Beej & Chris

DONT FORGET....

2009-11-19T19:10:00.004-07:00

We don't want to lose everybody after changing our blog to private. Make sure you make note of our new blog address: www.beejandchris.blogspot.com so we can stay in touch with everyone! :) If you still have not sent me your e-mail address, get it to me so I can send you an invite to the new blog!

We've gone private

2009-09-21T14:13:00.002-06:00

We've moved our blog...
If we know you, please leave your email in a comment and we will invite you to read our new blog
Link to this url http://www.beejchris.blogspot.com/ from your blog, not our new blog
Find our new blog here
http://www.beejandchris.blogspot.com/

Sorry for the inconvenience, but due to increasing privacy issues that are arising, we don't want everybody reading about us. Please leave a comment and we will invite you to be a reader of our blog!

Going Private

2009-09-09T21:12:00.002-06:00

BJ and I have decided to make our blog private so if you are interested in viewing our blog please write a comment with your name and e-mail and we will send you an invite!

Its a.........

2009-08-31T18:09:00.003-06:00

BJ and I went for our 16 week doctor's appointment today to find out if we were having a baby girl or baby boy in february. Whenever I told people that I was only 15 1/2 weeks along and we were finding out the gender...they were totally shocked to say the least. I just kept saying, "ya they can find out a lot earlier these days." But I was starting to feel a little nervous, thinking maybe I am confused...maybe he just wanted us to come in and we weren't having an ultrasound today. But sure enough, we did the ultrasound and the doctor pointed out everything and took pictures and said " I am 95% sure it is going to be a GIRL! I would be really really surprised if it is a boy!" Now, I know that doctors are wrong sometimes but I had the feeling we were going to have a girl at the very beginning so I am feeling pretty good about it.
Today's appointment was very special. While we were waiting for the doctor to come in BJ and I were just talking about becoming parents and it just made me realize how blessed I am to be pregnant and to be having this opportunity right now. I was worried that I may have a hard time getting pregnant because I have endometriosis and that is a big cause for infertility. Anyway as we were looking at our baby move around, seeing how big it was already, and finding out the gender; I just felt this overwhelming feeling of joy and comfort. We both are so grateful for this wonderful opportunity to become parents. Thanks everyone for your support.

Is it going to be a Girl or Boy?

2009-08-25T07:18:00.003-06:00

Things have been going pretty good so far with the pregnancy. I have been getting my appetite back and actually craving food so that is good :). I still have a hard time eating meat but it is getting better. For awhile, even the sight of meat would make my stomach churn. I told BJ, I guess I will just have to be a vegetarian while I am pregnant, he didn't like that idea very much.

I also wanted to mention a few things that I have experienced with this pregnancy that nobody had mentioned to me.

- It is not abnormal to have cramps at the begining of pregnancy, in fact it is really common. Your muscles are stretching and preparing for the next 9 months.

- If you go to the doctors at 6 1/2 weeks or just early, then they do a vaginal ultrasound rather than on your stomach. You should have seen my reaction when the doctor told me that! I was definitely not prepared for that at all. Now, not all doctors do this and if you go when you are farther along then they wont need to do this..but just giving ya a heads up.

- When you start your second trimester it is not uncommon to have what is called "round ligament pain". It happens when you move positions quickly more often but can happen whenever. It feels like cramps but a little sharper..but no worries it doesn't last long and usually is resolved from changing positions.

I tell you these things so when you experience them you wont freak out or get nervous like I did. Knowing that these things are common really helped me.

Even with the "round ligament pain" and having to pee 3 times a night I am still loving being pregnant. I get really really excited seeing the baby move around on the ultrasound. February seems soo far away but it is already going fast and with school starting thur. I know it is going to go even faster. I went to Shopko and wandered into the baby isle, I got so excited thinking about how I am going to decorate the babies room and all the fun things we get to buy for the baby. I get nervous about being a mom but very very excited at the same time.

BJ and I are going to the doctor's next monday, Aug. 31st to find out the gender of the baby. We are both really excited and are hoping the baby will cooperate. I have had the feeling that it was going to be a girl but we would both love to have either. What do you think? Put your vote in...is it a girl or a boy?

Italy in Christie's eyes part 2

2009-08-22T07:00:00.013-06:00

The Things I am going to miss from Italy....

- Yummy gelato (italian style ice cream)

- The friendly italian people

- Spending two weeks with just me and my husband

- The food ("foccacia" bread, spaghetti, Kebab, liliana's risotto, piada's, and eating pizza all the time)

- Parking wherever you want and putting your "emergency flashers" on without a second glance from anyone. Granted you cant stay there forever but it is still pretty cool and a lot of Italian drivers do this.

- Even though the italian drivers are crazy sometimes, they dont hang out in the fast lane like some Utah drivers. I am going to miss that.

- Getting sweet deals at the market.

- Buying and wearing dresses around town

- Seeing BJ's face light up when he spoke italian, you can see and feel the love he has for the italian language as well as the people.

- The romantic city of Venice and the gondola ride

- Singing crazy songs in the car with BJ on our way to the different cities :0)

- I keep saying how beautiful Italy is, well Switzerland is even more beautiful

- Gaining a love for history

- Listening to the beautiful Italian language

The things I am NOT going to miss from Italy....

- Humidity!

-Having everything monitored electronically...only in Italy will you have your hotel tell you that you got a ticket for driving in a bus zone.

- Not having any speed limit signs posted on the "autostrada" or freeway.

- Paying for every highway we drove on; stupid toll roads.

- People smoking in your face and everywhere you turn.

- The wierd bathrooms where the shower curtain encloses either the toilet or the sink so everything gets wet when you shower lol

- The two drunk men that hit on me in Venice. The second one headed in for a kiss, but luckily I saw him out of the corner of my eye and bolted to BJ who was in buying some food at a pizzaria.

- Having to buy water bottles cause there are no drinking fountains and instead of free water at restaurants you have to pay for a water bottle. Whatever happened to good ole' free H20.

- Not understanding what anybody is saying and having to have BJ translate everything. Ok ok it wasn't that bad, by the end I could pick up what they were talking about for the most part but church was pretty boring, it is really hard for someone in relief society or even BJ to translate when people talk fast or especially when they are reading something.

All in all our trip was AMAZING to say the least! BJ and I both feel very blessed to have had this opportunity. We are really excited to start our family but it was nice to spend some time with just the two of us, and go to such a beautiful country!

good song

2009-08-21T16:56:00.001-06:00

I saw this today and really liked it. He's got a great voice

Il Mercato

2009-08-14T10:41:00.001-06:00

Almost every city has at least one, and basically everyone does shopping there - it's the market! The market is a collection of everything you could really ever need to survive. There is also junk that I'm pretty sure never gets sold. Despite some of the bizarre things you may find at the market, there is plenty of useful stuff. For example, you will find food (fruits,vegetables, and meats)The market can run every day except for Sundays in big cities, while it may run 2 times a week in smaller cities. Many of the people that have a place in the market make their living by the money they make in the market. Some of them make their own products (the branch president in Rimini makes belts and sells them at the market.) while others simply get their products for cheap and sell them at a higher prices. Regardless, most of the people will do whatever they need to so that you will buy their products.

video to come

You can try and bargain a price down at the market, though many of the prices are already extremely good. Since each person is the owner of their stuff, they can set whatever price they want and you can try and talk them down. I've noticed that most Italians can't be talked down, but there are also a number of foreigners and they're more easily talked down.

To finish, I just wanted to share a story:
At the market in Torino, we were walking down looking at things and were intrigued by a man doing "magic." What he was really doing was trying to get people to gamble. He had 3 cups upside down and a ball and you would have to guess which cup the ball was under. However, to guess which cup you had to use a 50 euro bill. If you were right you would get your money back and maybe more, but if you were wrong, he took the money or gave it to someone else. We had several people warn us not to join in because the man is sneaky and will rob you.

Liliana

2009-08-12T15:02:00.001-06:00

We just wanted to put a special thank you up for Liliana, our wonderful friend in Switzerland. She has lived her whole life around the lake of Lugano. Some years ago, the missionaries knocked on her door and she let them enter (her house is just above the Church.) She has been a contact of the missionaries on and off since that time - BJ was privileged to teach her during his mission. While she has never been baptized, she remains a good friend.

We were able to stay with her while in Lugano for 2 short days. She cooked us some pasta al forno and rice for dinners, prepared some incredible lunches and took us out on a tour of the city and lake! She was up early in the morning until late at night to make sure we were taken care of extremely well. She said it's what anyone would do for their child, but it was 5 star service non-stop. She is an incredible woman and we are so greatful for all she did. Grazie mille!

(This is her when she 'fell' down to get the best picture possible for us! Amazing)

Switzerland

2009-08-10T23:48:00.005-06:00

We've spent the last couple of days in Switzerland and it has been wonderful. I wanted to write a few of the things that makes Switzerland unique, or different from Italy!

Money
Switzerland is one of only a very few European countries that does not use the Euro. Rather, they use the Franc which is one of the strongest currencies in the world because of its stability. Currently the franc is almost a 1 to 1 exchange.

Additionally, there are tons of banks here that take care of tons of money. Walking down the streets of the city you'll find banks on every corner and every street. Many from outside the United States, including America itself, has a bank account in Switzerland for it's money. We were walking downtown yesterday and our friend Liliana showed us a bank where they only accept clients with more than a million dollars - imagine that!

Also interesting is the tax system in Switzerland - here is a link where you can read a little about how taxes work in the country.

Language
Switzerland does not have one official language, but rather 4! Italian is spoken in a very small area of the country knows as Ticino. In the rest of the country is spoken French, German and Romanish (which I've heard called also a Swiss-German.)

Only about 6% of the people in the country speak Italian as their primary language and almost everyone speaks at least 2 languages if not more. I've met people who speak 5 languages fluently here. It's rather incredible. They start at a young age by learning 2 languages. If you choose a certain degree in college, you have to learn at least 3 languages. The daughter of the lady we are staying with speaks Italian, currently works in London - speaking English, and had the best marks in here class in Spanish - incredible!

Food
In the canton of Ticino, many of the same foods that Italians make are also made. They enjoy many pastas and pizzas since we are just across the border from Italy.

However, they also enjoy other foods such as cheese fondue and a number of fresh cheeses made in the alps! The other morning for breakfast we had toast with butter made in the alps on top and also had some swiss cheese along with it. It was incredible!

There is also this yummy stuff called Swiss chocolate. I don't have any pictures currently, but the stores have a huge selection of chocolate. I will try and add a picture to make you all jealous when I have one.

Clean
The country of Switzerland is extremely clean. The taxes they pay make sure that the country stays in the best condition. Phone booths are extremely clean and work very well. There is no garbage on the streets; the sidewalks are smooth with no holes. They even have people that clean the outside of public garbage cans.

and Switzerland is beautiful! At least the canton of Ticino is incredible - here is a picture of the beautiful city of Lugano. We miss you all, but are also enjoying our stay in Switzerland.

Bidet :D

2009-08-07T21:09:00.004-06:00

One of the greatest, or strangest inventions ever has to be the bidet! However strange it may seem to Americans, it is an every day part of life in Italy. A bidet is a small toilet shaped device which normally is found near the toilet in the bathroom. It has a faucet that comes up from the back that shoots water from it at about a 45 degree angle. Also, there is normally a towel holder near the bidet for ease of use, and for exclusive bidet use (I wouldn't use this after washing my hands if I were you!) Here is a picture of a typical italian bidet.

That's right, it's a butt bath! Every bathroom I've been in that has a bidet (which most bathrooms have a bidet - not public bathrooms, but home bathrooms.) also has toilet paper to use. Thus, don't be worried that if you go to the bathroom you're stuck using the bidet. Now, I will explain how the bidet is to be used.

Step 1
Use the toilet and probably a little toilet paper to remove the worst part.

Step 2
Flush and move to the bidet - like I said, it's usually right next to the toilet!

Step 3
Turn on the water and let it clean the excess. (NOTE: The water can be set at your ideal bum temperature) Use of the left hand (not the right! that's your shaking hand) is also permitted to make sure that cleanliness is achieved. In almost every Italian home there is bidet soap as well for the freshest clean!

Step 4
Turn off the water and use the bidet towel to dry up. Typically each person would have their own personal towel!

Step 5
Wash your hands thoroughly!

While it may seem a bit strange at first to use the bidet, or like excess work, there are a lot of advantages to using the bidet. For example, cleanliness! Also, toilet paper can be a little rough sometimes when used a lot or if you bum is sensitive. There are probably many other advantages, but as I don't want to keep going on about cleaning out bums I hope this has been informative.

Citofono

2009-08-07T13:34:00.004-06:00

Italy is made up lots of apartments and very few houses (opposite from America which is mostly houses and fewer apartments.) However, unlike in America, it's not as easy as walking up to a door and knocking if you want to talk with someone - you have to ring their citofono (or doorbell in a sense.) For example, I wanted to show Christie where the elders lived and we took this picture of the label and button that would have to be pushed in order to get to the elders door.
After pressing the button, the person in the apartment would pick up a phone in their home and ask who it was (you, standing at the citofono would be able to hear what they are saying because of a speaker.) You could then let them know who you were and what you wanted. If they knew you they can then let you in by pressing a button which unlocks the door to the stairs to get up to their apartment.

Many of the houses also have this same feature by having an outer gate and a button that must be pushed in order to speak with the owner of the home.

As missionaries, we had a difficult time doing door to door because we would often have to communicate our intent through the citofono which was quickly shutdown. Of course, their were tricks to try and get in to the apartment to knock each door:
1) Ring someone and tell them you're the mail man (mail boxes are usually just inside the apartment door.)
2) Push all the buttons at once causing lots of people to pick up and hopefully someone will just open the door rather than try and figure out what's going on.
3) Ask someone to use their bathroom
4) Wait for someone to go out, then hold the door open just before it closes
Not that I know anything about any of those!

Italy through Christie's eyes part 1

2009-08-06T13:24:00.003-06:00

Ok, so I just wanted to write a few things I have seen/heard/and felt while being here in Italy. Things that BJ probably didn't notice cause he has been here before..as well as things that we both have noticed.

- Remember when you were a kid and afraid that you were going to fall into the toilet cause you were too little. Well, I feel like that here. The toilet is HUGE and I literally hold on cause I just know I am going to fall in. lol

- There are pigeons EVERYWHERE!

- Since when does water or "aqua" cost so much money at a restaurant. Especially since a drinking fountain is hard to come by.

- Italian people are one of the kindest people I have met and have made the trip amazing thus far.

- At our hotel, you have to slide your room key in a scanner kind of thing to get the lights, tv, and air conditioner to work. That way electricity is not lost when you leave..cause you take your key with you.

I am sure there is more, but these are a few of the things I have noticed in Torino, Italy thus far :)

Closed? - it's lunch time.

2009-08-06T08:46:00.003-06:00

Welcome to Italy! Christie and I arrived this morning to Milan, Italy! It was a decent flight, about 9 hours, which we spent a much shorter time sleeping than we would have liked. Regardless, we made it alive - here are our pictures shortly after getting off the plane.

We then gathered our things and rented a car and headed to Turin, Italy. First thing we did was eat some pizza (we'll post about Italian pizza another time for sure!) and then went to get on the bus to explore the city for a bit. It was around 1:50 when we set out for bus tickets. The first place was stopped was a bar (there is a bar on every corner here. Not quite like an American bar, more like a Starbucks type thing, but with alcohol as well.) The bar tender was nice, but said they didn't sell bus tickets. I asked where we could get them. He then told us that any tabaccheria would sell them, however all those would be closed until 3. He said he didn't know where else we could buy any and apologized. We fortunately found another bar that sold tickets and were fine.

The part of the culture that I wanted to highlight is the long lunch breaks. In Italy, it is normal that everyone takes a 2 hour lunch - it's standard. Shops close and familys reunite, usually between the hours of 1 and 3. What I love about this tradition is the fact it shows that family/friends are more important than work to the Italians. In America, everyone is always going, working, but here they are enjoying their lives and days. The tradition of long lunches has been around for a long time in Italy, and hopefully the tradition will continue to go forth as it has.

Exciting News!

2009-08-03T07:55:00.016-06:00

The secret is out! I am PREGNANT! BJ and I are very excited to start our family and to share this news with all of you.

This is a video of BJ's reaction. I took a pregnancy test (which we bought from the dollar store :D) in the morning after having a dream that I was pregnant, and sure enough the test was positive immediately. I was like, "no, really..no it is too early to find out. I bought this at a dollar store. It is probably just a false positive". So I set the test on the counter in the bathroom and closed the door. BJ and I said our morning prayer together and I just kept looking at him thinking about the test. BJ was getting ready for work and didn't have a lot of time so I thought I would wait to tell him. I went to clinicals and thought about it the whole time. So as soon as I came home I took another test, once again the test came back positive immediately. I looked at the mirror and looked back at the test and said to myself, "really....I am pregnant!" I started to get really really excited but had to wait for BJ to get home. I decided to decorate the bathroom with all the baby stuff I had accumulated over the years and surprise him.

So, when BJ came home I told him there was a spider upstairs in the bathroom that I needed him to get. He is used to this and smiled and took his flip flop and headed up the stairs, while I followed him with the camera.

(not sure why our voices sound funny, he really doesn't have a lisp or talk that high)

I am currently 12 weeks along and due February 20th, 2010. We have already been to the doctor for our first appointment and went again today. We were able to see the heart beat at 61/2 weeks and actually heard the heart beat today. The doctor said the heart was racing at a good 160 beats per minute and according to the old wives tale that signals that it is a girl, but we will know for sure in 4 weeks. :DHere are some pictures of our cute little one. While the doctor was taking the photos, the baby was just moving all around it was so fun!

The arrow is pointing to the babies hand. It looks like the baby is sucking his/her thumb.

Doing a little pose!

POP

2009-07-28T17:57:00.005-06:00

I used to LOVE opening these packages. You know; the biscuit packages....the kind that you pull the paper and without a warning the package "POPS" open giving you a little scare. Well, now it is something I dread and one of the scariest things I have to do before I cook these yummy biscuits. I HATE opening them. I try looking away but it still makes my whole body jump so high it is embaressing. Or, how bout the times when after you pull the paper away it doesn't open, so you have to take a knife and force the POP. Oh man, I love biscuits but I dont know if it is worth my sympathetic system going crazy! Anyone else relate to this or is this just me?

NEW Straightener!

2009-07-23T07:46:00.005-06:00

I finally got it! My new hair straightener came in the mail a couple days ago and I was super excited. About TWO weeks ago my old straightener's cord started smoking and making crackle sounds, so I threw it away and my wonderful husband ordered me this one.

I had a CHI before and it has lasted me since highschool, but it did short out a lot but I just dealt with it cause they are sooo expensive. Well, BJ did some research and found this "SOLIA" brand. It has a 2 year warranty and was a tiny bit cheaper than the CHI because we got it online and on sale but I believe it is usually a tiny bit more expensive than the CHI normally and the CHI only has 1 year warranty, and the SOLIA has different temperature settings instead of just one so after all the research and debating we took the chance and got it. I will keep ya updated on if I like it better than the CHI and if it is worth it. Oh and on the pix on the left you can see the cute little mini one that we got free with a coupon BJ found online as well.

YA! I am going to go straighten my hair right now!

SUMMER TIME

2009-07-12T15:20:00.012-06:00

Wow it has been a while since I have posted. It must be summer time :D I wont bore you with tell you EVERYHING we have done and making this the longest post ever, I will just do a quick re-cap of a few things that have kept us busy and enjoying our summer.

This is WAY back in May. May 31st to be exact. We celebrated BJ's birthday by speaking in church :) and then had a small BBQ at our house afterwards. It was a lot of fun.

This are his sweeet shoes I bought for him

For the 4th of July BJ, my brother Johnathon and my cousin did a fun little competition of "leap frog" and won this wonderful frog trophy. Good job boys

Her is a picture of the team. The Malad, Idaho enterprise took this picture for the newspaper.

July 3rd BJ suprised me and brough home some fireworks to do at our house. It was just the two of us and we had a blast

This is a picture of my playing with my niece brooklyn, waiting for the parade to start in Idaho.

I can't remember when this was. But this was our experiment of making a homemade "costa vida salad" and boy did it taste good but it was A LOT of work and we didn't eat till like 830 that night. lol oh well

BJ was painting and got this black paint all over his hands. He couldn't get it off so we put these fancy plastic gloves over his hands and he headed off to the store to get paint thinner. I had the hardest time not laughing as I was helping him put these gloves on his sticky paint filled hands lol

As far as updates:

- BJ is working hard on the house and has a lot of vegetables in our garden getting ready (cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, lettuce, beans, and even a few pumpkin plants)

- I am going to school this summer but finish in a few weeks and we are off to our trip to Italy which we are super excited for.

- More updates to come :)

BJ made the paper

2009-06-29T21:52:00.004-06:00

If you remember, Christie made the paper a few months ago for nursing school. Well, BJ got really jealous and he made the paper too! (This is "The Idaho Enterprise" Vol 128 No. 44. Not too much going on in the small city of Malad, Idaho!)

Oh, and it was definitely more than $33.50!

Painting

2009-06-07T15:31:00.006-06:00

We spent our Saturday doing some painting! Christie has been wanting to paint for a while, and I keep putting it off... But a free Saturday came around an no excuses could be made. :) I was supposed to go to my parents house and help them pull a tree out, so I taped up the windows and base boards and Christie invited her friend Heidi over to paint.Christie is super excited to get started!

That wall looks good!

I ended up not going to help my parents, but don't worry I didn't feel left out. Our front yard needed some painting done... the Morning glory is coming up a little too well.

Painting the morning glory leaves with Round-up - what work!
Cleaning up the base boards

Tell us what you think of the color!

People Watching

2009-06-02T16:00:00.004-06:00

Today I was running errands, returning some things after deciding we didn't want it/didn't need it etc. As I was walking to my car from the mall I overheard a 8 or 9 year old say to his dad while examining the license plate "Dad, don't we need to get our 2010 car registration renewed." His dad asked him to look at the license plate and tell him when it needed to be renewed.

I don't have kids, but I was pretty impressed with this little boy!

Walking out of Home Depot I pass a male and female probably in their late 60's having a very interesting conversation about their family's health history.

Female: "my dad had hypertension and a heart attack and my mom had a stroke"
Male: "really, well my family has a history of heart failure....."

I just chuckled. I have no idea how these two people know each other but either way it was funny.

Oh and LAST WEEK

I had just gone shopping at smiths for some food for BJ's Birthday BBQ and decided to go through the checkout line instead of doing self checkout. I immediately handed the checker my smiths card to scan before he had even started scanning the food. He was chatting with me and then in the middle he just paused and looked at me and grabbed my keys with my smiths card and scanned it again. I said, "oh you already did that." He just looked at me for what seemed like forever so I said it again, "oh, ya you already scanned that at the very beginning :D". He just looked confused and said, "oh we're good". Then stopped his friendly conversation in the middle and nothing was said until I was walking away and he said, "have a nice day". It was the most akward conversation. I think he was just confused and then got embarrassed.

Then I was driving from Smith's marketplace to their gas station. I saw a spot and started to drive towards it. I then saw a car heading the same direction. I had no idea who was their first but I decided to let them take the spot assuming they were their first. As the car rushes past me and into the spot, the driver...an older lady started yelling and waving with her hands. She even did the "oh no you didn't...with her pointer finger waving back and forth". I couldn't believe it. I BURST out laughing. There are 10 spots and I was more than happy to give her that spot. LOL crazy people

ONE more random thought. So I did something kind of bad. I had been running errands around for an hour in a half so I was starting to get done and wanted to go home. I went into Walmart to return a bike tire. I saw a line of 3 ladies waiting for them to put that 'return sticker' on their item to be returned at the front of the store. I quickly passed them speed walking to the return/costumer service desk and handed my item to the nice lady where she started working on my return. Shortly after, all three ladies were standing behind me. Then the "nice lady" said, "you didn't get a return sticker put on your item as you walked in". I said, "uh...oh..." and before I could say anything she said, "dont tell me you didn't know you were supposed to get a sticker". I didn't say anything and she finished and explained to me the importance of putting a sticker on my item etc.... MOTED! as NINA would say. I guess that is what I get for trying to pass all of those nice ladies. :D

Forza Italia!

2009-05-17T15:43:00.003-06:00

We're so excited because we're going to Italy August 5 until August 18. BJ served his mission there and we are excited to go back and visit many of the people he taught and served with. Of course, we're going to stop in Venice and Florence though he didn't serve in those cities. Many people wonder "why not Rome?" That just gives us an excuse to go back!!!
Here is the map of our plans

View Our Italy Trip in a larger map
Thursday, August 6 - Arrive at Milan, Italy and drive immediately to Torino.
Saturday, August 8 - Go to Piacenza (we had to get a hotel in the city of Cremona.) We'll go to Church here.
Sunday, August 9 - Drive to Lugano Switzerland. We'll stay with Liliana Sampietro (she lives near the Church)
Tuesday, August 11 - Drive to Venice, Italy
Thursday, August 13 - Drive To Florence, Italy
Saturday, August 15 - Drive to Rimini, Italy
Monday, August 17 - Return to Milan, Italy
Tuesday, August 18 - Fly home

We have lots of stops and places and are excited to get worn out and visit the most beautiful place in the world! Forza Italia!

BJs Mom

2009-05-14T17:02:00.003-06:00

During Mothers Day, my Mom came to visit us. She mostly came to watch me walk for graduation, but it was great having her here for Mothers Day. Here are some of the pictures from my graduation and family pictures :)These were taken by my sister-in-law Anna. You can check out more of her pictures at www.nimfahtography.com

St. George

2009-05-14T16:54:00.003-06:00

During Christie's one and a half week break we took a 2 day trip down to St. George. It wasn't anything grand, but we thought it would be a lot of fun just to get away. Here are some pictures from the trip

SWIMMING

We found a sign with our name on it - how cool is that!

We also were able to visit the St. George Temple

Christie made the newspaper

2009-05-07T07:54:00.001-06:00

Here's Christie at school in the newspaper (Davis Clipper!) She looks like she is having so much fun

Open publication - Free publishing - More davis

I laughed so hard when I saw this

2009-05-05T20:32:00.002-06:00

HOUSE pictures

2009-05-05T19:58:00.003-06:00

OK ok I know I was supposed to post these FOREVER ago. Whoopsies. Well, here they are. Some pictures of our new house TENNEY STYLE. Well it is not exactly Tenney style yet...it will be after I paint :) but it will at least show you what it looks like for now.

We are loving being home owners. It is very busy and there is always something to do. We planted our garden as you saw with my previous post, we bought a lawn mower, BJ is working hard at taking care of the dandelions, and we have both done some minor decorating.

Our neigbors are awesome. We LOVE our ward. LOVE the bishop and already feel like we know him really well. We are excited to get to know more of our neigbors and ward over the summer.

Like I said before, with a house there is an endless to do list and one of those is cleaning the bathrooms. We have 2 1/2 bathrooms and since BJ hates cleaning bathrooms and does all the outside stuff ....that leaves me to do them. You would think I would be smart and only use one bathroom so there is less to clean. NOPE I use all 3! I dont even think about it until the end of the day and I realized that I had used all three bathrooms! Ridiculous seriously!!!

Oh and we got new couches!!! Woot woot. LOVE them. We seriously sat on over 25 couches before we found these at RC Willey clearance. I was pretty excited. I went by myself, called BJ and bought them right then. It was the biggest thing I have bought without having someone else discuss it with me. But we love them and have gotten a lot of compliments on how comfortable they are which is what we were going for! Score. Now I just have to paint so they dont match our walls. ha ha

This is a picture of my walk in closet. It is so fun to have so much space. We both feel so so so blessed right now!

Our guest bedroom

The upstairs bathroom

Our office

Our laundry room. We have a dryer for the first time in our marriage. We have always just dried our clothes by hanging them. We couldn't fit a dryer in our old apartment and BJ was used to it from his mission in Italy. Can I just say I LOVE having a dryer!!! It is wonderful. I went on a laundry rampage for awhile. I am doing better now. :)

Vegetable Garden/ Womens Conference

2009-05-05T19:19:00.003-06:00

OUR Garden! :D We have planted anything and everything in this garden (pumpkin, watermelon, carrots, lettuce, herbs, green peppers, tomatoes, green beans, peas and more....). We are hoping they will come up, we added fertilized soil but the dirt is still hard and has the consistency of clay. But hopefully by adding good soil to it over the next years it will start to show.

Our tomatoes in the water walls are doing really really well! Which is good cause BJ and I LOVE tomatoes!!! We also planted some flowers in the front by the door which I am totally excited for. I love vegetables but I really wanted to plant flowers. The only thing I am worried about with having the flowers so close to the front door is bees. But really not a lot of people come to the front door (salesmen, hometeachers, parents) eh, I guess it wouldn't be so bad after all. TOTALLY joking!!! :) Speaking of parents.

* that was a good transition huh jk

I got the opportunity to go to Women's conference with my sister in-law (my mother in-law ended up having to watch kids :( and my grandma, mom and some sisters were there as well. It was so much fun!! I drove up with Jamie (sister in-law) and came home with my mom and went to dinner with the family at Texas Roadhouse. It was fun to spend so much time with family but the best part was the things I learned. I felt like I was a different/better person after leaving. I learned so much and felt the spirit so strong. Got answers to questions I didn't realize I was asking. I highly recommend going next year ladies!!!

Nurse Christie - part 1 of 2

2009-05-01T19:35:00.003-06:00

Christie graduated with her LPN (Licensed Practical Nursing) last week! She has been going non-stop and only got a week and a half off. Regardless, this is the first step towards becoming an RN. Only 2 more semesters to go (that's 4 consecutive semesters) and she'll be there! I am so proud of her and all the work that she is putting in. You may hear her say she's ready to quit, which she may be tired of the work, but she loves caring for people and will make a great nurse!

Here are a few pictures from her graduation - Go Christie!

Christie sang in a small choir

Oh yeah! Just after getting her certificate
Some of the girls who make it possible (after a smart comment by Ashley's husband)

Thanks to the family as well

Nursing School Stress

2009-03-30T16:17:00.003-06:00

We moved into a new house! Woot woot! I will post pictures of the house later...when I take some :D. LIFE IS CRAZY!!! Here is my schedule for April:

Wed April 1st: ATI TEST (if I don't pass I don't go onto the next semester...no stress..right?!)
Thur April 2nd: PCMC clinicals LOVE IT
Fri April 3rd: PCMC clinicals and 20 or so page PEDS PAPER DUE ugh
Sat April 4th: study for peds and pharm test
Sunday April 5th: BREAK - general conference!!
Mon April 6th: vocab quiz, school of course, and study for pharm test, finish ticket to class (we have to read the chapters on what we are going to be taught and write a "ticket to class" or a summary of the chapter and 2 questions we have).
Tues April 7th: Pharm TEST #5, study for peds test
Wed April 8th: Peds TEST #3 TAKE A BREAK and get ready for the next crazy two weeks!!!!

Thur April 9th: study for OB (no clinicals...spend time with nate?!)
Friday April 10th: study for OB and pharm (no clinicals...just study all day)
Sat April 11th: cousin baptism, study for Pharm, OB, review peds, and practice skills for pass off and maybe go to the JAZZ game
sunday April 12th EASTER
Monday April 13th: OB TEST, OB QUIZ, and study for pharm (finish ticket to class)
Tuesday April 14th: Pharm TEST, another ATI TEST, FINAL PASS OFF on skills, oh and STUDY FOR PEDS
Wednesday April 15th: Peds test...go home and sleep :D
Thursday April 16th STUDY FOR FINALS
Friday April 17th: STUDY FOR FINALS
Saturday April 18th: STUDY OB FINALS
Sunday April 19th: Sunday rest :D
Monday April 20th: OB FINAL
Tuesday April 21st: PHARM FINAL
Wednesday April 22nd: PEDS FINAL oh and LPN GRADUATION!!!!!!!!! yep the same night as our final. :)

Gosh, I love nursing school. ha

Ok, Ok I really do like nursing school but if you cant tell, right now I am a little overwhelmed and just keep reminding myself to take it one day at a time.

MOVING

2009-03-16T14:42:00.004-06:00

For those of you who didn't know we are moving into a house in Woods Cross THIS SATURDAY! I don't have any pictures yet but they will be comming soon. :)

So with moving and school I haven't had much time to keep the blog up to date! As soon as we get settled I will post pictures and give you a better update on our lives.

Here are a few pictures of our house. We close THURSDAY! We will post pictures of how different it will look when we add our personality to it, but here is some pictures so you can see what the house looks like.

I love that the laundry room is UPSTAIRS where all the bedrooms are because it helps a lot with my knee problems.

It is a two story house, 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, big backyard, two car garage, about 1380 square feet, approx. 0.24 acres, and a cute little park across the street. We had looked at a couple other houses that had what we were looking for as well but as soon as the realitor opened the front door of the house I knew it was the one. It has a really good feel to it. The previous owners although we have not met them...seem to be really nice people! They had pictures of the savior up in the hall, and just overall took really good care of the house! We feel very blessed to be moving into this house. As soon as we get settled and get couches everyone is welcome over! :)

Dutch Oven

2009-03-15T07:42:00.003-06:00

Just wanted to post a few pictures from yesterday. Christie's Dad has a dutch oven catering business that we help out with. It was a lot of work, but we have a lot of fun getting together and working.

BJ with the ovens

Christie scoopin' ice cream

Christie (with her knees up!), Kirsten, and Heidi

Update

2009-02-18T17:26:00.026-07:00

I have been meaning to blog for a while but when I finally had a break from school I didn't want to do anything. :D

Instead of overloading you with everything I will just do a quick overview of what we are up to. It will still be a long post but a little shortened.

BJ has been enjoying not being in school, but has been quite busy beating records on the Wii and reading the twilight books. (shhh that is a secret....I love it!)

I have of course been pretty busy with school. We just took a final today. Crazy huh! But I am pretty excited so have more than one class...it gets old after a couple weeks. We are starting OB and Ped's next week as well as pharmacology which we started two weeks ago. I am sooo excited to go to Primary children's for clinicals as well as OB. It will be a lot of fun.

THE PRICE IS RIGHT

We had to do a presentation for class on any topic we wanted. We decided to do a skit on the costs of health care and what we as nurses can do to help patients deal with the $$$; with resources such as case managers, and making sure we double check what we are charging to the patients (making sure it is the correct patient etc..) We followed the "price is right" theme, getting our whole class involved. We actually found the actual prices it costs for a liver transplant, x-rays, lab tests, and even what a bed pan costs. It is crazy how fast it adds up.

It was a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures!

Ashley

Nicole (Insurance Representative)

I am the contestant...Nina is the host (Bonnie Barker lol)

I made a t-shirt that said I love bonnie! lol we are silly

Rachel: we missed her sledding :(

Julie (Case Manager)

Another big thing BJ and I have been busy with is our search for a house. Since BJ graduated we were given notice that we had till april 7th before they kicked us out. You have to be going to the University of Utah to live here. After some fasting, a temple trip, and prayer we decided to go out looking for a house. We put an offer on a house in Woods Cross last saturday and they accepted it! We are pretty excited. More info about the house to come.....

HOBO SLEDDING (1/31/2009)

Hobo sledding. My friend from nursing school (Nina and her hubby Tanner) took us out for some good ole' hobo sledding. BJ and I had never heard of it before, but it is a lot of fun. Instead of sledding with a sled you wrap yourself in a black garbage bag and go down the hill. I didn't know what to expect but you actually go down the hill pretty fast. Not going to lie...it hurt the first time cause we hit a rock and without a tube or sled it hurts pretty bad. But by the end it was totally worth it! Thanks Fullmers!

Julie & Hubby

Ryan (Ashleys hubby)

Tanner on the Left, Nina in green, and Ashleys behind :-)

BJ and I

Jeremy and Nicole (cute! )

For my birthday (Feb. 5th) BJ took my SHOPPING! It was sooo much fun! I had to go to clinicals that night but I absolutely LOVED all the time I got with my hubby and the amazing day he made it. I had so many phone calls and cards, it seriously was the most memorable birthday I have ever had. I just felt so blessed to have such an amazing family, husband and friends that I cried. I could just feel all the love, it meant a lot!

My mom and I spent some time together (Feb. 18 Monday) getting out hair done, waxing our eyebrows, and going to lunch. I love my mom so much. I have always been really close with her and loved the time we got to spend together. Thanks mom!

Draper Temple: BJ and I just barely got back from the draper temple open house today. It was a lot of fun. My dad had an opportunity to tour the temple while it was being built and taught us a lot of cool things about the temple. One thing he told us...that they also tell ya on the bus ride on your way to the temple...is that all the doors are made out of a wood imported from Africa. It is beautiful wood. The spirit inside was magnificent. What a great opportunity we have here in utah.
Well, I will try not to get so far behind next time so the post isn't so long. :-)

Remember When......

2009-01-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

Anybody recognize this game?

POG's: Who didn't LOVE playing with the pog's....collecting the popluar cartoon characters and don't forget the importance of having a good SLAMMER.

So, after some reminiscing with BJ and some friends from school I thought it would be fun to bring up some of the memories we had when we were kids. Let me know what you remember from your childhood

BJ started singing "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles....turles in a half shell....Turtle POWER". He said his favorite was Michealangelo (the orange one for those of you that might be like me and didn't remember).

Oh and how did 15 minutes at recess seem like it lasted FOREVER? I remember playing four square like my life depended on it. Oh no! The Cherry bomber!

For the Girls: polypockets (that you could actually put in your pocket), cabbage patch girls, and off course barbies. My mom made me a furniture set for my barbies and gave it to me for christmas one year, one of my favorite Christmas gifts for sure.

What about you? What do you remember? funny stories? Let us know!

Back to School

2009-01-10T12:01:00.002-07:00

Well...vacation is definitely over. Sad day. I started school last Monday! It is going to be a busy semester that is for sure which makes me feel a lot better about quiting my job. I was working PRN at the U of U in the ER. But my clinicals this semester falls right when I was working; Friday nights, and unfortunately there wasn't any other day I could pick up with my crazy school schedule. Thank goodness BJ just graduated and has a good job. He also just started giving plasma so that is nice. LOL he is making about how much I was when I worked once a week. :D

So...we have been studying EKG's this past week and have a test on it on Monday. We flew through a whole lot of stuff in just one week. Thank goodness I have NINA (she is a tele tech at LDS) to help me. I stole this link from my friend Ashley's blog...it is a hilarious video from youtube that described all the different heart problems. The man is mimicking a heart. His arms are the Atria, his legs are the ventricles. It is soo cool. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhGGzB09wQk

New Orleans

2009-01-05T07:16:00.001-07:00

We'll be editing this post as we have time. Here are some pics from the Sugar Bowl. Go Utes

Graduation Surprise!

2008-12-28T07:58:00.003-07:00

Video of BJ's reaction to the PARTY!

Christie planned a huge surprise party for my graduation which we had the day after Christmas. It was so awesome! I'm not big on getting all the attention, but felt so blessed by Christie's time and dedication she put into planning it. Some of the most important people were there and it was a lot of fun. The party actually was also for my twin brother JC, but he ended up getting really sick, so was not able to attend, unfortunately. Besides that, it was a huge success and it was good to catch up with some old friends and visit with family. The two biggest highlights for me were

Seeing how happy Christie was
Having my Mom come for a surprise visit from Oklahoma!

How much fun we had eating and visiting. Thank you to Christie, this has to be the most amazing wife ever!

This is a video of BJ's reaction to his surprise visitor!

2008 Christmas Memories

2008-12-28T07:45:00.004-07:00

Just as many of you, our holidays were extra busy, and a lot of fun. Our families made it wonderful, and being together made it another magical season! Rather than writing all about it, here are just a very few of the memories we made this Christmas!

Playing with the kids (or being one of the kids!) at one of our family Christmas parties

Petting the camel at the live nativity at the park.

Sleeping under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve! Santa was extra quiet delivering our presents!

Opening presents Christmas morning!

School & Soup

2008-12-17T22:12:00.003-07:00

Ok first things first....I got through my first semester of the nursing program!!!! I took my last final today and I am so excited I can't even tell you!! I honestly have never studied so hard before in my life...but I really think (ok I hope) it will get easier because I feel like I learned HOW to STUDY for these classes this semester and in turn learned a lot! Shout out to all the girls in the program....couldn't have done it without you. (you think this speach is crazy...wait till I finish the program :D)

Now on to the soup recipe. So I really wanted to make a vegetable soup...I tried a couple weeks ago...it was good but I wanted to perfect it. So I got online to look for some recipes. I found this website:

http://www.bigoven.com/108450-make-it-easy-make-it-light-recipe.html

and decided to give that soup a try. Well, while I was writting down the ingredients and instructions, I saw that I could enter to win $100 if I took a picture of my finished soup...so I did! Ok so the exciting news is not that I won- well I haven't heard yet :D. The exciting news is that the editors approved my photo and added it to the recipe. I am famous!!! Ok my soup is FAMOUS! It is on that website posted above. How exciting! lol BJ was like, who has time to enter these contests...I said, "Nursing students on their two week break!!"

1 Year!!!!

2008-12-14T08:31:00.003-07:00

We've been married for a year! Wahoo - what an awesome year it's been. December 13th was the day of our anniversary and to celebrate we went to the Forgotten Carols and spent Friday to Saturday night at the Anniversary Inn in the Jungle Safari room. Here are some pictures of our fun room.

We feel extremely blessed to be together and for all the support from all those around us. We've learned a lot in just a year. Oh, and time flies when you're having fun.

The Funniest Nephew EVER!

2008-11-29T11:08:00.002-07:00

This is our nephew Carson. He is so funny! Carson stayed the night at my grandparents in Idaho. He brought is favorite pet dog "nose". Yep, nose is his name. When he wants "nose" to sit, he throws him on the ground and says, "sit nose sit". Since nose could sit, my mom wanted to see what Carson would do when she asked him to feed nose. lol She was not expecting this!

Giorno di ringraziamento!

2008-11-29T07:57:00.005-07:00

Thanksgiving Day (that's what the title means) was a very special, hectic day! How much we have to be thankful for, here's a short list:

An amazing wife and future mother (I'm not dropping any hints about anything)
Incredible family
The plan of happiness
Material pleasures (i.e., shopping the day after thanksgiving)
Interaction with others
Good health (you have no idea how much Christie's health has improved these days and I'm the usual healthy)
Good food (Talk about two Thanksgiving dinners! I think I ate half a turkey, a potato field, and a full pie when you add it all up.)
Friends
Education (and graduating and holiday breaks from education!)
Good jobs
A spouse who is patient and loves me

Here are just a few pictures from our Holiday fun :)

BCS Busters...

2008-11-23T13:12:00.003-07:00

First, I know I have to do a tag, but that will be a post later. For now, I want to talk about the Utes! For anyone who may not know, the Utes won their final game last night against BYU and will be going to a second BCS game in school history. I was in Italy the last time they went to the game, so I was unable to participate, but not this year. I just wanted to make a short list of why this years Utah football season has been unforgettable:

1) No one expected the Utes to be here at the start of the season

2) I have got to share all of the joy with my awesome wife (she went to all but two games with me - that is an awesome wife)

3) First down smack! (Christie and I would give each other a smack - on the lips - after every first down)

4) 2 awesome comebacks at home against TCU and Oregon St.

5) Being on the field before and after the TCU game

6) Doubling up BYU on the scoreboard (sorry BYU fans, but it was awesome!)

Hopefully the Utes play a real team in the BCS and not some sorry team from the ACC or Big East. I think the Utes can compete with a lot of teams out there after seeing them in the BYU game, so whoever we get, I think it will be a good game. Go Utes!

Tag

2008-11-07T14:47:00.003-07:00

We were double tagged. So I will do one and BJ will do one. :D
Random Facts about Christie
1- I am really really loopy and silly when I first wake up and I laugh about everything when I am really tired (I get that from my mom :D)
2- I have really loose joints. When I was young my arms would "pop out of place" frequently, so they taught my parents how to pop them back into place so I didn't always have to go to the ER. My hip "pops" out of place as well. I say "popped" out because it is not completely dislocated...it is just slightly out and causes pain until it is put back in.
3- I eat my cereal with juice. I am lactose intolerant but for a while they thought I might be allergic as well so I got used to eating my cereal with juice that I can't have it with milk any more.
4- I LOVE breakfast. It is one of my favorite meals. On my mission I ate waffles almost every morning. Yummy
5- My biggest pet pieve is people eating loudly. I can't even stand it when I eat loud...so I suck on my chips and cereal before I eat it so it isn't loud. I feel like when I eat loud (chips) I can't hear everything that is going on. lol I know it is silly
6- Whenever my feet get cold, my second little toe on my right foot goes numb. Wierd huh! It has happened for as long as I can remember.
7- I am married to the most amazing husband in the world! Sorry girls....my man is better. :D

K- BJ it's your turn! :D

10-0 Utes - a field day!

2008-11-07T05:57:00.008-07:00

Yesterday, Christie and I were on the field before and after Utah's awesome victory. One of my mission buddies is an intern for the U football team and got us field access passes (not that we needed them after the game.) but it was awesome to be down there and watch the players warm up. Check this video out of the ref warming up...

So, normally I'm not a rush the field kind of guy, unless it's a win over a team that is lots better than you, but since we were going to be getting on the field after the game anyway, we hopped down with the fans who chose to charge!

Here's my breakdown of the game: Both teams played great defense. TCU played a little better defense than Utah, but Utah won the other important battles - turnovers and special teams! You can call it luck, but the Utes know how to win close games. Christie and I are hoping for 12 and 0 - Go Utes!

Happy Halloween

2008-10-28T20:09:00.009-06:00

BJ and I went out and bought pumpkins Saturday and had a lot of fun carving them this last Sunday. After we finished, BJ toasted some of the pumpkin seeds...it was way yummy!!! BJ doesn't cook or prepare food very often but when he does it is AMAZING! We are having his old mission companion and his wife over for dinner this Thursday...and we get the pleasure of BJ making his wonderful lasagna! I am way excited!

Here are a few pictures of the fun things we have done recently.

This was our trunk for "trunk or treat". LOL, notice the orange jumper cables, I used them for decoration. Hey they are orange aren't they?!?

Yummy Pumpkin!!

BJ with hair, what do ya think?

BJ having fun & being creative

Becoming a Nurse!

2008-10-22T11:24:00.001-06:00

Did you ever wonder what it takes to become a nurse? Well, maybe you didn't, but I'm telling you it takes a lot! Well, here's a small list of the things that Christie is doing right now just to become a nurse...

3 days of school a week
2 days of 8 hour clinicals
At least 1 test and quiz every week
Minimum grade of 80 required
Regular patient care pass-offs
Studying 3-5 hours every day including Saturdays

I don't know about your schooling, but I don't ever remember having to do so much. I mean, I study a fair amount, but I don't have hard tests every week, and the minimum grade is a lot lower for most degrees! But at the same time, isn't it comforting to know that they have a high standard for our health care employees!Oh, and nursing school isn't all bad - here's a short list of good things that Christie is getting from all of this

friends (you girls rock, thank you!)
learning
patient interaction
preparation
RN

Did I mention I love my wife!? She's so busy and still does so much for me. Keep it up honey!

Thank You

2008-10-06T22:07:00.005-06:00

I just wanted to thank my wonderful husband BJ and my friend Rosalee and mom for talking to me yesterday and letting me vent. I really appreciate you guys. I am loving nursing school but it is a lot of work and at times feels a little overwhelming. (tiffany don't stress....I am just a big worry wart you will do absolutely amazing!)
For those of you that don't know me well, I worry about everything...more than the average person. I think it was just a curse I was born with. :D
But I have to say, that nursing school is helping me deal with stress and helping me not to worry as much. There is just so much -that if I were to worry as much as usual I wouldn't make it! So it has definitely been teaching me and helping me cope better.
I am sure this won't be the only breakdown I will have for the next year but it really helped to have the reminder of why I want to be a nurse and that it will be all worth it in the end. This will be a huge accomplishment for me and I know I can do it, I guess I just need a little reminder sometimes. So thanks again guys!

Circus Circus

2008-09-26T13:43:00.005-06:00

Elephants, kids and clowns! That's who we spent our evening with last night! We went to the circus. Christie and I must be kids at heart, not having kids ourselves, but we had a ton of fun. It was awesome to see the elephants - one of them even painted a picture. We saw some pretty spectacular twists, rides and heard some roars from the tigers. I don't ever remember going to the circus, nor does Christie - but we had an awesome time. What clowns!

The Cutest Niece and nephew in the WORLD!

2008-09-18T18:28:00.002-06:00

This is my nephew Carson Scott and his new baby sister Brooklyn. This was the cutest video- I just had to share it with everyone.!!

5 K run & U of U football

2008-09-12T16:23:00.009-06:00

WOW. We made it! These last 3 weeks have been pretty busy. With BJ working full time and going to school full time and Christie starting the nursing program and working Friday nights...we end up staying pretty busy to say the least.

But things have been going really well. This is BJ's last semester until he graduates with a bachelors degree in computer science. I am so proud of him and this huge accomplishment. BJ just takes each challenge and shows it "what's what". He is such a hard worker and can do anything he sets his mind to.

The picture to the left is BJ and some friends from our ward right after they ran a 5K. He told me the night before the race, "I think I am going to run the 5K tomorrow." And it just did it. A perfect example of BJ doing what he sets his mind to.

As for me, the first three weeks of the nursing program have been quite an adventure. It was overwhelming at first, not knowing what to expect. But I am really enjoying it now. It took me a little bit to get used to studying all the time but now it is almost routine. I don't even know where to start as to what we have done thus far. The last week we practiced Baseline Assessments on partners, took a full health history (that was fun to see the looks while Nina took my "pretend" health history on the bus). Oh and we also practiced intramuscular shots on this cool flap of "make believe" fat. lol I really don't know how to explain it better than that. :D

But despite all the craziness we still had time to go to the first University of Utah football game. It was a lot of fun. I am a BYU fan at heart but BJ thinks I might change my mind after this season. I Cheer for U of U when they aren't playing BYU so we will see when that infamous BYU vs. U of U is here.

Nursing Program First Week

2008-09-02T15:47:00.003-06:00

Well I made it through the first week of the nursing program! YEAH! For those of you that don't know...I just started the nursing program at the DATC. It is a four semester program with no summer break so I was a little nervous about it. Thankfully a girl named Nina (shout out) who lives just downstairs from BJ and I, just found out that she was accepted into the program as well. So we carpool and study together. I am just so grateful for her and all the help she is to me.

The first week went pretty well. It was a little overwhelming not knowing what to expect and intimidating since it it is an accelerated program. But I made it!

We have already had two tests and two pass off's and we start clinicals in a couple weeks, which I am so excited for! Wahoo.

For clinicals we have a DATC patch that we need to sew onto our uniform. I kept telling BJ that he should sew it on with his mad sewing skills. Well, last night I was studying at Nina's apartment and came up to find the apartment completely clean, laundry done, dishes done, and a clean vacummed floor...not to mention...BJ watching football while sewing on the patches on the uniform. I am just so luck to have BJ. He is way to good to me!!! I am the luckies girl in the world. I definitely couldn't be doing this without him!

Water, Weddings and Salsa

2008-08-24T19:27:00.006-06:00

This has definitely been the most busy week that Christie and I can remember! We were running crazy. It started Tuesday night with my brother Ryan's wedding dinner. We had some delicious steak and honored him and his wife Tiff.

Wednesday morning we took a practice bus ride to DATC where Christie will be attending school this fall. Of course, we hurried home so we could make it to Ryan and Tiff's wedding in the Bountiful Temple. After the pictures were done there, we hurried and went to Raging Waters (we had to make up for the time we tried to go before.) We didn't have a long time, but Christie and I had an awesome time. I was so proud of her for being brave and doing the biggest slide. We then hurried over to Ryan and Tiff's reception and ate too much chocolate from the chocolate fountain.

Thursday left no time to relax as we worked and then went up with Christie's family and worked until 11:00 pm that night making and bottling Salsa. (Her mom didn't go to bed until probably 2:00 am) It was a lot of work, but we really enjoyed it and love our Salsa!

We're just getting ready for this semester of school - good luck to everyone!

Twilight Series

2008-08-12T10:00:00.002-06:00

If anybody knows me really well, they would know that I am not a huge reader unless it is a really really good book. Well... so far the "twilight series" have been really really good books and I can't stop reading them. I just barely finished reading "new moon" (I know I am behind) and I really want to start into the next book "eclipse" before school starts. So I was wondering if there is anybody out there that would let me borrow that book????

The BEST Husband in the WORLD!

2008-08-08T12:03:00.002-06:00

Can I just say that I have the most amazing husband in the world. He planned such a special day for me today. I told him that I really wanted to go to Raging Waters before school started because I had never been there before. Well he totally surprised me and called me family and some close friends and invited them to come with us today. I knew something was going on because I was asked to work today and he told me that he had something planned. I thought I knew the plan until he got up and went to work this morning...taking a lunch with him. Little did I know that he just went and worked from the Library at the U making me think he went to work and came back just a little over an hour later (right before Raging Waters opened) and walked in with a cooler full of food and everything packed and ready to go. I was totally surprised!!! Unfortunately we headed to Raging waters and the rain started coming down, and they closed for the day. But I will never forget this day and all that my husband went through to surprise me and do something for me that he knew I would love! See why the title is "the best husband in the world". Thanks BJ you made this day unforgettable.

The "Couch"

2008-08-06T18:15:00.003-06:00

Ok so when BJ and I got married we received a lot of wonderful gifts from different family members...including some furniture. My sister in-law Jamie gave us a couch that worked really well for our apartment. It breaks into 3 pieces, it is very light and convenient to get into our apartment on the 3rd floor. It is not however the most comfortable couch to say the least. So when my parents got new furniture for their front room and offered us their nice couch we took them up on the offer! Well....it didn't fit. BJ's brother J.C. came over and helped try to manuever it up the stairwell but it just wouldn't go. Here are some pictures of "the couch" that we unfortuntely had to give back to my parents.

But on a positive note. My parents came to our apartment and we had a nice visit. My dad even got my mom to ride on our new scooter!

Darn...I guess BJ is just going to have to buy me a brand new couch when we move out! :D

Auntie Christie & Uncle BJ

2008-07-26T20:28:00.002-06:00

My brother Johnathon & his wife Kierston had their second child a few days ago, and let me just tell you....SHE IS SOOO CUTE!!! She was 8 lb 20.5 inches and is named Brooklyn Lucille Scott. Here is a picture...more to come later. :D

Nursing

2008-07-22T09:07:00.003-06:00

We found out yesterday that Christie will be attending nursing school this fall! She's been trying to get into the program the past couple of years, so we are very excited. She will be attending DATC (in Kaysville) and will graduate from Weber next fall! Congratulations to my AMAZING wife.

Scoot

2008-07-20T14:35:00.007-06:00

BJ and I made our first big purchase together last week. We drove down to Eco Moto and purchased a brand new 125cc red Buddy Scooter!! We love it! It gets 80 miles to the gallon! We decided that this is the perfect time to have a scooter. We are in close proximity to work and school and we don't have any kids yet.

Here is a picture of our new "scoot."

We both took the motorcycle written test and recieved our learner's permit. We have been practicing the last couple days and hope to have our motorcycle license within the next couple weeks.

It is a lot of fun! Yeah for Scooters!!!

Tenney Golfing

2008-07-13T09:16:00.005-06:00

Imgagine walking into your house and you actually found a golf course! Well, that's exactly how I found my house Friday night when we got home at just after 9 pm. Christie had created what she calls Tenney Golfing. Even though our apartment is tiny, she was able to create 6 holes ranging from par 3 up to par 6! Here is a walkthrough of the course :)

Oh, and Christie even let me jump on the bed to hit a few shots! My wife's amazing - a golf course in our home, what fun!!

4th of July

2008-07-06T15:48:00.002-06:00

Happy 4th Of July! Christie and I had an awesome time together on the 4th. We went up to the Layton City Parade and collected lots of candy. (Okay, BJ did most the collecting!) We then went swimming - the clouds were very nice, but we both got a small sunburn. We then drove down to Riverton with Christie's family as there was a horseshoe tournament going on. We did some dancing and playing at the carnival (I won Christie a small bear throwing darts and Christie's little brother won her a huge stuffed animal frog.) The fireworks were spectacular - especially with Christie. It was our first 4th of July together and we really had a lot of fun.

CAMPING!

2008-06-23T10:49:00.017-06:00

What a crazy month it has been for BJ and I. We went camping two weekends in a row. We went to the Heber Valley Camp and then to Bear Lake!

HEBER VALLEY CAMP

BJ's parents had reserved the camp a long time ago- but things came up and they weren't able to go. Since the camp doesn't give you refunds, the reservation was still open to whoever wanted to attend. So BJ and I decided to head up there. We were alone for a couple hours---thinking we had the whole camp to ourselves--but BJ's uncle Milo and his family came around 8 pm and stayed the night.

We cooked tin foil dinners, which actually turned out really good. BJ is a pretty good cook. We then stayed in a sweet cabin!!!! It fits 16 people...and BJ and I were the only ones in it. The camp had 3 cabins. So BJ's family took the other two and gave us our own. :D We are so spoiled.

After the best sleep I have had camping....we went out to the lake and took a canoe out. My arms are so weak, I had to keep taking breaks. Poor BJ pretty much did all the rowing. We then talked with the family and headed home.

BEAR LAKE

Every year my family goes to Bear Lake for a Scott Family Reunion. It usually lands the weekend before the 4th of July so it is pretty warm...and it was warm for sure!

We stayed in a tent we recieved from our wedding ( THANKS BJ's MOM!). It is a 7 man tent. LOL We didn't even take half of it with everything we brought. But we were really grateful for it- it is really really nice.

Since it was Bear Lake we spend a lot of time SWIMMING!!! One of my cousins rented Jet Skies along with a tube and a wakeboard. The jet skies were really powerful and pulled the tube and wakeboard. The tube was my favorite--but it killed my arms and gave both BJ and I a rash on the back of our legs from rubbing---but well worth the fun. Neither one of us fell off thank goodness. My sister and a couple other's did and they were pretty sore needless to say.

But don't worry massages all around!!! :D

So, when we were out on the lake BJ took me on the jet ski into the middle of the lake and we both jumped out and had a cute romantic kiss....and then we realized how freezing cold it was being 7pm so we both jumped back on the jet ski teeth chattering. Nonetheless it was really fun.

We then participated in the reunion, bingo, singing around the camp fire, auction, food, and of course line dancing. Well, the line dancing was a new thing this year. Oh and my dad signed BJ and I up to teach everybody. It actually went pretty well. After we finished teaching 2 songs, BJ and I did some swing dancing untill we were both dying of the heat and out of breath.

We had a great time and can't wait till next year!!! YEAH FOR CAMPING!!!

Father's Day

2008-06-16T09:24:00.006-06:00

I just wanted to write a little tribute to my wonderful husband BJ Tenney. BJ and I don't have kids yet- so he isn't a "father" in that respect. But for anyone that knows BJ, he has all the qualities of being a father. BJ is the most patient person I know. He is always wanting to help others and won't stop untill everyone is satisfied. He is an EXTREMELY hard worker! He is currently working two jobs and is very good at what he does. He is also really smart. He has a scholarship that pays for all of his school, which he will finish this comming fall semester. He will graduate with a bachelors degree in computer science. BJ is my world and I am so grateful for him and all he does. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY BJ!!!

Park City

2008-06-14T16:26:00.024-06:00

Wow. This week has been insane with work for both BJ and I- so I apologize for the delay in posting! Last weekend my mom, sister and I went to Park City. We went for my sister Angela's graduation trip. We had a lot of fun. So much fun that we have talked about making it a yearly tradition.

Above is a picture of where we stayed. My mom found this sweet condo with two bedrooms and two bathrooms....as well as a hot tub right outside our door. We were spoiled that is for sure!

Here we are posing in our lovely swimming suits. Isn't my sister and mom awesome! (shout out :D)

We then went and tried out the fun activities Park City had to offer. This is a picture of my mom and sister getting ready for the Alpine Coaster...(which was WAY better than the alpine slide in our opinion).

After a small bite to eat. :D We went shopping and spent lots of $$....and had a blast doing it! j/k we were good and only got the things on sale...all 8 of them. It was a ton of fun and I can't wait
for next year...I love you guys!

"Friends" list

2008-06-06T21:11:00.005-06:00

Well, Christie is off with her Mom and sister tonight, so I thought I would make a quick post to keep occupied. Life is a little lonely without your wife! Anyway, my friend Jeff (yep, you're getting a shout out!) asked the other day why he wasn't on the friend list. You may be wondering the same thing. Well, it's quite simple, if you don't have a blog, then you're not up there. Or if you have one and we don't know about it, you're not up there either. :D We love you all, let us know about your blogs, and you can become our friends!

One year older... and wiser too

2008-06-01T07:47:00.014-06:00

I never would have imagined it felt so good to be 23... Okay, so it feels about the same as 22 and 21. Of course, 23 years from now, I may feel a little bit different. Anyway, here's a little bit about my birthday where Christie made me "King for a day!"

We woke up and weeded the garden - not exactly what everyone thinks to do on their birthday, but Christie and I were both up early and wanted to get out - we had a lot of fun. We then went to American Fork to pitch horseshoes. (Check out the site I'm working on - it's still in progress http://nuhpa.freehostia.com/) Even though Christie kicked my butt, we still had a fun time. The in-laws gave me a tennis racket and tennis balls so Christie and I can have some real fun :).

We then drove to my house and had a nice lunch with my parents and twin brother JC and his wife Anna. Our heads sure don't look 23!

Christie and I then came home and she let me take a nice long nap. When I woke up, I walked out of the bedroom and to my surprise found a small gift bag full of things from my wife, bubbles, squishy ball, water bottle and M&Ms. We spent a quiet evening watching "I am Legend" and playing Nintendo. Christie planned the day and made it an awesome birthday!

Comments

2008-05-25T22:02:00.006-06:00

Hey! I just figured out how to change the settings on the blog allowing everyone to add a comment without having to create their own blog. So feel free to add a comment to our blogs. We would love to hear from you all.

Lava Hot Springs

2008-05-25T21:17:00.011-06:00

Every year the saturday before Memorial Day we go to a family reunion at Lava Hot Springs. The immediate family and a few others usually follow the reunion by going to the famous Lava Hot Springs HUGE pool. This year was BJ's first time coming and participating and I think he had a really good time. My mom did an amazing job planning the reunion with my dad's support.....special shout out to her. :D

The weather wasn't exactly what we were hoping for, so we started out by swimming in the indoor pool, which was actually really cool. They had a indoor rock climbing wall. It was a lot of fun.

Here is a couple picture of what the outdoor pool looks like. Unfortunetly BJ and I forgot our camera....so these will have to do.

The picture to the right is the three platforms they have there. BJ jumped off the very top platform...he is so brave.

We then spent some time in the Hot Springs....it was so relaxing. It brought back some fun memories of a road trip I had with one of my really good friends Rosalee.

BJ and I both had a great time. But I think we are both glad to be back home after our two fun small vacations.

We're Back!

2008-05-20T15:59:00.019-06:00

BJ and I just returned from our trip to Atlanta Georgia. Well, we actually stayed at a place called Peach Tree City with BJ's cousins (Wendy and Janet and their two awesome boys Andrew and Alex). We had a blast!! Thanks Wendy and Janet again for letting us come, you guys rock! :D

For all of you that have not been to Peach Tree City...you are missing out! Everyone rides around in golf carts. Yes, you heard me correctly....GOLF CARTS! It was awesome.

Here is BJ ordering from the Drive Inn at McDonalds.

And in case you were worried...Walmart has special parking for the golf carts! lol

We went to Six Flags on saturday and had a blast. BJ LOVES roller coasters. Luckily I am willing to try anything for the first time and he somehow convinced me to go on every roller coaster...most of them twice! BJ being the amazing person he is, he pushed me in a wheelchair all over six flags. Needless to say he got a good work out. Man, I think I am one of the luckiest girls in the world.

BJ and I then went to the biggest Aquarium in the world! It was a lot of fun. We both touched a sting ray, bonnethead shark, brown shrimp, sea urchents, horshoe crabs, and a sea star.

We had a lot of fun and can't wait for more fun vacations. We are going to Lava Hot Springs this saturday....expect more fun pictures soon.

Garden Plot

2008-05-13T08:36:00.008-06:00

For those of you that don't know. BJ and I live in the married housing at the University of Utah. We enjoy it a lot. They have a lot of free activities and things to do. One of those things to do...includes gardening. They have a big garden area that they seperate by string into multiple garden plots. Names are chosen in a random order to determine who gets to pick the best plots available.

This is a picture of everyone waiting for their number to be called so they can chose a plot. Crazy huh! Here is BJ Standing next to our wonderful Garden Plot. Do you see those Tomatoes!?!! They are getting big!!! How exciting.

We planted carrots, tomatoes, squash, peppers, and peas.

Adventure to the Doctors Office

2008-05-07T17:28:00.005-06:00

We had quite the experience at Doctor Gleich's office today. Christie didn't even have to ask me to tag along this time as I was excited to see what he had to say about Hereditary Angioedema. I wasn't all that excited to drive out to midvale, but we had a nice trip and arrived about 10 minutes early giving us enough time to pay our co-pay! I should have know it wasn't going to be a great doctor's visit when the chair broke that I was sitting in as we were waiting for the nurse. It did however releive a lot of Christie's stress - so in the end it was worth the spectacular fall.

We had the normal interrogation from the nurse which lasted 20 minutes too long. She was a short lady who made jokes that weren't all that funny, but made her laugh more than enough. She kindly left and said the classic words, "The doctor will be in shortly." Of course, she had no idea how much longer he would be. Christie and I contented ourselves at first with some simple conversation. After a while, we began shredding paper and shooting baskets in the garbage can. Christie had some amazing no look shots and bank shots off the door and sanitizer. The nurse checked in a couple of times to make sure everything was okay, and we always pretended to just be sitting around doing nothing.

The doctor finally arrived, about an hour later, went through many similar questions to the nurse and seemingly perplexed by Christie's health, suggested a quick physical exam. Before he left us, he managed to setup about 7 or 8 blood tests for Christie, along with a urine sample! Since Christie was so brave, we celebrated with Artic Circle :)

GO JAZZ

2008-05-05T16:48:00.003-06:00

BJ and I really enjoy going to Jazz games. Here is a picture of us at the first home playoff game. We are excited to kick the Lakers booty these next couple games!

Honeymoon Pictures

2008-05-05T16:23:00.018-06:00

BJ planned the honeymoon. It was supposed to be a suprise....but if found out that we were going on a cruise on accident...but I didn't know where we were going untill the day we left! :D We had an amazing time. We stayed at the Anniversary Inn the night of the wedding and then caught a EARLY flight the following morning to Florida.

We stayed in a hotel in Florida and then took a taxi bus to the ship. It was so exciting!!! The cruise was huge! They had rock climbing, swimming, gym, hot pools, all you can eat buffet, and tons of activities on the ship. We got off the boat in Jamaica and

went river rafting. We had a couple of delays on comming home...due to airline problems....making us stay an extra night...darn! :D
I LOVE this video. It makes me laugh everytime I watch it. It is from the cruise. BJ is trying Escargot for the first time. He is so brave!

Pictures

2008-05-05T12:49:00.011-06:00

For those of you who were not able to attend our wedding or reception. Here are some pictures to enjoy!