8 months!

These should have been posted 2 weeks ago, when I was at 32 weeks. Oh well,  better late then never.  Kat came and took my vitals yesterday. Everything is pretty much the same as it was last week. I'm just approaching the boarder of the danger zone. It was actually good news to  know that nothing got worse over the week, so hopefully we can keep everything at bay for the next few weeks and everything will be fine.  

    My big ol' belly!




Just another thing to add to my list of beauty marks I've gotten since being pregnant. I am sooooo hot all the time and my body is starting to react to the heat. This is my lovely heat rash (its actually one of the better days in this picture, its not so inflamed). I have it in both inner arms and between my boobs. Between the boobs makes sense, cause there is NO breathing room between those things, but I'm not sure about the arms. I think it gets too hot when I sleep, because I usually sleep with my arms bent. The worst part is that I'm too dang hot to wear a long sleeve shirt to cover it up, so I just walk around looking like a diseased woman.

an update

An update on the pregnancy...My midwife came over last week for my monthly check up. My blood pressure was really high, especially for me. I am usually at a text book 120 over 80, but this time I was 150 over 90. There are times when I can feel my heart beating and I am really short of breath. I am retaining so much water it is starting to be a concern. So Kat put me on magnesium to bring my heart rate down and to flush out some of the extra water. My urine test showed a small amount of protein, the magnesium is to help my kidneys was well. I am basically pre pre-eclamptic. My midwife is overly cautious about my health, which I am grateful for. She came this week and retested everything, and I am still a little higher in everything then I should be, so I am continuing the magnesium and my midwife put me on bed rest! EW! Its only day two and I am going a little crazy already! What am I supposed to do all day? Especially when I'm not really feeling sick. Hopefully after this week of rest, I can get back to everyday life. Poppy is doing great, however! She grew 2 inches in the 6 days between my checkups! 2 inches! I gained 3.5 lbs as well, so she is really packing it on. I remember at Papou's memorial it was mentioned that Papou was a 13 lbs baby, and I am really starting to hope that those particular Murphy genes are not passed down! Ha Ha  I am seeing her move and kick inside me all the time. Its really
alien-ish to see a body part drag across my stomach!  She moves so hard and fast that is shakes my whole belly. She is already head down, so i get lots of kicks in the ribs. Pregnancy is such an adventure!

goldenpallooza comes to an end

My golden birthday has come and gone, but it will always be a memorable one for sure! David spoils me waaay too much, and this year was no exception. I continued to draw my "gift"every day and every day it was a surprise! Among my favorites are (still) the foot rubs! He has no idea how much I love them! My feet ache so much, I couldn't ask for anything more then a foot rub! By the end of the month, he has gotten REALLY good at them! One morning I drew "Dave the poet" he wrote a poem about me and read it to me. It was so sweet and mushy-gushy! It had me in tears.  My new christmas cd is also among my favorites! Of course I can't forget the body pillow, with the snuggly cover, either. This thing is awesome and really helps me sleep better at night. I keep it on my side of the bed, cause if it was in the middle, I would be fighting him for it all night! ha ha  For my actually birthday, Dave brought me breakfast in bed. Actually it was more like brunch in bed ha ha cause all I want to do is sleep these days. French toast made with Texas toast (seriously the best french toast I have ever had!) and turkey sausage with orange juice! My favorite breakfast foods. It was delish! My day was casual, more like dragging,(which included a nap. Thats right I said a nap, even though I woke up around 10, I was ready for a nap by 1 ha ha) and before I knew it Dave was home from school. While I went to the store, Dave cooked me dinner. I don't know why he has been hiding this secret talent of his, but it is time for it to come out! He made us rosemary lemon cornish game hens, artichokes and yummy Italian garlic bread. Every thing was cooked to perfection! It was like I was at a 5 star restaurant. The flavors blended perfectly together. Seriously, soooo good! And for dessert, my absolute favorite, a sonyo from Carrabbas! Layers of brownie cake, chocolate mouse and whipped cream with chocolate sauce drizzled on top. MMMmmmm!  He really out did him self! I choose to stay home for the rest of the night. We watched a movie at home, instead of going out. It was perfect! I felt like a queen being waited on hand and foot. Thanks Boo for such a great birthday and a way fun birthday month!

While I am talking about how awesome Dave is, I might as well keep going. He would probably never tell anyone this, cause he just isn't like that, so I guess that is what wives are for right? To totally brag about their husbands when ever they get the chance. Despite his little freak out right after blocks, Dave is doing awesome at school! He is going to pass all his classes! Which we are finding out is not the case for most of his classmates. Many of them are going to have to remediate a class or two. These classes are tough, and Dave makes it look easy! He just told me that in Anatomy, he only missed 3 or 4 questions on the final! That is pretty amazing in and of itself, but then he told me that there were only 6 people in the entire class that even passed the test, and of course he is one of them! Dang boy! So proud of my man!

After re-reading this post, I realize that when Dave reads this he is going to get a big head about how awesome he is, as we can't have that now can we? Ha Ha, so to include a minor and freaking funny detail I left out earlier, Dave practically burt the house down while cooking my birthday dinner! Ha Ha Seriously I had to evacuate the premises because the smoke was SO thick I could NOT breath. He had steamed one artichoke and just put the second one in. He didn't check to see if there was enough water left in the bottom pan for the second one, and unfortunately there wasn't.  He just plopped it in and went on cooking. He was putting a few things away in the fridge and in 2 seconds it was pure smoke in the kitchen. The pan basically started cooking itself. Ha Ha Ha Ha. It was the funkiest smell ever! Burnt artichoke with teflon. Ha Ha. We opened every window and door and took the pan outside. We were coughing so hard cause the smoke was so thick. Fire alarms were going off like crazy and our neighbor even came to check on us it was so bad. The bottom off the pan was bubbling and completely ruined.  The smell was not going away and there was no saving the pan. I didn't want to be eating the bottom of the pan for the next few meals. Ha Ha. Man+Kitchen=Adventure=Yummy food despite the adventure!!! Ha Ha. Still proud of him though, and he is still just as awesome!

ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Well, another weird and annoying side effect of being pregnant has been discovered. I have started SNORING! I'm not talking about a little snort hear or there. I mean full blown, wake my self up 20 times  a night, sounds that could wake the dead, need to get breathing strips, I think I am taking after my dad cause you can hear me through out the house, I am so embarrassed I can't even believe I am writing about this, snoring!  I have never snored in my life! Maybe the occasional cute little girl snore would come our every now and then, but that is not what is happening now. I really think its because of all the extra fat I have on my neck and chest (you know all big fat dudes snore!)  Poor Dave wakes me up every night to get me to stop or to roll over, but as you can see in the video, I even snore on my side ha ha ha ha so there is no rolling me over to get me to stop! I am snoring like an old grandpa! Dave has heard me snore while he is in the other room studying, with both doors closed. He was in the other room when he heard me the other day and decided to get it on video. I do sleep with a fan blowing on my face and unfortunately you will hear the fan in the video. Just imagine how loud it would be without the fan! 

chica, fille, ragazza, devushka, girl!

Its official. Our little poppy is absolutely, 100% with out a doubt a...GIRL!!!  Modern science, holistic medicine, old wives tales and my own "mothers intuition" have all come to the same conclusion! Yahoo, we are so excited to have a little girl in our home. We went shopping and bought a ton of pink stuff after the ultrasound. I can't wait to make cute little (or big ha ha ) flower hair bows and head bands, and have a closet full of ruffles and sparkles and pretty things. We decided that the cutest outfits were the "big people" clothes for babies. Like little Puma, Nike or Polo sweat outfits, or a puffy vest with jeans etc. outfits that adults would wear are so dang cute! Poppy, I hope you are up for playing dress up with me!


                
   

Her cute little adorable face. Of course she had her arm in front of her face the whole time we were there. I can't even begin to imagine where she gets this weird sleep with her arm on her face thing! Bwahahahahah! Looks like a Daddy's girl already!

Aunt Cassidy

I got the cutest text from my sister Cassidy the other day:

"Dear Miss Poppy,

 I love you so much. I can't wait to meet you! We are going to have SO much fun and I will teach you things your mom and dad won't want you to know:) you are going to be absolutely beautiful. Thanks for being part of my life. Love you so much.

Love always,
Aunt Cassidy

P.S. Jessica, please read this out loud so poppy hears. Thanks:)"

What a cutie! So glad Poppy has Aunts to spoil her! Cassidy has been begging me to get married since I moved out of the house when I was 18. She has wanted me to have kids almost more then I have. After the first month of being married she started asking me if I was pregnant yet. Ha ha. I am so glad that Dave got accepted here, so we are only a 5 hour drive home! Love you Cass! You are the best!

Sunday Lesson

I taught Relief Society today. The lesson was about the signs of the Second Coming and also the Second Coming ( 2 lessons combined into one). This was a really fun lesson for me because I love learning about all the signs that are/have/will happen before Christ comes again. Some of them are major huge, make no mistake about it, like the building of the New Jerusalem,  and others seem to be happening all around us and we hardly even notice anymore because its so common like wars and rumors of wars.  Wikipedia has a page that shows all the wars that are currently going on now and also all the countries that are "near war". Sooo many of the countries are "near war" its not even funny. That is definitely a rumor of war if you ask me.  We discussed several other signs of the times as a class with lots of scriptures as well. Like the Book of Mormon coming forth. E.B. Grandin was commissioned to print 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon in 1830. Today we are almost at 150 million copies! That is some major growth! We talked about the constitution hanging by a thread. I read a quote from Brigham Young who said it would be the Mormon Elders who would save the constitution. I tried to keep it as unpolitical as possible, but healthcare reform was brought up, as was gay marriage.  We briefly talked about, mostly in regards to healthcare, that those kind of ideas take away our freedom to choose for ourself, the very freedom that this country was preserved for and founded on. Mitt Romney was also mentioned. Regardless of if he wins this election or not, anyone can see that he is laying some ground work for the "Mormon Elders" to save the constitution. Many other signs were discussed...these woman are smart and they know their stuff! Ultimately at the end of the lesson I realized that the signs we are given are not there to scare us. Although they may seem scary and even life threatening, God doesn't give us signs to make us afraid. Instead He gives us signs to remind us to prepare our selves.  "No man knoweth" when Christ will come again, only Heavenly Father and because He knows, He us just giving us little warning signs along the way because he loves us and wants us to succeed in our life mission and be prepared for anything that may come our way.

random thoughts since I've written last...

First, an update on my birthday pallooza! Its been the best birthday ever! Every morning Dave brings his little box of "gifts" for me to draw one. Is been so fun, and he has been really creative in his gift giving.  Some of his gifts have been...a foot rub (my favorite), he's made dinner, rented a movie and bought me a treat, gave me a cute little outfit for poppy, I got a guitar lesson (which I love as well, I took lessons once and, well you know how life gets, so hopefully he can help me pick that back up again), he bought me a scrabble board (ha ha I think he bought it for himself though).  We are always playing words with friends and I think out of 100 games he has beat me twice. Maybe he thinks that with an actual board he'll have an advantage? Ha Ha Doubt it! If you can't see the score you Dave: 189 Me: 321. Ha ha. Keep trying boo boo!

 He gave me a gift certificate for a 60 min deep tissue massage with an additional 30 min foot rub (heaven!!!) I even drew a wild card, which means I can choose whatever I want for my day, so I chose to have the carpets cleaned. (They have been looking pretty scary these days)

       
                       (now that is sexy!!!)
I know in my little box I will be drawing an ultrasound of poppy so we can once and for all find out what this baby is!!! Unfortunately I haven't drawn it yet. This has been so much fun and I can't wait to see what the next half of my birthday month has in store!


Last night we went to the temple.  We were the last ones to leave the Celestial room. As we were leaving the cute little worker stopped up and said " You two are a beautiful couple. You look like a couple of movie stars. You are just stunning.  Your husband is striking. You are just beautiful together." I just about burst into tears right then and there!!! I wanted to pick her up and put her in my pocket and take her home with me. She was so sweet and I am sure she was inspired to say that, cause I'm definitely not feeling that way, quite the opposite actually. Pregnancy is taking its tole on my body and my self esteem.    And it doesn't matter how many compliments Dave gives, I just can't always believe him because 1. he is my husband and HAS to say those things to me and 2. Its not what I see when I look in the mirror. I don't know why hearing that from a total stranger is so nice, but it just is. If you are a woman, you know what I mean. I felt like that was just a little tender mercy, as silly and vain as it may seem.  Its nice to know the Lord is aware of even our simplest needs and sends others to lift us up when we need a boost.

Dave has survived another block week. He studied so hard! We hardly saw each other. I could squeeze about a half hour out of him for dinner and that was about it. He took his Physiology test on Monday, Bio-Chem on Wednesday and Anatomy on Thursday (well only half of it because the computers all crashed when they got to a particular answer, so he will finish anatomy next Wednesday) any how he felt really good about Physiology and felt pretty bad about Bio-Chem. He got his Physio scores back and they were not what he expected. They were lower then he was hoping for. Which was fine, but then he really started to question himself about Bio-Chem. He was positive he was going to fail the class. He was so down on himself. I felt so bad for him, but just kept telling him to wait and see his scores, and I kept reassuring him that he would still get into the DO program next year. He was all doom and gloom, jumping the gun and assuming he was out of the running for next year. He was saying things like, "what am I going to do? I don't want to be a Physicians Assistant, or a Physical Therapist, or a Naturalpath, I just want to be a DO!" I told him to keep his blinders on and not worry about other careers right now. It will all work out. Last night he got his Bio-Chem scores...he got an 80% on his test! Yahoo! Who gets an 80 in Bio-Chem? Freaking geniuses thats who! In a snap of a finger, the old Dave was back and happy as ever. Nice to have him back. I am glad we are there for each other to help out when we have those freak out moments. These last few days really opened my eyes to the pressure Dave feels to suceed and accomplish his goals. I am so proud of him and all the hard work he does!






               

David's blessing

Today David got set apart as the Sunday School President. His blessing was so great.  The blessing told him that although he has councilors and he should utilize them and get their opinions, He is the President and the mantle rests on his shoulders and he is ultimately in charge of all decisions. They reminded Dave that his family comes first, even before this calling and there will be times when he will have to decide what is most important to him. (Later when we were talking about this, we were wondering what this could possibly mean, since the Sunday School President is pretty much a "Sunday calling" but I am sure we will find out exactly what it means eventually). The blessing talked about our "choice" spirit coming into our home soon and how that will bless our lives. Also, that as Dave magnifies this calling, he will be given the righteous desires of his heart. The blessing finished with letting Dave know how proud the Lord is for the decisions he has made in his life.

What a good man I have! Grateful that he is mine forever and that the Lord is so aware of us.

7 months

Yesterday was Poppy's 7 month mark, so the countdown officially begins! According to my electronic counter, only 83 days till birth! Crazy how fast its gone when I look back and how far away it still seems when I look ahead. This baby feels like it is training for a MMA fight or something. I can see my whole stomach shake at some kicks and punches. Of course I notice it the most at night, while I am TRYING to sleep. Ha ha. Yesterday our midwife came over for a check up and we were able to feel the baby's little head and feet! So adorable and tiny! I don't know how I can feel like a professional line backer when the baby is so small. One of life's little mysteries I guess. I am gaining more and more weight. Its weird, and it doesn't seem to matter what I do, I just keep gaining more. I already asked santa for a treadmill for Christmas, since I won't be able to go to the gym with a little one to take care of, but hopefully I can sneak in a mile or two while baby is sleeping (after my nap of course!) This has certainly been an experience in life I will never forget, and I am grateful I have a chance to be a mom!

Golden Birthday

This year is my golden birthday, which means I will be turning 29 on the 29th. I'd never heard of a golden birthday before I met David, but apparently its a thing. Golden birthdays are supposed to be extra special, thats why they are "golden." Unfortunately this does not mean that I will be getting gold for my big day, but Dave is determined to make it special so he is celebrating my birthday all month long! Starting today, every morning I get to reach into a little brown box and draw a "thing" for the day. I'm not exactly sure what that means just yet, but Dave told me some of them are really awesome and some are just fun or cute little things. I don't care what they are! He is doing/giving/making something for me every day for a month!!! YAHOO! Today my little drawing was for him to make dinner tonight. (I know I have mentioned before how much I love it when he cooks.) He made buffalo chicken wraps, and they were delish! More goldenpallooza to come...

I got the fever!

I totally have the house buying fever!!!  So since we have been in Vegas, we have discovered that so many houses have gone up for foreclosure in the last few years. Bummer for those people who lost their houses, yeah for us poor college students who can now afford to buy one!!! A few weeks ago we went to visit my cousin and her family and I could not believe how freakin awesome her house was, so I did a little prying into their personal finances. She is a nurse and is the only one who works, her husband is in school right now. They bought their house as a foreclosure. The original owner bought the house for $350,000 (its cute, but not worth that, but I'm sure that was when the housing prices were outrageous) They bought it over a year ago for $125,000!!!! Their mortgage is WAY less then our rent!  Its got 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, nice kitchen with all the upgrades (which is the most important part of the house if you ask me) dining room (not a necessity for me, I'm too casual) just an all around great starter home! So, I totally had house envy when we left her place. Thats what got me looking around, and i think it is totally doable for us! So once Dave gets accepted to Touro for the actual DO program, the search is on!


These are a few that I have already got my eye on.  Its only the kitchen, again most important.  Whether or not they will be available in a few months, who knows! But its fun to look and get an idea of what I really like. I would really like to keep the loan around $100,000 since Dave is in school, and we will probably only be there for 4 years before we move out of state for his residency.Plus that keeps our payments around 500-600 a month! Woot Woot! No point in going all out just yet...there will be plenty of time for that in the future.  





110,000 I like this one but I would be adding a colored, textured back splash. It just seems a little too neutral. 






  
 110,000 This is my least favorite kitchen. I really prefer an island, however this house has 5 bedrooms and a huge back yard (with grass ha ha). No, we don't need 5 bedrooms and we certainly don't need to pay to run the air conditioner to cool 5 bedrooms, I just can't get over the fact that a 5 bedroom house is only 110,000!


  
105,000 Way cute!



102,000 I love love love the dark wood with the stainless steel appliances! But, no granite counter tops? Come on! Ha Ha Ha I guess I could live without. This one for sure needs an island (if you are up for it Dad?). 





109, 000 ISLAND





99, 000 This is my favorite! Even though it is the smallest of all the kitchens, it just seems so welcoming plus the rest of the house is way cute as well. Maybe its because the counters are completely cleared off, just like I like my kitchen to be, NO CLUTTER! So I can easily imagine its mine. Love it!


While I am dreaming, I might as well keep going. These are my DREAM kitchens! Some day...right Babe?










I LOVE the refrigerator disguised as cupboards! And the double oven. I had one of those in my last house and it was awesome!

minus the funky vineyard pictures!

Dear Weight Watchers,

Dear Weight Watchers,

I think I need you!  Last night I had a wake up call to how big I am getting, and I did NOT like it! I turn to you because I recently came across some before and after pictures of Jennifer Hudson. Can you do that for me too?  I would be eternally grateful and forever in your debt!

Let me explain why I am in such a panic. Last night, I was in my favorite comfy pants. They are cute, light weight and have an elastic waist band! I pretty much live in them these days. I went in the bedroom to talk to Dave, and as my bottom approached the floor, I heard the awful, dreaded rrrrrrrrrrrrip. I instantly assessed the damage, hoping for only a small and repairable hole. To my horror, I found a hole about the size of David's head! AHH! In his most sympathetic voice he could muster, while holding back his laughter,  David said " Oh sweetie, did you rip your pants?"  I was already on the floor laughing. I laughed so hard I cried, or maybe those were real tears? Hard to tell.

I hope you can help me. The things I have heard about you are great! You have quite the reputation for helping girls like me. I hope we can be friends even though I have gotten so big. Please don't judge me.   I look forward to meeting you in the near future, and hope we can have a long, meaningful friendship!



Sincerely,



"Bare"ly covered

Sunday School

Dave got a new calling today. He is the new...Sunday School President! It's perfect for him. It will allow him to still focus on school cause its more of a "Sunday" calling, but he will still be able to give the calling the time it needs.  Good job babe! I'm so glad I have a husband who is always worthy to hold a calling in the church!

Pumpkins and Eggnog

Last night fall was in the air. We carved pumpkins, cooked the seeds and made our own home made egg nog! I didn't actually carve, I drilled, but same idea.

                                            Our little family! 

                       Poppy's pumpkin! Its my favorite one. Dave did it.

EGGNOG! 

This was so good! I just put all the ingredients in the magic bullet. Of course I never measure anything so I have no idea how much of each. Just till it tastes good. 

Whipping cream

Evaporated milk or Almond milk, frozen in ice cube tray (good idea mom!)

Rum extract

Vanilla extract

Nutmeg and pumpkin spice

Few drops of stevia

and a raw egg in Daves 

coupons

So I jumped on the couponing band wagon, and I think its time to jump off. I had a friend in Utah who did it and taught me the ins and outs of how to use coupons and get great deals. What really inspired me was her food storage room! It was incredible! Plus, she had gotten really sick and they had been living off their storage for the past year, because she never felt like going to the grocery store. She said she spent pennies on the dollar for everything in there and often times got things completely free. I was all excited about it after talking to her. She made it look so easy.

So we started getting the Sunday paper and I started saving the coupons. Every Sunday I would flip through them and MAYBE pick out one or two coupons that we would actually use. It was a little depressing at first, but I kept with it thinking that this must just be a "bad week" for coupons. The following week was always the same thing. My problem is that most of the things that go on really good sales are things that we don't eat, like Fruit Roll-ups, or Lucky Charms, or Hamburger Helper or Dorito's. (don't get me wrong, Dave still loves his Dorito's and occasionally we'll get them, but not often enough that I am looking for coupons to save us money cause he habit is getting expensive ha ha). Its all the processed things that only actually cost 10 cents a bag that go on such great sales, cause they can afford it.

So what about the good food? Do we ever get a break on that? As far as I have seen, No. Does anyone out there coupon? Am I doing it all wrong? Or am I missing an important step? Do the coupons I am looking for only come around every blue moon? If anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears! Now that Dave is in school, I'm definitely willing to do the work if it will really save us food money every month!

sunday stuff

I really love my calling!  The sisters are awesome! They are so engaged in the lesson, they participate, ask questions, many of them read the lesson before class, tell of their own experiences and share their testimonies. No one sits there with a glazed over look on their face (like I was used to with my massage students ha ha ha). Its how every ward should be! I love my calling because it is helping me get to know the other sisters in the ward.  When they announce over the pulpit "so and so had her baby, or so and so is in the hospital" I actually know who they are talking about. Knowing them, makes it easier to love them and want to serve them.  I always felt so disconnected to the Relief Society in our other ward, being in the YW, I never knew anyone and they didn't know me, and I had no clue as to what was going on one week to the next. While I still miss being in the YW, I am really glad to be teaching the Relief Society sisters. Mostly, and most selfishly, I love my calling because of how much I learn! I teach out of the Gospel Principles manual, which can be a little dry and very plain. So I always try to "beef" it up a little with additional quotes and stories. Its fun! I always stay within the bounds of the lesson, and never include "twinkies" as we called them on the mission (stories passed down with no factual evidence, just mormon folk lore that won't really help your spirit grow, like a twinkie! They taste good, but no nutrients to help you physically grow).

Todays lesson was on the spirit world. The lesson was so short in the book, only 2 pages long, so I definitely needed to help it out a little bit. That was tricky, since its the spirit world, its not like there are a ton of personal accounts/testimonies about the spirit world like there are about tithing, word of wisdom, sabbath day etc. But I was able to come up with a few things. I started the lesson with a story of the Smith family (reason 962 why I am glad I served a mission, random Smith stories swimming in my head. And who doesn't like a Smith story. I love it, cause I like to include stories but don't always want to talk about me and my experience or in this case, I didn't have a story that would relate.) I told the story of the death of Joseph's oldest brother Alvin. He was young, engaged to be married and building a big beautiful home for his future family and also for his parents to live as well. He wanted to ease their burdens and make them more comfortable . On his dying bed, he said good bye to the kids one by one, and to Joseph told him to take care of their parents and to do all he could to obtain the ancient record.  He died of gangrene in his stomach, due to a lodged dose of calomel administered by the doctor. Much later, Joseph received D&C 76 as revelation to the after world that gave him comfort to know that anyone who did not receive the gospel on the earth, but would have accepted it had it been available, will inherit the Celestial kingdom. After the story, to start the lesson I posed the question, what happened to Alvin after he died?

We talked about the spirit world, what its for, what we do there, where it is located, what the spirits look like and the 2 divisions there.

I used D&C 138 especially while talking about spirit paradise. This is a very cool section. It was a vision Joseph F Smith had, and then gave as his talk for General Conference. Shortly there after, the 12 and patriarch decided it was revelation and added it as scripture.  He sees the spirit world as Christ is there visiting the righteous after his crucifixion. Christ basically organized the righteous to do missionary work to those in prison. What I never realized before (and its kinda a duh, I guess I just never thought about it) is that missionary work on the other side did not exist until Christ's death. Christ had to bridge the gap between the 2 different places. Can you imagine how many people where in prison from Adam to the time Christ died? WOW!

Smith mentions how the righteous gathered to get started on the work. He specifically mentions several of the righteous who were there. Adam and Eve, and their worthy children. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Moses, Noah,  Daniel, Ezekiel... Wow, imagine that gathering of saints. And imagine your missionary is the senior couple Adam and Eve, or you get Abraham and Moses showing up to preach the gospel to you.

Dave and I wondered if there is a prophet on the other side?( I definitely did not bring this up in class) Who knows? What I do know is the same organization that exists here, is there as well. The same priesthood callings exist as well. If that is the case who would the prophet be? And how long has he been serving? Prophets here are done serving when they are dead...ha ha ha Poor Adam, he's been at it a long time. Ha Ha Ha. That is totally me making speculation!!! And getting into my "What if" doctrine that I will never know the answer to in this life. But it's still fun to think a little deeper and go out side the box a little to look for answers.

I  love learning about the gospel. There are so many layers to the church, that it is perfect for everyone no matter where they are in life or in their knowledge of the doctrine.

jealous?

Yesterday morning I woke up to my husband cleaning the bathrooms! Woot Woot. Both bathrooms! That means he scrubbed 2 toilets! Ha Ha Ha. There really is no better sound to wake up to then the swooshing sound of the scrub brush in the toilet bowl! We reinstated date night, now that I'm up to it again, so later that night Dave made me dinner for our date. Delicious pork chops in a yummy marinade, and greek pasta (burnt butter with lots of garlic on rigatoni with parmesan cheese...to die for!) with a green salad. It was sooooo good. Dave is a great cook! He doesn't do it often, but when he does, wow! Then we went and saw Harry Potter 2, finally! Ha ha. What a great date day! I'm definitely counting the bathroom cleaning as part of the date, cause that was the best part!!!!!

                       

Top 10 things that have saved me while being pregnant

This top ten list will probably change as I get farther along but for now it stands as this...

10. Lemon juice and stevia- during my first trimester water made me gag! Even the thought of it would make my stomach start turning. Normally I love water and I drink it continuously through out the day, but that came to a screeching halt! I know better then to believe that getting some sort of liquid down is better then nothing at all. I need water. So I stared adding lemon juice and stevia to my water and was able to get it down. I could drink my regular amounts every day and keep the baby healthy by not drinking sugar pop all day.

9. Dresses- I bought 2 floor length dresses with an umpire waist. I seriously wear them almost every day. Besides Dave's sweats, they are the most comfortable thing! Ha Ha Ha. Best investment I've ever made!

8. Tennis shoes- Oh my feet! First of all, after I got home from my mission my sister started calling me "hobbit feet" because they had flattened out from all the walking/standing all day. So my feet are already in bad shape it begin with. Now, they are much worse! The only thing that brings any relief (besides sitting) is to wear my tennie's. I wear them as often as I can. Yep, I even where them with my dresses. Ha Ha, those who know me are probably dying laughing.  They give such good support I just can't resist.

7. Realizing its OK if I hate being pregnant- Many women say they love being pregnant, and they have never felt more beautiful! That is a bunch a crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  But of course I felt like there must be something wrong with me for not loving it. I started really getting in my own head and thinking that I am going to be the worst mom ever because I am not enjoying it now. Then one day I snapped out of it and realized that it was totally ok that I'm not enjoying this right now, and I will still love my baby, and we will still have a special bond, and I'm going to be a great mom! Whew, glad I figured that one out!

6. Chocolate Greens- While I was going through my really sick stage, I wondered how the baby was possibly growing with out getting any nutrients? While that is a miracle I will probably never understand, I found the best solution. At any health food store, they'll have a selection of "greens" Its a small jar of all the best things for you, dehydrated and ground up. It'll have around 10 servings of organic fruits and veggies, antioxidants, fiber, enzymes, probiotics, vitamins, minerals and even a little protein. The kind I usually have is more veggie based, so it is literally a green drink. But there is enough fruit in it that it really doesn't taste so bad. (Trust me, I have the gag reflex of a 3 year old eating brussel sprouts). Despite the not so bad taste, there was no way it was going down, and staying down!  SO, I found a chocolate greens! They add organic cocoa to the mix and its delish! I would mix it with Almond Chocolate milk (the only kind of chocolate there is if you ask me. Its dark and sooooo creamy! And that is coming from the girl who will drink whipping cream out of the carton) Anyway, I was able to get something healthy to the baby every day and if nothing else, it gave me peace of mind.

5. Bare Mineral Makeup-  I have been wearing this for a few year and I love it. I love it even more these days, now that I really need it! I have gotten the ever so lovely pregnancy mask.  Which is basically dark spots on your face. (Very similar to age spots) I have a pretty big spot on the bridge of my nose, on the right side and a lighter one under my left eye. Yep, I look like a boxer who just lost! Ha Ha. Dave, my Dad and sister Cassidy have all tried to wipe it off, thinking I went a little crazy with the makeup. I just sit there while they wipe it and wait for them to realize it aint goin no where!  Bare minerals is the only thing that even comes close to covering them up. Just a few extra dabs and it just about disappears. Other concealers don't even compare!  They say that baby girls steal they're mom's looks while in the womb. If thats true, then its definitely a girl!

4. Netflix- I don't know what I would have done without Netflix!!! I watched sooo much T.V. while I was sick. Not my proudest moment, but some days it was all I had the energy to do. I stared and completed Mad Men (thanks Ya Ya), I watched at least 5 seasons of Seinfeld (thanks Dave) I finished the last 3 seasons of Lost (Dave again), All of 30 Rock and Battlestar Galactica (ha ha, yep Dave) a ton of sappy romantic movies and at least a million documentaries. Undoubtedly the most unproductive time in my life. Dave would argue that it was THE most productive time of my life, growing a baby and all. Thanks for the perspective babe!


3. Midwife- My midwife Kat has been the best! She comes to my house and usually spends about an hour and a half with me. She answers every question I have and then some. She has really tried to inform me about what is going on with my body. I feel very empowered with the knowledge she has give us. I always pass the info on to my mom and many times she will say " wow, I never knew that". or "I wish someone would have told me that."  It feels good to be doing things the way I am comfortable with, and what I think will be healthiest for the baby.

2. Organic Ginger Tea- If Dave wasn't so great, this would be #1!!! To put it bluntly, I had pretty much stopped pooping. I would go about 2x a week. And it was awful every time! I started taking a ton of flax seed morning and night (which normally would clean me right out) but it didn't do a thing! I was miserable and started hating going to the bathroom cause I knew what I had to look forward to. Well, before we moved my sister Davi brought me some ginger tea for my nausea. One wiff of the tea bag, and I packed it up and put it away. I wasn't going to put it near me because of how sick it instantly made me feel. After my nausea went away, I was reading the box and it said it was used for digestion. I was desperate to try anything. After one cup of tea, the next day I though I was sick because of how much I was going.  The tea cleaned me out for about a week. Then, I was going normally and regularly!!! Now I have a cup every night with cream and stevia and I no longer suffer from the typical "pregnancy constipation" This may not seem like such a big deal, or that it should be at #2, but trust me, it totally is #2 worthy!

1. Dave- of course my sweetie pie husband is #1. He has been so great through all of this. He has been supportive of my changing body and moods and acts as though he doesn't even notice them (maybe he doesn't and I am giving him more credit then he deserves ha ha). He has never once complained about a lack of prepared dinners. He didn't get a cooked meal from me for 5 months, so that is pretty impressive. (But during his first block week, he was home most of the week and I tried to cook him breakfast, lunch and dinner to makeup for it). What I appreciate the most is him never making me feel guilty for taking care of my self. That means sleeping in till 10 or 11, watching T.V., taking a nap in the after noon, more T.V., buying Arby's for dinner and off to bed. All the while he would go to school early, stay late, study all night, do the dishes, take out the trash, check on me if I was "sleeping too long" and get me what ever I needed/wanted to make me more comfortable. What a man! So glad he is MY man! I couldn't have made it through with out him.  Those days are behind us now, and just the other day Dave said to me, "Welcome back!" Ha Ha Ha. It feels great to be back!

mystery of the missing mole

Dave has really great skin. Especially on his back. He maybe has 3 hairs on his shoulders, depending on his hair cycle. Thats is. Its smooth and soft and delightful to the touch,  but he has these 2 gigantic greek moles on his back. He told me he wanted to get them removed, but never did because he had a huge one on his arm removed and now there is a shiny scar on his arm about the size of a lime.  Not worth it.

But then I come along with my "voodoo hippy magic cures" and had just the solution. Its a salve called Can-X used to remove any growth on the skin, and can also be taken internally in a pill form to remove cancer. I got it from my dad, he is the real genius when it comes to this kind of stuff.  My mom removed a mole, so I knew it would work, and with just a little sweet talk Dave was ready to try it. 

First you have to poke the skin with a needle just around the mole, then you put the salve on. Dave said it really stung, but not unbearable. After the first day you just clean it off and put on vaseline and a bandaid. Every morning after he showered, I would slather on some more vaseline and put on a new bandaid. At first it was totally fine and didn't bother me at all, and then it got NASTY! The salve starts eating around the mole (where I poked the holes). So the hole gets deeper and deeper, and the mole gets looser, but it stayed attached at the "root" for about a week. It was mushy and gushy and I could hardly look at it anymore.  It was making me gag every morning, but I started it, so I couldn't abandon the mole now. 

So one night...in the middle of sexy time...and I swear I am not trying to write this like a romance novel ha ha,  I reached around Dave to rub his back. I just put my hand down and and left it there. Now obviously my mind was only registering one thing at a time, and it wasn't focusing on my hand or where my hand was or what my hand might be touching.  I felt something wetish on my hand, but I had a way delayed reaction to what it could possibly be. Then it hit me! I jumped of the bed  and screamed. I started doing the spider dance (you know the one where you think there is a spider on you so you jump on one foot, brushing your hands all over your body, mostly on your shoulders and arms. You shake your hands in the air incase the spider has somehow survived the vigorous jumping and might be spinning a web in between your fingers. And of course you shake out your hair cause if the spider layed her eggs in your hair, well you're going to die. Yeah, I did that dance.  And yep, I did it naked) I can only imagine what was going on in Dave's mind. Wondering what in the world did he do to cause that kind of a reaction. Ha ha ha

I screamed, "YOUR MOLE!!!" We both instantly started cracking up. He knew exactly what I meant. By now we are laughing so hard we are almost in tears.  Our stomachs hurt so bad from laughing so hard.  Just because of the whole situation. How could you not laugh?

In the bathroom light, we discovered that sure enough, the mole was gone, and the whole was gone.  In its place was fresh pink skin. Dave was so excited to find it cause he wanted to examine the underside of the mole. We started looking on the bed, and it was no where to be found. I took off all the sheets and shook everything out, while he watched, hoping to see his mole come flying out. Then we searched the floors with a fine tooth comb. No where. We even looked on the walls and shelves, thinking maybe I flung it off my hand in the middle of my dance. Ha Ha. It wasn't anywhere. How could something so big and dark just completely disappear against our beige sheets and light carpet color?

We never found the thing. We looked everyday for a while, but eventually we just gave up. When we moved, we joked that maybe it would pop up, but no, its still gone. Maybe it dehydrated and shriveled up when it came off his body? Who knows? All I know is that is definitely one way to ruin the mood!

                  WARNING! THESE PICTURES ARE NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART!!!
                                         (but I want you to feel my pain for how nasty it was!)


                                           
                                                                       First few days

Totally gross how the salve eats away at the mole. But cool how it only attacks the mole, 

not anything else. 

                                                    All done. Mole is completely gone!

6 months today!

Today Poppy is 6 months old B.B. (before birth) and is growing, growing, growing. In 4 weeks, my stomach has grown 6 inches! According to (her?) age, she is about a foot long and weighs just over a pound (and gained 4 ounces last week)!  My Uterus is the size of a soccer ball and I am really feeling it! I have started to notice a slight waddle when I walk, my feet feel like they are going to pop at night because they are so swollen by the end of the day, and I have gained about 30 pounds so far  (notice the double chin? AHHHH). But I know it will all be worth it in the end!

       Ok, Ok I've gotten a lot of requests for belly pictures...these were taken today, at 6 months along

                                             

Look ma, I finally finished it!

We went to Utah a few weeks ago, and my mom and I went to my favorite store, The Wood Connection. They precut all sorts of cute things to make all you have to do is get a little creative and put it all together. They had soooo many cute things, but I finally decided on this "fall" sign. I turned it into my own and made it completely different then the display they had up. Its taken me a few weeks to get around to it (my desire to accomplish anything has gone out the window since being pregnant, I hope thats not permanent!) It was easy and fun and actually really relaxing! I can't wait for our next Utah trip so I can buy more holiday decor! (I'm sure Dave is glad we've put some distance between me and The Wood Connection! Ha Ha Ha)

6 a.m. this morning

Ew! Ew! EW! EW EW EW EW!!!  Woke up this morning to a cockroach between my boobs! Ha ha ha. Not really sure how it could even fit in there, since by boobs have grown exponentially while being prego, but somehow it found a nice little warm, dark spot and was probably hoping to set up camp for a while. I was just laying there in bed, waking up, and my whole body felt itchy. I kept scratching my back and head and then I felt it! I reached down and FREAKED out. I flung it right on out of there. Dave bolted up out of bed faster then I'd ever seen him move in my life. I felt kinda bad cause I think my sudden movement scared him. Ha ha But he is the man (said in a deep strong voice, while pounding a fist to your chest) so he was instantly up and crushing the thing to death. Oh man, what a great way to start the day. The worst part is I have been feeling "phantom cockroach" all day. Now I have two complaints about Las Vegas. People smoking in buildings and now of course, cockroaches!!!

ha ha ha David

Dave is crackin me up (as usual). He just watched True Grit last week, where John Wayne taught him the proper way to drink his alcohol from a big ceramic jug. You gotta throw the jug up on your arm and use your arm to lift the jug to your mouth. So since we buy our water in gallon jugs, thats the only way he can drink it. He looks like a pirate. Of course its awkward to drink that way, and half the water falls out of his mouth cause the angle is weird, but he's gonna keep on doing it till he finds the next trick to amuse himself with. Ah, I can't wait till our babies pick up on all the "daveisms" they'll be surrounded by. Flicking their boogies on the floor, walking to the bathroom with a way exaggerated hip swing, weird voices, filling in words with the word "place or thing" when he can't think of the right word ( I have to admit I do that one too now) and now drinking out of the jug like a real cowboy! Ha ha ha ha

Death

Our Bishops wife passed away last weekend. She has 7 kids, the youngest is 4 and she was only 42 years old. She was my visiting teacher.  She never actually made it over to visit me, as she was too sick the day she had scheduled to come. When I heard she had died, I thought about how the last thing she said to me was to schedule a time to come over so she could fulfill her church duties. What a way to die. To be serving in the gospel up to your very last day. No doubt where she is going. My cousin Jason was at the temple the night before he died. Those examples always stick out to me and remind me to be better and strive to do a little more.

We went to her service today. On the way home, Dave and I talked about how positive the gospel can make your perspective. The bishop was of course sad for his loss, but hopeful that he will see her again because they were sealed in the temple. He wants to continue to serve as the bishop of our ward, even during this hard time, because of his perspective. Those who spoke, talked of rejoicing that she is back with her savior instead of mourning their own loss. What an incredible outlook they have because they have testimonies!  The gospel truly blesses families! All we have to do is keep our promises. Thank you Bench family for reminding me and being an example to every one who was there today, even while you are going through this incredibly hard time.

1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

One year has flown by so quickly I can hardly believe it! I couldn't be happier in my decision to marry Dave. Often times it seems like he was make just for me. He really is the best husband any one could ask for, I'm just glad that I got him.

We decided to celebrate our anniversary a week early to avoid the Labor day prices (while we chose to get married on Labor Day weekend to always have a 3 day weekend and we knew that things would always be more expensive, I just think we forgot that for several anniversaries He would be in school and money would be tight ha ha.) So one week early is fine with us, plus that incorporates Dave's birthday as well.

We went to Lake Las Vegas. This supper cute Italian Villa on the lake. Our hotel was so freakin nice! We went all out and had a blast!

                                                 The view of the courtyard from our room

                                    Supposed to be a view of the lake, but I can't help making faces

                                                        The cute little "village" walk way

menu

BEST RIBS EVER!!!!  We even met the chef to tell him how delicious they are. 

He already knows cause he has won awards for them. 

We had a great time at the resort. They even had a man made beach. We can't wait till we can have a boat someday to really enjoy the lake! 

For our actual anniversary my sisters came to visit us. Dave made THE BEST authentic Italian pizza you've ever had!!! We chilled with them and watched movies. Dave gets distracted sometimes...

He was standing there for a while before I started recording. He is just like a child when Disney is on!


Its great to be married to man who is chill enough that he will hang out with my family on our anniversary. Love you boo!

My Facebook post to Dave on our anniversary. I'd say that about sums it up!
Happy Anniversary! Can't believe its been a year already! I thought I knew what I was getting when I got married. I knew I would get someone to cook for and someone else's laundry to do and of course a best friend to hang out with all the time but I NEVER expected was...my own personal garbage man, an accountant, a computer soft ware consultant, a home made delicious Italian pizza maker, a stand up comedian, a super sized testimony to keep me in line, vacation planner, CNA when I can't walk for a week, best potatoes ever, personal DJ for my night life, personal drummer, pianist and guitarist, a deep thinker for my deep thoughts, a shoulder to cry on when I don't think I can puke one more time, entire house packer, in a few years I'll add my own personal doctor to the list, and of course someone who totally gets me and all my weirhd ways. Love you boo

new calling (august)

One Sunday in August we left church and I said to Dave, " I think I am getting a calling in the Relief Society. I thing I am going to teach the lessons." We kind of just laughed and our conversation turned somewhere else and that was that. We didn't think too much of it.

The next Sunday, sure enough Bishop Bench called me into his office and offered me a calling...to teach Relief Society.  Naturally Dave and I laughed out loud (So far I have a good track record of knowing my calling before hand,  and I think he is really amused by it).

I was set apart the next week and in my blessing I promised that my "mind would be quickened so I could teach the sisters, health for my and my baby, and that I would make great friendships in this ward. Even friendships that will last through the eternities!"  I was really excited about the last part, just being in a new place and not knowing a soul I really want to make good friends. As I thought about that line in the blessing a woman in the ward came to my mind. I had not met her, just seen her at church, taking care of her cute little babies, and then the thought was gone and my mind was off thinking about something else as the bishop finished the blessing.

I met that woman a 2 weeks ago.  Her name is Amber. She is my visiting teacher. She came by herself, since Sister Bench was not feeling well that night. We got along great and had a good conversation. I can definitely see us being friends. I don't know why she came to mind on that particular part of my blessing. Maybe they have no relation at all, but maybe they do...

Moving to Vegas! (July)

After Dave applied to med school we got rejection letter after rejection letter. It was really discouraging! Sometimes I couldn't even wait for him to get home to open them, so I would do it and then have to call and tell him that "they said no." It was no fun and by April and May we were pretty sure we would be staying in Utah another year and we would just have to do the whole process over again.  We decided to apply to Master programs at the DO schools, to boost Dave's application for next year. We figured a Masters program was better then just another year of work at the hospital.

By June and into July we were getting down to the wire, where if a school did accept him, it would be a rush to get us there in time. One day I was in the shower, and as clear as day I had a whole plan of how we would pack and move somewhere quickly. If necessary, I decided Dave could drive to his school, I would stay and extra week or two and pack everything, and he could fly back and we'd drive there together. It was weird and I was wondering why I was planning this all, when we hadn't been accepted anywhere.

THE VERY NEXT DAY (Tuesday, July 5th) Dave came home and said that Touro University in California e mailed him and rejected him, but said they were sending his application to Touro Las Vegas. We hadn't even applied there cause we missed the deal line. The following day, (Wednesday, July 6th) Touro Las Vegas called him and accepted him over the phone. Orientation was that very day, so obviously we missed that. They told us we absolutely had to be there by Friday, July 15th, so he could catch the make up orientation. That gave us only 9 days. But we wanted to be there and moved in somewhere before Friday, so we planned on moving the Wednesday the 13th! Exactly one week to tie up all loose ends, quit our jobs, pack, load and get there. Allowing us one day to find a place (Thursday 14th and hopefully start moving in the same day or the following day and be done moving in by Friday at 3pm, cause we didn't want/have the money to pay for another day of the truck)

Somehow we did it. I'm not sure how, but we did. We both had to work until the day before we left. Dave had a ton of surgeries at the clinic and I had clients already booked a week out, plus I was teaching and the last day of class was Tuesday 12th.  I would pack a little hear and there, but Dave seriously packed almost the entire house. I was too dang sick to really do much of anything. Getting to work was about all the strength I had. Over the weekend Dave hit it hard and did almost everything on Saturday. He was like superman, flying through the house, faster then a speeding bullet! Despite family wanting us  to hang our with them all day Sunday, we managed to get a lot done.

Tuesday evening I went to teach class, while everyone came and loaded up the U haul! I am so grateful for everyone who came and helped! When I got home they were almost completely done! I was dreading the cleaning. I had tried to clean earlier, but the fumes from the cleaning supplies made me so so sick, I was thinking I would just leave the place dirty and eat the deposit. Davi came and cleaned the kitchen and that was a huge help! In the evening my cute little angle beehives came and helped move and also did ALL the cleaning! The cleaned the bathroom, the walls, the baseboards, the blinds and even the soapy grime off the laundry room floor! They were so great! I kept thanking Heavenly Father for sending them over to help me! I will never forget their example of charity and service. They were only 12, but they seemed to know more then most about Christ like charity. (We ended up getting our full deposit back, thats how awesome they did!!!)

That night we slept in an empty apartment on our air mattress. The place echoed when we talked to each other.  The next morning, after a quick vacuum, we were off.  I honestly don't remember too much of the drive. I was feeling really nauseated that day and it seems like I would just zone out while driving and then snap back and wonder how" how did I get here" It was weird, and I ate a lot of cheese sticks.  The Holmgren's fed us in Cedar City. Our little 5 or so hour drive ended up taking closer to 8 cause the U haul had a trailer on the back, so it was slow drivin at times.

We stayed at the Fiesta Henderson (ha ha ha ha) I can't believe we stayed there. We got a really good deal for 2 nights but its probably the lowest class hotel/casino in the area. Oh well, we didn't know. The smoke about put me over the edge and the buffet gave Dave the runs! Ha ha.

Thursday was "find a place to live day" We basically found the school and started driving from there. Dave wanted to be close so he could ride his bike. We looked at several places and took lots of tours. Nothing was super nice or brand new (which I was hoping for) but we did find a nice place that is pretty roomy. So we got the paper work started some time around 4. Of course they do back ground check, and of course Dave passed right away, but with my "criminal record" I delayed the process...

Dave's parents had driven down to help us unload, and were just waiting for our call. By Friday morning we still hadn't been approved so we headed to the storage unit and completely unloaded the truck, turned it in and paid our bill.  We were done by about 10:30 or so. We went back to our hotel for Dave to show and get ready for orientation at noon. AS SOON AS we pulled into the hotel parking lot, the apartment called Dave and told him we were cleared and ready to move in. HA HA HA oh the irony! Seriously! We JUST unloaded the truck!

Dave went to school. I went to the U haul store. Rented another truck and started loading. Holly and Dave came back and loaded the truck. (By now its noon day and bloody hot out side, probably close to 120 degrees) I was of course feeling sick as a dog and hardly able to lift a finger. They loaded everything. I pretty much sat there and watched. I don't think I have ever felt so helpless before in my life! I hated the situation, but was again so grateful to have them there and helping us when we needed it so badly!

Around 3 we met dave at the apartment with the U haul. The boys took over from there. They made a few trips and got us completely moved in. I was left alone for  a while and fell asleep on the bed (ha ha never move when you're pregnant! cause you are worthless)  Dave and his dad worked so freakin hard! And in a day, it was done.  We had dinner with them and they were off.  And there we were surrounded by mountains of boxes to unpack.

In the lovely state of Nevada, they completely shut off all gas and electric when tenant move out and it takes them about a week to get things turned back on. Normally that would be no big deal, cause usually people have a plan when they move and time to get things turned on. Luckily we were able to get our electricity on that day, but we weren't so lucky with the gas...no hot water for 5 days! Ha Ha it was THE worst.  So we got a little creative. We would wait till night (when most people are in for the night) and go out to the pool and shower at the outdoor showers. I would take a little bag of soap and shampoo and sometimes even a razor. Thats right, I shaved outside in a nasty exposed shower. Ha ha we would laugh the whole time we were out there, wondering if people thought we were homeless. Of course you never really feel clean when you  are showering in  your swim suit, but it was better then freezing water!  By the 5th day I was so excited to shower in the house! It was like Christmas morning for me.

Despite the crazy experience we had in getting here, we absolutely love it. Dave loves Touro and our ward is awesome! We hope to stay here for the duration of Dave schooling, but even if we don't we can look back on this and laugh and think of it as a fun time!