Newly Weds

I thought I'd post some pictures from our honey moon and other adventures lately. For those who don't know we went to the beautiful island of Kauai. Behold.



This next photo pretty much sums up the vacation... nothing better than lounging on baby floaty's at the hotel pool!

We soon became masters of the grill and enjoyed fine dining as a result!


This is me about to face a 250 ft stretch of zipline...the second of seven ziplines we did that day.



Check out Chris' action photography as he speeds down the line, ha, ha!


We had to try just about every flavor of gelato before making a decision. You will also note the lack of effort gone into doing my hair, it's useless when you get in the water every couple of hours.
We were privileged to behold the the wild life on the isle.



And guava was found in abundance out in the jungle.

We were greeted with a lovely Hawain Luau back in California upon our return home thanks to Chris' parents.


This is our old and beloved first dining room table featuring udon noodles and spinach salad. My brother and sister in law got us these awesome ramen bowls for our wedding complete with chopsticks and adorable little cherry blossom chopstick holders. YUM!

Our second weekend at home we didn't just hiked, but backpacked up Timpanogos with some of Chris' old college roommates and their wives. All in all it was pretty difficult but definitely worth it! You can't see stars like that from down in the valley.


We were also lucky enough to stumble upon some hunters and their prized mountain goat!! If you zoom in on this baby you can see the blood dripping from the goat's nose onto the hem of that dude's pants. Sweet!


We have continued our grilling tradition... a homemade fire roasted tomatoe onion soup.

A little mud mask rest and relaxation to counteract the stress of school.

That about sums things up!

Behold the Alleged Mosquito Bite!

Might I remind you I did not lay so much as a finger nail on that thing...literally!

Police Beat

I apologize I have not yet posted the picture of my allergic reaction to the West Nile assailant. And for those asking for wedding pictures I have not gotten those back yet either. Thank you for your interest. In other interesting news and for those of you who have been out of the BYU scene for a while let me fill you in on the latest Police Beat. That's right, BYU is a hub of suspicious activity and disorderly conduct so much so that it warrants a special section of the Daily Universe every Wednesday.

I will share with you the highlights from today's paper, my own commentary in red:

SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY

October 6th: A suspicious looking backpack and lunch box were reported to be on Maeser Hill. Police came, but they did not find anything.

Seriously? No, seriously?? No worries, there were only about four other reports in which the police arrived only to find no signs of anything suspicious. Perhaps the best was when a snake, thought to be a common garter snake, was spotted on a walk way on the south end of campus. There was no sign of the snake when police arrived. Who is calling and reporting such nonsense? Throw a rock at the snake and it'll slither back where it came from! Did you actually expect the snake to wait around until officers arrived? Glad the police are staying so busy.

THEFT

October 6th: A bike was stolen from a woman at her home in Provo a few months ago. She found it at the Tanner Building and stole it back. She left a note for the thief to give her a call, but she did not receive one.

Ha, ha...is this not funny to anyone else? Why did she want the thief to call her?? I wouldn't give a thief my phone number.

DISORDRLY CONDUCT

October 4th: The Wyview Park apartments has ongoing criminal mischief under investigation. Someone keeps spreading things such as wet cat food, dish soap and peanut butter on people's doors using a toilet plunger.

How do they know they are using a toilet plunger?? Is the plunger left as well? Does the suspect keep buying new plungers every night?

Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. Chris and I like to make up our own police beats just for fun. For example:

DISORDERLY CONDUCT:

October 14th: A BYU student was walking home from school along 800 North. A car drove by and a passenger in the vehicle threw something out the window. The foreign projectile hit the BYU student in the face. When officers arrived on scene the car was not to be found. The missile was believed to be a Skittle. No injuries were sustained by the victim of the drive by.

Oh wait...that really happened!! Who reports a drive by Skittling??

September 5th: A student's bike was stolen from the RB bike racks. The student reportedly locked his bike up at the end of April before leaving to do summer sales in California. When the student returned to school in September the bike was not to be found.

Never mind, we don't have to make this stuff up...people are actually that stupid. This was actually from one of the newspapers as well. Yo dummy, you're bike was probably impounded by the school. You can't leave your bike for 4 months and expect it to be waiting for you when you get back!

Sweet Nectar

For those of you who may not know, I have some type of strange succulent sweet nectar flowing through my veins. Seriously folks, where ere there be a mosquito he will find me. When no one else gets any mosquito bites in the evening I usually get about five.

So anyway, two days before my bridals I was accosted by my arch enemy... the mosquito. I vowed not to give that mosquito the satisfaction of watching me scratch that bite. It took every ounce of self restraint, but knowing my pictures were up and coming I did not scratch.

Ironically when I woke up in the morning this is what I found. The fruits of my efforts had NOT been rewarded!!

(picture coming)

All I have to say is Benadryl. And being doped up on that for a day wasn't a pretty site either.

Bridals

Sorry I've been MIA forever and then some. I've been busy planning my wedding and trying to keep my head above water :) Here is a peak at some of my bridals. Stay tuned for my monster mosquito bite!

The soft smile

Out in nature...

that shot was actually taken at the edge of a parking lot and I'm pretty much standing on a couple of beer cans.


Off with the shoes!

The bouquet I kept fretting over.

I like to call this the Jane Austin backdrop.

Frolicking!

Rustic fence post.

Laughing hysterically...when I did that the photographer said, "Woah, do that scrunchy thing with your nose again." (Chris' favorite picture)

Toe shot.
My mother said, "good thing your toes were done", ha, ha... as if it was by accident.
Also I was thrilled with the purchase of my shoes for only $16 at Target!

Photos

Hey friends,
Me and Chris posed as the "models" for a photography class. For those who know, the girl teaching it was actually an old friend of some of the Ivy's from Helaman Halls. You can check out our pictures on her blog here.

I was so impressed with Chris. Without me even asking he dropped off his shirts to the dry cleaners to be starched and pressed, he got a hair cut, he showed up on time, and didn't complain about having his picture taken! Having grown up with three brothers I am still in shock!

Back From the Surgeon and Tonsil Free

This is me in all my glory post surgery.


I was very anxious to bring you pictures of my new throat! So don't scroll down if you don't want to see. But you can definitely read my run down of the surgery.

I arrived at the surgical center nice and early at 8am. After some paper work I stripped down to my skiv-vies...(cotton panties) and put on my XXXL hospital gown. I have to say it was a little exciting never having had surgery before...but at the same time I was scared. I didn't let myself dwell on it too much. The nurse didn't get a good stick in my arm the first time so re stuck my hand. She felt so bad about it but it was no big deal to me. It felt like a full circle moment after all that I've put my research subjects through...giving a urine sample, sticking their arm a few times, making them take their clothes off and run around in spandex shorts.

After a few minutes Chris said goodbye and the anesthesiologist and scrub nurse wheeled me down the hall. It felt just like ER...my eyes got a little moist leaving Chris but I held it together. The operating room was HUGE, but the little operating table was narrow. I had to fold my arms across my stomach or they would fall off the sides of the table! I wonder how anyone bigger than me would lay on the table? It was also very cold.

The anesthesiologist was very nice and social. The surgeon was kinda anti-social...not mean, but just interested in getting down to business. That's okay, I myself am not always a people person...I understand. They first put some lidocaine in my IV to numb my arm...it didn't work very well because when he put the other drugs in my arm hurt so bad! I was unaware that happened but seriously the pain was quite intense. They told me to count down from 10 and see how far I got. I thought to myself, "I better count slow because it doesn't seem like anything is happening". I think I got to 5...that stuff is amazing!

After the surgery and 45 minutes into recovery I woke up. My eye lids felt very heavy and I was having a hard time opening them. I thought I had a down blanket over me but it was really this cool blanket that looked like large air packing space fillers you put in boxes you're shipping. The blanket was being filled with warm air...most excellent. I wouldn't mind having one of those on my bed at home. Super light weight but still warm and toasty!!

For some reason the meds made me a bit emotional. As soon as the nurse left my side I started with the erratic breathing that accompanies uncontrollable crying. There were no tears but it took me a while to calm myself down. I kept asking myself, "Why are you crying? You're not even in pain, you're totally fine". I felt like I was being a big baby and I did not want to be that weird scared hysteric patient. (I've broken down in uncontrollable sobbing about 8 times today...poor Chris) The doctor came and asked me how I was doing and I asked him two questions:

1. Was I a good patient? I think this caught him off guard and somewhat strange. In retrospect I guess it is?? (I'm sure he'd lie to me even if I wasn't but for some reason this is important to me. It makes me feel sensible and tough.)

2. Did you remove my adenoids? Yes, he did. He said they were a bit scarred up, the left one especially! He asked if the left tonsil usually swelled up more than the right? Why yes, this was indeed the case. In loving memory of my golf ball sized tonsils I have re posted my first concomitant infection of Step Throat and Mono from Nov 07, you'll see what I mean...check out ol' lefty.

They finally brought Chris back it was so good to see him. He was such a sweetheart. He spoon fed me a snack pack chocolate pudding cup and refilled my ice water about seven times. I think it took me about twenty minutes to eat that little pudding.

I've been feeling pretty good today Unfortunately all the nurses kept telling me I can expect to feel progressively worse as the days go by up until about day 5. Wah! I'm scared to go to bed tonight. The meds are however making me nauseous and I ending up throwing up about a liter of ice water this afternoon. Since I had drank so much water there was no acidity and it didn't hurt my throat at all!

That's it for now...except for something weird happened. Check out the picture when I just got home from the clinic. See my uvula? Now check out the picture I just took several hours later in the evening...I was searching frantically for my uvula in the mirror...I couldn't find it!! Then I realized it is the massive slug like protuberance slowly inflating in my throat!!! It has for some reason it has bloated to about 4-5 times it's original size! Enjoy or don't enjoy the pictures. Scroll down...









































Okay in loving memory of my blasted tonsils behold the reason I got them removed! This was actually taken in like Jan/Feb '08...the second attack. Just some virus following the first mono/strep incidence.




This is right after I got home from the clinic around noon today. Please note my adorable little uvula hanging down in the middle of the photo...you know, your hangy down ball thingy. Those massive holes to either side are the void of my tonsils and adenoids.


Okay not check out those red dots spots above my large holes...they have gotten increasingly red. I think maybe that's where he gave me shots of lidocaine?? I really have no idea. Now check out my nasty slug of a uvula! I can't even locate the bottom of it looking in the mirror!! I hope I don't suffocate tonight. Pretty gruesome eh? I'll keep you updated.



However I have to admit it's pretty nice being spoon fed and tucked into bed like a baby my sweet fiance!