. She sleeps for like 3-4 hours and then we are up for like 2 and then she sleeps for another 3-4. I am not too tired with that schedule, but I know it will change up soon...They say to sleep when she sleeps which I have tried to do. During the day is hard because I just want to watch her or I just have a hard time falling asleep when it is bright out. The first night I didn't sleep at all because I wanted to make sure everything was alright, she wasn't gagging, she was breathing alright, etc.

-How has it been so far? - It has been great. I have been enjoying the baby grunts, humming, raspberry kisses, tiny but big yawns, tiny fingers and toes, touching all her soft brown hair, her very alert eyes watching me up close, her face making quick little smile reflexes, laughing at her new body noises, and just watching her all day and night. I love having little snuggles ALWAYS wanting ME. (Even when I haven't brushed my hair all day and gone without a shower in... a while... due to all my attention being on her all the time and not how I look...)

-How is Dustin enjoying it? - He is loving it. Very giddy and cute with her. He has taken a TON of photos so far on his phone and captured just about every facial expression she has made. He has been VERY helpful for me, the baby and helping with regular house stuff (if my mom hasn't already come by...).

-How is recovery? - ....Recovery like this wasn't something I was expecting. Everything else, yes. But not the recovery. I tore during the birth and had to get 4 stitches. I got a lot of bruising. Even on my legs from grabbing them during pushing. I won't go into much detail but the first couple days it was hard to walk or move at all. My body was very weak and tired. It still is, but nothing like the first few days. I was like bed-ridden. It was hard trying to take care of myself AND Pria. Now I am able to move around like normal but my body hurts towards the second half of the day and sitting is like a chore. I have to lay down. It is frustrating sometimes. But I know it will go away eating the healthiest foods, drinking a lot of water and taking it easy.

-Meals and diet? - I thought the worrying about making my diet stricter was over. I don't eat unhealthy anyway but man do I want some chocolate cake, 7 layer dip, shepherds pie, a big juicy croissant sandwich, thick french toast, one of Rogers oreo shakes, or a Dr Pepper so bad! Just a couple treats and I'll be happy... Just a splurge? But I'm breast feeding and healing... So no fun yet ha. I know if I splurge I will be tempted to have a little more here and a little more there. If I want to recover quicker, lose the pregnancy weight/fat, and have healthy breast milk I need to control myself, and so I have.

-How do I like it with her being on the outside rather than the inside now? - It was fun feeling her little feet in my belly but having her on the outside is waaaay better. I had an EASY pregnancy but it wasn't my favorite. I didn't enjoy it like some women do.

-Has Pria had any jaundice, skin problems, etc? - Her skin has been perfect. No yellowing. No rashes. No skin acne. We have been lucky so far.

-Are diapers fun yet? - Ha. They aren't that bad. Her messes are still small and not too stinky. yes I know they will get stinkier and yes the amounts will be larger. But it is different being our own baby. It is true when people say that. Dustin is very good and quick with them. I think guys in general are just quicker at doing diapers.

-Do we have everything we need? - Yes. We have the most important stuff. I do wish we had a dresser to organize all her stuff since we don't really have a closet to organize things. It is just all over the place. We have been checking craigslist for a nice one. We are also looking for a baby bouncer on craigslist too. She loves movement and bouncing. It would be nice to have while getting ready to leave or hanging out at my parents house later on. Pria is a little bit bigger than some of our smallest outfits. She has fit them but they are most likely a one time outfit. From now on I am searching for the kimono type outfits where you don't have to pull the onsie or top over their head. It a lot easier for changing and stuff. Our house is a bit cold. it hasn't gotten freezing yet but our fireplace doesn't warm up the whole house very quickly or get to some rooms. So things like mittens, beanies and thicker sweats like fleece pants are things I will look out for more.

-Are we ready for our life to change completely? - We wouldn't have tried for a kid if we weren't. Dustin was/is ready and so am I. I think being a mom was what I am here for. We are excited for this new kind of change, this new kind of different. Sure there will be hard parts here and there but what part of anyone's life isn't hard in some way one way or another? I know this change will benefit our marriage. It already has. I feel closer to Dustin in a very special way with Pria here. I grew to love him more during the pregnancy. And having Pria here between us now it intensified that much more.
Yes we are ready.

This was our week. No one else's.

Facebook:
I have never liked that things are only official when you post them on facebook. It seems a little impersonal sometimes. Don't get me wrong I use it a lot but for this event... I wanted privacy from facebook. I didn't want the whole world involved and invading our special time. I wanted it to be our time.
SO. We made a rule and told family that we weren't going to post anything on facebook and they weren't to either until we had. We texted direct family and a couple friends that are like family, when the labor started and when Pria arrived, but no facebook. I wanted a day without notifications, overload of questions, calls, messages. And that is what we got. And I loved it.
We also didn't want to post anything until we knew her name because we knew every other question was going to be, "What is her name??????", which we didn't decide until Sunday night.

Visits:
I wanted the first week to be our week as well. Only my parents and sister were allowed to come over and even my dad and Jelina couldn't come over because they were really sick, which sucked. My dad finally got to see her/hold her on Halloween night when my family came over for a October-ish dinner. Jelina was there but didn't hold her to be safe. Of course if Dustin's dad and siblings were closer it would be the same for them to only be allowed as well.
Extended "unsick" family members could see her the second week.


Pictures:
I want to document everything, but wanting to take everything in and take advantage of this time before it goes too fast at the same time. So I try to take little notes here and there on my phone so for times like these where I have Pria sleeping on my chest as I type, I can get all these thoughts down and people can get the down low since they can't come over haha! I take phone pics here and there (nothing like Dustin's phone pics) but I really want a photo shoot of Pria with Dustin and I. We don't have money for another photographer and Jelina could help us out but she is still sick. Looks like we will have to try a silly session with the tripod ha.


Our week:
We simply wanted it to be our week. Besides the big factor of making sure no sickness comes into the house and affects Pria while she is so vulnerable, tt is the first time we will EVER have this moment, this time with her so small and precious... We wanted to take it all in without distractions or interruptions. Dustin didn't work one day. It was just the three of us enjoying every minute.
It has been wonderful.

Umbilical Cord

Today Pria's umbilical cord fell off. The little stub is in a plastic bag. Not sure what to do with it. It stinks. I think she will have an inny which I am happy about. :)

Our new little cottage house

Here are a few pics of our new place we moved into the end of August. It's out in the country surrounded by vineyards and very quiet there. It is one story, pretty small, and VERY little storage. But it has a cute backyard, has a LOT of light inside which I love, and it is perfect for our new little family. We are happy here :)

Here is the front of the house with our driveway.

Our front door has one special square that is different from the others for some reason. It is our peep hole to spy on the neighbor.... Or you know, whatever haha.

There are a TON of leaves that are all over the place. 

The kitties usually like to look out the window and watch Dustin do whatever project he is working on.

Here is our little living room. 

And here is our bedroom. And that is basically all it is. A bed in a room. We have a kingsize and it takes up the whole room. Dustin gets the side by the window :)

 Here is the babies room. It is pretty simple right now since we are reserving some wall space for pictures of her when she comes into the world. We plan on putting letters for her name above the crib and pictures or a big canvas photo on the bigger empty wall. 

 Here is our little backyard. The building on the right is a shed we share with the neighbor and the little, um... house thing on the left is well somethin'. When we moved in the lawn was dirt. In a nutshell, the lawn has been Dustin's baby that he has made into something nicer. Haha. 

We made a little tiny patio at the end of our small porch with our lawn chairs that we will hopefully extend when we have more money. And here is Dustin's chopped wood for our tiny fireplace. Each piece of wood can't be longer than 6 inches haha.

A Little Groff (blog)

If you are wondering why I haven't been updating this blog as much, it is because I have been writing on my "pregnancy journal blog" which you can read here:

http://alittlegroff.blogspot.com/

But I will keep posting things here as well in the coming months and will come back to it once the baby is born. I am just a little more focused on keeping a record of thoughts on this other blog at the moment...

Happy Valentines Day/Birthday Dustin!

So this year for Dustin's birthday we both had to work at night. In the hospitality business it is really hard to get big holidays off. So we had the day together.

In the morning I made heart pancakes for breakfast...

I attempted to make a heart banner out of cut-out paint swatches from Wal-Mart. Didn't quite turn out like the Pintrest post I copied it from...

I asked Dustin what he wanted to do that day and he was like, "I just wanna hang out."

Ooookkk....Exciting lol.

So my idea was to go "hang out" at the park and feed the geese.

I think he had more fun than he thought he would feeding the birds :)

I called these guys the 3 stooges. Goobers that wouldn't leave us alone haha.

When they ate out of your hand they were viscous!

"Umm.. buddy you have a little sumthin sumthin there..."

He was saving it for later...

Then we went out to eat at Flavor Bistro for lunch and it was amazing as usual!

It was a lovely day :)

Happy Lannis Awareness Day :)

Dustin's mom passed away of breast cancer 12 years ago on February 19th and this year I decided to remember her with some yummy cookies... Cookies in the shape of the cancer symbol with pink icing for breast cancer.

I had never made sugar cookies before so this was a first but I thought they came out pretty good. It was more the thought than anything though.

Dustin was surprised and loved them. The 19th was on a Sunday this year and Dustin has a calling as a teacher for the 12/13 year olds at church and so he brought them with him to church to share. He used the cookies as part of his lesson and while bearing his testimony shared about Lannis and how the experience strengthened him in the church. I wish I was there to hear exactly how he shared everything and worked it into his lesson. I am sure it was great and the kids loved/respected him even more afterwards.

2012 - Year of the Dragon, Woohoo!

I got a feeling... 2012 is going to be a very eventful/crazy year. It is only February and I already feel like it has been more than 2 months.

To start off the year my uncle was in the hospital for 2 months with every kind of sickness you could imagine (he is finally getting out tomorrow), my dad got pneumonia, my mom got sick, a few other friends of ours got so sick they went to the hospital as well, like 5 of my friends are having babies, Dustin and I got offered a job as apartment managers down the road, we are going to Mexico next month, the spirit told my dad what he needed to tell his best friend word for word in testimony meeting, Maddie Lowder is getting married, Jelina is planning on going on a mission this year, everyone seems to have something new going on and apparently 2012 is going to be the end according to the Mayans... Lol. There is a bunch of little things and I just really think this year is going to be cccrazy and exciting.

Until the next who-knows-what exciting thing, happy year of the dragon!

:)

13 things to Look at when checking out an apartment:

Since we will be becoming apartment managers again, I insisted on checking out the apartment we will be living in for who knows how long to make sure it is livable. Now, I did live in this same apartment when I was really young (my mom was the apartment manager there 20 years ago...) so I did remember the layout and that it wasn't horrible. But it has been 20 years and apartments get old/look older in time... So we went and overall the apartment will work. It just needs some updating as far as the 80's gold trim/door knobs, different light fixtures and some serious cleaning.

So I thought of some important things to look at and what I should remember people look at when they are checking out an apartment:

1. Carpet - Stains? Was it cleaned? Any tears or rips along seams?

2. Check the drains - Was management quick enough to change a plugged sink before showing an apartment? Leaks?

3. Turn on the heat/air - Is it clanky and sound old? When air comes out of the vents is it dusty?

4. Open the windows and closet doors - Are they sticky or rusty? Do they let pockets of air in?

5. Flush the toilets - Can they handle a load?... How do they run?

6. Check the paint trimming job - (Are they lazy and don't paint the top of the wall trim?) Is paint flaky?

7. Air quality? - Overall does it smell like mold or pets or foreign smelling? Filters dirty?

8. Turn on the oven/microwave/stove - Updated appliances? Working properly?

9. Storage - Is there room for storage? Garage? Room for all your kitchen stuff/food?

10. Closet space - Will you have room for all your clothes/shoes/etc.?

11. Furniture space - Measure the room and make sure your stuff will fit and where it could go.

12. Exterior? - Do the plants and exterior look kept after? Has anybody been here in the last 6 months?

13. Management/Maintenance - What is the procedure for having something fixed? What availability does the manager have?

Our living situation

It feels like yesterday that we just moved out here and yet it has already been 5 months. Whaaat?! Time to live on our own again... Don't get me wrong it has been nice living with the parents for this long. But. As Rafikki says, "It is time."

Time to put all our boxes in my parents garage... somewhere else.

Time to pay for our own gas bill, so I can rack up the heater without feeling guilty (Hence the reason for the cartoon of my freezing feet on Dustin's back lol).

Time to have my own kitchen again where I can make a mess and use all my favorite kitchen utensils.

Time for privacy.

Time to have our own parking garage/space.

Time to be adults again.

We have been able to save some money and pay off more of our bills which is a big part of living with my parents these last few months.

Just this last week we were approached, with another apartment managing job just down the road, by my mom's old boss. She was an apartment manager at my age at this same complex and now they need another on-site manager/team. The owners, Tom and Jim, met with us today to discuss what we would do while working there. We would be getting a free apartment for doing the basics and would earn extra money if we did extra stuff that isn't in our normal routine.

So we will keep our jobs working at Vintners and John Ash to pay the bills/save, and not have to worry about rent.

I had been hoping to move into like a cottage to rent out with a patio/yard and more of a house-like feel, but at this point in our lives we need to save money if I ever plan to have the big house I dream about...

Mayan Humor...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!