Garrett, Mandy, Nora & Bella

Santa Barbara / Disneyland Trip (part 2)

2012-01-02T18:50:00.001-07:00

After spending most of the week in Santa Barbara, we decided to drive to Disneyland for the last few days of the trip. We were planning to go back to Disneyland a few months later so we ended up buying season passes while we were there.

Nora was a bit too young to enjoy the rides, but she LOVED the Tiki Room. We had to take her back a few times. Other than that, she was most interested in, well, the rock walls in the lines. That’s one of the extra benefits you won’t find in any of the brochures. We won’t even charge you for that insider tip. Good thing we have season passes so we can bring her back when she’s a bit older.

Don’t look to the left of us. I said, “DON’T look”! You just looked, didn’t you? I tried.

She snuck out of the bedroom so she could climb onto the coffee table and steal chips (which apparently give you demon eyes).

Ahh, the siren call of the…rock…walls. Sigh. Good thing her admission was free.

Huge crowds full of huge people

Yikes. What did they put into Dad’s pineapple whip?

On the plane ride home. Nora didn’t stop squirming once. At least she looked good, though.

Santa Barbara / Disneyland Trip (part 1)

2012-01-02T18:30:00.001-07:00

Mandy had a week-long work conference at University of California at Santa Barbara in August, so Garrett and Nora tagged along. During the day while Mom was at the conference, Dad and Nora did touristy stuff.

At the Hotel

Unbeknownst to Nora, we took some of the new toys she got for her birthday. We had the suitcase unzipped, but closed. Nora had been crawling around in the living room and Dad turned his back for a minute. When he turned around, Nora was gone. He went into the bedroom to find this. To say she was excited would be an understatement.

Santa Barbara Mission

Enterprise Fish Company

Santa Barbara Zoo

Nora and Dad stopped at a church to let a newly-walking Nora play on the lawn

Maww! Tell Paww Nora got into the moonshahn aginn!

Nora’s First Birthday

2012-01-02T18:06:00.001-07:00

Mandy put together a huge bash for Nora’s first birthday. We invited friends and family to our house for a BBQ, opened presents, made Nora her very own cake and then lit fireworks in the street. Mandy lobbied for a pony, but was vetoed by Garrett. Nora got extremely spoiled by all the wonderful people in her life. Thanks everyone!

A custom cake by Mom

Opening presents. She had lots of friends who were eager to help.

A little unsure at first…

…but I’d say she got the hang of it. She spent a good 20, uninterrupted minutes on this thing.

Hill Air Force Museum

2012-01-02T17:55:00.001-07:00

We took Nora and were joined by Angie, Bennett and Asher. The adults and Winegar boys had fun. Nora, not so much.

Nora's First Haircut

2012-01-02T17:52:00.001-07:00

It was really just a bang trim, but it was much-needed.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Willard Bay boating trip

2012-01-02T17:47:00.001-07:00

This was our first boating trip of the year. We went to Willard Bay with Levi and the Winegar boys. Nora loved being on the boat, but screamed bloody murder when we tried to take her swimming. We tried to keep her out of the driver’s seat while the boat was moving, but she was having none of it.

June 2010

2012-01-02T17:39:00.001-07:00

This is Nora’s favorite sleeping position.

Getting better with the food thing

We were cleaning out the boat to get ready for the season and Nora climbed up into the driver’s seat. It was the first time she’d been in the boat. Dad might’ve shed a tear of pride.

Nora will NOT be bothered to walk around the end table. This is her preferred route.

The tongue position indicates intense concentration.

Uh…voodoo curse, maybe?

Bella is trying REALLY hard to be oblivious

Star Valley trip

2012-01-02T17:23:00.001-07:00

Our friends the Catenzaros invited us to their family’s cabin in Star Valley, Wyoming for Memorial Day. We borrowed Garrett’s dad’s dirt bike and headed up to do some playing. It was Nora’s first long car ride (about 3 hours), so we were a bit anxious about it, but she did great.

Mandy driving the side-by-side

A Video USA pic for Grandpa Estle

Nora in the car

May 2010 – part 2

2012-01-02T17:17:00.001-07:00

Yeah…she did this all by herself. Apparently we’re going to have to keep an eye on this one.

Nora’s gotten pretty good at this. Getting into this position, anyway. Getting out is another story.

10 Month pictures. She’s getting less patient with this process.

Not sure what this is…

May 2010 – part 1

2012-01-02T17:12:00.001-07:00

Tracy Aviary

Garrett put together a surprise party for Mandy’s birthday. Alicia, Andy, Levi, Kristalee, Roxey and Rocky were waiting for us at Epic Casual Dining.

Nora is still growing and changing quickly. One thing that doesn’t change, though, is that she likes to be in the center of the action, even if that action is only making dinner or doing the dishes.

Bella, though a bit neglected since Nora’s arrival, is still a princess.

April 2010

2012-01-02T17:02:00.001-07:00

Grandma Biesinger and Grant’s birthdays

Nora is standing up well, as long as she can hold on to something.

9 Month pictures

Some more random pictures

Easter 2010

2012-01-02T16:53:00.001-07:00

Nora celebrated her first Easter this year. Mandy’s cousin Scott and his family were visiting the area, so we were fortunate to have them with us for the holiday weekend. Nora’s still too young to appreciate what’s going on, so she was pretty oblivious to the plastic eggs and the talking plush dog we got her. Luckily, since I’m writing this from the future, I can tell you that she ended up loving the dog later.

March 2010

2012-01-02T16:42:00.001-07:00

Still working on the solid foods.

Cousin Max’s blessing

February 2010

2012-01-02T16:25:00.001-07:00

Mandy and Garrett went to Boondocks with Grant and Amber for a Valentine’s Day date.

Nora has taken to scooting herself into this corner and getting stuck.

Same deal here

January 2010

2012-01-02T15:54:00.003-07:00

Nora has started eating solid foods, although she’s not yet a fan.

She is also sitting up…

…but isn’t a complete pro.

Some more random stuff

Nora's Five Month Pictures

2012-01-02T15:49:00.002-07:00

Christmas 2009

2012-01-02T15:22:00.008-07:00

This was Nora's first Christmas. She was pretty oblivious to the whole thing, but we had fun with her. We didn't spoil her much since we knew her grandparents would more than take care of that for us and she obviously isn't old enough to understand what's going on yet. We bought her a bouncer and ended up taking it back a few weeks after Christmas because she just wasn't into it.

Nora's soon-to-be-returned bouncer

Nora and her Sadorus-side cousins

At Zoo Lights at the Hogle Zoo

Time to catch up

2012-01-02T15:15:00.001-07:00

We've been really bad at posting on here for the last few years. Life is busy, yadda yadda yadda, excuses, excuses. I was going through old posts and realized how many of the little things I had forgotten about day-to-day with Nora, but that, luckily, Mandy had blogged about. My sister Angie publishes her family blog to a printed book every year, which is an awesome way to preserve your family memories. My (Garrett) goal is to get better at posting the little things so that we can do something similar and not lose all the fun little memories. I'm going to be playing catch up with old pictures over the next few days/weeks and hopefully it will be easier to stay caught up once we're there.

4th of July

2011-07-06T10:27:00.003-06:00

Yeah, it's been a while again. Surprise! Life is just too busy!

I couldn't resist sharing these photos though. We had a really nice and relaxing 4th of July weekend, and it culminated on Monday with a fun night at my parent's house. We had a rousing game of girls vs boys softball, and of course the boys kicked our trash. Mason did a great job of stacking his team in his favor for picking the teams! :) I did however shock myself and Garrett by hitting the ball twice. Miracle!

Nora had a fantastic time as well running free all evening. She swam in the kiddie pool with her cousins, trying to play ball with the big kids and eating treats. Here she is enjoying itty bitty popsicles (seriously, who ever came up with those is the smartest person ever. Love them. Everything is better when it's itty bitty). Max and Libby seem to love them too!

They all look so different! Funny that they came from 3 sisters. I love these three kids and love how much fun they have together. I loved having 2 cousins my age, Scott and Megan were the best. These three remind me of us! :)

Tap, Tap, Tap...

2011-03-31T10:32:00.009-06:00

Is this thing still on? Do you think it's been long enough since I've posted? This past year has been a crazy one. Trying to balance being a working at home mom and Nora and life with Garrett has been crazy. I obviously need to catch up on a bunch of things on here, but for now, I'll just say hello and post a few pictures of our little cutie pie. I promise to do better! :)

On her first birthday, man I am really behind.

"Wearing" the antenna from mom's lobster, during our Santa Barbara trip.

Snuggling her monkey while we tried to get a picture for Christmas.

Showing off her cute pig tails on Valentine's Day 2011.

An Open Apology

2010-02-16T13:22:00.004-07:00

So I promise this blog will not be dedicated to my battle with PPD, I really do promise. But I feel like occasionally I am going to have some things to say about it, and it's my blog, so there!

Dear friends and family:

I just wanted to write an open apology to all of you. I know I should have been more open and honest about what was going on, I really know that. But, since I wasn't capable of doing that, I just wanted to apologize. I'm sorry for being a cranky person to be around. I'm sorry if I wasn't an attentive friend. I'm sorry if I ignored you, or didn't respond to you. I'm sorry if I seemed distant or cold. I'm sorry if I snapped at you over little things. I still love you, I really do. Do you still love me? I sure hope so. Forgive me, please?

Please accept this digital image of flowers as my token of apology.

All of my love,
Mandy

Nora at 6 Months

2010-02-12T10:14:00.004-07:00

Okay, time to get rid of that depressing entry (har har har… I know, I am so funny). And what better way to do that then with a cute baby!

The standard picture with age sign...

Nora turned 6 months old on January 29. I can’t believe she’s been with us for 6 months! I love it. At her 6 month appointment we found out that she weighed 14 lbs 10 oz and is 26 inches long. She’s our little string bean!

I need to be better about recording fun things she does or likes, so here it goes.

She absolutely LOVES being in the tub. When she first started figuring out the water thing, she would stiffen her arms and legs and hit them really hard and fast against the water. Needless to say, more water ended up on me than I could ever imagine. She’s not quite as crazy anymore, but she still loves being in the water. She’s more then content to play in the tub for as long as we will let her.

Shirt courtesy of Auntie Lish. So true about this little one.

She is still an amazing sleeper. Most nights she is sleeping 12-13 hours a night. This past week and a half that hasn’t been the case because she’s been sick, but that is usually the norm. She still takes 2 naps too!

She had her first illness ever this past week. She has had bronchiolitis and an ear infection. NOT fun. I know for most parents dealing with sickness is old hat, but with this being our first time it was really scary. She was so listless those first few days, and was only happy if she was snuggled up. We survived though, and she’s getting much better!

This is her usual attitude, happy! And yes, she is her father's daughter. Her feet really are huge!

We just barely got her to start eating solids. We tried at 5 months, but she was so NOT interested. Now she’s doing much better though. She is also a completely picky eater. We’ve started supplementing some of our frozen milk into the fresh milk to use up some of the stash we have in the freezer. That milk is still good, it is NOT sour, not spoiled, it is fine. But you put even ½ an ounce of that into her fresh milk, and she is so mad! And don’t even THINK about giving her a bottle of milk that is all frozen (reheated of course, but from the freezer). Oh, and absolutely NO formula. She wants nothing to do with it!

Squash, so yummy. Or is it? That face is slightly confusing.

She has been sitting up on her own for the last month or so, but has gotten really good at it the last couple of weeks. It’s so fun to see her figure things out, and sit up like such a big girl! She’s changing way too fast for me.

Such a big girl, sitting all by herself! We've got to be better at teaching her modesty though, little stinker has a hard time keeping her skirt where it should be. Thank goodness for matching bum covers!

She absolutely LOVES to jump. My parents have this old school jumper and she’ll jump in it forever. She likes to stand when you hold her, and jumps then. She even “jumps” on her bum when she’s sitting in her chair at the counter.

The famous old school jumper. This picture is from Thanksgiving, but I couldn't find a recent picture of it. She looks so little! She seriously loves this thing though.

She is fascinated with Bella right now, although Bella is not so fascinated with her. She is constantly looking around for her, and then gets the biggest grin on her face when she finds her. Last night Nora was sitting on the ground in our little TV area upstairs, and Bella wanted me to play tug of war with one of her stuffed toys. Nora was laughing hysterically, I couldn’t get enough of it! That game went on for a ½ hour and Nora laughed the entire time.

Bella is so entertaining.

She’s not much of a snuggler these days, she is way too interested in what’s going on around her. She is an amazing morning person, always super happy to see us. She always has huge smiles for her dad, and stares at him while he’s getting ready in the morning. Overall, she is a wonderful baby, and we love having her as part of our family!

Big girl in her new chair! She loves it! Too bad our counter isn't deep enough to get her really close. Once she starts feeding herself, we might have to move it to the table.

PPD

2010-02-01T21:40:00.001-07:00

Why is it so hard some times to talk about what’s going on in our lives? I often wonder why I (and a lot of other people I know) feel the need to constantly put on a front. Why can’t we just share what we are going through? Why can’t we be honest with ourselves and others about the struggles we are going through? And why do we feel such pressure to look and seem perfect all the time?

I know I probably have talked about this on my blog before, but I remember before I got pregnant, how excited I was to go through pregnancy. With the exception of one friend, everyone told me how great it was, how wonderful they felt, and on, and on, and on…. And then when I finally did get pregnant and things didn’t go the way I thought they would, I felt deceived. The funny thing was, I was SO determined to be honest with myself that whenever anyone asked I told them the truth. And once it poured out of my mouth, I found myself having in depth conversations with people about how awful it really was sometimes, and how hard it was to tell people that.

Once Nora was here, I thought things would get so much better. And they did in some ways. But we had another huge problem that I think people (okay, women) are afraid to talk about. And once again, I decided that I was going to be honest with myself and others. I haven’t talked about it much, or at all, on here, but we had HUGE problems nursing. I thought babies just came out knowing how to eat! How wrong I was in that assumption. But do you know what happened? Once I started talking about it and being honest about it, I found that quite a few women had the same problem. The same women who told me how great it was to nurse and how easy it was were reminded of the things they had forgotten. Time passes and I think we forget how hard things are so that we’ll go through it all again.

So the thing I’m wondering, is if I can be so honest with people who ask about nursing and pregnancy, then why can’t I be honest in other aspects of my life? Why are there certain things that are so taboo to talk about? Why do certain things have such a negative image?

So I feel a little bit like I’m at an AA meeting, but here it goes. I have postpartum depression. Whew. There, I said it. Much harder to say than I thought it would be. No one really knows outright (although I’m sure some people have suspected). I haven’t even told my mom or sisters (sorry mom and sisters!). I think that I have been nervous for people to know. There is such a stigma of failure that comes with PPD sometimes. Why can’t I be one of those perfect moms that have babies and 2 weeks later are balancing their lives better than they were before? Do those moms even really exist or are they just fakes who break down at home when no one is looking? Why did nursing not work for me, did I not try hard enough? Why can’t I keep up on laundry, keep a clean house, pump four times a day and get all of my work done and still spend quality time with Nora and Garrett, not to mention Bella? Lots of “whys” run through my head on a pretty daily basis.

I was officially diagnosed when Nora was about three months old. I remember going to the appointment already on edge, because I pretty much knew what was going to happen. I knew what she was going to say, and I didn’t want to face it because I felt like I was failing. Failing at being a wife and a mother. And when she told me, I cried. But the crying wasn’t anything new… I was so embarrassed. In my gut I knew it was there, but I just thought I’d get over it. But life doesn’t always work that way. The last three months have been an even bigger adjustment. I’m trying to manage this sickness (because that’s exactly what it is) naturally and on my own. Some days I succeed, others I don’t. But I’m making it through.

I’m not putting this out there to get pity. I don’t need to be coddled, or constantly checked on. I really am doing okay. I put this out there so that I’m being honest. Honest with myself and honest with others. And maybe if I’m being honest than it will open up the opportunity for someone else who is struggling to know that there is someone they can talk to who has been through the same thing. Who understands the pain and anguish that they are going through. Because it can be that bad. I wish sometimes that I had been honest earlier, because then maybe I would have found someone who I could have leaned on who had been through the same things. And maybe I still will. But if anything happens from this bout of honesty, I hope it’s that I can help someone else.

Six months have passed since my life changed dramatically. Six months have passed where I have lived for another human being. Six months of tears and laughter trying to get my life back in balance. It’s getting there. And even though these last 6 months have been hard emotionally for me, they were worth it. Because these last 6 months have taught me that I can do hard things. That even on the days when the house isn’t clean I am a good mom to Nora. That I can still be a good wife and not have dinner on the table. And that I can still be a good person and not be perfect.

And on that note, here is a picture of one person who has made these 6 months so incredibly worth it.

Yummy Chicken

2010-01-18T19:09:00.002-07:00

Just made a yummy dinner and thought I'd share. Not sure where I found the recipe, but it was relatively easy to make!

Braised Balsamic Chicken
Serves 6
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced (I used shallots)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Season chicken breasts with ground black pepper and garlic salt. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet, and first brown the onion and then add the seasoned chicken breasts and brown that as well. Pour tomatoes and balsamic vinegar over chicken, and season with basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme. Simmer until chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear, about 15 minutes.

We served it over wheat pasta and I had garlic/shallot green beans (thanks to my sis Lish for the recipe). Yum!

Road Rage

2010-01-16T10:14:00.001-07:00

Road rage. We’ve all had it at one point or another, right? Okay, maybe you haven’t because you are all angels and happy and never let anything bother you. I am not that person though. I’ve definitely experienced road rage more than once in my life. I’m not too proud to admit it! I’ve never feared for my life though. That is, until a couple of days ago.

A couple of days ago on my way to work I pulled on to the freeway entrance by our house. I was driving the car, not the tahoe. On the onramp, this big chevy truck pulled up behind me. I was going as fast as I could but there were quite a few cars in front of me. He didn’t seem to care though, and got right on my tail and turned on his brights. Once he could pass me, he did and then swerved right back in front of me. I was a little annoyed (little translates to a lot) and so I flashed my brights back. Just to let him know. I never should have done that. The guy pulled into the next lane, slowed down so I would pass him, and then proceeded to tailgate me for 20 minutes almost the entire way to work. I sped up, he sped up. I slowed down, he did. If I changed lanes so that someone else was behind me, he sped up and pushed his way between us. I even tried evasive maneuvers on 600 South to lose him, and he kept up. ARGHH!! It was so scary and frustrating! I finally ditched him at 9th East and 3rd South, but I think it was just him getting tired of his little game. Looking back at it, I should have called the police and given them my location so they could have stopped him. Hindsight is always 20/20 though. I’m just glad to still be here. And, it REALLY makes me re-think my habit of flashing my brights and honking. You never know who you might make mad.

End Of Year Questionnaire....

2010-01-06T17:19:00.003-07:00

So one of the blogs I read (or should I say LURK on?) All & Sundry posted an end of year questionnaire. I thought it was fun, so here is mine!

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Gave birth. Wow. Craziness. It was so not what I thought it would be, but I’m so glad I did it! Nora is amazing. Dealt with breastfeeding issues. Who knew that babies didn’t come out knowing how to eat?

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?  
I didn’t make any resolutions last year I figured that making it through the year alive would be a miracle. I now know though that I can do hard things. Whew. Who knew. This year is going to be a big year for me though. The big 30. And I want things to be a lot different. I sat down on Sunday and wrote a HUGE list of things I’d like to do and or be better at (36 said items. I’m an over achiever). Here are just a few….

• Read the entire Book of Mormon by June. I’ve never been great at reading my scriptures. Last June we challenged the YW of our ward to read the book in an entire year. I started with them, and then for some reason got really busy and overwhelmed. Baby anyone?
• Be on time to church every week. Note that I did not say be EARLY to church. We really struggle at this as a family, and mostly it’s my fault. I don’t plan ahead well, and I hate that. I hate being late but it’s really become a part of my personality in the last 8 years. This year we will be on time to church.
• Be nicer to Garrett. I have to realize that we are two different people with different opinions on how things should be done. I’m not proud of this, but I’m not always nice when I think things are not being done the way I think they should be. I also think I take him for granted a lot. So, I really need to work on that.
• Blog at least once a week. I don’t keep a journal. I’m awful at that. And I haven’t written down anything for Nora about when she’s done things. I am really going to regret that, I know it.
• Eat more whole foods and less processed crap. I am not so good at this. Just plain need to be better.
• Run a 5K and a 10K by the end of the year. Every year I say I want to do this. This year I am picking two to work towards so I actually do.
• Have a date night at least 2 times a month with Garrett. We need to spend more time just the two of us so that we don’t lose our spark!
• Keep a cleaner house. I used to be great at this, but since Nora has joined our family, not so much. It’s driving me insane.
• Work on not being so easily hurt. I think I expect too much of people, and then let myself get let down. I need to not do that anymore!
• And last, but definitely not least, I need to learn how to say no. And how to not take on more than I can handle or need to handle.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?  
Myself (I would say I’m pretty close to me!), my sister, some cousins, some friends. Lots of babies around here this year.

4. Did anyone close to you die?  
Nope.

5. What countries did you visit?  
So sad, but no countries. I wish we could travel more!

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
  The ability to be a stay at home mom. We are so close! And, my body back. This pregnancy did a number on my already aging body. There are mornings I can’t walk. Must get this hip problem figured out!

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
  July 29. Nora joined our little family. That was HUGE.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?  
Ha. I feel like my answers are going to be the same. Giving birth. That was monumental. And figuring out a way to feed Nora that made her happy and accomplished what I wanted too.

9. What was your biggest failure?
  There are so many to count. Not being a better wife, mother, sister, daughter. I think I failed a lot at that this year.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
  A few. Torn back muscles during pregnancy, dealing with the hip problems afterwards.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
  New crockpot…that has been so useful! I can’t really think of anything else…

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
  Garrett’s. He has been such a great father and husband. Helpful even when I don’t realize it.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?  
Can’t really think of anything specifically…maybe mine when I'm grumpy?

14. Where did most of your money go?
  Paying off debt, groceries, oh and the greatest money sucker of all times—a baby.

15. What did you get really excited about?
  Becoming a mom. Finally.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
  ”The Prettiest Thing” by Norah Jones. It was on my labor play list and always makes me think of Nora Mae.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: 
– happier or sadder? Happier, most of the time.
– thinner or fatter? Fatter. Working on it after giving birth. Sheesh.
– richer or poorer? Poorer, definitely. See above…Baby.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?  
Relaxed and enjoyed the journey more instead of stressing about all the little things that just plain don’t matter.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?  
Stressing and getting annoyed with other people who I cannot control.

20. How did you spend Christmas?  
Going back and forth between both families for two days. It was fun! ☺

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
I would say yes. I fell in love with Garrett again in a whole new way. And I have a new love in my life!

22. What was your favorite TV program?  
Oh, I so watch too much TV. I love The Biggest Loser (first year watching it) and Community. Abed makes me laugh so much.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?  
Nope.

24. What was the best book you read?
  I read WAY too many books. Counted this year, and hit 110. No one particular book was the best, but I did find a new series that I love thanks to Grandpa Casler. Richard Jury series by Martha Grimes.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? 
The “Baby Mine” lullaby CD from assorted artists.

26. What did you want and get?
A baby. Almost out of debt. Oh, and a baby…did I say that already? ☺

27. What did you want and not get?
To be debt free and a stay at home mom. We are close though. That will be 2010! An entirely new wardrobe. Oh how I want a new wardrobe. And all new shoes!

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
  Wolverine. I love me some Hugh Jackman.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I worked convocation, went to dinner with friends and to a movie. Wolverine, actually.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A better attitude at times? I don’t know! It really was a nice year.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Maternity clothes. Ugh. Need I say more.

32. What kept you sane?  
Garrett.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I don’t know. No one person stands out!

34. What political issue stirred you the most?  
Healthcare. Yucky.

35. Who did you miss?  
This may be weird, but myself. I miss who I used to be sometimes. Comes with being a parent, right?

36. Who was the best new person you met?  
My friend Gemma. I actually “met” her last year, but this is the year we became really good friends. I love her so much and really look up to her!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.  
That as much as I stress about them, the little things don’t matter in the long run. What matters is how you treat people.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.  
This song makes me think of this year and how much more I love Garrett and my little family. So here is the entire song. Gotta love Sting.

I Was Brought To My Senses
Alone with my thoughts this evening
I walked on the banks of Tyne
I wondered how I could win you
Or if I could make you mine
Or if I could make you mine

The wind it was so insistent
With tales of a stormy south
But when I spied two birds in a sycamore tree
There came a dryness in my mouth
Came a dryness in my mouth

For then without rhyme or reason
The two birds did rise up to fly
And where the two birds were flying
I swear I saw you and I
I swear I saw you and I

I walked out this morning
It was like a veil had been removed from before my eyes
For the first time I saw the work of heaven
In the line where the hills had been married to the sky
And all around me
Every blade of singing grass
Was calling out your name
And that our love would always last
And inside every turning leaf
Is the pattern of an older tree
The shape of our future
The shape of all our history
And out of the confusion
Where the river meets the sea
Came things I'd never seen
Things I'd never seen

I was brought to my senses
I was blind but now that I can see
Every signpost in nature
Said you belong to me

I know it's true
It's written in a sky as blue
As blue as your eyes
As blue as your eyes
If nature's red in tooth and claw
Like winter's freeze and summer's thaw
The wounds she gave me
Were the wounds that would heal me
And we'd be like the moon and sun
And when our courtly dance had run
Its course across the sky
Then together we would lie
And out of the confusion
Where the river meets the sea
Something new would arrive
Something better would arrive

I was brought to my senses
I was blind but now that I can see
Every signpost in nature
Said you belong to me
I was brought to my senses
I was blind but now that I can see
Every signpost in nature
Said you belong to me...

Happy 2010!

I Love

2009-12-18T11:48:00.005-07:00

I love my husband. Because he is amazing. He is loving and supportive. He always makes me laugh with his antics. And he’s cute. All the young women tell me so. And so does he.

I love my body, even though I no longer look like this picture. I love that my body created this new life that’s with me. I love that even though my body doesn’t look the way I want it to, it still does amazing things. I can hold my baby. I can rock her to sleep. I can snuggle with her and sniff her sweet hair. I can toss her in the air and make her giggle. I love that my body has the ability to do these things.

I love sweet little Nora who just wants to be with me these days. Who even though she’s crying stops to attempt to pull a cheeser smile the second I pull out the camera.

I love nephews named Max that are super handsome. And who have little cleft chins. I love that Nora has so many cousins to grow up with. They will all be such good friends.

I love sweet little neighbor girls that love Nora like a little sister.

I love that sweet little neighbor girls love to spend time with me too. (Poor Abbie, having me do her hair. Haven't quite figured out how to produce hairstyles that stay super cute.)

I love puppy dogs named Bella, even though she’s been naughty and peed in the house a lot lately. She was really sick last week and I was so worried we would lose her.

But mostly today, I love my Savior. I love him for the sacrifices that he made for me. I love that he loves me unconditionally. For some reason this morning, my heart is full of love. Maybe it’s the season.

Dear Boss

2009-12-16T15:38:00.003-07:00

Dear Boss,

You know how I had this STACK of stuff that had to get done today? You know, all those big important things you gave me, that absolutely have to get done today, no ifs ands or buts? Well, they'll still get done, don't worry. They just won't get done until midnight tonight. And all because of this.

This little one did not want to nap today, no matter what I tried. All she wanted to do was sit up on the desk and work with mom. No nap, no play mat, no bouncy seat. Just time on the desk with mom.

She sure has been a cranky pants today. As cranky as she can be. I tried to catch her mid cry, but the minute I pulled out the camera, I got the cheeser smile above. It's hard being a working mom, but man am I blessed to have the job I do that has so much flexibility. And one that lets me laugh at Nora while I work.

I'm a math dork

2009-12-14T20:54:00.001-07:00

So I was going through a bunch of pictures on my lap top the other day and found this gem from my trip to India. I don't know who knows this about me, but I am a total math dork. I love doing long division, multiplication, etc. It is relaxing to me. I even do math randomly in the shower when I'm just relaxing under the hot water. Yeah, I'm a weirdo. Anyway, in India we stopped at this little outdoor school when we were touring through the countryside. Totally had to get a picture of myself with the chalkboard during math lessons. Yup, I'm weird. Hope I pass it on to Nora.

I'm married to someone in his THIRTY'S!

2009-12-08T08:59:00.002-07:00

What a good looking hubby/dad we've got...

Garrett is 31!

Sorry sweetie, as you have said you are no longer just 30 you are now IN your 30’s! HA HA HA. Yeah, I know, I’m not too far behind you.

The sweet sounds of happy birthday....

I am so grateful that I have Garrett in my life. He is an amazing husband and father and I don’t know what I would do without him. He has been such a rock of support to me since Nora joined our family. He is helpful and loving and completely supportive. I couldn’t ask for a better husband. I love you Garrett, and hope you have an amazing day!

Blowing out his candles. He is lucky I didn't do all 31!

Nora's Birth Story

2009-12-04T11:28:00.004-07:00

So labor and delivery did not quite go as I had planned. What is that you say? I can’t make everything go the way I think it should? Man, I wish I had figured that out earlier! ☺

First snuggle time with dad. Garrett looks so tired, poor guy!

Anyway, it all started on Sunday night, July 26. We had dinner at my mom’s, and I was lucky enough to get a pedicure from my sweet sister AnJ. We still had not packed the hospital bag, and I really wasn’t feeling well at all. I started worrying that it was going to be THE night and I was not prepared, so Garrett and I stayed up until 1:00 AM packing. I was in sheer panic mode, it was pretty funny.

Getting weighed. She is always putting her hand up like that.

Monday I woke up not feeling well again. I spent the day working at home and also went to lunch with my friend Kristalee. I was having what I thought were contractions, though they were pretty far apart. Garrett got home from work, and we decided to run some errands to get my mind off things. The contractions started coming closer together, every 10-15 minutes, and they were pretty uncomfortable. I was sure that now this would be THE night. Ha ha, ha ha, ha ha…..

Snuggling with mom while waiting to move to our room.

We went to bed and Garrett was able to sleep through the night. I, on the other hand, did not. I kept waking up in so much discomfort, it was crazy. Tuesday I spent the day working from home and trying to take care of some last minute projects. The contractions kept coming closer and closer together, and finally at around 4 it was all I could do to lie on the couch and time them. Garrett got home from work and the night was spent timing away. We had taken Bradley Method courses and knew that we wanted to stay at home as long as possible because I was trying to go natural. There were so many times that I thought that the next contraction couldn’t possibly be worse then the last one, and then bam. There it was. This went on all evening, until I finally said that we needed to go in. We packed up our stuff, put Bella in the crate, and then headed to the hospital at around midnight. That had to have been the most horrible car ride I have ever had! I seriously felt like I was going to have her right there, the contractions were so hard and right on top of each other. I was so positive that I had to at LEAST be to a 6. Once again…ha ha, ha ha, ha ha….

First bath.

So after getting checked in and changed, they did an exam and low and behold, I was only to a 4. Repeat that with me people. A measly little 4. Sheesh! We were in it for the long haul. We spent the early morning hours doing everything we possibly could to get things moving. Walked the halls, soaked in the tub, walked the halls more, every possible thing that we could think of. And every time they examined me I was still at a 4. Then a 4 +. Still a 4+. It was so disheartening to not see any sort of progression at all. Luckily they continued monitoring Nora every hour and she was being a total trooper. At around 7 AM, they suggested that I get some pain medication in an IV, which would hopefully relax me enough to get things moving. After resisting as long as I could, I finally gave in to that at 9 AM. We were hoping that I would relax enough to sleep but that didn’t happen. I was given another dose at 10, and still nothing. So, after all those long hours and being completely worn out, we decided to go ahead and get an epidural hoping that I would finally be able to relax and progress. The epidural, while not what I wanted at all, was nowhere near as bad as I thought that it would be. I’m so glad I had Garrett who was so strong for me. They administered the epidural at noon, and then told me to go ahead and relax and sleep (since it had been a LONG time since that had happened). Oh how I wish I had been able to do that….

Warm and cozy after her first bath.

Luckily, Garrett was able to get some sleep and I just rested and watched TV, dozing a little bit here and there. They continued to check me and continued to only progress a little at a time until I was barely a 5+ at 6 PM. At this point, our nurse said that they wanted to break my water, which was one thing I did not want to do at all. I told her that we wanted to wait a little bit longer, to give me a couple of hours to try one more time to sleep, and then we’d see where we were at. Our nurses were so nice and respectful of what we were trying to do! So at 6:30 I tried to sleep. And thankfully, I did. Our nurse came back into check on me around 8:45, and I had finally progressed! She said I was at a 9+ and my water had broken on it’s own. She went to call our Dr. and said that if I felt like I needed to push to let her know. She literally had just stepped out the door when I turned to Garrett and said that I had to push and I had to push now. She came right back in and I was fully dilated, it was crazy. All my body needed to do was sleep so that it could relax enough to do what it was supposed to do!

Our little burrito baby. She still loves it!

After all those long hours of working, I thought there was no way I could get this baby out. I had heard all these horror stories of first time mom’s pushing for hours and hours and hours. Luckily, that wasn’t me. I started pushing at 9:03, my doctor got there around 9:25 and Nora Mae was born at 9:33 PM, July 29, 2009. Smack dab on her due date. She was 7 lbs 8 oz and so beautiful! I am not biased though or anything….

Big yawns!

It was such an amazing experience. Things didn’t completely go as I had “scheduled,” but I am so glad I had the experience I did. It was hard. Really hard. But it made me appreciate her so much more. It also helped me appreciate Garrett. He is so amazing and I am so lucky to have him in my life. He is such a level headed person and he was an amazing advocate for Nora and I through the entire process.

Man I was so tired...

We were in the delivery room for quite a while and I was able to hold Nora for a long time before they took her and weighed her. It was such an awesome bonding experience. She was so alert! And so loud! ☺ And so amazingly beautiful, or at least to me she was. And that was it, the start to us as a family of four.

Half yawn, half smile! Cutest baby ever.

Upcoming Posts...

2009-12-04T11:19:00.002-07:00

So I'm really behind on blogging. As in REALLY behind. I'm also awful at keeping a journal, so sometimes I use this lovely blog as that. So, I'm going to try and get caught up. Some of this is going to be WAY too much information, and some of it you all really won't care about. But, I'm going to record this all for me. So, read on or ignore, it's up to you!

Thankful

2009-11-26T06:18:00.006-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

So it's 6:00 in the morning, and I've been up for a half an hour pumping for Nora (long story, will share later, or not, maybe it's TMI for this blog. Although, hey, it IS basically my journal...). And I've gotten all reflective on how different my life is now. A year ago, we were hosting dinner at our house for the Biesinger side of our family. I was newly pregnant, and had known less than a week. I was also sicker than a dog, but didn't care because I was so excited to be expanding our family. I had no idea what challenges were ahead of me and the sacrifices I would make for this new little life. I thought I did, but I really didn't. This has been hard, much harder than I thought. And I've sacrificed lots. Some things that are so little that it doesn't matter, some that are huge. But you know what? I wouldn't change a thing. Life is so much better to me now, a year later, then I ever could have imagined. In the long run the challenges don't matter. All they do is make us stronger. We are still trying to adjust to this life as 4 (with puppy) as opposed to the old life of 3. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Who can resist a picture of a loving dad snuggling his sleeping baby? This is the best.

This Thanksgiving, I am so grateful for so many things. I'm grateful for a loving husband who is supporting me through some really tough challenges and loves me no matter how crazy I am. Who is okay with me taking time for myself, even if it leaves him alone with parenting duties 2 nights in a row.

Poor neglected puppy snuggling with every possible thing.

I'm grateful for a puppy who loves me unconditionally, even though things have been much more difficult between us. Who is always willing to snuggle me under the covers when I've had a bad day. I'm grateful that while my sweet little girl never quite figured out how to nurse, my body still can provide food for her even if it is in the most unnatural mechanical way. How amazing that Heavenly Father provided us all this technology to make things work.

Sadorus side at the blessing, so much support!

Biesinger side!

I'm grateful for family and friends who listen to the spirit and know when I need a phone call or a listening ear.

She is just the cutest! This is the happy face I see when she wakes up in the morning!
Oh, and Go Utes!

And last, but definitely not least, I am so grateful for this new little girl in my life. She is truly the light of my life, and waking up to her smiling face each morning is so amazing. I love this life. I wouldn't change it.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Must Share!

2009-11-21T11:33:00.004-07:00

Okay, I know there are SO many other things that I should be blogging about, but I'm too overwhelmed! I really a trying! But, in the meantime, I MUST share this with you guys.

So my friend Angie (hi Angie!) told us last weekend about this thing called Bountiful Baskets Food Co-Op. Basically, you pay $15 for a basket, and then they (the volunteers) take everyone's money and get a deep discount on local produce and other food products. Then, you go on a Saturday morning and pick up your basket. You never know exactly what will be in it, but it's supposed to be a really good price so I thought I would try it out this week. I feel like I got a fantastic deal (I still need to go price out what I got). So, for $15.00 (plus a first time user fee of $3) I got the following:

2 heads spinach
5 potatoes
2 bunches of celery
2 red onions
1 package mushrooms
8 bananas
2 lbs baby carrots
1 lb green grapes
1 cantalope (spelling?)
1 pint blackberries
10 fuji apples
1 head brocciflower (spelling)

I also added on a citrus box for $18 and got 22 pounds of citrus:

6 limes
2 lemons
6 grapefruit
10 oranges
20 fairchild tangerines
30 satsuma tangerines

Holy cow! So the next pick up is in two weeks, which should be just enough time to get through all this. Maybe this isn't as good as a deal as it feels like, but so far I'm happy!

If you want info, here is the website! http://www.bountifulbaskets.org The one downside for me was that their website was a little confusing...I got it figured out though!

Alive, I promise

2009-10-28T22:08:00.003-06:00

No, I have not died and fallen off the face of the earth. I'm just trying to adjust to this new life we have going on here. I have lots and lots and lots of things to blog about, and will start getting them up here soon. I just need to get through this weekend.

Until then, enjoy this picture of the cutest little girl ever.

Baby Nora is here!

2009-07-30T21:47:00.008-06:00

We are thrilled to welcome baby Nora Mae Biesinger to our family! Following a 52 hour labor, which I am sure Mandy will post details about in the near future, she was born at 9:33 p.m. on Wednesday, July 29th. She weighed in at 7 pounds eight ounces and measured 20 1/2 inches. Mom and baby are both doing fantastic. More to come, but here are some pictures to hold you over until then. I know. Cutest. Baby. Ever.

29. Eek.

2009-05-12T12:58:00.002-06:00

Last catch up post...I promise!

Yup. I’ve hit that magic number. Last Friday was my 29th birthday. I can’t believe it! My last year in my 20’s. Talk about overwhelming. 29 is how old my mom is!!

No, Garrett did not make this for me. But yes, that is kind of how I feel!

I had a fantastic day, thanks to Garrett and all my friends. It started out wonderfully, as the night before was the first time that I had slept the entire night in at least a couple of weeks. Thank you baby Nora for actually keeping it down in there! I woke up to beautiful flowers on the counter, and then Garrett got up and made me breakfast. Mickey Mouse pancakes (since we couldn’t go to Disneyland this year) and bacon. Yum!

After my delicious breakfast, I was lucky enough to have to go to work. Wahoo. Actually not a bad day though. Friday was graduation up at the U of U, and I was able to help out at our college convocation ceremony. I have now attended more graduation ceremonies than I ever thought I would. For work alone I’ve been to 7! Every year it runs just as smoothly as the year before though, so I can’t complain.

After graduation, I was able to relax for a little bit before our birthday plans with friends. We met Kristalee, Levi, Gemma and Mike at McGrath’s for dinner, where I was lucky enough to wear the fish hat once again and be serenaded by all the servers. Yes, someone got a picture (thanks Gemma). No, it will not be posted. Man pregnancy does a number on your looks! ☺ We had a great time at dinner though!

Afterwards Garrett indulged me in my Hugh Jackman obsession and took me to see Wolverine. It was a great movie! There were definitely some parts that got me confused, but over all a nice way to relax.

All in all, I had a great day! Thanks to all of you for the calls and facebook messages! I love my family and friends so much!

Pregnancy Update…Wahoo!

2009-05-12T12:45:00.004-06:00

And now for more catching up….

Last time I blogged about pregnancy I was 22 weeks. Now I am almost at the end of week 28. Where on EARTH has all the time gone??? It went so slowly at first, but now things are just moving far too fast for my liking. We still have so much to do!

Anyway, officially in the 3rd trimester. This weeks growth, according to Baby Center is…

• She now weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels.
• She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes.
• With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb.
• She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

Yummy, cabbage.

It’s crazy how fast they grow. I’m feeling her move more and more. She is definitely already starting to keep me up at night! It’s a really cool feeling though, I wouldn’t change it for the world. Unfortunately, she is already defying her parents, as she refuses to move for Garrett. Poor guy!

An another pregnancy related note, we started our birthing classes at the beginning of April. They have been absolutely awesome. It’s been nice to go every week for a couple of hours to spend time with other first time parents learning about what is going on and what will happen. Some weeks I dread the fact that I have somewhere to be, but once I head home from class I am always glad I went.

We did have a bit of a weird scare a couple of weeks ago though. On April 22 I woke up around midnight in absolute agony. I had these sharp stabbing pains all along the back half of my right side that wrapped around my stomach. It was awful, and lasted a good couple of hours. I finally fell asleep, and woke up the next morning feeling fine. But the next day around 10:30, they started in again, and it was worse and more consistent. Called the doctors office and was instructed to go straight to labor and delivery, so off I went. Talk about scary. Luckily my friend from work drove me and was able to stay with me, which was a good thing. She was MUCH less emotionally involved than anyone else would have been, and did a pretty good job of keeping me laughing though the pain. They hooked me up to all the machines to monitor what was going on. The baby was moving great and had a really strong heartbeat. I had or two small contractions while I was hooked up, but nothing they were too worried about. They ended up checking me for a urinary tract infection, as well as kidney stones and gall stones. After the most PAINFUL ultrasound I have ever had, they were able to rule all of that out. So, after a couple of hours of hanging around on the monitor, they sent me home with strict instructions to go see my doctor if the pain worsened or didn’t go away by the next morning.

Well, after another sleepless night of pain, I did end up going in. After rechecking everything for infections, the “theory” that my doctor has is that I had a growth spurt in my stomach that my back was not prepared to carry. So, she thinks that I essentially tore muscles along the right side of my back. Which makes a lot of sense due to the pain that feels like muscle spasms.

Anyway, way too much information, but as this is the only journal…I figured we should put it down! I’ve been trying really hard to not over tax myself and let my muscles heal. Now that it’s happened once, the likelihood of it happening again is definitely there. I’m trying to train myself now for what would have happened once the baby got here anyway, meaning dealing with a dirty house! ☺

Other than the craziness of my stupid back, everything else has been great. I can’t believe that we only have around 11 weeks left until she gets here. And we still have so much to do! We haven’t done ANYTHING in her room yet, and we haven’t started buying anything. I think it’s time that we started getting cracking!

We have gotten one thing of my list though, and I know Garrett is so happy that I am no longer bugging him about it. The most important thing on my list was choosing her name…which is….

Nora Mae Biesinger

I think it’s super cute and can’t wait until she is here! 11 weeks (eek) and counting!

California Trip

2009-05-12T12:10:00.004-06:00

Wow. We are really behind on posting. So, I guess it’s time to get a bunch of posts up! I need to be better at this blogging thing, as it’s my only journal!

We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Casler April 15 through the 19. It was such a great trip! We were lucky enough to have Grant and Amber (Garrett’s brother and his wife) come with us. They are such great travel companions! The first night we left right after work and drove to Las Vegas. We didn’t get there until 1:00 in the morning, since we had a late start and then had to stop along the way for me to walk around. We stayed in The Orleans hotel, which wasn’t too bad, except you had to walk all the way through the casino to get to the rooms. Ugh. My feet were killing me!

Two of my favorite people!

The next day we had a nice leisurely start. We hit up the Paris Hotel for Breakfast, but didn’t get there soon enough to actually get breakfast. We went for crepes instead, which turned out to be a good choice! Along the way, we stopped at the outlets, but didn’t end up finding anything. Always disappointing to not find anything when you are shopping. Boo. We finally made it to La Crescenta around 5:30 or 6:00 on Thursday. I always LOVE going to Grandma and Grandpa Casler’s house. They are such great people, and I am so blessed to have married into their family. We don’t see my Grandpa Sadorus very often, and my other grandparents have passed away. So having Garrett’s grandparents around has always been such a blessing!

What a good looking sailor!

The next day was a day full of interviewing and picture scanning. Garrett and Grant got everything set up to start recording life stories, and away they went. Garrett spent the morning working on Grandpa’s stories in his office. Then the afternoon was Grandma central! I spent most of the time scanning pictures and napping (thanks to Grant and Amber taking over!). All in all we were able to get around 3 ½ hours worth of tape between the two of them, which is amazing. Garrett was the only one in the room with them when they were taping so I missed hearing all the stories. Garrett is going to work on putting all the stories together with the pictures we scanned, and I can’t wait to see the finished product.

That evening we had the chance to spend time with Garrett’s cousin Christie and her husband Clark. We went to dinner and then to Griffith Observatory. We had such a fun time with them! It was really great to catch up and hear all the stories about their family, they have some crazy kids! I wish we all lived closer and had the opportunity to get together more often.

Grandma. What a beauty!

Saturday we spent the morning scanning a few more pictures and playing games. After that we spent some time at my favorite place, Descanso Garden, and then went down to the Santa Monica Pier. Holy crowded, that’s all I have to say! Oh, one more thing. Nasty dirty bathrooms. It was fun to get out and see some things, but I have to say I do not think I could ever live in LA. Too much traffic and too many people for my taste!

This is the picture that was with their wedding announcement. Aren't they a good looking couple?

Sunday morning we packed up and headed out. But only after we raided the lemon tree in the back yard! They had so many lemons, it was amazing! We took 5 full bags, and the tree didn’t look like it had even been touched. After loading up and a few quick goodbyes, we hit the road. Looking back on it, probably not smart to drive from LA to Bountiful in one day when you are pregnant. No matter how many stops you make, it sure is uncomfortable. And, I never knew my ankles could get that big! ☺

We had an amazing time though. I love spending time with the grandparents, and am so grateful that we have had the opportunity to see them so much in the last year. I’m also grateful that we were able to record some of their stories and look forward to sharing them with our kids!

What a cute baby!

2009-04-07T09:14:00.002-06:00

Oh, aren’t I a cute baby? I mean seriously. ☺ Garrett and I are heading to California next weekend to video tape his Grandma and Grandpa Casler’s life stories, and we decided that while we were there we’d take the time to scan as many as the family photos that they have as possible. In preparation, we spent some time last night playing around with the scanner, and found this super cute picture of me. And no, I’m not biased.

Seriously though, I never realized how big my ears were, even then! I definitely notice that they stick out now, but they were MUCH more noticeable on a little baby. If you look close you can see one being bent by the high chair! Poor kid. ☺

It makes me think about what this little girl will look like. What parts of Garrett and I will she get? Or, will she have traits from some past generation? I am getting REALLY excited to see who she looks like! Hopefully she’ll get the traits I love and not the ones I hate. Although, maybe I’ll like them on her.

In other news, we are slowly getting ready for this baby. I’m hoping that this week we can start the big room move so that we can empty out the nursery and start decorating. We have the start of a plan in mind, and I am excited. We’ll post pictures once it’s done!

New update, finally, week 22!

2009-03-27T10:13:00.005-06:00

Okay, okay. I know I am a slacker and haven’t posted anything for a couple of weeks. Yes, I will try to do better!

Things are going really great. I feel wonderful, no more sinus infections, no more morning sickness, it’s great! I definitely feel a lot more tired than normal, but I think that is to be expected.

We have been pretty busy around our house. It seems like we are trying to get a lot of playing done in a short amount of time. We have been having a great time getting together for dinner and games with friends. And, we got a chance to see Garrett’s sister Angie in the role of Dorothy in Thoroughly Modern Millie. She did such a great job!

I am in the middle of week 22 and I cannot believe how fast the time is going. We still have so much to do to get our house ready! I'm really starting to feel the need to get things more organized. We have spent some time cleaning out our basement in anticipation of moving Garrett's office into one of the downstairs bedrooms, and getting the nursery set up. I'm REALLY excited to get moving on the nursery. It is so fun to plan a space just for this little girl. Now if we could just pick a name, I'd feel more in control of things.

According to this weeks update:

She should be about 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash, yum) and almost 1 pound. She also should be starting to look like a miniature newborn.
Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums.
Her eyes have formed, but her irises still lack pigment.
Inside her belly, her pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

It’s crazy to think of all the things that are happening right now! We had our official 20 week ultrasound on the 13th. Although we didn’t have a very nice ultrasound tech (she really must have been having a bad day), it was fun to confirm that we really are having a little girl, and that everything is good. As of right now, things are going just as they should, and my pregnancy (minus the nasty morning sickness) really has been a good one. My doctor said that she loves having patients who have nothing on the “problem” sheet in their files. Go me!

Below are pictures of our latest ultrasound, so fun!

Still a girl!

Her leg.

Hand, a quick wave hello!

My favorite picture. Front face shot. If you look in the eye sockets, you can see her eyeball looking at you! Yes, I am still a little obsessed with the fact that my body made eyeballs!

Catching up after being sick, plus a surprise...

2009-02-24T13:15:00.006-07:00

So I missed last week’s baby update, thanks to being sick. On the 13th of February, I had my first day of no morning sickness (wahoo!) only to follow it up with getting sick on Valentine’s Day. I guess I caught what everyone else had. My last 10 days were awful. On Saturday we finally caved and went to the Instacare. 2 hours and a waste of $20 later, we were told that they couldn’t do anything for me, and to check in with my regular doctor on Monday. Boy am I glad I did, because low and behold I had a sinus infection, which can be taken care of with antibiotics that do NOT affect the baby. Wahoo! So yesterday was day one of ten, and here is to hoping I kick this thing soon! Oh, and on a cravings note for those of you who I have bothered. I did not find peaches, but I did find nectarines! Yay! Costco had them on sale, they are huge and they are absolutely fantastic.

So this is the start of week 18, which means the baby is now the length of a bell pepper (Nasty. The bell pepper, not the baby.) and weighs almost 7 ounces. This week’s progress:

She's busy flexing her arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead.
Her blood vessels are visible through her thin skin, and her ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from her head a bit.
A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born.

And last, but not least…our poll. 13 out of 22 of you think this baby is a boy. Well, thanks to our friend and her generous mom, we were able to have an early ultrasound done for fun and to see the gender. So, we are having…

Baby girl Biesinger!

A little girl! Wahoo! We are so excited. Well, Garrett and I. Probably not so much Bella. But then with Bella I don't think it matters either way. She just isn't going to like being replaced. Anyway, it’s nice to know what direction to start looking towards for names, and now we get to start planning a nursery. Fun times are definitely ahead!

What a sweet little profile.

We were able to have two ultrasounds to check it all out. The first one we had she was ALL over the place. Our friend's mom (who has been doing this for 20 years, talk about experience!) was using a different machine which was a bit fuzzier. So that, combined with the acrobatics left us only 75% sure. But she let us come back a second time a week later. That time, this little one was out cold and so we were able to get some great shots!

I was also able to feel her moving! I don't feel it a lot yet, but definitely get the occasional flutter going here and there. What an amazing feeling! I can't wait until she is here!

Happy Day of Love!

2009-02-14T08:36:00.006-07:00

I have the best husband in the world. I really couldn't ask for someone better! He knows exactly what I need and compliments me in all the right ways. In honor of him, a few pictures that I love. Happy Valentine's Day Garrett! I love you!

I love the passion he has for the things he loves!

I love that he loves my family enough to do dorky pictures like this! Aren't they all handsome?

He is so handsome! Seriously, we make such a great couple. I'm not biased or anything.

He loves his nephews and nieces! And, he is going to make such a great dad.

He isn't afraid to let his inner dork out. If only I knew when he was going to, I could let mine out too!

He goes along with my over the top ideas! He may think they are pointless, but he never discourages me from doing them.

He indulges my odd obsession with disneyland. I got him there twice last year, I wonder if I'll be able to do it this year!

He is just plain cute!

Thanks for 8 years of love Garrett! I look forward to many, many more!

25-ish Random Things About Me (Garrett)

2009-02-11T22:54:00.003-07:00

I did this list for Facebook because everyone else did, and hey, if everyone else jumped off a cliff...

Anyway, since I rarely blog I figured I might as well get some more mileage out of this. So here are a bunch of random things about me that you probably don't know:

I'm one of the most introverted, anti-social people I know. It's not that I don't like you; it's just that I like me so much more.

I'm not sarcastic. Not. At. All. I know my sarcasm has offended people in the past and definitely will in the future. Can you see me the concern on my face? Just know that I can take as well as I can give. So bring it!

I have been known to avoid lists like this simply because people have told me to do them. I'm obstinate like that. Seriously, sometimes people tell me to do something I was going to do anyway, but the first thought that goes through my head is, "screw you, you can't tell me what to do!", just because they gave me an order instead of asking me to do it. Yeah, don't say it. I already know.

I hate winter. I think I have S.A.D. because every year about this time I lose all motivation to get off my lazy butt and do anything, which is the exact opposite of my usual "I have to be doing three things at all times" OCD-ness. I woke up to sunshine coming in my window last weekend and could almost tangibly feel my batteries recharging.

I love my wife and my dog. Who I love more may change any given day depending on circumstance. (Just kidding, dear. I like the bed more than the couch.) Mandy tells most people I love the dog more.

I have only met one person who was a bigger germophobe than me. I sometimes use his memory to talk myself out of being grossed out by something because I don't want to end up like him.

Speaking of the above, have you ever seen the TV show Monk? I love that show, but I see way too many similarities between him and me. Mandy says that if I were to start touching things as I passed them, the transformation would be complete.

I love music. I often wish I would've focused on it more seriously in my younger years and found a career related to it somehow, instead of just playing in punk bands.

When it comes to music, I am a complete snob. I love what I love, and hate most everything else. I especially hate country and rap, although rap isn't really worth mentioning since it doesn't even qualify as music.

I think I have a natural talent for songwriting. Unfortunately it's seriously hampered by my complete lack of singing ability.

I loathe musicals. But, oddly enough...

I own The Little Mermaid and The Lion King soundtracks. I also own the "music inspired by The Lion King" CD. Shut up.

I know how to do a whole lot of things semi-well, but few things very well. I go through phases where I'm really into something and I'll focus intently on that and nothing else for months at a time until I feel semi-proficient at it. Once I've passed the largest, most challenging part of the learning curve, I get bored with it and move on to the next obsession.

My all-time favorite movie is "The Jerk". I literally laugh out loud every single time I think about it. "Gosh! You have my last name tattooed right there under the J's! First I get my name in the phone book and now I'm on your a$$! You know, I bet more people see that than the phone book." I'm laughing as I type this.

One of my biggest pet peeves is the misuse of the word "literally". "I literally died when I heard that!" Really, you did? You might want to let Science know that apparently being a moron makes you immortal.

I have always been fascinated with flying. One day, I want to get a pilot's license. Unfortunately it's one of those things for which I've never been able to justify the cost. One of the things I want to do before I die is fly an old WWII fighter plane, preferably a P51 Mustang.

Everything about WWII intrigues me. I am most fascinated with the dog fighting tactics employed by the fighter pilots of that era.

I love animals, especially dogs. There is nothing I can think of that gets a more emotional reaction from me. The only time I ever feel violent towards people is when I see or hear about the abuse or neglect of animals. And if I tear up in a movie, 99 times out of a 100, it has something to do with a dog.

I refuse to see the movie "Marley and Me" because the book was so good. Plus, Owen Wilson is crap.

I firmly believe that your success at anything in life is determined by your attitude and willingness to work for it much more than it is by your natural talents and abilities.

I am extremely blunt with my opinions. I've gotten a little better at being sensitive to others in recent years, but it's just so hard when I'm right and you're stupid.

I am 100% addicted to sugar. I honestly think that if you put a package of Red Vines and a $100 bill down in front of me and told me that I could have only one, I'd take the Red Vines. And possibly one of your fingers in the process.

I love the outdoors. My plan is to eventually own a home on the side of a mountain where my backyard is open forest.

I was a very stupid teenager. Scratch that. I was an extremely stupid teenager. I once built a large motorcycle jump in my front yard without taking into account how big a landing strip I would need. Long story short, I took a flight (sans-motorcycle) head-first into my neighbor's brick house. Luckily I was just barely smart enough to be wearing a helmet.

I also once tried to use my hip bone as a direct-to-pavement skateboard brake when I lost control going down a steep hill. I still carry gravel under my skin from that one. Hey, at least you can't say I didn't have guts. No brain, maybe...

Miraculously, I have yet to break a bone or sprain anything. I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

I hate that I have gray hair coming in, but I don't complain too much. I have to enjoy it while I can because given the fact that baldness comes from a person's maternal grandfather, I won't have it for too much longer.

I think men should go back to wearing hats like they did prior to the 60's. I own two fedoras, one that I wear regularly and one that I would wear more often if I had the clothes to go with it. Speaking of fedoras...

I am 100% straight, and then some. That being said, Indiana Jones can have my baby any day.

You really wouldn't know it by reading this list, but I am a grammar Nazi. If you use extremely bad grammar, especially in written form, I do think less of you.

Guacamole, anyone?

2009-02-10T09:21:00.004-07:00

So the latest food comparison is an avocado. YUM. Seriously, I think these emails are encouraging my cravings! At least they are comparing the growth to fruit and vegetables, as opposed to cakes, candy and doughnuts. That could be the end for me. Anyway, at 16 weeks, here is the latest development:

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

So I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this on here or not, but I have said this to a lot of people already. It is so CRAZY how our bodies just know what to do to create this little life. How awesome is that? They know how to take cells and turn those cells into hearts, brains, fingernails, eyeballs (thanks Angie, now that’s all I think about!). I mean think about it. The octuplet lady? Her body made 16 eyeballs. Wow.

Anyway, I just think it’s cool. I’m having good days and bad days, but I’m really crossing my fingers that the morning sickness will start to subside. Wouldn’t that be fantastic? I also felt this baby move on Friday, which was the coolest feeling ever! It was like he/she was doing little flips over and over and over! It was so cool. I can’t wait until he/she is big enough that Garrett can feel the movement too, because it is just awesome.

On another note, last week I went to Washington, DC for work. We are applying for an educational grant, so my boss and I got to go to a workshop on how to apply for the money, what not to do, etc. Let’s just say that 3 days later my work load has tripled as has my stress level.

DC was surprisingly warm and nice when we were there, not that I got to see anything all day but the inside of the metro gross) and the hotel. We would get up in the morning, drive to the metro station, get on said gross metro, which let off in an underground station that led straight into the hotel. Repeat at the end of the day, so I never really went outside. I did have this beautiful view when eating breakfast every morning. We stayed in Baltimore with family of my boss, which was nice and relaxing. Anyway, Garrett lived in Maryland for a time when he was younger, and if this is what his backyard looked like, I would love to live there. Just picture this view in the spring, summer or fall.

I HATE SNOW. Oh, and a baby update.

2009-01-26T09:42:00.002-07:00

I don’t know how to put it kindly. This year I hate snow. This is really unusual for me because normally I LOVE cold weather, but this year, I have had enough of it. BLAH. I am sick of the slick roads, the idiots who drive on them, the snow packed parking lots, the lack of sun. Pretty much all of it. But mostly at this particular moment I am mad at my place of employment. They are AWFUL at making our walk to the building safe. This morning for example. Walks were shoveled, but not entirely down to the sidewalk. DO you think they salted the walks at all to help? No, of course not. But, where the sidewalk connects to the walk to my building, they were VERY good at salting that. Nice, flat surface? Salted. Steep inclined sidewalk? Not salted. Needless to say, even with thick tread on my boots I fell on the sidewalk. Not a great way to start my Monday morning. Especially after having an awful drive to work. Cranky much? No, not me.

On a different note, today starts the beginning of week 14. Wahoo! Some of my symptoms have subsided a bit, although I’m still extremely tired and nauseous. Although not as much as before today, so I’m grateful for that. I’ve been getting these updates on how our baby is progressing from babycenter, which I’m sure a lot of first time moms do. It’s kind of interesting to see what happens week by week. According to the email, this week's big developments are:

Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another.
His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth.
He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

Sweet! Oh, and he/she is now the size of a lemon. So what is the deal with fetus/fruit comparisons? It just makes me hungry! ☺

And lastly, poll at the top of the page…boy or girl? We should know in 4 weeks or so…Wahoo!

13 Weeks And Counting

2009-01-20T15:05:00.002-07:00

Well, we’ve hit the 13 week mark folks. Only 27 more weeks to go. I am really looking forward to the next couple of weeks being done, because hopefully then I’ll feel better. I do need to send out an apology to all of my sisters and girlfriends who have been pregnant. If ever I made you feel like your morning sickness was unimportant, I am so sorry. I had this weird idea that morning sickness wasn’t that bad. And that it was a good excuse to lay around and do nothing. Ha ha. Not so true! I had no idea how hard the first trimester would be. It’s been a constant battle with nausea, from 3:30 AM to 10:30 PM. That has been the hardest thing so far. If I could just get a bit of relief! I get a little bit, right after I eat something, but it doesn’t last too long, unfortunately. Oh, and then there is the lack of sleep thing. I cannot sleep to save my life. This is not a new thing, as I occasionally struggle with insomnia, but it’s been so much harder these last couple of months! Waking up at 2:30 or 3:00 in the morning for the day does not make for a happy Mandy. Which leads into what I think Garrett has had the hardest time with. Whiney cry baby Mandy. Okay, let’s be honest. I am a bit of a cry baby in the first place. Okay, a lot of a cry baby. But I cannot BELIEVE how much worse it is being pregnant! I cry at the drop of a hat, and over the most random things sometimes! Garrett sure has gotten a laugh or two. The best was when I started crying in the middle of Rubio’s, while listening to Israel Kamakawiwo'ole version of Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World. His life was so sad! But WHY it hit me like a ton of bricks in the middle of Lunch, I do not know. Either way, I just feel so bad for Garrett. I haven’t been easy to live with. I don’t think I’ve been mean in any way, I’m just so tired, lazy and up and down. It definitely can’t be easy. But you know what? He has been amazing. I could not ask for a better husband. He has been so supportive and loving no matter how I feel that day. He is going to make a great dad.

So, with all of the whining and feeling sick, going to the doctor and seeing this made it all worth it.

Okay, I seriously had no idea that babies were that developed at 13 weeks. I mean, logically I knew that but I guess I didn't really "get it" until we saw these pictures.

Cute little profile.

Okay, I am sure this is just me and Garrett (or mostly just me) but I SWEAR that looks like little musical notes right above the mouth. Yeah, yeah, probably just gas. But still, can we say possible musical genius like his/her daddy?

End Of Year Wrap Up, Plus The Best Christmas Present Ever!

2009-01-06T15:05:00.031-07:00

Christmas cards didn’t happen this year. I can’t tell you how guilty I felt about this, and how Garrett put his foot down when I started to cave a week before Christmas and was going to put them together. He’s so good at helping me stand my ground! So, instead of our yearly Christmas card and picture that we mail, it’s going up the blog. So here it goes, our year in review. Hope you make it to the end! It should be worth it!

My nephews rendering of our family: Me, Garrett, Mason (the newphew) and Bella. Oh, and Garrett and I again for good measure.

JANUARY
January we were just getting over being sick from the holidays. Wahoo. For some reason, I don’t remember much from this month but being sick and sewing fairy costumes. Garrett’s mom took on a huge sewing project for a costume company, and I got to help! Garrett mostly worked, worked, and worked some more.

A picture of the cutest puppy ever. Just for fun.

FEBRUARY
More sewing. Lots more sewing. Every single night there was sewing. Still fun, still honing my skills, but definitely exhausting! We also went down to St. George with our cousins Kye and Natalie for a fun weekend of 4-wheeling, camping and the parade of homes! Garrett also decided that he wanted to start playing music again, so he organized a band to play with.

Garrett having fun on the 4-wheeler in St. George.

MARCH
I went to India for two weeks. Wahoo! And yes, I am still not entirely finished blogging about it. I’m awful at blogging. I keep hoping I’ll get better, but alas. I do not. India was amazing. I loved the people, culture, food, and shopping! Garrett enjoyed being a bachelor for 2 weeks. He played his guitar as loud as he wanted, hung out with the band, and didn’t have to watch Food Network once!

My favorite place in India, the Taj Mahal.

APRIL
We started thinking about finishing the basement. Yay! Oh, how we wanted a completed house. I also decided to accept a new position at work with The Asia Center. Over all, a pretty lame month.

The basement in the beginning. We had a long road ahead of us.

MAY
We decided to celebrate my 28th birthday by going to Disneyland with our best friends the Fishers and their daughter Abbie. It was awesome! Oh how we (I) love Disneyland. We also got a chance to spend some time with Garrett’s grandpa and grandma Casler. They are such awesome people, and we sure wish we saw them more often! Garrett also went to a No Use For A Name concert with my dad. Fun times.

Miss Abbie the morning of our first day. Her face is how I felt being there. Wahoo!

Garrett and I at the most magical place on earth.

JUNE
We celebrated 5 years of wedded bliss. I can’t believe we’ve been married for so long! At times, it seems like just yesterday. And then the next day it seems like an eternity. Ah marriage. We also really started working on the basement, and I think we went boating, but can’t remember. It’s sad, getting older.

No pictures of us on our anniversary, but here we are being cute the day of. Man, if only I were still that young!

JULY
At the beginning of the month, Garrett’s grandma Marilyn passed away. She’d been suffering with some health problems and a bit of dementia for a while. We know she’s happy where she is, but it was still a tough blow. We’ll miss having her in our lives. We also got to go to Flaming Gorge with the Biesingers over the 4th, and had an amazing time skiing, enjoying the out doors and relaxing. And, on a most momentous day, July 19, my sister AnJ and I got to go see The Police with my dad! Ah, Sting. Musical love of my life. We had a great time, and they put on a fantastic show. We also worked more on the basement.

Entertaining all the kids in the trailer. Go Grandma B! Way to be creative with the paper dolls!

AUGUST
I went to Santa Barbara for work. Never been there before, but would love to go back! More time spent working on the basement (sensing a pattern here?). We also went camping with our friends the Fishers and Marchants and had a great time on the boat. We also realized that we didn’t use the boat nearly enough this summer.

A picture of the boat up at the lake with Fishers and Marchants. Small picture, since I had to steal it from Levi's facebook!

SEPTEMBER
Garrett worked on the basement. More. Lots more. Super grateful to my dad for all the help he gave us, as well as Garrett’s brother Grant! We seriously couldn’t have done it without their help. I also got extremely sick and was rushed to the hospital. After emergency laparoscopic surgery and a nice 5 day 4 night vacation in the hospital, we found out it was an infection and I was sent home. We also got released from our church calling in nursery after a year, and were both REALLY sad about it. We love our nursery kids! I was called as a Mia Maid Advisor, and Garrett was called as the Secretary in the Elders Quorum. On to new experiences!

Another picture of Miss Bella, since I don't have pictures from September. I'm trying to forget September. Not trying to forget cute Bella though, who loves yogurt!

OCTOBER
I continued to recuperate while Garrett worked on the basement. Our 4th nephew, Asher, was born on October 16th. What a cutie! We are excited to have our families continue to grow. We also were spoiled enough to go to Disneyland once again. This time with my family and the Brodericks. I’d say twice in one year is a good pattern to set up for Disneyland, although Garrett would say otherwise! It was a lot of fun to go and see Mason enjoy it for the first time. It’s so different seeing Disneyland through the eyes of a kid!

Proud Uncle Garrett and the newest addition, baby Asher.

The whole crew on the Storybook Land Canal Ride. I love my family!

NOVEMBER
Still working on the basement! I was beginning to feel more than bad for Garrett, as this continued to become more and more of his life. If anything, for Garrett, 2008 was the year of the basement. I also hosted Ornament Exchange with a group of friends, which was a lot of fun. And lastly, this year we hosted the Biesingers for Thanksgiving for the first time! It was so much fun. Everyone brought wonderful side dishes, and the turkey cooked by Kent was delicious as usual. We spent some time playing games, and everyone enjoyed playing Rock Band. Thankfully, the theater room was done so we had the projector set up.

The pyrex dish containing half of dinner for Ornament Exchange that exploded 10 minutes before everyone got there. Oh the joys of hosting parties...

DECEMBER
We started out the month with Garrett heading to Denver for work. He also was able to spend time with my sister and her husband, and had a great time! We also had a bit of a scare with my best friend Kristalee, who was in a major car accident. We are SO grateful that she’s okay. It’s scary out there on the roads. Garrett also had a birthday, the big 30. I threw him a surprise “funeral” party with family, and we had a great time. For some reason, December was a really lazy month for me. No Christmas cards, took forever to put up the Christmas decorations. Lot of lounging around.

Garrett's beautiful birthday cake. 30 looks good on him, by the way!

His lung capacity has gone down now that he's OLD, so thanks for helping with the candles Bennett! We would have been there all night without you!

We had a great Christmas. On Christmas Eve we spent the evening with Garrett’s family at his Aunt Jeannie and Uncle Scott’s house. The crowd was a little smaller than usual this year, but we had a great time seeing everyone. Christmas morning, we went to my family’s and opened gifts, getting spoiled again as usual. Then we went up to the Biesinger’s and got spoiled some more! That evening we had our traditional Sadorus dinner of appetizers and finger foods, which once again lived up to all my expectations. We spent the rest of the week hanging out with family and relaxing. We were so glad Alicia and Andy were here to spend the holidays with us! We ended out the end of our year with a couple of parties with friends. We have such a great group of friends!

Our most recent family picture, just the two of us.

And last but not least, a picture of the best Christmas present we have ever received.

Hope you all get it. There are plenty of arrows, so I hope so! Poor Bella isn't going to know what to do with herself, now that she isn't going to be an only child!

Next year’s Christmas and year will be a lot different! We can't wait for July 29th, 2009!

Make it stop!

2008-12-12T18:57:00.006-07:00

It's that time of year, and everywhere I go I hear Christmas music. It's playing on the radio, in every store and gas station, and in our house whenever Mandy is home. Personally, I love most of it, whether it's cheesy and fun or it really captures the spirit of the season. Unfortunately, though, there have always been a handful of songs that fill me with something other than holiday joy. For some reason, there seem to be more cringe-worthy songs than usual this year.

I've seen a bunch of Top Ten Favorite Christmas Song lists on people's blogs lately, and since it has been a while since I ranted on here, I decided to do a list of the worst Christmas songs. Some are classics that have been butchered (something I have plenty of experience doing myself), and some are just plain bad to begin with. So, in order of least bad to worst, here are the top five songs that need to go away. Right now.

5. Beach Boys: Little Saint Nick

Okay, I actually do like this song. It's fun and catchy and it's by the Beach Boys. So what's not to like? How can I possibly sing along to lyrics as inane as "Christmas comes this time each year"? Seriously? It does?!?! I wonder if they ever did a sequal about how the sky is blue or water is wet. Deep thoughts by Brian Wilson...

4: Vanessa Williams And Bobby Caldwell: Baby Its Cold Outside
No video for this one, but here's the Amazon preview
The original is one of my favorites. It's a little hard to take this one seriously, though, when you can't tell which one of the singers is the boy. Or is something else going on here? "Baby, it's cold outside. Plus, I've decided that I no longer like boys. And I need some sheetrock hung."

3. Taylor Swift: Last Christmas

Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!!!!! This literaly causes me physical pain. I have to leave the room or plug my ears to avoid insta-headache whenever this comes on. I'll listen to Wham! over this any day, and that's saying something.

2. Josh Groban: O Holy Night

Once again, an unbelievably good Christmas song. One of my absolute favorites, in fact. Notice that I said song, not version. I can't help wonder if this guy has some billy goat in his blood. Dude, tone down the vibrato to every other syllable and see how that fits. Seriously, even Clay Aiken and Celine Dion have better versions of this song than you do.

1. Newsong: The Christmas Shoes

This is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the absolute WORST Christmas song ever written. In the history of ever. Who listens to this cloyingly sappy, melodramatic horse manure and feels anything other than the urge to vomit repeatedly or stab themselves in the ear with an icepick? Personally, I'd take either option over ever having to hear this song again.

A few more highlights....

2008-12-05T11:35:00.002-07:00

Sorry, but have to share a few more highlights.

*Having a Chinese participant ask to take his picture with me. I'm a celebrity!
*The Chinese canadian participant who spoke english very well, but peppered her chinese accented english with "aye". It was great.
*A discussion of Chinese Suicide. Let's just say wow, I'm grateful I was born when/where I was.
*And last, a discussion on the evolution of health care. VERY INTERESTING.

I know you all wish you were me!

Alive... kind of

2008-12-04T14:15:00.001-07:00

My sister commented to me the other day that it has been 2 months since I posted last, and surely I must have had something happen in those two months. And I have, but life has just been crazy and I have had no drive to blog. I will do better though. I am just finishing a HUGE project at work (large conference, only two more days, currently listening to the change in age structure in Taiwan, blah blah blah), so as soon as that is done, I will do a brief re-cap of life. But, in the mean time I have really enjoyed keeping up on everyone lives!

My No Good, Very Bad 2 Weeks

2008-09-29T06:14:00.005-06:00

Do you ever feel like your life is out of control? It's a weird feeling, knowing that no matter what you do you can't make your life do what you want it to all the time. That's what my last two weeks have been like. I wasn't going to blog about the nightmare I've been going through (since it really is just my nightmare, and not of significance to anyone else), but I figured that since I kind of use this as my journal, I better write about it. So read on, if you feel so inclined. There are probably more details here than anyone in their right mind would want to know, but I have to get this off my chest.

On Wednesday, September 17th we went with Angie and Simon and Bennett to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts for the Monet to Picasso exhibit. I was SO excited to go, and had really been looking forward to it! Unfortunately, since this was the last week of the exhibit, it was packed. We waited in line an hour and a half before we even got in. Luckily, we had Bennett to entertain us. That kid is a riot. The best part of the line was when he put his stuffed duck in a time out. What a cutie.

By the time we got in the exhibit, it was well past dinner time. I started feeling a little sick and was pretty achy but I chalked it up to just being hungry and tired. We got through the exhibit pretty quick, and then the 5 of us stopped off at Noodles for dinner. After being entertained by Bennett a little more, we finished dinner and went home. I was still not feeling very good. By the time I woke up on Thursday morning, I was sure that I had the flu of some sort. I was miserable for all of Thursday and most of Friday. Saturday I started to finally feel like a human being again and I was so excited. It didn't last long though. We spent some time that evening next door with our friends the Fishers celebrating Levi's birthday, and by about 7:30 I was feeling horrible again.

My stomach was in so much pain. It was like there were multiple knives being jammed in my stomach. I thought I was dying! After trying to tough it out for an hour, I decided that it was probably time I go to the doctor. So, off we rushed to the Insta Care. They decided that I was too far gone though, so I was rushed right back to the car to head up to the ER. I didn't think that I would make it through that car ride, and I'm sure Garrett didn't think he would either. And then once we got to the ER, things seemed to get even worse. I could barely sit down calmly enough to tell the admitting nurse what was wrong. Then they got me in to a bed, and I could barely stand the pain. They attempted to put an IV in my hand to administer some anti-nausea medication and some morphine, but apparently the middle vein in my left hand doesn't like IV's. Basically, the entire first floor of Lakeview Hospital had their eardrums shattered. Especially when the gave me my first dose of medication. So, they switched the IV to my right elbow. Then the doctor came in and started looking at my stomach, which was completely distended. He decided that the best course of action was to have them take a cat scan of my stomach. So we settled in for a long night of continuously drinking medication before I was taken in for my cat scan at 11:30 PM. Basically what they found was what looked like some air in my colon wall. The doctor said he'd feel much better if I stayed over night so they could monitor me, so they wheeled me off to be admitted. At this point it was 1:30 in the morning, so after they administered another dose of morphine, I sent Garrett home.

Unfortunately, the morphine that was supposed to last hours only lasted an hour and a half. I finally buzzed the nurse, who decided to call the doctor to see if I could get a drip that I could medicate myself with. Apparently, the doctor decided that was serious enough that he would come in himself, and the next thing I knew he told me that he needed to do emergency exploratory laparoscopic surgery, right then. I was so drugged up that all I remember him saying was surgery, possibly dead colon, might take it out. So back on the phone we got, waking poor Garrett up. I don't think he got more than an hours worth of sleep. He made it back to the hospital minutes before they took me down for surgery. I remember crying a lot on the way down, and then the next thing I knew it was morning.

They aren't sure why I had air in my colon, but I did and apparently it isn't normal. Luckily, they didn't have to remove anything. I also had an infection in my colon and once again they aren't sure why. For some reason they think there might be a puncture somewhere in my colon, but once again they just don't know.

So, after 4 nights in the hospital being poked and prodded, I finally got to come home on Wednesday the 24th. I thought it would be a nice easy recovery, but I thought wrong. I had the unlucky experience of having an allergic reaction to one of my medications. It's not fun to have paranoia and anxiety attacks. So, luckily enough they took me off all medications, hoping my body would start taking care of itself. I was starting to feel better, although still in a bit of pain from surgery, until Monday hit. Then something weird started happening in my mouth. Yes, thanks to all the antibiotics that have been pumped through my body plus my now weakened immune system, I now have thrush. Just one more thing to add to my life. Plus, since they still don't know what's going on overall, I get to have another colonoscopy in the next couple of weeks. Wahoo.

I know I must sound awfully whiney, but man. I wish I could just catch a break! Don't you think I should qualify for some sort of prize for making it through the last two weeks with my head still attached? I do. It just feels weird to have completely lost 2 weeks. So here is to hoping that the next two weeks will be better.

Friends

2008-09-15T21:13:00.002-06:00

This last weekend I had some of my old friends over for a BBQ. It had been 6 years since I had seen some of them, so I was a little worried that things would be awkward. People always say that you can't go back, and that things will never be the same as they were. That's true on some levels. People get older, get married, have kids. Their priorities change and sometimes even their personalities on some levels. But there are always those rare friendships that seem to always stay the same.

It wasn't uncomfortable at all. It was like stepping into a pair of old shoes that fit just right. There were no uncomfortable pauses, and we were able to laugh and joke around just like we did years ago. We picked up conversations like they were ended yesterday. It was fantastic. There is nothing like having people around you that know your ins and outs, know your past struggles and can see the ways you've changed for the better.

I don't quite know why I'm feeling so nostalgic tonight, but I am. I'm grateful for friends who always loved me for who I was and who they knew I would be. For friends who stand by me all the time and who are there for me at a moments notice. Thanks for being the best kind of friends I could ever ask for. Let's keep the time between visits shorter from now on!

Oh how I wish I had taken a picture, or that I had pictures from before. We've all changed so much, but also so little. Thanks again for a great night Kelli, Tom, Nikki, Aaron, Emily, Billy, Holli, Rachel and little Hailey!

Grandma Is...

2008-08-27T21:14:00.004-06:00

As some of you know, my grandma passed away a few months ago. She suffered from dementia toward the end and had some health problems, but it was still a bit of a surprise when she went. I'm happy for her because I know she is where she wanted to be and is out of pain, but I feel the inevitable sense of loss that always comes when we lose a person close to us.

I'm not much of a crier, and was holding things together really well all through the viewing and through the beginning of the funeral services. The first few talks were about my grandma as a mother and a sister, and it was very cool to hear about her in a capacity in which I had never known her. Then my cousin Kye, who was one of my very best friends growing up, spoke.

He wrote the following piece about Grandma from the perspective of a grandchild, and it really hit home for me. I'm sure that those who don't know her won't be all that moved by it, but to me it's a great "scratch-the-surface" type list of some the most wonderful and memorable things about my grandma.

I miss you Grandma.

Grandma Is
by Kye

-Grandma is fresh raspberries right off the bush. So much we got sick. ”Take just a couple,” she would say.

-Grandma is cherries from the tree in the back yard so the birds wouldn’t eat them.

-Grandma is popsicles on the porch

-Grandma is a bowl of homemade ice cream

-Grandma is Coke and Gatorade always in the fridge

-Grandma is a closet full of toys

-Grandma is a run through the sprinklers on a hot day

-Grandma is the funnest, coolest-sounding organ we have ever annoyed someone with.

-Grandma is the hottest fireplace allowed by law

-Grandma is countless pages of paint with water.

-Grandma is a jar of bottled slightly fermented cherries that Garrett got a little tipsy on.

-Grandma is one of the best friends you could ever have a meal with, and she hardly sat down to eat it with you.

-Grandma is always asking “What do you need?” when our plates of food started to get low.

-Grandma is sliding down the stairs on anything we could make slide, including couch cushions.

-Grandma is the best Hot Wheels track designer this side of Davis County

-Grandma is countless hours of yard work

-Grandma is hundreds of family parties

-Grandma is a full closet of costumes for us to dress up in and have plays in the back yard.

-Grandma is endless hours of playtime

-Grandma is the quirky face puller in the background while trying to get the little kids to smile in family pictures

-Grandma is a perfect track record of missionary letter writing.

-Grandma is a bag a pennies we could take a handful of when we did a job, or maybe even if we didn’t!

-Grandma is all of our number one fan.

-Grandma is an open book of advice and experience

-Grandma is so many things I couldn't possibly scratch the surface today

-Grandma is our best friend

-Grandma is the perfect definition of the word "Grandma".

-And best of all, and lucky for us, GRANDMA WAS OURS.

India Day 7

2008-07-28T11:43:00.014-06:00

DAY 7: Fatehpur Sikri, Rug Making, Puppet Shows and Train Rides (Friday, March 14)

Friday we got up pretty early for breakfast, since we had a long drive to our next destination. After a quick breakfast in the hotel we set off for Fatehpur Sikri. It was a LONG drive in a really hot bus, but it was definitely worth it.

Village on the way to Fatehpur Sikri

Rickshaw driver. I can't imagine towing that much stuff with just my legs!

All along the drive, we got to see a lot of rural countryside. Lots and lots of cow pie mounds. They save the cow dung and form it into circular discs that they dry in the sun. Once they are dry, they use them as fuel for fires. I would not like that job.

Cow pie discs production

Fatehpur Sikri was an interesting site. It is all red stone and open buildings. It used to be the capital city and was built by Akbar, one of the Mughal Emperors. Akbar had no heir, so supposedly he walked to Sikri to enlist the help of a holy man, Shaikh Salim Chishti who told him he would have three sons. The prophecy ended up coming true, and Akbar was so impressed that he built the new capital at Fatehpur Sikri.

Fatehpur Sikri

There is a tomb for Salim Chishti within the Jama mosque’s courtyard. Inside there are red strings tied on the carved walls of his tomb. The strings are placed there by people wishing for a baby (mostly boys!) and it’s really cool. I, of course, added my own string to the wall.

Tomb at the Jama Mosque

Wall of baby wishes...

We were, of course, once again bombarded by annoying sales people. One got so rough with one of our female students that my protective instincts jumped into play and I got pretty mean with him. He followed her all the way from the tomb to the gates, which was a pretty long walk. We were also followed by a little girl, begging us to buy her wares. It was pretty funny when our professor turned it around on her, and begged her to buy our bananas, just one banana! She got quite a kick out of it and ran away laughing.

Column inside. So detailed!

Archway

After spending quite a bit of time at Fatehpur Sikri, we got back on the bus to head back into town for lunch. At this point in the trip, pretty much everyone was sick of Indian food (except me!) so we went to a Chinese restaurant. It was not good. Everyone else enjoyed it, but I thought it was pretty disgusting.

Buildings on the grounds

Sweet puppy. He was skin and bones.

Balconies were everywhere.

Due to some planning issues, we were scheduled to leave for our next destination via overnight train. It wasn’t supposed to leave until 11:30 PM though, so we really had nothing to do. Agra is not a great city outside of the Taj Mahal. Luckily, Manvendra had a couple of ideas to keep us entertained.

Design center

Hand knotting. That would get so tiring!

A little closer look.

The first thing we did was hit a carpet factory. It was so interesting! The owner walked us through the entire process from start to finish. We got to see their design room, where all of the rug designs are hand drawn. From there they showed us the tying area. All of the rugs were hand knotted. In one full workday, 2 people were only able to progress ¼ of an inch on an 8 x 10 rug. It was crazy! They also showed us how they clean, trim and finish off the rugs. Overall an interesting experience. Of course, once they were done showing us the process, they offered us a “special sale” on the rugs. Quite a few of our students bought some. I would have loved to, but it’s so hard buying things like that without your spouse! I wasn’t sure what Garrett would like, plus the big ones were so expensive! Pretty cool experience though.

Once the rugs are done, they clean them with some pretty stiff chemicals to set the color.

Once the rugs are washed, they trim them with scissors to make sure all the fibers are uniform.

After the rug experience, we were able to go to a 5 star hotel and relax for the rest of the night. We didn’t have access to our hotel rooms anymore (we were only booked through 11 AM), but Manvendra called in some favors with people at the hotel. They were nice enough to let us hang out in the lobby and relax until we had to head out to the train station. We had time to check email, eat some dinner and relax. A few of our students ordered a Hookah, which was interesting, and we learned to play an Indian board game.

One of our students using the Hookah. Not my cup of tea, but the hookah itself was really beautiful!

We were also lucky enough to see a Rajistani puppet show! The two young men from Rajasthan who put on the show were so amazing. They sang and played the drums while they performed, and definitely catered to their American audience. The puppets danced like Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Britney Spears. Overall a fun experience, and we had a great time talking with them afterwards. I couldn’t resist buying to puppets to take home!

Puppets all in a row.

Snake charmer.

The drummer. His hands moved so fast!

Two Rajistani puppet masters. These guys were so nice!

Eventually our time relaxing in style came to an end, and it was time to pack up and head to the train station. I was REALLY apprehensive about this overnight train, as I had heard bad things about it from my travel companions on our first train. The Agra train station itself is not the cleanest place in the world, and we saw quite a few rats running around on the tracks while we waited which made me even more nervous! The set up inside is pretty interesting. There is one long aisle that goes the full length of the train. Then off to each side are little u shaped compartments (that you can’t block off from other people). There are 3 bunks per side, so we slept six to a compartment. I was on the top, and had a tough time sleeping all night, because people were walking up and down the aisle to use the bathroom, tickling my feet as they walked past! It was unnerving. Each time I fell asleep, I’d wake up again because someone was touching me. Over all I did not get a lot of sleep. It was a long ride to our next destination, Lucknow.

A quick glimpse at our sleeping accommodations. I wish we had more room to take the picture!

California Trip

2008-07-07T21:09:00.015-06:00

We interrupt Mandy's Indian adventure to bring you...

Wait for it...

Our California trip extravaganza!!! (From two months ago). We've both been meaning to write about our trip since we got back, but being the underachieving bloggers that we are, haven't taken the time to do it. So, without further ado...

We've been wanting to take a trip to California for the last couple years for two reasons. One - my grandparents live there and we haven't visited them since before we got married (that's over five years now, for those of you keeping track), and two - Mandy is a Disneyland junkie so we've been trying to organize a trip there with our friends for over two years and things kept falling through for one reason or another. Wow, THAT was a long sentence.

We decided to drive because it's much cheaper than flying and we didn't want to rent a car while we were there. We left on Sunday morning with my Mom in tow. It's her parents that we were visiting, so she decided to spend the week with them while we did the Disney thing. We drove straight through to L.A. and arrived that evening.

We spent Sunday night and Monday with my grandparents. It was my grandma's 83rd birthday on Monday, so it was fun to spend that with her. She is an amazing lady and has remembered all the grandkids' birthdays every year since we were born. Every year, without fail, I can look forward to the arrival of a hand-decorated envelope containing money that has been origami-folded into the shape of a shirt and a card signed by grandma and signed in backwards writing by my grandpa. It was fun to visit with her and to be able to help her with some computer stuff. (Or at least to try - I'm not a very good teacher.)

Grandma blowing out her candles

My grandpa is the most fun person you'll ever meet. I don't think I've ever seen him in any mood besides happy. It was really cool to visit with him and hear some of his stories. He was a sailor in World War II and later a teacher and administrator for special needs children. He is also a very talented painter and has done portraits of all the family dogs. I think it's safe to label Bella as spoiled, given the fact that she has now been done in watercolor.

Grandpa leading the singing

On Tuesday, Mandy and I headed to Six Flags. We have always wanted to go there and had high expectations since we are thrill ride lovers. My aunt is a fanatic for the place and was kind enough to map out all the good rides for us before we went. The school year hadn't ended yet so the park was extremely empty, which was nice. By far the longest line we waited in was for our lunch, which clocked in at a whopping 45 minutes. Unfortunately, the third ride we went on gave us both really bad headaches and most of the other rides were more jerky than fun. Maybe we're just getting old. One we really enjoyed, though, is called Goliath. It's the tallest roller coaster I've ever seen and was a smooth, but really fast, ride.

A typical line at Six Flags

After we were done for the day, we drove down to Anaheim to meet our friends and get ready for Disney. They are Disney addicts and go at least once, if not twice, every year. This was their two and a half year old daughter's fifth trip to Disneyland! I think that's more times than I've been there and I'm pushing 30.

We spent Wednesday and Thursday at Disneyland and California Adventure. Mandy's birthday was on Thursday, so she was excited to wear her official "It's my birthday at Disneyland" button on both days. She was wished a happy birthday by lots of park employees, and even by an animatronic Roz on the Monster's Inc. ride, and she got a free bag of hot and fresh tortillas at the Mission Tortilla factory in California Adventure.

Mandy's birthday button

We hadn't been to California Adventure before, so it was fun to check out. We rode Soarin' and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in Disney World in 2005, and they were two of our favorites, so we had to ride them a few times in California, too. They are still two of our favorites! Other than those two rides and the free tortillas, California Adventure was good, but not great. It mostly reminded me of Lagoon, but cleaner.

Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

In line for Soarin'

Disneyland, however, was as great as ever. Our favorite attractions were Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, the recently updated Space Mountain, and all the kiddie rides that Mandy loves (Cinderella, Snow White, Winnie the Pooh, etc). It's a Small World was closed so we didn't even have to hear that annoying song as we walked by, which was a huge bonus. One thing to note, however, is that it's a BAD idea to ride Splash Mountain first thing in the morning. Even more important to remember – it’s a bad idea to pick the very front seat of the log on Splash Mountain first thing in the morning. At least Mandy got to duck down behind me.

Beware Splash Mountain...

On Main Street

Thursday night we bid a sad farewell to Disneyland and did a little souvenir shopping. After that, we had dinner at Mimi's Cafe to celebrate Mandy's birthday. Because, you know, Six Flags and Disneyland just aren't quite enough. :) We relieved our aching feet that night in the hotel's hot tub and then turned in early.

Friday morning we headed back to L.A. to see my grandparents one more time and to pick up my mom. While we were there, my grandpa was gracious enough to offer us Bella's portrait, but as much as we would've LOVED to have it, we didn't want to deprive his collection of one of the dogs. We took a couple pictures with my grandparents and aunt, then started the long drive home.

The family dogs. Bella is the bottom center.

This trip really made me realize how much I've missed my grandparents. Mandy and I both felt like we didn't get nearly enough time with them and have decided that we need to make it out there at least once a year, hopefully for more than just a day or two at a time. Of course, if we have to do Disneyland on the way home, that's a sacrifice we'd be willing to make.

My grandparents and us

If you want to see the rest of our trip pictures, go to our California album on flickr.com.

India Day 6

2008-06-19T10:34:00.015-06:00

DAY 6: Train Ride to Agra, Naked Heiny's, the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort (Thursday, March 13)
This is a REALLY image heavy entry, sorry! Lots of pictures of people I saw too.

Thursday was an early, early morning. We had to catch a train to Agra that left at 6:20, so we had to be at the station by 5:30 AM. Which meant that I had to be awake by 4:00 so that I could be packed and ready in time. It was a short ride to the station, and then a long walk to our platform. A long walk that emphasized why we were all told to pack light, since we all had to lug our on bags around. Man I am a heavy packer, and this time around I thought that I had packed light! Not so much.

This is the puppy that was hit the day before, so I guess he made it. Obviously interested in cars, though he shouldn't be.

The station itself was packed with people, and was really filthy. Trash was piled everywhere. But the train itself really wasn’t that bad. It was a chair car, so inside it was basically like being in an airplane. Once on, I found out that I was sitting by myself instead of with the group, which was pretty nice. I needed a little bit more time to myself to wake up and get my head together. I turned on my Ipod and then just watched the passing countryside as we went. It was beautiful, lots of farmland. It was a lot more lush than I thought it would be. Coming in to each station we passed, there tended to be a lot more villages so I got to see a lot of small town life as we barreled past. I had two nice women sitting next to me that I spent some time talking with. A mother and her daughter. They were originally from Belgium, and had moved to Delhi for her husband’s job. They had been living in Delhi for the past two years, and probably had two to three more years left. The daughter was just about to graduate from high school, and said that she was looking forward to trying a place other than India for college. They said that overall they really loved India, but wished it had more things for young people to do. She spent a lot of time just hanging out at school with her friends! They also said that a lot of their family at home thought that they were really rich, because they had “people” in India. People to cook, clean, manage their household and drive them around. It was interesting to hear about their life here, and how as non-native people having “people” was a necessity. Plus, it didn’t cost a fortune, and they were providing jobs.

This is outside the window of our train in the train station. My camera was acting up, so it's a little blurry!

Not too shabby for a train in India! We were all very tired...

Once we got a little closer to Agra, the scenery started to degenerate. Apparently, a lot of people relieve themselves alongside the train tracks. They use the tracks to elevate themselves a little bit off the ground. So, for about 30 minutes we didn’t look out the window that much. Apparently 8:30 in the morning is time for everyone’s morning constitutional. Let’s just say that I inadvertently saw a lot of naked heiny!

Roadside village.

Before getting off the train, we had a quick discussion about Agra. Agra is a total tourist destination. Before preservation on the Taj Mahal was such a big deal, they had a lot of plants that supported the community with jobs. But, once they realized that the pollution from all the plants was destroying the Taj, they shut down all the plants and factories thus putting a lot of people out of jobs. Instead of leaving, a lot of them stayed and tried to capitalize on the tourist trade through the city. So we were warned that Agra was not only a really dirty place with a lot of beggars, but it was also a really pushy place. That reality hit me once we got of the train and headed to our bus that was just outside the station. We were instantly bombarded by people. I thought it was bad in Delhi, but in Agra it was ten times worse. In Delhi, we had a few beggars that would come up to us asking for money. In Agra we were surrounded and people would follow us holding on to our bags and touch our arms. We were also surrounded by porters trying to “help us” to our cars, or offering to drive us to our hotels. It was really bad and really overwhelming. The air quality in Agra was also really bad. The pollution was so thick and black, and the air smelled so bad. We quickly piled on to our hot humid bus, and then made our way to our hotel. Because Agra is a bit more dangerous of a city, we had decided to stay in a much nicer hotel. It was gated access, which was really nice and made me feel a lot safer. Since we got there so much earlier than planned, our rooms weren’t ready for us yet. So we stacked our luggage in the lobby and decided to grab breakfast in the hotel. I couldn’t believe how much more expensive it was in Agra! For example, a liter of water in Delhi was around 20 rupees (about 50 cents). In Agra it was 120 rupees ($2.97). Now, that’s not that expensive here, but I couldn’t believe the difference there!

After eating breakfast we decided to head over to the Taj Mahal. The day was getting overcast, which I was worried about, but there wasn’t much we could do. They allow you to get only so close to the Taj, and after that you either walk or you ride CNG vehicles down to the gate. We decided to walk. It was definitely an interesting experience. This was a walk peppered with peddlers as opposed to beggars. And they were persistent. They also tried to take a few more liberties with us than they probably would their own women. A few of our students were groped as we walked down the road. Not great, let me tell you. There were also a lot of cows aimlessly wandering the streets that we had to look out for!

One lone cow...

The long walk was worth it though. Once we got to the Taj Mahal, it started drizzling. I was disappointed at first, but the closer we got the happier I was about it. The Taj Mahal is very white, and apparently on hot days it can be blinding which is miserable. The light drizzle made it the perfect temperature. It was breathtaking.

Our fearless leaders. Manvendra and Ben.

Taj Mahal.

Me, Caitlin, and Amy in front of the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal through flowers. This is the position all the "guides" show you and then ask you for money.

Our lovely group.

A little history on the Taj Mahal. It was built by the Mughal emperor Shahjahan in memory of his queen, Mumtaz Mahal. She had died in childbirth, and when she died he was inconsolable. The royal court mourned for two years. Shahjahan was a passionate builder and he wanted this memorial to be something that the world would never forget. And based on my experience, there is one person in Utah who won’t!

Two beautiful Indian women.

Cleaning project.

Mosque in the distance.

Carved corners. This building is so tall! I tried to get the entire thing in the shot, but it didn't work...

The grounds were amazing. Everything was amazing. At the base of the Taj Mahal, you have to take your shoes off to walk around. It was such a cool feeling, slightly damp marble on bare feet. Once we got up close to the Taj we saw some cool cleaning work being done. They cover the walls outside with this mud type stuff, and then wipe it off which takes off the grime underneath. The craftsman ship was amazing. The carving, the inlay work. I really don’t have enough words to describe it, which is why this entry has so many pictures!

Inlay and carving, all hand done.

Close up of the inlays. Beautiful!

Beautiful couple on honeymoon.

It's raining, run! She was so cute!

Beautiful vacationing family.

The feeling there was so peaceful. Just calming. I could have sat there for hours and hours soaking it up. And we did stay there for quite a while! We also spent some time walking around the grounds, speaking with the groundskeepers. They do so many things by hand without gas-powered tools. All of the grass around the stonework is cut by hand, it’s just amazing!

Stonework in the gardens. All of the grass around it is hand trimmed.

All of the maintenance and upkeep is done the way it was originally done.

Beautiful grounds.

The master gardener.

Gardener's son.

After spending hours at the Taj Mahal, we decided that we were hungry so it was time to grab lunch. Our driver took us to a small out of the way place that I forgot to write down. I wish I would have, so I could warn everyone away from it! It was absolutely horrible. They gave us a big platter to share between four of us, and I couldn’t believe how foul everything smelled to me! Needless to say, I didn’t eat much else but naan at lunch.

On the way back to the hotel, following his dad. I love the horses and carts!

After lunch we went back to the hotel to put away our stuff and take a quick catnap. I spent most of the time doing laundry in the sink! After the nights we spent at Hotel 55, the Mansingh Palace Hotel was amazing. Everything was so clean and nice. I actually felt okay walking without socks on. And the sheets were clean, hallelujah!

Walls of Agra Fort.

Once we were all rested, we met up again to go see Agra Fort. Yes, more forts! It is a really cool fort. If you go up to the top, you can see the Taj Mahal across the river. In the far right corner, closest to the Taj Mahal is the room where Shahjahan was imprisoned by his son towards the end of his life. They say that he was staring out that room towards the Taj when he died. How romantic!

Corner room where Shahjahan was imprisoned and stared at the Taj Mahal on his deathbed. Romantic!

By this point we were all pretty wiped out so we went back to the hotel again, for some longer naps before dinner. Manvendra had set up a dinner reservation for us at a restaurant (once again, can’t remember the name) that was on a rooftop looking out over Agra. Agra at night is much prettier than Agra in the day! It was so nice to just relax and eat by candlelight, and the food was fantastic too. By this point everyone had been sick (except me!) and they did not want Indian food anymore. This place served some nice Indian food but also had some more Americanized food as well. There were a lot of people eating spaghetti with marinara sauce! I stuck with Indian though and had a nice vegetarian mixed plate. It was delicious. We had some great conversations and I enjoyed getting to know some of the other students a little bit better. Once we were done with dinner, we went back to the hotel to enjoy a good nights sleep in a clean bed.

Dinner on the roof. He has to put up with so much!

One of the rare pictures of me, thank you Caitlin.

India Day 5

2008-06-18T09:35:00.008-06:00

DAY 5: Cottage Industries, Women's Rights and Indian Bureaucracy (Wednesday, March 12)

A dancing Shiva statue outside Cottage Industries. Shiva is one of the principle deities of Hinduism.

Wednesday was our last full day in Delhi. When we woke up, we woke up to something that wasn’t that great. Unfortunately, although they tried as hard as they could, our sponsors were unable to completely register us with the Foreigners Registration Office. So, we had to spend part of our day getting logistics taken care of so that we wouldn’t get in trouble! I also had a bit of a breakdown, after watching a poor defenseless dog get ran over ON PURPOSE right in front of me. Not once, but twice. He didn't die, but I'm pretty sure that a lot of bones were broken. I am still sickened at that image in my brain. Poor dogs. I am very grateful for the animal control system we have here in the US. Granted, it's not 100% full proof, but at least there is a way to help homeless animals.

Some of the handiwork outside Cottage Industries.

We had a little bit of time before we had to start the process, so a group of us headed over to Cottage Industries. Cottage Industries is a GIANT shopping center that sells products made all over India in various regions. It is the best store ever. Since most of us had decided to do the bulk of our shopping at the end of the trip so that we didn’t have to lug our souvenirs all over India, we decided that it would be smart to check out Cottage Industries so that we knew what we could get there and where it was. We allowed ourselves an hour, but that was no where near long enough! I definitely felt rushed through the store, there was just way too much stuff to look at. We did get a good idea as to what they had though, and I was able to start making lists of what I wanted to get.

After Cottage Industries, we met back up at the hotel to get further instruction on what we needed to do today. First up on the list was getting passport pictures taken to attach to our paperwork. We started looking for a place close to our hotel, and finally found one. I was so grumpy at this point, and needless to say my picture did not come out that great! I had the biggest scowl on my face, and it definitely gave the students a good laugh. I just had so much on my mind though (as some of our students were running off in all directions), and I just did NOT want to stop and deal with the FRO office. Let’s just say my passport picture showed that!

Once we found our students and finished pictures, we jumped in the cars to head out to our next appointment, a lecture at a Women’s Issues Center at a University in Delhi. They were lecturing on women’s rights in India, and it was fascinating. They talked a lot about sex-selected abortions, and how they were still occurring in some parts of India because families didn’t want to have to deal with dowries. The lecture was really intense, and I think it hit home with a lot of students. Unfortunately, we were running a little late so we didn’t get to stay as long as we’d hoped since we had to make it to the FRO office by 3:00 PM.

Banners in the Women's Centre.

We jumped back in the cars and then made the mad dash to the FRO. Let’s just say it was stressful. We had been given bad directions so we kept making wrong turns. It didn’t help matters that everyone was starving, but we had no time to stop for anything. We finally made it at about 2:30. We started quickly filling out our forms and then had to wait around for our turn to be seen. The students decided to play a quick game of Mafia while we waited, which turned into a loud game that everyone enjoyed watching, especially other people waiting for their turn.

A quick game of Mafia outside the FRO. Yes, that's me in the back with my worried face on!

Finally it was our turn to go in. We walked into the building, walked right up to the desk (while a lot of people waiting their turn gave us dirty looks) and then all stood in a row in front of the employee working the desk. He took our passports, stamped them, and then told us we were good to go. It was very anti-climatic. One of the ladies waiting in line told us that she had been trying to get her stamp for the last 3 days. We were very lucky we had someone there doing the footwork and being our advocate! Indian bureaucracy is crazy.

Parking at Khan Market. They pack you in tight!

Wow, a pet shop! I wish I could have bought all those beds and passed them out to the dogs that were everywhere.

By the time we were done, we decided to just forgo lunch and walk around a market, taking an early dinner afterwards. Well, early by Indian standards! So it was off to Khan Market. We stopped and grabbed some rolls in a bakery to tide over our hunger, and then we started walking around. The market had a lot more upscale stores, and they were fun to browse through. One store that surprised me was a pet store! After all the poor dogs I’d seen on the street, I was surprised to see a pet store that advertised supplies for dogs. I guess some people keep them as pets. We also got a chance to hit up an internet café to check email and let people know we were alive. It was so nice to get online, but it also made me realize how nice it is to go without the internet every once in a while.

A little bit of home. Home come McDonald's doesn't deliver in the US? Probably a good thing for us fat Americans!

Alleyway in Khan Market.

After wandering the streets, it was finally time for dinner. We ate at a mughal style restaurant called Karim’s. Karim’s is a really famous restaurant that has been around forever, so we were pretty excited to try it out. Right as we sat down the power went out, so they were working on back up generators which really set a nice ambiance! The food, however, was a total let down for me. It was really heavy and rich, and overly spiced for me. Which was too bad, because I was starving after not eating lunch. The conversation and company more than made up for it though. We had a great time getting to know each other better and sharing stories about our lives. We really had some great students.

Ah The Body Shop. It's everywhere.

Since we were supposed to catch a train pretty early to Agra the next day, we decided to make an early night of it so we went straight back to the hotel after dinner. Next, Agra and the Taj Mahal!

Beautiful woman at Khan Market.

India Day 4

2008-06-12T11:48:00.015-06:00

DAY 4: Humayun's Tomb, Rashtrapati Bhawan, Mughal Gardens, Old Fort, and Tea! (Tuesday, March 11)

DISCLAIMER: Some of the “history” in here is from my notes of discussions we had with our guide. Hopefully it's accurate!

Tuesday morning we woke up early again. Yes, this was definitely beginning to be a pattern! As was my breakfast habits. Toast with jam and eggs. By the end of this trip, I didn’t know if I would be able to eat eggs ever again!

Just outside Humayun's Tomb.

The first thing on the list for the day was Humayun’s Tomb. Humayun was a Mughal Emperor who got off to a great start, but then was overthrown ten years into his reign. He was exiled to Iran, but later was able to restore his army and marched back into Delhi. Six months later he fell down the stairs in his library and died. They say that his tomb was designed by his widow. The cool thing about this tomb is that it inspired the Taj Mahal and a lot of other Mughal tombs.

Archway at Humayun's Tomb.

After a brief bit of history, we had time to wander the tomb on our own. It was absolutely beautiful, and I took a LOT of pictures of the architecture. It was nice because it really wasn’t that crowded, so we were on our own a lot of the time.

Humayun's Tomb.

The STEEP stairs that led up to the tomb. I thought that I would die walking back down.

View of the grounds from the upper level.

View from the inside of the tomb out. Beautiful hand hewn stone screens.

Close up of the screens. They were amazing.

There was a school group there visiting as well, and they were amazing! Mostly girls with a few boys thrown in, they were all in uniform. They were marching around the tomb and the gardens completely organized. One long line of children snaking in and out of all the structures, they were so well behaved. There really weren’t that many adults, but they had total control! The kids were really polite too, each and every one of them waved and said hi as they walked by, they were so cute! As they were walking below us, I decided I had to have a picture. I stepped close to the edge and didn't realize that there were drainage pipes right before the railing (which only came up to my knees). My life flashed before my eyes as I almost plummeted over the railing. Thankfully one of our students grabbed my bag and pulled me back. He saved my life, dying in India would not have been fun!

Ducks in a row. Picture taken right before I almost died.

After Humayun’s Tomb, we went to Rashtrapati Bhawan, the official residence of the President of India. It was built during British rule, and it felt like being in London with most of the design! I guess that there are times that you can go in and walk the grounds, but this wasn’t one of them. So, all we got to do was stand outside the gate. It was pretty though! And it has some interesting architectural history. It sits on the top of a hill, and was designed (I think) by Edwin Lutyens. I guess that originally he wanted the residence to get bigger and more imposing as you drove up the hill, but there was a flaw in slope of the approach, so the palace disappears a bit. It’s still a beautiful site though!

Rashtrapati Bhawan

Cool carved elephants on a pillar outside

Elephant bushes "growing" on the grounds

Behind Rashtrapati Bhawan, Lutyens also designed a Mughal Garden, so we hit that up next. They had TIGHT security, not letting us take bags or purses or anything (not even cameras, so no pictures!). And we had to go through a security pat down. It was beautiful inside though! Definitely some Mughal components, but it also felt a lot like a British garden. It was so well maintained and organized, and I wish I could have a garden like that in my backyard!

The original protection outside the residence walls

Modern protection outside the residence halls

After the walk through the gardens, we decided that we were starving and had to eat lunch, so we hit a little place in a strip mall. We were bombarded with people trying to sell us trinkets, the most prominent one being Kama Sutra books. No thanks! Lunch was good, but not too memorable. Mostly because we were so hungry.

The Old Fort

After lunch we decided to visit the Old Fort (yes, we saw a lot of forts on this trip…). The Old Fort is the site where Humayun died after sustaining injuries during a fall down the stairs of his library, or so some sources say. This became fodder for a LOT of jokes amongst our group, and it wasn’t very often that you didn’t hear “die like Humayun” popping out of someone’s mouth! The Fort is made of red sand stone, and was so beautiful. We had some paparazzi following us in the fort. There was a guy following 4 of us girls all over and was constantly taking pictures of us with his camera. Nerves were a little frayed by everyone because we were so tired, so it got a little annoying. I finally decided to turn it back on him, and took his picture. It was great.

Our paparazzi...

After touring the fort, we were fortunate enough to be invited for tea at the Imperial Hotel by a University Official who was also in India. The Imperial Hotel is a fancy, FANCY hotel that was built during British rule, and it shows. There were doormen that anticipated your every move. The tea service was great and there was a lot of beautiful British art. It was also fun to just sit and relax in the air conditioned room! I wish I would have been able to get pictures, but I felt a little awkward taking pictures inside.

Beautiful doorway at the Old Fort

After tea a group of us decided to walk back to our hotel through a street fair. There were so many things to see, and a lot of pressure to buy things. We were able to resist though, since most of us didn’t want to have to shop until the end of the trip. Once back at the hotel, a few of us decided to hit another restaurant close to our hotel, Gola. Once again we made a really wise choice on restaurants and had some great vegetarian food. A couple of our students were sick, so we didn’t linger too long. I was definitely ready for bed at the end of this day!

India Day 3

2008-06-10T13:39:00.010-06:00

DAY 3: Meeting Our Sponsors and a Visit to the Hospital (Monday, March 10)

Monday started out pretty early again. After meeting for breakfast on the patio, we set out to meet with our tour sponsors. We had an hour and a half drive ahead of us, so we had to take off early! We split into two cars and set off. The drive was long, but not that bad. We had Manvendra with us, so we were able to ask a lot of questions. He was such a great guide, and was so open to the personal questions our students had! It was really interesting to learn more about him, and more about what he does on a daily basis.

Garbage truck outside the window on the drive. I didn't get a picture of it, but there were so many workers surrounding this truck cleaning up Delhi!

Finally after some delays due to traffic and a long line at the toll road, we pulled up to our destination. Unfortunately, one of the students in the other car had gotten carsick. I felt so bad for her, she was miserable. After we helped her get cleaned up, we went inside to meet everyone. They had a nice presentation set up for us explaining their program and what they can offer universities and students. It was great for me to meet them all and get more information on how we can help our students have great experiences in India. They also showed us around their research areas. We were able to see their library which was huge. Overall it’s a really great place and would be a huge resource for our students, so I was pleased to be able to get a first hand view.

Gorgeous patio garden. The lawn was so green!

After the tour they hosted us for lunch, and it was fantastic. All vegetarian food, and a fantastic dessert. Just off the cafeteria was a beautiful patio/garden. It was so gorgeous! It was interesting though to be up on top of the building in this beautiful garden, and then to look outside and see poverty.

Vendors just outside the institute.

We did get a bit of bad news while we were with our sponsors though. Instead of applying for tourist visas, we applied for student visas. Unbeknownst to us, this meant that we had to go to the FRO (Foreigner Registration Office) to register with the police. Since this was a small oversight, our sponsors told us that they would try and get it taken care of for us, so we shouldn't worry too much. This put our minds at ease, but it was still so stressful to have to worry about taking time to go do that, when apparently it wasn't a quick process!

Construction site at the hospital. This is an example of the scaffolding they use. I would NOT want my dad working construction in India!

Since there were some pre-med students in our group, our hosts set up a hospital tour for us after lunch. We were running really behind though, so by the time we got there the doctor who was supposed to give us a tour had left for the day. We were a little disappointed, but they found some other people who could give us a tour. To be honest, it was a little uncomfortable and I felt out of place. I know that Delhi has great healthcare, but this wasn’t the best hospital around. It felt like we were back in 1890. They wanted to show us everything, so they took us places that I didn’t feel comfortable being. For example, they took us to the women’s ward. There were no private rooms, just individual beds separated by curtains. I know they just wanted us to see their accommodations, but I felt so bad violating people’s private space as they opened up curtains for us. It was interesting to hear specifics about old versus new in India though. And it was fascinating to learn more about the healthcare system in India.

Workers outside the construction site at the hospital.

After the hospital we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel. I think this was a wise decision, since we had 3 or 4 students who really weren’t feeling good at this point. Combination of Delhi Belly and motion sickness. Once we got back to the hotel, three of the students decided to take a walk outside to try and find an internet café, so I decided to join them. We had such a great time! We were definitely targeted by a lot of people wanting to sell us things or drive us places. I got really good at saying “not today” in Hindi and having them actually leave us alone. I really enjoyed people watching and checking out some of the street vendors.

Street vendors cleaning their dishes.

Once we were done walking around we decided that it was time for dinner, so we went back to the hotel and got a few more students to come with us. We went to a great place close to our hotel called Veda. It was beautiful inside. It was decorated with a lot of red and gold, and the lighting was very dim and set the mood very well. I wish I could have taken better pictures, but the lighting just didn’t work, so check out their website (http://www.vedarestaurants.com/), it’s worth it to look at their pictures! It was obvious once we walked in though that 6:30 was not the usual time for people to eat dinner, since we were the only people in the restaurant! We had a great time though, and fantastic service. There were 5 waiters for our group of seven people. They were so attentive and so helpful, and the food was fantastic. Best butter chicken ever! The company was great too. The group of students on this trip were so fun! We had a nice time getting to know each other and decompressing after a couple of crazy days. Once we finished dinner we decided to call it a night. Back to the hotel we went for a quick shower and a book, and a nice early night.

Five Years Ago Today...

2008-06-06T08:23:00.011-06:00

Five years ago today marked the beginning of my new life. After barely sleeping at all, I got up early for a hair appointment. The day was beautiful, and I was so excited. It was a busy day from the start. Straight to the salon, then back home and on to the temple. I was so worried that Garrett would be late, but there he was with his dad. My stomach flipped when I saw him, he was so handsome! The rest of the time in the temple was an absolute blur. I wish that I had written down some of the advice our sealer gave us, but I didn't. I just remember that it was good advice. It was an amazing experience. It was also fantastic to have all of our family and friends around us. They have always been such a great support to us!

Our wonderful families...

We had a fantastic time taking pictures too. I felt like such a princess, even though my back was aching from how heavy my dress was! I have never felt more beautiful in my life than that day. My hair was great, makeup was great, and I had great arm candy in Garrett!

Kissing tree by the temple

Can you tell how happy I am?

After our pictures, Garrett took me to his parents house so that we could exchange gifts. For my wedding present, Garrett wrote and recorded a song for me. How romantic is that! It's a beautiful song and I still listen to it often. This gift was just a preview of our life to come. Garrett is always so thoughtful and romantic. He always thinks outside the box and gives me gifts that have a lot of thought and meaning behind him. I am so lucky to have him!

And yes, we do like to kiss!

We had a wonderful luncheon and enjoyed spending more time with our close friends and family. We had our luncheon outside on the lawn in front of the Bountiful Tabernacle, and Garrett's Aunt Barbara made it all possible. It was so nice to not have to worry about a thing.

The Sadorus Family

The Biesinger Family

Our reception was also fantastic. My family went to so many great efforts to make everything perfect and beautiful. We had such a great turn out of family and friends that came to congratulate us, it was amazing. We stood in line for hours greeting all our friends, so long in fact that we didn't get to taste our own refreshments! We did have a great time though, and I wouldn't change it for the world.

The two of us being civilized with our gorgeous cake. That wasn't the case at the end of the night!

Our beautiful refreshment table.

It was a perfect day, and a perfect start to the rest of our lives. I can't believe that it's been five years. We have had some good times and some bad times but I think that comes with all marriages. Looking back, I can't believe the things we've been through! Moving our stuff 7 times (thanks family and friends!), a bunch of job changes, sickness, travelling, adding a new puppy to our world, dealing with said puppy, so many different trials and joyous occasions. I can honestly say that I wouldn't want it any different. Garrett is kind, compassionate, loving, honest, and a hard worker. He always does everything he can to make our lives as easy as possible. I can always count on him when I need him and he always puts us first. I love you Garrett. Thank you for a wonderful 5 years of marriage, and hears to many years to come!

The two happiest people on the earth. Then and now!

India Day 2, Part 2

2008-06-02T11:18:00.007-06:00

Okay, so part 2 of day 2. My camera battery died, so I didn't get many pictures so this is mostly thought heavy. After this day though, lots of pictures!!

DAY 2, Part 2: Overwhelmed in Delhi (Sunday, March 9)

After lunch, Manvendra suggested that we ride the metro so that we could get a good juxtaposition of ancient versus modern India. Since everywhere else we had been was so nasty and gross, I had low expectations for the metro. It was surprisingly clean! There was a lot of trash on the tracks, but not much around the grounds. The station itself wasn’t crowded at all, so I was looking forward to a nice relaxing ride. I thought too soon though, because the closer the train got to arriving, the more crowded it got. It was a stampede to get on the train! I started having a panic attack for two reasons. I wasn’t sure if everyone in our group would make it on, and I was so worried that someone would be left behind. But as most of you know, I do NOT do well in crowded places at all, so that was the worst part of all! The ride itself was also really uncomfortable because there were a lot of men crowded around us and hardly any women at all. The men in our group kind of formed a barrier between us and the rest of the people at the beginning, but that quickly got pushed out of the way as more and more people crushed onto the train. The ride was interesting, as it was mostly young people. Cell phones kept ringing with local music as their ring tones. We were spectacles once again, and everyone was staring at us. It was really awkward, since we had nowhere to go. Manvendra didn’t let the time go to waste either, and spent the time discussing the metro, it’s history, and how many people rode on it daily. The information was intriguing, but hard to pay attention to, as one guy kept getting closer and closer….

Our metro stop finally came, putting us back in Old Delhi. While I thought the first half of the day was as rough as it would get, I was mistaken. It was filthy. Trash was everywhere, beggars everywhere, and the stench was intense. As we turned the corner from the station exit, I saw a dog lying on the ground that I thought was dead. I almost lost it right there. Ever since we got Bella, I have become a total animal person. I can’t stand to see animals suffer, and this poor dog had clearly suffered. There were flies all over his body, and patches of hair were missing. You could see his ribs so well you could count each one. I finally saw his ribs rise as he took a breath, so I started feeling a lot better. The thing that was the hardest was that there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t kneel down and pet him or comfort him, because there was no way of knowing what diseases he carried. It was heart breaking.

Poor dog.

We moved on and went to our first stop, a Hindu temple. We got a little bit of history, and were once again surrounded by Indian men. This older part of town felt a lot more uncomfortable then where we had been before, which was mostly touristy sites. Although both areas were in Old Delhi, the touristy sites felt a lot safer. It didn’t bother me as much there to be surrounded by people checking us out. But in this part of town, it was really uncomfortable and a little bit scary. Manvendra decided to have us move, since the temple was closed and because of the numbers of men that kept crowding in, so we moved on to see a Sikh Temple.

The walk to the Sikh Temple was once again disgusting. We were the only white faces anywhere. The longer we walked around, the more I started to panic. I was constantly turning around counting heads to make sure we were all together, gripping my bag tight to my side, and watching where I was walking to avoid the garbage and the filth that was everywhere. It was at this point in the day that I started feeling overwhelmed with India and was truly questioning what I was doing here. What possessed me to come?? Everything was smelly and disgusting, plus the circumstances were depressing. A lot more beggars surrounded us, and more of them were disabled and seemingly unable to take care of themselves. Not the cute child beggars from earlier.

One of the cleaner allies of Old Delhi.

Once at the Sikh Temple, we found out that we had to remove our shoes again. I didn’t think it was such a big deal, since I’d done it earlier in the day at the Mosque. But then we found out that we had to leave our shoes inside this building, and then walk barefoot outside through the filthy street to get to the door of the temple. Through all the garbage and rotting food and other thing that I couldn’t identify. We got to the door of the temple, and they passed out scarves and head covers, which made me even more uncomfortable, since I didn’t know where the scarf had been or what was on it. I thought I was going to loose it. I kept trying to hold myself together, so that I could help our other students, who clearly weren’t okay with the situation. Before we went into the temple, we were told to wash our feet in a stream of water that was just before the steps. People were drinking straight from the stream. Who knew what was running through that water, human and animal waste, rotting food, everything that we walked through was in that water. T hey had no idea what diseases they were taking in their bodies. Hopefully their systems were immune to it all, but who knew?

The temple itself was interesting. There was a lot of chanting going on, and they passed out food. I felt like we were intruding, which to be honest I think we were. Manvendra was great to get us into all these side areas that most tourists don’t see, but I wonder now if we sometimes overstepped the boundaries of appropriateness.

After the Sikh Temple, we walked over to a Jain temple that we had passed earlier. We once again had to take off our shoes, and while we were doing that we were again bombarded with beggars. Our instructor kept telling us that these people didn’t need money, and that they truly were being taken care of, but that didn’t make me feel much better. We got inside the gates of the Jain Temple, but then found out that we couldn’t go inside because they were closed. Instead they had us walk through a bird hospital they had. So, once again, barefoot, we walked through things that we were unsure of. This bird hospital was set up to take care of all these wild birds that were hurt. Wild birds that are not on the street. That killed me. The streets were filled with starving dogs, but no one would take care of them. There was no animal control. But the birds, they had a hospital for the birds.

After the hospital, we went back out to put our shoes on. One of our students was accidentally struck in the face by one of the beggars as he was trying to put his shoes on. Looking around the group, you could definitely tell that everyone was overwhelmed and done. It wasn’t quite dinner time though, so when we polled the class they decided to keep moving until dinner because if they stopped at the hotel, they wouldn’t want to leave again. Most of the students wanted to get some clothes that fit in a little bit better, so we decided to hit up Fab India.

Fab India is a fantastic store with tons of choices for Saris and Punjabi suits. It was so fun to shop for a bit in an area where we didn’t have to bargain. The colors were beautiful and there were so many choices, but I finally found two tops that I liked. By the time everyone was done shopping, it was pretty late and tensions were high due to hunger and exhaustion, so we finally set out for dinner. There was a place that our instructor wanted to take us, but after searching for it for 45 minutes, we found out that it was closed and no longer in business. We searched the streets and finally found a little kabab place on the street that is pretty famous in Delhi. So, back alley, dogs everywhere, nowhere to sit. We placed our order and then ate standing up in the alley, scarfing food down.

Street Kababs. Stressful situation, but fantastic kababs!

While we were eating there was a dog wandering up and down the alley. He was nosing around the edges, looking for food that people had dropped. Not bother any of us, because most of these dogs are scared of humans. As he walked past a car, the guy in the car reached out and bashed him in the head with a wrench. Tears poured down my eyes, and my appetite vanished. I was definitely done for the night, as were the rest of the students. We piled back in the cars and headed back to the hotel to turn in for the night. Luckily, the management had moved my room so that I no longer had an open window over the front desk. I took a quick shower, and climbed into bed exhausted.

India Day 2, Part 1

2008-05-28T14:27:00.021-06:00

Okay, so you probably all thought I dropped off the face of the earth, but no, I've just been writing my novel on India. No, seriously. I really have written a novel. It's turned out a lot longer than I thought it would, this recap of my trip. But there are just so many details that I want to share and record. Some days I had more going on than others, so I might break things up here and there. Today's post is Day 2, part 1. Part 2 will come tomorrow. There is a lot going on in this post, more detail than you probably want, plus pictures. Don't feel obligated to read through!

DAY 2, Part 1: Overwhelmed in Delhi (Sunday, March 9)

Around 5:00 am, a nice “pungent” smell started coming in through my window to the front desk. It was a nice mixture of cigarette smoke and incense. Apparently, the employees of the hotel all sleep in hallways on the floor, and they liked to start of their morning with some incense and cigarettes. It completely filled my room, and definitely didn’t add to my sour attitude. We were supposed to meet upstairs for breakfast around 8:00, so I started getting ready.

The hotel had a little patio upstairs where they served breakfast, so we all met up there. This was my first view of India in the day, and I was shocked at how thick the pollution was. I thought it was bad the night before, but it was nothing like what I was seeing in the daylight. It was like looking through an out of focus picture, everything was fuzzy and blurry. We ate breakfast (dry toast and a cheese omelet) and then headed out for our first day.

The view off our patio. I particularly like the little couple on the right, hamming for the camera.

We were lucky enough to have a tour guide for our entire trip that the University arranged for. Our guide was from Rajasthan, and his name was Manvendra. He was fantastic from the start. He was younger than I expected (a month younger than me), and was really knowledgeable about everything. The nice thing was that he was really personable, which made it really easy for our students to talk to.

The first place we stopped for the day was Ghandi’s burning place. It was really beautiful, serene and peaceful. I was surprised at how green it was. They had a ton of laborers working on the grass and the trees were fantastic. It was a little oasis inside polluted Delhi. Manvendra gave us some great historical background on Ghandi and his assassination.

Me, Amanda, Amy and Kim at Ghandi's Burning Place.

This was definitely my first reality check with what outsiders we were. Obviously there weren’t a lot of Caucasians there, and we stood out even worse because we were bundled together in such a tight group. We found out from Manvendra that a lot of the places we would be visiting today would be full of native tourists checking out their own sites. Which makes total sense seeing as how we tour through the U.S., but I guess I just hadn’t thought about it.

We were also introduced to what a novelty we were at Ghandi’s burning place. We were followed everywhere by groups of guys (not a lot of females anywhere, that’s for sure). They were NOT shy about it either. They laughed and smiled and tried to flirt. They were constantly about 10 feet behind us. They would walk up really close and ask us for a kiss. The weird thing was that these groups of guys were all holding hands or hanging on each other. Based on my knowledge of PDA “rules” in India, I was so surprised at how open they were being about being gay. I thought this was a serious contradiction to their social rules/values, but was later informed by Manvendra that men show friendship to other men by holding hands or having their arms around each others shoulders. And here I thought that they were an open culture!

Ghandi's Burning Place

The fact that there were no females around was also really weird. The women that were there were being escorted by men or were landscape workers. As we were walking out of the monument, we saw a large group of women pruning bushes while their children played on the grass. It was interesting to find out that parents often bring their kids to work with them. The government is trying to get them educated and has implemented a plan that provides one fully nutritious meal at school to get children to go to school. But some of the parents don’t see that as a benefit and want their kids with them. The kids we saw were absolutely beautiful. In fact, most of the people we have seen so far have been absolutely beautiful, male and female.

These were the cute kids of the gardeners.

After Ghandi’s burning place we went to the Red Fort. Once again, driving was especially harrowing. There was a huge political rally going on for one of the two parties, plus it was Sunday so there were people everywhere. We had to park a ways away from the Fort, and then walk in. Once again, I thought I would die, literally. I think this was the theme for certain parts of this trip! Old Delhi is really packed and crowded, plus it isn’t the safest. There were rows and rows of open air street booths with people selling everything from food cooked in front of you to shoes to bags to clothing. It was crazy! They would get right in your face trying to get you to buy things, touching and prodding you as you walked along. We were also bombarded with beggars, which was also difficult to deal with. I felt pretty guilty knowing that I had the 20 rupees (basically fifty cents) that they were begging for, but we were told time and again not to give money to beggars. It broke my heart.

Crossing the street was a nightmare, because cars wouldn’t stop no matter what. It was basically like playing a game of frogger. The locals were really good at it, and would just watch and step when they should, but it was hard to follow along, especially with a party of 13 people. Once we finally made it across the street and into the monument, we were faced with trucks with big guns mounted on them and soldiers standing around with open weapons. We also got to go through a nice little security detail, where we got FULLY patted down, and I do mean fully. It was interesting to see the culture poke through here though. Obviously they had a line for men and a line for women, but they also had a panel of fabric around the women’s line to keep things modest. There were also armed guards standing around everywhere.

Just in case we got a little unruly...

Once we got inside, we were once again reminded how odd we were. As we were walking around the Red Fort, we would occasionally stop for historical discussions. Every time we stopped to listen to our guide, we were instantly surrounded by a large crowd of men. There were times we had 20-30 men surrounding us. I felt like an object in a museum. Before we left, I was making fun of our packing list. It was recommended that we bring long skirts, and that skirts be at least knee length. Not that I would be wearing a mini skirt, but I thought knee length was perfectly long enough, and that I didn’t need anything longer. Boy was I wrong. This first day I was in pants and didn’t have too much of a problem. But a lot of our students did. They were all in knee length skirts, but they were totally being ogled. They also liked to jump in our pictures, or beg us to be in theirs. It was really awkward.

Behind the stone modesty screens.

The Red Fort itself was beautiful. The hand work was amazing. They had stone “screens” that they used so that the women could look out but no one else could look in. They also had some pretty amazing systems set up to make them comfortable. Using gravity, they had underground aqueduct systems to help cool down the structures.

Gorgeous red pillars, and a little bit of the Indian tourist population.

After the Red Fort, we walked back to the cars. There was so much garbage on that street. I couldn’t believe how many people had set up their “permanent” homes amongst the trash. The street was their bathroom, and I can’t tell you how many men I saw using the facilities in front of me.

Homes.

I think we are all extremely blessed.

Once we got back to the cars, we decided to take cycle rickshaws over to the Red Mosque. Let’s just say it was the ride of death. They were 2 seats each, so I grabbed one of the students and climbed on. Our poor rickshaw guy was really struggling. I think there was something wrong with his bike, because the chain kept popping off. He was a really little guy too!

The rickshaw ride of death. I don't know why Tori and I crammed ourselves in there and didn't put down the top!

Once we got to the Mosque we had to walk through a pack of beggars. It was so hard, this was the first time we were actually asked for money. It was really hard to walk through them all, when all they wanted was the equivalent of 50 cents. I could have lived without that 50 cents. I was surprised at some of the deformities people had, and how many kids were there begging on their own. It was heartbreaking to see, but our guide and the course instructor kept telling us that these were not truly the poor of India. They didn’t have distended bellys and they weren’t skin and bones. One of the kids begging just wanted a pen. Not money, just a stinking pen. Like I couldn’t live without an extra pen!!

To get in the mosque, all of the women with bare legs had to tie on long skirts. We also had to take off our shoes. I was a little grossed out at first, but once inside I got over it. Inside was very clean, beautiful and sort of bare bones. They had a few bookcases here and there holding holy books, but no other furniture. Mostly just open space for worshipping. Outside the mosque was a place for people to wash their feet and/or faces. A few of our group joined in, but I was definitely not interested. What really grossed me out was that right after people washed their feet, they then drank the water they had just used. Blah.

After getting some of our students cleaned up, we headed back outside to put our shoes back on and head out. Outside was a small group of children waiting to beg. I couldn’t believe how young of them. One was a baby that was maybe 18 months old, totally naked from the waist down. He was begging while his older brother watched from the sideline. I can’t tell you how hard it was to not give him something. I felt evil and wrong, but we had been told over and over not to give people things, because we’d be mobbed. It broke my heart.

Our little beggar boy. 18 months old.

After the mosque we decided to hit lunch, since we were all starving. We went to a great restaurant called the United Coffee House. It’s this little British Raj decorated restaurant, and the food was fantastic. The paneer kofta in spinach sauce was my favorite of the entire trip! Since this was my first meal in India (the toast didn’t count), I decided to dive in to tradition and eat with my hands. I loved it! I thought it would be a lot harder than it actually was. In my opinion it added to the experience because you were bringing in all your senses.

End of Day 2 Part 1, Part 2 to come tomorrow!

Tony Sly Is My Hero

2008-05-13T21:46:00.001-06:00

From the time I was old enough to drive myself to the dirty underage clubs that my parents wouldn't take me to until about the time I got engaged to Mandy, I went to punk rock concerts constantly. I loved the raw energy of the music and the crowd and I usually spent the entire show either in the middle of the mosh pit or trying to keep myself from getting crushed into the front of the stage by the hordes of people behind me. I always came home exhausted and reeking of other people's sweat and cigarette smoke. Ahh, good times...

I guess I started getting old a few years ago because the thought of going to the nasty clubs and being around the similarly nasty people started to lose its appeal. I decided that I'd rather listen to a CD at home where I could hear the music clearly and not risk getting hepatitis from the shirtless, slobbering drunk guy next to me in the crowd. Besides, most of the bands whose music I loved just weren't all that good live, probably because a lot of them played drunk or stoned or who knows what else.

Being a musician who has played his own fair share of concerts, I know exactly how good a band has to be to sound as good live as they do on their professional recordings. No Use For a Name does it every time. Of the countless bands I've seen play, they are far and away the best at bringing their raw energy to their live show while still playing technically extremely well. They released a new album a few weeks ago that is amazing, so when I heard that they were coming to Salt Lake again I knew it was finally time to break my five year streak of concert abstinence.

Mandy planned to go with me, but she ended up not being able to make it, so I invited her dad. He's a musician and loves all different types of music, so he agreed to come and be corrupted by the evil punk music. We planned to get to the show late enough to miss the first band because the first band at shows almost always sucks. Unfortunately the show started an hour later than it was supposed to, so we ended up sitting at a table in the over 21 section and inhaling gobs of cigarette smoke while American Steel played. As I sat there, trying to breathe, I wondered to myself if I was getting too old for these types of shows. The band was semi-decent, but I just wasn't really enjoying the music or the atmosphere. That certain punk rock Je Nais Se Quois just didn't seem to be there anymore. Perhaps it was time to admit that I'm pushing 30 and might be better off just going to the movies.

After an extremely long 25 minutes, American Steel finished playing. We decided to move up to the balcony to get a good view of No Use For a Name since we both enjoy watching the musicians play their instruments as much as we enjoy listening to their music. No Use came out and burst straight into their first song and my earlier worries disappeared faster than a Twinkie at fat camp. Holy crap these guys are good!!! Actually, "good" doesn't even begin to describe them. Every band member is amazing at what they do. Tony Sly (their singer/songwriter) has always been a musical hero of mine, but every time I see them play I'm reminded of how talented every musician in the group is. That's such a rare thing in a band anymore, especially with all the crap that's on the radio these days. Tony even played their first song with a red Gibson SG, which only a select few of us have the good taste to own.

Forty-five glorious minutes later, No Use was done playing and we decided to skip the final band of the night. A giant cloud of cigarette smoke had accumulated by the balcony and we were both ready to hack up a lung after breathing it for so long. Plus, let's face it, I'm getting old and it was past my bedtime. We made our way through the sweaty masses and headed for the exit, stopping only to buy a new T-shirt because my wardrobe has been No Use For a Name - free for far too long.

I haven't really missed going to shows over the last five years, but I have to admit that this one made me eager to do it more often. Flogging Molly is coming in July, so I think I can pronounce the no-concerts era of my life officially dead.

India Day 1

2008-04-29T15:21:00.005-06:00

It's taken me a while to get this India stuff posted. I know a lot of you (GARRETT!) are thinking that it's because I'm a procrastinator, and am being lazy. While normally I would say that is true, this time it's something different. I needed a little bit of time to process this trip, and I would have to say that I am still processing. This trip changed my entire way of thinking, and I will always be grateful for the opportunity I had to go.

I've been going back and forth a bit on what I should post here, and how much I should post here on India. I don't want to bore anyone, that's for sure. But then I decided that this is for me. I need to post this for me, so that I will always have a record of what happened. Since each day was so jam packed, I'm going to do this by day. That's quite a few days, so expect a lot to come. If you are bored, or uninterested, feel free to skip over things!

Another thing, I took close to 1,200 pictures. That is a LOT. These posts will definitely be image heavy, but they won't be every image. If for some insane reason you ever want to see all the pictures, let me know. Also, this will be journal style, lots of stream of conscious. Once again, don't feel like you have to read along!

DAY 1, A Long Day of Travel (Friday March 7/Saturday March 8)

I was really worried all night long the Thursday before we left. I had this sense of foreboding, that things wouldn't go well, that I would get sick, that I'd miss Garrett too much, that the students would have problems, and to be honest, I was scared I would die over there and be thrown on a funeral pyre to be burned since it would cost so much to send my body home. In general I had some pretty huge panic attacks before I left. Friday morning, I raced around trying to get the finishing touches done on my packing, and was so worried that I hadn't packed enough. Let's just say that I am the worlds worst over-packer. And I'd only packed 2 pairs of shoes! How on earth could I survive 2 weeks with only 2 pairs of shoes? This was mind-boggling to me.

My dad came over before Garrett drove me to the airport to help Garrett give me a blessing. Looking back on the entire experience, this saved me. Never before have I felt as protected as I did with this blessing. I am truly grateful for the priesthood. I got a sense of peace, and I know that it saved me from a lot of pain that could have happened.

Garrett drove me to the airport to meet up with my fellow travelers. A few of the students had their parents with them, so it was nice to be able to meet them. I could tell that they were nervous about sending their children to India, but they hid it as well as they could. We went to our gate to hang out, and got a nice parting shot of the group looking rested and relaxed. This was the last time we would look like this for at least two weeks! Finally they started boarding our flight to Chicago. We were spread all over the plane, and unfortunately I was in the very back, in the noisiest part of the plane. I had hoped to get some sleep on this flight, but that was just not meant to be.

Once we got to Chicago, we made a mad dash to our next flight. They booked us so tight that we had a short amount of time to get to our other gate. There was definitely some tension at that gate, since everyone in line was not looking forward to the 15 hour flight. I was sitting by myself on this flight, which was a tiny bit of a bummer, since I would have no one to visit with. But it didn't turn out to be too bad.

The flight itself was LONG. And that is seriously the understatement of the year. In the beginning I was in the middle of a 5 seat row, but luckily my personal TV wouldn't work so they moved me to an empty aisle seat. I spent some time watching some movies (yay for Juno, August Rush, Becoming Jane, and Enchanted) and tried to stay awake as long as possible. I wanted to be as tired as possible once we hit Delhi, since it would be 8:00 PM when we got there. I was able to sit by a nice Indian man who pointed out the India/Pakistan border as we were landing. It's a long strip of red lights to keep people aware. Once we landed, the temperature in the plane got pretty close to unbearable. It was so hot and muggy!

I thought the plane was bad, but once we got off it was 10 times worse. I was so tired and wound up, and was trying to manage myself but then was also worried about herding the students to where we needed to be. The airport itself was also pretty gross. The stench was horrible, and I had a hard time touching anything. At that point, I wished that I had rubber gloves to keep a barrier between me and the world.

While waiting for our luggage, we decided to change some money. I changed $100 and got 3,995 rupees in return. I felt filthy rich! All the bills barely fit into my wallet, and it was definitely a tight squeeze. After our luggage arrived, we decided to hit the bathrooms because we didn't know how long it would be until we got to the hotel. I walked into the bathroom and thought I would die. It was absolutely disgusting. One stall was western style, and the other was a squat stall. So, naturally I went the western route. As I was washing my hands, a little old Indian lady passed me some paper towels, which I took without thinking. She then demanded payment, which I didn't have. I'd left all of my money with my bags with the students. I felt horrible. This was just the beginning of me feeling like the big bad westerner though.

After getting the rest of us through the restrooms, it was time to head to the cars. Until this point, we'd been in the secure part of the airport, and it was time to pass through to the real world. As you walk out, there are thousands of people waiting along the exit for their family and loved ones. It was so noisy! We had to walk along this route and then through some alleys to get to where our cars were. I really thought that I would be prepared for what I saw, but I wasn't. There were people everywhere, sleeping in the alleys, little kids by themselves, a lot of babies sleeping alone. It was amazing what they could sleep through, let alone how young they were to be left alone.

Outside the air was thick and smoggy, you could see the pollution. And it was horribly noisy. We piled into our cars and then took what I like to call the death ride, or introduction to India by fire. I thought we would die so many different times. The streets in India are packed tighter than anything I have ever seen before. My brother in law Andy's friend Robert had a good description of it. You take a glass jar and fill it with some big rocks. Then you fill the gaps with pebbles, then you fill those gaps with sand, and then finally, you fill the jar to the rim with water. That's how Indian driving is. Everything is packed as tight as it possibly can be. You think there is no way that someone could fit into that little teeny tiny spot, but they do. And if they don't, they'll make it so they do. There are also a lot of motorcycles, and a lot of PEOPLE on one motorcycle. On the drive to the hotel, I saw a motorcycle with a man driving, a woman in a sari sitting side saddle on the back with a baby on her lap. In between the husband and the wife was another kid, and in front of the husband was yet another kid. That is 5 people on one motorcycle!! I don't know how they balanced.

Anyway, the driving is crazy. There are lines on the road, but no one uses them. People just merge in and out of lanes whenever they feel like it. They also use their horn a lot. It's not used the way we use horns here. It's a "hey, I'm here, be careful how close you get!" or "don't turn, I'm coming." In fact, they love their horns so much that a lot of times "Please Use Horn" is painted on the cars or trucks. Enough of the traffic critique, but let's just say it was shocking.

We finally pulled up to our hotel, Hotel 55. My heart sank when we pulled up. Everything around us was ghetto, I felt like we were in the slum. We piled out and lugged our bags up the 3 flights of stairs to check in. There was a nasty stench throughout our entire hotel (which I later pegged to be mothballs). They divided us into our rooms. Mine was a single just off the front desk. Once in my room, I started crying. I think a big part of this was how extremely exhausted I was, but I also think it was culture shock. I knew things would be different, I knew that deep down. I just didn't realize how different and in your face it would be. It didn't help that our hotel, the BEST one-star hotel in Delhi (or so their advertisements claimed!) was the filthiest hotel I've ever stayed in. The linens were dirty, you could tell they hadn't been changed. The hot water wouldn't work, and their was a hole in the bathroom ceiling. Plus there was a window in my room that opened out onto the front desk, and it wouldn't close the entire way. So I could hear all of the employees talking. I called Garrett and started crying from how overwhelming it was. After my quick conversation with him, I took a shower and then climbed into bed with my head wrapped in a towel so that I wouldn't have to touch the pillow case. I was so tired, but sleep just wouldn't come. I think around 4:00 AM I finally woke up for good.

More to come...and more pictures too. Didn't take many that first day! Oh, and I promise, my attitude got much better!

I Love Garrett!

2008-04-22T08:37:00.002-06:00

Have I mentioned how much I love Garrett lately? Well, let me mention it again! He is fantastic. I've been complaining to him lately how much going to the gym is a pain in the heiny. I love it when I get there, but getting there is the battle. It's just not convenient, since it's at least 25 minutes round trip. In order to work out for an hour before I go to work, I have to get up at least by 4:45. Which is the pits. So I've been complaining about this forever, and begging Garrett to let us get a treadmill (since that is mostly what I go to the gym for). Well, last week he bought me one! I was randomly looking through craigslist last Thursday, and found a nice Bowflex treadmill for a reasonable price. I told Garrett about it and he went over on his lunch break and bought it! We picked it up that night after work, and I finally used it this morning. Let's just say that it was nice to be able to get up at a reasonable time and still work out. It felt so great to get on the treadmill this morning and just let go. It's really different using the treadmill at home versus using it at the gym. The good thing about the gym is the TV which is really distracting and makes the time go by faster. The bad thing is that you can easily feel self conscious surrounded by people that are in MUCH better shape than you, and who are better runners. Well, this morning I did miss the TV, but I threw on my Ipod and ran like a crazy woman. And I really do mean LIKE a crazy woman. A couple of times some really great fast songs came on, and just let loose! It was nice to be able to do whatever I wanted, and not feel like a complete idiot! It sure makes working out a lot more enjoyable! So, thank you sweetie, I really appreciate the gift!

On another note, through a friend's blog I found a fantastic new tool that I just had to share. If you've heard of this already, ignore the rest of this post, but otherwise read on! Google has a new feature called Google Reader. You can login and create a list of all the blogs/websites you like to read and then every time that you log in it will show you which blogs have been updated. It's really nice since I have so many blogs that I enjoy reading. This way I don't have to go from website to website. It doesn't work on blogs that are private and password protected, but it's still a sweet tool. It takes a little bit of time to enter in all the web addresses you check, but it's worth it in the end! So, check it out!