Here is my beloved SUV which I'm super excited about. We have had it sine May but I'm still playing catch up on my posts.
The boys and I spent a good amount of time before my wrist surgery looking for a second vehicle. They actually really enjoyed it and would get excited when I told them we were going to look at cars. The first lot we went to was kind of too snobby I guess you could say. I told the guy what my spending limit was and he only showed me cars that were no less than double what I said I could spend. Crazy huh? I also didn't feel comfortable letting the boys get in to look. Needless to say I didn't buy from there and we never returned.
I also did a great deal of looking on KSL and googled some other car lots to look at. I knew I wanted at SUV and not a mini van. Believe it or not the first car I normally drove after getting my license was a green mini van and that's okay but I have always wanted an SUV. I was most interested in a Tahoe, Yukon or Suburban. Those are what I first started looking at but then later started looking at Escalades and Expeditions as well.
After narrowing down what I wanted and felt that I needed, this is what I was looking for:
-3rd row seating (An absolute must)
-DVD player
-under 100,000 miles
-clean title
-good condition inside and out
-Automatic
-No smoker for previous owner
-Listed for under $15,000
-Year 2000 or newer
I test drove an Escalade but the price was a little higher than I wanted for as old as it was and I also test drove a couple suburban's but realized that for the most part they weren't in my price range unless they had too many miles.
I found a Ford Expedition on KSL that I was ready to look at and most likely purchase so I called about looking at it and had an appointment set up but the person called the other people that had just looked at it to let them know someone else was coming and they decided to buy it. I was pretty bummed.
I was running out of time before surgery and I'm not sure what I was out doing but I saw a dealership located off the highway and decided to go by it. That was the best decision I could have made. I loved the guy I was working with and I felt like he really wanted to sell me a vehicle in my price range for a great deal. I found a few things that would work for me but really liked a 2004 Ford Expedition. They also had a Suburban but I knew the price really wasn't going to be what I wanted to pay. I was also a little concerned about how long the vehicle would be.
I basically love everything about the expedition. The seats are leather. There is a DVD player, built in GPS system and heated seats. One thing I love about the 3rd row of seats is that they split so you can have just one seat up or two seats up at a time. It was only $100 more than my price range I had and it was under $100k miles
I will add pictures later
Friday, September 12, 2014
Buying a House
I thought it would be fun to share our experience as we found a house to buy and maybe give some tips for those looking to buy a house or sell their own.
So first off we know we wanted to live close to Anthon's work so his commute wouldn't be very far so we decided we didn't want to live in Orem or Provo because that was too far. We also knew that we didn't want to live any farther north than Lehi.
Anthon and I drove up to Utah the last weekend in January and we must have looked at a dozen houses while I was there for the weekend. We liked a few things but one specific. The only problem is that we needed to sell our house in AZ before we could buy a house in Utah. Our house wasn't quite ready to be listed yet so we wanted to lease until we could buy. The people we talked to about that had some pretty intense requests to make that possible on the house we wanted to buy so we turned their offer down. The house was in Lehi at about 500 W and Pioneer Crossing. We ended up finding a house for rent in the same neighborhood and were able to convince the landlord to rent to us if we paid a little extra rent and a pet deposit.
We loved the house we rented and it helped us decide what we really wanted in a house. We moved in over Valentine's Day weekend. As we looked at most houses we realized that most people were not interested in leasing before people buy.
We had the most amazing realtor named Jason Wolf. Our experience with buying a house couldn't have been made any easier for us. He helped us understand everything and fought for what we wanted. I truly felt like he knew us and what we wanted in a house.
We eventually found a house we liked in Lehi. We got under contract and I had my dad come look at it because I had some concern about the crawl space. We ended up finding too much moisture for my comfort in the crawl space and a little bit of standing water. The most awkward part about when I took my dad to look at the crawl space is that the home owner was there looking over our shoulder the whole time. We ended up breaking our contract and we continued looking. This is when we decided that Lehi was maybe not the place for us to live.
Then we started focusing more on Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain. We originally thought this would be too far from Anthon's work but once we got to know the area it ended up being about the same distance as our rental house. We looked at a few house out in Eagle Mountain City Center but we realized there was really no stores or anything out there so we thought it was too far for us.
We decided that we were interested in having a basement (finished or unfinished) and that the house needed to be at least 2400 sq ft. Whatever house we built we wanted to make sure we could be in it long term. We wanted at least 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. We prefered to have a decent sized fenced yard but not having it fenced wasn't a deal breaker. We also wanted to have a living room and family room and one thing kind of important to me as silly as it seems is I didn't want a white kitchen sink. I feel like white kitchen sinks never look clean no matter what I do.
We looked at so many houses over the time we were looking that its unbelievable. We learned that once we felt uncomfortable about something in a house then we might as well just move on. We also learned to rate our houses in an order so often our realtor would ask us, do you like this house better than your number one or something similar to us. The realtor would also print out the house sheet for us and after we looked or during we would take notes of the things we really liked and the things we didn't like. Then we put it in order of what we like most to what we liked least.
Let me share a few experiences of some houses we looked at. One house we looked at was a rental house. After knocking on the door it was answered and we were immediately greeted by the smell of weed. Apparently the landlord or tenant didn't remember we were coming and were a little busy. The house was pretty darkly painted with not too many lights on. I swear the smell was strong enough to get a contact high.
We also looked at a couple house that were incredible messy. Once again these were houses that were being rented. One couple was in the process of packing and moving so that's more understandable. We didn't really like the floor plan. The other really messy one was just terrible. I guess they didn't know we were coming but the house was in poor condition. It was pretty crazy.
I remember looking at a house owned by an oriental couple and it was really interesting to look at the décor that was in the house compared to what we are used to seeing.
We looked at a really creepy house once. They were smokers which of course I didn't like and then I don't think they spent much time cleaning up for us. The creepy thing was when we entered the basement though. There was a random bed in an area and it looked like some not great things were going on. It made me really uncomfortable and we pretty much left immediately after that. We stopped looking in that area after that.
We looked at several house located in the same neighborhood as our rental house that we really liked but none of them were quite big enough for us. Some of them had some great features though.
We also looked at a few properties/houses that were fixer uppers located on an acre of land. The first one we looked at needed about $40k of work and was in terrible shape as in not livable but the land was awesome and had animal rights. It was close to the highway though. The other one we looked at was close to that one but much bigger and it was amazing. We liked it a lot but we weren't sure it would pass the inspection and the owners didn't seem interested in fixing those things that were problems. We also learned that several of the neighbors were polygamists which wasn't the best for the kids to grow up around.
We worked with a great company to get a mortgage. The are called Guaranteed Rate. I can't even explain how easy they made the process and how well they communicated with us. Compared to the first time we bought a house, it was all a piece of cake.
I can't really think about what else to write and this is already a long post. I just know working with the right people makes things so much easier and less stressful. I've heard stories from several people about working with a bad realtor and etc. so we were really happy to find such great people to help us.
So first off we know we wanted to live close to Anthon's work so his commute wouldn't be very far so we decided we didn't want to live in Orem or Provo because that was too far. We also knew that we didn't want to live any farther north than Lehi.
Anthon and I drove up to Utah the last weekend in January and we must have looked at a dozen houses while I was there for the weekend. We liked a few things but one specific. The only problem is that we needed to sell our house in AZ before we could buy a house in Utah. Our house wasn't quite ready to be listed yet so we wanted to lease until we could buy. The people we talked to about that had some pretty intense requests to make that possible on the house we wanted to buy so we turned their offer down. The house was in Lehi at about 500 W and Pioneer Crossing. We ended up finding a house for rent in the same neighborhood and were able to convince the landlord to rent to us if we paid a little extra rent and a pet deposit.
We loved the house we rented and it helped us decide what we really wanted in a house. We moved in over Valentine's Day weekend. As we looked at most houses we realized that most people were not interested in leasing before people buy.
We had the most amazing realtor named Jason Wolf. Our experience with buying a house couldn't have been made any easier for us. He helped us understand everything and fought for what we wanted. I truly felt like he knew us and what we wanted in a house.
We eventually found a house we liked in Lehi. We got under contract and I had my dad come look at it because I had some concern about the crawl space. We ended up finding too much moisture for my comfort in the crawl space and a little bit of standing water. The most awkward part about when I took my dad to look at the crawl space is that the home owner was there looking over our shoulder the whole time. We ended up breaking our contract and we continued looking. This is when we decided that Lehi was maybe not the place for us to live.
Then we started focusing more on Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain. We originally thought this would be too far from Anthon's work but once we got to know the area it ended up being about the same distance as our rental house. We looked at a few house out in Eagle Mountain City Center but we realized there was really no stores or anything out there so we thought it was too far for us.
We decided that we were interested in having a basement (finished or unfinished) and that the house needed to be at least 2400 sq ft. Whatever house we built we wanted to make sure we could be in it long term. We wanted at least 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. We prefered to have a decent sized fenced yard but not having it fenced wasn't a deal breaker. We also wanted to have a living room and family room and one thing kind of important to me as silly as it seems is I didn't want a white kitchen sink. I feel like white kitchen sinks never look clean no matter what I do.
We looked at so many houses over the time we were looking that its unbelievable. We learned that once we felt uncomfortable about something in a house then we might as well just move on. We also learned to rate our houses in an order so often our realtor would ask us, do you like this house better than your number one or something similar to us. The realtor would also print out the house sheet for us and after we looked or during we would take notes of the things we really liked and the things we didn't like. Then we put it in order of what we like most to what we liked least.
Let me share a few experiences of some houses we looked at. One house we looked at was a rental house. After knocking on the door it was answered and we were immediately greeted by the smell of weed. Apparently the landlord or tenant didn't remember we were coming and were a little busy. The house was pretty darkly painted with not too many lights on. I swear the smell was strong enough to get a contact high.
We also looked at a couple house that were incredible messy. Once again these were houses that were being rented. One couple was in the process of packing and moving so that's more understandable. We didn't really like the floor plan. The other really messy one was just terrible. I guess they didn't know we were coming but the house was in poor condition. It was pretty crazy.
I remember looking at a house owned by an oriental couple and it was really interesting to look at the décor that was in the house compared to what we are used to seeing.
We looked at a really creepy house once. They were smokers which of course I didn't like and then I don't think they spent much time cleaning up for us. The creepy thing was when we entered the basement though. There was a random bed in an area and it looked like some not great things were going on. It made me really uncomfortable and we pretty much left immediately after that. We stopped looking in that area after that.
We looked at several house located in the same neighborhood as our rental house that we really liked but none of them were quite big enough for us. Some of them had some great features though.
We also looked at a few properties/houses that were fixer uppers located on an acre of land. The first one we looked at needed about $40k of work and was in terrible shape as in not livable but the land was awesome and had animal rights. It was close to the highway though. The other one we looked at was close to that one but much bigger and it was amazing. We liked it a lot but we weren't sure it would pass the inspection and the owners didn't seem interested in fixing those things that were problems. We also learned that several of the neighbors were polygamists which wasn't the best for the kids to grow up around.
We worked with a great company to get a mortgage. The are called Guaranteed Rate. I can't even explain how easy they made the process and how well they communicated with us. Compared to the first time we bought a house, it was all a piece of cake.
I can't really think about what else to write and this is already a long post. I just know working with the right people makes things so much easier and less stressful. I've heard stories from several people about working with a bad realtor and etc. so we were really happy to find such great people to help us.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Back to Life...
So as most people know I'm really into Fitness, Health and Sports. So of course breaking my wrist about 9 months ago was a big deal to me. I had surgery to repair my TFCC disc in my wrist around Mother's Day and was cleared a few weeks ago to start doing things as pain allowed. Before that I had a limitation of no more than 5lbs for 6 weeks. It was terrible.
So yesterday my friend Kendra and I started our first day of getting back to a Healthier lifestyle. I had no Dr. Pepper yesterday and stayed within my calorie limit. I completed my first workout since I think April. Our workout was 1 bicep curl, 1 tricep extension and 1 burpee but then climbing in number for each set (2,3,4,5 and etc. or each). It was a 25 min workout and I got to round 14. I only finished 11 burpees of my 14th round. I started with burpees instead of bicep curls since Kendra and I were doing it at the same time and sharing some weights. The hardest part of the exercise for me was the tricep extensions. I still can't put full weight on my wrist so the burpees were difficult and my hand is sore from going down on it funny.
Later last night I went for a 45 min walk which felt great and I went 2.75 miles. The plan is to workout with weights on MWF and do cardio everyday except Sunday. I plan to walk on MWF and run on TTRS.
I have been playing soccer twice a week for the last few weeks so that is good but not enough for me. I love to workout. I'm having a hard time getting a clean slate of health so I'm hoping to be feeling 100% soon. I had a bladder/kidney infection in June and went to the doctor yesterday and I have another bladder infection. It's super frustrating.
I'm hoping by practicing a healthier lifestyle then I will feel better overall too. Here is my before picture yesterday.
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So yesterday my friend Kendra and I started our first day of getting back to a Healthier lifestyle. I had no Dr. Pepper yesterday and stayed within my calorie limit. I completed my first workout since I think April. Our workout was 1 bicep curl, 1 tricep extension and 1 burpee but then climbing in number for each set (2,3,4,5 and etc. or each). It was a 25 min workout and I got to round 14. I only finished 11 burpees of my 14th round. I started with burpees instead of bicep curls since Kendra and I were doing it at the same time and sharing some weights. The hardest part of the exercise for me was the tricep extensions. I still can't put full weight on my wrist so the burpees were difficult and my hand is sore from going down on it funny.
Later last night I went for a 45 min walk which felt great and I went 2.75 miles. The plan is to workout with weights on MWF and do cardio everyday except Sunday. I plan to walk on MWF and run on TTRS.
I have been playing soccer twice a week for the last few weeks so that is good but not enough for me. I love to workout. I'm having a hard time getting a clean slate of health so I'm hoping to be feeling 100% soon. I had a bladder/kidney infection in June and went to the doctor yesterday and I have another bladder infection. It's super frustrating.
I'm hoping by practicing a healthier lifestyle then I will feel better overall too. Here is my before picture yesterday.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Christmas 2013
Obviously this is a catch up post since Christmas was over 5 months ago but I'm trying to keep a journal and record of things better. For the second year in a row we went to my parent's house in Utah. In 2012 they lived in Midway and 2013 they lived in Heber City. The towns are neighboring and beautiful areas in Utah. My parents always have good taste in houses and its been nice that most of my family has been able to make it. My brother Alex is serving his mission in San Antonio, Texas so he wasn't with us last year but we got to talk to him on the phone.
So last year when we went to my parent's house for Christmas I was feeling ill the day we left and basically continued to feel ill the whole trip. I found out I had kidney stones the day we left on our trip and started my period while we were gone. Everett started to feel ill on Christmas Eve and by the day after Christmas we had to go to a minute clinic where he was diagoosed with Croup. I had to hold him down on my lap while I tried to get as much of a breathing treatment in his mouth as I could. I was sweating by the end and it was no fun. He was grumpy and grouchy and not very pleasant to be around.
Now back to this last year. Anthon graduated on Wednesday, December 18th with his Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Engineering. I went to the doctor the day before and had a stomach ache from the moment I woke up. By the time I got home around 1pm I couldn't keep myself from throwing up and continued to throw up the rest of the day and had to miss my work Christmas Party. I was barely able to pull mysef together for Anthon's graduation to leave at 11. I felt terrible the whole time but was happy to see him graduate on his special day and we had a nice party for him that evening.
We were supposed to leave on Thursday night or afternoon but Everett started throwing up the night before and threw up all night until about noon on Thursday. We weren't going to leave until Friday but decided to leave around 10pm on Thursday to leave anyways since he hadn't thrown up in a while. He didn't feel his best but didn't throw up after that and we made the trip safely. We hit some good snow for a couple hours after we went through St. George but arrived safely. The defrost was also working poorly so we had to constantly wipe the windows to keep them clear for driving. I felt like the car was starting funny the morning we started it to go to Utah from Vegas.
We got up to go to church on Sunday and Everett threw up again so I went ahead and took Vin to church with me but Everett and Anthon stayed home. I went to start my car one day and it wouldn't start because the battery was dead and wouldn't hold a charge. We had it checked out at Les Schwab but realized that I had a warranty and finally found a place to get it fixed that carried the same type of battery.
We got to talk to Alex on Christmas Day but the boys were being stinkers and I wasn't able to talk to him much but it sounds like he is doing well and working hard serving the Lord. Everett threw up one other day too but I can't remember what day it was right now. I had planned a surprise graduation party for Anthon on Friday night and of course he ended up throwing up all night Thursday. I had to ruin the surprise and tell him about the party to make sure he still wanted to have it. Only a couple people were able to make it but we enjoyed some good food and company.
One morning I got to hang out with my sister in law Nikki and her sister. We went and stood in line outside at H&M to get a free gift card. We all got a $25 gift card so it was a fun little adventure. We also did a good amount of shopping before Christmas for everyone. We were able to find some Awesome Cars Rain boots for Everett because he was having a hard time with the fact that his other boots didn't fit him. He loved them when he opened them. I got a new phone before Christmas time so we decided that was my main gift. I picked out a video game and wii remote for Anthon. We got Vin some new cars shoes that light up when you walk and a cute keyboard that he liked. I received some nice clothes and jewelry and make up. It was a nice Christmas despite people being sick and the most important part is that we got to spend time together as a family.
My parents were super nice and told us that they had a coupon to stay one night in a Motel in St. George. It had to be used before the end of the year so they let us have it and on our way home we stopped in St. George to stay at the Holiday Inn. The bathroom had a huge Jacuzzi tub so we gave the boys a bath in that and they loved it playing with their planes they got from the Bersons. After we got the boys to bed we ordered pizza and soda and enjoyed hanging out together. Unfortnately the night turned out not so great when Everett woke up with a super high fever. We couldn't find the thermometer or didn't bring it and I was trying to remember where the medicine was. He was miserable. He was up most of the night and it was terrible. Anthon was able to give him a blessing and we found the medicine and eventually we were able to get his fever down some.
I don't remember much from the drive home other than that Everett was getting so used to throwing up that he was able to recognize that it was coming. We had a "puke" bucket in the car from the time we started the trip and he basically held it in his lap most of the way home. Poor little guy. I remember when he threw up Vin said "icky." It was cute and comical. He is basically our superstar and tends to never catch anything that everyone else gets.
Overall I think it was a better trip than last year. It was great getting to see all of my family and family. Some of my friends are as close as my family to me. We got to see the Berson's. They stayed one night at my parent's with us and that was Awesome. They are some of the nicest people I know and they make me want to be a better person. They are always such a great example to me and are as close to perfect as I feel people could get.
Pictures will be added later.
So last year when we went to my parent's house for Christmas I was feeling ill the day we left and basically continued to feel ill the whole trip. I found out I had kidney stones the day we left on our trip and started my period while we were gone. Everett started to feel ill on Christmas Eve and by the day after Christmas we had to go to a minute clinic where he was diagoosed with Croup. I had to hold him down on my lap while I tried to get as much of a breathing treatment in his mouth as I could. I was sweating by the end and it was no fun. He was grumpy and grouchy and not very pleasant to be around.
Now back to this last year. Anthon graduated on Wednesday, December 18th with his Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Engineering. I went to the doctor the day before and had a stomach ache from the moment I woke up. By the time I got home around 1pm I couldn't keep myself from throwing up and continued to throw up the rest of the day and had to miss my work Christmas Party. I was barely able to pull mysef together for Anthon's graduation to leave at 11. I felt terrible the whole time but was happy to see him graduate on his special day and we had a nice party for him that evening.
We were supposed to leave on Thursday night or afternoon but Everett started throwing up the night before and threw up all night until about noon on Thursday. We weren't going to leave until Friday but decided to leave around 10pm on Thursday to leave anyways since he hadn't thrown up in a while. He didn't feel his best but didn't throw up after that and we made the trip safely. We hit some good snow for a couple hours after we went through St. George but arrived safely. The defrost was also working poorly so we had to constantly wipe the windows to keep them clear for driving. I felt like the car was starting funny the morning we started it to go to Utah from Vegas.
We got up to go to church on Sunday and Everett threw up again so I went ahead and took Vin to church with me but Everett and Anthon stayed home. I went to start my car one day and it wouldn't start because the battery was dead and wouldn't hold a charge. We had it checked out at Les Schwab but realized that I had a warranty and finally found a place to get it fixed that carried the same type of battery.
We got to talk to Alex on Christmas Day but the boys were being stinkers and I wasn't able to talk to him much but it sounds like he is doing well and working hard serving the Lord. Everett threw up one other day too but I can't remember what day it was right now. I had planned a surprise graduation party for Anthon on Friday night and of course he ended up throwing up all night Thursday. I had to ruin the surprise and tell him about the party to make sure he still wanted to have it. Only a couple people were able to make it but we enjoyed some good food and company.
One morning I got to hang out with my sister in law Nikki and her sister. We went and stood in line outside at H&M to get a free gift card. We all got a $25 gift card so it was a fun little adventure. We also did a good amount of shopping before Christmas for everyone. We were able to find some Awesome Cars Rain boots for Everett because he was having a hard time with the fact that his other boots didn't fit him. He loved them when he opened them. I got a new phone before Christmas time so we decided that was my main gift. I picked out a video game and wii remote for Anthon. We got Vin some new cars shoes that light up when you walk and a cute keyboard that he liked. I received some nice clothes and jewelry and make up. It was a nice Christmas despite people being sick and the most important part is that we got to spend time together as a family.
My parents were super nice and told us that they had a coupon to stay one night in a Motel in St. George. It had to be used before the end of the year so they let us have it and on our way home we stopped in St. George to stay at the Holiday Inn. The bathroom had a huge Jacuzzi tub so we gave the boys a bath in that and they loved it playing with their planes they got from the Bersons. After we got the boys to bed we ordered pizza and soda and enjoyed hanging out together. Unfortnately the night turned out not so great when Everett woke up with a super high fever. We couldn't find the thermometer or didn't bring it and I was trying to remember where the medicine was. He was miserable. He was up most of the night and it was terrible. Anthon was able to give him a blessing and we found the medicine and eventually we were able to get his fever down some.
I don't remember much from the drive home other than that Everett was getting so used to throwing up that he was able to recognize that it was coming. We had a "puke" bucket in the car from the time we started the trip and he basically held it in his lap most of the way home. Poor little guy. I remember when he threw up Vin said "icky." It was cute and comical. He is basically our superstar and tends to never catch anything that everyone else gets.
Overall I think it was a better trip than last year. It was great getting to see all of my family and family. Some of my friends are as close as my family to me. We got to see the Berson's. They stayed one night at my parent's with us and that was Awesome. They are some of the nicest people I know and they make me want to be a better person. They are always such a great example to me and are as close to perfect as I feel people could get.
Pictures will be added later.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Oh the Places We'll Go...
Here are some of the places we have visited so far since we have been in Utah:
The boys and I took trip to Cabela's one day to check out the fish in the tanks and all of the fake animals too. Since it is free it was a pretty fun place to visit. You can ask for Tokens at the Customer Service desk as well to play the shooting game upstairs. We each got a chocolate sample at the bakery area and fed the fish as well. It was a fun place to spend a little time and I'm sure I will take the boys back for another visit.
The weekend before Anthon had finals the boys and I spent some time at Kangaroo Zoo on Friday night. We spent 3 hours there jumping on all of the inflatable slides and etc. We had a really good time but it would have been nice to take another kid to play with Everett. Vin did really well at climbing up the really big inflatables himself and going down the slides like a big boy. Once my wrist is ready to handle more weight we will definitely be returning to play again but maybe with some friends next time.
We wanted to go to the SLC Zoo or Tracy Aviary that Saturday Anthon needed time to study but it decided to down pour and neither one of those activities were the best for rain so we drove down to SLC and went to the Children's Discovery Museum instead and we had a great time there. The boys really loved it and I'm sure we will go back.
My Grandma came to visit for about 2 1/2 weeks to help me with the boys and house after getting surgery on my wrist so the Thursday before she went home her and I and the boys took a trip to the SLC Hogle Zoo. Since we have a Phoenix Zoo Membership we get half off at the zoo so that makes it more affordable to attend. I bought the boys a Phoenix Zoo membership for Christmas and that was before we knew that we might be moving. The animals seemed to be pretty attentive to their audience. Some of the most lively animals were the Lions, Seals/Sea Lions, Polar Bear and Leopard. We had a good time. The zoo is and always will be one of my favorite places to go. I'm not sure why I love it so much but I do and I never get tired of going. I feel happy when I am there.
The day before Grandma went home we were supposed to go the the new aquarium but I guess you have to buy tickets ahead of time and they were already sold out so instead we went to the Gardens/Splash Pad at Thanksgiving Point and that was fun. We also got to take a peek at the new Museum of Curiosity that opened. It looked impressive so since it cost 50 something to get into the Gardens, I went ahead and purchased a Thanksgiving Point membership for the year which gives us access to several areas and I'm really excited to take the boys to these places to explore and play.
The day my grandma left, my brother Chris and I went to the Tracy Aviary bird exhibit. The boys really like birds and it was a pretty Awesome place. This is another location that because of my Phoenix Zoo membership we get half off. It was only $11 for the 4 of us to get in. We saw some really neat birds. I think Everett's favorite were the owls and of course the peacocks. When we called Anthon's parents, he told them all about our visit to see the different birds and it was one of the cutest things ever.
The boys and I took trip to Cabela's one day to check out the fish in the tanks and all of the fake animals too. Since it is free it was a pretty fun place to visit. You can ask for Tokens at the Customer Service desk as well to play the shooting game upstairs. We each got a chocolate sample at the bakery area and fed the fish as well. It was a fun place to spend a little time and I'm sure I will take the boys back for another visit.
The weekend before Anthon had finals the boys and I spent some time at Kangaroo Zoo on Friday night. We spent 3 hours there jumping on all of the inflatable slides and etc. We had a really good time but it would have been nice to take another kid to play with Everett. Vin did really well at climbing up the really big inflatables himself and going down the slides like a big boy. Once my wrist is ready to handle more weight we will definitely be returning to play again but maybe with some friends next time.
We wanted to go to the SLC Zoo or Tracy Aviary that Saturday Anthon needed time to study but it decided to down pour and neither one of those activities were the best for rain so we drove down to SLC and went to the Children's Discovery Museum instead and we had a great time there. The boys really loved it and I'm sure we will go back.
The day before Grandma went home we were supposed to go the the new aquarium but I guess you have to buy tickets ahead of time and they were already sold out so instead we went to the Gardens/Splash Pad at Thanksgiving Point and that was fun. We also got to take a peek at the new Museum of Curiosity that opened. It looked impressive so since it cost 50 something to get into the Gardens, I went ahead and purchased a Thanksgiving Point membership for the year which gives us access to several areas and I'm really excited to take the boys to these places to explore and play.
The day my grandma left, my brother Chris and I went to the Tracy Aviary bird exhibit. The boys really like birds and it was a pretty Awesome place. This is another location that because of my Phoenix Zoo membership we get half off. It was only $11 for the 4 of us to get in. We saw some really neat birds. I think Everett's favorite were the owls and of course the peacocks. When we called Anthon's parents, he told them all about our visit to see the different birds and it was one of the cutest things ever.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
New Traditions
So about a month ago we had a combined RS/Priesthood meeting were we talked about preparation. That's a pretty broad topic but each person was given an index card sized paper and a pencil to write down any thoughts you had while listening (not just writing down what was said.)
Since I'm still pretty new to this being at home mom stuff, there is a lot of areas I've been wanting to improve on and also a lot of projects I want to do. So here is a few things I wrote on my paper and started the following day.
1. Read scriptures to the boys during breakfast- It seems like this is the only meal that they always sit still for and are pretty quiet since it is morning. This has been Awesome to say the least! I make whatever we have for breakfast then they sit down and we pray over the food/day and then I get the Book of Mormon (that's what we are starting with). Just last week Everett sat down and politely told me to fold my arms. He knew it was time to pray and that made me happy. Whenever I get the Book of Mormon out Vinson always shouts out "Read"! We typically read a chapter everyday and sometimes we read more or less and they are very quiet. It starts the day off great and allows me to get my scripture reading in everyday. I would not have this opportunity if I didn't get to stay home with the boys. Now we just need to work on making sure we read Saturday and Sunday mornings since I normally get to sleep in and it throws the routine off a little. 5 out of 7 days of reading though is great improvement.
2. We say family prayers before bed and do ring around the rosy twice then give the boys a ride on our back to their room- So the first time we prayed and held hands is when Everett told us about ring around the rosy. We had no idea that he knew about that. We don't hold hands while we kneel anymore but we make a circle. We used to pray second but now we tell the boys if they don't come and sit to pray then they may have to sit out of ring around the rosy. Vin is very reverent while we pray which I'm pretty impressed by and Everett is off and on. I wish that everyone else could see and hear Everett as he belts out the song while we go in a circle. Vinson hasn't figured out the falling down part yet but smiles and giggles while the rest of us fall down and always asks to do it again. After we do this we normally have the boys climb on our backs while we take them to their room crawling on all fours. They think that is fun and then we dump them off the side of us onto their bed.
3. De-junk- I have also started to try and De-junk and sell some time online: clothes, movies, and etc. I haven't really sold much which is disappointing but I haven't tried KSL yet. I try not to buy anything else from people unless I have sold the same amount of money.
4. Food storage- I have been working on this and made progress in a few areas. I love how my friend Aracely is always so encouraging and helpful when it comes to this. I hope to work up to having a year supply. So I purchased a 72 hour kit for 4 people on Groupon. I haven't opened it but all you have to add is water. It is suppose to last for 20 years. I also bought 5 gallon buckets for Flour and Sugar. I got some green chilis, evaporated milk and flour on a good sale at Smith's a couple weeks ago. I get excited when I start to meet some of these goals I've wanted to work on for so long. I try to use money I save on groceries to spend on this stuff. (Smith's always says on your receipt how much you saved) and then often I earn little gift cards here and there from Target for buying products. I will be working on this more once we actually move into the house we are buying.
Since I'm still pretty new to this being at home mom stuff, there is a lot of areas I've been wanting to improve on and also a lot of projects I want to do. So here is a few things I wrote on my paper and started the following day.
1. Read scriptures to the boys during breakfast- It seems like this is the only meal that they always sit still for and are pretty quiet since it is morning. This has been Awesome to say the least! I make whatever we have for breakfast then they sit down and we pray over the food/day and then I get the Book of Mormon (that's what we are starting with). Just last week Everett sat down and politely told me to fold my arms. He knew it was time to pray and that made me happy. Whenever I get the Book of Mormon out Vinson always shouts out "Read"! We typically read a chapter everyday and sometimes we read more or less and they are very quiet. It starts the day off great and allows me to get my scripture reading in everyday. I would not have this opportunity if I didn't get to stay home with the boys. Now we just need to work on making sure we read Saturday and Sunday mornings since I normally get to sleep in and it throws the routine off a little. 5 out of 7 days of reading though is great improvement.
2. We say family prayers before bed and do ring around the rosy twice then give the boys a ride on our back to their room- So the first time we prayed and held hands is when Everett told us about ring around the rosy. We had no idea that he knew about that. We don't hold hands while we kneel anymore but we make a circle. We used to pray second but now we tell the boys if they don't come and sit to pray then they may have to sit out of ring around the rosy. Vin is very reverent while we pray which I'm pretty impressed by and Everett is off and on. I wish that everyone else could see and hear Everett as he belts out the song while we go in a circle. Vinson hasn't figured out the falling down part yet but smiles and giggles while the rest of us fall down and always asks to do it again. After we do this we normally have the boys climb on our backs while we take them to their room crawling on all fours. They think that is fun and then we dump them off the side of us onto their bed.
3. De-junk- I have also started to try and De-junk and sell some time online: clothes, movies, and etc. I haven't really sold much which is disappointing but I haven't tried KSL yet. I try not to buy anything else from people unless I have sold the same amount of money.
4. Food storage- I have been working on this and made progress in a few areas. I love how my friend Aracely is always so encouraging and helpful when it comes to this. I hope to work up to having a year supply. So I purchased a 72 hour kit for 4 people on Groupon. I haven't opened it but all you have to add is water. It is suppose to last for 20 years. I also bought 5 gallon buckets for Flour and Sugar. I got some green chilis, evaporated milk and flour on a good sale at Smith's a couple weeks ago. I get excited when I start to meet some of these goals I've wanted to work on for so long. I try to use money I save on groceries to spend on this stuff. (Smith's always says on your receipt how much you saved) and then often I earn little gift cards here and there from Target for buying products. I will be working on this more once we actually move into the house we are buying.
Monday, March 3, 2014
Car Accident November 2013
I was on my way to work at the Physical Therapy clinic and I went to turn left onto Inverness from Greenfield. This is less than a half a mile from work. There was a car going the other way that had his blinker on and was turning left the opposite way of me. I went ahead and went and realized barely too late that they decided to go straight and not turn and they clipped the back end of my car.
I was super upset and the person even said they saw me coming. In these kind of cases, I will most likely be seen at fault, even though the other person was at fault as well. It cost about $4900 to fix my car and I drove a rental car for about 3 weeks. We had to pay our deductible but the rest was covered by insurance. We are still in the process of the case.
We were able to go to a body shop that gave us a free loaner car. It wasn't a new car by any means but it saved us some money. We were able to get the car fixed just in time for our trip to Utah for Christmas. They had to order a good amount of body parts because of the areas that were damaged. The inside of the trunk got pretty crushed and they said a lot of damage was saved by my car jack otherwise they said it would have been damaged more.
The cops came and no one was issued a ticket and everyone was okay. I felt stiff and had a headache for a few days but ended up being okay. I am grateful for that. Here are a few pictures.
I was super upset and the person even said they saw me coming. In these kind of cases, I will most likely be seen at fault, even though the other person was at fault as well. It cost about $4900 to fix my car and I drove a rental car for about 3 weeks. We had to pay our deductible but the rest was covered by insurance. We are still in the process of the case.
We were able to go to a body shop that gave us a free loaner car. It wasn't a new car by any means but it saved us some money. We were able to get the car fixed just in time for our trip to Utah for Christmas. They had to order a good amount of body parts because of the areas that were damaged. The inside of the trunk got pretty crushed and they said a lot of damage was saved by my car jack otherwise they said it would have been damaged more.
The cops came and no one was issued a ticket and everyone was okay. I felt stiff and had a headache for a few days but ended up being okay. I am grateful for that. Here are a few pictures.
Our 2 weeks without Anthon
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| The day the pod was moved |
I flew home on a Sunday and left the car with Anthon in Utah. His parents let us continue to use their truck until we left. I'm not used to driving the truck but I adjusted quickly and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We went straight to Grandma's on Super Bowl sunday which the Broncos lost horribly and it was really a pretty sad game. It was Everett's birthday dinner at Grandma & Grandpa Richardson's house so we had lasagna and spaghetti and it was really good. Andrea made some cupcakes and we were actually able to sing Happy Birthday to Everett's friend Paxton too who is born just a few days within Everett. Both boys enjoyed it and Everett was able to blow out one of his candles but I helped him with the other two because he was starting to get upset. Blowing out candles is hard for small kids until they learn how to blow and not spit.
The first week without Anthon was super exhausting. I still worked my normal work schedule between the Boot Camp starting at 5:20 AM four days a week and going straight to Gateway Physical Therapy Mon-Fri. I had to get the boys up before five to go to Grandma's so I could teach the Boot Camp which made me feel really bad about getting them up so early and for Anthon's mom having to get up so early. So between the two jobs I worked over 40 hours meanwhile I was still trying to pack up things at the house and take care of the boys. Anthon's parents came over often to help and Rhonda from church came to help too and I was grateful for any help I could get.
On Feb. 8th my good friends Steve & Jen came over to help pack things and I am forever grateful to them. I don't know what I would have done without them. Jen and I taught at the same school last year. We were instantly friends partly because she was one of the only people that was taking time to chat with me and because I decided she would be my work best friend. Anyways, Jen basically packed my entire kitchen and many other things. Steve cleaned out the laundry, took apart the plastic playhouse for the boys and really organized the pod. We ended up packing up the beds as well. Steve strapped everything down and made it look Awesome! It was nice hanging out with them but also getting stuff done. We went and ate at Burger Place too.
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| Jen and I |
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| The pod after Steve & Jen helped |
I was able to get the air matress and pump out of the pod to have something to sleep on. I put it in the boys room the first couple nights and I slept on the couch for a couple nights. After I had a nice neighbor come and help me move the couches out of the house, the boys and I slept in the office on the air mattress. I slept on some folded blankets and the boys woke up at least once a night every night. It was not our best nights of sleep by any means. Eventually I moved the air mattress out into the living room and one night I got smart and pulled a large couch cushion from the couch outside and slept on that instead of the floor.
I had a couple listing companies come and meet with me to show interest of having them list our house. The first lady that came upset me within minutes of arriving. When we talked on the phone I asked her if the house needed to be cleaned up. She said no because the pictures she would be taking were just to show to the relocation company. When she arrived she made a few comments about how the house looked though and I was mad. I was working over full time, trying to pack and take care of my kids. It was just me there.
Bottom line it was a tough couple weeks without Anthon and I look up to those single parents who do it all the time or those that have spouses that are routinely gone for other reasons. The great thing is that we all survived in one piece and I had lots of family and friends to help and support me while we got things packed and ready to go.
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| Vin had a fall while playing at the babysitters |
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| Everett fell asleep watching Cartoons |
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| The boys and I stayed at Keeta's one night |
Saturday, January 25, 2014
November 4th/5th Everett's First Trip to the ER
So here is how it all started...
Friday night Everett came down with a bad fever while we were attending my old works fall festival. He has a costume on outside but we changed before going home. The kid was on fire! I thought maybe he just got to warm in the costume but we were outside but we did go in the bouncer some. My first clue that he wasn't feeling well though was when he won a cupcake at the cake walk and didn't really want it. Vinson was also warm out of his costume so we thought maybe everything was okay. We figured he would cool down as we left and got in the car and aired out a little.
By the time we got home, nothing really changed. We took his temperature with our thermometer which I don't feel is the best (It's a temple/armpit one) but it said 102.9 I think. We called Anthon's mom and here come over with her better thermometer (an ear one) and his temperature was 101 something I think. So we started by giving him some Tylenol or Ibuprofen and piggy backed those every 3 hours. He seemed to do fairly well as long as we kept it in his system but we didn't want to wake him up in the middle of the night all the time so his fever would go back up some in the evenings. We were also using some oils that my friend Marie gave us to try and help. We used peppermint on his chest, on guard on his feet and melaluca on his ears (all mixed with olive oil).
This lasted all weekend so on Monday night we finally decided that we better take him into the doctor so we took him to the Phoenix Children's urgent care. One way we can tell Everett doesn't feel good is by looking at his eyes. It gives him away every time. We got to urgent care and he was doing fairly well but I suspected that he had an ear infection and that was the cause of the fever. We got back into the room and they checked him out. He did indeed have the start or finish of an ear infection in one of his ears. She told us that she would write a prescription but that if he seemed to be doing okay then we didn't need to fill it because we don't want to use medication when something can go away on its on. I think the oils helped.
Can I just brag about how good Everett was at this appointment too! He stepped right on the scale and let them weigh him, he gave no trouble in getting his temp taken or pulse checked, and sat still for them to check his heart and breathing. This was by far the best he had ever been at the doctor.
So after we went over the symptoms, the doctor stepped out of the room to write the scripts and get the discharge paperwork. Everett was being happy and walking around carrying his blankie and a couple toys. He was walking towards me when he tripped and hit his face on the vertical corner of the cabinet next to me. He was not running or anything. I quickly pulled him up to look at him and he had split his lip open. I quickly ran to the door letting them know he hit his head and they immediately came in. They got an ice pack and some gauze for the bleeding and Everett wasn't too upset until he saw blood. I held him tight while sitting on the floor and was crying myself. It killed me to see him hurting and upset and life was just tough in general with having my arm broken and etc. I rocked him back and forth and told him it was okay because mommy had him and he would just say hurt because it hurt. He was such a big boy though and let me hold the ice and gauze on.
After they were able to look at it, they saw it crossed a specific line on the lip that when crossed needs stitches otherwise we could let it heal naturally. Unfortunately at urgent care they are not allowed to sedate people so we had to go to the hospital. There really isn't any way to stitch up a 2 year olds mouth when they are crying without sedating them because the risk is too high of messing up. Getting it stitched up was the best way to reduce scarring as well.
We went to Cardon's Children's Hospital. I called Anthon while at Urgent Care and one of my friends dropped him off at a Circle K and I picked him up to take him with me. They checked us in and then Everett was able to get some napping time in on Anthon's shoulder.
They gave him something for the pain at Urgent Care. Once we got into a room they asked us about when he had eaten last, what happened and when he last got medication. They said they didn't want to sedate him until it had been 8 hours since he had eaten. They did shorten that time a little so that we didn't have to wait quite as long. As we wanted they put an IV in his arm which was terrible and then put a big guard over it so he didn't mess with it. It kind of made him look like he had broken his arm then they had a blood pressure cuff on him and a light to check his pulse on his thumb. He stayed pretty content for the most part and either: A) had me lay in his bed with him or B) laid in dad's lap in the chair. He slept a little off and on.
Once we knew they weren't going to do anything for quite sometime, we decided that Anthon better go home because he had school the next day. Everett wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything while we were there. Silly me thought we would only need one car because I was upset and needed Anthon with me so my Awesome friend Carol came a got Anthon at the hospital to take him home so the Everett and I would still have a car to get home when we got released.
It's been a few months (so it's hard to remember every detail) but I think they started getting everything ready to stitch him up at about 1am. I remember asking them if I was going to be allowed to stay in the room while they did it and they said no. I felt heart broken and had to try super hard to keep from getting too emotional. I was allowed to stay in as they started to sedate him so he could look at me while they did it and not freak out. The time I spent in the waiting area felt like forever.
Everything turned out just fine and I was super greatful that Carol was awake and I could talk to her and it gave me comfort. She probably doesn't know how much she helped but she did. She is the best! Our boys love her too. She does a lot of baby sitting for us and the boys have a blast. When I went into the room he was totally out of it. We were observed for an hour to make sure he was okay and not going to have any problems.
He was fascinated with the red light they put on his thumb that took his pulse and had a really hard time focusing his eyes. They would shake when he would look at things. It was so sad to see him that way. He was finally able to have some juice and did just fine with that and then eventually he was ready to go but very unsteady so he wasn't allowed to get up and walk around or anything.
We got home a little before 4 and I was grateful to have such amazing people to work for were understanding and take the day off on tuesday. Everett slept with us because they instructed us to stay with him every minute for the first 12 hours or so after being released just in case the sedation was still wearing off. It was great to snuggle him and love on him and be there when he needed me. Anthon went to school like normal and Vinson went to Anthon's parents so we were able to have the whole morning to sleep.
Everett had a hard time not wanting to pick at this lip and we did our best to keep in clean and moist. When we went in for the follow up, everything looked good they said. It isn't too noticeable now but I can see it more when he has his lips tightened up. We are so forunate that there was no damage really to the inside of the mouth and his teeth.
And that is how our first trip to the ER went.
Friday night Everett came down with a bad fever while we were attending my old works fall festival. He has a costume on outside but we changed before going home. The kid was on fire! I thought maybe he just got to warm in the costume but we were outside but we did go in the bouncer some. My first clue that he wasn't feeling well though was when he won a cupcake at the cake walk and didn't really want it. Vinson was also warm out of his costume so we thought maybe everything was okay. We figured he would cool down as we left and got in the car and aired out a little.
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| After winning a cupcake |
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| Feeling Feverish |
This lasted all weekend so on Monday night we finally decided that we better take him into the doctor so we took him to the Phoenix Children's urgent care. One way we can tell Everett doesn't feel good is by looking at his eyes. It gives him away every time. We got to urgent care and he was doing fairly well but I suspected that he had an ear infection and that was the cause of the fever. We got back into the room and they checked him out. He did indeed have the start or finish of an ear infection in one of his ears. She told us that she would write a prescription but that if he seemed to be doing okay then we didn't need to fill it because we don't want to use medication when something can go away on its on. I think the oils helped.
Can I just brag about how good Everett was at this appointment too! He stepped right on the scale and let them weigh him, he gave no trouble in getting his temp taken or pulse checked, and sat still for them to check his heart and breathing. This was by far the best he had ever been at the doctor.
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| Minutes after it happened |
We went to Cardon's Children's Hospital. I called Anthon while at Urgent Care and one of my friends dropped him off at a Circle K and I picked him up to take him with me. They checked us in and then Everett was able to get some napping time in on Anthon's shoulder.
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| Taking a nap on dad at the ER |
They gave him something for the pain at Urgent Care. Once we got into a room they asked us about when he had eaten last, what happened and when he last got medication. They said they didn't want to sedate him until it had been 8 hours since he had eaten. They did shorten that time a little so that we didn't have to wait quite as long. As we wanted they put an IV in his arm which was terrible and then put a big guard over it so he didn't mess with it. It kind of made him look like he had broken his arm then they had a blood pressure cuff on him and a light to check his pulse on his thumb. He stayed pretty content for the most part and either: A) had me lay in his bed with him or B) laid in dad's lap in the chair. He slept a little off and on.
Once we knew they weren't going to do anything for quite sometime, we decided that Anthon better go home because he had school the next day. Everett wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything while we were there. Silly me thought we would only need one car because I was upset and needed Anthon with me so my Awesome friend Carol came a got Anthon at the hospital to take him home so the Everett and I would still have a car to get home when we got released.It's been a few months (so it's hard to remember every detail) but I think they started getting everything ready to stitch him up at about 1am. I remember asking them if I was going to be allowed to stay in the room while they did it and they said no. I felt heart broken and had to try super hard to keep from getting too emotional. I was allowed to stay in as they started to sedate him so he could look at me while they did it and not freak out. The time I spent in the waiting area felt like forever.
Everything turned out just fine and I was super greatful that Carol was awake and I could talk to her and it gave me comfort. She probably doesn't know how much she helped but she did. She is the best! Our boys love her too. She does a lot of baby sitting for us and the boys have a blast. When I went into the room he was totally out of it. We were observed for an hour to make sure he was okay and not going to have any problems.
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| Waking up |
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| Mesmerized by the light on his thumb |
He was fascinated with the red light they put on his thumb that took his pulse and had a really hard time focusing his eyes. They would shake when he would look at things. It was so sad to see him that way. He was finally able to have some juice and did just fine with that and then eventually he was ready to go but very unsteady so he wasn't allowed to get up and walk around or anything.
We got home a little before 4 and I was grateful to have such amazing people to work for were understanding and take the day off on tuesday. Everett slept with us because they instructed us to stay with him every minute for the first 12 hours or so after being released just in case the sedation was still wearing off. It was great to snuggle him and love on him and be there when he needed me. Anthon went to school like normal and Vinson went to Anthon's parents so we were able to have the whole morning to sleep.
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| The next day |
And that is how our first trip to the ER went.
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