That was fast...

Well it's a loooong story (which I'm sure I'll share at some point) but the short of it is:



I'M PREGNANT!!!!


We'll get to hear the baby's heartbeat on July 14th and I'm due March 5th!

I'm Impatient

So I've seen all my doctors and I'm waiting for my IUD to come out. I've been on prenatals for 3 months now and I've lost some weight. I'm getting my body ready to be pregnant! I've weaned off of most of my medications, but there were some that were still in question. My doctor called the Pregnancy Risk Hotline to double check on my meds, but she wanted me to call on my own and confirm. So I called them and went over my situation and they said that I'd be high risk and the doctor would have to monitor my blood pressure and weight gain, but that I was good to go! I'm SO excited! And I called the doctor's office and they had a cancellation so instead of having to wait til the 2nd to have my IUD taken out, it's coming out TOMORROW! I can't even believe it!

The Next Step

Well, Spence and I have been talking. And my doctors and I have been talking. I’m really feeling like I’m ready for the next step in our lives together, and Spence is starting to feel like he is too! Which really amazes me, cause he’s been fighting me on this for over a year now. J After a couple months weaning off my medication, and after about half a dozen visits to various doctors, and after a few months already on prenatal vitamins, I am READY to get pregnant! I’m having my IUD taken out June 2nd and we’re going to start trying to get pregnant. I am SO excited! Having our first child is going to be such a HUGE step forward for our relationship and for our family. But we’ve prayed and prepared and I’ve been taking better care of my body in anticipation of having to care for someone else. I’m really hoping to get pregnant right away but I know that it will happen according to God’s plan for me and for our family. I know Spencer will make a wonderful father and I hope I will do well as a mother. I guess we’ll find out!

Daddy's Girl

When I was little, I used to go on ride-alongs with my dad (who is a cop, for those of you who don't already know). I would watch him pull people over, and some people he'd arrest, and then we would both go back to his office and he would write reports about it. He said it was like grown-up homework; kinda like a book report except for real life. He explained to me that just like at home, when you're a grown-up and you do something wrong you need to be disciplined, and people couldn't be disciplined and learn their lesson if he didn't to the report right. I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to catch bad people and write reports about them. I didn't necessarily want to be a cop, per se, but I wanted to be just like him.
 
One of the things I'm trained to do at my current job is to be able to spot documents that have either been altered or forged. Today I had someone try to pass me a federal document that was a complete forgery. I have to be able to know what to look for in a real document and quickly spot the problems in a fake one. I had to confiscate the document, and in order for any follow-through to happen, I had to write an incident report detailing the events and the document itself. An hour and a half and 9 pages later, I had a report written up detailing my interaction with the person, as well as copies of the document and a diagram of what I had noticed that indicate it was not genuine. My boss told me it was a "good catch." It was difficult to finish the report as well as  perform my other expected duties, but I managed it. And for just a minute, I felt like I was what I wanted to be: just like my dad.

Our Home (well, most of it)

Ok, So I'm finally getting to the point where the house is both clean and decorated enough that I'm comfortable taking pictures. I have to admit, I want my home to look like it's come out of a magazine; which is why we've been there a year and I'm just now getting around to putting up pictures. :) I don't have any of the bedroom right now cause it's not the same without the duvet cover, which is currently in the wash. :) So I'll post those in a few days.

Ok so as you come up on our porch you'll see this mosaic above the door.

and then you'll know you're at the right house cause our front door just can't be missed; it's probably my favorite part of the house. I LOVE the image of the Tree of Life, and I have a couple trees around the house.




This is the entry way. Or area. Not really large enough to be considered a "way." Anyway, I wanted to have an accent wall, so the smallest wall on the right (or left, as you walk in) is a really rich, warm chocolate brown, and the rest of the walls in the living room and hallway are a carmel. Lots of neutrals, but by no means boring.


Here's our couch (which Bowser LOVES messing up) and our curtains, which we had custom-made for the room. I love them, they're beautiful.


Here's the other part of the living room with the fireplace, bookshelf and chair. We have bamboo floors in the bedrooms and living room, and as the room came together we kind of ended up with a contemporary ethnic design. I had one elephant statue I had from before we were married and it kind of just went from there.

This is the elephant that started it all. I call him the Stealth Elephant cause it looks like he's trying to be all aerodyamic. I got him when I was working at Pier 1 in high school when Spence and I were dating.

They say the Devil is in the details, and it must be true cause that's where I focus. :) I love the elephant carving; it's from Indonesia and carved in teak.


Here's the lamp we have on top of the bookcase.

Last one, I promise. Not the last elephant in the room, but the last one I'll subject you to. Gotta have SOMETHING on the mantle!


This painting kind of pulls the theme into the hallway. It's monkeys instead of elephants, but it still has the same feel and coordinates with the curtains, which have coconut trees on them. Same look.
So here's the kitchen, seen from the dining area. I wanted the color to play off the skylight and just be really bright and happy. So I ended up with a really yummy butter yellow. I have to stop myself from eating the walls. The cabinets are maple, the tile is real stone (travertine) and the counters are black granite.

Behind the sink and the stove we have these really cool mosaics that are set in concrete. They're beautiful.

So yellow and red turned into a French Countryside look, which I must say I'm quite happy with. I LOVE how much natural light the kitchen and dining area get, between the skylight and the french doors.


No french countryside kitchen is complete without a rooster (we have a few, actually). This fellow is metal and about 2 1/2 feet tall. He nicely takes up the wall next to the back door.


"Where we love is home. Home that our feet may leave but not our hearts." We got this as a shower present and it goes beautifully over our dining table.
Just a friendly reminder


I believe that no home is complete without a dog to top it off, and this one certainly tops them all! LOL.

Ok, so in a couple of days I'll complete the set; I'll get some bedroom photos (which is like an east-asian getaway) and the bathroom (my personal spa). And maybe some day, if the office is ever finished, you'll see some pictures of that too. :)

2011 Legislative Session Results

I used to be one of those people who didn't even know when Legislative Session was, let alone cared about it. But one of the joys of being employed by a branch of the State government is that the decisions they make up on the hill directly affect my daily life. It affects the way I do my job and my ability to do it. Every year there are some things proposed that scare me, and this year was particularly frightening. But now that the session is over I can breathe again. Here's what I was keeping an eye on this year:

1. A bill proposed to change the State work week back to five days. The wording in the bill specified that each division would have to have at least one branch open for at least 9 hours on each weekday. This bill passed, but I'm not entirely sure how it will affect my division. Driver License is technically already in compliance with what the bill specified; we have two offices that are open 10 hours, mon-fri. While I'm sure the Governor will want to reopen the other licensing offices on fridays, I'm hoping that my office (and my schedule) will not be affected by this.

2. Legislature approved an increase in our insurance premiums. Specifically, the premiums we pay for medical and dental coverage will double. I'm not looking forward to this, but it could be worse. At least the benefits themselves aren't being cut, like last year.

and last but not least...

3. Legislature had actually proposed a bill to take away State employee's sick leave. This would have cut our earned leave time in half. While I won't say what I actually think about this on here (cause I could lose my job for doing so) I will state the obvious that I did not support it. But guess what: IT DIDN'T PASS! That's right! I get to keep the leave that I earn and am entitled to. yay!

There are some other bills proposed that would affect that nature of my job, but we haven't received an announcement as to whether they have pass, let alone how they would be implemented. I'm sure it will make my job much more interesting, as always. But all in all I'd say this session was a victory for me. I came out of it with a few bumps and bruises and scratches, but with no major injury. :)

S.J.R. 7

I first started devopling noticable symptoms of Fibromyalgia in 2001. It wasn't til 2006 that I was actually diagnosed, and I'm still working with my doctors to try and find a working system to manage the symptoms. For years I had doctors, friends, coworkers and strangers tell me that it was in my head. That I was just lazy or unambitious or not trying hard enough. They told me I had just pulled a muscle or something the day before; to take some IB Profin and I'd be fine. They told me to just push through it. They told me it was in my head and that I was a hypochondriac and that I just wanted attention. They told me there was nothing really wrong.

Every time a single person acknowledges that the condition is real, it fills me with joy knowing that they at least believe me. When someone tells me that they suffer from it, or know someone who does, I feel so gratified knowing that someone understands what I have to live with. There are 10 million sufferers in the country, and 57,000 of us in the state of Utah.

State Joint Resolution 7 was introduced during the 2011 Legislative Session, proposing that May 12th would be declared Fibromyalgia Awareness Day in Utah. I had my fingers crossed so tight hoping they would approve it. I figured there was no reason not to considering it wouldn't really cost anything; the State really has nothing to lose by doing this.

Well this morning I looked up it's progress and found that my new friend S.J.R. 7 has passed all the votes, and is sitting on the Governor's desk waiting to be signed! I actually started crying when I read it.

There is something so powerful about having people understand and admit that the pain you feel every moment is real. I can't even describe how I feel right now. You'd better bet that come May 12th, I'll be decked out in PURPLE!