Just Real Quick...

Vance and I have moved in safely into our new little home! There are still a few things to unpack but mostly organization needs to come to pass :). The graduation was really great! It was so neat to see and here about what Vance went through during his stay in the Academy. I don't have the photos ready yet, but don't worry, as soon as I do you'll be the first to see them! Anyways, I'll keep you posted on this new big adventure my little family is embarking on.

We Made It!

The day has finally arrived! Vance and I have survived the long 2.5 months apart! I didn't think I could do it, but it got easier and easier. :) My folks and I are heading to Artesia, NM this afternoon to see Vance graduate tomorrow at 2:30pm. All the driving we will be doing this weekend equals up too about 24 hrs. (and that's not including the drive back home my parents have to make.) I just have to say, "THANK YOU MOM AND DAD FOR EVERYTHING!!" My folks and I finished up a final project we've been working on for a couple of weeks now for my dinning room and here it is..... (Before & After)

Let it Snow!

This past weekend my Mom, sister Mykin and I went up North (Highland, Ut) for a baby shower my aunt Camille put together for me before the big move. It was so much fun! Mostly because I like free stuff :) Thanks everyone for the gifts!But, the reason for the picture is, Sunday morning, the day we left for home, we woke up to a wonderful white surprise! SNOW!!! I loved every minute of it! Of course I had to take a picture and my sister was grumpy about it because she was "freezing". I wont lie, I wish I still lived up North. It's gorgeous and you get to enjoy all 4 seasons! (Maybe someday.) Anyways, I can't believe this is my last week here! I have so much to do still before I leave on Thursday that I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed, but I'm so excited to see Vance! It's been long enough and soon he'll be able to rub my feet, legs, back, belly, etc. (i might have to pull a few teeth to get him to do it). I'll be sure to get pictures of his graduation posted and thanks to everyone that has been so supportive of Vance's endeavors! We're pretty excited at the opportunities this opens up for us. Love you all!

Before We were an US

I wish I could look like this everyday

As for Vance, he always looks good (ask him)

So young

Oh to be a Senior again...

What a dork :)

The beautiful Grand Canyon! (oh yes, and Vance)

Bitter Sweet

With 3 weeks left until Vance graduates and I move into a new place, I find myself trying not to be emotional. I can not wait to see my hubby and finally be home together like normal, but I have also enjoyed every minute being here with my family. I'm gonna miss being able to see my siblings and parents everyday! I didn't think I would have such a hard time with leaving but I'm having trouble holding back the tears. I don't know if anyone can relate, but being married and gone and then back for a short little while, I have forgotten how much I appreciate my family. Especially my parents! They do so much for me! I hope they know how much I love them and how much I have enjoyed being here with them! I'm a little sad about being 10 hours away from my family because this will be the furthest I have ever been, but Vance is even further from his family and I know he wishes he could see them more often. Thank goodness for phones, email, and blogging! Once my little family is back together, (the whole 2 1/2 of us) I will be one happy girl! And as for my husband, I love him so much and I'm so proud of what he has done! He is an example of wanting something and getting it done. One thing I love about him is that he recognizes when Heavenly Father has blessed his little family. I appreciate those deep little conversations we have together about what our Father in Heaven does for us. It keeps me on track and makes me fall even more in love with Vance.

One Long Weekend

My Mom and I left to Phoenix, Az Saturday morning at about 9:30 a.m. and we arrived in town at about 3:30 p.m. The main reason for this trip was for my doctors appointment that was on Monday morning, but we decided to kill a few birds with one stone. Our first stop when we got there was to get manicures and pedicures. My pedicure was so needed! It felt so good! Anyways, we then hit a few stores that will never be seen in small towns such as Blanding. I previously had made a couple of appointments to see some homes for rent for Vance and I since we are moving in 3 1/2 weeks! Those were scheduled on sunday so my Mom and I then left at 6:30 a.m. for a 3 or 4 hour drive into Bisbee, Az. To make a long story short, I found us a cute little 2 bedroom 2 bath home in Bisbee! I'm not to excited about the location but it puts Vance closer to work out in Douglas and about a 20 minute drive into Sierra Vista where we can do movies, dinner, mall, etc. We will be living in the middle of nowhere on the border and it's gonna have to take some getting used too. (At least for me) I have to say that I'm kind of proud of myself that I made such a big decision all by myself. Don't get me wrong, I was abselutely scared to death and wish like crazy Vance could have been there with me, but under the circumstances I don't think I did such a bad job. However, a huge thanks to my Mom who was there with me helping me out along the way! I love you Mom! I think Vance will be proud and like the place but I'm still way nervous about it. Looking at homes took all day long and we didn't get back into town until 6:30 p.m. where we then stoped at IKEA, ate dinner, and headed back to Millies house where we both passed out. Oh, and I can't believe I forgot, all this driving this weekend was done without any air conditioning. My Mom and I thought we were going to die! It was so stink'n hot! Besides being totally busy this weekend, I had a lot of fun with my mother. And thanks to my Aunt Millie who let us crash at her place.

Fresh Air

So I went up to the Blue Mountains tonight to eat some great dutch oven potatoes and chicken with my family. Everyone is all camping but my Mom and I because we are leaving in the morning to Phoenix to look at some potential homes for Vance and I and I also have a doctors appointment on Monday. But the cool fresh air was so wonderful! And being around my family is just so much fun! I have to admit that I felt like I was sinning because I was in the mountains without Vance. :) But anyways, here are just a couple of photos from my phone from tonight.

Secret Project for Vance...

I decided while Vance is away working so hard that I would do a little work myself and put together a scrapbook of his mission and give it to him as a gift at his graduation. I've got about 19 pages done so far and still a ton of pictures to go through! I've had so much fun doing this though, and my Mom has helped me along the way when my creative juices haven't been flowing. Thanks Mom! I'm still missing some pictures from when he got home off his mission but I think my sister-in-law Kim might be able to help me out with that. But Juli if you have any pictures from that day could you email them to me? Anyways, here are just a few pages I've put together that I thought I'd share...

Homework

A long, long time ago... December 10th 2003 to be exact, I had a homework assignment to write a sonnet which is a type of poem I guess. I loved my English class but whenever we had to write a poem and be creative I just had a hard time doing it. I could come up with great ideas of what I would want to say, but the creative words and the flow just was not my specialty. So, of course, the night before it was due (which was pretty late) my Aunt Nettie showed up at my house and noticed what I was doing and stayed late that night to help me out. Here is that sonnet we wrote together. Thanks Nettie!!

To the Stars

I see you so far above the clouds
It seems that you are unreachable
You have me sometimes wondering out loud
About you, I hope I'm teachable
I wish somehow that I could reach for you
It's said that you and Heaven are the same
If that's true, you could reach for me too
You would certainly know me by name
So sweetly your light dances down to earth
Like a loving parent, watchful keeping
From where you gaze, you see the lost soul's worth
And at each death, silently you're weeping
If thoughts could take me skyward, ascending
I'd live with you there, peace never-ending

Interesting

What Your Name Says About You

Your name says that you are mostly: Independent but distant Your name also says you are: Passionate but flighty Ambitious but stubborn Dynamic but aggressive

What Does Your Name Say About You?

Acne...(AAAHHHHH)

Help me!!!! This is something that I just can't take anymore! Once I hit my 2nd trimester I started breaking out. It's been like forever sence the last time I delt with this so it feels like a new experience for me and I have know idea what to do. From what I've read on the internet, it's normal and will usually go away at the beginning of your 3rd trimester but are there any ladies out there with some advice who have had the same issue? I've been trying different face washes and these darn ol zits are just winning the war! Maybe I'm just supposed to wait it out, but by golly if there's anything I can do to make things better someone please tell me!

Tourism

As most of you know, I'm out in Blanding, Ut living with my folks. Which, by the way, has been so much fun and the country out here is gorgeous! To help save a little money I've been working for my Aunt Tiff at her R&R Pizza joint during my stay. Now Blanding is a very small little town in the country with Moab just 1 1/2 hours away. There is a lot of natural scenery here that attract people from all over America to come visit. The only thing is, that most of the tourist I have seen, are from some where in Europe! I don't know about you, but I was a bit surprised. And there are so many of them! In a way it made me proud of my country but i just have to laugh at some of the things that are so amusing to these people. For instance, my mother works for Black Hawk which is a school bus driving / diesel maintenance company so there are always yellow school buses out there. These tourists, I guess, have never seen a yellow bus because we catch them taking pictures with them. Now, I'm not trying to rag on the tourists because as Americans visiting other countries, those people probably find us pretty funny too, but I just had to laugh!

Pregnant and Away

I never thought this would happen because of some complications with the dang ol ovaries so I have to say "What a Blessing!" She just kind of happened out of no where and caught Vance and I by surprise. Now that I'm about 22 weeks I feel her move around all the time! It's the coolest thing and a little depressing because I don't have my sweet heart here to feel those kicks and wiggles. With him being away at the Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, NM he only gets to here about it. But there's nothing like feeling it so I cant wait to see him so I can grab his hand and place it on my belly! When your pregnant, at least for me, you go through so many emotions. I get really excited and then super scared hoping that I'll be a good mom. Then some days I can't believe it because I'm only a kid myself ( it feels like). There are also those moments where I'll just sit there and cry a little because I am having a baby and it just seems so remarkable! But I am absolutely thrilled and can not wait for the day that Vance and I get to hold her in our arms! I don't know if this is weird but I'm looking forward to changing her diapers and hearing her cry. I'm not sure what it is, but the thought that Vance and I helped create this beautiful life and there are bits and pieces of us in her, has made me feel so much closer to him. And oh how I miss him! October 17th is just around the corner right? I have to tell you though, how proud I am of Vance! He is top in his class and keeps impressing his instructors with his high test scores! Things are getting more difficult over there but he's doing it! "Way to go Babe!" It's like 1:03 am and like I said before, blogging is addicting and I love it!!

ADDICTION

I was just thinking how much blogging is addictive! I find myself just scrolling up and down my page just admiring my work. I may have know idea what to write, but looking at it is just as good. I don't know if you other bloggers are like that or if I'm just the odd one. Everyday I tell my mom she needs to start her blog or I'll start it for her. Vance better watch out because he may never see me once we get our own computer. Could this possibly be a sin? It's better if you don't tell me and let me enjoy!

Should've Listened

They always say, "Listen to your elders". And why shouldn't you, they have life experience and just seem to know best! Well, on this day we were preparing to put in a new floor and Vance had flip flops on. My dad told him he needed to put some closed toed shoes on so he doesn't cut up his feet. So he brought down some shoes for him. Vance never put them on thinking he would be just fine in his flip flops. A few minutes later, my dad came around the corner and noticed Vance had put the shoes on. He also notice that he was limping and asked if he was okay. Vance of course said he was just fine and looked at my brother Thomas and told him not to tell dad what happened. Well, Thomas spilled the beans and right on the top of his foot a piece of tile sliced him open pretty dang good. We all gathered around to see the bloody damage and my dad and Vance just looked at each other with little smirks on their faces. The cut wouldn't stop bleeding and it was deep enough that it required stitches so me, mom, and dad took Vance to the Gilbert Emergency Room to wait for some needle and thread. And it's been a tradition in my family that when you have to get stitches, we go out to dinner right after. So, after the long wait and with some pretty hungry appetites, my parents treated all of us to dinner. Every now and again this fun little memory comes up and we have a good laugh! We can always count on Vance to throw in an adventure in an ordinary day! That's one reason why I love him so dang much!!

The Beginning of Forever

Vance and I were introduced by good friends of ours, Rachel and Zach. I remember it so clearly too because when I first saw him, I immediately fell in love with his smile! He was very well dressed let me tell ya! We saw each other every once and a while because of Zach and Rachel and then finally, Vance made the call and asked me on a date. I had so much fun! We did dinner at Mimie's and enjoyed a game of mini golf, which we determined that it was to dangerous to let me play. Things kind of ended early for the date, but Vance insisted on holding me captive in his truck and we drove around Phoenix all night just talking and having fun. We went out a couple more times as casual people getting to know each other and it started to grow into love. Now Juli, you might like to here this if you remember! It was New Years Eve and I ditched a friend to go babysit Vance's little niece with him out in Coolidge. I was super nervous to go because a few months before, Vance had wanted to make things a little more serious and I turned him down. (I'm so awful) But I went because my heart had started to change and I wanted to see where things could go. As it turned out, that entire night of watching movies, talking, sleeping, and talking some more, I didn't want to be away from him. I wanted more. The next week, I had to babysit for my boss and so I got brave and called up Vance. He ditched his good friend Wes to be with me that night and I hope he thought it was worth it. I had decided that night I wanted to tell him how I was feeling about him. So, at 1am when my boss finally got home, I drove Vance back to his apartment. And here's the kicker! Juli, I hope you read this! As I parked and we sat there for a short while, he asks me "I bought some new bed sheets do you want to come up and see them?" We both started laughing and of course I started making fun of what he had just said. I did in fact go up to his apartment because I had to tell him my feelings. Once we got up there, I think he already new I had something to say because he looked at me, smiled and said "Is there anything you want to tell me?" I couldn't help but smile at him, blush, and tell him that I really really liked him! I will never forget his face! He had the biggest smile and he grabbed me and pulled me in close to him and just held me tight. It was the greatest feeling ever! And I knew there was something special about us meeting because I had never felt that way about someone before. Well, things took off from there and before I knew it, I was sitting in his car late one night as he leaned in towards me and in a soft voice said "Heather Winsor, will you be my wife?" No joke, those words literaly took my breath away and I said "Yes!" We married on April 14, 2006 just 2 months after the proposal. We now have been married just over 2 years and are expecting our first baby! (It's a girl by the way) Time sure has gone by so fast and from what I hear it just keeps getting faster.

Where I Began...

As I was going through some old pictures, it couldn't help but bring back old memories. My parents are some of the GREATEST people I know and continue to be inspiring to me and my little family! I sure love them!

They have raised me well! That it's okay to cry, laugh, be mad but to always remember where i come from, my Heavenly Father! I can't complain. My parents have always made sure I have the things I need, even to this day! But lets not forget the brothers and sister that made life a challange and so much fun! I am the oldest. They helped me mature and enjoy life. They were and are the comic relief when things get hard. And I love them!