..aRt sTudEnT + nEw YoRk = eXcItEmEnT!

Well, we made it to December. I figured another update it is order that and I have some good news to share with all of you.

We finished up November with a great bang, not much else happened. We just kept plugging along. We reached the last week of classes last week. Cody worked hard almost every night to finish up his classes in time. His stuff was all due last Thursday. So he finished up all classes. I have another week, just finals. I only have 2 tests and 3 projects due but it could be so much worse.

Last Wednesday night, Cody took a break to take me on a date. We ran some errands and spent some time together. While we were out and about I got a phone call. I didn't recognize the number so I ignored it figuring if it was important that person would leave me a message. Well sure enough they did.

About a month ago I applied to a trip sponsored by the Art department at UVU. They only accept 16 students a spring to go to New York City for a week to check out museums and do some sight seeing. I thought I would just try it out and if I didn't get it then okay, I would just find another time to go and see those places. I hadn't heard a word for over a month when I got that message on my phone. It was the head of the photography department calling me, telling me I was one of the lucky 16 students accepted into the trip. I was so excited, I screamed so loud I scared Cody half to death while he was driving. I couldn't help but do my happy dance when we got out of the car. I have been stoked ever since.



So, In March 2009 I will be going to New York for a week. I get to go to museums like the Met and the Guggenheim. What a trip! The only downer is I have to share a room with 3 other girls, and we only have 2 queen size beds. It is going to be a little cramped but I am so excited to see all these things!!

Other than that exciting news we are doing great. Tyke is in love with the snow, other than the cold. He loves running through the grass picking up mouthfuls of snow as he runs by. He has been keeping us busy. He is a sleeper all day because it is freezing and he stays inside, but when night time comes around he is as hyper as can be with all the energy in the world. He is the funnest dog though.

Well... we hope all is good with you, hopefully we will have some fun wintery pictures and some Christmas ones (we are planning on going to temple square and seeing the lights)soon!

..Merry Christmas..

..hOLiDaYs..

Well it has been almost a month and I felt like a update was in order. I haven't really written because there hasn't been too much going on. But I guess I will take the time to tell you what has happened in our life.

October ended with a bang, I love Halloween it has to be my favorite holiday around. I got all into it this year and decided that I had to deck out the house. It took 3 days but it was a stellar success. I had a graveyard, with 24 graves, two drunken skeletons playing cards, a ghoul who jumped up from a rock, a mummy in a coffin and a giant spider. I loved it. I spent the night handing out candy to the neighbor kids and making some of my now favorite brownies.

November started off, with nothing new. I still haven't found a job and still not sure why not. I have been really dedicated to doing my school work so I have something positive to focus on. I feel like I am making leaps and bounds in my art work which is good for me, I felt like I wasn't cut out to do art. Cody has been working every weekend - Friday through Monday- at the airport. So the days he is home I am in school. But it works out okay. He is being such a wonderful supporter of this whole ordeal that I have been trying hard to learn how to deal with. What a wonderful husband do I have.

We celebrated our 3rd year anniversary. I have loved everyday of the past three years. It has certainly been the best. I tease him frequently that I can't believe I have been stuck with him that long but I sure have loved it. It was also Cody's 25th birthday that day. I just laughed and told him he was old. He has now reached a quarter of a century and I am still young. He celebrated it by working. I felt bad but he got off early and got great presents. Happy Birthday Cody, Love You!



A mere 4 days later we celebrated my Dad's 50th birthday. Talk about old. We spent the day finding ways to remind him how old he was. It started with a coffin on the kitchen table first thing in the morning. We all dressed in black, and got him presents for old people. Including brochures for power chairs and hearing aids. It was a great day and he took it with such grace. Happy Birthday Dad!



The next day was thanksgiving. We spent the night before cooking up some stuff and the next day setting the table and doing the rest of prepartations. We had the pleasure of being joined by my grandparents from Brigham City and also our neighbors from Australia, the Bears. It was so fun to share the holiday with them. I loved it.

So November hasn't been too bad for us. We are getting into finals weeks, yuck.. but only three more weeks and it will all be over.

..HAPPY HOLIDAYS..

sUnNy sAn fRaNciScO..

Well, I can certainly say I am glad my husband got a job at Skywest. After 14 days of working there his benefits kicked in. We decided since it was fall break for me at school and he was working 4 ten hour shifts and got the weekend off, we would leave and go to San Francisco.

So last weekend we flew to San Francisco. It was a blast and an adventure that was worth a million words. So I thought I would share some of this and of course pictures with all of you.

Last thursday night I met Cody at the airport with plans of boarding a direct flight to San Francisco. Well, while you are flying as an employee you are strictly standby. So if the plane is full you aren't getting on. So we waited at the gate and watched as the passengers loaded. We didn't make the cut. So we decided to find a person to help us find one that could get us there. We found this sweet lady named Malia. She spent a good hour with us searching all the flights that went to San Francisco that night or the next morning. We found one that went to Fresno and had connection to San Francisco the next morning. We decided to take it. We got on the plane and sat in front of a few employees including a pilot. Cody chatted with them the whole time. After a bit we found out that they could help us. One told us to just rent a car and drive to San Francisco seeing how it was only 2 1/2 hours away. So we decided after arriving and checking out hotel rates that our best bet was to drive. So we rented a car. We got a sweet Chevy Colbalt coupe. It was white and had leather and a sunroof. And the best part...it had texas license plates.


Cody with the rental car, at 11pm..


The sweet texas license plates..

We drove for a few hours, crossed alot of terrain, chatted about everything and crossed the bay bridge into San Francisco. Now we didn't have a map but we had Cody's iphone. It has google maps with GPS and could pin point our location. At this point it was 2 in the morning. We exited the freeway and started following the directions to our hotel. Well I entered the address wrong and we ended up in a worse than compton area with bums galore surrounding the car. I couldn't help but to just laugh. We were both so tired. So we ended up calling the hotel for directions. After arriving, parking the car and checking in it was 2:58am (California Time). It was the longest day. We both crashed.

The next day we spent the whole day just playing in San Francisco. We went to the Golden Gate Bridge, walked on a nice beach, went to fisherman's wharf, did some shopping, hit up the sourdough bread company and my favorite.. Ghiradelli Chocolate. It was a blast. We had so much fun. We rode the cable cars and learned the BART trains there and got around to everywhere we wanted to go. We ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, which was on the 8th floor in Macy's department store. After dinner, we decided to just walk the 8 blocks to our hotel. On the way we ran into about a billion bums asking for our food ( we had a piece of cheesecake ). It was a bit scary but Cody held onto me tight and put me on the otherside of the street, he was sweetheart.


Cody and Me at Baker Beach..


Cody at his favorite store at Fisherman's Wharf, the Lefties store..


Cody with a bum we saw at Fisherman's Wharf..



Cody wrestling with the giant bread alligator, watch out babe!..


Chocolate, yum!


The beautiful sunset at the wharf..



The next morning we got up and walked to the BART and went to the airport. We got on the first flight out of San Francisco and were back in Salt Lake City by 1pm. It was a short but great trip. I loved it and I am looking forward to many more trips.


.. Oh don't worry, tyke was glad we were home can you tell?

tHe nEvErEnDiNg sToRy..

Well like the title says.. it is neverending. So here is another step in my saga.

I didn't think that my times could get much worse. I thought that finding out I had a life altering injury would be enough for the moment. But it seems that when trials come, they come in numbers. I am not sure why but I do think that I am supposed to be learning something from all this.

Last monday I had an "urgent" meeting at work. I cut the last ten minutes of my class and rushed to work with great haste. As I arrived at my bosses office, he told me we would be meeting with the CEO that day. I got a tad nervous, either something good or something bad was coming down the drain. So... We went. I sat for about five minutes when I realized that it was a turn for the bad. After about 20 minutes of them giving me every excuse that they could, It sunk in.. I had been laid off. Yep, I lost my job. I am currently unemployed and will be insurance-less starting November first.

I didn't think it could get much worse, but it did. The next day, all red eyed and tired from a sleepless night I went and endured an hour long EMG. It was an hour of being shocked and tasered to test out my nerve responses. It was painful and very exhausting. At the end of the hour, I was so sore and still had a class. I limped to school and sat through another hour of classes and went home. The next day I returned to hear my results. Turns out that I have nerve damage on both sides of my body in the lower limbs. I lose feeling from time to time in my legs. I was told that I needed to attend "Back School" which I start Wednesday, to help me learn how to get myself aligned. I was also told I can have children, but will have to wear a pregnancy brace and will have to have a c-section with every child. It is a struggle and overwhelming. I hope this Back School will help me be in a better condition and place.

So with all this bad news, I started looking for jobs and have been spending time with tyke and thinking about life. I hope one day I will figure it out. I started taking walks with Tyke and Cody on a trail behind out house. I have found a great photographic release there, I am hoping it will release some feelings. So... took me long enough, here are some photos!


.. Tyke and his new favorite place, cuddling in his Cave of Covers..


.. Tyke and Cody on the trail..


.. Tyke and Me on the trail..


.. Tyke being "Mountain Puppy"..


.. Tyke in the bushes..

Well.. until next time..

dEnAiL iSn'T jUsT a rIvEr iN eGyPt..

Alright, So as promised, I decided to blog since I had seen my other doctor on Tuesday. I went to a physiologist. I was kind of nervous, I had called this doctor for pain management. The plan was to get a nerve block put in place to help me make it until December when I see the neurologist. I wasn't sure what I was in store for.

I arrived and sat in the waiting room for 45 minutes. I was so frustrated but I couldn't leave because I needed to have my pain assessed. So I sat with Cody there. When I made it into the room, the appointment itself took 30 minutes. It was so long but very educational. After being twisted, poked, contorted, and prodded I learned alot about my body. I discovered that my spine has more issues than just the two herniated disks. Most normal people have a natural "C" curve in the upper portion of the spine and their tailbone points downward off the spine. My spine however, instead of curving naturally on the top doesn't it goes straight also my tail bone doesn't point downward it is parallel to the floor. Also I learned I have weak ankles and my right calf is larger than my left. I am not sure what all this means, but I will learn more. I am having a special nerve test called an EMG in two weeks to test my nerve functions in my legs. This should tell me more about how my body is working with this issue.

The doctors appointment wasn't all too bad.. He gave me new medications that help deal with the pain better than my asprin did. Also he told me what kind of exercies I can do without hurting myself. I hadn't been to the gym in 3 weeks and I am starting to feel slow and not healthy. So he was able to help me learn some.

Things are looking good for me, I am hoping that surgery is the last option and that I can solve this problem or learn to manage it before surgery is necessary.

I am almost positive I just entered another cycle of denial (it isn't just a river in Egypt) trying to work through this is going to be interesting..

Well that is all I have to report for now...

a DaY iN tHe liFe oF..

Alright, So this weekend I was told that I needed to blog more. So I figured since I had a few minutes of downtime at work I would spend a few and update all of you. I am sorry, it is missing pictures I have been horrid about taking them lately. But I will try and take some soon and post.

September started off to a good start. I started school and Cody started online courses. I enrolled in 15 credits of art classes and Cody in 20 credits of airline things. So we are both trying to keep up. Every weekend is filled with homework for Cody, and me building some project. Needless to say we have been filled with thoughts of airplanes and art.

Cody, started the month off studying hard for his private pilot's license. He had his test last Monday, September 15th. He worked hard and flew 3 days in a row the few days before and we are glad to say passed his test with flying colors on the first try, which is apparently very rare to do. So CONGRATS!! In honor of his graduation, I planned a surprise party this weekend with family and friends at PF Changs. I do have to give myself props, I have NEVER been able to pull off a surprise without Cody figuring it out before I can do it, this time... he had no idea! It was great... So CONGRATS my sweetie, I am SO proud of you!!

Also... while in Cody news... Cody applied for a job at Skywest in Salt Lake at the airport. He thought it would be a good idea to get his foot in the door working for an airline and that way when he was able to be a commercial pilot he would already be working for an airline. So he went to the interviews, and a week later we found out he got the job. He will be a ramp agent, one of the people that has to load luggage on planes. He starts September 22nd. I am just excited, cause I get to fly for FREE!!

Recently I had been struggling with pains in my tail bone area. I would often find myself saying my tail bone hurt and I couldn't sit for long periods of time without having bad pains. So I decided that I would make an appointment with my doctor. He told me that I needed and MRI to see what was happening in my back. Back problems run in my family, My mom has 2 now fused discs (she had 2 herniated discs but had them removed and her bones fused together) my younger brother had a ruptured disc and my grandpa and a few uncles have bad back problems. So I was afraid of what it could mean. So I went and had an MRI. It was cold, and very noisy.. but 20 minutes later I was done.

The radiology tech took the time to show me my scans and explain the different parts to me. He told me it looked like I had 2 bulging discs but that my doctor would call me in a few days and talk to me. Sure enough the next morning my doctor called me. He told me that my L4-L5 disc and L5-S1 disc were both bulging, in the centers. Now, this was strange so for you that don't know what this means... let me interpret (don't worry they had to do this for me too). The L stands for lumbar, which is the lower vertebrae in your back. The S stands for sacral, which is a fancy name for the tail bone. So my cartilige discs in that area are popping out into my spinal cord cavity pushing against my spinal cord which causes pain and numbness in my legs and hips.Yes I know it sounds like great fun.

For the next few days I went through what I told Cody was my "denial process". It started with a day of " I am dreaming... this is just a dream, I will wake up and it will be gone.." to " Why me... I am 24 I am healthy, not overweight and I take good care of myself..." ( this portion involved many tears, and a few laughs..) and then finally to the "This is a part of my life now, and will be forever. It isn't going to be a disability, and I am just going to learn how to live with it." So I am now on asprin therapy which works pretty good, I can't lift more than 40 pounds at a time and I am learning my limits. I am taking it slow, and my next step is to get back into doing things that are physical. I am going to try yoga. I am going to a doctor tomorrow to have a nerve block put in place so I can't feel the pain for a few months until I see a neurosurgeon in December.

Needless to say our life is anything but boring right now... what can you do? So that is what is new... and I promise I will do this more often and with pictures!!

aUgUsT cAmE aNd wEnT..

I felt like an update was well in need. Alot has been going on with our little family and blogging became the last thing on my mind. Things have been insane.

August was great. We had a lot happen. Cody has been working hard at untouchables and working on his flying. He is taking his checkride on September 15th. If he passes he will have his private pilot's license. I am so proud of him and his accomplishments. As we were both caught up in work, we decided to have Tyke fixed. So in late August, Tyke under went his little surgery. The next few days were full of groggy sleepy puppy, monitored sleeping and bathroom breaks. But after a week of restricted things he was up to going back to normal. He is doing great, and healed wonderfully. We started up school on the 27th. We both are taking full loads. Cody is doing 20 credits online, so brave! The next day I turned 24. As my brother told me I am "old" now. We had a great august.

September started out great with Labor day. It was nice to spend time with each other and our families. We spent Sunday with Cody's parents and their friends and family playing top toss. We had a competition. We were pulled in pairs. I played with my brother-in-laws friend Gavin. Cody played with his parents gay neighbor, Curtis. It was fun, me and Gavin made it almost to the championship round but lost the round before. It was pretty fun.

Well that is the news.. until next time..

mEmoRiEs

I saw this on one of my friends blog and thought it could be fun..

Here is a fun little game... leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time or a long time, anything that you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It is pretty funny to read the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you are playing and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. On your mark... get set... blog those memories!

wHaT's iN a nAmE

Well it is decided. Cody after much thought and asking people for opinions, and I mean everyone, decided on a name. We filed the paperwork yesterday and paid our fees. We are waiting for a court date to come up and have the courts call and let us know when to be there for it to be made official. So as long as the judge decides to let us go through with it, Cody will be.... Cody Towley Alex.

fOuRtH oF jUlY

So we have had a wonderful fourth come and go. I always love this holiday minus the intense heat that always seems to come with it. In years past we have always slept out on University Ave for the parade on the fourth, this year we decided to change things up.

My family decided to ditch out on the parade and eat breakfast together as a family. So we all went over to Magleby's for their breakfast buffet. I have to admit it was pretty good, but I wasn't quite awake to fully enjoy it. After eating up, Cody and I decided that we should go and visit Cody's parents, because it is their anniversary. So we went and spent some time with them. I love them and the wonderful family they have created. I always enjoy spending time with them. After finishing up with them we visited Center Street and all the fun booths that are there for the fourth.

After all this excitement and the heat we decided that a nap was in order, or at least I did. So I cuddled up in my blanket with Tyke and took a nap while my family watched Independence day.. how fitting. After taking a brief nap and feeling good about my life, we went outside to enjoy dinner. It was quite tasty I have to admit, we had shiskabobs and rice... yum. Then Cody got all excited, it was time to do some fireworks. He is like a four year old when it comes to doing things like this, so he pulled out smoke bombs and the little parachuter man and set off fireworks. Our next door neighbors, who are from Australia, came out to see. I guess in Australia fireworks are banned to the public, so they were excited to see that fireworks can be done by the public.


Cody lighting the first of many fireworks..



Cody with his parachute man that shot out of his firework.. he was so excited, he chased it down the street.


The parachute man..

We then went to a new spot, my dad investigated out, to watch the Stadium Fire fireworks. We took our neighbors from Australia and sat out and waited for them to start. Their kids were so much fun to play with and couldn't wait for the fireworks. It was a great Fourth.

I am so glad I live in a country that is free and that we have brave women and men who go out and defend us to make that possible.

fRiSbEe gOlF + sWiMmInG + bAsKeTbAlL = fUn & sUnBuRnS

This past weekend was filled with tons of fun and exciting things. At first I pondered how fun my weekend would be but it turned out to be a blast.

Friday, which could possibly be one of the best days of the week, started off the weekend on a good note. My younger sister decided that she wanted to hang out with Cody and I. Her boyfriend recently left on his mission and she hasn't done much other than hanging out at home and watching movies. We finally got her to go out. On Friday night we went to dinner together and went and saw the movie 'get smart'. It has to be the funniest movie I have seen in a while, I would highly recommend it if you are in need of a laugh. It was really fun to hang out with Kellyn and Cody and just enjoy each other. We got home around 12 and just hung out with our puppy for an hour.

Saturday morning started really early. Cody went flying at 7am. He did his first solo that morning. He flew for an hour or so by himself doing touch and gos and was really good at it. The tower told him they were impressed with his skills and this being the first time he had flown alone. While Cody was flying I was fighting a battle at home. With the recent influx of Roxy, my family's dog, barking.. My dad invested in a bark control collar. Since Tyke had gotten in the flow of barking at Roxy when she runs around in the backyard, Saturday morning was no different. He ran outside and was barking at her unstoppable. I felt bad because Roxy would attempt to bark back but would get a shock and would immediately stop. I wriggled my way between the two puppies and separated them for a while. After getting the two of them separated I prepared for my Frisbee golf game. My mother-in-law and brother-in-law have recently picked up the sport of Frisbee golf. They had invited me to come along. Well I prepped and met them and Cody for a game. We went to UVU and played on their 12 hole course. It is quite challenging and tricky. I didn't score to great and spent alot of time chasing down my Frisbee but it was fun. We did lose two Frisbees to the water ponds. Sad. Cody did quite well, he and his brother competed for first, and tied. It was fun. Afterwards, we grabbed some lunch and then headed over to Cody's parents house.

Once we got there, Justin (brother-in-law), challenged all of us to a game of 'horse' in basketball. We all went outside in the 96 degree weather and played two rounds of the game. I almost won once, but lost to Cody. After we finished up Cody and his brother played some one on one and got really intense. They had a good time though, even though Cody lost to his younger brother. They decided to beat the heat by jumping in the pool. Cody was the first in there and enjoyed the water. I sat in the shade allowing my legs to get some sun. We sat and chatted it was quite fun. After all this we decided that we would go home and spend some time with our cute puppy.

Upon arrival, I found my Dad and younger sister doing this project in the backyard. Recently we had our patio ripped up due to some dry rot that was found on the bottom of the house. When they tore it up they found that the electrical wire that was run from the house to the fountain was not buried in a pipe and could easily be damaged. To save on cost of fixing it my dad decided that he would bury the pipe himself and then just let the electrician run the wire. I felt bad that they hadn't told me so I could help, so I seized the chance and changed and went out to help. We tore up a patch of the patio, a strip in the lawn, part of the rock wall and dug a trench to the fountain. We successfully buried the pipe and put the yard back together. It was intense, we finished around 7.

Well after being covered in dirt, I decided that a shower was in order. So after cleaning off, Cody showed me his chest. From swimming and playing basketball, he had burned himself quite bad. He has little blisters on his shoulders and is a nice shade of red. He spent the night with no shirt on and hourly aloe Vera treatments. He is still quite red and in a bit of pain, but it is starting to ease up. He will have a lovely tan when it is gone.

Well, I would have to say that fRiSbEe gOlF + sWiMmInG + bAsKeTbAlL = fUn..

sUmMeR fUn.. mAyBe?

Well.. it is June. And, I am officially the biggest blogging slacker out there. It has been three almost four weeks since my last post. And really I don't know why. I take time every day to look at each of my friends blogs and read about them and yet I never take a few minutes to catch mine up to date. So here we are... updating.

First up is my sweetie, Cody. As you all have read he is trying to work on his pilot license. Through out the process he has 3 "stage checks" where he goes flying with the Chief Flight Instructor and has to prove his knowledge of the airplane and show his flight skills. Well on June 9Th was the scheduled first stage check. It didn't start well and sure didn't end good either. He couldn't identify each antenna and got docked for it. Well he was frustrated and stressed and needless to say the take off didn't go to well either. Cody was lined up to go straight but when he got the tires off the runway the plane suddenly started heading sideways and for the ground. The instructor had to save the plane. Needless to say all they did today was practicing of landing and take off. And when the check ended, he failed. He was bummed, as what would be deemed normal. But he is signed up for the check again next Wednesday. Although he did redeem himself. He went flying later in the afternoon and flew just fine. Perhaps it is just the nerves. We are glad to announce that after a week of studying and preparing himself and multiple flights in between, today June 18Th he passed his flight test with flying colors! YAHOO!


Just in case you were wondering how tight it was inside the cockpit... here is a picture of the plane...


And here is the dashboard... you can see how close they were... ha ha.

Tyke is continuing to grow. I think he is up to 80 pounds now, but it is too hard for me to lift him to find out. He is now an avid sunbather thanks to the great weather we have been having. Needless to say he loves it. But his joy and excitement never cease to entertain me. He is so fun to watch just run around like a crazy person on crazy pills. His newest adventure involves my family's dog Roxy. Our neighbors go out at least 3 times a day to water their plants outside. Roxy is in LOVE with water. Well needless to say she runs up and down the fence line in hopes of catching a smidgen of water. Well since she is running around and barking, Tyke thinks this is a game not a rush to get water. He chases her up and down the fence and occasionally gets a shot full of water through the fence. After stirring up dust from the sand box he usually coughs for a good ten minutes and then passes out for his nap. This happens 3 to 4 times a day. It is quite funny actually.

As for me I just am glad I made it through the photo class I just finished. It has been a little chaotic and stressful I would spend days in the class, but is over. It was a really fun class however I have to say it has been one of my favorites in a long time. I am still just working away, surprise. My most recent adventure was giving our puppy a burn. It was on accident I assure you... We had given him a bath and afterwards while we were in the bedroom getting ready I decided to jump start my hair drying so I blow dried my hair a tad. Well Tyke finds noises like this and the vacuum scary as if it is going to get him. Well he freaked out, barked at it and then tried to eat it. Well I turned it off to stop him freaking out, well when he sniffed around I touched the end of the blow dryer with his face. And well you guessed it, burned his nose. I felt so bad. About a few days later he had a scab and just recently, it fell off. I felt horrid but we are now in once piece and just have a minor red mark where the scab was.


Here is Tyke's scab.. I felt so bad..

Well, I am off to enjoy some sun and a book..

What can you do it's summer...

a cHaNgE iS nEaR..

Alright so this is going to be a quick post.. I promise I will write again later. First off, we are doing well. We are busy with school we hardly see each other. Cody has done 10 hours flying, he only needs 30 more and he will have his private pilots license. He is rather bummed this week because he will not be allowed to fly until Friday or Saturday due to the president being here on a fundraiser. Apparently there is a 100 mile radius of restricted airspace when the president it in an area, and well you guessed it provo falls in that area. He will make it though I am sure. Tomorrow is my sisters graduation, we are so proud of her. She is graduating with honors. What a hard worker! Well, the main reason I was writing is because I thought I would let you know that there is a really good chance that soon Cody or Cody and I will have different names. Cody decided to change his name to help clear confusion with his Dad's name. They are very close and we always get confusion with mail and other things. I will keep you posted on what the change will be but be prepared... there could be a change a comin. Well enjoy your Wednesday..

oH sWeEt tIrEd tImE..

Well I thought an update was in order. It has been a while. We celebrated Tykes birthday and it was loads of fun. Before we knew it school was upon us, again. We both decided to start up and take a few summer classes with hopes of getting ahead. We started up on April 30th and have been going for a few weeks. Cody has started flying. Usually he is gone for 4 hours. He comes home all excited and a tad air sick but all in all it was a great time. For Mother day weekend, while Cody went flying, I on the other hand spent some time with my not girly mother in law. My mother-in-law, "sister" and my brother-in-laws girlfriend. We met at 9am on Saturday and went and had pedicures. We also got these 'glitter toes' done. They are so cute and out of control sparkly. Afterwards we went and had lunch and just chatted it was fun to spend some time with them. It was total girl day. I loved it. Afterwards I came home and hung out with Tyke and watched Cody fly over us. I went grocery shopping to prep for this week. My parents went to Denver Colorado for 4 days and left me and Cody with the kids and the dogs. So I had to be ready for any meal that might need to be made. After that Cody surprised me with my mothers day extravaganza. He took me out to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. We talked and had fun. Afterwards he took me on a $200 shopping spree in the mall. I shopped for a few hours. It was fun. After that on our way home, Cody couldn't hold it in with the presents. He made me open them in the car. He got me a wood sign that said

" My dog, true friends leave footprints on your heart."

Too cute. And then, to top it all off he handed me a box and an envelope. I opened the envelope and inside was a jewelers sheet. It just had cody's writing stating "Trade rounds for Princess cuts when they get here." I paused for a second, I don't have any round diamonds. Well then came the box. I opened it up and inside were a pair of beautiful diamond earrings. They are so pretty. I was so excited. He told me when he went to go get them there were no Princess cuts so he is having the jeweler get me some and they should be here in about 2 weeks. I am so lucky. So to my stud of a husband... BABE I luff you!

Well we started the babysitting gig May 11th. It wasn't too bad. Sundays are pretty mellow. But today the pain set in. Now for those of you who don't know me, I am NOT a morning person at all. For three days I had to get my youngest brother up for school at 6:45am. KILLER. So those days have been the longest days of my life. My day sunday ended around 12:30a, but my night was frequently interrupted by my sweet tyke.

He slept with us at night and work me up every hour or so. Then 6:40 rolled around and I just got up. But the week ended well. We got the house all cleaned up and my parents had a good time so we can't complain too much.

I got to talk to my younger brother yesterday on his mission. He is serving in the Ohio Cincinnati Mission. Since my parents were out of town over mother's day we were able to reschedule and talk to him yesterday. It was the best present ever. He is doing so great. He is a Zone Leader in the East side of Ohio. He is constantly busy, but seems to be doing well. It was so nice to talk to him. And he hit his one year mark. We are on the down hill slope. I am pretty excited to be able to see him again.

Well until my next update I hope you all are doing well. Ciao..

tHiS cOuPlE

I saw this on one of my friend posts and it looked cute and fun so I thought I would let you all know about the alex family.

1. What is your husbands name?

Steven Cody Alex, but he goes by Cody... Steven isn't his favorite name if you could tell.

2. How long have you been married?

We have been married for 2 years 5 months and 7 days.

3. How long did you date?

Well this one is a tricky one. We first met in the 7th grade.. but dating wasn't tried out until we were juniors in high school. We dated for a summer as juniors and then I dumped him senior year cause he wouldn't kiss me. We stayed friends and tried dating a tad a few time but didn't start seriously dating until May of 2005. So all collectively I would say about 2 years.

4. How old is he?

He is currently 24 years old but will turn 25 (a quarter of a century.. ha ha) on November 22nd.

5. Who eats more sweets?

I would have to say I definately do. I am addicted to sugary sweets of every kind. Cody does like candy and sweets as well but I would say I for sure eat more than him.

6. Who said I love you first?

Cody did. During one of our many times of trying the whole dating thing we kind of mentioned it, but in the summer of 2005 he told me he loved me on a date. I was kind of in shock to be honest, but fully agreed and told him it right back.

7. Who is taller?

Cody is on this one. He is a strapping 6'2". I am a meer 5'7". But I love it. I can wear heels and get away with still being shorter.

8. Who can sing better?

Now, this one is tricky.. we are both closet singers. Neither one of us would sing in public so it is hard to say. I sing mostly to myself in the car or really loudly to bug cody, and Cody only sings when he feels like it (which I think I have only heard like 3 times since we have been married).

9. Who is smarter?

This is a tie. We both are in school and working hard. Now Cody would say I was smarter and I would say he was so we will call it a draw and move forward.

10. Who does the laundry?

I do. When we were first married, I let Cody do the laundry once while I was sick. My shirts came out about 2 sizes smaller and a few a different color. So I took over. But he is learning and now able to do it on his own, but I usually do because I am home.

11. Who pays the bills?

I do. Cody doesn't always remember to pay things by certain dates and it makes me nervous to not have them paid on time or early. So I took over when we got married and have been doing it ever since.

12. Who sleeps on the right side?

Now.. if it is the right side looking at the bed from the foot of the bed that would be Cody. But if you are laying in it, that is my side.

13. Who mows the lawn?

I do. I try to mow the lawn every week the night before garbage day because it is less likely to stink for days on end. I also get home from work around 5 or earlier so I have more daylight to complete it than he does.

14. Who cooks dinner?

This is a toss. I normally cook because I am home before he is, but Cody is a very good cook and he cooks when he can. It is nice to have him cook stuff.

15. Who drives?

Cody does. He loves driving and his car so I just sit back relax and enjoy the ride.

16. Who kissed who first?

Cody kissed me first. After trying for years to convince him that I wanted to be kissed and that it was okay to do so I gave up. One night after a date, he was dropping me off at my house and he walked me to the garage door (I used the keypad to get in) while I was waiting for the garage to open we were saying our goodbyes and he just plopped it on me. I quickly replied 'smooth move exlax' and walked inside. Don't worry our first kiss was 5 months before we got married.

17. Who asked who out first?

This one is tricky as well. It was the end of junior year of high school at a yearbook party. I was wandering around having people sign my year book and chit chatting. Cody had written in mine ' hey hottie, give me a call this summer and we will hang out'. Well everybody writes this in peoples yearbooks, but after he wrote it he turned to me and said I am serious. So I called and we just started hanging out. So I am not quite sure who made the first move there.


18. Who proposed?

Cody. It was August 13th 2005, I had just finished a wedding shoot and he had gone with me. I was starving since I had been taking pictures all day long and hadn't stopped to eat. We drove to Salt Lake City with another couple. We ate at mimi's cafe up there, yum. After we went to Temple Square and walked around. It was dark so temple was lit and it was just perfect weather. We decided to go on a carriage ride around. On the ride we just snuggled and the other couple just sat. When we reached a point where the temple was in sight he turned to me and told me he loved me and wanted to be with me forever and then popped the question. My ring box lights up (nifty little thing, it has a light in the lid so when it is opened the light shines on the ring.. sparkle sparkle.) and instead of saying yes I said 'the box lights up!' He turned to me and asked 'Does this mean yes?' and I answered quickly.. yes.

19. Who has more siblings?

I do. I have 2 Brothers, Matson (20) and Jarett (13), and one sister Kellyn (18). Cody has one brother, Justin (18).

20. Who wears the pants?

This is an easy one.. Cody wears the pants, I just tell him how to wear them.

tYkE's bIrThDaY

Today we celebrated Tyke's FIRST birthday. It started off great. Last night, we decided to finish Gladiator, a movie I had never seen but had been recommended by my Art History Teacher. We had made it half way through about three nights prior. So we took Tyke downstairs with us to our bedroom and curled up for some thrilling killing sequences. Upon finishing the movie, we were both too tired to get up and put tyke to bed. So he slept with us. I quietly sung happy birthday to him at 12:40am this morning before passing out. Cody couldn't stand his constant moving and need to clean himself so at 5:15am we put him to bed. He got up with Grandma at 7:30 and has had the most chill day. He gets to just lounge and go outside and do his "sunbathing".

When his uncle Jarett got home from school he took tyke on a long walk, which he loved. While he was on his walk I made 48 mini cupcakes for his birthday which my mom nicknamed 'pupcakes'.

He hung outside and inside until about nine last night when we decided to have his mini party in which us as a family watched him make a spectacle of himself and enjoy his cupcakes.




We got Tyke Transformers birthday hats.. here he is in his.. too cute.




This is what happened as soon as dad let go from the picture... he is killing the hat




and then trying to eat it...




here he is doing a great job at 'leave it..' which he is to leave whatever it is alone. in this case it was the cupcake..





tyke and his dad





tyke and mom


We had a great time watching him all hyped up on sugar and running around like a crazy. It was a great day and we are so grateful he is a part of our family. We couldn't have asked for a better, kinder dog.

LOVE YOU TYKE!

..aT lAsT..

So after many weeks of working hard I am glad to say that the Finals have come to an end. I am so glad cause this semester although only having two classes seemed really hard at times. Also as promised I decided to sit down and update with pictures. I know it has been a while so I thought I would fill all you in on my happenings here.

The gym is going great. I love going, although it is still hard to keep up the whole time. It is really hard to do at times but the best workout I have had in a while. I thought all this while I would start to lose weight as I firmed up but I have actually gained 4 pounds. My guess is muscle cause there is some 6 pack signs in the making. It has been good to go with my sister as well. We kind of talk, more than we did before. Which is a good thing. We are starting to get closer.

Cody enrolled in flight school. After I had a heart attack at the cost, I was finally relieved that he had decided this was it and promised me and himself that he would work extra hard each semester to not waste this chance. Without a beat, he started asking for a plane. That is hilarious, I just laughed and told him one day. When I was rich and famous I would get him one.

My dad has started to lose weight and I am SO proud of him. He has lost 40 pounds so far and it is starting to show. We recently sent pictures to my brother on his mission and it starting to really show. His face is thinner and his pants don't fit at all. It is great.



We went to the zoo on Saturday to see the giraffes. I love giraffes and one just recently had a baby. We spent a few hours wandering around the zoo checking out all the animals. Wow alot have recently had babies, so if you get the chance to go up there you should go they are SO cute. Not to mention the Ghost of the Bayou is still here ( a white alligator, crazy I know..) which is pretty rad.

We have also been venturing out for long periods of time due to the great weather, Tyke loves it and refuses to come inside. He "suntans" and enjoys every minute of it. I really can't blame him though it feels so great out there.

Well as promised here are the pictures.. YAY!!




This is one of the Elephants at the zoo. There was three of them and they were all 'hangin out' for feeding time. This one took it literal with the crossed leg and everything.



Here is the baby giraffe. He had taken to licking the rails and hanging out where he could see all the people inside. He was so cute and tiny. I loved it!!




This is the mama giraffe and me hanging out while she ate some grass. It was so funny to see her long tongue all black and slimy pick up grass.



This is the Amur Leopard. He was pacing the glass in search of something which we couldn't figure out, but whatever it was he didn't look to happy. So I snapped a picture of it.




This is a giant turtle that was in the wild area. There is a green house type area where they allow animals like - birds, lizards, sloths and turtles just wander with you. I couldn't believe the size of this turtle.. huge!



Here is Tyke giving his.. ' i love you mom, but i am going to pounce you in like two seconds' face. He is so cute.. and yep after I took this I got pounced.



Tyke.. smiling..



Cody and his pup.. they luff each other..



and lastly.. chewing on a stick that he found while we were playing... strange duck.

We are having fun and loving our spring... hope you all are. ciao...

iT's aPriL

Today I thought I would write a post and just make sure and let you all know I am alive. Recently I have been trying to just stay on top of the ever growing mountain of things. I have started going to the gym with my little sister, firstly for bonding with her.. I have never really been someone she likes per say. We have always been the siblings that don't get along and fight about everything. Well I figured once she got to where she was I would try to be a friend. And it is starting to work. We are talking and having fun. It is nice to know that the possibility of being her friend is there. The second reason why I have started going to the gym is just for me. I have found with the stresses of everything the easiest thing to do was go work out and I seemed relieved and of course I started to get in shape. I have to admit it is REALLY hard. I started taking a Cardio only class a few weeks back and it kicks my butt. I break into a hard sweat in about 15 minutes. Well worth it though.

The next rock in the mountain of things is of course school. We are ending the spring semester in the next two weeks and it seems that no matter how much you prepare for the end you always get a surprise jumbo assignment along with finals that just makes it crazy. I have started to take great interest in Art History, in the past few years and have been taking all the upper level classes of Art History that are open. This semester I got into one and my surprise for the end of the semester was a 10 page research paper on a piece of art in Greek to Roman time periods. Yes, I am stressing.. today starts day one of the "Library and Me are Best Friends"time. Hopefully I will finish in time, I have until April 16th.

But other than that we are alive and well. Cody starts flying on April 30th and will have his private pilot's license in August.. if any of you would like to brave a flight after then I am sure he would LOVE to take you up.

Tyke is great, he is a whooping 71 pounds now, I don't know where he hides it or how he gains it for that matter, but he is starting to show signs of the medications working. His hips hurt less and he is MUCH more active. This is ALWAYS a great sign. We also will be celebrating his first birthday on April 28th. YAY!!

Anyhow.. I will update with pictures soon. Ciao..

oUt wItH tHe lIoN & iN wItH a lAmB..

Well, I thought since it was the last day in March that I would write a post. There a few things to update everyone one so here we go..

First off.. we ended not getting the townhome. As things played out the rates took another jump and we ran into some snags. As it happened we didn't get it. However, in looking back at it, we decided that it turned out okay. We really wanted a backyard for tyke and this place wouldn't allow us to have a fence up. Also with school coming up and trying to find ways to get money saved up, it was better that things happened this way.

Second.. Cody decided on a major! We were getting to a point where knowing what we wanted to do was a must. He picked, yay! He is going into Aviation Science through UVU. He starts up hopefully in the fall, after a few generals this summer. He is super excited and has loved the few chances he has had to go on a "test" flight with the instructors.

Well, We are just plugging along. Not much other than that has changed. We are counting down the days until the end of the semester, we have 4 weeks. But all in all it has been a good month. We can't complain. I think we are ready for April..

mY aBc'S

Well, while reading my friend Brandy's blog.. I got aBc tagged..

a: attached or single: aTtAcHeD

b: best friend: cOdY, mY mOm, mY dAd, mAtSoN, eLiShA..

c: cake or pie: pIe.. i LOVE cHeRrY

d: day of choice: fRiDaY or sAtUrDaY..

e: Essential item: cElL pHoNe, cHaPsTiCk, bEnaDrYl

f: favorite color: rEd

g: gummi bears or worms: bEaRs, but ONLY hAriBo

h: hometown: pRoVo, Ut

i: indulgence(s): cHoColAtE, fRiEnDs, bOoKs, mOvIeS..

j: january or july: jUlY

k: kids: nOnE yEt, unless you count tYkE

l: life is incomplete without: mY fAmiLy

m: marriage date: nOvEmBeR 22, 2005

n: number of siblings: 2 bRoThErS & 1 sIsTeR

o: oranges or apples: nIeThEr.. I have never liked fruit.. I don't eat it.

p: phobias of fears: sPiDeRs, bAlLoOnS, bUtTeRfLiEs, and hEiGhTs

q: quote(s): "wHaTeVeR yOu aRe bE a GoOd oNe" - Abraham Lincoln

r: reason to smile: mY fAmiLy

s: season: fAlL, it isn't too hot anymore but not freezing yet.

t: tag five: eLiShA, cHeReE, lAcY, cHaRlOtTe, and sUnNi

u: unknown fact about me: I have had cHiCkeN pOx twice. When I was 17 I contracted the chicken pox again, which is known as shingles.. it sucks and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Also, I am allergic to foods -- sOY, wHeAt, sUnFlOwEr sEeDs, sEsAmE and aLl nUtS ... which makes my diet slim to none.

v: vegetarian or oppressor of animal: oPpReSsPoR, sorry... I like meat.

w: worst habit: tUcKiNg iN mY sHeEtS. In bed my sheets CANNOT have a wrinkle in it at all. If there is a wrinkle I will get up and remake the bed to get rid of them. It drives Cody nuts cause he loves them wrinkly.

x: x-rays or ultrasounds: x-RaY. My last run in with an ultrasound was a tad uncomfortable and ackward. X-rays are SO much easier.

y: your favorite food: cHeRrY pIe, cHoCoLaTe, bIsCuTs(homemade), sTroGaNoFf

z: zodiac: vIrGo

fRiDaY

Today, as you can see is Friday. I personally find Friday to be the BEST day of the week. It is the day I leave work a tad early, it is the start of a 2 day break and it is the beginning of spending time with my hubbie and tyke all day, without having to leave. I LOVE Friday. So in honor of Friday, and it's greatness.., I thought I would make a list of things that I love.

oNe. I love cOdY. Growing up all through junior high and high school we knew each other and thought the other was neat but never really did anything much about it. We dated a bit in our junior year in high school and then just decided that friends might be better. We stayed friends for years. We watched each other go through hard relationships and challenges but were still there for the other. In 2005 after I returned home from Europe, we started dating again. And well, as he says " I just couldn't let you get away this time.." We were married and I have loved every bit of the two years and 4 months of it.

tWo. I love tYkE. Our "little" puppy has brought such joy and love into our home. He is constantly figuring out new things and surprising us with the things he finds. He is never dull and always keeps us on our toes. He has been a great thing in our life and I love every minute I get with him, especially when we cuddle.

tHrEe. I love the smell of cInNaMoN. It has been one of my all time favorite smells in the world for I don't even know how long. I am always smelling cinnamon candles and finding things that I can put in my house or room that smell like cinnamon.

fOuR. I love aRt. I always had a appreciation for people who could draw and paint and create beautiful things with their hands. A few years back I had the chance to travel to Europe and see things in Italy, Switzerland and in France that changed my love for art. When I got the chance to see things up close and almost touch them, my love grew so much deeper. I plan on making it back there before I die.

fIvE. I love to tRaVeL. I have always loved just packing up and going places. Growing up we made trips here and there mostly just to see Grandparents with a few stops along the way. When I started to get older we started doing bigger trips and I loved it. We went to Florida, California and Texas. I loved those memories. As I have gotten older I have taken many more trips and have loved it!! I have many plans for places in the future.

sIx. I love to rEaD. I have gotten this infinity for books from my dad. Growing up I was required to read a half hour every night before I could go to bed. I developed a great habit for reading and still love to do so every day. I could curl up somewhere and read a book all day and feel good about life.

sEvEn. I love mOvIeS. I started to like movies alot in high school. Mostly cause almost every date I went on took me to a movie of some sort. After Cody and I were married, it seems that if we have free time and not alot of money, which is alot!, we would go rent a movie or stay up and watch one. We have expanded our movie collection a bunch since we have gotten married and will continue to love movies.

eIgHt. I love cHoCoLaTe. I don't think there has been a day in my life where I haven't had something with chocolate in it. I love chocolate. It just tastes so good.

nINe. I love sChOoL. I have been in school for a while, and I am finally nearing the end of my schooling phase in life. To be honest after it is over and done I won't know what to do with myself, I love going and learning about things I have an interest in and expanding my knowledge. I love being able to attend, although it can be very stressful at times.

tEn. I love my fAmILy. I feel so blessed and lucky that I was sent to a great family and that I had the chance to marry my best friend. I have such a great support system that I know will always be there for me even when I feel so alone. I really love them and I feel blessed to be with them for eternity.

until next time.. ciao.

cAliFoRnIa dReAmiN'

Well, this past week was an interesting one. Throughout the year we had been preparing to travel to California to watch my younger sister compete for a national title in Anaheim. Well when the idea of a house popped up and we decided to go for it, we also decided that only I would be traveling to California to watch with my family. Since it would be strange for just Cody to go with my parents and brother and sister.

Prior to leaving for California, I had noticed some strange things happening when I ate certain foods. I was diagnosed with food allergies before this ( May 2007), but just to nuts. Well I have been really good about avoiding things that can hurt me for this mere fact. I had started to notice it when I ate things that didn't have nuts, I was having reactions. So I called my doctor and set up a time to have some more testing done to see if there was more lurking around in there. Well the only opening that they had was for the Tuesday before I left for California. Well as I suffered through the days without allergy medications and trying to eat very carefully since I couldn't stop a reaction if I had one.. I prepped for Tuesday. Well after the test ended we have come to the conclusion that I have developed more allergies and become more allergic to the ones I had before.. The new ones that we added are the following... Wheat, Soy, Sunflower Seeds, and Sesame Seeds. Well I don't know if you have taken the time to read the labels on foods... but Soy and Wheat are in like EVERYTHING!! So I was a tad concerned. My doctor is running blood tests to see just how allergic I am to all these things.. sad. Well this added and element of "fun experimentation" to the mix on the trip.


This is my arm at the end of the scratch test..lovely huh? All the red marks are things I am really allergic to.

Well I left on Wednesday afternoon and the adventure began.. it started with my dad forgetting the Disneyland tickets and having to have Cody drive to the airport before our plane left to drop them off. Talk about a great first challenge and before it even started!! Upon arrival at LAX, which is a MEGA-AIRPORT--talk about huge!!, we prepared to get our rental car. Well, we boarded the Alamo shuttle and rode to their office only to find that we had made our reservations with Budget. So we re-boarded the shuttle and rode back to the airport, wandered through and found the Budget rental shuttle.


Here is Mom and Jarett (my younger brother - he is 13) on the ride back to the airport.. the first adventure of many.

The next two days were filled with time at Disneyland and California Adventure.. we rode a ton of rides!! Every night I was so tired and my legs were cramped up and sore from all the walking. I loved the rides, they are so fun.. we only got stuck in one once.. ha ha Indiana Jones broke down with us inside the ride. Needless to say we ended up spending about 5 minutes in the ride stuck on a ramp. It was funny. We had fun though.


This is me and my sister (Kellyn - she is 17) being "scared" stuck inside the Indiana Jones ride, notice dad is scared too..

The third day was what we had come for. Kellyn and her team, GO TIMPVIEW, competed for the championship. We spent the morning sitting around the pool and catching some lunch before heading over to watch. There were 5 teams in her division, and it seemed to take a while before it was their turn. They did good. They dropped one stunt, which takes off 2 points. We waited until about 6 and they started announcing the finalists. Timpview made it in with one other California team, Aliso Negaro. Well them entering the finals, meant we would be returning again the following day to watch them again.

Upon finishing at the competition we traveled to Downtown Disney where my mom had made reservations for us to eat at the Rain forest Cafe. We sat down and I began to wonder what I could eat without the thought of dying. I chose pasta. The food came, I was hungry and started eating. About 3/4 of the way through my food I started to react badly to whatever had touched the pasta. My throat swelled and I felt like I couldn't swallow, I got hives all over the inside of my mouth. I hurried and took a benadryl and prayed that it would ease up. - Which thank heavens it did after about 45 minutes of not knowing if I was going to need to visit a doctor.- After finishing dinner we decided to go into the park again and ride some rides before it closed at midnight. Let me just let you know that being on benadryl and being at Disneyland is an interesting combination. EVERYTHING made me laugh and not just giggle, but hysterical laughter. I think I creeped my dad out in the line for Autopia, by laughing at the lame entertainment jokes they had playing. It was fun though.


This is me under the influence of benadryl... don't I look great?

After the night of fun, we went home to pack, we left the next night and we had to be ready because Kelly competed about 4 hours before our plane left. I hurried and packed and then fell straight asleep. We woke up finished packing and checked out and we were off to Disneyland for a few hours of fun before leaving. We rode Tower of Terror, Screamin' California, Big Thunder Railroad, and Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a blast. We finished up and raced the the competition. We watched as they took Nationals. CONGRATS!! We rushed off to the airport, we arrived 2 hours early.. phew!


Kellyn after getting her award and trophy at Nationals.

We landed at 12am. Killer. By the time we got home it was 2am and we were all grumpy and tired. I rushed down to see Cody, who had fallen asleep - surprise... It was a good trip. I missed Cody and cutie Tyke, but it was fun to spend time with my family. I do however have to admit it is FREEZING here... it was a nice 76 degrees the day i left California only to return to 38 degree weather, off the plane.UGH. But I am so glad to be home.

Lastly I thought I would update you on the house progress, I don't have pictures but here is the news... The carpets and minor final touches go in this week. The driveway will be poured this week and the sidewalks will be done next week. We are looking at closing at the end of this month!! YAY!

Until next time..