OLD BLOG

The End

2010-12-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

It is with sadness that I announce the movement of my blog to the following link:

CLICK HERE

I have a long explanation, but all I can do is post on this, I can't do anything else do to the fact that I am locked out of my email that is the admin for this blog. So sorry for the inconvenience. Feel free to email me if you feel I have wronged you and deserve a further explanation. amandapmckie@gmail.com

I am officially a Legend

2010-09-29T14:38:00.004-06:00

The following segment is a bragging story. All of the events are true, and those wishing to Judge may respectfully move on.

When I was in high school I was voted to be on the homecoming court. This was extremely exciting for me, for obvious reasons, but mostly because I grew up in a different town where I wasn't cool. I was homely, ugly, and frankly quite un-popular in every respect.

I played the bass drum in the marching band, and the homecoming game was the night before a marching competition. To put the facts simply, performing at half time for the band would be the last opportunity to run through the show before competing with it.

Naturally, I am a girl who wants to be a princess. I immediately confronted my band director, telling him I would not be marching that night because I would be in my formal gown for the homecoming court. Just as immediate I was to inform him, was how immediate his response of "I don't think so" came out of his mouth.

I was devastated. I really never thought something like this was going to happen for me, and now I was going to have to choose to be a band nerd over being one of the beautiful girls on the football field.

In the end, he and I compromised. I did not have to play in the stands with the band, march over at the beginning of the game; basically no other time than half time did I actually play. My mother got a poncho and a braided belt. I wore the poncho to protect the dress from the harness of the drum and then hiked up my dress several inches and belted it there so the dress would not drag on the grass. I marched like a sore thumb in my homecoming gown.

When the performance was over, I dropped the drum, poncho and belt on the grass and sprinted to the car waiting for me at the back of the field. The visitors cheered for me, the band lined up on the other side of the track facing the crowd so it made a tunnel of sound cheering as I drove up. I won the title of homecoming queen, and really I have never experienced anything quite like it since. (Mostly because of the wide assortment of fans.)

THIS IS WHERE I BECOME A LEGEND

I received a phone call 7 years later informing me that another member of the marching band, who played the bass drum had been nominated for homecoming court.

I understand that she informed my director that she would not be playing, much like I did, and was denied with:

"No, I don't think so. Amanda Perren did it in her dress and so can you."

That my friends in legendary. I have set a precedence, a standard, a bar to which all other homecoming queen/band nerds will be held to. This girl has never really met me, but still knows who I am.

I am pretty freakin' proud of myself.

What a good weekend

2010-09-19T17:43:00.004-06:00

This weekend Jack and I went to a USU football game with a few friends. I guess the game was against Fresno, and no I personally don't care how it went. I spent most of the time chatting and people watching. We were standing behind a few frat members, and they attract some interesting lady folk.

Jack told me that I have natural highlight in my hair. This is the picture that we are debating over. Mostly because I told him I wanted to color my hair and he said that it was naturally. This is a debate for which we could use some outside party opinions.
This is Kyle and Contessa. They teach sunbeams, work with animals and they really enjoy gift cards. They also each ride motorcycles, and have the same taste in color of car.
This is Mac and Jessica. They were married on the exact same day we were in Idaho Falls, not Boise. Our wedding colors were similar and most importantly, Jessica and I love french fries.
The sunset is what I consistently watched the most.
Today we went to a place up Logan Canyon called Tony Grove. I think we accidentally stole someone else's picnic area, but I think it turned out for the best, well for us it did...

We really enjoyed our afternoon together. We had a wonderful time chatting about various things, chasing ferrets and observing a herd of sheep walk across the ridge of the mountain.

Today is also the day that I convinced/forced Jack to say ok to sending out a Christmas card to a few people. This is for practice, also because I want to say that I am all grown up. The other reason is that I hope to get one from other people because I like them on my magnet board. In conclusion I am challenging others to consider the same idea that I had for myself.

It's a miracle!

2010-09-16T20:52:00.005-06:00

Remember this beautiful place? I do. That water looked so refreshing, the slide like so much fun. For those that don't know, this is the location of Whitney and Cody's wedding.

Council Bluffs, Kyle, Becca, Alan, Chelsea, Dan, Jack and I spent our time hoping Alan might fall in. (Yes, Alan is included in the count.) We decided that it was tacky to get in the pool, but if someone fell, eh, what are you going to do except jump in after him. Unfortunately, that never happened and we spent the entire evening wishing we could experience the beautiful blue water, sweet waterfall and slide. Most importantly however, we wanted to swim in the cave that was through the waterfall. SO COOL.
The perfect fire pit. The kind that you can just turn on, and then never have to clean.
Whitney's lovely cake.
I have no clue to whome that hand in the picture below belongs to, but it is well manicured and looks like it belongs there. If I remember right....perhaps it was just always there....

I know of 2 other people in the world who would know this, but now all of you will too. I thought I lost Whitney's wedding pictures. It's a miracle. For real, this is no joke. They did NOT exist and then they did. Here are a few highlights of the people involved. I think this is the happiest smile I have ever seen of Cody's.

I am sad that yet again, Emily's face is hidden in the friend shot. I bet the photographer's is better, I hope so anyway.
For the record, I really was that tan, I DID NOT photoshop myself that way. Be impressed, send me praise.
Again, I have high hopes for the photographer's shot. Kasey's pose is my favorite. I recently organized all the pictures I have, and just earlier today on a different pic I said "self, that is a funny and adorable jumping pose of CB's." and then the miracle happened and I was able to say it to myself again.

My Ballet Class

2010-09-08T21:09:00.002-06:00

In a perfect world, this is what I look like in my Ballet class. It's not true at all, but I think you get the idea. I am 3 classes into it and I am loving it. I am not the best, but I am not the worst. That means that some things I am really good at, and some I am NOT.

However, I really enjoy myself. Today I ran into the wall because I turned way to much. I always am on the middle bar because I really like to watch myself in the mirror. Also, half of the class comes from the advanced class sometimes so this way I am not watching them, but myself and I don't notice how bad I am compared to them.

I took a class at BYU, which is what allows me to know what I am a doing a little bit. But that class wasn't fun like this one is. I see myself making some friends and feeling like I belong there.

2010-09-08T00:20:00.001-06:00

13 hours of working today. 2 hours of Mutual. 1 Meal.

I want to go to bed now. I think that's what I will do.

I am tired of work and I want to go home.

2010-09-02T15:58:00.003-06:00

Somethings that have been on my mind today:

I wish what I wanted to do with my accounts and money was something I had more personal pull with.

I watched clean house and the lady kept using "I'm so FUStrated" without the "R." Sadly, I watch the show for a shock factor of how people can live like that. So my intention is to watch and judge them, this happened and I know I judged her more.

That human bite I got over the summer is now a discoloration on my arm.

I have started to take ballet lessons for two reasons, they are the following:

1. I know someone and she invited me to do it.

2. I got a horoscope from Doug on my phone. It told me to find a better outlet for myself. Doug suggested classical music. Ballet seemed to be a physical way to incorporate that into my life.

I am not sure anyone else's lips peel randomly, but mine do, and it really bugs me.

I wish I had nap time during the day.

I am going to google Sherri Lewis. I guess her daughter is trying to uphold the family business and appeared in Heber today with Lambchop.

I have had a crappy weekend so far

2010-08-28T23:34:00.003-06:00

Here is the run down. Friday I left extremely early from work because I had started to miscarry. I wish the story ended, "but I got home and I didn't. "However, that is not true at all.

I project that I was working up to 7 1/2 weeks along. Jack and I both project that we think that I didn't even implant properly in the first place.

Don't get me wrong I am sad. This sucks.

The story continues with me waking up this morning not being able to move my arms or neck. I project that my body can't take anymore crying. Jack projects that my body is reacting severely to the stress of it all. Our projections kind of go together.

I bawled and bawled on Friday. I had no desire to talk to anyone at all. Today I woke up wanting to bawl, but due to my stupid arms and neck, it hurt way to bad to allow myself to bawl. So now I am Mad.

It is not fair that I had to lose my babies, and then the glimmer of good things to come, well, left. I, again, am falling back to my sad times of avoiding pregnancy news. I hate that I get so upset by other people having children. I also hate that I spent months of people saying "don't worry, at least you know you can get pregnant." Well guess what, looks like it's harder than you thought you people that weren't living through it.

Anyway, really I knew this was a possibility. 20% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. 25% of those 20% miscarry twice in a row. Somebody has to be the statistic.

My doctor, whom I have decided to trust completely, sat me down last March and discussed with me how I need to trust that my body knows what it's doing. If things aren't right it will take care of it. On the same note if they aren't right many times in a row, my body again is letting me know that it needs some assistance. So I wait.

Now here I write my expectations of other people, because if you don't know what I want, you as a person that might care, will inevitably offend me. I don't want to talk on the phone. I get the most comfort from a small message. (the catch there is not voicemail message or one that is expected that I respond.) I am kind of offending myself for being so blunt. But I found months ago that the biggest thing was my expectations of other people and the reason they weren't meeting them is they just didn't know what to say or do. I just need a hello.

For the record, it really wasn't a scary experience. It hurt, a lot. But, lucky for me I have lots of drugs left over from before that helped me get through it. Oddly enough I knew exactly what was going on. Even stranger, I knew how to handle it. It was/is messy and not fun. My body is tired.

I have been working A LOT lately. I currently work 3 jobs. I barely have time for myself, and by the time I do, it's time for bed.

The good news is I have had a lot of time to edit pictures. So I have been doing that. More good news, we can keep trying for more children.

My Bridals, Post Wedding

2010-08-28T00:24:00.006-06:00

A while ago, my good friend Macey did my bridals for me. These occurred a year after I had been married, and been pregnant with twins. So I look a little different. Manly, I was carrying baby weight still and I carried it in my face. However, despite my physical attributes holding me back, Macey did a wonderful job.

Here is the other thing, she also edited a lot of them. THEN she gave them to me THEN we moved and NOW I can not find the disk. So these are the beautiful pictures that she took that I edited. I say that so if she sees them here, she has every right to judge my work.

Really, this was a wonderful experience. Jenna and Julie came too, and they were so fun. Jenna did my hair and Julie posed me. It may make it to the top ten wonderful things that I did this year.

2010-08-26T23:49:00.004-06:00

I remember once in park place having a quiting bench. Looking back at some blog entries, I also had a quiting wall. I quit a lot.

This is me foretelling the future. The quiting bench will once again rear it's ugly head in the next 6 months. I could have used it a few months ago, so perhaps I will be able to do some really quiting on behalf of those disgruntled times.

I had to call and check up on some car insurance stuff today. I was a little irritated going into the phone call. While on the phone with automated lady she asked me to state what my call was regarding to better serve me. I then yelled that I was disgruntled. She said she didn't understand and that I would be better off talking to a representative. I was.

I took some pictures of Brittany's children today. I posted them elsewhere because I want to let Brittany do with them what she will first, that way I don't step on her toes. I will post them here on a future date that is unknown because here is where people actually read and not where I put them. I enjoy the secret.

Now I will go to bed. Estoy muy consado.

This should have been me

2010-08-17T22:19:00.001-06:00

a jumble of things I want to talk about

2010-08-17T20:34:00.007-06:00

Summer with the BRASC kids is over. Sad. I had a wonderful time being able to use my brain at work. I would display pictures, but I am not allowed to. I will enjoy them in my head and the rest of you will have to imagine.

I now have a different job as a secretary. My cohort's name is Amber. She and I are going to take ballet. This is exciting to me.

Here are somethings that I have been meaning to update about:

I found this little beauty at a little thrift shop in main street for $4. For four lovely dollars I cleaned it up and gave it a little coat of paint....

And it instantly became my new favorite thing here in the living room. Meet our new TV stand.
Here a few moments I wanted to capture on the blog about the Hansen camping trip. This little guy was SO excited that he caught a fish I couldn't get him to hold still long enough to get a good shot.
His brother informed me that he in fact caught it, but he let Blake reel it in. Blake wanted to make sure I got a good shot of the fins.
There was a lot of work at the cabin. Work that is right. This is my dad, he is doing something with the saw.
This is Isaac, he is breaking rules, not working.
This is my dad and Ren putting up the siding.
this is my dad caulking the siding.
Lindsey also treated us with a new song complete with dancers.

Here are a few shots from the demolition derby that we went to. this truck lit on fire. It was QUITE exciting.
Then there was a lull in the show. So this brave little fellow ran into the middle of the arena.
a few more of his buddies joined in once they saw nothing was going to happen to them. Note the kid doing an amazing flip. He did these a lot and was a very dirty boy. If he were my kid I would have hosed him down before he got in my car. Given I had a nicer one than I do now.
This guy and his buddy thought it would be funny to walk amongst the young ones and embarrassed himself. However, his buddy left long before he noticed. So most of the time it was just him looking like a fool.

I am sure I have more pictures somewhere, but I can't find them. I have too many projects going on all at once.

Whitney's wedding is this weekend more excitement to come.

McKie Campout

2010-08-05T22:42:00.013-06:00

Over pioneer day the McKie family went to my family's cabin for a camp out. If there is one thing I could pick to remember it was the food. My mother-in-law knows how to cook for an army.

The second thing would be the slide. Sure there were horses, but I am allergic to horses so that part didn't thrill me. From what I understand, they all had a wonderful time riding around for hours. That is great because that means I got plenty of time to play with my camera and nap.

I guess the family loved the slide as well because even the adults seemed to be crazy about it. they started to make human jumps, we found tube so we could go off the end. Every one came off bruised somewhere, but it really was worth all the pain for all the excitement.

Hansen Family Campout '10

2010-07-18T22:59:00.005-06:00

This skirt picture has been posted before. However I can not change it to another one, the following explains.

I am irritated because I am trying to load more pictures but the computer won't let me. It also won't let me play frontierville, which is irritating due to the fact I am having to sit and wait with no entertainment for pictures to FAIL at loading. I am trying to get my spouse to harvest his wheat, but when the game doesnt work that doesn't happen and I will never be able to have small pioneer avatar children.
This post will probably have a prequal with the other stupid pictures that will not load.

Chilling in the pool at the bottom of the slide.
Jarom had a name for this slidding move. But the result was supper cute. They plugged their noses the whole time.
My brother and his turtle. With all the high powered sliding, the inflatable turtle didn't live much longer after this picture.
This is Taylor, Isaac and Luke really getting into the spirit of a jumping picture. Issac thought to dive straight forward on his own. His belly took one for the team.
Blake was MAD. Not sure why, it's possible he fell down and the cold water was unpleasant.
His brother Isaac stepped in with a hug, that to everyone else's benefit, made him stop crying.
I said to make kissy faces. The cute girl on the left who is my second cousin Matt's daughter. The name of whom I am forgetting. I don't think she was in the mood. This was the best face I could get.
Chad was entertaining these girls by lifting them up like this and saying "corndog" I think. But they loved it
Jack's family let us bring up a few horses. A few of the men went on a ride in the morning for several hours. Caleb was bucked off his horse into the river and stepped on. However, that didn't stop him from getting right back on. His horse was particularly bad, enough that my father in law has proclaimed it unworthy to remain in the herd.
Kamryn wanted to shoot a bird. So the boys gave her and UN-loaded gun and she shot away at the air. She then walked in the cabin and pointed at a banner with a bald eagle on it and said "I shot that bird." not only is she too young to have a gun, she also deemed herself a felon.
This is Little Brown Riding Hood going off to gather berries, or dirt clods.
Hannah, Kylee and Lauren right after breakfast deciding what their day was going to entail.
To end, this is an updated picture of all the Hansen grandchildren. Except for Heidi, may she continue to serve in peace. We usually take a picture standing in order. It's apparently very important to all of the kids. We did do that, but this one turned out the best.
One final note. Moved in to the new place. Like it.

Things to get off my chest, not to be dwelt upon.

2010-07-13T01:07:00.003-06:00

It is one o'clock in the morning. I am still awake, mostly because I am afraid of going to sleep. I had a terrible doctor's visit, a hard phone call to deal with and a second rotten day at work. Really, only two rotten days not so bad, but it just HAD to be today.

Really my day started with nightmares. Some of which I won't expound on because they are too specific. One that is humorous is I dreamed that I was going into a marching band competition. The girls I used to play the base drum with were all there and they had forgotten that it has been 6 years since I have played. They just assumed I knew the music and we were getting ready to march onto the field. I was given ONE glance at the music and off I went.

Many of you may not know that when I competed in Miss Idaho, I forgot my music. I sat for 2 min on stage making the biggest fool of myself. I had memorized it and I sat down to play and NOTHING. This has haunted me ever since. Hence the "i don't know my music" part of the nightmare. Something that should be included is, I still to this day have to force myself to play in front of people because I am terrified. It's so embarrassing because I WILL mess up. I am not talking a few missed notes, I will crash and burn. Even the simplest hymn=catastrophe.

This is supposed to somehow explain why the band/music/performance thing is still haunting me.

I am having pregnancy nightmares. Enough that I am waking up with anxiety attacks. These I will NOT to into detail about. Just note that I am feeling like I am losing control over my emotions. I feel this way because my subconscious is doing what I have worked so hard to not let myself fall into. I have tried to stay positive but it isn't working for the part of my brain that runs at night.

I have also started to have nightmares about every decision that has ever been hard for me. I am drumming up things about my ex-boyfriends that I liked and I will wake up feeling guilty for the way those relationships turned out. Sometimes its being publicly humiliated for it. And sometimes its me living the life that I missed out on had I married each of the people I ever dated. Note that this includes both long and short relationships I ever had.

I don't want to go to sleep because I am afraid of what will happen tonight. I feel like I need to cry all the time. It's making work really hard because, while it doesn't look like I am emotionally tied to being mean to small children, it hurts so bad every time I have to be the dictator and in turn I am yelled at. I think my heart is a little bigger than it was before so when there is an emotional breakdown, I feel like it's my kid and I am hurting along with them.

I feel a little detached from people because I really want to just pour my heart out to anyone who will listen, but they don't know what to say. I can't handle people being insensitive anymore. I am tired of being tough, I just want for someone to be aware of my presence. I know that is unfair, but just once can't someone stick up for me and notice that I might not be alright. Now if you as the reader have ever talked to me in person about the way I might be feeling, or made an effort to comfort me, I am not talking about you. It is the people that know but choose to pretend like nothing is wrong. My sister in law, whom I hardly ever/never talk to had a personal chat with me. I am deeply moved because of all people to reach out, she is the LAST one on my list. I say this because it was probably the only real conversation I have ever had with her. I was shocked to find out that she learned through the grape vine about the twins. I didn't even know that the people she ratted out had any awareness.

I will admit, I am tired. This incoherent rant is just that, incoherent. I am finding myself falling into a pit of negative thinking. This is not to say that I am not grateful, or that I don't pursue happy positive thoughts and activities. If at any point you as the reader thought to yourself "she just needs to count her blessings." I would like to calmly point out, how on earth do you think I have made it this far without totally hating the world. I don't hate anyone, nor do I wish ill upon anyone that has what I want. I want it to be known that I am expressing frustration and sadness that I have kept bottled up. If I don't let it out, it's probably going to ferment and we all know that anything fermented doesn't lead to good places.

I do have a lot of good things going for me, and the Lord still has mercy on my soul to continue to bless me. Just to make up for the negativity here are the good things going on in my life:

Kyle and Tessa are back ready to do fun things.

We move to a new apartment with AC on Thursday.

I am getting tanner.

My fish are still alive .

I get a snack pack pudding every day.

I also get at least one hug from someone other than Jack every day too.

I just got back the most beautiful bridal pictures of myself, that I love.

I have the option of being very busy every day.

I have a vacuum that works well.

I get to watch FRIENDS every day.

My toenails are quite glittery and beautiful in the sunlight.

Last but not least, I know that I am Loved.

P.S. I am not looking for comments that show pity for me. If you really have something to share, it would mean more if I got an email or phone call. Otherwise I am only looking for compliments to my physical features or and answer to the statement "you wouldn't know this about Amanda but she ________."

Kyle and Contessa's wedding

2010-07-11T20:52:00.004-06:00

These are our friends Kyle and Contessa. These are the two people that make us social. They are also the two people that we hang out with the most. I guess they like us too because they invited us to their wedding. They were married in the Draper temple next to the mountain of great and spacious buildings. Luckily, the temple is still the focal point despite the filthy rich people's efforts.

This is a Jesus statue, among others. However, having sold alarm systems, if you have a home this big and expensive...you should take the sign out of your yard. It's tacky.

Jack and I decided Satan or King Solomon must live here. We just taught a less on on him and how big his house was compared to the temple.

Their reception was beautiful. It was held in a greenhouse designed to be a reception hall and the atmosphere combined with the wedding goodness took your breath away.

The end.

Skirts

2010-07-08T21:59:00.001-06:00

My family has a wonderful privilege to have an adopted Grandmother named Grandma Linda. She likes to spoil a few of us at a time. This time she made these beautiful skirts for a few of the grandchildren. Then we had a photo shoot and it was wonderful.

On a more personal note, stuff like this is keeping me going. I have really needed the hugs lately. Last time we decided to get pregnant, it was a "when it happens it happens." Now I want so desperately to be pregnant again. Thus it makes waiting really hard.

I have decided that capturing the happy moments in my life is something I can focus on. I am blessed with a TON of wonderful family members. I am not just talking about the Hansen side, but oh so many on my Perren side and yes my family of close friends. I can't forget of course the support Jack is and the comforting knowledge of our two wonderful little spirits waiting for us.

Jack and I did get to go camping with my family this weekend, and I have several fabulous pictures of that good time to share coming soon. I also haven't blogged about Kyle and Tessa's wedding, that I am going to have to catch up on as well. YIKES!

Installment #2

2010-06-27T19:28:00.003-06:00

Jack and I have many adventures lately. We have been into, well mostly Jack, mountain biking. One Saturday morning we got up and went for a ride. I particularly enjoyed the way back down, but I am sure it will get better.

There is a trail that leads up the canyon next to the river and the road. Up the canyon there are 2 dams in a row so we went up to the second one. We watched someone illegally encourage their dog to swim after some dogs. Then we rode back down.

As some know, I am again working with special ed children. One little buddy got a hold of me last week. This is a bite. No I will not tell you who did it. I just want you to admire my toughness.
This is for perspective. I want to pat my back a little more and let you know the bruise is about half an inch around the red mark.
This is from the pinching and the scratching. The poor buddy was not happy. No this is not an every day occurrence, but I do expect some comments of how cool you all think I am now.
This was us playing with my camera on father's day. It was taken from VERY far away and with a timer and I had one second to spare to sit down. Jack enjoyed watching me run back and forth to even get the shot. I was annoyed that I couldn't get it to STOP focusing on the branch that's kinda in front of us.
Jack went camping this weekend and took some awesome pictures. I am going to encourage him to tell about them on the blog. We will see how it goes.

Highlights of the last week part one

2010-06-21T22:41:00.003-06:00

I have every intention of describing things that are vital in our lives, but first a brief word from "things you find in life"

This is what I witnessed at the park on Father's Day. ( the two pics are in the wrong order)

I think she was trying to give the kid a wedgie and was failing, so the boy came a long and showed her how it was done. Why didn't I save the kid you might say. Well, I was using my large zoom lens and wasn't anywhere near. Besides, I watched the whole thing through the lens and the kid didn't even try to get away, he was asking for it.

On to more important topics
Last week my sister-in-law Katie married a man named Slane that we all love and adore. Slane just joined the church and the two of them were married in Weiser. They asked me to do their pictures and while I don't fall short of instinctively taking a lot of pictures (which you want on your wedding day) I do lack experience in the whole photographer resposibility aspect. I did my best and am just beginning to edit.

I have a lot to learn. But I am going to pat myself on the back a little because I have never experienced a civil wedding where I was old enough to snap photos of my own. I can imagine myself in areas where the space it's self is somewhat photogenic doing particularly well. So for my first wedding to have nothing to do with being outside at all, I think I did ok. No worries, I did convince them to go outside really fast for a few shots. Slane's foot was broken so I really mean a few. HOWEVER, I am proud of a few of those and I wouldn't be ashamed at all to have them be on their wall.

It was a fun day full of surprises. My alarm didn't go off so I was late getting to the house to do Katies hair, which turned into all three bridesmaids, two little sisters and Katie's hair in three hours. I used hot rollers. I am again going to chalk one up for coolness in my behalf for that. I was accidentally equipted to handle such a job.

Jack enjoyed himself, and was quite the brother dancing and shmoosing with all the people that attended. I was proud to call him my husband. Which is why I will end this post with a picture of him. Jacob and Esau have a great father on their hands, and will probably inherit his good looks.

Temple night

2010-06-10T23:13:00.002-06:00

Jack and I just got back from a quick, well quite long, trip to the temple. We went with our buds Kyle and Contessa who are getting married a week from today! We planned on hitting the 7 session but it was full so we had to wait. Then there were a few malfunctions so we did a lot of quiet reflection this evening.

We later went to Village Inn which has worked hard at becoming quite trendy. I would recommend the improvement to anyone willing to go check it out. It's really that fancy! They went with a 60-70's theme but a recent twist. cute.

Jack's sister is getting married this weekend-which will be a fun adventure!

Oh and last weekend I got to go to Provo for some events by myself. I loved it! I had some wonderful conversations and I have a renewed love for the friends that I have down there.

On a personal note since I lost the twins I have been up and down. I am generally happy, I have found a lot of peace in my situation. There are a lot of things I still am surprised I can't handle. For instance a set of twins were blessed on Sunday in my ward and I lost it. Mostly when I am caught off guard I have a hard time. If I am a part of a pregnancy conversation I find I do fine. But if I happen to notice something like that going on I find I can't control my emotions. I let myself cry at home.

I am not worried about getting pregnant again, and I know I will. I know it's ok to cry.I have heard all the encouraging assumptions I can take. Frankly, the nicest things people have said or done for me are just simple "I was thinking about you." or just taking an insterest in my story. I love to talk about what happened. I try really hard to be forward and tell people as it comes up that I like to talk about it. But I understand it's awkward.

My visiting teachers have been wonderful. I have really been watched over and I love that they call and check up on me. Take me out to the movies and bring me cookies. I think it's neat that people I didn't know so well were willing to make sure I had the friendship I needed. I was pretty lonely, and sometimes still feel very lonely.

I am also lucky because I have a few old friends that have really gotten to know me enough to know what I need. I live so far away from Provo now that my time with them is so limited. Really awesome friends are hard to come by, and I have mine just a text away.

We never named the boys, but we call them Jacob and Esau because one came out all big and red. I think about them every day. Every day I can think of something my experience with them has taught me/comforted me/inspired me etc.

Today Jacob and Esau inspired me to prepare to be a better mother. I had a wonderful time at the temple, enough said.

Memorial Day

2010-06-01T19:15:00.002-06:00

This Memorial Day was particularly special for the Hansen side of my family. The headstone for my Grandpa's grave had been put in place and we went and spent some time admiring it's beauty and enjoying each other.

I believe this is the whole crew minus Heidi. My grandma went with my mother and uncle Ren and hand picked the rock. The back has their children's names on it. Also, there are no roses or deer as per request. :)

This is how it all turned out...

2010-06-01T15:49:00.003-06:00

If you will notice, there are some sun glasses on his little (not so little) head. The faculty was trying to be really strict with the way everyone looked. I believe Deric was the only one that got away with something so CRAZY!

It was real and if you look to the background, Jack was real excited for him. Fruitland High School doesn't have a big enough gym, nor do they have any sort of auditorium. So where did this all take place? Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa Idaho. Even still there were people standing in the isles.

People I spent my afternoon with...

2010-05-25T23:50:00.003-06:00

These are two of my cousins Lauren and Kailyn. They were sweet enough for to pose for me so I could play with my camera. I picked them up after school (late) and we had a really good time!

My little Brother is Graduating Tonight!

2010-05-24T15:13:00.001-06:00

Quick update, embarrassing moment and some deep thoughts

2010-04-12T20:28:00.004-06:00

The last few weeks have been a roller coaster for Jack and I. Jack stares at me while I run around trying to get my hormones back into place. Jack's finals are coming up and he luckily has some smart friends to study with so I have high hopes for him.

My computer crashed several days ago. According to my sources (Alan) it's not a complete blow out.

I am starting to hate the smell of smoke, the sight of cigarette butts, and all things unkempt.

Jack fixed our vacuum-sort of.

We have been getting to know a few more people lately. Kyle and Tessa have invited us to many events, which I am grateful for. I have been a little helpless socially so the push to go out has been nice. A few days ago they arranged a dinner party of 12 to Olive Garden where we met Joe and Jessica. They have been married a little longer than we have. I like them a lot. Unfortunately we had an awkward moment that I am not sure what to do about. The subject of kids seemed to come up fairly regularly. We didn't want to make them feel sad or awkward so we just mentioned we didn't have any. I just figured we would talk about it at a later date if a friendship started. There were the harmless comments of "don't let her hold a baby, she'll just want one." Which, really, there was nothing wrong with. Until the subject of pregnancy came up and I was asked about mine. I don't think I need to go into details about the intense "crap, now what." that I am sure was going through all of our minds. I quickly explained that we had lost our twins about a month ago and things were getting better. But the damage was done. Later we all went to the hot tub. I so badly wanted to say "look please don't be worried about what happened at dinner," or something similar. Instead I just let it go and decided to avoid it because that was easier.

I have had some wonderful chats with several different people lately. I am very grateful for each of them. One in particular talked to me about trials. She explained to me that her husband wasn't LDS and that is what she deals with every day. But she wouldn't ever want to deal with what I am dealing with. I have to admit that I would choose my situation over hers any day. I am grateful for the things I am learning, the closeness I am feeling to Jack and my Heavenly Father. I finally feel like I belong here due to the following new Logan friends I am making. I appreciate that Brittany does such wonderful things for me and then makes me feel like a rock star when she talks about me. I love that Jenna referred to me as a sister and feels comfortable enough to discuss life with me. I really appreciated that Macey asked questions. I love that I can count on Jessica to be a consistent friend whom I could trust with my life. I really appreciate the energy that Contessa has to keep checking up and inviting me places. The Lord knew I would need these people, and I couldn't be happier that I have them.

Sister Heidi Perren-Link on the LEFT

2010-03-26T17:37:00.003-06:00

I am currently the Head Foreman for the Little Bits of silliness blog. You will see the link to the left. It's my sister Heidi's blog who is currently on a Mission in Roseville, California. She's been at the MTC for 2 days now. I don't know anything other than that. So if you find yourself interested in her happenings, that's how you can't get to her blog. (the link on the left)

The BEST surprise I have ever had...Disneyland!

2010-03-23T12:10:00.002-06:00

2 weeks ago, during one of my sadness and crying sessions, I mentioned to Jack how I just wanted to get away. I needed something to look forward to, but I knew we couldn't afford it. (That made me cry more) Jack did his best to make me feel better, knowing that that very day he had started plotting a surprise with his mission buddy Dave to take me to Disneyland. Of course when I heard that Dave had helped Jack put this all together with a few hook ups and suggestions for Jack I cried more. It was the nicest thing for him to be so mindful of us.

When we got there Jack saw how excited I was, and happy that he arranged for a two day visit with the help of his Grandparents. They were so mindful and sent us a little something for our anniversary. In the end we were SO glad that we had the chance to do that. Needless to say, I didn't have the energy to play hard in the park. Jack spent most of the time running around while I rested so we could eat or get a fast pass. I felt so lame, but so happy at the same time.
We got Just Married buttons because we were counting this as the honeymoon we missed out on a year ago. It was the best decision we've ever made! Everyone was so nice to us. The attention was great, we felt extra special. Jack had never been to Disneyland so feeling extra special was just that much more exciting. We got to ride in the front of rides, the cut off for character pictures was just behind us. The cast members refused to let us take individual pictures, and would go out of their way to take extras.

Jack will say that the California Screamin' and Space Mountain were is favs. But he also said he was really impressed with the Sorin over California ride. I have all kinds of favorites, but my favorite this time was being able to go INSIDE the castle. It's just a walk through of the Sleeping Beauty story. I still get butterflies from this because I have been bugging the poor customer service people on the phone for years about the castle. I can really say my dreams have come true in Disneyland every time I have been.

Good afternoon, My name is Russel and I am a wilderness explorer in tribe 54.....

2010-03-10T17:45:00.002-07:00

I have watched a lot of movies. Crazy enough, not a ton. Currently I am watching UP. Today I spent some time with Brittany. She helped me get some shopping done. Then I went to drop off some paperwork at the hospital. Then Jack came home. I have spent most of my time around people today which has been pleasant. What I am trying to say is, I have only watched 2 movies today. Up and Ice Age 3.

I have had a lot of help, and I have really appreciated it. People have brought me food, I have had wonderful gifts and notes in the mail/email. I am an extremely loved person. I

I feel alright, just generally uncomfortable, tired, and out of breath. I have developed some terrible headaches.But the good thing is there is no immediate danger says the doctor. My six inch bruise from my blown vein IV attempt is starting to fade, but hurts pretty bad. The actual area of the IV is starting to develop a large bump. Again the doctor says "no problem unless it gets hot and you get a fever." so no death in the near future.

I want to go back to where I said people have brought me dinner. I have met several people from my ward and one in particular I have to talk about.

She told us the amazing story of the birth of her daughter. I think she came 2 months early. The girl said she fell and about a week later she had some bleeding and cramping. Being worried they went to the emergency room. There they found her baby at the bottom of her pant leg, still in the sac. They rushed her to the labor and delivery floor where they got the baby out of her pants but unfortunately they thought it may be too late because it had fallen our of her body a while before they got to the hospital. Well one nurse didn't want to give up, so 101 dalmatians style she rubbed the baby's back and after a few min. a breath and a cry! The baby had to be flown to Ogden where she spent the rest of her time until being able to come home. On her records at the hospital it says "baby found in mom's pants."

Tomorrow Tessa is going to take me on a carriage ride. I also have my first meeting with the Share Parents that came and helped me take pictures of the twins in the hospital. They have speakers once a month. It's like a little support group. I feel like my blog was a little choppy today, and no pictures. I can try and take some tomorrow, oh and this weekend when we go to Provo/Highland/Springville/Salt Lake and Eagle Mountain.

Our First Anniversary!

2010-03-07T19:43:00.004-07:00

We are so excited that we have reached our first year! Jack and I both agree that we have grown a lot. Here are a few stats since one year ago:

We've had 4 different apartments

We have set foot in 11 states

1000 meals cooked, 800 by Jack

Fish owned: 4

wanted to get a dog 103 times

We doubled our movie collection

one calling in church

nights we procrastinated the dishes, 50

58 memorable experiences

We are still so happy and very much in love. It's been wonderful year. We wouldn't take anything back, it was ALL something worth experiencing.

*numbers and stats are purely for entertainment purposed. They may be exaggerated, altered or completely untrue. *

2010-03-03T11:43:00.004-07:00

A week after we found out our news, we had another ultra sound with my Doctor. The picture was so sad this time. There weren't heartbeats anymore. It was impossible to really tell what happened, so our Doctor encouraged us to keep our appointment with the Perinatologist to see if he had something to say. Unfortunately by the time we got there, things were changing so much there wasn't going to be anything to see. He said that he agreed that what we were seeing was the bladder, but he was confused at the idea that it would have caused a problem so fatal for the both of them. He has never seen that before. He suggested that the best way to try and find any answers was to see them from the outside and run a few tests. That's when we decided that being induced was going to be our best option.

I went into the hospital the next day. I can't give you any specific names of the drugs they used, mostly because I don't know how to spell them. They didn't use the regular drugs to induce labor because I was at a different stage in my pregnancy and my body wouldn't have responded. I had pills that would dissolve and enter my blood stream. We started by keeping them in my mouth. This got my body going pretty speedy and with in six hours, my water had broken. On the down side over the next 12 hours the pills did not dissolve, thus the labor stopped. By the time they figured that out and tried again, it was like having to start over. Because my water broke really early on, they had to watch me very carefully, and after a while were very concerned because it was coming to the point of danger because I wasn't progressing and I can't just let my body sit in that state forever. I have never prayed so hard in my life for something to happen so I would be able to see and hold my babies.

After 36 long hours of labor, the Lord blessed me and I gave birth to my twin boys at 6:30 Monday morning. They came seconds apart. However my placenta didn't because my cervix closed and pinched the placenta in half causing me to bleed almost uncontrollably. They rushed me back for a DNC to clean me out and in an hour I came back to my two beautiful children. Some volunteers came from the hospital with group called Share Parents and took tender pictures for me to keep and gave me a few things to keep in a box to hold as a memory. I got to hold them for several hours.. I ache to hold my children again. I now understand what that is when people say it. It's imaginable but no one will understand fully unless it has happened to them. Oddly I am not bitter about anything having to do with babies, not having them and such. I am sad and at peace that everything is as it was intended. I am forever humbled. I hope this change of heart is helpful in some way of making me worthy of another of Heavenly Father's children. We are lucky, and the Lord must see something special in Jack and I to have assigned us two special spirits right off the bat. I am in awe. We are still waiting to find any results, but until then I am up for questions. Please email them to me, as responding to comments is not something I am comfortable with.

GUESS WHAT WORLD......

2010-02-21T20:02:00.004-07:00

WE ARE HAVING TWINS!

It was such a surprise! I wasn't feeling very good last week, and I was concerned. I went into the doctor before our scheduled ultrasound with my doctor. My doctor has been in Hawaii with his family, so another friendly Doctor saw me. Before we started the ultra sound, the Doc checked me out and said "You sure are big, how far along are you? 11 weeks?" So when we saw two on the screen he was just giggling to himself that he thought so. Both babies are measuring at 12 weeks and a couple days, so they are a good size and show a lot of promise.
One little buddy they think has a bladder issue. It was kicking and moving a lot, and there was plenty of fluid above him to suggest that it hasn't been a problem the whole time. Never the less, we will be seeing a specialist next friday to make sure that he is ok. I was told that this isn't an uncommon issue and they have ways of fixing it. For now, we just try to focus on how excited we are.

2 tales of cars

2010-02-16T12:45:00.003-07:00

We have a little parking lot for our fourplex. Our neighbor, as sweet as he is drives a GIANT extended cab full sized old truck. It's the longest truck I have ever seen. The issue is he doesn't pull all the way up in the parking spot. The truck is generally 6 to 10 feet back from where it could be/should be. Today, it was at least 15 feet back, literally in the very middle of the lot. If we had two cars this would be a big deal. But we don't, so I can't be mad, but I am going to justify being a little annoyed that I can't back into our spot.

Another story, last week I drove out to Cornish (about 30 min out in the country) to watch the Miss America pageant with my friend Coleen. I had a wonderful time and she and her daughter are so fun. The story is on my way home. So it's dark, and I am a chicken. My first move is to get the ipod out and plug it in so I can listen to some music on my way home. I turned on the dome light to make sure nobody was hiding in my back seat. Well, i was starting down the road and the music wasn't working. I pressed all kinds of buttons, nothing. so I pick up the ipod and I hear a bang/thud in the truck. I just about peed my pants; somebody had to be in the trunk. So I am thinking a million miles a min about how I am going to get to a safe place before the creep in the trunk makes it to the inside of the car with me. In my panic my first thought is "turn up the bass and the music in the back so blast out his ears so I can call Jack and find a place to pull into." so I flipped all the appropriate dials and picked the ipod back up to find something loud. Thats when I noticed the adapter wasn't plugged in all the way. Obviously I pushed it in all the way and I heard (loud because of the bass and setting switched) another crack/thud. It was then I realized there was no psycho killer in my trunk, it was my cheap audio set up in my car making that noise. I feel so silly.

My new invention

2010-02-03T17:50:00.002-07:00

I have a terrible cold so last night I made a tent over the top of our bed so I could turn on the humidifier with some Vicks in it.

I took a fitted sheet and hung it from an edge of the long side. I then tucked the lower elastic edges on the mattress like it was designed for. So now I had to flaps of elastics up top.

I then took a small spring loaded skinny curtain rod and stretched it straight out from the window into the elastic cuff flap, and then pulled the other side over the top of the same rod. Then the obvious thing, I tucked the humidifier inside the tent on the side of the bed resting on my nightstand to hold it up.
I went to the doctor and things are looking up, but slowly. Perhaps now with my new drugs I can get some sleep at night.

Something else I wrote on my other blog, I got invited to be the friend of a girl named amy on facebook. I didn't know her, but quickly deduced that she was only adding people named Amanda to her list of friends, and one guy named adama. I figured there was something wrong with that, a serial killer perhaps, stalker, Not actually a girl named Amy. None of these things were looking good.

The neighbors downstairs have been smoking up a storm lately. Well neighbor and other neighbor's kid's and/or friends. That has been lovely. Now we just have to figure out if the dad knows. We'll keep you updated.

Never before......

2010-01-23T10:26:00.002-07:00

I have been living in Logan for about a year now. Jack and I have felt that making friends, for us, was a little difficult. It seemed if we thought we made some, they didn't want to do anything, they were just being friendly. Or they would do things, but then the chemistry wasn't there. Dating by pairs of twos has proven to be much harder than we expected.

HOWEVER NEVER BEFORE.......

have we had too many friends that we have been DOUBLE BOOKED!

Last night we were invited to dinner at Olive Garden with Kyle & Tess and Lyle & Britney (not sure how she spells her name.) Before diner started we discussed the love of the bread sticks and salad. I made a point to the tell the waitress that we would be needing a lot of bread sticks. I don't think she took me seriously, at least we deduced that she did not when the bread would be gone every time she came back. I personally ate so many that my I had 4 bits of my chicken parm. and 4 from my alfredo from my Tour of Italy and I was done, I could eat no more.

After that we went to our new friends Mack and Jessica to play games and then we went to Sherlock Holmes, which was quite good. We are all excited for the sequel. This new pair of friends has been married just as long as we have, mainly because we were married on the same day. He has a lot to say and she is very sweet.

In the end, it's finally starting to be pleasant to be here.

Our Quick Trip to Rexburg without pictures

2010-01-20T18:58:00.002-07:00

Sunday and Monday we took off for Rexburg to visit our friends Shawn and Michelle. We didn't take any pictures because I was afraid they would think I was weird.

We had fun eating, playing LIFE the Wii and then watching some Heros. We took our stupid air mattress to sleep on, and wouldn't you know, it's a piece of Junk. In the end, we slept on the floor which wasn't so bad for me, but I think Jack had a harder time with it. However, he did get up earlier and go play Basketball with Shawn while Michelle and I had waffles and chatted.

Monday we saw Avatar! It was as good as we had hoped, but the 3D was sold out. We are debating seeing it again because we were excited about the 3D the most. We also ate at Red Robin where, thanks to Jesse and McKenzie, we quickly ordered our endless fries with the awesome onion ring sauce. I am still dreaming about those fries, mmmmm......

I wish Logan had a Red Robin.

One Final Thought

2010-01-15T10:43:00.002-07:00

For Jack's birthday we went out with Jack's friends from school. We made him get on the saddle at Texas Roadhouse. He hated it, it was awesome!

Our Thanksgiving......in brief

2010-01-15T10:18:00.002-07:00

This year we went to Highland with my side of the family for Thanksgiving.

After dinner, the plan was to go to see the lights with all the kids. However, they didn't want to go because they wanted to spend more time together, so they offered to clean up all of Thanksgiving if the adults went on their own. It was great, and a good idea because the place was packed and having 20 children with us would have been miserable.

JACK IS 24 TODAY!

2010-01-10T18:33:00.002-07:00

Guess who has the internet again.....WE DO!

School starts tomorrow for Jack, I think he is excited. Well I am excited because he will have something to do. The month long break has been exceptionally long for him.

It's also Jack's birthday today! I have been awfully sick all day so he has been great to have a lame birthday. Our plan is to go out to Texas Roadhouse tomorrow with some of his buddies from school, so maybe their awesome food will make up for the lack of excitement around here. Luckily this morning we were in Highland with my Aunt's family and my Grandma, and they made a great breakfast.

Last night we went to Council Bluff's house and had out annual turkey dinner where Becca saved the day and came prepared with a special cupcake and candle, it's was wonderful!

Final Destination-Logan, and some catching up

2009-12-06T20:41:00.001-07:00

Here is how it went down. We didn't take as many pictures as we should have. Late Late in the night we arrived in Logan. We are so blessed to have friends that helped us out Heather and Will.

They helped us find an apartment, keep my job, get a table get moved in just to scratch the surface of how wonderful they were to us.
These are the only pics we have of them right when we got home. We went to the fair, saw some awesome animals, ate some really dirty fair food and attempted to get a tattoo. I chickened out. (not a real tattoo, I would be asking to get a disease doing it at the fair of all places GROSS!

Jack and I haven't had the internet in the apartment, so this is my excuse for not having posted, many many appologies. Jack has been working hard this semester and finished very well. This semeseter I ran my foot over with a bed at the hospital and injured it enough to not be able to work on it for a month, meaning I did a lot of folding linnen for the hospital. Durring that time Jack was playing basketball and twisted his ankle something fearce. so we were quite the couple for some time.

We were so lucky this year, and I was able to get some time off of work to come home. We are here in Idaho, Jack playing basketball with his family and me watching a Christmas Carol with mine. Later tonight I have plans for adventures with a high school buddy at denny's play some games.

Chapter 3 The end of our trip home

2009-10-22T21:04:00.004-06:00

Before Leaving St. Louis We stopped at the Anheuser-Busch factory. This is where my grandpa worked when he was first married and my dad was born. At the time they would let the workers have free beer on their breaks. Not sure if that is the case anymore....

We had a little friend join us on our adventure. If we had had more time, we would have taken the tour, but we just toured the gift shop/entrance area which was interesting all on it's own.

I guess they only take the people that fit on this stage, if you aren't on there, they won't take you.

In Nebraska we stopped at the Cabella's headquarters. At first we stopped in Kearny because we thought that was it.
When we got there we were so disappointed, however we found the right one along the freeway. They were having all kinds of good times outside, and these pictures are what Jack found as a good time on the inside.

It was a lot of fun! This stop also inspired us to go camping as soon as we got back, which we did, which we will post later! Yeah for being home!

Part 2 of 3 in "Our Trip Home"

2009-10-05T20:21:00.003-06:00

Our second stop was in St. Louis. My Dad grew up in Missouri and was kind enough to put us in an awesome hotel so we could see some awesome sites. Here, out of order are the two views from the top of the arch. Which was so amazing!

We walked to Busch Stadium where the Cardinals play. There are rumors that you can drive by and see right into the field from your car. This is not completely true. Despite this lie, it was a cool looking stadium.

Perhaps the very coolest part was how while we were walking around Mark McGuire on his morning run breezed past. This is him.

This is a picture of a picture, of the making of the Arch. It's so amazing, and so much Narrower than you might think.
To get to the top you ride in an elevator shaped like a dryer drum. It fits 5 people very tightly. To get to the top it rocks back and forth. The women we rode with weren't exactly excited to be in such a small place so we got to know them very quickly to distract any motion sickness.
Jack wanted to take advantage of touching the Mississippi. That he did. It was as dirty as they say.

We loved St. Louis! It was so fun to go around. We wanted to take a tour of the Budweiser plant, but we didn't really have the time. So off we went in pursuit of home and the largest Cabellas. There were so many things to see, but alas, so little time

2009-09-09T18:09:00.004-06:00

Our Journey Home

Chapter 1

Here is the first of a few installments of our exciting trip home. We left Charlotte a little later than we had hoped. Unfortunately that interupted our time spent in Nashville. We got to walk up and down the streets, but we didn't get to do anything that you would expect.

We passed the Coyote Ugly bar. I took a picture of the rules for entering the bar, but I will post it later when I figure out what something means so I am not putting anything too sketchy on the blog. It sounded like fun....

We decided to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe because we couldn't see anything like the Opry. It was fun having never been there before. Jack wouldn't let me get a shirt though. That was the theme of the whole thrip though, no shirt.

The one thing that caught Jacks eye was Johnny Cash's Guitar. Right over the entrance.

Part of our journey was to find some boots for Jack. This was closed by the time we got there. It's too bad because it would have been neat to say you bought your boots in Nashville. We had good intentions though.

We didn't stay in Nashville, we just stoped for dinner. It was a 12 hour drive from Charlotte to St. Louis where we did stay. That however will be for chapter 2.

The Last Few Moments...

2009-08-19T13:26:00.004-06:00

We leave soonish.....tonight we will know for sure! I got an email from JT Jack and I's boss. We work with student athletes during the school year and love it. It was a very general mass email, but it made me SO excited! This job with the athletes also makes it possible for me to live after having the wonderful job with special ed students in Provo. I feel like I have a brain and I use it still.

I know JT doesn't read our blog, but thanks anyway, we love USU athletes!

A couple fun finds

2009-08-17T18:48:00.004-06:00

Since we don't have anymore Sundays left here, we took the afternoon and found things in Charlotte that we wanted to take pictures of. We went to the Bank of America stadium where the Panthers play. Of course there wasn't anything going on, so we could only walk around the outside. BUT we think that while we were there the team was there having a meeting because a small parking lot was full of really nice cars.

There are two panthers at each entrance. They are both huge and very scary. They also have green eyes that kind of glow. I felt like the eyes were following us.

The picture doesn't show the eyes. But as you may be able to guess it was too high for me even to stand on Jack's shoulders to get a good shot.

This is where we would be buying snacks if we actually got to go to a game.

This is as close to the field as we could get.

This is the site from the road as we drove away. Don't worry though, we imagined a game and we liked it!

We then left for one destination that I had to make sure that I found. My maiden name Perren, which half of my family spells Perrin. I was thrilled when I found this little sign. This happens to be one of two Perrin streets here in the east that I personally know of. Jack contested that it wasn't my name so he didn't really get the whole insistance that I look good in the picture. But infact it IS still my name, my middle name according to the government.

We also went to some race tracks, but the same thing, we couldn't get in. So we couldn't get any real good pictures, but we will charish them because we know the significance. One week from today Jack will be back in school and we will be happily closer to our families. I will also be cleaning my apartment so we can move in with my wonderful friend Heather, whom I couldn't have found a place to live without! Just a few more days....

2009-08-10T17:53:00.002-06:00

The Countdown Begins

We are getting ready to head back to Utah,

which we are extremely excited about.

We have missed our families dearly, and frankly knowing where things are.

I ventured out today on my own without using the gps.

We were out of milk, and I didn't want to drive 25 min to the good walmart,

not the creapy one.

As you can see I am learning more about the bloging thing.

I have had a lot of time on my hands, so I have started to learn

things that are a little bit out of my element; such as html.

This has been especially hard because I don't have photoshop,

and have had to find ways to create things. I have found

that once I started and worked through it once slowly, it

makes sense.

Of course once I get back to utah, I won't have this kind of time,

so I will be tryinig a lot of things.

2009-08-07T19:44:00.000-06:00

We've been married 5 Months!

We have made it 5 months and it's been a good five months.

Things Jack has learned:

I am a stressful person

I dislike the dishes very much

I like hugs from tall Jack

I do not like towels on top of the door

I take a lot of pictures

That Gilmore Girls can be enjoyable

Things I have learned:

Jack likes lots of breakfast

To give up on the towel when there is nowhere else to put it

The kissy face doesn't work all the time

To give it sometimes for the movie choice

That I need to count to ten before voicing my opinion sometimes

That I have rubber gloves so I can to the dishes

We love eachother VERY much.

2009-08-03T15:34:00.002-06:00

The All Mighty Catch Up

Buckle your seat belts, this is going to be a big one.

I have compiled the collection of pictures over the last month into one major post.

We have been loving Charlotte and all of the

fun things we have been able to do here.

Our apartments are lovely,

the weather in humid and the people here are "blessed beyond belief."

Jack has been getting better and better

at his job. My brother Deric had his senior pictures taken.

My grandma as of the beginning of the month has shot

13 skunks in her yard. Our neighbor Becca is set to

have her baby in less than a week, things are crazy around here.

The pool here is nice, but we get the feeling the people here don't
like us because they like to spend their time around the pool
drinking and smoking and hitting on each other and we are
too noisy for that to happen. The sales reps are gaining quite
the tan line on their feet as you can see, but they enjoy it.

We had a cake making contest one day.

Steve learned to make fondant out of

marshmallows and stuff. We had a

blast, I never knew that cakes could be so fun.

We then went to the local roller derby. I think we

expected a little more brutality amongst the

players, but it tuns out we think they all kinda

know each other because they were just playing for sport.

My favorite girl "optimus fine" ended up being not that

cool and kinda lame. She was supposed to do the

scoring but she would get ahead of the

other girl and then never change speed.

If she would have gone faster, she would have been pretty good.

The girl that was actually good ended up

sliding into the wall and

breaking her ankle. It was sad, and a slaughter for them.

For the fourth we went downtown and

watched the fireworks. I've always been

camping with my family, so I don't

really remember going to fireworks

on the fourth ever. Thus this was momentous and exciting.

We then went to this place next to

the Catawba river where they have

made their own man made river

and many other outdoor

activities. It's easily

described as a outdoor

themed theme park. There were all

kinds of things to do.

We did the rafting and kayaking,

but unfortunately didn't have a

water proof camera so we

don't have any pictures of that.

Before we went down the zip line,

we spent time kayaking on the

Catawaba. We were out there for

hours! When it was time to come

back we began to paddle around the

island in the river. We were told

it would take about 45 min to

get around. After about a mile

down the river we figured out

that we missed the island.

Turns out it was pretty small

and anyone who has any decent

strength can get around it in

about 20 min.

It was a long paddle back up stream.

We also have this great little area next to

the pool with a fire pit and a grill that

anyone can use. So we try to every once

in a while. The complex also has

television workout equipment, a

theater room, pool table and poker table,

and movies that you can just check

out anytime you wish included with

living there. It will be kinda sad to leave.

That is it for now, I am sure we will have more later.

We are rounding on five months so that should be an exciting time.

We also plan on winning the lottery, it's up to 120 million so

that should take care of us and any of you out there that read

this. So if you are wanting to make the right friends you should start being ours.

THE ZOO

2009-07-14T17:14:00.000-06:00

Before we left Greenville we went to the little zoo they had there. We had a lot of fun because it was so little and cute I think we got to be more involved in the zoo than the zoo would have liked.

This is me actually falling off the bear.

This monkey was reading the cardboard like a book.
Jack's hand, he loses.

Jack being a monkey. It was a fun afternoon for us. Even though it was very hot and humid followed with a lot of bugs. gross.

New Suit

2009-07-03T18:38:00.000-06:00

Jack and I have been loving the time we can spend together, especially at the pool. Since it's so conveniently right there to use. The next place we go has a pool, maybe it will be cooler.

However the coolest thing about these pictures is my new swimsuit!

My other one had a little fight in the dryer, and as you may guess-it lost. So I am going to enjoy this one for a while.

Pool Party

2009-06-29T18:38:00.000-06:00

It's very frequent here for it to be hot. Thus, when the office gets a chance, we have a pool party.

Mostly the boys play ball in the pool. In the other moments they are eating, or they are jumping over the hoop, making a basket and flipping into the pool. This is easier for taller men, and more difficult for the smaller ones. However, no fatal injuries; many, many laughs.

Drowning is encouraged.
And Jack does rather well. Unfortunately, I don't pay attention with the camera when he is dominating the game. It helps that he is so tall for sure.

We have been having a good time here. It hink the fireflies are my favorite. I do enjoy watching the natives at the pool. The girls come out to sun bathe, and the men follow with their coolers. They all enjoy country music, and they know little to nothing about putting baby birds back in the nest.

The kids are funny, their accents make them sound older. However, their parents with the same accent sound younger.

We leave for Charlotte on Sunday. Once again we move a little further from home, but we will be back soon. My family is currently on their annual trips to the mountains, and I am so sad not to be there. It's a fun event, and I am not sure how I will feel watching a fireworks show for once on the fourth as I can't remember the last one I have been to, I was too little.

Also a note, my cousin Lauretta had a serious accident this weekend falling off a horse, and is in the hospital working hard to get better. We are all concerned about her, lover her dearly and pray she gets well soon. Lucky for me I have a wonderful family that only grows closer with hard times.

Rita's Ice

2009-06-18T19:17:00.000-06:00

I've found a new love, Jack has found a new like. There is a little place called Rita's Ice. It's really close to where we live. They do flavored ice and custard and both of them together which is devine!

The employees don't know what flavors there will be until that morning. So it's obviously an adventure. I LOVE the mango the most. But every flavor is really good. I will miss it when we leave for Charlotte in a week or so. We also bought a GPS today for the car. We have yet to use it, much less name it, but I have high hopes for the adventures that we will have. We also put the packages in the mail family so be excited!

3 Months!

2009-06-17T16:03:00.000-06:00

So it's been a few days since we actually hit our three months. But it's my blog whatever. We decided to just spend the day doing lazy things like watch a movie, go for a walk, jump in the pool. We also had a friend with us named Nygil all day.

We decided to venture out in the woods with our bug repelant. I guess we weren't the only ones that felt that way because we ran into one lone guy. He just kinda stood and stared at the water then walked away. Weird creepy whatever.

We are having a great time out here. Especially getting to know other people, and having to rely on eachother for fun. We have a few plans for the far future now. Last week we went out with a few other couples for dinner and a movie which was so fun. We tasted a watermellon smoothie with sugar on the rim. This week I think we are going to go to the zoo, that will also be fun. I have a few more pics so I am going to give myself the goal of 5 posts in June. Here's one.

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

2009-05-29T15:25:00.000-06:00

Last week I took a little trip with the "gang" of some wives to a restaraunt called The Beacon featured on the show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Left to right Jessica, me, McKenzie and Becca.

When you walk in, there is a paper menu on the wall and you walk up to this man who calls out your order. The fun part about this is, whatever he says is totally in audible; you can't understand a thing.
He's been working here for 52 years and loves it. He is blind and very good at his job. We didn't know what to order. He asked us what we liked and then ordered the burger we wanted.
Just like the cafeteria you grab a tray and move down the line. After we mad our orders we tried to figure out exactly what it was we ordered.

The experience was really fun, and the place was totally a dive. It was like it had been added on to several times because it was like a maze to get around. Another fun note is for memorial day they put out a flag using a crane. Yes the flag was hanging from the crane.

Week 3

2009-05-25T15:57:00.000-06:00

Jack and I have had a pretty good weekend. I can't say that tonight we will be doing anything exciting as we are both working until about 9:30. However we have had some fun lately.

We have found a new love. The clam chowder at Joes Crab Shack is to die for. The first time we went, we got a coupon for a free appetizer for the next time we came. So ofcourse next date night that came up, we got some more clam chowder. The fun part is we got the same waiter. So Jack and I think that we are on our way to becoming regulars.

Sunday afternoon we went to Falls Park in Greenville for a picnic. There are all kinds of cool plants around here and we both are kinda amazed at these flowers. They are huge!
Jack decided to take a trip across the river to a cave that we aren't sure really exists. He is so manly!

We had a lot of fun at this little rock. The longer we are married. The more fun we have doing things like taking pictures.
We decided that Jack could probably jump across the river. Clearly it looks as though he can.

We are stading in front of this cool little sign that says not to climb on the tree roots. Don't worry we didn't actually climb on them.

We did break some rules and climbed to the middle of the water fall and get on the rocks. It was a lot of fun. Jack practiced being a gentleman and helping me from rock to rock. Since it was a waterfall and had just rained, it was actually important because my shoes were a little slick on the rocks.
Don't worry there are more fun adventures to come. We are planning a trip to the zoo sometime soon. We are coming up with plans for a baseball game. The BMW plant is around here some where and word on the street is if you have a student id or just a good lying face that you are a student you can take a tour for $3.50.

A few fun things I've seen so far

2009-05-21T17:10:00.000-06:00

I got to go hang out with some of the other wives at the park yesterday. It was fun. We got to go downtown in greenville to a cool place called falls park. Here are some of the cool things I saw.

Amanda

Logan's Steak House

2009-05-21T14:22:00.000-06:00

We were lucky enough as an office to earn a dinner. So last week we went to Logan's steak house. The whole office went, so we had a huge amount of people there. In turn the service was a little slow. Do you see the peanuts at the bottom of the picture. When we sat down they looked like that. 1 hour later when they finally took our order, the peanuts were half gone. Yes we waited an hour before anyone showed up. However, the meal was really good. I don't think we will go back though.

Our home

2009-05-15T18:38:00.000-06:00

I have been having fun with my camera in the times that I am all alone. Here is a tour of where we live it should be pretty self explanitory as I have taken the liberty to label a few things for you.

on top of all the fun things in the kitchen, there is a dip in the floor in front of the laundry closet. I am almost positive that it is a time warp hole that is developing. When it finally opens up, I am going to send my laundry to the future when it's all clean instead of doing it right now. And that stupid drawer, it will not shut unless you take it all the way out and try again.
The front door has an excelent feature, two dead bolts, one that can not be opened from the outside. The light fixture however, does not have a cool feature unless you think being in the way of your head pretty cool. For Jack and I, it's really not.
Our fireplace is pretty cool. I think it's the mantle that we enjoy the most. It made it so wonderful for us not to have to hang anything.
This is the amount of clothing we brought with us. For those of you who have ever seen my collection of clothing, this is hardly anything at all. so far I am missing them all.
our bed doesn't look as comfortable when it is down low. Back west we have risers for our bed and our bed receives many compliments for how fluffy and comfy it looks.
We've only enjoyed sitting out here just once. Sometime soon I am sure we will do it again.

The dumpster is also a trash compactor. As you can see it's actually hidden really well. You wouldn't ever know that is where the trash goes un-less you were in the car with someone else that say "hey babe, stop really quick so I can throw this away." and then you witness as she disapears into the woods.

Things are going well here on the east coast. I am enjoying living in a new place. We've had a few successes today. I got a good deal on bananas. Jack got a sale just now. I am making some friends with the other wives. Jack kicked some trash playing basketball. I cleaned everything in the apartment, and it's nice. Last but not least Elder Oaks is coming to visit for Stake Conference tomorrow. This should be exciting!

South Carolina!

2009-05-11T17:10:00.000-06:00

We finally made it! It was a long trip moving from plane to plane, but it was fun to spend all day with eachother. As you can see we were in close quarters so we learned to love eachother a little more.

This is a picture of about where we live. Our complex is really close to the airport so we figure this is a good view. Our friends Dave and Jess were right there to pick us up and they had our keys and apt waiting. We are having to adjust to all the trees! It's been raining a whole lot so we haven't had a chance to really explore and take a whole lot of pictures.

We got a little bored at the airport. These were the best faces we could make of our travels. Don't worry there will be many more!

The first is the worst

2009-02-25T20:47:00.000-07:00

I did it, and I will tell you why. I had some creepy followers to my old account, number 1. I felt like I needed to have something more centralized toward Jack and I number 2, and number three to encourage Jack to use it too. If it's called something stupid like my blog was before then I guess it's embarrassing enough to keep him away. But perhaps he things will change!