Happy Mother's Day

I didn't have any recent pictures to post with this, but I wanted to wish my mom and Jon's mom a Happy Mother's Day, along with all of you wonderful mothers. Each of you have been such wonderful examples to me, as I've watched you raise your children. Thank you for the wonderful women that you are. I had a restful Mother's Day. I have been sick with a cold, and I didn't really sleep much the night before, so I stayed home from church and rested all day. Jon's parents are visiting us, so Jon got to go to church and spend the day with his mom. It was so fun to have her with us. This was the second year in a row, that Jon has been able to spend Mother's Day with his mom. I would have loved to be with my mom but I'll get to see her soon. I love and appreciate my mother and my mother-in-law, for their examples to me. They are kind, loving women who have taught me so much. I can't wait until I too can be a mother some day and I hope I can be as a good a mother as they are and as each of you are. Thanks to all of the wonderful women in my life who have taught me and been such amazing examples to me.

Flowers

On Monday, I had a minor procedure done at work. I was put under anesthesia, because it was an uncomfortable procedure, anyway the ladies at work got me this bouquet of flowers and cute card. I have the best job ever. I love the people I work with and I have great hours. Basically I work whenever I can. They are so flexible with my hours and it is so nice. I had three different nurses and several other coworkers came in to say hello. I was treated so well. I got extra juice and cookies, what more could a patient ask for. I just wanted to say thanks to all the wonderful ladies that I work with. You are all so sweet.

Girls on the Run 5K

This past Saturday, we held Mankato's first Girls on the Run 5K walk/run. I wrote an earlier post about the Girls on the Run program, and at the end of the 12 week session, we end with a 5K walk/run. I got up early Saturday morning and the weather was a little chilly, but the sun was out and the sky was blue. It was the perfect day for a 5K. The run started at 9:00, but the girls got few minutes head start. I was a coach this session, but I assisted more than I coached. We ended up not having as many girls sign up as we had hoped. This session we had nine girls and it was so fun to see how much they changed throughout the course of the 12 weeks. Each of them finished the run, I don't think any of them ran the full distance, but they finished and that's what is most important. I was supposed to walk the distance, orders from the doctor, but I got so caught up in the moment, I jogged most of the way. It was the first 5k that I've ever ran and I was so proud of myself for finishing, especially since I am not a runner and I've never ran that distance. After it was all said and done, I was wishing that Jon could have been there with me. He was up in Duluth for a Math conference. We had such a great time with the girls and they received a ribbon for finishing the race. We had a big bubble pool, face painting, fake tattoos and a blow up bouncy house for the kids. The turn out was unbelievable. We were hoping for at least 100 participants and we ended up with over 200 participants in the race. Five of the participants were ladies that I work with. It was great to have their support. I had such a great time and I can't wait until next years 5K. (Pictures are posted above.)

Our Wedding

My sister had a fun post on her blog, and I thought it would be kind of fun to do the same for myself and others, who may not know much about how Jon and I met. Please feel free to do the same on your own blog, it would be fun to read about how you and your spouse met.

1. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE? Jon and I met in a student ward at the University of Utah. My roommate Melanie, from Logan, had moved down to Salt Lake in May, after school was out. I didn't want to attend my family ward, so I attended her ward instead, and Jon just happened to be in her ward. We officially met at a party at Melanie's friend's apartment. One of the girls in our ward was a friend of Melanie's from high school, and she happened to be Jon's ex-girlfriend. They were still friends and he also happened to be at the party. He didn't ask me out for a couple of weeks. I think it was weeks?

2. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST DATE? We went to dinner at the Olive Garden and then Jon took me to see Pearl Harbor the weekend it opened. I really wanted to see the movie, and he thought it was the perfect opportunity to ask me out on a date. I think he wondered about me, because I cried for a half an hour during the bombing scenes. In fact, he leaned over and asked me if I was okay, I was crying so much. Let's just say, the knee of my capris were slightly damp, from wiping my tears on my knee. I did cry just a bit!

3. HOW LONG DID YOU DATE BEFORE YOU GOT ENGAGED? We dated for a long six weeks. I know, it was quick.

4. HOW DID YOUR FIANCE PROPOSE? We decided to fast and then go to the temple to do baptisms to get an answer as to whether our decision to get married was right. After doing baptisms, Jon took me to dinner at Cafe Alecia in Bountiful. On the way home, he made a comment that made me really nervous, something about a surprise waiting for me. When we got to my house, there were a dozen roses on the coffee table in the living room. I was quite relieved when I saw my surprise. We hurried and changed our clothes, and then we went outside on the deck, in the rain. It had started raining on our way home, and I asked him if he had ever kissed in the rain. Once we had changed, we went out on the deck to kiss in the rain. The rain was falling in my eyes as I was kissing him, so I told him that. He knelt down and asked if that was better. I told him, if someone were to see us, they might wonder if he was asking me to marry him. He then asked, "Will you marry me?" My response was, "No way, no way!" I wasn't saying no, I was shocked. I had no idea he had any intention of asking me to marry him so soon, after all we'd only been dating for six weeks. Once I calmed down, he took the ring out of his pocket and it flew across the deck. Luckily the deck is covered with carpet, so it didn't fall through the cracks. I did finally say yes.

5. WHAT JOBS DID YOU TWO HAVE WHILE YOU WERE ENGAGED? I was working at a law firm, Ray, Quinney and Nebeker and Jon was teaching at LDS Business College and had recently been hired to teach at Weber State University.

6. HOW LONG WERE YOU ENGAGED? 10 weeks

7. HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN YOU GOT MARRIED? I was 22 and he was 23 (he turned 24 exactly two weeks later)

8. WHEN DID YOU GET MARRIED? September 21, 2001

9. WHAT WERE YOUR COLORS? Navy blue and yellow

10. HOW MANY BRIDESMAIDS DID YOU HAVE? three

11. WHO WAS YOUR MAID OF HONOR? I didn't really have one. My sister Nicole, my cousin Adriana and my sister-in-law Heather were my bridesmaids.

12. WHERE WAS THE CEREMONY? Salt Lake Temple

13. DID YOU HAVE A DJ OR A BAND? no

14. DID YOU HAVE A SONG YOU DANCED TO AND WHAT WAS IT? Yes, we danced to There's No Way by Alabama.

15. DID ANYTHING GO WRONG AT THE WEDDING OR RECEPTION? Yes, I squished the cake on Jon's face. I wasn't going to do that, I prefer when people are nice, but Jon put a little too much cake in my mouth and when it was my turn, all I could hear was my brother-in-law telling me to smash it in Jon's face and I did. It wasn't that bad, he had a little frosting on his face and I had some on my hand, but my mom was not happy with me. That's what made it not so good.

16. WHAT CAR DID YOU LEAVE IN AND WHAT DID IT LOOK LIKE? Jon's car had something wrong with it, so it was in the shop getting fixed. My car was nicer, so we didn't want to use it because we didn't want it to get ruined. Well, just before we got married something happened to my car and we couldn't use it. My dad was kind enough to let us borrow his car. Because we had my dad's car, my brothers-in-law didn't dare touch it. My brother, sister and cousin couldn't let well enough alone, so the drove the car home and decorated it with butter, ketchup and mustard. It stunk! We had to take it to a car wash, before we could go to our hotel. Thanks so much Nick, Nicole and Adriana.

17. WHERE DID YOU GO FOR YOUR HONEYMOON? We didn't have much of a honeymoon. We got married on Friday and had to be to work and school on Monday. We spent our wedding night at the Inn on Temple Square which is no longer there and then we spent the second night at a bed and breakfast in Midway called the Inn on the Creek. Two weeks later was conference weekend, so we went up to Jon's grandpa's cabin for the weekend. The cabin was close to Jackson Hole, so we spent a day in Jackson and another day in Yellowstone.

18. WHAT WAS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT? This is a tough one, but I think it would have to be the ceremony. Although, I really enjoyed the time we had to wait in the Celestial room. Jon asked me while we were waiting, if I was going to say yes. I told him I was going to wait until we were in the room with all of our family to say no. Of course I was going to say yes. I also enjoyed dancing with my dad. I don't think I'll ever forget that.

19. WOULD YOU HAVE CHANGED ANYTHING IF YOU COULD? No, it was the perfect day, other than the cake issue!

20. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN MARRIED? We just hit seven and a half years.

Spring Break Getaway

The Ann Bean Mansion

The bathroom had a jetted tub
and heated tile.

Ann & Albert's Room

(the room we stayed in)

I loved the gas fireplace!

I have had cabin fever for quite some time and I just wanted to get away for spring break. I really wanted to leave the state, but that just wasn't in the cards. I figured if we can't get away for a few days, we can at least get away for one day. I made reservations at a bed and breakfast in Stillwater, MN, which is Northwest of St. Paul. I thought it would be perfect to get away and we could attend a session at the temple on our way home. We stayed at the Ann Bean Mansion, an old Victorian mansion, and we had a great time. Of course, it snowed the day we planned to drive up, so we left in a rush. Once we got to the cities, we stopped at the Mall of America for an hour and a half and then we went to dinner a little early and we got to the mansion just in time for check in. We spent the evening in our room, watching movies and looking at pictures. We need to decide on pictures for our adoption profile, and we had plenty of time to look through our pictures, so we took a trip down memory lane. It was a lot of fun! The room had a gas fireplace which made the room feel so cozy. The weather was cold, snowy and windy. I thought the windows were going to blow in it was so windy, but we stayed warm and cozy. We thoroughly enjoyed our winter "spring" break getaway. I forgot the camera, so I got the pictures from the website. The room looked just like the pictures but it didn't quite look the same outside. Imagine it with no green grass or trees and with snow on the ground. I like this picture better than what it actually looked like. I am so ready for spring!

Baby Hungry!

Ben wearing the hat I made for him.
How can you not love that sweet face?

A couple of weeks ago, Jon was asked to hold our friend's baby, Ben, during Sunday school, while she went out for minute. One day I told Jon that whenever I see Ben or hold Ben I get baby hungry. Jon confessed, that when he got to hold Ben during Sunday school, he too got a little baby hungry. I was so excited to hear that. We are both so ready and anxious to have our own, but we still have a ways to go. We are in the middle of filling out paperwork, which there is quite a bit to fill out. We look forward to the day that we get to bring a sweet little baby home to our house.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My fun surprise!

We had a good Valentine's Day. I have been sick all week with a bad sinus infection and was finally feeling well enough to go to dinner with my sweet husband. This is the first year since we've been married that we've ever gone out to dinner on the actual day. Usually I fix a nice dinner and we stay home. Since I've been sick, Jon decided we could go out to dinner instead. We went to Red Lobster at about 4:50 and we waited for just over two hours to be seated. We didn't stay at the restaurant the entire time we were waiting. We went and did a little shopping while we waited. When we came back we still had to stand for an hour, we should have shopped a little longer. We had a wonderful dinner and then headed home for a relaxing evening. Jon surprised me with a beautiful necklace. I had shown it to him over a month ago, but I wasn't really serious about it, I just thought it was pretty. It was very exciting! Because I had been sick, I didn't have the chance to buy Jon anything, so he is having fun deciding what he wants that will equal the value of the necklace. We hope all of you had a fun Valentine's Day with your sweetheart!