Today is my birthday.

I love birthdays! How could one NOT like a day totally centered around ME??? :) Although I am dreading this whole new OLD chapter of my life, I especially love my birthday this year for a few reasons:

1 -- This is my birthday present to me:

Hooray new cars! Happy birthday, me!

2. Josh may or may not push me down the stairs for posting this, but it makes me happy. Last week Josh had knee surgery (again). This picture, however, tells a different story -- that he actually got surgery to become a lunch lady. I look at this picture every day and laugh. So I am posting it for everyone else's enjoyment, and that is a good birthday present to myself.

3-- We are going to the BEACH on Monday for an entire week!!! This is the best birthday/ anniversary present ever. My only wish is that my baby tummy would look more like a preggo belly and less like a spare tire. Come on, kid, can't you be a little more round or something in there??? I do hope no one mistakes me for a beached whale and tries to throw me back in the ocean.

Oh, yes, by the way, it was our 3-year anniversary on the 18th. I did not post some mushy anniversary post for the sole reason that I want to have a 4 and 5-year anniversary and did not want to upset Josh with my mushiness. But it's been a good three years. Really good.

There are many other reasons why I love birthdays, most of which have to do with my AWESOME family and friends!!! Thanks everyone for your wishes and love!

Forget Swine Flu....

it's the EGYPTIAN FLU!!!

Aaah, it's an epidemic!!! As I have watched close friends and family become affected by this serious condition, I thought I was immune...

When I was 12 I remember coming home from school, and my mom was lying on the couch, not looking too well. I was an overly dramatic child, (possibly still am???) and after several days of coming home to my mom like this, I had a panic attack and was convinced that my mom was dying, that she had cancer or was possibly being poisoned by our water (I did not drink it for days). I broke down and with worry, cried to my mom and begged her to tell me what was wrong!!!

She said to me, "Becca, I have the Egyptian flu"... oh man, this sounded bad. She for sure was dying. I cried some more.

Then I asked her, "what is the Egyptian flu???"

"Well, you get really sick, and then 9 months later, you become a MUMMY!!

Here I am, 13 years later, and I've caught the FLU!!!!

Hooray!

p.s. we are still unsure if it is actually a baby, a chicken nugget or an alien, however, JR. will make his/her arrival sometime around Nov. 9th!!! Also -- if it is not a boy Josh says we have to give it back.

What, you miss me???

I seem to forget to post.  In my defense, I have been extremely busy with the following:

*** Jumping up and down that Ev moved back to Utah so now I have someone close by!  Thank you for moving to P.G.

*** Taking pictures of this handsome stud:  (girls, he's taken...)  He is sending this one out as his graduation announcement.  (kidding?)

*** Attending URKA's graduation, congrats!  Since no graduation is complete without a giant pineapple....

*** Calling everyone I know to remind them that it is my birthday this month!  I turn 19 finally!  (Yes, 25 sounds horrible, so I've reverted back a few years in my maturity level for the next little while...)  Actually, I've only reminded Josh every day that I demand angel food cake and a full 24 hours of pampering and exclusive attention from him.  

Yeah, I really haven't been busy.  Instead I spend my days daydreaming about the beautiful California beach -- I'll be seeing you soon!!!!

Dear Jennae:

May I have your eyelashes please?

You have more than enough to share.

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice...

Last weekend I got to spend a GLORIOUS day with my best friends from high school, Sara, Jill and Brooke. Jill just had the sweetest baby, Ruby, in February and asked me to take some pictures of her. I was SO nervous! BUT the photo shoot was a lot of fun, and I always enjoy spending time with a bunch of GIRLIES! Here's a little peek at Jill's precious bebe.

(hopefully you can actually click on the links to make the photos larger. I am slightly comput-arded)

NEXT: Lexi (brooke's beautiful daughter) was SO enthralled with tiny Ruby! Since Lexi is too adorably delicious to NOT take her picture:

I secretly wish I could've stolen them both and brought them home with me!!! Ah, my friends make good looking children!

We're still here...

Here's an update on us:

Kona, besides being half satan, is half genius. Not only does she know how to get ice out of the fridge dispenser, she can now also open drawers and cupboards and eat anything inside, whether it's edible or not. Who knew I'd have to baby-proof my house for a DOG.

Josh is heading back to work full time tomorrow! Huzzah! (because we are pirates, we say words like that) He is still not sleeping and keeps calling me Maria, but he lied through his teeth to the doc so he could stop spending so much time with Satan-Genius.

Josh also won an award for having the WORST LUCK EVER this week. A big hats off to that.

I have been able to see some of my dearest friends lately -- oh how happy you all made me on Friday! :) This week is also filled with more dear friend reunions. I am so excited!

We finally got a real gym membership -- no more mooching off SLCC for me! Sadly, I am already panting by the time I walk up 0ne flight of stairs to get to the treadmills. Don't judge!

My new camera comes in the mail today! This is probably more exciting than a baby.

And also, check out my sister Ev's blog! She is making my life even more complete! LOVE YOU EV!

And lastly, I found this video today that someone sent me years ago. It is funny, and I wanted everyone else to enjoy.

Back to the real world...

Now that I  successfully infiltrated the scary world of high school once again and managed to win the hearts of millions of teens... back to life!  Tour was... a little overwhelming, a little annoying and mostly tiring, but I could not complain about the 80 degree weather out in CA!  I miss it dearly.  Josh pretended not to miss me, but when I came home he was wearing one of my shirts that smells like me.... Okay that's a lie, but we can all pretend, it's a funny image!

Next, I must apologize for the lack of funniness in this post -- don't want to disappoint my eager 'viewers?', but I will blame it on the fact that I am hung over from entirely too much sleep this last week.  

Before I left for CA I had the opportunity to spend time behind the lens with my good friends the Ireys -- Tawnie wanted some new pictures of them together (they've been married 5 years!  Where has the time gone????), and Dan was a good sport and managed to smile and stay upbeat after working all night and coming straight to do the photos.  Anyway, here's sharing how good looking they are!!

Gonna Get my HIGH SCHOOL on!

As embarrassing as it is, I am EXCITED beyond words to head out to California tomorrow and "chaperone" (I use that term very, very loosely) for the Bear River High School choir/drama/orchestra/band/colorguard/ tour! I am leaving Josh alone to fend for himself and attend speech therapy all by himself like a big boy! (I have told him that he is training for the special olympics, and now he is excited as can be!) as well as try to take care of the devil's labrador. (also, we did take her to the vet, and it is confirmed, she is one-half Satan) My trip is two parts self-serving, as I will have an incredibly fun time pretending I am in high school again, only way cooler this time, as well as making Josh realize how helpless he is without me and that he will never let me leave his side again. To better prepare myself to hang out with high school kids once again (contrary to popular belief I did not graduate last year...) I have been polishing up my high school skills as follows:

*Using the word "like" well, like every other word.

*Working on my excited girl squeal. This can also be accompanied by short bursts of jumping up and down.

*"Oh my gosh, like did you see him checking me out? He thinks I am, like, totally hot!"

*Polishing up my texting skills. Using LOL and OMG in every day, real conversation is also okay.

*Working on my gossip -- and creating drama. e.g. -- "She said WHAT about you? I can't believe it. Whatev, her boyfriend is cheating on her anyway, it's true, I saw him."

*Listening to the top 40's stations so I can know all the words to the popular songs and sing along, loudly, to the radio.

*Accustoming my body to only 4 hours of sleep per night. This is a mandatory tour rule.

*Giggling. And then giggling a little more at my giggle.

*Bringing at least 32GBs worth of memory cards for my digital camera to document every minute of the trip, starting with the bus ride.  I have also been practicing my "high school picture face", which involves looking as weird as possible.

*Practicing my new talking voice, which is 8 notes higher and 200 decibels louder than my usual talking voice.

*Buying graphic tees -- shirts that say "thugs need hugs", "I'm kind of a big deal" and "your mom goes to college" will be a basic staple of my life.

AND since I cannot embarrass myself anymore, I am also including, for your enjoyment, pictures from when I was actually in high school.  And for those who are incriminated in these pictures... HA HA! You go down with me! :)

Brooke, Sara and I.  Like, what babes.  The guys wanted us.

I love these girls!

These two pictures are actually from when I attended choir tour to NYC! 

(this one is kind of hard to see... thanks, oh faithful, trusty scanner at my parent's house!)

Also, I did not pick these pictures.  I asked my sister to e-mail me some pictures of me in high school and this is what I got.  

Josh's Happy Place

The doctor gave Josh an assignment this week -- to help his brain heal, he needs to take it to a relaxing, happy place... So I made this photo for Josh.  I can already see it working -- he has remembered my name for three days in a row!  I laugh so much at this photo I try not to snort.  It is that funny to me.

Josh polishing up his surfing skills that he never knew he had (he doesn't remember NOT being this good, so if it didn't look so fake, it could be real, right?)

And also, why do we not live on a beach?  Would it be highly impractical to tear out the grass in our backyard and fill it with sand?  

Felt Great (???) in 2008!

Yeah, yeah, the new year's been here for 12 days, but 2008 was just so great we're still hanging on! 2008 was quite an.... adventure? I keep telling myself that the ups and downs of life make life into a fun rollercoaster, even if it makes you puke a few times along the way?

Really, 2008 was not that bad -- we don't regret a thing! Still, we learned a lot and Josh, amazing as it sounds, still loves me at the end! Here are a few of the highlights/things we learned in 2008: (and when I say "we", I mostly mean "me"...)

--Dogs are not as fun as children. They are, however, just as needy and expensive.

--Our new guard dog, Kona protects us from getting a good night’s rest, not having to buy new electronics, glasses, socks and other expensive items she keeps chewing up, and she is vigilant in making sure she eats more of our food than we do. She works 24/7 and is truly priceless. The best part is we got her for free. Wow, they really saw us coming...

--It is not a good idea to take your motion-sick husband go-cart racing for your anniversary.

--Prenatal vitamins do not grow babies. Hair and nails did not grow either. What a jip.

--Men who do not go to the hospital at least 8 times per year are not real men.

--Josh lost a portion of his memory in December. He now firmly believes he is single and brings dates home on a regular basis. Women only, any takers?

--I decided to capitalize on Josh’s memory loss by telling him that he works three jobs, and now he gives me all of his money to spend lavishly on me.

--Having more than one brother-in-law with the same name is not confusing, it is cool. Also, it gives me more excuses to come up with cool nicknames that way. Still waiting for Jakes #3, 4, and 5.

--Solving the mystery of “which auto immune disease do you have” is NOT cool, exciting or adventurous like a Scooby Doo mystery. Nor does it have theme music.

--Electing a President can instantly end world hunger, solve global warming and cure cancer.

-- Playing Mario Kart on the Wii for hours on end is NOT a waste of time. It teaches valuable driving techniques, such as having individualized insults when you electrocute or pass others, and throwing bombs BEHIND you as you drive.

--Nieces and nephews are truly as good as they sound. Niece Hadley can also eat her weight in food on a regular basis. She is huge but still cute.

--If you’ve gotta work two jobs, get a second job where you work with teenagers who idolize you. I really can never run out of teenage dating horror stories to entertain the masses.

--Josh’s dirty deeds done cheap business, founded in March, is taking off. Selling alcohol to minors or getting rid of neighbor’s annoying pets are just a few of the services he provides. Cash only, please.

Although 2009 hasn't brought us sunshine and rainbows yet... we remain optimistic -- it's only a matter of time before Josh's superhero powers kick in.