Raise Your Banner High, High, High!

Since Football season has arrived... we decided that our home needed a touch of Utah spirit. I can't think of a better way to show our pride in and our love for the Utah Utes, than raising a flag. That is just what we did. Parley has talked about putting a flag up on our house for a couple of months now. Finally on Saturday his wish was granted. He drilled the holes into the stucco and set the Utah flag up right on our front porch. He was so proud... and I was so proud of him that he didn't damage the house... if any of you are familiar with the show Home Improvement... can you say "Tim the Toolman Taylor"! No, in all seriousness, he did a really great job. We sure started a trend too... once our flag was up, all sorts of flags were suddenly put up in our little neighborhood. It was great to see some more Utah spirit. Although we did get a few comments from the opposing team on Sunday. Hey, I don't see any of their banners raised... probably because BYU has only won one game this entire season and their team isn't looking all that great this year. I don't blame the fans. I'd be embarrassed too. Awe the rivalry... you gotta love it! It will be interesting to see if any of the BYU fans in my neighborhood bring out their flags on game days.

We have had a lot of fun going to the games on Saturdays. We just love college football, especially Utah football.. It just wouldn't be Fall without it. This week we have a bye, but the next few weeks our undefeated team will be up for the challenges ahead... Air Force, TCU, Notre Dame, etc. We have some exciting games coming up. I can't wait to be on the edge of my seat! Go Utes!

The Baby Tracker!

This will be a short little entry, but I had to comment on how cute and funny Parley is! He came up to bed last night around 11 pm.. that is an all time record for him. He usually doesn't go to bed until 2 am or so. I know he is crazy! He had to show me what he added to our blog. The Baby Tracker. Ha Ha he is so cute. I think it was a nice little addition to our blog, don't you think? Now for all of you who would like to know when our little guys is coming just look up at the top of our blog and it will tell you the weeks and days. 12 weeks and 6 days so far. We can't wait to meet him!

Slacker!!

So I entitled this entry "Slacker" because I think it has been almost a year that I have not updated our blog... that is horrible! This is suppose to be like a journal of mine and Par's life, I'm not doing a very good job at it. I thought by creating this blog I would be on it all of the time. Life comes at ya pretty fast. Well, let me take the honors and catch up, bear with me! Ha! I think that last entry I made was in October or November of last year, while we were living in Minnesota. Guess what, we moved back to Utah! Parley got offered a job last November to come work for a company called Career Step. He interviewed over the Christmas holiday the week we got back to Minnesota from the holidays we packed up and moved back to SLC. We ended up having to keep paying on our apartment until the lease was up in May so my parents were kind enough to help us out by letting us stay in the guest house on Abinadi Rd. I was able to get my jobs back with The Perfect Dress and Dr. Jensen's office. I would have worked at Dr. J's office full time, but he didn't need me full time, just two days a week, which has been really helpful and nice. We bought a town house in Sandy during the month of April and we spent about two to three months fixing it up so it would be livable for us. Parley did most of the work, but with friends and families' help we were able to get it all done. We put in hardwood floors, repainted, and put new carpet in the upstairs. When we enter our neighborhood we sometimes feel like we live in Pleasantville. It is a really nice area and it is hidden so no one can really see it.

Parley has been traveling a lot with his new company. He goes about two to three times out of the month to the Midwest. I am home alone a lot of the time, which gets kind of scary. Good thing I have my family here that I can see and be with when he is gone. Parley loves his new job and he is kicking butt. He broke the record for getting the highest contracts in, in one months time. His boss loves him. I am glad he is doing so well. The structure of his company is changing quite a bit and lately he has been a little stressed, but things will work out, they always do. He got a new best friend, though! The new i4 phone! I've been teasing him ever since he got it that he has a new found best friend. He is like a little boy at Christmas! It's so funny! One of these days the newness of the phone will die down and I will be the best friend again! Ha!

We had an opportunity to go to New York City and Washington DC this past summer. It was such fun trip. I learned all sorts of new things. What a culture shock! We spent three days in NYC and then 4 days in DC. We walked our little hearts out and to the point where we could not walk any more. We visited Eli and Julie who live in DC and I won the lottery to see "Wicked" in NYC. We got to see the Statue of Liberty and Canal Street. We took the subway to Ground 0 and stayed in the Waldorff Astoria. That was a neat experience. I felt like a million bucks. The best part was we stayed there for free ninety-nine. In DC we went to the Mall and saw the historical sites. It was amazing and beautiful. You gain a better sense of pride for our country while you are there. Amazing, Amazing!

During all of these things that took place since we have been back... We found out we were pregnant. Yes, I am having a baby. I am due on December 20th. We are having a Christmas baby boy and we are so excited. Finally with all of the girls in my family and in his family, there will be a boy. We have no idea what to name him yet, but we have a few names here and there that we like. I think we will actually decide when he arrives and we get to meet him for the first time. I am so excited for that day. I have had a rough pregnancy though.. I was really sick in the beginning, which went away, but now I am on mild bed rest, Doctors orders. I have been experiencing some contractions really early. I am only 5 1/2 months and contractions aren't suppose to kick in until around 7 or 8 months. Dr. Terry, who is the most wonderful Doctor, said I have to take it easy for a while to see if these contractions will go away. He gave me some medicine to help calm my uterus, because I guess I have what is called an irritable uterus. This can lead to pre-term labor if not watched properly. I think I will be okay though. This baby is so active and healthy, I am pretty sure as long as I am careful with my body, we both will do just fine the rest of the way.

Utah Football started back up! Yay, we are so excited. We have season tickets this year, so we get to go to all of the games. I will go to as many as I can for the next little while, after that Parley is on his own. I just keep getting bigger and bigger and its starting to get hard for me to get around. I even had to quit The Perfect Dress, also Doctors orders. We will see how the rest of the season plays out. The Utes played Pitt their first game and won in overtime. They definitely outplayed Pitt, but made some stupid mistakes throughout the game, which caused them such a close game. They will get better as the season progresses. They are going to the PAC-12 next year, which is really exciting for the team and the fans.

That is everything in a nut-shell. I am sure I missed a few things here and there, but I can't possibly jot down everything, just the main things that are important. I promise I won't take this long to blog again. Ta Ta For Now!

I Am a Utah Man, Am I!

This holiday season has brought snow, cold weather, and a suprise! Yep, that's right a surprise! Parley and I are moving back to Utah right after the new year. We will report to Salt Lake City sometime on January 9th or 10th. Parley has accepted a new job offer with a company called Career Step based out of Provo. He is excited and anxious to start his new adventure and is looking forward to working with talented businessmen. With this new company, Parley will have to travel quite often, but after lengthy discussions we both feel and agreed that if he ever were to travel, it would be best for us to be in Utah for right now. Thus, we are making the journey back. We are excited to reunite with our family and friends for the time being.

Minnesota has been wonderful to us. We have met so many wonderful people and friends that will last forever. The members of the Maple Grove ward are amazing people and we are sad to leave them. We know we will always stay in touch with them. They have taken us in and have loved us and helped us become the people we are today. We will always be grateful for this time in our life together as a married couple, because of the impact our "new family" has had on our lives. Thank you to you all! You will be truly missed. Parley has been assigned the Midwest as his area of coverage, so we know we will visit often.

We are excited for the Christmas season and for all of the many blessings the New Year will bring. Merry Christmas to you all and Happy New Year!

Everything is Possible - Great video!

I found this awesome video on a friend's gmail status, of all places. The things these people can do are amazing! It must have taken them a TON of PRACTICE and NO FEAR. It's inspiring because it makes me think of what I can accomplish if I try hard enough and am resiliant. Watch the video, it's really cool! You'll have to pause the blog music at the bottom of the screen so that you can hear the soundtrack to the video.

They'll break your heart

Last night we went to the Jazz vs. Timberwolves game with our friends Ryan and Kylie Merrill. Parley and Ryan are BIG Jazz fans! When Parley and I were dating, we had to watch every game! We bought the cheapest seats we could but then just went down to sit in the lower bowl behind the Jazz bench. It was pretty fun when we were dominating, but after halftime it was rediculous to see them let the lowly T-Wolves back into the game and eventually win. Seriously, how do we lose to the 2nd worst team in the NBA? The Jazz need to play better on the road, but that's nothing new. It's frustrating, but I don't really let it ruin my night like it does for Parley. After the game we went back to Ryan and Kylie's new house and watched the end of a football game. They are fun to hang out with. We're thankful to be friends with them.

Here's our team. What's up with Deron William's new huge jaquar tattoo? That thing is ugly...I liked the "No Guts" and "No Glory" on his triceps much better. haha. These guys in the NBA are crazy with all their tats. There are a couple good new rookies on the team, but for some reason the main group hasn't been playing very consistent. Well, it's a long season and we're on pace to make the playoffs, but we need to get on it if we want to make a post season run. Go Jazz!

Catching up!

Wow... I think I am the worst blogger! Ha! I haven't blogged for a couple of months and so many fun things have happened. So... it is time to catch up, if y'all know what I'm saying. Here is a recap. The Fall season, which is now coming to an end since the last time I wrote, has been a short one. Actually, for a while there I thought we were going to skip Fall, (my favorite season of all time), and go directly to winter. Some days in October were a bit sketchy and freezing. It has even snowed a couple of times. Parley says, "you just have to compartimentalize the winter, which makes it easier to bear," I guess! What a character! I don't think any sort of mechanism is going to help this winter be more bearable... YUCK! I probably should start having a better attitude, because the winter might even be longer if I don't.

Let's see... October was full of all sorts of Halloween festivities. I even was able to throw Haloween party, with the help of our friends Patrick and Maria Tedjamulia. It was The First Annual Halloween Spooktacular! Thanks again guys! It was off the hook. So many people came. We had so much fun with all the decorations, games, and food. We even made a couple of Youtube videos, one of which stars the Maple Grove Single (Married) Ladies. You should check it out!

Parley went out of town the last week of October. Okay can you say, NO SLEEP! Yeah I didn't sleep one bit the entire week. It was my first time ever being alone in a new city. I was a little terrified. I made Parley stay on the phone with me the entire night one of those nights. He fell asleep of course and all I could hear was him snoring and breathing... which was not helping me one bit. Let's just say we didn't try that again! I think that was the longest week of my life! Our dear friends the Ayllons took me in and fed me a couple of nights. They are the best family. We have enjoyed so much meeting new friends, and a few in particular have become really close with us, which helps with all of the homesickness I seem to be having still.

Parley and I ventured out to see an apple farm again this year. Although, I think we had more fun last year. The weather which we thought was going to be good, ended up being really cold and overcast. We didn't stay long, it was just enough time to share a huge gingersnap and check out the craft boutique. I totally want to have my own boutique some day! How fun would that be! Halloween night was a blast! We went over to the Ayllon's home againg and watch the Utah vs. Wyoming game with our other friends Cameron, Wendy, and Miley Clark. Cameron and Wendy both went to Wyoming for their undergrad and Cameron actually played football there. We thought it would be so fun to get together and watch the game. Sorry, Cameron Wyoming is no match for the Utah Utes! We killed'um~!


Speaking of Utah Utes. They are 8 and 2! Not as good as last years record, but they are still a great team and we love watching the running Utes play ball. November has been filled with Utah football, which is the way we like it. The game against TCU, well I really have no comment on that one, other than Las Vegas Bowl, maybe? We got creamed! TCU is amazing this year, but it didn't help that one of our great Utah players is injured and that the game was played on TCU's home field either. All I can say is off to the Cougar Stadium to cream BYU. Look out Cougs, we're comin at ya! Parley I don't think has ever missed a BYU vs Utah game...ever! So guess what? We are making the trek back to Utah this weekend to spend the Holidays back home. Yep, we are driving. Well we really don't have another choice in the matter. My car's lease is up and it has to be turned back into the bank in December. We thought it would be better to drive out now rather than wait and drive in December when the weather is a lot worse. Road Trip!! Parley is dreading it, but I said we would have fun. I am going to read New Moon to him, which is the second book of the Twilight Saga! He and I watched the first one together a couple of weeks ago. In the need to be matcho, Parley just won't come out and say he really liked it. He says, "it was okay," with a huge grin on his face, and We All know and love that grin. Ha! I can't wait to see the New Moon movie with my sister. She is actually going to the mid night showing tonight, but she said she will definitely see it again with me when I get into town. Jacob is a Hunk-A-Hunk of Burning Love in this one!

What else... Oh I don't think I mentioned that I was deathly sick a couple of weeks ago too! I mean it was awful. I have never been that sick in my entire life. Well, maybe not my entire life, but as far as I can remember. I thought I had the big "SWINE FLU"... ha! But come to find out after waiting an hour and a half at the Urgent Care, I had what is called Viral Pharyngitis... yeah don't ask me what that is. I guess it is kind of like Strepp Throat, but not as severe. I wouldn't bring it up to Par, because it's sort of a sore subject... :)! Anyways, I had a fever of 102.4 for two days, my throat was swollen shut, my body ached like you wouldn't believe, and I couldn't get out of bed. After being sick for almost 5 days straight, I decided that I needed to go to Urgent Care. The doctor, bless his heart, said go home, drink lots of fluids, and get lots of rest. Duh... I could have told myself that! Really! Well I can't wait to see the bill! This will be classic!

Happy days are here again.. I am all better. We are excited to see our families and friends, to watch the big game, and eat lots of Gobble, Gobble! We haven't been back to Utah for four months. I think that is my limit. I can only go so long, ya know! I can't wait to see my nieces and sisters and brother, Mom and Dad, John, Diane, and Sam, and all our friends. I can't wait to get my hair and nails done too. It's going to be a great week. I think this about covers the recap. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Go Utes!