Check out the Chalk Art Festivals website for past years pictures and sometime soon this years :)
This video is a time lapse of one of the artists. It is pretty cool!
Here are some of the pictures.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Chalk Arts Festival 2012
Can I just say I LOVE going to the Chalk Art Festival every year! This was the third year that Shaun and I have gone to it and I get so excited every time. I am always amazing at the talent of those doing the artwork. I kind of think it would be fun to do one of the pictures... Anyone else interested?
Check out the Chalk Art Festivals website for past years pictures and sometime soon this years :)
This video is a time lapse of one of the artists. It is pretty cool!
Here are some of the pictures.
Check out the Chalk Art Festivals website for past years pictures and sometime soon this years :)
This video is a time lapse of one of the artists. It is pretty cool!
Here are some of the pictures.
I'm an LMT!!
I can officially say that I am done with school! I passed all of the classes I needed to my last term of school and I passed the comprehensive final that everyone is required to pass at MCU. So as of June 1st I am officially a graduate of Myotherapy College of Utah!! I am SO excited to be done.
It has been a life changing year for me. I feel that I have changed so much! I am definitely not the same person I was went I started school on May 31, 2011. This past year I have learned a lot about myself and developed more confidence in myself. I have finally found something that I truly love and can't wait to spend the rest of my life doing this!
I am so grateful for the awesome teachers I had, for the support I had from family and friends, but most importantly I am grateful for my AMAZING husband who supported my financially with school, who was always willing to be my guinea pig when I needed someone (even if he didn't enjoy it) and who was just there for me whenever I needed it.
Graduation itself was a fun night. I was able to see classmates I hadn't seen in a while (the last three terms all graduated the same night) and I was able to finally celebrate something I have wanted for the last couple years. I was surprised during graduation because I received special recognition for my outstanding clinic performance! That made me feel really good and validates to me that I have made the right decision!
On June 13th I took the MBLex. I was so nervous going into the test and during the test, but apparently I didn't need to be nervous at all, because I PASSED!!! In order to pass you had to receive a 630 or better and I got a 761!!! That made me feel great! Since I had passed I wanted to get all my paperwork submitted that day so I could get my license as soon as possible. So I headed downtown to DOPL and submitted my paperwork and paid my $100. They told me that it could take up to four weeks for it all to get processed, but I looked on DOPL's website on the 17th and it showed that as of June 15th I was officially a LICENSED MASSAGE THERAPIST!! I am SO excited! Now I just need to find office space and clients!!
It has been a life changing year for me. I feel that I have changed so much! I am definitely not the same person I was went I started school on May 31, 2011. This past year I have learned a lot about myself and developed more confidence in myself. I have finally found something that I truly love and can't wait to spend the rest of my life doing this!
I am so grateful for the awesome teachers I had, for the support I had from family and friends, but most importantly I am grateful for my AMAZING husband who supported my financially with school, who was always willing to be my guinea pig when I needed someone (even if he didn't enjoy it) and who was just there for me whenever I needed it.
Graduation itself was a fun night. I was able to see classmates I hadn't seen in a while (the last three terms all graduated the same night) and I was able to finally celebrate something I have wanted for the last couple years. I was surprised during graduation because I received special recognition for my outstanding clinic performance! That made me feel really good and validates to me that I have made the right decision!
On June 13th I took the MBLex. I was so nervous going into the test and during the test, but apparently I didn't need to be nervous at all, because I PASSED!!! In order to pass you had to receive a 630 or better and I got a 761!!! That made me feel great! Since I had passed I wanted to get all my paperwork submitted that day so I could get my license as soon as possible. So I headed downtown to DOPL and submitted my paperwork and paid my $100. They told me that it could take up to four weeks for it all to get processed, but I looked on DOPL's website on the 17th and it showed that as of June 15th I was officially a LICENSED MASSAGE THERAPIST!! I am SO excited! Now I just need to find office space and clients!!
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| Some of my graduation class (not everyone attended) |
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| My Buddy, Tony, and I |
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| My favorite teacher, Meade, and I |
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| I GRADUATED!!! |
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| Not from Graduation, but for the last offsite I did. Me, Tony, Jenny and Celise |
Sunday, June 3, 2012
A Hope for the Future
Just a heads up. This post may be a little TMI for some of you! You have been warned!
As some of you may know Shaun and I have been trying to get pregnant for a couple years now and it hasn't happened for us. I wasn't very happy with the doctor that I have been seeing for the last couple of years and so I decided to switch and start seeing someone else. The doctor I decided I wanted to see had a 10 month waiting list, but we decided that was okay because I was in school and I wasn't so sure being pregnant and doing school would work. Well as the time for my appointment got closer I realized that I had a conflict with school and need to change the appointment. I called to see when I would be able to switch the appointment to and the first person I talked to told me that it would be another nine months before I would be able to get into see the doctor. This I was not okay with. I was almost done with school and I was really ready to move on to the next chapter of my life. I was basically back to square one. I asked around and got a few recommendation to go see Dr. Robert Merrill and so I called to schedule an appointment and was able to get in within a couple of weeks. It was the best decision I have made in a long time! Dr. Merrill is awesome!
At my first appointment with Dr. Merrill he spent a lot of time talking to me about my options and we were able to make a plan that he was pretty sure would work. This plan involved me taking provera (helps start my periods since I don't start on my own) and clomid (this is supposed to help with ovulation) and then getting my progesterone level checked to see if I ovulated. We did this one cycle and my progesterone level came back really low so I was a little bummed, but I know that was a possibility. I took a pregnancy test to make sure before I took my next dose of provera. It came back negative (at least I swear it did) and so I took the provera. Well 10 days later (April 13) I still hadn't started my period (you are supposed to start 5 days after taking provera) and so I took another pregnancy test and it came back positive! I was SO excited and also kind of doubtful of the results and so we bought another test and took it and it also came back positive!! I was so excited! I had wanted this for so long and it was finally going to happen.
We had our first OB appointment with Dr. Merrill on April 30th (I was 8 weeks) and everything seemed to be fine at that appointment. He told us that it was too early to hear the heartbeat and that we would be able to hear it at the next appointment. The next day I received a call from the nuMoM2b study asking me to be a part of their study. Benefits of being in the study included 3 different ultrasounds through out your pregnancy and I thought that would be a lot of fun, so we decided I would join the study and we set up my first appointment with them for a couple weeks later.
Shaun and I decided that we wouldn't tell anyone (okay so I did tell some people... I was REALLY excited!! I couldn't wait) until we told our Mom's on Mother Day.We invited them over for a nice pot roast dinner and then gave them their presents. I had made gift baskets with baby bananas, baby carrots, Babybel cheese and a baby pineapple in it. I also made a card to go along with it that announced our new addition. All of our parents were really excited! It was fun to get to share our big news with them.
Then came the day of my first ultrasound. I was nervous and happy all at the same time. Shaun wasn't able to go with me because he had work he needed to do, but I completely understood. So I get to my appointment and they take me back and start explaining to me what would be happening during the course of the study and what I would be receiving from it. Then it came time for the ultrasound. The ultrasound tech started looking around and doing her measurements and stuff, all the while I am watching the ultrasound on a monitor on the wall. I have never had an ultrasound done before so I didn't really know what I was looking for so I honestly was completely oblivious to what was really going on. Once the ultrasound tech is close to being done she informs me that she is unable to find a fetus, but that she wants to find a doctor to double check what she is seeing. I honestly at this point couldn't absorb what she was telling me. Even after her and the nurse went to find the doctor it wouldn't sink in. How could this be? How can there not be a baby in there? The news didn't really sink in until the doctor came to do another ultrasound on me to see what he found and the results came back the same. There was no fetus growing. I had had a miscarriage. The doctor told me that I had a blighted ovum or an anembryonic pregnancy. I was devastated. How could one week go from being the happiest week of my life to the worst in a matter of days?
The nurse and the doctor left me in the room so I could try and contain myself and make a call to Shaun. I called him and he was great. He immediately dropped everything he was doing and came to the hospital to comfort me (I really do have an AMAZING husband!). I honestly feel like I had let everyone down. Everyone was so happy and looking forward to us having a child and I wasn't able to deliver. I just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry, but no luck! It was my last night of finals week and so I couldn't miss class.
The next day I called my doctors office to see what the next steps were and they were really nice. My doctors nurse wasn't there that day, but the nurse who was filling in for her was great and I really appreciated it. It wasn't a call I every thought I would have to make and so it made it way easier with the way she handled it. Dr. Merrill was willing to work me into his schedule if I felt like I need to be seen that day, but I decided that I would be okay waiting until the appointment I had setup for the next week. The waiting game had officially began.
I was lucky in the fact that there wasn't a lot of pregnant ladies in the waiting room when I got there for my appointment. I am not sure I would have been able to handle that. Anyhow... On to the appointment. We get taken back to the room and are told that the doctor would be in shortly. Next thing I know Dr. Merrill's nurse is opening the door and she hands me a nice little present and card. It was so nice and thoughtful of her! It totally made me feel special. Once Dr. Merrill got into the room we talked about what could have caused the miscarriage (did you know that 22% of pregnancies result in a miscarriage?) and we discussed the option for getting the sac out. 1) I could wait for it to happen naturally 2) I could take a medication or 3) I could have a D&C. We decided on options 2 and we decided to wait to do that option until the weekend so I didn't have to miss any more work and to see if I would be able to pass it on my own since I was already having some cramping going on.
Friday Night rolled around and Shaun was great and helped me with the pills and we headed to bed (this was around midnight). Around 5 AM I woke up in extreme pain. It was like NOTHING else I had ever experienced before. I didn't want to wake Shaun so I went to the bathroom down the hall so I wouldn't bother him. After a few minutes I decided I would try going back to bed, but by the time I got back to our room I knew that wasn't going to work, due to the cramping/pain I was having that the amount of bleeding that was happening. So I headed to the bathroom in our room. I had shut the door so I didn't bother Shaun and it worked for a while until I REALLY needed him. I had been calling his name with the door closed and he couldn't hear me, but once I opened the door he was able to hear me and he came to my rescue. I asked him to give me a blessing, which was a great comfort to me. With that and some Lortab (mostly the blessing) I was able to go back to sleep for a couple more hours. The pain hasn't been as bad since.
As I have looking into blighted ovum's more my pregnancy symptoms start making a lot more sense. I was occasionally nauseated, but I had only thrown up one time the whole time. As time went on things the symptoms seemed to decrease and all of this is common with this type of miscarriage. Part of me the whole time was worried about the pregnancy symptoms being worse than they were. I had read that those who don't have morning sickness have a high chance of miscarrying... I guess I provide that right.
It has been a week now and things have definitely better for the most part. I still have my days where it is really hard, but I am sure that will take time. I have my days were I am kind of bitter. I really just want one baby. That is all I am asking for and I see people around me having their third and fourth babies. Some days I don't think it is fair and other days I know that it just isn't the right time for us. So for now we are going to take things one day at a time.
Things that I have learned from this experience
1) I can get pregnant. This is something I was wondering if it was ever going to happen. We don't know if I can maintain a pregnancy, so we will just have to wait and see. I still believe that it will happen for us.
2) That I have an amazing husband. So I already knew this, but this whole experience has just confirmed to me how amazing his is. He is been so great and supportive through this whole thing. I am so glad I married him.
3) That my Heavenly Father loves me (I knew this already too...) and that He wants what it best for me. I am not quite sure what I am supposed to learn from this whole thing, but I know that someday I will look back and I will realize what it is.
I didn't write this blog to make you feel bad for me. I wrote it because needed to write this experience down for me. I am hoping that is will help me get past some of the feelings I am having and that I will be able to make it through this whole thing better. I do appreciate all the love and support I have received as I have gone through this and as I continue to go through it.
As some of you may know Shaun and I have been trying to get pregnant for a couple years now and it hasn't happened for us. I wasn't very happy with the doctor that I have been seeing for the last couple of years and so I decided to switch and start seeing someone else. The doctor I decided I wanted to see had a 10 month waiting list, but we decided that was okay because I was in school and I wasn't so sure being pregnant and doing school would work. Well as the time for my appointment got closer I realized that I had a conflict with school and need to change the appointment. I called to see when I would be able to switch the appointment to and the first person I talked to told me that it would be another nine months before I would be able to get into see the doctor. This I was not okay with. I was almost done with school and I was really ready to move on to the next chapter of my life. I was basically back to square one. I asked around and got a few recommendation to go see Dr. Robert Merrill and so I called to schedule an appointment and was able to get in within a couple of weeks. It was the best decision I have made in a long time! Dr. Merrill is awesome!
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| Test #1 |
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| Test #2 |
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| The Gift Basket |
Then came the day of my first ultrasound. I was nervous and happy all at the same time. Shaun wasn't able to go with me because he had work he needed to do, but I completely understood. So I get to my appointment and they take me back and start explaining to me what would be happening during the course of the study and what I would be receiving from it. Then it came time for the ultrasound. The ultrasound tech started looking around and doing her measurements and stuff, all the while I am watching the ultrasound on a monitor on the wall. I have never had an ultrasound done before so I didn't really know what I was looking for so I honestly was completely oblivious to what was really going on. Once the ultrasound tech is close to being done she informs me that she is unable to find a fetus, but that she wants to find a doctor to double check what she is seeing. I honestly at this point couldn't absorb what she was telling me. Even after her and the nurse went to find the doctor it wouldn't sink in. How could this be? How can there not be a baby in there? The news didn't really sink in until the doctor came to do another ultrasound on me to see what he found and the results came back the same. There was no fetus growing. I had had a miscarriage. The doctor told me that I had a blighted ovum or an anembryonic pregnancy. I was devastated. How could one week go from being the happiest week of my life to the worst in a matter of days?
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| What the ultrasound looked like... |
The next day I called my doctors office to see what the next steps were and they were really nice. My doctors nurse wasn't there that day, but the nurse who was filling in for her was great and I really appreciated it. It wasn't a call I every thought I would have to make and so it made it way easier with the way she handled it. Dr. Merrill was willing to work me into his schedule if I felt like I need to be seen that day, but I decided that I would be okay waiting until the appointment I had setup for the next week. The waiting game had officially began.
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| The nice gift & card |
Friday Night rolled around and Shaun was great and helped me with the pills and we headed to bed (this was around midnight). Around 5 AM I woke up in extreme pain. It was like NOTHING else I had ever experienced before. I didn't want to wake Shaun so I went to the bathroom down the hall so I wouldn't bother him. After a few minutes I decided I would try going back to bed, but by the time I got back to our room I knew that wasn't going to work, due to the cramping/pain I was having that the amount of bleeding that was happening. So I headed to the bathroom in our room. I had shut the door so I didn't bother Shaun and it worked for a while until I REALLY needed him. I had been calling his name with the door closed and he couldn't hear me, but once I opened the door he was able to hear me and he came to my rescue. I asked him to give me a blessing, which was a great comfort to me. With that and some Lortab (mostly the blessing) I was able to go back to sleep for a couple more hours. The pain hasn't been as bad since.
As I have looking into blighted ovum's more my pregnancy symptoms start making a lot more sense. I was occasionally nauseated, but I had only thrown up one time the whole time. As time went on things the symptoms seemed to decrease and all of this is common with this type of miscarriage. Part of me the whole time was worried about the pregnancy symptoms being worse than they were. I had read that those who don't have morning sickness have a high chance of miscarrying... I guess I provide that right.
It has been a week now and things have definitely better for the most part. I still have my days where it is really hard, but I am sure that will take time. I have my days were I am kind of bitter. I really just want one baby. That is all I am asking for and I see people around me having their third and fourth babies. Some days I don't think it is fair and other days I know that it just isn't the right time for us. So for now we are going to take things one day at a time.
Things that I have learned from this experience
1) I can get pregnant. This is something I was wondering if it was ever going to happen. We don't know if I can maintain a pregnancy, so we will just have to wait and see. I still believe that it will happen for us.
2) That I have an amazing husband. So I already knew this, but this whole experience has just confirmed to me how amazing his is. He is been so great and supportive through this whole thing. I am so glad I married him.
3) That my Heavenly Father loves me (I knew this already too...) and that He wants what it best for me. I am not quite sure what I am supposed to learn from this whole thing, but I know that someday I will look back and I will realize what it is.
I didn't write this blog to make you feel bad for me. I wrote it because needed to write this experience down for me. I am hoping that is will help me get past some of the feelings I am having and that I will be able to make it through this whole thing better. I do appreciate all the love and support I have received as I have gone through this and as I continue to go through it.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Let's get caught up!
It's been an exciting 3 months. I stayed pretty busy with work and school, but that didn't stop me for added doing taxes with my Grandpa to my schedule. Granted I didn't work there very often due to my schedule, but I still worked a few days. Luckily I didn't have class on Tuesdays this term so Shaun and I were able to spend V-Day together :) To start our V-Day celebration out Shaun had roses sent to me at work on the 13th, since I didn't work on the 14th. He wanted me to be the special one to receive roses at work! I definitely did feel special!! On Valentine's Day evening we headed down to the Old Spaghetti Factory in Orem to see "King Arthur & Lancelot: For the Love of Guinevere" a dinner theater production put on by Salty Dinner Theater Company. The show was pretty good. It was definitely an interested evening...
For Shaun's present for V-Day I did my first Pinterest project. I made a little book of 52 Reason I love him. It turned out pretty cute.
I don't think we really did anything else that was big during February, So lets move on to March :)
We had our annual Pi Day Celebration! It was a lot of fun. We didn't have as many people show up this year as we did last year, but we still had a lot of fun! I made my first ever pie and it was DELICIOUS!! I have made it a few times since Pi Day!
I finished up my second to last term of school! Only 10 more weeks at that point to go!! To finish up my term I had a couple off-site I need to do for clinic. One of the off-sites I did was to go and work on Grizzles players! It was pretty cool. I only worked on one player (who was brand new to the team) and a couple of staff members, but it was still a lot of fun. After I was done with that they gave me a couple tickets to the game so Shaun and I were able to go watch the game. I thought it was a lot of fun. Then again I LOVE going to hockey games! Shaun wasn't so sure about it. We are going to go again with friends sometime and see if it is funner for him. He also wasn't feeling the best, so I don't think that helped matters.
Another big thing that happened during March was Shaun went to Atlanta, Georgia for a week to finish putting together his new company, Chatmongers, with his business partner. They spent a lot of time working, but they were able to go check out Stone Mountain.
Now on to April! The Sunday of conference weekend we went to his parents house for breakfast and lunch and to watch conference. This has become somewhat of a tradition and it is always pretty fun.
The following weekend Shaun and I went to Color Me Mine with My Mom and Christie and Matt. It was a lot of fun! I LOVE going to Color Me Mine and it was fun to have some guys there. We normally do it as a Girls Day activity, but we changed it up a little bit this time. After we were done with that Christie and Matt came over to our house and we dyed Easter eggs!
For My Birthday this year we went to Olive Garden with my Parents and Grandpa before I headed off to school for the rest of the evening. I did get to go do a session at the Jordan River Temple during the day, which was a nice birthday present to myself! All in all it was a GREAT birthday!
The next day Shaun and I went and saw The Princess Bridesmaid at Desert Star Playhouse! It was so fun! I am really glad we got season tickets there this year. It is early in the production and you could kind of tell. There were a few times that they messed up their lines, but when they did they made it entertaining. I can't wait until the next show!
Well I think that pretty much gets us caught up! We are enjoying the weather we have had! Zoey loves when we go for walks, so we try and go as much as possible. I have 3 weeks left of school and then I am done!! I should be a Licensed Massage Therapist by the middle of June!! I can't wait!!
Here are pictures from the last couple months!
For Shaun's present for V-Day I did my first Pinterest project. I made a little book of 52 Reason I love him. It turned out pretty cute.
I don't think we really did anything else that was big during February, So lets move on to March :)
We had our annual Pi Day Celebration! It was a lot of fun. We didn't have as many people show up this year as we did last year, but we still had a lot of fun! I made my first ever pie and it was DELICIOUS!! I have made it a few times since Pi Day!
I finished up my second to last term of school! Only 10 more weeks at that point to go!! To finish up my term I had a couple off-site I need to do for clinic. One of the off-sites I did was to go and work on Grizzles players! It was pretty cool. I only worked on one player (who was brand new to the team) and a couple of staff members, but it was still a lot of fun. After I was done with that they gave me a couple tickets to the game so Shaun and I were able to go watch the game. I thought it was a lot of fun. Then again I LOVE going to hockey games! Shaun wasn't so sure about it. We are going to go again with friends sometime and see if it is funner for him. He also wasn't feeling the best, so I don't think that helped matters.
Another big thing that happened during March was Shaun went to Atlanta, Georgia for a week to finish putting together his new company, Chatmongers, with his business partner. They spent a lot of time working, but they were able to go check out Stone Mountain.
Now on to April! The Sunday of conference weekend we went to his parents house for breakfast and lunch and to watch conference. This has become somewhat of a tradition and it is always pretty fun.
The following weekend Shaun and I went to Color Me Mine with My Mom and Christie and Matt. It was a lot of fun! I LOVE going to Color Me Mine and it was fun to have some guys there. We normally do it as a Girls Day activity, but we changed it up a little bit this time. After we were done with that Christie and Matt came over to our house and we dyed Easter eggs!
For My Birthday this year we went to Olive Garden with my Parents and Grandpa before I headed off to school for the rest of the evening. I did get to go do a session at the Jordan River Temple during the day, which was a nice birthday present to myself! All in all it was a GREAT birthday!
The next day Shaun and I went and saw The Princess Bridesmaid at Desert Star Playhouse! It was so fun! I am really glad we got season tickets there this year. It is early in the production and you could kind of tell. There were a few times that they messed up their lines, but when they did they made it entertaining. I can't wait until the next show!
Well I think that pretty much gets us caught up! We are enjoying the weather we have had! Zoey loves when we go for walks, so we try and go as much as possible. I have 3 weeks left of school and then I am done!! I should be a Licensed Massage Therapist by the middle of June!! I can't wait!!
Here are pictures from the last couple months!
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| My Beautiful Roses from Shaun |
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| My first Pinterest Project |
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| Our Cute Little Family on V-Day (not the best pictures) |
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| Some of the pies |
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| Some of the party goers (same goes for the next couple pictures) |
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| Us at the Grizzles game |
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| Stone Mountain |
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| On the hike up Stone Mountain |
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| My Mom's project |
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| Shaun working on his mug |
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| Christie working on her project |
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| Matt and his pre-fired finished project |
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| Christie & her pre-fired finished project |
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| Shaun and his pre-fired project |
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| Me and my pre-fired project |
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| Our Final project!! |
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| Christie and Matt dying eggs |
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| Shaun and I |
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| Shaun and his Eat Me egg :) |
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
And now the month of January!!
The new year has been fun so far! I am currently attending my fourth term of school (16 weeks to go!!) and am just enjoying things as they happen.
Shaun and I woke up a couple of Saturdays to go and decided to head to Ruth's Diner and then to the zoo! We have been talking about going to the zoo for along time, but it never has happened. I have wanted to see the baby elephant ever since see was born 2ish years ago! Anyhow it was a lot of fun. There is a lot of construction going on at the zoo right now so there were a few areas closed, but it still was a lot of fun! I LOVE impromptu dates!
Another fun thing we have been able to do this year is get Desert Star Playhouse season tickets! We have already been able to see the first show of the year, CSI:Provo. The show was so fun! I can't wait for the next show! It is going to be a fun year of shows!
Well I think that gets me caught up!! WAHOOO!!
Here are some pictures from our trip to the zoo:
Shaun and I woke up a couple of Saturdays to go and decided to head to Ruth's Diner and then to the zoo! We have been talking about going to the zoo for along time, but it never has happened. I have wanted to see the baby elephant ever since see was born 2ish years ago! Anyhow it was a lot of fun. There is a lot of construction going on at the zoo right now so there were a few areas closed, but it still was a lot of fun! I LOVE impromptu dates!
Another fun thing we have been able to do this year is get Desert Star Playhouse season tickets! We have already been able to see the first show of the year, CSI:Provo. The show was so fun! I can't wait for the next show! It is going to be a fun year of shows!
Well I think that gets me caught up!! WAHOOO!!
Here are some pictures from our trip to the zoo:
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| Baby Zuri! |
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| The tiger sticks his tongue out when he sleeps like Zoey does! So cute! |
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| He sat like this for like 5 minutes. It was funny! |
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