Pictures!

I realized this week that I've only got TWO MORE MONTHS left in the "college" chapter of my life. I've made plenty of great memories of this time that I'll cherish forever in my heart and mind, but... it's so much easier to remember those times when you have pictures! Jonathon and I haven't gotten hardly any pictures during the 2 1/2 years of marriage- ever since I sat on my camera at a BYU football game a month after we got married! (Those five pounds I gained after getting married really went a long ways!) Anyway, like I said, I realized this week that we have hardly any pictures from this time in our lives and that has made me sad because we've really enjoyed it and had a great experience. I decided I want to start taking more pictures (and also blog more!) so years from now, I can look back at this time and remember everything I can! Jonathon likes this idea too so hopefully you'll see a little bit more from the boths of us. :)

Here are a few pictures to introduce you to our life...

Here's "Homie Mo" getting ready to go out for his walk down to Murray Park

A lot of gangsters "pop their collars"

....this gangster 'Mo pops his coll-EARS. BAM!

First stop.. Cosmo's favorite tree. This is the place we always drive down at Murray Park to let Cosmo do his thing three times a day. This is his favorite spot. And trust me, you bet your bottom dollar he "owns" every square inch of grass, tree, and fire hydrant in that area. He has got it MARKED.

Here's Jonno and Cosmo walking. Aren't they cute??

My favorite part of Murray Park.

We always walk around this big circle around the park because two of those circles=one mile.

It's easy to keep track. This is a fun spot because there is a big field on the left that always has friends and families playing in and a pretty lake with geese on the right. Jonno and I love to sit on that bench up there and chat and let Cosmo go smell stuff.

This is so funny- I had to post this! Jonathon got mad at Cosmo because he wouldn't go chase the ducks- he just kept peeing on stuff. haha! I thought it was hilarious.

We told Cosmo to go get the geese (he used to LOVE this!) and he wanted to go mark his territory first. Jonathon talks about how Cosmo's got problems.

And here, Cosmo finally conquers the Geese!!

Here is another one of my favorite places. It's a cute little bridge.

(Cosmo also owns this.)

Here is when we've finally made it back from our walk- Home Sweet Home!

I was number 17 for lacrosse in high school so I thought it was fate we ended up here.

Here's what we see when we walk in. We have a balcony to the left that overlooks Murray park and is AWESOME! We LOVE it! And I love our little living room!! It's so dang cute.

Here's another view. :)

And here is the front of our living room.

We used to have a gigantic TV up and a sweet set-up there until last September when we sold it to Robby, Jonathon's brother. So we replaced it with a pretty picture of the Portland temple my Grandma Roush made us for our wedding (she picked flowers from the day of our wedding and used them as a border) I love that picture.

Okay, well, you are officially caught up on my life today. Oh wait, maybe not.. I think Jonathon still wants to post about our 50 piece chicken McNugget and Paranormal Activity experience tonight too. Ah! You are in for a treat!

Peace.

Things I've Learned

I've had the realization the last month or so that the older you get, the more "life" you'll experience. Both good and bad. It's inevitable.

I am 21 years old. In these 21 years of life, I feel as though I've had a relatively easy life. I've never suffered any sort of physical pain besides shutting my finger on a staple on a bench and even then didn't need stitches when I was 11. I experienced my parents go through a somewhat messy divorce, but knew through the entire process that it was for the good and it was a relief in my life for it to happen. In my teenage years, I felt the loneliness of feeling as though I had no one to turn to talk to. With my mom being deaf, it was like we were in two different worlds- we couldn't understand each other and the different pains we each had experienced. I always wanted someone to talk to and express all my feelings to, whether it be heartaches or happiness. I was lucky to find this person early on in life when I was only 17 by meeting Jonathon and getting to marry him for eternity a year and a half later. In the last 2 1/2 years of marriage, we've never had loads of money to spend on whatever we wish, but we've always had a roof over our heads and food in our cupboards. We've only had a working car for half our marriage, but have been blessed with some form of transportation to get us to and from the places we need to be.

A few weeks ago, my friend Kat sent me a text message asking "Nancy, did you hear about JR?" JR is a friend of mine I had dated for a bit in high school before he left on his mission. I replied no and she called me and let me know that he had passed away the night before due to pneumonia. He was only 23 years old. I had emailed back and forth with him just three weeks earlier asking about meeting up with his older sister who was a dental hygienist to get some tips from her. From what I know, he got pneumonia and it was severe enough that he was in the hospital. Two weeks later, he died. Just like that. Two weeks! The night Kat called me, I was in tears. Not necessarily that we were very close friends, because we only talked every so often, but for some reason it just hit me so hard that if it happened to JR, it could just as easily happen to me or to someone I AM closer to. My tears were streaming that night as I was thinking about this. Jonathon then asked me "Is JR the closest person to you that has passed away?" And I realized it was. Besides my great-grandma Richards and my old art teacher in 5th grade. This was when I had my initial thought that I am only 21- the older I get, the more experiences I'll have and the more people I know could die too!

This thought branched off to many other thoughts, which I'll share later in this blog.

Just now, I had another experience that got me thinking about life and was the catalyst for this blog tonight.

I saw on Facebook that someone from my high school started a blog for Jordan High School-Class of 2006. It's to keep people updated on reunions and help keep in touch with one another on what's new. I saw a gal I had played basketball with a long time ago, Cali, who had posted her personal blog. I was excited since I hadn't seen or heard from her in such a long time. I was very happy to read that she had just had a beautiful little baby girl. As I was reading along, she kept mentioning her son who had passed away, Mac. I was curious as to what happened. She's done a great job with her blog and posting to keep updates with her life. I learned that two days before Mac was due, something had gone wrong with the umbilical cord and when she went in for a test, he had no heartbeat. A blog for Mac was created with precious pictures and comments. I have been crying and crying while I've looked at this thinking how I couldn't imagine going through those nine months preparing for a perfect little baby, and then having to go through such a sad thing like that. Her attitude on it was amazingly positive. Not fake, but there was a quiet assurance in her that she knew this happened for a reason and while it is sad, she has learned a lot from the experience too and that little Mac had made everyone who knew them closer to God.

So with these two recent experiences of passing away, here are some of my thoughts.

1) You never know when either yourself or someone you love will pass away.

-There is no time to waste. I never, ever would want to get a phone call hearing that Jonathon had been in an accident or SOMETHING happened on a morning that I had gotten upset at him. It's not worth it. Soak in all the good moments and appreciate everything about your loved ones. Even ones you don't know that well! Leading me to my next thought..

2) Get to know people better and let people get to know you better.

-Life is constantly busy with one thing or another- we're always busy! And each new phase of our life brings new stresses and new things that take up our time. While this isn't always a bad thing, we need to MAKE time for the important things. Kat and I had a sleepover the next weekend after we talked. She helped point this out to me because she said she didn't know JR well and was sad when she realized she had missed her chance to get to know him. Also, it has let me reach out and try to get to know more people better. At church I often sit by myself in class. I'm not opposed to talking with anyone, I just donn't go out of my way very often. The last few weeks, I've tried sitting with new people, introducing myself, letting people talk with me, etc. I've been surprised with how much happier I have felt and also the happiness it brings other people. Everyone (well, most everyone!) appreciates when someone else talks with you or genuinely asks how you are. Why not do it for others more often?

3) I want to be a light of happiness in other's lives, not a burden.

-I was thinking about what would be said about me if I were to die. Again, I wouldn't want the last memories people had of me to be that we'd been in a fight or I'd held a grudge. I've always thought of myself as a naturally happy person. It takes quite a bit to make me really get upset. But, sometimes, like everyone, I get down on myself and on life. This gives me a "Why me?" feel and it ends up with me being selfish. These last few weeks, I've tried to be very appreciative of people. I've made extra phone calls to say thank you for the little things and written more notes. I've really tried to NOTICE the little things people do that you normally just assume are a given and make sure they know I noticed it! It's really helped me be happier and those around me be happier too. I can feel it. This has a positive effect on every other aspect of my life as well. So since I'm happier, I can do more and want to improve my life more too. So, don't be selfish! It only makes you less happy. Do the little things for people that you know would help them, and don't expect anything in return. And.. if you WANT to be happy, you will be. We CHOOSE to be happy.

4) I need to understand my purpose on life better.

-With JR's passing away, I started thinking about how right now his body is just empty, in a coffin, in a cemetery somewhere. HE isn't there anymore. His spirit is gone. It's just an empty, lifeless body. And how this seems so weird to me. It led me to think about the Plan of Salvation and our purpose here on earth which led to a whole other string of thoughts and questions. I realize that part of me right now is scared of the thought of death because I don't understand it all quite yet. I am not prepared. I haven't done my research and studied it out! I've gone along with the Gospel all my life and I know that the things I do know, I know (that sentence sounds weird) but I need to learn more about those things that I don't know. Does that make sense? In another way, I am not scared because I know I've generally tried to be a good person here on earth. I did shoplift once in 7th grade, and I've stayed home from church a couple times to just sleep in, and I don't always remember to say my prayers at night, but all in all, I TRY to be a good person and do my best. And for that, I think I'll get some credit at the judgement seat. Anyway, I'm making it a goal this year and every year after to learn more about the Gospel. I know I can't understand everything, but I'd like to solidify my testimony a little more and have an even greater appreciation and understanding for what I CAN know.

5) Our purpose on Earth is to gain experience.

Like I said earlier, I feel my life has been relatively easy-going. I am grateful for this!! But I do know that with hard times and trials, we grow. In clinic at school, I've worked on patients I feel have been considered "easier patients." The few patients I had that had more stuff going on in their mouths, were the patients I learned the most from and I became a better hygienist because of it. Sometimes I've found myself say during prayers in the past "Please let me learn about blank... but please don't make me have to go through a bad experience to do it!" I still would like that, haha, but I know it's not likely. Sigh. And also like I said earlier, the older I get, the more I'll be exposed to those trials. I just hope I'll have the ability to understand it is for the good and be able to get through it the best way possible.

I am thankful for the many blessings in my life. Jonathon is my biggest blessing of all. I love him with everything in me. I waited and waited for a friend like him to come into my life and we've been laughing and enjoying life together ever since. I wouldn't trade him for anything. Nothing else in life would be quite as enjoyable or happy without him by my side enjoying it with me. We often talk about our future together and how excited we are for all our upcoming experiences together. This next year will be a big year. We will both be graduating from school. I will get my first real job! And.. my first big paycheck! We'll make a big move up to Washington to live in Jonathon's parent's basement. Jonathon will either be working his first post-college job or working on his master's degree. After that.. a baby someday! Our first little home. Our first car we buy together. Raising a little family together. Our next home. Maybe another dog. Raising teenagers.... and on and on. I can't wait. There is so much to look forward to. I know those tough times will squeeze their way in there somewhere, but I'm so glad I'll have my wonderful husband to get through them with. And all our friends and family who love us and we love them too.

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