{the LONG life}

Baby Food

2011-06-01T20:32:00.001-07:00

What can I say, Olivia is an eating girl! Recently, Olivia discovered food... real food. Food that she doesn't have to work for. She really likes that. After weeks of wrestling her, I think she is back to actually enjoying nursing, but we can only cross our fingers. Here she is eating her baby food, with very good manners might I add.
I have decided to make Olivia's baby food. My motivation for doing this is two fold: I believe it's the healthiest and I believe it's more economical. I like that I can control the freshness and ingredients. Not that I have anything against canned baby food, but I like that I pick the produce and blend it up right away. I feel good about giving her great quality food.

So what I do is lightly steam the vegetable and then put it the Vita Mix and puree it until smooth. I then put the food into an ice tray to freeze individual portions. Each "cube" is approximately 1 ounce of food, so I do know how much she gets. After the food is frozen, I remove them from the tray and put a certain portion in a vacuum sealed bag. So far so good. Thus far on the menu: Bananas, Pears, Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, and Squash. She likes them all, but no matter what you give her, the first bite always produces a sour face. After the first bite, she just goes to town. The only thing she won't go to town on is avocado. It was hysterical! I mashed up some avocado and gave it to her. Not only did she have a sour face but she started gaging and tonguing it out! I was laughing so hard! She didn't find it so funny. But I tricked her. I added some banana to it and she ate it all. I am not ashamed to "hide" vegetables! They need it, even if they don't know they're getting them!

The weekend before I went back to work, Daniel and I went to Seaside... without Olivia... for TWO days! We had such an amazing time! I got GOOD sleep and we were just able to hang out and play together. We ate very good food, watched a movie or two, went in the hot tub, just did whatever we wanted, without a schedule. It was just so great to spend time together again. It was better than dating, because we both felt like we appreciated the time more. But boy did we miss Olivia. We talked about her a lot and called frequently to make sure she was eating and sleeping ok. She did phenomenal! She stayed at Grandma Long's the first night and Grandma Vrtiska's the second night. Both nights she did great! We were so proud of her! And when we saw her again it was a very sweet reunion... as can be seen in these pictures. My sweet dad captured the moment and I'm so glad he did!

We love our little family of 3! Olivia is by far the greatest blessing we've received and count our lucky stars that she was entrusted to us!

Happy Easter!

2011-05-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

Just shy of four months old, Olivia celebrated her first Easter at the Jackson School Easter Egg Hunt. Well technically she spent her first Easter at church, but we're talking about the secular part of Easter. She wasn't scared of the huge bunny in the slightest. Apparently she has never seen Donnie Darko... freaky bunny!
It was a beautiful day for an easter egg hunt and the sun was in her eyes, but she sure does look cute! I love making all these bows and flowers, even if Dan takes them off as soon as I put them on.

She is so helpful, she's holding baskets already. Actually she does attempt to hold a bottle, but she never gets a good enough grip.

We were joined by my sister Lindsey and three of her children. Isabelle is just about two months older than Olivia and they will soon be best friend cousins. They're too cute!

Find the eggs. Hidden with all the eggs is the greatest treasure of them all: Olivia! She's such a sweet baby and the greatest blessing Daniel and I have ever received. Having children is what we're meant to do in this life, I'm certain of it!

Top 15 Favorite Pictures (In no Particular Order)

2011-04-11T21:50:00.000-07:00

I could easily post a hundred pictures of Olivia, but I must practice some restraint. I have picked my top 15 favorite pictures, and I'll explain why. Each picture has a story. It's one thing to take a picture, it's another to capture a story with a picture. Starting with number one: Belly picture. This picture was taken I believe the night before Olivia was born. I'd been trying to set up a maternity photoshoot but things just weren't falling into place. I had a feeling the baby was coming soon, so I took a picture of my belly. I'm so glad I did; it's the only one I have. It's crazy to look at this picture now and see what I looked like with a belly. My belly never got that big, and I feel blessed for that. 2. Bath time! Olivia loves her baths; always has. When I see this picture, it reminds me how small she once was! She's just a little over 6 pounds in this picture! I never thought she'd grow as fast as she has. It also reminds me of our favorite time together: bathing and showering. It's one of the things I do with her that is always enjoyable. I absolutely love that bonding time.

3. Bunny ears! Dan and I enjoy putting clothes on her head. She looks so silly. Last night, as I was taking her shirt off for her bath, I did this again and she looked like a little alien. It is so funny. I realize this might sound weird to you, but for us, it's a reminder of playtime with baby!

4. Lindsey and I have been very excited that we both had girls within a month and half of each other. Isabelle came first in November. I was always worried that my kids wouldn't have cousins their age because I'm the youngest, but I was wrong. Now Olivia has a cousin to be best friends with, and I hope that's what they are! Best friend cousin in the making!!

5. Favorite picture of all time! I hesitate even sharing this picture because it captures one of the most intimate feelings I've ever shared with Daniel. I am so glad Stephanie took this picture. This was taking just right after she was born. The bond I felt with Dan in that moment was so strong, and I'll never, ever forget that feeling.

6. "Well hello there!" Dan and my favorite birth picture of Olivia. She looks so alert and happy already! She ALWAYS stares at the camera, so it's no surprise she has since birth!

7. Strange calling this a "favorite" picture, but even our struggles and afflictions are for our good. This was taken during the time after birth where she wasn't crying. She literally layed there, breathing so fast. She had just run a marathon and had a 103 degree fever at birth. This reminds me how fragile life is and also how blessed we are to have a healthy baby. Some are not so lucky, and I thank Heavenly Father every day for such mercy to give us a healthy baby.

8. Because of her fever, she had to get an IV and receive antibiotics for the first 48 hours of life. It was the strangest thing to see her without an IV because that's all we've ever known. And I have to give props to the NICU nurses who can start baby IV's like nothing! Those veins are TINY, and I complain about how difficult it can be to start an adult IV!!

9. Big Blues! Olivia's eyes are just absolutely breath taking. I love them. She's so aware of her surroundings and takes everything in. It's no surprise to me that she's 2 weeks old and looking directly into the camera-- that's Olivia!

10. Nap time. In the beggining of life, she slept anywhere, anytime. I always loved to see her sleeping with and on her daddy. She's been daddy's girl from the start.

11. Screaming time. Olivia loves baths, but she hates being cold after them! She would seriously just scream the entire time we dressed her. It was so pathetic, I had to take a picture. This picture always reminds me of the song, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to."

12. "Drunk eyes." For the first month, Olivia would fight sleeping... who am I kidding, she still fights sleeping! But in that first month, she'd fall asleep and then flutter her eyes, looking totally drugged! Such a little cutie!

13. Do I do anything but cry? This was at the height of Olivia's "pooping problem." She was born with a congenital anal stenosis. She had a narrowing in her intestines that made it very, very difficult to pass stool. Because she was unable to poop on her own, she was sooooooo fussy! She cried so much, and it just breaks my heart to think back on those days when my daughter was in such pain. It was difficult for us because we couldn't even play with her, she was that uncomfortable!

14. First "out of the hospital" family picture! We are proud parents of our beautiful daughter!

15. HEADBANDS! Mommy loves making headbands for Olivia. She already has close to 30 headbands. I've had such a fun time making them, and think she looks just about as precious as can be in them!

And for the grand finale, a video of Olivia! We had been doing Patty Cake all morning and she was just laughing and smiling. By the time I grabbed the camera, she was over it! But I love these moments with her when I sing and play with her. She now tries to sing back. She extends the length of her coo's so that it sounds like singing. She's trying so hard! She's going to be a singer I think.

Olivia Makayla Long

2011-04-10T18:13:00.001-07:00

Well, here it is 3 months later, and I'm just finally posting my first blog since Olivia was born. On January 3rd, 2011 at 4:56 PM, Olivia Makayla Long entered the world about as dramatically as her life has yet proven to be. I pushed for four hours. Olivia was in distress. I had a fever. She didn't cry for 2 to 3 minutes after birth. She had a fever. She had an IV and antiobiotics for two days. But boy was that the most amazing experience I've ever had!? I wrote a very detailed story of her birth and am not sure if I'll post it here because it's nearly three pages I believe. Needless to say, the labor was intense. The pushing more intense. Her arrival was tense. But when the placed her in my arms and our eyes locked, it was the most spiritual experience I've ever had. It is hard to describe, but I literally felt the power of our temple sealing in that moment. At 11 days old, we took Olivia to Mari Thompson for her newborn shoot. The pictures turned out amazing. The pictures lie because it was very difficult to photograph her. She fought going to sleep, tooth and nail, just as she does now!

She was born with a full head of dark hair, just as her mother was! The verdict is still out as to whether her hair will turn blonde like her mom and dad.

Her nephew Isaiah has said to his mother, "Don't you just love her 'starey' eyes?" She has these intense eyes that stare intensely into yours. It's as if she's literally reading your soul!

She is a "spirited baby", as I've discovered from The Baby Whisperer. That is the perfect word to describe Olivia. She has quite the little personality and when she smiles, she smiles with her whole body!

Daniel and I feel blessed beyond belief by the addition of Olivia into our family. She has added infinitely to my happiness, struggles and all! It's all part of the process and even on my most difficult day, I still look at her and smile while my heart melts by the big blues!

9 Months and 34 Hour Labor

2010-12-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

Wow! Where do I begin? Well I am currently a few days over 37 weeks pregnant and have taken my final "monthly picture." I can't believe 9 months has come and gone so quickly. Daniel and I have had quite the adventure lately. I have been having early contractions since about week 32, I believe. As a result, my doctor reduced my shifts to 8 hour shifts instead of 12. I much appreciated that. So it comes as no surprise to me that I went to sleep on Friday night having contractions-- painful but not "oh my gosh" painful-- every 10 minutes. Because this was not the first time this has happened, I just went to sleep. I woke up a few times having contractions but was able to fall back asleep so I really wasn't all that excited. I woke up at around 5:45am and decided I should probably keep track of the frequency. I also noticed that I was having an incredible amount of pressure "down there." It literally felt like her head was coming out. I was contracting pretty much on the dot, every 10 minutes. After keeping track for a little over an hour, I figured I should try to get a little more sleep, as I really had only about 3 hours of sleep at this point. I woke up around 9:30am and continued to have contractions. At around noon I'd say, I decided that instead of keeping track of the timing, I'd try to distract myself and see if that would help. My dad and I went on a walk. Shortly after our walk began, the contractions seemed to be coming about three minutes apart and were much more painful, especially in my back. After we got home, I figured I better give the doctor a call. I called the on call doctor who said I should come in to the hospital to be evaluated. This is me, photographed by Dan, shortly after our arrival to the "prove it" room, as I lovingly call it.

After a couple cervical checks, a lot of activity, and very painful contractions every two minutes, the doctor determined I was in labor and I should be admitted. She thought that because I had dialated 2 cm and almost completely thinned out in such a short period of time, it would be unlikely that my labor would stop. The nerves really started to kick in, as I've always been a little nervous about delivering a baby. In fact, I found a poem I wrote in Junior High about my fear of giving birth. It made me laugh, because the end of it pretty much said I'd never have a baby! Anyway, I was taken to our room where I was poked like a pin cushion! Oh-My-Word! I cannot believe how painful those IV attempts were. When I found out they had to use an 18 gauge needle, I knew this would be painful. I know how big and how hard those 18 gauges can be to get and I was not excited. The first nurse who attempted was HORRIBLE! I literally was in a sweat and seeing stars by the end of her proding. She even let one needle hang from my arm as she attempted another vein, while the hematoma grew larger and larger in my arm. I was mortified. The IV nurse eventually got a site, which I was very unhappy that it was basically on my wrist. Dan wasn't happy with the first nurse. Here's my IV that Dan proudly took a picture of! Haha!I continued to contract and eventually was talked into taking some Fentanyl IV. Why was I resisting? That stuff was G-O-O-D! Exactly what I needed! By this time it was nearly 1am and the nurse wanted me to try to get some sleep, if possible, as she predicted I'd be in active labor by 5 or 6am. Well I did sleep... some... by 6am came and the contractions had slowed down to about every 10 minutes. They were becoming more mild and I no longer felt I needed fentanyl. At 9 am, the doctor came in and said he was going to send me home. He said that because I was still considered "pre-term" (I was 36 weeks and 6 days), they wouldn't keep my labor going by inducing... I was please with that. All I wanted to do was curl up in bed and SLEEP! And sleep I did! I slept all day Sunday and slept 10 hours that night. I couldn't even imagine how exhausted I'd been if I actually delivered our daughter that morning! The Lord was looking out for me! That was quite an experience for Daniel and I. We are both glad we were able to experience this prior to the real event because now we feel we have a little better idea of what to expect. We were able to talk about what went well and what didn't go well. I think we both feel we have a better plan in place now. And while I am anxious to meet our daughter, I am going to cherish these last few days, weeks, or however long it is until our bundle of joy arrives!

8 Months & Baby Showers

2010-11-27T09:31:00.000-08:00

We're rounding the bend; she's almost here! I can see the finsih line and the anticipation to cross is really setting in! Here we are: 8 months pregnant. I can't believe how fast it's gone by. I'm really starting to feel pregnant physically. I'm at a point where if I eat a large meal, I'll have horrific back pain until the food is out of my stomach. There's just not a lot of room for both food and baby. Once I eat a bigger meal, you'll find me adjusting my position very frequently to no avail! Nothing works. Sitting doesn't work. Standing doesn't work. Laying down definitely doesn't work. I've begun to learn that I just can't eat full meals anymore. Oh well!

I didn't get any pictures from the Longs baby shower, but this is a picture I took before. My sister-in-law Beth did a really cute memory game at the shower. With each match you made, you'd get a prize that correlated with the match. Example: The match was "Daniel and Monica's new family" and the prize was a three musketeer bar. Another example (I believe this is correct): the match was "conception" and the prize was a Skor bar. I thought it was cute, creative, and fun! My mom and I went home with something like four candy bars. It was very fun and a game I might have to use in the future!
My sister Stephanie threw me a phenomenal baby shower a couple weeks ago. She did such a good job with decorating and everything! Daniel made a cameo appearance. It was fun to open presents with him. But it was kind of funny because my friend Mary was talking to my mom through the gift opening and by the time the gifts were opened and we'd all chatted awhile, Daniel wisked the presents away to be organized. My mom laughed because she never got to see any of the presents. Daniel's response: you snooze, you lose! Not really, but he's got to have order in the home!

Very eager, and excited parents-to-be!
My cousins Amber and Michele and my Aunt Barbara got me the CUTEST outfit from Gymboree. I absolutely love Gymboree and had actually just purchased a dress and t-shirt from the same collection the outfit was from. They got me a cute little fur jacket (as seen below), a t-shirt, these little suede grey pants with matching hat, and the matching socks! Just adorable! Oh and on my lap you can see the first blanket my mom has EVER quilted! Yes, our daughter will get a quilted blanket from her grandma. I love that!

I think this bib is hilarious! I would Never buy it for myself (obviously), but it definitely provided a good laugh! I think it's adorable. Thanks Kehaulani.

7 Months!

2010-10-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

How the months fly by! In the beginning, it seemed the days dragged on, but towards the end, I can't keep up with the days! Here I am at essentially 7 1/2 months pregnant, or 30 weeks. I've noticed the biggest change this month. I feel like this is the month where you can definitely tell I'm pregnant. Last month I still was in the "she could be just fat" stage.

I'm 90% sure we have her name picked out. We think we will name her Maya Long. The middle name is still not decided upon. I kind of want to do a family name, but Daniel is stuck on the name Elizabeth but I say NO GO! He killed my dream of Olivia, so I guess it's payback... Not really. My pick for the middle name: Norene or Jenine, my grandmother and mothers name.

Maya Jenine Long or Maya Norene Long... Hmmmm

I really want to emphasize the way I'm really feeling here! :) Doctor Hoffman says I am carrying her inside me, which sounds like an oxymoron. He says women either have their uterus fall forward or hold it inside, which is what I'm doing. So moral of the story, my back is starting to ache. Mostly noted while working my 12 hour shifts. On my feet. Running around. Sometimes without breaks. No. Fun. But I like my job, and am grateful to have one!

Can't wait to meet you my little sweet, precious, angel, princess Maya Long!

6 months... 3 weeks ago!

2010-10-11T15:44:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe that I am 27 weeks pregnant! This picture was taken over three weeks ago and in another week, I'll be taking my 7 months picture. Time sure does fly! It's insane to me that in three short months, our little baby girl will be an official member of our family. Pregnancy is going pretty well. A few weeks ago, I developed some horrific sciatic pain and have since been going to physical therapy. The last week I've been completely pain free and it's made all the difference! Pregnancy is so much better when it's not spent in a lot of pain. I can only pray that the pain free state continues! I have so much compassion for my brother in law Rich who has had horrible sciatica for two years and will soon be getting surgery. Sciatica is just an awful thing to suffer from and I'm so glad I only suffered for three weeks or so. Makes you grateful when the pain stops.

Still no name yet for our little one. We kind of agreed on Taylor Olivia Long, and I'm hoping that we'll just call her Olivia. I really love the name and I am hoping that if I keep calling her Olivia, Dan will get confused and think that's what her name already is and then there you have it, she'll be Olivia. Doesn't that sound so cute? Olivia Long. I like it. It has a nice ring. This is how I see it going:
Stephanie Olivia Long
Olivia Stephanie Long
Taylor Olivia Long
Either way, I want her to be Olivia!

22 Weeks

2010-09-06T10:53:00.001-07:00

I haven't been the greatest with the blogging as of late. It's sad actually. I did take a four month picture, but never posted it. If my laptop ever starts working, I'll post that at some point. So as you can see, I'm 5 months pregnant. Technically, I'm 5 1/2 months today, but who's counting?

A few weeks ago, Daniel and I discovered we are having a GIRL! We were both under the impression we were having a boy, but neither one of us cared what we were having so long as it was healthy. When she said it's a girl, I was totally surprised. Now that I've had time to think about it, I'm SO happy it's a girl! Dan and I both talk about how when we see little baby girls our hearts melt. I am very happy to have a girl because we know she's going to be a little spitfire, just like her mom! She's a wiggle worm for sure! She's always moving and kicking. And I've discovered she's a fan of Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Anytime they're on, she starts with her exercises. I think it's adorable! Cannot wait to meet these little monkey!

12 Weeks (3 Months) Prego

2010-07-10T09:37:00.001-07:00

I'm 3 Months Pregnant!

I recently went to Dr. Hoffman for a check up and heard the baby's heart beat for the first time! For the last couple weeks I've been a little worried that I wasn't pregnant any longer because I really didn't feel "super" pregnant, whatever that means. So when I went, I was full of anticipation to hear the heart beat. When he placed the doppler on my stomach, he found the heart beat immediately. I was so happy. I can't really describe the feelings that went through me. I felt peace, happiness, and a calmness, as well as a total sense of amazement that I really am carrying a person inside of me. It's a feeling of amazement that cannot be described, and I don't think should be. It must be felt. If words could adequately describe that feeling, all women would get pregnant and their would be much less selfishness when it comes to whether or not to have children. I feel so blessed to be trusted with such a holy and important task as motherhood.

Baby Crib set Project

I'm trying to decide whether or not this fabric would work for either a girl or a boy. It definitely fits for a boy, but I'm up in the air as to whether or not it's girly enough. One thing I'm not up in the air about is that I LOVE THIS FABRIC! It's so my taste and style. I want it but am too afraid I won't like it if it's a girl. Any opinions? And your honest opinions are appreciated...

Sisters Night Out

2010-06-14T12:47:00.001-07:00

Escape From Reality: Sisters Retreat!

Because all eight of us were in the same city, we decided to make a night of it and stay at a hotel. We stayed at the Marriott. This picture is actually at the end of the night. We stayed up WAY too late playing games. We played BS, where Michele's infamous line is now often quoted when she announced rather matter of factly that she had two elevens! HAHA, clearly she didn't have any jacks!

We also went to dinner at Stanfords. We ate sooo good that night. We ordered a myriad of appetizers, including: macaroni and cheese, wood-fire grilled portabello mushrooms, and beer battered onion rings. Most of us had salads for our main course and me and Mindy shared an amazing berry cobbler! Such a good time!

All of us together. Wish we would've got a picture of all of us eight together!

And after four or five Diet Cherry Cokes (not spiked, I swear) our true colors came out. Lindsey, looking very beautiful tonight.

Mindy didn't know what to do with all the sugar and caffeine running through her veins when the camera clicked.

And Michele may or may not have thought that I was Rich while taking her picture!

Proof that they are cute little danty girls!

This was a night to remember! Yes, it may have took us twenty minutes to decided that the bar was NOT too loud for us Vrtiska girls but one thing we learned is that we have fun no matter where we dine! Love you sisters!

Two Months!

2010-06-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

8 WEEKS PREGNANT

I know, I know, I'm not showing... but I promised I'd track the progress of the bump. So far I've gained 5 pounds, which I'm upset about because I wasn't even eating because of that darn nausea! My cure was "Mommy Bliss" which is a supplement that has ginger, B6, red raspberry leaf, or something like that in it. It has really helped with my nausea a lot. I can eat almost anything, though it never sounds appealing. Cravings as of late: cereal! Can't get enough of it! And I am NOT a cereal person, just ask my husband.

Catch-Up Blog

2010-05-24T07:52:00.001-07:00

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY DANIEL!

On April 7th, Daniel turned 30 years old! I threw him a birthday party with all of our family and some friends. We had a Bunco themed birthday party. Because half of the attendants where part of the Vrtiska clan, the party was L-O-U-D! It was soooo much fun. Everyone but Mike and Emily came from Daniel's side (Mike got sick) and everyone who lives in the area from my side came, including Stephanie and Daniel who drove up from Corvallis! Some of our friends came too. It was a lot of people and exactly what Dan wanted!
Unfortunately the game involved all of my attention and I wasn't able to take pictures until the end when everyone was leaving. I resolve to be better about taking pictures in the future! I didn't take pictures of the food or the socializing before the game, darn! I had two different chocolate fondues. For the dipping: pineapple, banana, strawberries, brownies, angel food cake, and pound cake. Yummy! I also had an antipasto platter. I thought it turned out delicious.

The biggest loser, Erica! Erica got out with $20 for losing the most! Craig won $50 for most buncos. It was a roll off between Craig, Harvey, and Alexis. Alexis was very unhappy about losing, as a true Timmerman always is! But her husband is a doctor (and I work with him! Weird working with family!) so I'm not feeling too sorry for her! Kayleen won $40 for most wins and Harvey won $10 for last Bunco which he stole from me in the last few seconds of the game!

Our friends Branden and Kehaulani, who got engaged a week ago! We're happy for them!

And our Paleo friends Kayleen and Bob! :) The big winners of the night! See Kayleen, this is one side shot with your mouth closed! :)

Michele and Dan, they're too cute.

I had so much fun that night and didn't feel stressed at all. Sometimes it's hard to through such a large party, but it ended up being just fine. The most important thing is Daniel had a blast, and that's all that matters to me!

Bundle of Joy

2010-05-20T12:11:00.001-07:00

It's official: I'm pregnant!

STATISTICS:

Due date: January 10, 2011

Weeks along: Six weeks, three days.

Dan and I found out we are to be parents in a few short months on May 4th. I was only 4 weeks pregnant at the time and I knew from, literally, the very beginning that I was pregnant. We decided we were going to keep a secret until our ENTIRE families were together on June 5th, buuuuut, cats out the bag, word leaked. We know it wasn't Daniel who leaked it, but I seriously didn't think so many people would find out! Oh well. We're excited anyway. It's fun to share it with so many people and we'll have to make the discovery of the sex of the baby a fun way of sharing since our original plans were busted. I know I'm only six, almost seven weeks along, but I'm going to take monthly pictures of the 'baby bump' along the way. I'm not showing now so don't make any comments about me showing! I've seen some real creative, artistic ways to photograph babies progress, but that's not me, so you get a picture of me before a Saturday afternoon run with no make-up! Hey, it's me!

Rare Insomnia Blogging

2010-02-17T23:20:00.000-08:00

{ADVENTURES IN ICE SKATING}

For a friends birthday, we went ice skating for the first time. Daniel has his own skates so I was expecting a ton. I did alright. Later that night as we lay in bed Dan told me he was surprised at how well I did. I asked what he meant. He said that I've always surprised him at my ability to do things well like snowboarding and now ice skating. Who does this guy think I am? Some kind of pansy? I can admit it, I am pretty high mantenience at times (and no I'll never admit that to Dan!)

Posing on the ice. Man, can't we get one candid picture! They're all posed and I'm not a huge fan of posed photos! But it's pretty cute. I love us!

Sundays after church are a ravenous time in our house. We both are so hungry and are just dying to eat. This Sunday my sweet, thoughtful husband decided to make his "special" soup and sandwiches. Now I use special here loosely. Whenever I work and ask him to make dinner, I arrive home to soup and sandwiches, to wich I am very grateful. When he wants to, he can create so great dishes!

Our Wild New Years Eve!

2010-01-11T13:24:00.001-08:00

I had to work New Years Day, unfortunately, so I wasn't able to stay out late. I did however, go home at 10PM, where I layed in bed until about 3am. That was a rough day at work. Anyway, Daniel and I went to my parents house for New Years Eve. My sister threw a get together there. We had appetizers, played games, and played band hero. Daniel and I never played before, and we really liked it. I only liked singing and the drums. I am definitely no good at the guitar. It was fun to be with my family and my husband on New Years Eve.

We really love to get pictures together.
My oldest niece Ashley really tears it up on the guitar. She does expert and nails almost every note. I can't even see the colors as quickly as they come, yet she gets them. It's amazing.

Daniel plays the drums in real life. He says this whole band hero is nothing like the real deal. Nonetheless, I feel kind of cool being able to play for fake.

My sisters Michele and Stephanie.

I was pretending to be the little drummer boy. It was so funny to watch me and my sisters play the drums. We were all holding the sticks with a vice grip and were so choppy in our movements. SO FUNNY!

And then there's Nana. Oh Nana. She's so funny. From the very beginning she's liked Daniel. It was so funny to watch her do the air drums. Later she kept taping Dan on the back to ever other beat. She really got into it and it was good to see her enjoying herself.

All and all it was a great New Years Eve. I love my family and my husband. I feel so blessed in my life. I'm so excited to see how 2010 will play out.

2010 Top 10

2010-01-06T10:42:00.000-08:00

I welcome this New Year! Good bye 2009, I'm sorry things didn't work out between us. Yes, you gave me my eternal companion, but I don't think I'll miss you too much. But Hello 2010, I'm eager to get to know you and all the surprises you'll bring our way. But let me tell you what is planned for us in 2010:

1. Discovering where Dan will be accepted to nursing school and deciding which state we'll live in and what job I'll be taking to reduce my income substantially. (Gotta love Oregon, and being well compensated!)

2. Possibly going on a "real honeymoon" for our first anniversary to somplace tropical. Maybe Mexico. Maybe Hawaii. Maybe Costa Rica. And if worse comes to worst, maybe San Diego.

3. Making our marriage official in Heaven! :)

4. Discovering the endless possibilities of the summer. Hopefully visiting here again with the Deweys. Maybe backpacking for our first time together. Definitely hitting up Vernonia again with the fam. Maybe trying this with Dan for my first time. But whatever the summer brings, I know it will bring plenty of this!

5. The Vrtiska Family Reunion 2010 in the wonderful Wyoming!

6. Possibly working on getting ourselves one of these! And praying that it won't turn into this.

7. Passing the CCRN exam, making me a certified critical care nurse. Increased wages. Notoriety. Professional growth. What else could you ask for?

8. Getting out of debt! Except those pesky student loans that feel like an unwelcome house guest!

9. Maybe going back to school. Then I'll be making big girl bucks!

10. Trying new things. Learning new things. Perfecting old talents. General self improvement.

As often goes, plans don't always work out. But 2010, you see what we desire, and please make our dreams come true!

Christmas Day

2010-01-05T11:10:00.001-08:00

MeRrY ChRiStMaS!

what a wonderful Christmas we had?! Dan worked until 2:30, so we opened presents when he got home from work. Then we headed over to his sisters house for dinner and festivities. We left a little earlier than the rest to go to a movie, a favorite tradition of mine. We saw Avatar, which I have to admit was really quite good. It was a great Christmas indeed!

The blanket is a accessory of mine around the house. Our downstairs stays awfully cold for some crazy reason! Must be all the windows!
I've really needed some jackets for a while and my cute husband picked out this for me. He loves to surf so it's no wonder he would get me a surfing brand sweatshirt.

Finally! Now I don't have to wear Dan's hand-me-down goggles snowboarding anymore!

I'd been fussing about getting Elf all season long and little did I know, Dan had bought it before I started talking about it. "Buddy the elf, what's your favorite color?"

Another jacket Dan picked out for me. I love it and have worn it a lot since Christmas. It's super comfy and warm. Good job Dan!

Dan needed some tools, a tape measurer for sure! We totally needed this one!

And now he can be tough with his 18v drill! I'm really happy about this one!

For all those who know my husband, know he's kind of obsessed with working out. I mean six days a week this kid is in the gym! Ugh! Anyway, he drinks this stuff like water...

Now this was my favorite gift to give him. I gave him Angel last year and he loved it. When he ran out he got this other stuff that seriously smelled so bad. I really didn't like it so when Christmas came around, it was a no brainer to get this for him! Mmmmm, he smells so good now!

And with all his exercising, he was in dire need of some new shorts. He looks very good in them! Cute husband!

Christmas Crafts

2009-12-24T10:24:00.000-08:00

This year has been a very special Christmas because not only is it Daniel and my first Christmas together, but I've really strated to enjoy doing crafts. I got this idea for a Christmas Advent Calendar and just fell in love with it. I had someone do the vinyl lettering, I made the magnents myself and put it all together. It was so fun and Daniel and I have both enjoyed counting down the days 'til Christmas!

My sisters, mom, and I all got together and made some vinyl lettering boards. We did it as a family service project. We painted the boards and applied the vinyl lettering. The idea was that we would give these boards to people we thought needed a little extra love this Christmas season. It was such a fun project and they turned out so beautiful! It's fun to be with family!

A Festivus for the Restivus!

2009-12-19T11:43:00.001-08:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

This year was the second annual Christmas party at the Costelows. Daniel and I were thrilled to attend the family party! We had such a good time socializing, eating, singing, laughing at Santa Claus, and taking tons of pictures. It's interesting how much more important these events become and how much more enjoyable they are when you're married. I can only imagine the added joy children will bring to parties like these. All the cousins love each other and play so well with one another. It was so wonderful to watch them run around and create memories!

Here are some of the pictures I took from the party. Bridget, my sister who lives in Colorado, was able to fly in for the party with her son Ethan. It was SUCH a nice addition to the party! It's so wonderful to be together as sisters and family. It was nice to have Nana there also. She just had a ball when we sang Christmas songs. Erica snapped the BEST picture of her singing! It's the happiest we've seen Nana in a long time! I'm glad she can have this memory... Even if she doesn't remember it, it's still there inside her, and one day she'll be able to retrieve it!

Our First Christmas Tree

2009-12-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

I have to start this blog with a little disclaimer. I'm really upset about this! I have envisioned this day for a long time and I was thinking of sleigh rides, hot chocolate, and jingle bells. It's our first Christmas together, after all. I wanted it to be perfect. So, we head out of the house. Monica: stomach ache, nausea, general malaise. Common to Monica right now... And NO, she's not pregnant! So, off we head to Helvetia Christmas Tree Farm, with coupon in tow for free hot apple cider! Mmmm, I can smell it now! Alas, we see the sign for the farm... followed by a CLOSED sign! What the? How does a tree farm run out of trees in the beginning of December? Oh well, let's try to find another. Just around the corner, to our surprise, another farm! Well, this was nothing like the other farm. It was a field of trees, with the man running it working out of a van... And it wasn't even down by the river! No cider. No sleigh rides. No jingle bells. Grrr... Monica: Not happy. Annoyed. We go on our sojourn to find the perfect tree. About a mile away from the car: where's the camera? In the car. Perfect! No pictures of our perfect tree before it was cut down. No pictures of Dan cutting it down! Could it get any worse? Then, we find this beautiful tree! It's full. It's lush. It's everything we want it to be... but it's very close together with four other trees. There was really only one place to cut this tree down. And as we look at the ground, we see a huge pile of poop! Some kid probably needed to poop and decided the perfect tree was the place to do it. Monica and Dan: moving on. We found our tree, and it is beautiful... but (frown) no pictures of Dan cutting it down!

So disclaimer said, here's our tree! Merry Christmas from Daniel and Monica Long! I put up the lights, and we both decorated the tree. It turned out looking really good, even though we were short supplies!

Putting the star on the tree

Daniel, so proud of his handy work

And it wouldn't be Dan if there weren't at least one funny picture or goofy moment! He really is quite funny. Makes me laugh... most of the time!

So, while it definitely didn't go as planned, it was still a memorable journey... Hey, that's kind of like our story! ;)

Happy Happy Birthday.... 3 Months Later

2009-12-09T17:54:00.000-08:00

My birthday was September 26th and I realize it's a little late to be blogging about it. I've got out of the habit of blogging but it's time to do it again! So, about that birthday....

My birthday-day was particular hard this year. Not sure why, just was. Nonetheless, I went to the Relief Society General Broadcast with my mom and came home to a house decked out with all the corny party decorations known to man! My husband was so sweet to do this for me! It looked great! My cake... well that's another story. I don't recommend Costco cakes! GROSS. Way too much frosting! Barf... But cute, I might say.

This is part of the workings of my sweet husband. No detail was left out. He has such an eye for these things and this is when I really love his OCD because the details that most men overlook, Daniel will see.

We joke about the height contrast of Branden and Daniel. He makes Daniel look like the biggest shrimp!!!

My dad taking some picture of us. Unfortunately, my dad is probably the worst photographer known to man. While you might think I'm being rude, believe me, he knows it! Daniel was dipping me... But the picture looks like a throwdown!

A little better. What a fantastic husband I have! I love him.

And fantastic parents too I might add. They're so good to me and I love them so much. I'm so glad I could share my birthday with the ones who brought me into this world!

Crater Lake Adventures!

2009-09-25T15:21:00.001-07:00

My sister and her family go to Crater Lake every year and Daniel and I decided to join them this year. ( I really don't know why my font is underlined, but I seem not to be able to change this... oh well). We had such a blast. We loved the weather, the lake, the fishing, the cliff jumping, the campsite, the food, the fear of bear attacks, and the company! We had so much fun, Dan cannot wait to go back!

We hiked about a quarter mile along these rocks to a prime fishing spot. We spent the entire day fishing, catching crawdads, swimming, and... hanging out. It was such a blast.

My super hot husband fishing!

If you look carefully Dan is to the right of the tree. He scaled down that face where the tree is and back up to the edge of the cliff. He didn't end up jumping off he cliff because he couldn't gauge how deep the water was. I've heard at least twice as I'm dozing off to sleep him say, "Man, I should've just jumped." He's so funny... and it's kind of adorable.

Best campsite!

The still blue water. You can see the rocks through the water. That's how clear the water is. Crystal clear!

My adorable and very sweet sister Stephanie!

THE SEQUENCE OF DANIEL'S CLIFF JUMPING!

Phantom ship lookout. The hike we took alone. There were literally no other hikers, which was scary because it was kind of an open area and I was so afraid I was going to see a bear! We even started to talk about what we'd do if we saw a bear.

On our way to our honeymoon...

2009-09-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

So, my husband cracks me up. He is so funny. I cannot remember what he was doing but he was trying to commentate something. Too bad I'm a dork, but he's legitimately funny.

This second video is on our honeymoon. We went to the High Desert Museum and while we were there, this weasel or feret or whatever it was, was trying to attack us through the glass. It was really funny, but sad at the same time.

Life is Peachy

2009-09-07T23:00:00.001-07:00

Stephanie, Isaiah and I went to Jossy Farms to pick peaches last week. It was the perfect day to pick peaches and they were perfectly ripe. It was my first time picking peaches and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Isaiah and I flashing some signs before our picking adventures began.

Action shot. (No, it was not posed... [Ok, maybe it was]).

The kid is stinkin' adorable and really loved his peaches. But he started to get preoccupied with the dozens of bees and abandoned his dutiful role as peach picker.

My cute sister with her peaches. Isn't she a little twit!? (I mean that in the sweetest way)

I ended up picking 51 pounds of peaches and was able to can 31 quarts of peaches, two peach cobblers, and two freezer bags of sliced peaches for yummy peach jam!!!

When it comes to my peaches, I get serious!

The joys of our labors!

Some shots from around the farm. It really was a beautiful place!

On a More Serious Note: The Key to Happiness

2009-08-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

I was reading today in the Ensign a talk given by President Uchtdorf in General Conference called “Happiness, Your Heritage” and was immediately inspired that I needed to read this talk. He states the greatest happiness we might ever have is the Happiness of our Heavenly Father. We cannot know exactly what our Fathers’ happiness is because His ways are greater than ours. However, His work and His glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. He then states that He is able to accomplish these two goals because He is a God of creation and compassion. So it then follows that we, as His children, might experience that kind of happiness as we create and as we are compassionate.
There is a patient in our intensive care unit that mystifies us all. In morning rounds yesterday, I joked with the doctors that we needed to call HouseMD to figure it out. No one knows what is wrong with this lady. She has been intubated (on a breathing machine) for almost two weeks now and her pneumonia has not improved. No one knows what kind of pneumonia she has, as it is not responding to our treatment. The doctors seem grim about her outcome and she will need to get a tracheotomy. Despite being intubated, this lady is almost completely awake. We usually sedate our patients who are intubated, but for her, we have not. When I came to work yesterday, she was very anxious and depressed. She was tapping on her bedrails, bouncing her legs up and down in such a way as to express anxiety. My first reaction, as many of us nurses in intensive care, is to sedate. But before I increased her propofol drip or her fentanyl, something stopped me. I started to think of all those nursing interventions I could do without medicine that might help the situation. Working in intensive care, I am often so busy with trying to stabilize that often we forget to care for the spirit of the person. I leaned over and asked if she’d like to listen to some music. She nodded yes. I then proceeded to list different genres of music, as she could not speak. When I got to classical, she nodded yes. I then went and got a few CD’s from our music collection that she might like. We started with Andrea Bocelli and she instantly calmed. I then noticed how awful her skin looked, as she is on a steroid that makes skin quite fragile. Because she was my only patient at the time, I had extra time to give her some TLC. I applied lotion to her skin and gave her a massage and talked to her. As I did this, I noticed on my monitor, her heart rate slow, her breathing slow, her blood pressure lower and the anxiety decrease. And then something interesting happened, as I did these things for her, I felt a sense of happiness come over me.
I have always felt I was a creative person. When I was younger, I loved to paint, even if I never had lessons nor was any good. It brought me happiness to create something individual to me. I also have always loved to cook. As I create meals, I feel a sense of joy because I am using my creativity for good. Cooking for others is a passion of mine. I had a friend who told me that they knew I loved them because I show my love in my cooking. Recently I have had a greater desire to learn photography. Some love to take pictures of nature, architecture and what have you, but I love humanity. I want to photograph God’s greatest creation: His children. I had this thought a few years ago about what my vision is for myself. I have been educated as a nurse and have that skill available to me to teach others. Ever since I was a young girl, I had a strong desire to care for the sick of the World. International work excited me and filled me with a sense of adventure and accomplishment. In fact, thinking of nursing in Africa got me through nursing school when I thought I couldn’t do it anymore. As I have grown in my profession, my vision for my international endeavors has shifted from caring to teaching. As the scriptures teach, give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for life. (In fact, I don't know if that's scripture or just some old adage but, oh well). This applies to international nursing. My greatest goal would be to travel the world and teach nurses in Africa how to care for Africans. If I ever accomplish this great goal of mine, I think I will feel a happiness I’ve never felt before in my life. And this just in: I'm taking a sewing class! I found a sewing class through PCC and am very excited to learn another means to be self-sufficient. I love being self-sufficient!!!
So often in life we look towards things that won't make us happy. Doing things. What I mean by that are those things that are fun but not truly lasting in their happiness. Yes, it's fun run marathons and compete or go mountain biking, but I'm not a believer that those things will sustain happiness. As President Uchtdorf so eloquently proclaims, happiness comes through creation and compassion.

Learning New Things

2009-08-27T17:36:00.001-07:00

Canning Adventures!!!

My fantastically crafty friend Beth has long been a wonderful canner. I mentioned to her my desire to learn how to can and she offered to be my teacher. We each canned fifteen pounds of beans. At first I was really scared and intimidated by the pressure canner. But Beth needed to leave to pick up some dry cleaning and left me to man the two pressure canners, within minutes I felt as comfortable as can be and had a great time! She was such a good teacher and we had so much fun! Since the beans, I've also canned tuna. This weekend I'm canning pears and peaches. I am more excited for the peaches than anything! I really like canning. It's interesting how the things that your mom did when you were younger that used to annoy you (like canning, sewing, clipping coupons, etc) now become the things that excite you when you're older!

Here's proof that we did two pressure canners at a time. Even with two canners going, we were canning over six hours!!! Our townhouse got to about 85 degrees inside. We were sweaty!
The fruits of our labors! This is my portion of the beans. I think they're beautiful!

Husband Doting

2009-08-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

I know I've posted once already today, but as I was getting dressed for the gym to go meet my husband, I got to thinking how lucky I am to be married to Daniel. As I was thinking of all his wonderful qualities and the things he does for me, my heart filled with love and I felt I had to share. I am so blessed and here's why:

1. Daniel makes the bed almost every day.

2. Since we've been married, I've done the laundry maybe five times. He usually, washes, folds, and puts away all our clothes.

3. I cook and he ALWAYS cleans after the meal. Even on nights when he cooks, he still cleans.

4. Daniel wakes up just slightly before I do on days I work. Most days I can expect to find a love note on the counter from him. It always brings a smile to my face.

5. Even though I get annoyed when he first does it, he keeps me in check with my spending.

6. He supports and encourages me in all my endeavors.

7. He never pushes his beliefs on me. I never feel like I need to do something just because I know he feels one way or the other. I feel freedom to do the things I think are best for me.

8. He is SOOO forgiving. As I bumble along this journey of marriage, he always immediately accepts my apologies and never makes me go through a 'make up' stage.

9. He loves my family! You always hear stories about the husband getting annoyed of spending 'too much time' with the in-laws. Dan has never said a word about it, in fact he loves to spend time with my family. We live just a mile from three of my sisters and that was a selling point for him to move where we did. I love that I married a family man.

10. He is amazing at remembering morning prayer (I remind of nightly prayer... clearly you can tell he is a morning person and I'm a night person). He does amazing FHE lessons and I am always impressed at how amazing he is at bearing his testimony. He has a strong testimony of the gospel, and shares it willingly yet is never pushy and NEVER EVER judgmental. He's taught me so much about not being judgmental and not engaging in gossip. I really lucked out with him!

Beach Trip with our Friends!

2009-08-13T13:48:00.001-07:00

The Longs' at the Beach!

I wrote The Longs' on the sand, but failed miserably to make it look presentable, so my very neat and tidy husband wrote The Longs' which is pictured. Of course it looks perfect!
And the funniest picture of all time: Branden with the sad face in front of the 'me' in the sand! What a crack up!

Later that night we headed over to Del Ray Beach for a bonfire and hot dogs. It was Chad's first time ever to roast hot dogs on the beach! Crazy! The group shot took about ten times before we got one that worked! Aren't we all so cute!?

And it wouldn't be us if we didn't have a goofy shot! Beth can't do goofy so Chad just made her laugh. And I'm pretty sure my goofy face just looks constipated!

Our reduced fat hotdogs on whole wheat buns... We live on the wild side!

Our wonderful friends Chad and Beth. Beth is my best friend and Chad is Dan's... And they are an item. No pressure but we hope it works out!!! Love you guys!

Wednesday Date at the Rose Gardens

2009-08-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

This week, I planned our date to the Rose Gardens. I planned to stop at Chipotle and bring dinner to the Gardens where we'd eat on a blanket. As we arrived, to our surprise, there was a free concert! The music was pretty good. It was a full on orchestra with a lady who sang soul music. I'll be honest, Dan and I had a good laugh at her expense with all the "oooh" "No, no, no" "uhhhh huhhh" -- It was kind of comical in a way. Nonethelesss, we really enjoyed the cooler weather and live music.

At first we sat next to these really drunk English people. I leaned over to Dan and commented on how hard it was to take them serious with their accents. Even drunk they sound so professional! They soon left and instead we were surrounded by the dozens of 'earth muffins' sippin' on their wine out of a box from handcrafted cardboard paper cups. You have to hand it to them though, they're very resourceful!

After the concert, we headed into the Gardens to take a few pictures... And this is what we ended up with.

While we listened to the "uhhhhh huhhhh's," we played Blokus on our picnic blanket, a family fun game. Dan had never played it before and ended up being a natural at it. It was quite fun. I am certain that men have within them a natural ability for perceptual ability. He sees moves that I cannot and I feel perceptual disabled!!! But this game is too fun to give up on... I believe I can!!!

Adios from the Longs! We love you all!!

DaTe NiGhT!!!

2009-08-05T11:35:00.001-07:00

Daniel and I have decided we are going to continue to "date" now that we're married. We've decided on a date a week. I read in a book about an idea to each write five date night ideas and draw out of a "hat" where the date will be that week. I really liked this idea because it gives you a chance to think creatively about possible dates and then you can still be spontaneous because you're drawing from ten choices. Yes, dinner and a movie is fun sometimes, but I LOVE being creative on dates.

My date ideas for this 'go round' are:

1. Go to a free concert somewhere in the Portland area.

2. Walk the waterfront and get dessert somewhere.

3. "Ready, set, Fire"! Paint your own ceramics

4. Go to a "drive-in" movie (in the back of our car somewhere or an actual theatre)

5. See a play, musical, broadway, or any show in Portland.

While I love my ideas, I need more. I'm searching for fun, fairly inexpensive date ideas. Please post any particularly memorable dates for us to try!!!

Nerds!

2009-08-04T19:36:00.001-07:00

So Daniel and I were out to dinner at Chevy's when we came back to the car and discovered Dan had broken his sunglasses. My jaw dropped and I started to laugh because two days prior, I had broken a pair of sunglasses in the exact same spot resulting in my left lense falling out. I thought it was funny when Dan proceeded to wear the sunglasses while driving. A few moments later he explaims that the bi-lense is causing him to feel sick to his stomach. He then pulls out the lense, and squints the lense in place. We were about to pee our pants we were laughing so loud. It was a sight to see... but little Isaiah in the backseat was confused at the commotion.

A Few Months Hiatus and I get Married!

2009-07-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

Istarted blogging and thought it would be incredibly easy to upkeep. It seems that I just don't quite have the ability to keep up with two forms of blogging, that of Facebook and my Blogger. But by the request of many, I guess it's time to try anew and post something current.

I GOT MARRIED! May 30th, 2009 was our big day and I no longer am Monica Vrtiska (something I'm having a difficult time getting used to) and am now Monica Long. It's a lot of fun to have a name like Long. "Long" suffering. A "Long" time. And my brother-in-law Adams favorite: 'Long'-erie!

OUR FIRST DANCE

My sisters surprised us with a dance rendition of "I know something about love" as seen on My Best Friends Wedding! Mindy is so theatrical and all the sisters were SO cute!

Toast at the reception

So this is one of my favorite pictures. Here we are signing our marriage certificate and I can't believe how excited we look! Dan and I had a good laugh when we saw this picture of us.

Some of our bride and groom shots. We took pictures at the Rood Bridge Park in Hillsboro. The colors matched ours (green and white). It was a PERFECT day! Yes, a little hot but we were worried about rain and instead got beautiful blue skies and it was over 90 degrees! But I wouldn't change a single thing about our entire day... except maybe my sisters actually showing up at the right time to take pictures!

One of my favorites! SASSY!

Just For Giggles

2009-01-05T00:38:00.000-08:00

8 TV shows I like to watch:

1. Trauma: Life in the ER

2. Survivor

3. Iron Chef America

4. The Office

5. Planet Earth

6. First 48

7. Oprah

8. House

8 Restaurants I like to eat at:

1. Costa Vida (Since Cafe Rio isn't in Oregon)

2. Chevy's

3. On the Border

4. Claimjumpers

5. Benihanna

6. Mio Sushi

7. Pizzicato

8. Typhoon

.
8 things that happened today:

1. Woke up in extreme pain from snowboarding accident that left me almost unable to turn my head to the left.

2. Went to church

3. Watched Planet Earth with Dan

4. Worked on a puzzle with Dan

5. It snowed!

6. Dan started to vomit and diarrhea at the same time and I was on the couch with a heating pad on my neck... We were quite the couple today!

7. Watched a dancing show with my parents.

8. FINALLY updated my blog!

8 things I am looking forward to:

1. The pain in my neck to go away.

2. Getting married.

3. Having children

4. The Second Coming

5. Getting a job during the DAY!

6. Going snowboarding this season

7. Going ice skating with Daniel

8. Getting my student loans paid off!

8 things on my wish list:

1. Get in shape for the upcoming season of races!

2. Starting a family

3. Not having to work fulltime anymore

4. Going back to school for a masters or doctorate degree

5. Be a better member of the church

6. New running shoes and workout clothes

7. Learn how to wakeboard

8. Go on a tropical vacation

8 People I tag
Lindsey

Bridget

Stephanie

Molly

Kyle

Jessica

Alexis

Chelsey

From The Request of Others

2009-01-05T00:03:00.000-08:00

Two Crazy Kids In Love....

I've been dating Dan for almost seven months now. It's been a journey for sure. But one thing is for certain, this is a man I can let my hair down with and be totally and completely me!

Not only can I be me, but we are kind of cute together. It just looks like we fit.

A few weeks ago, we were holed up at my parents due to a pretty significant snowstorm! It was tons of fun! We made dinner together, made breakfast for my parents, watched a church video, played in the snow, walked about a mile over to his brothers, and played games. It was such a fun time and I honestly think that this was the weekend when I knew that I was definitely in love!

Another thing I absolutely love about Dan is that we both enjoy doing the same things. Dan and I love doing the same activities and it really helps our relationship. We both like to snowboard and recently went for the first time together. I must admit it was quite attractive to see him tear it up out there! We also enjoy working out together and we've gotten to the point where going to the gym isn't the same unless we go together... It's kind of adorable actually. We've also recently gotten into puzzles and Planet Earth. I think we're 65 years old in twentysomething bodies! I definitely have fun when I'm spending time with Daniel.

And the best part of it all, he loves me and accepts me for the zainey woman that I am, and I love and accept him for the goofy man that he is!

Motherhood

2008-09-20T16:08:00.000-07:00

Words cannot express how much I love my family! I've been thinking a lot about the blessings that have come to me because of the love, support, and innumerous prayers by the members of my family. The thought of family have been on my mind lately. A few days ago, I had a really good conversation with some girlfriends the about what it means to be a mother. Some of the things that I learned about Motherhood are as follows. Bearing children is only a small part of motherhood. You don't have to have your own children to be a mother. A mother is essentially love. When you love --all of God's children-- you're in fact practicing and using motherhood. After having this rather deep conversation, I walked away thinking of all the children I've mothered and my thoughts instantly came to my family. I have 23 examples of being a mother to my nieces and nephews. How blessed do I feel to not focus on the fact that I have not bore my own children, but that I can help mother 23 wonderful, beautiful, talented sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father!? Here are some examples:

Isaiah just turned six and on every birthday, I remind him (half jokingly) that I cut his umbilical cord. I had the pleasure of being there for Stephanie during the pregancy, delivery, and first few precious months of Isaiah's life. I look at this picture of him today and see that beautiful smile, full of joy and think how blessed that I can, in my own way be a mother to him!! At times I feel like his sister, because I tease him like he's my brother, but I had an experience months ago that reminded me how much Isaiah KNOWS I love him! Stephanie called me and told me that she had been telling Isaiah that he can pray for people who love him. He responded, "And I can pray for Monica, because she loves me." Such simple words, yet it immediately brought tears to my eyes because when he thought of people who love him, he thought of me. I am so blessed to be his auntie!

And then there's these crazy girls! I LOVE being an auntie to the older nieces! It's such a blessing to see these beautiful girls and their desire to do what is right. Being a teenager is hard, I remember that much. But how wonderful it is that I have the opportunity as a single woman, to be an example to them? While it's hard to imagine, these girls look up to me and actually WANT to be my friend! It is such a blessing to be able to be there to give advice, listen, and LOVE them irregardless of the decisions they make.

Yes, I see, I truly am a mother! Being a mother is so much more than having your own children. I am so glad that I had this discussion with my amazing girlfriends and realized that I don't need to long for some abstract, distant future but that I can use all of those qualities of motherhood now! Afterall, ETERNITY IS NOW!

You Cry Like a Girl!

2008-09-17T00:35:00.000-07:00

The day started beautifully. It was a warm, early September Saturday and the Tanasbourne Thundercats had a bone to pick. Five other Singles Wards would meet on the dew kissed grass for a battle of the greatest! Little did the Thundercats know that the World had plot against them that day. No one wanted to compete against them, as they were the most fierce in all the land. Soon they would fight for their lives, as countless crazy, wannabe football players would pick fights with a fair maiden named Monica. She really was a helpless victim, as she is not one to speak her mind nor act in any manner other than the most delicate of ladies. She was pushed, pummeled, kicked, grabbed, and even thrown to the ground as she loyally defended her QB with her life. Soon, she would walk off the field, bruised and battered in body but never in spirit! The Mt. Hoodlems may have won the battle that day, but she won their hearts as many would ask for her number and she steadily would decline! Booyah!

Meet the Thundercats!

One of the many bruises to the body. But before you feel bad for her, you shoulda saw them!!!

One of These Things is not Like the Other

2008-09-09T21:34:00.000-07:00

I recently went line dancing with Molly and some of her friends. Now, I've been known for my liberal spin in the past and maybe even known for my dislike of things "country" as it is often quite conservative. Toby Keith may be one of the most ignorant men I know, but that's neither here nor there. Let's be honest, country western isn't known for its intellect. Before you think I am bashing the western way of life, understand that I did learn quite a few things during my boot scoot and boogy.

Lessons in Line Dancing:

1. Having a ton of signs posted on every corner of every wall is not white trash, it's country. Especially if it's bashing anything that isn't white, male, conservative, alcoholic, or middle-aged. The lesson? Make fun of everything that doesn't fit the mold-- You'll feel a whole lot better about the fact that you are attempting to fit the mold when in reality you don't fit the mold because no one fits the mold. 2. Arriving late for instruction and attempting to "wing it" doesn't work for line dancing and it doesn't work for life!

3. Need I say more? Low expectations are the way to happiness in marriage... Literally!

Hey Molly and I may not have fit in at the Ho Down, but we sure had fun. In fact, it's going to become a regular occurance-- these little line dancing lessons of ours.

*Disclaimer: My banter is mostly sarcastic. Please do not post any comments about me being a tree-hugging, save the ferrets, liberal hippie. Read with an open mind and as lesson three indicates, have low expectatioins!

Welcome Christopher!

2008-09-04T22:18:00.000-07:00

My sister Erica recently adopted a sweet little two year old from Kazakhstan. His name is Christopher and he is a little bundle of joy! I love him already! It was a challenge getting him here, but now that he is, it's weird to imagine him not in our family! I look up to Erica and Bret for their faith and patience in waiting through this process of adoption. It really is not for the faint of heart!

I tried desperately to get him to let go of the toothbrush for the "tricks" but he wouldn't give. He clutched it with his life!

He's the littlest bugger, but has probably one of the sweetest spirits I've seen in a two year old. I can't wait to get to know him better!

Everytime we played the "flip over the legs" game, he would go limp like a wet noodle. It made my job a little more difficult, but he really enjoyed it!

I love how kids never get sick of doing the same thing over an over. The simplicity of children really amazes me. I wish I could learn to be more content with things in the moment the way kids do. You really could learn a lot from a kid, if you wanted to.

I love that we are both laughing hysterically in this picture. Everytime we'd get to the end of the flip, he wouldn't put his feet out so he could stand. He'd just lay there until I would drop him in which he would land on my face! It was really funny. Mostly because he doesn't speak English, so I couldn't tell him what he was supposed to do.

One of my fondest memories as a child was doing tricks with my sisters and dad. These tricks included doing flips while sitting on their feet, doing the superman, and standing on their hands and being lifted to the sky! I really felt special. Christopher LOVED doing tricks! He was cracking up the whole time. He's so sweet.

One of the very endearing qualities of Christopher is his love for all things that can be used as toys but are indeed used for other purposes, such as: toothbrushes, tupperware, dish soap, and granola bars. He would not part with the toothbrush, no matter how much I bribed.

Blue Coast... Really?

2008-08-30T20:26:00.000-07:00

As many of you readers may already know, I ran a half-marathon a little while ago. This being my first half-marathon, I didn't really know what to expect and I was really nervous I wasn't going to do very well. The course was extremely hilly and heaven knows I am not a hill runner! So, here I am cruising along, thinking of all the hills I have to conquer before the end. I hit the first hill-- the biggest of them all. When I FINALLY get to the top, there is a water station and all these volunteers yelling, "blue coast!" as they hand out the water. I take my water, gulp it down, and sigh with relief as I run DOWN HILL for about a mile. I thought to myself, "Gez, that's nice of the volunteers to tell us a down hill was ahead." You see, they were saying blue coast and I so logically figured that was some kind of catchy new phrase they coined for coasting down hills.

Then, off in the horizon I see the second hill. Not bad compared to the first but it IS about six miles in to the race, and I have another seven to go. Again, at the top of the hill, another water station. And you guessed it, more volunteers yelling, "blue coast" as they hand out the water. But the strange thing was there was no down hill. I mean the smallest decline, maybe, but nothing to give me a rest like the first "blue coast." This happened about three other times and I was starting to get frustrated because I was getting myself all jacked up for a bit of a break but the breaks never came. Now, I get to another water station and grab some water from one of the volunteers who is yelling "blue coast" and I'm thinking to myself, "yeah right, I'll believe it when I see it." I put the water up to my lips and instantly spit it out thinking how gross that water tasted. And then I realize it wasn't water... It was some kind of sugar water. I don't know how many of you have seen Friends, but there is an episode where Chandler gets a glass out of the fridge at Monica's and thinks it's cider when it's really fat. Well, if you've seen it, my reaction to the sugar water was similar to his... I wasn't expecting it.

Just then, I look to my side and see a sign that says Gluekos! Half the volunteers were giving out water and the others were giving out gluekos. No one was saying blue coast... they were saying Gluekos! Needless to say, I laughed at my idiocracy. I mean, who hears blue coast and instantly thinks, "Ah, yes. Just as I suspected. There must be a down hill coming up!" Leave it up to me and my selective hearing to get blue coast and gluekos mixed up! I finished the race a little slower than expected but I still finished... And who knows, maybe if there were BLUE COASTS I might have actually finished in my estimated time!

Save the Ferrets!

2008-08-27T15:01:00.001-07:00

I am new to the blogging world, but hopefully with some time, practice, and motivation, I'll be able to have a wonderful blog up so my friends and family can keep in touch!

But before I end, how about a funny story. Yesterday, I decided to go grocery shopping since I had yet to buy groceries since coming back from Utah. I went to Whole Foods and did my usual shopping. The cashiers are usually really nice and I always have a great conversation with them but oh no, not yesterday. I bring in my own bags. For each bag you bring in, you can donate 10 cents to a given charity. They have three options: Saving trees, saving ferrets, or feeding humans. I kind of joked around with the clerk and with sarcasm said, "Oh I am SO saving the ferrets today... I mean, who cares if people eat when the ferrets of the world are dying." Unfortunately, I don't think the cashier caught my joke and was really excited that I was so eager to help the ferrets. She replied about how wonderful it is that these ferrets get the surgeries they need, etc. etc. I kind of just laughed and said, "I'm in healthcare and it's sad enough that humans don't get the surgeries they need. Sorry, I just am not into saving ferrets over humans." Needless to say, she was miffed. She wouldn't even look at me and it almost looked as if she was going to cry. I wasn't being mean or anything, but seriously!? Come on, it's a ferret!!!