The Bunzell Family

October-Early November

2011-11-20T10:08:00.000-08:00

So this post is fairly late, but life has been so busy for us! I started back to work full time on October 24th. We have been so lucky as both David's mom and my mom have graciously offered to watch Easton for us. We know he is in loving hands while we are off at work! The beginning of October was General Conference. Every year, since we don't have cable at our house, we head over to my brother's home and eat breakfast/lunch while watching wonderful messages from our prophet and other church leaders. Between sessions, we busted out Twister and had some good old fashioned fun! David kicked my bootie, but largely because he kept cheating and stealing the spaces that I should have landed on. It made for some fun though!

For Halloween, David bought some swords and nunchucks and all three of us dressed up as ninjas! We went to my mom's Halloween party, then to David's parents Halloween party, and finally to our own church Halloween party on the Saturday before Halloween. Such a busy busy night, but we had fun and Easton was so good! On Halloween night, we went to my brother's church Halloween party and enjoyed our 5th meal in a row of chili. After that bowl, I told David I never wanted to eat chili again lol. We also walked to our friends home, the Booths, and shared a nice fire pit in their driveway while handing out candy to trick or treaters.

On the first Sunday in November, we were spoiled to have so many family members share Easton's special day with us. David blessed him at church, and then afterwards, we had all of our family members over to our house for a light lunch.

As Christmas time is approaching, I think of how grateful I am for so many blessings in my life. I think back to a few years ago when David, my mom, my sister and I secretly left a Christmas tree on the door step of a co-workers home. The co-worker had told me a few days prior that they had no tree, no money, and would not be having Christmas that year. She was worried about her children and not having gifts for them. The next morning (after delivering the tree), my co-worker greeted me that morning with tears in her eyes. She said "Lynette, you will NEVER believe what happened. God answered my prayers. There was a Christmas tree left on my doorstep. My children and I were SO excited!" It makes tears fill my eyes when I think of that experience and how such a simple thing brought so much joy. I am keeping my eyes and ears opened for ways I can secretly bless the lives, or at least bring a little Christmas cheer, to my family and friends who are struggling this holiday season!

Kyle eating minnow at Woods Canyon - 10/14/11

2011-10-20T10:14:00.000-07:00

First Camping Trip

2011-10-20T10:03:00.000-07:00

Being stuck at home for the last few months has really done a number on me lol. Thank goodness for my mother who has let me come hang out at her house nearly every day just to be around people! For those that know me best, they can quickly tell you how much I really don't like camping. I don't like sleeping in the cold, I don't like not showering, and I don't like bugs! But as I just mentioned, being stuck at home has changed my mind about some things. I finally decided that I WANTED to go camping with my family over Fall Break as means to break up the monotony of staying at home. So little Easton and I rode up with my mom to the rim, about 30 miles past Payson, on Friday afternoon. David met us the following evening as his work would not permit him to take the day off.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous (when we first arrived) and the leaves were changing into their Fall colors. My two brothers had gone backpacking the day before and so they met us at camp. We followed the boys to the lake and watched while they went fishing. Kyle, my youngest brother, ended up eating a live minnow on a dare/bribe for 1$ from my older brother. (See last blog post for video). My mom and I were disgusted :) My sister in law and her three kids as well as my sister Heidi came in later that evening, just in time to go to bed! I did not sleep well at all that night. The campgrounds were filled with people and they were all so noisy! I hear people next to us throwing up and later in the night, several Elk were bugeling. Factor in the coldness (40 degrees) and a baby to feed (once during the night) and little sleep was had.

Saturday, my mom made a yummy egg-mcmuffin breakfast and after cleanup, my mom, sister, and I decided to take a nap while everyone else went to the lake. After the nap, everyone went to collect firewood and shoot my brother's airsoft gun. I also ended up seeing my good friend Kim and her boyfriend riding bikes right where we were shooting the guns-talk about a small world! We later enjoyed a wonderful dutch over dinner/dessert consisting of chicken pot pies and brownies. I was so excited when my David arrived with my dad, shortly before dinner. Boy did I miss my David!

Sunday, we had yummy breakfast burritos, cleaned up camp and went to the lake. No fish were caught again but we enjoyed the beautiful weather. David and I had a nice chat on the ride home about setting goals together. We want to get in shape and start eating healthy. We want to really start getting into joint hobbies. David wants me to get a bow so that I can start doing archery with him :)

This is my last week before I have to go back to work! I enjoyed spending Monday at my mother in laws house, Tuesday visiting the school I work at and later in the evening playing a co-ed soccer game, Wednesday with my family playing a soccer game with my dad's 9 year old team that he coaches, and today I will spend with the baby. I am going to attempt getting some last minute cleanings done and then I have enrichment tonight.

I can't believe how fast the last few weeks have flown. David is doing his CNA clinicals at Springdale West nursing facility just a few miles from us. Today is his last day, then he will take his final exam tomorrow and State Board exam Sunday-then he is done! Wohoo! (Can you tell how excited I am!!). He is considered doing job interviews with this nursing home as he has enjoyed his experience, they like him, and they are hiring right now. The pay is not very good at all and would be a decrease from what he is making now. Plus I don't know about benefits (Wells Fargo has AWESOME benefits). We got a letter this week stating that David did not make it into the PA program at the University of Utah. We are both sad about this but are hoping doors open down here for him. If nothing else, hopefully working as a CNA will significantly boost his ability to get into one of the schools!

Easton has started chatting a lot more and smiling in response to people talking to him. I am absolutely loving this stage he is in. He will be 10 weeks tomorrow, weighs 13.8lbs, is 23inches, and has a huge head! The doctor said he is in the 70th percentile for height and weight and in the 90th percentile for head circumfrence! I will miss my little buddy once I go to work, but I know he is in good hands with my mom and mother-in-law watching him!

He's a chunker!

2011-09-27T17:41:00.000-07:00

Mr. Easton is 6 and a half weeks old today and boy has this kid grown! At birth he weighed 8lbs. 9oz. and now he is hovering around 12lbs! It's been fun to watch him fill out. Over the past week he has started trying to coo and use his voice and it is adorable! He has also tried smiling a bit more but these times are random. He has not learned to smile when others make funny faces or use exciting tones of voice-but i'm confident he'll get to that point soon!
Because it has been 6 going on 7 weeks, I find that I am slowly returning to myself (when I have enough sleep of course). I still do not like having to get home around 8 every night from wherever I am at, just so that I can get enough sleep throughout the night. I find that every hour I am out later is every hour of sleep that I won't get. Hopefully this changes and that Easton starts sleeping longer stretches throughout the night. I have been trying to implement the BabyWise methods almost religiously in hopes that the baby will sleep longer.

In other news, David started a Certified Nursing Assistant program last week in the hopes that he will get a job as a CNA (crappy job, we know) and that that will be the final thing that he help him get into PA school. He has a great GPA, letters of recommendation, etc. but lacks the medical field patient contact hours. It has been a very rough schedule for both him and us. He goes to work from 8:00a.m.-4:30p.m. then has class from 5:00p.m.-10:00p.m. So we really only see him for a few minutes in the morning. We are so grateful for his hard work and dedication. I am grateful that the program only lasts 5 weeks, so he really only has 2.5 more treacherous long days and then one week of clinicals during the day (he will have to take the week off of work). David asks almost every day if anything "good" has come in the mail-referring to any letters from the PA schools he applied to. He has worked SO hard to get in, that i'm just praying he will be accepted soon!

The final product

2011-09-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

Almost two years ago, I decided to start a project. My sister in law Fawn had made me a stocking for Christmas a few years ago and I absolutely fell in love with all the hand stitching, sequins, candies, ballerina, christmas tree all made of felt. I thought "this is easy and something that I can do" and instantly I thought of my mom. I knew my mom would treasure such a gift and so I decided that I was going to make a stocking for my mom. I purchased the perfect stocking as mentioned here. My mom is ALWAYS busy making hundreds of cookies around Christmas time for many of her loyal customers so the stocking reminded me of her.

Little did I realized just how much WORK it would take, with almost 100 little felt pieces to cut out, sequin and stitch. There were probably 4-5 stitches you had to do and I had NO clue how to do any of them. Thanks to Fawn and my mom (yes, I enlisted my mom's help on her own stocking), I went to town on the stocking this summer while I was on break from school/work and finished it this last week! While the stitches are perfect, they were done with love :) I told my mom not to look too closely at the stitches. When I gave it to her this past weekend, she was SO excited and wanted to show the other family members and her friends. My sister even wants one and so does my dad-although I told them it may take another two years :) Here are some pictures of the final product.

Baby Easton is here

2011-08-28T10:34:00.001-07:00

Forgive me for taking so long to post about Easton's birth. We are so happy to have him here! I was two days past my due date (August 10th) so we had an induction scheduled for Friday August 12th at 3a.m.! The nurses started me on pitocin and we waited for the action to begin. Around 10a.m. my OB came in and broke my water, hoping that that would get the ball rolling. I was dilated to 3cm when I came in that morning. So in all likelihood, I very well could have given birth naturally that weekend. Once the pitocin started kicking in, I started feeling the contractions very distinctly. All throughout my pregnancy, I would feel cramping (like during that time of the month) and it would last all day. So I never knew what contractions really felt like until I was put on pitocin. As the day went on, the contractions started getting stronger. I luckily had my sister Stacey (who is a nurse), my mom, and David there all day to help me get through it. My mom had to constant remind me to breathe and count once the contractions came.

I was advised to get the epidural early before the contractions got so unbearable. So the anethesiologist came in, not too long after my OB broke my water. I was seated on my bed hunched over and the anesthesiologist asked me if I had scoliosis, I said no. This should have been the first indicator that I was not position well. She poked me several times with the needle and each time I cried out in pain (I was bawling during the epidural). They told me to tell them if I felt the pain to the left or right and each time I was poked, I told them which side. Finally after about 4 pokes, the anethesiologist repositioned me and got the needle in where it should be-no pain. Getting the epidural was aweful for me, but in the end I was glad I had it. I also got the max number of lidocaine shots throughout the rest of the day, because I kept feeling pain kicking in. After the last dose of meds possible, my legs went completely numb.

Around 4p.m. they asked me to start pushing once each contraction started. I would have to take a deep breathe, hold it, and push for about 10 seconds....and repeat this cycle 3-4 times on each contraction. Because I couldn't feel my legs, my mom, sister, and David took turns holding my legs up on each push. Pushing lasted two hours and meanwhile, I was getting oxygen and feeling so tired that I felt like my body was going to literally pass out on the table. At 6:24p.m., little Easton was born. My body was too weak to hold him or even keep my eyes open-and yet a nurse came in and made him try to nurse! I am not exactly sure what happend for about 3 hours after the birth because I was too tired and too drugged up! Here are a few pictures of our little guy...I don't want to sound like a Debbie Downer, but being a new mother has been completely overwhelming to me. Dealing with hormones, postpartum blues, and lack of sleep has really thrown things for a loop. I love that I have a precious newborn, but thoughts of having a little person so dependent on me has been difficult. It has also been hard not being able to get out as much as I used to and being home all day! I am so used to being on the go all the time. David got to take a little over a week off to be home with us, and now that he has gone back to work, the days have been lonely. I am so grateful to have wonderful parents, family members (immediate and extended) who have helped me get through this time of change.

I have also had difficulty wanting anything to eat. I rarely feel hungry and when I eat, just about everything makes me want to throw up. This is a HUGE change for me, because I used to eat and want to eat ALL the time. Not sure if this is due to hormone changes or lack of sleeping-but hopefully my body decides it loves food, because this is the time when I am supposed to be eating more and not less!

Baby, Baby, Baby

2011-07-31T11:06:00.001-07:00

On July 9th, my wonderful sister in law Natalia threw me a very adorable, jungle themed baby shower. Lots of friends and family members attended and generously spoiled me and baby Easton with gifts galore. Natalia wrote on the baby shower invitations that if you brought in a package of diapers, you would be entered into a raffle drawing to win a gift card to the Cheesecake Factory. The lucky winner-my sister in law Jessica! Needless to say, I received a heaping stack of diapers on top of other baby necessities including bottles, gift cards, clothes, blankets, crib sheets, chocolate, and a mobile high chair. I want to thank all those who attended and those that were with us in spirit. David's very talented cousin Kristi took pictures of my shower. Thank you Kristi!! Below are some of the images that captured this wonderful event.

We even made the food jungle themed: Food included "tiger tails" (Cheetohs), "monkey's choice" (banana nut muffins), "giraffe leaves" (Greek Salad), Zebra Cakes, "Alligator Tails" (Croissant Rolls), Banana Runts, "Animal Munchies" (Animal Crackers with Strawberry Cream Cheese and Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Dips).

Opening the gift from my mom

Enjoying food with family

Sister in Law Sara and Cousin Kristi Ison (photographer)

Me and my mom with baby MaKenna
Friends Juliet and Melissa

My mom and ward friends Kristen Garner and Becca Olave

Sister In Law Jessica with her new baby (and my adorable niece) MaKenna. MaKenna was born just a month prior to the shower.

Playing the game where you have to guess how big around my belly is.

Measuring the guesses to see who wins a prize

Me with Paige, the 9 year old munchkin who I've been babysitting for the last 7 years!

July 4th Week in a Nutshell

2011-07-10T09:42:00.000-07:00

I started my fourth of July weekend by going to IHOP on Saturday the 2nd with two of my wonderful friends. Sharianna (in the black shirt) is 37 weeks along and is having a little girl, I am approaching 36 weeks, and my friend Krystal just had her little bundle 5 weeks ago. It was great catching up with these girls!

We continued by going to festivities in Downtown Mesa later that evening. Not sure why our city decided they wanted to do fireworks/festivities on the 2nd as opposed to the 4th, but I was glad they did so that we could do things with our family on the 4th. We watched the Heritage School Show-choir (a charter school in the area) sing/dance/performe a skit on the various styles of music that are incorporated into the American culture. David and I were a little hesitant to stay when the performance first started, but we left at the end of the performance very impressed by the skills of these elementary through high school aged students. Afterwards, we joined thousands of others (including my family members) and watched an amazing display of fireworks. The humidity and 110 degree weather at 9:30p.m. at night was made bearable by the industrial sized misting fans which we were able to find a spot right next to. My dad was also able to find a chair, somehow, for me to sit on.

On Monday the 4th, we got up bright and early (6:00a.m.) to head to David's Aunt Julie's house for a yummy pancake breakfast, flag ceremony, and baseball. I stayed outside in the extreme hot and humid heat for as long as I could. However, after about an hour, my vision started getting a little crazy, and I knew if I didn't get inside where it was cooler that I was going to pass out. It was really weird. So I stayed inside while David and his cousins/aunts/uncles played baseball. (Above) David's aunt chatting and Grandma Judy. (Below) David's Aunt Julie sprayed the players to keep them cool, however, it was so humid that shortly after getting sprayed (so I was told), the water felt like extra sweat.

Afterwards, we went next door to my mother in laws house where we spent the next several hours hanging out with family, BBQ'ing, and learning how to play poker. After many rounds of the game, I started realizing how addicting poker could become. You see, I was winning many rounds and I just wanted to keep playing to win more :) Thank goodness it was just with poker chips and no real gains/losses occurred.

In the evening, we had another BBQ with my family at my brother's home, went swimming, and played with fireworks. By the end of the night, I was exhausted!

On Tuesday the 5th, I went in for my weekly ultrasound/NST appointment. Baby Easton is doing very well. I think when I go in today for my next ultrasound, he will be somewhere between 5-6 pounds. Here is one of the latest pictures of the little guy: (sorry for the sideways picture)Last thing...I promise! Friday was Cow Appreciation Day at Chik-Fil-A. So I was able to convince my little sister and brother to dress up as cows with me. What did we get in return? 3 free meals, valued at approximately 7$ each! All of us were very hesitant, walking to the Chik-Fil-A entrance, as all the other customers coming in the fast food restaurant were wearing regular clothes. Luckily, as we entered, there were tons of other "cows" dressed just like us.

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

This year, being the first year we actually have a child on the way, I wanted to do something for David. After all, in 7.5 weeks (hopefully sooner) he will be come a dad for the first time. I had browsed many crafty blogs and modified the idea I liked the best. Here is the final product:

I bought a case of IBC rootbeer, a sweet treat that my husband loves. I covered the box in scrapbook paper and spent what seemed like an hour creating the circular message that says "We are so glad you are the 'pop' of our family.....Love Easton and Mommy". Keep in mind I am by no means computer savvy, especially when it comes to designing things like this. I then decided to make six ties, one to go on each bottle. All were signed "Love, Easton". They read something like this:

1. When I grow up, I want to be a mighty hunter, just like my dad.

2. When I grow up, I want to serve a mission for the LDS church, just like my dad did.

3. When I grow up, I want to treat the women I date and my wife like a queen, just like my dad did and does.

4. When I grow up, I want to go to college and be as smart as my dad.

5. When I grow up, I want to be as charitable and look for ways to serve others as much as my dad does.

6. When I grow up, I want to be as good lookin' and handsome as my daddy is

While David was getting ready for the day, I quietly hurried to my hiding spot, took out the package and left it on the counter. I then came back and started doing my makeup and asked David to make some Eggs Benedict (he is the breakfast maker in our home and it was my ploy to get him to the kitchen). He went out there and I could hear the bottles "clink". A few minutes later, he came to me and gave me a big hug (his face was a little red). He said "Thank you, Love!" and gave me a gentle hug. He then said "you are making me blush". What I think he meant to say is "You're making me emotional and i'm on the verge of tears". Apparently my gift was very meaningful to him-just what I wanted it to be. Happy first Father's Day my love!

In other news, I am approaching week 33 of my pregnancy. Hooray! I am excited to have little Easton here, but now the stress of trying to find someone to watch my dear little one once I have to go back to work is approaching. If anyone knows of any good home based sitters in the Gilbert/Mesa area, please let me know! This picture was taken at week 31.5...sorry it isn't a side shot (but trust me, my belly really is huge if you can't tell).

A new addition

2011-06-06T15:28:00.000-07:00

On Friday afternoon, I was just finishing lunch (at Wildflower Bread Company-in case you wanted to know) with some of my girl friends when I recieved a text message from my sister in law. It read "Having the baby at 3". My SIL was not scheduled to have her C-Section until later the following week. Knowing she was feeling sick and had to go to the hospital the day before, I was a little worried. The hospital nurses/doctor said that she had the flu and sent her home. First off, let me just say how I nearly always discredit the diagnosis ER staff give...because on 9 out of 10 diagnosis in our family, they have been wrong. This time was not any different. At her OB appt. on Friday, the doctor said she had pre-eclampsia and wanted to schedule a C-section for that afternoon. And so around 4p.m. on Friday, MaKenna Lily Johnson was born. She is ADORABLE and we are so happy to have her join our family. I'm sure baby Easton is anxiously awaiting his turn to join us as well (I know his parents are!). Here are some pictures of baby

MaKenna.

San Diego 2011

2011-05-22T09:25:00.000-07:00

About three weeks ago, David and I joined my brother, his family, and my mom on a short trip to San Diego. Thank goodness we left the Arizona heat when we did. The day before we left, I think it got up to 100 degrees and it was extremely dry. These two combinations and working all day led to swollen legs and feet.

We hit the road early Thursday morning, May 5th and arrived at our hotel about 6 hours later. We decided to check out Seaport village and just meander around. My brother and his family had arrived the day before and were at Sea World. David and I didn't get tickets to Sea World due to how far along I was in my pregnancy (all the walking and not being able to go on rides). We ended up buying these yummy Watermelon flavored suckers (a Mexican candy) that were covered in sugar and chili powder. Sounds gross, right? But I shortly became addicted and wish I would have bought more! Our purchase of the candy ensured we payed 1$ for 2 hours of parking at Seaport Village, instead of 8$ for the 2 hours (can you believe they charge you 1$ for every 15 minutes of parking!) David and I got to take pictures by several large ships, one of which is in the new Pirates of the Caribbean 4 movie.

For dinner, we ate at the "Old Spaghetti Factory". We were going to eat dessert at the Ghiradelli Ice Cream shop, however, our meal at the Spaghetti Factory included ice cream! (I definitely recommend going to that place-a full blown meal for a decent price). So we just strolled down 5th avenue in the gas lamp district and headed back to our hotel.

On day 2 of our trip (Friday, May 6), we toured the USS Midway ship (took us about 5 hours to tour!). It was very fascinating, but lets just say that I could have toured the thing in about 2 hours. In front of the Midway with our niece Kiara and nephew Dallin.

Kiara sitting in one of the airplanes

My mom sitting in one of the soldiers bunks. Not much room and if you were the lucky soldier that got this bunk, you'd have to be extremely careful to not sit up at night or you'd whack your head.

On the bottom floor of the ship was where the jail was. We tried to get Kiara to frown but I guess being in jail was too fun!

Upon arriving in San Diego the day before, I saw the Coronado Island Bridge and told David how I never wanted to go on that thing again. It is so high up over the water! I had crossed the bridge with a few friends several years ago when we had stayed on Coronado Island-and it was scary! So, my brother, upon hearing this, thought that it would be cool to drive across the bridge for lunch (after going on the Midway). So I kept my eyes focused on the road and I survived! Whew! We went to a beautiful beach on Coronado Island. It was way too cold for most of us to go in the water. David had a wet suit and plunged right in. He also found about 10 live Sand Dollars. We were all so fascinated as none of us had every seen live ones before. My sister in law Jessica is due with baby #3 in June and I am due in August with baby #1. So, we had to get belly shots!
After a long day at the beach, we did end up going back and getting some ghiradelli sundae's on 5th avenue and boy were they yummy!

On our last day, we stopped at the Cabrillo tide pools before heading back to Arizona. The tide pools could have been potentially filled with starfish, octopus, fish etc. However, all we saw were crabs, barnacles, lots and lots of shells and some fish. The boys had quite the adventure trying to catch crabs. The crabs were trying to hide in the crevasses of the rock and when one of the boys finally got one out it would scurry extremely fast back into the rocks. I have video but for some reason it won't load onto the computer. Here are photos at the Cabrillo tidepools and lighthouse.
My brother Chris and his two children, looking for sea creatures. My nephew Dallin was more than happy just to throw rocks in the water.

Easter

2011-04-25T17:44:00.001-07:00

This year, David and I decided that we wanted to gear our Easter thoughts more towards the Savior and less towards the candy, chocolate and materialistic version of Easter (although we definitely included some traditional Easter festivities). After all, we celebrate Easter to remember that Christ died and was resurrected. We started the week off by attending the Easter Pageant on the Arizona LDS temple grounds. David and I walked away with a better sense and conviction that Jesus is the Christ and that He does live! I think this Easter was more meaningful for us because there are those in our family who no longer believe that Jesus exists. The pageant was a very powerful testament that He lives and loves us. Too many prayers have been answered and too many spiritual experiences have happened in my life to believe contrary.

The Easter Bunny dropped off some things in Easton's crib, because he found some good deals at Target that he just couldn't pass by :) Next year, we will be a little bit more fanciful and start better Easter basket/egg hunt traditions after little Easton arrives.

Later in the evening, we went to my in-laws house for the traditional egg hunt and yummy Easter feast. My sister-in-law Fawn came up with the great idea to get the adults included in the egg hunt this year. She wrote names on 2 miniature sized eggs for the adults (not sure the miniature size was the best idea-but it was still a good challenge) and hid them in the super tall weeds/grass and hale bales in my inlaws huge yard. There were also a few HUNDRED regular sized eggs and even some gigantic eggs filled with jelly beans hidden. We spent over an hour it seems looking for the eggs and even then, my poor niece and nephew never found their second miniature egg. I absolutely loved Easter this year and am so grateful for the fun yet peaceful time I got to share with my family.

Rosalee found some gigantic eggs (I told you they were huge!)

Natalia found her miniature egg (actually I found it for her and pointed her in the right direction)
Nephew Dylan showing off his egg
Father and son
Hailey and Dylan checking out the goods (jelly beans) inside of the eggs

Did I mention how hard it was for me to find this egg? It was hidden in the outer edges of the hay bale.

Oh.....and we also had my niece Lanae's birthday party-happy birthday Lanae! Can't forget the baby bump picture of me and cousin Suzanne. Suzanne is due in June and I am due in August. (pictures courtesy of Kristi Ison)

What's in a name....

2011-04-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

Choosing a name for baby #1 was fairly simple. I had thrown several names that I liked out to David, but there were none that he had really liked as well. And then I started reading friends blogs and got more ideas for boy names (boy names were much harder for us to choose than girl names). I am a huge country music fan and one day I was listening to one of my more favorite country songs on youtube. I had no idea who actually sang the song. I saw the name of the singer and thought-I love that name! I have been reluctant to share the name David and I chose for our little guy because I strongly dislike when others tell you they don't like the name or try to persuade you to choose something different. But I have decided that no matter what others say, this name is here for good. So.....who is this hot country singer I am alluding to?

Why...Easton Corbin that is!

So what are we naming our baby boy?

Easton David Bunzell

And what's with the middle name? My dad's name is David (David Johnson), my brother's middle name is David (Christopher David), my husband's name is David (David Bunzell), and my husband's dad's middle name is David (Barry David). So there ya have it folks!

A little bit of baby and some spring break

2011-03-21T17:07:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest blessings of working for a school is having holidays and long breaks off. This month has been incredibly stressful for me because I have had triple the amount of IEP meetings, kids to test, and data to collect than I normally do in any given month. I told myself I was not even going to think about work over Spring Break-I needed a mental break. And....not an ounce of work was thought about :) (At least work relating to my job)

On Tuesday, I had my second ultrasound. On our first ultrasound, the doctor and technician could not detect the presence of a nasal bone. They said this was an indicator for Down's and suggested I do some bloodwork and possibly an amnio to decrease the probability of the baby having Down's. As you can imagine, I was worried sick. After listening to many stories about women having the same feedback as I had and having normal babies, I decided that I would leave my worries in the Lord's hand. I also had a blessing from family members. The bloodwork came back normal! The second ultrasound indicated the presence of a very small but nonetheless present nasal bone. I was absolutely ecstastic. The doctor said the heart and all other organs look good but I will have yet another ultrasound in a month. Below is a picture of our first ultrasound where we learned our little monkey is in fact going to be a BOY!

On Wednesday, my family got together at Freestone park and had corned beef, cabbage and potatoes. I had all day to myself so I decided to make some flower shaped cake balls for the get together. Below is a picture of the yummy dessert before they were dipped in white and green colored chocolate (I forgot to take pictures of the final product).

On Thursday evening and Friday evening, my family wanted to do some backyard camping. As camping is not my thing, we only joined in for the dinner and s'more making activities. Thursday night we ate cowboy dinners and Friday we made dutch over chicken pot pie and dutch oven peach cobbler. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures but all meals were absolutely delicious!

On Friday, David and I had pondered what we would do together since he also had the day off. I had wanted to watch a Spring training game but all the tickets left were in non-shaded areas of the stadium and being outside in the heat for 5 minutes was killing me! (I realize it was only 85-90 degrees and that I am completely doomed once the 110 degree summer weather hits). So we decided to do what we have been doing the last few breaks and paint the baby's room. In the midst of peeling up the carpet to paint the baseboards, we realized how nasty the carpet was and on the spur of the moment decided to have carpet installed. We learned to never get carpet at Lowe's (it would have cost us almost 400$). Instead we went with a family owned company that my relatives have all used and the carpet cost 1/2 the price-it turned out beautifully! So with a little jungle themed decorating and some furniture, the baby's room will be ready to go!

On another good note, over the last two weeks, I have started feeling the baby move. What an incredible feeling this is! I am always anxious to feel him move everyday for reassurance that he is still alive and "kickin" ;) I can't wait for the day when David will be able to feel him as well. I feel bad that the kicks aren't strong enough for him to feel.

February 2011

2011-03-04T16:22:00.000-08:00

This past month has been filled with all kinds of fun things and new adventures!

Adventure #1:

While I was sleeping, I received a call around 10p.m. Wednesday a few weeks ago. It was David, calling me and telling me that he thought he had broken his arm. It was extremely swollen (like an orange sitting on top of his wrist) and he couldn't move it. He had decided to go play basketball with his cousins and some singles ward members. While trying to get a re-bound high in the air, some guy knocked his legs out from under him. This caused David to spin and fall down head first. Thanks be to the heavens he was able to turn his body somewhat so that he crushed his arm and hurt his ribs rather than landing on his head. I'll take the broken arm over a broken neck/paralyzation any day. Here's a more recent photo of my adorable husband-he gets his cast off in about 4 weeks.

Adventure #2:

Last Friday, we went to get my first ultrasound. I guess part of me thought all I would see was a blob (since that is what I saw at 8 weeks). I was floored and I am pretty sure David was too-to see an actual baby! Unfortunately grandpa bunzell has our ultrasound disc with all our pictures, so I can't post anything now. We decided to reveal the gender to our families Sunday night-and boy was it fun making everyone, friends and family, wait just a little longer to see what we were having. I found this idea on the internet and thought it would be fun----

Each person in our family got a piece of chocolate that looked like the above picture. If the chocolate candy bar was plain, it was a girl. If the chocolate candy bar underneath had nuts in it....it was a boy. Guess what? The chocolate had almonds in it! We are so excited to have a little boy in our home once August rolls around!

Adventure #3
Hobby Lobby has some pretty adorable Spring decorations-just what I needed to finish my spare bathroom! David painted the shelf white, we threw the decorations on it, and wah-lah! The spare bathroom is now fully decorated-it's pretty cute if I say so myself :) (Yes, I still need to find a picture/cute saying in the frame)

I think it's safe to say....

2011-02-11T16:10:00.000-08:00

David and I are expecting a little one this coming August! We are so excited. I am a worry wart so I didn't want to say anything until I safely passed my first trimester. I am officially 14 weeks as of today! We will be finding out the baby's gender here in the next few weeks....any guesses as to what we are having?

I am contemplating having a gender revealing party. My wonderful friend Heidi at http://hjrcherryblossoms.blogspot.com gave me the idea as we attended our friends baby shower this past weekend. She is the queen of cute party/decoration ideas. Any thoughts?

Here are some things she did for her party (I am so jealous of her creativity!)

MLK Day Weekend

2011-01-17T14:09:00.000-08:00

This weekend has absolutely been a blast-tiring, but SO fun!

Saturday I got to go to my friend Jill's baby shower. I got to see many friends whom I haven't seen in quite some time....and I found out my best friend is expecting baby #4! To top it off I won 2 out of 3 games that we played. One game we had 14 bags filled with white and or cream substances such as sugar, flour, baby powder, garlic salt, and formula. The bags were labeled with numbers and we had to guess (without smelling/tasting) what was in each bag. I ended up getting 7 out of 14 correct. The other game was we had to cut a string to the size we thought Jill's belly was around. Here is a picture of the girls (not sure who the random girl on the top left is or why she wanted to be in our picture).

Saturday night, I had a girls night out with some of my best friends from work (in the schools). These girls are the ones you can share anything with. It's amazing to me how over a two year span, we all bonded so closely-love those girls!

And now....it is MLK day. I decided it would be fun to take my roller blades and go to Skateland roller skating rink with my mom and some siblings. My husband told me that I shouldn't bring my roller blades because you can roll in them....its more like walking with a small glide. I didn't listen and brought them anyways. After two laps around the rink, I decided to take a break and look at my skates (because I wasn't able to roll hardly at all). One of the wheels had a huge crack all the way around it. I thought "oh great" and prayed I'd make it without the wheels shredding and me crashing. Another two laps and my skate stopped rolling. I looked behind me and noticed chunks of my wheels on the rink. I was so embarassed! Luckily my little sister had to go to work and leave the rink early so she gave me her roller skates. Thanks for saving my day Heidi! Here is a picture of my demolished skates---and mind you, not just one wheel had fallen apart, but TWO! Guess I should have listened to David!

Lastly.....My husband has tried the last few years to get me to sit down and write some goals for the year. I never have and groan when he asks. I am not sure why it is so hard to think about what I want to accomplish. And over the last week, I've realized that I have let a lot of precious time slip away because I haven't set goals. I am going to make my best attempt to get some goals written down and hopefully share some of them with you in my next post. Here's to a new year!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-04T19:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year was slightly different than those in the past-to me, less magical. I am not sure what the difference was-whether its just me growing up or lacky of "Christmasy" service projects. This year we didn't make goodies, leave them on doorsteps and run. And we didn't do any Christmas Angels. Next year I am going to make it a goal to do more service and see if that heightens my Christmas spirit. David and I were spoiled with several wonderful gift. Some included a real bow with arrows, a new headboard/footboard, a lawn mower (thanks mom!), and tickets to Les Miserables (Thanks mom and dad Bunzell!). David and I gave our niece Kiara and nephew Dallin the "pout pout fish" book. A guy in our ward made a song to go with the book and Kiara always asks me to play the song for her-now she has a book to remember it by!

Here are some pictures from the day:

David graduated December 17th with his bachelors degree-great job honey! To celebrate, I got him an ASU shirt (no one can graduate from ASU and not ever have an ASU shirt, right?)

That's right, Stacey has all four Glee CD's!

This weekend we also celebrated my niece Aria's 3rd birthday. Happy Birthday Aria!

(Thanks for the pictures Kristi!) Aria was pretending to blow out her candles. The windy was too strong that no matter how many times her mom attempted to light the candles, they immediately blew out!

The birthday crowd

Bridal Showers and Zoo lights

2010-12-10T16:17:00.000-08:00

This month has been full of wonderful holiday parties, bridal parties, movies, and Christmas lights. I offered to do a bridal shower for my sister in law who is getting married in one week (she got engaged around the first week of November). I thank my lucky stars for two wonderful sister in laws and a mother in law who helped me pull it all off. The only unfortunate part about the whole thing was that I had started coming down with a nasty bug and my throat hurt so bad that it killed to swallow. We had a chocolate fountain with bananas, pretzels, wafers, and marshmellows to dip, salsa, seven layer bean dip, rolls, oriental slaw salad, red velvet cupcakes, oreos, and twizzlers pull and peels. We played "guess the bridal phrase" where there was one word given and we all filled out the second part of the phrase...we then compared our answers to the bride-to-be's. Then it was present opening time! Here are some pictures from the party.

Rose got a nice black velvet blanket

Then, on Wednesday, my sister Stacey went to perform with her flute choir at the Phoenix Zoo where they were having Zoolights. We had a buy one get one free pass with our SRP bill so most of my family went as well. There is a section of the zoo where there is a talking giraffe and there must be a hidden camera because he makes comments based off of what the children around it were saying. My favorite part was section of the zoo that had trees and light boards whose lights all danced to the music that was being played (like the Transiberian Orchestra). It was amazing!

(Under the "love" tree, or so I call it!)
And...of course, we made our traditional journey down to the Mesa Temple Lights. We went with my brother and his family as well as my parents and other siblings. My wonderful sister law brought yummy hot chocolate and creamers. Mmmm!

(Us with our nephew Dallin)

Bones and Children

2010-11-22T17:03:00.000-08:00

I posted something on facebook a week and a half ago about the bones in our backyard. For those who have no clue, here's the story. David came in from the backyard on Veteran's Day and asked me if I had killed anyone recently. I said "no, not recently" (jokingly) "why"? He said he was out in the yard and kicked what he thought was a "rock" and for some reason decided to look at it. It turned out it was a bone! So he started looking around, and in the middle of our yard found another bone, this one looking like a leg bone. I went outside and together we uncovered several bones that totally looked like rocks (due to decay) scattered all over various parts of our yard. Still not sure what kind of bones they are and how they got there. Here are some pictures of most, not all, of the bones.

Veteran's Day weekend, David and I had the pleasure of watching two of our many cute nieces and nephews. I have never watched children over night, other than my own siblings, so there are many things David and I learned.

1. At the end of a long day, it's going to be dad (David) who fixes us dinner. David was so sweet and fixed me and Hailey and Dylan Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwhiches with Bananas for dinner. I was so tired I could hardly see straight.

2. Campfires are only cool to little kids for 5 minutes.

3. After having children, we will never get sleep again. The kids must have woken up ten times during the night (understandably as they were in an unfamiliar setting), so by the time Sunday rolled around, we felt like zombies.

4. Reading stories around naptime will make the little ones fall right to sleep

Can you tell how tired we all were around 12:30?

Here are some pictures of the munchkins. Hailey was so good about helping me make lunch on Sunday!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T19:14:00.000-07:00

Originally David and I weren't going to dress up this year-lame, I know. But we never go to any parties other than the ones put on by our ward. David mentioned a week ago that he needed to dress up as a guy from the 50's for work this past Friday. It dawned on me that my mom still had the poodle skirt she made for me when I was 12/13ish, and I thought, "surely I haven't grown that much". Ha! I really had to suck in to get the skirt over my legs but I did it! (I just wasn't able to get the zipper more than half way up :)) We ended up going to David's parents ward party, then our ward party, and by then we were exhausted! So at 8:30, we rented Shutter Island (it's been scary movie bonanza this month) and headed home.

On another note, I am glad that Halloween is over and I can bring out my cute Thanksgiving decorations. AND.....this year I am going to attempt making my own pumpkin pie.

Today in my speech therapy sessions, I had my kids write something they were thankful for on a maple leaf die cut. I then took each thing they said and put it on the board so that the next set of kids could not say they were thankful for those things. (Trying to get them to think outside the box). It is amazing that each year that I do this, fewer kids understand the meaning of being thankful and have a much harder time expressing their gratitude for anything in their lives. I contemplate where I was last year and where I am this year. Among many other things, how grateful I am to live in my own home. David and I have been blessed in so many ways this year. What are you thankful for this year?

Painting, Painting, and more Painting!

2010-10-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

This Fall Break, we had thought of doing a variety of things. We desperately wanted to have a vacation (as we haven't been anywhere outside of the East Valley in a year and a half), and head out East to New York/Vermont/Maine area. We looked at tickets at the end of August and a week later checked again and they had gone up over 100$, way too expensive. I have been dying to see the New England area during the Fall, and vow I will get there someday!

So instead, we decided to paint our living room and kitchen (which is about half of our house area wise). The kitchen we painted a cranberry red and the rest of the living room area/hallway was painted yellow. After about a day, we decided the entire living looked way to washed out (we were used to having a darker orange/brown living room, so yellow was a stark contrast)....so we took our leftover paint and had the Lowe's guy try to add a little of this and that to try to change it into a greenish sage color so that we wouldn't have to buy another gallon. We ended up with a greenish/blue color which we LOVE! Here are the before pictures:

Here are the after pictures: (we are still trying to get used to the stark changes in color)

We are SO glad we are finished with the painting for awhile. Here are a few pictures of a farm we visited over the break with my family....

When life throws ya lemons...

2010-10-04T17:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend was quite the letdown for both David and I. You see for all the year since we've been married and some before, David has wanted to become a Physician's Assistant. So he applied to the only Arizona schools that offered such a program. On Sunday, I collected the mail and ran in the house excitedly screaming to David that a letter from A.T. Still had arrived. We read the letter and our hearts sank as we read that he did not get an interview. It's just crazy how many people are applying for PA school this year. David finds a new classmate who is applying just about everyweek.So after 4 years of college....what next. He will try to find a job doing something in the medical field (entry level) and try to build up some experience and then re-apply. And next time, he will apply out of state.

You must understand that I truly truly despise change. I don't want to be away from my family. I don't want to have to rely on the faith that I would get a job in another state (having to go through trying to get another Speech Therapist license) or try to find a babysitter that I could trust once we start having kids. I-Am-Worried. And then there is my house....my amazing house that David and I worked so long to get. It would have to be sold or rented out.

It's funny that just when you feel life is going great and smooth, a lemon gets thrown at you. And it doesn't feel great. So we've decided to take those lemons and throw them back at life. We are going to move forward and trust that as this one door has closed, others will open to bigger and better things.

Speaking of ghosts....

2010-09-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

My Grandma Munro (my mom's mother) has been put in hospice and is staying at my mom's house since getting out of the ICU a week ago. My mom came in to Grandma's bedroom earlier this week and my grandma was just staring out of her bedroom window with this weird look. Their conversation went something like this:

Mom: What are you looking at?

Grandma: Mama (who passed away years ago)

Mom: What do you mean? Is she in this room?

Grandma: Yes

Mom: (thinking oh man, they are coming to take her away)

Why do you look scared? Are you afraid of dying?

Grandma: Yes

Mom: Don't worry mom...there are people on the otherside who love you and will take care of you.

Interestingly, my mom and her siblings as well as my Grandma Munro have always had a gift to see those who have passed on. My mom is not sure why this is....but perhaps for some of her family members, she thinks this is the only way they will listen to important messages (messages that would have little effect coming from the living)or be comforted from the loss of loved ones. My whole life I have been terrified of seeing something (Especially since my older sister saw my grandpa who had passed on, when we were little girls. We had shared a room when she saw him) , so I am really silly, but as soon as I get into bed and its all dark, I quickly shut my eyes. I have done this for as long as I can remember. I always wonder why I have never seen anything, but perhaps I am not meant to. Have you or any of your family had experiences like this?

On another lighter, non-Halloweeny note :) ....David and his brother went fishing really late last night and just before they were going to leave, David caught this gigantic fish. Yay for him! (I'm just glad he didn't bring it home for me to cook-I can't stand the smell of or eating fish)

Dreams

2010-09-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

Dream #1: Now that I have a house, I have been dreaming up with numerous ideas as to how I want to decorate it. My next task is painting my living room and kitchen...but this is no easy task because colors must coordinate. I thought about painting my living room a soft bamboo yellow and the hallway a cherry red. But you can see my kitchen from the living room so the kitchen color must coordinate with the other colors. I love sage green or red (for the kitchen) but do not want christmas colors. I am a little frustrated and not sure what colors to do anymore-so for now, I am simply not doing anything. Any ideas would be welcome :) If I had a bigger kitchen, my decorating would look something like this:

Dream #2: You must know that since I have married my husband, I have done crazy wierd things in my sleep. I know it all started after I got married because I shared a bedrooms with 1-3 of my sisters my entire life and they never once said I did/said anything strange in my sleep. David says I often sit up really quick in bed and point to something at the ceiling and say "look"--and this really freaks him out because he things I see someone/something in the room. He has also said that I have gotten up, walked to the couch (while he follows me to see what i do), sat down for a second, gotten back up and headed straight back to bed.

So this morning, my husband says "Do you know what you did last night" and I said "no". (David has learned that he should try to converse with me to see if I say anything good or if I will respond to him). This is what he said our conversation was in the middle of the night, while I am dead asleep.

Me: (sitting up really fast) "Honey, what are we doing? We can't get all the objects"

David: "Ok, we'll only get the good ones"

Me: (lays down on David's chest) "Which ones?"

David: (Playing along) "We'll get the triangles and the squares and the circles..."

Me: (Falls asleep without another word)

**sigh**what I would give to actually see what I do, because I never remember saying or doing these things. I never even remember when I've gotten up or walked around-this part scares me.

Time to be crafty

2010-08-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

As part of being a new homeowner, there are a million things that I want to do with my house ...especially since it tripled in size from our last apartment, and its mine! We've slowly been painting the bedrooms in the house and a few weeks ago got to paint the kids/guest bathroom.

I have been wanting to decorate the bathroom for awhile just haven't found anything that would go with the colors purple and yellow as it is now Fall and all the Spring colored things are gone. So out of the blue I decided to go shopping at Kohls clothing store and while I was there, I found these mirrored butterflies and a big sticker tree with birds on it. I excitedly bought the two and decided to go to Hobby Lobby to see if there was anything remotely close to the whole butterfly nature theme. After about an hour of browsing the store, I found some wood letters and the idea popped into my head that I could actually be crafty and do something with them. I modge podged scrapbook paper to the letters (I was blessed to be able to find some butterfly paper!) and then added ribbon and rhinestones. Below are pictures of my project. I was quite proud of myself that things turned out so well and that I was crafty!

The wall BEFORE:

The wall AFTER:

The month of July so far....

2010-07-26T15:46:00.001-07:00

I know I am behind again but here we go...

This fourth of July I wanted to be more relaxed than it has been the last couple of years. No big multiple family get togethers-just my small family. ***Note***Don't get me wrong, I love big family get togethers but on a holiday like this where a significant meaning is attached, I just wanted quiet and time to reflect on our freedoms...after all, this is WHY we have Independance Day. We went to my brother's house where we grilled shis-kabobs. Afterwards, we went down to the City of Mesa fourth of july celebration to watch fireworks and view a small presentation about our nation's freedom that included a photo of my father-in-law. He went down to California several months ago to take pictures for a photographer who was trying to capture photos of the founding fathers...signing the declaration of independance. Here is the picture my father in law was in (he is the second one from the right), and following are pictures from our fourth of july celebration:

We even got mom and dad Bunzell (David's parents) to come see fireworks with us too! (And they also came to see the presentation that David's dad was in) So happy they came!

I am so grateful to live in this free land! On to the next news, my husband and his sister have been trying to get in shape so that they can hike Havasupai Falls in the Grand Canyon next month with my brother and sister-in-law. As part of their "training" this week, they decided to do a small hike up to the WindCaves. I didn't go because 1. I am not fond of hiking 2. It's summer and rattlesnakes are out-no thank you :) 3. A 4:30a.m. hike to beat the 115 degree July weather is not my idea of fun. Here is a picture from their outing.

And lastly...this past week we have had so much fun enjoying the lightening storms and monsoon season. I got to play ultimate frisbee with my husband and his family (although i'm not much good at all, it was good exercise). Later in the week, my husband's uncle's field (where we play frisbee) flooded with irrigation so some single's ward friends and family members played ultimate frisbee in the irrigation. I was the photographer :) Here are some action shots-sorry for the poor quality, camera isn't that great.

Oh What do you Do in the Summertime....

2010-06-26T09:04:00.000-07:00

Homework, Homework, did I say homework? I decided I was tired of looking at my grandma's funeral pictures when I opened up my blog. Needed more cheery photos.

This summer has been extremely busy, full of excitement, and full of fear as well as sleepless nights/sick stomachs. This whole month of June is supposed to be my last month of summer school courses and Adult therapy clinic at ASU----before I was supposed to graduate FOR GOOD the first week of July. After two weeks (and only being in the clinic for two days), my supervisors did a midterm assessment and basically failed me in every area. I ended up having to write up a contract showing how I would improve myself in all of these areas within the following two weeks. I was so sick, didn't want to eat. I had two full years of excellent grades/reviews in the schools, and I couldn't believe that two weeks before I was to graduate, my professors were threatening to not let me graduate. Mind you I already have a job lined up to be a Speech Language Pathologist. The only other second year in clinic also got the same failing midterm. After much talking with fellow students and my sweet husband, I decided I was going to push forward , 300miles per hour and really prove to these supervisors that I am competent and ready to graduate-my last two weeks of therapy have been wonderful. Next week is judgement day as it's our last week of clinic----PLEASE keep me in your prayers!

On a more positive note, last week we got to see our adorable 3-year old niece perform in her first dance recital. She did so well! I haven't been to a dance recital for a long long time so it was really fun to see all the dancers come out and perform. I realized that if I were ever going to put my daughters in dance, that I would definitely put them in ballet. They were the most organized groups and I loved the music! They took songs like "we will rock you" and turned them classical with electric violins playing the songs. Loved it! Here are some pictures from the evening....

The Star of the Show with her trophy

Funerals and Family

2010-05-06T16:18:00.001-07:00

This past week has definitely been a whirlwind and I feel as though I can't keep my feet on the ground! To start, two Saturdays ago, my grandma Johnson passed away. She had been in pain for the last several months due to a fall she had back in December. She just couldn't get better. It's been really hard to grasp the concept of her being gone when the last time I had seen her back in December.....she was perfect spry, walking, healthy and had normal cognition. But she is in a better place and after 25 years of being alone, she can finally be united with her sweetheart. We will miss you grandma! How grateful we are that families can be together forever!

On the same day, three of my aunts from Washington, Oregon, and Montana and an uncle from Utah came down to celebrate my Grandma Munro's (mom's mom) 80th birthday. The three days they were here were filled with uncontrollable laughter and late nights. We as a family went to Rockin' R Ranch Saturday night. The atmosphere and gold panning were so fun (David found the jackpot gold rock!), but the dinner and entertainment were very weak and disappointing. My husband said that things were SO much better years ago there. Here are some fun pictures we took though.

My mom with her sisters, brother, and Aunt

He proposed!!!! At a little church even!

Could be niece be any cuter!?!

And this week of course, schools are getting our for the summer and next week I begin summer school again! But these are the last two classes I will ever take and boy does it feel good! (Doing the happy Dance!)

2010-05-06T16:18:00.000-07:00

We have finally moved into our house and are experiencing the joys and sorrow of being homeowners, especially for the first time :) The day after we moved in, my husband went to turn the water valve off so that we could fix the kitchen sink (we were told we shouldn't use it until we got it fixed), and the valve broke off. 24 hours later with no running water and 6 trips to Lowe's for wrong parts, we had a new kitchen faucet and running water. David sprayed our weed infested yard twice with bug spray and now almost two weeks later, the weeds are shriveling up. David spent the last few days painting our computer room, and after he finished, he told me to do the baseboards. I was home alone and went in the room to search for tape when all of a sudden a scorpion (mind you i've NEVER lived in a place with scorpions before and have aweful nightmares when i see bugs of any kind), started crawling across the bedroom floor. I freaked out, found the nearest smashing tool (in this case it was a hammer) bent down over the thing and whacked it. The body disappeared for a while and it was only with a blacklight later that I found the dead body under a ball of tape in the room. Don't know where the thing came from and I am praying we don't see anymore for a long long time.

I am wrapping up my second to last semester and am walking for graduation next Friday! I will finish my masters degree in speech therapy at the end of June.

Change is in the Air

2010-04-21T20:25:00.001-07:00

and most of the changes scare me! :) I've been neglecting my blog for the last few weeks but all for good reason. After much persistence on the part of our loan officer and realtor, we finally signed the papers to our house last Friday and are hoping to get the keys tomorrow (hopefully...because i'm starting to bring my breakable things over tomorrow, so i better have keys!). We are so excited to have space and a less cluttered looking house. I am nervous that we might have scorpions which i have never had before. Luckily my sweet husband went out and bought some heavy duty bug spray-gallon size, and a black light. I told him he has to be the one to look and kill them at night, otherwise I will have nightmares..much like the one I had Monday after going scorpion hunting for the first time with my father-in-law at his house Sunday night. I couldn't sleep all night and dreamt that there were scorpions on or near me-ah!

I also interviewed and got hired by the Gilbert School District to be an SLP next year but had an interview with the only open school in the district for the position yesterday and I really felt intimidated and as though I wasn't smart enough to do the job. I just got an email from the Mesa District saying they are hiring SLP's, but I already told gilbert I would work for them (no contract yet though)...so what do I do? I am tossing and turning over where I should be next year and where I would have the most support until I feel like I have a better sense of the routine and what I am doing.

With moving, comes a new ward. We have absolutely loved the ward we were in, but we had a large variety of people from different aspects of life-most were older and had several kids or lived in 500,000+ dollar homes. I especially am nervous about moving to a new area where I know no-one but I am praying that we will establish close friendships in the new ward. I haven't mentioned yet, I hate changes.

Hopefully the next post will include us with our house!

Today, I am grateful

2010-03-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

For many reasons.....
1. This morning as I was driving to work I stopped at an intersection a mile from my home. I saw a car flipped on its side and another car behind it the was right side up but severely crunched. As I fully came to a stop, I saw the right side up car's driver run out of his vehicle to see if the overturned car's passengers were fine. I also saw a bystander sprint to see if he could help while his wife called 911. It was then that I realized I literally missed this accident, and potentially being in it, by seconds. I was going to leave for work earlier to make up some time but thank my guardian angels for causing things to delay me leaving.

2. I had an interview with the Gilbert School District and they are really excited to have me work as a Speech Language Pathologist with them next year!

3. I realized on Sunday that my graduate plan of study had been sent back to me for revision and if i did not amend it and get a bunch of signatures by tomorrow evening, I would have to pay an extra 35$ on top of the regular 50$ to graduate. I was to the point where with all the work I would have to do, that I didn't care to walk at ASU's masters graduation ceremony. I figured the only people that came to my bachelors graduation was my immediate family and they could see me in my gown and robes any ol' day :). The one reason I want to walk is because all of my friends in my program are.....not to mention I have worked my butt off to get this degree, its hasn't been easy, and have received so much grief from professors (thats another story). Anyways, I realize it was my fault and should have checked to see if it was approved months ago. I am thankful for angels getting these papers signed and approved as of noon today, and for people who are willing to help me in a crunch.

4. I am grateful that we got an extension approved on our house so that we could close at a later date when our loan goes through (and hopefully before we have to be out of our apartment).

5. A small bit of thankfulness (if i can say so)...LOST is on tonight, and it is my obsession

My list could go on. I have been so downtrodden with how much "work" I have to do and it never decreases. I am so grateful for the days that the Lord helps me realize that with all the trials going on, there are rays of sunshine that poke through and that I am really blessed all the time.

2010-03-23T16:42:00.001-07:00

After months of searching, David and I are pleased to announce that we finally found a beautiful home that is close to our families!! Our inspection went well and we are waiting for our loan to go through...hopefully closing in the middle of April. It's so strange how things work out. I was ready to throw in the towel after putting so many offers out, having to back out of a house, and running out of time. I feel like we look in areas that were not ideally where we'd like to be, just so we could make this tax credit deadline. I know the Lord truly was just waiting for the right house to open up and in a location that would be close to our families. Its a 4bed/1.75 bath in East Mesa. I must admit I am highly nervous about having to pay the extra bills while not knowing what my job situation will be like next year, but again I know that as we are doing everything we can and paying our tithing...things will work out. Here is a picture of future home:

I did end up taking my huge Praxis exam two weeks ago and am now anxiously awaiting my test results. I feel like I did ok, and I studied for several months...so hopefully my good guessing and gut feelings were enough to get me the score i needed to pass. I believe in miracles :) David is in the process of filling out his CASPA application to try to apply to PA school. I am so proud of him and all of his hard work. He will hopefully graduate in December with his Bachelors.

This past week was spring break and I had such a great time. I have never had a full week of (and several days with David off too) to just go play, usually spring break with the public schools and ASU are on seperate weeks. We got to go to the Zoo with family as well as hiking, potlucks, and games. It made me realize just how much I miss out of living life because I work so many hours and when i'm not working i'm in school or doing homework...its rare that I get a break for more than a few hours everyweek. Only a few more weeks til this semester is through...like the little engine that could "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!!!"

2010-03-07T19:42:00.000-08:00

These last few weeks, and this one especially have been filled with sleepless worrisome nights. This week alone I have had 3 midterm exams from yesterday until tomorrow (saturday through monday). The first exam took me roughly 9 hours to complete, the second about an hour and a half and who knows what tomorrow holds. I knew getting into this semester would be by far my most difficult one as I'm taking three graduate courses, working 3 jobs totalling 42ish hours a week and trying to buy a home. Little I know just how hard it would be. My grades have not been the best and I feel like this is because there is SO much going on that I can't be the best at any one thing.

Last week we got the inspection completed on a home that we had looked at (offer was accepted) and the inspection came out really really good. We would be getting a killer of a deal on the house but the stresses come with me not having a job over the summer (as I work for the schools) and thus no income, draining most of our savings to pay for the costs of buying a home, and not knowing what the next school year will hold financially. This house is in a great location close to both of our families its just that the bills will be rising..stress, stress, stress :) I think that has become my most used word!

I have my HUGE exam called the PRAXIS that I am taking this upcoming Saturday and this is the mega test that determines (along with me passing my last few classes) whether or not I will get my masters degree. So for any and all out there, i could use several prayers on my behalf and lots of miracles. This week I also have an interview with the lead speech pathologist in my gilbert school district to try to apply for a job as a speech therapist in the district...right now i am only an assistant. Now normally most districts would have tons of job openings but in light of all the budget cuts, we have only a few positions open and again i need prayers that I will get one of these positions.

The one big relief is that Spring Break is next week and I will have a full week off of work and school. We're trying to hold onto our hats as the wind is blowing at full force these days!

And the search goes on.....

2010-02-14T18:20:00.000-08:00

and on and on.....Exhibit#3:

So to update on our house search....we put an offer on another house 2 weeks ago, got accepted went through the inspection and the house had termites, roof needed replacing, ac unit wouldn't start up etc etc. And we had thought that after all the houses we looked at that this one was pretty amazing. New paint, clean, nothing visibly broken. Well the inspector proved that wrong and i'm so grateful we had him. And so, this morning we put another offer in for the house pictured above. It is way out on Crismon/University and quite the distance from where any of our families live. But I have learned that if you put in an offer around the parts of town we want to be in for the price we can afford, you end up with older houses that need some fixin. This house above was built in 98 and so i'm HOPING that no roof repairs or crazy fixups will be needed. Its got a nice little build in seats and fireplace in the backyard and the freeway is close enough that the distance shouldn't be too bad.

David said that he wished we would have never looked at house#2 and put an offer and wasted money on an inspector, and although I wish we could have saved the money, i definitely learned quite a bit. Looking at things with a naked eye is only a fraction of a houses story.

For valentines day this year, we were bums and went to see Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief. I just finished the fifth and last book this morning and David finished last week, so we were both excited to see how the movie of the first book played out. They completely changed the plot and took out a lot of the story ( I guess thats to be expected with how much was loaded into the book). My sweet David also suprised me with red roses yesterday morning and a box of chocolates and then this morning I found some white roses added to the group. Valentines Day with David has been so neat every year....he is always suprising me! Our first valentines day three years ago, he unexpectedly proposed to me. The second Valentines Day we ate at Cafe Rio and did taxes (ok, so that wasn't the coolest). The third Valentines day we went out to dinner, came home and i discovered balloons and heart all over our room. This year i was suprised with some chocolates and roses! Sorry for no pictures of valentines day!

Its the end of January...

2010-01-28T15:52:00.000-08:00

And I apologize for neglecting my blog. Since school has started, I am rarely home and when I am home, all i want to do if veg-out and watch t.v. This semester is pretty much the last full semester before I graduate and it is the climax of everything. I am taking a class Monday-Wednesday-Friday for three hours each night, working in the schools 35 hours a week, working at Save the Family TUesday nights, babysitting every Friday night, and cleaning/doing laundry every Saturday..meanwhile my apartment continues to fall apart and we're still trying to find a house. We are putting another offer in on a house tonight and hope things work out because we're tired of searching along with everything else that has to be done. Wish us luck!

On a fun note, my wonderful sister in law is so talented and last years christmas she made me a stocking. She has made stockings for everyone in her family as well as her parents and I thought what a great idea! So i ordered one that I wanted to make for my mom (figured i'd start with her as she's had the junkiest stocking the longest and i knew just what stocking i wanted to make)...this one:

You see, my mom makes a few HUNDRED dozen of cookies every Christmas time and sells them to her customers. So when I think of Christmas and her, I think of the 4a.m.-1:ooa.m(the next day) hours that she does for about three weeks in December. When i opened the stocking kit i was pretty shocked at how much there was to do. I should have known that I have never even completed a cross-stitch kit, let alone a stocking kit. Sure hope I get help on this (hint hint Fawn :))

Weddings and Blackouts oh my!

2010-01-12T19:54:00.001-08:00

Life has certainly not been dull over the last few weeks as school has started again, or atleast the elementary through high schools where I work. My first day back I realized just how much I missed being busy ALL day i mean literally working from 7:15-7:30p.m. I am crazy for wanting to stop my break early...i know.

About two weeks ago my sister in law Natalia got married and is now living up in Utah! Finally some sane relatives we can go visit up there and enjoy lots of wonderful trips to the quilted bear (a store filled with adorable home decorations in Provo). Here are some pictures from the wedding:

David with our niece Hailey...who has certainly acquired a piratey smile :)

Above: Rhys and Natalia leaving the building to start their honeymoon ;)

Below: the lady who designed the flowers and boquets professionally said that this cake is estimated to be around 2,000$. It was made by Fawn (my sister in law, brides sister) who has never made a fancy cake like this before. She is amazing needless to say.

Natalia with all of our nieces...so adorable

First Kiss as Husband and Wife

An another interesting note, last Tuesday I went to an ENT clinic in Mesa to do some voice evaluations where my supervisors sticks a camera down the throat of patients to look at their vocal folds and get pictures which the ENT doctor then diagnosis what the problem is. Mind you this is my fourth or fifth time going to this office and nothing grosses me out. The third patient came in with her family and I was in the doctors room with them, the doctor, my supervisor, and my friend who was another student clinician. I was leaning my back against the wall with my legs straight out (so i looked like a triangle) and listening to the docs feedback. After a few minutes the room started getting a darker tint and I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me with the weird lighting and warm temperature in the room. The room kept getting a darker blood red color and almost black and I thought to myself "I should go step out of the room and walk around...this is weird". I then thought "nah, you would look silly...your eyes have played tricks before (although never gotten this dark in a room)...you will be fine). The next thing I remember is my left cheek hurting a lot and me lying on the floor in a crumpled position with the doctor in front of my face asking if I was alright. SO EMBARRASING, right? So i was escorted to another room and drank some juice. First time passing out ever and it was the strangest feeling. I do have high blood pressure issues but this has been dealt with by medication. Only other conclusion I can draw with the help of others was that my legs were locked to long. Because I didn't know I was blacking out, as it had never happened before, I didn't know that I should have acted on that first thought to get up and walk around. My elbow was really bruised and still hurts and the back of my right need where i think the blood supply was cut off continues to throb and hurt. Hopefully there isn't a blockage forming there and thats whats been causing my high blood pressure!

Just thought i'd share a tidbit of my interesting last few weeks :)

L.I.F.E

2009-12-27T19:50:00.001-08:00

The choice game for this evening was LIFE which David and I have never played together-and boy was the whole game hilarious. David chose to start the career path immediately (which you only get to choose lower paying careers). The first card David drew was a 30,000$ salary, and moments later, he landed on a "change career" spot. He was overjoyed at the thought of drawing a higher paying salary card and he said "wow, things couldn't get any better", but i laughed and said that would be so funny if you drew 20,000$ (the lowest paying amount)...to which he immediately picked up the 20,000$ card and we both laughed hysterically.

I however, the college girl that I am, proceeded to pick out (without looking) the lawyer card which makes 90,000$ (the second highest paying card you could get). I ended up only getting one baby along the way, and I bought the highest priced house for 800,000$. I maybe landed on 2 spots where I had to pay something and had three lawsuits in a row to which David owed me 100,000$ each time.

Lesson: Go to college! :)

The game was so funny as everything we landed on was so stereotypical of life with the paths we chose. David ended up only 40,000$ less than me in the end which was pretty good. Here are some pictures from our night :)

Notice all my 100,000 dollar bills (yellow)

Notice David's stack of loanes and little cash

These are a few of my favorite things

2009-12-27T16:01:00.001-08:00

Christmas, as usual, was wonderful. I got many presents that I don't feel like I deserved. My wonderful mother bought me a sewing machine. When I was around 8 years old, my mom had me take sewing lessons from a lady down the street, and I learned how to sew jumpers, and all kinds of clothes. Since then, i've made shams and a quilt but little else and I have seen how so many people my age have sewed their own curtains, baby bedding, and quilts. Given that I once had sewing lessons, i feel like i'm able to do the very basic things and so I asked for a sewing machine, totally not expecting it. Thanks mom! I will definitely put the machine to use, especially as I move into a house in the next few months and try to personalize my house.

My sweet David got me a nice saute teflon pan (since our other once was getting so scratched up and we were probably eating flakes of poison), a beautiful rotating spice rack, swaroski crystal necklace and with his brother an ipod (to name some of the things).

David got a 26 piece knife set (since our knives that we "borrowed" from his moms house after we first got married are so dull that they work about the same as a butter knife....needless to say, we really needed knives), a paintball mask, glove, and computer chair.

We spent the morning opening presents with my siblings and then spent the late afternoon and evening at David's parents house with his siblings and their kids.

Thursday (Christmas Eve), we spent the day up near strawberry/payson, enjoying the abundance of snow that was up there due to a major storm they had two days prior. We loaded up trucks of snow to suprise David's brother's family with their six kids, and built a snowman and snow slide for the kids. We spent a little time going sledding but this year, was somewhat disappointing as all of the areas we usually sled at were closed off. It was so wonderful to be out in the forest with such clear air, and to see the beauty of Arizona outside the dirt hills and cacti. Thanks Dad Bunzell for throwing the trip together.

2009-12-14T16:47:00.000-08:00

Sorry its been so long since my last post, haven't had much besides finals, finals, and more finals going on :) David takes his last one on Tuesday and I take my last one on Wednesday and am definitely looking forward to that.

This past sunday some of my inlaws got together and we made cakeballs and little candies that you make with melted rolos, pretzels, and pecans (if you want the recipe, let me know). Both things were so easy to make and turned out delicious!

The housing search continues to be frustrating as we've been dealing with a good broker but a realtor who has been taking an abundance of time getting back to us. We are praying that the timing will fall into place as we don't need to be out until the end of march but must purchase a home before the end of april to get in on the tax credit.

Lastly, I want to mention how grateful I am for my calling in nursery. This was a really tough change for me to leave the kids in the 13-14 year old sunday school class who I grew to love immensly. But it has been so fun to be with the little ones, to see their love for learning and the energy that I wish I had :) They are the ones that have been away from heaven for the shortest amount of time and you can't but help love their quick to forgive abilities. I guess Heavenly Father knows we all need changes, as much as we don't want them. He knows that we need help from these little ones to soften our nature, as much as they need us for food, love, warmth and shelter.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-29T19:45:00.000-08:00

This weekend has been a long awaited, VERY much needed one. I feel so burnt out from school and work and school and work etc etc. Part of me dreaded Thanksgiving this year for one reason: I knew my husband was leaving with his dad and brother to go elk hunting and there was a large possibility that they wouldn't return until Monday if they hadn't caught an elk. I hate being home alone at night, and 4-5 days of that wasn't all that appealing. I kept my fingers crossed and I know others did too that they would come back the next day (friday) and they did!

On Friday I got a text from my mother in law saying that they had shot a 6 point bull (male) elk, and aside from the great deals I got during black friday, that was the best news i'd heard ALL day. The boys returned around 1a.m. and have 350lbs of meat waiting for them. Here are some of their victory photos:

As you can see, even the elk was so happy it was able to offer itself for sustenance that it stuck its tongue out! Great job boys!

Thanksgiving itself was great.....enjoyed a wonderful meal at my inlaws house and got to eat some yummy pumpkin pie at my mom's house.

I got up with my sister at 4a.m. to go black friday shopping and there was one gift I wanted SO badly at Walmart and a lady snatched the last kind of what i wanted literally 10 seconds before I got there. I was a little distraught and there were SO many people in Walmart that i was frustrated and ready to leave. Luckily, my mom was at a nearby Walmart and was able to snatch exactly one of what I wanted-thanks for saving the day mom! I would say what I got but "Santa" is giving us this gift and incase my husband decides to read our blog, I don't want him to find out. Needless to say our black friday wasn't as productive as we thought it would be, but still had a great time enjoying the early morning tradition.

Finals are coming up between now and the next three weeks. One class I am especially concerned about passing (getting a B) and if i can't pass this, I will have to retake the class next year, and won't be able to graduate this summer as I had planned. Please keep me in your prayers! Hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving!

Christmas things and Phantom Sings

2009-11-15T15:34:00.000-08:00

So this weekend was a fairly eventful one. My sister-in-law Natalia had her bridal shower and it was so fun to see all the cousins, aunts, and new babies that everyone had. Congratulations Natalia!

We also went with David's brother and his wife Sarah along with his parents to the Texas Roadhouse (steakhouse) for dinner before the play. I haven't been to Texas Roadhouse since I was in 9th or 10th grade with my friend Sharianna.....and my goodness, i have been missing out! They had so many things to choose from on their menu and the food was absolutely delicious. Unfortunately the restaurant took so long to bring out our meal that we had to inhale it and leave half of it with Ryan and Sarah to take home.

David's dad surprised his mom about going to texas roadhouse and she also had no idea that she was going to see Phantom. The play was fairly good, just not as good as i had expected, especially compared to Wicked. The music was so quiet that you couldn't feel the power behind the singers voices. Towards the end of the play, my legs decided to uncontrollably spasm...for like the last 20 minutes of the play. David said 'stop doing that' and i told him i couldn't stop....it was really weird as my legs have never done that before. Hopefully i don't have a clot or something in my leg (the thing thats making my bloodpressure spike)....my legs have been completely numb also one other night this week as i was watching t.v., and again, that has never happened before. Anyways...on to more fun stuff.

I have spent way more this week than i should have, but I was so excited to get my christmas decorations up to enjoy the spirit of christmas a little longer (plus i need a place to put all the presents i have gotten already). Here are a few pictures of the decorations i bought at Hobby Lobby (kind of like a Michaels craft store, but half of the store is just seasonal decorations that are Adorable). I can't wait for Christmas this year, and I know of so many who are in need financially this year. I know my own family has and continues to struggle financially. I am looking forward to finding a way to spread a little christmas magic to them and hopefully another family who i know does not have a job. I am so grateful right now for all that we have. We still live in our tiny apartment, but we have jobs and we are still able to put food on the table and have a little fun by going out to play and getting fun decorations. I hope and pray that there will be many this season who are extra willing to give, as so many people have nothing. I know there have been angels in my family's life, so many times when people have left christmas presents and christmas trees with money on it, and many other miracles on our doorstep when we had so little. I think the Savior himself would want us to reach out to these families and show them his love by doing service.

2009-11-08T15:10:00.000-08:00

Nothing too exciting happened during these very quick week. I found out that I should be able to graduate at the end of this upcoming June (although technically I was supposed to graduate a year after that). I am taking several extra courses so that I will not have to pay more tuition (as they are raising the rates again), more 300$ parking spaces, and mostly so that I can have time to be more of a wife and concentrate on starting a family and putting together a home. Yes, David and I have decided to start trying to have a family next year, along with trying to purchase a home and graduate. I may not be home for the first six months of the year, but after that I will be a little more available.

We are very excited to go see Phantom of the Opera next weekend and it will also be my sister-in-laws bridal shower...and lots and lots of shopping :)

Halloween of Course ;)

2009-11-02T15:58:00.001-08:00

So here is a picture of all the haunted house crew who helped design, set up, or simply were actors (like myself :)). I am the one on the front row kneeling in a nurses suit. I know its a pretty tiny picture.For Halloween this year we went to David's paren'ts ward party where they had hot dogs, nachos, and ice cream cones...plus we got to see all of our cute nieces and yes, nephews with a plural /s/. Two of the boys were born about a month ago. Later in the evening we got to watch young Frankenstein while David's sweet mom roasted some chicken, made salad, and rice-a-roni, even as tired as she was! Here are some pictures from the evening:

Camping

2009-10-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago, my family had the chance to go up to an area around Christopher Creek AZ to go enjoy some fresh air and camping. Yes, this was an unusual suggestion of mine as I typically despise camping (I don't like waking up to no showers and sleeping on lumpy beds, even with air mattresses). The boys got to do some fishing and David was the only one that caught one fish the entire camping trip. The rest of us enjoyed hiking and catching crawdads which David, my brother, and sister-in-law happily ate (yuck). Here are some pictures from the fun weekend:

This last Saturday David and I got to play active roles in a family/friend haunted house that was well attended. David made me dress up as a nurse with bloody (cornsyrup) bandages, facemask...the whole speal...while he was a vampire working the guillotine. I hid behind part of the passageway, jumped out when people least suspected it and screamed at them.....it was pretty fun and I got a lot of scares.

Costume help

2009-10-20T16:19:00.000-07:00

So we have run out of time again this year, and all the costumes at the stores are aroun 50$, frayed, and very very cheaply maid. I wanted to have a giselle costume but both mother-in-laws are unable to make anything for me this year....therefore, i was wondering if anyone had a costume that I could borrow, just for this Saturday, next Friday and next Saturday.

David is going as a Knight (as in princess/king knight)...so it'd be cool to go as something to goes with that theme, but at this point i'm game for pretty much anything. Please let me know ASAP, i promise it'll be treated like gold!

Visiting Teachers

2009-10-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

Let me again brag on how wonderful my visiting teachers are. If only I could be a quarter diligent as they are. They come rain or shine everymonth and without fail bring me something yummy to eat. One of my visiting teachers I met for the first time tonight and she cross-stitched this cute jar and filled it with yummy pumpkin candies. Makes me ashamed that I am not doing better. Thank you ladies!

Conference this weekend was wonderful. One talk that was so powerful to me was the one on the Book of Mormon by Elder Holland. No one could have listened to that talk and deny that power in his words. He said that Moroni died shortly after writing "Come unto Christ and live". Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith knew their wives would be left widows, thousands of followers would cross the plains, their feet bleeding and loved ones dying on the way. Persecutions would rage, and yet....they never denied the Book of Mormon once. If it had been false and they were unsure of its truthfulness, they would not have gone through so much to defend the book and the gospel. I have some family members that I pray will eventually return to the church and understand Elder Holland's talk (or the gist of it).

And lately I have thought so much of dear Elder Wirthlin's talk a conference or two ago...and his quote "Come what may and Love it". Lately, while having so much go on in this world, and experience a variety of trials, this quote has reminded me that even though we go through trials, love them, and know that they are refining you and making you into the person Heavenly Father wants and expects you to be. How blessed we are to have the gospel in our lives and to have leaders filled with inspiration, to give us hope in these Latter Days...amidst everything chaotic going on in this world, the gospel is our constant.

Wedding and things

2009-09-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we got to go to my wonderful friend Heather's wedding. I had never been to a civil wedding ceremony so this was quite the experience. Luckily, the ceremony was short and sweet (it was like 110 degrees outside and ants were all over the ground) :). It was followed by a full course meal and some yummy appetizers. I was SO grateful to just enjoy some relaxation and time with my hubby and close friends. The wedding was held at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. Congratulations Heather and Chris, Heather, I will miss you!

This week has been really difficult as far as schooling goes. I had a killer hard exam last week in Neuro communications which I landed the lowest grade I have ever gotten in grad school on a test. I had a full blown 4 essay question exam with multiple parts to write this last weekend, and I have an Aphasia exam tomorrow. Let me just say my one relief is that I get to go clothes shopping with David (he's getting new tennis shoes) after I am done, and I haven't been shopping in a LONG LONG time. If you know me, I used to go clothes shopping a couple times a month back when I could afford it and had the time :)

I am so excited for Halloween this year. Last year I made a last minute t-shirt that said "Go Edward" for my costume...lame i know. Seeing everyone else dress up made me realize how much more fun I would have if I did that too. I was thinking about having my mom make me the blue dress off of Disney's "Enchanted" and being Giselle....Any other thoughts as to what I should be? I find it so difficult to find any costumes in stores that weren't made specifically for hookers so time is of the essence. And....we got to decorate my speech room with Halloween-y things today, it is SO cute! Here are pictures of the wedding!

These pictures are all courtesy of Kimberly Jarman, Heather's Photographer...I can find her information for you if you are interested.

And these are my pictures, not nearly as good.....

2009-09-14T17:44:00.000-07:00

Some random thoughts:

1. This week has gone much better. I think that last week when I put up my post about friends, I honestly was having a difficult week. ALL week people, including my sweet hubby were just grouchy and stressed. I'm thankful for fresh starts!

2. We purchased tickets to see the Phantom of the Opera at Gammage (ASU) in November and are SO excited! We loved seeing Wicked and how amazing the music is.

3. I am thinking more and more about doing foster care once David and I start having our own children. At one of the places I work, I saw one of my kiddies sitting outside the school office. Mind you this little one is in first grade and it was close to thirty minutes after school had gotten out...he was waiting for his bus that never came. This little boy was just transferred to "his new family" this week, away from his little 3rd grade foster brother (who just got adopted a few days ago) who so tenderly made sure he was taken care of. Working in my field I have seen and heard of so many children going through the system who have just had HORRIBLE lives and they still survive and keep pushing forward. My heart goes out to these little ones and I want to badly to take care of them and let them know they are safe and loved.

4. My ward had their supersaturday this past weekend and I made some 12*12 wooden square with the word BE in the middle and the word prayerful, humble, grateful, etc. around the edges. If I weren't lazy i'd post a picture, but they tured out really good. I learned not to press down wet modge podge scrapbook paper and then pull your fingers up, it will tear the paper!

5. My mom and I ordered a basket from bountifulbaskets.org and we got 3/4 full of a laundry basket full of fresh fruit and veggies for only 15$. You should try it!

A new season

2009-09-03T16:18:00.001-07:00

This week has been an odd emotional week for both David and I. We are learning new things about each other and trying to figure out how to meet each other's needs and wants along with our new schedule. We are stressed. We are tired. We are having fun with old friends. And we are still trying to figure out the married thing.

In my last post I mentioned that I went to a really good friends bridal shower last Friday...and it REALLY made me realize just how much I miss being with friends who share my interests, friends I can talk to about our husbands, our dreams, our sorrows...and know that I won't be judged. I miss friends that I can just be downright silly with, because they are downright silly too. And I think its because once I got married, my perspectives on life and who I associated with changed...drastically. Many of my friends are still single, and while that is fine....we are on different wavelengths. I don't find myself talking about the cute boy in institute, or joking about immature little things. I have had to grow up in a certain way (this is a good thing...I love my husband to death). However, this has distanced me from some of my best friends. I am in a ward that I love and I've made some good friends in, but none I feel i can just invite over to scrapbook or watch movies with or share my feelings. David is wonderful, girls just need good girlfriends.

As I have said in the past, we are heavily considering buying a house when are lease ends in february/march. And while I love my ward, perhaps this will be the start of a new season. Perhaps David and I will be able to move into a ward where there are people like us...similiar in age with similiar interests. I think this is something we both really need, because we have a small gap in our lives as most of our friends are either out of stayed or single and have lost common ground.

The girls and two boys in year 2 of my masters program all drink....and so while they have built friendships over drinking at bars and being drunk, I have been left behind because I don't attend those functions.

I used to despise change, and part of me is still afraid of change because of its uncertainty. But I know it gives growth and opportunity. I really like this quote: "If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living."-Gail Sheehy

2009-08-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

The birthday cake that my visiting teacher made me full of brownies!!
This last Thursday was my birthday and I turned 23! Everyone asks me what my age is and I always have to think awhile.....I don't have alzheimers, its just that many of my peers are either just older or just younger than me and it seems like I should be their age. David's cousin Michael also shares my same birthday he is just a year older than me. So below are some pictures of us at Michaels house on our birthday. Michael's little sister and I got eaten alive by ants when we stepped on the edge of the grass and cement so we quickly jumped into the cooler of water balloons to save ourselves. I told Jen to give me her most painful looking face but it ended up looking like a smile!

My birthday present from David was a bike rack that attaches to the car....no more walking a mile plus to get to my car in the middle of summer at ASU!! Wohoo!
Friday was one of my really really good friend's-Heather-bridal showers. A bunch of us girls got together at Macayo's for some yummy food, games and opening presents. I was working diligently to win one of the games which was to come up with as many words as possible with the words "Christopher & Heather".....I even gave up some of my eating time and was sure I would win. However, Heathers sister had 120 words....I guess I wasn't working as diligent as I should have been. It was SO nice to hang out with a group of girls, some of which I haven't seen since I graduated high school 6 years ago!

Goofy Golfing and Friend Goodbyes

2009-08-23T16:00:00.000-07:00

As usual, we had another very busy weekend. Last weekend, I had to do my defensive driving class which went well and was fairly quick and then rushed to my parents to do laundry and by 4p.m. we were on our way out to Canyon Lake to go fishing with my brother, his wife and kids, and then my husbands brother and his wife. I had forgotten just how nice and relaxing it is to be away from the city. The temperatures by the lake were very nice and cool suprisingly. I think we've decided that we need to go fishing more since it is so close and its a nice little retreat. My brother and Sarah (sister in law) caught one tiny blue gill each and then released them. Hope we have better luck next time :)

This weekend I got to buy some piano and vocal duet sheet music from Milano's. I have been wanting for quite some time to get new piano music and the duet book is something that David and I can sing in harmony to while I play the piano---we just have to practice....but shhhh don't tell anyone in the ward we are doing this (I have been successful so far in letting very few people know of my piano abilities---and I Love the calling I have so...)

David and I also went to see the Joseph Smith movie at the visitors center and if we didn't have friends with us I would have cried. This movie with its accompanying music just really brings to light all the things the early saints, most especially Joseph and Emma Smith went through to bring for the gospel, and even through the tarring and feathering, being driven from their homes, hundreds of family deaths...they still had the faith to cross the plains! We also said goodbye to the friends that went with us as they are moving back home to Missouri on Tuesday. Below is a picture of us with them at the visitors center.

Right after that, we went goofy golfing with some of David's high school friends, and outside of the terrible humidity, what a BLAST we had! Some of us lowered our numbers a little :/ because...well...on some holes we just didn't do so well. It was funny because by the end of the night, everyones numbers were just about the same :) I have had a really good time with David's friends. As time has passed, the majority (not all) of my high school friends have slipped into their routines and I have found more and more that we lack common ground. Shar, you are not one of those :)....So I am very thankful for the good friends David has. They have such strong morals, values, and drive to finish a college education. Below are some pictures of the fun evening!

Haircut and Primary

2009-08-09T15:56:00.001-07:00

For a long time, I have desperately been needing to get my haircut. My dilemma was that my hairdresser's husband joined the military at the beginning of the year and so it was time back in May for him to transfer to a more stable area and his wife left to join him. I am not fond of hair cutting stores because I've never had a good experience. After searching for awhile, I remembered my friend Shaunna from high school cuts hair and I know several of my friends go to her. She did a GREAT job. I took some before and after shots and I am sorry my hair isn't down all the way in the after shots to show you just how great of a job she did......

BEFORE:

AFTER:

As mentioned before, David got called to be a primary teacher and here are the cute kids he gets to teach every Sunday!

On another note, school starts back this week which also means I begin working as a SLP-A in the gilbert school district. I am not sure I am ready to start back yet as I have been working 40+ hours the last month or so, so I really haven't had any summer....There is always so much to learn and classes at ASU will start up shortly. And so it is with life....

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

–Walt Disney

Birthdays

2009-08-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

This month and last month have been FULL of birthdays...in the month of July was my brother, sisters, and father in laws. Tomorrow will be my oldest sister Stacey's birthday, the 19th is my moms birthday, and my birthday is the 27th!

For my Father in laws birthday, we went to organ stop pizza and celebrated. My littelest nieces were absolutely thrilled with the little kitten puppets that came out during the Alley Cat song, and were perplexed as to where they ran away to when the curtains went down :) Below are some pictures of the fun evening.

We have decided to hold off on looking for a house until december/january which will give us a little more time to save some money. We are just hoping and praying that the government extends the tax credit for first time homebuyers into the next year, or at least that interest rates stay down. If anyone has housing advice we'd be happy to hear it.

On another note, David started teaching primary today for the first time and it was so cute how hard he tried. I think he was pretty nervous as he seemed so serious the whole time. I tried to elaborate on what he was saying and get the kids excited with just my tone of voice. HOpefully they get David a co-teacher soon so that I can get back to relief society. I love the kids and they are so cute, but relief society is the only time I get to spend with the women and actually feel part of the ward as I teach sunday school to the 13-14 year olds.

Nieces and Nephew

Fawn, Aunt Jill, Uncle Loren

The birthday boy is in the center(gray/purple shirt)

The little girls dancing away to the organ's music

Fishing!

2009-07-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I believe it was Monday or Tuesday night when the gigantic thunderstorm rolled through Mesa. The thunder was so loud that it shook our apartment around 4a.m. I told David that even though it kept us up for what felt like the entire night, its not something we get to hear and see often so its worth it! David woke up around 5 and I said, you need to tell Ryan you are NOT going fishing in this weather...there is lightening everywhere and thunder like crazy. Needless to say David, Ryan (his brother) and Ryan's three girls went anyways and for the most part had clear skies. They were not able to catch much but tiny little fish which they ended up just throwing back into Canyon Lake.

David begged me when we went to the grocery store, if he could buy some fish since he didn't get to eat any of what he caught. I told him that he'd half to wait until the next week to get some (I don't care for fish anyways lol)....So I wish have to live up to my promise this week. Hope it turns out well-we are not much fish cookers!

On another note, I have had some pretty crazy dreams this week, some of which were very urgent and very realistic. The one I had earlier this week, I dreamed that the world was being destroyed and my family was trying to grab as much food as we had in our house and get to a safer place. Well, there wasn't any food, or enough to sustain us for more than a day. In my dream I was crying and I just kept saying to myself "If I had only gotten our seventy two hour kits put together, we would have been ok, and because I am not prepared, my family is going to suffer". Our bishop has asked us for the last two years to get a food storage going and to get our 72 hour kit going. I finally got as much food storage together as our little apartment will hold but we need to work on the 72 hour kits. I don't know why I have the urgency to get this done, but I had the same feeling right before I started packing away on the food storage.

I forgot to mention on my last post that I got a speeding ticket from one of the lovely photo radar vans in Mesa and now have to find a defensive driving course to get rid of the ticket and points with it. Suprisingly they now have online classes and you just have to take the final exam in the presence of a notary!

Lastly, one of the supervisors at my work backed into my corolla and then sped off. He left a few scratch marks and that was it. But i was told I really should take the chance to use the cash he is offering and just get the minor scratches fixed as our car is a 2007 but is only a year old to us. My time is very limited so we'll see what happens! :)

2009-07-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

David and I enjoyed watching the play Wicked at Gammage a week and a half ago. The music and the acting were phenomenal. The play is a spin off of the Wizard of Oz, going back before the movies time to describe what happened to the witches Glenda and Elphaba (the green witch). Glenda is a total blonde in every way and Elphaba is shunned because she's green and a witch and was born to non-witch parents. Apparently her mother had a fling with the Wizard of Oz, and thus Elphaba was created. Anyways, the play made me truly sympathize with Elphaba who really was a great witch and tried hard to use magic for the good, but when she would not do as the Wizard asked, he turned all of Emerald City against her and told them she was "wicked".....

This past friday we also went to Hale Theater in Gilbert to watch Beauty and the Beast. Compared to Wicked it wasn't that great at all....the performers had great voices but the acting was very poor and the actual instrument music was pre-recorded. We were a little disappointed...then again we saw Wicked first and nothing compares to that.

My sweet sister in law Fawn also bought me one of her stakes cook books and suprised me with that. I absolutely love cooking and now I have a book full of recipes women have actually tried out before. Thank you Thank you Fawn!

Saturday morning I got to go out to Ihop with some band friends from high school and it felt SO good to see them and get caught since none of us have really been out together since High School. One friend, Krystal Dickensen is moving to Las Vegas and so this was like her farewell breakfast.

I am about to start another 46 hour work week with working as a secretary, childrcare worker, and babysitting......Sometimes I wonder what the heck I am doing and then I say to myself, its just for another year and a half, and i'm doing this for my family...so we can get through school and get a house and start our family. I must be crazy tho..... :)

The Price of Freedom

2009-07-05T13:38:00.001-07:00

This Fourth of July has been really hard on me emotionally. It is the second year celebrating Independence day at my in-laws house. They have a great view from their backyard, to see fireworks at Rockin'R Ranch. We invited my family over there this year because we were told that there would be no fireworks in Mesa. My family came and a harsh comment was made to them that them by one of my husbands aunts that because of all the "extra" people that came this year, that there would not be enough homemade ice cream. Needless to say, my family left shortly after because they didn't want to be the cause of david's family not getting enough ice cream, even due to my pleading that there would be enough. Not only that, my in-laws big family is EXTREMELY competitive at games and some comments were again thrown at my family how terrible they were in a round about way. I was hurt. I hadn't spent the last two fourths with my family and they were leaving because of a several harsh comments. I was upset all night and told my sister repeatedly how sorry I was for what happened. Emotionally I was a wreck and that carried on to the Sabbath

In church today, the relief society teacher told us this story: In 1868 the British were at odds and ends with America and had captured several patriots. Francis Scott Key, as a lawyer, was asked to negotiate to get our patriots back, which he successfully did. Shortly after, a British man came to him and said "our warships will be here in two hours and they are bringing the entire fleet. You can save yourself if you lower your flag at Fort Henry, thereby telling us that you have surrendered". Francis said "you don't understand, Fort Henry is being used as refuge for our wives and children" The ships arrived, and still the flag was not lowered. Francis heard the previously captured patriots praying amidst the bombing. In the morning, Francis looked at Fort Henry, and saw the flag was still there, the pole was bent and the flag shredded, but it still stood. He wondered why the flag was bent and not fully fallen down. Inside Fort Henry, he saw that men and women, dead, were piled around the flag. When one had fallen, another patriot replaced him, trying to protect the flag until they were all killed. However, there weren't enough bodies and so the flag bent to the side. Francis Scott Key, shortly thereafter wrote the Star Spangled Banner.

This story brought me to tears...I was still emotional. It suddendly dawned on me that not ONCE yesterday, had I or anyone else except my dad mentioned one thing about freedom, about those Saintly Patriots that DIED to keep us free. Who piled their bodies next to the flag to preserve that symbol (the flag) of our freedom, and yet mine and my extended family were too involved in eating ice cream, in playing games, in satisfying ourselves--being selfish, to realize that yesterday was the day that so many of our forefathers loved their country and their children and future Americans for decade to come, that they DIED to preserve out freedom. I haven't heard the Star Spangled Banner for two years now, and how sad it is that Americans, including myself, don't Breathe or pause for a little while on this day, to quietly and thankfully observe this day. Amidst the bombs, the patriots still prayed for their wives and children. How much do we love our families to talk to them about our forefathers, to say prayers of gratitude for allowing us to be free from tyranny, to be free to believe and practice what we want, to be free to express our gratitude for our government and military, and most especially to be free to worship and thank our Heavenly Father for preserving our freedom. What can we change so that our families and children understand the great service performed on our behalf on this Independence Day every year? What is the price we personally are willing to pay for freedom?

If we understood how blessed we are, would we be a little kinder to those around us? Would we make sure to see others needs are placed before our own? Would we thank those around us for the small acts of charity they do for us?

2009-06-22T16:58:00.000-07:00

So what did the Bunzell's do after a long stressful week? Well, we worked 8 hours on Saturday and then got to see this movie.....
The Proposal.....
Let me tell you that that was one of the most hilarious movies I have seen in a long long time, not to mention it was a romance. Needless to say, I loved it. It had a few parts that I shied away from due to its crudeness but overall it was great.

Skipping back to Friday night, David and I got to go to his cousin Diana's wedding. How beautiful everything was. I was so excited for her, we are alike in the fact that both of us are going to school to become Speech Language Pathologists! Unfortunately Diana is moving to Colorado with her new husband, and we will miss her so much! Here are some pictures from the night....Grandma and Hailey

Giving Aaron the look like "Ah! you're going a little far!"

Michael was the lucky winner of the garter toss! You know what that means....... :)

A venting post.....

2009-06-15T16:24:00.001-07:00

Today has been rather difficult as a culmination of things have been on my mind. For my sanity I just need to vent and let my emotions go.

#1 Today my father in law collapsed and has been in the ER all day getting tests done. He also has a tumor, making the situation even more scary. I have been worried about him all day. He is still really young...in his 40's.

#2 We have slightly less than two weeks before judgement day comes and David either keeps his job or loses it. This is resting on his ability to get 90 solutions (people opening savings/checkings/debit card/credit card) within a period or approximately three months time. He has around 70 right now...you do the math. We've been praying for miracles to intercede on our behalf, which is really what its going to take to save his job.

#3 I don't technically have a job this summer, which means we are losing a BIG chunk of our savings this summer in order to make things work. My small wages of 120$ every two weeks doesn't cut it.

#4 Family.....need I say more

Now, I know this seems small, but I am at breaking point almost. You see, a few weeks ago on the last day of my research methods, again when I had just about had it, my professor (bless her heart) stood up before out final exam and said (in words close to these) "Now, I usually have grad students at my door crying the last few weeks of class. I want you to know that you guys are special. When we considered your applicants we looked for the cream of the crop....and we selected you because you were the very best and the very brightest. We knew we could pretty much push you to your limits and you would still succeed".

Those of you that are willing please send a prayer on behalf of the Bunzell family, both mine and my in-laws. We need a few miracles :)

DISNEYLAND!

2009-06-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

Not this past weekend, but the one before (Memorial Weekend), David and I had the chance to escape the heat and head to Anaheim, AKA Disneyland town! I don't know what it was but the curvy freeways on the CA-60 nearly drove me nuts. I can't stand so many sharp curves, on a very bumpy freeway with cars going so fast!

The first night we got there, we shopped a little in Downtown Disney, although I was not very impressed with the shops I saw. We ended up buying some peanut brittle, taking pictures and then heading back to the hotel to catch up with my brothers crew. Dinner was at Applebees.
Sunday we headed out to the LA temple and got some really beautiful shots there. Chris drove us down Sunset Blvd and I got to see the Hollywood sign, the stars walk of fame and some other really cool places. Now I can die happy :)

We then went to Hungtington Beach and for the first long while I was very hesitant to go in and Boogie Board with the others because of the coldness of the water (I am a chicken when it comes to the cold). After sitting in the water with Kiara as she was terrified to go in too, I got the nerve to go in and had the BEST time! I even caught a few really good waves. Chris and David dug for Sand Crabs and we found some really giant ones. As we were leaving, a group of dolphins decided to jump around by some of the surfers. It was pretty amazing to see dolphins up close in the ocean.

Monday we went to Disneyland and enjoyed getting to use several fast passes. I had forgotten how ridiculously expensive the food was at disneyland with everything being around 10$ a plate for a decent meal (something other than churros and ice cream). My thoughts were that I'd rather fork out the money and get something that would make our bodies feel good, rather than pay 3$ and feel like crap the whole day. The fireworks show was absolutely amazing-thats what really made Disneyland feel magic. For those that haven't been in awhile, they play sound clips from various disney movies and rides paired with perfectly timed fireworks and jolts of fire around the castle.

And now I am back to the real world...working with adult stroke clients at ASU and losing sleep over the stress of how to do therapy with these people. Have to understand their disorders and I don't, at least to the degree I need to!
Anyways, here are some pictures from our trip, enjoy!

Chris pretending to eat one of the sand crabs

Yes, we like kissing!

Miracles

2009-05-15T16:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, when David and I were lying in bed thinking about the days events, David told me that he forgot to mail my really large credit card bill (large because of the wicked tickets we bought). He then went out to his car to collect the bill and bring it inside along with the check so that there would be no possibility of someone stealing it.

He came back with no check, no bill ...nada and said he couldn't find it anywhere. I prayed all night long that somehow we would find it A) so we wouldn't have to pay a fee to cancel the check and B) so that it wouldn't fall into the hands of someone dishonest. In the morning, I got up extra early for some reason and looked and looked and looked on our counters and in David's call-still nothing. I was absolutely beside myself...upset, frustrated and overwhelmed and this event just put me over the top. I wasn't as nice as I should have been when David woke up and as nicely as I could blamed him for losing the bill. I felt horrible afterwards because I knew it was a simple accident. He took the bill with him to put in the mail after his eye appointment but somewhere in route it has just fallen out somewhere.

I think i feel so overwhelmed because I won't have a job over the summer (due to working in the schools), i'm stressed financially, I have all these shots/TB tests, fingerprint cards, cpr cards to get in a week before clinic starts on top of trying to pull things together for my vacation to California next week. Anyways, I asked David to check with our front office to see if it had fallen somewhere outside and if someone turned it in. Around 10 this morning he texted me and said someone had turned it in to the office and she mailed the check out. I feel like we have been watched over....and miracle after miracle has happened lately.

Just last week David got thrown into his parents pool by his cousins and came out with a vibrating white screen phone that wouldn't work. After a full night of drying and countless silent prayers, it started working the next morning.

Time after time i've learned that during these moments, I HAVE to pray because nothing else works. I am so grateful for Heavenly Father, for watching over us and seeing that these small things are taken care of. I again am grateful for David for being patient with me.

2009-05-08T16:36:00.001-07:00

Over the last two years, I have really learned a lot about myself, good and bad. My habits have not changed, they are just more well defined as I am on my own away from my parents and siblings. David constantly shows support and love for me and catches me when I fall. Rarely does he see the bad things that I do (or tells me :)) and if he ever does verbally tell me my mistake, its in such a loving way. He cleans and cleans and cleans (what husband does that without being begged???) and the more he cleans, the more lazy I feel I've become, or the more I just let him because I have so much on my plate that cleaning is the last thing I can make myself do.

I feel like I have been too quick to judge, too slow to serve, and I have failed to keep up on those things which should be the most important in my life. A temple worker once told the guys in my sealing room that they couldn't return to our Heavenly Father without the women and that they needed to make sure we got back together....I keep telling David and have realized that I absolutely wouldn't make it back without him, I fall so short and I need him to keep me where I should be.

So to David, thank you for standing by my side, and loving me no matter what. Thank you for seeing the best in me and giving me wings to fly. Thank you for encouraging me to finish my masters program even when I get too tired and sad that I am putting off a family for this. Thank you for working so hard every day even when your not in the career that you want to be, and when its hard for you.

We took this picture when I graduated about a year ago, and its funny how similar the picture is of Christ in the garden of Gethsamane right before he was going to die. David reminds me how to be Christ-like and I am so grateful for that reminder. I love you!

The Happiest Place on Earth

2009-04-29T15:22:00.000-07:00

Thank you for those that posted comforting comments. I CAN get through this next week and a half of school! I feel like the little engine that could, chugging along saying "I think i can, I think i can, I think i can"!

David and I decided this week that we will be heading to California in the next few weeks to enjoy some get away time. We haven't had a formal vacation outside of playing in the snow for a day each year, since our honeymoon two years ago, and boy do we need one! We're gonna "rough it" and stay at one of the KOA campgrounds in a little cabin. This is my kind of camping with a sturdy roof over our heads and showers near by (I'm hoping they don't have any icky critters and spiders in them!). Then we will head to Disneyland one day and the beach another. Does anyone know where to buy discounted Disneyland tickets? I can't believe they are 70$ a piece!

We are also going to see Wicked with David's parents in July, which i'm very excited about. I've heard nothing but good things about the play. It's nice to say that summer is coming and with it many long needed adventures!

Emotional Rollercoaster

2009-04-23T21:05:00.000-07:00

So many things have happened in the last few days that have nearly made me lose my sanity.

1. I forgot my binder for school on Tuesday that I needed for notes in class that night since I couldn't drive home. And I needed the binder to study for my second out of two exams in that class for the entire semester.

2. Shortly after I realized I left my binder, I checked my yahoo email account and noticed a letter from my professor stating that I had failed to turn in two final exam questions that were to take the place of our last quiz (only those who showed up to class last thursday got that option) and that as a result I would be taking the quiz next week. This goes from spending 15 minutes coming up with in-depth questions, to spending 6-7 HOURS studying for the quiz. I had spent all week rigorously trying to finish my 15 page preschool class (same class) written project and had absentmindedly forgotten to do that questions. I failed to see the fairness in having the study this many hours for simply forgetting to do this assignment.

The positive: I, being so flustered, email the professor a few hours later and told her I didn't think this was very fair-I accepted responsibility for my mistake and asked if she could narrow the quiz down as far as what I needed to study. She emailed later in the evening and said she would talk about the quiz and narrow it as it got closer to the date. Five minutes later she emailed and said, ok, finish the questions tonight, and that will be good enough. Thank you Mary!

3. Tonight I went to a meeting with my professor of my speech program to discuss my schedule for the next year and how I could get observation hours with a certified Speech Therapist at Banner Baywood (another professor informed me that all the students in my program wouldn't get to do a hospital rotation period because of budget cuts). The professor showed me my updated schedule and I proceeded to ask her what I needed to do to get certified observation hours at the hospital, after I called Baywood. The professor said to not call them because I did not have the education or experience to even do a rotation. Not in these exact words but words similiar she said "So I gather from your emails that your are upset and bashing the PEP program, Lynette we are working and do everythign we can for you PEP students. It seems like a lot of you are unhappy with your program. If you want more experience in the medical field, perhaps you are in the wrong program." I kept saying ok...ok...ok...because I was shocked out of my mind that this normally sweet and very helpful lady was even suggesting that I was bashing the program and leading others to get riled up as well.

I merely said in my emails that I really wanted hospital experience and that I would find SLP's to observe me on my own since the ASU staff wasn't going to help us. And all the other students in my program wanted the experience as well. Anyways, I left in tears and I felt like I was just slapped in the face.

Good things:

1. This week is IA (aide) appreciation week and so my sweet SLP that I work under suprised me with flowers and a card. The principal said she could take me out for lunch and he would re-imburse her. So sweet and thoughtful.

2. I got to write my two questions and not take the quiz

3. I finished my preschool project

4. I have a friend who came to class today in tears as well from hearing bad news from the same professor so I had someone who understood what I was feeling

5. I have a loving and supportive husband who sees me through everything

_____I've realized more than anything I NEED a break_____I need to get out and do something not related to school. I think I have just been worn thin, i'm tired...mentally and physically.

Easter

2009-04-15T16:21:00.001-07:00

So I have been trying to post this blog for a few days now...last night David needed the computer for homework so I wasn't able to get on. Here ya go...

This past weekend was absolutely wonderful as I got to take Friday off, since I work in the schools. Friday morning I spent dying eggs with my in-laws....something I haven't done in years it seems like. It's amazing to see what kinds of egg dying/glittery/tie dye kits they have these days. After that I went to my friend Shars house to help her pack things....it turned into a 3-4 hour chat session which I won't complain about :) David and I have been talking about how we never spend much time with friends anymore because we're so busy, and that we REALLY miss it. So thanks Shar for letting me come hang out with you and your kids.

Saturday morning was my niece Nikki's baptism---we are so proud of her for making good choices. Then later that evening we had my side of the family's easter egg hunt with all my great aunts, their families, and my grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins. My cousin Robin didn't get to cleaning their yard so David later noticed (Or I did because I kept smelling it) that he had dog poop on the bottom of his pants. We rushed to the Easter Pageant (I told David "I keep smelling dog poo" and he found what looked like mud on his pants, sure enough...) It was amazing because shortly after we stepped on the temple grounds the pouring rain stopped. There were dark rain clouds all around the temple, but nothing above the temple. And a guy from the president of the 70 gave the prayer. This year the pageant made me cry, and I"m not sure if it was because it was an emotional day or because more than ever...through the songs...I could feel the Savior's love for me. That he understood what I was going through. My desire to have a family, but not being able to quite yet. My desire to because a speech-path. My desire to help my husband find a job where he is happy. My desire to show my husband that I am not this boring old lady who studies all the time. I am grateful to know there is one person who truly understands my needs and is there at every moment to see me through the good and bad times.

Here are some fun pictures of me and my nieces, and other family members on Easter and from Friday. My little brother had his birthday party at chuck-e-cheeses so several of the pictures are of my niece kiara on various rides. My sister in laws (yes Fawn and Sarah) are obsessed with Easter and our egg hunt this year consisted of 680 eggs which beautifully dotted my in-laws back yard. I'm interested to see how many eggs will be accumulated by the time my kids roll around :)

My brother Kyle looking for eggs

Niece Kiara

So dang cute--I have THE most adorable nieces

Alauna sneaking some jelly beans ;)

Look at the two giant bowls of Jelly beans that Sarah and I are holding that we emptied out from the Easter eggs the kids found!

My niece's searching for Easter Eggs

Hailey bean searching for eggs with Weston

My niece Lanae twirling

Lily struttin her stuff

Savannah twirling in her Easter Dress

Uncle David playing with Auria

Auria in her Easter Dress

My niece Alauna in her Easter Dress

Baby Dallin is here!

2009-04-04T18:17:00.001-07:00

So this week has been a very busy one with babies! On Thursday, my husbands cousin Suzanne gave birth to a little girl named Tessa. And finally on Friday, little Dallin Christopher Johnson graced our presence. He is my brother Chris and his wife Jessica's second child and what a cutie he is! He was born at 5:17p.m. Friday and weighed a little over 6 lbs---tiny tiny! We are so excited to have him join our family. Fun pictures posted below.

As for other good news, since I have moved out of my old apartment I have dropped 12 points from 160 to 148 on the blood pressure scale (top number) and that is only being out of the apartment two days. I'm anxious to see what it will be this upcoming Monday when I go to the store and check it. I knew it was the nasty smokers below! Just think where I would be in hmmm 30-40 years (If I lived that long) being on top of those people (lets say kidney and other organ damage). I want to go the management and say "Don't you dare tell me that these people aren't inflicting upon my rights. They are slowing killing me off as a drunk driver would swerve and kill some one on the road" My death would just be slower....I'm sorry I'm venting. With all that I have been through with my health and these people it's just left me fairly upset. I'm grateful now to be completely away from that situation.

Anyways :) Off to work on a major project thats due this next week, which i've procrastinated doing long enough. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Luau!

2009-03-30T17:04:00.000-07:00

Last week was one hectic week that I prayed nightly to get through. I never realized how hard moving was because when I first got married, I brought a few things from my bridal shower and a few little possessions that I owned to our first apartment. We have since acquired many many things which i'm grateful for, but my arms are not. Friday I came the point where I was like "mom, my arms can't physically carry one more thing"...even though I was lame and hadn't carried what I thought was my fair share. Thank you to all my neighbors/ward members/family members that helped us get everything transferred. We have decided that once this lease is up next March that we are out of here....we need something bigger!

Also on Saturday, as if we weren't busy enough lol, we had my sister-in-law Fawns birthday Luau! It was so nice to be with family and just relax...do something different. Fawn and her husband are AMAZING barbequers. At 7p.m., Paul (Fawns husband) suprised her with a Napolean Dynamite singing telegram. It was hilarious to watch his dance moves and then cute pregnant Fawn dancing with him. Anyways, Happy Happy birthday Fawn! Below are some fun pictures of the event (courtesy of Natalia, one of my other 8 sisters).

This week is going to be eventful again. Friday night my sister in law Jessica is going to be induced and I should have my first nephew on my side that night! I'm so excited!

Me with my niece Hailey (Fawns baby)

Thats right, David and I are sportin' the coconut shell bra's

Fawn and mom (who refused to wear the coconut shells until we made her put one on :))
Napolean and Fawn

Crafti-ness

2009-03-22T20:41:00.000-07:00

I have noticed more recently that my friends and acquaintances are using talents that they have either had for a long time or just acquired to make crafty things. Some husbands are using their tools to make furniture for their baby to be's room, or an entertainment center. Other's have been making pillows for their couches or baby crib bumpers, quilts etc. And as much as I don't like sewing because I have to unpick three times longer than I sew, I decided that I wanted to be crafty too. And I wanted to make my mom proud of me for using the sewing lessons that she had me take as a little girl. So....I decided to make two pillow shams and two pillows for my bed, and I must say they turned out rather well. Thanks mom for cutting them out :)

Here are most of the finished products: (Those of you that sew, don't look with a critical eye ;))

On another note, because we have such a small apartment, we are realizing more and more how much we need to develop our talents or do hobbies that we enjoy outside of our home. If any of you know where to find classes to do things like sports, woodwork, cooking, decorating etc. please let me know. I thought I would try the "get out" magazine published by the city of mesa but it seems as though 75% of all offered classes have a big "cancelled" sign over them due to budget cuts :(

Haircut

2009-03-19T15:00:00.000-07:00

This weekend my friend Whitney who graduated a year ago from the Tony and Guy beauty school, is coming down and i'm hopefully going to get my hair cut. I am thinking of something that is just past my shoulders but not sure what I would look best with. If you have any suggestions or pictures please send them to me!! I always have the hardest time deciding what to do with my hair.

Next week is moving week! And with that comes the joy of switching addresses on all of our bills and subscriptions etc. Wish us luck!

On the farm....

2009-03-08T11:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got to go with my parents and little brother to the Superstitions spring dairy farm in Mesa. Its located on Haws Rd. and Elliot so not too far away from where we live. As we stepped out of the car I saw a case in the parking lot and too make a long story short, I called the owners mother and the owner called and was so thankful I had found it. Apparently she had just got her phone replaced on Friday so this was a brand new high tech touch tone phone. I did my good deed for the day returning it too her :).

The farm had hundreds of cows and one of the mom's gave birth to her calf about four hours before we arrived and so the baby was brand new and still walking around with wobbly legs. The stench was terrible, not sure if it was the waste "lake" or the smell of the animals. I could hardly stand it. I can handle manuer (sp?) but not this smell. My mom who grew up on a farm just laughed and said "your such a city girl"... I agree, I couldn't handle living on a farm-a quick visit to one every now and then is more than enough for me!

I also got to see a cotton gin work, seperating seeds from the rest of the cotton. And upon my brothers insistance, we rode the hay ride twice with him and my dad another one on top of that. Makes me appreciate just how much effort goes into putting milk, butter, cheese and ice cream on our shelves.

Just a quick update..I saw the doctor this last week and at the visit my blood pressure was still in the 160 range so I started meds (against my wanting to) on Friday. He said there is a chance if I lose about ten pounds and move (which living in this smoke filled apartment is probably whats causing my huge stress and blood pressure) that I can check my b/p without the medication and see if I have gone back to normal. Keep praying that this happens because I want to be healthy and this medication (nor any other b/p meds) are safe to take while pregnant.

We think we have found another apartment in our complex where we can move to in the next few weeks so thats what I think we will be doing. I have been doing lots of thinking about the song Josh Groban sings...here are some of the lyrics:

Some days we forget to look around us.

Some days we can't see the joy that surrounds us.

So caught up inside ourselves.

We take when we should give

So for tonight we pray for

What we know can be

And on this day we hope for

What we still can't see

It's up to us to be the change

And even though we all can still do more

There's so much to be thankful for

Look beyond ourselves, there's so much sorrow
It's way too late to say,
I'll cry tomorrow

Each of us must find our truth

We're so long overdue

Just a lot to think about...are we thankful for what we have? Are we serving others? Anyways...here are some pictures from yesterday, hope you enjoy :)

Pee-ew! These cows stink!

Hay Ride!

The cotton Gin: (me holding the cotton leftover)

Sunday Lunch

2009-03-01T14:49:00.000-08:00

So what do you do on a Sunday without grocery shopping in a week and having a bunch of random things-make pizza! I used my wonderful bosch to make pizza dough, threw on a few toppings and walah! The dough is so incredibly easy to make and it only takes 8 minutes to cook! Here is a picture of my creation (we were too hungry to take a picture when the pizza was still on the pan, so here is our leftovers for tomorrows lunch)

Yesterday David and I went to help Ryan and Sarah load furniture and boxes into their moving van. This is my husbands brother and sister in law. Moving from Queen Creek to Gilbert which we are so excited about because this means we will be able to hang out with them more since they will be so much closer.

I inherited some sort of nasty cold from my therapy kids again! Boy, now I understand why some teacher was desperate to create that Airborne stuff. Therapy is going really well...i've seen a lot of kids make great progress this week on their speech and language goals. To add to my health stories, I took my blood pressure again on Friday and it said 178/123 so after lots of tears (thats a DANGEROUSLY high number) I called my doctor and I have an appointment for this Wednesday to figure out if I need to be put on medication. I don't understand what is going on with me. I am a healthy 22 year old girl---what changed in the last two months since my last doctor visit that caused my spike in blood pressure? On Friday after the test I started seriously thinking about what would happen if for some reason I did have a heart attack or stroke (so young to be thinking about stuff like that, but I did). I think thats what caused me to cry so much is thinking about the damage that could cause me and what if I was seperated from my husband (i.e. no longer living). I don't think I could sit and watch him from the other side, even in heaven, alone and waiting for me, or getting happily remarried...it would break my heart. *Sigh* I am going to get a priesthood blessing and just pray that whatever I have is very minor.

Valentines Day

2009-02-18T07:32:00.000-08:00

I had been planning what I what do this year for David on Valentines Day for at least a month. Every year David has done something really sweet and special for me and I well....I haven't done anything, i'm lame I know. Two years ago on V-Day, unknowlingly David suprised me with a proposal to marry him and of course I said yes. This night before he gave me a gift card to get a manicure and I was sad because I thought I had figured out that he would propose to me due to some hints from his family---so I guessed I was wrong. He took me on a picnic to the temple on the 14th, read me to amazing poems and knelt on one knee.

Last year, I came home from work and there was a trail of little paper hearts from our front door to our bed. Our bed was showered in little hearts and three presents.

This year was a bit harder to carry out because I can't see very well-still have no contacts in. I managed to get my mom to take me shopping and I created a candy boquet with a valentines day card I scrapbooked and had my sister stacey drive it down to Wells Fargo and personally deliver to David (He was so suprised that I did that, knowing that I couldn't see or drive). I then made cupcakes and decorated the table with candles, confetti, the cupcakes and put white lights on the ceiling. When David got home, we went to Wildflower Bread Company to have soup bowls and sandwhiches in a nice quiet environment, and NO long lines! We came home, pulled out our hide-a-bed couch and watched EMBER, a fairly weird but good movie about underground town and two kids who are trying to save the town as its electricity source and food are running out.

I just want to tell David thank you for three years of wonderful Valentines Days! The first picture below is of our engagement on our first Valentines Day. The next several pictures are of this years V-Day and my decorated room that I came home to after Wildflower-David's secret helper came in and decorated and suprised me while we were out eating!

THEN:

NOW:

Have pity on me.

2009-02-13T08:28:00.000-08:00

Wednesday afternoon I noticed my right eye started getting really mucusy and so I would try to clear it and well, stuff kept coming out of my tear duct area, an abnormal color. It was really strange and the thought entered my mind, oh no maybe i'm getting an infection. My eye kept draining all day and finally during the middle of Wednesday night, I woke up around1 a.m. and noticed my eyes were both sealed oompletely shut. I went to the bathroom to rinse it off, and concluded that I had to have pink eye because I had never had my eyes do this since I can remember. I couldn't sleep the rest of the night because I knew that if I indeed had pink eye, I would be blind for a few days seeing how I depend on my contacts and have no glasses to back me up.

I was able to get into the Doctors THursday at 8:45 and he said that yes, i was infected with pink eye. THe story gets better. The medical assistant who did my weight and blood pressure tested my pressure three times, and all of them came out 160/? apparently a really really high pressure. So the doctor sent me in for blood testing this morning and I have to get my blood pressure checked once a week for the next four weeks and call their office to report to them the numbers. I have never had high blood pressure before and I am praying that nothing serious comes out of this, that I don't need to be put on any medications.

As for my eyes, my right eye which got infected first and was the worst is doing much better today than my left eye which has gotten worse(even with medication). Hopefully its one of those things where it has to get worse before it gets better. I have been blind since yesterday afternoon and am not sure when I will get to see clearly again. I"m praying by at least sunday morning so I can see at church. Lesson learned: get glasses no matter how expensive they are. So that is why my post is entitled have pity on me. I am stuck at home for a few days, blind...except for when my sweet husband is not working and can take me out, or when my mom is able to take me to her house to do laundry. Ugh! Thats what I get for working with20 kids every day in the schools. :) Keep me in your prayers, that I heal quickly so I can see again!

Cupcakes and Linguini

2009-02-09T19:07:00.000-08:00

This past week has been a fairly stressful and busy one-more busy than usual. I am taking a research methods class and it takes me SO long to finish the homework-namely coming up with research questions that no one has ever researched before, and looking up articles. I know you wish you were in my position :) Therapy with my students has been so fun, but exhausting on my vocal chords and throat. Its been sore on and off since the beginning of the school year from talking so much. I love how the children are so cute, especially the kindergartners. I have one little boy who is working on /s/ blends so I always ask his group "who lives in a pineapple under the sea" and he proudly shouts "fungebob warepants!" It's hilarious, but I know he is trying to hard to say it right.

On a bad note, smokers have moved in downstairs from us and their smoke is coming through our piping, especially through the pipes under our bathroom sink and bathtub. So, this week when it's smelt especially bad i've jumped on the floor a few times to vent my anger. Sunday morning while I was blow drying my hair I heard a knock on the door and it was the lady (with one snaggle tooth left) downstairs. She said "I've noticed you guys have been making lots of noise downstairs lately and we want to ask you to stop (this said in a wheezy, i'm going to fall over and die any moment type voice). So my sweet david said "well we've been wanting to talk to you about your smoking because it's been coming through our vents." She says "well its our washer and dryer making the smell." David just says "Well, we'd appreciate it if you could smoke outside." She responds "Well, thats not something we can control". I thought, if you can march all the way up our stairs, you can certainly move yourself to your screen door and blow your smoke. I was so livid the rest of the day and was rather emotional during church with so many wonderful ladies announcing they're leaving the ward and with what happened this morning.

Needless to say, if they don't stop smoking, we will be forced to find another home over the next two to three months. I don't want the chemicals to affect our health or the health of our future children.

On a positive note, I made some funfetti cupcakes for my fourteen year old sunday school class. These kids are truly amazing and I love them so much, despite their chatti-ness (my new word). They are one of the reasons i'd be so upset to move, they've taught me so much and are a pleasure to teach-they are SO smart! So below are pictures of the cupcakes and the chicken linguini David and I made for dinner. Hope you enjoy :)

Necklaces and Bracelets

2009-01-31T12:58:00.000-08:00

Hi all!

So once again I am promoting my friend Sharianna's business. She sells custom made bracelets and necklaces for infants through adults...and they are cute cute cute! Ordering is very easy as it can be done straight from the website. If you have a baby shower to go to soon or a friends gift to purchase, this is the place to do it! Here is one example of an infants bracelet (they can be done with pearls or crystals).

Her website is: http://www.delicatedelightful.com/

LOST

2009-01-20T18:40:00.001-08:00

For any of you who don't know me, i'm a "LOST" addict. I have tried over and over to quit this addiction, but I continually give in to my cravings, week after week, year after year. I am proud to announce that I am STILL a LOST addict and am SO excited that the fifth season is starting tomorrow night. I just have one dilemma. I told my visiting teachers to come that night (forgetting this momentous occasion) and now must find a way to rearrange the meeting. David wants me to wait until this weekend and watch it with him on ABC15.com since he has school that night...but i'm not sure I can stand knowing that millions of viewers have already watched the 2-3 hour long premier....and I HAVE NOT! Lost is about a group of people who survived a plane crash and land on a mysterious island where crazy people called "the others" live. The plane survivors must learn to live with each other and endure the threats posed by the island and "the others"...each episode is rather addicting as each one ends leaving you with more questions then what you started with. It's delightfully entertaining. I believe these are the people that remain (about half of the amount of people that started on the island).

Thank you to all of those who posted helpful comments about housing. We will prayerfully considering where we should move or if we should stay here a little longer. I find myself dreading being in another ward because this one is SO amazing.

**Side note: I've decided I LOVE to cook and bake, and my mom will attest that this is a shocker because prior to being married, i wanted nothing to do with preparing/making/or baking food of any kind (outside of my famous chocolate chip cookies). So any of you who make yummy recipes please feel free to share. I'm always looking for something new to add into our meals for the week :)

Christmas Post #2-as promised

2009-01-09T15:23:00.000-08:00

Again this year we missed going up to the snow with David's family because David was working, and I.....didn't want to go by myself :( We mentioned our wanting to go to the snow with my brother since we went with him last year and soon plans were made-December 31st was the day that became our fun snow trip with my family. Driving up we saw very little snow and it was around 51 degrees so I was afraid that all of it had melted. Luckily the place we usually go to was still covered in snow and so many people were there sledding and we joined in on the fun. Below are some pictures of adventure. The ones with my mom and sisters in them are so funny, mostly because they used a deflated air mattress along with a foam mattress cover (that people use while camping) and that was their sled. It worked out great but they ended up falling over quite a bit.

On another note, David and I have been praying as to whether or not we should stay in our apartment another year. Our lease ends in May and it would be wonderful to find an affordable two bedroom apartment/condo/townhouse not too far from where we are. If you hear of anything in East..east...Mesa or in Gilbert thats under 720$ a month please let us know :)

My niece Kiara making a snow angel

Stacey and David getting himself out of the sled

My sisters and mom squished in the middle (told you they are funny to see!)

My brother, Kiara, and sister in law Jessica with their Russian Snowman

David poking out of the window of the snow fort we built

Above is my mom, Kiara, and Stacey with the snowman they built, below is my family huddled in the half-built fort. We couldn't finish it because it took over an hour to make the little bit that we did.

Christmas-Post 1

2008-12-31T13:28:00.000-08:00

So much has happened over the last two weeks that i'm going to have to make two posts in order to fit all the pictures on here that I want. Last week of course was Christmas. Like usual, David and I spent the morning together, then went to my parents around 8a.m. and opened a ton of presents from my side of the family and then went to David's parents house for more presents and games. This year, there wasn't anything huge that I was hoping to get. I had wanted a kitchen aid but told David not to get one for me. We then contemplated getting a new t.v., but again I told him to hold off because it wasn't a necessity. So many of my family members including those on my husbands side, and my husband, were so generous and put so much talent and love into the gifts they bought me. Thank you to all of those who brought magic again into my Christmas and suprised me with things that I never asked for but made my Christmas amazing. Below are some, but not all of the favorites that I recieved:

David suprised me with a beautiful Diamond necklace.

And....an organizer so I can get rid of some of the boxes in our apartment

My wonderful mother and mother-in-law bought a BOSCH and ice cream maker--boy was I shocked to get both of these because they were something I have wanted to badly but never thought I get for a few years! Thanks moms!

My ever so talented sister-in law Fawn (yes thats you :)) spent the last creating a masterpiece stocking for me. It is absolutely beautiful and something I treasure, thank you!

Nutcracker

2008-12-22T09:39:00.001-08:00

So as many of you know, David and I have been so excited to watch the Nutcracker, as we love seeing ballet's and play's. We just don't get to very often due to cost and time. We met up with two couples in our ward at Applebees for dinner and then David and I split off to go to the Nutcracker as the other two couples weren't able to get tickets. We had to park at a church by the Mesa Arts Center and there were only 4 cars in the lot so I was praying that no one would break into our car. (Shame on anyone if they ever did-especially in a CHURCH parking lot!) When we got inside, there were tables set out with decorations, toe shoes, nutcrackers etc for sale. Side note, the lady I babysit for has literally hundreds of decorations on her tree, each unique to things she loves or events that she's been to. So back to my story: I have decided that I want to start collecting ornaments of things that remind my husband and I of important events or memories that we have shared over the year. We happily purchased a little ballerina ornament and my husband said later that he also bought a nutcracker which he was going to suprise me for Christmas, but couldn't wait. Then we went in for the performance. The dance moves were amazing and so were the sparkles on the costumes (sparkles draw me to them like a magnet). I have realized more and more just how grateful I am that each of us comes to earth with specific talents, and that people are willing to share them so that we may all benefit from them! So thank you to all those hard working men and women dancers who have spent countless hours to bring happiness and joy at this Christmas season to all of us!

I was watching CNN this morning and they were showing clips from Georgia of a man who has been passing out food to hundreds of people who were waiting for hours just to get one bag of food! And I think of how many people I've heard complain about the presents they aren't going to get this year. I am SO grateful that I don't have to worry about my next meal, or a warm place to live. I may have a tiny one bedroom apartment, but we are doing ok-and we have enough. This will be my last post before Christmas, so I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and pray that each of us will remember the Savior's birth and all that he has blessed us with! I want to thank each of you for being such a blessing in me and my families life. You have each used your talents, your kindness, your love, and your friendship to bless our lives!

Lost and Found

2008-12-14T11:41:00.000-08:00

(David's story)

On Natalia's (my little sister's) 18th Birthday I lost my wedding ring. She had been playing 007 with some friends (a more involved game of tag) and had added water balloons into the mix. While they were all looking around the land for the last people to make it back to base I snuck out with some water balloons and set up my ambush. I waited unit Ta(my sister) and a small group were walking inder a tree and then launched a volley of balloons into the branches over head, showering the unsuspecting victims. Return fire instantly wised past me as I ran for it. As I was running, one of ta's friends called me a stupid @$$ (0) and so I slowed my retreat. Auston grabed my arm as I was turning around so I swung him off but in the process my ring flew of my finger. Enraged by the punk kid who was running up just behind Auston I disregarded my ring and ran at the kid. After tackling the kid down and giving him a nice sternum rub with my knee I let him run off to now look for my ring. It was too late. I wasn't even sure where exactly I was when it flew off. Two nights of searching went by (only time I had available) it was sunday and fast and testimony meeting. The overal topic, as there often tends to be one, was about prayer and finding lost things. I got up and explained that I knew what I needed to do to find my ring and shared why I think I lost it in the first place. It was my anger and pride that kept me from stopping right where I was and finding my ring. As i shared my thoughts on not letting things distract us from whats most important I looked down at Lynette and felt so much love for her and thought of what that ring represents. "I never want to let myself get distracted from how important Lynette is to me and damned with my pride if it ever gets in the way" were the feelings going through my head. After the meeting was over a sister came up to me and said she felt inspired to tell me to look for it at night and I would see the gold shine. I had to laugh at that because I had been looking at night with a flashlight for two nights now under that very hope yet to no avail. Monday morning I woke up early and before work went over to the land and layed out a grid of where the ring might be. Loren Lilly (my uncle) had given me his metal detector but the grass was so thick that the air space made the thing go off all the time renduring it usless. There I was raking every inch of my grid, back hurting and eyes straining when the sun came out of the clouds and the comment from the sister poped into my head about the gold shining. I looked up to see a glint in the grass up top the hill. Excitement ran through me as I considered the possibility, yet as I got just overhead the beautiful glint was no more then morning dew. Devistated that I had to return to the raking I lifted my head to find the ring not two feet away from the dew drop. Elated I picked it up and crammed it onto my middle finger where I have to bruise the nuckle for it to come off. Surly the ring is not our marriage but I learned a good lesson about focusing on what's important, not letting my anger or pride distract me and to rely on the lord and the inspiration he gives. I hope this Christmas we will stay focused of the Birth and life of Christ and not let the many distractions turn us away from what's most important.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-30T12:49:00.000-08:00

David and I got to enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving and family reunion with his family the last three days. While I enjoyed the time we spent together, I am also grateful it is passed, because I have come home every night ready to drop around 8p.m. (horrible huh ;)). Thanksgiving morning we ran the 2 mile turkey trot at Red Mountain Park, me pulling David to go rather than play football at his uncle Kelly's. Neither of us have really run a whole lot since we've been married, but it is a tradition that several members of my family have done every year...it was nice and cloudy outside, fresh rain had fallen...and so...we had to go!

I'm sad to say it took us 25:00minutes to run two miles and I'm sure david would have gotten done quicker but I had two cramps almost the whole time and made him stop every so often for a breather. The rest of the Thanksgiving was spent with his family doing a gigantic obstacle course, paintballing, a family talent show, and lots of yummy lunches. Several of you guys (like Crystal Lily said) went to the reunion so I will leave it at that. I will hopefully get some more pictures from family members that were taken at the reunion and post them. But for now, enjoy some of our Turkey Trot pictures. I am proud of us even though we took so long to get done---we finished! Our goal is to get in shape this next year and take better care of our bodies.

***Update: We have already purchased tickets to the Nutcracker and are going Saturday December 20th, 7:30p.m. at the Mesa Arts Center. Any one who wants to can join us (perhaps we can meet for dinner prior to the performance if you guys want to). Tickets again are between 8$-26$. We got the 14$ tickets. Let us know if you decide to go that night so we can meet up :) Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Kiara hanging out with Uncle David

Elders Quorum Party

2008-11-16T12:26:00.001-08:00

Yesterday David and I had the opportunity to go to his mom's ward's Elders Quorum Party where they fixed ribs and other yummy foods. Here are some pictures taken by David's uncle. Try not to be too jealous ;)

On the other hand, I have never seen "The Nutcracker" before and we are so incredibly excited because we found some relatively cheap tickets to performances at the Mesa Arts Center as well as the Chandler Center for the Arts (8$-24$). Anyone who wants to join us is welcome...we're thinking Saturday the 29th of November or Saturday the 20th of December.

2008-11-10T16:58:00.001-08:00

So....Saturday, I spent the afternoon doing some early Christmas shopping and babysitting until 10p.m. Came home and slept a long long time. Apparently David turned off my alarm in the morning which was set for 7 and around 8:15, I thought to myself, wow i've been sleeping forever...looked at the alarm clock and flipped out because I only had 30 minutes (nearly impossible) to get ready and I had NEVER heard the alarm go off. Church was absolutely wonderful, had a return missionary speak that was so "with it". By that I mean that he carried an amazing spirit with him and the way he worded things was amazing.

Later that evening, I went to my parents house with david and we made carmel popcorn balls which were extremely delicious (sorry for lack of pictures, batteries in camera aren't working). David taught my little brother battleship, and as always, I think David won with little Kyle not too far behind.

And....after battling a sore throat all weekend my mom and david made me go to the doctors (even though I feel SO much better) today. I tested negative for strep throat but still have these(DON"T GET GROSSED OUT) white patches covering my tonsils like bread got stuck all over them. Doctor said to take good old amoxicillin even though I am getting better to reduce a future occurence of a bacterial infection (he thinks I have viral right now). I feel nearly back to normal even without drugs but I want my tonsils to get rid of the nasty white stuff. Anyways, now that you have had several nice details.... :) Want to wish everyone a most wonderful week!

Halloween

2008-11-03T16:43:00.000-08:00

Hello all! Sorry i'm a little late on posting Halloween pictures, but I was waiting on my brother to post them to his website as I forgot my Camera most of the night. Thank you Chris :)

Halloween this year wasn't what I had wanted it to be, largely because I hadn't had anything I could really dress up as and all the costumes I found were much to skanky for my liking. Therefore, the day before Halloween I decided I would be "Bella" from twilight (hence my "team edward shirt" that I made). I tried to search for a bracelet that Bella got from her two admirers with a wolf and crystal heart charm---but to no avail. I decided next year that David and I are going to plan ahead and be something very cute---who knows, maybe I will be Giselle from the disney movie "Enchanted!". Hope you enjoy pictures of my family below....
Me and my sexy vampire husband with our niece Kiara

Above is our niece Kiara who was dressed as a turtle (great job Jessica on the making the outfit!)

Below is little Hailey dressed as a pumpkin.

Nikki, Karen, Hailey and Fawn (the pumpkin guts! :))

Post 2---the Zoo

2008-10-18T21:22:00.000-07:00

See previous post for some more of my weeks adventures! Today I had the opportunity to take two of my cute nieces to the zoo. Growing up, my aunts and uncles on both sides kept to themselves and as a result, the kids in my family never got to have a strong relationship with any of them. It's been my goal to take our nieces and nephew on little outings every now and then to build our relationships...so...that said here are some of the zoo adventures with the Nikki and Karen, the kids I stole from Fawn :)

The Giraffe Exibit-Stop #1

My brother Kyle, his friend, Karen and Nikki

Kissing Monkey Buddha (Above)
Mom, look what the chickens hatched! (Below)

The girls were SO CUTE petting the goats and feeding them!

Lots to catch up on!

2008-10-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

I have decided that I may have to do a couple of posts to catch up on my oh so eventful fall break. David and I have tried to come up with "projects" that would help us grow together...something fun that would take time to complete, so we have taken it upon ourselves to "fall decorate" and make black shelves for our bathroom and living room. Anyways, i've done a lot of shopping at Hobby Lobby and last weekend we were able to put together the shelf and decorations on and above our entertainment center.

The wooden sign on the shelf says "Bunzell, together we make a family"--made at an enrichment activity by yours truly :) We were so thrilled to have this put together..makes our apartment look so much more homey.

Then, yesterday (Friday) my sisters work had given her extra tickets to go to the Arizona State Fair so due to my sisters chronic lateness, we spent about an hour and a half there, but thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, just me, my mom and sister. Just FYI, don't ever go into the haunted house, it's not worth paying 5$ to see 4 skeletons in cages scream.

Stacey (my sister) and I pictured below rode the flying swings which I will never do again...made me sick! Certain parts the machine tilted you back and it felt like you were going to fall out!

My mom and I after the water ride. She said I had to sit in front since it was already soaked when we got on and she knew there was more to be splashed on it. Thanks mom :)

We then visited some very cute but stinky and fresh smelling goats, pigs, cows and chickens

Little "Sweet Cream"--the baby calf was born Tuesday of this week so it was four days old when we got to see her....how cute she was!

Baby Jewelry

2008-10-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

Fawn said I really needed to post something new even if it was to say that I didn't have anything to say! I will try to write something somewhat meaningful :) I apologize their are no pictures this time. We are still waiting to buy some rechargeable batteries for our camera which tends to eat every batteries energy up quicker than you can snap your fingers. Any suggestions as to good kinds?

Last weekend, my husbands young adult cousins---JD, Eli, and Michael came over to our house to eat some yummy "Cafe Rio" burritos. It was so funny because the boys were so eager to eat normal healthy food, and boy did they wolf down the burritos. I'm glad they enjoyed it and profusely uttered so many compliments-it made me feel good about the small amount of cooking I have done lately, not because I haven't wanted to, but because i'm never home until it's time to go to bed.

Also, on behalf of my best friend Sharianna, a new blog has been opened. Sharianna is selling baby jewelry which can also be made into adult size jewlry upon request. I encourage you all to take a quick gander at her site if you are in need of special baby shower gifts or a present for the holidays as Christmas is soon approaching. Sharianna can customize the bracelet to look however you want it-with charms, crystals, pearls etc, and in many colors. The bracelets and necklaces are adorable! Here is the website should you choose to take a peek: http://www.delicatedelightful.com/

Congrats to Megan and Thomas on the birth of their baby girl Audrey Elizabeth and to all the new mothers and old mothers to be :) I am so excited to announce that my brother and sister in law are having a little boy in March!

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-04T20:35:00.000-07:00

For Labor Day Weekend, David and I spent lots of time helping my parents move furniture from the walls and paint their bathroom and kitchen. The kitchen we painted a light sage green on one wall and then my mom wanted a light purple for her bathroom. All in all, everything turned out beautifully. Our muscles were sore and we were tired from stretching for so long but I decided that the pain is well worth it if I can tone my belly and bootie!

On top of painting, I decided that I was too "gold". For those of you who have taken the "True Colors" test you will understand that a person who is gold is very VERY time organized and really hopes that others around him/her are as well. They expect others to follow rules and they try to make their homes "homemaker-ish"...nurturing and teaching their children good values. Also, they really want to have a little orange (adventurous and spontaneous) but they don't know how to. So using all the strength I could muster, I decided that I wanted to go hiking. David, Sharilyn, and myself hiked a moderate-easy hike at South Mountain on Monday and you can see that by the end of our journey, we were ready for a hearty energizing meal! :)

1: Preparing for the battle(are we going to cruise like the girl behind us? Hmm maybe not)

#2: Don't look too much at my scary morning face, the make-ups not on yet :)

#3: I've decided that Sharilyn is just too dang cute! And so is David, of course ;)

#4: Pioneer Children sang as they walked......and walked....and walked....and walked...

#5: After the hike pose: Can you tell we're tired?? (Ok, so maybe we over-dramatized just a little)

Creme Broule!!

2008-09-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry i'm behind again...I will probably produce two posts today just because there are so many pictures. David and I decided to experiment with food and make creme broule for the first time. We got a kit for our wedding and I thought "how silly....i'm never going to use this!" Anyways, we tried it and it was absolutely delicious. We added strawberries and sugar to the top and for those who haven't had it, the texture is like a warm custard....you must try it!

I will post pictures below of our creation. Right before school started, (several months before) I started getting so excited about food and creating wonderful meals like I have seen so many talented ladies do on their recipe blogs. I wanted to make wholesome meals and a variety of them and it was so fun to experiment. School has taken over my life so the cooking frenzy is sadly on hold until I have a little more time. For any of you who have some yummy recipes please feel free to send them to me. I'm ALWAYS looking for ways add to my recipe collection!

Picture #1:

Picture #2: With strawberries added!

New Changes in my Life

2008-08-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

Just wanted to let you know I am still alive. I'm sorry it's been awhile since the last post but my life has gotten so crazy over the last week or so it seems I have been sucked into a whirl-wind. Last Wednesday as many of you know, was the first day back to school for the Gilbert school district and myself. I just started my new job as a speech language pathology assistant at Pioneer Elementary school just off of Greenfield and Baseline. I will start doing therapy sessions with kids next Monday and lately have been doing lots of "busy" work while being stressed that i'm not being allowed to do what I am required to do in order to get my masters degree and become certified as an SLP. I haven't slept well since last Tuesday with stress of not knowing what to do.

I just want to say how incredibly grateful I am for my sweet husband David who has been so supportive of all the new changes taking place. He has been my voice of reason when I am all stressed out and upset for no good reason. I love you David!

Good News!!!

2008-07-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

No, I am not pregnant ;) I wish I would have had my camera tonight, but sadly I forgot it in the rush to get out the door. Tonight was my littlest sisters city championship meet. She has been swimming competitively since she was about 6 years old and now swims during the summer on the Poston Swim Team as well as in the fall for the Mountain View Team. She has been working really hard for so many years and lately (i just found out) has been reading many books on how to perfect her strokes based off of the way Olympians swim.

She has had numerous swim meets this year and was able to win a high enough place in each won to make it to the championship tonight. Anyways, Heather won third place in the IM stroke out of all the city (8 laps of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle), fourth place in freestyle, and 1 PLACE BREASTROKE!!!! First place in her age group out of the entire city!! Go Heather!

Journey to the Center of the Earth

2008-07-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I did my usual babysitting after work. MY supervisor who I babysit for has had me watching her little girl for the last 3+ years and it has been so much fun to see her daughter grow up. Anyways, her and her husband informed me that they were going to see "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 3D and that they wouldn't get home until 10:45. When they got home, they said the movie had been really good and that the special affects were really worth seeing. When I got home, I told David what they said about the movie and he thought it was a cool idea to see a 3D movie so he suggested we go see it over the next week.

Saturday came and he texted me at work saying he really wanted to go see the movie-TONIGHT! So we went to Rubio's for dinner (since I was tired of being rushed to fix meals all way-you mom's know what i'm talking about!) and then arrived an hour early at the movie theater. It was a good thing because a line had already started forming...so we waited...and waited...and waited.

The movie started and said to put on our 3D glasses-some of the scenes made my eyes go kind of crazy because of the way the 3D was done so close up. Anyways, sitting behind us again (see last post) were two men with big bellies. We took a picture with David's cell phone but can't figure out how to download it. One of the men looked like our mechanic "Robert" who has a scruffy long beard, a big belly, and looks like a biker dude. In the middle of the movie, a scene plays where the three main characters are on a ship in an ocean in the center of the earth and these aweful looking fish with razor-sharp long teeth jump onto the boat and they are HUGE! Couldn't find a picture on google, sorry.

Somehow the teenage boy Sean gets seperated and lands on an island...and before we know if the camera jumps to showing one of the evil looking fish and it scared the whole audience, but as soon as the fish popped up, the biker guy said "Ah!! D*mn it!" and the whole audience including David and I died laughing. You could hear his voice above everyone else and he sounded terrified; it shocked the biker guy so bad that he said the "D" word. (One of those hilarious had to been there moments). He sounded more scared than the little kids.

Anyways, I recommend the movie in 3D to all :)

Who would have thought!!?

2008-07-08T19:06:00.000-07:00

My brother called me up last Thursday to see if we wanted to go to a Phoenix Mercury game (his thank you gift for feeding his dog while they went out of town several times). I had never been to a game before nor had I ever heard of anyone else going to a Mercury game so I kind of dragged my feet, said thanks, and we went. I was so amazed at how active and lively the crowd was. The Mercury had their own hip-hop team which came out several times during the game to perform-how fun that was!!! ( I told David I wanted to dance like that!).

As you can see, we had a man behind us with a rather large belly---but him and his friend were both very knowledgeable about the Mercury so we got to listen to some stats about the team while we were there.

The Mercury played the New York Liberty and were behind them point wise nearly 10 points the entire game
Towards the end of the fourth quarter, the score closed in to 8 pts. difference and then 6 pts, but unfortunately we lost. Needless to say, we had a really fun time and even enjoyed a yummy mint brownie cold stone treat while we were there AND won free state farm water bottles because our section yelled "FARM" louder than the section that yelled "STATE" :) We were both excited to win something!

Lake Trip

2008-06-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

David and I got to go up to Canyon Lake yesterday with David's sister Rosalee and her boyfriend Jake (who owned the boat) and David's cousin Esther and her husband Justin. Justin and Esther were the first to try out the kneeboard and they had no idea how to do it. Esther caught on and was able to stay on for awhile, but Justin pushed himself on the board sideways and kept getting thrown off. Rosalee and David then went together and the two were pretty impressive and both stayed on for a really long time. Rose told me I was next and I kept saying " No, no no, someone else can go". But David was still in the water waiting for me so I made myself go and try to learn. I was amazed that after I few tries I was able to get up (even though I didn't stay on as long as him and Rose). I kept telling David "I can't do it!" and he said if you say that one more time I'm gonna push you off! :) So I made myself believe I could do it and below is a shot of the outcome. I'm very proud of myself despite the terrified look on my face.

I told David that I'm one of those people that you have the MAKE me do something I don't want to 95% of the time when I'm trying new things before I will do it---and the majority of the time, I find that I really like doing those thing. I am not a risk taker by any means.

David also went wakeboarding and I was suprised just how GOOD he was---good at the sport and good looking as he withstood all the crashing waves around him.

Anniversary #1

2008-06-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

This past weekend David and I got to take a little bit of time off of work (and by little bit, I mean half a day for me and two days for David). We decided that since we weren't going to be able to go on any major vacations this year due to the fact that I will be starting masters in the fall and david will be going to ASU as well (and little money with all the tuition expenses) that we would make our anniversary our "mini" vacation. We went to see Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian and then enjoyed dinner at the Olive Garden. As you can see, we are downing a Strawberry Daquiri (non-alcoholic, thank you :) ).

David ran out of hair gel and forgot to tell me, so we're stickin with the messy hair!

We then headed out to the Buttes Marriott hotel which is right in the middle of the city of Tempe, yet, when you turn down the road that leads to the hotel, immediately you are immersed in a desert scene that appears to be miles away from the closest city. It was around 7:30 when we finally got there, just in time for the sun to start going down. We lugged everything to our hotel room and then climbed the small Buttes (mountain) and enjoyed a view of the city.

David and I decided to test out the swimming pools which were beautifully layed out on one of the mountains. Unfortunately the water slide wasn't up and running both at night and in the morning when we went swimming again. The pool had a glass wall on the side of it so we were able to get some fun pictures. I realize that everything we did was still in the heat of tempe arizona, but for us it was a nice little get away.

2008-06-02T21:06:00.001-07:00

David and I have been debating over the last week or so what we should do for our one year anniversary, seeing how it is coming up this Sunday. We have decided that we would celebrate it June 13th as David has that Friday and Saturday off. I had wanted to go to the Kierland Resort in Scottsdale, but the package we wanted apparently was only for Sunday through Thursday (not Friday and Saturday, the only days we had).

This anniversary is also going to be our "vacation" as David and I are trying to save up for school for the next couple of years (hence wanting to go to a resort). So....for those of you who have any romantic, vacation like (in Arizona) ideas we would love some input!! :)

On a fun note, David and I just bought an '07 Toyota Corolla on Memorial. We are so excited to have a car with air conditioning and something that won't need a repair every month (hopefully). Below is basically the picture of a the car we got, (Tinted windows and all), only ours is a beautiful black sparkly color.

2008-05-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

Just a little about ourselves :) David and I have been married almost a year, coming up June 8th. Back to the beginning....David and I started emailing each other off of ldsmingle at the beginning of November 2006. I didn't consent to going on a date until the second or third time David asked me. I would say that by far, our first date was the best date I had ever been on. David took me to his company's Christmas party which was a Hawaiin Luau. We watched girls doing Hawaiin dances and a guy juggling fire. There was also bouncers for the kids to play on so I got to see first hand how David interacted with kids and I loved what I saw. Afterwards, he took me on a hay ride while we christmas caroled around Val Vista Lakes subdivision. David I continued going on several dates over the next couples of weeks. I kept asking what our relationship status was, as we had kissed on the third date, held hands yadda yadda yadda-and he would never tell me! Finally on Valentines Day, after having told me that he wanted to date around, he let me know where we stood. After a picnic on the temple grounds, just him and me, under a cloudy sky (it had just rained like an hour prior to us being there), we walked around the temple.

David said to not worry about just leaving our picnic food and blanket. We sat under an olive tree in front of the temple and he read me the sweetest poem. He then asked me (standing-although he says he knelt) if I would marry him and of course I said yes!! David was a guy that I had never felt any feelings of something wrong while dating him. Everything had seemed perfect about him as a person and someone that I could share the eternities with. We were married on June 8, 2007 in the Mesa Arizona Temple. We honeymooned in San Diego-we went to Sea World and the Beach and about froze to death from it being so cold! Thats what we get coming from Arizona :)