California! And an update...

  I'm finally going to blog about our California trip! We got home from California about a month ago, but life has been crazy. The past few weeks have been really busy and kind of hard. I blogged before about the surgery I had, and I have some good news to report! When we went to my check-up the Dr. told us that the tumor was benign! It was such a RELIEF to hear that I'm fine!!! The only thing that still kind of worries me is that during the operation the Dr. hit a nerve, which he said could take up to a year to heal. I'm not in near as much pain as I was a few weeks ago, but I can still feel pain when I walk. The section of my leg affected by the nerve damage is also numb, kind of a weird feeling! Even though the nerve damage was unexpected, I'm so grateful that the biopsy results came back benign! We've also been really lucky that I'm still on my parents insurance. With the ultrasound, surgery, and biopsy we racked up nearly a bill of $2,000. Luckily though, all Petey and I have to pay is $160! Thank heavens for insurance!

                  In some sad news my wonderful Grandma Saunders passed away the beginning of June. She truly was an amazing woman who taught me so many things. She was so creative, compassionate, loving, caring, spiritual, funny, inspiring, and an amazing cook! She had been declining the past few years due to her Parkinson's Disease. She was in so much pain (the week before she passed the nurse at her care center noticed her knee replacement had separated from her knee, causing excruciating pain). She was able to get morphine doses to help her manage the pain. Petey and I were able to go down and visit her before she passed away. She was truly an amazing woman and I'm so lucky I had her in my life. My family moved to Spring Lake when I was 11. We first lived with my grandparents for nearly 2 years until our house was finished being built next door. I'm extremely grateful that I was able to live with/next door to my grandparents for so many years! I've become really close to both of them since I saw them nearly everyday until I moved away to college. We know that my Grandma is in a much better place and we're grateful that we'll be able to see her again someday! I love and miss her!

June has been a crazy month for my Saunders side of the family with a baby blessing, missionary farewell, my Grandma's funeral, and a wedding. We're hoping life will slow down!

And now.....on to California!!! I usually try to explain every little detail, but I'm going to try and control myself or else this post will be forever long. WARNING: There will be a billion pictures. 

Day 1: My parents drove Petey and I to the airport where our plane left a little before noon. I've never really had a problem flying until this day. I was so freaked out on the flight. I hate the take-off feeling it makes my stomach go crazy! We hit a little turbulence on the flight and I was freaking out! The flight was under 2 hours, but that was long enough for me! Once we landed in the Long Beach Air Port (which is really ghetto), we picked up our rental car. We we're surprised at how nice our car was! We got a 2012 Chevy Sonic. After that we checked in to our hotel. W-O-W our hotel was sketchy! There were ants crawling all over the bathroom, a couple spiders, the bed was rock hard, paint had peeled off in certain spots on the wall, and it looked like there was mold in the bathroom. I was horrified at first, but the hotel was really cheap and in all honesty we weren't going to be spending much time there. Our hotel was 3 blocks from Disneyland, and that's all we cared about. After we settled in we decided to grab some Cheesecake Factory, delicious! After that we settled in for the night.

Day 2: Our first day at Disneyland!! Petey loves Disneyland just as much as I do! We went to Disneyland for our honeymoon last summer and we went again last month. I'm perfectly happy going at least twice a year :) We rode all of our favorite rides: Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tower of Terror, Screamin' California and the new updated Star Tours! We had a busy and hot day, but so much fun! We did have an *oops* moment our first day at Disney. We forgot to pack the sunscreen, so we had to buy one in the park. Big mistake!! The bottle of sunscreen cost us over $15! We won't make that mistake again :)

                                               

Best corn dogs ever!!

I got a pin from Town Hall that
said 'Just Graduated!'

Day 2: This was our second day at Disneyland! Petey and I decided to wear our Aggie Game Day shirts this day. It was fun to walk around the park hearing random people yelling "Go Aggies!". On this day we did our favorite rides again, got delicious corn dogs again, rode some of the kiddie rides (we had a 3 day hopper pass, so why not ride the kiddie rides?), but we were most excited for that night to watch The World of Color!

                           

We got Fast Passes to The World of Color so we could have a good seat. We got to our section over an hour before the show started and it was already packed! The show was absolutely amazing! The show was my favorite part of the entire trip. You can find videos of The World of Color on youtube. It was so beautiful  and made me feel like a child again (I love how Disneyland can do that!). For those of you who don't know, one of the reasons this show is so cool is because they project scenes from Disney movies into the water, so you're watching video clips on the water. So cool! LOVED IT!

Day 3: This day was our Hollywood day! We decided to go to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. I've been to the one in NYC and it was so much fun to take pictures with these life-like wax figures! Although admission is a bit pricey, we had a blast!

         

After the wax museum we walked around the Hollywood Walk of Fame for a little bit. It was really not outside, and that section of town was really annoying with  people trying you to go into their store, or buy their cd, or whatever. One guy kept asking us to buy his cd and when we told him no thanks, he responded "come on, it aint drugs"...haha after that I was ready to get out of there. That night we ate at The Rain Forest Cafe and the then walked around Downtown Disney. I bought a Minnie Mouse shirt for our last day at Disney.

Day 4: This was our last day at Disneyland :( but we got to use our Magic Morning pass, which allows you to get into the park an hour before it opens. I was really excited :) The first thing we did was get pictures with the characters and take some in front of the castle! We waited literally 2 minutes for a picture with Mickey, which is a miracle. 

     
   

We went on a few rides and then I asked Petey if we could go and wait in line for the Princess Fantasy Faire. The Princess Fantasy Faire is where you can go take pictures with 3 Princesses. I know it's really lame, but I've always wanted to do it! Petey waited in line for over an hour with me to get my pictures! He's such a good boy ;)

        

We had a fun filled day of running around going on our favorite rides for the last time, doing things we've never done before at Disneyland, like going on certain rides, going inside the castle, watching the Aladdin musical, and that night we sat on the curb of Main Street USA and watched the parade. It was a great last day!! I know we will be back soon!

Day 5: This was our Sea World day! Driving to San Diego and back in one day was kind of a pain, but totally worth it! We loved going to the shows and watching the animals! 

After our day at Sea World, Petey wanted to drive down to the U.S. /Mexico border. It was kind of strange how close you can get to the fence and know that the different sides of the fence represent 2 different kinds of life. Petey served his LDS Mission in Tijuana, Mexico. We were able to get so close to Mexico that Petey was pointing out McDonald's he had ate at, and buildings he recognized. I don't have a passport or else we would've spent a day in Mexico. I know we will visit there some day! While driving we saw a ton of U.S. Border Patrol, which was also kind of eerie. We stopped on some dirt road so I could get a picture of Petey with Mexico behind him. 

Day 6: Day 6 was supposed to be our nice beach day, but that day was the coldest day of all. Even though it was cold we still wanted to go to the beach! We picked up some Subway meals and headed to Corona Del Mar Beach. It took us a little while to find it (it's the same beach we went to on our honeymoon), but eventually we did! We sat on a bench overlooking the ocean and ate our subs. It was cool this time we went, because the tide was low and we were able to climb around on some of the rocks and we couldn't get to last time. After climbing around we walked along the beach to the pier where we watched a sea lion having a ball. I started to get a really bad stomach ache after about 2 hours at the beach, so we drove back to the hotel so I could rest. That night I felt a lot better and we ended up trying a local Italian restaurant in Anaheim called Carolina's. It was DELICIOUS!!! It was reasonable pricing, and our meals came with cheese sticks and ice cream! I got a chicken alfredo calzone, and Petey got their sea food  pasta. It was so good! I was also able to talk Petey into going to the Cheesecake Factory to pick out some cheesecake for dessert later that night. Here here are some pics from the beach:

Day 7: Universal Studios was our last stop on our Californian vacation. Petey was really excited for Universal because the new Transformers ride wasn't officially open yet, but they were letting people go on it for 'test runs' so they can work out the kinks before the grand opening. Petey was hoping that we would be able to go on it...but first the studio tour! I've been to Universal Studios before and my favorite part was the studio tour, so that's what we did first. It's really cool to drive through movie sets that I recognize. The props and buildings they use for the movies look less real when you're actually looking at them in person. There are also a few bumps along the way of the tour getting too close to King Kong, Jaws, and being in an earthquake! Below are some pictures of the How the Grinch Stole Christmas set, the Psycho set, the War of the Worlds set, and a picture of the Water World show we watched.

Shrek 4-D, so fun!                      

We WERE able to go on the Transformers ride and  it was awesome!!! Not a lot of people knew you could ride it, which was nice because we were able to just walk on!! Petey was so happy we were able to go on it! After Universal Studios we headed back to our hotel. That night we went in front of Disneyland and watched the firework show! It was the perfect ending to the perfect vacation!

Once we got back to Utah (I had a few freak-outs on the plane ride back too haha), we were able to watch Tanner graduate from Payson High School!! We are all so proud of him!! Great job Tanner!

So ya...there is our trip ad an update in an nutshell!

Post-Op

{I really want to blog about our Californian vacation we just took, but I figured I should write about my surgery first....so the CA post will come soon!}

So yesterday I got the lump/tumor/thing taken out of my thigh. I had been nervous for this surgery for weeks! I was nervous for my procedure for numerous reasons:

1. I would be AWAKE
2. The biopsy results will tell us if the lump/thingie is anything serious
3. How much money the procedure will cost
4. The pain

A few years ago I started to get really squeamish when it comes to blood, shots, and all that fun stuff, so I was extra nervous for this lovely lump/thing removal. My family kept telling me to just stay calm and that everything would be okay. Yesterday morning I got up early to take a long hot shower to calm my nerves. Once Petey and I got to the hospital we had to wait....and wait...and wait. The waiting game makes me even more nervous! Once we were ready to go the Dr. brought over the needle to start numbing my leg. At that moment I closed my eyes as tight as I could and did not open them again until the surgery was over!! Petey even helped cover my eyes for a little bit because he knew what the consequences would be if I saw anything that was going on. The numbing shots hurt pretty bad (I'm pretty sure no one likes shots though...especially when you have to get 4!)

The Dr. then started the procedure which was uncomfortable and scary, but wasn't too bad. Once he started trying to remove the thingie I could feel a little pain, so he then gave me even more shots to make sure I was numb. I could feel the Dr. and his assistant pulling and putting pressure on my thigh. I was sooooo happy once the procedure was over!!! When the Dr. started to stitch me up he hit a nerve which hurt REALLY bad!! It sent a shock all the way down my leg, I wasn't prepared for that! Once the procedure was over I felt pretty good, but on the way out I saw some of the gauze that had blood on it and that's when I started to have a freak-out-attack. We went to the lobby to schedule a post-op appointment next week where the Dr. will just check that my incision is healing right. Once in the lobby my head started to spin, I was thinking about blood and envisioning what I had just gone through (even though I didn't even watch!). Petey was talking to the receptionist when I started to black out. I sat down and felt like I was going to throw up. I started to sweat and felt light headed (even blogging about this is making me feel a little sick haha). I focused on breathing for like 15 minutes and then felt okay enough to make it to the car. It probably took another 30-ish minutes for me to recover, but after that I was okay.

I was able to walk around without much pain for a few hours after the surgery....and then the numbing medication wore off. After the medication was out of my system I could barely walk/move my left leg without screaming. Poor Petey had to carry me around the house. My thigh doesn't even hurt that bad, it's just where the stitches are that hurts badly. Whenever my leg tightens up when I walk my stitches feel so tight that I want to cry (the pain was so bad this morning that I did cry haha). We called the Dr.'s office this morning and they were able to call in a pain medication for me since Advil wasn't cutting it! I've had stitches a million times, but never in my leg, so walking is kind of hard. The Dr. first told me that recovery wouldn't be that bad and that I could even work the day after....well I'm so glad my boss gave me today off to because there is NO WAY I would be able to work today! I have a 5 hour shift tomorrow and I'm worried I won't even be able to handle that! If I was able to sit at my job I would be fine....but I have to stand the entire time, so tomorrow might be interesting. The Dr. did tell me that the removal processes was harder than he thought it was going to be because the thingie was deeper than initially thought.

We will likely find out the biopsy results tomorrow or Monday. I'm feeling really optimistic that everything will be okay!! My family has been so amazing and supportive the past 6 weeks since this journey started.  I love them so much!!!!! Petey has been so incredible the past few days and I love him more everyday! I will keep you all posted on the results! Wish me/us luck :)

The 'Thing'

I'm getting the 'Thing' in my leg removed in less than an hour and I'm freaking out!!! Wish me luck!

The Calm After The Storm

{Warning: picture overload}

I'm happy to say that things have calmed down a bit since my last post. Although that day is still on the top my list for 'Worst Day of All Time,' I can laugh about it now. It's funny how everything seems to go wrong all at once, and then everything works itself out. 

In some good news:

Petey google-d the problem with our washer and he found out that the lid switch/sensor was likely broken. We took a chance and bought a new switch online hoping it would fix the problem. The part was only $30, so we were hoping it would work! The part took a few days to get here, and once it did I died of laughter watching Petey take our washer apart trying to fix it (love that boy!) But after about 30 minutes of messing with the washer it started to work!! We are very grateful that it only took $30 to fix it and that we didn't have to hunt for a new one!

Another good thing that happened in our lives was that we got my car fixed-ish! I google-d all the problems my car had been having and it turns out that the electrical problems my car was having are fairly common. We found out what part we needed (some sort of sensor) and it only cost $35! Petey and his brother Brian were able to fix my car!! We fixed it just in time too because I have to get it inspected this May. I'm thinking that it will actually pass inspection now! Although my car is weird and crazy, I have some fond memories in it! I'm going to run it until it dies!

In other news I went to the hospital last Monday to get an ultrasound done on the thing in my leg. I was a nervous wreck!! I'm so grateful that Petey has been so helpful and supportive through all of this. The ultrasound literally took 2 minutes. I'm not looking forward to finding out how much those 2 minutes of time are going to cost. Medical bills are RIDICULOUS! While we were there I asked the ultrasound tech what she thought the thing in my leg was. She told me that she's not a doctor and to not take her opinion as a diagnosis in any way, but she thought it was just a fatty lymphoma. I felt a lot better after that because a fatty lymphoma isn't anything to really worry about. The ultrasound tech told me that the pictures would be sent to the doctor that referred me and that she would be contacting me with further instruction. 

Petey and I decided to go to dinner that night to relax a little bit. While at dinner I got a call from my doctor. She told me that the thing in my leg has a blood supply to it (NOT GOOD) and that she wanted me to see a General Surgeon asap to get his/her opinion. She also told me that the General Surgeon would likely want to get a biopsy of the thing. Once I hung up with her I started to freak out. Seriously it was an epic freak out. I automatically assumed the worst and just cried and cried. I felt bad because it was finals week and Petey really needed to study, but he comforted me throughout the night. I guess I'm more important :) That night we looked up surgeons in Cache Valley and I called and got a appointment with Dr. Anderson. After a few days I started to worry less about the thing, and I started to feel more calm. 

My appointment with Dr. Anderson was this afternoon. I was once again very nervous. The Dr. was running about 30 minutes late so Petey and I had to wait and let our nerves increase even more. Once the doctor saw me he felt the thing, looked at the ultrasound pictures of the thing, and told me that he thinks it is a benign tumor (which is the NOT serious kind!!). He also told us that there is a very rare from of cancer that the thing could be, but he told me he believes that my chances of having that are less than 1%! Just to be safe though I'm going in on May 30th to get the thing removed. Once it's removed they will likely biopsy it just to confirm what it is. Dr. Anderson strongly believes that it isn't anything that serious. We asked him about the worst case scenario and he told us even if it is cancer that it should be fairly easy to treat and get rid of. Since that appointment I've felt 5,000 times better! He told Petey and I to not worry and to enjoy our upcoming vacation. I'm grateful that the removal procedure that I will have on May 30th isn't that serious. Dr. Anderson will perform it in one of his regular patient rooms, I will have a shot of local anesthetic, and it should only take about 20 minutes. He said my thigh will be a little sore for a few days but it shouldn't keep me from working or walking around.

Petey and I are worried about how we are going to pay for all of these upcoming expenses, but I know that everything will work out. May will just be a hard month. Not only do we have our 9 day trip to California, we have to register my car (which probably needs 1-2 new tires), renew and pay or car insurance, pay off these wonderful medical bills, we just got iphones  that will cost us around $90 a month, and our rent is going up. Also Petey got into a minor car accident on Saturday (I'll post more details below) so we'll have to pay for the damages. Petey also got a ticket because of the accident :(

This past weekend was a memorable one! Although I graduated from Utah State back in December, it didn't feel official until this past Saturday. Saturday, May 5th was the Utah State University Commencement!! Wearing my cap and gown finally made me feel like I was really done, and that I had really made it! One of my best friends Bailey McMurdie also graduated on Saturday along with my sister-in-law Jennie! It was so fun to get pictures with all of them! The graduates meet at Old  Main at 8:30am on Saturday to get ready to march to The Specturm (where commencement was held). After Petey dropped me off I got a phone call from him telling me that he had been in a fender bender. I'm so grateful that neither him or the woman he hit were hurt! Petey is lucky too because he hadn't been wearing his seat belt! He hurt his knee and hit his chin on the dashboard, but I'm so glad that it wasn't more serious than that! His Ford Escort suffered the most from the impact. One of his headlights is shattered, his fender has a crack/few pieces broken, and his hood is pretty dented/smushed. He ordered a new headlight on line so we're hoping him and his brother will be able to fix that on their own. Getting the hood of his car fixed isn't necessary, but Petey and his brother are going to try and work on that too. We were both obviously frustrated with the situation, but I'm glad no one was hurt and that his car is still able to run. The only thing that happened to the jeep Petey hit was that the tire cover on her spare tire ripped...that was it! Petey told her that he didn't want to have to go through the insurance company (because our rates would raise), and for her to pick out a new tire cover and we will pay her for it. *That wasn't really how I thought the start of my graduation day would go haha*

My friend Bailey and I are in the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences together so we were able to sit by each other during the big ceremony. Here are some pictures from that morning:

The 2012 Graduates marching to The Spectrum

I'm in there somewhere!

For the big commencement ceremony (which involved every college) there were some great speakers! 4 amazing individuals received Honorary Degrees, and the main speaker was a former Navy Seal. I was quite impressed with how interesting this ceremony was!

Bailey and I during the big ceremony!

Self-pic :)

The University President, Stan Albrecht 

giving his speech. 

After the big ceremony all the graduates were able to go outside and take pictures with their friends and family. I only had about 10 minutes before I had to be in line for my individual college ceremony.

The hubs and I

My wonderful parents! I love them!!

The blue ropes are for graduating

Cum Laude :)

Jennie graduated in Exercise Science and I graduated

in Sociology! Tanner wasn't able to come because

it was his Senior Prom!

We did it!

My lovely ladies!!

The College of HASS' ceremony was also interesting! The valedictorian even rapped about her experience at USU to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song!

Blurry :(

Almost time for my name to be called!

Perfect photo op + stupid camera = failure

At dinner after my ceremony :)

I'm happy that I was able to walk for graduation! I'm nervous for what the future holds for me, but I know everything will work out! I'm not looking forward for to paying back my student loans though (booooo)! 

IN SOME OTHER GREAT & FANTASTIC & EXCITING NEWS.......

WE LEAVE FOR DISNEYLAND ON SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M SO FREAKING EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHH!!!! !!!!!!! !!! !

A Terrible Day...But I Can Laugh About It Now

I don't even know how to begin this post! Yesterday was a bad day for several reasons, but first I'll give you some background info. On Sunday I drove down to my parents house to spend the night, because I had a Dr.'s appointment the following day. Sunday was actually a great day, besides the fact that Petey couldn't come down with me because of school and work (boo!).

Monday morning rolls around and I'm nervous for my Dr.'s appointment. I was nervous because I don't enjoy any doctors office (who does?) and I had to find the office, which is always a problem for me haha. I left my house at 1:10-ish so I could get to my 2 o'clock appointment in Provo with plenty of time to spare. I hop into my car and notice as I put it into reverse my car starts acting sketchy.

((( ***FLASH BACK*** My car has always been  'special.' I have to do things in a certain order and if I don't it freaks out. A few years ago my car was having all sorts of electrical problems. The radio would turn off when I would turn right, the seat belt light would flicker on and off while I was driving even though I was wearing my seat belt, the dashboard would make this weird clicking sound --- and afterwards the steering wheel would be extremely hard to turn...etc. There have been problems with the windows and many other parts of the car too. When my car was doing this a few years ago we took it into the mechanic and they couldn't figure out what was causing it. A few days after I got my car back I started my car and THEN put my seat belt on....and after that the car was fine!!!! So ever since then I always had to make sure that I put my seat belt on AFTER the car was already started. Well...a few weeks ago I wasn't paying attention and put my seat belt on before I started the car. Bad idea. Ever since then the the radio will turn off when I'm in reverse or neutral. That was the only problem my car was having  until yesterday...)))

So yesterday I put my car into reverse to head to my appointment and the radio turns off (like normal), but while I'm backing out of the driveway the radio clicks back on. At first I just figured my car was finally going to fix itself...alas I was wrong. So on my drive to Provo turns completely off, as in the radio no longer make sound for any station and my seat belt light starts acting stupid again. Then the dashboard starts making the clicking sound and my steering wheel becomes difficult to maneuver. On the freeway in Provo there is a lot of construction which made my drive even more eventful. To top off the drive I can't use the air conditioning in my car because my car will overheat, so I'm soooooooooo hot while on this stressful drive. I finally make it to the Dr.'s office and I call my mom and Petey to tell them about my car troubles. I'm starting to freak out because I don't know if I will be able to make it back to Logan, and with our busy schedules Petey and I need our own cars right now.

I check-in for my appointment and they ask to see my insurance card. Well.....before I left Payson I shoved a plastic bag (one of the zipper lock ones) into my wallet (it had some cash in it). My wallet didn't want to close but finally I MADE it close. Anyways, I'm trying to open my wallet to show them my insurance information, and my wallet is jammed. Seriously..I was trying with all my might to open my stupid wallet. No luck. Finally the receptionist tells me that if my insurance information is the same as my last visit (it was) that they shouldn't need to see my card. I sit down and start filling out the paper work when the nurse calls me back. The first thing the nurse wants to do is take my blood pressure. Reminder: I'm suffering from heatstroke, frustration, and anger at this time. The nurse takes my blood pressure and tells me that it is really high, 144/100. I told her about my crappy drive, so she wrote that in my file so people wouldn't freak out when they saw how high my blood pressure was. The Doctor sees me and at the end of our appointment I ask her if I can get her professional opinion about something. 2 weeks ago I found a weird lump/bump in my left thigh, so I asked her to look at it and tell me what she thinks it could be. She told me it could be a cyst, a blood clot, or even melanoma (cancer). OH JOY!!!!! She gave me an order to get an ultrasound on my thigh at the hospital in Logan to try and figure out what this thing in my leg is. At the very end of my appointment a nurse came back to check my blood pressure to make sure my bad drive/morning was the cause for my high pressure. By this time I had calmed down a bit and my BP was at 122/78, much better.

After my appointment I call Petey to let him know what the Dr. said and we both start to freak out about money. Now that I need to get an ultrasound done on my thigh, we could be paying hundreds of dollars in medical bills because our insurance won't cover much. I'm nervous to find out what this thing is, but we will pay the money to find out and put our minds at ease. Once I left the doctors office I met my mom for lunch and then I hung out at her work until 5pm. I had my mom drive my car on the drive home because it was freaking me out so bad. Once again it was a very hot drive! We stopped in Spanish Fork and met my dad and little brother for dinner at one of my all-time favorite food joints: Park View Drive Inn, a.k.a. Barry's. My day was starting to get a little better now that I was getting yummy food in my belly!! Next thing we know one of the employees (I always assume this particular employee IS Barry, but I'm not sure haha) asks us if we drive a white Toyota Highlander (that's the vehicle my dad and brother drove to dinner). My dad says yes and 'Barry' tells my dad that it was just hit by a car in the parking lot. I was thinking you've got to be kidding me. How could this day get worse?!!! We ran out to the parking lot to see this:

 

The owner of the truck that hit our car is an 18 year old girl, who is an employee at Park View Drive Inn. She was crying and freaking out. She called her brother and he came to help her get everything in order. My dad was freaking out, understandably, but we tried to let her know that everything will be okay. We've all done dumb stuff while driving haha. The worse part was that this teenage girl had just bought the truck! We spent probably 30 minutes trying to figure out all the insurance stuff out and to get a police report of the accident. The girl hit my parents car while trying to park her truck. After all of this happened, she had to go work her shift at the Drive Inn. I'm glad I wasn't the only one having a bad/weird day!!

So ya...that was my crazy/weird/badly eventful day! It doesn't sound as bad now, but while in the moment it was horrible! Now I can look back on yesterday at laugh and everything that went wrong. Since my car was being sketchy I came back to Logan this morning, instead of Wednesday like I was planning on.I wish I could've spent more time with my family, but I really missed Petey and needed him to make me laugh :) Now I just have to get my leg checked out, and hopefully everything is okay!

ALSO....our washing machine broke yesterday. One more thing to add to the list! Haha!!

And I've decided my car is NEVER leaving Cache Valley ever again!

It's a new day though, and it has been much better :)

Easter & My 23rd Birthday!

Easter this year was kind of a bummer since we didn't get to spend it with any family. Petey had to work on Easter from 1:00-8:00pm, so I sat around and waited for him to get home :) I hope that next year we will be able to spend Easter Sunday with family. My mom's side of the family always has a big get-together...yummy food, lots of family, and an Easter egg hunt! Hopefully we can make it next year :) Although we didn't get to spend much time on Easter together, Little

Bunny Foo Foo found our apartment and surprised us with some treats :)

My stash

Peter's stash

*No matter what holiday, I always buy Petey

a cat card. I just love them :) *

In other news my 23rd (gulp) birthday was on the 13th! I don't feel like I'm 23, but I guess I am haha. We starting celebrating early on the 12th when Petey took me to my absolute favorite Italian Restaurant, Le Nonne. It's a small Italian Restaurant here in Logan that serves pricey, but delicious food!! I got the Pennette Alla Pera (a.k.a. pasta with pears), so delish!!! Petey got a pasta with crab. We thought we would splurge a little more by getting some creme bruleee for dessert. Our waitress knew were were celebration my b-day so she gave us the dessert for free! Food tastes even better when its FREE! I had to take a picture of my lovely pasta:

After dinner Petey took me to do a little shopping. I had told him some things I wanted for my birthday, but he wanted me to pick them out to make sure I liked them :) I got a new purse, some cute socks (i love socks), 4 pairs of earrings, and Petey surprised me with a card, candy, and some Temptation cupcakes:

So cute! And it was 50% off!

Yummy !!

The day of my birthday I had the day off, so I just hung around the apartment until Petey was done with school. Once Petey was home we picked up Tyler & Jennie and we were on our way to Payson for the weekend to spend some time with my family! My mom had us stop in Provo where we stopped in on a BYU softball game to say hi to my dad (my dad announces for BYU, that's the ONLY reason we were there haha). My dad had to announce a double header, so we had to go to dinner without him. On our way out of the stadium he played a happy birthday song and let everyone know it was my birthday! For dinner we ate at The Pizza Factory, where they gave me a free pizza in the shape of my age!

At dinner!

After dinner we headed to Payson to hang out. My parents surprised Petey and I, and Tyler & Jennie with Easter baskets (since we weren't able to spend the holiday with them). So sweet!

Opening presents!

Dorks :)

On Saturday we ate some more yummy food, visited my Grandma Saunders, hung out with family, took some pictures out in the orchard, busted out the home videos, and had some cake and ice cream!

I love this picture!

My mama and I! Love her!

Sleepy Boy!!

More cupcakes!

Heaven on a plate!

It was a very relaxing birthday weekend and I'm so grateful for my amazing friends and family!! Thank you for all you do! I love you!!

Schedules!

If our lives weren't busy enough already, Lowe's has been over-scheduling Petey. This is what our work week looks like:

Kristin

Monday: 4:00pm-9:00pm

Tuesday: Off

Wednesday: 9:00am-5:00pm

Thursday: 11:00am-6:00pm

Friday: 9:00am-5:00pm

Saturday: 10:15-3:00pm

Sunday: Off

Petey

Monday: 5:00pm-11:00pm

Tuesday: 1:30pm-4:30pm, 5:00pm-11:00pm

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: 5:00pm-11:00pm

Friday: 5:00pm-11:00pm

Saturday: 2:00pm-11:00pm

Sunday: 1:00pm-6:00pm

I pretty much don't have a husband this week :( So if anyone wants to kidnap me for a GNO, I'm totally for it!

In other news...my car started acting extra weird today. I know that my car has over 204,000 miles on it, BUT I NEED IT!!!!! Its having issues starting. I'm hoping it is an easy fix like having to get a new battery. The way our lives our right now, we need 2 cars! I've already had a freak-out expecting the worst, so I'm really hoping that everything will work out. Come on Ford Taurus, I need you and I heart you! I wish life would lighten up a bit!