Happy birth WEEK to me!

Hello, hello! You are reading a post from the new and improved, one year older and wiser, 21-year-old NANCY HUCKVALE!! In my past posts as a much, MUCH younger gal... back when I was twenty, I felt as if I had far less knowledge as I do now. I've really grown a lot in the last three weeks as a legal woman.

This was one of the greatest, most majestic birthdays of my entire life! I loved it!! Thank you to all who contributed to make this an awesome birthday. :o)

Now for the reason of the giving this post a title of "Happy birth-WEEK".....

To start out... my birthday was Monday, October 26th. Jonathon, my dear, sweet husband knows how much I hate surprises and hate having to WAIT to know what I got. So, when he came to pick me up Wednesday (the 21st) from refereeing lacrosse games, he had a Christmas bag in hand. He gave it to me and said "Here is your birthday present- you can choose when you want to open it!" This is when my birthday begins.

Wednesday, October 21st

I was sooooo happy and excited! I waited as long as I could (until I got home that night with teeth and hair brushed and ready for bed) and then Jonathon gave me four envelopes with the following:

*Envelopes one and two: Two home-made gift certificates for one pair of running shoes (my choice) and an MP3 player (also my choice).
*The third envelope had a HUNDRED DOLLAR BILL in it with a note attached that I could spend it however I chose (I had a brief thought at this moment that I had just barely been out running for the previous four hours and earned 120 dollars sooo it was kindof just Jonathon giving me some of the money I just earned- ha!) This envelope also had a airline ticket to go to Washington on Christmas night. I can't wait for that!! It'll be so much fun to be up in WA to spend time with my family and Jonathon's family up there. :) :)
*The last envelope had Portland Trailblazers tickets in it.. that will be lots of fun too!

Thursday, October 22nd

The next day at school, a mysterious yummy cake appeared that said "Happy Birthday Nancy" in cute, multi-colored sprinkles. I have a hankering it was "Ms. Stidham" our Clinic Instructor since she was last one to leave the class when it appeared! Apparently, WHOEVER IT WAS thought my birthday was on SUNDAY and we wouldn't be in school so we celebrated on Thursday! I went out to birthday lunch with Linzee and Lana at Cafe Rio and it was soo yummy!

Friday, October 23rd

The next morning, my cute Grandma Roush took me out to birthday lunch at Chili's. We got delicious fish n chicken. She gave me a recipe book for starters which I LOVE. Mostly it was just fun spending some girl time with her and talking and catching up. I love her so much.

Saturday, October 24th

The next morning, Jonathon and I got up at 2:00 AM and went to provo to be on College Gameday. That was a fun experience.. too bad the rest of the day sucked with a terrible, terrible game against TCU. Ugh. Oh well! We got to hang out a bit with our friends David and Sarah Lenz and they are the cutest couple. They let us crash at their place and sleep on their comfy bed for three hours before the game and then dropped us off at the stadium- they are so great!

Sunday, October 25th

Jonathon left this morning to go to Washington for his little brother David's eagle court of honor. We are so proud of David and love him so much!! He's a quiet little indian. I went and taught my Sunday School class and we painted prayer rocks (we have the most awesome class ever- the 12-14 year olds of Murray!) and they wished me a happy birthday.

One of the 12-year-old boys in the class and also my downstairs neighbor, Christian, invited me over for dinner since Jonathon was out of town. I, of course, accepted and had a delicious home made meal made by him and his Grandma Sandy. Then we talked and laughed and played games and tried out halloween costumes together for the next 3 hours. It was so fun! I really love Sandy and Christian - it's so fun having fun neighbors to hang out with. They are so cute. :)

Monday, OCTOBER 26th--my REAL BIRTHDAY!!

I slept at my Grandma Richard's house that night so I could not have to be alone on my birthday since Jonathon was still gone and so I could get to have a slumber party with Cosmo. I woke up that morning and got ready and my Grandma was so cute and gave me a birthday hug and a gift certificate for a massage!! She gave me one a little while back and it was the most amazing massage I'd ever had and it's saved my neck and back for clinic this year. She is such a cute grandma and I love her a lot.

That day at school was fun cuz we all dressed up for Halloween. I was a Geisha (I borrowed the outfit from Christian who used it for a school project the year before). That night I came home and studied a bunch for my test the next day.. blah. BUT i got two cute cards from my close friend Linda and Jonathon's grandma and grandpa Huckvale. It was so thoughtful of all of them and I loved getting mail that wasn't a coupon! :)

Tuesday, October 27th

This night I went to Costco with my Grandpa Roush and my mom to pick out my birthday present. My mom bought me some face wash I'd been wanting and some gloves for school. I've loved having this!! When i went out to my mom's car, she pulled out two surprise gifts from my brother and sister, Steven and Shirley. First, a nice, new FLUFFY feather pillow from Shirley. I was sooooo excited for this since Jonathon and I have been using this crappy old pillows that I washed two years ago and they got all clumpy. Next, she pulled out a box with a bright pink Snuggie from Steven! I laughed cuz those are such Grandma things to wear but I couldn't wait to get home and Snuggie it up!

Afterwards we went back to my Grandma's house for dinner and my cute Aunt Sandy and her family had baked me a cake and sang happy birthday! It was such a fun, unexpected surprise!! I love Sandy- she is adorable and her kids are the cutest! That was a fun little birthday party. :)

Wednesday, October 28th

This was the day jonathon came home- YAY!! I was so happy to see him! That was a LONG four days! :) I love him so much.

This was also the day my best friend from high school Shaun Morrow came home from his mission! I went with one of my other good friends from high school, Andy Paulsen, and we dressed up in our old duck and monkey costume again and went to see Shaun. It was great to see him and chat and bring back so many old, fun memories.

Skip to... Sunday, November 1st

This day I finally had my family dinner (we had to postpone it a week because the week before everyone at my mom's house was sick-- I can't afford to get sick right now!!) . My mom made an AWESOME dinner of home made chicken noodle soup and mashed potatoes and garlic bread. Then we sang with cake and ice cream. It stunk that Shirley and Jared couldn't make it until later since they were stuck in dumb traffic but they still got to sing with us! :) And Ryan made his cute appearance and I swear he said to me "Happy birthday, Nancy!" He's adorable.

Tuesday, November 3rd

This day I was happily sittin' on the pot in the ladie's room when this blue THING came flying over the door!! It startled me and I wasn't quite sure what it was when I realized it was a shirt. Not just any shirt, but a CUTE blue shirt from BUCKLE of all places! I pulled my scrubs up fast as I could (skipped wiping even!) and flung open the door but NOBODY WAS THERE. I couldn't figure out where this stinkin cute shirt could have come from except the sky. I saw Linzee and Lana outside of the bathroom and asked if they'd seen anyone and they said no. Maybe Ms. Stidham did this too?? I LOVE my shirt! My very first buckle shirt :) I am now a proud Buckle product owner.

I go into that stall all the time now just hoping that I'll get another great surprise from above!

Wednesday, November 4th

I got home from school and walked up the stairs in my apartment complex and walked up to find a package at my doorstep! I don't know anyone that doesn't LOVE getting a good ol' fashioned package in the mail. I hurried and opened it and found a BYU Scentsy candle warmer with three yummy scents! I LOVE scentsy and was sooooo excited to get this great birthday present from my Mother in Law (SHHM) Susie! She is so great! I love my new Scentsy and I love my mo-in-law. :)

Tuesday, November 10th

After telling my Grandma Roush all about my week of birth, she decided she wanted to keep it going even longer and sent me a birthday card in the mail that she had forgotten to give to me when I saw her last. What a delight! Thanks Grandma- you're so cute!


Well, that is my entire week (or two...or three!) of birth celebrations! I had so much fun and loved my birthday. Thanks again to everyone!! :)

(Pictures coming soon!)

Family Photographs

My awesome friend from school, Chelsea, took some family pictures for us a few weeks ago. She is so cute and did a great job! Here are some of my favorites below:

Huckvale Family Portrait 2009

Cute family!

Ha - I love Ryan's face in this picture! He had just woken up so he was kinda out of it because normally he's smiling all day long. But his little tired face was still TOO CUTE!

Here is one of his only smiley ones for the day -
The only pics that Shirley, his mama, was out there talking to him and getting him to smile for the camera!


The Hale Family






My mom really wanted everyone to cross their legs because she thought it'd be funny-
It turned out pretty cute!
Chelsea suggested the boys uncross 'em though cuz they just looked a little too gay. :)



Mother and Son


Grandmother and Grandson
~cute scrunched face!!~

He is almost signing "GRANDMA"

Mother and kids


Just the girls :)




Well, there you have it! The newest family photos for 2009.



www.chelseajohnsonphotography.blogspot.com

I'm officially Nancy Huckvale

I went and sat at the drivers license division for two hours today next to a man that smelled like feet.  As "C-285" was finally called, I jumped up to meet the nice lady for my turn.  I commented on how busy it was and she said, "Mondays are normally busy, but I have never seen the place this packed before in my life!"  Great. The ONE DAY I choose to go get my name changed on my license...  oh well!

I am officially Nancy Huckvale! Hoorah!  

No more trouble trying to get past security at the airport! No more problems at the bank! No more mis-pronouncing "ROUSH" .. well...  actually I think more people say Huckvale wrong than they ever did Roush.  Either way, I'm glad to get that out of the way. 

One more thing checked off my to-do list. :)

Summer Time and the Livin's Easy

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm pleased to announce my summer break has begun! (Angels bust out singing in the background) After completing six finals this week, I came home on Thursday, ripped off my clothes, and slept. ( always sleep in my undies because I get too hot. And I don't like being all struggled and tight in clothes. And being told I have to wear em.) And boy did I sleep. I slept for the next four hours and when I woke up I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep.


The next day, Friday, I slept in (ahhhhh), planned to take a little package to the post office so I decided I'd take Cosmo out and walk over then and then go for a run at Murray Park after but I forgot the package at home so we just went for the run...... for about five minutes before I came across a big sign with an arrow pointing at FARMERS MARKET. Cosmo and I went over and helped ourselves to some free yummy food like bread n berries and watermelon (yum!) and then walked home. Drove the package to the post office. Came home. Took a nap. Woke up and played with Cosmo. Watched the Simpsons. Hung out with Jonno. Took another nap. And the rest of the night I spent kinda dilly dallying around. It was sooo great! And not ONCE did I feel bad about not doing something productive like... oh I dunno... STUDYING. Ah, I loveee breaks from school.

Don't get me wrong, I love school n all but it sure is nice to have a break every now and again.

Saturday morning was one of my best friend's (the new Mrs. Linzee Cardall) wedding down at the Manti Temple. Jonathon's temple recommend expired the DAY BEFORE (of course) so he didn't come. I had never been to this temple before and it was really pretty. We went to Aurora after for the reception and all of Linzee's new husband's family and friends could not believe this little town. They were in awe that they had a horse and lambs in their backyard. (okay, okay so I was just like them when I went down three weeks ago!) Oh, and they have a pet deer they found named Buck. He is like a little dog. He doesn't leave the yard and eats all the flowers and they feed him out of a bottle.. he's so sweet. They put a red bow around his neck for the wedding!

The entire day was perfect.. if only Jonathon was there. :( I hate going to weddings without him. Oh well.

I don't own a camera (it's on our to-do list for one day when we actually have money) so I don't have any pictures but our friend from school Chelsea was the photographer so I'll put some up from her when I can. But Linzee and Wes are such a great, beautiful couple and I'm soooooooo happy for them to start their new little family together! Yay!

Also, Jonathon and I got called to be Sunday School teachers for the 12-14 year olds at church. Today was our first lesson and I loved it. These kids are so innocent and sweet. Last week when we sat in at the other teacher's last lesson, during the closing prayer the boy said "Thank you for our new teachers. Please bless them that they can do a good job..." And it made my heart melt. I am determined to be the best darn Sunday School teacher for them that I can be. I have so much love in my heart for them already. I'm really happy to finally have a calling too! :)


PHEW!


Okay, well there was a recap from the last few days. Now that it is summer, I'll hopefully post more. Though, I'm pretty sure I end every post with that, and it never happens. But I'll really try! Okay.... bye!

Oh, I'm also going to try to get Jonathon to post too. He is a really good writer and person too.. he's really funny and cute and sweet and fun and great (can't you tell I'm married to him?) and he got a posting bloggy name thingy just for the purpose of posting but he's been real busy with school too. Maybe between the two of us we'll be able to get SOMETHING up every month or so. K. Love you all. Er, all two of you.

Love, Nauncy

This is me, Chelsea, BILLY, and Lana

Do you recognize Billy??

He is the blind kid from Dumb and Dumber that says "Pretty bird"
He was part of Wes's band that played at the wedding.

Here is a picture of me and Buck. Isn't he cute?! He's like Bambi.. but real and cuter! Real cuter!
This is from Linzee's bridal shower a few weeks ago.

Aw, I miss him. :( I think everyone should own a Buck. Do you think my apartment would allow him??

Linda, maybe if dogs don't tickle your fancy, a deer definitely would. Just take some time to think about it. I'll go catch you one myself.

Spring Break Fun!

I'm so excited to announce that both Jonathon and I are all done with finals- wahoo! Here's what I've done so far on for my spring break: went to the Provo mall with my cute carpool to visit Lana at Buckle and so Erin could exchange her jeans, ate Panda Express, got the fortune in my cookie of "You deserve respect and that is what you'll get," came home, took a three hour celebration nap, went to celebration dinner for FREE at Applebees using a gift card we found in our closet (why does food always taste better when it's free??), bought a new house-warming scent at Bath and Body Works, rented Marley and Me (very cute - we loved this movie!), picked up Cosmo from my Mom's because watching the movie made us crave him, played with my mom's adorable little smart new puppy Cookie, started driving back to our place and watched our temperature gauge hit the red hot zone, turned around back to my Mom's, asked my brother Steven for a ride home, played with Cosmo, went to bed around 3:00 AM, woke up around 12:00 PM, took Cosmo out for a run at the park, watched him go poo twice..and mark every single tree and pole in that God-forsaken park (good boy Cosmo!), came home and drank a protein shake, attempted to clean and ended up on the couch reading the news about a pig who is breast-feeding two little tiger babies, fell asleep, played with Jonno, attempted to clean, showered, rested some more, and here I am! I've really lived it up since finishing my last final yesterday morning. :) I lovvveeeee a good Spring Break!

Here's what's on the agenda for the next few days:
-fix Lexie ( our poor car :( )
-sell Charles (my poor old car)
-clean clean clean!
-go to the Hogle Zoo
-take Cosmo to the dog park AND up the canyon to go hiking
-do a butt load of laundry
-finally have our Easter egg hunt!

I'll keep you all updated on how it goes. :)

Ahhhhhh until then... I'm just gonna kick back and relax some more! :):)

L.A.C.R.O.S.S.E.

Lacrosse season is upon us! And you know what that means... Money, money, money!!!!! YAY! I reffed my first game of the season with Alta vs. Park City high school girls and loved every second of it. Here is a list of just a few reasons of why this is probably the all-time best part time job ever:

1. It pays $48 per game! And usually you do two games in one night.. 96 dollars in two hours!!
2. It's great exercise - I don't need to re-exercise for the day when I get home.
3. I can choose the days I want to ref.
-If I have a big test coming up, I can decline the game offered to me so I can stay home and study. Or, likewise, if I know I have a big shopping spree coming up I can do just the opposite and work, work, work! :)
4. It only lasts a maximum of two hours at a time - I can't possibly die of boredom.
5. I love working with high school girls.
-They are so much fun to be around and joke with. I really love these girls. I feel like such a dork but sometimes I will even get all teary-eyed when I hear a girl give a team mate a word of encouragement or seeing them get so excited for each other after a made goal. There is an innocence and sweetness about girls at this stage in their lives, just trying to figure themselves out and get through life any way they can.. and try to have some fun while doing it. I LOVE these girls.
6. I never need to worry about fans, players, or coaches being rude to me.
- In most sports, referees get all the crap. No matter what they do or say, they are wrong. In lacrosse, however, referees are respected in the highest regards. If I hear a fan shouting out negative comments, I can give them a warning and "card them" which means the team they are rooting for gets a penalty and the other team automatically gets the ball. That is the same procedure if a girl talks back to me on the field or even if she cusses. Everyone is always very respectful and willing to help.
-ALSO, since lacrosse is a fairly new sport, especially in Utah, many people don't know the actual rules. So when I make a call, most people don't question it since they don't know the rules anyway!
7. Taxes aren't taken out so everything I buy for the job is tax deductible.
-Including... my super cute new black Nike running pants and future black running shoes. I'm so excited!
8. Lacrosse just plain rocks anyway. It's like I get paid to be entertained and call things I want to call.


Well, for all these reasons and more, I love being a referee for high school girl's lacrosse. :)

RIP Molly

Last week we had a really sad experience.

I was at my apartment working on homework around 8:00 at night when I got a text message from my mom that Molly and Cosmo were missing.

Molly is my mom's sweet papillon pup she got about a year ago. Cosmo, who is also a little papillon pup, is mine and Jonathon's baby. Jonathon gave him to me as a Christmas present last year- he was the greatest Christmas present I could ever imagine! And he means the world to us.

So when I got the text, my heart dropped. Because my mom is deaf, I thought maybe she just couldn't hear them and they were stuck in a room somewhere or something. I texted her back and asked if she was sure and she replied that she had found a hole under the fence in the backyard that they must have dug and escaped.

I called Jonathon out of class and he came and picked me up and we hurried over towards my mom's house in Sandy. When we were driving up the busy connecting street near her house when we spotted a little white ball on the side of the road. It was dark so we turned around to make sure and I started bawling when I got out of the car and discovered that sure enough it was Molly. She had been hit by a car.

I couldn't believe it. I couldn't breathe. All I could do was cry. I ran up to the house that she was in front of, the owners were some good friends of ours I grew up with from the ward. I didn't know what to do I just wanted help. Jonathon got out of the car at that point and wrapped his arms around me. Our next thought then was that we needed to somehow break this terrible news to my Mom and search for Cosmo and hope that he had not had the same fate.

We went to my Mom's house and told her we had found Molly and she'd been hit. I found out that I am a terrible person when it comes to a stressful situation and probably should not have been the one to tell her. She was very upset and when we walked down to where Molly was she just cried and couldn't believe it.

Molly had been hit, but seeing her laying there you would have never known. She looked so peaceful- like she was sleeping. My mom carried her and we walked home quietly together. Pretty soon after, my brother Steven arrived. My uncle Eric and Grandma Richards (my mother's mom) came to support her as well.

Finally what seemed like hours later we got a phone call on Jonathon's phone. A lady called and asked him "Are you the owner of a little dog named Cosmo?" And his reply was simply "Is he alive?" She laughed and said, "Of course! He broke into my backyard and was trying to play with my big dog. Can you come get him?"

Molly was a very sweet dog. She was so loving and happy and cute. She loved to love people and give kisses. Her and Cosmo were best friends. Together they had just had a batch of puppies last November and created the four sweetest little puppies I've ever seen. I'm so glad a little piece of her was left to carry on that way.

It made me and Jonathon appreciate having Cosmo in our life too. We love him so much. We've always loved him with everything in us but we don't want to ever let him out of our sight again! That so easily could have been Cosmo on the side of the road. He is so much a part of our family. Anyone who has that type of special relationship with their dog knows what I'm talking about.

Thanks to everyone who was so helpful and supportive for my Mom during this time. It's greatly appreciated and makes such a positive difference. Though it's tough losing that little piece of her life, she is doing well and the statement 'time heals all things' is proving itself true.

Here are a few pictures of them:

Molly playing outside
Little Cosmo Junior (C.J. behind her)

Molly playing with her pups

Cosmo and Molly lounging in bed

Cosmo out in the snow - his most recent photo

Pay it Forward.

So, I got this from a friend. The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a hand made gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise! There's a small catch...You knew there would be didn't you? Post this on your blog then come back and leave a comment, telling me you're in. Fun, huh? Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift. Let's see who likes surprises!!

Cool School

For those who don't know, I am currently attending the Utah College of Dental Hygiene. I just finished my first semester and am happy to say I survived - yay! I have been learning so much and having a lot of fun all the while. I've made a lot of great friends too - like Lana! She's helping me make this blog right now! She's so great!!

I love everything about dental hygiene. I really love my school. I've never felt that anything fit me and my personality more than this. And everyone and everything about the school contributes to it. If there was a single person missing from this class, it would not be as great of a class as it is. Everyone adds their own little special spice to the school and together it makes.. like a really yummy soup! I have had the best experience! I feel so lucky to be at this school right now and be able to be going into such a great field that I love so much.

Some of the many things I've learned are: how to flip a flippy frog at least 4 feet across the table (sometimes even with a ramp), how to steal people's papers and secretly get it back to them without them ever knowing how it mysteriously appeared, how to break a big black chair, how to turn off the powerpoint on my computer without ever even touching it (thanks to Linzee's magic little Mac remote! ha!), how to make little people out of gum, learned how to highlight my entire book (Thanks Brent!), how to pick out the BEST Christmas Sweaters, how to speak Spanish in a Pinch (Habla un poco de espanol con esto tarjeta), how to prank call people during class, how to put small gloves into people's big glove boxes and make them think they have defective gloves, and how to make soothing ocean sounds with the suction... Ahhh, so many great times in my first semester of school!!

Here are some pictures of good ol' fashioned, everyday fun at school:

This is me as a lobster for Halloween.

Me demonstrating how to properly clean Lana's teeth

Me and CUTE Audrey! The most adorable person in the entire world! I was blessed with great neighbors for my first semester with Audrey and Lana. :) love them! We learned about ergonomics and keeping good posture during appointments...I'm still working on it.

"I lof skool!" -Lana Hansen

***SPECIAL THANKS TO LANA FOR ALL HER HELP WITH THIS POST!***