Christmas is coming!

Part of me is dreading Christmas. With Steve's hospitalizations in the past 2 years we owe money to the hospitals and doctors. We have to register our car in December also. I was hoping that I would get overtime since half my department is out on maternity leave (both left in October), but so far no overtime. If I don't get any overtime then we will most likely have a small Christmas for Hunter. If it wasn't for Hunter I wouldn't care, but I am afraid that he'll be upset that Santa came to his mom's house but not his dad's house.
I hate being broke!!!

Are you for ReAL?

Steve, Hunter and I went to a ReAL game tonight. It was the playoffs and unfortunately the game ended in a tie so ReAL is not moving on. :( It was a really good game, or at least I think it was. We couldn't see very well. We were on the third row near the goal on the North East side of the stadium. The people in the first and second rows only sat down during halftime! For most of the game I had to watch the Video Screen. It was so annoying. Poor Hunter couldn't hardly see anything. The people in front of us also continually swore. They would boo the other team at certain points of the game and then when the team would kick the ball they crowd near us would end the booing with @$$hole. They would also chant "Bull$&!*" I also heard F-Bombs, the Lord's name in vain, the P word and many others. I would have enjoyed the game much more if we had sat by more civilized people. Oh Yeah! They also continually flipped off the other team and the refs. It was annoying!!! Steve was getting upset since Hunter couldn't see for most of the game.

The night started out better though. We met Steve's brothers and their wives (Brad and Camille and the newlyweds Eric and Brittney) at a Chinese Restaurant in Salt Lake City, called "Little World" It's just off of State Street and 13th South. It really looks like a hole in the wall but the food is AWESOME!!!! Eric was able to speak some Chinese (and even a little Cantonese) with our waitress.We got six entrees to share between the seven of us and we had plenty to take home. It only cost a total of $65 before tip! Brad said that he and Camille had recently gone to "The Mandarin" Chinese restaurant in Bountiful and it had been over $90 for the 4 of them!

We actually walked to the ReAL game from our place. Eric and Brittney carpooled with Brad and Millie and they parked at our apartment complex so we could save money and time on parking near the stadium. I am SOOOO out of shape that the walk there was difficult. I have asthma that isn't too bad but is aggravated when I exercise. I haven't seen my Asthma and Allergy doctor recently and don't have a rescue inhaler (I've never needed it before). I needed it tonight and luckily my husband has the same type of inhaler my Doctor had prescribed for me so I used it and it helped my lungs feel MUCH better. The walk home was much easier than the walk there though.

It was a good night and now I'm exhausted. Good night and don't forget to set your clock back an hour.

Stressed doesn't even begin to cover how I'm feeling right now.....

I am getting so stressed at work. My department has four Analysts (which I am one) and one Supervisor. Two of my co-workers are pregnant and due a week apart. That day is fast approaching. Patti has scheduled her appointment to be induced on October 19th. Cas is due on October 17th, but I have no idea if she has scheduled her appointment yet. When they both go out on Maternity leave it will be just Barbara and I and unless we get overtime I will go bonkers!

Steve and I just celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary! We went to Castle Creek Bed and Breakfast in Sandy Utah. It was awesome. We stayed in the Canterbury suite and even though it was one of the smaller rooms it was wonderful. We went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner and then went back to Castle Creek. We wanted to be able to stay in each of the 10 rooms by our 5th anniversary, but we still have 2 rooms to go and I doubt we will be able to go as often as we have in the past. We may not be able to go back to Castle Creek for awhile. Not because we don't love the place. We do! I love giving it free publicity and I tell everyone I know about it. We may not be able to go since it costs so much for one night and we need to pay off some bills.

It only took us about 18 months to get the bill with Lakeview Hospital worked out. When Steve was admitted to Lakeview at the end of 2008 he was there for over 2 weeks. The insurance denied the last few days, but as per their contract with the hospital, we were only responsible for our copay/deductible/coinsurance for those denied days. Lakeview sent us a bill shortly after he got home for over $8,000! Then we tried to show the hospital that we only owed about $1,000. They eventually said we owed over $12,000! I worked with the insurance company (luckily I work for the medical insurance and have contacts at the Mental Health insurance) and we finally got a bill showing we only owe $880! Steve called them and asked if we can pay it in installments. We now pay less than $80 a month and in one year we will have that paid off. It will make us so happy to have that over and done with. 

Hair, tv, polygamy....and life

I am a head sweater. That does not mean that my head is shaped like a sweater or my hair looks like a sweater. When I sleep at night, if it's too hot, I sweat and my hair gets and sweaty and gross. My mom tells me it's from her side of the family. Darn them! 

Now my head is sweating when I get hot and I'm not sleeping. I absolutely hate it when I take the time and energy to straighten my naturally curly hair and then I start sweating from my head and my hair starts going curly. I HATE IT!!!!

On the topic of hating my hair...I also sometimes have polygamous hair. At least my bangs. Sometimes if I let my hair air dry my bangs go into a style similar to what you see the "typical" sister wife and the daughters do with their hair. 

Does this secretly mean that I was meant to be a sister wife? Steve can handle me most of the time, but if he got another wife I doubt he could handle both of us! I can barely handle myself sometimes. I don't think I would be well suited to be the first (or second, third, etc.) wife of a polygamous. I have a little too much jealousy in me and I would be green with envy with thoughts of the other wives spending time with my husband.

We just switched from Comcast to Direct Tv. We used to have Direct Tv when we lived in Bountiful and Ogden but when we moved to Sandy we decided to change since we had to go through a different company (middle man) to set up Direct Tv here and they wanted to charge us a $200 installation fee. We changed to Comcast and got an awesome deal. Well, the Comcast 1 year deal expired this month and our price doubled. DOUBLED? Yes! We went from $85 a month to $170 a month. Steve called and asked what the best deal was and they said with a lower internet speed (we had tv and internet through them) and only basic cable channels it would still be $145 a month. Direct Tv gave us a free install, $75 a month for 6 months for satellite and Qwest DSL and in 6 months the price rises only about $25. 

The guy is here right now installing our Direct Tv. Now I have to program this DVR with all my shows that I want to record. At least most of my shows aren't showing new episodes yet.

Hard thing to do

Steve and I asked our Bishop tonight if we could be released from our calling as Webelos Leaders. The Bishop agreed with us and we will be released on Sunday. The Bishop said that he has had a feeling that Steve and I need to teach a class, but he didn't elaborate on which class we would teach. He told us that it wouldn't be now but might be soon.

Steve and I have been inactive for over eight months. It seems to be a pattern of moving to a new place and going to church every week for the first 4-8 months and then becoming inactive. I'm not sure why we don't go. Our Ward meets at 1 and Steve sometimes sleeps in until 11 or 12 and then we just sit around and not go.

Part of the reason may be because I have been exhausted for the past three or four months (no, I'm not pregnant - not sure the reason for my exhaustion). I had an overnight pulse oximetry done and it came back showing that my CPap is still working sufficiently. I'm thinking that it may be partly due to my anemia -I'm very often anemic and can barely donate blood.

We just signed a new 13 month lease with our apartment complex today. Our rent did not increase any and as a bonus for signing a new lease they are going to have our carpets cleaned for free! We really love our place and are glad to be staying here for another year. I love how close it is to my work (when construction isn't closing the road that is the fastest way to work) and how Steve can drive me to work and it's only a 3 mile round-trip!  I also like having a maintenance man who can fix anything that is broken and we don't have to pay for it. We also don't have to mow our lawn or water it either, or clean the pool. It's nice renting!

Wedding

July 9th my brother-in-law married his eternal companion in the Bountiful Temple. They had their reception at the MTC park in Ogden, Utah. It was a beautiful day - but VERRRRRYYYY hot, and the whole day was wonderful. After the pictures at the temple that morning (they married at 9) we went back to my in-law's house. Eric and Britney (Bride and Groom) stayed at the temple taking more pictures. At 1 we went to the Timbermine Restaurant for the luncheon. We had BBQ chicken and baked potatoes. It was delicious. Then we went back to my in-laws again where I tried to take a nap and only was able to sleep for about 30 minutes. 

The colors were a bright orange (their father's wore tuxes with orange vest and ties and the brothers (and in-laws) of the bride and groom wore white shirts with black slacks and orange ties), neon pink (all the sisters (and in-laws) of the bride and groom), and lime green (Eric's vest on his tux was in that color and Britney had a sash in that color around her waist). It was so pretty!

They had a photo booth at the entrance of the park. The idea was that you were to get your picture taken in the booth and then they gave you two copies. One went onto a black page that was for their sign in book and the other one was for you to keep. It was the cutest idea for a sign in book I've ever heard of. They had gel pens that you could use to sign the page you put the picture on. 

When we first got to the reception we took more pictures. It was so hot, and even though we were in the shade taking pictures, it was difficult to handle. When we were done with pictures I was walking toward the table and chairs so I could sit down and have something to drink and I walked past the sound system and heard the song by Rascall Flatts "I Melt" and I agreed with the song. I was melting. The refreshments were Lofthouse pink iced cookies and pink, orange and green sherbet. The sherbet was really nice in the heat. 

Once the sun started to set it was much cooler and easier to handle being outside. 

The new Mr. and Mrs. Eric Schultz leaving the Temple.

Cute couple

Britney's parents, Eric & Britney, and Dale and Barbara Schultz all kissing for the camera.

All of the Schultz family except for Carrie's husband Tim and all the grandsons

The groom's parents (Dale and Barbara - my in-laws), the Groom and Bride and the Bride's parents at the luncheon

Back of Britney's dress

The front of Britney's dress

The Schultz's at the reception

The cake

My niece Violet came to the reception with my mom and my sister (no pictures of either of them since they didn't want their pictures taken)

My coursage

Britney in the car as Eric is getting in and they are off for their wedding night at the Alaskan Inn and the next day they were off to Florida for a week.

It was a beautiful wedding and I am so happy that Eric was able to marry his eternal companion. Now all of Steve's siblings are married. Carrie and Tim married on April 5, 2006, Steve and I married in September 20, 2006. Lisa and Cody married in May 30, 2008; Brad and Camille married in June 11, 2008. Now Eric and Britney married on July 9, 2010. That's five kids married in four years.

I am such a horrible blogger!

Hunter swimming in Jackson Lake, Wyoming.

I haven't posted anything for so long, I feel horrible. I've had a lot to write about but I would forget when I got home from work or got onto my computer.

We had Hunter for a four-week period starting on July 16th. We picked him up that morning and the drive to Driggs, Idaho to stay with Steve's sister - Carrie, and her family for the night. My mother-in-law and father-in-law came up shortly after we got there and the my sister-in-law Lisa and her husband Cody got there a few hours later. I always have so much fun going to their house to visit. Because of the full house (and only one guest room which my mother-in-law and father-in-law slept in) we slept in the unfinished basement on the floor. Luckily my parents gave Steve and I air mattresses for Christmas so we didn't have to sleep on the hard cement floor.

The next day we went to Coulter Bay campgrounds in the Grand Teton National Park. Dale, Barbara (Steve's parents), Steve, Hunter and I got a two room cabin to stay in. Lisa and Cody, Brad and Camille, and Carrie and her boys (Daniel, William and James) all got their own tent cabins. Every night we sat around the campfire and had dinner and dessert and then would go to bed. One day we went to a Native American Museum at Coulter Bay and they have all these old items from the Native Americans who previoulsy lived in the area. They had clothing (the baby moccassins were adorable), weapons, jewelry. They also had a Native American artist there selling items. It was a Lokotan woman from South Dakota who brought her father's painting (beautiful, but I couldn't part with the money to buy one since they were all over $100) and handmade jewelry. There was one item that caught my eye. I have a thing for dragonflies - not totally sure what started it but I love them, I also love the color purple. Can you see where I'm going? She had made a beautiful purple beaded necklace with a dragonfly on it. I had to buy it and it was only $20!

We had a lot of fun and didn't want to leave when we did, but I had to return to work on Tuesday, so we packed up and left on Monday afternoon. Hopefully next year we can stay as long as everyone else did.

Pops with all his grandkids Willie, James, Hunter and Daniel.

Gramee and Pops with all their grandkids. Pops is holding James and Gramee is holding Willie. Hunter is behind Daniel.

Barbara and Dale wading in the COLD Jackson Lake

Hunter decided to join Gramee and Pops for a swim.

This is the "beach" of Jackson Lake. You have to wear shoes on the beach and in the water or these rocks will hurt your feet.

Willie getting something to eat from mommy.

Uncle Steve holding James

Wondering how you can have eight month old twin boys camping? Bring a prison a makeshift playpen for them to play in. My mother-in-law thought of this since a normal playpen would be too small.

James wants to get out of the playpen. Doesn't he have a cute smile?

Uncle Brad helping Daniel play on the Tent Cabin beams.

Standing on Jackson Beach, this was my view of the Teton Mountains.