It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

It's been over a month since I've posted so I thought I'd write a little something or other... maybe post some pictures? Though there isn't snow on the ground (which I very much appreciate), the Creer home has been looking festive. I've decided that I LOVE rainy Decembers. I was meant to live in Oregon/Washington. Good thing we'll be there next year! It's still beginning to look and feel like Christmas so I'll show you our decor. Let's start with our tree....

I love it. We upgraded from our hobo Charlie Brown tree and bought a pre-lit 6.5 ft. tree. Much better. It's not massive or anything, but it looks good to me and fits our accommodations nicely. Then there's the ornaments.... I also love them. Polka dots are pretty much my favorite but these were just beyond adorable to me.

Dustin and I bought stockings last year from Walmart, some cheapo like $1 plain old stockings but figured that if we bought a bunch, enough for us and future children, then we could dress up them ourselves. This year I finally did that! Dustin and I chose a bear them cuz that's just how we Creers roll. I thought they turned out super cute though.

I love that we have an actual fireplace to hang our stockings this year. It just completes the whole ensemble.

Christmas shopping is done, which is great because Christmas is only in 2 weeks... exactly. Pretty exciting. Now I just need to make Christmas goodies for friends and coworker gifts and I can spend the rest of the holiday season relaxing! I'm not doing Christmas cards this year, but I think we'll send out New Years cards... for some reason, this year just wasn't all that exciting compared to last year.... no wedding, no big trip, just the simple life of work and school and trying to survive. There's quite a few things we're looking forward to in 2011 so more on that to come! :)

We're In!

We received a letter in the mail last Thursday from Western States University in Portland, Oregon that Dustin is accepted into their chiropractic program starting Fall 2011! We are so excited! While this is the only place we applied to, we are very happy that we got in. We were pretty sure that we would, but you never know.... His acceptance is still pending on graduation with his bachelors (which is set and ready for April 29th, 2011), an interview, and receiving recommendations from his references (which they've already been in contact with). But really, I think they're more just formalities and we have nothing to worry about with those. Portland is exactly where we want to be, maybe for ever, so we are very excited about this next step in our lives! New Student Orientation starts October 1st, so we'll move out there sometime between summer and September. Just depends on what's going on then I guess :)

Dustin's journey of deciding what he wanted to be when he grew up has taken quite the journey. Forever and a day, he wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon. Sweet money, eh? Why do you think I married him? hahaha. After seeing the twists and turns coming with government health care and realizing that we'd NEVER get out of school with the 4 years of med school, 2 years of specialists for this field, and then another 2 years of residency... or more... and then then student loans that go along with that... and fearing socialized health care not paying enough to pay off said loans, therefore living in poverty FOREVER, Dustin decided that maybe dentistry would be the way to go. We were planning on that until about this time last year when presenters from Western States came to Dustin's exercise science class/club to talk about the school and going into chiropractics. And Dustin fell in love. Am I afraid for a future down this path? Honestly? Yes. I'm not sure how well it will pay and how long it will take to get a practice set up. But is this what Dustin is expressing a love for and really wanting to do? Yes. So I will support him in whatever he wants to do. The thing that's neat about this school is that they also offer a masters in Sports and Exercise Science, so Dustin is planning on getting that along with his Chiropractic degree. This will open up a lot more opportunities. And hopefully more money. :) Not that it's all about the money, but I have dreams of not working an 8-5 office job for the rest of my life.

So that is what is newest with the Creers. We have good things coming to us! Can I say, IT'S ABOUT FREAKING TIME?! :)

Fall Break

A couple weeks ago Utah had their Fall Break. Dustin had Thursday and Friday off of school, so I took work off on Friday and we traveled down to Moab Utah with my mom and dad and two little brothers. Friday we went to Goblin Valley where we had a nice little picnic, and then explored among the goblins!

(View of Goblin Valley from the top. Those goblin mushroom rocks are much bigger than they look here...)

We played sardines in the goblins and climbed around a lot! It was super cool! I've never seen anything like this before.... Probably because there isn't anything on this earth like Goblin Valley!!

(Evan, Spencer, me, and Dustin on the Goblins)

That night we stayed in Green River at the GREATEST hotel. The rooms were huge, it was right by the river, there were cute little tables with fireplaces outside! In the morning, they had (included in the stay) a FULL breakfast where you could order omelets, french toast, pancakes, with hashbrowns, sausage, fruit, etc. It was amazing!!

Then we went to Arches! First hike of the morning... Delicate Arch. And. it. killed. me. It was a nightmare!! It's listed as a strenuous hike but everyone kept saying how easy it was. It was so not easy! I wanted to die at least 5 times. I even broke down once and cried because I was so dead. It didn't help that my parents walked WAY WAY WAY ahead of us, with the water. It was hot, I was tired, I DIED. But we got to the top and it was cool.

(Dustin at Delicate Arch. My picture was taken but I looked like death so here is my hot husband instead. Much better picture.)

I personally don't think it was worth the hike. hahaha. i will never do it again. And I was done with hiking for the rest of the day. Even the easy hikes I just stayed in the car and played my ipod touch while eating Sunchips and M&Ms to recover my strength.

(Parade of the Elephants)

That night we went to dinner in Moab at a place called Zax Watering Hole, then we headed home!

It was a fun fall break, but I'm ready for a just me and Dustin trip. Too bad that won't happen for a while. :)

(Double Arch)

And the award for the best husband goes to......

This man.....
He's incredible! Yesterday he brought me home these....

Thank you sweetie for how nice you are to me! You spoil me and I just appreciate all you do for me! I love you much baby!

Stop and Smell the Roses

So I was driving home from work after a somewhat stressful day at work. The morning started out great, I had a fun trip to Costco with my mom and then she took me to lunch at Smashburger which has AMAZING sweet potato fries. I love love love them. Their sandwiches are awesome too. But then the afternoon at work was a *struggle.*

There are issues where we need to move customers from one preview to another preview and yatta yatta which whatever I say won't make much sense to anyone... but basically the engineers that are supposed to fix the problem said it would be done Monday when we talked to them LAST Thursday.

Was it done Monday? Of COURSE not. Was it done Tuesday or Wednesday? Nope. So morning I called them and said... hey... remember how this should be done? And they said it would be done that morning... so at 2 I finally walked over to Engineering and talked with them. They made it happen by about 3 or so but there's lots to be done and it wasn't working the way it should. I was done with the day and got things done that NEED to be done, so I headed home...

As I was driving along 400 East in Orem, a woman was walking along the sidewalk and she stopped and smelled a rose in someone's side yard. She actually stopped to smell the roses. It made me really happy to see her do that. I mean, you hear the expression all the time but have you ever actually SEEN someone really do it? I love it. Love love love. It was a good reminder to me to deep breathe and just take recent life happenings a little at a time. And when stressful things are going on, stop and smell the roses.

It's In!

Application for grad school is in. Can we get a WHAT WHAT?! I hope it was good enough. I felt like they had SO much space for things that needed not much space.... Nervous... How long will it take before we hear back?!?! I have no idea. They should love him, yes? I LOVE HIM. But I might be a little biased. I mean, they DID invite us to their campus and pay for our hotel.... they have been recruiting him for so long now... and he's freaking awesome. So nothing to worry about, right?

I wonder when we'll hear back... I mean, they need to contact his references... schedule an interview....

WHEW. Being an adult is so high maintenance. And stressful. And important. I refuse to really grow up.

Count Your Blessings

Opening song of the Relief Society Broadcast:

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Count your blessings name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God hath done. Count your blessings name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? Count your many blessings; every doubt will fly, And you will be singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their lands and gold, Think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold. Count your mnay blessins; money cannot buy Your reward in heaven nor your home on high.

Here's the part where I started crying:

So amid the conflict, whether great of small, Do not be discouraged; God is over all. Count your many blessings; angels will attend, Help and comfort give you to your journey's end.

President Monson also talked about gratitude in General Conference on Sunday... I think I might need to start working on my gratitude blog again... I could always use those angels attending some help and comfort :)

http://iamgladformanythings-creer.blogspot.com/

Recipe Blog

I confess. I have a recipe blog. I've had it for a while, but I've never told anyone about it. I guess the time has come for me to share. There's not much on it yet, but my goal is to add more recipes while my husband watches BYU football games. Which happen to happen every Saturday so I should do well. Hopefully. :)

Here is the address:

creerfamilyfoodfavs.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

My New Motto:

Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.
Mosiah 4:9

Freeway Madness

While I'm in the mood for posting, I thought I'd vent my frustrations on how RIDICULOUS I-15 currently is. Over the past two weeks there have been accidents at least every other day. In case you're not familiar with current I-15 status, they have decided it would be a brilliant idea to redo everything. Literally, everything. So all ramps are under construction and all lanes are under construction to make a 4 lane freeway from Spanish Fork to Lehi. Of course, I drive that Spanish Fork to Lehi (well, Orem) route EVERY day (well, work week days). The lanes have all been tightened to a bare minimum and there is no shoulder. This has resulted in accidents all the time. Especially in Orem. This week there was even a FATALITY. So am I worried about my car and my husband, and my LIFE?! You bet I am! This has been a struggle living in Salem. An average commute with little slowage will be about 45 mins. Usually it takes about an hour. A couple Fridays ago, it took me an HOUR AND A HALF to get from 800 N OREM to CENTER STREET PROVO. In a stick shift. Not fun. I was so annoyed. Therefore, I got off the freeway at Center Street and had Dustin meet me at the mall for date night. All I can say is... if there is no improvement by the time snow starts falling, I don't think I am willing to risk my life like that and will move back to Orem. One little slip on any kind of ice will send all three tight lanes into a complete stop. And you know those trucks that always think they defy the laws of ice? I don't think they're going to let up at all this winter. So I am TERRIFIED of that commute. I might start working 10-7 or something just to avoid the main traffic hours. It can be such a nightmare. I really really really hope that they make some improvements and get some lanes more space by the time the snow falls! Is that too much to ask for?!?!

Loves,

Fall Fever

Labor Day marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall. Well I know that Spring Fever exists, but I am super excited for Fall as well. Spring and Fall are my favorites and I have fever for either one. Since fall is soon to be here, I guess I'll stick with Fall Fever.
I just love fall! Football (1st BYU game of the season is currently in progress!), pretty leaves, cooler temperatures, corn mazes, heck, even Halloween! Summer is great and all, but I just love the feeling of fall.
Dustin is now back in school for his SENIOR year at UVU. I am pretty excited about that! Only 8 more months and graduation will be here! Of course, there's another 4 years after that, but still, we're on the way to completion of that college life. The goal of the month is to have our applications for grad school in. The plan for after UVU is to go to Portland's Western States Chiropractic College. Here Dustin will be able to study chiropractics and also get a masters in Sports and Exercise Science. I'm still super hopeful for a house and have been checking out a lot of real estate recently in the Vancouver WA area. I think we might apply to one or two other schools just in case, but we're kinda really counting on WSCC to work out.
Wish us luck!

Loves,

Fun, Fun, Fun

So I thought I should post something since it's been quite a while... We've been having fun though so i guess that's a good reason to not have posted in a while, right?
We kicked off August by going to East Canyon with Dustin's family. It was quite a family party. There was all of Dustin's family (Mike, Analee, Nicole, Kendra, Adam, Jared, Berk), and us of course, and also Grandma and Grandpa Creer, Grandma and Grandpa Sumsion, and Neil and Teri and kids (Megan, Ryan, Alex, Maddie, Kelly). It was so much fun! We got to spend some time in the pool every day, a little shuffle board, a little 4 wheeling, and a LOT of relaxing! That was really really great. Wish I had pictures to post but I'm being lame and not taking any... maybe it's cuz I've gotten so FAT that I don't like pictures of myself so maybe when I come to terms with that then I'll take pictures and post them. :)
We also got to spend an afternoon in Park City at the Outlet stores so I had Dustin make sure I didn't go crazy at all. And I didn't. So proud of myself there. We restrained ourselves to just get some soap from Bath and Body Works cuz I'm in love with some of their new scents, especially the nectarine mint. It's heavenly.

We also had fun with Salem this past weekend. Now I'm not saying this because I'm biased or anything, but I firmly believe that Salem Days is the best little town summer event ever of all towns. We have mud volleyball, a free outside movie with popcorn and drinks, and the best darn Saturday events. The parade is just AWESOME. Like, not too long, not too short, and there's always plenty of shade. Plus, they throw out bags full of candy and otter pops. FOR FREE. Some parades try to sell you otter pops and water but no, Salem is cool. We give out these items for free. Oh yeah, free potted flowers too. Handed out in the parade. Also for free. It's just fantastic.
Then there's the craft fair and kid games. The kid games are pretty good, I used to work them when I was in high school on Youth Council, and the craft fair is okay. I admit, it's not as good as Spanish Fork's was in terms of jewelry, but for actual CRAFTS to decorate your home with, it's fantastic. I got these super cute wood blocks that spell "HOME". Guess I'll have to take a picture of that and post it cuz really, it's adorable and was a great deal.
Salem also has a great BBQ dinner, library auction, pageant (which in recent years has become a talent show), and then the grand finale... the best firework show in Utah county, maybe even in all of Utah. I'm not joking you. Our former mayor is a licensed pyro. And he's always in charge of the fireworks. He does an AMAZING job and it's just... wow.

Love Salem Days. Love summer. And now it's ending. Dustin will start school again in a mere one and a half weeks. He's a senior baby. That is so exciting! In 9 months he will be GRADUATED. And we can move to the next stage in life. I am definitely looking forward to that.

That's all for now folks, time to go to bed!

Loves,

I love my life!

I've got everything, more than I ever dreamed
I love my life
I thank God for all I have
And that I love this man
Who loves his wife
I love my life
I love my life
--Jamie O'Neal

I'm feeling very grateful. And loving my life. For all the ups and downs in it. And how blessed I have been. LOVE it. Seriously. It's wonderful.

Loves,

Playing games... (and always losing)

I now remember why Dustin and I watch TV instead of playing games. It's because he wins. Every single time. Every single game. No matter what. I don't know or understand why, but no matter what game we play, DUSTIN WINS. Do you know how bad that is on my self esteem?! It's horrific. One of these days I think I will beat him. Somehow I will arise victorious. But it NEVER happens. And I hate it.

We recently bought the game Ticket to Ride after our friends Scott and Tiffany introduced it to us. We thought it would be a good idea to get it since we should probably spend more time playing games than watching tv... maybe a better use of our minds? I don't know, but we got it and have been playing it the last couple of nights. It started out fun... except then Dustin started winning... and winning... and winning every time. He would even use my strategy to now not just win, but CREAM me. This is not a funny situation. It devastates me every time I lose. And every time he has no idea how he won. And even feels bad for winning because I get so angry. This makes me sick.

What's a girl supposed to do with a husband who constantly beats her at EVERYTHING?! If anyone has any suggestions, I am very open to them. My self esteem could sure use some good ideas.

Loves,

A little catching up in our boring lives

So I feel like everyone always has something exciting to blog about... babies, their children, tubing, trips, who knows what, but it's always more exciting than my blog posts. Maybe I should start making up stories about our lives to make them more exciting. hahaha. But seriously, all we ever do is work... or look for work. Or watch movies. Maybe I should talk about The Bachelorette or So You Think You Can Dance. Cuz that's about it for what's going on with the Creers right now :) I am still working away at StoresOnline as the Preview Express Accounts Receivable Manager. Dustin is working various different jobs ranging from BYU to Grandma Gailey's farm to selling Plasma. Oh the joys of college life part time job. I'm so grateful for my job right now and the opportunity I have to work and help pay for life. I don't want to be doing this forever, but I am glad I can help at this time. :)

I am actually really excited that Dustin is now a SENIOR in his college career! Wahoo! This only means one year left of undergrad before we get to grow up into bigger kids in grad school! How exciting is that?! In a few nine months Dustin will be graduating. That seems so unreal and so exciting. Who knows what the next nine months could hold for us. Hopefully some good things!

We are all settled in to the Jack home now and it has been pretty nice staying here. My little brothers still at home WORSHIP Dustin. I swear that if Dustin were to tell them to eat dirt, they'd do it, cuz they love him and look up to him so much. Of course, I just tell them to back off and then I get to spend some time with my dear husband. :) I already have a calling back in the good old Salem 4th Ward... Jr. Primary Pianist! Have I ever mentioned how much I love this calling? It's basically the greatest. My mom is the Jr. Primary Chorister as well so that's fun to work with her. Everyone in the ward is SO nice to us and so welcoming! They are very excited to have us here and that is comforting.

Dustin and I did get to take a fun little trip for the 4th of July weekend. We headed down to St. George for a couple nights and then Vegas for one night. In St. George we got to relax at the pool, then go see Tarzan at the Tuachan. It was a lot of fun! Really great show! We also went to Zions and went on a couple hikes. Dustin had never been so that was really fun for him. Sunday the 4th we drove to Vegas for the day/night and man, I will NEVER go back to Vegas for the 4th of July weekend! It was a MADHOUSE, much more than the usual Vegas madhouse. We saw the Blue Man Group at the Venetian and that was awesome. It is the most random, funny show. :) That was about it. I wish I could post pictures but my camera has been dead and I've been much too much lazy with moving and vacationing to charge it. I will have to do that soon.

This next week will be Pioneer Day and Spanish Fork Fiesta days so we are looking forward to going to the Rodeo and good old SF hometown parade.

That's about all that's going on with us! Maybe someday we will be able to have an exciting announcement. Until said day, I guess I will just continue to blog about our plain old ordinary working lives. :) I just have to say that I am grateful for my wonderful wonderful husband and am so lucky to have him! Seriously, he's the best husband ever. You all think that you have the best husband ever but it's not true cuz I do. Lucky me. :)

Loves,

New Address

Seeing as how we've been married for over a year, I thought I'd change the blog address from just my many adventures to Dustin and Brianne... More user friendly and hopefully easier to remember. :) I hope no one gets lost trying to view it, not that I have a lot of readers anyway, but who knows. I thought I'd have to create a whole new blog but turns out, you can just change the address and that was MUCH easier.
More posts to come. :)

Home

Ug. Since when can you not copy and paste from a word doc into a blog post? I just typed it all out so I could copy it in here but it's not letting me. Looks like I'll get to type it all again! Yay! Oh well, it will be something to pass the time at work, right? :)

In May we tried to sell our contract for our apartment, which didn't really work. Everyone told us it was their fav, they loved how it's decorated, etc. etc, but nobody would buy our contract. I suppose this was better anyway due to the May Madness we encountered, but it was kinda stressful. We decided to stick it out for the remaining two months, but then looked at our calendar and realized that the end of July would be a busy time to move as there is Fiests Days, Family Reunions, etc. etc. going on. We thought we'd try one last time to sell our contract so we could move out in June (much less busy) and if it didn't work, oh well, at least we tried, and at least it was only one extra month.

I posted ads on the norm, Craigslist and KSL, and we had a bunch of people show interest. Dustin and I decided to just do ONE showing this time, on a Saturday afternoon, so we wouldn't have to deal with people coming (or not showing up) every night and always keeping things super-over-the-top clean. On Tuesday, Dustins' uncle Andy was in a bike wreck that landed him in the hospital for some time. Dustin and I visited him and told Amy (Andy's wife) that we would watch their kids on Wednesday.

I went into work early on Wednesday so I could leave an hour early to go to Spanish Fork and play witht the kiddos. I was going to go straight from work to BYU to pick up Dustin but then at almost the last minute I decided to go home so I could change my shoes to something more playing in the park appropriate. On the road our complex is on, there was a cop that pulled into my parking lot just before I did. I pulled into my parking spot and started walkign to my door but then the cop pulled next to my car and got out. He asked me if he could ask me a couple questions. I said yes and walked over to him, worried now that there was a murder or gast leak, something going on so that I couldn't go into my apartment or whatev. He then asked me if any of these apartments were available to be rented and I told him that we were actually trying to sell our contract and it would be available July 1st.

Turns out this cop has a daughter getting married in July and is looking for a place to live. I told him we were showing the apartment on Saturday but he asked if there was any way they could come sooner, so I gave him my contact info to have her call me and set up a time. She did indeed call me that night and we set up a time for Friday.

Friday they came over and loved the place instantly. They called the landlord that night and signed a contract/paid a deposit Saturday morning. IT WAS FATE. Seriously, I'm never at home at that time that the cop was there, and none of our neighbors would know that we were selling our contract again. It was definitely fate how it all worked out and all came together.

Now we are packing up and moving to the basement of my parents. I have mixed feelings about it all the time, but I'm sure it will be good. The whole saving money factor will be AWESOME as well, and I am comforted in knowing that it's not permanent. I mean really, we can move out at any point. It's not like we're forced or required due to finances, we'll just be helping our finances so that we can buy a house or not be AS poor in grad school, ya know. I LOVE looking at houses to see a goal I have in mind and help me stay motivated. And really, I'm sure it will all just be peachy, right? Any words of wisdome to make it easier? To help keep me sane? Cuz I'm up for any advice.... The house in the end is worth the path to financially get it, right?

Loves,

May Madness

May was a crazy month. I feel like I haven't posted in FOREVER, but it really hasn't been THAT long. We took our contract for our apartment off of the market cuz it wasn't really working out. More about that to be posted later. I did the flowers for Calista's wedding, so there were greater things to worry about at the time, so it ended up being a really GOOD thing. Calista's flowers and wedding turned out beautiful. We had some fun girl time together before too and it was great to see Andrea again!!

May was also Ginelle's graduation from Salem Hills High School. She is such a beautiful young woman and I'm excited for her to go to college and break some hearts. Graduation was on the football field of Salem Hills HS and it was great with sky divers bringing in the American flag and everything. We then had lunch at PF Changs which is always delicious.

Another crazy happening in May... I had a miscarriage. We didn't tell a lot of people and I wasn't sure if I wanted to blog about it or not, but since this is practically my journal, I thought I might want to record my thoughts and feelings. It all started back with HCG.... remember how we were doing that in May? Well about two weeks in, some crazy things started happening. I read from Dr. Simeon's protocol that if you are pregnant, you will stop losing weight. Well, about day 10 or 13 (I don't remember which), I woke up after having the CRAZIEST dream. It involved Hawaii, my little sister being pregnant, my MOM being pregnant, and me throwing fruit at them cuz I was really mad about it. When I woke up, my first conscious thought of the day was, "I'm pregnant." I went and weighed myself and sure enough, I hadn't lost much weight at all... barely any from the day before. I had some spotting the week before but didn't think much of it, thought it might be a side effect of the HCG. So... with those thoughts and information, I decided that we would do an apple day (which boosts your weight loss) and see how it went... if that helped me lose some more or if I could possibly be pregnant. After the apple day, my weight didn't drop much again at all. I decided that I would stop taking the HCG drops so I could take a pregnancy test. I kept with the low calorie diet (as you're supposed to for 3 days) but stopped the drops. On day 3 of low calorie diet with no drops, I was CRAZY hormonal... fine and happy one second, bawling another. I said to Dustin that if I wasn't pregnant, then I was DEFINITELY crazy because I am never ever like that. After a good 5 days of no drops to be SURE that it was out of my system, I took a test (which was day 29 of my cycle) and it was negative. I was slightly devastated as I felt like i really must be crazy and making things up. After about another week (day 35 of my cycle which is a little late for me), I still hadn't started my period so I took another pregnancy test... again a negative. I was CRAZY EXHAUSTED, not just tired, but EXHAUSTED after sleeping for a good 8 hours or so. My lower back was also sore, and I craved salty foods. I seriously felt completely insane. I could swear I was pregnant but didn't have a positive pee stick test. I got to day 42, May 25th, Ginelle's graduation day, and I started bleeding. And I bleed a lot. I don't want to be too graphic, but there was a LOT of blood and tissue... changing a super plus tampon every hour or so. It was awful awful awful. My periods are never that heavy, nor do I ever cramp. Day 2 of this, I started cramping SO hard that I felt like puking. I tried lots of drugs and a rice bag and just laid on the couch in pain. So while I never had an official positive pregnancy test, i am calling this a miscarriage as this "period" was like the worst period I've ever had times ten. The bleeding was heavy and cramping continued for a couple days. I was SO glad that it started on Ginelle's graduation day (cuz I had work off that day), and that Calista's wedding was that week (cuz I had lots of time off to work on the flowers and such). I felt relieved to know that I wasn't as crazy as I thought I was for thinking I was pregnant. While it still wasn't pleasant, it was nice to at least have an answer. When it happened, I didn't even cry. I can't say now how I even felt cuz it seems like so long ago, but it was just.... weird. We are hoping to get pregnant soon and hopefully there are no more miscarriages. I really do believe that everything happens for a reason so I'm sure there was a good reason for why we would go through a miscarriage. I'm sure that when the timing is right, we will be blessed with the miracle of conception. Hahaha. But really, it is a miracle. All the same, we are moving on and keep trying. It just made for a crazy ending in May.

We ended the month of May by taking a 24 hour trip to St. George for some shopping and relaxing. It was just what we needed after the miscarriage and Calista's wedding. It was a great quick get away and we are already planning our next St. George trip, this time for a bit longer and to see Tarzan at the Tuachan. Fun fun fun!

I will post again soon about our apartment and how we'll be moving out soon and how that story of fate all played out. For now, I need to get some sleep! :)

Much loves,

There's no place like home...

So... for the past month, we've been trying to sell our contract for our adorable condo where we have been living for the past year and a bit (ever since we were married). You may ask yourself, if it's so adorable, then why are you selling your contract?! Well, my friend, that is because we have opted to move into the basement of my parent's house... yeah, we're cool like that. See, the thing is, yes, I LOVE this place, but while we are both working full time/school full time, we are hardly home... only home enough to make dinner, clean it up, watch a little tv, and go to bed. And when I get home from work, I'm tired enough that I don't even want to make dinner so then we eat out way more than we should... and there's no need for a kitchen to clean. So then we thought of this fantastic idea to save some money....

You see, my parents are the parents of 8 children. And after my sister graduates from high school and moves out to BYU, there will be only 2 children left at home in their ginormous house. They NEED us there. Hahaha. But seriously, they have the whole basement open which gives us 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, large family room with a fireplace, kitchenette area, all for FREE. Plus, since my mom is an amazing cook, she will let us eat dinner with them and dinner will be ready for us when we get home from work... So free rent, free food, no utilities like internet to pay for.... What's NOT to love about that?! Saving around $1000 a month sounds pretty good to me.

I'm sure there will be hard things about moving in with the parentals, but I'm basically just seeing this as a killer deal. Plus, it will be nice to be able to spend more time with them before we flee the state for grad school. I'm looking forward to it and I think that Dustin's more excited about it then I am even.

So with our condo on the market to take over our contract (which, by the way, is only for 2 more months... so if we don't sell it, we're totally cool with staying here for two more months and then moving into the basement), I finally took some pictures and here they are for your viewing pleasure so you can see our adorable home. I can't believe it took me a year to finally unpack everything and get it all dolled up, only to be moving out in two months. Such is life though. :)

Here are the pics!

Half way gone

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Also happy half way through HCG! Dustin and I started the HCG diet on April 23rd and it's been basically amazing! We are now 13 days into it, the half way point, and have been pleased the with results. I have lost 13 lbs. and Dustin has lost 15! We are super excited about that and excited to lose a little more. It has been difficult but yet easy at the same time. Some days, like today, I am not hungry at all and don't even eat all my 500 calories (don't know if that's bad or not, we'll see), and then some days, we are pretty hungry. I guess the more we go along, the easy it gets and the more will power we have to resist temptations outside of the diet. The one thing that has been driving us nuts though is the craving for chocolate cake... okay, not just ANY chocolate cake, but Costco's chocolate cake. That stuff is amazing. And Dustin and I don't really like cake... But this cake has been haunting our taste buds ever since we saw it when we were loading up on chicken, spinach, and strawberries at Costco. It was during a gorging day so we could have bought it and eaten to our hearts content, but considering it's a massive cake and we only had that night to eat it, we decided to not spend $20 on a guilty pleasure. But now it continues to haunt. Only 13 days left of 500 calories, then 21 days of no starches and sugars, and then my friend, THEN we eat cake. And enjoy it. But enjoy it 20 pounds lighter than before. How beautiful is that. :)

A Twist in my Story

So... Here's what's been going on lately. As of this morning, we have officially decided to NOT go to grad school this fall, but to wait until fall 2011. We found out that they wanted Dustin to take two more chemistry classes in addition to the physics class, which would have created 15 credits this summer and the classes are already full. So Dustin could go full time this summer and full time this fall and graduate December 2010 so we could go to grad school in January, but pretty sure he'd be burned out to start a year and a half straight for grad school. So yes, it would have been nice to start a year earlier and get through faster, but I can't see my husband stress that much. So we decided that he would take NO classes this summer, take a normal amount fall and winter, and graduate April 2011 as originally planned. Then he can work for the summer and take it easy for a couple months before starting grad school. It's common for people to take a whole year off before starting grad school so I can't even imagine Dustin going straight from undergrad to grad school with no break at all. He's always taken summer classes too so he really hasn't had much of a summer break. This will be nice for him to just work this summer, play some softball, and relax with me. :)

Something else that's new for us is that we started the HCG diet a week ago. It's been quite adventure! The first two days you gorge.... to full capacity... which was great fun, but I was sick of eating by the time those two days were over. Then for 28 days we will be on a very low calorie diet. Very low calories meaning 500. A day. I have been pretty strong until today when I started getting pretty hungry this morning. I just had lunch though so I am feeling great again! Sometimes it's hard because our diet is so restrictive, or we make WAY good food but can only have so much of it, but for 28 days, I can do this! In fact, we only have 22 days left to go! That's not long at all! It's nice to see that I actually am losing weight. After getting married, Dustin and I both put on a lot of weight... I put on more than him, but we have felt the affects. Dustin is pretty close to where he wants to be, but I still have a long way to go. HCG has been great because the first two days (after the gorging days of course), I lost 2.5 lbs each day! And I continue to lose at least a pound a day! It's nice to see that it's actually working and in 22 more days, I can lose at least 22 more pounds. That is so fantastic! I'm excited for the changes it will bring in my body. I will feel better about myself, look better, and be more physically fit. And in just a month! I mean, yes, it's hard seeing people eat Wendy's in the breakroom, or it's hard to have only a small portion of food, but the overall affect will be SO great and I am super excited for that! It's what keeps me going! That and a wonderfully supportive husband who is willing to do this with me! By the time we're through, we're going to be smoking hot... Just you wait and see ;)

Dear Spring

Dear Spring,

It's me, Brianne, your faithful fan. Here's the thing... I know we're in Utah, and Spring, it can be hard to understand what you're supposed to be like. There's winter right before you and summer right after you, and let's face it, being a middle child is not easy.

I know you're tempted to give in to peer pressure and try to be like everyone else. Spring, you don't need to be like winter and you don't need to be like summer, because the truth is, you are beautiful just the way you are-- with your light breezes and slightly chilly nights. With your tulips and daffodils and rain showers where the sun comes out and smiles. Where all the world is in bloom and there is popcorn popping on the apricot tree. That's what I love about you. You are happy and pretty and you bring us out of the despair that winter has.

So please Spring, just be you. None of this funny business trying to mess around and act like summer.... then giving in to winter's temptation. Just be yourself. You don't need to get attention by acting like the others. Just be your beautiful self, Spring. The Spring that I know and love. The Spring that you can be.

Yours truly,

Portland trip and big decisions

Yes, I am writing two posts in one night. AMAZING!!!! I applaud myself. It's just, there's been so much going on... so much to write about and so little time. If you didn't notice, I did get a haircut and pictures of it are in the anniversary blog post... I have bangs and layers-ish. I say layers-ish because the chick instead of putting normal layers, like around my face, thinned my hair out and just put tons of layers, really thin layers all over.... and i don't know how i really feel about it. So I took matters into my own hand, after she had left of course, and cut some layers around my face. Now I just curl it all curly like and it looks pretty good most of the time. Hahaha
So... we have some big decisions coming up. Really big ones. Like, completely life changes ones. Last weekend we took a little trip up to Portland for a perspective student forum at the University of Western States, a chiropractic college that Dustin has been looking into. They invited us up to this forum and paid for our hotel and everything. Well, it looks like a really great school. They have a master's program in Exercise and Sports Science that you can get along with your doctor of chiropractic degree. Pretty cool, eh?

Thursday afternoon we left Orem and drove to Boise. On the way through Idaho, we saw signs about sandstorms and how you shouldn't stop on the road. I thought they were ridiculous.... That is, until we started driving into a sandstorm. It was madness.
Friday morning we drove the rest of the way to Portland and stopped at Multnomah Falls along the way, which is literally, right off of the highway. It's a pretty falls! We didn't hike up to them at all cuz I wanted to get to Portland, but we'll be back. :) We got into Portland and checked into our hotel, then went to Battle Ground, WA where my Aunt and Uncle Art and Sheri live with their three kids Jake, Jackson, and Connor. It was so great to see them and hang out with them! They took us to dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant that was good. Then we went to their house and watched a movie.Saturday was a busy day! We went to the perspective student forum at the university in Portland. We got to tour the campus, meet with some current students, and meet with an adviser. After a day at the university, we went back to Battle Ground to hang out with my relatives. We got to go on a scenic route around Battle Ground and surrounding areas. We stopped at a pretty Mill, and then at a tulip festival. Then we had a dinner at a good burger joint and played some games at my relative's house. Sunday we drove back a long 12 1/2 hour drive. It was much too short of a trip! I just posted a couple pictures. The one at the top is Dustin at Multnoma Falls, the first one down here is my cousin Connor (age 5) and Dustin at a pretty waterfall from the scenic route. Then there are some cool tulips from the tulip festival. Lastly is Dustin in some Dutch shoes... Big shoes to fill for the big decisions we have to make, as explained after the pictures.
So talking to the adviser at the university, it turns out that Dustin only needs to take a physics class with a lab and MAYBE a chemistry class and we could start school up there in October. THIS October. He can transfer his undergrad credits and finish his bachelors while also getting started on his doctorate of chiropractics and then start on his masters. We didn't think much of it cuz that would be a quick move in only six months. I'm not prepared for a switch like that, but I might have to be.... After coming home and talking with friends and family, we have started thinking a lot more seriously about starting in October... especially Dustin has thought a lot more about it. We would get started a year earlier, meaning we'd get done a year earlier... which would be AWESOME. Plus, if we can save money by not paying tuition and books for undergrad and start working on grad school sooner while still finishing off the bachelors, that would be a perk too... working on two degrees at the same time. It's a lot to think about and a lot to consider. Then also we have to think about if we're going to buy a house or rent while we're up there... try to find a job for me... It's a lot to accomplish and decide, especially when the move would be in 6 months or less. So we're doing a lot of praying and a lot of thinking. Date night this week will definitely be at the temple! Wish us luck as we decide our future!

One year fatter and more in love too....

One month ago today we celebrated our one year anniversary. Wahoo! We made it through a year! You know how people say that the first year is the hardest? If that's true, then bring it on! We loved the first year! Yeah, there were hard parts, but it was a really really great year! I look forward to the eternity we have to go!We started anniversary celebrations by going to our friends Scott and Tiffany's wedding. We wanted to set them up when we got married in March and it only took until November to actually get them set up, a month or so later, engaged, and then on March 13th, they got married! They were married in the Mt. Timp temple in our sealing room. It was really nice to be able to go back to the place we were sealed almost exactly to the day. Of course, pi day is the best day to get married. :)
We didn't save the top part of our cake because let's face it, who really wants to eat year old freezer burn cake?! We finished it off on our one month anniversary. So for our one year anniversary, we got some cupcakes from the Sweet Tooth Fairy, which is awesome! We cut the carrot cake one (since we had carrot cake served at our reception) and had sparkling cider. We thought it would be fun to shove the cake in each other's faces... didn't do it on our wedding day so now was the perfect time. We had fun with it. :)Dustin had spring break March 17-19 so we took a little trip up to the Anniversary Inn in Salt Lake. The first night, St. Patrick's day, we stayed in the Twilight Suite, which was supposed to be like the Cullen's mansion. It was cool, but not THAT cool. We had tickets to the Jazz game and got the old school green shirts to sport Jazz attire AND be wearing green for St. Patty's day.
The 18th we went to Park City to check out the Olympic Park and then do some shopping. Dustin and I bought a colbalt blue beautiful KitchenAid stand mixer! Oh baby! Happy Anniversary to us!!
That night we stayed in the Swiss Family Robinson Suite which was SUPER cool! We really liked it. The bed was in a tree house and there was a waterfall shower. I would recommend that room to anyone. We ate at the Melting Pot and it was, of course, like always, delicious.The 19th we went to the Oquirrah Mountain temple and did a sealing session. It is a pretty temple. Afterwards we ate at the Pi Pizzeria. Such good pizza! And I love that it is the Pi... and we were married on Pi day. Great time for our first anniversary!