The Whitaker Family

Las Vegas!

2011-05-20T15:09:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the week, our little family took a jaunt down to Vegas. Ryan had a hearing aid conference that he was invited to, so Rhys and I tagged along. The hearing aid company put Ryan up in the hotel, so it was free for us! YAY! Since I didn't take any pictures, but one, I'll just touch on the highlights of our trip...

1. Meeting one of our newest nephews, Sawyer. He is my brother Jeff's new baby. It was so fun to see him and hold him! I forget how tiny new babies are. Rhys looked huge compared to him. It was great to see my brother and his family as well. Rhys had a blast with my 4-year old niece Halle. She took good care of him.

2. Staying at the Venetian. I've never been to this all-suite hotel before and it was very nice. 3 TVs in our room, plenty of space for Rhys to roam around and a separate tub and shower! LOVED IT!

3. There was a large wall fountain that Rhys loved, so we often went to see it. One time Rhys was looking at it, a teenage Indian boy (like from India), walked up to Rhys and started touching his head and hair. I thought he was trying to get Rhys out of the picture, but then I quickly realized, Rhys WAS the picture. The boy was posing for a picture with Rhys by the fountain. As soon as Rhys realized it wasn't me touching him, he freaked out. The family crowded around us while I was comforting him and kept talking to him. It was very strange.

4. Ryan got a $100 casino chip from his boss. So we took it and gambled the night away. No, no we didn't. We took it directly to the cashier, who informed us (like we were the worst parents in the world) that we could not have a baby on the casino floor. Really lady? You think I like my kid exposed to all this?

5. I love having a baby outside of Utah. The attention you get is ridiculous. Even my sister-in-law got complimented on Rhys. It's fun to go places where babies aren't a dime a dozen. And I have a really cute baby:) (I'm allowed to say that because I'm his mom).

6. I saw Stephanie Nielson and her husband Christian ( I think that's his name) at the hotel. If you don't know who she is, she does the Nie Nie Dialogues. She's a famous Mormon/Utah blogger. Anyway, I never got close enough to say anything, but I didn't know what I would say anyway.

7. My last highlight, was the realization of how jaded I am with Vegas. We go there more than most people, but rarely to the strip. The second I step on the strip, I realize I'm completely bored and want to leave it immediately. I find it fascinating watching all the tourists take pictures of the hotel ceiling and the fountains and all the stuff. I kept thinking, it's just a hotel. I won't deny that it looks cool, but it's a replica of some place else in the world. It's all just weird to me. People save up all their money for trips to Vegas. It's just not my scene, but Rhys LOVED it!

Lastest Obsession

2011-05-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

My latest obsession is couponing. I'm addicted. I've been watching that Extreme Couponing show on TLC and was converted. I've always liked the idea of coupons, but I never used them to their full advantage. I think I'm still working on that. Unfortunately, I live in a state where double and triple coupons are not accepted. But if they were, I'd be all over it.

This is a picture of my shopping trip from yesterday. I purchased more than just this, but these were my big savings. In this pic, the total retail price would be about $51 at Wal-Mart. With ad-matching, store coupons and manufacturer's coupons, I paid $11.84. I think that's a pretty good deal. And it's really fun to see if you can find the best savings possible. Another good thing is that we eat/drink all those items- except the Sierra Mist. We don't drink much soda, let alone buy it at the store. But it was free. You hear me? FREE. I couldn't pass it up. I figured if we gave it away, it'd be worth it.
Just to break it down even more, the cereal was $.49 a box, the Fuze drinks were free, and the Sun Chips were $1 a bag. Ryan's favorite chip and I could afford to get him more than 1 bag at a time. Those things are expensive!

I'm excited to keep scouring out the deals and finding items we love for dirt cheap prices. I'll let you know if I have any more cool finds!

Chicago

2011-04-19T15:20:00.001-07:00

For work, Ryan needs to get some continuing education credits each year. There's lots of ways to attain those, but one is by going to conferences held around the country. Every other year, Ryan's employer pays for him to go and Ryan chose it to be this year. I hate being home alone and I really wanted us all to take some sort of vacation aside from visiting family. So, we bought my plane ticket and Rhys and I went with Daddy to Chicago, Illinois. I was really looking forward to it in hopes that my parents could come visit us for a day (they live 4 hours away), but that didn't happen.

I've been to Chicago lots in my childhood and I was looking forward to experiencing it as an adult. I was also looking forward to seeing parts that I've never seen. I've pretty much only gone to Wrigley Field, US Cellular Field (where the White Sox play, but pretty sure it was called something different back then) and the Chicago Temple. Luckily, we stayed in the heart of downtown. We stayed at a fancy hotel called the Palmer House Hilton. It's an historic and iconic building in downtown Chicago. Anyway, when we told people we were staying there we only heard good things.

The flight there was a little tricky- involving a 3 hour delay, which meant that we didn't get to our hotel until 3 AM Chicago time. With a one-year old who was beyond exhausted, it made it extra fun. We lucked out and were able to get a seat for him. So, he slept in his car seat, on his stomach with his knees where his bum should be. I know I should have strapped him in, but he slept beautifully the whole way there. I figured if the plane was going down, being strapped in a car seat wasn't going to provide much extra protection.

We made it fine and enjoyed ourselves in while we were there. It was hard on Rhys, with his new found freedom of walking. Our hotel room was tiny and the floors were uneven. Not to mention, we felt cooped up half the time. His schedule was off and it was hard to entertain a toddler in such a fancy place. He wasn't super happy most of the time, but he managed. He had two favorite things to do. One was swimming. So I took full advantage of that while we wasted time for Ryan to get back from classes.

One night before bedtime, we had Daddy come join us for some swimming fun. It's a lot more fun with two people to throw him around.

One great thing about the trip was that we didn't have to pay for any of our dinners while we were there. We were able to get a nice selection of Chicago restaurants. Our first night we had to go have our Chicago pizza. Now, I grew up with two parents who are from Chicago. My dad is a die-hard Chicago pizza lover. Even going to the extremes of driving to Chicago (4 hours, like I said earlier) on Christmas Eve, pick up some uncooked pizzas from his favorite pizza place and drive back. Pizza was our tradition for Christmas Eve dinner growing up. So, needless to say, I know my Chicago pizza. When I moved to Utah for college, I was shocked when everyone referred to the deep dish pizza as the Chicago pizza. You see, I grew up eating extra thin pizza from Chicago, with sweet sauce, cut into squares. That's the only way I knew it. I was excited to find a pizza place a block away that had my thin pizza. It was delicious.

Unfortunately I didn't get too many pictures, except for Rhys, of course. Our last day there, we were flying out at 10 PM, so we had all day to explore the city. Ryan skipped going to his conference and spent the time with us. We walked to Navy Pier. It's a touristy pier that's right on Lake Michigan. It was about a 30 minute walk from where we were staying, but we just followed the lake to get there, so it was pretty. Unfortunately, it was really foggy that day, so we couldn't see too far out. Apparently the Chicago skyline is amazing from Navy Pier, but we could not see it.

On Navy Pier there is a Children's Museum. Finally, a place where Rhys could walk around and touch anything he wanted without getting told no. We did it as a precursor to his birthday and made it his birthday celebration. (His birthday was the next day). Lucky for us, because babies 1 and older cost money. Missed it by 24 hours. Rhys had an absolute blast. We would take him to rooms that were age appropriate and let him chose where he wanted to go. He was having the time of his life. I wish we had something similar here. He loved exploring and seeing all the other kids. It was the highlight of the trip for me (and him).
The flight home wasn't too bad. Except Chicago O'Hare Airport is stupid. We asked if the plane was full and the lady at the gate told us it wasn't. So, we asked if we could move around so that we could get a third seat by us for Rhys. She said she had to ask her supervisor who told her that we would have to buy an extra seat to do that. It made me so mad for some reason. I've never been told that before. Most of the time people are really easy going and make it possible for kids to do that. I feel it makes everyone happy on the plane, so you don't have a screaming baby on board. But whatever. I'm still annoyed by it, clearly. Everything worked out great, Rhys slept in our arms the whole flight. And then slept through the transition of getting our luggage, going to car and driving home from Vegas. We were so glad:)

All in all it was a fun trip. I'm glad we went and got to see a part of the country that we don't get to see too often. And it was Rhys' sixth state that he's been to in his short first year of life. Too fun!

Crafts

2011-03-26T14:58:00.000-07:00

Since I'm home more, I have been having a blast working on lots of crafts. I love that I have more time and that I can actually finish a project. It's always nice to have something else to do besides cleaning the house constantly. I'm not really that good, my ideas are ALWAYS better than the final outcome, but it's still fun. So, I thought I'd share some of the things that I've been working on.

This is a Christmas Calendar that I made. The boxes on there are matchstick boxes- not sure what I'm going to do with all those matchsticks. I covered them with paper and they slide open to put a treat inside or whatever you would like! They're on a magnetic board, so as we countdown, we can just take the box off.

This is what I made to hold our Christmas cards. I never know what to do with all the ones we get, so I saw this crafty idea. I got some cheap frames from a second hand store, spray painted them white. Then I ran some necklace wire throughout them for the cards to hang off. The cards are held onto the wire with clips.

This is what I made my parents for their Christmas present. It's a star photo album. When you first get it, it looks like any other album, but...

you can open it up and display it as a star. It's made all from scrapbook card stock and was surprisingly simple to make. And it looks way cool.

I found these gems at a second hand store for $1 each, I thought it'd be fun to decorate them...

I just painted them red and Mod Podged on some scrapbook paper and there you go! Not too exciting, but I think they're fun:)

Last but not least, I also found these little boxes at a second hand store and wanted to see what I could do with them...

I turned them into a picture frame. I spray painted them white, and then decorated them up with scrapbook paper and such. The pictures can come out, so I'm not stuck with the same pictures forever. My only regret is that I didn't paint them an off-white color. These are in my kitchen above the cabinets and the white is so bright compared to my brown cabinets, but it's not like we'll live here forever:)

My next projects all involve a sewing machine... I just need to read the instructions and figure it all out. I want to make us Christmas stockings and Rhys a quiet book. Oh and I am still working on Rhys' never ending scrapbook!! Hopefully, I'll have more projects to share soon.

Videos of Rhys

2011-03-18T14:59:00.000-07:00

I mainly put these up on the blog for the Grandmas to be able to see some Rhys. Do not feel inclined to watch these, they're not THAT exciting:)

Rhys Crawling!

Jumping in his bed- just thought he was cute!!

Late Christmas Post

2011-01-17T14:02:00.000-08:00

I figure I should update this thing again. Christmas was an absolute blast. We had lots of visitors and lots of family time that made it special. Ryan's brother and his family came to spend the holiday with us, as well as Ryan's mom. One of my closest friends from high school and her husband stayed one night on their way to California. All in all it was a super fun weekend. Filled with fondue, Settlers of Catan and feeding some ducks. Oh and the tree was so full of presents that we had to rearrange the furniture to accommodate for Christmas morning!

Rhys had a pretty good Christmas day! He didn't have a clue what was going on and ripped some paper a little bit. But he enjoyed all his presents (and still does). I think his favorite thing he got was the bag that Grandma Eileen's gift came in. He played with that bag all morning! I can't blame him, it was a really cute bag.

Here he is "opening" up one of his presentsRhys with all the presents he got! (including the pjs)

Rhys and Daddy after all the presents are open!

Just trying to read my new book (that I still love and don't like to put down)
Rhys had a blast watching his cousin Mylie play around our house. He loves her and was always seeing what she was doing. She was so good to him too. Always sharing toys and talking to him. It was really cute to see them interact. Rhys also got over his stranger anxiety for the weekend and let Grandma and his Aunt Angie hold him a lot. I was shocked but also very relieved that he now likes some of his relatives. He still needs to be a little better about being around other people. But it's a process we're learning.

A couple days before Christmas we went to the mall to get a picture with Santa. I figured Rhys would absolutely hate it, but he did pretty good. However, there were no smiles from the event. He was fine until Mylie got on Santa's lap with him. Neither one of them liked that experience.

That's pretty much all for now. I'll try to be better at this, but it's not on my priority list. I do have some blog post ideas, so we'll see if they make it on here! Until then...

Hair Cut

2010-11-16T13:36:00.000-08:00

A couple of weekends ago, we decided to cut Rhys' hair. Most of his infant hair had fallen out or rubbed off except for the very top. He had this little tuft of hair that was always sticking up. People commented on it all the time (which could mean he looked dumb or cute) and we liked it because it was the hair he was born with. After debating it for awhile, one of my friends told me that if we want to save some of his hair, we should cut it before it falls out. So, that was the deciding factor. I was sad at first, but it had to be done. Now we wish we had some the dark hair he was born with. His hair had completely lightened up since he was born and is now growing in platinum blond!

Before:

After:

5 months

2010-09-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

My baby is all grown up. No, really. For the past 4 months I've enjoyed saying my baby's age. I think 4 months and under sounds young, infantile, newbornish. It just sounds like tiny little baby to me. But now, my baby is 5 months. That sounds old. Baby's 5 months, start really rolling around, sitting up, etc, etc. My baby is still just little. He's not big enough to be 5 months old. Does any of that make sense?This is his "gym," I walked out to find him playing with it this way instead of his feet underneath it.

Oh well, he's getting bigger. He's still just as adorable as ever. Even with his hair falling out, he's still our little guy. He just gets more fun as each day progresses. I think everyday he does something and I say to him, "that's a new thing, good job buddy." It's just amazing to see him grow and develop in front of my very eyes.

I forgot to post his 4 month stats from his check-up. A few weeks ago, he weighted 14 lbs 14 oz (average) and was 25 1/2 inches long (above average). We're hoping he has my Schofield tall genes. We were very pleased with this news. Except all his onesies are getting too short, but have plenty of room for his belly to grow. He is a blast. He laughs a ton now. He laughs at Ryan the most, but I'm getting him to laugh more and more these days. Just talking to him will set him off. Once you find a phrase and voice that he likes, the more you imitate it, the cuter the giggles. He can roll over, but he's not a really rolly guy. Which surprises me becasue I figured once he got going, I couldn't get him to stop. He's just hesitant as he does it. Ryan has only seen him do a hand full of times. Lately, when we get him in the middle of the night, he has been on his stomach. I think he gets stuck and it wakes him up.
Speaking of nights, his sleeping has gotten better. We have been doing the "cry it out" thing in the night. If he wakes up before 6 hours, we let him cry. We only had to do it for a few days before he caught on. The first night was a nightmare for me, but now it's all good. We start his bedtime routine around 7 PM and he's usually asleep by 8PM. This week he hasn't been waking up until after 4 at the earliest. If he gets up after 5, he's usually awake and wants to go, but I make him go back to sleep at least until 7. Our next goal is to get him to sleep straight from 8 PM to 7 AM, but we'll see. Any tips to make that happen? I read that technically "sleeping through the night" is from 12AM to 5PM. That's the true definition of it for babies. I also read that babies should be sleeping 12 hours at night. Rhys gets about 11 with a break in the middle. Whatever, it will come with time. Sometimes I look forward to hearing him cry because I know he's all right and I get some extra cuddle time. My favorite is when we lay him down, we put him on his back and he immediately turns onto his side.He loves to scream and just loves the sound of his own voice. He loves playing with toys and putting anything and everything into his mouth. He's starting to take an interest in our food and it's getting harder to eat with him on my lap because he'll grab at whatever catches his eye. He has also taken an interest in the TV. So, sometimes I feel guilty and turn off the Kardashians, just so he doesn't see that stuff at such a young age:). He grabs his feet all the time now and I've only see him suck on his toes once. But that was super cute. He's also the jumpiest baby I've every seen. So many times when he's waking up from a nap or laying on the floor, I'll got up to him and he will jump a mile. Do all babies do that? He also HATES noise. It scares him so bad. I thought babies were supposed to enjoy the sounds of hair dryers and vacuums. Not my baby. They make him cry. It's so sad to see the things that scare him. I blew my nose the other day, not a loud blow mind you, it was really quiet and he jumped a mile and started to get cry face. I stopped it before it got worse. Are all babies like that?

Sorry to bore you with these little tidbits on our pride and joy. I just want to make sure I write this stuff down somewhere so I can remember it!!

Iowa Trip

2010-09-10T14:45:00.001-07:00

For my birthday last month, Ryan said I could take a trip to Iowa with Rhys. We both really wanted Rhys to meet his Grandpa Schofield and thought that it would be a fun trip for us. So, a few weeks ago, Rhys and I hopped a plane in Vegas and sped off to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Rhys did absolutely great on both plane rides.I was so nervous on our first flight because I had never flown with a baby before. I could just see him screaming and freaking out and being bored the whole time. He slept most of the way on the plane ride to Iowa. I was especially worried about his ears during take off and landing. Those were the only times he would not suck on anything. I tried a bottle, a binky (which was in vain because he just licks binkies) and nursing. Nothing would get him to suck. But he didn't act bothered by his ears, so I figured it would be ok. We had an amazing flight home. Rhys slept the whole plane ride (in my arms) and the whole time in the car on the ride home. Granted the flight was at 9 PM and we didn't get home until 2 AM, but still. I was very proud of him.:)

We didn't do anything too exciting in Iowa. We just hung out with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma spoiled Rhys as much as she could (and as much as would fit in my suitcase). She even taught him this new game, where you hang off her legs upside down. He absolutely loved it. If she put him back on her legs to lay down, he would kick off her stomach until he was arched off her knees.

He even liked to suck his thumb upside down.

Whenever my dad would walk into the room, Rhys would just stare at him. He would follow him with his eyes wherever my dad went. If Rhys was on the floor, he would arch his back and head so he could see my dad. Even if it was upside down, he was always looking at Grandpa. While there, I was able to look through my parents old pictures that I've only seen once before, ever. That was a blast. I also had to clean out all my old stuff that I left in my room when I moved out. My parents are planning on moving (to Vegas!!) sometime and are really starting to clean up their house and figure out what they want to bring with them. I was also able to visit with some of my high school friends. It was fun introducing them to Rhys and catching up on their lives.

My parents loved having Rhys around and still tell me they miss hearing his squeals. He was a great baby on the trip. The only bummer about the trip was that Ryan wasn't there. I've decided I'm never doing that again. I can't be away from Ryan for that long. We both had a hard time with it. Next time, Ryan's coming:)

Just reading my book on Mom's bed

Playing with toys that Grandma bought (this is right before bed and we swaddle him so we didn't put him in pjs because it was really hot in Iowa)

I love this pic because he's holding onto the side of the bucket...
I guess I should of known it was because he wanted to suck on the whole bucket, not just a little toy. That's too easy.

Rhys Laughing

2010-07-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

Pretty sure this is the cutest thing in the world...

3 Months

2010-07-13T10:06:00.001-07:00

Our Rhys is now 3 months old. He is just getting more fun as each day passes. He is becoming so much more interactive. He is usually in a great mood and is super smiley. I love to just talk to him and get his little reactions. He will almost always react when we talk to him and play with him. It feels great to finally be validated. He loves to play peek-a-boo. He is making new noises everyday. He's starting to get the idea of reaching for things. If I hold a rattle in front of him, he'll go for it eventually. You can tell he's thinking about it, but he's still a little shaky on grabbing it. Of course, anything that lands in his fingers, goes directly to his mouth. Last night I held my hand in front of his face and I saw him following it with his eyes. Without any hesitation, he just grabbed one of my fingers. I'm so proud:) I'm pretty sure I'll think him grabbing at things won't be cute for long... when he's trying to get everything in sight. But for now it's fun.

He's also getting a lot stronger. I've always felt that he's been pretty strong, but now I'm not as worried about his head falling back anymore. He can hold it up pretty well. It still gets wobbly sometimes, but not too bad. His leg are strong and he uses them a lot. He is constantly pushing off anything his feet touch. He is wiggly little guy and I'm a little nervous about it to be honest. At church I was talking to a girl who has a baby 5 days younger than Rhys. She was changing her babies diaper and her baby was just laying there as still and calm as can be. I couldn't even imagine that. If we lay Rhys down, he is constantly moving. He will never just lay there when we change his diaper... he always has to be moving or looking around. He's going to be a curious little kid I have a feeling.

He's getting bigger. And by bigger, I mean heavier. He's not a very chunky baby, but I can feel him getting heavier. We think he's around 13 pounds. He's just now fitting perfectly into his 0-3 month size clothes. Some are going to be too short soon, but they fit great on his body.

It's just amazing to see him grow and learn new things everyday. I love it!!

And here's some video for the Grandmas or anyone else who wants to see it. The first one is longer and it's what Rhys does everytime we lay him on his changing table. It's pretty much his favorite place in the house... Even though he catipulted himself off of it a month ago.

The second video is just him talking with Daddy. If he sees the camera, he stops performing, so that's why they're at side angles. Enjoy!!

California & Rhys' Baby Blessing

2010-07-08T13:24:00.000-07:00

For the Fourth of July weekend, we packed up the family and headed to "Sunny" California. Two of Ryan's siblings live in Southern Cali and another one of his sisters and her family was going down for the weekend, so we decided to tag along. We also thought it would be cool to get Rhys blessed while we were there. We weren't sure if we would have anyone come if we did it in St. George, so we brought the blessing to the family.

We had a fun trip. It was great to be with family and to spend time with them. Rhys had a lot of firsts on this trip...

His first time at the pool... he was super upset when we got there because his sleeping schedule was off. So, Ryan gave him a bottle and Rhys slept in his daddy's arms the whole time we were at the pool.

We also went to an Angels baseball game. They were playing Kansas City and lost, but going to ball games is a perfect summer activity and was fun nonetheless. I was a little worried about Rhys the whole time because he wasn't in his element. He did great until the last inning. It got too loud for him and he was not a happy camper. He was just sleepy and needed to go to bed.

On the Fourth of July, Rhys was given a wonderful blessing by Ryan. It was just perfect. He wore the same outfit that Ryan was blessed in. We're so happy that it fit. It was a newborn size and fit him pretty perfectly. Again, right when we were about to give him his blessing, he got really fussy because he was hungry. It always works that way. So, he got blessed while drinking his bottle. It kept him calm and also everyone else, so Ryan was able to take his time and give him a great blessing. Unfortunately, I didn't get many pictures of him on his blessing day. Hopefully I can get some from the family.

Rhys also was able to enjoy his first fireworks show. Of course he slept right through it. But that's ok. He'll get to see them next year... or even this year on the 24th. I love fireworks and was super excited to see them.
On Monday morning, we gathered up the family and went to the beach. The beach, might I add, was absolutely freezing. I've developed some thin blood from living in hot areas, and when it's 60 degrees on the water with no sun, that gets cold. Rhys again slept through the whole experience. I'm actually glad because then he didn't get sand on him or anything and was able to be tightly wrapped in our arms.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of one more of Rhys' firsts. The first time he experiences car problems on the freeway. While driving home on Monday we got a blown out tire in the middle of Death Valley. It was pretty scary, but we were truly blessed. Ryan was able to pull off immediately after it happened. Rhys got scared when we heard the tire blow, but I'm not sure if it was from the tire or from Ryan yelling. We have AAA so we were able to get towed (up to 100 miles). We waited on the freeway for about 30 minutes before the tow truck got there. It got pretty hot in the car while we were waiting, but we put Rhys in front of the vents so he was as happy as a clam while we waited. We were able to get towed to Vegas (98 miles) where we were planning to stay at my brothers house and then get a new tire the next morning. Well, it turns out that Vegas, has tire places that are open 24 hours a day. The driver took us there, had the tire replaced and we were on our way home. Whew. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. I wanted to get a picture of Rhys in the tow truck, but we were trying to figure out what to do, so I completely forgot!

All in all it was a great trip. We are so grateful to Ryan's family for the time they spent with us. It was great to see them all and for Rhys to meet most of his Whitaker cousins!! Can't wait to do it again!

Two Months

2010-06-14T15:06:00.001-07:00

Our little Rhys is now two months old. Oh, he is growing up too fast. He has absolutely been a blast since he's been here and he's getting more fun each day. He has been a great baby so far. Of course he gets fussy, but what baby doesn't. He's been smiling for about a month now, but they're now coming more often and out of the middle of nowhere. I'll lay him on the bed for a minute and walk away, and when I come back he'll be smiling at nothing. I love it. He has 2 adorable dimples, but one is bigger than the other. He's really starting to "talk" and coo at us. He's just a fun, fun baby. Oh and his biggest accomplishment so far is that he rolled over last week!! It was totally a fluke during tummy time, but it's a start right??

He had his 2 month appointment last week and he is now 10 lbs 15 oz and 22 1/2 inches long. He's growing now which is great. We had a little trouble with him at first with gaining weight, but now he's taking off. He's definitely not a chubby baby, but he's getting more rolls on him. We are just having the time of our lives.

Sleep is getting a little better. He usually falls asleep around 10 PM and won't wake up until 3:30 or 4. Then after that he's up a little more often, but it helps to get that longer chunk of sleep. I can usually get him to sleep until 8, but that means he's sleeping in our bed or on me after 6 AM. But if it helps me get that extra hour, I'll take it. We have fun going for run/walks every morning. He loves it when we go for walks in our neighborhood. He always sits there so content and they're usually 30-40 minute walks. If I want to run, we go to a trail close by. He doesn't stay so content during these, unless I'm running. Unfortunately, I'm still working on my stamina, so running the entire time we're out is pretty impossible for me. But I'm working on it:)

I officially turned in my two weeks notice at work today. As of June 26th, I will no longer be a Wal-Mart employee. It feels weird, but this new adventure in our lives will be great.

Just wanted to give a little update and I wanted to post some video... if anyone's interested in watching my baby just lay there and do things that probably only we think are cute:) Enjoy!!

Our little Rhys Monkey

2010-04-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

The day we have been waiting for has finally arrived. Our little baby Rhys Michael (pronounced Reese, it's the original Welsh spelling) was born on Saturday April 10 at 12:09 PM. He weighed 7 lbs, 12 oz and was 20 inches long. It all started last Friday. We were 3 days past my due date and getting overly anxious. I had an induction scheduled for the next Tuesday and did not want that to happen, so I was extra anxious to start labor on my own. My mom was here and 2 of my brothers were in town so we all went out to eat. We were joking about how my water was going to break right there at the restaurant. It was a blast hanging out with them, but my water definitely didn't break. After dinner my mom, Ryan and I went home and just hung out. The baby started acting all crazy and was moving and kicking unlike anything I had felt before. We decided to start getting ready for bed around 10:30 and I just wasn't feeling right. I had started to feel some random pains and that's when I said the infamous words to Ryan... Something is wrong, I don't feel right. We went to bed and I started kinda timing the contractions I was getting. They weren't very consistent, ranging between 5 to 7 minutes apart. So, I just tried to get some sleep, but ended up switching from laying in bed to pacing the floor in our bedroom. At about 2, Ryan woke up and helped me time and breath through contractions. I had planned on going natural for awhile and we started going through the exercises we had kinda practiced. I remember thinking as I was lying there listening to Ryan that there was no way I could go through this pain. It was already hurting and I knew that it was only going to get worse as the process continued.

At around 5 AM we were timing contractions at 2 to 3 minutes apart. Since this was our first pregnancy, we had no idea what to expect. We decided that 2 to 3 minutes apart was good enough to go to the hospital. We woke up my mom and all went down to the hospital. We got to the hospital around 5:40 and I was already dilated to a 4. They said that I was definitely in active labor and asked if I wanted to be admitted and have my water broken. We decided to stay, but I refused to have my water broken. I was scared of feeling those contractions more intense. Pretty much the rest of the labor consisted of me laying in bed as still as I possibly could and Ryan coaching me through each contraction. I didn't give into drugs. In fact when we got to the hospital, they asked me what I wanted to do and I said, I wanted to go natural. The nurses all seemed pretty supportive and the issue of drugs was never brought up.

Let me just say that Ryan was absolutely perfect during the whole labor. I could not have done it without him. Our nurse told us afterward that I was hypnotized by him. He just talked me through each contraction and kept encouraging me that I could do it. At one point he would put pressure on my knees during contractions to help ease pain. He did this consistently and for a long period. I know it had to be uncomfortable for him, but he did it without hesitation. I really am so grateful for him. All the nurses kept telling him how impressed they were with his coaching. Our nurse also told us that it was the best natural childbirth she'd seen for awhile.

At around 11:40, I started pushing. Pushing was hard work. But we made it through and it didn't seem like that long. Once Rhys was born, I just laid there exhausted from everything and was so glad it was over. I would definitely do a natural childbirth again. Especially now that I know what to expect. It was such an amazing experience to feel everything that was happening with my body. I felt like I had control over the situation and I told everyone what I wanted to do, instead of the other way around. I broke my water on my own, I told them when I needed to push. I also feel like it was a much better experience for Rhys. He was ultra alert right after birth, which all the nurses commented on. I'm really glad that we chose to do it naturally. Once he got cleaned up, Ryan and I were trying to figure out his name. We kept looking at him wondering what his name was. We both said that we saw him as a Rhys (one of the names on our short list). There was really no doubt in our minds, even though we didn't make it official until that night. Ryan's dad was named Richard Michael Whitaker, Ryan is named Ryan Michael Whitaker, and we liked the idea of having our little son named R. Michael Whitaker as well. We both felt that this little guy should be Rhys Michael Whitaker.

This little guy has just been such a joy in our lives since his arrival. We just stare at him, amazed by the miracle that we have witnessed. He's such a sweet baby and we absolutely love him. We had a slight jaundice scare at first, but that went away. We're still working on nursing, but it's getting easier for both of us as we keep practicing. Neither of us know what we're doing, but we are so happy to try and take care of Rhys the best we can. He's just perfect.

Las Vegas!!

2010-03-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

For our third anniversary, Ryan and I decided to take a quick little trip down to Vegas. We figured it was probably the last time we'd be able to get away like this. Last weekend, we packed up and drove the whole 2 hours to Vegas. We went down Friday night and spent time with my brother and his family. It was a blast seeing them, as always. We stayed the night with them and had a leisurely morning just chilling at their house.
In the afternoon, Ryan and I headed for the strip. We got a room at the Monte Carlo and tickets to see Lance Burton, Master Magician. We walked around the strip for a little bit, got something to eat and then relaxed in our room. I just can't walk as much as I used to. Lance Burton was great. Well, it was a little cheesy, but we didn't mind attending a family oriented show in Vegas. To give him credit, we couldn't figure out how he did any of his tricks. The whole time, I kept thinking I was paying attention really hard and knew what was coming, but still, the guy fooled me. So, good job Lance for an entertaining show.

The next day we stayed in the hotel until we had to check out, stopped at the buffet and then headed home. It was a nice, relaxing trip that we both needed and wanted. Ryan kept saying that it felt like we had been gone longer than a day. That's when you know it was a good trip!!

37 weeks

2010-03-20T17:35:00.000-07:00

I'm finally full term. So, if the baby wants to come, he is welcome

anytime. But I'm pretty sure it won't be for at least 2 or even 3 more weeks. Whenever he does decide it's time, hopefully we'll feel somewhat ready. As it gets closer and closer, I don't think that we'll ever feel truly ready. (The first pic is 36 weeks and the second pic is 37 weeks... I think black is definitely more slimming).

Things have been going well. Only a little over 2 weeks left and I'm still feeling pretty good. I'm definitely feeling more uncomfortable as each day passes. Sleeping is probably the worst time of the day for me. I dread going to bed. My hips just constantly hurt and throb from sleeping on my side, so that wakes me up multiple times a night. The baby keeps on wiggling and it's starting to hurt. I thought as he got bigger, the movements were supposed to die down, but I haven't noticed that. He has a favorite rib of mine that is constantly being stretched into or bumped into. Sometimes he hits it just right and it makes me jump out of nowhere. It's fun to get weird looks when that happens. He also has his occasional knee or elbow that loves to poke out of my stomach. That hurts too sometimes with his bony body poking out. Even though it hurts, I'm still really grateful for this opportunity and for this baby growing inside of me. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I really don't have much to complain about. This has been a relatively easy pregnancy and it hasn't made me never want to be pregnant again. I will definitely miss having this little person inside of me. It will feel good to get my body back though.

At my last Dr. appointment, I was one centimeter dilated and 50% effaced. Which is a little sad because at the appointment before that, I was told I was 70% effaced. So, my faith in these measurements is very minimal. I did have some pretty mild, steady contractions just last night, but nothing to get all excited about. Ryan kept telling me the baby was coming, but it was just false labor. No big deal. Just my body preparing for the big day. I'm pretty convinced I'll be at least a week late. This way, as my due date comes and goes, I'll just know that I was right the whole time.

I only have 3 to 5 work days left. In fact, if I choose 3 or if the baby comes early, Tuesday will be my last day. It's crazy and weird to think about, but I'm excited at the same time. I decided to take a vacation the week before I'm due. So, I'll have 10 days off and if I feel up to it, I can go back for 2 days. I just don't know if I'll feel up for it. It's all up in the air at this point. I'm undecided if I should work those bonus 2 days. It will extend my leave of absence out one more week if I do, but on the other hand, those 2 days back would be Easter weekend. Oh, too hard of decisions. I'll just take it one day at a time. Either way, work is almost dunzo!!

The nursery is all set up and ready to go. We decided on the Blue and Brown set from the last post. It looks really nice and I'm pleased with it. Now, all we need is a baby to put it to good use!!

Baby Bedding

2010-01-18T11:05:00.000-08:00

As Ryan and I prepare for our little one, we've been doing lots of shopping and making decisions on what we need. The one thing that we're having a hard time deciding on is the baby bedding. I realize that the bedding is mostly just for us. It doesn't really matter to the baby. I just want a cute nursery and one that doesn't look feminine. With boy bedding, a majority of it is sport and animal themed. Both of which, I've never been too crazy about. I've also toyed with the idea of my mom making us a bedding set, but I cannot find any fabric that I like. We've decided to just buy something that's cute. So, I need help. We've narrowed it down to 2 different bedding sets. They are completely opposite.

The first one is a classic boy bedding set. It looks classy and nice and I think it screams boy. Plus, it would look great in the espresso colored crib we have. It also wouldn't be too hard too coordinate with because it's pretty simple.

This picture is courtesy of Babybeddingtown.com

The next one is an animal, sports theme. Here's the deal. I thought I hated the animal or sport theme idea until I saw this bedding in Babies R Us. It's animals playing sports. Ryan loves it because it's two of his favorite things. And after seeing this set in person, the picture does not do it justice. We both really like this set too. And it would be really easy to coordinate with because animal and sports are everywhere!

So, we can't decide. We need input. There is only a $10 difference in price, so that's not a big deal. We just don't know what kind of bedding we want. What do you think?

As for the pregnancy, it's still going well. I'm now 29 weeks (seven months) and in the third (and last) trimester. I feel the baby move constantly and I love seeing my stomach do weird unnatural movements from him. It's such a fun time to have this little life inside of me. I'm starting to feel more pain in my lower back and sitting in a chair for long periods of time gets more and more uncomfortable. I almost died by the end of church yesterday. Good thing I have a job that requires me to be on my feet a lot. That may also have something to do with the fact that sitting isn't as comfortable for me. Besides that, everything is going well.

I'm amazed at how fast it has gone by. It's going to come up so fast. I feel like we have so much left to do before the baby comes. Hopefully we'll get everything ready in time.

It's a Boy!!

2009-12-07T15:48:00.000-08:00

Now that the word is out, I guess it's time to tell the blog world our big news. Ryan and I are having a baby!! We're having a baby boy in April. I'm at 23 weeks (almost 6 months). We're so excited and can't wait to meet our new little bundle of joy. Well, we can wait a little bit longer...

We found out that I was pregnant on Aug. 3- my birthday! That was a fun present. We wanted to wait to tell people until at least the first trimester was over. My mom always told me that if you want your pregnancy to go by fast, don't tell anyone right away. The longer you wait to tell people, the faster it will go by. So, taking my mother's advice, we decided to hold off. The first trimester wasn't super fun. I felt sick almost all the time. But luckily, I never threw up. I just felt nauseous constantly. The severity of how I felt differed from day to day. I always felt better at work, but I think that was because I didn't have time to sit and think about how bad I felt. I haven't experienced many cravings and in the first trimester, I could only eat whatever sounded semi-good. Cooking wasn't super fun because the thought of food made me feel sick. There were days when only one thing sounded good to eat, but the next day that meal would sound awful. I'm glad we're past those days. Luckily there's only a few foods that were ruined for me because of this... Spinach Artichoke dip (good thing I never really eat it anyway), a restaurant here called "Haven" (just driving by it makes my stomach churn) and hamburgers never sound good, but I'll eat them if I have to.

My first doctor appointment was when I was ten weeks along. At that appointment they could not hear a heartbeat at all, so they took out a mini-ultrasound thing and showed us the heartbeat. That was very anti-climatic because I could not see the dot they were telling me was my baby. They also measured me and said I was actually 2 weeks behind what we thought I was. At this point, I was done being excited about this pregnancy. We felt like it was going backwards. And with how I was feeling, I was not happy about feeling this way for one more month.

Luckily, time went by quickly and we still didn't tell anyone. With each appointment I set up, I thought, we can just wait to tell people after the next appointment. I wasn't really showing at all and we don't live that close to family that we see all the time. This kept going on until we made our appointment for the ultrasound. That's when we knew we could wait just one more month to let people know our good news. Right about this time, we were done with keeping the secret. But we did it! We found out that we were having a boy on November 18. That's when we could finally spill the beans. Ryan was so excited to call and tell everyone. For some reason, I wasn't as excited. I wanted him to just let everyone know. When I told my family, it made it more exciting to me. It's been fun to talk with my mom about it. I still feel weird telling people I'm pregnant. In fact, I only told a handful of people from work and have just let the news spread. It just feels awkward for some reason.

Everyone's been asking how I feel. I feel great now. I just feel normal, except I feel extremely fat. This is the heaviest I've been in my whole life, and I don't love that feeling. And I know it's only gonna get worse from here. It took me a couple months to flip that switch in my brain that says weight gain is ok. I'm still in normal clothes and am dreading the day when the maternity clothes are a must. I just don't want to spend money on clothes I'll only wear for 4 more months. Some of my pants are getting a little tighter and not as comfortable, but they still fit fine.

We haven't picked out a name yet and the more I think about it, the more I hate thinking of names. It's a lot harder than I imagined and boys names are impossible. We had girls names picked out and both of us were already sold on a girls name. We'll come up with one eventually. I think what will happen is we'll pick out a couple we like and when we see the baby, we'll decide then. I'm not too worried about having a name picked out today.

We're excited about this new adventure we're about to take in our lives. We can't wait to see what lies ahead.

We're Alive

2009-08-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

The guilt of not updating this blog has finally overtaken me. We've been really busy settling into new jobs and our new life in St. George. We're having a blast living here. We like it more and more each day.
Our summer's been pretty fun. We've made a few trips up north for some family and friend fun. We were able to go up for the Fourth of July weekend and spend time with all of Ryan's immediate family. I amazingly got that weekend off, so it was even more special. We also got to see some of Ryan's high school friends.
We also went up for my friend Karen's wedding. One of my closest friends from Iowa got married in the Draper Temple and we were lucky enough to spend that day with her. It was so neat seeing that experience and meeting her new husband. We're so happy for her and for their new life together.

Ryan's been more than busy with his new job. He's been traveling a lot to different satellite offices all over Southern Utah and he's now adding Vegas to his itinerary for a few months. He's doing great and his boss only has positive things to say about him (like I'm surprised). He's learned so much and has grown so much in his clinical skills in just a few short months. We've been happy with the experience he's getting, even though he's been putting in some long, long days.

As for Wal-Mart, they have finally taken pity on us poor Assistant Managers. They've been testing out a new schedule for management in other markets and they've discovered that Assistant Managers actually like having a life outside of Wal-Mart. So, at the beginning of this month we started a new rotation of schedules. I now work 3, 12 hour days, followed by 3 days off. It's been really nice during the days off. I actually have time to do other things and have now taken up new craft projects. The 3 days on are a little more stressful than I would prefer, but we're still all getting used to our routines. The cool thing about this schedule is that I can plan out the whole next year or so. I actually get Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve off. (Even though I'm still a little skeptical that something is going to change so I don't.) Either way, I feel like it's about time they revamped our scheduling. They were using us for too many things and taking advantage of being salaried. I'm enjoying my store just fine. I feel like I got a lot more respect right off the bat here than I did at my previous store. And I also feel a lot more appreciated. That's been a really nice transition.

My newest craft project was an idea I got off TV and thought I'd try it. I think it turned out pretty good. Let me know what you think. It's just a simple picture frame where you place ribbon where the glass goes. Then you can just slide pictures throughout the ribbon. It's a fun new way to display photos. The picture don't quite do it justice.

Our home in St. George

2009-05-22T14:40:00.000-07:00

We made it. We are here in beautiful St. George, Utah and ready to enjoy our next year here. We drove up last Saturday from Tucson. Our brother-in-law Troy flew down just to help us drive up. Lucky him, he was the one in the big Budget truck. The drive went very smooth and we made it up here in pretty good time. We were all a bit nervous for Troy during the whole drive, but he did well and the truck did well (except for the air conditioning going out). This week Ryan and I have been unpacking, hanging up decorations, spending way too much money and touring the city. It has been so nice to be able to spend this week together and get settled into our new home.

We really like our new home. It is very spacious compared to our last place. As we were unpacking, we realized we had plenty of stuff to fit into a 3 bedroom. I have no clue how I got it all into a one bedroom. I must be more organized than I think. There are definitely some quirks about the place. The last renter did something crazy to our walls, so there are big miscolored spots all over our walls. They're in weird places too- it's not like they hung up a picture and filled in the hole. We're not sure what happened. We're trying not to worry about it and it's less noticeable with our pictures up. Overall, we are excited about our new place and have plenty of room for visitors. So, please, feel free to drop by if you need a place to stay.

We really enjoy St. George already. Each day as we drove around, we both grew to love the city more. It's extremely smaller than Tucson and it feels so much more like home. We're excited about living here, nervous about work, but it should be good. Due to requests, we have posted a slideshow of pictures of our home. It's hard to capture everything in a picture, but I tried my best. We still have some decorating to do, but this is it for now!

Update

2009-04-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, it's been way too long since we actually paid attention to this thing. It's not like we don't have anything to report on, it's just that we've been busy. Ryan has been busy trying to finalize everything with his last semester of actual school work. He has different comprehensive exams he has to take, a national exam and he has to finish up his thesis project. He's been super busy with that and trying to balance it with his calling at church. I have been busy with work as usual, but when I do get a day off, the last thing I think about is this blog. But here we are. Ready to give an update of what we've been up to...

As most people know, we're moving to St. George, Utah next month. In March, we took a week off during Ryan's spring break to visit family and find a place to live. We took our trip up slowly and stopped to see two of my brothers and their families on our way up to St. George. That was a lot of fun and we're so happy we were able to spend time with them. Our time in St. George was super stressful, but we found a place to rent for a year. We're really excited about it. It's a 3 bedroom/2 bath town home with a 2 car garage. We can't wait to actually have some space to live. We figured after living in a one-bedroom apartment since we've been married, we can spoil ourselves and upgrade. And we're hoping to have space so we can have lots of visitors. Consider this a standing invitation! After our time in St. George we decided to rush up to Utah County to see some more family. Plus, we hadn't been to Utah since Oct. 2007, so we were excited to go back. We got to spend time with one of Ryan's sisters and her family and Ryan's mom. We also saw the rest of my brothers and their families (except one brother was missing, but his family wasn't). All in all, it was a successful, fun trip.

My bro Jeff and his wife Shar

We're planning on moving away from Tucson next month. We're aiming to leave around May 15th. It all depends on my work situation. Yes, I am getting a transfer. It has been such a hassle to get a transfer. I had no idea it would be this difficult. The Human Resource manager I've been "working" with up in Utah is brand new and has no clue what she is doing. I tried to contact her numerous times and didn't hear anything back. When we were up in Utah, I decided to just drop by the Wal-Mart market office to see if I could catch her. Luckily, it worked, but she gave me the run around and said it would be hard and that I needed to get some higher up's approval. So, I did. No big deal right? That was easy. I call her back- she tells me there are no openings in St. George and asks if I would be willing to step down and take a lower position (ie- cashier, not really a cashier but probably something similar). I told her I couldn't do that. She told me to call the store managers to see if they needed an assistant manager, yep, her job. So, I did. No big deal. The store manager I talked to was great and he put the wheels in motion up there. So, 2 weeks later, a few phone calls and unanswered emails, I finally found out that I got the transfer. I have a place to work in St. George. I'm so glad. We don't have any other specific details. I'm just glad I don't have to stress about not having a job.

So, slowly our move is finally in motion. We can't wait to get up there. I have a feeling this year isn't going to be super fun. Ryan is starting a new job and that's never fun. I'm starting at a new store, that's not easy. I'm just excited for a new start. It feels like we're getting out of the playing house stage and actually becoming established. It will also be nice to feel more settled and we'll hopefully be staying in the area for a while.

In other news, my store that I work for won Neighborhood Market of the Year for our Region (a few states in the west) and our Division (all the western states) and there was a nasty, humongous cockroach in our shower this week.

Things That Are Awesome

2009-01-31T14:19:00.001-08:00

The following are things that Ryan currently thinks are awesome. They are not necessarily, however, listed in order of awesomeness.

#1: My Skull Sweater

I was at the mall with Schuyler earlier this month and I was in the middle of telling her that I was tired of skulls on every shirt. I mean, skulls were maybe cool in 2007, but not any more. We then happened to enter Aeropostale and stumbled across a skull sweater all alone on a rack full of pants. A check of the price tag revealed that the skull sweater was marked down from $79.50 to $9.99. I couldn't stop laughing about the sweater and I pretty much had to buy it, despite Schuyler's protests. Blurry picture warning (it's the price tag):

#2: Hand Held Yahtzee

I've always loved Yahtzee. My sister Patrice and I used to play Yahtzee all the time. We even kept our old scorecards and would occasionally examine them to see who had the all-time highest score and such. Well, just this last month, I found that Schuyler has been holding out on me and actually OWNS an electronic hand-held Yahtzee. I've been in heaven ever since.

#3: The Biggest Loser

Schuyler and I have a DVR and we record a lot of shows. Of all the reality shows we watch, the Biggest Loser is my favorite. This particular season has been fun so far -- two teams of Mormons?! I'm hooked.

Happy New Year

2009-01-02T15:02:00.000-08:00

We'd like to explain our last post. The pictures were of a "saint" and a "george" implying that we're moving to St. George this May for Ryan's externship. We are so excited to get back to Utah, be closer to family and still have warm weather. Sorry if those pictures frightened anyone. Boy George was especially scary, that's why we chose him.

In other news, we had a wonderful Christmas. We wish we could have been with family, but we had a blast with just the two of us. We enjoyed a nice Arby's dinner for Christmas Eve. We were going to cook a roast, but got too lazy that night, so Arby's was our solution. I promise I'm not that bad of a wife usually. Christmas day we slept in, opened presents and saw the movie Doubt.We really liked the movie and even got free movie passes from it because of technical difficulties during the film. For Christmas dinner we grilled steak and shrimp (that's become our Christmas tradition). Hopefully in the next few years we'll be able to host Christmas at our house.

And the winner is...

2008-12-23T21:35:00.000-08:00

December Update

2008-12-17T20:49:00.001-08:00

We wanted to show you what we've been up to so far in December.

Ryan's mom came down for a quick one-day visit. It was so fun to spend time with her and Doug.

We spent most of the day at the Desert Museum. It's like a zoo, but it has the animals in their natural habitat. So you're pretty much just walking through the desert.

We watched a free-fly bird show- meaning there were wild hawks flying above us and swooping at us. If you look closely at this picture of Ryan, you can see the bird in the background. This was not my favorite part of the day. As you can see, Ryan was ecstatic. He loves the zoo.

Behind us is the cutest fox in the world. I fell in love with him. He was just so cute.

We've also been enjoying the Christmas season. We went to my work Christmas party on the 11th. It turned out well, even though it took place in our backroom. I got spoiled by the associates with gift cards and a winning lottery ticket ($5)!

Ryan also braved the drug wars going on in Nogales, Mexico to provide audiological services. Basically he volunteered to help get hearing aids to needy Mexicans.

This is the group Ryan went down with. Thankfully, none of them got shot. (There have been over 100 murders in Nogales this year and multiple shoot-outs in the streets.)

We're excited for the second half of the month and hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season as much as we are!

It's just that I'm bored...

2008-11-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged a few times this last month, so as not to disappoint the fans... Or just so I have something to post, I'll do a couple of them. Feel free to skip through. It's not that exciting!

Tag #1
This first one was a tag by one of my favorite friends Katie Glaz (that's what we call you Kate, no ier). Here you go...

Joys: I love coming home from work. There's nothing better than being home after being gone all day. I love running. I love the way I feel after I run. It makes me so content. I love being with my husband. I'm totally happy with anything as long as my husband is there with me

Fears: I'm terrified of being home alone all night long. I can't handle it. I "sleep" with the TV on and it does not work well. I'm scared that I will never want to have kids. I fear that I'll just have them to have them, but not find the joy in it.

Obsessions: I didn't think I had any obsessions, until I asked Ryan. Here's what he came up with... I'm obsessed with reality TV-I'll put TV in general. I definitely have our shows for the week lined up and ready to go on the DVR. I'm also obsessed with sweets. I love sugar. I can't get enough of it. I'm trying to be better.

Collections: I used to have a ton of collections, earrings, Zack Morris and Jonathan Taylor Thomas pics, NSYNC stuff, even DVDs. That has all died down. I don't really collect much of anything anymore.

Surprising Facts: I recently just got obsessed with playing Tetris again. It's a little handheld Tetris. It lays around the house whenever I get a free moment, I love to play it. Ryan just got the high score that I don't think I will ever beat. Also, I try to get as many people into The Office as possible. I loaned our DVD seasons to some co-workers and they are hooked. I love it. I figure that most people that read this already know me pretty well- I don't think I can surprise you with much.

Tag #2
This next tag was from a long lost friend, and an amazing former roommate- Alison Warner. Thanks for thinking of me Ali-

Seven Things

Seven Things I can Do:
1. I can make a mean Orange Julius and a mean Chocolate Chip Cookie.
2. I have a pretty fast ten key. Too much register time.
3. I can memorize songs pretty quickly.
4. Ryan wanted me to write that I can run an entire Wal-Mart by myself, but that's not true. I couldn't run it without my associates. I can definitely take charge of an entire Wal-Mart all by myself.
5. I can keep a consistent journal. I love writing in my journal and reading through my old ones.
6. I can interact with anyone at anytime while I'm at work. It's like I have a different persona while I'm there.
7. I can watch the movie Center Stage over and over again without getting bored.

Seven Things I Cannot Do:
1. I cannot blog. I know that I am blogging now, but I have the hardest time doing it. It always puts me in a bad mood and I just don't like to do it. I can't blog.
2. I can't sit still when I'm at work. If I'm there, I have to be doing something. Sitting in the office drives me insane.
3. I can't tell the Gosselin sextuplet girls apart- from the show John & Kate Plus 8 -no matter how hard I try.
4. I can't read a book without feeling guilty that I should be reading my Scriptures instead.
5. I can't be super outgoing when I first meet someone. It takes me awhile to come out of my shell. If I am more talkative at first, I'm forcing it.
6. I can't retell a story or explain a conversation I had. It's always jumbled and I always forget what was said by the other person. I know in my head what happened, but I can't put it into words.
7. I can't discipline someone at work without feeling guilty or second guessing my decision (unless it's over attendance.)

Seven Things that attracted me to my husband:
1. He's one of the funniest people I have ever met. He has made me laugh since the day I met him.
2. He has an amazing testimony of the Gospel. His knowledge and faith is so inspiring.
3. He laughs at me. This is a big deal. I have a hard time with people if they don't find me funny. I love it when Ryan legitimately thinks I said something funny.
4. He is unbelievably motivated. He will do anything and everything to be the best he can be.
5. How well we get along. We have never fought and we just understand and love being around each other
6. How well he can explain and teach me anything. I'm so impressed by his knowledge and how well he retains it. I can ask him about anything and he will explain it in a way that I can understand.
7. He is so sweet. He always wants me to be happy. He's such an amazing guy, I need more than seven things to describe him.

Seven Things I most often Say:
1. "Whatever"- I say this after anyone makes any sort of sarcastic comment. I didn't even realize I said it so much until my Store Manager started doing it to make fun of me.
2. "Thanks for Playing"- This is my favorite saying ever. It's usually said after someone does something they shouldn't do or shouldn't have done. It's hilarious, it gets laughs every time.
3. "Totally"- I throw this in the middle of sentences way too often
4. "Ew"- used in the same context as whatever
5. "Och"- long story, but it means OK.
6. "I hate my job"- I say this way too often-it makes me feel a little guilty, but then something happens to justify it.
7.It's not really a saying, but Ryan and I shorten any word and add an "s" on the end, example- dins (dinner), breaks (breakfast), etc.

Seven celebrity admirations:
*As a side note, this one was my least favorite. I don't think I admire any of these celebrities. I could only think of people that I would be interested to watch if they were on a talk show.
1. Justin Timberlake- I don't admire him and I don't really love him, but he'll always have a special spot in my heart
2. Barack Obama- I'm excited for his presidency and for what it means for our country
3. Julianne Hough- I will always vote for her on Dancing with the Stars
4. Bob Harper- He is so sweet on The Biggest Loser, I always love Bob's team, except this year. I want them all to go home
5. Any star on The Office, except Meredith
6. I think that #5 makes up for #6
7. My mom- she's an author and other people have put authors. She may not be as famous, but I think she is in her own right. Besides, this celebrity section is lame.

Seven favorite foods:
1. Cafe Rio Salads
2. Candy Necklaces (not a food, but it can be)
3. Cereal (Lucky Charms)
4. Cheese
5. Pizza
6. Plain old salad with ranch, or caesar
7. Ryan's Guacamole

Seven friends I tag:
1. Tiff
2. Diane
3. Rachel
4. Megan
5. Katie
6. Swa
7. Amy

The Big 2-8!

2008-11-11T09:56:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Ryan's birthday!! We enjoyed a fun night at the Melting Pot and enjoyed some apple crisp at home with his brother Richie. I hope you had a good birthday Ryan! I love you so much and can't wait to spend more birthdays together!

Yes We Can!

2008-11-05T19:44:00.000-08:00

My faith in America has been restored. I have never been a bleeding-heart liberal. I have never even considered myself a democrat. I am a registered independent and consider myself capable of making a decision in an election regardless of political party. That having been said, I felt that America was in desparate need of change. Illegally imprisoning political prisoners, torturing captives in Guantanamo, spying on the citizens of America, an economic crisis, and two poorly-planned wars had me fed up. Never in my lifetime have the people of America been so pessimistic about the state of the country.

Enter Barack Obama. I first heard of Obama during the presidential election in 2004. Newsweek magazine reported that the unexpected highlight of the democratic convention was a speech by a young black political newcomer with a funny name. Newsweek listed him as someone to watch as a long-shot presidential candidate in 2008. My interest was piqued.

Over the next few years I paid attention every time I saw his name in print. I was impressed that there was never anything negative to report about him. Everyone that ever worked with him in any capacity had only glowing reports. Here was a man that transcended race: he has a Kenyan father and an American mother. Here was a man that transcended culture: he was born in Hawaii but spent his childhood in Indonesia and had a middle-eastern middle name. Here was a man that even transcended religion: his father was a Muslim-turned-atheist but Barack was raised by his Christian grandparents.

I became even more impressed with him as I watched him build the most successful grass-roots campaign in American history. He took on the Clinton machine and beat it. He gave the most eloquent, awe-inspiring speeches I have ever heard. He spoke of healing America, working together, and moving forward. He was accused of being too inexperienced but yet he out-planned, out-organized, and out-worked his "experienced" opponents. He faced endless attacks and smears, yet he consistently took the high road and refused to fight back.

On November 4, I wasn't sure that the American people would be able to see through the lies and the fear-mongering. Obama is a socialist! Barack is a Muslim! Barack Obama kills babies! Give me a break. People can see through these desparate lies, can't they? I wasn't so sure.

Yesterday my faith in this country was restored. For the first time in my life I felt a great sense of pride in my President. I can't describe how inspired I was by his acceptance speech. I loved his line about dispelling the myth of this generation's apathy. I was moved by his call for help from the American people. I was happy to hear him say that he will always listen to the American people, especially, he said, when we disagree.

I can't help but feel that something truly momentous happened yesterday. I had a professor today say that this election would likely be the greatest historic event in our lives. I feel that we showed the world that our brand of democracy works. I feel that we showed the world that America is still the land of opportunity. I feel that a new day has dawned on America. Never before in my lifetime have I been so optimistic about the prospects of our future.

Ryan's Externship

2008-10-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

Ryan is applying at four Audiology clinics for his fourth year externship (internship). We'll probably be moving in May or June of next year. Check out our poll and help us decide where we should go!

It's BACK!!!

2008-09-21T19:24:00.000-07:00

After three weeks of no communication, a few false promises of getting it back, and coordinating work/school schedules... I have a car again. It looks almost brand new (from the front).

They ended up replacing the hood and the windshield. They fixed a bunch of dents on the roof that were caused by the hood flying up and hitting it. They repainted the hood and the roof. They matched it perfectly. I had a picture in my head of the hood being a different color then my car and the roof faded to gray. I was expecting the worst. Luckily, that wasn't the case. As an added bonus, they fixed some random plastic piece in my car that had been hanging down in front of the passenger seat for the last three years.

A special thanks go out to Richie & Angie for helping us out by giving me rides and loaning us your car! You guys are the best!!

Before

After

Just one problem... Now it's not starting right... anyone know how to get rid of a bad car curse?

Will it Ever End?

2008-09-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

I am so frustrated. I'm so angry I just can't help but cry. I really want to punch something or throw something, but that would hurt me or something else. I am so sick of car problems. I honestly didn't think so many things could go wrong with cars in such a short period of time.

Around 4 weeks ago, Ryan's truck started having a hard time shifting and getting into gear. We took it in to get it checked out and after a few separate trips of it not performing right and more money then we had hoped, it got fixed. Perfect. It ran like a champ. We went on with our lives as usual. Car problems randomly happen, right? Not so much...

Two weeks ago, on Ryan's first day of school, he got into a fender bender. He was stopped at a red light and felt a big bump from behind. It turns out that some lady, who claims she doesn't know what happened, rammed into the guy behind Ryan, who rammed into our little truck. Luckily, no one was hurt, but the truck's bumper got pushed down. Thank goodness this lady had insurance and we don't have to pay for the repairs.

This was taken before the accident

At the beginning of this week, Ryan was using my car to transport family to the airport-all the way across town. All of a sudden, my car started making noises and smelling like something was burning. Ryan and our brother-in-law Troy figured it was the air conditioning. They turned off the air and it ran well after that. Pretty much, my air conditioning (which was fixed in July) blew out on them. Bye bye air conditioning.

Later the same day, I was driving home for lunch. I was going about 50-55 mph on one of the main roads here in town. I was only driving for a few minutes when the hood of my car popped open and flew back into my windshield. It made the loudest noise and scared me to death. I pulled over as quickly and as safely as possible. I was lucky enough to not have any cars around me when this happened. We had to tow my car down to an autobody shop and it will be there until next friday at the earliest.

This is the best shot. You can see the shattered windshield and the hood of my car all bent up

Now for the kicker... Last night Ryan picked me up from work. We went out to his car and it wouldn't start. It would not turn over at all. We tried jumping it, we tried popping the clutch and nothing worked. The battery was fine, it just would not start. We figured it was the starter. I had it towed to a mechanic this morning. I just recently got a call from the repair shop telling me it would cost almost $500 to fix the starter. I knew immediately that it does not cost that much to fix. I called around and did some research on what starters cost and called the mechanic back. He dropped the price to almost half of his original quote. Thank you very much. I was not in the mood to deal with him trying to cheat me out of my money. Especially after what has happened to us in the last month. Hopefully we'll get his car back soon. We need at least one car.

The sad thing is, right before my hood flew up, I told Ryan I was done paying for car issues... I should have bit my tongue.

Birthday

2008-08-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

I would first like to dedicate this post to my good friend, Katie Glazier. Thanks for making me feel guilty and making me post. I will try to post more often for you Kate, just so you can blog stalk me. Just know that I'm expecting to see a blog from you someday soon...

It's true, I had a birthday this past Sunday. Pretty sure I'm not too excited to be 26. Actually, it scares me more then ever. I'm officially getting old. I'm closer to 30 than I've ever been. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. Ryan did a great job trying to make it special. It was on a Sunday which is the worst day for a birthday. The fact that I had to work made it even worse. But after work and church were over, it was time for the birthday celebration to begin. It was a really fun night with way too many presents from Ryan (not that I'm complaining), a beautifully made layered cake (I didn't even help) and Richie, Angie and Mylie came over to enjoy it with us. Overall it was a success, but I don't want another birthday for a really long time.

Ode to Tucson

2008-07-06T20:02:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been very kind to Tucson since I moved here. It's just never quite felt like home to me and I know we're not here permanently. I think it's time for me to appreciate Tucson for the city it is. So here are a few things I like about Tucson...

1. Weather- When I told people I was moving here, the first thing I heard was "it's so hot down there." (Orem, Utah was the same temp as Tucson was last week). Here's the deal. Yes, it is hot. I have felt the heat. I won't deny that it's hot. But 8 months out of the year, it's perfect. If you can handle a few months of "hotness," it's worth those 8 months of bliss. I also have to say that once it gets to 100 degrees-it's hot. I'm sorry to say that I can't tell the difference between 100 and 110. It's just all around hot.

We also can't forget the fact that it is almost always sunny. We see blue skies about 95% of the year. Just think how fun it is to wake up to blue skies and knowing it's going to be a nice sun shiny day. Imagine that happening almost every single day. It's very uplifting. As an added bonus, we get to experience Monsoon Season. It comes in July/August and really cools down the summer heat. We get amazing thunderstorms at night that are accompanied by an enormous downpour. This makes it a little more humid, but not unbearable.

2. Wildlife- This category is a little surprising coming from me, seeing as how I don't love animals. However, we have some super fun wildlife down here. Ryan and I love to go for walks and see all the little creatures running around. We do have a lot of birds-not something I enjoy. We often see quail-which I had never seen before moving here. They sound like Tickle Me Elmo. It's too weird. I do love to see the lizards though. There are always a ton scurrying around and running away from you. When they get mad and they try to be intimidating, they do little push-ups. The other day, one poor lizard fell into the pool. I didn't know what to do and I tried to put my towel in the water for him to grab onto, but he wasn't having it. He got sucked into the drain on the side-I still feel bad about it. We just discovered a new little Gecko running around at night. They blend in so well with their surroundings that they look see-through. We also have a million cottontail rabbits running around. They are everywhere. The two coolest animals that we've seen around the apartment are roadrunners and coyotes. I haven't seen a roadrunner for a while, but they are cool looking birds. They might be on the birds I like list-which consists only of Penguins. Coyotes are even cooler. Whenever I drive home at night I search to see if I can spot one. One night we were driving down the street and one ran in front of the car with some sort of animal in it's mouth. I've seen a small pack run across the street in the morning on my way to work. It's so fun to experience.

3. Pools- The pools are open year round. They're heated in the winter and they're refreshing in the summer. It's so fun that the option to go swimming is always there. I especially love the spring time when it's the perfect temp and laying out isn't so unbearable. I also love going for a run, changing into my swimsuit and cooling off in the pool. It's so relaxing.

The one last thing I love about Tucson, is that we don't have to experience this...

This is Ryan and my brother Jeff cleaning up my parents' flooding bathroom at 2 AM.

Wanna See Where I'm From?

2008-06-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

This last week we were in Cedar Rapids, Iowa visiting my family! It was a blast, but if you've been watching the news-it hasn't been too safe. It was declared a disaster area due to flooding. We were amazed by how high the waters were and the damage that it is causing. Luckily, the water is receding right now, but it is still such a tragedy. We took some pictures of downtown Cedar Rapids. We drove through it more than we should have while we were there, but we were able to get many pictures. Try to click on them to get a closer view.

This is downtown Cedar Rapids where

the Cedar River is

I've eaten at this DQ many a time-not so much anymore, do you notice the dumpster floating next to it?

If you look closely, you can see the DQ sign...that's how high the water was.

This is a random street we came across while trying to avoid the traffic on the partially closed freeway-this was a dead end too... If you look very very closely, you might be able to see a little stop sign on the right to judge how high the water was.

Luckily, my parents don't live close to the flooding and have been safe from it all. Thank you Heather for your concern. They've been getting millions of phone calls from friends and family to see if they are ok. They are just experiencing some inconveniences. They've been asked to conserve water and to limit shower usage, flushing and anything else requiring water.

Nauvoo Fun!

2008-06-15T11:09:00.000-07:00

My brother and his wife recently adopted two children from Haiti. This past week, they were sealed to them in the Nauvoo temple. Ryan and I were able to go back to be a part of the sealing and to spend time with family. It was a great trip and it was so much fun to finally meet our new nephew Teancum Wilson Schofield. We had already met his sister Tabitha Rose a year earlier. Teancum is 5 or 6 years old and Tabi is 3. They are cute kids. Teancum has only been in the states for 6 months, but his English is great. He can understand and communicate very well. We fell in love with his instantly. Tabi had an unfortunate incident in the Haitian hospital when she was about 18 months. A room full of babies were give an adult dose of a tuberculosis drug. Tabitha was the only one to survive. She isn't at the developmental stage of a 3 year old, but she's a great addition to the family. Ryan and I were able to spend time with the family after the sealing. We went and toured parts of Nauvoo and got to know our nieces and nephews better.

It was such a great experience to be part of something so special. We're excited to have Teancum and Tabitha in the family and can't wait to spend time with the Boise Schofields again!

Steve's Tucson Adventure

2008-05-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we were pleased to have a super fun visitor. After 2 long years, we finally got to see Steven Tuitupou again. It was a blast to have him come stay with us and to reminisce about the olden days. We tried to entertain him and show him around the hot spots of Tucson- we weren't very successful, but we did have a good time!

On Friday, we all took him down to Nogales, Mexico. We thought we should show him how close we live to the border and let him use his Spanish a little bit! It seems like Ryan had more fun than the rest of us.

Ryan decided to get his hair cut while we were there... we were all nervous, but she did a great job! And it was cheaper than the US.

Ryan also decided he wanted to pose with a donkey. They have a lot of little tourist money makers down there and Ryan gave into to the pressure. Of course we got ripped off. I guess we learned our lesson. I think it was worth the pictures.

After walking around Nogales for a little bit, we went to eat at a restaurant called La Roca. It's located right on the side of the mountain. It's pretty cool to go to. We took pictures in a little courtyard you have to walk through to get to the restaurant.

The next night we went to a Sidewinders baseball game. They're the minor league team for the Diamondbacks up in Phoenix. It was way too cold that night for a baseball game...

We also had to introduce Steve to Guitar Hero...

We had a great weekend! We miss Steve already. You better come back and visist us soon Steve!

Cinco de Mayo

2008-05-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

It's decided that Cinco de Mayo is one of my favorite holidays. To celebrate, we had a small gathering at our house. After eating a Mexican feast of taquitos, chips, homemade guac and salsa, we had to partcipate in a classic Mexican tradition.... the PINATA!!!

Richie taking his turn(his pic didn't turn out well)

Here Richie is picking up his prizes

Me taking my swing-not sure what I'm afraid of
Ryan just going at it.

Angie taking her shots-after this, the pinata came off the hook that hangs it...
Fake shot of Wendy (her photos didn't turn out at all... sorry Wendy)
Since the pinata couldn't hang, the boys decided to drop kick it.
Richie enjoying his rewards.

Please notice that the pinata never broke.

My Turn!

2008-05-02T09:41:00.000-07:00

I know everyone has now done this list. I feel like a huge copy cat, but I have had some requests for it. So here you go... 100 Things about Me- The Schuyler Edition...

1. I am the youngest of five kids, I have four older brothers.
2. I always say I'm from Iowa, but collectively I've lived in Utah longer.
3. I get yelled at or talked down to by strangers almost daily.
4. I am a super picky eater. I tried pineapple for the first time two years ago.
5. I can get addicted to a reality TV show in about 2.2 seconds.
6. I am terrified of birds-there's no story.
7. I love watching TV shows that bring me back to my childhood.
8. I didn't eat chocolate for 3 years.
9. I have a hard time breathing through my nose and almost always breathe through my mouth.
8. When I was in Jr. High I wanted crutches so bad that my friend and I would trip each other while rollerblading. It sure did give me some scars on my elbows.
9. I always have to have chap stick on me and I lose it constantly.
10. I love getting sunburned.
11. I genuinely think everyone hates me. I mean everyone.
12. Since I was a little kid, I have been worried that a murderer was in my house/apartment. I even make Ryan check our place when I'm suspicious. (It's a one bedroom apartment)
13. I blame my fear of murderers on my brothers-they would watch those horror movies and I would "try" to watch them too.
14. I used to tell people that Freddy Krueger was my favorite serial killer.
15. I can't stand Proactive commercials.
16. I've run in a 25K (15.5 miles) and a half-marathon.
17. When I run, everything has to be perfect... my hair can't be on my face, my clothes have to fit just right and the treadmill has to feel good. Otherwise, I can't run.
18. I do prefer to run on a treadmill as opposed to outside. It helps me keep a good pace.
19. The episode of Saved by the Bell when Zack and Kelly break up still makes me tear up.
20. I love to know celebrity gossip.
21. I own 23 *N Sync CDs.
22. My mother recently offended me by telling me that she doesn't think Justin Timberlake is cute or that he's a good singer and has felt that way for awhile. And she supported me all those years.
23. I have a weird rib cage, one side is flat (normal) and the other side pokes out.
24. I love watching the Today show in the morning.
25. I own over 50 shares of Wal-Mart stock.
26. When I was born, the doctor said I had the tiniest nasal passages he'd ever seen.
27. I am very sensitive about my name.
28. One time someone asked me if my name was Shalair... how do you get that?
29. I absolutely love organizing.
30. I am terrified to have children.
31. I am also terrified that I will have ugly children.
32. I like to watch 20/20 or Dateline when they talk about murder/kidnapping cases, but they often give me nightmares.
33. I can't stand talking on the phone (except to family) and I have a hard time returning phone calls.
34. I feel like I come across as ditzy at work.
35. I wish that I had hobbies. I hate when people ask me what I like to do- I can never think of anything.
36. I love to deep clean my house every day I have off.
37. I am addicted to sugar.
38. My favorite candy are candy necklaces.
39. My favorite color is pink.
40. I'm pretty sure I have the same exact tastes as a little kid. I feel like a little kid sometimes.
41. I can't stand when people are completely thoughtless and inconsiderate.
42. I feel like people always second guess me.
43. I love to make "to do" lists.
44. I think I say "I'm sorry" way too much in conversations.
45. I hate putting people out or stepping on people's toes.
46. I don't have strong opinions on anything. Chances are, if you tell me your opinion, I'll agree.
47. I feel like I've gotten shyer with age, but with a little more sass.
48. I wish everyone could work in retail just once to see what it's like.
49. I climbed to the top of Mount Timpanogos, but it conquered me.
50. I have been to the Billboard Music Awards twice.
51. I really enjoy cooking and trying new recipes.
52. I can't stand getting ready for bed. For some reason, it's so hard.
53. I sometimes talk in my sleep. I once told Ryan that I was "no mad duck."
54. When I first got contacts, I only needed one for my right eye.
55. I feel connected to people once they laugh at me.
56. I love to have something to look forward to... trips, people visiting, holidays. It's always depressing after trips are over if you don't have something else coming up.
57. I don't look forward to the holidays as much as I used to. Working retail kills that spirit.
58. My hair is naturally curly. I never appreciated it until a few years ago.
59. I don't like animals.
60. I do tell Ryan everyday that I want a dog-a Mini Yorkie-it's not gonna happen.
61.I love the day before I have a day off. There's something about the anticipation of having a free day.
62. I love when Ryan tells me what he learns in Newsweek. I'm not smart enough to read the magazine, but he explains it all to me so well.
63. I've been to two *N Sync concerts.
64. I like to write, but I'm really self-conscious about it.
65. I used to love to buy DVDs.
66. My brothers had to shave my first baby doll's head because I was afraid of the hair.
67. I secretly get urges to color.
68. My favorite clothing store is American Eagle. It's the only store Ryan will buy me clothes from because I know their sizes perfectly.
69. I like to scrapbook, but I'm never motivated to do it.
70. I can't stand text message talk- lol, btw, etc.
71. In fourth grade my teacher called me the punctuation princess.
72. I don't like having to make new friends. I'm not as social as I used to be.
73. I was best friends with Ryan's brother Richie first.
74. I don't like playing get to know you games. I can never think of anything interesting about me or my life.
75. I have a guitar, but can only play one song.
76. I can't stand it when people don't use punctuation.
77. I'm looking forward to moving away from Tucson.
78. I like playing games, but I get super competitive. I haven't beaten Ryan in Skip-Bo since before we were married.
79. I want to travel all over the world someday with my husband.
80. I have to be with Ryan any chance I get. I don't like doing anything without him.
81. Shopping almost always puts me in a bad mood.
82. I can be pretty stubborn.
83. I feel like I get annoyed easily.
84. I'm very sensitive about saying and spelling people's names right.
85. I have only snow skied once, but I loved it.
86. I travelled a ton with my mom when I was younger- I've been to at least 35 states-that I can remember.
87. I broke my friends trampoline in high school. A few of us were jumping on it and I went to do a bum sit and landed on the ground. Springs hit my head and everything. It was hilarious.
88. I think about weight constantly.
89. I'm the complete opposite of high maintenance. Except I love cute clothes.
90. I bleach my teeth, just the top. No one sees the bottom.
91. I've had 25 roommates. One of those I lived with a total of 3 years.
92. My favorite state is Connecticut. (not sure why)
93. I think about quitting my job every single day-and how I would do it.
94. I think I would like my job if I had a set schedule.
95. The other day I told Ryan I was turning Democrat, but when I told him my views-he told me I was mostly Republican.
96. I'm kinda over blogging, but hopefully this will help.
97. I wish I kept in better contact with old friends and roommates.
98. I feel like I recognize people a lot more often than they recognize me.
99. I have a ton of home videos of me and friends/roommates, I loved that camera.
100. Deep down I knew Ryan and I were going to get married way before we started dating.

Things I Got (and didn't want)

2008-04-17T18:39:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Ryan here again. Ever since I posted last, Schuyler has had a bad attitude about the blog. But the blog is badly in need of an update so here we go...

Lately I've received two things in the mail that I didn't want:

1) Bender Ball with VHS video tapes

2) GQ Magazine

Let me begin with item #1. The Bender Ball with VHS video tapes. Now in truth, I actually half wanted this item. Or more precisely, Schuyler half wanted this item. She ordered it by phone and did her best to navigate their confusing system in hopes of getting the Bender Ball with instructional DVDs. Well, it came in the mail about a month later with VHS tapes. I was assigned the job of calling Bender Ball to complain. I spoke with a girl who through broken English repeatedly called me "ma'am" and told me there was nothing she could do. After calling me "ma'am" for like the fifth time, I told her that I was not a woman and that she was just making the situation worse. I eventually ended my conversation with her without success. I made Schuyler call them back another day and she was able to fix the problem (we think). Our new Bender Ball with DVDs is supposedly in the mail. I can't wait to use the Bender method of core training to sculpt my abs.

Now onto item #2. GQ Magazine. A few months ago Schuyler and I answered our front door to find a couple of high school hoodlums selling magazines. After a weak attempt at getting them to go away, I made the fatal mistake of telling them that Schuyler's People Magazine subscription had expired. They took advantage of their opening and soon we were handing them cash in exchange for a People subscription. Months and months then went by and Schuyler and I would always joke about how those hoodlums probably just pocketed our cash. But recently, out of the blue, we began receiving GQ Magazine. GQ!? Seriously? Who reads GQ anyway? Judging from their articles, its audience is primarily rich, metrosexual republican men. I made fun of it and then within a week Schuyler caught me reading it. I now know all about the latest male fashions. I guess getting GQ wasn't THAT bad after all.

100 Things About Me (Ryan)

2008-03-29T17:55:00.000-07:00

I thought that I would parenthetically indicate that this is me (Ryan) typing. This is my first foray into the world of blogging. I hope I don't embarrass myself. But if I do, who cares? Only like 13 people look at this blog anyway.

I am also unashamed to say that I stole the idea for this blog from my sister, Rachel. If you want to read her list (and you probably should) you can click on her link on the sidebar. Anyway, here we go: 100 things about me!

1. I care WAY too much about BYU football

2. One of my greatest fears is that I will not be able to support my family

3. I was always nervous about the prospect of marriage, but getting married was the best decision I ever made

4. My good friend Steve got me into kung-fu/Hong Kong cinema. Some of my favorite movies of that genre include Shaolin Soccer, To Live, God of Cookery, and Hero

5. I like most vegetables, but I don't like peas

6. I always got along great with my siblings, but one time I got in a fight with my brother over a nintendo game (I punched him and he kicked me in the back)

7. I hate being late

8. I've never said a "swear word." At least not on purpose. Or out loud

9. TV shows that my wife and I record on our DVR: The Office, Heroes, Rob and Big, American Idol, The Biggest Loser, Dancing with the Stars, The Hills, and America's Next Top Model.

10. I'm not as embarrassed by the above list as I should be

11. Here's something I AM embarrassed about: the only concerts I have ever been to were Huey Lewis and the News, Peter Breinholt, Kirby Heyborne, and the last few songs of a free Diamond Rio gig

12. I have always been insecure about my height

13. The magazines that we subscribe to at my house include the Ensign, Newsweek, and GQ (accidentally)

14. I served a mission to the Philippines

15. I speak two languages: English (fluently) and Tagalog (balubaluktot na)

16. The last CD I bought (or rather that my wife bought for me) was Gnarls Barkley's The Odd Couple

17. Air-headed people REALLY annoy me

18. I would rather be hot than cold

19. I once read the entire Book of Mormon in two days

20. I care deeply about what other people think of me

21. I have been to the Taj Mahal

22. I have seen Mount Everest with my own eyes

23. I am too much of a perfectionist

24. I get nervous every Monday and Friday (the days I work in a local private-practice hearing clinic)

25. The first movie that ever made me cry was Edward Scissorhands

26. I prefer having a few really close friends to having a large number of casual friends

27. I've always felt that I was the ugliest of my siblings

28. Making big decisions is very hard for me

29. I liked the flowers I bought for Schuyler better than she liked them (I would check them every day to see if a new one bloomed!)

30. I secretly like that new Miley Cyrus song (I st-st-stuttered and...)

31. I like Letterman better than Leno

32. My first kiss was on a beach in Mexico under a full moon

33. Ever since I was a little boy, I've been fascinated by reptiles

34. I get a high from public speaking/teaching

35. I don't really like carbonation

36. I am terrified of running out of gas in the middle of nowhere

37. Before marriage, I never talked baby-talk to my wife. After marriage, I do it all the time

38. I like rice WAY more than potatoes

39. I am officially certified to remove earwax

40. I'm kind of a movie snob

41. I have a hard time spending money (must be a Whitaker thing, Rach) -- even on necessities

42. I'm proud of the tan line I get on my feet

43. I prefer salty snacks to sweets

44. I eat cereal almost every morning for breakfast

45. I get embarrassed if my fingernails are too long (i.e. showing ANY white)

46. I despise running. I'd much rather lift weights.

47. I broke my ankle in high school showing off for some girls

48. I need SILENCE when I'm studying

49. A dream of mine would be to someday travel the world with my wife

50. I love to hike

51. Since beginning my graduate studies in audiology, I find myself checking out people's ears

52. I wish I could do a Pee-Wee Herman laugh as well as my brother-in-law Troy (or even as well as my brother Richie)

53. I am uncommonly bad at ice skating

54. While getting my hair cut last week, I was told that I have a "really expensive hair color to re-create"

55. I hate coaxing Schuyler off the couch every night to get ready for bed

56. I have a lot of fun karaoke-ing, but I do it way too loud

57. I feel like I make bad first impressions

58. I was recently asked by an old man at Safeway if I was my classmates' son ("is this your boy?" he asked Dan)

59. An old lady at the hearing clinic told me yesterday that my pants were too long and needed to be hemmed

60. I am a rule-follower

61. I easily get upset while trying to assemble furniture

62. I sometimes think swearing is funny

63. I was surprised how sad I was when I heard in January that our family dog, Kaipo, had died

64. I won my school spelling bee in elementary school

65. I have a small collection of pocket knives and swords

66. Apparently I follow my wife around the house like a puppy dog

67. I was so mad when Michigan's Fab 5 lost in the National Championship game (I was like in 4th or 5th grade at the time) that I threw my balled-up socks at the TV which caused the homemade craft sitting atop the TV to fall off and break

68. I believe the loudest I have ever yelled was after the Beck to Harline "answered prayer" in 2006

69. Going out to eat always makes me happy

70. "Your dentist's name is Crentist?" always makes me laugh

71. In 5 years I hope to be successfully practicing audiology with one (MAYBE two) kids

72. Schuyler was scared that I wouldn't cry on our wedding day. Well, I cried like a baby and she barely shed a tear

73. I was 11 years old when my daddy died

74. I come from a family of cartoonists

75. I have always assumed that, like most Whitakers, I will either live forever or die of cancer

76. When standing at the foot of the bed, I sleep on the left side and Schuyler sleeps on the right

77. I'm constantly worrying that I'm letting people down

78. I get along great with nerds

79. Watching Oprah usually makes me mad

80. I LOVE to go to the zoo

81. Most of my shirts have the color blue in them

82. I'm not really superstitious, except when it comes to the shirt I'm wearing on BYU's game day

83. I'm excited by the prospect of a Barack Obama presidency

84. I take pleasure in staying up-to-date on current events

85. I enjoy cooking -- especially with my wife

86. This past Halloween, Schuyler and I won a prize for our costume. I was Senator Larry Craig and she was a bathroom stall

87. I keep all of my spiral-bound notebooks from college (I might need that stuff someday!)

88. I like to sleep on top of the covers

89. I once wrote in my journal, as a kid, that my elementary school was lucky to have me

90. I have always been self-conscious about my teeth

91. I got my first cell phone a year and a half ago

92. I teach Sunday School in my ward to the 15 and 16 year olds

93. I don't like to be barefoot

94. My thesis project is on finding a neurophysiologic correlate of categorical perception using cortical evoked potentials (namely, the acoustic change complex)

95. I once participated in an all-day movie day with my friends

96. One of my best friends married one of Schuyler's best friends

97. I hate chewing gum because my jaw is funky (TMJ problems, I think)

98. I graduated Summa Cum Laude from BYU

99. My wife thinks I have a man-crush on David Beckham

100. I'm tired of looking like a teenager. Maybe someday I'll grow up...

Anniversary II

2008-03-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

Here's how we spent our wonderful day. That's how Ryan wanted me to start this post. We had an absolute blast on our anniversary. The weather was perfect (mid 70s) and we used it to our advantage. I luckily had the day off and Ryan was done by 1. We decided to go on a picnic to a local park. We had a real picnic basket and we just chilled outside for awhile. Tucson parks aren't what you normally think of when you picture parks. The grass is more prickly and not usually green. The park we found was as good as we were gonna get. It was still just fun to be together and outside on such a beautiful day. I'm not sure we're ever going to have this nice of weather on our anniversary anywhere else.

We decided to stick with tradition and get each other "paper" presents for the first year. I got Ryan a really nice leather journal. Ryan got me "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands" by Dr. Laura. It was something I asked for-I had it before, but lost it on our honeymoon.

After the picnic we decided to go cash in our change jar. We wanted to spend all the money that was in it. We went to my store to get our money-$25.72 is what we had. Ryan thought it would be fun to go to DI and see what they had for us. We found a really old fashioned video camera for $10. It's super little and heavy. We got it for a fun decoration. After scavenging through a picked over DI for anything else, we decided to spend the rest of our money at the dollar store next door. We got some candy and some other random items that we needed. We also rented 1408 from Blockbuster to watch that night. Here's what we brought home from our anniversary shopping spree.

Anniversary

2008-03-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time I ever hung out with Ryan Whitaker. Ryan and his roommates came over to my apartment to play Skip-bo with my roommates and me. We had an absolute blast as a group and all quickly became friends. One night of games led to many, many more memorable nights and events. The Night of Lists, All Day Movie Day and our weekly trips to Burger Supreme were some of the fun times we had together.

I remember our first trip together. My roommates and Ryan's roommates all went on a camping trip to Capitol Reef in Southern Utah. I don't love camping, but we had such a fun time. Robbie Glazier made us a delicious dinner, our Pixie Sticks got eaten by a raccoon and I drove the bi-polar car. We hiked and we shot guns. The trip was a success and set the right tone for the other trips that Ryan and I enjoyed together.

I remember the first time I ever had an inkling of feelings for Ryan. It was on Halloween in '05-a long time ago, I know. We were at the Bean Museum on BYU Campus with a whole lot of people. We were there to watch Shaun of the Dead on the big screen. Ryan was up fiddling around with the movie plugs and I was just down in the seats with my roomies and friends. I remember thinking-"I hope Ryan sits by me." Then I was weirded out and didn't think about it anymore. He did sit by me.

I remember the night Ryan and I started dating. We were in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Ryan and I went for a walk on the beach on our last night there. We ended up sitting on a pier over the ocean and talking. The conversation lagged, so I asked him what he was thinking about. He just chuckled and said "nothing." More time passed and he said "do you want to know what I was thinking about?" He proceeded to share his feelings for me and told me he wanted to date me. Then he shocked me by asking if he could kiss me...

I remember when Ryan proposed. It was his birthday. We were sitting in my bedroom waiting for our friends to come over to eat cake and ice cream. While we were waiting, he opened his presents from me. After he finished, he said, "I've got a present for you." That was when he pulled my ring out of his pocket and proposed. I knew he would propose eventually, but for some reason, I was still surprised when it actually happened.

I remember one year ago today. Our wedding day. The happiest day of our lives. The day I married my best friend. The day all our many memories came together. I can't believe it's been a year. It's been a great year. We absolutely love marriage and couldn't ask for more. I can't wait to create so many more memories with my husband and best friend.

Home Sweet Home

2008-03-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

We took some pictures around our

apartment complex the other day.
Here's what turned out!

Ryan loves his truck and his BYU Sticker on the back!

Pusch Ridge

The view directly across the street-isn't the desert pretty?:)

Ryan just wanted this picture on the blog.

Wal-Mart: Save Money, Live Better

2008-03-04T18:07:00.000-08:00

The day finally came. The day I didn't want to happen. The day I said would NEVER happen. It happened. I have been with Wal-Mart for 5 years now. (Not sure why they put my maiden name on my certificate.) I never thought I would have reached this anniversary. I wasn't supposed to get sucked into the Wal-Mart system. I started as an evening cashier. Just a small job to hold me through the last little bit of college. It was only supposed to last a year-maybe a bit longer. But five years, wow! I remember my first day going in. I could not decide what to wear. What really matches those ugly blue smocks they used to have? I even remember asking my roommate Katie (I hope you remember this Kate) what I should wear and tried on different shirts with the smock.

In just a short time, I was able to move myself up through the company. I always said that I would quit or I would find something better. That pursuit has continuously failed. Five years is a long time. It's been a huge part of my life. The other day I was in my store on my day off (yep, working on my day off) and I heard all my associates doing the Wal-Mart cheer (yep, we have a cheer). For some reason, it brought some sort of comfort to my life. The hours aren't the best-I despise working on Sundays- it gets hard dealing with customers and some associates, and don't even get me started on my store manager. Even though it's not that fun all the time, I've realized that this is where I'm supposed to be. I'm even starting to think about moving up some more-just until Ryan graduates and I get to quit:) We have been truly blessed with this job. Being able to transfer so easily from Utah to Tucson was great. Wal-Mart even paid for the whole move. This is the perfect little set-up that Ryan and I have. Ryan doesn't have to worry about working or debts while he's going through school. He can just concentrate and learn all that he can someday support the family. We have been so lucky. Who would have thought that Wal-Mart could be such a blessing?

Writer's Block

2008-02-29T12:39:00.000-08:00

I've come to the conclusion that I love blogs. I love updating and playing with my blog and I absolutely love looking at other people's. The whole experience is so fascinating and interesting to me. Plus, I feel very computer literate when I can make my page cuter-even though it's unbelievably easy.

I've also come to the conclusion that I hate thinking of ideas of what to post. I want to post, I really do. I just get so worried and anxious about what to actually talk about. Our life isn't very exciting down here in Tucson. I'm consumed in work all day and Ryan's consumed in school. When we're together, it's our relaxing time. We just chill in our apartment, watch our reality TV and call it a day. I could write about my experiences at work that day. I could share my frustrations that come from work or some story about a rude/drunk customer. I could share stories about my associates. For example, how one woman called in the other day telling me that she couldn't come to work because she was doing her taxes. But, that's not exciting.

Today, instead, I'm gonna cop out and just share some random pictures with you. It's always fun to see pics! Hope you enjoy! If there's anything you would like to hear about, just let us know! We're always up for ideas!

Senator Larry Craig
& Bathroom Stall

Sick, Sick, Sick

2008-02-21T19:40:00.000-08:00

Well, it's going around. It's going around bad. I'm sick. Not only am I sick, this is the second time in the last month. The third time since December. I usually only get sick once a year. I have no clue what is going on. Except, pretty sure that every single person that I work with has had it at one point or another. There's pneumonia, bronchitis and the flu going around my store. I only have the average cold. That's not even the kind of sick that you can call into work and feel justified (justified, wink, wink Katie). Instead, you have to go into work because you can actually do your job. It just doesn't sound fun and you don't feel like it. (This often happens even if I'm not sick, but it's worse when I am).

I've realized that it's worse when you're a manager and you don't feel well. As a manager, I have to be an example. If I don't feel good, work still has to get done. Lots of work. In a grocery store, you are often going in and out of coolers and freezers daily. I HAVE to do this. But my poor little associates don't. If they have one little sniffle, they refuse to go do the cold work. Can I really just say, too bad? I mean, let's face it. Most of these people tend to be older. I don't want to kill them off by sending them back to stock the milk.

It makes me realize what babies people are when they don't feel well. (I'm demonstrating this right now.) They just look at you like they're miserable, telling you their throat hurts or coughing as soon as you walk around the corner. I know they want my sympathy and I know they want me to say, "Go home and get rest." Instead I think, deal with it and go get the carts out of the parking lot. And after that, I need you to cashier, pull 2000 lb pallets out of the backroom and stock the bananas. Because that's what I have to do, plus a whole list more... and deal with your whining. I'm not going to give much sympathy when I feel the same way.

This never brings much satisfaction either. Chances are, they'll just call in the next day (and the next so they can actually use their sick pay). Plus, they infect everyone else around us. I do love getting those call-ins when I sound sick. It's almost like a smack in the face. The whole time I'm thinking..."I'm working when I don't feel well... why don't you... I need you here. But that's fine, get rest and relax all day while I do your work and mine. Which means, no lunch and home way later than planned."

Wal-Mart, you gotta love it:)

Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T06:01:00.000-08:00

We finally did it! We decided, after much coaxing from a certain sister-in-law, to start our very own blog. We hope you all enjoy!

In honor of Valentine's Day, the day of love, I wanted to make a special post about my wonderful husband and some things that I love about him.

*Ryan knows everything about everything. The kid is smart. He can go off for hours on any subject and sound like he's an expert in it. Even if he doesn't know much about it, he'll still make you believe that he does. I'll ask him questions about various topics and he always has answers for me... not sure how he does it.

*He is absolutely hilarious. When he starts telling a story, you can't help but laugh. Especially when his animations get going. He can't tell a story without doing some sort of movement or voice to go along with it. The 15-year-old girls in our Sunday School class even have a dance of all their favorite animations he does.

*When Ryan talks on the phone-usually to family-he paces. I know a lot of people pace, but when he does, he ends up in front of the mirror looking at himself, messing with his clothes and making faces.

*He loves attention. A definite Whitaker trait. When I get home from work, he tells me all about his day. Which is normal... but he's doing it while following me around the house like a puppy dog. It's the best when it takes place in the kitchen. Instead of just sitting on the counter while I make dinner, he follows me to the fridge, then to the stove, etc. Our kitchen is not that big.

These are only a few endearing things I absolutely love about my husband! Most importantly, Ryan is such a sweet, caring, loving guy! I'm a very lucky girl!

Happy Valentine's Day!