Family Pictures

At the first part of October everyone got together for the blessing of my little niece. We decided that since everyone would be together needed to take a family picture. We took one in October of 2008 and since that time we have had four people join our family. This was our picture from 2008. Since that time Katie has gotten married and had a baby, Reese has added another boy to his family, and Thomas has gotten engaged. Our family is quickly growing. Below is our new picture. I can't believe how old we are all getting.The following picture is all the boys in the family. From left to right we have Thomas (20), Forrest (18), Jeff (Katie's husband-23), Reese (29), William (Reese's boy-4 months), Daniel (Reese's boy-3) and Christian (10). Now for the girls in the family. Also from left to right: Celia Renee (Thomas' fiancee-20), Katie (age 22), Kayley (Katie's girl-1.5 months), Charity (15), Lexie (28), and Tammy (26). So there you have it...the whole family. Man I love these guys.

What's new?

When I decided to move home, I told myself that I would be better at writing on my blog. Well, I'm happy to report that I have FAILED in that regard. Ok, maybe I am not happy about it, but at least I'm honest with myself in stating that I have actually failed :).

A while back I told you all that there was a reason I moved home. Believe it or not, that reason is the reason that I haven't been posting much on here. So without further ado, here is the reason:
In case you don't understand my picture...I have decided to go back to school. I applied and got accepted into the Surgical Tech program at the DATC in Kaysville. I was skeptical about going to the DATC, after all, it is the DATC. But my program director is really renown in the field and very respected. I started school the end of September and hope to be done with the program in about a year.

So if I don't post very often...don't kill me, I'm just busy working and going to school. :)

Shingles

No, I am not talking about the shingles that hang on the roof...I'm talking about the viral infection caused by the chickenpox virus (the pictures of shingles are too nasty to post on here...hence the roofing kind). A long time ago my brothers and sisters had the chickenpox. Due to the fact that my mom and my stepmom couldn't remember me ever getting chickenpox, it was my responsibility to put the calamine lotion on the kids (thus putting me at risk for getting the chickenpox). Three kids later, I still didn't have them. I thought I was immune to it and thus didn't worry about it. Before I left on my mission we figured it would be a good idea to get the Varicella Vaccine just in case. Due to that vaccine, my body was introduced to the virus to prevent me from getting it in the future. The thing that the vaccine also did was allow me to become susceptible to shingles. Only those who have had chickenpox can get shingles.

Monday morning as I was getting ready for the day I noticed I had 4 or 5 bumps on my neck. I figured a spider had gone to town on me during the night and didn't think anything of it. That afternoon my neck started to get sore to the touch and by the time I went to bed I couldn't lay on my left side without my neck hurting. The next morning as I was getting ready I noticed that the bumps were now 8 or 9 in number and red! As I went through the morning my ear started to ache and it hurt to swallow...I finally came to the decision that these were no ordinary spider bites and headed to the instacare. As soon as the doctor saw the bumps he knew they weren't spider bites and went on to explain about shingles.

After I got back to work I googled shingles for more information and found out that they are most commonly brought on by stress. I thought back about the last week and have had a relatively stress free week. It also said that it is most common in people over the age of 60. I did a quick recap and figured that I was only 28...which is no where near 60. It is also common in individuals who have lower immune systems (i.e. Cancer or AIDS)...nope that isn't me. I can't figure out how they came about...but I do have them and that sucks!

All in all it isn't too bad. I got a Rx to help with the rash and to help with the pain...the doctor says it will get worse before it gets better...I'm not really looking forward to that...but I will keep you all posted on how things are going. For now I am in isolation, as shingles is contagious to those who haven't had chickenpox. So if you haven't had them...stay away for a couple of weeks.

Another baby=another blanket

On July 17th my brother Reese and his wife Tammy had their 2nd little boy. Because it took me a lot longer to make Katie's baby blanket than originally thought, my mom and I got started on W's blanket the day after he was born. Thinking back on things, we probably should have done W's blanket first since he came a full month before Katie's baby...but that is besides the point. The point is we finally finished it and were able to give it to baby W. I think the fabric we chose turned out beautifully. I really think it came together nicely. Here is a close up of the design and how it all came together. Now I can't take full credit for this blanket, my mom did a lot of it during the week when I wasn't there. But I think it is beautiful!Now that we are all caught up on baby blankets and we don't have any babies to prepare for my mom and I have decided to make baby blankets to donate to a local hospital. We haven't decided what type of blanket and I should probably contact the hospital and see if they have any certain requirements first...but I am excited to do it.

Best Aunt Award

Being 28 (almost) and not married, makes me the perfect candidate for the Best Aunt in the Whole World award. I am pretty sure I have won the hearts of my other niece and nephews but I wanted to cement my award with Katie's baby.

I few months ago I got into my mind that I should make Katie a blanket for her baby. I don't really sow and never really had the desire to learn. Last year I decided to make a jean blanket and that experience was fine because you couldn't really see my mistakes. But with this blanket I had to do my best to not have any mistakes. I called my mom and asked her if she would help me make Katie a puff quilt. I had seen my mom's finish puff quilts and loved how they looked! So really how hard could they be?

Man I was wrong. It was so much harder than I imagined. Ok, so maybe that isn't true. It wasn't that hard but very, very time consuming. I am really happy with how it turned out. I know the pictures aren't that great, but in case you can't see what is on the blanket they are "Little Monkeys". I thought this fabric was PERFECT for Katie and Jeff's baby. For those of you who don't know Katie and Jeff they are both tall and skinney
So really...they will have little monkeys for kids...skinny and thin!

All in all I am happy with the how the blanket turned out. I am sure I have the Best Aunt in the Whole World award basically wrapped up :)

Dead? No...just moving

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted anything. Many people have asked if I died...I simply respond "no I haven't died, just moved...which sometimes feels like dying". I have been busy moving home, which is a lot harder than just moving to another location. When moving to another location you simply pack everything in boxes and away you go. However, when moving home you pack the things that you don't need for a year into boxes so they can be stored somewhere. You pack the things that you will need into other boxes...it just seems so much harder. Maybe in reality one isn't more difficult than the other...but one just seems so much more dreadful.

That one, of course, is moving home. Though I love my family and look forward to spending more time with them, I dread the idea of moving home. Sure I've been told that I will be left alone and given a sense of privacy and that I will be able to come and go as I please, but let's be honest...I don't really see that happening. While moving home allows me to pursue other things (which I will discuss in another post) I lose something in the process. I haven't lived at home for an extended period of time since I was 17 and just graduating high school. Sure I lived at home during the first few years of college during the summer and for a few months before and after the mission...but now we are talking about living at home for a year. You don't hear of too many 28 year olds (next month) moving home.

However, I know it is the best thing for me to do. And I know I will survive...I can do anything for a year! I just wish that knowing it was the right thing to do and feeling like it was the right thing to do felt the same. I am sure after a couple of months I will fall into the normal routine and I will fill right at home...but until then...I'll put a smile on my face and be happy.

The Madness of March

Everyone knows how much I love March Madness! To me it is the best time of year. It is hours upon hours of basketball, where the under dogs are cheered for and upsets are often found. Every year I fill out a bracket and very rarely do I pick the champion. This year...to show our support, my roommates and I made a HUGE bracket. If you can't tell by the picture...we turned our huge front room wall into one large bracket. I'm excited to watch as much basketball as possible and to see the bracket fill in during the next few weeks.

Aggies all the way!

As most of you all know I grew up in Kansas...Wichita to be exact. Although I didn't ever go to a Wichita State basketball game...I was a fan of their baseball team. So image my surprise when I learned that my Aggies were playing the Shockers in the annual bracket buster game. My dad...being the great guy that he is, decided we had to go to the game. He wanted to go and cheer on the Shockers and show his WSU pride. I hadn't been to an Aggie game yet this season and so I jumped at the chance to go.
My dad wore his Shocker baseball shirt and my brother wore a black shirt to show their WSU support...I of course wore my Aggie blue shirt. The game was a blast (even though it started at 10 pm!). I love Aggie basketball and was happy to be able to see another game. Reese and my dad were good sports even though their team lost. Reese only got yelled at once for cheering against the Aggies :) Thanks dad for a great game!