Life is a Musical

Update from the 3 of us!

2012-02-13T12:14:00.000-08:00

This new year has brought lots of fun for us. I started school, which has been a bit of an adjustment, but it is going really well. I am in Symphonic Chorale (ASU's most selective choir), and we are preparing for a tour through Nevada for the ACDA- the American Choral Director's Association- conference in Reno. Funny, since I just did the ACDA trip with BYU Singers last year in Chicago! Anyways, the nice part is we are stopping in Vegas on our way to Reno, which means that I get to see my brother Jeff, his wife Kimia, and their cute little kiddos Anita and Shayon! It's only one night on the way there and one night on the way back, but we're excited for our little trip. Other than that, I've been working on lots of fun music for voice lessons and really finding my inner opera singer haha :) while in the meantime I'm taking a Broadway Scenes class and I just played the part of Maria from West Side Story in the duet scene "A Boy Like That/I have a Love." I LOVED that scene, and I am really excited for my next assignment, whatever that may be (I think I'll find out tomorrow). So life for me is great! Other than the sudden arrival of allergy season that has me wiped out, that is :)

Ben is finding a new love for school. Well, let me rephrase that. Ben is finding a love for psychology books that have everything to do with his chosen degree, but nothing that has been an assignment for school. Homework and class time are still a bit of a grudge sometimes, but he is definitely enjoying it more now that his professor helped him "take charge of [his] learning." I love seeing him read for hours on end textbooks that aren't even required! It really shows that this is the path he should be taking right now, and that this is what is right for our family's happiness. Being a therapist or a social worker of some kind isn't the most lucrative position he could have chosen, but I know it is what will make us happy and it will support us well. What more could we ask for? Anyways, Ben also just got a motorcycle. Yeah... I'm not so sure about it either, but it was really the best way for getting us both to school and back, and getting Samuel to babysitting. It also saves us a good deal on gas and car maintenance since we won't be running our Escape into the ground driving us both all over the Phoenix valley. Seriously, between the two of us, we have weekly/daily commitments in Phoenix, Tempe, Gilbert, and Mesa, so we are literally all over the valley. The motorcycle so far has been really nice to have, I just hope that Ben can stay safe, and more importantly, the drivers around him are safe, because I trust Ben to be careful when riding, but I don't necessarily trust everyone else. Anyways, Ben is doing well.

Now, as for Samuel, he is just growing and growing nonstop!! Since the new year, Samuel:

1) Sits up consistently without falling over (and for long periods of time!)

2) Eats all of the first fruits and veggies, as well as rice, oatmeal, and wheat cereals

3) Is now moving onto second foods because he eats so much, including banana puffs

4) Started turning himself around in circles on the floor with his arms

5) Started scooting, or army crawling (as shown in the video below!)

6) Gives low fives, although I don't think he really knows what he's doing haha

7) Can hold himself standing while holding onto the couch, but you have to put him there

8)Occasionally he'll wave "bye bye" when you ask him to

9) Gets REALLY excited for lots of things and will wave his arms up and down, especially when he's listening to music- it's almost like he's conducting!

10) Has gotten tons more hair! He looks more like a baby and less like an old man :)

11) Started talking a lot more and says consonants- sometimes I swear he says "hi" or "baba" (as in "bye bye") and even "mama" although he really isn't talking (as we use the word) yet

12) He makes some of the funniest faces! He's been doing that since he was born, but he really has had some good ones recently. He's learning to use his facial muscles :)

Basically Samuel is doing awesome and is SO cute and fun. Ben and I love being his parents and we are so proud of him and love him so much! Everybody who sees him says how beautiful his eyes are and how cute and sociable and smart he is. And of course they're right! He is the cutest :)

Scootin' Superman!

2012-02-11T19:38:00.000-08:00

Positive

2012-02-02T09:56:00.000-08:00

Ok so this is kind of inspired by a friend's blog, but when I read hers it totally hit me that I need to do the same thing.

Soooo, I have officially come up with a new year's resolution! I know it's February, but I don't really do the whole "only make resolutions once a year" thing. I think it's important to be working on yourself and changing for the better all the time. Anyways...

My new resolution is to be positive. I didn't realize it until I read my friend's post/talked with Ben/among other things, but when I thought about it, I really have been kind of negative lately. I started school at ASU this semester, and it's been hard because I know nobody, I have no idea how anything works here, I don't know where I'm going on campus, everybody on campus already has their own friends and at first they didn't really show any interest in being friends with me. And on top of that, I'm leaving Samuel much more than I'd like to, and I feel like a bad mom sometimes, even though I'm leaving him with someone who knows even more than I do about taking care of him (my mom). So, I was letting those things kind of get me down and I was taking it out in other areas of my life.

However, once I realized how negative I was being, I realized that most of those things aren't true. I'm new, so of course people are going to need to get to know me first before just jumping in and being great friends (it took time to build up friends at BYU too!). There are plenty of people who would tell me how things work and where things are if I would just ASK. If I have a smile on my face and look approachable, more people will talk to me and try to be my friend. And Samuel naps through almost all of the time I'm gone! He rarely even needs a bottle because even if he does eat while I'm gone, it's solid food and he's not missing me (for food at least) at all!

Aaaand, I really enjoy being back in school. It keeps me busy, sometimes more busy than I'd like, but it's busy in a good way. I'm loving the broadway scenes class I'm in and being able to get back into some of the theater I've been missing since high school. And it's fun to be part of a choir again, and feel like I have a group where I belong, even if I'm still trying to get to know the people in it. There are some really fun people I am getting to know, and I think by the end of the semester I won't be missing BYU so much. If I wasn't so stuck on missing BYU, then maybe I'd be happier with my ASU experience! It's something new and exciting, and I should just jump in.

So, I'm going to be more positive. And not just positive, but GRATEFUL for all the wonderful things in my life. I have an adoring husband who loves me, my Samuel who makes everything worthwhile and is SO darn cute, a mother and father who are so willing and happy to help out, a home to come back to every night, clothes to wear and food to eat, a Savior who loves me, scriptures and prayer for when I need to feel better, sisters and best friends to go to when I need to talk (and Ben and my mom of course), so much family support from all sides, and SO much more! I am so blessed. When I think of my life like that, I have to smile. I have to be positive. I can't judge people based on first impressions. I am going to be more positive and not just assume things about people. I will be happy, and I will be positive, and I will be grateful.

"You is kind, you is smart, you is important." Words to live by! Happy Groundhog Day everyone! Here's to an early spring!

The Cutest Babe on the Planet!

2012-01-19T13:17:00.001-08:00

Just because my Samuel is the cutest :) I don't know what I am going to do when I have another one! They'll both just have to be the cutest!

I think either tomorrow or next week I'm going to go get some portraits of this handsome boy! Hopefully it actually happens and I'll maybe get some up here for you all to see my cutie pie!

Highlights from 2011

2012-01-13T13:01:00.001-08:00

This post will mainly be pictures, but it is looking back on a wonderful year- 2011. This will be in place of our Christmas card, since once again, it didn't get emailed out.. oops!

I spent the first half of the year pregnant with Samuel. It went pretty well with few problems, we were just excited to be expecting!

In March, I went to Chicago with BYU Singers for the American Choral Director's Association conference. It just happened to be during their Saint Patrick's Day celebration where they dye the river (and apparently this fountain) GREEN! It was such a privilege to be a part of BYU Singers and I miss it a lot!

In April, Ben graduated from BYU with a Bachelors of Science degree in Psychology. He was so glad to be finished! The night before graduation, he also found out he had been accepted to the Masters in Social Work program at ASU, so graduation proved to be truly fulfilling :)

On May 26, we celebrated our 2nd Anniversary together! I am so lucky to be with my sweet husband forever!

On July 1, 2011 our family became 3. Samuel Joseph De Jesus joined us at 4:57 pm weighing 6lbs 8 oz and measuring at 19 1/2 inches long. He was perfect from the beginning, and we love him so much!

Just a few days after Samuel was born, we said goodbye to my brother, Andrew, who left to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Resistencia, Argentina. We miss you, Andrew!

In August, Ben, Samuel and I moved to Arizona. Samuel was blessed there in our new ward where both of our families could be present. It was a beautiful blessing! Shortly after moving here, Ben began his MSW program at ASU and his internship with the Phoenix Fire Department working for the Crisis Response Team.

Since living in Arizona, Samuel has continued to grow and become a sweet, happy little boy. He has been growing so fast! He is now 16 lbs 13.5 oz and in the 50th% for all of his measurements. He is perfect! He rolls all over the place, he smiles and laughs, plays with toys, sits up all by himself, has TWO teeth (I almost thought he had a 3rd at one point, but it's two :) and he eats solid foods! He is growing so quickly and time is going by so fast. Natalie has now started school again at ASU and is really enjoying herself. It is hard to be away from Samuel, but the education is valuable and it is good to get out of the house a bit :) Ben is in his second semester at ASU and things are looking up. He got straight A's last semester, and is hoping for a similar outcome this spring. Ben is a primary teacher for 10 & 11 year old boys, and Natalie is the ward choir pianist. We are finally getting settled and feeling like this is home. We really enjoyed 2011 and will never forget all of the many wonderful things that occurred during the year! We hope that all of you are well and happy, and that your holidays went as well as ours did! Happy New Year!

Samuel's First Christmas

2012-01-13T12:15:00.001-08:00

This past month has been a whirlwind of family, DRIVING, parties, presents, shopping, and more! Since Ryan and Rondy, Jeff, Kimia, Anita and Shayon were in town, we spent lots of time driving back and forth from our house to my parents'. It was a really nice break from school for Ben and it was great to be spending time together with everyone. We threw Rondy a baby shower (pictures are on Michelle's camera so she'll have to post those) which was really fun, and we did tons of fun things together as a family. Ben's mom and brothers came down from Joseph City for Christmas weekend, and we spent time over at Grandma De Jesus's house to visit with them, too. Everything was just going so crazy, I barely had time to breathe, but it was fun :) What are the holidays without lots to do anyways?

Christmas Eve:

So, for Christmas Eve we spent the day at the De Jesus family house. We had a big breakfast together with everyone, and then just hung out until it was time for Ben and I and Samuel to head to my family's place. Then we had the traditional McClellan family dinner and Christmas music program and the reading of the Christmas story from Luke. Michelle and I sang a duet, as did Ryan and Jeff and Lydia and Claire, and then my Mom did a solo that we've been working on in lessons (I give her lessons in exchange for babysitting). It was a really nice program, and Samuel was so excited the whole time! He absolutely loves music, and I found that his favorite songs during Christmas time were "Silent Night" and "Jingle Bells." On a couple occasions, those two songs were literally the only things to calm him down. I am not sure exactly why those songs, except that I practiced "Silent Night" for Sacrament meeting and so he heard it a lot at the beginning of the season. As for "Jingle Bells," I have no idea why he liked it haha :) After the Christmas program at my parents', Ben and I gave our gifts to the family since we were going to be with Ben's family on Christmas morning. We also wanted Mom and Dad to be able to know what Andrew had given them before they talked on the phone with him, and since Andrew went in on the gift from Ben and I, we wanted them to open it Christmas Eve. It was really fun, and everyone seemed really happy. While I was wrapping presents, everyone else got pictures of the grandkids in their matching PJ's from Grandma and Grandpa M (my parents). Thanks Kimia for these cute pictures!

Spencer, Shayon, and Samuel

Anita, Claire, and Lydia

All the grandkids!

Christmas Day:

Early Christmas morning, we woke up and went to Ben's Great Uncle Buster Turley's home for Christmas breakfast. Every year this side of the family has a big Christmas breakfast with all of the extended family and close friends. Ben and his brothers haven't been to this in years since they have lived in Joseph City or St. George and haven't been in the valley for Christmas, so it was fun for everybody to see them. After breakfast we all headed over to Grandma De Jesus's again for opening presents. This was the first Christmas since I can remember that we didn't open presents first, and it was really kind of nice to focus on family first instead of all the material aspects of Christmas. However, once we did get home for presents I must say it was fun! Samuel had a bit of a sensory overload, so we had him open a few presents and then just took a break for awhile while Ben and I opened presents. Samuel got so many presents, he probably got more than anybody else who was there! He has so many people who love him, and he was so excited about everything going on around him, it was fun :)

After presents, we had a very nice ham dinner with Ben's family. Then we all got ready to take family pictures. The last family picture they had was an impromptu one at Ben's cousin's wedding a few years back, so they really wanted to get one where they all matched and Samuel and I were included. We all wore black shirts and jeans, and it turned out really nice! And Samuel just looked like a little stud, he was so cute! After pictures we went to my Grandma and Grandpa McClellan's house for a really quick visit before going back to my parents' house to open our presents from them. It was a quiet end to a fun day, and it was really good to see them while it was still Christmas. I was so incredibly excited to find out I had gotten a sewing machine! Now I have tons of projects on an ever growing list of things I want to do on my sewing machine :) We are so blessed to have such wonderful family to make our holidays special, and even more blessed with our sweet Samuel who made the day so much fun! We were all just laughing at his every smile and it was more fun watching him with his new toys than opening my own presents. It was certainly the most out of the ordinary Christmas that I've ever had, but it was wonderful!

Getting ready for family pictures. Everyone said Samuel looked like a bouncer! HA!

Opening presents at my parents' house! Samuel got this awesome car that drives if he makes noise!

Family pictures courtesy of Ben's uncle, Matt De Jesus

Accepted

2011-12-09T12:04:00.000-08:00

So, this is just a quick post for all of you who may not have facebook....

I got accepted into ASU's music program! I still have to meet with an advisement counselor to work everything out and register for classes, but I'm getting pretty excited to continue my education. I love love love being a mom, and I'm kind of nervous to be leaving him to go to school, but I am excited to be out of the house and meeting new people and learning new things again. Sometimes I feel a bit cooped up when I'm at home, and maybe that's just cause I often don't have a car when I'm at home and am literally stuck here haha. Anyways, just wanted to let you all know!

On a side note, Ben and I are emailing out a little Christmas card.. if you want one, let me know! And give me your email address just in case :)

Phoenix Zoo... Post #2 for the day!

2011-11-28T21:13:00.000-08:00

So a couple weeks ago, Michelle and I took the kiddos to the zoo. She has a membership, so she can get me in for free, and Samuel is free because he's under 3. It was Samuel's first time at the zoo, and I really think he enjoyed it. He was really attentive and happy for quite a while, and he would just look around at everything like it was the most interesting thing in the world. After awhile he needed a diaper change, and then he was hungry and then he fell asleep, but for the most part he was a really good boy! Michelle's kids have been to the zoo a lot and so they know a lot about the animals and which ones they want to see, etc. They have this place called Monkey Village where you can go into the habitat with these little monkeys, and Lydia made sure we knew not to touch anything because the monkeys go to the bathroom all over everything.. haha! We saw some of them really up close too, it was cool!

The boys chillin' in their strollers :)

The girls at the Rhino! We were excited to see him- I guess he's been under medical observation for awhile. My brother-in-law just started volunteering at the zoo, and I guess this poor rhino had to get a toe amputated!

Playing with his elephant :) Fitting, since we were at the zoo! And Rachael, thanks so much for this little guy, it's his favorite!!

After seeing a lot of the animals, we went to this little playground they have for kids under 5. It was perfect timing, because that's right when Samuel ate and fell asleep. Then they went to the petting zoo while I sat outside the fence and watched with Samuel sleeping in his stroller. It was really funny, because as I was sitting there, a goat stuck its head out of the fence a ways down, and started chewing on someone else's empty stroller! I ran over and moved the stroller while the owners shooed the goat away, but that was something I'd never seen before, it was funny!

At the farm portion of the zoo

Right before we left, we got to see the elephants. We had to see the elephants!

The elephant is way over on the other side, but you can see his bum!

Anyways, all in all we had a great time. I was really glad Michelle invited me to go with her!

And here's a few random pictures that I couldn't fit in my last post...

Samuel's been waking up in funny positions lately. This one he's got his foot sticking out of the crib with a burp rag on his head! haha!

Samuel enjoying his new bouncy chair (thanks Michelle!) He's not so sure about it, but he has fun when you bounce it for him! Thank you Ryan and Rondy for these keys, they are his other favorite toy! We bring them everywhere.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-28T11:03:00.000-08:00

I know it's a little late, but I want to share a few of the things I'm grateful for this holiday season (and show off pictures from recently!)

I am grateful for:

1. My family! Extended and immediate

2. A temple marriage to a wonderful husband (and temples in general!)

Here's to 2 1/2 years!

3. My cute baby Samuel!!

Samuel's first Thanksgiving :)

My goofy boy :)

4. Music

5. Fun things to do with cousins!

Samuel's first trip to the zoo- he liked it!

6. The Gospel of Jesus Christ

7. My Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ

8.Prayer

9. Healthy bodies for me and my family

10. Scriptures

11.Everything else that makes me happier, stronger, and a better person!

Men's Hearts Shall Fail Them

2011-11-25T10:15:00.000-08:00

My dad shared this with me. It's a wonderful message!!

Recent Happenings

2011-11-07T09:39:00.001-08:00

So I haven't written in a little while, but we've been sick around here :( Yucky stomach bug hit all three of us, and half of the extended family!! And then it's just been rough getting over that. I think the fall in Arizona means allergies for me- not the summer I'm used too. Ben and I both have had yucky sinus issues and I haven't been sleeping well which means a tired, achy Natalie! Hopefully it'll be gone soon.

But, despite that, we're still doing well! Samuel is growing so big and is happy all the time! At his Dr appointment last week he weighed 14 lbs 12 oz (50%), was 25 1/4 inches (75%), and his head was 16 inches around (just under 50%). So all in all he's a big boy! We love him so much :) He's started giggling recently and I finally got a video of it that I'll have to post soon. For Halloween, he was a skeleton, and also superman. We got this cute sleeper thing that had a skeleton on it that was so cheap and cute, and Ben's dad also gave us a superman outfit, so he wore both on different days to celebrate Halloween. Since Ben and I had been sick right before Halloween festivities, we decided not to dress up and I just wore some festive colors. We went to a carnival at my parents' neighborhood that was cold, but fun. There was chili and cornbread to eat, bounce houses for the kids, face painting, popcorn, a picture taking spot, and a "fishing" game- all for free! I think if we had older kids to enjoy more of the fun, it would have been even more fun for us. But it was fun to show off Samuel and take our nieces around to all the fun things!

Our Halloween skeleton!!

Ben is staying busy with school. He always has tons of reading to do, projects, and papers to write. Of course that's expected for graduate school, so it's all good. He works at the fire department every other Thursday now instead of just Fridays and an occasional Thursday, so that's added to the time he spends away from me and Samuel. We are grateful for the opportunities he has to learn and gain experience in his field though so that he can provide for us in the future! He does so much for our family and we are grateful for Daddy!

As for me, I got an audition at ASU! I was hoping for one, since as a transfer student I have more experience than beginning freshman, but it was good to see that I actually got it. My audition is on the 19th of November. I will also have an interview for the music education program since I listed that as my second choice of major in the school of music. I am getting anxious for the audition, especially since I just found out about it last week! I don't have much time to prepare, but I am definitely grateful for all of the music I learned at BYU last year that I can choose from!

So, we are doing well. We're happy, and grateful for this time of year to be grateful for what we have, and more especially, WHO we have. We are so blessed with wonderful people around us who love us and care about us. We have a loving Heavenly Father who is watching over us and loves us as well. Who could ask for more? We are so blessed!

Samuel splashing and giggling in the bath!! So stinkin cute!

Happy Birthday!!

2011-10-20T13:44:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to my

WONDERFUL, beautiful,

Loving,

caring, AMAZING, trustworthy,

LOYAL,

kind, thoughtful, honest,

absolute BEST in the world,

MOM!

I love you Mom! Hope your day is great!

Samuel rolling over

2011-10-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

Samuel started rolling over in September. The first time he rolled over he was 11 weeks old! But it wasn't until yesterday that I finally caught it on tape (he's 3 1/2 months old now!). Gotta love this boy!

Update from Arizona!

2011-10-12T10:04:00.001-07:00

Alright, for those of you interested in more than just Samuel, here's a quick update on Ben and I. We moved into our new apartment August 1 (I know, I'm two months behind on that!) and are really starting to feel settled. I still don't really feel like I actually LIVE in Arizona. It feels more like a really long vacation! Except that I have to deal with bills, doctor's appointments, church stuff, applying for school, etc etc. I don't know though, I think since my only friends here are family, it just feels like it's not really MY place, you know? I feel like I'm just jumping in to everybody else's lives, but I don't really have a bunch of things that are my own life, except for my little family. And my little family is great!

Anyways, back on subject. Ben has been in school for the Masters in Social Work program since the middle of August. They sure are keeping him busy! He's constantly having to write research papers and do mountains of reading. He's doing an unpaid internship with the Phoenix Fire Department as part of the Crisis Response Team. He and another licensed social worker respond to the scene wherever someone has died (or attempted to) and they console the families and sometimes the victims and do whatever social workers do. The other day, someone asked Ben if they get a lot of calls and he goes "Yeah, I guess a lot of people die in Phoenix!" It was pretty funny, I guess you had to be there. He's doing well though, and we're getting into a pretty good schedule of when we can do stuff together and when he has to do homework. In September, he had trainings in Glendale (really far from Mesa) for the Fire Department three times a week, and that was really hard because I felt like I hardly ever saw him! There were days he was gone from 6:30 am to 10 pm. But, now that training is over, I feel like I see him more, which is super nice!

As for me, I'm basically just staying at home with Samuel- which, trust me, is a full time job! Once a week I go and teach piano and voice lessons to a couple students at my mom's house, and I'm working on getting a few more students at both her place and mine. It's a lot harder to advertise here because I feel like no one but college students look at craigslist and I live too far from the college! Everything spreads via word of mouth around here, so I'm just trying to get to know people and get my name out there! Besides teaching, I'm working on getting into the School of Music at ASU. I got accepted to the university, and I turned in my application for the program Oct 1. Hopefully I'll hear back soon! If I get in, I'll be starting school in January. I am really excited to be going back to school, because then I can have some friends, and be back in the music atmosphere! I am seriously having choir withdrawals. I have been in some sort of community/school choir or a show since like 6th grade! I am contemplating auditioning for Mesa's Easter Pageant, but I looked online and it would probably take too much time from being with Samuel. And if I'll be in school at that time, I will really want to make sure I have time with him. And besides, it said they use a SOUNDTRACK, and there is no live singing, so it kinda defeats the point of being excited to audition for the show, haha (for me at least!)

So that's life. We're enjoying it even though it's busy, and we're happy to be here! It's really nice to be by family because honestly that is the ONLY reason we're ok not having tons of friends here like we did in Utah!

3 Months!!

2011-10-03T14:26:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from Samuel's third month of life (September). I can't believe he is three months old now!! He is getting so social and fun to play with!! He also started rolling this month, and now rolls around all the time! I haven't gotten a video of it yet, but I'll try and get one soon. He is just so adorable, I love my little Samuel!

As you can see, Samuel loves to stick out his tongue and make faces for the camera! Such a cutie!!

At his appointment last week, Samuel weighed 13 lbs 3 oz, and was 24" long. He is getting so big, I'm about to move him into 3-6month clothes now!

My BYU baby!! Even though we've moved, my heart is still at BYU! I wish I was able to finish my education there.

Ben's family came down for his birthday, and here's a few pictures from that weekend of Jacob and Samuel!!

We went to play at Michelle's house one day, and the girls wanted to put on a "show" for me, so they went and got dressed up :) And I just love Spencer's eyes in this other one!

Andrew's Mission Blog

2011-09-27T21:32:00.001-07:00

In case you missed it on facebook, my brother Andrew has a mission blog! My mom is writing it for him based on the pictures and letters she receives from him. Check it out here to see how he's doing!

Andrew is turning out to be a fantastic missionary. He is loving the work, and learning the language the best he can. We love him and miss him, and I know he misses us too!

Smiling and Laughing

2011-09-24T15:40:00.000-07:00

I made this video at the end of August, when Samuel was just starting to talk more. He's been smiling since the end of July, but he just started talking. And now he's rolling around! Hopefully I'll get a video of that soon :)

Labor Day

2011-09-07T13:50:00.001-07:00

This labor day, Ben and I took a BREAK!! It was nice not to put the "labor" in labor day. We woke up late, got ready and went to the grocery store to prepare for a fun BBQ later that day. When we got back, we had just a little bit to get all our swimming gear and head to my mom's place for swimming and burgers with the Boyds. Sadly, my parents were actually driving from Vegas to Sedona for a little getaway after Shayon's baby blessing, so they weren't there. But they were gracious enough to let us borrow their home and pool for a fun day!

The cute Boyd family making a train!!

It was Samuel's first time in the pool, so I've got some pictures. You have to laugh at the cloth diaper contraption we put him in for the pool... haha. We weren't planning on taking him swimming because we'd forgotten to pick up swim diapers at the store, and the stores we've been to don't sell baby swim suits smaller than 12 mo size. However, we got to my mom's house and decided it would be fun to take him swimming, and that the cloth diaper I usually use as a burp cloth could be used in the pool. He looks pretty silly, but it was super fun to take him swimming! He didn't cry the entire time, and we only took him out because it got a bit breezy and we thought he might be a bit cold. He seemed to enjoy the water, and actually looked really relaxed, like he might fall asleep!

Anyways, pictures :)

Ben and Samuel just chillin' :)

Claire is so cute!! We tried to tell her to move her hands out of her face, so she just put them a little bit lower on her face haha :)

This is a better picture of the diaper! At least it did it's job, even though it looked ridiculous!

July- August Schmorgasborg

2011-08-24T09:01:00.000-07:00

Life as a mom is crazy! Late night feedings, constant diaper changing, bathing, changing outfits, laundry... need I say more? Ben and I are realizing we can't just go out and do things anymore. We have to think-can we bring Samuel? It makes life a bit crazy sometimes, but we love it! It's funny, I've been pooped on, peed on, drooled on, spit up on, and I still love my little boy. I can't believe how much I can love such a small little person! And he really is a good boy :) Samuel sleeps really well most of the time. Speaking of which, he slept 8 hours last night! It's the first he's slept that long. He rarely cries unless he needs something, and most of the time he does really well. Lately he's had some fussy evenings when he gets tired, but once we help him get to sleep he's great! He started smiling right before we left Utah, and now he smiles all the time! He has even started laughing a little bit :) He is such a cutie!

Here's a few of his "firsts"

His first tummy time! 2 weeks old

His first trip to the movie theater. We saw Harry Potter 7.2, and he slept through the entire thing! 2 1/2 weeks old

One of his first smiles! 3 1/2 weeks old

One of his first baths! I know, I already posted from the real "first," but this picture is so cute!

We left Utah on the 30th of July, and drove 6 hours to Vegas. He was so good the whole time! The only times we had to stop were times the rest of us needed to stop anyways! He basically slept the rest of the drive. That night, we had dinner at my aunt Sharon's in Cedar City (thank you Sharon!) and then we stayed at my brother Jeff's place in Henderson (right next to Vegas) and visited with him and his family before continuing on to Mesa the next day. It was so fun to see Jeff, Kimia, Anita and Shayon! Shayon was born exactly a week after Samuel, and it was really fun to see the two boys together, and see Anita be a big sister!

Here's some pictures of the cousins together:

Anita and Shayon

Samuel and Shayon- Shayon wasn't very happy, this was the best I could get!

Anita and Samuel :)

Since we've gotten to Arizona, the craziness has only continued. Unpacking with a new baby is kinda hard! Thank goodness for my mom, and for Ben, who have both done much of the unpacking as I have fed, burped, changed, and rocked my sweet baby boy. I am so grateful to have family close by who can help us whenever we need them, and who understand the needs of a new baby, and who love Samuel too! So far we've had dinner with the McClellan grandparents, visited the Hale's, went to the McClellan family's FHE, went swimming at my parents' house multiple times and visited/stayed the night with them too, had the Boyd's and my parents over, had dinner with the Robinsons, went to a Hale sister's lunch, and that's not even including the events with Ben's family! We love having family nearby.

Here's some pictures from our get-togethers at my parents' house and mine:

Lydia and Samuel. She was so excited to hold him! She often comes up to me and says "Natalie! I washed my hands so I can hold Samuel!"

Samuel often gets a bit hot. I mean, not that hot, but he really doesn't tolerate it well. So, fairly frequently he ends up in nothing but a diaper (or in this case, a diaper and socks!). What can I say? Like father like son :)

The Arizona cousins! Lydia, Claire, Spencer, and Samuel!

Aunt Michelle :)

He was so content with her!

The last bit of craziness was organizing Samuel's blessing. Since we were moving, we had to schedule it with our ward more than a month in advance. We got to Arizona in time for the first Sunday of August, but decided to have the blessing on the second Sunday (the 14th), in order to meet people and feel comfortable by the time the second week rolled around. It was such a beautiful day! We had so much family support there, and it made us so happy :) We had my family over for dinner on Friday, and then had visitors from Ben's family all weekend as they drove in from Joseph's City to see us. Sunday was the blessing, and we had Ben's family over during the day, and then had a big McClellan/Hale open house at my parent's house for everyone to come and see Samuel that evening. I can't believe I actually have a baby, and he has been blessed now! It's crazy how things you've thought about for years and years finally happen, and it seems like everything is whipping by so quickly you can hardly realize it! But it was a really great day, and it was really awesome to see so much family.

Here's some pictures to remember the day by. His outfit was the same one Spencer Boyd wore for his blessing, and it looked so studly on Samuel! Thanks Michelle!

Our blessing boy!

Samuel with his Daddy :) I love this picture!!

Before we left for church (this is our new house!) One of these days when the house is clean, I'll take pictures and post them so everyone can see our new place!

At the church- our Samuel is blessed!

Samuel with his McClellan grandparents. They love him so much!

Thank you to everyone who came and supported us that day, and to those who supported us in spirit as well! We love all of you!

Lessons, anyone?

2011-08-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

I am teaching again! If any of you are interested in voice or piano lessons, or know of anyone who is, take a look at my post on Craigslist! You can view it here.

I also teach beginning violin lessons if anyone is interested. I decided not to include it in my post because I found most people were only interested in voice and violin lessons.

Let me know if you're interested, I would love to teach you!

Park City Family Reunion 2011

2011-08-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

Almost every year since I was a kid, my family has vacationed in Park City, Utah. My parents have a time share up there, and it's just a nice opportunity to get away from the craziness of life, and spend some time together. This year we missed having Jeff and Kimia and Anita there, but Kimia was very pregnant and it would have been hard to travel.

We spent one week this year in the Presidential Suite at the Westgate property in Park City. It was so much fun! I, too, was pregnant (full term!) and so it made for an interesting week of trying to get me into labor. We went and did DDR in the game room, went for long walks at Temple Square and the Park City Outlet mall, and went swimming- all in hopes of having a baby by the end of the week! As you all know, that didn't happen :)

Well, we started the week on Saturday, June 18 in Park City. It was a pretty chill evening since most everyone had traveled that day. Ryan, Rondy, Ben and I went into town for some food and then came back to hang out with everyone and see Michelle and her family since they had gotten there.

Sunday we went and heard Ryan and Rondy speak in their ward, and then Ben, Mom, and I went back to my ward so I could teach Relief Society. It was Father's Day, so after church everyone came to my house for a yummy Father's Day dinner before going back to Park City. It was a good thing we'd stopped at my house, too, because we ended up hitting an accident on the freeway up to Park City, and had to turn around and go another way. We could have been stuck for HOURS! It was a very serious accident. That night, we just chilled at the time share watching movies, playing games, etc.

Monday was just a hanging out day. Mom and Dad went to a meeting about their time share and the rest of us went and played with the kids and hung out at the rooms. Here's some pictures of us with the kids at the playground!

Tuesday we went to Salt Lake. Ben had to work, so we saw him in the evening. The rest of us had a wonderful session at the Salt Lake Temple, and then walked around Temple Square and had lunch at the Lion House (Brigham Young's old house!). We came back and played Killer Bunnies with one of Andrew's friends from BYU, and then had pizza for dinner! It was a good day.

Wednesday was Ben's day off, so we went to the Farmer's Market and got yummy Italian Ices!

Thursday Ben also didn't have to work, so we went to the Outlet Malls for some shopping. I'm getting Wednesday and Thursday mixed up, so I can't really remember what happened the rest of those days, haha. Although I know we played more games, watched movies, and had yummy food! It was so nice to be with family all week, and just have fun!

Girls at the farmer's market!

Friday we hung out at the time share. It was Michelle and Jeff's anniversary, so they went out to lunch and then went swimming while the rest of us watched their kids. We went to the playground again, and then went to decorate frisbees with one of the sponsored kid's activities at the pool. It was our last night at the hotel, so it was sad to go to bed that night! Ryan and Rondy left early because Rondy had to work early Saturday morning. That night, we painted nails with the girls. It was so fun!

Here's some pictures we took on Friday before Michelle and Jeff's anniversary lunch.

Happy 6 Years Michelle and Jeff!

All of us girls got matching shirts when we went shopping at the outlet malls! Unfortunately, mine didn't quite fit yet because I was so pregnant, so we cropped my belly out of the picture :) I'm proud to say it fits now though! And I love it!

Saturday, my birthday! We had to check out of Westgate. We came back to my house, and then went to see Rio at the dollar theater. It was so cute! We then went to Zupa's for dinner before Andrew and Dad had to be at the airport to go home. It was a wonderful week, and I'm so glad we had time to spend together as a family! I love my family!

Here's random pictures from throughout the week! Enjoy!

More Playground Pics from Friday

Welcome Samuel!

2011-07-15T07:39:00.000-07:00

On July 1, 2011 baby Samuel Joseph De Jesus was born at Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem, UT. He is such a sweetheart! He was born at 6 lbs 8 oz and was 19 1/2 in long. His apgars were 7 and 8, as he was pretty purple at first when he was born. He was absolutely beautiful!

So, for the birth story. As you know, I'd been having contractions all week, so to start having them again in the middle of the night didn't seem to be out of the ordinary. However, the longer these contractions went on early Friday morning, I began to realize that this was a bigger deal than before. So, finally I woke up Ben once I decided that the contractions were hard enough that I couldn't handle them on my own, and we decided to go to the hospital. When I got there, I was told I was dilated to a 3. This was VERY good news, especially considering I hadn't moved past "1cm and 60-70% effaced" for over a week, so I knew that this was going somewhere. Within the hour they gave me an epidural, which was amazing to say the least. The worst contractions I felt were before/as I was getting to the hospital! However, the epidural wasn't quite taking on my right side, and this did cause quite a bit of discomfort, so I had to be given stronger doses of the medicine two more times during labor when the "button" wasn't doing enough (they give you a button you can push that will give you more epidural medication without having to call in an anesthesiologist every time, but without allowing you to overdose). So on the day went with Mom and Ben giving me ice chips, holding the bag while I threw up (yes, this happened quite a bit... it was not fun), and resting when I could. From the time I woke up in the middle of the night with contractions until the time Samuel was born, it was about 12 1/2 hours. I was in the hospital for 9 hours before he was born at 4:57 pm. I only had to push a few times, because Samuel's heart rate was dropping. Actually, half the reason they came in and decided to have me start pushing was because his heart rate was going up and down and was honestly freaking me out and obviously causing concern for the nurses. So the doctor came in, and I just had to do enough to get Samuel to a place where the doctor could use forceps, and then he was born with assisted delivery. My poor baby had some bruising and a scratch from the forceps, but we were glad he was born safely and he healed up pretty quick :)

Proud Daddy! He was so excited :)

Seeing my sweet baby boy for the first time was overwhelming. He was absolutely beautiful. Even though he was purple and had quite the cone head, he was perfect! His head quickly came down to normal and his skin pinked up fairly quickly too, and soon he was looking like the sweetest little newborn I ever saw! I loved him from the moment I saw him. I can't believe that I get to be a mom, and that I finally have this sweet child to take care of.

Samuel's first smile caught on camera!

Coming home :)

Samuel was brought home on Sunday July 3, and we've been doing pretty well ever since. I've got the normal postpartum aches and pains, but they're getting better, and it's just nice to be home. Samuel is gaining weight quickly- at his 5 day appointment he was 6lbs 15 oz, and at his 2 week appointment (well, 1 week 5 days) he was 7 lbs 12 oz. He is growing so fast, and I already miss my tiny boy! But he's still so cute :) We are excited to be moving to Arizona soon where we can show him off to all of the family there! In 2 short weeks we will be driving away from Provo and be on our way to Mesa. It's happening so fast, I can hardly believe it's here! It will be a new adventure, and an interesting one, starting life with a newborn in a new place. We're excited!

The first (good) family picture! 4 days old

Samuel's first bath! He actually didn't mind it too much

My smiley boy! He had just eaten and was making funny faces :)

I love my sweet Samuel! We are so excited to be parents of this cute boy!

Early Labor- Exciting? Or.... Dreadful?

2011-06-28T07:38:00.000-07:00

So the past few days have been pretty crazy. I mean, I just got back from a wonderful, week-long stay with my family in Park City, and getting back to real life always involves a bit of craziness, but the past few days have provided more than the usual "crazy." Anyways, Saturday evening, I began having contractions. Woo hoo right? Wrong. Turns out, after we got to the hospital because my contractions were 3 minutes apart for 45 minutes, it was false labor and I went home. LAME. I was really angry and disappointed. So, when the exact same thing started happening on Sunday, I was ready for it all to just be fake once again. Although the contractions did slow after laying down on Sunday night and I didn't go to the hospital even though my contractions were less than 2 minutes apart, this time they didn't stop. I had a pretty restless night on Sunday, sleeping a bit and waking up for contractions, and just being uncomfortable. So, Monday I was like, ok baby, let's get this going. I was planning on going for a walk and really getting things going, but I didn't even get the chance to do that before my body was getting regular contractions again. Around noon on Monday (the 27th), I began my 10 minute pattern for the third time. By 4, I was at 3 minutes apart, and just before 5 I was at 2 minutes apart, sometimes even less. I kept that up, even after laying down, for hours. These contractions were more pain than ANY of the other contractions before, and were lasting pretty long. I was in a lot of pain. We decided since these contractions were so intense, painful, and regular, that we needed to go to the hospital again. I was SURE they were going to keep me this time. However, when I got there, my labor had not progressed very much since Saturday, and since it didn't change during the time they watched me there, I went home once again. This time though, the nurse told me it was probably "Early Labor" or "Pre-labor," because my contractions were in the 1-3 minute range that they look for and were pretty strong. The thing about Early Labor is that although it is real labor, it can be SLOW, and that's why they sent me home so I wouldn't be paying hospital prices for days and days. She said sometimes it lasts a week OR MORE. Yeah. So they sent me home with some meds to get some sleep, but I really didn't sleep much. Even though the meds took some of the pain away, I'm still having contractions and it's hard to sleep when your abdomen squeezes you like a lemon every couple minutes or so. Like Sunday night, my contractions have slowed a little (or maybe the meds made it so I couldn't feel as many), but they definitely haven't stopped. Hopefully this means I'll have a baby soon, but I could possibly be in labor for a week. My doctor doesn't induce until 41 weeks. I am really excited that my baby is coming, and that my body is getting ready for it, but really, a WEEK?!?! I'm not quite sure how I feel about this. I'm desperately hoping I'll have the baby before I have to be induced in a week. I mean, my due date is TODAY for crying out loud, and I've already been in labor for a day and a half!! (give or take a little) Oh well I guess. There's not much anybody can do about it. I just have to get my body to make some real progress first, and hopefully that won't take too long. It's just a matter of patience, and everyone knows I need to learn a little more patience! I'll keep you all updated on the progress though! Hopefully my next post has BABY PICTURES! I'm excited :)

Getting There

2011-06-17T07:45:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official! I am now done teaching music lessons for the summer. Yesterday afternoon, my final student showed up an HOUR early (yes, a whole hour, almost on the dot!), so I even got to be done sooner than I thought! Thank goodness I was right in between doing things and not completely occupied when she got here! Needless to say, I was a bit surprised, but in the end, it worked out. Honestly, I am relieved to be done. I love teaching and am sad to see my students go whom I will probably never see again, but it has been hard teaching at the end of my pregnancy. I am just so tired all the time, and sometimes I feel like junk but I have to pretend that everything is hunky dory and that I don't mind sitting on a piano bench that is completely lacking in back support. It's been nice because students have kind of trickled out over the last month as school has ended and camps, reunions, treks, and family vacations have begun, so I haven't had as big of a load as in the school year, and it's been a nice phase out for me I think. Anyways, I can't believe I'm done! By the time I start teaching again, I'll be in ARIZONA and I'll have a BABY! Ahh! Life is crazy.

Although this has been a milestone for me, I am not quite there yet. But, the end is in sight! (Or, as some have mentioned the beginning). 10 days from tomorrow is my due date! I can't believe how short that is, although I must admit, I hope my little man comes sooner! At my 38 week appointment this past week, the Dr. told me that I am 70% effaced already, and a fingertip dilated. WOO! It was a big relief to know that I've at least progressed some, because then I can hope not to go past my due date. Although I keep hoping it will happen sooner. In fact, last night I was up half of the night thinking I was in labor! haha... every time I was about to fall asleep again, I was waking up for a contraction, and I was back and forth between the bathroom all night. And, of course, there is no such thing as getting comfortable in bed anymore. I think Samuel has moved his way on down inside of me, because my lower back has started hurting more, and gosh, my ankles are gettin' FAT!!! Not to mention the fact that I can't hardly feel my legs half the time haha. But I'm getting there- almost! Any day now, I hope to be posting about a new little baby boy in my life :) I'll keep ya posted. Unfortunately, there are no pictures with this post. I will take and post some soon I hope! Just imagine the pictures I've posted previously, with Samuel constantly poking himself out and making my belly look all lopsided :)

Anyways, until next time!

In Loving Memory of Joseph A. De Jesus

2011-06-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, Ben got a call from his uncle that things had taken a turn for the worse in his grandfather's health, and that he may not make it through the night. Within about 3 hours of that phone call, Ben was on a plane to Arizona. After spending some time at the hospital with his grandpa, things continued to get worse. Late that night, Joseph De Jesus passed away around 2 am Saturday morning.

February of this year, Grandpa De Jesus found out he had colon cancer. After further tests and investigation, it was found that this cancer had metastasized and was a stage 4 cancer. For the past few months, Grandpa has had such a positive attitude and fought with courage as he struggled with cancer and chemotherapy at such an old age. His family and loved ones are grateful that he did not have to suffer for too long, although it is difficult to have to say goodbye to such a wonderful man. Even though I have only known him a little over 2 years, I can sincerely say he was a wonderful, caring man with a loving heart. Even though this event has been difficult to handle for Ben and his family, we all know that Grandpa is in a better, more comfortable place free of pain. I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation that allows us to be together as forever families and that we have the opportunity to see Grandpa De Jesus again.

The obituary for Grandpa De Jesus is posted in the Arizona Republic at this link

We love you Grandpa De Jesus!

Baby Update

2011-05-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

I am now 35 weeks and 6 days along. A week from tomorrow, I will be full term! It's hard to believe how quickly this pregnancy has gone overall, even though the past month has passed very slowly. So far everything is looking good. Samuel may be a little on the small side, but he's still looking healthy! He moves all the time, and it's really cool to watch my belly move as he twists and turns all over. Ben gets really excited sometimes when he can see/feel Samuel move. Sometimes when I give him a hug, Samuel will kick my belly right where Ben is, and Ben gets excited that he can feel it, it's cute :) I'm so excited to meet my little boy. I know he needs to stay in there a little longer, but I just can't wait to hold him in my arms and cuddle with him! And besides, pregnancy gets less and less comfortable with every passing day, so having Samuel a little bit early would honestly be a blessing (as long as everything went well of course). Anyways, here's a few pictures from the past couple weeks!

34 weeks- a belly shot!

35 weeks

35 1/2 weeks- Almost there!!

Two Years

2011-05-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, May 26, was Ben and my 2nd anniversary! I can't believe I have really been married to my sweetheart for two whole years. This year, Ben had to work from noon to 9 pm on our actual anniversary, so we had a date night the night before, and breakfast together the morning of. For our date, we made dinner at home- bbq ribs (Ben's choice!), potatoes, corn, and lemonade. Then, we went out to the movies to see Thor, which was pretty good I'd say! There were only a few couples in the theater since it was 7pm on a Wednesday, and that was really nice. After the movie, we went to Sub Zero and enjoyed some ice cream (mine was lactose free of course!). Here's a couple pictures from our night:

The day after our anniversary, a package came in the mail. I opened it, and it was a little blue box with a yellow ribbon, with a card that said "Happy Anniversary" on it. Apparently, Ben had a gift mailed to me for our anniversary! How sweet! This year we had said no gifts, and we had written love notes to each other in a journal we bought for ourselves when we were engaged. But, I must say, it was really fun to get this little something in the mail! When Ben came home from work that day, I opened it, and to my surprise, it was a beautiful heart necklace!!

Me with my heart necklace :) Thank you sweetheart!

Me and my sweetheart Ben :) I am so lucky to be married to such a wonderful, thoughtful, caring person. Ben has helped me become a better person, and we've gotten through some tough times the past couple years, and I am so grateful for him! We've had some pretty awesome times too, and being with Ben just makes me happy :) In reminiscing on the past two years, I'll end with some pictures looking back on the great times we've had starting our life together! I love you Ben!

The Wedding: May 26, 2009

Honeymoon! Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

July 2009, at Matt and Hillary's Wedding in Albuquerque, NM

Dec. 2009, at Ryan and Rondy's Wedding

One Year Anniversary! May 26, 2010

August 2010

Ben's Birthday! September 14, 2010

Christmas 2010

February 2011, It's a BOY! (I know Ben isn't in this picture, but it's definitely something happening for the both of us this year!)

Valentine's Day 2011

Happy Anniversary to my sweetheart Ben!!! I love you!

Tribute to my Daddy :)

2011-05-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

Mom, I hope you will show this to Dad when you see it!

I've been organizing things around my house the past couple weeks, and I came across this picture during one of my recent organizing adventures. It is from a Daddy-Daughter Achievement Day activity (back before it became Activity Days). I can't remember what we did at the activity, but I know we had fun. I love my Dad! He looks cute in this picture, too :)

So, this is for you Dad, and the fun times we had, still have, and will have! I love you!

32 weeks... and going strong!

2011-05-06T13:16:00.000-07:00

A quick baby update! Things are going pretty well for the most part. I'm getting bigger every day, and the ligaments are stretching to the point where it's a bit uncomfortable... and baby is getting bigger, and definitely stronger! Now I have the joy of feeling little Samuel explore my RIBS as well as my stomach. Despite these discomforts, however, mostly I'm just getting really excited to meet my little guy! I feel like there is SO much to plan for, and yet I can't really plan for everything. It's so exciting, and really nerve-wracking at the same time! But I know that with Ben here, and my mom, and probably some other family, I will make it through just fine! The nice thing is that now, at 32 weeks, I am officially out of the "very premature" stage of pregnancy, and now if my baby were to come, he would only be "premature" and have a significantly higher chance for survival- whew! I still want him to wait until full term though, I don't think I'm quite ready for a newborn in the house! Well anyways, here are a few pictures of my belly progress!

31 weeks. I feel like my belly looks enormous from this angle!!

32 weeks, 2 days. A true side angle to show you where I'm at!

WHAT THE....

2011-05-06T13:09:00.001-07:00

BEES?!?!

Yep, this lovely creature flew out of the ceiling today. You heard me, it flew out of the CEILING this morning (well, the vent/fan in the bathroom, but it's on the ceiling!). As you can see, Ben killed it with the combination of a swiffer mop and some bleach spray. Thank goodness for husbands!

Apparently, there must be a nest up in our attic/roof somewhere... and since we've had workers on our roof for the last MONTH, they must have disturbed the nest...GREAT. When these workers first arrived to put on a new roof, I thought they'd only be here a week or so. But, thanks to Utah's ridiculous weather and the fact that these guys are seriously dragging their feet, it's been over a month since they started working, and since then, we've had an increased number of SPIDERS (if any of you know me, you know these aren't my favorite creatures), and now BEES!!! Our mailman left us a note the other day saying that we had bees in our mail slot (which is in our house), and we thought it was just a coincidence. But after seeing a bee fly from the fan in the bathroom, we know that it can't just be coincidence. My, oh my, I can't WAIT for the roofing guys to stop coming over!!!

Accomplished

2011-05-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling good about myself today! Since we had church early today for a regional conference, we had a very long day to fill. Now that school is out, I don't feel so stressed about making sure everything's done on Sundays, and I'm not so exhausted that I have to take a nap. So, I took some yarn Ben's Grandma De Jesus gave me, found a pattern online, and started some booties. I finished one, and then realized it was about time to make dinner because I was starving! Earlier this week, I had a random craving for mac 'n' cheese. As many of you know, I am lactose intolerant, so eating the instant kind in a box hasn't been an option for years. Today, I randomly decided I was going to make some homemade (where I can make the necessary substitutions). We didn't have enough cheese for the Better Homes recipe, so once again I turned to the internet and found a recipe. It turned out great! I think I would like the cheesier, saucier recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook better, but this one was absolutely delicious with sauteed onions and garlic, bread crumbs and Italian seasoning! I felt pretty good about myself when it was done and I was dishing some up for Ben and I to eat for dinner. After dinner, I sat myself down and made the second baby bootie. This one turned out a bit lopsided since I was more confident and paid less attention (oops!), but you can't really tell! They are so cute! Since I have never really crocheted anything more than a couple blankets, scarves, and potholders, finishing these booties- in one day no less- is quite an accomplishment for me!

The finished product (picture courtesy of my lame cell phone camera)

These are pretty cute if I say so myself!

So, needless to say, I feel pretty good about myself. Now that I have a bit more time on my hands, I can really say I feel like a woman! haha.. well, at least I'm doing more traditionally womanly things :) And it feels pretty awesome! Maybe I'll just have to make some more with the other yarn I have!

The perfect graduation present

2011-04-27T18:29:00.000-07:00

Over the past 7 months or so, Ben has filled out applications, written letters of intent, gotten letters of recommendation, edited and re-edited letters of intent, submitted applications, followed up on those applications with each school, and waited for notification of the status of his applications at 6 different graduate schools. He applied to the Masters in Social Work programs at BYU, the U of U, PSU (Portland State), CSU (Colorado), UNLV, and ASU. He and I slaved over those applications, trying to make sure everything was perfect. And yet, in January we found out that CSU had rejected his application without even looking at it because it was "missing" transcripts from the Mesa Institute of Religion... confused? I mean, they're not even real college credit! And, get this, Ben called them 2 weeks before the official deadline to make sure he had everything they wanted submitted, and they told him he did! Yeah... sounds to me like a little bit of prejudice. Oh well, we didn't really want to move to Colorado anyways right? Well, then we were in for the long haul, just waiting and waiting to hear back from the other schools. We finally heard back that Ben hadn't been accepted to BYU, despite his extensive experience, because his GPA wasn't "as high as they really wanted." He got on the wait list at the U and PSU, and was starting to get really anxious and disappointed by the middle of April, which was finals! It was really frustrating, because Ben had everything going for him at all of these schools- he has way more experience than most of the applicants, going into a practice field, not a research field, so isn't experience valuable? We felt a bit jipped and discouraged, up until the night before graduation. Finals were over, and we still hadn't heard about ASU or UNLV. We were getting anxious, since the semester was over and we still had no idea about plans for our future. Then, Wednesday night last week, Ben decided to go check the application status online, and he saw these words... "Congratulations! You have been accepted to the following programs: Masters of Social Work at the Downtown Phoenix campus" for ASU! We were SO excited!! It's funny, because in the beginning, ASU was the last choice because it was most expensive, even though it was were we both really wanted to be- close to family. I've been feeling for about a month or so that Arizona was where we needed to be, but I was afraid it was just my wants coming before my needs and what was logical. But, ASU has one of the best programs that he applied to, and we would much rather go to ASU than UNLV, so we've decided that's where we're going! We feel really good about this decision, and are even more excited to be moving close to our families! We are sad we're going to have to leave all of our wonderful friends and our great ward here in Utah, but this is definitely where we need to be in our lives right now. And it turns out ASU might not be as expensive as we thought! It turns out, because Ben went to a school in UT which is part of a program that has an agreement with AZ, that he can apply for in-state tuition even though he's an out of state resident! And, the light rail is free for ASU students, so he won't have to pay $800 for parking each year, and we can live closer to where our families are! Honestly, this is really turning out the best for us. We were worried in the beginning, but I think the Lord knew that this is where we needed to be, and that everything that happened before was for a reason, and to guide us to this decision. We are so excited! So, even though everything was tough for awhile, Ben got the best graduation present ever- an acceptance letter! Nothing could have made his graduation more exciting than knowing where we're going to be for the next couple years, and hopefully longer!

Home of the De Jesus family, beginning August 2011!

Maternity Shoot- 29 weeks

2011-04-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

At 29 weeks, Rachael was so kind and let me be her guinea pig for maternity pictures! We drove to the hill by Heritage Halls and the Bell Tower on BYU campus, and had SO much fun taking pictures of my growing belly. It was probably a little early for pictures, but Rachael is going home this weekend before study abroad in Korea, and she won't be back to Utah until after Samuel is born. I am so grateful to have a picture-savvy friend who can take pictures of this special time in my life :) Rachael I love you!

Anyways, here are some of my favorites. You can also check out Rachael's photo blog to see some of the others she posted on there.

Baby Shower!

2011-04-23T15:11:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago, my sister-in-law Rondy threw me a baby shower! It was a small shower with just a few friends and family, and it was so fun! For all of you Arizona people, here are some pictures to see how it went! Sadly I forgot to take pictures until most everyone was gone, but at least here's a few to see what it was like! A big thank you to Rondy for being a wonderful hostess, Michelle for making invitations, and to Momma for pitching in to help with food! I LOVE YOU GIRLS!

We played a few games, and they were all fun! A-Z baby things, Baby Bingo, and the pin game where everyone has a pin in the beginning, but if you say "baby" or "cute" and someone catches you, that person gets to take your pin. Whoever has the most pins wins! It was so much fun.

Me and Rondy! I'm not sure why it's blurry, but it's the only picture I have of our wonderful hostess!

Diaper cake :) So cute!!

Yummy food! That platter had lots of little sandwiches on it, but as you can see, they were very popular! The mangoes in that fruit bowl were delicious too!

All of Samuel's elephants :) I'm loving the elephant theme!

Ben came at the end to help put things away! This outfit is just too cute too :)

Rachael and Caroline! They were still around when I remembered my camera :)

Once again though, my camera was low on batteries, so I'm thinking that accounts for the blurriness.

Cute blue cupcakes and animal napkins and plates! They are so adorable!

The shower was so fun and it was good to see people I haven't seen in awhile! I know many were busy and couldn't make it, but those who came had a blast! I'm grateful to have such wonderful friends :)

Note to Single Guys

2011-04-18T16:23:00.001-07:00

Dear Single Guys,

In case you didn't know, single guys don't usually spend their time chatting it up with married women... sending them messages about how you used to like them and you missed your chance with them is a bit awkward. How are we married women supposed to respond?? I mean, it's a bit weird first of all, because it was over years ago.. it's time to move on. Sure, being friends is fine, it's not like married people don't have friends anymore, but there is a line of what's appropriate and what's not. I knew years ago that you liked me, and was flattered by it, but nothing ever happened. And then it was over.... in high school. So, single boys, it's ok to have a crush and be stuck on that crush, but when that person is married, I'm sorry, but you've got to keep it to yourself. I'm sure you're all nice guys with great intentions and don't expect to break up any marriages or anything, but the signals you're sending are hard to handle, especially when we married women don't want to hurt feelings.

So my message to you now, single guys, is to find someone new. There's tons of fish in the sea! Go find someone who lives in the same town as you and make some friends, get some phone numbers, and start dating! Just make sure that girl is single too :) Then you can forget all about your high school crush (who's married) and just be friends and have a happy life! Best of luck to you.

Sincerely,

Cleaning Therapy

2011-04-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

So, needless to say, the past couple weeks have been extremely stressful. It was the end of semester, so I had big projects coming up, and most of all JURIES and finals. Juries are done by anyone taking lessons at the 200 or 300 levels, and we sing for a panel of faculty who then grade us on our performance. Basically, our entire grade for the whole semester rides on this performance. We choose one song to start with, and the faculty choose the second. SO, I was super stressed.

Because of this stress, I let my house become a bit untamed.... it was beginning to look like a bachelor pad (scary, I know). But today, when I was stressed (despite juries being over, now it's finals), I decided to just clean my house up a bit and it felt SO GOOD!!!! There is something therapeutic about cleaning, and it just took a great deal of that stress away so I could actually get things done. I think when my house gets too messy, I start to lose my motivation and become overwhelmed by the seemingly mountainous tasks ahead. But, in the end, it didn't even take that long! Just a couple hours, and my dishes are done, my counters are clean, laundry is going, the floor is swept, the bathroom is tidied and mostly clean, and it all smells like cleaner! It's so refreshing to look at a clean house.

Anyways, that's my pre-finals advice! CLEAN! You'll feel better!

Family in Town

2011-04-04T16:18:00.001-07:00

The past couple weeks have been filled with fun and family! Sadly, my parents were here for such a short time that I didn't get any pictures. But, it all started with Jake and Caleb (Ben's brothers) coming to stay with us for their Spring Break. They came the 19th of March through the 26th. Then my parents came late the night of the 24th, and left on the 27th. Then, this last weekend, Jeff and Kimia and Anita were here from Thursday the 31st through Saturday April 2nd! It's been so much fun to see everyone and get to spend time with people we don't usually get to see.

When Jake and Caleb were here, the boys had lots of bonding time with video games, movies, and getting jamba juice and pizza. I'm pretty sure Jacob ordered pizza (after I went to bed most of the time) almost every single night that week! And both Jacob and Caleb got Jamba Juice almost every single day as well. Coming from a small town, I guess they had to get some of the things they don't have over in Joseph City! Even though we were busy, it was nice just to spend time with these boys and see the great people they are becoming.

I love these boys! Caleb, Ben, and Jacob. Do you see the family resemblance???

When Mom and Dad were here, it was quick, but so nice to be with them! On Friday, Ben, Andrew and I had lunch with them at school, and then Mom and Dad came to choir with me. In the afternoon, Mom and I basically hung out and did whatever, and it was great! Friday night and Saturday were once more family days, joined by Ryan and Rondy. Saturday was interesting because my parents' rental car got TOWED, but once they got that back, we had some fun celebrating Andrew's 19th birthday going to the movies and then dinner. Sunday I sang in Music and the Spoken Word with BYU Singers and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It was such an amazing experience!! Sadly, I finished the performance only to have a text from Ben saying he was in the emergency room :( I felt terrible that I'd left him home that morning when he hadn't been feeling well, but thank goodness for Drew Willmore who took time out of his Sunday to take Ben to the hospital. Ben ended up being diagnosed with kidney stones, so needless to say, Sunday was not such a fun day. It was great to see Mom and Dad though, and to spend time with the family some more! We miss them already and wish they could come back!

This last weekend, we got to see Jeff and Kimia and their adorable little Anita. She is 12 months and just started walking, and she is such a cute little toddler! She is so tiny and smiles all the time. It was also fun seeing Kimia pregnant, because she's about as far along as me (just 2 weeks behind), so we could compare baby bellies!! Overall, we just enjoyed seeing them again, especially since we aren't sure when we'll get to see them again until our babies' blessings.

Isn't she adorable? She's looking at her momma in this picture :)

The lovely Kimia! You can't tell as much in this picture, but she's got a baby bump just like me!

Anita and auntie Natalie

I just love this picture :) Ben is so cute with Anita, I can't wait till he can play with our little Samuel!

And as a quick baby update, for all of you who are dying to see pictures, I have more!

Almost 26 weeks. Not the best belly picture I know, but at least I remembered to take one! As you can see, I got my hair cut a couple weeks ago! It is so nice to have a change.

Almost 27 weeks. This cute maternity shirt is from my Mom! Thank you Momma!

Anyways, hopefully I'll have more pictures soon. I lost my camera's battery charger, so I haven't been as picture-savvy lately... hopefully I'll find it soon!

Oh Baby!

2011-03-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

So I really should be doing homework, but I got really frustrated and decided to take a break for a bit. Of course, in all my time not spent thinking about homework, I am reminded of my little Samuel :) He makes himself known quite frequently, but it's kind of hard not to think about anyways.... haha.

Well, in the last few weeks, a lot has been going on! My belly has really started to pop out, I feel like it grows every day. It is really funny, because several days ago, Ben and I were talking about when my belly button would start poking out, and he was like, "I really hope it doesn't happen for awhile, cause it'll be really weird," and literally the NEXT DAY he was like, "NATALIE! Your belly button is poking out!!" It was quite ironic that it happened so quickly after that conversation, and really funny! So, I now know what it feels like to be an "outie" and I must say, I will be happy when I can be an "innie" again :) Another thing I realized this week was, I only have 17 weeks left of pregnancy! Actually, tomorrow it will only be 16! I will be 24 weeks along tomorrow, and time is really flying. I can't believe that in about 3 1/2 months my Samuel will be here! I am starting to get pretty nervous, and the nesting stage is really hitting me. I just want to decorate all the time, and go buy things for the baby. But, thankfully Ben continually reminds me (and I remind myself) that I need to wait on buying baby things until later. I just can't believe that the baby is officially viable tomorrow! I mean, I would NEVER want my baby to come this early, but at least I know that his chances of survival skyrocket during the next 3 weeks or so. It makes me feel a lot better to know the danger zone is almost gone.

Anyways, here are a couple pictures of my belly progress!!

23 1/2 weeks!!

Also, Saturday night Ben and I went to the Synthesis concert, which was really fun! Synthesis is BYU's jazz band, and we have been going to their concerts ever since our first officially planned date before we were married. Since I'm a music major, I can get us both in for only $2, so it was really nice to have a fun date for cheap! They were SO good. I wish I could play saxophone so I could participate in something SO amazing with SO much energy! Here's a picture of Ben and I before we left. It is so nice to spend some time with my sweetheart :) We don't get to go out very often, so I wanted to document this time since it was so great!

While I'm at it, here is a little blurb on our Valentine's Day last month. We decided that instead of going to dinner, we would get each other something that would help us improve our scripture study. Ben got me a new quad with my name engraved that is so beautiful! He got a cute scripture case on clearance too that is way cute. I got Ben a commentary on the Book of Mormon that he is really enjoying so far! I am really grateful we decided to do this because it has really increased my motivation to really study and increase my knowledge of the Gospel. As far as Valentine's Day, we made crockpot ribs (inspired by Rondy!) with mashed potatoes corn. Ben also made these strawberry pina colada smoothies that were delicious! The flowers on the table are from choir, but it was nice to have something to decorate the table with :)

Andrew's Mission Call and Singers Concert

2011-02-25T18:23:00.000-08:00

Andrew has been called to serve in the Argentina, Resistencia mission!! He will report to the Provo MTC on July 6 of this year. So he will see my baby!! There is no way he'll be 8 days late because I'd make them induce me before that, so Andrew will definitely be there to see Samuel! We are SO excited to see Andrew go on a mission. I was thinking, and I'm the only one of my siblings who got to be there for all of the boys' mission calls! I can't remember where Ryan was for Jeff's, but I'm pretty sure I was the only one there when he opened it. Now I just have to wait another year and I'll get to see my brother-in-law open his call! Well, I probably won't see him open it, but we'll at least be on the phone when he does! Anyways, I am really excited, as we all are, for Andrew to go and serve the Lord for 2 years on a mission. And in ARGENTINA no less! He will be a wonderful mission and do so much wonderful work for the Church! We will miss him, but are proud of his choice to take this next step in his life. YAY for Andrew!! It's really fun that all of my brothers will have experience serving on 3 different continents! However, if you include brother in laws, Jeff B. and Ryan served in Europe, Jeff M. and Ben served in North America (the U.S.), and Andrew and Dad will have served in South America. So of all six boys, there will be 2 from each of those continents! I just thought that was pretty cool. Well, here are a couple pictures and a video from his call-opening!

The call itself... waiting to be opened! Look, it says "Elder"!! It was postmarked the day before, so it got there really fast!

Getting ready to open it. He's on webcam with Dad, Mom, Michelle and Jeff, and he's on the phone with Jeff and Kimia. So fun!

On another note, here are some pictures from my BYU Singer's concert last night! It was a combined choir concert with guest conductor Dr. Copland from a Baptist University in Alabama. It was fun to work with him, and we had a great concert! I was proud of myself for singing 2 of the songs memorized because the choir learned them last semester while I was in concert choir. Because they already knew them, we really didn't practice them as much as I would have liked to be really comfortable memorizing them. However, with some work outside of class and a cd I pulled it off and was really proud of myself for doing it! Now I will feel much better about my performance at ACDA (the American Choral Director's Association) in Chicago in 2 weeks where we will be performing these 2 pieces and a few more in front of VERY trained and experienced choral people. I also figured I needed some pictures because even though this is my second time in Singers, I don't think I have any pictures of me in my uniform with some of the choir members, so I took some! Anyways, enjoy!

The Soprano section minus Lexie since she had to leave early. Aren't we cute?? These necklaces aren't my favorite, but they actually don't look too bad from far away. Oh, and I'm bending my knees a bit, I'm not actually that short!! haha....

I thought this picture would be fun to post since cute Karli West here grew up in my Grandma Hale's ward! She's a freshman here at BYU and we've become friends as we've gotten to know each other in choir this semester.

P.S... I never wear this much makeup. We just have to wear it so we don't look like pasty white clowns from the audience :)

22 Weeks- And Counting!!

2011-02-23T16:18:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to update my baby belly! Seriously, it grows every day! Samuel kicks more and more now, and it is getting stronger. Every once in awhile when I'm not paying attention, he'll give me a nice jab and I'll jump! Oddly enough, it is extremely comforting to know that he is growing strong and healthy, even if that means a little bit of physical discomfort at times. However, it's not just his kicks that are a bit uncomfortable. My belly is stretching, and even Ben notices that my hips are getting wider, and that just means that I'm really sore when I wake up in the morning, despite the three pillows I sleep with. It also means that none of my cute/stylish sweaters fit anymore either! Either they don't get zipped up or they don't get worn at all haha. But that is half the fun of being pregnant right? Getting bigger and watching/feeling your baby grow and seeing your body change! I am so excited for my Samuel to be born :) I get really worried every once in awhile that things won't be ok and that something is going to go wrong, and then he kicks me as if to say, "Everything's A.O.K down here Momma!" I am incredibly excited to be a mother, even though I'm pretty sure I'm going to have no clue what to do with myself once he's here, and my mom and sister will be called VERY often! But it will be an experience I've waited for since I was a little girl playing "house" with my friends, and I can't wait to experience all of it! Anyways, as evidence of my growing motherhood, here are some pictures of my belly at 22 weeks!

Look! You can even see it from the front!! As you can see though, this is one of my sweaters that doesn't fit anymore haha. I can only button it once without it being uncomfortable/looking ridiculous! It's fun though I love it.

A side view, but this shirt isn't the best for seeing my belly. BUT, it is a maternity shirt!! There are only two maternity shirts I've worn so far, because the other couple are too big to really look good yet. But this one has a tie in the back to cinch it in a bit, and this sweater also allows you to see my belly a bit more when it's buttoned! I know you can't see them, but I'm also wearing my maternity pants courtesy of my mother!! She bought me them for Christmas, and they fit now! I mean, they sorta fit before but were a bit saggy if you know what I mean... but now that I'm getting bigger they are fitting a lot better and I'm sure will be SO great to have when I am huge! So a big THANKS to you, MOM!

Baby Ben

2011-02-17T15:36:00.000-08:00

Ben's mom gave me a few pictures of Ben when we were there at Christmas, and I found them again today. I find it only fitting that since we're having a boy, I should post these ADORABLE pictures of Ben when he was a baby! Who knows, maybe this is a preview of what our baby will look like! Hopefully soon I'll have some pictures of myself to compare, but as of now those are all at my mom's house and since I haven't even asked her for any yet, it may be awhile before we get those haha... :)

So anyways, here's a look at baby Ben! They were at the pool and he obviously got into something tasty!!

As you can see, these are pictures of pictures, and I kept getting shadows/reflections of myself in the picture so these are the best we've got! But they're still so cute!

Don't you just love those blue eyes???

On another note, Ben and I decided what to name our little boy. His name is Samuel Joseph De Jesus. We are so excited to finally have something to call him besides "baby" and it all just seems so much more real when I can call him by name! We are getting so excited. Ben is already making plans for what they will do together when he is older! It is so cute. I'm just so glad I have such a cute husband so that my kids can look like him!! He was the cutest baby!

IT'S A...............

2011-02-11T20:21:00.001-08:00

BOY!!

So I had my ultrasound today, and everything went well! The baby looks normal and healthy, and I'm on schedule with my due date! The ultrasound is SO COOL. I mean, I knew it would be cool, but to actually see your baby, and to see it moving around and recognize its face and spine and everything, it just made everything so much more real. I wanted to cry right there in the ultrasound I was so touched! It's my little boy :) At first the technician measured boring things that you couldn't recognize even if you tried, but then once she started showing pictures of the body and arms and legs and stuff, it was really cool. We even watched the heart beat- probably the most miraculous part of the whole thing. But then she asked us if we wanted to find out what the baby was, and we were like yeah we do, and so she brought the picture down there and was like, "Can you tell what that is?" Both Ben and I knew immediately that it was a boy, but we were a little bit surprised since we had kind of started thinking it was a girl for the past couple weeks, so we just wanted to hear her say it. So she pointed out the leg, and the bum, and then she was like, "And that's a little boy part right there!" I just about started laughing when she went to lable it on the ultrasound too because it auto fills words, and as soon as she typed, "it's a b" it automatically pulled up the word "bowell" and I laughed out loud cause even though she changed it, that was definitely an interesting word to pop up instead of "boy!" So after that I told her that it was actually really funny that it happened to be a boy because at my last appointment the doctor had said, "Oh that's definitely a boy!" because the heartbeat was so strong. She asked which doctor I had seen, and when I told her she was like, "Oh, he's actually pretty good at calling what people are having." That is so cool because how can you really tell just from a heartbeat?? But apparently he's really good! Anyways, we are REALLY excited! We still don't have a name picked out for our little boy, but we are definitely excited!

Right before the appointment, we took a picture to document the day! We were really anxious to go, and yet we had a few minutes before we had to leave, so we decided to take a fun picture.

Ben promised me awhile ago that once we knew what we were having, that we could go buy something for the baby. I saw this at Walmart, and I immediately wanted it. I have always wanted something Whinnie the Pooh for my baby, and it was just too cute! It says "Silly Ol' Bear" up there underneath the little bee. There's another onsie behind it that is just striped like the sleeves are on this one. I love baby shopping!

Since I was so excited, Ben let me buy one more outfit too. This one says "I'm so hip" and has a little hippo with sunglasses on. It was too cute!! However, the real kicker is this:

The hippo on the bum!! I saw this and started laughing, and just had to get it. I like the animal idea, and think it's really cute. I'm just going to have to reign myself in from now on!

Last of all, here's a quick picture on my belly! I took this one yesterday, but it shows my belly much better than the picture with the scarf. I really feel like I've popped out in the last couple days. It's so fun being pregnant! Even though it isn't always very comfortable, it is worth it in the end when I see things like I did today! I have a real, living, baby BOY inside of me! I'm so excited! And now Spencer will have a boy cousin his age! And besides, I get to be the first person to have a boy first in my family, and the first person to have a baby at all in Ben's family! (as far as his siblings go anyways) But we are really excited.

Just a minor disclaimer: Sorry for any of you who found out via facebook or blog! We texted and /or called those who asked specifically to find out that way. There were so many people that I'm really sorry if I missed anyone! Love you all!

Home

2011-02-07T11:13:00.001-08:00

There is something about home that is just so much better than anywhere else. It doesn't really matter where that place is, just that it is home. Right now, that is the only place I want to be. School just isn't that enjoyable right now... not that it is horrible or uninteresting or anything, just that the actual act of going to school and doing homework is just not fun! Maybe I just need a break. Well, not maybe, I DO need a break! I just want to go home and relax on my momma's couch and have her make me some yummy home made meal and have my daddy come home and ask us how we're doing. I want to have my sister and the girls come over and do sweet things and make me happy, and maybe even get a little annoying! And it would be amazing because it would be home. The nice thing is that home will be coming to me next month when my parents come to visit, but that is still a while away. If only huh? Well, hopefully Ben and I can just move there and then I can have home whenever I want. That would be the life! All of you who live close to home, don't take it for granted because it's a luxury I would love to have. You are lucky! Because that saying really is true, that "there's no place like home."

Almost Half Way There

2011-02-06T17:40:00.000-08:00

So I am 19 weeks along, and will be 20 weeks on Tuesday! I can't believe how fast this is going, and that I am going to be a mom in just 4 short months! It's totally crazy and mind blowing. But, this is just a quick post with more pregnancy pictures. I've really been popping out lately, or at least it seems to me, and so I've been trying to stay more up to date with the pictures. This is a new thing for me, especially since I'm usually not very good at remembering to take pictures, let alone post them on my blog. So yay me! I'm blogging more now!

Last Wednesday, at 19 weeks 1 day. I was getting ready for school and thought that my belly was really prominent that day. Ben wasn't home, so I took the picture myself! Of course, my maternity pants like to roll down from where I've folded them, so that's why I have that big line on my tummy haha..

Yesterday, at 19 weeks 4 days. I'm growing! I feel like it pops out more everyday sometimes.

Now for a VERY random picture...

As many of you know, this is my turtle, Dot. She was trying to get off of her log, and in the process did a nose dive into the reptile bark. Of course, her stone dish was in the way, so she was having a bit of a hard time getting up. I, like the mean owner I am, just watched and laughed my head off as I watched this happen. However, true to her nature, my turtle worked and worked until she got her claws on the stone dish and got herself turned right side up. It was pretty funny to see though!

Christmas Highlights

2011-02-06T17:11:00.000-08:00

I know it's February, but here are a few highlights from our trip to Arizona.

Christmas Eve program at Grandma and Grandpa Hale's.
These Marys and Angels are all so cute wearing Grandpa's shirts!! This was the first time I'd been to this program since I was like 4 or 5 or something like that, so it was a new experience for me, and it was really fun!

Mom and Dad bought each other the same thing for Christmas :)
Mom, I know I said no pictures Christmas morning, but this was a priceless memory, and I happen to think you look very cute! The funniest part about this experience was that all of us kids knew that this was happening, and yet Mom and Dad had no idea until they saw the gifts wrapped right next to each other. We told them they had to open them up at the same time, and it was just fun to see them being thoughtful of each other! It was cute, and yet very funny!

Having a vacation with Ben was a great part of Christmas too! It's nice to spend time with him around the family and when there's no school! And, of course, it was great to get to hold Spencer the whole week :)

Opening gifts with the girls was so fun. As you can see, Lydia is enthralled by her Leapster, and Claire is so excited to be a fairy princess! My mom got them these tutus and wings, and for the rest of the day they ran around saying "Fly! Fly!" It was so cute. Just getting to see these girls as they grow up was so much fun, and we were glad to get to play with them a little bit while we were there!

My beautiful Momma and Michelle :) We were opening gifts with Michelle and Jeff after they came over Christmas day. The kids got Mom and Dad a juicer for their oranges (they have a tree) and one of those beverage dispenser thingys that people use when they have people over because it looks way nicer than a cooler but still holds tons of liquid!

Anyways, Christmas was really fun. Those were just some of the highlights of being there. It was really great to get to see all of the family and spend time with them. Sadly, Ben and I both got sick just a couple days after Christmas, and were sick the entire week after that. That was the week we were with Ben's family, so unfortunately there are no pictures. It was still fun though, even though we were sick. It was fun to see the family again.

Baby Poll!

2011-01-30T14:04:00.001-08:00

Just really quick, I want to point out the poll I've posted on the sidebar. Vote if you think our baby is going to be a boy or a girl and we'll see who's right in 12 days!

This is also kind of a poll to see who actually reads my blog, so if you read this, vote!

Thanks much and have fun!

Baby Stuff, ETC..

2011-01-30T12:59:00.000-08:00

So I've taken a few more pictures of myself, and of a couple of the things we have together for our baby. It is so exciting! I feel kicks more and more now, mainly when I'm sitting in a position that apparently the baby doesn't like! The sad part about this point in my pregnancy is that I am not quite looking pregnant, but I'm showing a bit, so instead I just look fat. The other day I mentioned something to an acquaintance about how my pants didn't fit, and she was like, "Oh but you don't even look pregnant! You can't even tell from behind, and in the front you just look a bit tubby around the middle." I know she was probably just trying to make me feel better, but it really didn't help, and she's not the only one to say things like that! Oh well. And most of my pants still fit, there's just one pair that doesn't have a button hole to put a rubber band through and they didn't need a belt before I was pregnant, so they just don't quite fit any more. On the bright side, it is really fun to be showing! I wish that people could tell what it was, but to me and those who knew what I looked like before, it is so fun to see the evidence of my growing child inside of me. Ben has especially been getting excited the past couple weeks. He tells everyone about how excited he is that my tummy is growing, and how he can't wait for the baby to be born so that he has someone to play with haha. He even told his grandma today, "I'm so excited Grandma! I just can't wait for this thing to come out!" It was pretty cute :)

The other news, only a week and a half till our ultrasound!!! It'll be on Feb. 11 in the afternoon. I've promised friends from choir though that I will wait to put it on facebook until Monday, because they really want to hear it from me in person and I'm going to announce it in choir on Monday. So, I'll probably get it on here that day. If you are dying to know before that, send me an email or a text and I'll let you know!

Anyways, here are a few pictures for you to enjoy!

This is me right at 18 weeks pregnant

Today, at 18 weeks 5 days (19 weeks is Tuesday)

With some Christmas money we got, we bought this crib. We weren't planning on purchasing one so early in my pregnancy, but it was such a good deal we decided not to pass it up!

There's no sheets or mattress pad in this crib yet, but we found the most adorable little blanket and bumper gard at IKEA. I love that it is so colorful, and yet it works for a boy or a girl. We can also turn it over to the other side which is a bit more girly with hearts and elephants and cute swirlies. Honestly, it is so hard not to just buy everything I see because I just want to get everything ready for my baby! But Ben is sweet and every once in awhile tells me that we can find something for the baby today.

A few stuffed animals we've collected. The cute blue elephant was home made by Ben's Grandma De Jesus. She crocheted it years and years ago in preparation for the first great grandchild. She made it that long ago before her hands got too old and it would be too hard to make. We love it, it is so cute! The dumbo is one that I got in Disneyworld when I was like 5 or something like that. The bear I got several years ago from a friend, and it's just been sitting around in a box or something gathering dust and it is just too cute not to give to my baby! Ben and I both have more stuffed animals somewhere, but for now this is what we've got. We really kind of like the elephant theme that has started, what with the gift from Ben's grandma, the dumbo I already have, and the cute elephants on the blanket from IKEA. I think it's just a cute idea for either a boy or a girl, and it's a little bit different. I don't know how far we'll go with it, but for now it's kind of fun.

As for other news, Ben is almost done applying to graduate schools! We are getting a bit anxious to find out now, and we only have one more application to submit and then it's just waiting! We have heard back from one school though, and it was pretty disappointing because they rejected Ben's application just because they hadn't received a transcript from the Mesa Institute of Religion. We didn't even realize that was necessary, and it was especially frustrating because we turned the application in a month before it was actually due, and they had plenty of time to send an email or letter or give us a call letting us know they wanted that. It was highly frustrating, especially because upon hearing about this, Ben called all the other schools to make sure that wasn't something they wanted, and most of them responded with a "what is that?" or "if the University doesn't state that they need it then who cares? Stop worrying." It really seems like the man who Ben spoke with who reviewed his application was just looking for some reason to dump his application because he could tell he was Mormon. And when Ben spoke with him, he was really rude and inconsiderate. Oh well I guess! If we are going to be treated like that we don't want to go to that University anyways! So that was Colorado State University. However, after calling Portland State, University of Utah, BYU, and ASU, everything else looks good. Both the U and ASU said they thought that Ben had a good chance of getting in and that his application looked really good. Portland said that his application was out for review and that it looked good as well. The only other application to turn in is UNLV. We are really hoping to get into BYU so that I can finish school here, but we would also really like to get into ASU to be close to family. Honestly, if we can get a scholarship or some kind of funding we would really like to go to ASU. I don't know though, we'll see what the Lord has in store for us! I'll keep you posted when we know where he's going!

Prego Pics!!

2011-01-17T17:08:00.001-08:00

Just a quick post since I'm crazy busy as always!!

Ben took a couple pictures of me and my newly protruding baby bump about a week and a half ago. Most people say they can barely tell the difference, but I can certainly tell! I'll probably be out of my jeans in a couple weeks! But anyways, whether you can tell or not, here's a couple prego pics for your enjoyment! I've had a few people ask about them, so I thought I'd take some. These were taken when I was about 15 1/2 weeks along.

If you look closely, there's a little bump!

Ben says it looks like I'm poking it out here, but I promise I'm not! It's just easier to tell in this picture :)

So, I know, not the greatest pictures in the world, but they're certainly fun!

Oh, and Ben and I bought a CRIB last week too! It was a really good deal, especially compared to everything at other stores (clearance or not!) or online. I'll get pictures of that up later when it looks better, but we're getting really excited to be parents! Ben tells me all the time how excited he is for our baby to be born, and we're both extremely anxious to be finding out what the gender of our baby is! My ultrasound is scheduled for early February when I'm 20 weeks along, so that's just a few weeks away!

And the other news... I felt a kick this week! I had thought I'd felt one right after my appointment last Wednesday, but then I realized later when I felt a REAL kick, that the first one was just my stomach or something... but, last Wednesday night as I was laying down in bed, I was reading some of my baby literature that the Dr. gave me, and I totally felt a kick! It was like a little fluttering one, and it just tapped me a little bit on the tummy. I've only felt a couple kicks since then, and it's really only at night when I'm not doing anything for awhile. I was so excited though! All of this just makes everything so much more real :) Also, last Wednesday at my appointment, when the Dr. found the heartbeat, it was so strong that he immediately quipped, "Well, it's definitely a boy!" I guess I must have given him a quizzical look because then he amended, "Or a girl.." It was pretty funny! I'm getting really excited to be a mother, and I can't wait for it to happen! It seems like everything is going by so fast, and I just can't wait!

A Quick Update!

2010-12-15T11:31:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick update on Ben and I and the De Jesus baby!

We had our second doctor's appointment today! We heard the heartbeat, and a few kicks too. It was cool because the Dr. held the microphone up to my stomach and after a few seconds we heard this thump, and he goes, "Oh! There's a kick!" That happened a couple times as he moved the microphone around, as if the baby wasn't very happy to be pushed a prodded with that thing! It was fun, and great to hear that our baby is active! So then, the Dr. moved the mic to a spot where it wasn't being kicked away, and we heard the heartbeat. At first I was like, AH there's TWO!! But then the Dr. said, "So that slow heartbeat is yours, and the little fast one is the baby's!" And I felt MUCH better... haha. He mentioned that this is the first "proof positive" we've had that the baby exists, because apparently tests and symptoms are only "presumptive positives." I found that interesting to believe, especially considering that the last time I was there the Dr. said I was the size of a 6 week pregnant woman, and I thought that was pretty much a proof positive. Oh well, it was so much fun to hear my baby today!! I'm just getting even more excited to be a momma :) It feels so much more real now!

Well, as far as non baby news, life is crazy... I've been sick lately, and it's also been the last couple weeks of school and finals, so it's been a bit rough! But, I am almost done, and all I have left now is a 3-5 minute presentation to give Friday morning and we'll be in ARIZONA for two weeks!! Ben's still got 2 finals left, but he'll be done with those by the end of today! The only thing that will be nagging us over Christmas break is the GRAD SCHOOL applications we need to finish. I'm hoping to get two done here in the next day or so (well, I do the editing and Ben looks it over to make sure he likes it, since the applications are his), so then we'll only have two left! Ben is applying to the University of Utah, BYU, Colorado State University, Portland State, ASU, and UNLV. He's applying to all MSW programs now, and we've already turned in applications at U of U and Colorado. All other applications are done except for letters of intent, which are all written except for UNLV, and we just need to edit them. UNLV isn't due till March though, so there will be no stress on that one until AFTER Christmas! So anyways, there's the quick De Jesus update!!! We'll hopefully know about most of the grad schools by February or March, so we will know where we'll be living next year by then!

Oh! And MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

NEWS...

2010-12-02T16:22:00.000-08:00

As I sit here at home, stalking everybody else's baby's pictures on facebook, I am just getting antsy to share my own news...

I'M PREGNANT!!

I'm 10 weeks along, due June 28th. I am REALLY excited. I have been waiting for this for practically my whole life, but even since being married, this has taken a little while so it really means a lot to me. I am so excited to be a mother, even though it scares me out of my MIND to think how much responsibility I will have as soon as this baby is born. I am just unspeakably grateful for my wonderful husband who will be there to help me along the way! And for my momma, so I can call her whenever I have stupid questions cause I'm a paranoid momma myself :) I've had my first doctor's appointment, and everything looks good, and I get to hear the heartbeat in a couple weeks!! I just can't believe I'm already 10 weeks along.

It's crazy, because for my McClellan grandparents, there will be two babies due in April, and two babies due in June. And for my Hale grandparents, there will be four babies all due in June (and July 1st)! So for me, I will have SIX new cousins within a couple of months! Well, 1st cousins once removed, since they're my cousins' babies :) But anyways, it will be a summer of babies, and it will be so exciting.

Just wanted to share my news!!

I just had to post this...

2010-10-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help but post this! I am dumbfounded at the talent of this child. This is a 3 year old conducting the 4th movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony. I saw someone had shared this link with someone on Facebook, and I just had to put it on here because it is that amazing!

Date Night!

2010-10-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

So on Tuesday night, Ben took me on a date. It was the first time we'd been on a date in awhile, and it was a much needed get away from school, homework, and other stresses of life! I had spent all day at school, and had to stay afterwards to take TSA (Technical Skills Assesments) as a requirement for the BYU School of Education since I am a music ed major. So, I had just spent 2+ hours staring at a computer screen taking these tests on Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and the internet, and needless to say I was really tired. When I walked in the door, I came home to a beautiful bouquet of roses.

Flowers always make me so happy! Ben is so thoughtful and always knows how to make me feel better. It was a wonderful start to a lovely evening! Then Ben had me go change and put my stuff away, and he took me to dinner at the Macaroni Grill. I have such a sweet husband.

After a delicious meal, we went to a place called Color Me Mine.

It was a little more expensive than we had planned on, but I had been wanting to go there for a long time, and it was so much fun! At this place, each person pays a studio fee for paints, etc, and then chooses an object to paint. They have bowls, plates, platters, vases, piggy banks, sculptures, and so many other fun things to paint. Everything is ceramic, and then you choose how to decorate it, leave it there to be glazed and fired, and then you pick it up on the weekend. I chose a heart shaped plate, and Ben chose a frog bank. They had so many fun stencils, stickers, tape, paint pens, and fun paints in general, and it was really fun to have the tools to make something look really good without actually having a lot of skill.

This is Ben's frog!! It turned out so cute!

Here's my plate :) I like the way it turned out too.

After Color Me Mine, we went home and just relaxed before going to bed. It was a much needed break from the insanity of our usual lives, and I am so grateful for a husband who will do such sweet things for me! It's really nice to be able to get out of the house every once in awhile and just be together.

Hopefully soon I will post a Summer Flashback about our trip to Arizona, and then some updates on Fall Semester at BYU!

You Are Loved

2010-08-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

Life has been crazy lately, and I haven't been able to post in awhile. Ben and I have had a pretty good summer, and I'll post more on that later (with pictures etc). I have been in school Spring and Summer terms, and by the end of tomorrow, I will have completed two semesters in the music program!!

It's funny how my last post was the "Infinite Power of Hope" (if you haven't watched it, you should!); that's because last week was a bit of a tough one, and there were a lot of things going on with school finishing up, and I wasn't feeling well, and just life in general. I didn't realize how much I would really need the message of hope until after I had posted it already!

However, even after all I've been through this week, and the stress and heartache and feeling like I just couldn't take any more, I realize that life is ok. The Lord has given me talents and blessings to make up for all of the bad things, and these talents and blessings enable me to make it through my trials. It's amazing to think back on this week and see the Lord's hand in my life right now. I know many of you don't know exactly what's going on, and that's ok because that's not the point of this message. My point is, you too can make it through your trials. The Lord knows you personally and has given you the tools you need to make it through anything you come across. He will not challenge you more than you can handle.

Something else that came to me this Saturday morning was that no matter how hard you think you have it, somebody else is truly suffering in ways you cannot imagine. This Saturday morning I found out that my cousin had lost her precious little boy; he was 4 1/2 years old. I felt selfish for ever feeling sorry for myself when I heard this news. This is when I realized that in order for me to work through my trials, I need to help others through theirs. If I can work to serve others and take the attention off of myself, then I will be able to focus on what's important and forget my own sorrows.

The Lord is there for you; He loves each and every one of us and wants to help us through our adversity. Challenges will only make us stronger and bring us closer to the ones we love. I know that as we love and serve one another the Lord will bless us and enable us to get through the trials we have in our own lives.

My love and prayers go out to my cousin, Jeanette, and her family. You are loved and cared about!! I am just grateful for the Lord and His plan of happiness so that we may all be together again.

Infinite Power of Hope

2010-07-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

Everyone needs this message; it is amazing how the prophets and apostles know how to speak EXACTLY what we need to hear, the way we need to hear it. I saw this video in one of my classes today, and it just touched me how much my Savior loves me, and how that knowledge gives me so much hope in my life today. He lived, and He died for me, and He has made it possible for me to return to Him, and because of all of that, I can have hope. Watch this video, and you will see what I mean. I love it!

One Year of LOVE

2010-05-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

So, it's ten days until our 1st anniversary, and I just wanted to say how grateful I am to have my best friend with me forever. Ben is so adorable, and he always knows what to do or say to make me feel better. I feel like we have grown so much in this past year, and the things we've been through have only made us stronger. I am so grateful to have him here with me to love me and support me, and to help me make decisions that are hard. There is so much I could say, and yet it would never be enough. I love you Ben, I love you forever!

Just in memory of our love, I wanted to put on here the poem Ben wrote for me when he proposed. It is so sweet!!! It just shows how much he loved me then, and he loves me even more now!! I feel so special :) So here it is. It's called "My Angel."

Through the course of my life

I have seen difficulties

I have seen blessings

But I have only seen

One Angel

My Angel

She is sweet

Always with a sparkle in her eye

A sparkle that brings light to my life

When she sings

The room goes quiet and all listen

But I know the words are meant for me

They call me to her

When I feel her touch

Everything disappears

The world fades behind her smile

A kiss

So sweet

I knew happiness

But then there was joy

I knew love

But then I felt her love

Nothing ever came so easy,

So right

I will never forget

In her love came

Eternity

An eternity where

She is My Angel Forever

This poem still sits on the night stand in our room, and whenever I look at it it just makes me smile. So part of the reason I made this post is because Ben and I had pictures taken a week ago to celebrate our one year anniversary. Rachael hasn't taken couple portraits since Andy and Jessica's wedding, and was wanting some more experience to post on her photo blog. Also, she sort of went through the photography class at BYU with her friend Carolyn, and so she also had some new ideas of how to edit, pose, and photograph the pictures. She was excited for the experience, and Ben and I were extremely grateful for the pictures! They turned out great. We drove up Provo Canyon to a little place called South Fork Park. It had a gorgeous river running through with beautiful grass and trees all over. So in memory of our love, here are some pictures of Ben and I at ONE YEAR. I still can't believe it has already been a year!! It seriously feels like we just got married yesterday. Marriage is such a special blessing, and I am so grateful that I get to have the BEST husband in the world!! I so look forward to our life together, and all the adventures to come. Enjoy the pictures!!!

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart!! I love you Ben!!

When Rachael asked me to sit backwards on the tree I was so confused. But then after a few tries and I finally was positioned correctly, this adorable photo was taken (and others)!! Thanks Rachael for your artistic mind! And for your patience!!

I think this is one of my absolute favorites. Rachael darkened the edges and then made a bigger contrast in colors, and it is so cool! Rachael really did a great job with our pictures. She had so many great ideas and so many great photos I wish I could post all of them!! But I guess these are just the best of the best :)

As some of you may be wondering, aren't I allergic to grass??? Well see, I am, but for these pictures, I sat on Ben's lap instead of in the grass, and kept my legs off the grass so that we could have cute pictures by the river!!!

Isn't this just beautiful?! I laugh at myself for ever thinking this wasn't pretty.

So, Ben and I were walking to this tree, and all of a sudden he brings my arm above my head. I was like, what is he doing? I thought he was just trying to turn around while still holding my hand. So then I'm like, Oh! he's trying to twirl me!! So then I made him do it again :) And this is what came of it! He is so cute :)

This is my other favorite. Rachael had us sit at a picnic table while she stood on the table. The lighting was fantastic! She made this picture in black and white as well, but I just love the vibrancy of color in this picture.

This is the cutest little red barn!! I love it in black and white though, because it reminds me of the old fashioned pictures of couples on their little farms taking pictures with the barns haha :)

Once again, BEAUTIFUL!

Thank you Rachael for such amazing pictures. You are fantastic!!!

And Ben, I love you. Always and forever. I am lucky to have you!!!! Happy Anniversary!!!

Catching up

2010-04-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

Winter semester has been a crazy one!! Ben and I have worked really hard, and made lots of important decisions. This semester, Ben ended up dropping his business minor and thus dropping a really hard class that would have lowered his GPA yet again. Ben has now decided that he wants to get a PhD in Clinical Psychology instead of Industrial Organizational Psychology, which is what has allowed him to drop the business minor. We have been looking into graduate schools, but we still have no idea where we will be going next year. Ben will be done with classes at BYU after Spring term 2011, and then we will be off to grad school. Thing is, we could pretty much be anywhere at that time- there are graduate schools with clinical psychology programs all throughout California, New York, Illinois, Texas, Florida, and even in Wisconsin!! I will keep you posted as to where we decide to go, but we won't really know until after Ben has applied for schools in the fall.

As for me, I got into the Music Education Program!!! I am now officially a Secondary Music Education major with a K-12 Choral Emphasis. I found out in the middle of March, and will start classes in a few weeks during Spring term. Since Ben will be going to grad school in Fall 2011, we will be moving before I can finish my degree here at BYU, but I am confident that I will be able to finish wherever we go. Ben and I feel strongly that he needs to apply to go to grad school that fall, and we are confident that he will be accepted, which means that I will need to transfer schools, which I am perfectly fine with!! I am excited to be able to start my major though!! And transferring from BYU will make it easier for me to get into other schools' music education programs :) So, I will be getting as much school as possible out of the way this spring, summer, fall, and winter so that Ben and I will be able to move without me having too much school left. But I am just excited to be in the Music Ed major!! I am one of 9 students selected out of about 60 applicants. It was my second time applying, which gives me a better chance, but it was exciting nonetheless.

So ANYWAYS...

here's some pictures of some of the things Ben and I have done during the semester....

Making Valentine's Day cookies :) Mom actually sent me the rolling pin

and cookie cutters last Valentine's Day, and I've used them

several times since then!!! Thank you Mommy!!

Since Ben and my first "official" date was going to the Synthesis

concert, we have made tradition going to their concerts

every once in awhile. So this is us after a synthesis

concert! It was fantastic!!!

These are the flowers and card Ben got me for Valentine's day!!

My card I gave him is the one with the hearts on the front :)

He is such a sweetheart and I am SO glad to have him

as my husband!! Those flowers he picked out had gerber daisies

in them too, but they died after like two days...

but they were beautiful!! And the carnations and

greenery lasted a long time too!

They were gorgeous!!! Thank you Ben!!

This is the pillowcase I made for a school project.

For my Home and Family Living (SFL 105) class, we were required

to do a project about an aspect of family life. I chose to do the family

clothing project, which included making a pillowcase

and creating a book of family clothing standards to use with my children.

I created a scrapbook of sorts, and included lots of family pictures and

fun rhymes to make a book about modesty, cleanliness, and taking

care of clothes. The last part of the project was to write a research paper.

Part of the reason I chose this aspect of family life is because the

research was the easiest- this was the one and only topic that used

lds.org for research!! I just had to find 10 articles on modesty and dress,

addressing sloppiness and immodesty as well.

Here are a few really cool quotes I found:

1) Modesty is an attitude of humility and decency in dress, grooming, language, and behavior. If you are modest, you do not draw undue attention to yourself. Instead, you seek to “glorify God in your body, and in your spirit” “Modesty,” True to the Faith, (2004),106–8)

2) We need to stand tall in following the counsel of the prophets to attire ourselves modestly. … Mothers, you can be our examples and conscience in this important matter. But remember, young people can detect hypocrisy as easily as they can smell the wonderful aroma of freshly baked bread. Parents, counsel your sons and daughters and then join with them in standing tall against immodesty.” - Bishop H. David Burton, "Standing Tall," Ensign, Nov. 2001

If you're interested in any more quotes, or just reading my paper, just let me know!!

More Anita :)

2010-03-19T13:37:00.001-07:00

I didn't get all the pictures up last time, so here's a few more!!! Isn't she beautiful???!!!

again... sorry it's blurry!! no flash= no clarity

Mommy :)

FEET!!! They're so tiny! I LOVE IT!!!

Grandpa Poshtyar :)

Ryan and Rondy came to the hospital both Tuesday and Wednesday, but we only saw them on Wednesday. And when they got there, Kimia was feeding Anita so we didn't get any pictures of them with Anita.

Jeff put Anita's hat on Kimia's head :) They are so happy!!

Anita Maryam McClellan

2010-03-18T10:48:00.001-07:00

Anita Maryam McClellan was born on March 16, 2010 in Provo, UT. She weighed 6 lbs 3 oz and was 17 1/2 inches long. She is so tiny!! I had the privilege of seeing her when she was less than an hour old, and it was such a precious experience. I am so excited to be an aunt again and am even more excited for Jeff and Kimia!!

Kimia and Anita are doing well, and got to go home this morning (the 18th). Kimia and Jeff are so excited to be parents, and it is really fun watching them with Anita :) Kimia's parents drove all night as soon as they heard Kimia was in labor, and got here yesterday morning to be with them. I just can't help but be happy with this exciting new life coming into this world. She is so innocent and sweet, and so BEAUTIFUL!!! It was funny because at the hospital yesterday Kimia told me that the nurse came in and looked at Kimia and Jeff and was like, "Anita doesn't look like Jeff, and she doesn't look like Kimia..." and then she looked over at Kimia's mom and was like, "she looks like YOU!!" I think Sis. Poshtyar was pretty happy with that :) She is so cute!!

Well anyways, here are some long awaited pictures I promised I would post. Enjoy!!

Sorry it's a little blurry, but I had to take the flash off the closeup pictures so I wouldn't blind her!

The proud parents :)

I love how you can only see her eyes in this picture. They had her bundled up so much it was like Eskimo baby!! But the cutest Eskimo ever :)

Rachael came with us to the hospital last night :) I just learned last night that the bows they put on babies are secured by KY Jelly! What a concept! haha

so precious :) You can see her face better in this one.

Camilia made this little hat for Anita, and it's still a little bit big, so they just put it on top of the blanket. I think her facial expression is the best!!!

Well, I've got choir soon so I'll post more later probably. Anita is so beautiful!!

WaAaY behind!!!

2010-03-09T14:13:00.000-08:00

So, this will just be a quick recap of the last 5 months since I last posted...

First of all, there was Thanksgiving. Ben and I drove down from Provo to Joseph City, AZ and had Thanksgiving with his family. We got there Wednesday night and had some time to visit with everyone before going to bed. Thursday was very relaxed as Ben and I were staying at his grandparents' house, and had our own room. Ben's mom Yvette was cooking at her house, and random people came over throughout the day to borrow ingredients from grandma to help Yvette cook. I made homemade rolls (Mom's recipe!!) that everyone loved! It was a lot of fun, although it was much different than I was used to. I've never had a Thanksgiving away from home before, so it was a little weird without the nice tablecloth, china, and real silverware; Ben's family is so used to having a huge extended family Thanksgiving that we ate off of paper plates, plastic utensils, and on plastic tables!!! This was weird to me especially since it was just Ben's family and his grandparents this year. But I guess everyone does things differently! It was still a really nice, relaxing holiday. That night, Ben's mom, aunt Sharon and I scrapbooked from 6pm to midnight! It was so much fun; Yvette and Sharon know so much about scrapbooking and have more supplies than anyone I've ever met! It was pretty crazy. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of anything until Friday and Saturday, after Michelle, Lydia, and Claire drove up to visit us. They also stayed at the Rogers' house with Ben and I, and just stayed till Saturday afternoon when Ben and I had to go to a funeral for Yvette's stepsister.

So, here's a few pictures from Michelle's visit to Joseph City! We took the girls to the park and had a lot of fun there :)

I only had one picture of Michelle and I, and it was extremely windy and our hair is in our faces and Michelle's eyes are closed.... so please forgive me for not posting that one! I thought you might appreciate that one Michelle, especially since that picture's already on facebook!

Alright, so the next major event was Christmas. In between Thanksgiving and Christmas was the end of term papers, Christmas choir concert, and finals. It was crazy!! So that made Christmas vacation really nice.

The first stop on our Christmas vacation was Elko, Nevada. Ken and Robin Bowler own a Ranch there, and they are very close to Ben. He lived there for a time while his family was moving his senior year of high school, and they have become like his other family. We went there and rode horses in the snow, played games, ate wonderful food and had fun! One night we did a date night with some of the other couples there (some we knew and some we didn't), and we had a gingerbread house-making contest. Here's a picture of ours. Actually, I'll post two different gingerbread houses: one we made at home before we left, and one we made in the contest. The one at home looks MUCH better!!

This one was made at home....

This one was made in Nevada... We attributed it to Dr. Seuss; it has a lorax tree!!! It's an outhouse in the park haha... see the cute gummy bears having a picnic???

So Friday night we got to Nevada. Sunday night we drove back to Provo. Early Monday morning we left for Mesa. (some of you are wondering why we drove back to Provo?? It was actually faster that way, believe it or not.) Monday night we got to Mesa, and stayed a couple days with Grandma and Grandpa Hale. We were able to see Michelle and her family Monday night before they flew to WA, and then we spent the rest of the time between Ben's grandparents and my grandparents before leaving for Joseph City Wednesday afternoon. We would have left Wednesday night, but there was going to be snow in northern AZ, and we needed to beat the storm. So Thursday was Christmas Eve, and we were in Joseph City. We did some last minute shopping in Winslow at the WalMart, and spent the rest of the day at Ben's parents house. Now that everyone had moved bedrooms, there was room for Ben and I to stay with them there. Friday morning was Christmas! We had a lot of fun opening gifts from everyone and just being together. Once again, it was my first Christmas away from home, and this was hard. I'm just so lucky to have Ben!! He was so sweet and understanding and made my day perfect. I called my mom soon after opening presents and got a big "Merry Christmas!!" from the whole family as soon as Mom answered my call; that was nice :) Sunday midmorning Ben and I left for home, and stayed in Provo a little less than 24 hours before boarding our plane in SLC to fly to Portland for Ryan and Rondy's wedding. I'll do another post for their wedding :) The rest of our Christmas break was spent in WA with my family, and we came back to Provo late on Sunday January 3, and started school the next morning.

So here's a few pictures from Christmas day in Joseph City, AZ!!! Enjoy! I'll write another post soon about our Portland/WA wedding adventures :)

Merry Christmas sweetie!!

Ben's been wanting this game for a LONG time, so I got it for him! He was excited :)

I had to make popcorn wreaths!! It's Christmas tradition!! They were SOO good too :)

Blog Questions

2010-03-09T14:09:00.000-08:00

Hey, so I've kinda been wanting to change my blog look, but I have not yet been successful... I keep finding cute blog backgrounds on thecutestblogontheblock.com, but even when I follow the instructions of how to apply the background, it doesn't work!!! The most I've gotten is a little text box underneath my main picture, and you know what it said??? "background" just like that. And my old background still holds strong. If only I knew how to delete that one, although it is cute, I just kind of want something different and a little less simple.

So... if anyone has any ideas on how to fix this problem, let me know!! Thanks a bunch!!

Halloween!!!

2009-11-05T20:47:00.001-08:00

So for Halloween this year, Ben and I went to a party for Ben's work, YHA (Youth Health Associates). What this means is that we spent Halloween chaperoning a party with troubled teenagers. Surprisingly enough, it was actually fun!!! One of Ben's friends, Matt Romney, is also a tracker (mentor of the boys), and so we were able to spend most of the party with him and his wife, Hillary. Because we had friends there, the party was bearable, and went by much faster than we expected!!! Especially since Dave, Ben's boss, didn't tell us the party was outside until AFTER we got there and hadn't brought our jackets.....haha... I guess that's what we get!!! Anyways, since it was required for the employees to dress up (according to Dave), Ben decided to go as a ninja, and I went as a geisha. We found the costume cheap in the little girls' section; it's actually supposed to be long sleeved, and go all the way to the ankles, but it isn't on me! Oh well, it fill well enough. We actually didn't realize exactly what a geisha was until after we had bought the costume, and looked it up on google....oops... :) We decided to go for the nice definition: a geisha is a Japanese woman who is trained in entertaining men with singing, dance, etc. It's actually a very respectable career for women in Japan, but it can be taken to extremes that are less respectable, which Ben and I found out. So, I went as a geisha and Ben went as a ninja....it works right? Well anyways, here's the pictures to illustrate our party!!! Enjoy!

The party was at a group home in Draper, UT. See that red barn thing?They had goats in the back!!! They were cute little ones :)

Here's Matt and Hillary as Audrey Hepburn and Carey Grant. They had to tell us before we could figure it out....haha. The funniest part was everyone kept asking Matt if he was a church-goer :)

This picture's a little better.... I was trying not to laugh in the first one, cause Ben decided we couldn't smile....haha So yeah... the geisha!

All the staff from the homes and other proctor programs around UT who were at the party

These are all the boys and trackers that Ben works with personally

The trackers that came from the Provo office. There's Krista, Ben, Matt, and Dave.

Ok so... the staff at the group home who planned the party had all the staff participate in this contest where they had to eat a chocolate/strawberry syrup coated doughnut off of a string without using their hands. It was hilarious!! The kids had waaayy too much fun watching and laughing at them haha... :)

So this is Ben and his coworkers getting ready to start

Go BEN!!!

Ben gave up, and started helping Matt so that Dave wouldn't win :) Although Dave ended up winning anyways....

Happy couple!!! If you notice, I'm wearing a coat....remember how I didn't bring mine? Well Dave felt bad that he didn't tell us it was outside, so he lent me his jacket for the night. I felt much better after that!!

College isn't ALL hard work and no play...

2009-10-12T10:03:00.001-07:00

In my Child Development class, we learned about what's called Classical Conditioning. This is when a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with a meaningful stimulus. When this happens, the neutral stimulus comes to elicit the reaction originally made only to the meaningful stimulus. For example, a dog salivates when it smells food. If the sound of a bell ringing is connected with the dog getting food, it can be classically conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell, although it doesn't yet smell food. To clarify the meaning of this, my professor, David Nelson, showed this video clip from the TV show The Office. It is hilarious!! Enjoy!

- The most amazing videos are a click away

New Mexico Adventures

2009-07-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, Ben and I drove to New Mexico. Thursday we drove all day to Albuquerque, where we stayed at a Super 8 near the Temple. We got to see Matt, Josh and Laurel that night and visit a little bit before going back to our hotel for the night. The next morning, Matt and Hillary got married at the Albuquerque, New Mexico Temple; it was so fun to be able to go inside for the wedding! Josh was actually about to mention how Laurel and I would have fun outside when he realized that I would be going in! It was fun :) The luncheon was at Tucanos- I don't know if any of you have been there, but it's an all-you-can-eat Brazilian restaurant with excellent meat- it was really good! After the luncheon we headed down to Las Cruces, New Mexico which is about a 3 1/2 hour drive. Since it was such a long trip, Matt and Hillary decided to stay in Albuquerque that first night and then drivce to Las Cruces for the reception on Saturday. It was nice to be able to go back and relax Friday night. Since it had been raining the last few days before we got there, it made the air extremely humid, so we were very grateful for the Romney's swimming pool!! We stayed at Matt's grandma's house who graciously took Josh, Laurel, Ben and I in for the two nights we were there. We spent Friday night and Saturday getting to know Matt's family and spending time with our friend Krista, his sister. Saturday we went to lunch at a Mexican place in town, and then went to the mall to kill some time before the reception. Saturday night was the reception and then games with friends, and Sunday morning we left for home. We actually realized while in NM that Joseph City, AZ wasn't far out of our way so we decided to stop at Ben's family's house and have lunch on our way home. We ended up staying a little longer than we had anticipated, but it was a very nice visit :) We got home at about 2 am, seeing as Ben got sick on our way home and we had to stop for him to throw up and rest for a while both times. I wasn't feeling so well either, and I think it's because we decided to skip dinner and just eat our snacks in the car, which probably included a bit too much candy... :/ next time we'll be sure to take care of ourselves better!!! Well, I know most of you probably don't know Matt and Hillary, but I'll post a few pictures just so you can see where Ben and I went!!

I forgot to mention that Ben was a groomsman!!! So yeah, he was a groomsman, one of three, along with Josh Bowler and one of Matt's old mission companions (Sam?? I'm not sure on his name.... he was cool though).

Bridesmaids! Krista is the one on the far left; she went to BYU and we used to hang out with her all the time. But now she's transfering to New Mexico! Sad day! We love Krista.

Groomsmen! We've got Ben, Matt (the groom), Josh, and mission buddy

The Romney's and the De Jesus's :) We are excited for them to come back to BYU!! Hillary is actually transferring, but Matt will be coming back :) Ben actually found out (after they were already friends) that Matt and him are 3rd cousins! How cool is that!

All the guys :) These are Matt's friends and mission companions that came to support him.

Well I hope you enjoyed the post! Until next time,

Me :)

For Time and All Eternity

2009-07-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

On May 26,2009, Ben and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the Mesa, Arizona Temple. It was so beautiful. The day before, we were able to take some pictures on the grounds with our photographer when people weren't coming in and out of the temple. It was fun! It actually felt a little weird at first having Ben see me in my wedding dress before the day of the wedding.....but in the end it just felt right :) I love knowing that I'm doing something right, it feels good. So that night I was so anxious and excited I could hardly sleep!! But in the end, I was so exhausted from all the planning over the past 5 months that I slept pretty sound :) I woke up the morning of the wedding at about 5:45. I really didn't need that much time to get ready, but I get stressed pretty easily, and I wanted to be able to relax through my morning. I slowly woke up, showered, ate breakfast, and finally started getting ready at about 6:40 ish...so I was taking my time. Getting ready just felt kind of like a dream, and it didn't feel like I was actually getting MARRIED that morning...I was still in denial a little bit. But then as I put on my jewelry, got my dress and brought my bags to the car, it started to sink in and I just got really excited! Then my daddy gave me a blessing :) it was so special, I love my daddy so much! He was really pretty emotional that day, since his little girl was getting married. After the blessing we drove to the temple. Ben was already there, and I was just so anxious to get married! The funny thing was, even though I'd had my reccommend for about a month already, it STILL wasn't activated....I thought they'd at least activate it by my wedding day!! I'd already gone to the temple about 4 times by then, and the morning of my wedding, I sat there anxiously at the desk waiting for the temple president to approve my entering the temple....it was so nervewracking, although my mom kept assuring me that it would be ok :) Come to find out, my reccommend was activated sometime between the luncheon and the reception haha....it was pretty funny. But then we went in and signed the marriage certificate and everything, they changed my name with the church and on my reccommend, and it was so fun!!! Then we got married, and it was so beautiful it made me so happy!! I just loved walking into the room filled with our friends and family that love us so much, and just feeling the Spirit there. After the ceremony, Mommy helped me get into my wedding dress and we went out for pictures!!! The rest of the day was just like a dream, it still feels like a dream just thinking about it. Since I was a little girl I've thought and wondered what my wedding day would be like....it was perfect!! Our photographer was amazing, and the reception hall was absolutely beautiful. And the luncheon was the perfect rest, and a great place to mingle with everyone that had been at the temple. Not to mention the delicious food!!! Thank you Grandma Bev and Yvette and everyone who helped!!! Seriously, everything about my wedding day was just so perfect, and it was the best day of my life. I am so happy to be sealed to my sweetheart forever. He is perfect for me in every way and I'm glad we can share our lives together. Well, as I'm sure you're all waiting for, I'll post some of the pictures from our photographer!!! Enjoy!!

Oh and p.s....my name is changed officially now :) I have a social security card and an official driver's license that both say Natalie Elizabeth De Jesus.... :) so yeah...just thought I'd share that

haha.... :)

Before the Wedding: May 25, 2009

Husband and Wife: May 26,2009

Mesa, Arizona Temple

There are WAY more pictures from the temple, but I think I'll put the pictures from the reception where everybody is all in their wedding clothes :)

The Wright House Reception

WHEW!! Hope you liked all the pictures!! I almost feel bad that there are so many..... it's just I have over 300 pictures from the photographer and it's just so hard to choose! And there's so many things that happened that day that I want to share!!! I just laugh at myself that all this time I've been blogging I've always just clicked and dragged my pictures down and down and down....over and over again till they get to the bottom, and I never even thought about this: CUT and PASTE!!! It's like my new best friend!!! I love it!!! Time and energy saver!!! Haha... well love you guys, hope you enjoyed what is now officially my longest post ever :)

The Joys (And HORRORS!!) of the Music Education Major

2009-06-28T18:57:00.001-07:00

Ok so, again I am at work in the Marriott Center Office with absolutely nothing to do.... so I'm going to post about my class, Music 176, Careers in Music Education. I just barely started this class Monday, June 22, and it'll be done this Thursday, July 2! It's a three hour class on Mondays and Thursdays, so I only go 4 times and I'm done! The scary thing is, this class is like a 12 hour "audition" for the Music Education Major. All of the work we do for the class goes into the decision making process.... :/.... so then, this last Thursday they tell us that there is a new part to this class that they've never done before....an audition. Here I was, thinking that I'd already auditioned this last December/January, and now I find out that doesn't count anymore!! So I'm like CRAP!! I haven't had voice lessons in two months!! The worst part is, they told us that auditions could be as early as this FRIDAY....yeah, so in like less than a week....hmmm.... and that's besides the fact that we have this HUGE closing assignment due by July 20, AND an interview due by August 3. I was hoping that we could have the interviews earlier and find out about our admission into the program by mid-july, but after seeing the requirements for the closing assignment, I understand why everything happens so late :)
I know I've mentioned a lot of the stress, but all-in-all this class is actually really fun. We do really interesting assignments that actually have to do with music education! Imagine that! hahah.... but really I find myself actually enjoying myself while doing my assignments. Even though this class is titled "Careers in Music Education," it actually talks a lot about other music careers as well; so we get to read about things like Music Therapy and Music Psychology. Our teacher's wife came in yesterday and talked about free-lance musicianship; she is an amazing woman!! It is interesting to think that someone who has a degree in opera and oratorio can make her career singing jingles and commercials for TV and radio stations! I love that this class is all about finding what's right for each individual person and making sure that everyone is suited for being a music teacher. It really is a noble career and a tough one at that!! It is important that everyone is ready for the challenge, especially since people will be putting their children into our hands at some point and expecting us to do our job, no questions asked!! This class is actually meant to "weed out" or kinda scare off people who aren't committed or sure about this career, but honestly for me this class has just shown me even more how much I want to be a choir teacher; I want to be able to influence people's lives and make a difference. Because I can make a difference and I can do something good in this world by being a teacher. I am so excited!!! I hope I get into the program, but I think I can do it!!! Wish me luck!

Mexican Honeymoon

2009-06-20T14:28:00.000-07:00

Ok so I've been waiting for pictures from my wedding so I could post those FIRST, but seeing as I don't have any and don't want to steal anybody elses, I am posting about the Honeymoon first. I just couldn't wait to get something up here!! So, the wedding was great!! It was picture perfect, and then we went off for the honeymoon. The first night we spent at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Phoenix, near the airport. It was a really nice place! Then the next morning we flew out to Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico to the Decameron Resort. It was so much fun! The airport was a little nervewracking since I'd heard all kinds of stories about people having to throw things away, etc. And filling out all the paperwork just to get off the plane....!!! But in the end, all we threw away was apples. I guess they were afraid we were trying to use their land to grow fruit and sell it in the US or something... hahaha. So we made it to the hotel, and to our room, which wasn't necessarily the NICEST room, but it was cute :) We were in the building closest to the beach, and we had a FANTASTIC view of the ocean, it was absolutely beautiful! Because of all of the Swine Flu scare, there were hardly any Americans there. The hotel population was probably 80% Mexican!! And due to the fact that I was traveling with a part Puerto Rican who speaks Spanish, they thought I was Mexican!! Apparently there are many Mexicans in Puerto Vallarta that are quite pale. I got really good at answering in English to questions given in Spanish :) It was really fun! The weather was perfect; it was in the 80's the entire time we were there. And it was humid, but the breeze from the ocean made it so it felt absolutely perfect. Since it was an all-inclusive resort, we had all you can eat Mexican food all day long!! And they had other nice restaurants for free with reservations!! They also had pools literally on every side of our building, as well as an "adult only quiet pool" which was nice so that we didn't have all the little kids throwing balls and shooting squirt guns all around us all the time :) All in all Mexico was a great honeymoon and we are very glad we went! Here are some of the pictures to share with you the fun we had :) It really was beautiful!

This is our room :) It really didn't have much more to it than a balcony and a bathroom, but it was great for the trip!!! We loved it!

The view from our balcony :)

Me and my sweetheart at sunset

I had to take quite a few pictures with our inexpensive camera to get a picture with color like this, so I had to post it!! Puerto Vallarta is a gorgeous place :)

The beauties of Mexico :) They even had banana trees! And coconuts, and pineapple....yeah. Amazing.

All around our hotel they had little Mexican things, and I liked this one haha... :)

At the beach!! We went every day. They had boogie boards, and stuff we could use whenever we want!!! We also got 50 min massages for 30 bucks each!! That was amazing. The water was perfect too.

We went to a fiesta! One night they had a live mariachi band, and people dressed up in authentic clothes with vendors, and games and music going on it was fun!

We dressed up to go to dinner :) I love Ben!

One of the many fountains at the hotel :) This picture is one of my favorites

This is at the Brazilian restaurant. Our waiter took it for us.

The beach again. We tried writing our names in the sand, but it didn't quite fit in the camera. And then they got washed away!! Sad, but it was fun anyways :)

Outside the Japanese restaurant. Look!! It's Buddha!

At the beach again, enjoying the sun :) Except this time we went up on the higher deck so we didn't get sand in our eyes every time the wind blew, haha..

Our last night in Mexico, we took a walk on the beach and thought we'd take one last picture at sunset, although you can't see the color in this picture.

Mexico was a wonderful, needed vacation. Life got so stressful before the wedding, this was a necessary break from the craziness of life. It was so much fun!! 5 nights there were great, and we had lots of fun souvenir shopping and even saying no to all of the vendors that roam the beach all day long!! It was fun. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Love Love Love

2009-05-04T16:19:00.000-07:00

Love is a beautiful thing :) I know it's been a long time and I haven't written, but school has been crazy and planning a wedding even crazier!! This past week I've finally gotten home and Ben and I had an open house in Washington on Friday. Then I went through the temple on Saturday, it was beautiful!! I don't have pictures yet from the last two events, but hopefully I can steal pictures from my mom sometime soon and make some more posts :)

Anyways, what I do have pictures for are engagement pictures!!! And a little message (or whatever, I don't know what to call it haha) about love. You know, there is more than one type of love. There's the love when you "think" you're in love and then realize later that you really weren't, you were just excited and happy for the attention; it was nothing that lasted very long, it was only temporary. Then there's the love that is lustful love.... not much is needed to be said about that. Then there's the love that lasts forever, the love that everybody longs for. How do you really know when you're really in love? This true love is hard to come by, and hard to recognize. I myself have mistaken love before and had that temporary "love" I already mentioned. But now, being truly in love is so much different, and it makes me so happy! There is such a difference once you experience this kind of love, but you can't know it until you're in it! So my advice to those who have not yet found their forever companion is, really be careful with the words "I love you". They are really special words; save them for the person you really know, is for you, your TRUE love. Love is sweet, love is special, love is forever. It makes a princess into a QUEEN!!! haha so yeah..... I love love :)

Anyways, here are some engagement photos. We took them next to the Provo River by Raintree Apartments on University Parkway :) We took them in the middle of March, and Ben actually has mono!! But the pictures turned out great, and we are so cute!! It makes me so happy!!!

Life

2009-02-20T17:06:00.000-08:00

You know, I'm at work with absolutely NOTHING to do....they told me I could watch movies if I want, that's how slow it is! I just wish I was at home so I could put some pictures on here haha....but anyways....LIFE.

That word can have so much meaning you know? Sometimes it's hard to know what the heck we're actually doing at one point in time, but in the end it's all life. Everything that seems like such a huge deal at the time is a joke later! There are only those few special events in our lives we get to cherish forever, and everything else are just stories and memories we tell to our children. It's funny how we can place SO much importance on something that in the end is not all that important. All we really need is Christ, the gospel, and family. Where we go to school and what kind of money we make and where we live really don't matter in the end! Yet it seems like so many people put so much pressure on us to have the most money, go to the most prestigious schools, and live in the biggest, nicest houses with the nicest furnishings. Why does it matter? That's my question- why? Was it always like this? I don't know I'm just bored and kind of doing a food for thought type of thing. Do those things really matter? Personally, I only want what money is necessary. I don't need anything incredibly crazy! Of course, like anybody I enjoy those little luxuries every now and then, and they can sometimes help us grow closer to those we love, in which case it may be necessary to have those luxuries. Everyone for themselves right? People have the right to discern what their needs are in their family, but I think there is just way too much pressure on society today to be a certain way, which I don't think really matters!! Just listen to the prophets- that's how we're supposed to be. And most of the time, those other things don't matter. The world today has so much power over people; we need to remember who we are and what we stand for. We stand for Christ, and we will not follow in the footsteps of the world; we are in the world, but not of the world and we will fight for what is right. I really don't know why I'm writing this, but I've just had a lot of time to think, and this week has been extremely stressful just because of worldly matters. I just need to remember, and want to remind you, that it's not what the world wants, but what the Lord wants. That's what matters. I'm really glad to be at BYU and I'm so excited to be getting married, because I know what is right, and it's what the Lord wants. It doesn't matter if the world says I'm too young, or ignorant and I won't be able to support myself. The Lord will provide, and it will all work out because it is right. The Lord will always provide a way for me to do His will. I have faith that it will be ok and I know that I will be blessed for doing what is right. So anyways....food for thought. It's kinda random, but with extra time on my hands, what can I say???

Christmas in Washington!

2009-01-17T11:08:00.000-08:00

I know this is late and out of order, but that's just how it worked out I guess!! Well, coming home this Christmas to be with the family was really nice. We got family pictures taken together, and went to look at Christmas lights, and went to dinner, and read the Christmas story together. We all got dressed up in ridiculous outfits to act out the Christmas story. Just being with them felt good, and made me realize just how grateful I am to have the family that I do!! Just the fact that we all get along and can play games together and be ridiculous is really comforting to know. I love my family so much!!! It was so fun to play with the girls (Lydia and Claire), and to see everyone and just be together. I love them!! Here are some cute pictures of the little girls on Christmas eve. They even have matching outfits!!

This picture is my absolute favorite!! Claire was reaching for the camera and I caught her right in the middle of it! She has such an adorable smile and the most gorgeous eyes!!! I love my Claire-bear :)

Andrew had lots of fun playing with Claire. He is cute with the girls :)

Ryan too- he looks kinda funny in this picture, but it's cute. I like it at least! Being home from his mission he is really sweet with the girls. It was so fun to be home with everyone!

Especially with Lydia. She is growing up so fast! Even while being in Washington I watched her vocabulary increase and her delight in talking and dancing and playing just continue to grow and grow! She is adorable! One of her favorite things to say was "See Tie!!" (Singing Time) which is her Disney Sing-a-long DVD she got from Grandma (mom) for Christmas. It was so cute to watch her sing into the microphone as someone played the piano, or as she danced along with her Disney songs. She was always asking to dance or to sing, and loved to hear music around the house. She is also learning to be very perceptive to the feelings of others. When Kimia was sad, she came to her and said, "Ki saa??" (Kimia sad?) and Kimia told her she was, and Lydia said, "Ki nee Je?" (Kimia need Jeff?) Kimia told her that yes indeed, she did need Jeff, and Lydia walked into the hallway and started yelling, "Je!! Je!! Ki saa!! Je! Ki nee you! Ki saa!" (Jeff! Kimia's sad! Jeff! Kimia needs you! Kimia's sad!) She is so adorable, and so sensitive and caring for such a young girl!! Here's some more pictures of the family from break :)

Ben came for New Year's too, and here's just a few pictures from when he was here. We went for a walk along the Puget Sound on the Soundview trail the last day he was in Washington. (the same day he proposed!!) So these pictures are from that. It was a gorgeous day!!

I'M ENGAGED!!!

2009-01-10T13:11:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's taken me two weeks to post this, but as probably many of you have heard, I'm Engaged!! I am so happy and so incredibly excited I can't even explain it. Well of course, here's the details:

So his name is Benjamin Joseph De Jesus. I met him at BYU in American Heritage of all places! (it's one of the most disliked classes on campus) We had a TA who was absolutely insane, and just became friends through our lab. If this helps at all, our particular professor has 3 different lectures with almost 1000 students in each; each lecture has about 25-30 lab sections. The fact that we were in the same lab is absolutely INSANE!! But I like to think it wasn't a coincidence :) I don't really believe in coincidences.

So long story short, we started dating, fell in love, and were shortly planning his trip to WA over New Year's. He arrived in WA on December 30, late at night. I was so excited!!! It was so good to see him again after being apart over Christmas. By this point, I had actually already bought my wedding dress and was anxiously awaiting his proposal :) So he came, met the family, and just had a really nice stay at my house. We went and got pictures taken Friday morning (January 2) and just spent some time together driving around town and showing him sights around where I grew up. Then that evening we went to C. I. Shennanigans Restaurant; it's a very very nice restaurant right on the water, with a gorgeous view of the ocean. It was beautiful and romantic and just wonderful to be together. As we got home, he stopped on the doorstep, looked at me and said "So, I might have set up a little surprise for you with your mom and sister...." At this point, I was pretty intrigued, so I just went inside, and what I saw was not what I expected: the door to the kitchen was SHUT (that never happens), there were red roses on the front table, candles in the fireplace, all the Christmas lights were on and our song was playing. He took my hand and started dancing with me. I was in dream-land- this was NOT happening!!! I was sure he was going to propose, although I had no IDEA how on earth he got the ring so fast! But then, he said to me, "Since this is our last night in Washington, I just wanted to make it special for you. I have another Christmas present that I made for you." He said "MADE" not "bought," so I was like, ok he's not proposing. And I was ok with that, I was still really happy. This was the cutest surprise a guy had ever put together for me!! So, I look around and I see this picture frame and I was like, "Is that it?" and he said "Just sit down and close your eyes." So of course I complied and found a seat on the couch and covered my eyes with my hands. The next thing I knew, he had handed me the frame. It was so cute! It had a poem that he had written for me in it. I read it through once and was just soo happy. It was adorable, and just perfect. I was so happy. So then he says, "Ok now look at it again." I was confused so I said "I am looking at it!" And he said, "No, just look at it again." He said this with a huge smile on his face, so I looked at the poem again, and I realized that there were certain letters that were red instead of black, and I said, "Oh! The red letters??" So I started reading the red letters... they spelled out, "W...I...L...L...Y...O....U...M...A...R....R...Y...M...E.." and once I realized what it said my mouth just DROPPED!! I was soo excited!!! Once my mouth dropped, Ben knelt down in front of me, and before he could finish proposing, the words "YES yes yes yes!!" escaped my mouth in the space of about half a second....haha :) It was so exciting. Here's some pictures that Rachael took from before Ben and I got back (they set the whole thing up while we were at dinner...)

After he proposed, we started dancing to the music that was playing, and then we came into the kitchen to greet my anxiously awaiting family :) It was so fun!! I couldn't believe that they ALL knew about it before me!!! It was so crazy that Ben even HAD the ring over Christmas break! The man that we ordered it from was able to finish it in FOUR DAYS and have it ready the SAME day that Ben was leaving for Arizona, so he was able to pick it up just in time to leave for Christmas. It was perfect. I was so happy to be able to share such a happy moment with my family, and I am so glad that they got to meet him! Ben is really an amazing guy and I am so excited to spend the rest of my life with him!

So, as I'm sure you're all wondering, the big day is May 26. And we're getting married in Mesa, AZ!! Close to all of the family :) See, my parents grew up in AZ, so all of our extended family is there, as is Ben's family! He grew up in AZ as well, so his entire family and extended family lives there. It's just perfect. Everything is coming together just right! I'm so excited :)

Well, here's some pictures of the two of us after we came back to see the family!! Enjoy!

A Festive Fiasco

2008-12-20T21:11:00.000-08:00

I don't have any pictures for this entry, but I just HAD to share this absolutely ridiculous experience. So yesterday I woke up, packed, cleaned the house, and got ready for a normal day. I went to sell back my text books, only to find out that they would buy only ONE of them back- for $1.25. So that was a major bummer.... then I go to get food, and the line took half an hour! So when I finally got my food I had to shove it down super quick so I could get to my Book of Mormon final. It went really well! But as I walked out, I saw that it was snowing....seeing as I was supposed to be driving to the airport that night, that worried me really badly. It was snowing really hard! Driving home from school took 15 minutes, and the roads were really bad. I finally got home (to my apartment), and called Ellie, the girl who was riding with me to the airport. I wanted to leave early to make sure we'd make it to the airport. She had been waiting for the bus for 45 minutes, and still needed to check the lost in found at the Wilk. So I drove her to and from the Wilk, which took half an hour, and barely made it back in time for my cleaning check with my R.A. Once we finally left, it took 25 minutes just to get to Jeff and Kimia's five minutes up the road! As I walk around the house to get his mail, the snow was MUCH deeper than I thought, and I sunk in pretty far! Then I get out the keys, stick them in the door, and for some reason the lock won't turn! I can't get in, and it's driving me crazy...all of a sudden I hear someone yelling, "Who is it?? Who is it??" and I realize that it wasn't Jeff and Kimia's triplex thing....CRAP. I ran away as fast as I could, and called Jeff. Of course he didn't answer his phone...Then I called Mom, and was able to talk to Jeff and figure out which door was his. I go in, get the mail key, find the mailbox, get his mail, and as I'm coming back, this woman is standing in the doorway....: /....So I hang up with Jeff, and this woman starts yelling at me, asking me if I tried to open her door. I told her that I had gone to the wrong door, that I was trying to open the next one, and as soon as she understood (which took a few times), she calmed down and apologize. Whew! One thing down, the rest to go. So Ellie was driving, because she's from Colorado and has much more experience driving in snow than I do. The roads were awful, and traffic was really bad. It took us two hours to get to Taylorsville, after doing two uturns after getting off the freeway when we missed the turn to their house. Visibility was really bad, and it was hard to see the signs. So finally we're at Nathan and Cynthia's. Ellie turns off the car, and can't get the keys out because it's not in park; she gets it in park, gets the keys out, turns off the lights (they were beeping at her), and goes to open the back door. I slide across the front seat to get out her door, and ask for the keys. Ellie stares and me and goes, "keys?" and the search began. Somehow, from the ignition to the backseat, the keys were gone. We tore apart that car; each of us, me, Ellie, Nate, and Cynthia searched high and low through that car SEVERAL times each. We had flashlights, going through every inch of that car we could think of. We finally started searching through the snow, with shovels and brooms trying to find the keys. After an hour and a half, we called a locksmith so we could get our bags from the trunk. An hour later he finally shows up, and an hour and $150 after that we had a key to the trunk and the bags out of the car. By this point, I had missed my scheduled flight, and we called the airlines; they told me that my flight was actually delayed and that it would probably actually be canceled. So she scheduled me for a flight at 7:25 tonight. So I stayed at Nate and Cynthia's and all was fine. Ellie made it to the airport and got home, and I was so relieved. Then this morning just after breakfast, Mom calls me to tell me that I needed to get to the airport asap because a huge storm was coming to Seattle and Seattle might be closing down tonight. So I start freaking out, and get ready faster than I ever have before. Within 45 minutes I was at the airport, and waiting in the special services line. The guy who helped me was wonderful! He got me onto standby for 3 flights, and a confirmed seat on a flight for 9:11 pm tonight. So I went to the gate for standby on the first flight, and waited....In the meantime, I met quite a few people whose flights didn't go out the day before either! There were almost 30 people on the standby list, and not even all of the people made it on the list. After they started boarding, all of us quickly raced to the desk to get on the list. I made it on as number 13, and sat down to patiently to wait. I kept watching the screen as I went from 13 to 12, to 13, to 12, 11, 10, 6!! 3!!! and then I wasn't on the list...I was confused. It wasn't until I saw my name on the CLEARED list that I was excited!! After such a crazy couple days, it felt AMAZING to be finally getting on a plane to go home! I called Dad almost in tears, just grateful to be going home. I was so excited! Another girl, only fifteen years old, saw her name on the cleared list just after me, and even though we'd just met, we were screaming and hugging and laughing and just grateful. I've never been so grateful to be going home, or to be getting on a plane in my life. Well, the story doesn't end there; I got to Washington, got my bags, and got in the car, SO ready to go home! The roads were AWFUL, and we had to drive slowly. Unfortunately, there were some ridiculously STUPID drivers on the road. Right in front of us, a truck spun out over four lanes of traffic, and comes spinning back to us, barely missing us simply because Dad was able to shift down, swerve to miss the ice patch, and go into the shoulder to miss the truck that was going way too fast. I thought that was scary, and then about 20 minutes later, we had another close encounter: a small suv was driving behind us, and decided they wanted to speed past us in the left lane. As they sped into the lane left of us, they hit ice and spun, around, coming within an INCH of missing us, going at least 45 mph. They slid in front of us, going sideways, barely missing a semi traveling just to the right of us, and sliding back into the lane to the left. I was caught completely off guard, and despite trying to keep calm, I couldn't help the scream that left my throat. It was scary!! I was honestly scared for our lives. I am just grateful that the Lord felt it necessary to preserve my life and the lives of those others on the road. I am so grateful to be able to spend Christmas with my family and that I made it here safely!!!

ALLERGIES!

2008-11-19T08:58:00.001-08:00

So, once again, I had another reaction yesterday :( I went to go get my shot at around 11:15 yesterday morning at the Provo Allergy and Asthma clinic. Everything was fine, I waited my 20 minutes, and then I went home. As the day went on, my arm kept itching, but it always does so I didn't think much of it. At around 3 pm, I started noticing that my throat was swelling up, but I was in choir, and the use of cell phones is prohibited. So as soon as choir was over, I called Mom, and then I called the Dr's office; they told me to come in as soon as possible, because something was wrong. At this point I started to freak out, but then I reminded myself that it would be better if I was calm, so I tried my best to keep myself from hyperventhilating. I did well, so I made it to the doctor's office ok. Matt Pearson was kind enough to pick me up, and he stayed with me while I went inside. As soon as I got inside, I started explaining what my symptoms were, and they sat me down and gave me epinephrine almost immediately. Then they stayed and kept talking to me, and taking my vital signs,etc. After about half an hour they gave me some steroids and antihistimine and let Matt take me home. I got a blessing, which was very nice, and rested for the rest of the night. So I am feeling somewhat better now, I just have a major headache and still feel a little out of it. But I'll be ok :) No worries! So yeah...that was my experience yesterday!

I'm a Princess!

2008-11-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

This last weekend November 7 and 8, the Womens' Chorus and Men's Chorus had a concert. Womens' Chorus performed TWELVE numbers...it was crazy! Because of this however, all last week was really stressful and incredibly INTENSE at rehearsals. By the end of the week I was excited, nervous, scared, and relieved to be reaching the time of the concert. So many girls were really worried about memorization, flow, and connecting the pieces between ourselves and the audience; so much was on the line as we walked on stage on Friday night! But as Sister Appelonie stood before us, ready to begin our set, she mouthed the words "I love you." This brought so much trust onto the stage, and so much love, emotion and vulnerability- all of which was so necessary for a wonderful performance. The trust on the stage was tangible- even members of the audience could feel it! The magic that was our music was absolutely gorgeous, and felt SO good! Our first three pieces are about peace, and the spirit of peace I felt, and the love of Christ I felt was so incredible. It was as if nothing mattered but singing the songs with everything I had, giving everything I had to Sis. Appelonie and the audience. I don't think I've ever had such an amazing experience performing choral music. I loved it! The next three pieces we sang were more folksong-ish...fun, but still very choral and emotional. Then we switched gears completely and began our 6-song Disney Princess Medley....WOW. wow. wow wow WOW WOW!! It was so AMAZING!! This set was the hardest for us, mainly because we're so used to singing them in certain ways, BAD ways, and in certain arrangements...not to mention the fact that we didn't even get the music for A Whole New World until a week before the concert! But once we started singing, the energy was so high, and the characters were all there! Not only did we enjoy ourselves, but the audience did too! We sang Belle, A Dream is a Wish/ Once upon a Dream, Won't Say (from Hercules), I'm Wishing/ One Song, and A Whole New World. I was so impressed with how focused the choir was, even with such fun, easily distracting pieces! And being a princess was absolutely wonderful! One of the girls' husbands commented that "It's like they're all living their little girl dreams!! And you can tell! Their faces are AWESOME!" We have received some of the BEST compliments about this concert; it makes me feel so good! We received standing ovations both nights, and were completely sold out the DAY BEFORE!! Part of that is because I was part of a promotion event in the Wilkinson Student Center: Take a Picture with a Princess!! Several of us girls from choir dressed up like princesses, and took pictures with people that we printed off for them to pick up at the concert, if they went. It was so much fun, and really did a good job selling tickets for the concert! The audience was wonderful- they called encore, and reacted to everything SO well, and we could feed off their energy so wonderfully too! I felt like I was acting on stage again- I put so much of myself into this performance. It felt good, and was the perfect outlet after a stressful week. I am SO incredibly grateful for my opportunity to participate in a choir so dedicated, talented, and fun! Here are a few pictures of Rachael and I wearing tiaras... We're princesses!! Oh yeah...and these pictures were taken before the performance on Saturday after Rachael and I both got free haircuts from our friend Emily :)

A Sarah Palin Halloween

2008-11-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

So this Halloween was an interesting one. First of all, Rachael and Jessica went to our friend Emily's to stay the night, so I was home by myself. I invited Emily Watts (a different Emily) to stay the night at my apartment with me, and she invited me to come with her and her nephews trick or treating. I figured why not, so last minute I put together a costume....Second of all, this is my first Halloween away from home, so it was a little weird, besides the fact that I haven't dressed up since I was like 12...So, anyways, I dressed up as Sarah Palin. It was a fairly easy costume, since all I had to do was wear nice business-ish clothes and go buy some cheap reading glasses from the dollar store. The funniest part though, was that when I got to Emily's, her nephews were dressed in tuxes...perfect to be my BODYGUARDS!! It was the perfect, unplanned story to tell all the people at the doors :) Their reactions to the little boys in tuxes was pretty hilarious... In case anyone is wondering, Michael's chain says "Bling Bling" on the end. He was a pretty gangster bodyguard. :) Here's a few pictures from afterwards at Emily's:

So that was my Halloween. Emily came over after trick-or-treating, and we rented Made of Honor and then stayed up late watching movies we borrowed from her house. It was fun! I really appreciated her coming over and spending Halloween with me so I wasn't by myself. She is such a cute girl!!

Ok so one more thing...a small part of my Halloween was a few days before...We had an FHE pumpkin carving contest the Monday before which was pretty fun. My family won 3rd place for Most Intricate Design with our howling wolves carving. Even though I'd hurt my shoulder earlier that day, I still had fun watching and spending time with my "family"!! For the record, it took us so long to trace out our designs on the pumpkins, the actual carving part took only five minutes!! The judge called 5 MINUTES! And we were done right after the time was up. Yeah for teamwork!