Keepin'On, keepin' on!

Well hello there, that is if anyone checks my blog any more since I haven't written in forever. Well I guess I should start with the fact that the artificail insemination didn't work out. It was not fun to find out at the time but we are moving on and staying positive. Add to that I have a sister and sister in law who are found out they are pregnant and we had quite the roller coaster month recently (feeling greast excitement to be an aunt being one of the "ups" of the roller coaster ride). We are still trying but we have had a few more bumps in the road with cycts that have both popped (very painful) and those that are just hangin out and stoping us from currently trying anything else. i have heard about every sort of comforting phase, especially that it is just not our time, but that doesn't really make the journey easier. However, I am determined to enjoy the journey, the good and bad. I keep reminding myself how valuable this time is with Dustin, that I have the ability to work and support him right now, that I have abundant time to think up a billion and one baby names, that I don't have long nights yet or any dirty diapers. I am determined to be a favorite aunt and in the mean time I can feel sorry for my sister's morning sickness instead of my own. We are counting our blessing everyday.
On the Dustin front, we are currently preparing to apply for Teach for America and to have Dustin graduate with his bachelor's in May. He still wants to be a doctor but this year didn't work out and we both think taking some time off of school mught be a good thing. Teach for America is an oportunity for Dustin to teach in inner city schools any where in the US for 2 years. They have a rigorous training the summer before you start and they are a very competitive program. We don't know if we will get in and if not we are fine with staying in town and reapplying to med school this summer. This has been a very difficult semester for Dustin, he has taken his most difficult science classes and right now is just crossing his fingers to pass. However, I know how hard he has worked and how brilliant he is. I know that he will become a doctor even if we take the longer route (the longer way seems to be our niche) and I am loving the adventures, the waiting and the fact that we have had to rely on our Heavenly Father's wisdom more than ever this year.
I will try to stay up on this more. We get to go away to Durango after Christmas so I should have some pics.

Happy Holidays!

Red Hair

So I have been severely out of commision these past two months as we as a family have been taking care of my dad and recently threw him his 50th b-day party...which was absolutely wonderful. However, I must continue in the journal of my life since it seems to continue no matter what.
The first little note is that I have dyed my hair red. I love it and think it looks fabulous, but if you know me then you know this could change in a matter of years, months or minutes.
The second thing that has gone on recently is that Dustin and I have done artificial insemination. I only mentioned briefly in my "about me" section about our struggle to start a family but I thought since this is more that just a blog but my journal (and prettty much the only journal I am good at keeping up with) i should keep it honest and updated. Its funny, a couple of years ago I would never have thought to talk about "baby making" issues so openly. However, after talking about everything with numerous doctors, keeping my immediate family always up to date and being asked a lot of questions, the shyness has been replaced with the blunt facts...and dont ask me how I feel about it all unless you really want to hear, because I will tell you. : )

I guess that is all for now, I won't know if the procedure "took" for a couple of weeks but we are use all the positive energy we have.

New Blog

For updates on my dad and his recovery and to drop notes, please visit a blog that will document his improvement and journal his journey. www.willnowell.blogspot.com

Is it being prideful if you are proud of someone else?

As hard of a time as I give my husband, and I do give him a hard time most of the time, he is always amazing me and impressing me. First of all I am going to brag (without his consent) that he recieved straight A's his last semester. This having been done while working part time, doing bee research, trying to magnify his calling and taking on a school load of 20 credits. For some of you go getters out there this may all seem run of the mill, however, when Dustin and I got married balancing school and marriage was a difficult thing to balance...and this semester he found his groove. Also in the "my husband is the greatest" department, Dustin had been taking the bus to school recently when he decided he wanted to bring his bike on the bus so he could get across campus more easily. However, one morning he missed the bus and decided to ride all the way to campus! I am not sure how far it is but it is a good hours bike ride away. He has done this two other times since and plans to make it a routine. This is not something I would ever have done and I love him for doing it. To sum up, I think I have the most motivated, smartest, cutest, sweetest and "does the most gosh-darn things" husband ever.

I know i am not alone in these feelings so feel free to share your adoration of your loved ones!

Movie of the Week!

We rented this from Netflix...and can I say how much I love Netflix, it allows you to see movies you would never have otherwise come across or chosen...anywho, Gandhi was fabulous. I don't know about you but I have always viewed Gandhi as a "more than human" character. Not to say that he was god like or anything but more of a superhero or too good to be true. This film brought him to life for me, it brought his principles to life for me and made his words more that just clever or insightful sayings, but words to live by, words to act by. And Gandhi's teachings are very relevant for our times today. The way he way he was able to get an entire country behind him to reinforce peaceful resistance is amazing. For a time Gandhi was able to get the Hindus and the Muslims to work together to accomplish their goal in unity, how wonderful would it be today to have the Democrats and Republicans and Indepedents come together, to inspire the nation to come together to have one goal. I doubt a fast on any one of our leaders parts today would cause the country to change. This movie, as simple of a medium as it may seem to inspire, made me realize that I want more from our leaders than I am seeing in this up and coming election. I want someone I can get behind. I am tired of saying that there are 2 or 3 that I would be OK with becoming our president. I want someone who inspires me to put a bumper sticker on my car (although I personally hate bumper stickers), who inspires me to debate on thier behalf, who makes me cry if they lose.
I know I have taken this movie review a little far, but does anyone else feel this way?

More summer fun pics!

My sister Emylee and her cute hubby Jason. She is wearing a tankini for those who are modesty watchers.


The carefully crafted castle of Dustin, Jason, Taylor and Dad. It didn't hurt to have Dustin's OCD tendencies on the job.


My posing mamacita and pops.


T-Bone (Taylor) worked out every day we were there. Way to go!

Summer Vacation!

Hey y'all. Sorry It has been a while. I am still getting over the intimidation of putting my writing skills to the test on the web. However, this weekend gafve me something to write about.
This weekend the family west to Mission Beach in San Diego. Thanks to my wonderful parents, we were able to stay in a beach house just a few houses away from the ocean. It was a beautiful three bedroom, three bath condo with a lot of sleeping space for the 7 of us that went. Plus a huge kitchen thast allowed us to eat in or out.
Anywho, the first day that Dustin & I got there, our family went on a bike ride to a bead store (funny that it was my dad's desire to go to the bead store). However, my dad then found that he needed to go to Ace Hardware to finish his project. Ace Hardware wasn't a close ride but for those of you who have gone on trips with my dad, he is not easily dissuaded. So off we went down teh crowded streets of Mission Beach, 5 beach cruisers and 2 skateboarders only to find that the store was closed. Well, to get to the chase, we took a different route home and got lost. This little stroll of a bike ride ended up taking about 4 hours. Despite the length of time, the chilly air, the the slopes we had to climb without any gears, it ended up being a lot of fun. We ended the night at a restaurant on the beach where I was unsuccessful at trying to down a oyster shooter (no alchohol involved :))

Sad But Funny

let me just start by saying that our left hand shift key is broken and i don't have the patience to use the right hand shift today, too hard to retrain the brain. anywho, dustin has had quite the week. on tuesday he fell while skateboarding across campus and dislocated his arm. he was taken by ambulance to the hospital and now has to keep the arm in the sling for atleast the next month. thats the sad part. the funny part is that he fell while carrying a 50lb packpack and carrying another 50lbs of books in his hands while skateboarding over the light rail tracks. okay, so that is not quite funny yet. the best part about it is that he had just seen a skateboarder get off his skateboard in order to get over the tracks and he had thought to himself that anyone with skill would have ridden over the tracks....the lord humbles us in many ways :)
no, i am not an evil wife in disecting his embarrasing moments, he has admitted being humbled to me.
so now i am his chauffeur, his email typist, and about everything else. however, i am really enjoying serving him. it is amazing how the little things like getting up to get eachother a glass of water can be fought over, or who will turn off the bedroom light, or who will do the dishes, and yet when the service is much more time consumming but done with out being asked or just because it is needed, it is very fullfilling and rewarding and helps me to grow more in love with dust. wow, schmoopie but true. i am thankful for this chance to serve him ( dustin isn't quite thankful for the dislocated arm yet). so i suggest serving others in small and big ways for the next few days (or forever) and fall more deeply in love with those around you!

Decisions, decisions?!

I found this program that would allow me to get my teaching certificate and my masters in education in one year. I was ecstatic. As far back as i can remembver I have wanted to be a teacher. Oddly enough I didn't take this route in school. I loved my English classes too much to sacrifice them for the education courses. So here I am today working in advertising (which I enjoy) and supporting Dustin through school...I digress. So I went to the meeting regarding this program last night and the more I found out about it, the more it seemed impossible to do. First of all, in the first 18 weeks of class we will take 30 credits... I won't be able to work full time with this type of workload. Second of all, I will have to do student teaching for 15-18 weeks so working at all will be out of the question. And lastly, the cost will at least be $7,000. I guess my biggest struggle with all of this is that I am not sure if my role right now is to be the supporter, to enable Dustin to get through school and to provide us with our benifits and a savings, or should I follow my dream while I can, move in with the parents and find a part time job that will leave us lacking a little when we go to Med school. How should I balance all of this?

What?

So I know that I come off as technologically deficient, but I don't have a clue as to how to add more effectively to this blog and I need some tips. How do you add music? How do I add my friends blog addresses? How can I make this space interesting at all? Let me know.

Us!