SO SOON!

Little Landon will be arriving to this new world very soon! He is due on January 15, but I bet Mike that he'll be here before the new year, and I'm afraid he'll come after :( Oh well, as long as he comes! Although, if he wants to be the first baby of the new year, he may. He is still moving around a lot, and causing lots of hip pain and heart burn for me. Mike is enjoying talking to him, and feeling how stretched out my belly button has gotten. The car-seat is in the backseat of the car, his clothes and blankets are washed, and his bassinet is all ready for him. All we need now is the baby!

A little random...

So this evening, I was scraping out a pan that had old, stale, not very yummy tasting brownies. Gross, I know. They had been sitting on the stove in the pan for like a month haha. Well, one of the corner brownies was stuck in there pretty good, so I asked Mike to come and help me. As he was scraping, out popped this screw! We had NO idea where it came from, but we were grateful that we found it outside of the brownie, instead of inside the brownie. Really random! We still have no clue as to what it goes to...

Happy Anniversary to us!

I made Mike a CD of his favorite songs, and he got me a 5lb bar of chocolate :)

Today, one year ago, Mike and I were sealed for time and all eternity. Today, Mike and I are even more in love than ever. 

Here is a timeline of this past year:

November 5: Get married

November 7: Move to Idaho

November 8: Move into the smallest apartment we have ever seen

December 6: Michelle gets a job at Citizen's Community Bank

January 6: Mike starts college

February 14: First Valentine's Day as a married couple

March 26: Mike turns 22

End of April: Move into Donegal Bay Apartments, best decision ever!!!!

May 9: FIND OUT WE'RE PREGNANT!

June 15: See our little gummy bear for the first time

July 31: Go down to Utah for Grandma's 69th birthday

September something: Mike gets a full-time, (but temporary) wonderfully paying job at the grain silos

September 8: Ultrasound confirms that we're having a boy :)

September 24?: Hike "R" Mountain with sister Elise. I was 6 months preggo, not a good idea

October 6: It snows for the first time this fall?? Weird

October 18: Michelle turns 23

November 5: First anniversary!

What a great year this has been, and we're looking forward to all the wonderful years that are to come.

Per Alice

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So Mike is a 'manny', which means he's a nanny, but he's a man. Every Mon, Wed, and Fri he and I (mostly he because I have to work) watch a 8 month old baby girl named Alice. She's super fun and we love her. Today I was checking the blogs that I 'stalk' and Alice decided that she wanted to sit on my lap and type. This is what she wanted to say to the world :)

I love autumn.

Today was such a beautiful day- 60 degrees with the sun shining. Mike and I went on a walk around 4:30 and I took some lovely pictures. This is my favorite season, not just because my birthday is in October, but because it's just so beautiful! I love looking at all the leaves changing colors, and falling on the ground. The crisp air, seeing and eating things made of pumpkins, it's all beautiful. I love autumn!

To see the rest of the pictures I took, go to www.michellegooldphotography.blogspot.com

Tears and smiles

Last night, as Mike and I were walking up the stairs to go to bed, I looked at my phone and oddly it reminded me that I have to work at 8:30am, instead of the usual 3:00pm. I got really upset because it was almost 11:30 at night, and if I had remembered earlier that I had to work in the morning, I would have gone to bed way earlier. So I went to wash my face and brush my teeth, but instead I went into the bathroom to cry. I was soooo upset! My sad feelings were more than knowing that I should have gone to bed earlier. I REALLY don't like working. 

It's not my job that I don't like, because it's not horrible. Being a bank teller is okay work, and I love the people I work with. I was crying because I realized that I'm not supposed to work for the rest of my life. I'm supposed to be a stay at home mom, and that's it. Mike is supposed to work and provide for the family. But right now, I'm barely working 25 hours a week, and Mike is unemployed. It's not supposed to be this way. I am meant to be a mother. 

I know it's not going to be this way forever, but for now, it's just not idyllic. I feel weird leaving Mike at home so I can "bring home the bacon." When we first got married, it was funny for a while that I was Mike's "Sugga Mama", but now it's not funny. It's been almost a year and I'm just not happy.

On a good note, I came home for lunch today, and there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers on the front door for me. I was almost brought to tears again because Mike is such a sweet man. He understands me and knows when I'm going through a hard time even when I don't tell him. 

Before I was home, I stopped at a grocery store to buy Mike a filled doughnut because they are his favorite. So he bought be flowers, and I bought him a doughnut. We love each other!

I had the best doctor's appointment this morning, and I'm going to tell you all about it because I'm happy :)

The appointment was for 9:20am, and I was going to get tested for gestational diabetes, so I had to drink that yucky orange drink an hour before the appointment, which meant I had to wake up at 7am to eat breakfast, wait for that to digest, then drink the stuff at 8:20. I didn't think I had diabetes, but I did think I had a UTI, which aren't fun.

So when I went to the doctor, the nurse weighed be, and said that I only gained 3 pounds since my last appointment, which is perfect, because they want a 2-4 pound gain. Then she checked my blood pressure and said that was perfect as well. 

The doctor came in and told me that the diabetes test was negative, AND I don't have a UTI! Both of those were such great news to me! Then he measured the growth of the baby, and checked his heartbeat, which were both excellent as well :)

So all in all, this pregnancy is going amazingly well! I'm loving being pregnant, and I'm getting very anxious for Landon to make his appearance in the world.

I love my life <3

I promise we're alive! I just haven't really had much to say on this thing, and since hardly anyone reads it, I figured it doesn't really matter.

BABY UPDATE:

Little Landon Jay is getting bigger and bigger these days, and is kicking almost nonstop. According to the pregnancy website, he's about 1 1/2 pounds, and about 13 1/2 inches long by the end of this week! The nursery has all of the stuff it needs, furniture wise, so we just need to put everything together where we want it, and then fill the wholes! We have some baby clothes, and 3 packages of diapers, so we're still waiting to get the little things. We do have a crib, dreser, rocker, carseat/stroller, a bassinet, and a swing. Everytime Mike sees the swing or stroller, he gets so sad that the baby hasn't come yet. I tell him to just be patient, and he's doing great. He talks to the baby through my tummy, and kisses it. I love that he already has a great love for our baby, I can't wait for Landon's arrival.

JOB UPDATE:

Mike's job at General Mills ended because the graining season has ended, so he's currently unemployed. However, he has applied at Commercial Tire and Les Schwabb, and he's hoping to get an interview with them sometime next week.
I am still working at Citizen's Community Bank, but I'm only getting about 23 hours a week, so I'm still looking for something with a few more hours. On Craigslist, Mike saw that the Sears Portrait Studio is looking for a photographer, and since I have already worked for that company, I figured I should apply for seasonal, since by the end of December, I'll probably be too big to be moving around taking pictures. So I applied, and I will hopefully hear back from them by next week.

Ultrasound results...

IT'S A BOY!

Little Landon Jay Goold is on his way!

18 Weeks, and feeling fine!

Update

I'm beginning my 18th week of pregnancy, and I'm loving everything about being pregnant except gaining weight. Since puberty, I haven't been skinny, and it's something that I've always struggled with. My weight seemed to stay the same for a long time, and then all of a sudden I've gained 10 pounds since I found out I was pregnant. Mike is good at reminding me that I am carrying a growing baby inside me and that I'm SUPPOSED to be gaining weight, but I'm worried that I'll never be able to get rid of that added weight after the baby is born. He/she is due in the middle of winter, so I'm hoping to buy a few good workout DVD's so I'll be able to shed the extra pounds quickly after the baby is born.


Mike and I just celebrated our 9 month anniversary. I got off work at 6, and when I walked through the door to the apartment, Mike welcomed me home by telling me to sit down on the couch while he finishes making dinner for us. How thoughtful! He never cooks. After a tasty dinner of chicken and rice, we went to Fat Cats, a family fun center here in Rexburg, and played a free game of Balladium (which was pretty lame) and then 2 rounds of mini-golf. When that was done, we got some frozen yogurt at Twizle Berry, and then played on their Kinect. After we were exhausted from all that dancing, we went home and watched Rio. It was a good date :) 


I am still working at the bank, but it's back to being on-call and every Saturday, so I'm getting really bored with being home all day. I am looking for another nanny job that I can keep when I have the baby. Mike is working full-time doing custodial stuff at the boy's dorms on campus. He doesn't really like it, but it's full-time work and we're grateful that he has a job.


Nothing much else is happening with us old married people. Mike is taking a friend to the Boise Airport today, which is about a 5 hour drive one way, so he's gone almost all day today. I get to go to church alone :( But after church I'm doing a short photo session for a friend who is blessing their baby boy today, so it should be good. 

Baby Bump?

BEFORE

The past few days I've been working on re-upholstering our dining room chairs. My mom had done the original covers like 15 years ago, so I felt it was time for new ones. When Mike and I went to the store to pick out fabric, we had tons of options, but we ended up with basically the same pattern, just black instead of navy blue. Weird how that works out.

AFTER

Baby Update!

Sorry, no pictures of my belly yet, I'm still not really showing. However, I am 13 weeks along this Sunday, and the baby is the size of a peach :) I finished my first trimester with flying colors! Seriously, no morning sickness, no food cravings (except anything sweet) or aversions, no super sleepiness, or anything bad! I just drifted through. Once the first trimester was over though, I can feel the baby growing a TON now! Sorry if this is too much information, but I have felt my uterus growing almost non-stop this week! It's not really painful, more like uncomfortable. But last week I got to hear the baby's heartbeat at the doctor's office, and I recorded it on my phone so Mike could hear it, and now I get to hear it whenever I want! I am already so much in love with my little "gummy bear". At the beginning of the pregnancy, I really wanted a boy first, but now I don't care. All I want is a healthy baby. 

Big News!

For all 6 of those that read this blog, you heard right. I'm having a baby!!!! We had our first ultrasound yesterday and we got 2 super cute pictures of the little gummy bear. The first look at the baby was so amazing! It was just bouncing around inside, showing us its little arms and legs. I immediately fell in love! The due date is January 15, and so far everything is just as it should be. Strong heartbeat, good measurements, and I'm healthy too!

 

Playing with pictures

Visit www.michellegooldphotography.com

Previous Post= FALSE

So. As most of you know I work at a bank where we deal with fraud checks at least once every 2 months. Today, I was the lucky one who tried to deposit one of those. Let's go back a little...

My last post was about this amazing nanny job, paying me $500 a week. I knew it was too good to be true. This guy that I've been e-mailing back and forth about the job sent me a check in the mail yesterday that was for $2,770. Weird, right? Well after I got the check, I looked at my e-mail and he said for me to take the $500 out for my first weeks payment, and then use the rest of the money to buy groceries and other small things for the house he'll be moving into in a few weeks. So I thought it made sense. But then I went to the bank this morning to deposit it, and we thought it was kinda weird that the check was from a company in some town in Massachusetts. So after LOTS of phone calls, we concluded that this check, indeed, is fraud. 

BUMMER!!!

This was going to be the best nanny job I ever had! Watching a 3 year old boy for 20 hours a week, making $2000 a month! I did ask the man about it, but he has yet to respond. Lucky me. Now I'm back to working MAYBE 13 hours a week, getting paid crap. I knew life was going just too dang well for us. 

Money!

So ever since Mike and I moved into this new apartment, our money has been going downhill. The rent here is about $75 more than our other one, which isn't horrible seeing as it's 3x bigger, but with the size, comes bigger bills. Our electric and gas bills are quite large. Mike is only working 20 hours a week, and if I'm lucky I get about 14 hours a week. So we are just barely getting by.


However, on Saturday I was looking at craigslist (love that website!) and I saw that there was a nanny job posting, so I e-mailed the person asking for more details, etc. Well the next day he e-mailed me back telling me that he and his family are moving here from LONDON! on June 5th, and need someone to help watch their 3 yr old son from the hours of 2pm-6pm. I thought those were pretty good hours, I could maybe get another day job or something. But then I read further and saw that I'll be making.....$500 a week!!! That's more than we make in a month! I said heck yes, and e-mailed him back answering the questions he had for me. 


This morning I checked my e-mail again because I was anxious to see if he would choose me to watch his son, and he did!!! I'm going to be nannying a little boy from London 20 hours a week, making BANK! 


Life is good for us right now. We love our new apartment, we love each other, and we love that we probably won't have to life paycheck to paycheck anymore! Thanks man from London!

Easter

The top row are my eggs, and the bottom eggs are Mike's

This Easter Sunday was better than I was expecting. I did want to go to Utah to spend it with my grandma, but since gas prices are so high, we decided that we should just spend it here in Rexburg. I told Mike that since we're not going to Utah, I would like a traditional Easter dinner.

After church, we got home around 4:45, and I started dinner as soon as I could. I wasn't expecting any company, but we were lucky enough to have Mike's best friend Chris come, and our friends from the ward, Ron and Maggie Garner with their son Hayden. We did end up having enough food for 5 people, 6 if you count an 11 month old. We had a honey-glazed ham with funeral potatoes and deviled eggs. YUM! Yes, I did end up making the whole dinner, but I didn't care because it turned out perfect and we had great company.

Also on Easter, Hayden started walking more! He was just taking a few steps here and there, but that evening, the most he walked was about 16 steps! He's such a smart little guy and we love having the Garner's over to play and eat with us.

 

We're Moving!

We found out a few weeks ago that the apartment complex that we applied for for the end of summer has an opening at the end of this month. So we filled out all our paper work and turned it in, and we're moving into Donegal Bay Apartments hopefully by the end of next week! So long, Lexington Apartments, it was an...interesting 5 months. Donegal Bay is way bigger, two stories, two bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, a nice kitchen, and a nice dining room and living room. I love them! Mike and I are getting so excited to actually have walking room! 

Classic Conference Pose

This weekend we got to enjoy listening to the prophet and his apostles speak to the world during General Conference. I loved hearing what they had to say and clearly so did Mike!

He slept on this couch during the best talks of conference, but I didn't catch a good picture because he woke up when the flash went off. He was OUT, with his mouth wide open and everything! I love you babe!

There's always going to be someone prettier than me. There's always going to be someone skinnier than me. There's always going to be someone who can match their jewelry better than I can. There's always going to be someone who can bake better than I can, and there's always going to be that girl who I admire who is better at living than I am. 

But that's okay. I'm fine with people being better than me because I am me. I'm not anyone else, and so what if she's prettier or skinnier than me? So what if I burned the muffins? I'm human and I make mistakes. I don't have the perfect body, but to my husband I do. I'm happy with my life because I know who I am and I am loved. 

Tonight I got to spend some time with another married couple and their baby, and I love that they accept me into their home whenever I feel like coming over. Most of the time I arrive with my husband, but tonight I just walked over by myself and they let me right in. I love that I don't have to try to sit up as straight as I can, and I love that they don't care that my hair is a mess. They love me for who I am, and I'm so grateful.

I love teaching my talents to others, and I admit that I get a little envious at them if they are good at it than I am. But it makes me happy to see them succeed. I can't wait to be a mommy so I can teach everything I know to my children and to see them succeed in life.

Staying home does this to me...

I get crafty! In the past few days I have scrap booked our wedding pictures, made a cute "G" to hang on the walls (I'm not too proud of it, so I didn't take a picture), and I made this to hang above the door to our bedroom:

 Cute, huh?

Sunday Mornings

Like most people, I hate getting out of bed. I usually try and think of the reason I have to, and I usually come up with many good ones. Like, "I'll be late for work" or "Mike won't be happy if he comes home at 2 and sees me laying in bed". So I get up and get going on my day. 

This morning happened to be a Sunday morning and I woke up to the soundtrack to The Prince of Egypt playing in the kitchen and sunshine bursting through the closed blinds. I just happen to LOVE this soundtrack, and who can resist the sun? I got up with a smile on my face and walked into the kitchen to find my AMAZING husband making coffee cake. He makes it every Sunday morning when we have a later church, but it still makes me happy.

When we have church at 1:30, it gives us time to do things that we normally wouldn't do any other mornings. We don't really have many things to worry about, except which shoes will match my outfit :) So we can make big breakfasts, play games with each other, watch a church movie, study church doctrine, read up on the lessons that will be taught in church, take a nap, scrapbook, etc. I love spending Sunday mornings with my husband, and I'm looking forward to spending them with my children as well.

My Life

Today I went into work at the bank for 4 hours, and I knew that if I didn't have a positive attitude I would have a miserable time. So I went in with a smile on my face and kept it on the whole time. I didn't have the best day in my life, but it wasn't horrible. The bank was pretty slow and I got bored, so I started making a list of the blessing in my life. It felt like a machine was writing for me because my hand was listing off all the blessing I have super fast. My mind never drew a blank. I have so much to be thankful for and if I just stop to think about what God has given me, I should walk around with a smile on my face 24/7. I know I'm not perfect and I don't lead the perfect life, but I do have a great life. I have a loving husband who supports me in whatever I choose to do, I have 2 jobs when most people don't even have 1, I am a member of the only true church in the world, etc. I could go on and on. I do have a great life and I need to remind myself more often. 

Check it out!

In case you didn't know, I do have a photography blog, and I just updated it! Check it out:


michellegooldphotography.blogspot.com


Thanks!

Need Something New

The other day while I was working at the bank, my cash drawer ended up being $100 over. Crap. I looked at every transaction, but I just couldn't find where that money came from. Then I was stapling a cute poster that I was asked to make to the wall, and my manager got all huffy and told me that "now there's holes all over the walls." Whoops, my bad, but I wasn't told that I couldn't do that and you were right there watching me do it.  I feel like I'm just slipping down the drain with this job. This isn't what I want to do anymore, and I never dreamed of being a bank teller.

I don't like numbers. Math has always been my weakest subject, and I don't know why I go to work here knowing that I have to count and add and subtract ALL DAY. I know that this job is good for me to keep because Mike and I really need the money right now since we're looking for a new apartment and are expecting a baby sometime in the future.

I want to be a professional photographer. I want to get good at what I love, and this requires time and practice. How many days a week I work varies, and i don't get the time that I want to to take artistic pictures. I don't want to be a banker anymore, but I'll stick with it as long as I can because right now I need to provide for me and my husband.

Looking Ahead

The other day, I was making dinner or doing something in the kitchen, and I looked over into our bedroom, and I saw Mike staring at himself in our mirror. It looked like he was very deep in thought, so I asked him what he was thinking and he said that he was thinking by the end of March, I will most likely be pregnant. 

Yep, that's right. Mike and I are trying to have a baby! I took my first prenatal pill this afternoon, and I'm fully off birth control, so I could get pregnant pretty soon! We are both so anxious to be parents. Some may think that it's too soon for us to get pregnant, but we don't think so. We've only been married for a little over 3 months, yes, but we both feel it's the right time. If I do get pregnant by March, our baby will be due sometime in December, and that should give us enough time for Mike to find a good job and for us to save our money. So I'm trying to eat healthier and get in better shape so my body will be a good place for the fetus to grow in, and if anyone has any helpful advice for us, we'll be happy to hear it :)

Can Hardly Wait

Friday and Sunday evenings meant going to Grandma's. Seeing my cousins, making up adventures, hiding from our parents when it's time to go, playing dress-up, jumping on their SUPER bouncy trampoline, and eating yummy treats. This was the life from the time I was about 5 to the time I was about 14. My grandparents lived right in the middle of where 6 of her 9 children lived.

This past weekend I took my sister and my husband to Utah to go visit my grandma and other family that lives with her. They moved to Utah about 3 years ago. There, we got to watch home movies of us children playing together, and we got to reminisce the good old days where everyone got along. I was thinking how we took these easy days for advantage. We had no idea how good we had it to have most of our cousins within 20 minutes of each other and we are all so close in age.

Today in Olympia, there are 3 families, with one we adopted. One lives in Boise, ID, 2 live in Lindon, UT, and the others are scattered about those three states. If we all want to get together, half of us has to drive like 14 hours from state to state.

I can hardly wait for the days where we can all be together again in Heaven, and relive all those memories. I can hardly wait to see our childhoods again, and how much fun we had. I love watching the silly home movies that my Grandpa has and seeing how creative we were. I know that my Grandpa is watching his grandchildren growing up with pride.

A new favorite

So for the past few weeks I've been going to the gym around 8 to go to the Zumba class that is offered on campus. However, all the classes are so full I hardly have room to really get a good workout. I decided to try something different on Tuesday because I didn't want to go in a crowded room with lots of sweaty girls who only go to Zumba on Tuesday nights because there's an attractive man who directs it. I chose to go to the Pilates class that's offered instead and I loved it. There was only 7 of us girls and it was very relaxing. And unlike Zumba, I could feel where I worked my body the next day. Pilates is strengthening, while Zumba is more for fun.

Wish List

Lately I haven't been in the best of moods, and I think it's because my life is so scattered and I don't like it. I like to have my life in order, knowing what I need to do or go next. Since the woman that I nanny for had her twin boys on Friday, she doesn't need me to come watch her kids this week since her husband will be home. So I told the bank that I have an open schedule, and I'm working really odd hours. I don't like this! I was lucky enough to stay at home this morning and it felt...natural. I woke up around 8, did my morning stuff, and then I cleaned the apartment including, doing the dishes and doing laundry. Getting all this done made me happy. I'm looking forward to the days where I can stay home all day and play with the kids.

My wishes (not complaints)

1. I wish that Mike could fast forward to his graduation so he can provide for our family and I can be at home.

2. I wish that we could buy a house of our own so I can decorate it how I want and don't have to worry about noisy upstairs neighbors.

3. I wish that we lived closer to our families.

4. I wish that I had a full-time job close to home.

5. I wish Mike and I had the money we need for a new apartment.

Work before Play

Yesterday my big sister piled into a Jeep with two guys, and they made their long journey to Rexburg, Idaho. At 6:47am, I got a phone call from Elise saying that she was about 10 minutes away from my apartment. I said okay and fell back asleep. At 7:15 I heard a knock on the front door. I yelled for Mike to get it since he was up, but he was shaving so he couldn't hear me. I padded out to get the door, and opened it to see my big sis standing there freezing. I showed her where to put her stuff, and said that I was going to bed, and she's welcome to join me. We laid in bed, wanting to fall asleep, but we kept talking. It was nice to be reunited with her again. I knew that I had to go to work today, but noon came too soon. I was all ready to leave for work just when Elise was getting out of the shower and putting on her makeup for the day. I felt kinda guilty for leaving her for 6 hours, especially since she just drove 15 hours to spend the weekend with me. But my lovely husband decided that he wouldn't go to his last class of the day and spend time with his new sister in-law.

They're going sledding! Yep, they're out at the sand dunes in Saint Anthony having the time of their lives while I'm sitting here by a cold drive-through window, hoping to be taking people's money. Fridays are supposed to be one of the busiest days, but I've been here for over an hour and I've only helped 6 people. Blah.

But I have learned something from this. I am in the position in my marriage where Mike is depending on me to work hard at my jobs so we can have money to live. He is in the position where I depend on him to get good grades so he can have a career and help us earn money for our family. Recently Mike wrote a paper for his English class entitled 'Chores', and he wrote about how his mother's motto for life was always "Work before playing!" Now being the great wife that I am, I got to help him proofread this essay many times until it was perfect, and I learned that it is very important to get all the work done before playing.

So while I'm here wishing for customers to come in to the bank, my sister and husband are sledding. Probably getting bruises and scratches. Lucky!!!

LOVE

"Nobody has measured, even poets, how much a heart can hold." --Zelda Fitzgerald

Those who love, get loved back. With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I'm thinking a lot about love thses days. There are so many different kinds of love, and I probably have experienced all of them. I have the love for the kids that I nanny, and that I have nannied in the past. I have love for my neighbors, co-workers, friends, and enemies. I also have a great love for my family. We have been through so much over the years, and somehow we're still all great friends and care deeply for each other.
My sisters are my best friends in the world (along with my husband, who I'll get to next). Together we have fought with using only our words, made each other cry histarically, laugh until we peed our pants, and have had long talks about serious matters. We have played endless hours with Barbies, and have made them go on many 'adventures'. We've all attended each other's high school graduations, and screamed as loud as we can for the sister who is walking across the stage. We've taken care of each other when one of us gets hurt, or is sick. I can remember a time when I tripped over something at Disney Land and ended up cutting my elbow open. Kimmee was the first to rush me over to a vendor to get a bunch of napkins and ice to put on it until we could make it to the first aid place. She was my hero! Another time was when our kitty, Booger had scratched up Elise's side and I volunteered to help her clean it up. I was Nurse Michelle :) I love my sisters.
My husband has showed me how to give the best love of all-the love for my spouse. Sice I married MIke, my heart has been more open to helping others and being a better person. He loves and cares for everyone--except bad drivers :) He is the best example to me, and I'm anxious to see our children grow up with him as their hero. I love coming home to see that he left a little love note to me on our white board. I get so excited when he comes home from school, I just can't help but wrapping my arms around him in love.
I love love. It is what makes the world go round. I'm making a goal to myself to show more love towards everyone. Even the girls in my Zumba class who don't realize that I have my personal space, and they have theirs.

Food

I am so grateful for good tasting food. Especially when I make it! Tonight Mike and I made dinner together, he cooked the chicken and I made the best tasting rice I've ever had. It's Rice-A-Roni Country Cheddar. Which equals YUM!!!! I had never made it before, but my mom has and I've been craving it for a long time, so I pulled it out of the cupboard this evening. Next I get to work off my lovely dinner with some ZUMBA! Oh how I love zumba. It's so much fun, even though 2 out of the 3 nights I go by myself, I still manage to have a good time. Probably because I love dancing and acting like a fool :)

10 things

Though you readers (all 2 of you) might like to know a little bit more about me:

1. I love taking care of plants.

2. My husband is my best friend and I love him so much words can't even describe.

3. I hate getting out of bed in the morning.

4. Elise and Kimberlee Williams are also my best friends. I can always count on my sisters to put a smile on my face.

5. I am dying to be a mommy.

6. I love finding new recipes to try and am ecstatic when they actually turn out and taste good.

7. Photography is my passion. Even though I don't take pictures every day, and can go weeks without picking up my camera, I absolutely love taking pictures. There's something about capturing a moment that may never come again...

8. I want to buy a house. I'm sick of living in a teeny apartment where I have to be super cautious of how many holes I put in the walls. I want my OWN house, where it doesn't matter how many holes there are.

9. I miss Washington rain.

10. I love to scrapbook. I could do it all day.

This week

I wish I could say this week is over, but it's not. This week has been super busy for me, but I love it. I have been moved from being a full-time bank teller, to working only Saturdays for 4 hours, and being on-call. However, last week I started my nanny job for a family who lives in Idaho Falls, and it's every Tuesday and Thursday for 4-5 hours at a time. Last week was my first week, and I didn't get called into work at the bank except to do a lunch for about 1 1/2 hours. So this week I expected it to be as mellow. Boy was I wrong!
On Monday, I got a call from the bank telling me that one of the tellers wasn't feeling very well, and asking if I could come in from 10-5. I said sure, since I didn't have any plans for that day. On Tuesday, my morning started off at a bank meeting as it does every Tuesday, and the meeting ran late :( I would have to leave for Idaho Falls around 9:10am to get there by 10. I had to excuse myself at 9:15 so I could get to nannying on time. Unfortunately it had decided to snow ALL that night, and all morning. The highway was going about 35-40mph, and the speed limit is 65! Anyway, I got to work about 15 minutes late. Oh well. I got to do Zumba that night :)
Wednesday was good, I got to stay home and keep the apartment clean and be crafty with things. And I got to do more Zumba :)
Thursday was nannying. It seemed to drag on forever, even though I was only there for 4 hours. I did have fun though. I got to give Caleb a bath with his Mr. Potato Head toys, and we read books, organized his toys to make room for the new babies coming next week, and we had lots of laughs and snuggles. And it was the last day of Zumba for the week, and I am SORE!!!!!!!!
Today I got another call from the bank saying that another teller was sick, and they needed me from 10-6 today. I agreed, because we really need the money. As soon as I got there, I saw that there was only one teller, and she was running around trying to get everything done. Poor girl! Fridays are usually chill days at the bank, but this morning was chaos. Friday nights are usually Mike and I's date night, but I think we'll have a lazy night in tonight. We both have been working out this week, and we're exhausted and sore :)
Tomorrow I work from 9-1, then later that night our ward is having a talent show, where I'll be displaying my photography! I'm pretty excited to get my work more publicised. Then there's visiting teachers coming over and church. Whew! I'll be happy when 4:30 on Sunday comes!

Zumba

Okay, since I've been married, I feel like I've put on 10 pounds. I don't think I have, but since my jobs aren't very active and involve a lot of down time, I feel like a beached whale. So I have been starting to work out. Slowly. I started out by lifting my 5 pound weights while I was watching a movie, or doing sit-ups in the mornings. But this hasn't been cutting it for me. I love doing cardio, so I went out to Wal-Mart and bought a $9 hip-hop dancing DVD, hoping that'll help me loose a couple of pounds. One morning I woke up and put in the DVD. I had on my workout shoes, my messy hair up in a pony tail, and my workout clothes. And I gotta say...hip-hop is hard core!! I had no idea what I was in for. I worked my tail off trying to keep up with the lady, but she's much too fast for me. So I did what I could and called it good. I watched the DVD every other day until I got bored of it.

Then I started to feel chubby again :( The school offers free Zumba in one of the buildings on campus, and Mike suggested that I go to Zumba while he goes for a swim of lifts weights or something. So last night, we did just that. I went to Zumba, and he went for a swim. I had done Zumba many times before, but it was in a class of about 45-60 women. Last night's class had about 100 girls and a few men stuffed into a teeny dance studio. It was hot and sweaty, but so much fun! I could barely see the instructor because I was in the back row, but what I could see was awesome! I love dancing, even though I'm not at all good at it, and Zumba is just the place to dance and no one cares what you look like because they all look the same. This class is offered three times a week, and my goal is not to miss any of those classes. I'm hoping to get back into shape, and loose some weight so I can feel pretty again.

Just wondering...

Does anyone ever read my blog? Or am I just writing to myself?

Just an update

It's a new year now, and some things have changed with me and Mike. For example, Mike is a full-time student now at BYUI, and I have two part-time jobs. I'm working as a bank teller at Citizens Community Bank here in Rexburg, and I'm a nanny for a family in Idaho Falls. We're keeping busy, that's for sure, but we do make sure we have our dates once or twice a week. This week we managed to squeeze in 3!
I'm not pregnant yet, however we are wanting to start trying in a month or two :) I want to be a mommy so bad, and Mike wants to be a daddy. We're going to let Heavenly Father decide when to bring a little angel into our lives.
We have decided that we don't like our apartment anymore. It's teeny, and it costs way too much for how little it is. So we're in the process of looking for more affordable apartments to move into at the end of the summer when our lease here is up.
I am still doing some photography, not as much as I would like to, but life is busy. I am still hoping to start up a business with Jenica Sparks here in Rexburg, but it's so tough to get things started when we're both so busy with everything. Maybe as we get more settled in to this new semester we'll work on it more. We do have a webpage for the business, though it only has one good post. But go check it out! It's sparksandgooldphotography.wordpress.com