Feeling Really Lucky

I'm writing this on my phone, so don't judge spelling/grammar/punctuation.
Today is my 27th birthday. So crazy to me! I've never been so happy, or felt so right in all of my life. I know that I've made stupid choices in this life game before, but I feel that they have all led me to where I am now.
Married to an amazing man who loves me for who I am, weirdness and all. He provides for us, and keeps our feet on the ground.
We now have a perfect little boy that I love with all of my heart, who smiled at me today because he loves his momma!
I have a needy little puppy who has horrid breath, but I love him still.
My family is unlike any other; loud, weird, hilarious (if we're any judge), and we use "little shit" as a term of endearment. I love them, and admire them all. I definitely wouldn't be who I am now without them in my life.
I have a home that protects my little family, keeps us warm and safe.
It's safe to say that sitting here listening to my two boys snore...
I. Am. Happy.

Family Reunion, here we come!

So this weekend the Peterson family is having it's first reunion in.... years. Aside from the Christmas parties of course. Anyway.

We're getting together this Saturday at my mom's house. To give you an idea of how ginormous our family is... I have 4 older brothers/sisters. So, there are 5 kids total. We EACH have to bring 4 dozen cookies. Let's see. That means there will be 20 dozen. Which equals 240. That's a lot of cookies. There are probably around 100 people in my family from my grandparents down. And it just keeps growing. It's going to be a par-tay.

So I was thinking of doing pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and I can hardly wait. I'm thinking that I'll just make an extra dozen for myself.

Interviews and much much more.

So in the past week, I've had two interviews. First one at Control4, which was all due to the lovely Kateka. It went really well, and I actually have another interview via phone set up for Monday. Which is really too bad because I suck at phone interviews. Horribly. Either way, my second interview was with The Ready Store, which was set up through an old friend from 1800Contacts. It was very random and spur of the moment. I saw her at 6:30 Thursday night, and then Friday at 12, I had an interview. Thursday afternoon Stampin' Up! called, and alas, I had an interview for this Wednesday. So, even though all summer I didn't hear one single word about a job, now that school is almost back in, I've got three interviews. By all accounts, it doesn't make sense. But I'm extremely grateful for the opportunities, and can't wait to figure things out. I know that I was all psyched about being the PE teacher, which I really am/was, but after everything that happened with my legs and spending all that money, it was kind of a wake up call as to why insurance is so important. So my priorities have had to shift slightly.

I can't lie either, at this moment in my life, I'm embracing change. I've been at the same job for a few years now, with a little break while I went to school. I've been out of school for over a year now. Justin is still going, but that also means he's working, going to school, and free time is spent doing homework. Which, I appreciate everything that he is doing to provide for me. I love Justin. He is such a hard worker, and he has the most amazing goals which he is completely able to achieve. I'm so proud of his ambition, and his focus, and control. He is so motivated and he knows just what he wants. It really is such a comfort to know that I'll be with him for eternity.

Moving on in the weekend. Saturday was rough. A word that I can't even say ruined everything. I found out my aunt (my dad's sister) has Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Looking it up, the first line reads "Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease or CJD (pronounced /ˈkrɔɪtsfɛlt ˈjɑːkoʊb/,^[1] "KROITS-felt YA-kob") is a degenerative neurological disorder (brain disease) that is incurable and invariably fatal." So that gives you an idea as to what my Saturday was like. I think the hardest thing is knowing what my aunt will have to go through. She's already forgetting things, she's started tripping, and it's just the beginning. For some reason, their family has been hit HARD with trials. My uncle died when I was just little. Then my cousin's wife died in her sleep, leaving him with just a little baby girl, and this was years ago. But then my cousin died 3 years ago. Leaving his daughter with her step-mom and grandparents. She's now in her 20s, but that doesn't make it any easier. Now my aunt has been given 2-6 months left to live. Sometimes you just have to wonder how much one family can take. And the things I mentioned are just PART of their trials.  It blows my mind. I know that Heavenly Father only gives us as much as we can handle, but it doesn't make it any easier to comprehend. So there have been a lot of tears. A lot of prayers. Not only for my aunt, but for my grandparents. They've already lost one child, I'm not sure how they'll take losing another. For my dad, and his sisters. I can't imagine the pain these next few months will bring for them all. For my cousins, and what they'll have to endure. So instead of me praying about jobs, and what not, I'm now praying for comfort, love, and understanding.

I had a friend post asking about happiness, and what it was. I can honestly say that the thing that makes me most happy is my family. They can make me the most crazy, the most angry, and they can make me laugh the hardest. But without a doubt, they make me the happiest.

Oh grandpa

Just get better. Remember this? Well, last night my grandpa started having heart problems. I'm not positive on all the details, but I do know that he had an ambulance take him to the hospital last night. And he had a pacemaker put in. And his body went into shock. He currently has a breathing tube in, and because they're so uncomfortable, they're sedating him. He should come out of it hopefully tonight, or tomorrow.

It just doesn't make any sense, because my grandpa is so dang healthy! My mom and I were joking just last week that he's almost too healthy. Well, that just goes to show you that it doesn't hurt to have some deliciousness along the way.

Well, on a side note, but related to my grandpa...
For some reason, in my family, we have runny noses. Anything can trigger it. We laugh, it runs. We eat, it runs. Slightly cold out? It runs. Sneeze, run. Look to the left, it runs. A cloud floats by, it runs. And mine is running now. My grandpa had a surgery to help his. Maybe one day...

This is something that ALWAYS makes me happy. It can make me cry it's so pretty. Music is the key to my heart. The back story on this clip from Glee- Kurt (in the white outfit) leaves the school his boyfriend is at. His boyfriend is the main singer and he's singing him this song as a goodbye.

And then one that still makes me happy, but not in a teary way...

THEN! If you know scrubs at all... this is just hilarious.

Glee has a tendency to push it as far as it can go, and then a little farther, which I'm not a fan of. BUT the music is amazing! The dancing can be pretty fantastic too. And then Scrubs... just makes me laugh. Pretty much one of my favorite shows. Along with Supernatural. So I recommend them.

Okay okay.

So, after much deliberation, I decided to add the picture of the 'All Seeing Eye' to allow you to see the creativity that oozed from within my soul.

Yes. This is me. One of my shameless ideas to make money. My dad thought that it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. Why was I not out playing like most kids? I don't know. I had a box, and I used it. Now that I've found the website mentioned in the previous post, I'm sad I never thought of doing those things. 

Moving on.

This past week my mom and I went to St George. My parents own a condo there, and they decided to rent it out. So everything had to be taken out, and cleaned. We were buuusssyyyyy. When we got down there, the temperature inside of the condo was 89 DEGREES! And the carpets had just been cleaned, so it was muggy. I turned the air on STAT. Gradually, the condo got down to about 74. It felt GREAT. My mom and I got there Tuesday night, and we cleaned Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We took a load of things my mom didn't want to the D.I. and we moved what we could into the main room so it would be easier for my dad and brother to load when they got there. Jess and my dad arrived Thursday night in a big moving truck. Then on Friday, it was my cousin's wedding. My parents went to the temple that morning, and Jess and I hung out watching TV. When my mom and dad got back, my mom and I went to the luncheon, and Jess and my dad started loading all the furniture into the truck. Later that day, Christy and Adam and their kids met us at Breck's reception. I'm so happy for my cousin! He met a BEAUTIFUL girl. I hope they're really happy. They deserve it!

After the reception, my mom decided to take us all on this little hike to see petroglyphs, or hieroglyphs... whatever they're called. As we're walking along, we're all looking at this ginormous dark cloud heading our way that looked QUITE foreboding. So we kind of picked up the pace. When we got to the carvings, it was sprinkling a little bit, and then lightening, so we decided to head back. On the way back, the lightening was getting worse. Christy and Adam and their kids ran ahead, and Jess and I had our cameras taking videos because it was CRAAAZY. We were just kind of strolling along, and then BAM! Lightening hit behind us, and we all started running. It was a ways away, but close enough that we took off. When we got to the cars, we got in, and about 60 seconds later, it started to POUR. Big huge drops. It was a lot of fun just sitting there and watching it. 

This is a video of all the lightening we were running through

The pretty sunset before the storm

 This is the dark cloud heading our way

 Hiking around in the dark

This was when we got into the car. Jess and I.

 My family in the garage

 The family with me

 Madi was taking pictures

We headed home, and were just hanging out in the garage. Watching the rain. It was really coming down! Ciera Madi and I ran down to my grandparents condo to see what they thought, and then we ran back so we were soaking. In the garage, we have a ball hanging from the ceiling to show how far you can pull in. Well.... my family being my family... we made a game of it. The game was called "Don't Flinch" and what you do is measure how close the ball is, and then throw it around the circle and you can't move. Hahahaha I don't know. Then Adam threw a curve ball, and told us all to take a step to the right without measuring, and then we threw it... pretty sure that every time my dad took a ball to the face. All in all, it was a really fun week. We only went swimming a couple of times. 

 After we'd run around in the rain

Hahahaha this is our game!

 Pre-dadgettinghitintheface shot

 Jess not flinching

 Madi still taking pictures

4 Wheel Drive Trip 2011

Every year my family goes on a 4-wheel drive trip. It's usually over conference, and we go places in Utah. This time we were in Moab (where the majority of the trips are) and naturally, my family started some ridiculous peer pressure thing.... so enjoy one of the Peterson Family talents! Acting like kids!

And some pictures...

Picture Post

This is my niece's door. Obsess much?

This is the infamous Beiber that gave me a heart attack. But this is Madi posing, not Ciera.

This is my niece's super cute headboard my sister made. It's all fabric.

This is my sister's dog. His name is Maximus, and I love him. He's a boy, but the groomer must not have noticed....

My niece Molly. She's about 6 months, and TONS of fun. When she's not screaming.

A funny (but true) story

So, I need to give a little background for this story.

I love scary movies. I watch them all the time, and therefore I have a somewhat demented thought process. I think scary things, all that. I don't really get scared... I just think the 'what if' kind of things.

My shower is shaped like a rectangle.... here is the layout.

My shower door is frosted, so you can't necessarily see through it, but you can see color, and a blurry shape... etc.

OKAY.

So, my niece was texting me saying that she had something to show me, and she was SO excited about it. She was asking when I'd be home, if I'd left yet, etc. So I told her I'd be home around 10 pm, and she was fine with that. She'd just wait until I was home to show me.

Well, Justin and I left his parents house, and got home around 10. I yelled for Ciera when I walked in the door, but Adam (my brother in law) said that she was in the shower. I said to have her come down and show me when she got out of the shower, and we'd leave the doors open. So we left the door at the top of our stairs open, and the door into our place open. The dog followed us down so we played with him a little, but then I had to go to the bathroom, so I walked in, and turned the light on.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a guy standing in my shower. I screamed louder than I have ever screamed in all of my life. As the scream was coming out of my mouth and giving Justin a heart attack, my thoughts start processing WHAT I'm seeing.

Thought #1- The guy isn't moving.

Thought #2- He looks an awful lot like Justin Beiber.

Thought #3- Oh my land, Ciera must have gotten a life-size cutout of Justin Beiber, and it's in my shower.

Well. That's exactly what happened. Ciera babysat that night for her aunt, and that was how they paid her.

I'm pretty sure that shenanigan took 17 years off my life.

I like to eat eat eat apples and bananas!

I don't know if any of you ever listen to Brian Regan, but he has a joke about spelling banana, and adding too many na's to it... it makes me laugh.

Anyway. I feel a lot has happened in the last few weeks. Grandpa is doing awesome. He was back on the treadmil within 2 weeks of surgery, and he looks great! He showed me the scar on his chest... man alive it's huge. A little scary.

For Valentine's Day, Justin and I went to my parents cabin. We left Friday night, and came back home on Monday. We watched a lot of movies, read, Justin did homework, ate out, and one night Justin made meatloaf! It was a lot of fun. I think even Auggie had fun. I love my dog =)

Saturday afternoon, we had some friends come over and we started planning for our Ghost Towning adventure. I'm really excited. We got a lot planned out, got food figured out, and now it's just up to the people who want to come. Justin is REALLY excited. He's never really been. I have, but the problem is that we went to so many different places that they all kind of blurred together. Either way, I'll remember them now because I'll have my camera!

Grandma's birthday party was Saturday night. Our family got together, including Connie (who is serving a mission with her husband in Bolivia as temple president) and then uncle Steven from Kansas. It was kind of fun to see them all together and hear them laughing and what not. Then, once dinner was over, my grandma sat in a chair right in the front of everyone, and we all asked questions. It was a lot of fun.

We've done a few more meals since I last posted. There was a yucky gumbo, meatloaf (it was a little crumbly, but good), delicious and hard to stuff manicotti, and... I know there was more... I just can't remember. So I'll post again when I get home.

And just a little side note. The heater in the room at the school I work at... yeah, it's broken. I'm fuh-fuh-fuh-fuhreeeeezing.

Grandpa is doing good!

So my grandpa left the ICU yesterday at about 4:00 pm, and he's awake, talking, and doing good! Thank you all for your prayers, and happy thoughts.

As a family, we fasted from 4:00 Tuesday and were supposed to go until he either got out, or 4:00 Wednesday. Whichever you felt you should do. I was trying for the 4:00, so a full day, I lasted until about 1:30 (which his surgery was over by then) because I went on a tour of the new fire station across the street from the school...and there were cookies... and I totally forgot. I snatched one up, shoved it down my throat, and then it hit me. I WAS FASTING! So I quickly told Heavenly Father that it was an accident, and I wouldn't ever do that again. Lesson learned.

All joking aside, I'm extremely grateful for the gospel, and the power of prayer, blessings, and fasting. I'm not saying that fasting healed him, but it probably had a hand in how the big man upstairs pushed the situation. I'm grateful for my family as well. I'm just extremely grateful this week! =)

25 years old. THAT'S A QUARTER OF A CENTURY!

So, I'm 25. My grandpa let me know that I'm officially a quarter of a century old.

But first, New Years pictures!--

This is a true story. -10 on the drive home!

So we went to my parents house and had donuts and hot chocolate. It was delicious! My mom got me some maple bars which are my favorite. We all just kind of hung out and talked, like we usually do. It was a lot of fun.

This was all done on Monday. My birthday wasn't actually until that Friday, but schedules are hard to work around. On Friday I went to work, and got gifts from most of the ladies that I work with, which was extremely thoughtful of them. I also got a gift from the little boy that I work with. I went into his room, and he came up to me and said, "Go back out! It's a surprise!" and he pushed me out the door. =) He later came into my room with a card and a gift card to Barnes and Noble. It was really nice. Justin had given me gifts throughout the day, which was very cute. I woke up to a card that had a $20 gift card to Taco Bell (7 Layer burritos get me every time), and then when I went to leave for work, there was a nice water bottle waiting on top of my car. I left work about 30 minutes early, and got home and watched some TV. When Justin got home, he gave me my last presents! He got me a brown bed spread, and some drawers to put on my shelves. I was very excited! After I got those opened, Justin and I went to DSW and I bought some shoes! OH HOW I LOVE SHOES! I got these...

Which I'm really happy about. After we went shoe shopping, we went to dinner at La Frontera. I am really starting to like that place. We went there with Mikell and Trent on New Years, and I ate my whole plate =). After dinner, we went and saw Black Swan (which is CRAAAAZY) and then came home and watched a little ghost adventures. It was a good birthday!

Saturday Justin and I went to lunch with my parents, and found out that my grandpa was in the hospital. He passed out after he ate dinner Friday night. Just tipped over at the table. But they took him to the hospital (because there were no warning signs, they said to take him in) and they ran some tests, and come to find out he has an artery that's clogged, but it's too close to the heart for them to put a stint in... so they're doing open heart surgery on Wednesday. Our family is doing a fast for him, and I can't lie. I hope it works. My grandpa has been an institute teacher for something like 15 years now, and he's amazing! I've had a lot of friends that have come with me, or just been in his class out of chance, and they all say he's just like a prophet =) He has an eloquent way of speaking, and the way that he moves his hands... he's just really awesome. I'l update as soon as I hear more about that.