Review of 2011

Well... I have no excuse for it being a whole YEAR since I last blogged. Alot has changed in our lives over the last year and I figure a better update before it gets even more daunting to blog! So, we moved to Arizona from Utah at the end of March 2011. We worked so so hard on our house here and finally moved in in August 2011. We bought a house that had been flooded for over a year so when Ryan and I went in to gut the house, everything just crumbled to the ground with tons of nasty mold. We decided to add onto the house and make the kitchen lots bigger and make a pantry and laundry room/mud room. It has been so amazing to have these things. With the help of Ryan's family, and my own, we did every last thing by ourselves. Ryan is the hardest worker ever. His dad is the expert concrete man and poured our giant slab and helped Ryan frame up the house. His mom did all of the tile in our showers and laundry room. I did many many many loads to the dump and Kevin came and helped Ryan lay all of our wood floors. Do NOT ever ask me to texture a whole house and sand it down with a small foam sandpaper again. Worst job ever. I hate drywall stuff also. Ryan drove to Vegas and had his cousin Brock cut us some awesome granite counter tops and drove them back home. Well, it was easy getting the granite into the truck with the big machines, but getting the giant slab out for the island was not so. After 3 weeks of contemplating how to get it out and onto the island Ryan built, we finally figured out that my grandpa had a lift and 12 men would help lift and guide. It was comical and yet SO scary watching this all happen. I thought Ryan might kill somebody or the granite would. Some very choice words were said by many helping haha. Thanks to all my cousins and family for all helping. I can be sure they will NEVER want to do that again. It was worth it and looks so beautiful now. By the end of this whole fix up process, I hated this house because it felt like work being here and I did not want to live here. Every single piece of furniture, decorations, couches, and boxes were covered by super fine, white drywall dust. Ugh!! Don't even get me started on the grossest smelling pool on the entire planet that I had to clean. Ryan finally talked me into sleeping here and leaving my parents after a whole summer there. They are the best for letting us stay for so long! We had a blast!

Kitchen Before


Kitchen After
Hall Bath after (almost done)
Hall bath before

Cabinets going up
I love our ceiling in the kitchen with the beam




Holding up the heavy beam on the addition
Part of the slab on the addition

After enough of house work, I finally decided I needed to get a job to get away from it. I began working at Red Mountain Endodontics in the beginning of June 2011. I have been there ever since and get to work with such amazing girls.

End of April we headed up to Utah for Raegan and Joey's graduation from BYU. I sure missed driving past my house and neighborhood up there! It was so much fun with everyone up there. We got to have a baby shower for my best friend/cousin Jenny while we were up there too! It was perfect.

Our new ward here has been great! We felt welcomed immediately and have made lots of friends. It has been so fun living close to both of our families here. So many fun things going on and to go to. I missed it. Ryan was put into the young men's as a Teachers quorum adviser and I was called to teach the 6 year olds in Primary. Good times as always.

This summer we did our annual trip to Carlsbad and it was amazing as usual! We also headed up to the Nelson Cabins at the end of July. We had such a great summer! Weird for me working though... Something I had to get used to after not for so long haha.


In early June, Ryan's sister Lydia left on her mission to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She is such an amazing missionary and we miss her tons. Crazy to think she already comes home in early December!! Time sure flies. Before Morgan and the girls started school in the fall we went camping for the weekend and it was so beautiful! I love love camping with my cousins and family. So much fun!

In October, Ryan turned 30!! Happy I still have 6 more years :) We had a fun birthday and went to Dave and Busters and played tons of games with our families. So so much fun! He is the best!
Soon Christmas was here and we got to have a super fun work party at Dr. Frost's with everyone. I won a TV in the gift exchange which is now sitting in our bedroom! So grateful to work with such great people. Christmas here was great as usual! Ryan always spoils me with so many amazing presents. I am the lamest shopper for him though so it is not very fair. My favorite gift were my new washer and dryer!! So great to not have to load up clothes to wash somewhere else!

We have had so many trials and experiences over the last year that have helped us to grow together so much. I have come to know that the Lord truly knows what is best for us even though we may not see it right now. I am so grateful for the lessons that I have learned.

Lets see how I keep up on blogging this year!! Hopefully more frequently so I do not have to write a book long blog each time!

Change

We made a big change, or have been in the process of for some time now, of moving to Arizona. I have the hardest time with change of any kind and I thought this talk below was great to help me "get on with my life."

Within one month we bought a house in AZ, waited for it to close, started working on it, drove back and forth between UT and AZ 100 times, closed up on deals in Utah, got released from our callings, rented the upstairs and downstairs of our house in one day, went to Las Vegas for family things and picked up a trailer, got back to our untouched house in UT at 9:00PM Sunday and packed our whole entire house the next day on Monday, and Ryan and trailer took off to AZ Tuesday morning. Since that Tuesday morning of March 22, I cleaned our house in Utah and drove down to AZ for good. It was a sad time for me. Sleeping on an air matress, alone, in our empty house brought back so many great memories that we have had there. There was a ton of blood sweat, and tears put into that cute little house in Orem. So many projects, family gatherings, visitors from out of town, birthday parties, college graduation, our first house together being married, awesome neighbors and the list goes on. I have grown to love the mountains and the beautiful green plants and flowers everywhere.

Before:

After:

I guess it is just the end of one era of our lives and onto the next to make more great memories in a new place. We have torn this little home in AZ all apart with the help of so many and it will soon be just as cute as our home in Utah (hopefully!) I am sure our home in Arizona will bring us as much happiness as our home in Utah has. We will miss all of the family and friends in Utah, but I am back at home with all of my family and most of Ryan's here in AZ... what more could we ask for?! We have been so blessed. I am so grateful for these opportunities in my life.

Get On with Our Lives
Elder Steven E. Snow
of the Presidency of the Seventy

We too need to “get on with our lives.” Most of us do not seek or even welcome dramatic changes. But change is an essential part of life’s experiences.... Too often we are reluctant to enter the next stage, begin the next challenge. Maybe we are too comfortable, fearful, or lacking in faith...

How can we then best prepare for the changes we must inevitably face as we progress through life?

First, follow the prophets. Listen to and abide by the counsel of the Brethren. Prophets often raise a voice of warning but also provide steady, pragmatic counsel to help us weather the storms of life.

Second, keep an eternal perspective. Understand that change and challenges are part of God’s plan. By design this mortal existence is a time of testing or a time “to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Abraham 3:25).

Life’s challenges and changes provide opportunities for us to grow as we exercise our agency in making righteous decisions.

Third, have faith. President Thomas S. Monson has counseled us that “faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other” (“Come unto Him in Prayer and Faith,” Liahona, Mar. 2009, 4; Ensign, Mar. 2009, 6).

Fourth, be of good cheer. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin taught how to respond to adversity. Part of his counsel included: “The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable” (“Come What May, and Love It,” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2008, 27).

People Watching...

I've gotta say, one of my most favorite activities to do is to people watch. Its free, its everywhere, it's fun, and you get to witness drama without having to get in trouble, most of the time. Watching people in the movie theater before it starts is always a good time. The BYU library was always a classic...boy looks/stares at girl across the room, he hopes she looks up...wait what?! She looks up?! Boy looks down super quick. Pansy. And just the other day Laur and I were at Barnes & Noble in Orem and I had some pretty good people watching as we looked at some kitchen/bath magazines to get some ideas for our new Mesa pad. The best is the guy(s) who stand around the sports area at the magazine racks pretending they're looking at ESPN The Magazine, or Men's Health, and their eyes are really looking about 3 feet away at Maxim. This was the case when I was there. I watched until he finally had the guts to pick up the magazine. So, I got up, and turned my people watching from passive to active mode, and walked behind him to put away one of the magazines I was done looking at ("Amazing Kitchens and Baths" if you wanna know, real manly stuff). I stand right next to him and he immediately notices me and says real quiet as if to himself, but purposely loud enough for me to hear, "What the?! This is a weird magazine." And then hurriedly stuffs the Maxim behind the wrong stack of magazines and walks away. Good times. Good times.

Anyway, the other day we were in Mesa and I was with Lauren's mom and sister. We were coming back from a game Lauren's sister was cheering at and they decided to stop at Tia Rosas to pick up some burritos (or "burros" as Mesa-ites claim they should be called) for dinner. Laur and I had gone to eat an hour earlier and I was still stuffed, so I was just along for the ride. The place was starting to get busy, as it always does cause its tasty, but we baaaarely beat the rush...like 10 people followed us into the place. Its a great feeling when you beat the crowd isn't it?! It makes you feel you are far superior than those people, right?...I mean, if they would've only thought ahead or had better driving/parking skills they could be like you, at the front of the line. Anyway, so we order and get our receipt/order number and go and stand with the few other smart people like us who had beat the Tia Rosa dinner rush. So I sat down and got my people watching on. People were piling in, some see friends and flip out, others are trying to control crazy kids/spouses, while others at the back of the line look at us and our receipts with jealous eyes and wish they had been as smart and as fast as us.

So they guy behind the counter calls a number and I watch as a person we saw ahead of us in line goes and claims their food and then walks out. Another number is called and another tray of tasty Mexican food is carried to a table. Its exciting knowing that your number is about to be called...especially when there is a huge line behind you. You could tell in the restaurant that the stress was building behind the counter with all the new orders. It was getting louder in there and definitely more cramped. Another number was called and the guy that was in front of us picks up the food...and that meant we were next. But, despite how quick and smart and fast we were, the next number called wasn't ours! I look over at Jackie (mom-in law) and she is looking at her receipt and shrugs her shoulders. So we wait. The guy yells another number, and this time the people who were behind us pick up their food.

Now, its not a big deal when the people behind you get their order first. After all, maybe they only got a quesadilla, or a single taco, or like a bag of chips or somethin. But when the people who were two groups behind you get their food before you, that's a problem. There was a problem. But, we decide to patiently wait because this food is worth waiting for. Then the guy behind the counter yells, "Order number 10!" I look at Jackie...she shakes her head. But nobody picks up this bag of food. "Probably in the bathroom," I think. Morgan (sis-in-law) is now getting a little fed up because she has places to go, people to see, Facebook to look at. "Number 10!" This time its yelled over the loud speaker. Nobody picks it up so they must be outside. I mean, its February in Mesa, but its like 80 degrees, so why not wait outside and escape the Tia Rosa madness during the dinner rush.

Morgan then gets up and asks her mom how much longer this is going to take. "Morgan I don't know. Just relax. Where do you have to go anyway?!" "I've got stuff I wanna do!" she responds. This people watching is getting good, plus I have no responsibility here so I'm blameless to the situation...always a good card to have. As a rule, the more drama/tension there is, the better the people watching. Except for extremely happy moments...those are pretty good to watch too. They call another number and another person that was behind us picks up their tacos. At the same time, someone walks out from behind the counter and weaves through the crowd of hungry, impatient people and opens the door to the outside and yells, "Number 10!" No response. Then the girl walks back to the counter, where Morgan and Jackie are now standing and she basically yells in their face, "Number 10?! Number 10?!" I obviously have to speak up in this situation, so I do. "Bueller?! ... Bueller?!" The guy next to me laughs. "I love the movie," he says. By now the crowd of people waiting were murmuring about their new enemy, order #10. How could they not pick up their food? Reckless behavior.

Morgan finally looks at her mom..."Are you sure we aren't number 10?!" "Morgan!" she snaps back, "Are you serious?! Do you think I'd just stand here forever if we were number 10?" I look from my seat at the receipt Jackie is holding and I could barely see it from where I was at. But I could see that the number was not 10. Then an idea flashes across Jackie's mind. I knew one did cause I'm an expert people watcher and I can tell when people get ideas...and trust me, most ideas I see people get are pretty dumb ones. But not this one...Jackie got a devious idea. Order #10 was a pretty hefty looking bag. "What if we just took it?" she says to Morgan. "It looks like alot of food in there." This is getting good. So Morgan, who was already annoyed at the whole situation looks at her mom and gives her the "are you kidding" look. "What?!? Why not?!?" Jackie bursts out while laughing. "Um, I don't know Mom, maybe cause its stealing!" "No its not," Jackie replies. "Whoever ordered it obviously got fed up with the wait and left. We paid for food and they obviously forgot our order. Its totally ok."

Pretty good logic if you ask me. However, its one of those crap-shoot moments. You are obviously not going to get the food you ordered, but you'll probably get something tasty, especially since Tia Rosas is generally pretty good all-around. One the one hand, if you steal order #10, maybe they ordered a few salmon tacos. Pretty D tasty. On the other hand, if the bag was just full of chips and a quesadilla, your family is probably going to go hungry and you'll lose their respect. Crap-shoot.

Jackie decides that Morgan should steal the bag and that they'd race out before #10 gets back and decides to claim their luke-warm food. Morgan was having no part of that, and since Jackie couldn't actually do it either, there they stood...waiting. By then my mind was totally wandering and I was remembering that movie I just saw, I Am Number 4, and I was hoping some huge menacing guy would stand up and say with a mighty voice, "I, am number 10..." and then walk up, grab the bag, look at the cashier as if to say, "You're lucky I let you live today" and then turn around and walk out as thunder crashed overhead. But that crap wasn't going to happen so I was hoping we'd just steal the bag and leave.

Sure enough, another number was called, and another person that was behind us in line went up and got their food. Finally, Jackie had had enough and looked long and hard at her receipt. "Maybe the 8 was really a 0", she thought. So she walked up to the guy calling out the order numbers and hands him her receipt. "Is this eight supposed to be a zero?" she asks. The guy looks at her with a smile and takes the receipt. I watch him as his smile washes off his face. Without moving a muscle, except for his neck to look back up at her, he responds, "Ma'am, this is a Carl's Jr. receipt." "What?!?" Jackie exclaims. Morgans mouth drops open. I almost fall out of my chair laughing as I watch Jackie frantically shoving her hands in her pockets and finally pulls out a Tia Rosa receipt with a big, fat number 10 on it. "Oh, I guess that's our food...Let's go guys!!!" as she hurriedly snatches the bag and grabs Morg's arm. By now Tia Rosas was FULL of people watchers and we were all having a pretty good time. Number 10 had finally arrived to claim their burritos...and out the door we ran.

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! We were missing out on the blizzards in Utah while down in Arizona, in the 75 degree weather. So amazing. I didn't take pictures of anything but of our family at my grandmas... and most are not very good. Ha ha here are some of the awesome pictures we took, and not one had everyone smiling or eyes open... Oh well!


Ha ha sorry Raeg and Dad...


We got lots of Christmas shopping done the day after Thanksgiving which is always great! We are really trying to enjoy this Christmas season and not worry so much about buying a million presents like last year. The First Presidency Christmas Devotional last night really helped us to remember that.

Ryan and I left AZ on Monday and stopped in Vegas to go to his mom's Christmas choir concert. I didn't know what to expect and was blown away. It was amazing! They sang Handel's Messiah with the most talented soloists and a full orchestra. Ryan's uncle Randy was telling us how he didn't want to go because the concert gave him a headache with all of the "high" singing and he couldn't understand the different language they sang in... Ha ha ha!! It is all in English... Just Isaiah and hard to understand. I about died laughing so so hard and was super disruptive when the soloists started singing, because I could totally see how he thought it might be in another language. Maybe it was so much funnier to me because my dad would have said the same exact thing as him. Anyway, it was great.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving too!! I can't wait for Christmas and all the fun festivities!

Activity Days

So I am officially in charge of Decembers first activity day for the 9&10 year old girls. I am not really sure what to expect since I have been out of town for the last 3 achievement days and have never been... Ugh, I know, it is horrible. So I have been thinking about what we should make in honor of the Christmas season and I decided on making these Christmas lanterns/candy jars! They are so so cute... I got the idea from Here.

The tricky thing I didn't realize was making sure I had all of the supplies needed for this project for 12 girls. I am a complete crazy person. I go to a store and think,"hmm I have seen this item at a different store for cheaper, so I won't get it now." BAD idea. So I have now been to 100 stores looking at the same 5 things for days... I have even had dreams about this and I am the WORST shopper. This is so ridiculous for an easy project. I made one for myself and it took like 10 minutes... Needless to say, I still have not picked up all of the things I need. Tomorrow I am going to finish this.


If anyone has any other good ideas for this activity let me know!! Treats? Spiritual thought?? I don't know how it works! Let me know what you think!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

So yesterday was Ryan's 29th birthday and we had a blast. As he says, he is holding onto his 20's by the skin of his teeth ha ha. That is true. He better make this last year of having a 2 in front of his age count!! I feel like time goes by way too fast these days... It makes me sad.

We had so much fun opening presents in the morning, riding up the ski lift at Sundance, making treats, dinner at Tucanos, and cake and ice cream afterwards at our house. Ryan scored with tons of sweet presents. Thanks everyone who came and celebrated with us. It was so fun!



Happy Birthday Ry-Dogg!! You are the best husband in the whole world! Love you!

Summer Time!!

So we have had such a crazy summer so far, but it has been super fun! We have been back and forth from Arizona to Utah almost every week... driving! This is what we have been up to for the last few months:

1. I graduated from BYU in April!! Lots of family came up to celebrate and hang out with us. We had such a fun weekend with everyone. This picture is only a few of those who came. Thanks everyone for coming to support me! I am so excited to move on and figure out what comes next... More school??



2. I left for about a month to help my mom finish up tons of recital stuff as she finished up her school year teaching crazy kindergarten kids! The recital turned out so so cute and amazing. All of the girls did awesome!


3. Ryan was working hard up in Utah and then came down to AZ to join me and start doing some fun work in AZ as well.

4. Bree and Eric had their cutest baby Ellie at the end of May. It was so much fun to be there for it! She is the most perfect baby!


5. We went to our annual Carlsbad, CA beach trip over the 4th of July with all of my Davis cousins. We all had so much fun! It was a little cold on the beach this year, so we were bundled up in sweatshirts most of the time!


6. Ryan got a new calling as Elders Quorum 2nd Counselor.


7. We went to Ryan's Nelson Family annual cabin trip up near Brianhead! It was a blast!! Ryan especially had fun fishing the whole time at the new lakes his aunt and uncle built. They are amazing!


8. Ryan has been working hard on a house out in Phoenix to list in the next week. I wish I had some pictures to show...

9. Lydia graduated from college at BYU- Idaho, so we made a trip up there to celebrate! Congrats Lydia!!


10. My uncle Tom had is 50th suprise birthday party up here in Utah, that I missed out on, but my grandpa and grandma, aunts, and cousins came up to party. We also had a suprise bridal shower for my cousin Jill who is getting married in a couple weeks! We had so so much fun with everyone. We are so excited for Jill and Brock! I don't have any party pictures yet... so they will come!