Baby It's Cold Outside!

When I left to go to my basketball game this morning, the thermometer in my car showed -14! Anyone feel like taking a trip to come visit?!

Wide Shots, Far Shots, Close Ups!

Hey girls! I just realized that it's been a while since we've updated our blog, so I thought I'd post a little news. I guess the good part of not posting is that it doesn't mean we've been entirely out of touch.

Last week Meredith and I went to a reading of Stones In His Pockets at an adorable little deli in the Avenues. It was fun to hear the story again, but I had forgotten how many swears were in the script. I think I didn't notice it as much when we were in New York because the actors' accents were so thick. I this it's fun occasionally to be around artists who consider themselves true contemporaries - the types that dye their hair bright bright red or wear clothing that you're sure must be made of wheat or oatmeal or something else completely organic. Good fun.

I'm about ready to decide where I'm going to end up. Does it seem like I've been saying that for months now? Maybe that's because I have. For how much I hate this process, I sure have been prolonging it. Blah.

ABC's of BYU

I have been going through some boxes of stuff that somehow made it through the last few moves. After tonight most of their contents will make a final move to the trash, but I found this list of ABC's of BYU that brought back some fun memories:

A - abroad, apple juice (which has no fat!), attempted baptisms at Timp
B - boys, birthdays, bonding, BDA, Bishop's BBQ, bachelorette parties
C - colors concert, cozmo, creative dating, complimentary shapes, curling on couches, "crazy"
D - domestic, dancing in the family room, David John Hall
E - engagements, eleven-twenty (plenty late), excessive emails
F - foliage, football, finals week
G - general conference, Bishop Garrett, green silkies
H - Heritage Halls, Helaman Halls, hiking the Y, highly marriagable, hiking Timp, happinessabounds
I - ice cream...
J - just around the riverbend, Jacintos
K - Kendrita, Katia
L - living legends, loving couples (wish they were dead!)
M - marriage, missions, Megadeath, mood-lighting
N - New York summertime, nightly walks, nervous breakdowns, New Mexico boy
O - Olympic volunteers, older & wider, open-air cinema
P - Provo
Q - quote board
R- rock canyon, roommates, roadtrips, route "B", rolo cookies, running
S - sexy stares, soldier hollow, Snow Hall
T - temple dedications, traditions
U - up all night, ushers
V - VL...
W - ward prayer, ward notebox, whoppers during finals week, work, weddings
X - XTC
Y - Y-mountain, your mom
Z - Zekey boy!

Frankenstein Emerges

Well, what do you think. It's actually not even that bad anymore. This picture was taken the day that I pealed off the sterustrips. The scar isn't quite so dark red as this now, though it will probably take a few years for it to really lose the color--and now that it's not so tender to the touch the scarf thing is working out pretty well.

I apologize for not getting this post up way sooner. The picture would have been much more effective two weeks ago. Alas, recovery is taking a lot more of my time than I'd like. While I'm back in my classes, I'm generally exhausted by about 1pm and I've discovered I have to cut back a lot more than I anticipated--even with all the advice I got from people who have had the same thing done. However, in a way it's nice to be forced back to the basics and just do just what I need to do to survive in my classes while making sure that I have enough time for myself to relax each day.

Forced relaxation--isn't that the way it usually goes? How sad. I hope that this is a turning point in my life and that it helps me to see how important it is to take time for myself each day. I have this crazy tendency to think that I have to do everything and that the world will stop turning if I don't. Well, the world had news for me. I don't have to get A's on every assignment, or even better--I don't even have to DO every assignment! It's nice to know that I can be missed and the world keeps on turning without me. :)

Nine Hours a Year

So, as I was washing my face in the shower this morning, I remembered where I got that idea: you. Remember how I used to wash my face at the sink and create a mini-flood on the vanity after I showered? Well, I would just like to report the way that your advice on this particular subject has changed my life:

I have now been washing my face in the shower for around 4 years. I figure it saves me close to 1.5 minutes/day (not to mention another dirty washrag and a flooded vanity). If my math is correct, that is approximately 9 hours/year of saved time. That would be 36 hours (1.5 days) that your suggestion has saved me so far (along with the aforementioned inconveniences). Perhaps in 4 more years we should have a 3-day reunion so that I can dedicate those days to you; it seems fitting.

Yet another way the Fabulous Four have changed my life forever. :) Thank you.

p.s. My ultrasound is in 1 hour. What do you think- girl or boy?

Hungry, Hungry Hippo

So, there's this website called McSweeny's Internet Tendency. It's pretty funny. One part of the site is just dedicated to the most random lists that are submitted by people. This one made me laugh:

Where I Would Look for Hungry, Hungry Hippos
By Andrew Hoyt

Turkey
Chile
Cameroon
Cook Islands
Samoa
Hungary

If you haven't guessed, I'm really hungry and can't wait to go to lunch. While I was waiting to go, I decided to post to our blog and I decided that I just love us. Aren't we great? I knew you'd agree. I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgiving celebrations. Greece was impressive - I'm only sad that I have to be back at work now. Anway, I'm going to stop because I feel like each word is making this post less impressive. I love you girls!

I Love My Piano!

When my parents were here a couple of weeks ago, they wanted to get us a 'big' present before they left on their mission. I'd had my eye on this Yamaha Piano for a little while, so when the opportunity presented itself, I was more than anxious!! For me, it's certainly a gift that keeps on giving because every day I love having it at home more and more! I've forgotten how therapeutic playing the piano is for me. It's been fun playing all of the songs that I used to play when I was learning the piano oh so many years ago, and it's also got the fun functions of keyboards so I've been playing around with all the funky disco beats and dancing to the 'demo' song with Lucas. And my favorite function is I can record songs and transfer them directly to my USB jump drive!!! So if things go as planned, you'll be receiving my very first CD ever in a couple of weeks!

Hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving and that Sarah had fun in Greece!

Recovery

Sorry, I'm not going to send any pictures with this one because I look terrible! However, I'm feeling pretty good under the circumstances. The surgery went off without a hitch last Thursday and I came home on Friday afternoon. The doctor did give me the option of going home Thursday night, but I decided not to take it when I couldn't quite wake up in the recovery room. I mean, I was conscious, but I was still so out of it I could barely keep my eyes open. That anesthesia is powerful stuff! Thank goodness for it though, I haven't felt too much pain.

Well, my mom told me in the recovery room that the nodule was benign and that was confirmed again yesterday by the official report from pathology. I'm so relieved. Although thyroid cancer is 100% treatable, if I don't have to go through any more treatment then I don't want to! I started thyroid replacement medication today though and will likely be on it for the rest of my life. If that's the only price I have to pay, I'll count my blessings!

Recovery is a lot harder than I thought it would be though. I've been feeling pretty loopy and not-quite-all-there for the last few days because of the pain medication. I'm extremely fatigued and it's about all I can do to lay on the couch and watch movies--I honestly don't have the energy for much more. At least I can type today! I was trying to type an email yesterday and it just about wore me out! Oh well, the thyroid medication should kick in in the next few days and I should start getting some energy and concentration powers back. It's truly amazing how much your thyroid controls: your metabolism (and thus your energy levels and weight), your calcium levels, your concentration, your hair growth, your body temperature, your digestive system--yeah, pretty much everything! Now I know why they tell you that you need a whole week to recover.

On Thursday I'm supposed to soak the sterustrips covering my scar until I can peel them off. I'm not too excited for that. Maybe I'll have to send pictures of it then and hold a contest. You can all judge how much I look like Frankenstein! If I don't try to find any humor in it, I might doom myself to wearing turtlenecks for the rest of my life. Maybe I'll just have to learn how to be fashionable with scarves . . . :)

the madness

Girls! How are you? I hope you all had splendid halloween celebrations. :) Mine was pretty low key, but lots of fun. My roommate and I had a dance party in our apartment and only four people were invited: Calamity Jane, Deb from Napoleon Dynamite, Jenny from Forrest Gump and some pirate girl whose name no one can remember. Ok, really it was just us. But we had a good time.

I can't believe I'll be home in six weeks. My time here is flying by. I can't believe that I thought four months would be so much time. Life just keeps speeding up. Wednesday was a holiday here. All Saints' Day, actually. So in proper religious-style celebration, we drove up to Den Haag to go to the temple. It was freezing! The temple was beautiful though. And so small! This picture makes it look like I've got some weird pig-tail thing going on, but it's just the wind. It was so windy.

I am trying to think more about life after this and thankfully I'm not too worried about things. I guess at this point I'm only a little worried that I'm not more worried! I am thinking more and more about starting an internet marketing business -- which initally would probably mean just a little bit of contract work while I took some more classes. We'll see what happens. I'm still not sure about where I want to end up. It's an exciting time and decision, but a kind of scary one to make alone.

Wishing you all a wonderful November!

The Coca-Cola Bear

I think I've told you all about the free Como Zoo down the road before. Well, yesterday it warmed up to about 50, so we decided to go to the zoo. So far my favorite animals there are the polar bears. Every time we've gone, one of them is swimming (I know we've only gone 3 times, but other people that have lived here longer say the same thing). I think it's kind of cool how graceful the look!

Once there was a snowman

Minnesota's not the only place with snow! Ok, so you have to go into the mountains to get to it, but it's here in Utah too!

On Friday we drove down to Cedar in 70 degree weather. On Saturday we drove up Cedar Canyon in the rain to get to Cedar Breaks National Park and by the time we got to the top of the canyon we were in four inches of snow!




We got to the viewing point just in time to see the breaks, but by the time we had a snowball fight and I was done with my snowman the view was completely fogged in. It made me very excited for winter, but I was glad to get back down into the valley where the fall colors will last for at least a few more weeks.

Fear vs. Faith

I am using this blog to share with you, my closest friends, some thoughts I have had this weekend. As the possibility (and even probability) of needing open-heart surgery after this baby comes looms ever larger before my mind (they found "regurgitation"-- a heart valve is not closing properly), I have cried more the past two days than I have cried the past five years. I am so scared. I'm scared about what it may mean for this and future babies. I'm scared that years are being shaved from my life with each malfunctioning heartbeat. I'm scared about the recovery: not being able to hold my babies for months, the toll it would take on my body, etc. In all my reading, and in the one case I have heard of (a girl from Soda Springs got it in her mid-20's), I feel like surgery is eminant. Of course, I am trying to completely suppress all of these fears and wait for the Cardiologist to call me. I pray that he will tell me it's all a fluke, I'm just fine, and life can go on as normal. However, I can't help but to be scared. It's easy for others to tell me to "have faith" and "everything will turn out just fine," but I'm finding myself having a hard time with these principles. To completely let go of fear (which is the antithesis of faith) is perhaps the most proving factor of our human existance. To trust that the Lord is in command, that He has a plan for us, and that He will comfort us and carry our burdens in our times of struggle may be the most important lesson we can learn, and yet the hardest. To live life normally this weekend has been nearly impossible, and yet I want to lean back and put it all into the Lord's hands more than I've ever wanted anything in my life. My eyes have been re-opened to what is really important in life: the Gospel, my family, relationships, and how I conduct myself. I sit here with tears streaming down my face, my throat sore from crying, and silently praying that this experience will teach me how to resolutely conquer fear with faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. And through it all, I am also desperately holding onto hope that it will all amount to nothing, or that the surgery can be postponed until after my child-bearing years.

I love you girls. I appreciate your love and support more than you know. I appreciate the fact that I can put on a face that "I'm just fine" to the world, and then collapse at your feet and sob. You are the most understanding and best girlfriends I will ever have.

Snow & the Sculpture Garden

Hey girls! Like I promised I wanted to show proof of the snow that we've been graced with already. This was taken on Wednesday.Also, last Saturday Zeke and I got to go out on a date for the first time since we moved here. We went to the Sculpture Garden downtown where there is the famous Cherry and Spoon sculpture with a beautiful view of the Mpls skyline.
Meredith- the sculpture garden kind of reminded me when we went to Washington DC and saw that big rubber eraser statue! There were lots of funky sculptures. It's a beautiful garden, perfect for a picnic. If, I mean when, any of you come visit, I'll take you there!

I'm back in!

Wow, you wouldn't think that this could be so hard for me! I got my username and password back finally so hopefully I won't lose it again. Well, as you may already know I'm scheduled for surgery Nov. 9 to remove a suspcious thyroid nodule. 95% of them are benign, but just in case all of the indicators indicate that surgery is the best thing. I'm not overly excited about it, but it shouldn't be too bad since the doctor is only planning on taking out half. I'll have the week after Nov. 9 plus Thanksgiving break to recover and my mom is going to fly out to help me so that Brad doesn't have to miss classes and work. The plan is to get ahead as much as possible and then hope that I can get back in the game quick enough before it's over. There will only be three weeks of the semester left once I get back into it, so I hope I won't be too far behind.

I'm sorry my news isn't quite as exciting as Sarah's, but c'est la vie! But I do have some pictures to make you all jealous of Fall in Provo. :)

checking off the list

On Tuesday I got some big, exciting news. I am not really ready to tell people - I guess I am not really sure of how to do it. So, I'll let you guess and then tell you if you're right.

Bring it.

Living in Minneapolis - the City of Lakes!

Hello girls! We've officially been in our apartment now for 24 days and it's starting to look like home. I am so glad that we won't be moving for another 5 years! Yes, I know I love to move and travel but it is a very different story when you have a toddler and you do all the moving AND unpacking yourself! We're excited to make our home here, and if the next few years are anything like the last 24 days, it is going to be wonderful!

So besides trying to keep a hyper toddler busy in the car and running out of gas, the drive here when pretty smoothly. We had the missionaries here to help us get all of our boxes inside the apartment, and since then we've been unpacking, arranging and rearranging, buying a few needed items of furniture and more rearranging. I just sent a few pictures of the outside of our apartment and complex, and when I feel like our apartment is presentable enough, I'll try and send some pictures of the inside if you're curious to see!

Our ward is really great, there are a lot of young families also in the school situation and also quite a few established families. We've already received callings too. I'm the choir director (help!!!) and Zeke and I together are on the Activities Committee. It should be fun. Like I've told you guys also, a lot of LDS couples live here in the student housing complex which is nice. The community where we live is really just that, a community! They have a lot of activities and everyone is so friendly. It's really great being by others that are in the same situation.

Anyway, it's getting late and I'm starting to feel very tired, so I should be going. Here is the URL for a video of Lucas at the Dolphin Show at the zoo earlier today. I don't know how to embed videos like Sarah does on her blog, so hopefully the URL works for you guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EewvEIzo7wE

Blog away my BDA buddies! I like seeing new posts and I check our blog daily!

Three Weeks Ago I Was In Utah...

Girls! I have been horrible at posting here. I'm sorry. It's been especially tough since I don't have the internet at home... But that should be getting fixed today (fingers crossed!) so hopefully I'll be back to my blogging self soon. Anyway, I'm dying to know what everyone is up to!

Katie, how is autumn in San Fran? I haven't been able to read your weekly email in a while because I'm kind of hesitant about downloading stuff at the office (yet I apparently don't mind blogging from here...) so I need to catch up!

Kendra, are you getting all settled in Minneapolis? I'm so curious to see how you like it there. I really have only heard fantastic things about that city and I hope you like it! It has been so fun to run into so many of your connections here in Brussels. I met Kendra on Sunday, and Jane Wilson's aunt, and the Herways of course.

Meredith, you know we all miss Provo in the strangest way, and so we are all somewhat envious. I don't know what it is, but I just love autumn in Utah. I love the football games, the new energy on campus, the mountains turning all shades of fire and the first snow.

So, I'm all settled into Belgium and continue to be amazed that each place I travel to and temporarily settle feels like home. My roommate Jackie is a kindred spirit and so much fun. We finally found fresh milk (the kind you have to refrigerate!) yesterday and decided to make cookies in celebration. This weekend we are traveling with Ryan, an intern from USU, to Switzerland. I am super excited to be in the Alps, even though we have to travel for almost as long as we actually get to be there. It will be amazing. It's funny that the guy here is named Ryan -- Jackie and I both have had interesting experiences with Ryans in our pasts.

Well, I need to go. But I wanted to say hi! And like I said, my blog should be updated soon, so be sure to check!

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

It was fun to hang out for a little bit on Tuesday with Sarah and Mer. We missed you Katie! It's always sad to say goodbye, but it's so great to know that it's not forever. Who knows when or where, but I know we'll be together again sooner than later! I hope you can all visit us while we're in Minneapolis, or maybe we'll meet up somewhere else. I love you girls so much! Provo has so many memories which will always be fun to remember. Stay in touch and keep blogging! This is the first new post in forever!

Harry Potter

So, I am a newly-found Harry Potter addict. I read book #1 a few years ago, but last week at the library I picked up book #4. Corwin wanted to see the movie, but I had heard it was dark, so I never wanted to see it. I figured that reading it first would prepare me to see the movie. 740 pages later, I am ready to see the movie. I must say, though, that this book freaked me out. Is this really a kids' book?! I could barely sleep last night because Lord Voldemort had come back to life and was out to get Harry (and me, mind you). I think JK Rowling is brilliant, and I already have book #5 checked out so I can devour it this week.

A 'Baby' Baby Grand Piano!

How cool is this? I could buy a baby grand piano for Lucas! It's only $150 from babystyle.com. Not bad compared to probably $40-50,000 for the Steinway baby grand I want!! But I don't know how I feel about Lucas getting a grand piano before me... How cute though that it comes in black or white! He would be just like Linus. Now if I could just find $150 laying around, wouldn't that be nice?!

So did Katie or Sarah hear about the supercell that hit Provo on Tuesday? I of course heard the thunder and rain and Lucas got soaking wet playing in a puddle out front, but I had no idea how hard it hit until my mom called later that night and told me to turn on the news. It looked like a hurricane had come through. The winds at the Provo airport were 90 mph! The benefit of all the rain though was it was absolutely gorgeous yesterday. It cooled the temperatures down to the upper 80s, it was sunny and blue skies and the air was so clear. During our heat wave before the thunderstorm, the air was so dirty and gross. I love that change in the air quality after it rains.

I'm excited to see Sarah next week- Katie I wish you were closer! And Meredith, hopefully we can tear you away from your Arabic for at least an afternoon to do something fun with Sarah! :D Love you girls!