Baby Contest

I think it's time for another contest.  Sorry it's been so long since the last one!  This time it will be guessing when our little boy will be born.  The time has been narrowed down considerably though, so it makes it easier.  My doctor will induce me on January 14th, when I'm 37 weeks, unless things get worse, and then she will induce me sooner.  So he will be here sometime within the next two weeks.  There will be a cool prize for the person who wins.  Josh and I had guessed later in January, as had our neighbor, so we're all out of the running.  Good luck everyone! :)

The Week of a Thousand Years

Have you ever had a week that just seems to go on forever? That's how this last week was for Josh and I. Last Sunday, the 12th, we received a call that my aunt had had a massive stroke and was in the hospital.  She wasn't able to walk anymore and would never be able to live alone.  Josh and I headed up there to see her and found that it was much worse than that.  She couldn't talk or hardly respond, and the doctor had come in just before we got there to say that she would be leaving this world soon, so this time would most likely be one of goodbye.  I was stunned by this!  It was so sudden and we had just seen her a week earlier at the family Christmas party.  How grateful I am that we went to the hospital that night! Amid my tears, I was able to hold her hand and tell her how much I loved her and thank her for all that she did for me.  She did move her head towards me, so I think she knew I was there.  She passed away the next day.  She was an amazing woman!  She was so loving and kind and was more like a grandma than an aunt to me and my siblings.  She is dearly missed!

With the passing of my dear Aunt Carol, our anniversary plans changed.  Our second anniversary was on Friday, the 17th, and we had booked two nights at The Castle Creek Inn to celebrate.  The funeral was planned for Saturday, so we knew we wouldn't get all the time together we wanted, but figured it would still be a wonderful weekend.

Friday rolled around and I had the day off, but Josh had to work, so I worked around the house for awhile and then he came home and got me so we could go to our prenatal visit.  At the visit, my blood pressure was high.  It had been high two visits before, but the last visit it was fine, so we hadn't worried about it.  We went through the visit and the doctor ordered lab work to check for preeclampsia and then rechecked my blood pressure.  It had shot up very high at that time, so we went directly to the hospital to be monitored.  We stayed for about two hours at LDS Hospital while my blood pressure and the baby were monitored.  The labs were done there and once the results came back, my doctor came and talked with us.  The labs were all fine, but my blood pressure had stayed high the whole time we were there.  Not as high as it was at her office, thank goodness, but still higher than it should have been.  She said that I had preeclampsia and explained all the possible complications that came with it.  She also said that from now on, I was on strict bedrest until the baby came.  She sent me home, but I think it was only because we had hotel reservations.  I had to do a 24 hour urine test, which they usually keep patients in the hospital to do, but I'm so glad that she trusted me enough to do it on my own and we didn't have to stay overnight. 

We did get to the hotel that night, but later than we had expected.  It was a really nice room and we were glad we had the chance to enjoy it.  Saturday was the funeral and I wasn't going to miss that, bedrest or not.  It was a beautiful memorial of her and it was nice to be surrounded by the love of my family. We went back to the hotel afterwards, but to a different room.  This one was really nice as well and the staff treated us like royalty.  We couldn't do anything except lay in bed and relax, but it was nice to have that time together.  Josh was so sweet to stay with me and not complain about our sudden change in plans.

Needless to say, I am very grateful last week is over!  This week has the promise of being a much better one with Christmas.  Josh and I definitely have a lot on our minds now, but we need to have faith in Heavenly Father and His plan and know that He will take care of us and Drako. 

Bring on The Turkey!

Sorry that this next post won't have any pictures. They accidentally got erased from the memory card before being saved on the computer. Hope you enjoy it nonetheless!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a great day and it was nice having Josh at home and not working. We ended up having three Thanksgiving dinners this year and I am proud to report that I only gained three pounds in those two weeks between prenatal visits. 

I love that there's a holiday dedicated to counting your blessings. Thanksgiving is such a neat time of the year and I always reflect on what I'm grateful for. We have been blessed so very much and I am eternally grateful for a Heavenly Father who watches out for his children individually! I can't believe how much He cares for each one of us and provides for our specific wants and needs! It's an incredible feeling to realize just how much He loves me!

We were able to spend the holiday this year with each our of families which was really nice. My family is one of the things for which I am most grateful and I love being with them at this time of the year. Our first Thanksgiving dinner was with my family. Ryan, our brother-in-law, is a police officer and had to work on Thanksgiving, so we had a dinner for him the Sunday before. My mom and sister decorated the kitchen at my parents' house so festive with a turkey tablecloth and dishes and cute place cards. All of my siblings and their families were there as was my sweet aunt Carol. We enjoyed each other's company as we ate the traditional, mouth-watering food and had fun playing games afterwards. It was also cute watching part of "Ernest Scared Stupid" with my nephews. Maclain just wanted to see everything, whether it was scary or not, but Payton would casually stroll down the hall when he felt things were getting too scary. lol. I love those two boys so much!

Our second dinner was on Thanksgiving day. Josh and I had decided to have dinner at our apartment with his family. His mom, Kim, had had carpal tunnel surgery a few days before the holiday and we wanted to make sure she was able to enjoy it anyway. We took over most of the cooking, but she still insisted on bringing rolls and pies which were very delicious. It was the first time either of us had cooked Thanksgiving dinner and I think we did a great job. Okay, so Josh did a fabulous job! He cooked the turkey and mashed potatoes while I did the easy things-the Stovetop stuffing and heating up the gravy. Josh's family came over a few hours before dinner so we had time to visit and watch football. Besides Kim, Josh's brothers came as well as her boyfriend, Steve.

We did have one mishap with our cooking. The turkey had cooked faster than we anticipated, so we were scrambling around trying to finish everything else and in the process forgot to stir the potatoes as they were boiling. They ended up burning on the bottom but Josh was able to scoop out the not burnt parts and you couldn't even taste that anything had happened. We did find out one thing for sure that day though: our fire alarm works. lol.

After dinner everyone except Josh and Steve fell asleep. It looked like a huge slumber party was going on because there were blankets all over the front room. The two of them stayed awake to watch the second football game of the day. Silly boys!

Our third tryptophan-filled dinner was the night after Thanksgiving. Josh's ex-stepdad invited us to their belated holiday dinner. This is the dad of Josh's brothers and he raised Josh for most of his childhood. The food and company were nice, but I'm not sure how I feel about him wanting to be a bigger part of our lives.

The Best Laid Plans

This next post is pretty random, and I apologize for that.  There are so many thoughts going through my head right now, and I wanted to get them all down.

Our plans for the next few months have changed once again.  I thought we had it all figured out a few months ago, when I last posted about this, but I'm eating my words now.  I don't know about everyone else, but one thing I've learned about life is that my plans always change.  Josh and I had made a basic 5 year plan-including him going back to school full-time starting next semester and watching our baby once he's born-but then he was given a great opportunity and was hired at Discover Card.  It came about very quickly, so we know it was a blessing from Heavenly Father.  Josh was told by his cousin, who works at Discover, that there was a job opening.  He applied the next week and two days later received an email asking him to come to a "job fair" the next day.  He attends this, goes through several interviews, and by the time the day is over, is offered the job. 

We're very grateful for this and work it into our plans so that he will work for the next few months, we'll put money into savings and pay down some bills, and then he will quit once the baby is born.  He'll still sign up for classes and begin in January. Our plan is still on track.  Before Josh got this job, we had made some financial changes in preparation for the baby coming and only living off of one income.  We sold the motorcycle, the truck and two of the guns.  We were blessed with how fast everything sold and were able to pay down a lot of our debt, so we're more comfortable with our financial situation.  It was really hard to see the motorcycle go for both Josh and I, but as he says, they're just things and we can buy another one when we're able to.

So we sat down last week and went through our monthly finances, just to make sure everything would work out, thinking that everything would be fine because we felt good about it.  Well, we found out that it's just not possible for us to live off of one income right now.  Even with all of the debt we've paid down, it's just won't work.  We probably should have looked at this earlier, but figured that with all the changes we made, it would be fine. 

Now to make some big changes to the plan.  Josh will be working at Discover for a lot longer than normally planned. We don't know for how long, but it will be for quite awhile.  He still will take a class or two every semester, and we will work towards him going to school full-time and not working.  He has dyslexia and it's really hard for him to work full-time and go to school full-time.  His goal now is to go into the engineering program at SLCC and then transfer to the University of Utah.  I can see him enjoying this and doing a great job at it, and it has a much better job lookout than being a police officer. 

Another change in our plan is that we will have to find someone to watch Drako during the day when we both work.  We don't want to take him to daycare and would much rather have family care for him, but are not quite sure how to do this.  Most of our family live in South and West Jordan which are in the opposite direction of both of our jobs.  

It's been hard these last few months seeing Josh lose the job that he had waited so long for and then having to search for another job and finally finding one that is not in the area that he trained for or would like to be doing.  I know Heavenly Father helped him every step of the way to become a police officer at Midvale, so there must be a reason in His plan that it was taken away.  We just don't know what that reason is.

Our Defeated Feet

Yesterday was not a good day for Woodland feet.  Josh and I are both sitting on the couch with our feet elevated right now, waiting patiently for our wounds to heal.

Yesterday afternoon Josh and I went to my grandparents' farm to take pictures.  We haven't had any professional pictures taken since our wedding and wanted to have some new ones done.  My grandparents have a small farm in Riverton which we thought would be a great backdrop, so we met the photographer there and started having a lot of fun with different shots.  After about half an hour, I was walking to stand by an old barn, when I felt this sharp pain in the ball of my left foot.  I quickly took a few steps forward and saw that I had stepped on a rusty nail that was sticking out of an old piece of wood.  It didn't hurt too bad at that point and I thought the wound must not be too bad, so we continued shooting for a few more minutes.  Once we were done with that particular backdrop, our photographer, Brittany, suggested I sit down and see what happened.  As soon as I pulled off my shoe, I knew it was a lot worse than I thought.  My sock and the bottom of my shoe were soaked in blood.  Josh put a quick stop to the photo session at that point and I went inside the house to assess the damage.  The bleeding had stopped at that time and my grandma helped me to disinfect the wound and bandage my foot.

Josh was wonderful throughout the whole thing, making sure I got what I needed and then taking me home soon afterward so I could get off my feet and take some pain reliever.  I felt so bad for him, though, because he turned white as soon as he saw the blood.  I haven't really been hurt since we've known each other, and I think this scared him a little.  He hates seeing anything bad happen to me and has kept a close eye on me since then, making sure I don't do too much and that I keep my feet up.  He is the most wonderful husband!

Here are some pics of my foot today, and the bloody shoe.  You can see where the nail went through the sole.

Now to the second part of our story. Last night, just as we were getting ready for bed, a loud noise startled our cat, Moroni, who jumped up and quickly ran away from us.  The only problem was that she used Josh's right foot as a jumping off point and gave him a long gash with her claw.  Josh wouldn't let me clean or disinfect it, saying it was nothing.  Silly man!  As you can see from the pictures below, it's not "nothing" but I'm glad it's healing well.

                                    

Preparing for Baby and More Changes

We've been working on getting things ready for the baby.  After we found out that we were having a boy, we decided to get a few things every so often so we wouldn't have to buy it all at the same time.  We've been buying little things like onesies and bibs and my mom has been making some really cute burp cloths.  She's such a cute grandma and gets me more excited with each new one she gives me!  The above picture is of the dresser drawer with the baby's things.  We don't have very much and need so much more, but I had fun organizing what we do have.

We also found a crib online for a great deal.  It's in really good shape and Josh bought a new mattress and sheets for it.  Right now it's holding all of the great baby gear Becky gave us.  Here are some pictures of the baby's room.  It's not much of a nursery now, but I thought I'd take some "before" pictures and will definitely include the "after" pictures once it's put all together.   

I am now 23 weeks along and have only four more to go until I get to the third trimester.  I'm starting to feel the baby, which is a really neat experience.  Right now it's not consistent or every day, but I enjoy the times I do get to feel him.  Last Sunday morning, I had turned onto my right side and soon afterwards started feeling all these "pokes" on the right side of my abdomen.  I think he was telling me to turn back over because he was getting squashed on that one side.  There was also a time after I had eaten ice cream where I felt all this fluttering and when I put my hand on the area, could feel the movement.  Josh thinks I gave him a sugar rush and my mom thinks he got brain freeze. Poor little guy! lol.

Now to the second part of this post.  It's been pretty frustrating for Josh the last few months.  He's been searching so hard to find a job and the reason to why he was fired, but to no avail.  He's been so wonderful through it all-cleaning and cooking and doing everything so I wouldn't have to.  It's been hard for him to be cooped up in the apartment every day, and we've been doing some thinking and praying, trying to decide what to do.  For the last couple of weeks we've both been feeling like he needs to go back to school.  He took a test online to see what his interests are and what career he should go into and he meets with a counselor at SLCC next week.  He's still been looking for a job and if a wonderful one comes along, he won't go back to school, but it looks like he'll be going back full-time next semester.  He'll try to take all night classes, or work his schedule in such a way that we'll only have to find a babysitter for Drako part of the time.  We'll still pray and fast and make sure this is the right road to go down, but we've both had a peaceful feeling whenever we talk about it.

Enjoying Fall

The last weekend of September, Josh and I went on a motorcycle ride up Millcreek Canyon.  I am excited to say that this year we made it all the way to the top. lol.  The weather was beautiful and it was a perfect day to be outside.  The leaves were starting to change and it was incredible to see the beauty Heavenly Father has created for his children!

Josh was our photographer and he has such an eye for beauty.  We saw a lot of these berries which gave a neat contrast to the colors of fall which surrounded them.

We stopped at the top of the canyon to take pictures.  We had the tripod and were able to get a few different poses, but this was the cutest.

Special Surprise

On September 3rd, Josh came and picked me up from work holding a single, pink and white carnation. I love that he still gives me flowers, even though we've been married for almost 2 years! A few minutes after he started driving, I knew Josh wasn't planning on going home. I tried to find out where we were going, but he never answered my questions, and soon he had me put on a blindfold. Once the car had stopped, Josh took my hand, helped me out of the car, and then had me follow him through a maze which turned out to be a parking garage. He took me inside a building and up an elevator. I then followed him into a room where he left me for a few minutes and then called out, inviting me to join him. Once I took off the blindfold I found that I was in a bathroom. I followed the sound of my sweet husband's voice, and found myself in a beautiful hotel room.

Josh had booked a room at The Little America. We were on the 12th floor and our room had a balcony with a beautiful view.

Josh is so good to me and decorated the room with rose petals and a bottle of sparkling apple cider. He had also packed everything we needed and brought the suitcase up while he was leading me through the parking garage.

We had a great time eating dinner at the steakhouse, relaxing, and then enjoying breakfast in our room the next morning. It was such a wonderful night! 

I could never thank my sweetheart enough for this sweet surprise! We needed some time alone and it was so nice to forget the rest of the world for a few hours! I am continually amazed that this extraordinary man fell in love with me and became my husband! He makes me happy every day! Thank you to my forever love!

Oh Boy!

Our baby is a BOY! Our ultrasound was last Friday and Josh and I had been counting down for several weeks. We were really excited when we woke up that morning. Josh gave me a beautiful, red rose that had "I Love You" written on the front petal when he picked me up from work that afternoon. The appointment was at 3:00 but we ended up waiting an hour and 15 minutes until we were taken back to the room. We later found out that the clinic we go to is also a high-risk maternity clinic and a patient before us had trouble with her pregnancy so that's why they were so far behind. Once we were back, we were treated with the same kind of care, as the tech and doctor spent 45 minutes with us. The ultrasound was very thorough and everything was explained to us so we knew exactly was being looked for. It was so incredible to see our baby boy and to see that he is healthy and everything is progressing as it should be! That brought a lot of peace and happiness to my heart. It's been kind of hard for me being pregnant for the first time with so many new feelings and sensations. Sometimes it's hard to know that everything is normal and this helped to show me that it is.

Our baby is measuring about 1 week ahead of where we thought he'd be. The doctor didn't change my due date, but Josh and I are planning for a late January birth. In fact, Josh thinks it will be January 25th.  

We're so excited and I still feel like I'm on cloud nine with all of the happy news! Now that we know for sure, we'll have fun buying clothes and blankets and everything else we'll need for this wonderful addition to our family. My mom started us on our way by giving us a cute burp cloth that she had made. We've decided to name him Drako John Woodland and we'll call him Drake for short. Here are a couple pictures from the ultrasound. The top is when he turned completely over and was laying on his stomach. You can see his head and his spine. The bottom is of his cute little foot.

First Date Repeat

At a Family Home Evening early in August 2008 Josh asked for my phone number. He started texting me a couple of days later and soon we were texting each other everyday. He finally called and asked me out the last Wednesday of the month and our first date was on August 30, 2008. I was so excited because I had been wondering if he only liked me as a friend or if there was something more.

That morning he showed up at my house on his motorcycle and holding a single, pink carnation. I think he had my heart the second he walked in the door! He took me to the zoo and then out to lunch. It was my first time riding a motorcycle and I absolutely loved it. A funny story Josh likes to tell is how he schemed to make me hold onto him. When I first climbed on the bike he told me I could either hold onto the strap across the seat or him. Of course, being me, I chose the strap. As soon as he started the bike, Josh revved it so I had to quickly grab onto him instead. We had a great time that day and I'm so grateful that Josh continued to ask me out!

Last Saturday we decided to relive that first date. It was almost exactly 2 years to the day and I had been wanting to see Zuri so we headed up to the zoo. We had another great day and enjoyed reminiscing about our first time there. The first thing we did was go to the bird show. We had done that 2 years ago and it was neat to see the same man running the show.

It was amazing to see all of the different birds and all the things they could do. I really liked the white barn owl and the eagle.

After the bird show we walked around the rest of the zoo, seeing the other animals. Zuri was really cute and we had fun watching as she and her mom played with the things the zookeepers had put out for them.

The giraffes were fun to watch and Josh got a great picture of one licking the pole of the umbrella that's in their enclosure. It reminded us of "A Christmas Story".

Tigers are Josh's favorite animal and he was able to get some great pictures because they were really close to the fence.

We had a great time on our "first date repeat" and even ordered delivery from the same Chinese restaurant where we ate lunch that day.

Baby Update

We took some "baby bump" pictures last week when I was 16 weeks along. Josh is a great photographer and we'll keep taking them as the weeks go by. Tomorrow I'll be 4 months along. It's been going pretty slow, so I'm glad to get to this milestone. We're almost half way there! I didn't notice how "high" I'm carrying the baby until I looked at these pictures. Josh thinks that means we're having a boy. lol.

We went to our second doctor's appointment a few weeks ago and she said that everything is right where it should be-my weight, blood pressure, etc. She also listened to the baby's heart. What an amazing thing to hear! I can't describe the feeling I had when we heard that little heart beating away. The doctor said it was a good, strong heart. At that appointment, we also signed up for classes that are offered through the hospital. We signed up for a Lamaze class, the new mom and dad class, and a breastfeeding class. The new mom and dad class is next week but the others aren't until closer to my due date.

The second most exciting thing that happened at that appointment (the first was hearing the heart!) is that we set up the ultrasound appointment to see if we're having a boy or a girl. It's on September 10th-2 weeks from tomorrow. We're really excited to find out! Josh has also been working really hard on getting our second bedroom ready for the baby. It's been our storage/craft/whatever room since we moved in, but now it's going to also be a baby's room. He's been reorganizing, cleaning, and putting things into storage so we can have room for a small nursery. It will still be a storage room, but there's a big part that will be for the baby. He moved our rocking chair into the room and we got a lot of cute baby things from my sister (thank you so much Becky!) that we've put in there. Then there's the dresser we'll use and hopefully make into a changing table. It's fun to see the room changing and becoming a place where we'll be taking care of the baby.

We're Having a Baby!

This is the positive home pregnancy test I took on Memorial Day. My period was late by a few days and I kept thinking "what if" so I finally took a test and there was no doubt that I really was. I hid it from Josh for a couple of days so I could do something special to tell him. I ended up buying the book "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and made him this card.

It was about 2 weeks before Father's Day but I couldn't wait to tell him. I had wrapped up the book and put the card into an envelope. As soon as he opened it and realized what it was he was soo excited! He gave me this huge hug and kept kissing me and had the most handsome smile!
We're been reading the book and keeping track of our baby's progress ever since. We had our first doctor's appointment on July 9th, when I was 10 weeks along. It was really neat because she did an ultrasound to measure the baby and verify how far along I was, and then she turned the monitor so that we could see it and our little one was bouncing all over. We were able to see the heart beating and see "little woody" moving all over. Josh called the baby our "little jumping bean" at that time. Everything was right where it should be and the doctor drew labs which turned out normal.
Then on July 26th we went in for another ultrasound and bloodwork to screen for genetic disorders. Not that it will change anything, but we'd like to be prepared as much as possible before this little one comes into the world. It was so incredible to see the growth that had happened in those two weeks! We were able to see the baby's arms, elbows and hands as well as his (Josh KNOWS it's going to be a boy) legs, knees and feet. Even his little toes! We saw the profile and the little heart again. We were also able to hear the heart. What an awe-inspiring sound! Everything was normal with the ultrasound and the blood work. Yay!! And last Friday, July 30th, I reached the end of the first trimester and we had wanted to wait until then to tell our families. So Saturday we invited both of our moms over for dinner. They just thought it was going to be a nice dinner and visiting, but at their seats were these cards we had made.
We waited until after dinner and then had them both open them at the same time. We told them that they were thank you cards. My mom opened hers first and let out a squeal, but Josh's mom, Kim, was having a hard time. My mom quickly turned the card upside down and became quiet so Kim could get hers open too. As soon as she did, she yelled and jumped up and hugged me and my mom who had gotten up as soon as Kim yelled to hug me. They both held me for such a long time and my mom was crying. They are both soo excited! This is Kim's first grandbaby and she is ecstatic. She's been telling Josh and I for several months that the only thing she wants for her birthday is to be a grandma and we did just what she asked. We also made the cute bags to give to our moms. A few weeks ago we were at Roberts to get paints for Josh and ended up buying a TON more than what we originally had planned, finding these bags and the accessories to go in them. We had a lot of fun making them.

The front says "You're A" and the back has these pins that say "Grandma To Be". Josh and I are both really excited (and nervous) for this new adventure in our lives. I've had a fairly easy pregnancy so far (thank goodness!) For awhile I was pretty nauseated and had no energy, but I never threw up and was able to work through it. Things are getting easier now and I'm excited to be 1/3rd of the way through! I'm due on February 4th.

Remembering Gayle Osborn

On July 8th my Aunt Gayle passed away. It was really hard news because Josh and I were planning to go see her the day we heard the news. She had been struggling with dementia for a couple months but went down hill really quickly that last week. I wasn't able to say goodbye and I wish I would have been able to!

She was an incredible woman. She was always smiling and happy and had a positive attitude no matter what was going on. She was always active in the church and was an incredible example to all who knew her. She was so talented and made beautiful blessing dresses for all of her granddaughters. She always visited us on Christmas and showered us with hugs and kisses. She was so kind to Josh and I because the first doily she made for our wedding present was stolen when our car was broken in to, but a few weeks later she had made us another one. It's so pretty and we have it displayed in our apartment.

I am so grateful to be apart of her family and to have felt her Spirit. She will be dearly missed! I'm also grateful that I was able to take the day off work so Josh and I could attend the funeral. It was a wonderful tribute to her and although it was a sad situation, we were able to see a lot of family that we hadn't seen in a long time. It was a day filled with love. Love you Aunt Gayle! See you soon!

Big Change

There has been a pretty big change in our lives over the last couple of weeks. If you're on Facebook, you probably already know that Josh lost his job at Midvale last week. It happened really fast and we're still not exactly sure why. He'd been doing well in training but over the last week he worked, his sergeant said that he was having a hard time dealing with stress and if something didn't change within the next couple of weeks, he would be let go. It was a hard time, but Josh took it in stride and started thinking of ways he could make those changes. Needless to say he never got the chance to implement these strategies.

His boss called last Monday and told him not to come to work the next two days. Then he was to come in on Wednesday morning and meet with his boss's boss in plain clothes. That was a pretty big blow and Josh called his boss again on Tuesday wondering how bad it really was. His boss told him to bring all of his gear so he wouldn't have to make two trips. That night, he packed up everything. When I saw this and saw the finality of my husband's dream being taken away, I started to cry. It was like he was given a glimpse of his future and then it was taken away and I was heartbroken for him. Josh was pretty calm about it though and kept reassuring me that everything would be okay.

Wednesday morning came even though we were both wishing it wouldn't, and I waited anxiously at work to hear from him. I got a phone call about mid-morning and found that what we had feared did actually happen. Josh was let go and had to turn in everything. The only explanation given was that he wasn't able to pass their training program. The odd thing is that he didn't even get a chance to finish their training program-he still had a couple weeks left and then was to be evaluated to see if he has passed.

As I write this, I'm still shaking my head in astonishment. Josh gave 110% every day of his training and learned so much. I know he improved since starting as a brand new rookie and it was sad that he wasn't given a chance to become a police officer.

Josh's optimism has remained intact in the week that has passed. He's kept busy doing things around the apartment and working on the car and truck. He's been applying for jobs and continues to be the wonderful husband that he always has been. Right now he's looking for any job, but he'd still like to be a police officer and I know he would be an incredible asset to any squad. I'm so proud of my husband for the way he's handling this trial! He has no ill-feelings towards anyone at Midvale and is constantly looking towards a brighter future.

I'm sure the next little while will be tough, but we're determined to come through it with flying colors. And Heavenly Father is already watching out for us. I've been able to think of many blessings since this has happened:

1-We weren't able to buy a house. I know that sounds like a bad thing, but I think this would be a lot harder financially if we had to worry about a mortgage and property taxes and everything that comes with owning a home.

2-We've been able to spend more time together as a couple. My favorite thing to do is be with Josh-it doesn't matter what we're doing-and it's been really nice to have more time to be with him. :)

3- We've been able to spend more time with our families.

4-We've been able to ride the motorcycle more. It saves time, gas and money and is soo fun to ride!

5- We're learning to rely more on each other and our Heavenly Father.

6-We're learning to use our food storage more wisely.

7-We're discovering a lot of free and inexpensive things to do around Salt Lake.

Anniversary Inn

A few weeks ago I surprised Josh with a trip to The Anniversary Inn. Neither of us had been there before and I felt like we needed a little getaway. Work had been really stressful for Josh and we haven't taken a vacation in a long time so I reserved a room for us one Friday night. It was so fun looking online at all the types of rooms available and how much detail and effort are put into each one. During my search I found that they were having a special so I was able to get a more expensive room than I had originally planned. Once I had reserved the room the website offered many other things I could buy to make the night perfect. There were a TON of things available, but I chose a few of the not so expensive things. I had rose petals spread around the room and a little, rubber ducky put in the bathtub. I also ordered a movie pack with popcorn and treats.

It's a good thing I only did this two nights before because I wouldn't have been able to keep it a secret from Josh any longer than that! I packed a suitcase that morning and after Josh picked me up from work he asked what I wanted to do that night. I told him we should probably get dinner before going on our getaway. He was completely surprised and after we picked up our things, we grabbed dinner at a drive-through and headed to The Inn.

We went to the one that used to be the Salt City Jail. The outside isn't much to look at because they've kept the original building, but the inside has been remodeled and it's incredible. We stayed in the 49er Suite which was like a log cabin. The bed frame was made of logs and across from the bed was a fireplace with a pretty mantle and the TV above that.

When we walked in the room there was a bottle of apple cider chilling in an ice bucket. Two pieces of cheesecake were in the fridge and the flower petals were spread throughout the bedroom and into the bathroom. The bathroom was incredible! It was designed as a gold mine. The walls were rock and there were three steps that led to a huge Jacuzzi tub with a mine shaft above that was a waterfall and the shower. The sink was on a mine car and they had the softest, biggest towels and robes. The toilet was in an area that looked like an outhouse complete with a moon carved into the door.

We had a great night just being together and away from the world for a few hours. The staff was really nice and provided us with anything we needed or wanted. Saturday morning we got breakfast in bed which was soo nummy! It was served on a nice tray with flowers and we each got 2 drinks of our choice, yogurt parfaits, a cinnamon roll and ham/cheese croissant. I totally recommend this hotel for anyone celebrating an anniversary or just wanting to get away for awhile. We had a blast and the atmosphere was incredible.

May Happenings

Hi everyone! I hope May has been going well for you! We've been busy working and having fun. Last Thursday, the 6th, we went to an awards banquet for the Midvale City Police Department. All of those working in the police department were there along with their spouses/significant others. Neighboring police departments took their calls for a few hours so everyone could attend. All of the officers were in uniform and the spouses in dresses or suits. It was held at a reception center called The Woods and was really elegant. There were several tables set up with pretty linen and the finest glasses, plates and silverware. We started off the night by watching as the color guard brought in the flag and then everyone said The Pledge of Allegiance. It was a stirring sight to see the respect given for our country. Dinner was incredible and it was nice meeting the people Josh works with. The mayor and city council members were there and the mayor came and introduced herself to us. During dinner Stephen Covey spoke and then the awards were presented by Scott McKane from Fox 13 News. It was such a neat night and I was so proud of Josh and of being his wife!

That Saturday, May 8th, we participated in Race for the Cure. Josh and I walked the 5k with our friend, Tami. I couldn't believe how many people were there! They said about 20,000 people attended and we were in the middle of those doing the 5k. The throng of people probably stretched for 2 miles. Along the route were cheerleaders and bands from several different high schools cheering us on. It was so neat to see that many people participating in such a worthy cause! We saw several funny shirts including "Save Second Base" and "Of Course These are Fake-The Real Ones Tried to Kill Me!"

That night we went on a double date with our friends, Matt and Christy. We went to their house in Springville and made pizza and watched the Jazz game. What a hard fought game! And soo sad! I wanted to cry after it was over! It was great to see them and I'm glad that Josh and I still date even though we're married!

Time to Catch Up

Our life has been pretty eventful the last few weeks and I finally have time to blog about it. Josh is at work right now and I have a long night ahead of me, so I'm going to update our blog and let y'all know what's been going on with The Woodlands.

Josh loves his job as a police officer! He's been training for three weeks now. They have been hard, long weeks, but he loves learning and being out on the street. His first week was physically draining because he had to experience what he will be doing to criminals; he had to be tased and sprayed with OC spray (basically pepper spray). I felt so bad that he had to go through those things! He says the spray is the worst and he would rather be tased any day.

He's been out on the road with his training officer a few times and he's also gone through EVO (emergency vehicle operations). During that week he learned how to clear an intersection when he's rushing to the scene and how to chase a criminal along with several other driving techniques. He will be with his training officer for about 3 months. Once he passes all of the things he needs to, which is scheduled for July, then he'll be out on his own. He has a rotating schedule, so he'll never work every weekend (yay!) and he does work crappy shifts, but we expected that since he's the rookie.

It's been hard having him gone so much, but I've tried to fill that time with various activities so I don't get lonely. I truly treasure the time we do get together since that has decreased considerably! One good thing, though, is that Josh was able to test out of his online math class. He was worried about how he'd do training and school, so he took the placement test and passed with flying colors. He'll go back to school but only when he knows his set work schedule.

Now to tell about fun things we've done that I haven't blogged about yet. On March 6th, we saw The Zac Brown Band in concert. It was at The Rail Event Center in Salt Lake. It's not the best venue-in fact it looks like a converted warehouse-but we had a really great time. They are such an amazing band! If you get the chance, you definitely need to see them live! We got their about an hour-and-a-half early because there were no assigned seats; it was all general seating. The doors weren't even open when we got there and there was a huge line waiting to get in.
After waiting for about 45 minutes, they finally opened the doors, and then made us stand in 2 lines-girls in one, guys in another. They did this because they searched us before we could go in. They looked through purses and bags but also patted us down. I couldn't believe they did that! Here's the lady who searched me.
Once we were in, we found there were no seats-it was standing room only. There were a TON of people packed into the space and we ended up standing in place for about 3 hours. It was totally worth it, though! All of those who weren't drinking alcohol stayed on the ground floor while those who were drinking had to go on top. Here's the line on just one side of everyone trying to get to the top.
Because we were there so early, we were really close to the stage. We were able to see the band and their opening act really clearly. The show started about an hour late because the band had just gotten here from Colorado. There was a huge snowstorm the day before and the road was closed so they had to leave their van, which held all their instruments and gear, and fly in so they could make it. The van arrived sometime during the show because it was parked outside when we left. The band had to use borrowed instruments and sound equipment, and still did a fantastic job.
We had some pretty funny entertainment while we waited for the concert to start. We watched a drunk woman who was holding two beers and leaning over the railing. She kept swaying back and forth and we were betting with the people around us that she would spill on the people below. She never did end up spilling on anyone, but there were a lot of close calls. Here's a picture of her. It's not very clear, but you can totally tell how drunk she is.


We also took a "staycation" for a few days in March. We had taken a few days off the week of spring break to go to the Grand Canyon, but it ended up being the same time that Josh was finding out about Midvale, so we didn't go. We still had a great time being able to spend that time together, though! And we were able to go do things around Salt Lake that we usually don't have the time to do.

On Thursday, March 18th, we went to the State Capitol. Neither of us had been there since they remodeled it and Josh wanted to see the Fallen Officer Memorial that is on the grounds. The first thing that we did was take a free tour. It was so neat to see the inside of that amazing building. It is so beautiful and the architecture is incredible!
The memorial was really neat! We were both pretty solemn as we read the names of those officers who had been killed in the line of duty. I think we were both silently praying that Josh would never end up there.


We also went to the Utah Museum of Natural History that day. I never realized how many neat (and pretty inexpensive) things there are to do so close to home.

The next day we went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. It is the biggest museum I've ever seen. It was so neat to learn about all the different dinosaurs and when and where they lived. There are also a ton of hands-on exhibits so it's a great place to take kids.

After seeing the museum we went to the farm that is also at Thanksgiving Point. There are a lot of animals in outside enclosures that you can pet and feed. We had a great time seeing horses, cows, alpacas and others. The goats were my favorite though. As soon as they saw Josh coming with food they all rushed the fence and started bleating at him to give it to them as quickly as possible.