Andy and Brandi Newlan

TAXES

2010-02-06T16:36:00.000-08:00

I guess I am just blogging a lot today. It has been a while since I wrote anything so I am going to go with it is ok. :) You don't have to read it if you don't want to. I called my mom and did my taxes yesterday and I want to die!!! I am SO frustrated! We made $6k more then we did the last year and they took out $2.5k less in taxes...which to most people would be a good thing except now we aren't getting the return we were looking forward to and with Andy having quit working for his brother our savings account is getting a little too low for comfort. It turns out I OWE the state of Cali $20. Yeah, it's not much...but when we are BOTH pulling 0 that's messed up!!! I can not stand our government anymore. It's getting beyond ridiculous! Anyway, that's my rant about paying taxes....Maybe we should just give up working all together and live off of welfare for the rest of our lives... Those people can make a killing...LOL...LOVE YOU GUYS!

UTAH

2010-02-06T16:17:00.000-08:00

I was able to go to Utah for my birthday and I had a fabulous time! I got to see so many friends I haven't seen in a while but the highlight of my trip I would have to say was visiting my grandparents. I have a tendency to forget how old they really are. Grandpa will be 86 this year and Grandma 81 (I think). That is insane to me!!! I didn't take as many pics as I wish I would have! The snow was incredible! I miss it SO much!!! Also, up at Grandma's house there were plenty of deer to be seen (just not to be taken pics of). Here are some of the few shots that I did get.

VIRUS

2010-02-06T16:01:00.001-08:00

OK, so my computer got this nasty virus....I'm not going to say where from *COUGH*Myspace*COUGH*, but it sucked SOOOO bad!!! Andy was going to try to fix it but he has been working two jobs (Ralphs grocery store and Elite Security) which has been keeping him extremely busy. I then decided just to have my friend from school do it since he is an IT guy and is taking a bazillion classes on computers and everything else. It took him 3 days to fix it. Only because I didn't want to lose everything, so he copied everything I had onto his hard drive and then back over to my portable to make sure that I didn't get the virus on my portable. When trying to fix it, the virus tried to attack his computer. :( STUPID VIRUS!!! Eventually everything ended up being wiped off my computer. Thank heavens for friends that are willing to put the time and effort into saving all my pics!!! Now to update and fix the desktop...

Halloween

2009-11-05T19:30:00.000-08:00

This year Halloween was a blast! On Friday night we went to a party some friends in the ward were throwing. Since it was after work I didn't have much time to get ready so I decided to go "Goth" since that is easy enough to do quickly. It is a little weird seeing me with black hair.

As for Halloween itself, it was a BLAST!!! We had trunk or treat at the church and then went to the Repetti's to pass out candy. The pics are backwards but I will explain the night with them. This is Ashley! She is my favorite and I want to keep her forever and ever!!!

Andy and the kids had fun with the air gun! It was hooked up to the cannon of our boat at one point and time during the trunk or treat. Natalie and Andy are having fun!

The boys (except Andy) took the kids trick or treating around the neighborhood. Andy stayed behind and scared poor unsuspecting kids with his air gun. (Eventually getting yelled at and having to put it away)

The beautiful blondes stayed behind to pass out candy to all the adorable kids!

Of course all of our friends have children but us (what kind of Mormons are we???) LOL They are all SO cute!

Us girls at the church.

Karina and I! Her husband is in the background giving her bunny ears. He had the coolest transformer costume! He had the talking helmet and 3 foot jumping stilts and all!

Norman, one of our primary boys, was a killer banana pirate! LOL He is our handful in class, but so cute!

I stole the Repetti children as our crew! I hope to be able to have my own family that beautiful one day! I LOVE THEM!

Andy, of course, had to go all out for the trunk or treat and make a pirate ship for the trunk or treat. He wanted to turn the jeep into a moving boat but we ran out of time so this is was the finished product (finished on site of course LOL). I think it turned out pretty well. If you look closely you can see Andy shooting his air cannon. This was a big hit with the kids! :)

All in all we had a fabulous halloween! And I am so grateful to have friends that let us steal their kids and take pictures with them! HAHA! Thanks friends!

Our "roadtrip"

2009-09-16T18:39:00.000-07:00

So, my friend, Lauren, moved back to Cour de lene, ID and was planning on pulling a trailer behind her Toyota Corolla. Andy and I both felt that would be a very bad move and we wouldn't be able to live with ourselves if they (her and her ex boyfriend, Luke) got in a car accident. So we, being the unbelievably incredible friends we are ;), offered to drive it out for her. Seeing as we have a Jeep it wouldn't be a big deal, right?

The trailer her father had purchased was supposed to be given to us as a "thank you". It wasn't registered so Andy had to stand in line at the DMV for about 3 hours and pay $49 to register it. It also had been really shaky on our trip down to his dads house to store it there until we could get out to ID. So, being safety conscience we put new tires on the trailer $150. As well as the jeep because we wanted to make sure we got out there safely $750.

We start our little excursion and the trailer is still whipping everytime we hit a bump going over 55 mph. We don't have another time that we can take it out so we decide to drive 55 mph. Leaving Cali at 5 pm after work, we finally ended up in Utah (home) at about 8:30 am. Now, I HATE driving sticks but seeing as the jeep is the only big car we had guess who got to drive it anyway! Through Vegas...which just happened to be under construction to make things worse! Well, thank heavens, I made it!!!

In Utah we asked Grandpa Starkey if it would be ok if we took his truck. Seeing as it is bigger and won't be thrown around nearly as easily as the jeep (it was the same size as the trailer). He said yes, YAY!!! It was the best decision we made the whole trip! It was so much easier to drive and we could drive faster then 55 mph!!! :) Around 11 or 12 am we set off again on our adventure. (We were obviously taking turns driving and sleeping.)

We are somewhere in WY and we pull over to get gas, I decided to buy a scratch and win lottery ticket...I won $6! YAY!!! Back on the road, I HAVE TO PEE!!! So we pull over in the middle of nowhere and I am able to go at some random RV place. Trying to get back onto the freeway (thankfully we have gps) it takes us to this road....HILARIOUS!!!! I can't help but take a picture!!! :) Thank heavens for phones!!!

Ok, back to the trip...We make it there around 11 pm and Lauren has her new "boy toy" and friend there to help us. We got the trailer unloaded in about 20 minutes and sat down and talked for a while. Andy went and took a shower to feel better and we were going to spend the night. The shower woke Andy right up and since I wasn't a big fan of her boy we decided to leave. Finding out that her dad wanted to see the trailer and decide whether he wanted to keep it or not. She said o-well and we took off. We made it to the gas station and I felt guilty. I know my dad would be pissed if he spent money on a trailer and never even got to see it. So I ask her if we should just leave it there. Expressing my frustration with the fact that we spent $200 on it but still knowing that he deserved to at least see it and I didn't want to spend the night. She says yes, but she is gone. So we would just need to leave it out front. We do and leave around 1:30 am. (Oh, Lauren did give us $200 for gas money so at least we made up the difference in what we spent on the trailer I guess)

On our way back home, after about an hour and a half Andy gets tired so we both sleep in the car for about 5 hours. Then we are WIDE awake! We get home around 5 pm and go to Chuck-A-Rama with my family. YAY! We spend the night with my family (aside from a detour to get my truck from JD who is fixing it for us to take back home). $150 on a new battery for the truck. Next morning rolls around. We say our goodbyes and I drive the Jeep and Andy drives behind me in the truck. Hitting Provo Andy tells me (over CB Radio, Yes we have one in both cars) that there is a cop and I need to slow down. So I do...I'm driving along and all of the sudden he is gone...Turns out he forgot to put up his temp registration and got pulled over. The cop let him off with a warning and we meet up again in Payson. An hour and a half into our drive it feels like the fuel pump is starting to go out on the truck. Pulling over in Beaver we head into town and buy a new fuel pump $30. Deciding not to waste the time putting it on until we absolutely need to we head out again.

The truck starts working perfectly again. Yay!!! This time I am behind him so that he can set the speed in case anything goes wrong. About 20 minutes on the road and BAM!!! about 6 blocks of wood come out from under the truck. One of them slamming into my windshield ($155)!!!

Good thing it hit the bottom first because otherwise it probably would have come completely in on me!

Skipping ahead we are now about 13 miles outside of St. George and I have to pee! So I tell Andy and then I decide I want food too. He tells me to go ahead of him so I can choose where to eat. As I am passing him I am making all sorts of silly noises on the radio making it so I can't hear him talk. Apparently he was asking if his tire was wabbling. About 5 seconds after I get past him the tread on his front tire goes flying off and his wheel jerks hard to the left! Good thing I passed him!!! I, of course, didn't see any of it until about 10 seconds later I look up in my rear view mirror and he is gone...again! Time to stop and reverse....
Checking out the damage it took out the fender pretty bad. YIKES!!! I am SO glad I wasn't driving!!! There is NO tread left on that tire!!! We pull over in St. George and go to my Uncles shop. Thank heavens for relatives!!! He sends us to his mechanic and we left the truck there. We have no idea how much it is going to cost us, seeing as the Hubs were overheating. Yikes! And we have no idea when we are going to make it back to pick it up. But the for whatever reason we weren't supposed to bring it home just yet.

We made the rest of the trip home safely and this was the "silver lining" of the trip...
It was a gorgeous sunset even though there is a bug smear where you would be seeing it. All in all it was an adventure to say the least!!! I guess it's those types of experiances that help us grow into who we are today! I am so thankfully that I was able to see my family and all the help that they gave us! And I know the Lord was watching out for us and kept us alive and well! We may be out of a couple thousand dollars but that is much better then our lives and/or health!!! I am so grateful to have the gospel in our lives (even though I may not be the best at acting like it)!

Better Then Sex Cake

2009-08-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

Or so it has been called... This is the version that I found. It is INCREDIBLE!!! :) And easy enough I can make it!

Cake:

1 Yellow Cake mix
2 Cups warm water
1 Small pkg. instant chocolate pudding mix
2 Eggs

Blend cake ingredients well. Pout into greased and floured 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees until done (approx 33 min). Cool to room temperature.

Topping:

1 Stick of butter
1 Cup powdered sugar
2 Beaten Egg yolks
1 8-oz Cool Whip Container
4 Heath or Skor candy bars, crushed

Melt butter. Cool slightly. Add beaten egg yolks. Then add powdered sugar and Cool Whip. Spread over cooled cake. Sprinkle with crushed candy bars. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Store in refrigerator.

I hope that you enjoy it as much as I love it!!! :) MMmm...although it is pretty strong it makes you SOOO happy!!

DC

2009-08-19T20:22:00.000-07:00

So because I took so many pictures of DC I will be posting them on my photo blog with descriptions of what they are. That way you can read all about our trip in segments and I can actually post more then a couple pictures. :) But here is my favorite picture of Andy and I. We are at the DC Temple in the Visitors Center.

Sorry...

2009-08-19T17:38:00.000-07:00

It has been a very long time since I have posted and there is A LOT to post on here so I will be catching up slowly. Well, let us begin... Our two year anniversary was on July 19. I can't believe that it has already been 2 years! It is incredible how fast time flies!!! Andy gave me tickets for us to go see "Wicked" which was absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! I had NO idea what to expect but I feel in love with it!!! I will be adding one of my new favorite songs on here so you can all get a feel for it :) Here is a picture of us from our seat (we were about 10 rows back dead center). The quality isn't the greatest because it is from my phone.

I gave Andy the option of a tow hitch for his Jeep or something else that I don't remember now...lol...can you guess which one he picked? Obviously the tow hitch. Which ironically already came in handy. My good friend, Lauren, moved back to Idaho about a week and a half ago and was going to be towing her trailer with all her belongings behind her little Toyota Corolla. Now, that didn't sound very safe to Andy and I! So we decided that we would tow it out for her. We will be making that trip at the end of the month (hopefully). I am SO excited to see her again! It is a different world without her here. Here is a picture of us.

My new blog...

2009-07-08T22:44:00.000-07:00

I decided to make a photography blog for the fun of it. If any of you want to check it out (there may be pictures of you...unless you specify otherwise)...it is newlanphotography.blogspot.com. I would love to hear your thoughts on some of my fun! :) Love you guys!

4th of July

2009-07-06T17:42:00.000-07:00

This Independence Day Andy and I decided to go off-roading since we haven't done it in quite some time. A guy at the bike shop told him about a trail called "Nigger Nate's Grade" which is basically a trail that is supposed to take you up to the cabin where one of the first free black men in California lived.

The trail starts off paved, going through some citrus fields. Then the county takes over and it is just a dirt road doing switchbacks up the mountain. So we are driving up this dirt road checking out all of the scenery and all of the sudden the State takes control of the road and it is paved again. We ran into a 4 way stop and found a beautiful campground!!! Come to find out Nate Harrison's house is on private property and we are only about a mile away from the Palomar Observatory.

We stopped and ate a picnic at the cutest picnic grounds ever and then talked to the Ranger for about a half hour. We then went for a little hike down to "Scott's cabin" which is not a cabin at all but just the base of a little 10'x10' house a person could barely fit in. On the way down we saw a cute deer!!! :) Despite how far away it looks we were only about 30 feet away from the cute baby deer!

We then went to the pond the Ranger told us about and walked around it. I saw a ton of bugs and as much as I am not a fan of them I couldn't help but take a few shots! It was incredible at how close they would let me get with my camera!!!

After our little walk we went to the Fire Watch Tower and looked over the county. It was really smoggy so I didn't get a good pic but it was gorgeous! We will head up on a clearer day.

All in all even without the fireworks our 4th of July was incredible!!!

We are now Endowed!!!

2009-05-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

I knew the day would come but I never quite realized how fast it would be here. It was so wonderful to be able to go to the temple with such a wonderful husband!!! I can not imagine going through that without having the past that I have and having gone through the repentance process. I am so grateful for the atonement and all that the Lord and Savior do for us.

The temple...

2009-05-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

Now onto better news... Andy and I are going through the San Diego Temple on May 9th at 7 p.m. We will only be taking our endowments out since we want all of our family to be there when we get sealed. Hopefully this will bring us closer to God and closer as a family! I am excited to be able to go do work for my ancestors and am lucky to have the true Gospel in my life! I know that had I not been born and raised with this Gospel truth that I would be long past the point of return (in a sense).
Until moving to Cali I never really understood that a lot of people had NO religious background in their lives. In Utah I would hang out mainly with people that were not LDS or were not active in the Church and thought I understood how people could feel the way that they do about the church itself. However, moving out here has opened my eyes to peoples ignorance and/or lack of knowledge.
Being one of the only LDS people that works at the Vista Costco I get a lot of questions and misunderstandings of the church. There is a Jehovah's Witness that I work with which causes a lot of confusion as well. For example, right before Easter I got a lot of "Have a Happy Easter! Oh wait...You don't celebrate Easter do you? I'm sorry" and I would have to correct them. Let them know that it is Jehovah's Witness' that do not celebrate the holidays. I think it is wonderful that they would try to be considerate and apologize, but I just wish that they would take the time to learn a little bit.
I was told by one person that worked there (not knowing that I was LDS) that Daniel had lied to him saying that he was Christian when really he was Mormon and was not a Christian at all. I never thought that I would get so offended by somebodies ignorance as much as I did right then! Asking him to explain to me how a "Mormon" is not a Christian but then him just walking out when I explained it to him and it all started to make sense. How stupid can you be?
I have been trying my hardest to learn of others religions out here...come to find out the only person that actually knows what their religion stands for is Chris, the Jehovah's Witness. I have a lot of friends that were born and raised Catholic. Some of those even going to the Catholic High Schools. When asked about what Catholics believe they can not tell me a single thing aside from Christ. I try to dig deeper by asking more direct questions and they know nothing. It's incredible to me that these people were raised all their lives with this but know nothing. Is it true that our Church is one of the only to actually TEACH anything?
Aside from all of that, here is my dilemma. My good friend was not raised with a religion. Both of her parents were raised strict Catholic and with good intent they decided to let their children choose. They planned on taking them to a bunch of different churches to help them kind of get some knowledge of what is out there. Like most of us, their lives got away with them and never ended up following through with their plan. She now has the Bible and has been reading it, but has no more knowledge then what is in that book. When we start talking about religion I take for granted the fact that even though my friends back home were not LDS, they were still raised around it and had some knowledge of what I was talking about. She has no idea. She is a very smart girl and understands what I am saying but of course it gets confusing and overwhelming at times. I am not a person that explains things very well unless I am in a planned debate. How do I explain things without sounding preachy or pushy? She wants to know, but she wants the knowledge in little pieces and she does not want to meet with the missionaries (which I can understand completely). She is coming to church with me next week and I am going to have my boys teach her the things that they know. Do you have any suggestions of what 10 and 11 year old boys could teach her?
Here are some topics that I have thought of... Joseph Smith, the word of wisdom, Baptism and the Sacrament, the plan of salvation, Tithing, and Families are forever. If you have any ideas I would LOVE to hear them! I will be calling my boys on Tuesday to have them start planning their lessons for her (each boy will take a separate topic and then help each other out).
I will try to do better at posting from now on!

Updates

2009-05-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

So, I have been very bad at updating our blog. Things in Cali are good but I have become extremely homesick recently and am trying to get over it. I guess it doesn't really help that I have been forgetting to take my pills either. :O Opps... Anyway, Easter was not Easter this year. We went down to his dad's house and hung out, just like any other Sunday. Nothing fun, nothing exciting. But it was great to know that I have family here.

Here is something fun...I did Makemebabies.com and this is what our baby ended up looking like....Since having an ugly baby is one of my biggest fears (petty, I know) this helped out a lot since I think she is adorable. LOL

Scouts/Pinewood Derby

2009-03-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

Andy is the 11 year old Scout leader. We have most of the boys in our Class at church so he is able to check up on them in both areas and see them twice a week. Our Scout troop is actually combined with the 10th ward as well since there are only like 4 or 5 scouts in both wards. Anyway, about two weeks ago was the Pinewood Derby and we both went. It was a blast watching the boys get so excited! Showing us their cars they made! YAY! I love our calling (aside from the fact that it means we only have 1 day off a week since we have to teach)... Here are some pics!

Muddy Buddy

2009-03-30T14:35:00.001-07:00

So Heather and I have decided to compete in Muddy Buddy and I am totally Stoked!!! It is going to take A LOT of dedication and hard work in order to be able to do this, and Heather don't expect me to be fast, just expect me to finish ;) LOL...but I am so excited! I think the biggest thing I am excited for is playing in the mud in the end! :) It will be so much fun! Here is my new helmet!!! It is cute, but man do they make you look even fatter than you actually are :( LOL Wish us luck!

24 hour fitness

2009-03-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

So, Andy and I FINALLY got a gym memberships and I plan on using it! I will be taking before and after shots, yet I am not willing to put the before shots up until after I have lost all the fat! :) They are opening a new gym right across the freeway from us, which will make it really nice to just head there after I get off work at 10 am. Wish me luck!!!

Family

2009-03-01T17:06:00.001-08:00

So, it's been a very long time since I posted anything on here. Andy and I moved into a two bedroom apartment the beginning of Feb. and we have been trying to get the house together ever since. My family came out two weeks later which was a blast, but we have ended up getting nothing done for the house. Here I am sitting on here writing about getting the house done rather than actually doing it. That's procrastination for ya I guess...

Anyway, I just wanted to get on and write a little something. I will be back on hopefully tomorrow to write about their trip and put pictures up. But until then, we are still alive and kicking! We love you!

New Years

2009-01-01T20:39:00.001-08:00

This year New Years was a blast! I had to work until about 6:30 and the day didn't start off that well but then we headed up to Patrick and Wendy's. They rented a huge bounce house and it was hilarious watching all of the kids begging and pulling Andy into that house. They LOVED making him bounce them! Megan's friend, Rachelle, has a little crush on Andy and was completely devastated to find out that Andy and I were married and not just boyfriend/girlfriend. LOL it was SO cute!!! I sat there remembering flirting with Peppers friends and having my little crushes on them. This is a little different seeing as she is 10 and he is 27, but it is so stinkin' cute!
All of Wendy's family was over again and I mentioned that there was a costco New Years eve party that we might go to but I didn't feel like going because I didn't think I looked good. So...Marianne told Tammy (who loves to play beauty parlor) that I needed to get dressed up and she got out all of the curling irons and make up and dolled me up. :) This meant a lot to me since it is apparently really hard to "get in" with their family.
We decided to leave around 11:30 to possibly go to the party, but then I realized we weren't in Utah anymore and all of the drunks would be hitting the road in about an hour....I didn't want to be on the road or anywhere near it. We got home and I put on my little black dress my mom bought me and we turned on tv on the countdown. It was at 5 when we turned it on and I was just in time to kiss Andy :) it was a blast! I got to dress up and spend time with Family.
Today we went for a walk on the pier eating Gelato ice cream...what more can you ask for???

Christmas

2009-01-01T20:21:00.000-08:00

This year was very different and hard for me. It is the first year I have been away from home for the holidays and I'm not so sure I like it. I am sure I will when I have my own children, but wow I missed my family and the snow!!! Christmas Eve we went over to Patrick and Wendys (Andy's brother and sister in law). Wendy's family all came over as well and we hung out in our pajamas, ate good food, then they had a little presentation for the kids.
Andy and Patrick made little mangers and Wendy bought little babies from the dollar store. Every child and our little family with no children got a baby and a manger. Patrick read a book called "The last straw" to all of the family (incredible book!) and explained how it depends on all of us to make Jesus' bed more comfortable by doing good deeds. Then we watched the part of "the nativity" movie where Christ is born. After that the children decorated cookies and made their own "gold, mur, and frankincense" for their baby Jesus, as well as colored a nativity scene picture.
It was really interesting how focused on Christ they were rather than the presents and all of the commercialized crap the world has come to. (It doesn't hurt that Wendy's dad is the stake president, lol) It was wonderful actually talking about the savior and the real meaning of Christmas on Christmas Eve. Being with family and remembering why we actually celebrate the holiday. My family was good at instilling the purpose but I don't remember doing anything that involved.
Anyway, Andy and I stayed there a little later than planned so I feel a little bad because "Santa" had to run to the shop WAY later than planned for the presents. :O

Christmas Morning Andy and I spent by ourselves opening stockings and gifts. I got a WII :) yay me!!! As well as a gorgeous necklace and I have to chose between going training with the Dolphins at Sea World or going on the Safari ride in the Wild Animal Park (inside the exhibit). I think I'm going to go with the dolphins. :) Andy didn't get so lucky because about two months ago I got too excited and bought him a 360. He got games and xbox live so he can play with his friends in Utah...kinda lame, but fun for him I guess. I think I'm the one that made out like a bandit. LOL!!!
Then we headed down to his dad's house and spent the rest of the day with him. It was a great Christmas, I just wish I could have spent more time with my family. I also wish I would have remembered to take the camera :( I will be getting the pictures from Wendy soon though and will post them. I am so lucky to have wonderful inlaws that make me feel like a part of the family and not be so lonely on Christmas. But even more lucky to have such an incredible husband!!!

Primary Pajama Party

2008-12-13T13:05:00.000-08:00

Last night was our ward Primary Pajama Party and because we are teachers we were lucky enough to attend. It was so much fun watching the innocence of the little kids. They drew pictures of their families, decorated cookies, made ornaments and Christmas cards. We are blessed to be in such a wonderful ward!

Christmas at Disney

2008-12-13T12:56:00.000-08:00

Andy and I decided that we would use our passes and head up to Disney for our day off to see all of the Christmas decorations. It was incredible! It was so much fun looking at all of the decorations. I realized that as many times as I have been to Disney I have not been during the holiday season for a VERY long time, I was always "too busy". It's amazing the things we take for granted when we have all the time in the world and then you get older and things become more and more important.

Utah

2008-12-13T12:36:00.000-08:00

We were lucky to head to Utah last week and visit my family. We had a little Thanksgiving/Birthday/Christmas get together. We got there Sunday morning at about 5 am and Pepper was kind enough to let us have her bed for the week, so we went and fell asleep. Then we got up and said hello to the family. My grandparents came down to visit...YAY!!! Grandpa started radiation the next tuesday so they couldn't come down any other time. So we gave them their gifts. Hand picked Avacados and a robe. Dad also had a wonderful surprise for us. He has worked really hard to finish his play room outside. IT LOOKS INCREDIBLE!!! He hasn't finished it all the way, but wow! I am so proud of him.
Pepper set up a surprise early birthday get together for me. So some friends came over and we had cake and saw each other again. Tuesday my cousins came down to see me! It was so awesome to see all of them. It's incredible how much you miss family when you are gone. Wed we had our family Christmas party and opened some presents. Andy, Trevor, Eric and I also went shooting that morning. It was super fun!

It was a wonderful trip. A little crammed and I didn't get to spend as much time with my family or friends as I would have liked to, but I am so blessed to have so many people that love me that I can't spend enough time with them. :) It is going to be weird not being home for Christmas this year. I miss my family like crazy, but I am so lucky to have a wonderful husband and in laws that love me. All in all it was a great trip!

Missing the snow...

2008-11-19T11:17:00.000-08:00

Everybody dreams of retiring to Southern California and now I know why. There is absolutely NO change in weather aside from nice and extremely hot. It is gorgeous all year round and you don't have to deal with all of the idiot drivers in the snow. Well I MISS THE SNOW dang it!!! The weather out here is gorgeous, two days ago it was 95 outside, but it's the beginning of winter people! Don't you know there is supposed to be snow on the ground?!? Two weeks and I will be back in Utah for a couple days...hopefully there will be snow out there. If not, at least I get to see the snow covered mountains!!! :)

8 means Hate?

2008-11-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

That is what most of the "No on Prop 8" signs read. I have a problem with this claim. They say that people for 8 are the ones that "HATE" others and are taking away their rights, and yet the only thing that I have seen from them is destruction, vandalism, theft, and violence.
During the entire election period I never once saw a No on 8 sign that was taken or destroyed. The most that I saw it move was from one street corner to the next. Yes on 8 signs, however, we spray painted with No across it, stolen, or in my sister in laws case kicked so it was ripped in two (while on her personal property).
As for peaceful protesting and expressing your first amendment rights, it's all fine and dandy when they do it. Nobody complains, the most that happens from the Yes on 8 side is protesting on opposite corners of the street. They don't think we should have the right to go out and support 8 without repercussion.
As my sister in law was out with a whole bunch of Yes on 8 supporters she was approached by a 19 or 20 year old girl who asked if she was voting for Obama. When she said she wasn't there to talk about that the girl became irate asking everyone in her group the same question. Eventually Jeanette again in a stronger tone said nobody was going to talk about that. They were here to talk about 8, so the chick decided to take a swing at her. When she missed, she kicked her in the upper front thigh.
Of course everyone stepped in and made it impossible for her to get to Jeanette so she ran to the middle of the median, spoke with a car that had been trying to hit Yes on 8 supporters all day, then seeing Jeanette wide open ran at her and kicked her again in the other upper front thigh! They finally called the cops and it took them 40 minutes to drag her out of her hotel room kicking and screaming, spitting on the cops! What happened to our freedom of speech without being assaulted for it?
They have a problem against the church because we are willing to donate time and money to help support the family, but it's not just the LDS church that donated. Every Christian based religion in California did the same thing, including the Catholics! Yet we are the ones who are ostracized because of it. They vandalize our bishops home with spray paint. They make commercials directly against the church.
8 means hate? Yes, it does! It means all of those that do not support 8 HATE people that support 8, while those that support 8 still love and respect them for their decisions. It means supporters are now hated and will feel the wrath of those that don't agree and their first amendment rights will be taken away by force. Now please, tell me what is ok with this???

6 Quirks...

2008-10-28T22:38:00.000-07:00

1. I hate doing the dishes! I don't mind doing any other chores but I HATE dishes with a passion. It doesn't matter if I have a dishwasher or not.

2. I can't stand to eat breakfast. I know it's the most important meal out of the day but I just can't seem to eat when I wake up in the morning.

3. I actually like my husband to play video games. LOL! Most women hate that, but I really don't mind at all.

4. I am obsessed with text messaging. I love it.

5. I always order Chicken enchiladas when I go to a Mexican restaurant. It doesn't matter where I go that is what I order if it's Mexican.

6. I would rather sleep anywhere then in my own bed. It doesn't matter what bed is mine, since I was 17 I started sleeping on couches and anywhere that wasn't my actual bed. I am doing better since I have been married but I have required a lot of traveling because of this little quirk.

Most of my friends have already done this so those who haven't and have some extra time. I would love to read about you!

Complete Nerds...

2008-10-15T10:59:00.000-07:00

So, Andy and I now play the Yugioh card game and as dorky as it sounds it is so much fun! There are endless possibilities to what you can do. You can have a million decks and none of them are the same. To top it off the cards are CHEAP! We got about 300 cards for $17 and that was because I bought two of the brand new decks! In the beginning it is a little complicated but the more you learn the more fun it is. You get to blow stuff up, steal peoples cards, block them from hitting you and make them hit yourself, build your decks around cute cards, if there is something you are interested in I'm sure they have a card that is based around it. My friend built an entire deck around cards that look just like the cars from the Chevron with Techron commercials. They are so cute!!!
Anyway, I just figured I hadn't posted in a while and that is really the only new thing that has gone on with us. Sorry we are so boring! :) LOL! We love you guys!

Snorkeling...

2008-09-25T10:49:00.000-07:00

Andy and I finally had a day where we both got off early and decided to go to La Jolla Cove and try snorkeling. We bought the stuff to do it a while ago and I have been slowly getting used the the water and the goggles in the pool (water at the ocean). We walked up to the shore about 4:45 last night looking down and I did not want to get in. The waves looked like they were hitting harder because we were in the cove. The seaweed was all over the place and disgusting. After a while of debating whether or not to get in I decided I would have to face my fear eventually, why not right now?

As I step into the ocean it is freezing!!! (It's always freezing...lol) I had to coax myself into getting in. Andy was so great. He just stood there, holding my hand waiting until I was ready to get in. Slowly but surely I made it in. Now for the googles. Creepy. It just doesn't feel right to have my eyes open under water, not being able to breathe. I decided that I did need the snorkel so we added that to the mixture. At least now I could breathe...not well, but I could breathe. We slowly headed out a little further....then the fish started to appear....

It was INCREDIBLE!!! It was just like in the movies. Watching the seaweed move with the ocean, the fish are just right there. Even though you are just floating on top of the water you feel like you are in the middle of all of it. I had no depth perception at all! I couldn't tell how far away anything was so I just kept reaching for things. Silly me... Then we hit the rocks and there was a huge drop off...It scared the crap out of me so I decided it was time to come back in. It was probably one of the most incredible experiences in my life.

No matter what your fear, if you have a desire to over come it you will do it. :) Of course it will still be just as scary the next time, but I can't wait!!! We are going to take frozen peas and apparently the fish just swarm around you. YAY!!!

Pics from Mexico

2008-09-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

Skip over the weekend....

2008-09-17T21:45:00.000-07:00

So, we are just going to skip this weekend and pretend nothing ever happened. As for today, Andy and I went to Disneyland to see the Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer Island. It was awesome! They have a whole bunch of little caves to go in and out of, treasures everywhere, just fun random things. It was great spending a day with my wonderful husband. Oh, and he bought me a lucky Bamboo :) They say you can't over water them, hopefully I won't be able to kill this one. Sorry so scatterbrained. Love you guys!

Labor Day Weekend...a little late

2008-09-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

The weekend started off with me working until 8 Saturday night. When I got off Andy and I headed down to La Mesa (like we always do to see Andy's dad). This time we decided to go out with Matt, Andy's best friend. They hadn't been to Norma Jeans (a karoke bar) in a long time so that is where we went. All of the sudden Matt comes and tells me that he signed the two of us (Matt and I) up for singing Love Shack! I guess there is no backing out once you are already signed up. So, Matt and I went up and Sang Love Shack. I never knew I had it in me. Andy says I did a pretty good job (although all he had to compare me to were drunk people...besides he has to tell me that, right?). I didn't know some of the words in the song, even though they were on the screen I didn't know the tune in that part so Matt had to sing it to me while I had to sing in the Mic. LOL! That was an experiance :) We made it home around 2 am.

Sunday I decided I wanted to go to the Mexican border. Since everybody out here (including my mexican friends) tells me that going to TJ is too dangerous and don't do it, Andy, Jeanette and I went out to the desert where Andy used to cross the border all the time growing up. He said there was a big post that showed where the border was so of course I wanted to take a SAW us on the other side of the fence but if you admit guilt do they have to do something? We just sat there and let him lecture us for a few minutes. Telling us it's a BIG NO NO! And it's illegal and all that fun stuff. So then Andy says "well, in that case we didn't go over there, thanks for letting us know" and we drove off. We had to go through two border patrol checks and let me tell you....it was a little nerve racking knowing that they knew we had gone over there. It was exciting at the same time...But I got my pictures and that is all that matters :) Jeanette has them right now but I will post them as soon as I get them!

Monday wasn't quite as exciting. Andy and I were going to go to the Zoo but when we got there of course it was really busy. It is right next to Balboa Park so we walked around the park instead. We went to the San Diego Natural History Museum and learned about water and erosion, dinasours and other exciting things :) Walked around a little more and then headed home. It was a wonderful weekend! Here are some pictures from the park.

Military...

2008-08-15T12:46:00.000-07:00

Update to bee sting...

2008-08-12T22:29:00.000-07:00

This is my arm after two days of the bee sting. :( It itches!!! And keeps getting bigger.

Church in California

2008-08-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

Not yesterday but the sunday before I had a really interesting experiance in Church. It was something I never thought I would experiance. Saturday I got a call from the primary presidency telling me that we wouldn't be having sharing time on Sunday (Andy and I teach the Valiant 10,11, and 12 year old boys) instead we will be having a meeting with everybody in the chapel again. So like 2 sacraments.

We go to Church and teach our lesson then head to this meeting. The bishop stands up and conducts the meeting. It is all about how we need to do everything in our power to stop gay marriages. We had had discussions on it in Sacrament before however they were not getting the response they wanted I guess. We were asked to donate our time and means (aka Money). This request was straight from the Prophet. The thursday before our entire stake leaders met with the stake president who had spoken to the higher Church authorities and told everyone to have this meeting. That is a lot to ask a Bishop to do in my opinion. Ask everybody in their wards to donate money. WOW! Our bishop is probably one of the most polite, calm people in the world and his wife is one of the most outspoken people in the world. As he was up there talking about it she just couldn't keep her mouth shut!

It was a great thing too, in my opinion. She said when he came home and told her what was going on she got kind of upset and wondered why it was such a big deal. We discuss it and remind everybody in Sacrament, we don't need to have a huge meeting about it telling everyone they have to give up their hard earned money. Then her husband explained how it doesn't matter if the bill doesn't pass, it doesn't matter if it gets overturned AGAIN, the main thing is our Prophet asked us to and more or less in his opinion this is a matter of faith and following the prophet. Very well said!

Obviously there are reasons that the church doesn't want gay marriages to happen. The biggest being marraige is ordained of God between a man and a women. If women were meant to be with other women they would be able to procreate together, the same with men. It's like sticking an American plug into a european outlet, it just isn't what is supposed to happen.

I don't have any problem with homosexuals, I grew up around them. They are wonderful people! The problem is if they get the right to marry it opens up a whole new can of worms. This world is already going the wrong direction, the least we can do is try to slow down the process. America is only the promised land if we are a land that fears God. For some reason, I think we are failing to do that at this point in time.

Anyway, I just thought it was kind of strange to have the church asking us to donate not to the church, but to a coalition of churches to try to stop the insanity. All I could think about was "This is how it must have felt to be in one of those old meetings where Joseph Smith was telling everyone how they had to help by giving of their time and money." I was thrown back into the olden days. So there's my story. I will probably write more about my feelings to come.

If you want to see the website it is www.Protectmarriage.com

Poor little Bee....

2008-08-10T23:27:00.000-07:00

After church today Andy and I decided that we were going to go for a little drive in the Jeep. We thought we might head to Lake Henshaw or the Desert, we weren't sure which but we got in the car and headed out. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. My always prepared husband had to stop by work and grab his bag of tools. We wouldn't want to get stranded without tools. That would be ridiculous!!!

So, as we are getting back onto the freeway I feel something that hurts REALLY bad on my right shoulder that happens to be hanging out the window. Maybe it's a stupid spider! I go to flick it off when I realize it's not a spider or any other living thing....it's the sticker from a bee! I pull it out, then me (being the brilliant person that I am) try to look at it.... WITH THE SAME HAND I AM HOLDING THE STICKER IN!!! Needless to say, I get poked AGAIN! This time I do it to myself. OWW!

Andy starts laughing at me as I am laughing at myself and pulls off the next exit. We take the proper precautions and call my mom to see if I am allergic to bees. We don't know so we head to the store to buy some benedryl, just in case! After leaving the store we decide not to go far away from civilization since we don't know what is to come. We head up to Rainbow, CA to see one of the houses Andy grew up in. On the way we come to a few different conclusions on why I got stung....

1. We weren't supposed to go out in the middle of nowhere.

2. Somebody else that was deathly allergic was going to be stung by that be, so it's better me than that person.

3. I just really shouldn't leave the windows down and my arm hanging out while on the freeway!

Personally, I like to go with option #2!

One more thing crosses my mind....The poor little Bee....

I mean, all he is doing is just flying trying to keep up with traffic when BAM, he gets sucked into my car, butt first I might add, and loses his poor little life. What a way to die! Poor little guy. I name him STICKER!

What luck...

(The bottom red spot is the original sting....the top one is where I stung myself.)

Picture Perfect

2008-08-08T22:28:00.001-07:00

Last night Andy and I went on a date. We decided to head to the harbor in Oceanside since we always head down south instead of staying up here. We went to all the little shops on the harbor then we got hungry so we took a drive down the 101 looking for a taco bell or something stupid. I saw a little place called "101 Cafe" and asked Andy if we could stop there. We had a great dinner in a place that had been there since 1928. So cute! Kinda slow service but that what you get when you go to one of those places they make the food right then. LOL! Then after that we headed to Tamarack Beach and had a nice walk along the beach.

As we were driving home I made the comment to Andy "ya know, these things look much more exciting in the movies." He replied with the comment "That's why you need to just have fun and not think about how picture perfect everything has to be." It's so true, I have always tried to make everything picture perfect when it already is!!!! Life is great! I love my husband. Now to tackle the finances :)

A year full of goodbyes

2008-08-05T00:43:00.000-07:00

As I'm sitting here at 1 in the morning all I can think about is the many goodbyes I have had to say this year. A few a lot more permanent then others.

The year started off by having to say goodbye to a Mother of a best friend. This goodbye was expected to come, however not nearly as soon as it came and we all prayed that it wouldn't actually come the way it did. I remember walking to my bedroom with Andy heading for bed around 11 pm when the phone rang. I looked down at it, about to hit the silence button realizing that something was not right. Cara would not be calling me so late, she just wouldn't. Hearing her crying on the other end, not comprehending what was really going on, feeling so desperate to help but knowing that there was nothing I could do at that point, couldn't go help the kids, nothing. Can't I just go hug her? I just want to be there with her!!! I know that is Matts job so I just lay in bed waiting for the call back to tell me what to do. Andy is halfway asleep and doesn't even realize what has just happened. Aside from Andy I didn't know if I could tell anyone, would that be out of line? So I sat there, crying in my bed wishing there was something I could do.

Luckily the chance came. Without stepping on anyones toes I received the wonderful opportunity to go with Cara to help say her goodbye. As we walked into the Mortuary I didn't know what to do, all I knew was I needed to be strong for her. We walked down to see her mother peacefully, happily laying on the table ready for her daughter to take care of her. Get her all dressed up one last time. She looked so happy, so wonderfully peaceful! I just knew she was in a better place. I was blessed to be able to paint her nails and enjoy the company of her wonderful spirit. When it came time to leave Cara put it best "I just don't want to go" I felt the exact same way. I'm sorry Cara, I'm sorry I didn't go and let you and your mother have your personal time. I didn't know what you needed me to do. All I wanted to do was be there...with you, with her. The funeral came and she looked incredible! Cara did an amazing job at making her mother look perfect! I was so blessed to have the opportunity to see her and say my goodbye.

Next came the call that Andys dad had cancer. That was the sign we had been looking/waiting for. We were to move to California. Saying goodbye to all our (my) family and friends. It's ok, it won't be forever, right? Thankfully we have the technology we do today and I can still talk to all of you, however it's just not the same. It's like a goodbye to me, to who I am because you all make me the person I am. We did all of our hugs and I pray everyday that those will not be the last hugs I give all of you.

The most recent goodbye was completely unexpected and the reason I do pray that our hugs will not be our last. July 7th I am sitting at Andys work as my phone rings. It's Diane....I wonder what she could want. As I say hi and ask her how she is doing I hear her voice change. You could tell how hard she was trying to stay calm. "I'm not doing very well." I've never heard those words come out of her mouth before, it was something bad. "My dad killed himself Bran" I could hear the pain and tears in her voice. All I do is cry. Trying so hard to make it sound like I am not crying just wanting to be strong for her. I can't even ask how it happened, I can't do that to her.

We are on the phone about 5-10 minutes then we hang up and all I can do is cry. Andy came out of the restroom to me crying. At this point all I want to do is be in Utah. Why did we have to move to California?? Does she want me out there? Is that going to cause too much stress? As I am looking up flights with our non-existant money I get the guts to ask her if she wants me out there. My heart feels a LITTLE better when I get the text "I would love that" back. Good, cause I need you Diane. I don't know what to do.

I hop on the next flight out to Utah and Cara picks me up. After a little delay at the airport we are on our way to Dianes. I think that was honestly the longest day of my life. Waiting for Andy to get off work to take me to the airport, waiting for the plane, trying to find the parking ticket and then the drive down there. I wanted to be happy and have a good time with Cara but I couldn't. It just didn't feel right. Finally we pull up to Dianes moms, I get to hug her. We spend the night together and all I want to do is hold her, but I don't. I just don't know what to do.

The rest of the week all I can do is say "I'm here for you Diane, if you want me to be there I will be there. If you need time alone I don't want to push you" All I want is to be with her. To be able to cry with her. I just don't believe it. How could he be that selfish? He had the two greatest kids in the world, why would he do such a thing? Why can't I be there? I am blessed to be able to spend "family time" with the Porters and go to Park City with them. It was wonderful but there is still no goodbye for me. I have to come back to Cali before the funeral. Things still don't feel right. I don't think anything will ever be the same. I came home to my sister in law complaining about having to write a report on suicide and all I can think of is 'you don't even know'. Trying to somewhat explain any type of feeling that is going through my head without screaming at her or bawling my eyes out. All my views and opinions changed within a few hours of the phone call and then to have someone not understand or even care. Why? How?

I never got my goodbye and I suppose I never will so Goodbye Davey! I love you and I am glad that you are happier now and not in pain anymore.

No more goodbyes seem signifigant. I don't want to say goodbye anymore. I just want to be there, always.

I am so sorry Cara and Diane if at anytime during these hard times in your life I was not there. I didn't know what to say, what to do. I stood there like a fool trying to make you smile during the hardest time in your lives. I'm sorry. I just wanted to be there. I know you are both still hurting so bad and I still want to be with you. Why this year? Why did I have to move to California this year? Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your lives. I can't even imagine what you are going through. I know how much pain I am still in and I didn't know either of them as much as you guys did. I love you both! Please let me know if there is anything more I can do.

Andy always wonders why I always want to be at his dads house, I just realized it. I am so afraid of having to say another goodbye. It doesn't matter how well his Chemo is going, I can't say goodbye. I just can't. Not this year.

I made my two friends at work and I get to say goodbye to both of them in the next month because they get to move.

I pray that all of our hugs will not be our last. Thank you so much for all of your love and support! Please keep in touch! I love all of you! No Goodbyes!

Disneyland

2008-07-31T16:14:00.000-07:00

Tuesday I had the chance to go to Disneyland with my family again, but this time I got to experiance it with Diane AND Kyle...and of course my wonderful husband. It was a blast! We got there and it was just Andy, Kyle, Di and I and we headed to Pirates. We got on the ride and halfway through it got all backed up...kinda annoying. So, we are sitting there waiting for it to start again when they say they are going to have to escort us off, FINALLY someone shows up and explains there was an earthquake (which of course we didn't feel because we were on the water) and the rides were going to be shut down for a while. BORING!

Diane and I headed to Downtown Disney while the rest went and ate stuff. Finally we headed back and all the rides were up and going again...well, except all the cool ones like Indiana Jones and Space Mountain. Anyway, it was a great day! I am glad I got to spend some time with my family and Di and Ky. I am so lucky to have friends that go out of their way to see me while they are on a family vacation! I love you guys!

Going to lose weight!

2008-07-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

So, I know that I have gained a lot of weight since I got married and I have been meaning to start working on that but now I really have to do it. The other day a friend that I made at work said she found me on myspace, and that I look nothing like I do in my pictures. I said to her that I told her I gained a lot of weight, guess what her reply was... Go ahead just guess. "Well, I know but I thought you meant like 10 lbs or something."

Now, I know she didn't mean that to be rude or anything, but it really put things into perspective for me. I need to get off my butt and start doing something about it. Be healthier, live healthier, work out more, have a better image about myself. All that stuff. So, I need all your support and encouragement (as well as any tips you would like to throw my way on how to lose weight ;).

Well, here I am procrastinating some more by sitting here writing this. Wish me luck!

We made it through a whole year!

2008-07-20T22:29:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday was our one year anniversary. I can't believe time has gone by so fast! It's incredible to think that we have been married for a whole year! It seems like just yesterday I was the girl on the couch and he was the guy headed to the mountains, yet now here we are three years later in Sunny San Diego in a cute little apartment with our two babies (the cats of course).

In order to celebrate our anniversary we spent the day at the Wild Animal Park. It was awesome seeing the animals up close. I got to pet a bunch of deer like creatures and feed a bird (that could bite :O ). There were also like 7 lions right near the glass window. I could almost touch them. I just wanted to go give them a big hug...for some reason Andy didn't think that would be a very good idea. Ok...So I am easy to please.

After the Wild Animal Park we came home and rested for a little while. Then went to Shogun for dinner. I was quite disappointed. It is supposedly exactly like Benny Hannas (or however you spell that), I was thinking it would be more like Tepanyaki in Provo. NOTHING like it. Yeah they cook the food right in front of you but it tasted nothing like the japanese food I thought I was going to be eating. :( What a waste of $60. O-well....now I know and poor Andy put up with it.

We decided not to give each other gifts over $5 since we bought annual passes to the zoo and Wild Animal Park. I was a HORRIBLE wife and didn't get Andy anything. :( He on the other hand got me some cute scrapbooking stuff. I don't think I will ever live that one down. Being poor really isn't the funnest thing in the world.

Oh yeah, that reminds me, while we rested for that while we went to the Laundromat because I didn't get money put on the laundry card for our complex in time. Sure made me feel like a newlywed couple! Scary and boring. I'm glad Andy went with me. I don't think I will be forgetting to put money on the card anymore.

All in all it was a great Anniversary!