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!