The End of an Era

After four years, I am officially done at LA Weightloss. I can't say I am that sad, but the one thing I will REALLY miss is my co-workers. These people have become some of the greatest friends and influences in my life. We got together last Tuesday to go to dinner with whoever could come. Over the years, I have obviously worked with a lot more people than this, but here are some of my favorites! Ashley, Kim, Michelle, me, Meghan, and Ashlei. Here's to hoping that in the future I can have co-workers who are just as awesome as these guys are!

Thank Goodness for Good Ol' Uncle John

So I am here in IF this week for various reasons (mainly, I have not been home since NEW YEARS!!!). It was my last day at LA on Friday, I haven't started at LDSFS yet (due to not having taken the test until today, but never fear, I passed, so I should be starting there really quick) and I was easily able to rearrange my work schedule at Vantage Point. So here I am.

Since I was home, I thought it would be convenient to see if my fabulous Uncle John, a radiologist here in town, would do an ultrasound for me of the baby. I think I am overly paranoid (ok, I know I am overly paranoid) about everything and I wanted to see if the baby was alive. I know, horrible. I had no real reason to believe its not, I just worry, you know. Plus, I have not had any ultrasounds yet at all. I know some doctors do them early on and some don't. Well, mine does not do it till 20 weeks to tell the gender of the baby. So I was eager to see how things are going.

John is one busy man, but he found time to squeeze me into his schedule. My dad and I met him at the clinic and he did an ultrasound for me. I have to say, it is a different feeling to see the child that I am carrying (although I don't really feel like I am carrying anything, thus the concern). But, everything was great, the baby has all its limbs, it has a great heart which we saw beat multiple times (because I made John keep going back to show me that it was, in fact, beating). That baby sure is the cutest thing. The best part was when he/she started waving at me! So cute.

Since I am 15 weeks, that is generally a little early to tell what the gender of the baby is, but I told John that if he could tell, not to tell me because I wanted to find out with Devin with me. Well, the baby had its legs crossed at first, so John didn't think he would be able to tell anyway, but then he went back to look again, told me to look away, and then announced that he knows what the gender is! Haha. I don't know and my uncle does. But we will wait 5 more weeks to see and then see if John was right. Funny, huh? It's still a little early, so he may be wrong.

That's all! Just glad the baby is alive and well and happy, too.

Chicago (finally!)

Dev and I loved being in Chicago. It was great to get away and the city was fun. We only had one full day to go see sites in the city, so we had to plan our time accordingly. Then of course, we loved being there for Ronnie and Stefani's wedding in the Chicago Temple. Here is a picture tour. Here Dev is in the airport as we were arriving. You can't really tell, but he was hauling a huge roller suitcase, his backpack, the treat bag, and a MASSIVE duffel bag that was brought along for the sole purpose of carrying Ronnie and Stef's wedding gift from Camille, Kylee, and I. (yeah Camille and I didn't really think about how I was going to transport it when we bought it...)

This is the hideous rental car that we had. But, let me tell you, it got some great gas mileage! We put 7 gallons in when it was empty and it was FULL. We had driven a ton too so we were shocked. Devin was mad though because we were only supposed to bring it back with a half a tank, so from the on he made sure to gun it after every stop and we ran the A/C full blast even though it was freezing.

Here we are on a CTA bus. We also got really good at taking the public trains and buses to where we wanted to go.

Our first stop was the Shedd Aquarium. We ate lunch there and then saw tons of cool things, including a dolphin show and a family of large whales (don't ask me what kind).

Next we stopped at the Navy Pier. Since it was the middle of the day, there was not a lot going on there, but we figured we needed to see it anyway since its a famous place.

Here is the view from a top the Sear's Tower, once the tallest building in the world, now number three. It was pretty high up there, though. My ears had some problems as we rode the elevator to the top...there was a definite change in elevation! It had beautiful views of Chicago though on all four sides. We also stopped at Wrigley Field before heading back to our hotel (oh, I mean, before getting seriously lost). The Cubs were not playing, but it was cool to see such a famous stadium anyway. It was dark and you can't really tell, but Devin is standing in front of some famous player, I guess. Friday was the big day! Before the wedding, Devin and I got up and went to a session at the temple. Boy, was that a different experience than what we are used to. Instead of a full house, we made the 5th and 6th people in the session. Very different.

Here is the happy couple with Christina and I after they made their grand entrance as married people.

And finally, a shot from the dinner that night. Everything was gorgeous and we had a great time. These are some of my long lost friends from the 177th ward days. Everyone had a part in Ronnie and Stef getting together, though I must say that I (ok and Camille) had the biggest part. This is Kelly and Bryant, Ronnie and Stef, Christina (her husband Brandon couldn't make it), Devin and I, and Jason. Good times.

And the last tidbit of Info....

For those of you that don't know...I am pregnant. Yep. It's true. I am about 13 weeks along, so leaving that nice first trimester. Everything is going great so far, we've had two doctor's appointments and were able to hear the heartbeat both times! I have about 8 more weeks to wait until we can find out what it is...but that will all come in time. Yep, Dev and I are really excited!

Oh and if you are curious, the due date is Nov 11th or so!

New Jobs!!!

So, I have news! I am finally quitting LA Weightloss. Yes, it's official. I had an interview at my internship on Friday as I have previously mentioned. Though it was really grueling (surprisingly), I got the job! So I will start there part time on Monday as a human service worker. I am excited because I was dreading the day that I had to leave that place. I have really grown to love it there and to love my co-workers and even the youth sometimes! For those of you who don't know, its at Wasatch Mental Health at a youth residential treatment facility called Vantage Point. It's fabulous. I will work there part time, only a few afternoons a week, but it will still be thrilling.

Don't even worry...these are not the actual teenagers at Vantage Point. But, hey, they might be there soon if they keep holding onto their saws and bats like that.

Second, I interviewed at LDS Family Services this past Monday. I heard about the job through the grapevine and I didn't know this until my interview, but they hadn't posted this job, they only were advertising word of mouth. So lucky me! I got a call from them today and it looks like I will be working there as well! WAHOO!!! The job is also part time, 19 hours per week. I am so excited, this job is really like my dream job. I will be an adoption case worker. I will work with birth mothers and adoptive couples to form forever families! I can't wait to get started. But, I have to wait until I can get my SSW lisence, which can only been done when BYU decides to post my degree to my transcript. So, let's hope that happens soon! So, for the summer I will be doing these two part time jobs and leaving LA after four years! I think change is good.

The Best Year of My Life!

Saturday, the 26th was the anniversary of my marriage to my sweet husband Devin. We celebrated by moving in the morning! Well, actually, Devin had to work, but I had some good support with Jen and Chris, my mom, and Uncle Lynn helping me move! My cousin Che' Lyn and her husband Landon are nice enough to let us stay in their house for about a month until we can get into our new place. They are in Vegas for work for the summer, so they are letting us kindly occupy our house. Jennifer and I were in charge of throwing last minute things into boxes, Chris was in charge of cleaning, and my mom and Lynn were in charge of carrying all the heavy boxes and furniture. Good for them. I really appreciated the help though! We were in packed and out within a few hours. The only blip of the day was the fact that we lost a case of tomato sauce on one trip down the road between my house and Che's. Jennifer came hurriedly back to me in my apartment between trips and ordered me to jump in the car as we were going to rescue the tomato sauce! I didn't know what the heck she was talking about, but when we got the spot where it had flown out onto the road, it was already gone! Some lucky family will have spaghetti for months!

Here Devin is driving the big old truck back to Lynn's shop later in the day. He liked that.

Later that night, we went out to dinner at Ruby River. Devin LOVED that...ribs and steak...nothing better! This is the only picture that I have of the event, of course. After we left the parking lot, Devin and I went to the car and he totally surprised me! He had already sent me roses that day and gotten me gummies (my favorite candy) so I thought that was all! But, I was wrong! We got into the car and he pulled out from under the mat a ring box! He got me a wedding band because I have never had one! Everyone always asks me when I am getting married. Haha. I had no idea what he was doing! He enlisted the help of his sister Alisa to help him pick it out and he snuck behind my back and did the whole thing. He went one day when he told me that he was going to help his sister do some spring cleaning. I didn't even think twice about it because that is totally something Devin would do. But what a sweet boy! I felt dumb that I just got him some church shoes. haha. The ring is being sized and sautered to my other ring, so I can't post pictures right now, but maybe later.

What a happy anniversary! Just for the record, I love my Devin!

The New Wheels

Here is our new car. We have been using one car for the past year which has worked great as we are so close to campus that we could walk back and forth. Now that it is summer, Devin has started his window washing job again in Pleasant Grove, so we needed another set of wheels. Here is what we got. We wanted a used car, after Devin did some research, he found that the Corolla was the best choice. Unfortunately, due to their good gas mileage, everyone has taken all the used cars off the lot. So, we ended up with this one...a '09 Toyota Corolla. So far, it's been a fantastic car!