I love my sister. She cracks me up.

In real life (not in the above warped world she was temporarily in) she's a beautiful, smart, intellectual, sexy woman... I promise. Oh, and FUNNY too. Can't you tell?

Happy Birthday sis! We LOVE YOU! (Yes, even Ryan does!)

We haven't named it yet...

We got a "family car" last week! SOOOOO much better then the previous vehicle! A two door Dodge Neon just wasn't going to cut it with a pregnant belly and then eventually a baby in a car seat, no sir. Ryan spoiled me and let me pick this car, well he liked the looks of it too- he just might not readily admit it. He REALLY wanted an Accord- but instead we got the 2007 Honda CRV. Don't know if you can tell, but it's light blue and we added leather seats for Ryan's comfort and the ease of messy baby cleanups... or just messy cleanups in general! We were blessed to have a friend who needed to purchase a vehicle right away, so we sold him our Neon and are using the money to fix Ryan's truck up! Anyway- we LOVE this car and feel really lucky to have it! Isn't it pretty? Why thank you!

I don't know, maybe it's my hormones- but I was touched yesterday in Sacrament meeting. There was a teenager with a very good voice that sang a solo. He sang a rendition of “I Know That My Redeemer Lives”. And he sang it with heart and sounded very good. I love that hymn and so I was already very touched by the Spirit- and then the last verse they had us sing along, but I couldn’t because I get all choked up and emotional because the Spirit was so strong. It's difficult for me to sing when I'm touched like that, because frankly I'll just start bawling! Plus, that's my favorite verse in the song because the words are so strong and true, and when you sing it- you have no doubt that what you are saying is what you feel and that it's the TRUTH. Then on top of it- there was a sweet little girl sitting behind us that couldn’t have been more than 5 or 6 that started singing and knew all the words! It was the sweetest and more precious thing ever. It just really touched me that a small child was singing the words to “I know that my Redeemer lives…” and it's not even a primary song! It was a good example to me. I hope my kids have that testimony too at such a young age. And I hope that I am a good example to them in that sense so they are taught right.

He lives! All glory to his name! He lives, my Savior, still the same. Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives:“I know that my Redeemer lives!” He lives! All glory to his name! He lives, my Savior, still the same. Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: “I know that my Redeemer lives!”

I was hoping I'd escape, but Laurie got me...

JOBS I’VE HAD:
produce/floral dept at Albertson's
customer counter at Pizza Hut
telemarketing
daycare
several photo labs
sales support (this is my third job doing it)

MOVIES I CAN WATCH OVER AND OVER:
So I Married an Axe Murderer
Steele Magnolias
50 First Dates
Fun with Dick and Jane (the new one)
Flushed Away
Peter Pan

MY GUILTY PLEASURES:
Coffee ice cream (of course not right now), TLC shows, chocolate chip cookies, So You Think You Can Dance

PLACES I’D LIKE TO VISIT:
South Africa, Hawaii, Vermont and most of the Eastern U.S., the Caribbean, Canada, Ireland.

SHOWS I ENJOY:
Today Show, What Not to Wear, Dog the Bounty Hunter(ha, ha), home improvement shows, Singing Bee, House, CSI.

WHAT WERE THE FIRST THINGS YOU THOUGHT OF WHEN YOU SAW YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER FOR THE FIRST TIME?
I thought he was cute and quiet and super friendly

PLACES I HAVE BEEN ON VACATION:
Europe, California, Florida, Arizona (I used to live there I know...), Oregon.

FAVORITE FOODS:
I like a plethora of things; Chicken Tikka Masala, Pad Thai, Spaghetti, homemade Clam Chowder, a good salad- the list could go on.

WEBSITES I VISIT DAILY:
Hotmail, Yahoo, Facebook, news and blogs.

BODY PARTS I HAVE INJURED:
hmm, I've never broken anything except for maybe a toe. I thought I broke my tailbone once when I was standing on top of a pointed rocked and slipped and crotched it. OUCH.

AWARDS I HAVE WON:
Employee of the month a couple times
I got some Yearbook awards in High School
I'm sure some in Elementary school I don't remember what though.

NICKNAMES I’VE BEEN CALLED:
littleone, Hux, Huxtable, Huxy-wuxy, Leather, tiny, peanut, littlefoot, pint size, short stop... notice a trend here?

TAG YOU’RE IT:
Nah, only if you want to and you're bored.

Oh happy day... I no longer have to listen to loud spanish lady anymore! Well, I can still hear her technically, but only from a distance! I moved cubes! Thank you boss!

Be Still My Beating Heart

We went to the doc's today for my regular visit. We started off the day thinking Ryan wasn't going to be able to come, but because I had a feeling we would get to hear the heartbeat- I really wanted him there. So the love that he is worked it out so he could leave work early and come with me! We had the regular check up and the doc said I should start feeling better in a couple of weeks. And then we went to the ultra sound room and after a long wait, heard the baby's little heart beating! Can you believe that it was 178 bpm!? Amazing! We could even see it moving around a little! I could've sat there all day and listened to it! Too bad it was just for like 45 seonds.

It's such a miracle thought and I feel so fortunate to have this experience even though at times (like yesterday and today) I feel like doodoo! It's worth it just knowing what I get to be doing! So, so far the baby is healthy, moving and growing and developing! This is good news! Yay for our little peanut!

Baby's first haircut

Ally got her first haircut today.

the baby ewok before.

the baby ewok with revealed stripes after.

(first blog post done by ryan)

Day off...

So, I had to take a day off... called in sick. I think that I'm just really tired and therefore not really feeling spectacular. I mean, honestly- I could feel worse and I am so grateful that it's not worse. The doctor gave me a bunch of prenatal pill samples and I'm down to my last packet, and well- I'm glad I saved it for last because it makes me feel like POOP instantly. I called the doc to get a prescription for one I know my body can handle- but it wont be ready until tonight. So I took this horrid pill before bed last night (which I usually try to take with dinner, it just settles better- but forgot) and it made me feel so sick. So when I woke up this morning I already didn't feel great and Ryan was in the bathroom getting ready and coughing while brushing his teeth or something and well, it triggered my gag reflex and sent me kicking him out of the bathroom so I could throw up! HA! I've never laughed while throwing up before... another reason to love my husband! It was quite comedic the whole event... but left me feeling icky and worse.
Anyway- that's part of the reason I stayed home. I feel a sinus infection coming on or they say on the news that the heat and the air quality are making people have a reaction that seems like cold or something. THAT and well... I am just really sick of work. My senses are heightened and people bug me and the noise is too much. I'm sick of being on the phone and I'm just TIRED. I just needed an alone day. Just me and Ally.
But I got a little video clip of that loud Spanish lady that sits next to me so you understand. I mean, it's really different and much louder when you sit on the other side of the cube wall from her... but you'll get the picture. Also, the phone is ringing which means someone has to answer it and that person COULD be me and so her in the back ground, someone on the phone and OTHER loud coworkers sometimes is too much. That and the gray cube walls were starting to depress me a little. My bed is so much more comfortable!
Turn it up I guess. You can hear her accent too.

So we say goodbye to an era in our lives... or, I should say a friend. Andrea left us this weekend for a new and exciting adventure in Houston! We all are very happy for her, but will miss her lots. We had a fun party for her though, and hope she'll stop by and visit again soon!

my natural highs

There are times when I wonder what this world is coming to because of all the negative and sad things I hear on the news or see on the TV in general. And there are days where I think that nothing more could go wrong or when I just don't feel especially happy. But today I really enjoyed reading Sara's blog because it made me remember that there are SO many wonderful things in life not only to be grateful for, but to look forward to. So I'm going to change my outlook on life today and make a list of my "natural highs" or things that just plain and simply make me happy and allow me to look forward to life in general! I'm sure I'll forget things or have to stop at some point.

1. Ryan's smile and laugh and his love
2. making homemade chocolate chip cookies
3. camping
4. doing really good service
5. feeling the Spirit at Church
6. being with my family (both of them)
7. taking an invigorating walk
8. a good night's sleep
9. a yummy crunchy gala apple
10. rain storms
11. hugs
12. getting my hair done, cut and colored
13. Christmas time; buying and decorating the tree, buying presents, the smells and songs and happiness.
14. when it snows at night and the sky is pink and everything is quiet.
15. food (when I'm not in my first trimester of pregnancy)
16. good music
17. laughing hard! So hard you can't breath and tears well up in your eyes!
18. knowing I'm a mommy
19. traveling (well, not the actual traveling necessarily- but getting to see new places!)
20. sex (I'm sorry, I had to put it! I'm just being honest!)
21. the ocean
22. the mountains
23. cooking and people liking it
24. beautiful photography
25. thinking about my baby's toes and fingers and what and who it will look like
26. swimming
27. good friends to laugh with and lean on
28. watching the earth turn green in the Spring
29. seeing how much my parents love each other
30. going to the temple

Yikes...

I was just going through the pictures in my cell phone and found this! I totally forgot about it too! When we were in Cali we stopped at a Carl's Jr with Travis and these two lovebirds came in! No he's not wearing a shirt, yes his girlfriend has her hand in his butt pocket, and yes she's taller than he is... and yes, that's Ryan pretending to pose so I could take the picture! Ha! Even Travis was hoping I'd see them! Quite the couple eh?!

You must be sick of seeing the ugly pregnant cave woman picture by now eh? Well... I still sort of feel like that, although so far this week has been A LOT better than last. My doctor's office gave me a bunch of prenatal pill samples that I've been circulating through and I think certain ones make me feel a certain way- most often worse than I already feel. I'm so tired today though- I wish more than anything I had a day off in the middle of the week to rest and rejuvenate. I could really use it today! Because when I get tired like this, I really don't feel or function well.
We went to Babies R Us this weekend and found a bed set that we really like. I figured it works for both a boy or a girl, and I think it's adorable! We'll probably paint the room a light yellow- pretty understated. We didn't buy it the set yet, we did buy the light switch plate though just for inspiration on color. It made me really happy and excited to see all the things we get to buy for this little one! I have to remember not to get too anxious to get stuff just yet though... but there's no hurt in looking! We found a stroller/car seat that we really like that we'll probably get too. We're still looking around at cribs since we have plenty of time- so we probably wont buy the bed set until then. I did buy some onesies today... there were three neutral colored ones for $1.48 on clearance at Target. I couldn't resist! And my mom recommended that I start buying diapers a little at a time because they get pricey. So I bought some newborn diapers my friend suggested. It's exciting!
Well, I've been writing this all day... I guess I can post it now. We're hoping to go to Florida to see our friends Jill and Brent and their two boys for Labor Day weekend! My only debate is either flying (which isn't too bad price wise) or renting a car and driving 7-8 hours... I think I choose the first!

The Eqyptian Flu

Wow, it's been a rough two days. Nothing like throwing up water first thing in the morning... water. Here's the thing, I knew that "Morning Sickness" was rough because I'd heard of it, but just like all of you other people who are either prego or have been before- feeling like I constantly have the flu SUCKS! I know it gets better (hopefully) and that it's worth it to bring a child into the world... but for now, I don't want it anymore! I hate throwing up... especially when there really isn't anything to throw up! But I guess feeling sick is a good sign that everything is going alright... stupid hormones.

And speaking of hormones, I love that at any random moment I can bust into uncontrollable crying spells where I am heaving because I'm crying so hard and I have NO idea why! I think it was a bad idea for me to watch "A Baby Story" on TLC yesterday when I stayed home from work feeling way sick. Man... first of all, some woman going totally natural made me want to cry because I don't want to squeeze a kid the size of a watermelon out of an area the size of a nostril, especially with out drugs! And then when the baby comes out crying it's cute little head off is when I start crying because then I realize that I absolutely can't wait for that moment to hear my child crying for the first time!

Poor, poor Ryan... he's so good to me but just isn't sure what to do with me. I'm tired, I'm emotional, I don't have ANY desire to work, I feel like I'm on the verge of puking every three minutes... it's oh so fun.

From my mom:
If people ask how you feel you say, "I have the flu - the Egyptian flu. I'm going to be a mummy!"
Chuckle, chuckle!

Story Time!

Well, I guess it's time to post an interesting blog. Yesterday was a tiring day for me, but also exciting. Let me explain why. Ryan and I were on the way to the doctor when he realized that my car had monumentally reached mileage 111,111. So we stopped and took a picture! It's so handy to have a camera around! While were about to get on the on ramp to the freeway, and about mileage 111,114... she died. Long story short, we had to pull over and call a tow truck to have the car taken to our brother in-laws service station so Ryan could fix it and get it running before our rescheduled doctor appointment.

After getting it fixed by the skin of our teeth, we made it to the doctor to see this!

This is our little baby! Yes, I am pregnant! I'm 7 weeks along and am due the day after my birthday (3/15/08) with a possibility that it might actually come ON my birthday! It was planned, we got off the pill in May and within a month I as pregnant! Yowza! We are excited, nervous, happy, scared, floored, etc! It's a range of feelings- especially for me with the crazy hormones (I'm SO in my first YUCKY trimester)! Wow, I mean I'd heard about "morning sickness"- but you just really don't know what it's like until you experience it! Ah the things we do for our children. And my husband is being wonderfully patient and wonderful to me!

I'd have to say the highlight of my afternoon was (and I'm sure it was Ryan's too) seeing the little itty-bittiest heart beat in the world! And to realize it was our baby's! It was going so fast! It was amazing! Crazy! It think it was also helpful for Ryan to actually SEE the baby- because boy oh boy do I feel it, but it wasn't real for him until then. I, of course, cried and Ryan says that he was so excited to see that little thing that was part of him and part of me alive!

Our families are super excited. And I'll just be excited to get out of this first phase. Anyway- this is definitely exciting for us! Who'da thunk that in one year Ryan and I would find each other, get engaged, buy a house, Ryan get baptized, get married and get pregnant?! We are truly blessed.

Emily's Visit!

The sound of people clipping their fingernails at work has to be one of the grossest things in the world to me. Wait until you get home... please!

Pictures of Ally

She loves sleeping on her back and getting her belly scratched!

Update on the Smith front

Nothing much to report for right now. Things are going good. We've just been living life and enjoying our little puppy! She's doing really good. She likes it when we have company. Especially last night we had some people over for Jiznin's b-day and she just loved all the attention she got! Of course, it's because as everyone says "she's the cutest dog" they've ever seen! She still does #2 in the dining room if she doesn't get it done outside, that makes me a little mad. But she's starting to learn that's a big NO NO because she ran away from me this morning when she knew she was in trouble! Anyway... she's cute, we love her and it's nice to have her around!
My friend Emberleigh (Emily H.) is coming to visit this weekend and I am SOOOO excited! It'll be nice to have an old friend around to entertain me! HA! We haven't decided what to do, we might just do a whole lotta NUTHIN'! (Great grammar eh?)
Peace!

Just about the cutest thing EVER...

Pictures from the 4th of July

No one seems to be in the mood for blogging. Well, okay that's maybe a little extreme to say NO ONE- I've seen a handful of new blogs the last little while. But I challenge you all to post something new... what's up? How's life? Anything new or exciting happening? Or just nothing at all? Ready, set, WRITE!

It's a Girl!

Born May 11, 2007. We brought her home Saturday. We named her Ally, short for Alison! She's a Lhasa Apso and is a little sweetie... so far!

I guess I better get to writin' about the trip!

Our trip to Southern California and Arizona June 16th-24th! Bullet point style! (Forgive me for the length, remember- this is a journal for us! If you want, skip down to the bottom for the slide show!)

• Flew from Atlanta and landed at LAX in the a.m. where we met up with our friend Travis who flew from Phoenix to go to Six Flags with us.


• Spent most of the evening riding Goliath, Batman, The Riddler, Ninja, the Viper twice and eating Dipin' Dots which are my favorite. The Riddler's line was FOREVER long (and there was a teenage girl that needed more clothes on and an attitude change that drove us nuts), but the rest of them were reasonable. Except for I just remembered Batman's line... I tried to block it out of my memory. It wasn't a long line, but it takes you through the building before it takes you upstairs to where you load onto the ride. The air conditioning wasn't on and it was fairly hot, I'm claustrophobic and mister teenager behind us kept getting in our personal space with some BAD B.O.! ARG! I had a bit of a panic attack... I'm okay now. Don't worry.


• Travis stayed with us at the ghetto Days Inn and we took him back to the airport the next morning. We made a pit stop at the LA Memorial Cemetery because we saw it off the freeway and it looked really cool. Took some pictures and then Ryan and I drove about 3 or more hours to Sequoia National Park. It's closest to Bakersfield, and is the place where all the BIG BIG trees are- ya, you know which ones I'm talking about!


• Spent the night in Three Rivers, just south of the canyon there. Then the next day was Ryan's 26th Birthday! Unfortunately, I doubt it was the funnest birthday for him ever, because we drove A LOT. But we left for the coast that morning after he had a waffle breakfast at the hotel and even made a stop at the famous IN-N-OUT Burger for lunch. We made a detour to Whittier, CA to Rose Hills Memorial Park where we went to see my oldest brother Brian's grave. I haven't been there for about 15 years and thought it would be good for Ryan to be apart of that as well. From there we drove to Cardiff By The Sea, CA which is just north of San Diego. We were sort of bummed that our hotel was not in fact "by the sea"... but it was nice enough. We went to dinner and drove along the beautiful coast for Ryan's first time seeing the Pacific Ocean! It was chilly though, so we didn't swim.


• Tuesday morning we got up and ate breakfast at the Original Pancake House and then went to the beach for a couple of hours. It was really too cold to hang out for too long, the water was cold and the air was cold and it was windy. But we had fun amidst all the seaweed there. I taught Ryan how to pop the little seaweed ball things... hard to explain- but some of you might know what I'm talking about! We even got a little sunburned too.


• We also got to go to see the San Diego Temple, which is one of my favorites. We walked around there for a little while. And then later after the beach went to Old Town in San Diego and visited the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center (coincidence that the Ensign is about that this month? Weird...). We kind of got lost, or should I say took a tour of downtown San Diego. And then ended up ordering pizza, watching a movie and just chilling out in our hotel room! It was actually quite relaxing!


• Wednesday- we headed to Phoenix... and ew, what a yucky and boring and hot drive. Yikes. I really have nothing more to say about that. We got to Delinda's house and met up with Travis again and our friend Shannon (Henry) Lista and her new husband we hadn't met yet, Diego! It was great to see her! I had freakin' yummy fish tacos at Rubio's... a beautiful, wonderful thing!


• The next morning, we woke up fairly early and stopped in Flagstaff on our way to The Grand Canyon to have lunch with Anne and Brian Wallace, some old family friends. It was so great to see them! They even offered for us to stay at their house (for free) when we came back to Flagstaff!


• After arriving in Grand Canyon Village and finding John, Clau and the kids and checking into the hotel- we headed off to see the sights! It was so much fun to be there with them, and even better because this was the first time Ryan ever met them! After hanging out at the Canyon and getting pizza, we spent the night swimming and getting ice cream together and had lots of fun laughing and joking around. (I wont mention the sleepless night we had due to someones big brother snoring...)


• After a pillow fight, taking our time getting ready and a yummy hotel breakfast in the morning- we ventured back out to the big hole in the ground. It really is such a beautiful site to see and so wondrous to me! (That rhymed!) We got pretty HOT out there, so we decided to head to Flagstaff where I grew up. John and his family weren't planning on going, but decided last minute to go. Missy (my niece) decided she wanted to ride with us. There was only one condition... that she roll down the window if she made a stinky! Every once in a while all we'd hear from the back was the window going down for a second, then back up... she was very discreet... sort of!


• We ate lunch together in Flagstaff and then parted ways so we each could explore and see things that reminded us of the good ol' days. I took Ryan first to go see our old house, my parents moved out of 9 years ago. It's changed a lot and it made me cry to realize how much I missed and loved that house. It doesn't look the same which bothers me a bit- but the memories I hold for it mean a lot to me. We drove around a lot that night; went to the San Fransisco Peaks and a brief tour of the city and then took our stuff to Anne and Brian's house (they were off camping for the weekend). We got ready and went to The Museum Club where some people that couldn't go to the High School Reunion were meeting up. I was a tad bit nervous before hand and when we got there it was really quite surreal to see all these people I grew up with all grown up, but pretty much looking (and some acting) the same! I guess I do too when it comes down to it! Anyway... it was fun. Just kind of weird!


• Saturday we decided to stick around town because quite frankly we were SICK of driving so much and went and saw some cool sites there in the Flagstaff area. We went to Sunset Crater, and then drove to the historic downtown area and walked around in my favorite stores that I used to frequent, and ate lunch at good ol' Alpine Pizza. It's good pizza and it was nice to sit out on the porch and watch people walk by. When we finished eating we walked down to Wheeler Park, across the street from where my dad used to work. We made a couple of phone calls, listened to the trains go by, and enjoyed the shade and the nice breeze there. After we were done with downtown we went to see if we could go into Lowell Observatory- but didn't feel like paying $10 just to go in the visitor center and not even look through the telescope! Lowell Observatory is where Pluto was discovered!


• After getting back to Anne's house we took a nap and then got spruced up (in jeans of course) for the Sinagua-Coconino-Flag High 10 Year Class of 97' High School Reunion! Yowza I feel like an old lady! (I attended Sinagua.) It was at a nice hotel and the best part of it all was seeing Melanie (Stow) Hagen, Hans Hony, Sara Shelton and a few other good friends from the past! We laughed and talked and caught up and ate and had fun. Ryan and I left a little early and drove down to Phoenix to stay at Delinda's again. We woke up and took our rental car to the airport (after having put over 2,000 miles on it) and then went to lunch with her before she took us back to the airport to catch our flight home! Lucky for me... I got fish tacos again at Rubio's! YUM! I wish they had those here... anyone want to open one up?

It was SUCH a fun trip! And as you can tell, JAMMED PACKED! This week has been a struggle with getting back to work and everything... we need recovery time for our vacation! As much as I love it over there in the West- I really am starting to become partial to the greenness here! And it was nice to be back home, in our house and our bed!

Here's a slide show of the trip: WARNING! It's sort of long...

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sometimes I wonder about myself...

I could have permanently tattooed myself yesterday... imagine this:

Staff Meeting.

Bubble Gum bag not easy to open.

Precise V5 Rolling Pilot Pen (used as an opening devise).

My fingers holding the bag.

Missing the bag, but not my fingers.

Thinking to myself "that didn't feel like the bag the pen just went into..."

Ouch.

I have just discovered a really YUMMY new snack... and it helps that's it's only 100 calories and will prevent me from getting any FATTER. :)

Back to work... and let me tell you how excited I am to hear the sweet dulcet tones (do you sense a bit of sarcasm?) of the ANNOYING & LOUD Spanish lady that sits on the other side of me.

On a side note, this is what I feel like I am doing today... I need a recovery period from all that driving and travelling! Pictures to come soon!

Happy Birthday Ryan! And Hello from Cali!

We made it! We're going on day 4 tomorrow... my birthday boy is asleep next to me! I hope he had a good day today... he said he did, so I sure hope so!

So far we've made it to Six Flags, Sequoia National Park and now here in the San Diego area to enjoy a couple nights close to the beach! We're having fun! We've seen so many beautiful places! I really love it here!

I know I don't look happy, but I didn't know the picture was being taken!

General Sherman tree! HUGE!

Happy Birthday Babe!