You know it's love when...

**Let me preface this by saying, this is not for the faint hearted--read at your own risk!** So for the past two weeks or so I've been feeling pretty crummy. Just the typical over-zealous cold. I've been trying pretty hard to tough it out but yesterday I broke down and went to the doctor. Sure enough I've got bronchitis. He gave me some penicillin and said lots of rest and fluids. Now when I'm pregnant I have a VERY weak gag reflex, like brushing my teeth is a challenge. So I'm in bed, half asleep because I can't breathe through my nose and every time I feel my mouth dry out it wakes me up, when I start coughing, a lot. Well I can't stop coughing and all of a sudden I feel like I'm going to throw up. So I quick grab a tissue (cause those really hold so much...) but it's too late and I puke, in bed, on Jared's pillow. Now it's not a lot, hardly even worth saying I puked really. But I still can't stop coughing. So in my delirious state I'm stumbling to the bathroom, but as soon as I'm upright I really start heaving, like all over the bathroom. Did not make it to the toilet. So now I'm crying because I just puked all over the bathroom, I can't hardly breathe and I have this huge mess to clean up. Well every time I try to clean it up I start gagging again. So now I have to go out to Jared (who by the way is painting the garage for me so we can convert it into a playroom for the girls) and tell him what happened. He says, don't worry about it, go lay back down, I'll get you some water and take care of it. So now I feel sick and guilty. Sure enough he comes in and cleans up the bathroom for me. Now I'll be honest I can't say I would have done the same thing, so thanks babe, I really appreciate it!

Ultrasound Results

Just got back from the ultrasound and we are having.....a GIRL! Ahh, the simplicity, I get to reuse clothe, don't have to diversify my scrapbook papers, really very convenient. Hope everyone had a great Christmas, I'll be posting pics soon.

The Nightmare is Over!

It is with much jubilation that I can finally say I have an OB!! Thank you so much Dr. Rinella for helping me with this--what a lifesaver! If anyone is looking for a fabulous family practice doc I can't say enough good things. I had my appointment today and everything looks great. I'll have my ultrasound next week. It doesn't look like Jared is going to be able to hold out, so most likely we will know if it's a boy or girl. So nows your chance to cast a vote! What do you think?!?

DigiScrap Here I Come!!

So a long, long time ago I downloaded this digital scrapbooking kit from Creating Keepsakes website. Well then I got to working on my Christmas newsletter recently and Jared was showing me this great program on my Mac called pages. And I started thinking to myself, gosh it would be so great to do my scrapbooking on my computer. I never print my pictures, so I have all these cute pages with no pictures on them. And I'm slower than molasses in January when it comes to scrapbooking, Natalie's baby book has like 3 pages done. So I started google searching for scrapbook programs. Well I found some great ones, problem is they all work with those silly PCs and that does me no good! So I started specifically looking for Mac software. Guess how many exist...that's right one. But it came with a free trial, so I downloaded it (I am so grateful for high speed internet...what is wrong with people still using dial up?!?). Well I started looking at it and the graphics it comes with, well...SUCK. So I trashed the application. Then I remembered that kit I downloaded way back when. Pull the app back out and started using the CK Kit. This is the page I made. Now I know the papers are Asian and don't exactly fit my temple pictures. But they were new pictures I was excited to play with and the only papers I had to work with...go with me on this one. So I got excited and of course then started surfing the net for digiscrap kits. Holy Moley!! There's a ton out there. So for the moment digital scrapbooking is my new enthusiasm, we'll see if I can get any further ahead than with good old cut and paste.

Disneyland in the rain

Well Natalie is watching Kim Possible in my office and since I can't leave her alone in here, I figured it was a good time to blog. Jared's younger brother Ed, his wife Stacy and two of their kids (Oliver & Eden) came out to see us last week. While they were here we went to Disneyland, unfortunately the day we went was that day it POURED down rain. The upside to pouring down rain at Disneyland is that the lines are really short. The downside is the wetness. We made a quick stop at Target to get some swanky umbrellas and some galoshes for the kids. After lunch the rain slowed a bit, but it did stay drizzly. Didn't slow the kids in any way and we stayed until the park closed at midnight. Actually Stacy and I stayed until 1am, in the parking lot waiting for the hotel shuttle to come and get us. It never came. We took a cab, the most expensive ride of the day. :-)

HMO Hell

Yes, that's where I am. I have spent all afternoon on the phone with insurance companies and doctors and I just need to vent. So in September I had my first doctor appointment and my initial ultrasound. So far so good. Well then came time for my 12 week appointment. I waited at the doctors for almost three hours and was never seen. So I rescheduled for a few weeks later. The office called the day of my appointment and said the doctor couldn't see me and rescheduled me for a couple weeks later. I got another call the day of my appointment saying dr. so and so was out but could they reschedule me. I told her that dr. so and so wasn't my doctor. "Oh, really? That's who we have you down with..." Time for another doctor's office! So I call my primary doctor and ask for a referral to a different OB. Well surprise, surprise there's only one OB in the medical group. So I call my insurance and they tell me my only option is to change medical groups. Fine, I don't care. So Jared goes online to change medical groups, gets the nice little confirmation that Nov. 1 we'll have a new medical group. Well we never get new insurance cards. So I call the insurance again, there's no record of the request. So I tell the woman the whole story, is there anyway she can post date the request? No. So I get to wait another 4 weeks for the change to take effect. Which brings us to present day. I go in to see my new doctor, ask him for a referral to an OB. Oh sure, not a problem. Well I get a call from his office person that afternoon. None of the OBs in the medical group will see you, you're too far along. Ok, so what do I do now? I can refer you over to county services. Are you kidding me?!? So back on the phone with PacifiCare, what do I do now? Well you can go back to your old OB. Oh you mean the one that cancels all my appointments? Yes. Do I have to wait another 4 weeks because that's a different medical group? Oh no we can make that immediate. And I'm thinking but a month ago you couldn't do that...how interesting. So I call the horrid OB's office back to make an appointment. Oh we won't see you, you waited too long between appointments. At this point horrible swear words are spontaneously spewing forth from me. So back on the phone to PacifiCare, what do I do now? Well you'll have to call the medical group's management office and try to take it up with them. So you aren't going to do anything, even though I've been paying my premiums this whole time and not getting any medical services. I'm sorry ma'am there's nothing we can do for you. At this point it's 5pm and of course the office for the medical group is closed, I have an enormous headache and did I mention that Natalie broke an ornament, spilled a bottle of juice and jumped on me about 10 times during all this? If anyone is interested in sneaking me some pitocin in about 18 weeks I'll be just fine....

Reprieve

So I wanted to post an update on poor Jared. After a healthy dose of teasing over the long weekend he returned to court on Monday in hopes of getting a restricted license to drive to and from work. Apparently the judge on Monday was well rested after the long weekend and granted his request. Still no midnight Taco Bell runs, but he is allowed to earn a living. :-)

I fought the law and it bit me in the A$$

So this post is about Jared, because being a law abiding citizen I would never fight the law. A couple months back Jared got ANOTHER speeding ticket. He gets one about every 10-12 months. He likes to go to court in hopes that his cop won't show up and the ticket will get thrown out. So he was at court today, the day before Thanksgiving, just sure that no cop would want to waste his time in traffic court on holiday eve. Well apparently the judge was miffed about being there. Jared's cop did show up and the judge decided that since his sorry robed ass had to get dragged into court he was going to punish anyone who had the nerve to appear. Jared not only got to pay his fine, he got his license suspended for 60 days. Yes that's right, he has no license and has bike down to 7-11 when he wants a slurpee fix. Haa haa haa haa!! Yes, I am cruelly enjoying this right now. So please, if you see him biking or walking, don't stop--honk and wave and keep right on going. In fact feel free to point and laugh, I know I am!

The Journey Home

About three weeks ago I lost my favorite cat Ming. She went outside for her regular romp in the sun and just never came home. After a week I realized she was not coming home. Then the most miraculous thing happened. Tonight, a little after 10 pm I got a call from the woman who has our old phone number. She told me that she had gotten a call from the local fire house that they had found our cat. To say I was overjoyed is an understatement. I immediately called the firehouse and spoke with Fireman Keith (my new hero!) who told me that indeed he had Ming, but she had just run outside to use the bathroom. I told him I was on the way. Our house was a flurry of excitement as we loaded the girls into the car to bring Ming home. When we arrived at the firehouse I saw three firefighters out back with flashlights, my heart sank when I realized she was still out and she might have slipped through our fingers again. I called and called but with all the excitement she wasn't ready to come out. Jared took the girls home to get some more cat food and bring me a jacket because he realized I was not coming home without my kitty. While he was gone I waited patiently and called to her and sure enough I started to hear a meow and then from the trees out came Ming! I was scared to startle her and have her run off again but all I wanted to do was run and grab her and hug her. She came right to me though and let me pick her up. She's down a little weight, but I'm sure she'll recover quickly. We are all so grateful to have her home! Thank you fireman Keith and thank you to the wonderful woman who passed on the message from the firehouse!

From Bad to Worse

So everyone I know has a cleaning obsession....I know you know what I'm talking about. Whether it's the grout in the tile, the baseboards, the nasty buildup around the faucets, the shower, whatever it is you know what I'm talking about. The second it gets dirty you fly into super cleaning mode and have to have it clean because it feels like the whole house is filthy as long as that part is giving you the stare down. For me, it's carpet. I hate carpet. I hate carpet stains, I hate lint on my carpet, I even get so paranoid by shadows and wear patters that I'll move furniture around to get it all even. So a few months ago I made the fantastic purchase of a Kirby vacuum to help keep my carpets clean. Because when you have a carpet obsession and they show you all the dirt your vacuum is sucking up...well you just can't help yourself. And this fantastic little guy had a bonus feature, carpet cleaning attachments. Oh I was over the moon I was going to have the cleanest carpets in history. Little did I know... So I shampooed my carpets and they glowed, then the glow started to wear off and I started noticing these spots, so I shampooed again and it got worse, let's boil it down and say I used the entire bottle of cleaner trying to shampoo them back to brilliance. Well after trying to ignore the spots, cover them up and contemplating re-carpeting I decided to give it one more go with no soap just hot water. Oh was that the wrong idea. I started in my office. I had three "major" bad spots in there, each about 6-8" in diameter and they were dark spots. So I got my nice hot water and my super sucker out and started off. It started so well, the water came out black and murky and soapy. Ahh! I had discovered the problem...too much soap residue. Hooray, now I could return to carpet perfection. So I continued onto the other two spots and after an hour and a half it seemed much improved. The carpets were still damp so I closed the office door, turned the fan off and headed off for a much deserved nap. While I slept something terrible happened. Those 6-8" dark spots turned into 24" white spots surrounded by a nasty black rings. I'd take a picture but I'm too embarrassed. So I have resigned myself to area rugs until I can buy new carpet. Very dark carpet, maybe made of plastic.

New Wheels

Last Christmas Aubrey asked for a pair of Heelys. This really surprised me and Jared because Aubrey is a real girlie girl and we couldn't see our little princess skating around in those. So we put her off, and put her off. And we thought she'd forgotten about them. Well about September when soccer season started she asked again for Heelys. We had a great strategy we told her she could get Heelys at the end of the season as long as she played really hard, went to all her practices and games, etc. So we thought we'd put her off and she'd forget about them. Oh no. On Saturday she asked if soccer was finished for the year. We told her she had one more day of games and then yes soccer would be over. She brightened up "So we can go get my Heelys!". Jared and I looked at each other, had she really remembered all this time? So Saturday afternoon we were off to Big 5 in search of Heelys. When we got home she wanted to try them right away and as I feared she fell and had Jared drag her across the garage instead of skating. I did an internal eye roll of "I knew this wasn't a good idea". Well bright and early she was up and wanting to try again. So we got them out again and back to the garage we went. She was starting to get the hang of it! Sunday night after her final soccer games she wanted back at those Heelys. I'll admit I was shocked! She practiced and practiced until she could momentarily let go of Jared's arm. Monday morning was the same routine. I was greeted by Aubrey, dressed, Heelys in hand waiting for me to get up. She went to work with Jared and practiced all day down the halls. By the time she got home Monday night she was skating the length of the grocery store aisle. I was so impressed! Way to go Aubrey--you skater girl!

Soccer Champs!

Our family spent this weekend cheering Aubrey at her AYSO U-8 (6 and 7 year old girls) soccer championships. The single loss elimination tournament began Saturday with 16 teams. The Ladybugs (Aubrey's team) won their first game against the Mighty Tigers and so advanced to round two later that afternoon. The girls also won their second game on Saturday and were off to the finals on Sunday. The final four teams each played two games on Sunday to determine 1st-4th place. After two narrow losses the Ladybugs placed 4th in the tournament. We were so proud of all the girls--way to go Ladybugs!

Loved and Lost

I am a cat person. Actually I probably go beyond what most people consider a normal cat person. I am (or would be) the crazy cat lady. My dream, if time and money were no objects, is to have a cat farm. A ranch with a barn where I could give refuge to any cat without a home. I paint this picture so you know how near and dear my cats are to me. Unfortunately, cats have a much shorter life span than humans and inevitably that means saying goodbye to my four legged friends. Ming has been a part of our family for over eight years. She was, without a doubt, my favorite cat. I found her in our garden well in our very first house in Spanish Fork, UT. Jared about went berserk when I brought home another cat (it brought our household total to 5 at the time). But Ming was the kind of cat that everybody loved. So this entry is in loving memory of my best cat, Mingus. You were loved and will be missed.

Happy Halloween

We have a few Halloween traditions here in the Palmer household. The first is the trip to the pumpkin patch. Now we don't go all fancy but there is a quaint little farm that's just one exit away from us that does pumpkins and Christmas trees and we've been there every year that we've lived in Riverside County. The girls like the hay bales and old wooden fort to climb on. I like that it's never crowded and the pumpkins are pretty reasonable.

We also attend our ward Halloween party every year where we have a chili cook-off, I'm so excited to say that my pumpkin chili (my sister's recipe) won third place this year! The girls also get to be in the costume contest, Aubrey's cheerleader was a winner. And the girls go trunk or treating. Natalie was very organized with her loot this year.Finally on Halloween we all head to Jared's work for his office Halloween party and trick or treating. The girls love parading around Daddy's office in their costumes getting candy from all the nice ladies at the office. Usually there is a haunted corridor but apparently that's become too scary and so this year the kids did crafts instead. After the office trick or treating we got home pretty late and so we convinced the girls they didn't need a third trip out and we stayed in to watch "Its the great pumpkin Charlie Brown". We got a record low of two trick or treaters this year! Hope everyone had happy haunts!

The Girls "CooKoo"racha

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!Jared had way too much fun with this website!

Jared and His Brothers

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

The Cruise Report Pt. 1

Well we are home from our cruise, mostly unpacked and round two of laundry is almost over, so I figured it was time to start posting the highlights. This trip definitely had ups and downs. The highs included the nightly entertainment, the stop in Puerto Vallarta and two days of perfect weather. The lows would be the hurricane force winds that picked up around day four and turned our otherwise pleasant boat into a nightmare from whence there was no escape, missing two ports because of weather and emergencies at sea (our boat was called into a rescue operation on day 6) and sadly...the food. I know I had high hopes for our dining adventures but it was not to be. To give you a feel for what I'm saying on Mexican night when we got chips and salsa instead of bread (which by the way I LOVE chips and salsa) we got Tostitos and Pace. Which I admit I eat at home...but I had higher expectations. On Asian night the noodles were, well, Ramen. So between the rocking boat and the food my tummy has been in the seventh circle for some time...

But for what the food lacked the entertainment made up for in spades! I think our favorite was the magician. This guy blew my mind! My favorite trick was putting his assistant into a coffin sized box then folding that box to roughly 20"x20", then unfolding it and out she popped. Totally crazy!! I also loved his rope trick where he he cut a rope in half then tied it together and proceeded to move the knot all along the rope and finally pulled the knot right off and the rope was whole. Crazy stuff. He also did a second show that was all card tricks which were amazing. I have to say seeing magic live on stage is completely different than on TV--I loved it.

There was also a fantastic comedy/improv group that performed a couple times and they were hilarious! We also got to see a wonderful music, dance and theater troupe perform. This of course is near and dear to my heart and brought back all kinds of BYU memories. Their best performance was Music of the Night a compilation of Andrew Lloyd Weber's work.

So even though dinner was never great, we could always count on a great show after!
This is proof that we did have at least some good weather! There is nothing quite as relaxing as reading by the pool having drinks brought to you at will!My one and only towel animal.
Playing bingo in the lounge. We were one number away from the big jackpot!

The Craziness...

As much I as I look forward to vacation, and the one we have coming up is going to be amazing, I hate the last minute chaos that precedes the tranquility. I know you know what I mean. First there's the packing, which I typically start a couple days before, but in order to pack you have to do all the laundry and in this particular case my washing machine broke!! I know, seriously! So we spent a good part of the day shopping for a new washing machine, hauling out the broken one, which of course was full of water and wet clothes and setting up the new one. Then there's the cleaning. I cannot go on a trip knowing that my house is a mess, so I've been trying desperately to clean. Easier said than done when you have two munchkins running around undoing everything I've done. Then for us there's the pet prep. Now if you don't have vindictive cats you will not be familiar with this portion of travel preparation. I, however, have very needy cats who like to let me know how unhappy they are when I leave. So they show their displeasure by peeing on EVERYTHING. So part of getting ready for this trip meant cleaning the garage so we had concrete floors for them to sleep on and sealing off all the shelving with plastic tarps. So let's just say I am really looking forward to tomorrow about 6p.m. when I will be sitting on the deck of the cruise ship sipping something fancy!

Fat Cat in a Tight Spot

Don't even ask me how he managed to get up there. We certainly didn't put him up there!! All I know is that on Saturday we heard some desperate meowing and looked out the patio door to see Chubby wedged into the 6" overhang of the patio cover. Of course being the loving pet owner the first thing I did was grab my camera. After successfully humiliating him, by capturing the whole thing on film, we went out to help him down. He sort of rolled out to the fountain and with cat like grace landed on his feet...eventually. If I hadn't seen it myself I would never have believed it!

Finally Some Pictures

You can't say the girl doesn't enjoy her cake!

This picture of Natalie is from Mother's Day but it is one of my favorites of her! When you can catch her smiling she is such a doll.

Aubrey lost her first tooth in July! She was so excited about a visit from the tooth fairy. She also lost her second tooth (next door neighbor) just this weekend.

This is the jam I made from all those raspberries from Riley's Farm. I found the best recipe online that didn't require any pectin! Made "jamming" super easy and kept the tangy raspberry flavor. (of course I can't find the link now... sorry! I'll keep looking). Basically it was a 2:1 ratio of berries to sugar (ie 4 cups mashed berries with 2 cups sugar).

This is Aubrey's first day of school in the first grade! She's such a big girl!!




This one is from Riley's Farm. If you've never been I highly recommend it. This is a working farm which also includes historical re-enactments. We spent a Saturday picking raspberries and apples. The kids absolutely loved it and the fruit was SO good.

The Bump Report

Well after my doctor appointment today we are officially announcing that we are expecting Baby #3. I'm not giving my exact due date because I have gone over with both the girls and I hate the countdown and inevitable passing of "D-Day". So I will summarize it as mid-April. This pregnancy is all about surprises, for example it was a big surprise to find out we were pregnant to begin with!! So in keeping with the theme we are going to (wince) not find out if this is a boy or a girl. And just in case anyone is wondering VeMMA does not help with morning sickness. The ultrasound technician didn't give us the cute printout of the peanut so unfortunately I can't post it. But Baby had a healthy heartbeat and spine and seemed to be forming all the right parts in the right places.

Tornado Sirens and Creepy Corn Fields

So this week I am in the midwest, Waterloo Iowa to be specific, doing a VeMMA presentation for my brother-in-law. My flight came in quite late and we still had a 2-hour drive from the airport home. So as we head out at a little after 11pm I notice that the moon is a very unusual color. I comment to Randy that I've never seen the moon that shade of red before. Without even missing a beat or looking at the moon, he says "oh yeah, it turns red when a tornado's coming". Now being a born and raised West Coast girl tornados scare the beejeezus out of me. I look at him to see if he's kidding, he seems quite sincere. Then he says "yeah, they usually touch down in c0rn fields". I start to look around...nothing but creepy corn fields as far as the eye can see. I'm about ready to tell him I'd like to head back to the airport and catch a flight back to the earthquake state when he starts laughing and says he's just kidding. A little late at this point as I'm on serious tornado watch! So the next morning I wake up to this very strange sound. I go into the kitchen and ask Randy what it is. And he says "oh it's the tornado siren". I think he's kidding after last night--oh no he's serious! So I'm ready to grab the jerky and bottled water and head for the basement when he tells me not to worry it's the first Tuesday of the month and so it's just a test of the system. Someone's been having a lot of fun at my expense! Needless to say I'll be happy when I arrive back home courtesty of Northwest Airlines, not Dorothy's house!

My goofy cats

Okay, so I admit now this post is simply to get me into the habit of posting more often. I really have nothing interesting to say and I still can't figure out how to get pictures posted. I struggle! it's especially embarrassing when I visit all my friends sites and they have music and videos and 3-D people who come and shake your hand and offer refreshments--I still can't figure out pictures! Anyway. Had a funny story to tell about my cats. My two cats, Chubby who is a 23lb grey tabby cat and Zoe who is a 4lb tortoiseshell are BEST friends. They follow each other everywhere. In fact if one of them gets outside without the other one I hear crying until they find each other again. So the other day they both managed to get out onto the front porch. Jared yells for me to come quick and of course I think "emergency!". Oh no, he just wants me to come and see the two polar opposite cats sitting side by side moving their heads in a well choreographed dance. I have to admit, it was pretty funny. So hopefully by my next post I will have the picture thing figured out and I can post something more interesting!

I've been tagged, time to start my blog

Well I had a blog, but it was one I had to pay for, which was just lame! So I sent that the way of all the earth and had all intentions of getting my new blog up and running ASAP. Well that didn't really happen the way I planned. So I saw that I got tagged by Heather and decided I better get off my cyber tushie and get going. So thanks Heather!

Jobs I've Held:
VeMMA Sales Rep (the best one yet!!)
Close to My Heart Sales Rep
Personal Assistant (to several people too important to answer their own phone and get their own lunch...)
I worked at the BYU laundry facility ironing shirts
I worked at the BYU commissary delivering food to the different on-campus restaurants
Assistant animal control officer
Waitress/Hostess
Berry Picker
Day Camp Counselor

Movies I can watch over and over:
Pride & Prejudice (the long one or the short one)
Return to Me
How to lose a Guy in 10 Days
Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl (I love Johnny Depp as a pirate...)
Sliding Doors
The Lake House

My guilty pleasures:
putting on another video for my kids so I can finish reading a book
blogging
Ricky Martin
mid-day naps

Places I have lived:
Menifee, CA
Chula Vista, CA
Springville, UT
Spanish Fork, UT
Provo, UT
Hillsboro, OR

Shows I Enjoy:
Boston Legal
Grey's Anatomy
24 (except for last season, not so impressed...)
Lost

What were most likely the first things you thought when you saw your significant other?
Well Jared and I knew each other as friends all through High School. But he was my boyfriend's brother (hee hee hee). So the first time I saw him after his mission was the first time I saw him as someone other than that and i remember thinking "holy cow, was he always that hot? I've seriously got to ditch this guy I'm seeing now!"

Places I've been on Vacation:
Mexico
Croatia
Prague
Hungary
London
Nauvoo
Catalina Island

Favorite Foods
Mexican food
anything chocolate
Chili's southwest egg rolls and tortilla soup
pickled beets

Websites I visit daily
myvemma.com
my bank
BYU classes

Who's turn next:
my sister Aime, my friend Memory, my friend Leilani