I was getting ready for early morning seminary watching the 6am news. I saw footage of the first tower hit as I was tying my shoe laces. I still remember what shoes I was wearing. But no one knew it was an attack yet, just an accident. I got into my friend's car for the ride to church, and she turned channel to channel on the radio trying to get anything but the news. But all we heard about was the world trade center, and that's when I heard that the second tower had been hit. Our seminary principal was crying when he came in to tell our class. We didn't have a lesson that day. At the high school (I was a senior) my first class was american government, and the teacher didn't believe us that something monumental had happened. He hadn't heard and wanted to continue on the normal lesson. I got up and left his class and went home to spend the day with my mom and watched the footage over and over and over again. I was in shock.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Where were you 7 years ago?
hand crafted by Lauren at 10:10 PM 2 comments
Labels: ditl, introspection, Marshall
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Have prayers to spare?
hand crafted by Lauren at 12:47 AM 1 comments
Sunday, August 24, 2008
2,000 views!!!!
Today, I had my 2,000th view. So in celebration, I will honor that person.
2,000th view, you stopped by at 6:28:18pm (Mountain time) on Saturday, the 24th of August. It appears you are from the greater Los Angeles area of California. You use pacbell.net (like my inlaws) and prefer to use Internet Explorer. You viewed 1 page and stayed for 0 seconds, and entered directly, with no referring URL or exiting site. Most likely, this means you viewed me on a list of blogs, and didn't actually come to my page. Which means you didn't get the full experience...I mean, I worked hard on that background. But it's okay, you viewed my blog. And for that, I honor you.
THANK YOU 2,000th view. Without you, I would have only 1,999 views, and I would have to live with the uneasy anticipation that comes with being mildly OCD. I probably wouldn't sleep well tonight. 1,999 is such a stressful number.
hand crafted by Lauren at 1:45 AM 6 comments
Labels: ditl
Friday, August 22, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Super Skanky....
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& After:

Don't worry, I did Marshall too!!

& After:

hand crafted by Lauren at 11:07 PM 1 comments
Labels: ditl
Monday, August 11, 2008
More of my cute kid
For the family that reads this blog to see Carly...I have to deliver. She is getting so big, and is still pretty cute. Props to my mom for sewing the apple shirt.
hand crafted by Lauren at 2:37 PM 6 comments
Labels: Carly
French Perspective
“A fingertip did the victory,” said Amaury Leveaux, one of the French swimmers. “It is nothing.”
Huh...gold sure doesn't look like nothing to me....
hand crafted by Lauren at 1:52 AM 2 comments
Labels: ditl
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Breaking Dawn
We went at midnight last night to buy the latest book of the Twilight series. When I say "we," I mean me and Marshall. Whose idea was it to go buy the book at midnight? Marshall's. Who has read all the books religiously and had a semi-countdown to last night? Marshall. Marshall was one of the only guys there. And he was certainly the only guy who was genuinely excited. It was cute.
The only other midnight book buying I have been on was the 6th Harry Potter a couple summers ago. I am the kind of person that gets mad at a book if I get to the end and am let down. So, normally if there is a lot at stake (like the love of an entire series) I will read the last page first thing to see if I should prepare myself for the worst. When I purchased Harry Potter, I had to find out if Harry died. I couldn't read 600+ pages wondering the whole time. It would have killed me. Most people think this is a horrible compulsion and some even get kinda mad at me for "ruining" a book for myself. I like to get back at them by ruining the book for them too. :)
Last night, in the middle of Walmart, clearly the only woman there who hadn't read the whole series, and accompanied by the one man who hates ruined endings more than anyone, I had the strongest desire to stand by the registers and read the last page aloud at the top of my lungs. Maybe even with a bullhorn. I wonder how the 200 people in line would have reacted. THAT would have been worth a midnight trip to Walmart! (don't worry, no endings were actually ruined)
hand crafted by Lauren at 10:18 PM 6 comments
Monday, July 14, 2008
Peace
Where can I turn for peace?
Where is my solace
When other sources cease to make me whole?
When, with a wounded heart, anger, or malice
I draw myself apart searching my soul?
Where, when my aching grows?
Where, when I languish?
Where, in my need to know?
Where can I run?
Where is the quiet hand to calm my anguish?
Who, who can understand?
He, only One.
He answers privately.
Reaches my reaching.
In my Gethsemane, Savior, and friend.
Gentle, the peace He finds
For my beseeching.
Constant He is, and kind.
Love without end.
It is unexpected and amazing how much peace I have.
hand crafted by Lauren at 1:53 AM 2 comments
Labels: introspection, loss
Friday, July 04, 2008
Home
So even though the doctors do not have any conclusive hormone levels on me, they let me go home. They decided that since my vital signs were so stable and since I was up and about, it wouldn't hurt to be an extra 3 minutes from the hospital (I can see the hospital from our apartment). Plus, my mom is here so I'd never be alone. And, Marshall tells me that his immediate family gets free transport in Gold Cross Ambulances (almost as cool as airline employee benefits...?)
So I am home now, and feeling pretty good. It still hurts to move around, but I'm surprisingly not as sore as I thought I would be. I go back in for blood tests tomorrow morning (Friday) and again on Monday. The doctors say that they expect I will have to do a second round of shots, which I would start on Tuesday. Hopefully, I won't need more surgery. As is, I am not allowed to lift anything over 10lbs for the next 6 weeks. I don't know how that's going to work, since Carly weighs 24lbs and we live on the 3rd floor. I either need to convince my mom to move in for the 6 weeks, or I need to teach Carly how to climb stairs and maybe how to get up onto her changing table. Oh, and how to get into and out of her crib. And how to just basically obey me. LOL...like that's going to happen.
Thank you so much for all of the kind comments, calls, and emails. We have really felt the love and prayers of so many in the last week.
hand crafted by Lauren at 1:45 AM 5 comments
Labels: loss
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Very sad news...
We lost the pregnancy. Well, we haven't even lost it yet. It's ectopic. And ectopic pregnancy is any pregnancy not in the uterus. Usually these pregnancies are still within the reproductive system (ie: the fallopian tubes or in the ovaries). Mine, however, is an abdominal pregnancy.
We discovered this yesterday because we came in for some blood work and found that I have low progesterone, but really high HCG. (These are the 2 important pregnancy hormones for those of you who aren't savvy). Low progesterone is an indication of an unsuccessful pregnancy, so naturally they wanted to do an ultrasound immediately. The ultrasound showed that the uterus was empty. With my HCG levels being so high, the doctors knew that the embryo had to be a couple centimeters by now and have a beating heart, so they knew that they didn't just miss it. They continued to look around and found a "mass" near my ovary. This mass did not have a yolk sack, or a heart beat, so they couldn't rule out that it was just a cyst.
There are 2 ways to "take care" of an ectopic pregnancy: one is a chemical abortion, and the other is surgical removal. It was my choice. Since my levels of HCG are so high, I am at increased risk that the chemical abortion would not work and I would end up in surgery anyway. Additionally, if the mass that they found was really a cyst, the embryo could be somewhere else and have a beating heart. I'm sure its just me (I'm slightly crazy), but I feel very strongly about not taking abortive measures once an embryo has life (a heart beat), so the idea of doing the chemical abortion without having positively identified the location or health of the embryo really bothered me. So we decided to do surgery. Late last night they wheeled me in, and knocked me out. They discovered during the exploratory laparoscopy that the mass was indeed the pregnancy, but that it had never developed correctly or lived in any form. No heart beat, no life sustaining abilities. However, it was embedded in my abdominal wall right between my ureter and a major blood vessel to my right leg. They decided that removing it surgically was too risky, and to try the chemical abortion since they had positively identified the mass as the pregnancy. But since the mass is in such a sensitive and critical area, they also do not want to let me go home and wait to see if the chemicals worked because if the pregnancy ruptured, I would surely bleed severely and likely die before making it back to the hospital.
So here I sit, in the oncology ward of the hospital, hooked to a million monitors, and waiting to see if my hormones levels go down enough to indicate it is safe for me to go home. Worst case scenario, the chemicals never work, I do 3 rounds over 3 weeks, and still end up back in surgery with an oncology surgeon (they do more vascular work). Best case scenario, this first round works and I am back home in a couple days. We'll see.
Yes, I am sad. But really I am doing much better than I thought. Knowing that I did everything I could to consider and preserve life makes me feel at peace. We are also at peace knowing that this pregnancy never developed into in a little baby, that it was never capable. There was just too much wrong with the cells and the location. We are eager to try again and know that that little spirit is still waiting to come to our family and that we will still meet him or her soon. Thank you for all the prayers and support of the family and friends we have spoken to so far.
hand crafted by Lauren at 1:12 PM 9 comments
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
SYTYCD...its official
I have my favorites. I hold back pledging support until I've seen a bit of the couples. But 3 weeks in a row they've given me goosebumps.
Chelsie and Mark
And its not even because she is a hometown girl.
hand crafted by Lauren at 8:41 PM 1 comments
Labels: Reality TV
Friday, June 20, 2008
Well, since Marshall already blogged the beans...
I'm pregnant. Very early pregnant. Like 4 weeks 2 days pregnant. But although we have already told some people in person, apparently Marshall felt it was a good time to announce it blog-o-sphere style. So, now everyone knows. Everyone but my mother-in-law. She is at girls camp, and won't have reception (or the internet) until tomorrow. Sorry Londa!!
Yes, we're very happy. This was planned and we have been trying for a couple months. I hope its a girl. We already have names. We are dorks.
hand crafted by Lauren at 4:05 PM 7 comments
Labels: pregnancy
Thursday, June 12, 2008
How to get kicked out of the zoo
Ah, yes, the Hogle Zoo.
Anyway, since she's learning the animals, we thought maybe it would be fun to go see them in person and let them show her what sounds they make. We planned the trip on a beautiful in Provo, but by the time we were in Salt Lake, it was rainy. But we had no other plans and didn't want to go home early, so a rainy trip to the zoo it was.
It was cold and miserable. And half of the exhibits didn't allow strollers, so we couldn't go inside. Half of the animals were hiding inside (they were smart). But here's a little of what we did see:
ElephantSome kinda monkey or sloth or skunk
Cougar
Bears
Penguins
Marshall, of course, could not visit the zoo without mocking each of the animals. I'm glad we were there on a day when there were so few other people, because at every exhibit, he would yell, "hey monkey...hey you monkey...monkey monkey monkey." Toward the end of our trip we came upon a peacock that was wandering free. Marshall felt that mocking just wasn't good enough.
Don't worry, the peacock didn't have a heart attack and fall over dead. And we didn't really get kicked out of the zoo. But I bet if it hadn't been raining, and the zoo personnel weren't all huddled in the snack bar, one of them probably would have yelled at us.
Carly still thinks cougars, monkeys, bears, and dogs all say "woof, woof."
hand crafted by Lauren at 11:49 AM 1 comments
Moving!
We're moving to Salt Lake next week! I just thought I would let everyone know. It is a big lifestyle change for us. This means a whole new town and neighborhood. It is a little intimidating. We have moved a million (well 3) times within Provo, but those moves have never affected daily life, like which grocery store to go to, which exit to use, or which theatre or mall to go to. Provo feels like home after having lived here for 6 years. It's a little intimidating to know we will be up in the big city. So wish us luck!
hand crafted by Lauren at 11:37 AM 5 comments
Labels: projects
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Dandelion Day
We went to the playground on Sunday, and it was blooming with little white balls of fluff. Carly was excited, and as much as we tried to teach her how to blow them, she was more exciting by trying to bite them. Here are some pictures of our little family:
hand crafted by Lauren at 8:47 PM 5 comments
AAHHH!
My stomach is doing blackflips.
I'm so excited...
That's right!....
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE IS STARTING!!!!!!
hand crafted by Lauren at 7:07 PM 2 comments
Labels: Reality TV
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Ta Da!
East Wall
South Wall
West Wall
(you just went in a circle)
Nothing too fancy, we're renters afterall. But I was excited to move around the furniture and get some actual play space in there for her. There is a gate at the door, and a camera in the corner. We can let her play and actually go to the bathroom without her ever being unsupervised. LOVE IT!
Speaking of bathroom, since Carly is a self sufficient walker these days, we decided to get her a potty chair for her first birthday in a couple weeks. Don't worry, we'll go at her pace. We actually just plan to have it in the room and get her used to sitting on it at first. But with any luck, it won't take the whole year. Wish us luck!
hand crafted by Lauren at 9:50 PM 2 comments
Labels: projects
Motivation
[moh-tuh-vey-shuhn] (noun)
1. the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior; "we did not understand his motivation"; "he acted with the best of motives"
2. the condition of being motivated; "his motivation was at a high level"
3. the act of motivating; providing incentive
4. My mother in law
Marshall's mother has a way with him that I will NEVER have.
Londa came to visit earlier this week. We had the carpet relayed in our apartment the day before she arrived, and our house still looked like this:The entire contents of Carly's bedroom (minus crib and dresser) were in our living room. She was staying at Russ's house, so I wasn't too worried, but she did come down on Wednesday for the morning. The room still looked like that when she arrived (not to mention the pile of laundry on the lovesac).
When I returned from work, my living room was clean. Shocked, I asked my 4'11" mother-in-law if she had moved all the heavy furniture herself. Nope. Sure enough, she had asked Marshall to help and he had. Our house looks SO NICE!
The next day, after Londa had left, Marshall said "I'm glad my mom came because otherwise our house would have never been put back together." I asked, "You wouldn't have helped move furniture if I had asked?" His answer: "Probably not, that's why I said I'm glad my mom came." I need to learn her secret...
P.S. Thank you so much, Londa!
hand crafted by Lauren at 9:31 PM 1 comments





