Christmas 2009

Christmas was very beautiful this year. I was scheduled to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas this year. I'm not even sure how that ended up happening, but things ended up working out very well. We ran out of work so I got to take off Christmas Eve and go up to The Mayor's house to spend time with the family. All of the boys went to help Jesse build his new home in Payson, hence the reason they all look homeless in this pic. We thought it would be fun this year to be like the family on A Christmas Story and go eat Chinese food on Christmas Eve. It was so good! Unfortunately nobody sang "fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra" to us, but my parents churped up and started singing it. I thought for sure we were going to get kicked out. We went home Christmas Eve since I was fortunate enough to have work on Christmas. I work my hours and then we went back to The Mayor's house for some ultra yummy turkey and roast. The boys also played Rock Band. They were hilarious to watch. (My family is completely crazy). The day after Christmas I got to meet up with Brooke and all the ladies for a much needed gettogether and some delicious lunch. It was so good to get all of us together since we never see Brooke anymore. We miss you Brooke! That night we had the annual Hone family Christmas party. It's filled with shrimp, french dips, and pinatas. Grandma Carolyn sure does spoil her grandkids and they LOVE it! Here they are sporting their annual dress ups. They always have so much fun and look forward to the pinata party all year long. We feel very blessed this year. We're very grateful to have each other, our families, a roof over our heads, food, warm clothing, etc. I hope everybody had an amazing Christmas this year as well.

A JOB!

Well, it happened. My smartest husband ever got offered a job! It's even his dream job. It's at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in the ICU. It couldn't be more perfect. Now time to buy new scrubs! Yeah! He starts the beginning of January. Way to go Ryan!

Fabulosity

Is December always this crazy? Last week, we had a little birthday party for our dog. Extremely pathetic. I do realize this. I made the cutest little red velvet cupcakes with pink frosting on them. I tried to get a picture of them, but they were always in a mouth before the camera could get the picture. Bella was so spoiled! I couldn't believe everybody got her a gift. Apparently my entire family fell into my trap of patheticness because they all wrapped their gifts and were thrilled to share in the birthday of our little baby dog, now not so much a baby dog.

Ryan had his graduation dinner on Saturday night, last night. It was at Magleby's. I'm pretty sure Ryan and I got in an argument as to where Magleby's was actually located on our way there (me claiming it was in Riverwoods and him claiming it was behind the University Mall). I quickly realized he was thinking of Iggy's and I'm pretty sure I laughed at him like the bratty wife does.

Dinner was interesting. I thought mine tasted like chicken with ice cream on top. Ryan had salmon that he claimed was perfection. Bleck. I hate fish.

Ryan won the award of "most like to correct an error on page 51 in book...." This is so perfect for him. I laughed so hard when they awarded him with this. I honestly can't believe school is over. Now to real life. How do we do it?

Kyla was being so cute after dinner. She was so tired and a little fussy. Every time the camera went off she would grin and get all excited and then go right back to crying until I took her picture again. Love this girl. Check it out, she's even wearing my headband and flower I gave her!

The Nurse Who Loved Me

Over the last couple of years, Ryan and I have wanted kids very badly. We have not been able to have them on our own and so we turned to fertility treatment. After much treatment and many tests, we have decided to do in vitro. We have created a blog so you can all follow along in our journey. This is a very personal part of our lives, so it has taken us a while to make this blog public. I know, you may think we're crazy, but at least we love each other and through this all our relationship has grown more than I could have ever imagined.

This week is a very exciting week for us. Not only do we get to start daily injections for in vitro, but Ryan actually graduates from college. It's so crazy that 2 years have flown by so quickly. It seems like we were just buying his ugly BYU scrubs. Oh I how I hate those scrubs. Today was the last day of class for Ryan. I think it was a very bittersweet moment for him. He has also had an interview at UVRMC and tomorrow he has an interview at Intermountain Medical Center. We even went and bought him a new suit and boy does he look handsome! Wish him luck that he will find a job! It's kind of stressful trying to find a job right out of school. I had no idea.

Well, that's it for now. Stay posted. I'm sure there will be quite a bit going on this month in our life. Wish us luck!

Old Mill

So once upon a time, many years ago, I lived in this place called Old Mill. I'm sure most of you have seen it in Provo. It's the apartment complex with the old mill in the front. Well, today as I was trying to find a place to clean my wedding dress and put it in a box for me, I ran across this website about haunted places in Utah. Completely random. I'm not sure how it went from wedding dress cleaners to haunted places, but somehow I pulled that off. Well, I read down the list of places and low and behold, there was good old Old Mill on the list. When I lived there, I was always super freaked out to walk through this one building with a pool in it. I would literally run every time I had to go through there. All who lived in our apartment knew there were some freaky things that would go on in the apartments by ours. Click here and go down to Provo -- Old Mill Apartment Complex to read about it. Here's what it says if you don't want to go there: There have been sightings of a previous tenant who mysteriously died at 27 and was discovered in the pool shed. He has a football players` build, and always lurks around the girls` apartments. Creepy! Dari, are you freaked out yet?

I Fail at Blogging

I haven't updated our blog in what feels like ages. I have totally failed at blogging lately. Life has been CRAZY! October seemed to come and go very quickly. Here are just a few of the things we did during October.

We enjoyed a quick trip up to a cabin at Sundance. It was freezing cold, but we had a blast eating lots of yummy food, smores, watching Clue and playing games. Thanks to Jacob and Amber for the invite.

Bella went into her first heat and I found that doggie diapers are a must. It's just gross dogs have to do that.

We enjoyed the mayor in one of his final moments as mayor as we celebrated our country and retired/burned a few flags. It was very cool to watch it.

Ryan's grandfather passed away so we had his funeral. It was a very sad day, but with it came much joy. We know that Grandpa is in a much better place and has been released from his earthy burdens and physical pains. We love you Grandpa! (It was freezing cold the day of the funeral if you can't tell).

At the very end of the month I made a quick trip to Colorado to visit my cousin, Chara. I went with my mother who got to witness first hand just how bad I freak out on airplanes. I think she was a little bit embarrassed as I was curled up in fetal position in my tiny seat. We shopped, ate, and went to Wicked. It was beautiful there! There was so much snow! Wicked was good, but I think I expected something a little different. I've been reading the book and it seems quite different from the play, but whatever, it was still a good show.

And there's October in a nutshell. Hopefully this month I can stay caught up with our blog.

Oh, one of THOSE mornings

Do you ever have mornings like this?


The alarm goes off at 6:15 and for some reason the Ambien you took the night before is still causing a hangover, so you just don't think you can get out of bed, but yet you know you have to be clocked in and have an e-mail sent out by 7:00 from your office at Mountain View Hospital in Payson? You finally roll out of bed, stagger to the bathroom, let the dog out and turn the light on only to realize you look like hell? Put on your make up, brush your teeth, tell your husband goodbye, grab your purse and coat and head out the door into utter darkness. You quickly realize that not only is your car frosted over, but you're totally blocked in the driveway by 2 other vehicles. FUN I say! You quickly think, "oh, I'll start my car and get it defrosting while I move one of the others." Start your car and then go to get some other car keys and quickly learn the front door is locked and the only way you can enter is with the keys that are running your car. Sigh. So, you turn off your car, unlock the door and enter the house all while trying not to wake anybody up. Grab the first set of keys you see, run back outside and get into one of the cars blocking your way out of the driveway. Ah, ice all over the windows. Again, fun! You think, "oh, I'll just roll down the windows and back up. I don't have that far to go." Haha. Have you ever tried that? Down with the windows, no headlights on, backing up, pulling forward and guessing where the curb is. Guessing being the key word. Attempt to roll up the frozen window to quickly learn it does't roll up when it's frozen. Grab it, pull it, roll up, roll down, roll up, roll down, all while freaking out you're going to be late for work. Finally get the window up, get out of the car, realize you're 3 feet away from the curb and totally in the road, not care, because you're going to be late, and heaven forbid you be late, and leave the car in the middle of the road. Run to your still frozen car, start it up, no time to scrape the windows, turn on the defrost full blast, squirt the windshield and wipe it and hope it doesn't freeze over and ta dah! You're off! Backing out of the driveway only to be quickly stopped by a big heavy object. **Expletive** That's right, you totally just hit into the other car blocking your way in the driveway. More of a "buddy bump" I'd say. Good thing you were only going backing up speed right? You decide to roll down all the frosted windows and back up so at least you can see out the side windows at this point. You look once again at the car in the middle of the road and hope it's okay, and drive off full speed ahead. Run one stop sign and fly down the street all in hopes of making it to work on time. It's now 6:44. You have 16 minutes to get from Springville to Payson, in the hospital, turn on your computer, and get an e-mail sent out. No way it's happening. Not today. On your way to the freeway the entire journey is red lights and road construction. Seriously, the entire way.


Have you had one of THOSE mornings? Yep, this was mine this morning. I really love working from my home most days. I'm just not cut out for waking up early and driving in the freezing cold to my office. Thank goodness this is not a permanent arrangement. I did end up clocking in by 7:02, so not too bad considering the circumstances. I ended up calling Ryan at 7:00 and told him to go get the car out of the middle of the road before somebody hit it.

September recap....

September was quite a beautiful month. I've always loved September, whether it's because that's when I celebrated my birthday or because fall was just around the corner, I'm not sure, but I just love it. Ryan started his last semester in the nursing program. It's been interesting going from having him here everyday all day to being gone most days all day. He seems to really be enjoying the ICU at Utah Valley. He always comes home so excited about what he did that day. I'm so proud of him.

We got to attend our friend's wedding (Garrett and Shannon) up at Sundance. It was absolutely beautiful. I enjoyed every minute I was there. The ceremony, watching their wedding video in the screening room, and a very yummy dinner. Congrats Garrett and Shannon! Here's all of the guys, all of Ryan's high school friends, who attended the wedding that day. Aren't they handsome?

Next came the annual girl's weekend in Park City. I always look forward to this. We stayed at Crestview Condominiums right by the outlets. I spent way too much money, but as always, had the time of my life. We ate lots of good food, got pedicures, enjoyed each other, laughed histerically until I thought I was going to throw up and/or pass out, ate McDonald's at 11:00 at night (do not recommend), ate more food, shopped, ate food, shopped, etc. We would stay up until 3:00 in the morning laughing at our most embarassing stories. Oh how I love these ladies.

That's it! There's our September in a nutshell.

For Sale.....

I have had my Snowbird timeshare up for sale for 4 years. Yes, 4 years. I really, really need to get rid of it. It is such a financial burden on our little family. So, I'm pleading for your help to find somebody who would like this timeshare. It's absolutely beautiful up at Snowbird. The room sleeps 4 and has a kitchenette. It's on the 9th floor facing the slopes, so you get an amazing view of the resort. Also, it is still ski season the week we have it. You get to enjoy a heated outdoor pool, dry and wet sauna, steam room, and exercise room at no cost. There's nothing like swimming outside with snow around you. It's so much fun up there. The week usually ends up being the last of April/first of May. Please let me know if any of you are interested in this. The cost for the entire week is $500. If you would like to take over the deed, which I would love, we can work out a great deal. I'll even pay all closing costs.

In Our Hearts

As I sit here alone tonight I've had some time to reflect on what happened to our nation 8 years ago today. Here's my account of what happened. Monday, September 10, 2001, I was at work taking care of people with Alzheimer's. My dad called my cell phone, which was a little unusual. He knew I was at work, so I was surprised he was calling. I thought that maybe something was wrong. I answered the phone and heard my dad calmly tell me that my friend had been cliff jumping, jumped off a cliff and he had not been seen since. Holding onto hope for a small moment, I thought maybe he was joking. There's no way my friend was dead, they just hadn't looked in the right places yet. I called some mutual friends and quickly realized the truth. We had all lost a very good person. My boss let me leave work since I was a complete mess. I couldn't hold it together for longer than 5 minutes. That evening I went up Provo Canyon with friends and celebrated a life we would all miss. We prayed around the campfire that our friend's body would be found. I felt I couldn't drive home that night because I was just too upset. I ended up staying at Jesse and Tina's apartment in Orem. I'm surprised I fell asleep that night. I think I only slept for about 3 hours before I woke up around 6:00 a.m. (maybe later, I can't really remember) and decided to drive home. I was in a complete haze as I drove and I think I just had the radio on to keep me company. I remember very clearly where I was when the radio show started to sound panicked about what was going on in New York. I was right in front of Mt. Loafer Elementary School in Salem. I listened in complete shock. I could not believe what was going on. I remember arriving home to my parents standing on the stairs also in complete shock. How could this be happening? It was my little brother's 6th birthday and although I knew he had no idea what was actually happening, he would soon learn he shared his birthday with a great tragedy. I took a shower and then decided to go to school at UVSC. I knew I wouldn't be able to focus, but I also knew it was better to be doing something to attempt to keep my mind occupied. I remember walking down the halls and seeing just masses of people crowding the halls in front of the TV screens watching what was going on. I believe I started crying at that moment. I have never felt like our nation was as unified as it was that day. We were not different colors or cultures, but we were all Americans. I learned later that day that my friend's body was found in the lake they were diving in. They had actually found it Monday night and planned on flying it home on Tuesday morning (September 11, 2001). Obviously the entire world shut down for a while. No flights in or out of anywhere. Therefore they could not fly his body from Arizona to Utah. It was heartbreaking. That week was very hard for me. I believe on Wednesday night I went to my friend's parent's house with a white rose in hand and dropped it on the doorstep in front of his crying mother. I was so glad I could let her know I was grieving her son and that he was not forgotten in the midst of one the nation's greatest tragedies. It will be a week that will always be remembered and never forgotten. What a huge impact that one week had in my life.

Where were you? What do you remember from that day?

Let the birthday festivities begin!

Today is my 27th birthday. Sigh. I don't love getting older, but I guess that's life right? Last night Ryan surprised me by taking me to dinner at The Foundry Grill up at Sundance and then we rode the lift and enjoyed the beauty of Sundance. We even spotted some wild turkeys and also a mom deer with her baby, who still had some spots so he was just a new guy. It was absolutely wonderful. After we rode the lift we went to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for some all-time goodness. I ate sweets until I was ready to puke. I still have my mint truffle to enjoy today. Yeah! Thank you Ryan for a most wonderful evening!

Well, there's more to come. Tonight I have a family party to celebrate my birthday and 2 of my brothers birthdays. Yes, 3 of us were born within 9 days of each other. What were my parents thinking?

Country Carousel

Hello friends! It's a big week for the bow business. We have a booth at the Country Carousel Boutique at Provo High School. Come visit us and get all the glorious bows/flowers and headbands your little heart desires. We also have some bracelets and discounted/discontinued headbands for sale. You can also check out my bow blog bellabambina2007.blogspot.com! The boutique runs from today (the 17th) through Friday (the 21st). Tonight the show opens at 4 and goes until 9. Tuesday through Friday it's open all day. Come and enjoy all the vendors and all the fun stuff they have to offer!

Premature Graduation

(Stupid blogger turned this picture sideways. I don't know why it does that or how to fix it. It looks like that says '89, but it's really '09).

This weekend has been a very exciting weekend for us here in the Hone home. Ryan got to walk for graduation on Friday. I feel like we have been waiting for this day to come for years. Well, we have been waiting for years. It was so worth it. It has been a lot of hard work, mostly Ryan doing the hard work, but worth it. Ryan actually has just one more semester and then he will actually be done with the nursing program at BYU. We were very surprised to see the pharmacist Ryan used to work with at Allen's, Jeff and his wife Jo. We are so glad they were able to make it to the graduation. It meant the world for us to have them there. After graduation we went to Carabba's for lunch. It was nice to have my entire Dunn side of the family there and then Ryan's mom, sister Kacy, brother Garrett, dad, and grandpa. Ryan gave me his stole of gratitude and of course I cried. After lunch I "kidnapped" Ryan. He had no idea where we were headed to. I made arrangements for Bella to go to the Mayor's house for the night. I tried really hard not to tell Ryan where we were going. He eventually figured it out once we hit Dear Creek that we were going to Park City for the night. Park City was cold and rainy. Not what I had hoped for, but still beautiful no less. Good job Ryan! I couldn't be more proud of you. Here's Ryan's best friend in the program, Jacob. I don't think Ryan could have done it without him. That's also Jacob's wife, Amber, making that ultra awesome face! Love you guys! And of course, I have to put one of Chloe on here. I couldn't believe she actually let me take her picture!

Thank you!

Dear Aunt Katie and Uncle Jesse,

It's Bella! I love, love, love my new nametag! Not only is it really super cute, mom and dad can now find me when I run away because they can hear my jingle. The purple color matches my collar just perfect. Thank you! Tell Lily we're totally BFF's now for life. I can't wait to play with her.

Lick lick,

Bella

Did you cherish today?

How fragile life, how certain death. We do not know when we will be required to leave this mortal existence. And so I ask, “What are we doing with today?” If we live only for tomorrow, we’ll eventually have a lot of empty yesterdays. Have we been guilty of declaring, “I’ve been thinking about making some course corrections in my life. I plan to take the first step—tomorrow”? With such thinking, tomorrow is forever. Such tomorrows rarely come unless we do something about them today. --President Thomas S. Monson

I love this quote by President Monson. I think about it probably every single day. Every morning, after I have typed a few reports for work, I jump on the internet and go to the obituaries. Why, you ask? I absolutely love to read the tributes to a loved one, a remembrance of their life, a celebration of their journey. There's just something so inspiring about a life well-lived. I never become desensitized to it. I oftentimes see the lives that are cut too short and shed a tear for the family as though I can feel a little bit of their grief. Sounds depressing, but really, it is inspiring. It makes me ponder my life and think "what have I done to make the world a better place? What would my loved ones write in my obituary if I were to die today? Did I do my best? Have I done enough? What more can I do? Did I love enough? Did I cherish my relationships?" I am oftentimes reminded just how fragile our lives are. It happens all too often I see somebody I knew in the past that has moved on from this earthly existence.

I also like to read the obituaries because these are the people in my community. I work for some of the hospitals in our community and sometimes I will get the reports on these people. I get to hear about the last moments of their life. I love to put a face with the name, the story, the trauma, whatever it is they went through. I love to hear about their life, their family, their stories. I get a little glimpse into this human that was once just a name on a screen being dictated on by Dr. So-and-So. It makes my job real.

"And so I ask, “What are we doing with today?” If we live only for tomorrow, we’ll eventually have a lot of empty yesterdays."

Baby Kyla

We finally got to see one of the most beautiful little girls alive! Thanks Jacob and Amber for letting us hold her and ooooo and ahhhhh. Little baby Kyla was born on July 13 and we have been so busy we haven't been to see her until last night. We were getting a kick out of her trying to eat Ryan's arm and then getting REALLY angry when she realized there was no milk in his biceps. Congrats Nibarger family! She's very cute!

Ryan's Birthday Present.....

For Ryan's birthday I took him on a trip to Colorado to see our friends Jesse and Katie, and also to see Tool play at the Mile High Music Festival. We had a great time in Colorado! We flew in Friday morning. J&K took us to Boulder where we walked around campus where J teaches and then we went over to Pearl Street which is this fun street full of really cool shops. We had to stop at Powell's for some sweet treats. They had every treat you could imagine. We even found candy cigarettes. Yes, I know, my parents must have been crazy to let me have these when I was a kid, but I LOVED THEM. Their minty goodness was so delicious. We also found the gum cigarettes that puff "smoke" when you blow on them (actually just sugar). We ate some delicious food that night for dinner, had some yummy cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory and watched Flight of the Conchords. Holy crap. HILARIOUS! Saturday consisted of eating more yummy food, going to Nordstrom Rack, and then heading over to the Mile High Music Festival. We made it just in time to see G. Love and Incubus (girls went to G. Love, boys to Incubus). We also got to see Ben Harper and the Relentless 7, not as good as the Innocent Criminals, and then on to Tool. They sure can put on a great show. Of course Ryan and Jesse had to go all the way to the front so Ryan could watch the drummer in total amazement. Sunday was full of fun as well. We met up with my cousin, Adam, and his wife, Alesha, at Elitch Gardens in downtown Denver. I guess it used to be a Six Flags but isn't anymore. It was still a lot of fun and it was very good to see Adam. I can't remember the last time we got to hang out since he has been in Denver for a while now. We ate more awesome food at a place called Ted's for dinner that night. I was in heaven. Food is my new best friend. We woke up Monday, packed up and headed to the airport. Of course I freaked out on the flight home. What's the fun in flying if I don't totally freak out right? I HATE flying and I totally packed my anti-anxiety meds in my checked bag, therefore I could not take anything for the flight home. Oops. Sorry Ryan, I hope you hand isn't broken. Thanks Jesse and Katie for letting us stay with you and for hanging out with us all weekend! We had the time of our lives! Happy late birthday present Ryan!

Just a little taste of what's to come this weekend.....

More later! Stay tuned!

Happy 4th of July!

Ryan and I had a fun 4th this year. I finally convinced him to come with me to the parade. He was a bit hesitant, but I ended up dragging him out of bed just in time. We took what we like to call Mug Baby (100 ounces of love) so we wouldn't get dehydrated. I'm pretty sure we could have kept the entire area hydrated with that thing. It's huge! We even took little Bella to the parade. She was a bit overwhelmed with all the people there but had lots of fun. Sunday we went and picked up Josh and went up the canyon for a picnic. I absolutely love this time of year. Look close at this pic. We're doing the cheesiest smiles we can muster up. HaHa. Happy 4th of July!

Bella's Dog Cousins

Right when Ryan came home from Ecuador I insisted we go see his sister's puppies. Their dog had given birth while Ryan was gone and I was SOOOO excited to see the dogs. By the time we got to see them they were 4 weeks old. We had to put Bella next to them to see how tiny she was compared to them. Believe it or not, Bella was scared TO DEATH of these puppies. Bella is actually scared of any animal that moves. She's such a wuss.

A Weekend with Aunt Sissy

This weekend, while the mayor has held captive Jesse and Tina, my mom and I got to take the kids. We started by going to the zoo for a fun-filled adventure. I LOVE THE ZOO! I think Josh and Chloe liked the zoo too. Here they are in a dinosaur egg. We got to ride the train! Towards the end of our zoo visit we could tell Chloe was ready to zonk. The second she got in the car she started doing the head bob and was quickly out. Poor thing. It was lots of fun at the zoo! After the zoo, we went to our hotel, yes we stayed in a hotel in SLC. We got to take the kids swimming and then to Build-A-Bear. I need a pic of their bears, what was I thinking? They haven't put down those bears since we left the mall. Josh even fell asleep holding onto his bear (Bluebeary) quite tightly, so tight in fact, my mom thought he was going to suffocate himself because he had his face buried. Tonight, we're off to Beauty and the Beast at the Scera!