Life at 500 MPH

*I'm not going to lie. I haven't blogged in a LONG time, so I just copied emails I've sent to friends over the past few months to make this monster post to catch up....and I'll try to keep up better from here on out. The middle - end is monstly about pregnancy....so if you don't want to hear about that I wouldn't read much further. :) Fair warning right?*

8/15
Or More. It's been craziness to say the least. I got a new job at Capital Press in Salem and it is going very well. It's a bigger office with about 30+ people in it all the time. It's nice having people around. For the most part...there are always some office politics to deal with. But honestly that was even true in the itty bitty office at CM&S.

It was sad saying goodbye to them, but honestly I felt like they would have for sure cut my hours more by this winter and my benefits were already terrible! And getting crappier. And I need good bene's! It looks like they will be great here!

So I'm an admin assistant for the Ad Director, Bob Carruth. Travis used to work with him at DH. We've actually had dinner several times with he and his wife Gloria while he worked with Travis. So it's been fun working with/for him. I'm also working in the classified dept. It's nice to have some variety at work!

We spent most of the summer at home. We went on a lot of hikes with Will and Ellie

This Friday is Travis and I's 5 year wedding anniversary. I can hardly believe it's been 5 years already! It's also our 10 year hs reunion. What are the odd's? So instead of vacationing like we normally do to celebrate, we are going to our reunion. Saturday Robbie and Todd are having a 25 year renewal of wedding vows so we are going to that. Should be a romantic weekend anyway!!

10 yr High School Reunion and 5 year wedding anniversary

 

Travis sent me this email, based on a song we heard.... so sweet and I never want to forget it.

I was twenty-one, you were twenty-one
The year we got engaged
Everyone said we were much too young
But we did it anyway

We bought our rings for much more than forty each
From a Fred Meyer jewelers down the road
We made our vows and took the leap
Now five years ago

We went dancing in the minefields
We went sailing in the storm
And it was harder than we dreamed
But I believe that's what the promise is for

"I do" are the two most famous last words
The beginning of the end
But to lose your life for another I've heard
Is a good place to begin

'Cause the only way to find your life
Is to lay your own life down
And I believe it's an easy price
For the life that we have found

And we're dancing in the minefields
We're sailing in the storm
This is harder than we dreamed
But I believe that's what the promise is for

So when I lose my way, find me
When I loose love's chains, bind me
At the end of all my faith, till the end of all my days
When I forget my name, remind me

'Cause we bear the light of the Son of Man
So there's nothing left to fear
So I'll walk with you in the shadowlands
Till the shadows disappear

'Cause he promised not to leave us
And his promises are true
So in the face of all this chaos, baby,
I can dance with you

I'm always here for you, and love you more than you will ever know. Put your trust in God and we'll walk this together.
 -Love Travis

9/14
Well I still can't believe this, but I'm pregnant!!! It's true! It's crazy and it's seriously hard to believe. It doesn't seem real when it's just a line on a stick or a call from the doctor after a blood test! We are THRILLED of course! I wish there was some tangable proof! I already can't wait until we get to see the heartbeat on the 28th!!

Honestly, Trav and I have both been surprised by how stressful it's been since we found out. We both thought we'd just be excited but instead we spend a lot of time worried. I've always been a worrier about everything and this just enchances it. And we've been told it will only get worse as the pregnancy progresses! And even after the baby is born. So I am getting a big lesson in giving it all to God. There is always more God has to teach us.
So, the baby is "due" May 17th, but I'd expect a c-section May 3rd, or if it's twins maybe even sooner! I can't believe that we're going to have a baby that soon!! What a blessing!

9/20
Still can't believe it! One week and a day until the u/s. I am SOOOO hoping to see a healthy heartbeat (or 2). Lets see, last night I felt TERRIBLE with nausea. I slept pretty much all day too. I slept in until 11 and then laid on the couch most of the day. I took a nap from 4 - 6 too. Sheesh. And I was still tired at bed time and slept all through the night. I didn't feel great Saturday either. It was the first home Beavers game which I was really excited about. But I ended up just feeling icky and there were people smoking around our tailgator and that smell was really getting to me.  But it was fun overall, and the Beavers won!

I can't wait for the u/s for several reasons! I want tangable proof, I want to see they are healthy, and I want to make sure it's ok to excersise so I can get back into my swim class and walking everyday. I have been REALLY taking it easy since the spotting and haven't exercised at all! And I think it's showing! Something is! LOL. My tummy is growing and I'm only 6 weeks!

9/22
WOW, the nausea is really kicking my butt this week. SOO not fun. I really hope I am one of the lucky ones who feels better at 12 weeks. I welcome anything this pregnancy throws at me, but wow.
Oh I had a terrible low at work on Monday. I was having lunch and Tracy and Bob were in the breakroom with me. I was sweating like a pig and knew I was having a low, but I was just eating my salad and hoping no one would notice. Duh. Bob asked if I was ok and I said yes. He got me a cool rag for my forehead because sweat was POURING off it. After he left I was humilated and Tracy asked me again if I was ok. I broke down and told her I'm a type 1 diabetic. To my surprise she knew all about it. Her sister had type 1 diabetes so she grew up with it! She was very helpful!
Because of the low I was 15 minutes late coming back from lunch. So I had to tell Sheryl what happened too. Now they know.  I'm glad thats over with. It's good people at work know.

I am excited for November for SO many reasons! Number 1., I'll be eligable for healthcare!!! That will be wonderful! 2. I'll have sick days! Man I could use those right now for the nausea! 3. Thats the month I'll be into the 2nd tri and can finally tell people I'm pg! 4. On the 9th Trav and I will have been together for 12 years!

We still need so many things for a baby! I was making a list and shocked myself. I'm hoping to find lots of stuff on craigslist, or at garage sales, or get them as gifts, etc.

List so far
car seat
stroller
high chair
boppy pillow
crib
crib bedding
rocking chair
baby clothes
baby bumbo
pack n play
baby gates
changing table
bassinet
baby bjorn 
baby bath/bath seat
baby monitor
baby shampoo/cond
baby rectal therm
infant sunscreen
diaper bag

Wow right!?

9/27
Tomorrow is the first u/s where we will hopefully see a strong healthy heartbeat! I am excited and nervous about the appointment! I just hope everything is just how it's supposed to be! We'll know soon enough. I'm glad it's finally here. I am 7 weeks. I feel like a balloon. My stomach has a small but noticable bump. Luckily no where else on me has gained weight! If everything looks ok and the dr gives the ok I will start walking every day and start my swim aerobics class back up once a week. Exercise will be GREAT. I miss being active.

I feel like maybe the baby is sucking out my brain juice. I have a hard time thinking....seriously. I can do my routine stuff at work but don't ask me anything out of the ordinary or you might not get anything! :) Hopefully by the 2nd tri I'll be feeling better!


God has blessed us yet again! Thank you Jesus! Travis got his approval to work 50% for corp, which we've been working on for several months now, but just today he found out he also got a raise from corp!!! Which is especially amazing in this economy!!

7 week belly pic

9/28
Well we had the craziest morning ever. On the way to my appointment we were going to stop for gas, but we got to talking and forgot. So we figured we could make it to the doctors office and get gas afterwards. We were cutting it close on time and didn't want to be late. Well, we hit terrible rush hour traffic! Since it was stop and start, we decided that late or not, we needed to get some gas unless we wanted to be walking and be really late. The ding ding and the light for gas had come on and Travis was so stressed that it was stressing me out! Majorly! Luckily we found a gas station pretty easily! We called the doc to tell them we were stuck in traffic and going to be a few minutes late. We got there 15 mins late. As we were pulling in I noticed that the temp gage was up more than normal so I told Trav we should probably refill the coolant before we left again. As soon as we got into the driveway the temp gage shot all the way to the red zone!  When we got out of the car the ground was covered in liquid that was draining out of my car. Ugh. We decided to deal with it after the appointment that we were already late for! We got into our room and while we were waiting for the doctor we called some people to see about a tow truck!

Dr got in about 15 mins later and we got started right away. At first we saw nothing. I panicked! Of course. He started searching around and I saw something weird looking. Turns out it was our baby. We saw the little tiny heart beat flickering away! He measured it and said it measured just right. (8mm) We were so thankful and relieved! He searched around a little more. I didn't see anything, but he did. There was another baby....hidden behind the first one. We couldn't get as clear of a view of the 2nd one, but we did see the heart flickering. We are having twins!!! This is crazy. We are so excited and scared and nervous all at once!!

We still pray daily for strong healthy babies!! Thank you Jesus for all your blessings!


9/29
Taking my vitamins has become a real struggle! Wow. Just swallowing the pills makes me want to throw up. So I've had to start taking less at a time. Of course it doesn't help that I take so many!!

10/4
Almost 8 weeks! My headaches have gone away for now, the nausea is about the same....comes and goes. It might be getting a little worse when it's here though! My concentration at work is nill, and the weeks still seem to be crawling by. The weekends go fast though! I think the days will go faster once work knows....hopefully! I'm guessing my OB will want to see me once before Nov 1 when my insurance is effective. As long as it's just an office visit and she waits on any tests then we'll pay out of pocket for one appointment. I can't wait until the insurance kicks in.

I'm guessing they'll want to take the babies at 36 weeks, which will be April 19th.

I started eating wheat again, so I've been over indulging on bread! Yum, I missed it. I need the whole grains for the babies though, and I just wasn't getting enough in other foods!

10/11
I think I might be dying. I am feeling pretty terrible today! Wow. I've been struggling since beofre lunch and the nausea hasn't let up! Which also makes the day CRAWL. Actually, it's Wednesday the 13th now and I've felt pretty bad all week so far.
Tomorrow we have an all day work meeting. Should be a fun one! It'll be a long day, ending with dinner afterwards. BUT I get to leave early on Friday to make up for it so that will be nice. I'm planning to not leave the house Fri - Sunday! Except for church and grocery shopping on Sunday! I may not even leave the bed. :)

Speaking of church, we started a new home group on Monday. We liked it. More importantly, Trav liked it. :) So we're planning on going! Of course next Monday we can't because we have our u/s appointment! And the Monday after Trav may have to go to a meeting in Davenport at corp! Ugh. I'd feel terrible missing 2 weeks in a row right after it started. Life. Either way, I'm glad we found it! Most of the people have young kids already, and one of the couples is expecting. She was almost 13 weeks on Monday so she is about 4 weeks ahead of me. It's exciting having someone else around where we are in our group though. I can't wait to be where she's at though! Of course she is hardly showing compared to me. haha.

I ordered some maternity clothes online yesterday through Kohls.com. They were having a big sale. And I'm getting huge so I'm sure I'll need them soon! I looked at what I'll look like at 36 weeks with twins. Wow.....huge.

10/18
Today is the 2nd u/s. I am excited! And a little nervous. I wonder if I'll always be a little nervous before u/s'! I just want everything to be perfect. As long as everything is fine I know I'll feel much better after the u/s!! Last time it put my mind at ease for a week....or 2. Hopefully 2 because I should have another one on Nov 1st which is exactly 2 weeks. :)

Travis just found out that he is for sure going to davenport for a work meeting. Luckily he should only be gone for one whole night though. The 26th. He'll leave at like 3:30am and get back at about 1am on the 27th. (Well the 28th I guess) I am glad that he will only be gone one night. I get nervous when he travels without me though. If something bad happens then I'll be alone. I need Travis.

We are going to a beach house with Ellie and Will and Chris and Ashley this weekend. Should be fun!

10/19
We saw the babies! They are still kinda hard to make out because on the u/s they are so grainy and blurry, but they were bigger, I could see the heartbeats better, and they were moving around a bunch which was really great to see. They measured at 10 weeks (33mm)! I'm 10 weeks today, so perfect. Both of them measured the same.....well I think one was 9 weeks and 6 days. One's heart rate was 170 per min and the other was 172. Nice and fast. The best part was seeing them move! I was actually a "model" for some students who are learning how to do u/s so 3 of them did it. It took an hour, but they were SO excited to see twins they asked me to come back again a few times so they can practice more. Which of course I said I would be happy to do. :) You could still see the yoke sack a little even. It was really cool. I can't wait to see them again in 2 weeks! Plus, it just gives me peace of mind that they are on track!
Eating has been a real challenge lately. Nothing healthy sounds good. And by that I mean looking at healthy food makes me want to puke. All I want to eat is pizza and del taco burritos! And ice cream. I know I need to be eating healthy for the babies, but isn't it better to eat SOMETHING than not be able to get anything down at all? I've been eating a couple fiber bars a day, and I try to have a glass of chocolate milk and an apple or 2. Fruit and veggies have been REALLY hard for me to eat lately....and I used to love them! And of course I try to get my protien at lunch and dinner. It's soup season, not to mention that soup makes for a really easy lunch....so I've been having soup 2 - 3 times a week. I don't want to overdo it!

I am SOOOO tired. I could sleep all day and night. On a good day I get a 2 hour nap in after work and I'm still super tired by bed time.

Oh, and I don't look pregnant, but my clothes don't fit. I basically just look fat! Thats fun! not.

I am so happy to be going through this, but it is hard. I knew it would be, and I knew I would be a whiner about it. Travis has really stepped up. He takes care of everything....cooking, cleaning, the animals....he's a life saver. I tried to make spaghetti dinner last week (Easy, I figured I could tackle it) while Trav was cleaning the bathroom. He reminded me to use the mushrooms.....just sautee them and put them in the sauce, and that was just too much for me. I started crying because he took over and I felt like I couldn't do anything, even make spag dinner. I felt like I wasn't contributing at all. He gave me a hug and told me I was contributing a ton, I was making babies. I still cried for about an hour.

10/22
We have a tentative plan for telling people! I can't even believe it! So because I'm so big already and it's getting harder to hide it, we are planning to tell a week earlier than we had originally planned. November 9th we're planning to tell Trav's parents, the 10th we'll tell mine, the 11th (if were not celebrating Air's bday) we'll tell Bob (my boss) and Gloria, the 12th we'll tell work, and our friends. So by the 12th almost everyone will know! Kinda hard to believe! but it realy is getting very hard to hide!

10/26
I am 11 weeks today. Travis is on his way to Davenport for a work meeting. I am praying for safe travels for him. We had a lot of fun at the beach house with El and Will and Chris and Ashley. We pretty much ate, played games, and laid around in our jammies. Perfect! I felt pretty bad Friday evening and part of Saturday. Weird cramping that made me want to see an u/s to make sure the babies are ok! By Sat evening I was feeling better and I've felt "normal" ever since....just the regular aching and stretching feeling. I never had any spotting or bleeding so I assume everything is fine.
My tummy still seems to be growing....I feel like I'm getting a thicker layer of fat on my whole body now. It's all the grilled cheese and stuff I've been eating catching up with me! But thats all that sounds good! Also, my belly seems to be extra hairy! Sexy! :) Anyway, I am hoping and praying. I know I stress too much. We will see the babies on u/s Nov 1st thank goodness. That will put my mind at ease! I thought the further I got the less stressed I would be, but apparently not! I got up at 3am to drive Travis to the airport. I'm pretty tired now, but at least I get to leave a little early. I need a nap! Soooooo happy that Novemeber is so close!

10/28
So.....Travis made it home safe and had a great trip! They all love him at corp! They want him to be full time, and he wants to be full time.  These things take time though....but at least they all want it and know they want it. Thats a start! The VP told him he's the best designer they have and he's very impressed with his work! That is a high compliment! Then when he got back to the local office today, he found on his desk that he had won the 2010 publishers award!! A very high honor! I am so stinking proud of him.

I'm not feeling nauseous....I felt a tiny bit sick yesterday afternoon and an intsy bit today. My belly is moving! It seems like it's moving up like toward my boobs! It kinda seems like it's getting smaller, but I think it's just moving up and spreading out. One thing is for sure, things are really changing this week! i can't wait until my appointment with the doctor on Monday. I need to see those babies again and I need to have doctors care! I am also looking at getting a doppler for home. So I can hear the heartbeats whenever I want! I swear I will listen to them every single day! What a wonderful sound!
11/1
I am THRILLED that it's November. FINALLY. I feel like I've been waiting forever! :) So the docs appointment went well! I was in there for 2 hours. They had tons of questions. Then they did an exam and u/s. :) Always the best part of my day!  They were very active today, I think they are just going to be very active. :) They were seriously doing flips in there! Waving thier arms and legs around....so cute! They are starting to get definition in thier faces. It's so cool. They didn't measure them this time, but thier heart rates had slowed down. I hope that is ok. They were 172 and 170 2 weeks ago and today they were 161 and 151. Still nice and strong the nurse said. But I didn't think to tell her what they were 2 weeks ago. Duh! They want to see me every 2 weeks already, plus send me to a specialist in Portland or Eugene! 
I got my first flu shot in YEARS....maybe my first one ever. OUCH, that hummer hurt! I've had a lot of shots and that one was terrible. And I heard my arm will be really sore tomorrow too. I got an order for a bunch of labs. I'm going to do them at our local lab though.

I feel great that they want to see me every 2 weeks, because I want to see the babies and check on them every 2 weeks!

11/3
Now that the docs have me in the system, they are all over me! Sheesh. I already have 3 appointments next week and 1 the week after, and they are wanting me to see a specialist sometime soon...I don't have the details on that yet. But holy cow!
I have a heart murmer. I had an echo 3 -4 years ago and they said it was fine, but my OB wants me to have another one because of the twins. Goodie. So thats next week, along with an eye appointment and an u/s.

I have been more tired lately.....soooo tired it almost hurts. I'm trying to take a nap every day, but that doesn't always go as planned. I did get one last night. My friend canceled swim class thank goodness. I was going to go but I was SO tired. Trav and I did go for a nice 30 minute walk in the evening though. Beyond being tired I have also being feeling extra sick. All this is a surprise to me because I was expecting to start feeling better this week....and instead it has been quite the opposite! Right now I'm thinking about going home early today.....so I can nap, and puke if I need too. UGH. But I don't want to use up my sick time either! Unless I absolutely have to!

I will tell you what, I have been a non-stop whiner. I feel terrible about it, but on the other hand, I feel terrible! Trav made a special lemon rosemary marinade and marinated some pork in it overnight to make pork chops last night. Poor guy....I could hardly get one down. The rosemary was like little sticks and I just couldn't eat it, and the lemon was over powering. It was rough. I ate lots of mashed potatoes and some broccoli though! :) Tonight we are having grilled cheese and soup and I am looking forward to that! Thank goodness. I am trying SO hard to eat healthy again. I usually love eating healthy but I've been really struggling with this pregnancy! When I need to eat healthy the most of course.
Sooooo, hopefully I'll make it for 2.5 more hours of work today! And of couse through tomorrow and Friday! I'm SO ready for another weekend and grateful that we don't have any plans this weekend. Hopefully I can just sleep a bunch! Like all day Saturday. :)

My brother moved in on Monday and it's been fun! We had our appraisal for the refinance on the house yesterday. Hopefully it comes in high enough and we can save some money on our mortgage payment!
11/09
Holy Toledo!! Work and life have been super busy lately! Wow! Today is 13 weeks. Finally! Trav and I have been together for 12 years today! Well, thats how long ago we started dating. :) I love him so much and know he is a blessing from God!

We are telling Trav's parents tonight! I am actually a little nervous. I wish we were having an u/s before we started telling! I'd like to make sure the babies are measuring the right size and looking good. BUT we do get to have an u/s tomorrow before we tell my boss and my parents! I still can't believe we are telling everyone this week!
I scheduled my appointment with the specialist for next week....Thursday the 18th at 3pm. It's at the Center for genetic and maternal-fetal medicine in Eugene.

11/11
We had another u/s last night. When they started it I saw the babies but they weren't moving at all (which the last couple times they've practically been doing flips!) and I couldn't even see heartbeats. So of course I was stressed. But the techs didn't seem stressed at all. They started doing thier thing and I just held my breathe! But as soon as they started trying to measure the babies started really moving around. It's almost like they didn't want the tech's to be able to get a measurement! It was so funny. I was just super relieved to see them moving. We got to do the u/s for almost an hour!! And the babies moved for at least 50 minutes of that. I think they can feel the u/s probe and they kinda react to it. Maybe they were sleeping when they started the u/s? The are so close to each other in there. I swear they must be able to feel each other move around. I could sit and watch them via u/s all day every day. It's so much fun!!

I only get to be a model once more, and it has to be before 20 weeks. We scheduled it for Decemeber 29th. I wish I could model as many times as I wanted....but I'm glad I get to model at least 3 times!

They measured the babies heads this time. Well, they wouldn't stop moving at first so they gave up and just measured the rump to head but later they were able to get head measurements too. Both measurements showed about 13 weeks 4 days. A bit older than they actually are.

Anyway, it was wonderful to see them! I ordered a doppler on ebay. I got it for $29.50 and it looks like a good one. Got good reviews, valued at $70 and it shows the heartrate! I should get it in a few weeks.

So Tuesday night we told Trav's parents. They were thrilled. I think his mom almost had a heart attack! She was so excited that we were pregnant and then when Trav said it was twins she just stared at us with a blank face for a full minute and then she said, "You guys are serious." and we said yep and she REALLY freaked out. She could hardly contain herself! Then last night after the u/s we told my Bob at DQ over ice cream. :) He also seemed very excited for us.  After telling him we were off to tell my parents. My mom is THRILLED. her first grandbabies. We didn't get the reaction we expected at all from my dad at all! He said he knew. LOL. And then we said it was twins and he said he knew that too! He said twins run in the family. Which we knew! But still, thats not a guarentee!!  Guess you can't really hide anything from your parents. :) Anyway, it was fun.

TOMORROW we're telling work, and all our friends and family who don't know!
So, thats my story and I'm stickin to it! Grow healthy babies grow!!

Oh, and Trav did get sick. he stay home yesterday. He's back at work today but struggling....we'll see how it goes. Poor guy! Hopefully I won't get it. So far so good!

11/15
Everyone knows! We told work on Friday. It was scary and hard to do, but it feels good now that it's done!! We had friends over to watch movies Friday night....so we told them. They were shocked. Ellie and Ashley were really shocked and asked lots of questions. And Chris and Will went out of thier way to take care of me all weekend! Sunday we told my mom's extended family at Grandma's wedding, and Sunday evening we posted in on facebook! It's a little stressful now that everyone knows because if something goes wrong, well, everyone will know that too. But over all it's just a big relief!!

I have the WORST sore throat in the world right now. It has gotten worse through the day. I'm afraid I'm getting sick. I can't even believe it. I held off getting sick for 3 years and now that I'm pg I get sick! Only now I can't take anything. I am hoping I can at least have cough drops because holy cow do I need them!! I need my throat to be numbed! I am going to go home and sleep sleep sleep. Being sick usualy makes my sugars high too, and I don't want them to be high with the babies in there! I'm hoping and praying that I will wake up tomorrow and feel great!

11/22
Well I did not wake up and feel great the next day! I actually felt so bad that I stayed home from work. My throat just hurt soooo badly I couldn't even swallow, much less talk on the phone all day. I did make it to my doctors appointment though. I felt quite a bit better after sleeping until 1 in the afternoon. My doc did a quick u.s just to make sure everything looked good. It was really really quick, but still nice to see them.

 3d ultrasound picture from specialist

 3d twins!

16 week belly shot

I had my appointment in Eugene with the specialist on the 18th. That was a fun appointment! I got a good half hour long u/s and they really told me what was going on and what they were checking for and they even did a 3d image which was really cool. The babies are measuring about a week ahead of schedule now, but the lady said that's normal at this stage in the pg and not enough to get them to change my due date. So thats good. The office was super nice and compfortable. Big comfortable chairs and recliners in the rooms! And the room I had the u/s in had a big tv up on the wall for me to see what was going on so I didn't even have to turn my head to see what was going on. It was just a really nice and comfortable environment. The doctor was happy with the u.s results. He said the babies looked great. And he said my blood sugars looked good too. I got my doppler in the mail on Monday and it was so much fun hearing the heartbeats for the first time!!! I found them pretty quickly which was nice. That was a good $30 spent and I bet I'll use it often during the pregnancy!

My next appointment is on December 2nd. I have 2 appointments that day, an u/s and an appointment with a nutritionalist. Of coruse I'm looking forward to them!

Even MORE I am looking foward to THANKSGIVING, which is right around the corner.

Winter/Spring 2010

So, I've come to the realization that I just don't have time to write every week anymore. So this may turn into a quarterly blog. :) But it still is a good journal for me, and a good place to write down my thoughts.

Spring is here! 2010 is flying by so quickly! It's hard to believe how fast it's going!! Last weekend was Easter. We had a great Easter spent with family. My parents and brother came to Trav and I's church, Calvery! I think my mom liked it a lot. It was a great service. A key part of it that spoke out to me was that we need to not look at our circumstances and instead focus on God and trust in His promise to/for us. I am going to try really hard to do that!

We had a great lunch with my family after church, and then went to Trav's parents to have Easter dinner with them and Grandad. Kathy got a new car from a friend and it was fun to check it out and to see how excited she was about it. She said it's the nicest car she's ever had! We are very happy for her. She definatly deserves it!

We didn't get home until about 9 because we had to stop at the store to get a hose to install our NEW DISHWASHER! Yes, thats right, we finally got a new dishwasher! I've been wanting one for 3 years (since we got the house) and we finally went and got it! We went Saturday. We went to Stover Evey and Jackson, where we also found our fridge for this house that we LOVE. The guy who helped us was the owner and when he saw us looking at the Bosch that was on sale, he said "Thats a tough one to pass up. It just went on sale on April 1st." (it was April 2nd). So we talked dishwashers for about a half hour with him. He said Bosch (who I'd never heard of) makes the best dishwashers. This one was $478 normally, but on sale for $278. Trav and I wanted to spend between $250 - $300, but not more than $400 for sure. It was perfect! We asked them about the room in the back with all the dinged up products (thats how we got our fridge for half price) and he said there were no dinged up black dishwashers. He took us back to show us a close out they had. It was $300 but not nearly as nice. So, we decided on the Bosch and got to use Erika's Denali to pick it up and haul it home! We got home right in time to celebrate Shelby's birthday, so we couldn't install the dishwasher yet. Shelby's birthday bbq was a blast! We played games, ate good food, and had a great time laughing with friends.

So, the previous weekend (end of March) we drove to Bend to visit Ladd. We hadn't seen him since september, and it had been far to long. We hadn't even been to his new house, OR met his new girlfriend! So, the weather had been mellow pretty much all winter, and by the end of March we knew we were good to go. Nope. Friday morning there is a blizzard in the pass! It had been going all night too! I checked the weather and it showed that it cleared up by about 3pm, and Trav and I were going to be driving through there at about 4, so we got our chains (just in case) and decided to give it a go! We got lucky. All the snow had melted off the road and the sun was shining when we drove through! The scenery was beautiful though!

We got to Ladd's at 5 and got to check out the house! Nice work Ladd! It's awesome. And he's totally Laddified it! Plants everywhere. :) I didn't expect any different though. We got caught up, had some good dinner, and watched some March Madness that evening. Saturday we got to meet Teresa. It was a beautiful day! In the 70's! Just clear, sunny, warm, and perfect. Teresa is super nice. She wasn't shy, which is nice! Sometimes it's hard to meet new people because they are so shy and it takes them a good while to warm up. No problems with Teresa though! She was friendly and outgoing right from the start! We all went to Ladd's parents for dinner that night. We had delicious food, and played Balderdash. I'd never played it before, but it was SO much fun! I must own it! They had a brand new puppy. He was only 5 weeks old and was SO sweet. He just wanted to cuddle. I cuddled with him all night and he almost conviced Trav and I to go get one!! But we were able to stay strong. :)

It was a really fun weekend. We headed back Sunday early afternoon and it started pouring rain as we were leaving. When we got home we found out that a little later that rain turned into snow, and it's been snowing non stop since then! We seriously just snuck in and out!

Trav and I's Christmas gift to each other was a new sink and faucet. We ordered it in January, and it came in in February. But it took us until March to find a time that we could all be free in the evening. So Derrick and Rachelle came over Sunday March 21st, new sink and faucet in tow! We were pretty much thrilled! So we took out the old nasty, stained, chipped, shallow avocodo sink, and pulled the new sink out of the box. And....it was the wrong kind. It was an undercounter mount instead of an overcounter mount. Ahhhh! Poor Derrick was so embarressed. But he was doing us a HUGE favor with the whole thing, so we were totally fine. The only thing that sucked was that while we waited for the new one, we had no water in the kitchen. We had to do dishes in the bathtub! So we went to the store and bought paper plates, bowls, and plastic wear! The new sink made it in by Wednesday and Derrick came over that night to help us put it in! It is so nice! It's nice and deep, it looks nice, it goes with our other kitchen appliances! It's black granite and I'm in love. I'm also in love with our new faucet. It functions the right way, it doesn't leak, and it has a pull out sprayer! It's a dream. It encouraged us to get a new dishwasher. :) Now all our appliances are GREAT, and we want new cupboards and counter tops. But that will have to wait.

So, the weekend we got the sink that didn't work, we babysat Coraline Friday - Sunday. We had a lot of fun with her. We had some nice weather, so we went to feed the ducks, played with sidewalk chaulk, and went to swing at the park. We even had a couple bbq's! She was fun to watch.

We celebrated Dad's birthday at Willamette Valley Vineyards on March 6th. It was another gorgeous day! I even got to wear a summer dress!

The next weekend my cousin Mandy was visiting just for the weekend, so we had a game night with her and my family. It was good to see her! She's only here every 5 - 10 years.

Last but not least: Seafood and Wine Festival 2010! We rented a beach house for 2 nights with Air, Mo, and her finace Dave, and Trav and I. Nate was there for a few hours too. It was a wonderful weekend! Friday we got to relax and enjoy the beach house....as well as try to figure out the pellet stove. :) Trav finally got it to stay running!

Saturday was the festival. We woke up early and went for a walk on the beach. It was so nice. Air straightened my hair before we left for the festival. We ended up parking down the street and walking in. It was PACKED. Luckily we had e tickets, because about 5000 people didn't even get in that day. We drank lots of fruity and delicious drinks and wine. We had a great time.

I'm hoping this spring brings a lot more sunshine! We got spoiled with sunshine a lot during the winter, and NOW the cold and rain wants to come in. It's almost Trav's 28th birthday! I can't believe we're going to be 28!! Seriously.....I still feel 22 at the oldest!  I guess your only as old as you act right?

What we're looking forward too:
New dishwasher getting installed
Orcas Island (in the San Juan Islands) vacation at the end of April
Sunriver Vacation in June

Fall 2009

The holiday's have come and gone already!! I have so much to update!

First of all, depositions are over! Thank goodness. I was really stressed out, but I did my research, went over some common depo questions, and asked Trav to quiz me over the accident, and some details and timelines over the past several years. They weren't nearly as bad as I thought they'd be, and they were over in about an hour and a half. And part of that was the guy who hit me talking! My lawyer said I got an A. Arbitration had been set up even before depositions were scheduled, but Patrick said they would probably settle before arbitration.

They didn't. Dec 21st kept inching closer and closer and we never heard a peep out of them! So we met with the lawyer on Dec 18 to go over what arbitration would be like. Nerves all over again! Before the meeting, Trav took me to get a dilly bar since we were a little early. I love stuff like that. I miss that from when we were younger. We had so much more time to just wander around town and do whatever we wanted. And Trav always had such good ideas! After the meeting Trav took me through the Pepsi lights. That was a lot of fun too. Anyway, at the meeting we went over that it would be in a small conference room with the judge, Patrick, me, Trav (our witness to how the collision has affected me), and the defense lawyer who had questioned me at depositions. He was really nice during depositions, so I wasn't expecting it to be too bad. All we could tell them was the truth. I haven't lied at all. Still, we were nervous! It's just nerve racking being on the spot and being asked questions in front of people! Especially with my horrible memory!

Arbitration was AWFUL. First my lawyer asked me questions about the accident and how it's affected me. And he asked Trav if he's ovserved that I do anything differently now than I did before the accident. That wasn't bad. But then the defense attorney got to ask me questions and the nice guy I'd talked to at depo's was no where to be found. I bet thats part of his strategy! Ugh. He made me look like a liar because he asked if I'd complained of headaches to any of my doctors before my accident and I said I didn't remember. I see doctors a lot and I talk to them about lots of things. I've never specifically gone to the doctor about having headaches, but I have had headaches before so it's possible it's come up at an appointment. Anyway, he asked me and I said I didn't remember. Then he found everytime I've ever talked to a doctor about a headache. Ever! He quoted what was in the doctors notes and then would say :do you remember that? DUH, obviously I don't remember or I would have said I did earlier! Then he asked me if I have any specific problems with my memory. He was such a douche. I hope someday I'm in control of something HE'S doing! I know it's thier job to act like that, but sheesh. And I will be the first to admit, I don't have a good memory! And with how much I've been to the doctor in the last 5 - 10 years, there is no WAY I can remember everything I've talked to them about.

Anyway, his argument was that I obviously had frequent headaches before the accident, so they shouldn't have to pay any of my medical bills. Hello....what about my back and neck problems? He had nothing to say about those.

It was very unpleasant. I totally didn't expect that. I didn't know I had forgotten so much. I felt embarrassed and that I was made out to look like a liar!

Afterwards, my lawyer said that was pretty normal, and not to worry about it. Yeah right! I was worried about even getting my 4k in medical bills paid for now!

About a week later, we got a letter from the judge. He is offering $2700 (app) for the medical, and $7000, non-econamical (pain and suffering). So almost 10k. My lawyer had said during the arbitration closing statements that he'd like to see a settlement in the high teen's. And we originally asked for 46k! Ha. We knew we wouldn't get that! 10k would be great if we got to keep it all. Of course the medical bills have to come out of it, and then 40% of whatever is left goes to the lawyer. There is almost 1k in lawyer fees that the other side is supposed to pay. They can appeal it though and we could end up having to pay some or all of it. My lawyer is also going to write a letter to my doctors and tell them we only recieved 70% of the medical in the case, and ask them if they will take 70% of what we owe them. I hope that at least Dr. Brown does that. He's already gotten over 8k from my insurance in this case!

Anyway, best case scinario, we'll end up with $4k in our pockets and all the medical bills paid, and worst case we'll end up with around $2k in our pockets and all the medical bills paid. I am REALLY glad to at least have the medical bills paid. That was stressing me out. I'd been hoping to get between 5 - 10k to put in the bank for future problems from the accident. Hopefully we'll at least be close to 5k. Only time will tell! Of course the other side can still appeal this settlement if they think it's too high, and make this go to jury trial. Which would be completely redicious! I can't see them doing that over 10k, but crazier things have happened! We have to wait 10 days into Jan for the settlement by the judge to be recorded in court, and then the other side still have 20 days to appeal it. So we probably won't even know if this is for sure what we're getting until the end of January! THEN my lawyer will write the letter to my medical providers, so we'll have to wait to hear back from them. And who know how long it takes to actually get a check from the insurance. It will probably be almost 3 years since the accident by the time this is totally done! And I STILL have back problems and headaches. You just can't put a price on what it's like going through this whole process. It's terrible. And on top of still being in pain....it's just not right. I NEVER ever want to get in an accident again. Mainly because I don't want to have to deal with the insurance!

On the positive side....as long as the other side doesn't appeal, at least this is OVER! I am very happy about that. I'd like to just move on! Hopefully the medical providers will take 70%, and the other side will pay their lawyer fees so we'll get the best settlement we can out of it.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had it at mom and dad's house. We had Grandma, Uncle Bob, Sara, and Air join Mom, Dad, Joel, Trav and I. It was a lot of fun. Mom and I bought all the ingredients together. It's expensive getting everything for a thanksgiving dinner!!! And I'm a thrifty shopper! It was almost $80 for all the ingredients! For one dinner. It was so good though, and so much fun! Air and I went through the Black Friday ads and got a list together of everywhere we wanted to go.

I tried to go to bed early, but I didn't fall asleep until almost 11, and Air was at the house at 3:30am! I was running on about half the sleep I normally get! We shopped until we dropped. We didn't get home until 4:30 in the afternoon!! I was delerious around 8. I usually make it until noon before I get delirious! But I got my second wind around 10 and I went strong until about 4! We got LOTS of good deals, and I got most of Trav and I's Christmas shopping done.

We went and got our Christmas Tree on Saturday. We found Volstadt Farms in N Albany last year, and we really liked it so we went back. They had a BEAUTIFUL Nordmann Fir. It has the stiff thick branches and pine needles, and they are deep forest green on the top, but underneath they are blue, so the tree looks frosted if you see it in the right light. It was a little more, but it was just too cool. Trav and I got our first really nice tree! Of course we had fun picking it out and cutting it down, and enjoyed some wassil before leaving. When we got home we decorated. Trav put the lights up outside while I decorated inside, and then we decorated the tree together.

We had Christmas with the Clark's on Saturday the 18th because Robert and Kathy were leaving Christmas Eve to spend Christmas with her family in Eagle Point. We went to Jason and Amber's this year and had Thai food. It was a fun day. Trav and I made some of our gifts this year, and we made hot chocolate for everyone there. We LOVE hot chocolate, and pretty much everyone knows it, so we thought it would be appropriate! Plus, who doesn't like hot cocoa?? :) We put it with little marshmallows and wrapped a bow around the jar. I also made them each a plate with homemade cookies that we made and Rachelle's Christmas Cookie Party. Mmmmm they were so yummy! And we got them each a little something else. We were supposed to do homemade and/or small gifts this year. We got Coraline an Elmo pillow and stuffed animal. She's really into elmo right now, so that was fun! She was very excited. Amber and Jason got us some cool souvieners from Thailand and they knit me some slippers like Travs that they knit him last year. Robert and Kathy made us a family calendar with family photos in it. It's very special. They also made us a HUGE jar of homemade pickles. They are so good! We've already eaten at least half of them!

After we did Christmas we figured since we were in Portland we should go to the Portland Zoo lights. I'd heard they were really cool. The line was outrageous! It took about 15 - 20 minutes just to get into the zoo! It was SO pretty! Everything was lit up amazingly! Everyone said taking the train was a must to see the lights, so we went to get into line for the train. It was over an hour long line!! The train ride was fun, but it was only about 5 minutes and Trav and I said next time we go, we're going to walk it!! I've never been on the train though, so that was pretty fun! Not worth an hour long wait though!

Trav and I had from the 24th - 30th off work, then we worked the 30th and 31st, and were off again from the 1 - 4th! Christmas Eve we slept in, and then went to meet at my parents house. We went to the Christmas Eve service at Morning Star in Salem. Afterwards we went to look at lights around Salem, and we finished up by getting a pizza from figaro's to take home and bake! We did Christmas with Sara since she was leaving that night to go spend Christmas with her mom. And we did our Christmas Eve gifts! It was really fun! Sara did a GREAT job on gifts. She got me hot chocolate and candles....can't go wrong!! She got Trav beef jerky and authentic rice crackers (which he has been really into lately), She got my dad coffee, and my mom a mug gift set that was purple and had a bible verse on it! All her gifts were super thoughtful! Mom got us all Christmas Eve jammies as always! Mine are snoopy and super soft!! Trav's are awesome too. They are like a scrubs material but they look have a flannel print. He loves them.

That evening Trav and I actually went home. We have Emma-Roo now, so we have to come home to take care of her! We gave her the stuffed duck toy that Sara got her and she loved it. She had it torn to shreds in about 5 minutes, but she had so much fun doing it.

We woke up nice and early Christmas morning, left our Christmas jammies on, and headed to mom and dad's for the tree. We got spoiled as always. It was a lot of fun! It took over 2 hours to open all our gifts. Trav and I both got each other OSU shirts for our gift. Great minds. :) We rushed home at 11 to get the prime rib roast in the oven for lunch at 2!

Mom, Dad, and Joel came over at noon and mom helped me get dinner ready while the guys chatted. Grandma Collins came to dinner too. She had a lot of fun with Emma. Right when dinner was ready, my cousin Kimmy and Kevin, and Aunt Mel called because they were in the neighborhood and wanted to stop by. They came by with Kevins 3 daughters and it was so much fun catching up. After they left we got dinner on the table and the prime rib was de.lic.ious!!!!

We had a great time socializing with family. After dinner we watched "The Proposal" because mom had been wanting to see it! Such a funny movie. That evening Lacee, Hunter, and Ryder came to visit. He is such a cutie. We all took turns holding him and loving on him. Emma LOVED him and wanted to play so badly. It was really cute.

We finished out the night rocking out on guitar hero, talking, drinking wine, and catching up.

That Sunday was Air and I's Annual Friends Christmas Dinner. It is growing! Last year we had 9 people come, and this year we had 15. It was so much fun. We had it at Air's this year, since it was at my house last year. We set up tables across her living room. They took up the whole thing! It was awesome. We got the biggest turkey we could find, a 22 pounder!! We got all the fixins and started early Sunday preparing! Dinner was a little late, but really when isn't a turkey dinner a little late? :) It was a really fun time with our friends! And I must say, the food was delicious! I think we're going to have to rent a place next year to fit everyone! :)

Early Monday morning, Lacee and Hunter brought Ryder over for Trav and I to watch him overnight. They were going to Seaside to celebrate thier anniversary. They brought him over at 7, and of course Trav and I were sleepy so we put him right back to bed and he slept until 9! Nice. Then when he woke up, we got up with him. Poor little guy had a pretty bad cold. In the first hour of him being awake, he spit up on me at least 5 times, and Travis - none! Of course.

Trav and I had all these things we were thinking of doing. They left us the stroller and car seat so we were going to go shopping! We still needed to get our Christmas gifts for each other. Well, it's a lot more work to get out the door with a baby! We got him all ready and right before we left, he spit up on me. So we changed him and me and got all ready again, and Bam, poopy diaper! At this point we'd been trying to leave for about an hour, so when poopy diaper hit, we just decided to stay in for the evening instead. :) So we played at home. Emma LOVED Ryder. She was instantly protective of him too. It was really sweet.

Poor Ryder was having trouble breathing beacuse of his cold, so we woke up several times during the night. Or I guess I should say, we woke up several times. We was coughing and coughing one time so we got up and he was still fast asleep, just coughing right through it.

Tuesday Trav and I were determined to go shopping! So we tried again, and we actually made it out the door this time. Ryder fell alseep in the car seat and he slept the WHOLE time we were out shopping. We went to Old Navy and tried on tons of clothes (and got our Christmas presents there....they had so many good deals!), we went to the mall and Target and he slept right through the whole trip. He slept on the way home, and he slept when we got him home. Lacee called me as we were getting home at 5. I expected her call because I knew they were heading home at 2, so they were due back around 5. Well, she called to say they were stuck in the snow and still in Cannon Beach. Traffic had just been crawling and stopped the whole 3 hours. What a nightmare. We didn't mind watching Ryder at all though! Lacee and Hunter didn't make it back until almost 11pm! It took 9 hours for a normally 3 hour drive!

We had a great time seeing and watching Ryder. He is a happy baby. I like happy babies! And I learned something about myself....I think I will spend a lot more time at home with my baby than I ever thought!! :) I don't think we'll be going out much. Especially if Travis isn't there to help me! :) I'm sure it'll get easier with experience though.

Travis woke up with a sore throat on New Years Eve. Poor guy. He was feeling pretty awful after work. So, we had a very chill NYE party. We toasted at midnight with water in our martini glasses.

Now, it's 2010. Where have the last 10 years gone? I remember 2000 like it was yesterday! This year will be my 10 year high school reunion! What the heck! Here we go......