I'm tired ...

• I'm tired of feeling sick all the time.

• I'm tired of having a headache for days on end.

• I'm tired of that headache turning into a migraine and leaving me so sick I can't keep anything down (the present situation)....even after I've taken zofran....the miracle nausea drug.

• I'm tired of throwing up.

• I'm tired of not being able to cook dinner for my husband or myself.

• I'm tired of my new system of doing laundry: put a load in the washer, change it to the dryer and then get my clothes out of the dryer only when I need them, instead of just folding the load when they are done. Then I finally start another load days later.
  

• I'm tired of having no energy.

• I'm tired of being on my feet all day at work and coming home and spending my evening on the sofa.

• I'm tired of my messy house. I just can't stay on top of it like I want to.
  

• I'm tired of being grouchy all the time (and I know my husband is tired of it too!!)

• And now I'm tired of complaining.
  

To combat my complaining episode, here are a few things I'm grateful for:

• I'm grateful Stanford will rub my shoulders and neck anytime I ask and has never once complained about it.

• I'm grateful Stanford cooks for me and will clean up the kitchen and take care of me.
  

• I'm grateful for my daily emails with my sister Tasha. She provides the love, support, and strength I need on a daily basis while at work and I love her to no end.

• In fact, I'm grateful for my whole family for their phone calls and check ups to see how I'm doing.

• I'm grateful to be pregnant and to be 18 weeks along with a little belly to show for it.

• I'm grateful that next week I will have my ultrasound to find out if I'm having a boy or a girl!

• And I'm grateful that Stanford should be home any minute to spend this evening with me before he heads off to Utah tomorrow for four days to be with his mom and sister!!!
  

How many Carly's???

This is the one photo I really wanted to our photographer to take but couldn't seem to get across the vision... finally I got it... ahhh:) Thanks, Carly for running across the lawn.

John Wayne Classic

Only the best Western movie ever made in the history of mankind... recently I convinced Sara to watch the movie "The Cowboys". She reticently agreed. My Dad was a big fan of Westerns so I saw a lot in my childhood. It is a genre I pretty much skip over these days because I saw too many when I was young.. that and Hawaii Five-0 episodes. But for some reason I've always wanted to watch this movie again... just to see if it was as good I remembered it.

Now this is a dangerous proposition because when I return to a movie I loved in my childhood there is always a chance that I will hate it the second time around... and suddenly that is one less memory I have to reminisce.

But if you take it for what it is... "The Cowboys" is the ultimate Western flick. It has classic frog in the classroom scene, it has the vintage Nigro... so politically incorrect, it has the stubborn man, it has death, it has a wild horse's spirit being broken, a very romantic display, it has prostitutes, vengeance... and everything romantic about Cowboys you could imagine has been packed into this short 120 minute movie... it is quite amazingly. Definitely, left me feeling like I didn't need to see another Western for the next ten years... but most definitely worth it... just remember to see it for what it is... and absorbed it... but don't be too disappointed if there are not any Indians.

Also, please check out my top ten movie list... I am thinking of putting "The Cowboys" on there.

Kayak Trip

On August 16th, Stanford, Taya and I set out for an 11 1/2 mile kayaking trip down the Colorado River. We planned this trip well in advance due to the limited number of launch permits they give out to kayakers. We were dropped off with a group at the base of the Hoover Dam and Stanford, Taya and I set out for our adventure at 9:15am ... due to meet at the end point at 3:30pm. The day was perfect: warm and sunny but with an an unexpected situation: wind. The wind didn't affect us too much the first few miles. We leisurely took our time and kayaked through caves and got out and explored a hot spring with a sauna cave, then swam around in the warm water.

After that we got back in our kayaks and set out to try and find another hot spring. It was a pretty rough couple miles that we were trying to get in synch with each others rowing and also battling the waves made by many jet ski's and boats. We finally got to a beach and decided to take a break and eat some lunch. This would be our last stop of the day (at 12:30pm) due to the strong winds that were starting up. We had 7 miles left to go and only 3 hours. It was quite an overwelming task ahead of us. As we set out we had no idea just how grueling it would be. I honestly don't know how we did it. I got sick at one of the windiest points in the trip and poor Stanford was in a kayak all by himself that was geared toward white water kayaking, not kayaking headlong into wind on a river. We were half an hour late to our destination and we really thought we'd never get there. But what kept us going was the beautiful scenery and the billy goats we would see every once in a while along the shore. And once we got to land and our arms were still intact, we thought, ah, we did it! And as we stumbled home and chatted about our triumph over the sea, we thought, hey, maybe next year we'll do it again....

Pregnancy Whoa's

I really can't wait to be through being sick with this pregnancy. It has really put me through the wringer. Yesterday was no exception. I made my first (and hopefully last) visit to the ER. As many of you know I suffer with migraines. And have since I was little. And usually taking medicine and sleeping in a nice dark room will make me better. But this has not been the case since I've been pregnant because there's really no medicine I feel comfortable taking except Tylenol when these migraines hit me. Which means I'm in incredible amounts of pain through most of the day and also throw up multiple times.

Well...yesterday I woke up with another one and after I tried to eat and take some Tylenol, I threw it right up. I knew it was going to be one of those days so I called in sick. But what usually happens is I throw up a bunch in the morning and then sleep as much as I can and usually can slowly start to get fluids and food back into me. Yesterday, I couldn't. It didn't matter what I put in my mouth, I just couldn't keep it down. I ended up getting so weak and dehydrated that I couldn't maintain my balance or stop shaking. After talking to my doctor I ended up getting my good friend Meridy to take me to the ER (Big thanks to you Meridy!!) . I'd never been to the ER but know they are not fun places to wait, especially at a county facility. I ended up waiting for close to 4 hours to get seen and another 3 1/2 before they sent me home. Once I got a room and some IV fluids in me I started to feel better. Poor Stanford came right before I got a room and then didn't feel good himself but sat quietly by my side for the remaining 3 hours I was there. We had a great resident and doctor and I was also able to get a nausea med through my IV because I was still throwing up in the room. But was able to eat and drink a little before I left.

But when I got home and tried eating some more, I couldn't keep it down. (It's the worst feeling ever to not be able to take care of my body the way I want to). I was so restless and hungry from not eating all day that I didn't think I would be able to sleep good, but I did, and even though it was on the sofa (since I could prop myself up better).

Now today is a new day! So far I've been able to keep fluids and a little food in me. I just pray that I can continue to do so. At least I am able to be at home and take it easy. The highlights of my day will include: taking a shower, picking up all the dishes that are lying around my house, and watching a movie. Oh, and eating what I can!! :-)

The cat's out of the bag ...

I'm pregnant!

I'm due February 27th! I'm about 12 weeks and have been VERY sick the last six weeks and still don't feel good. I'm really hoping that I'll start to feel better now that I'm heading into my second trimester.

I'm so excited to also be pregnant along with my sister, Tasha, who is due just a month ahead of me. She's finally going to be an aunt. And we get to walk along this pregnancy together!

I've had both an ultrasound and sonogram now and been able to see the little baby and hear the heart beat...so this baby is official. Stanford and I are SO excited!!!

Chad's Farewell & Family Pics

If you were there I probably took a picture of you.

(download the pictures)
(more pictures...)

Shout Out...

Sara is definitely not someone to secretly not mention "her birthday" especially the day of or the week of. She has been constantly reminding me for the last week... until this has official become her birthday week... wherein, favors are asked in the name of birthday week. Anyway, it has been great fun. Sara, HAPPY BIRTHDAY... HAPPY BIRTHDAY week!!!

Sara's omelet... in bed of course!!!

Splendiferous!!!

originally it was my responsibility to take the pictures... and then upload them to the computer... and Sara would post them but since she has been so sick lately... I decided to help empty the inbox by using the one-huge-conglomerate-posting method to put us current.

[[the official ring... just passing though]]





[[the official crash... just passing though]]



[[officially frustrated... politics... rising gas pricing... etc.]]



[[officially hanging in there... a long time...]]




[[before the official picture...]]



[[the official human spelling b]]



[[unofficial spider man...]]





[[unofficial downtime...]]



[[officially waiting...]]



[[official farewell...]]








[[the official redheads...]]




[[the official sisters...]]



[[the official picture...]]



[[official brother time...]]

Grand Canyon

I've been a terrible blogger. I begged and begged Stanford to download all the pictures we had and then I never made a post. So here I am, making things right. :) Last month we went to the Grand Canyon, West Rim with our friends Matt and Shawna. It was their first camping experience together and our first with friends. The night before we got together and made tin foil dinners and came up with a plan for our adventures the next day. We drove and packed our car up to its limit. We left around 5:30pm and headed out to Kingman where we were planning on camping. A little ways on the drive out we noticed a billboard pointing towards an entrance to the West Rim and decided to take that road out and find a camping spot off the road somewhere. That was really hard to come by but we finally found something closer than we normally like off the road that had no signs saying we were on government land or on private property. This is what we came up with ...








We had fun setting up camp, building a fire pit in the ground with coals, and cooking our tin foil dinners and peach cobbler in a dutch oven. Then we sat beneath the stars talking & turning off our flashlight every time we'd see a car come by ... just in case we weren't suppose to be there. The only time we ever had a good scare was at 1am when we were bolted awake at the sound of gunfire that felt like it was in our camp. The gunfire ended up getting quieter and Stanford and Matt got out of their tents and found car lights in the distance where they figured the gun fire was now coming from - probably shooting things under the full moon. They stayed up talking long after the car left, which kept me feeling very safe.

Next morning we got up, ate breakfast, played some catch phrase, and headed on our way to the West Rim. We had such a good time. We were a little disappointed when we got to the West Rim because you had to pay to park, pay to go on the Skywalk (which was our main goal) and pay to take a bus out to any of the areas on the West Rim. We ended up vetoing the Skywalk and spent a couple of hours at the different area's the bus took us to. Here are some pictures. It was a very fun day!

When I was a kid...

my Grandpa "Golden Carlston" liked to go for Sunday drives around the neighborhood and admire the lawns and flowerbeds or the any changes in the community. I can also remember going for walks with my sister and looking at homes and admiring various architectural features and dreaming up our future homes with all their grandeur. So today, in the spirit of tradition, Sara took me on a walk and took a picture of everything she liked.