Trains

At a family gathering a while ago we discovered Cameron has some serious love for trains. We started up my dad's old trainset and Dave held her while we watched. It cracks me up every time. She waves her arms and kicks her legs so hard while she squeals happily. I've been wanting to share this for a while...so here it is...finally.

2012 Review

I want to join with all the other blogger's this year in recapping 2012. New years blog posts are my always my favorite to write. This year was more eventful than 2011 and extremely emotional for me. To narrow it down to 10 things was extremely hard and some of the events and moments in 2012 will linger through 2013.


Dad and me back in like 2010 at the car show

1. My dad: It's funny how there are some words you just can't say. Even after four months, I still can't say some words when paired with my dad.  The events of this year are shadowed with by these enormous words.  He passed away in August after a year long fight with esophageal cancer. It was faster and sooner than anyone expected. August was a roller coaster of emotions. When he first started getting really sick, I put a picture up as my profile picture of my dad and me. I still can't take it down. My dad was my rock and his passing has shaken my whole life. Grieving is a long, hard process when you know and love someone for a long time. 25 years I called him dad and now that huge presence is a deep hole. That hole is still there and I know I'll always miss him.

Cameron a little after her first birthday

2. Cameron:  It's been a little over one year since we had cute, little Cameroo. With each milestone, she gains more independence and smiles a little bit more. She crawls faster than I can walk and loves to stand using the couch, but just don't help her. Like mom, she hates people helping her.

First day of braces
I had no idea the pain I was in for.

 3. Braces:  It's about time right? I've had pretty crooked teeth most of my life. It's not detrimental to my health. According to my dentist, my teeth are in perfect shape underneath the surface look. Just like anyone, my teeth have been pretty hard to get over. I know it sounds like a sob story but whenever I talked to new people, I knew they were staring at my teeth. Bah. So this year, I decided it was time to get them fixed. I'm almost half way done and they already look perfect to me.

Dave and I.

4. Honeymoon: It may be a year and a half later, but Dave and I finally took our honeymoon and I knocked off an item from my bucket list. We went on a cruise with Dave's newlywed friends Brad and Jaycie.  The cruise ported in Belize, Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Mexico. The cruise was NOT that fun. Carnival is a sucky cruise ship venue, but it was cheap and ported at all the destinations I wanted to. The highlight was visiting the Xunanatunich ruins in Belize. It was a two hour bus ride there and back and a pretty intense hike in 90% humidity, but when we saw them it was breathtaking!  One of those moments I will take with me forever. It was the highlight of the year for sure.

house!

5. House:  We moved into our house!  It's the perfect dream house for me.  It's a lived-in house so we gained a lot of "homeowner experiences" like turning off the outside water at 10 p.m. because one of the copper pipes burst or setting mouse poison out in odd places so Cameron wouldn't eat any of it. (We haven't seen the mouse in a few months. I'm still not 100% sure if it's dead or not). Oh and our electrical layout in the basement is all wrong...so we got really good at flipping the power on and off. Despite the adventures, owning a home is totally worth it.

Random unrelated picture,
because I don't want to show you blood.

6. Hyperthyroidism: I had some major depression this year. I'm not afraid to say that I went for help. Sometimes talking to your spouse isn't enough. When I saw someone, he recommended I get my blood checked and they found that I have high thyroid levels. I've been on a it for a little over two months and I've noticed a huge improvement and quality of life. I gotta say how important it is to get your levels checked every now and again. So important! Especially after having a baby, because that stuff messes with your whole makeup.

Davey-Roo

 7. Dave: November marked our two year dating anniversary. Dave is great. This year marked big changed in his job. He moved over to the business center portion of his job and got a promotion. He's a great dad to Cameron and fantastic husband. Marrying him was the best decision I've ever made (right alongside my decision to keep Cameron). We've had a lot of big challenges in the last two years; more than most couples have in ten years. Through it all we made it together. I think if we can make it through 2011 and 2012; Dave and I can make it to forever.

We're standing in line for
The Dark Knight Rises.

8. Batman: My other man. Any other blogger mentioning this would be considered really weird and maybe I am really weird. The Dark Knight Rises was a big part of 2012 for me. The Dark Knight films made me respect Christopher Nolan so much. He brought a different kind of Batman to the big screen. We related to the hero. The Dark Knight Rises was a big letdown for me. There were some massive plot holes and the ending was silly. No one wants Batman to live more than I do, but the ending was so hollow. Big let down.

Beauty

9. Church: Progress.  I want to make the same disclaimer as I did last year. I know that some people don't value religion and don't believe in God. My recap of 2012 wouldn't be complete without the church. This year marked big progress for me.  I reached a point in fellowship that I haven't been a part of in almost five years. In some ways I feel like an old friend has finally returned after a long trip abroad. Now if only I could change my job. My ward starts at 1 p.m. this year. I leave for work at 2:30 p.m.In order to further my own growth, I need a new job that doesn't make me work on Sundays.

Our tree-topper at work

10. Job: Speaking of job. I'm still here at KSL. This new C.A.L.M. act is making my job very busy and more complicated than ever. I work 3-11 p.m. every weekend and three days a week. I work most holidays and spend most of my job watching commercials and television programming. I've applied to more than 30 jobs since October. I'm getting kind of desperate to leave KSL behind me. Television has a lot of bureaucratic garbage. 




2012 was eventful. It was busy and very hard for me. I hope to leave most of the events from 2012 where it belongs: in 2012. I'm realistic about 2013. It will be similar to other years. The new year will probably bring new challenges, but I hope it brings more joy than pain.

Text Messages

Dave and I were a lot like most modern couples when we were dating, centered around text messages and dates. Throughout our "courtship" Dave and I exchanged a lot of text messages.  A lot of them were super cute or romantic. Even when we were newlyweds there was always a few sweet messages sent throughout the day to remind each other of "love" or something.
Now we have a little girl. Our text messages typically center around Cameron's activity and happiness level throughout the day.
I've been at work for almost three hours and my phone vibrates with a message from Dave. 



Married life is such a beautiful thing, especially after children.  Dave knows just how to describe a diaper so that I cringe without even seeing it. He says such classy things. Since Cameron's birth, it's amazing no other women have tried to pick him up by now.

News & Pictures

You know what I love? Checking the news online.  

That's right, I work for a television station that broadcasts news stories at least three times a day and I get my news from the internet. Isn't that glamorous.

In my defense; I check their web site first. Sometimes there are things and stories on their web site that cannot be made up.  Like the story I stumbled upon back in March. The story is titled "Stick Ponies". It's a a very serious story about some very awkward people. Read the story, watch the video and laugh heartily at the expense of Utah news. 

Random amusing stories like "Stick Ponies" are rare in news these days. There is too much violence, war and political agendas to ignore.  Sometimes I think people out in news try to use a little humor to tell serious stories. Like my favorite sports reporter, Rod Zundel, and his amazing story about Jazz player, Francisco Elson-hilarious. Sometimes articles are paired with awesome pictures.

Today Former President George H. W. Bush was taken out of intensive care. (Sarcastic comment here). The picture KSL paired it with becomes pretty epic when you read the headline.  He looks like he is cheering for the return of his health.

Right on, G. Bush, you conquered bronchitis in your old age and I'll cheer for the rare moment of serious news making me smile and chuckle slightly.

Traffic Cops and Tickets

Nine years ago I lined up with more than thirty people at the old DMV in Sandy, Utah to get my driver's license. Like any 16 year old, I was pretty excited to hold the temporary paper license--even if I didn't have a car. It marked a level of freedom. From that moment on I could drive where I wanted whenever I wanted, parent's permitting.
Driving isn't fun anymore. Flashing lights and parked cars on the freeway slow me down.Stereotype would say that women never get tickets. Just pull out the "girls" or start crying and no cop will hand you that money laced ticket. I had a roommate once who told me she'd been pulled over 12 times and never had a ticket.
Now, I'm not stupid. I tried all the methods to weaseling out of fines. I've been pulled over by the flashing lights six times. Of those six times, I received six tickets. No warnings and no sympathetic turns.
Last week was rough. The week before an extended weekend at my work equals a lot of extra commercials and later nights. One of those late nights was especially long and it was snowing. You know what I hate more than driving in the snow late at night? Stupid police officers camping out on major roads.
The police officer, Officer Bueller or something, pulled me over two miles from my house. He didn't pull me over for speeding (for once).  It wasn't for "improper lane change" or "not yielding" or whatever cops pull people over for these days. He pulled me over because my right headlight was out. 
On his way to talk to me, he noticed my old license plate under my seat and wanted to check that out too. My hoarder ways makes me look suspicious. I am sure the carseat base in the backseat probably looked stolen as well. He told me to get it fixed and went on his way.
Thank you, West Valley Police Department. While violence is likely erupting less than a mile from your location and drug deals are happening in the Walmart parking lot next door; you wanted to pull me over for a dead headlight. Waste your time, waste my time and waste the city's time. But hey, for the first time in my life I got pulled over and didn't get a ticket!

Untitled

"WE ARE ALL MADE OF STORIES."

Weekend in Pictures

Cookie Train with the Hunts/Larsens is still a new experience for me. This is only my second time imagining and creating a cookie train piece.

My passenger care of Russian gummy bears was pretty awesome. I even tried to to do a Russian flag on the side. It looked silly so I slapped the wheel over it-to cover my shameful attempt.

Dave always does the train engine. It's the same every year. He doesn't have to be creative. Just there it is. Awesome and such.

After cookie train and during Cami's nap, Dave and I hit up Thanksgiving Point for lunch. Some legit reindeer were camped outside in the snow. Yay Christmas!