Today my husband is 28 years old!

So I of course do not want to miss the opportunity to gush over him for a few minutes!

Happy Birthday, Travis!

I love you and love celebrating your birthdays with you. I love that you are mine. For eternity. I love how great of a Dad you are to Riley and Isabelle. They adore you and I love to watch them get excited about you coming home from work everyday. Although their excitement may lead you to believe they are more excited to see you that I am, that is not the case. Inside, when I hear that garage door open my heart is singing with joy and my stomach still has butterflies. I swear. I LOVE it when you come home far more than the girls. I just contain my excitement better ;)

I have loved the 5 years we have been together. They have been lots of fun. We have made lots of memories and been through a lot. I am just glad I can honestly say you are my best friend and that I really am so happy we belong to one another. HAVE A GREAT BIRTHDAY (if you can at work...)






I know it isn't Halloween quite yet, but in case you are wondering why our girls are all dressed up...Riley's preschool had trunk or treat today for the students and their siblings. And so...that is why they are dressed in costumes. Not because it is Trav's birthday!

Graduation has come and gone...

and it's hard to believe!

Man, my last several months have been busy! Where did summer go?! I didn't do so well with posting...but now I have high hopes things are going to change. My evenings are more free. And so are my days since I don't have to be studying a lot. My housework is easier to get done. I said easier, not necessarily EASY. But I will take it :)
Friday, October 16th I had graduation so I thought I better post about that somewhat important accomplishment. It was a tough year. I feel like I sacrificed a lot. I missed out on many, many evenings at home with my husband. And my family sacrificed even more. And I am glad they still love me (most days).

BUT NOW I AM DONE!!!!!!!!!!!! Monday morning (the 19th) I went straight to the Department of Occupational and Professional Licensing to get my Utah License to practice massage and bodywork. Now I am just waiting for my application to go through. Shouldn't be more than a few days now...Or at the very most a week....

I set goals for myself at the beginning of the school year and was able to reach two of the three main goals. And the one I didn't meet wasn't that big of a deal. I was hoping to get the 100% attendance award, but then I realized some evenings, it was okay to miss class if I needed it, or if my family needed it. As long as it wasn't a habbit.

I DID, however get my High Five award (meaning I gave five 1 hour massages in 5 1/2 hours for ALL 21 weeks of my clinical internship).

AND I was the ONLY one in my evening class of 22 students to graduate with a 4.0. Which is quite an accomplishment!!! I worked hard for it, I really did. So I think it's okay for me to feel a little bit proud, right? I know pride can be a bad thing, but hey, I deserve to enjoy it for a little while!
Sarah, Me, Latissa. My bestest friends in my class. I have some really other great friends from school, too though. Just not pics from graduation day.

My diploma!
Family picture afterwards. The girls were sort of done. They had just sat through an hour and a half of what was probably a really boring ceremony to them. So...they weren't gonna cooperate long for a picture!
Me, receiving my diploma

I think I was being recognized for the High 5 Award here.

Hoping and Staying Optimistic

As many of my friends and relatives know, in mid-September Omniture (the company Travis works for) announced it was being acquired by Adobe. The employees found out the same day it was announced to the public, as that is how business deals have to be. I felt intense panic and anxiety. I wondered if when the deal was finalized and the acquisition complete what would happen. Would Travis still have a job he loves?

There have been many unknowns and not a whole lot of answers. Every little bit more we would hear, I was able to feel more hopeful that things would be okay. But the last few days have been less settling. The deal should be a done deal today. This means on Monday, every single Omniture employee here in the US will receive their fate. Will they be let go? Or will they get to stay on as an Adobe employee? The good news is that on Monday, we will have many more answers than we have to this point. But the weekend may seem incredibly long. Which would be weird, because normally the weekends speed by so fast.

Anyway, regardless of what the future holds I have to say the last 14 months have been awesome. Before Travis found out he got the job at Omniture, I used to say "I WILL NEVER LIVE IN UTAH". And then we got the call, he was hired and we had two weeks to pack up and move to a different state. TWO WEEKS. And it was stressful. And change takes time. There is always an adjustment period. And at first, I wasn't thrilled to be here, I wasn't thrilled with the traffic and the loneliness. But then...and I am not sure when it happened, but I fell in love with this area. And I love it here and I never want to leave. And I have felt so, so, so extremely blessed that "in this economy" my husband has not only had a job, but one he really loves. He has been able to support our family AND be happy doing it. I know this is rare for a lot of people. Jobs are sorta rare, so a good one that you can love? We have been lucky and so blessed. I can't say it enough.

I know the possibility of working for Adobe is really exciting to Travis. He WANTS to work for them. So do I (want him to work for them). I am trying my hardest to be optimistic. Come Monday I still want to be able to say we are so blessed. Not that we aren't in many other areas, I realize we are quite fortunate. But having a job to support your family is sort of a big deal. At least in my opinion. I think most everyone would agree with me :) So cross your fingers for us or pray for us! And we will be doing the same and hoping and praying for other Omniture employees, too!

Either way, a new adventure begins...soon.

Better late than never...

right??

As promised, I am posting about Riley's immunization complications from almost 4 weeks ago now...

About 4 weeks ago, Riley went in to see her pediatrician for a routine well-child check up (her 3 year one). Well, she needed just one immunization that was a fourth in a series of 4. She should have gotten that 4th one quite some time ago, but apparently there was a shortage at some point and she had missed out on it. So we were playing catch up :)

Well, that was Monday afternoon. By Tuesday afternoon, the area around the immunization site was quite red and swollen. To some degree, this is totally normal. My girls always have red, tender, swollen, warm areas on their thighs for a few days post-shots. No big deal...except this one was different. I was a little uneasy about how it looked, so I took a photo so I could track if it changed.

It doesn't look so bad in those pics, but it was definitely more than what I was used to seeing, so I wanted to really watch it.
Well, by Wednesday morning it was BAD. And so after preschool (because it was school picture day) off to the pediatrician we went. And the verdict: Cellulitis. Cellulitis is an infection that can happen post surgery or when there is a break in the skin and Staph or Strep bacteria gets into an opening. And it wreaks havoc! So are you ready for the nasty pics? WARNING...This is not for people who are easily grossed out. In less than 24 hours it went from the above photos, to THIS:

My poor little girl!!!!!!! Her leg was like deformed! Luckily we caught it when we did and got her on antibiotics. And it didn't spread more, and then within a few days started to go down. And it looks great now. I have pics of a few days later, but they are still on my camera and I am being nagged for some water by Izzy, so I am done for now.

PS I am done with school. Which is a huge relief. More regular posts coming soon, I hope!

So much to do. Nationals? Check!

SO...I took my National Certification Examination for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork this morning and PASSED! Seriously, people...you can't even imagine my relief right now! It was a really hard test. Harder than what I expected actually. But all that matters is that it's over and I passed. $225 well spent! (Yes, it was a bit expensive!)

However, that being done doesn't mean I can breathe easy just yet. I have 7 more nights of learning and 5 nights of finals still. And apparently the Structural II final is the toughest test at UCMT. It's a 4.0 breaker. So...that is why I am stressing! I have worked too hard to mess things up now! But it 5 finals left, there is a lot of opportunities for error and breakdown :(

But I feel much better having completed that National exam :)

Riley's leg is now looking much better. (I will tell that story in my next post, promise!)

So the last thing stressing me out right now is just the uncertainty of whether or not Travis will still have a job after the next couple months. For those who haven't heard, Omniture has been acquired by Adobe. We are told they plan to keep as many positions/employees as possible. But we have no guarantees. BUT we are hopeful. Travis loves his job and it has been a wonderful job to have. We feel blessed and hope that he will still have his job in the future. Plus, Adobe is an awesome company to work for, so I hear. Keep your fingers crossed for us, please?!

If you REALLY know me...

You know I have arachnophobia. As a result of this, I can spot a spider from a mile away. Almost always. Because I am on the look out for them. In Idaho, we got a lot of what I assume were Hobo spiders. (I am almost certain they were). They were everywhere. And on occasion, they haunt my dreams. AKA, I have spider nightmares. I have for years. Since my early teen years.
I used to freak out and cry at the sight of a spider. I had to call in my mom to kill them. Ask her. But over time, I have had to kill my own spiders. And I am at the point now where I can look at one, and while inside I am freaking out, I am not crying or as freaked out for all to see.

We moved to Orem last summer and while we would get an occasional house spider, I hadn't seen anything big or even very many spiders at all thankfully. Then we bought our home. Welcome to spider hell. I found them EVERYWHERE for weeks. Not hobos, I don't think, because they were light colored and small. I can't be sure what they are or were. I am no spider expert. And SO we sprayed. And by we, I mean I PAID someone to come spray. And it definitely helped. It didn't prevent 100% of spiders, but it was a large improvement. But about 45 days later (that's about how long these sprayer people guarantee it for), I was heading down the hallway to go upstairs when a hobo jumped at me. I am not kidding. It was HORRIFYING. I had the guy come spray again. But I can't afford to do that every 45 days. No way. Since that one hobo, I have had 3 more. The latest visitor was this morning.


Now, as I said, I am no spider expert, I think this is a hobo, but does anyone know for sure?? I wasn't about to get any closer for a pic, but this was necessary!! Any closer, and I am sure this thing would have attacked. I can't even get spiders with a shoe or anything, I have spider spray. I have to poison them from a couple feet away and make sure they aren't moving before I can convince myself to get something to pick it up and dispose of it. If it weren't for the fact that I am protecting my kids, I would wait for Travis to come home and dispose of it. I am ridiculous, I know. BUT THESE THINGS ARE FREAKY!!! NIGHTMARES, PEOPLE! I am so embarrassed, but hey, I can admit it! HOW do I get rid of these things????

Riley goes to Preschool!

Last week Riley had her first week of preschool. She goes Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday from 9:45-12:15. She really loves it and I have to say I love it, too! The first week was a bit of an adjustment. But in more good ways than bad. For example, before, most days I had nothing to do in the mornings, so I would lounge, and lounge some more. Some days I wouldn't even shower until well after noon. NOW...I get up at 7:30 and shower. Because I don't want to drop my kid off at preschool un-showered. And because I am showered early in the day, some times that means I am more productive! (Notice I said sometimes).

SOOOO....the first week she came home really grumpy. I think it was the new schedule...it's a big adjustment and they keep the kids really busy. And by the time she gets out, its lunchtime. So that equals hungry, which means GROUCHY!!
But other than that....I would say it was a SUCCESS!!!

Before heading to the first day of class!

She found her hook and hung her bag up!
After the first day, waiting to be picked up!

On Thursday they had a balloon launch to celebrate a new school year. It was sort of cute, except Riley wouldn't sing with the class...and she loves singing! What a little stinker!