Kimmy's Wedding

Saturday was the big day, Kimmy's wedding! It was a very great day...75 degrees and sunny! The next day it was cold and rainy and it has been so ever since! She got lucky!

The night before our family and Eric's family met at Olive Garden and had dinner together.

She got married at the Timpanogous Temple and that of course was a really great experience. Her luncheon was at The Gathering Place in Gardener Village and it was amazing. It was very elegant and the food was good. I had to give a speech (toast) and I was crazy nervous but ended up doing ok. Eric also sang to her there and played the piano. It was very romantic. Her reception was at the Old Meeting House in Holladay. The decorations were so pretty and there was an endless buffet of different kinds of cheese cake and fruit! (What more could you ask for?) Her colors were Yellow and Grey. So, that means I got to wear yellow shoes!

I didn't take many pictures, I just let the photographer get them and I may post some once Kimmy gets them. For now, here is a picture of the Bride and Groom at their luncheon, with her beautiful bouquet on display.

Mitch and I just went through this a year and a half ago, but it was nice to experience it from a different perspective. Romance was in the air and Mitch and I reminisced about our own wedding experience.

It was also amazing how much of a bonding experience it was for our whole family. Even with Jeremy gone, big family events like this just tie the whole family together. I am so thankful to be a part of such a wonderful family.

Sunday on Mother's day, we got to talk to Jeremy! He is doing great, and it was good to physically talk to him. It makes me miss him more but makes me so proud of him at the same time.

Nathan submits his own mission papers in less than a month! I am so proud of Nathan as well and what a great young man he has become!

My family rocks!!

Announcing a new addition to our family...

For the past little while, Mitch and I have been wanting a dog (especially me, since I get lonely while he is at work so much and so late). It has been especially more tempting lately since summer is coming and I will not be in school. This means more time to train and take care of the puppy! After spending multiple days on KSL for hours looking at puppies, reality set in and we realized there are multiple problems and complications with getting a puppy right now.
The first one: Having to pay a pet deposit and pet rent every month to our apartment complex. Second: If we ever have to move into a different apartment due to school, it's more complicated to find a place that allows pets.
And lastly: Fall semester will inevitably come, and I will be back to hard core school and less hours at home. Next comes nursing school, which will be even worse. We live in a 2 bedroom apartment and I can't bare the idea of leaving a dog couped up all day long while we are both not home. We don't even have a yard that he can run around in while we are gone. It just seems too cruel.

Then, the idea hit me! What about getting a bird? I have always been a bird lover. I had 3 cockatiels in high school (which is a great bird for first time bird owners) and I loved them. I decided I wanted a more advanced and exotic bird. I started searching different types of bird, and found the perfect one for my situation...drum roll please....

A parrotlet! (means "little parrot")

These guys are the worlds smallest parrots, (about 4 to 5 inches long) but they are incredibly brilliant, playful, energetic, and capable of learning to say a few phrases! They are great companions and want attention while you are home, but while you are gone they are content to play with their toys in their cage. (as long as you let them out and give them attention when you return). They are also perfect for apartment life, because unlike most other tame birds they have a very quiet chirp and they are unable to "scream". (other birds screech really loud when they want attention or when they are left alone). So after talking about it we decided it would be fun to get a little baby parrotlet of our own.

The breeder we bought our baby boy from hand feeds them and handles them daily, so the birds are really tame and like people. Our little baby is being weaned right now, and will be old enough for me to take him home in 4 weeks! I am so excited and we have already started buying his toys and cage supplies.

Here is how little parrotlets are:

Here is how tame the breeders have made them:

And here is my exact little baby bird! He is a turquoise pacific parrotlet. Beautiful, isn't he?

I was going to wait until I officially brought him home to post about it, but I just couldn't wait! We are still contemplating about what to name him and have narrowed it down to a handful of names: Frodo, Jerry (after J. sloan), Tiki, Rio, or chewie. What do you think??

Another one

I have been feeling super girly lately...Here is another super fun chick song that grows on me more and more as I listen. It's a little bouncy :D

Today, I am in a very great mood!

This is rather surprising, because I spent 12 hours straight at the Salt Lake Community College campus today. It consisted of totals of 4 hours classtime, 1 hour test taking, 6 hours of studying, (oh, and a one hour lunch break).

The past week I just have not been in the brightest of moods. (Poor Mitch, he had to deal with it all week). Maybe it's because I haven't been feeling well, the weather is horrible, school obligations are clawing at my brains, my apartment is a wreck, and we have no food in our apartment. (no time to get groceries or clean).

However, today was different. I just got home from school and despite being there all day, my apartments still a wreck, and I had to settle for a frozen microwavable burrito for a late dinner, life is so good! I have maintained my 3.9 GPA, and I only have one month left of this semester. Right now, I am feeling great.
This is my happy song! It makes me want to dance, and I just might. I have played it 3 times in a row and will probably play it at least 3 more times. Take a listen, (you will have to pause my playlist) and if you get the urge to get up and dance, then do it! For just five minutes, stop thinking about everything you have to get done and stop trying to be super woman. There's always tomorrow! ;)

Garrick girls lunch

It is a tradition in Mitch's family for the girls on his mom's side of the family to meet once a year and have a girls lunch! This year not everyone could make it, but it was fun nonetheless.

We met at the Fat Cats in Provo (Mitch's work!) and ate at Costa Vida. Mitch was able to come around a lot as well because they were slow. He even gave Alexis a purple bowling ball to keep in support of her fight against Cancer.

The whole group

The Cousins

The Sisters

Mitch and Alexis with her bowling ball!



We love Alexis! http://alexiskaufusi.blogspot.com

hearts and purple ribbons

It is past 1:00am and I should be sleeping, but I just couldn't sleep. There are plenty of school related things I should be doing, but my mind is racing and I cannot concentrate.

In 2 days February will be over, and I cannot help but to think of all the eye-opening experiences I have had in 2011...and it has been less than 2 months.

You always hear about people suffering from a variety of medical problems but you can never really understand how fast life can change until you have an experience like that with someone in your family.

2011 started out with my mother in law (one of the most health-conscious people I know) getting open heart surgery to replace a valve and to remove an aneurysm. Lisa is such a strong person and we are so blessed that she has recovered very well with no problems.
We were told by the doctors that if she had not listened to her gut feeling to go get her heart murmur checked, that this year it was highly likely (if not expected) that one day she would have been out running, her aneurysm would have burst, and she would have been gone, just like that.

Naturally we took Mitch in to the cardiologist to get his heart checked since this condition is genetic...and have discovered that Mitch has the same valve problem. Nothing to freak out about immediately, as he is still young and his heart is healthy...for now. He will have to follow up with a cardiologist a minimum of once a year to get it checked, and it is inevitable that he will someday need surgery as the problem worsens. It is a blessing that we know this so soon and can keep track of it, but that doesn't change the fact that it will constantly be in the back of my mind, haunting me. I will always be worried whether his valve problem is causing an aneurysm to form...until finally our yearly checkup comes around and then I'll be good for a few months until the worry sets in again.

The last major medical problem we have recently discovered is that my cousin in law, Alexis Kaufusi has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, stage 3 that has spread to her liver, spleen, and the outer part of her skeletal frame. It is hard for me to grasp because she is so young, has so much life left to live. But I know if anyone can get through this, it is Alexis because she is strong and she is a fighter. She has also had a very good attitude about this whole situation, which I hear is a big factor in helping your body fight it off. You can follow her battle here: http://alexiskaufusi.blogspot.com/

I guess these situations have made me come into grip with reality. When Mitch and I volunteered at the hospital every Sunday, we saw some very sad things but it didn't affect me as much as the past 2 months have. I guess I have just never had things like this happen to close, young members of my family. I have had grandparents who have passed away because of health issues, but it is a completely different feeling when it happens to people so young who still have so much life to live.

These experiences have deepened my passion for wanting to be a nurse, for wanting to have a permanent positive effect on people. I want to help save lives. I want to help bring new lives into the world. I want to comfort those who feel like the struggle is too much to bear and I want to be there for the people who feel like they are alone. I want to be a tool that heavenly father can use in his miracles, whether it is the miracle of healing, the miracle of bringing a new life into the world, or the miracle of helping people find comfort in the last moments of their lives on earth.

I have never been very good at expressing my feelings about things like this, and I don't feel like I let Lisa and Alexis know just how much they mean to me in my life. Its amazing how closely tied your relationship with someone can become in such a short time. Its scary how one moment everything can be fine and the next moment your life can change so quickly. I feel like Mitch and his family are so much better at handling things like this because they had to overcome one of the toughest family tragedies ever. When I think about Daniel, I miss him and my heart hurts inside even though I never got to meet him, but I know someday I will.

I get so much comfort from the gospel. I am blessed to feel and know that this life is not the end, there is so much more after this. So blessed to know that every struggle we go through in life is only to make us stronger, and that everything happens for a reason. So blessed to know that when we have to part with someone in our family who's time it is to move on, that good bye is never forever. So blessed to know that we are never given a trial that we cannot endure.

I started this blog post with the intentions of letting everyone know just how much they mean to me and I ended up rambling a lot. Even though I feel like I don't always do a good job of expressing it, I just want every one to know that my love for my family, both my "original" and my "new in-laws" family is deeper than I can even begin to describe. Life is so precious and those little moments we get to spend with each other mean the world to me. I am blessed to have each and every one of you a part of my life and I am so thankful that we will be a part of each other's lives for all eternity. I am sorry if I don't talk to you enough. I am sorry if I seem to put my studying before spending time with you. I am sorry if I have ever done anything to offend you, and I am sorry if I have not told you recently how much you really do mean to me.

I envy Mitch's passion, positive energy, and his ability to constantly make everyone feel how much they mean to him every second while in his presence. He is the best husband I could have ever dreamed for and I love him so much. Thank you to my in-law family for being a part of Mitch's life and for helping to mold him into such an amazing person. Thank you to my family for being a part of my life and for helping to mold me into a person who was somehow able to get the attention of such a wonderful man.

New Years Cabo Trip

Better late then never right? Enjoy

New years Cabo Trip 2010-2011