Our Lives

Happy 2 month birthday Maelynn!

2012-01-17T16:58:00.004-07:00

I can hardly believe that Maelynn is already 2 months old! She has changed so much, and some days I find myself surprised with just how much she has changed! It's hard to notice when you are with her all day everyday, but I thought I would post some pictures of her latest exciting moments, and share some of the things that she has started doing.

She loves taking warm bubble baths,
but SCREAMS bloody murder when I take her out and rub lotion on her.
Not a fan of being cold.

She even loves to stand up in the bath tub (or kitchen sink) during bathtime.
She started putting weight on her legs pretty early (this pictures was at 1 month old)

She loves sleeping with her arms above her head, but doesn't get to very often because I swaddle her at night with her arms locked down by her sides. Every chance she gets, she puts her hands up by her face.

She took her first vacation to St. George on New Years Eve 2011.
She had so much fun hanging with Grandma and Grandpa!

She found a love of her swing and her binkie. The first month of her life, she hated her binkie with a passion.
Now she (and mommy) appreciates it when she just needs to suck on something.

She SMILES, and giggles, and actually sat in her bumbo! She only lasts for a few minutes at a
time in her bumbo, but it is so fun to sit up and see what is going on around her. (this was at about 6 weeks)

She is a big girl at 2 months. We go to the doctor tomorrow and will post our stats then.

Maelynn's First Holiday Season!

2012-01-17T13:57:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since I've updated the blog. We've been busy adjusting to life with a newborn. She is an ANGEL! We are so lucky, and I honestly can't remember life without her.
We survived the holiday season with a newborn (not without a few tears on her end and mine). Our first holiday came exactly one week after she was born. . . Thanksgiving! I was very overwhelmed with taking her out of the house so soon after being born, but I was too exciting to have a Thanksgiving with my parents. They had been gone on a mission for a year and a half, and the year before that we were with our in-laws for Thanksgiving. It was so nice to have my mom's cooking! I almost forgot what a great cook she is!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sleepy 7 day old Maelynn on Thanksgiving at Grandma Kathy's house.

Christmas was a blast! Maelynn got all dressed up in her beautiful Christmas dress for the party at my parent's house on Christmas Eve. She looked beautiful!! In true baby style, she had a complete diaper blow-out on the way to my mom's house. It was sad, but at least her dress stayed clean, we just had to wash her stretch pants during dinner, and they were good to go in time to open presents.

Thanks Grandma Kathy for my beautiful Christmas dress.

Our families first Christmas!

We draw names for gifts in my family, and Maelynn got a darling toy from her cousin Addison. She picked out a cool shirt for her cousin Andrew. She has great taste. :)

Thanks Addison for the darling toy!

Andrew, Sarah, Maelynn and Mandy

My mom and dad bought Maelynn a shelf for her closet, and lots of fun toys! She even got a new pair of Christmas jammies (a tradition in my family). Even though she slept through most of the party (or was eating) it was so much fun to have a baby at our Christmas party. I can't wait for next year when she will be just over a year old and be able to enjoy all her crazy cousins and join right in the fun.

Some of Maelynn's new toys and outfits (she was under the blanket missing out on all the fun).

Matt and I were very lucky this year for Christmas! My parents gave me a Sony digital video recorder. It was the PERFECT gift for me this Christmas! Now I can capture all the 'firsts' with Mae. Matt got a BBQ grill from my parents, which was the PERFECT gift for him because now he can help me out with dinner (he already made a steak and grilled salmon that were FABULOUS!!).

Matt and his amazing new grill!

Mandy with her new video recorder.

Maelynn gave her mommy and daddy a great Christmas present that morning by sleeping 8 1/2 hours straight! Merry Christmas to us!

Daddy and his baby girl on Christmas morning.

Christmas morning was a lot of fun. We kept with tradition in our family and had Matt's dad, grandpa, uncle Jack, mom, and stepdad Boyd over for breakfast. It is so nice to be able to have his family get together over the holidays, especially now that we have Maelynn. I'm very grateful that his parents are still such good friends. We opened gifts and ate a yummy breakfast of Christmas Strata, and Baked Frenchtoast.

Matt gave me a new coat, and a pair of Ugg boots (totally surprised me). I realized that I am very predictable and usually want a coat and boots - but hey, I try to make it easy on him. :)I gave Matt new clothes . . . kinda boring, but practical, and Maelynn got a new outfit and a toy from her mom and dad.

My new boots!! Thanks Mattie :)

Matt and his new clothes.

Later that day we went to Matt's mom's house for her Christmas party. It was so fun to be able to see a few of his aunts and uncles and cousins. It has been forever since we've seen anyone in his family, and it was great to be able to introduce Maelynn to them.

Maelynn and her new toy from Grandma Pam

Maelynn and her Great-Grandma Nanny

Maelynn and her Grandma Pam

We had a wonderful holiday season, and I hope you all had one too!

Birth Story

2011-11-28T16:46:00.001-07:00

The moment finally happened. . . we had our precious angel on November 17th, 2011. I am going to share our birth story, and it will be long mostly because I want to remember all of the details.

Just arrived at the hospital!

On Wednesday, November 16th we checked into the Intermountain Medical Center at 9:00 pm to start our induction. My body wasn't ready to have a baby, so we checked in Wednesday night to start the induction with a "cervial rippening" to help ready my cervix for dilation. When checking into the hospital I was dilated to a 1 and about 50% effaced - not very favorable for the beginning of an induction. We checked into our room, and when the nurse came into our room she called me Amanda. I corrected her, and she said, "Oh, you go by Mandy?" and I said, "No, Mandy is my name, it's not Amanda." After I said that she started asking me what my birthday was, and all sorts of questions. Come to find out she had my correct file, but the patient information sheet that the front desk had printed for her was for an Amanda Godwin who was due around the same time as me. Totally weird! Then she realized that we were in the wrong room because this room had a regular hospital bed, not a delivery bed. I was worried that this was going to be the start of an extremely long, scary experience from the way it was starting. Our nurseended up being FABULOUS! Her name was Nicole, and she made me feel very comfortable after we switched rooms and started the process.

They started giving me the cytotec to help my cervix thin out so that it could begin to dilate at 10:00 pm. Every three hours they came into our room to give me another dose, and they offered me an ambien to help me sleep because they said that I would be cramping and uncomfortable because of the cytotec. I took the sleeping pill, and ended up sleeping great the whole night (which my doctor wasn't very happy about the next morning - he wanted me to be up all night because that would mean that something was happening with my cervix). At 8:00 am on Thursday, November 17th Dr. Froerer came in to check me, and I was still dilated to a 1 and 50% effaced, so he decided to break my water. I was so overwhelmed when he broke my water that I started bawling! Not really because it was painful, but because him breaking my water surprised me. It was a complete gush of warm fluid that I couldn't control at all! I felt like I had wet my pants, but with buckets and buckets of water. After Dr. Froerer broke my water they started me on Pitocin to help increase my contractions. Once they did this, I could feel the contractions getting stronger and stronger as the hours passed. I knew that I was going to be getting an epideral, but I didn't want to get it too early because I wanted to still feel in control for a while, so I waited until 11:00 am before getting it. By this time my contractons were painful enough that I was very uncomfortable, and I had to really focus and breath through each one.

Anxiously waiting to become new parents!

Waiting to deliver!

Matt's dad was the first visitor to arrive at the hospital. He showed up at around 9:30 am, and my parents showed up at around 10:30 am. It was nice to have people come to the hospital to show their support for us during this exciting time. Matt's mom and step-dad showed up a little bit later as well. They all spent their entire day at the hospital waiting on the arrival of this little miracle.

My cute mom showed up to support us.

At 11:00 am the anasthesiologist came in to give me the epideral, which made me nervous, but he ended up being amazing! The worst part was getting the numbing shot before the epideral. When he put the epideral in he said that I would feel a ZING on one side of my body, and this was just a way to see that he had hit the right spot. When I felt the zing I completely jumped! It felt like the whole left side of my leg had been struck by lightening. It was a crazy sensation!! Once it kicked in I felt so much better, and I couldn't even feel the contractions after that. We put a movie in, "The Pursuit of Happiness," and I was finally able to relax and take a little bit of a nap.

My mom, and Matt's mom and Boyd


Watching the monitor of contractions and Maelynn's heartbeat.

My mom bought Maelynn a darling newborn outfit for us to bring her home from the hospital in. Darling!!

At about 2:00 pm the nurse checked me again, and I was dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced, which was such good news to me that things were actually progressing. I felt like I was going to be at a 1 forever, and it was not a good feeling. Dr. Froerer came to check on me around this time, and he was frustrated that I wasn't making faster progress, and started preparing me that I might have to have a c-section (which was not what I wanted to do). He said that the baby wasn't in the birth canal, she was off to the side so her head was cocked a bit to the side, so she wasn't really helping me dilate at all. The nurse that I had at that time was Donna - LOVED HER!! She suggested to Dr. Froerer that we put a belly band around me to help center the baby and push her down. Dr. Froerer liked that idea, so she put it on and check me again - HUGE difference! She could actually feel her head putting pressure on my cervix getting things ready to go. At around 4:00 they checked me again and I was dilated to a 4 and 90% effaced - the band was working!! I felt so much better knowing that I had made it to a 4, because they said that was the hard part and dilating the rest of the way would be much easier.

I was exhausted! It has been a LONG day!

At 6:00 they check me again and I was dilated to a 6 and 100% effaced (0 station). That belly band helped me dilate about 1 centemeter every hour, and it continued to work the whole night. By 9:00 pm I was dilated to a 9 and 0 station and they began prepping me for surgery. The baby was turned to the side instead of face down, so they rolled me on my side to see if gravity would turn her the right direction. By 10:00 I'd been in labor for about 14 hours and the baby started having a little bit of stress and her oxygen levels were low, so they put an oxygen mask on me. My mom and sister Lisa came into the room around this time, and I think I scared my mom a little bit because of the oxygen mask. I started crying when I saw Lisa because I didn't know that she was going to be at the hospital, and I thought it was really sweet of her to show up just in time for the delivery. At about 10:30 they were getting me ready to start pushing, my doctor had been called and was on his way to deliver the baby, but the on call doctor (Dr. Terry) was there to help me get started pushing. I had two nurses, Dr. Terry, and Matt in the room. Matt held one leg while the nurses helped with the other leg. My left leg was completely numb, so it was really hard for me to pick it up when it was time to push because I couldn't feel it at all. I'd been pushing for about 5 minutes when Dr. Froerer showed up. My contractions had slowed down a bit, so I had to wait about 2 minutes in between each push (which I kind of loved, but Dr. Froerer didn't love it). While I was pushing I remember hearing Matt making noises. I thought at first that he was laughing, but when I opened my eyes I saw that he was crying. Matt doesn't cry often, so it was really special to see that it was affecting him as much as it was affecting me. Once Dr. Froerer was there she was crowning, and I only pushed for about 20 minutes before Dr. Froerer looked at Matt and asked if he had his camera ready because the next push was going to bring the baby into the world. Matt looked very paniced because he had packed all of the luggage, camera included, while I was in labor. I said, "Go get my mom. She can take pictures for us." So the nurse went into the waiting room and asked my mom to come in the room. She was ready, camera in hand.

At 11:10 pm I pushed one last time, and Dr. Froerer set this beautiful baby on my belly. She only cried once or twice, then she turned her head and looked right at me. We made eye contact within the first seconds of her life! It was the most incredible moment of my life! Matt cut the umbilical cord, they wiped her off, and the nurse held her up for my mom to take a picture of, then they layed her right on my chest, skin-to-skin, and I was able to just hold my little baby girl for the first time ever. She was beautiful, completely alert, eyes wide open, and perfect! She didn't cry. She was just content. They let me hold her this way for quite a while before taking her to weigh and measure her. This was such a special moment. I felt like it was just her and I in the room alone with one another. Such an incredible bonding moment.

Maelynn's first picture - literally seconds after she was born.


This was right before she turned her head to look at me. Such a beautiful little angel!

The first time mommy got to hold her little angel.

7 lbs 6 oz

Her big moment!!

Getting checked out - she was so content and didn't cry much at all.

Maelynn Goodwin weighed in at 7 lbs. 6 oz. and was 20 inches long. She stayed awake for most of the night, and didn't cry at all. She was just taking it all in. Once Dr. Froerer was finished with me, we let all of the family into the room to see their new granddaughter and niece. Everyone was able to hold her and love her before they moved us into our new room upstairs. It was about 12:30 by the time we made it into our room for the night. We decided to let Maelynn go to the nursery to sleep since it had been such a long day, and we were both exhausted! They brought her back every few hours to feed her. Both of us had a fever that first night, but everything ended up being fine with both of us. Healthy baby and healthy mommy. I didn't get feeling back into my legs until about 3:00 in the morning, which made it hard to function, but I was glad that I had the epideral! It made for a painless delivery - not a quick one, but at least painless.

Daddy's first time holding his baby girl.

Wonderful Dr. Froerer - we love him!!

These were the awesome nurses that helped during delivery.

First family picture


New Mommy and Maelynn

She is an amazing little girl! We are so lucky to have such an amazing baby. She is calm, quiet, and content most of the time. When she gets upset her cry is low and raspy. Sometimes she has a cry that sounds like "The Count" from "Sesame Street" . . . 1, ah, ah, ah . . . 2, ah, ah, ah . . . (so stinkin cute!!) We are in love!!

Maelynn and Grandma Pam

Maelynn and Grandma Kathy

Maelynn with Grandpa Steve

Maelynn with Grandpa Ben

Maelynn with Grandpa Boyd

The whole gang: Boyd, Ben, Pam, Lisa, Mandy, Maelynn, Matt, Kathy, Steve

November 9th, 2011

2011-11-09T18:02:00.003-07:00

Today is my due date, and baby is still cookin'. I have been having contractions for the last 2 days, pretty consistently, but when I went to the doctor today he said that I am pretty much the same as I was last week. I'm dilated to a 1, and 50% effaced. We scheduled a stress test for next Monday (11/14) and my induction has been scheduled for next Wednesday (11/16). He will start my induction on Wednesday at about 7:30 PM, and they will start Pitocin the following day if I haven't started labor on my own. At least I know that this new little one will join our family by November 17th at the latest. The end is in sight! The doctor said that with all of my contractions, there is a good chance I will go into labor on my own, but he can't induce me until it has been a full week after my due date.
Keep your fingers crossed that she will come on her own.

Finished Nursery

2011-10-31T11:05:00.000-06:00

Here are the finished pictures of our darling nursery. I absolutely love how it turned out! I am such a girlie-girl, so I hope our little girl will be the same and love it as much as I do. Thanks to Trish who painted, Tami who gave us the changing table, Patty (Trish's mother-in-law) who recovered the glider cushions, Darrin (from my old work) who painted the glider and changing table, and my wonderful hubby Matt who hung the tissue balls and drapes. I will take the credit for the rest. :)

I just had to post a picture of her closet. All of these clothes are gifts that we received from showers and good friends. We are so blessed!!

We have also been stocking up on diapers over the past 9 monthes. Trish and Tyler gave us some good advice to buy a box of diapers every month when we got paid, that way we would at least have diapers before she arrived. I am very grateful that we did that, because I know it will help out.

And finally, thanks to Tami and Jerald for giving us all of these clothes from my neice Sarah. It fills up the entire other half of our closet, and it is only up to size 18 months! I have a whole other bag full of clothes that will start from 18 months and up to 2 years. Thanks you guys for all that you gave us to help with our new addition. We really appreciate it!

Nursery

2011-10-15T13:30:00.002-06:00

We finally got our furniture for the nursery, and Matt put it all together and helped me hang some of the decorations that I had made. It isn't quite finished yet, but it is close. I will finish hanging pictures next week when I go off track and have more time. Here are pictures of the new Daddy hanging some of the tissue balls, and the final product of the crib and name. So cute!

I'll post more pictures when the whole nursery is completely finished. So far we love it!

Baby Showers

2011-10-15T13:21:00.002-06:00

My sisters threw me an amazing baby shower. It was so much fun, and we had a ton of people show up. Thanks to all of you that came to support Matt and I and our baby girl. We got so many cute things, and things that we will totally need and use. We really appreciated all the love and support from so many of our friends and family members. We are so lucky! I only took pictures before people showed up, so here are the ones that I have. Hopefully I will post some with people in them soon.

Our friends also threw a baby shower for us. It was a fun "Couples Shower" that was for Matt and I, and our other friends Cody and Curry that are expecting a baby girl about a week after us. It was a fun shower with lots of silly games and good times. We love our close group of friends and are so grateful for the support that they show us through the important moments in our lives. Most of them chipped in and bought us a swing for our little girl. I am so excited to get to use it when she arrives.

24th of July

2011-07-28T14:23:00.000-06:00

Matt and I spent the 24th of July weekend up in Midway with my sister Trish and her family. It was a lot of fun! Matt and Tyler went golfing while us girls hung out, then we went up to my parent's cabin to watch fireworks and hang out. Matt and I spent the night at the cabin, which was a lot of fun since we haven't ever really been up there alone. I didn't take any pictures, but it was a lot of fun! Thanks Trish and Tyler for letting us hang with you guys all weekend!

On Monday Matt and I went up into the canyon to have a picnic. It was beautiful weather, and we had such a great time just hanging out. Matt actually chose me over golf. . . shocker!!! It meant a lot to me since he has been so busy with school and work lately, and I am an emotional wreck from this pregnancy and having too much time on my hands from being off track. We also went to a movie later that day. Such a fun day with my hubby.

Painting the Nursery

2011-07-19T13:16:00.000-06:00

Getting ready for the baby has been a lot of fun, but the most fun so far has been painting the nursery. Trish came over on Friday afternoon to get it started. She painted the ceiling white, and 3 walls a pale artichoke green color. It was looking darling!

I even helped! Mask and all!!

Then yesterday Trish came back and we finished painting the room by painting the remaining 2 walls hot pink! It is the most darling thing I've ever seen. I knew that it would be cute in my head, but it turned out even better then I was expecting. I love it! Thanks Trish! You are amazing!!

I can't wait to get my furniture and really add all the details to the room. Just having the paint finished feels awesome though. At least I'm one step closer.

I just know it is going to turn out darling. She will love it!!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-07T12:33:00.000-06:00

This year for the 4th of July we got together with our friends at the South Jordan park for hamburgers, games, and good conversation. We love having such a close group of friends where we all enjoy being together and having a good time. Thanks Amy for being the planner and making this day so much fun.

Sam, Rachelle, and Matt

Jason, Ryan, and Kristin

After eating and playing beanbag toss, everyone got very competitive over a game of volleyball.

Amy, Ashley and Shalee watching the game.

Poor Jason broke his leg, so he was the babysitter for a little while.

Mandy, Rachelle, Emily, and Jason

Jon, Brad, and Matt

Sam, Kelly, Kinley, and Kristin

We ended the night with watching fireworks at Sandy City.

We had the best seat in the house! It was a blast!!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Ending the School Year

2011-07-07T12:02:00.000-06:00

This school year is officially over, and I am really going to miss my class. I had some darling students, and ending the school year was bittersweet.

My students were so excited for me to become a mommy, so almost all of the end of the year gifts I received were baby gifts! It was so much fun. Every time one of my students would give me a gift, I opened it in front of my whole class and they would all "Ooo and Ahh" over whatever the gift was. It was darling!

Here is a picture of all the gifts I got from my 3rd graders! They spoiled me rotten!!

One of my favorite things about working at my school is getting to work with the wonderful women on my team. Regan and Marilee were my lifesavers during the tough times I had with my class this year, and they are two of the reasons why I love my job! Both of them were so sweet and bought me a baby gift when I found out we were having a girl. Thanks ladies! You are amazing!

It's a GIRL!!!

2011-06-13T20:48:00.000-06:00

I had my 19 week ultrasound today. It was probably the most exciting moment of my life so far. Here's the whole story:

Here's the picture showing that it's a girl.

I had heard that drinking orange juice will make the baby more active during the ultrasound, so I bought a bottle of orange juice and drank it about an hour and 15 minutes before my appointment. As the ultrasound technician started the ultrasound, the baby was definitely sleeping and curled up in a little ball (head down - face right on my bladder). The ultrasound tech said "Ah, right now we can't see anything to give us a hint as to what the gender will be, but we'll take some measurements and come back to see if it moves at all." She continued on with the ultrasound and the baby slept the time away. I made a silly comment saying, "come on baby - move around!" and right then the baby lifted its hand up right in the view of the ultrasound and gave us a thumbs up. Totally cute!

Here's the face profile

Baby started moving around a little bit, legs and arms, and finally switched position so that it was face up, sitting on my bladder. It was then that the ultrasound tech said, "OK, last minute predictions?" and I stuck with my gut and said that it was going to be a boy, and Matt jumped on that wagon as well. Then she told said, "Nope, it's a GIRL!!" I was totally speechless and started bawling! It's crazy how fast knowing the gender makes this entire process become complete reality. All I could think about was having this beautiful little girl in my arms. . . I can hardly wait!

This picture made me laugh . . .she totally looks like skeletor. :)

Everything looked great and normal through the rest of the ultrasound, and she even laid back, and kicked up her legs at the end of the ultrasound. Our technician said, "wow, you are going to have a very mellow little girl."

Here's is our mellow little girls legs. . .totally kicked out, just enjoying the ride.

During the middle of the ultrasound, when the tech was showing us the blood flow from the umbilical cord, the baby kicked really hard - turning the whole screen red (since it was the part where you can see the blood flow in color) and the tech was surprised that I couldn't feel the kick. Hopefully I will be able to start feeling the kicks in the next few weeks. Yet another thing to look forward to.

4 Years!!

2011-06-12T20:21:00.000-06:00

Matt and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary this past week. I can't believe we have been married for 4 years! Time flies when you are having fun! We celebrated by keeping with the tradition and going back to the scene of the crime. . . Market Street Grill in Cottonwood. Yum!!

This year is sure to be the most exciting, life-changing year of both our lives. We are starting a totally new journey together and couldn't be more excited!

We decided not to make a big deal of our anniversary this year (no gifts) because we want to put money toward the baby furnature that we still need to buy. Matt is becoming very practical and responsible with this new journey, and I love it! He is going to be an amazing daddy!! He did surprise me and buy me a bouquet of flowers. They are gorgeous!!

We find out what our little one is going to be tomorrow, and we are both really excited! I can't wait to actually be able to buy something that is boy or girl. I just hope that baby Goodwin is awake during the ultrasound tomorrow. About a week or so ago I had my 17 week appointment with my doctor and I asked if he would 'peek' to see if it's a boy or a girl. He was darling and said "well, I'm a softy. As long as you don't mind me peeking really fast we can see." I was so excited, but the whole time the baby had its legs crossed and was totally asleep. We got to see the baby suck its thumb though. . . darling!! I'm going to do the tricks that people have told me to do - drink orange juice so that it will be awake and moving - so hopefully that will work.

Wish us luck!!

I'm Pregnant!!

2011-05-07T17:01:00.002-06:00

I am so excited to announce that Matt and I are going to have a baby! I am due on November 9th, and we are both so excited to start this new chapter in our lives.

I am 13 weeks along right now, and I am feeling so much better now that I'm officially in my second trimester. I wasn't too sick during the first trimester, but I was really tired all the time. It feels wonderful to have energy and actually feel like getting out of bed. Perfect timing too because I'll be going back to work on Monday.

I'll be posting pictures of my belly as it grows, so check out the "Baby Belly" page to see the expanding belly.

Christmas with the Postma's

2010-12-24T13:46:00.004-07:00

This year for Christmas we got together at Tami and Jerald's house. It was a lot of fun to get together with everyone that was in Utah (we missed you Mom and Dad, Blair and Heidi & boys). We had a yummy chilli verde dinner (thanks Jerald) and opened gifts, watched the little kids put on the Christmas story play, and spend a lot of time visiting, playing pool, and just being together. Merry Christmas!!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-24T11:15:00.004-07:00

This Thanksgiving we were able to spend time with Matt's Dad, uncle Jack, and Grandpa. We spent the day at Jack's house eating delicious food, and spent the night playing Monopoly (or as Jack calls it - Monotany). It was such a fun day.

I love Thanksgiving because it gives me a chance to think about my life and how lucky I am. I am so grateful to have such a loving, wonderful, patient, fun husband. He is the best part of my day, and I still love him after 3 1/2 years of marriage and 9 (almost) years of being together. Each year gets better, and I can't wait to see what this next year will bring.

I am also grateful for my wonderful family. I am so lucky to have so many great sisters, an awesome brother, and amazing parents! I don't know what I would do without them. We miss you Mom and Dad!!

Halloween 2010

2010-12-24T10:46:00.003-07:00

Matt and I love having our friends over for Halloween, and this year was no exception. We all get dressed up and have a competition for best costume, play lots of fun games, and eat lots of yummy food. This year we played games from the tv show "Minute to Win It." Needless to say, the games were really hard, but still a lot of fun.

Guardsman's Pass

2010-12-24T10:21:00.007-07:00

Matt and I have made it a yearly tradition to go up Guardsman's Pass each fall right when the leaves are changing colors. It is one of my favorite new traditions that we have started, and we always finish the day by spending time in Park City. This year we went to dinner with Trish and Tyler at Baja Cantina (one of our favorite restaurants). It was a lot of fun!

Jason and Emily's Wedding

2010-12-24T09:32:00.002-07:00

Our good friends, Jason and Emily, were married this year on the top of the Alpine Slide in Park City, UT. It was a beautiful wedding!

I love my new shelves!

2010-08-06T16:12:00.004-06:00

This summer Trish helped me hang these cute shelves in my bedroom and I finally decorated them. They look so cute, and it finally feels like our room is finished.

Thanks Trish for the cute shelves. We love them!

Update

2010-06-22T21:32:00.005-06:00

We have had a busy couple of months, and I am terrible at blogging. Here is my attempt to keep you all up to date on all of the crazy things that have happened in the last few months.

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Matt had a birthday on June 17th. He is an old man at the age of 28 (just kidding baby). We had a fun weekend of celebrating. He had class on his birthday, so we just had a quiet night at home with tacos and birthday cake. On Friday night I took him out to Market Street Grill and had a yummy dinner (with an annoying waitress). Then on Saturday night we went out with friends to The Bohemian Brewery and then on to Wise Guys Comedy. It was such a fun weekend, and a great way to celebrate Matt's big 2-8. I hope you had a wonderful birthday baby!!

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I went to my niece's baptism and sat in the backyard for about an hour and got the worse sunburn that I have had in a long time! Matt took this picture of me, which is just too funny to not share. I used to be super tan, and working at a tanning salon helped that out a lot. Now that I spend most of my time indoors, I get burned when I just look at the sun. Too funny!!

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Matt and I had our 3rd anniversary (which I already blogged about), but I had to post a picture from that night. I forgot to bring my camera to Market Street, but we did take a few pictures when we got home. Happy anniversary baby!! I love you!!

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I have been finishing up school with an A-Z countdown that my team does every year, and for L day I wanted to bring Lincoln Logs and Legos to school to let the kids play with them as a fast finisher. Matt used to love playing with Lincoln Logs and Legos as a kid, and we have boxes filling our basement with his old toys. So I asked Matt if I could bring his toys to school, and he had a really hard time agreeing to it, but he eventually let me. When I got home he had to open the Lincoln Logs and build a log cabin. I love that he is a little kid at heart. We totally have that in common.

Here are a few pictures of him and Macy hard at work on his masterpiece.

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Matt had an accident during his league basketball game. He was driving the ball down the court and a player from the opposing team rammed right into him, pushing him into the wall behind the hoop head first. He had a mild concussion and was taken to the ER in an ambulance. It was pretty scary (and pricey) but he is doing just fine now.
He had a lot of support that showed up at the hospital. I called his mom and step-dad and my mom and dad, and they all showed up. Lisa happened to be working upstairs at the hospital and was able to come down to check on us to make sure he was ok. Thanks guys for your love and support!

There, now I feel like you have been updated on all the important events from the last few months. Have a wonderful summer!!

3 Years!

2010-06-08T18:18:00.004-06:00

Today is our 3 year anniversary. It seems like time is just flying by! I guess that is what happens when you are having fun. Matt was a sweetheart and had flowers sent to my school today. It was a really sweet surprise! I squealed so loud that I scared a group of 1st graders. It was really funny!

Then:

Now:We have had some great times these last 3 years. Here are a few of my favorite memories:

Our honeymoon to the Mexican Riviera
Buying our Townhouse

Going to Disneyland with my parents and sister

Matt getting rehired at Fanzz after a "not-so-pleasant" 8 month span of trying to find the right job.
Switching schools and finding Falcon Ridge! Love it!!

Macy having to get 9 teeth pulled! Still very sad, but funny too.

Matt and I both have bought new cars since getting married. Hopefully we won't be doing that again for a while.

Sometimes my favorite thing to do with Matt is just hang out at home and laugh. Those are my favorite memories!

Here's to the next 3 years. I know they will be just as wonderful!

Home Improvements

2010-04-27T10:02:00.004-06:00

Since I have been off track I have really wanted to get things done at our house that I haven't had time to do. Last night I went on a rampage with hanging things and cleaning. Matt and I both have a spare room where we put our things. Matt's room has been a pig stein!! I hated even walking in that room and I would avoid cleaning it like the plague! Well, last night I started hanging some of his pictures and threw away a ton of his old things that he has been hanging on to forever! It looks so nice now, and I just want to hang out in there for days. I wish I would've taken a before and after shot, but honestly, I don't want to even remember what it looked like before.

Matt has so many nice pictures, so it was really fun to hang them up and make the room look sporty and clutter free.

He also wants to display all of his Cowboys and U of U helmets, so I hope I found a cute way to let them be on display, without looking tacky.

All I can say is that I hope his room stays looking this nice. Hopefully Matt will help keep it clean, and then people will want to come and stay at our house.

When we were in Disneyland we had our picture drawn, and I finally found a frame for it and hung it on the wall. I think it is adorable, and I love how Matt totally looks like he has a fat face. Don't worry baby, you don't really have a fat face!

I also bought this plate holder and put a few frames on it to hang in our hallway upstairs. It looks really cute! Matt is always telling me that I don't ever decorate the upstairs, so here is my attempt at decorating our upstairs.

Here is a sign that I got from Christmas from a white-elephant party (best white-elephant ever!) and I finally hung it up next to our TV (don't worry, I was watching Say Yes to the Dress when I took this picture - love that show)

And last but not least, here is my new dining room table center piece decoration. Thanks Target! I love it!

Update

2010-04-22T08:47:00.003-06:00

Matt and I have been really busy for the last couple of months. We both have been struggling with allergies, which completely took away my voice, and gave Matt a ton of coughing attacks. Things are finally starting to settle down, and I am now off track for 2 1/2 weeks, so that should be fun!

Here are a couple of things that have happened in the last few months:

We went to St. George over Easter break with my parents. It was a lot of fun, and a much needed weekend of relaxation for me and Matt. My mom and I shopped a lot, and Matt and my dad played golf at least once (sometimes twice) a day. It was a blast! Matt and I even painted eggs for Easter. It was a lot of fun. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us crash your party.

My class had their annual Wax Museum, which is always a lot of fun. They do a biography book report, and then dress up like their character and stand as if they are wax next to a tri-fold that has information about their person. It is always a big moment in third grade, and this year it ended up being a little more exciting than we had planned. We usually have our Wax Museum in the gym, but this year the 6th grade needed the gym for their Shakespeare play, so we decided to have the Wax Museum in the 3rd grade hallway. We didn't expect to have as many parents and students coming through our museum, and it got so hot in the hallway that kids started dropping like flies!! We had 3 kids completely pass out and fall to the floor, and a handful of students started feeling really sick. Needless to say, we won't have our Wax Museum in the hallway ever again!! I felt so bad for the kids that passed out, especially my student who fell face first onto the floor. It was definitely an experience I won't soon forget.

Matt is loving his job! He loves the responsibility that comes along with his position, and he loves it when he gets to be in charge. I am so glad to see him do something everyday that he loves! He is also loving school. At the beginning of the semester he kept telling me that he didn't feel like he knew what was even going on in his class, but everytime he takes a test, or turns in a project he gets a wonderful grade. He rocks!

This last week was teacher appreciation week at school, and I was SPOILED with gifts!! I received a ton of supplies, money, and gift cards! It was awesome. Our PTA was great too and bought us all lunch from Rumbi, and had the students write sweet notes to us to hang in our classroom. It was a great week, and I felt very appreciated.

That is all the updates I have as of right now. I'll try to be better at updating. . .

New haircut, and another year older. . . (kind of late)

2010-03-06T11:25:00.004-07:00

Well, I am officially another year older. My birthday was wonderful, but it made me realize that I am getting closer to being 30 years old everyday. Oh well, what can you do. . .

Matt was a sweetheart on my birthday and spoiled me rotten. He gave me 3 dozen roses (thanks Costco) and took me to my favorite restaurant (Market Street Grill in Cottonwood). He also bought me a Chi flat iron to help me with my brand new haircut. Thanks baby!!

Disneyland 2010

2010-02-08T12:23:00.005-07:00

I have been a little 'Anti-Blogging' lately, but we just got back from a Wonderful vacation to Disneyland, and the pictures must be shared.

My mom and dad took us and my sister Tami's family to Disneyland for 4 days! It felt like hardly anyone was there, which was awesome! We were able to do everything we wanted to, and we didn't have to wait in any long lines! It was so fun. Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

Matt's New Job!

2009-10-07T21:47:00.003-06:00

We have had a few big changes at our house this last year. In January Matt was let go from Fanzz, and he began working at Questar in February. It was a great job. Matt learned a lot about fighting off crazy dogs, he always put his cone out behind his truck when driving a company vehicle (safety first), and he was in pretty good shape from walking around neighborhoods all day long.

Well, about 3 or 4 weeks ago he got a phone call from a guy at Fanzz who is the men's apparel buyer. He needed to hire an assistant, and Matt was the first person he thought of. Matt was very interested because he actually always wanted to be a buyer, and he applied for the position a couple of times before he was layed off. So he went in for an interview, and they were able to offer him more money than he used to make at Fanzz, and he feels like it will be more secure than his job at Questar was. They hired him about 2 days later, and he put in his 2 weeks at Questar. He is so excited to have a job that he is interested in again (if any of you know Matt, he is a sports FREAK!) and so I am excited for him. I can't imagine having a job that I didn't love, so I am really happy that he finally has that again.

These last 8 months have been the hardest of our marriage (granted, we have only been married 2 1/2 years, but none-the-less they have been tough). I am so excited for things to turn around for us (financially) and hopefully it will take away some of the stress that money can bring into life and marriage.

Congratulations baby!! I am so happy for you!

4th Row Tickets!!

2009-10-02T09:41:00.004-06:00

Matt and I were able to go to the Jazz game last night because he got tickets from his work (yes, he is now working for Fanzz again....I will post about that later) but we sat in the 4th row, and we ate dinner with the Lexus Club!! It was such a cool experience. Here are a few pictures to prove that we were really that close.

Go Emery!

2009-09-12T11:25:00.003-06:00

This is my adorable niece and her dance that she made up to Miley Cyrus's song "Hoe Down".
She is too cute, and the whole time she was dancing she was looking at Matt because I asked her to show him her dance that she had made up. It was hilarious! Go Emery!!
P.S. She is 7 years old. :)

Moab!

2009-09-12T11:03:00.003-06:00

Matt and I were able to go to Moab this summer. We spent a day in Arches National Park, which was totally fun! Matt hasn't ever been there before, and it has been a few years since I had been there, so it was a lot of fun to get to hike to some of the arches. It was perfect weather the day that we hiked to the delicate arch, and the rest of the trip was very relaxing. I spent a lot of time laying by the pool. It was a nice vacation before school started.

School has begun

2009-09-12T10:19:00.003-06:00

Sorry that I haven't posted for so long (not that anyone has noticed), but I have been really busy since school started. I am getting to know my new students, and getting used to being back in a busy routine. Here are some pictures of my classroom. Enjoy!

24th of July

2009-07-31T20:42:00.006-06:00

This year for the 24th of July we went to the Bee's game with our friends Kelly and Jon and their parents, Amy and Brad and their two little kids Rylan and Shaylee. We had a really good time even though the Bee's didn't end up playing their game. I guess the other team was sick so they didn't show up, and the game that we ended up watching was two high school allstar teams. It was really fun, and the fireworks at the end were great. Thanks Amy for coming up with such a great idea.

Goodbye Jetta, Hello Legacy!

2009-07-11T10:47:00.002-06:00

I bought a new car last night. I have been tired of my Jetta for a few years, and I found a 2007 Black Subaru Legacy 2.5L that I fell in love with. I got a smokin' deal on it, and I am very excited to have a newer car! It only has 20,000 miles on it, and it is in really good condition!

4th of July

2009-07-07T09:18:00.002-06:00

We had a really busy 4th of July this year. We started the day of by visiting Matt's grandpa. He is 90 something years old, and still lives alone. He is a survivor! We helped him out by weeding his garden and cleaning up his yard. After about 4 hours of weeding, we visited Matt's dad for an hour or so, then we drove to his mom's house. It was nice to make the rounds on the Goodwin/Nielsen side.
After all of the visiting of Matt's family we drove up to my mom and dad's house. My mom and dad were recently in a motorcycle accident, and my mom tore her rotator cuff and just had surgery on it. She did not seem like herself, but I think my mom appreciated having us visit her for a few hours.

After visiting everyone, Matt and I met up with some friends at the Sandy City 4th of July festival. We got there just in time to find a great spot on the grass and get ourselves ready to see the fireworks.

Kelly, Mandy, and Amy

Backrow: Amy (Shaylee), Brad, Kelly, Matt, and Mandy
Frontrow: Jon and Rylan

I took some great pictures of the fireworks, but something happened to my camera when I was downloading the pictures to my computer and I lost all the pictures. Oh well....better luck next year.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day!! Thank you everyone that makes our freedom possible.

A Wedding in Wine Country

2009-06-17T20:59:00.004-06:00

My cousin Jennifer was married last weekend in California Wine Country. It was a beautiful wedding, and thanks to my parents we were able to be there to enjoy the scenery. My sisters left their kids at home with their husbands, so I decided to leave my husband home with our child (Macy). My brother Blair was also able to come for the wedding too. It was the first time we have been together on a trip with the "original" Postma clan. It was totally fun!My sisters and I had a ton of fun taking pictures all around town. Here is the giant hand that is in front of the mall in Santa Rosa. Go figure. :)

The "Peanuts" museum is in the town that we stayed in, and on every corner they have a statue of some sort. I tried to get a picture by each one, but this was definitely the cutest.

We were able to spend time with cousins that we don't get to see a lot. Here is Lisa, my cousin Rachelle, and me. We just finished eating at the best omelete place. It was very yummy!

Here are the bride and groom, Jennifer and Paul. Her dress was beautiful!

Here is a rare picture of the original Postma clan. It was so fun to spend some time with family.
Even with a broken foot and a stiff body my parents still showed us all how it was done on the dance floor. (They were just in a motorcycle accident if you didn't know) That is my favorite part of dancing at a wedding - being able to see my parents shake it on the floor.

The morning after the wedding they had a breakfast to send off the happy couple. This was a the hotel where the breakfast was. Beautiful!! (not just me, but the scenery...hee hee... )

Here is the final picture of the trip.
(left to right) Mandy, Trish, Jennifer, Lisa, and Tami

Thanks for the fun trip! Can't wait until I get to go back.

2 Years!!

2009-06-11T21:50:00.002-06:00

Matt and I have officially been married for 2 years. The time has gone by so fast! It feels like only 7 years ago that we started dating....oh wait, we did start dating 7 years ago!! Must be time for that 7-year-itch. Just kidding.... I am so lucky that I am married to such a wonderful man. He works hard, and treats me very well. I can't imagine my life without him.

For our anniversary we went to the scene of the crime - Market Street Grill in Cottonwood. I think that is our new tradition. I loved it! Matt is such a sweetie and also bought me a lawn chair for our anniversary because I have been looking all over for one. What a great guy! Love you baby! Can't wait for the next 2 years.

Out of Commission....

2009-05-23T11:35:00.002-06:00

So I started training for the half marathon that Trish and I are running in August about 2 weeks ago. I was doing really well, then this last Monday at the gym.....more specifically "boot camp"..... as I was running sideways over steps, I sprained my left ankle. SUCKS!! I have never sprained my ankle before, and I am having a really hard time dealing with it. Needless to say, this has cut off my training for a few weeks. I can hardly walk on it without limping, so I don't think I will be running for at least another week.

Keep training Trish.....hopefully I will be able to join you soon.

Mother's Day Weekend

2009-05-17T16:55:00.004-06:00

We had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend this year.

My sisters and I started the weekend with our annual Race for the Cure. I am so glad that we have started this tradition as a family....all we need to do is talk our mom into joining us. Tami and Lisa brought their kids (Brecken and Sarah) and walked the race while Trish and I started off our 1/2 marathon training with a bang by running. It was a really beautiful day, and we scored lots of free stuff after the race. Thanks girls! Can't wait until next year.

Lisa (Brecken in stroller), Me, Tami (Sarah in stroller), and Trish. Hot mamas!!

After the race we had dinner at my mom's house. Tami and Jerald made their yummy chili verde, and we had a little Mexican fiesta. It was yummy!! After dinner Tami and Jerald went to the Eagles concert, so Matt and I took Sarah home with us to babysit her for a few hours. She was so cute, and loved following Macy around the house. I had told Matt that he needed to help me with her because I needed to start making my breakfast casserole. Here are a few pictures of Matt 'helping' me babysit. He tried really hard to stay awake. Nice try babe!

Did you notice the mismatching top and bottoms on Sarah? Well, when I was trying to put her jammies on her I was looking through the diaper bag and the shirt that was in there with these pants looked WAY too cute to be pajamas. I figured that she could just stay in the shirt she was wearing because there was no way the other shirt could be jammies. Yeah, when Tami came to get her she told me that the other shirt was her pajama shirt. Silly me!! I remember baby pajamas being trashed and not that cute at all. I am totally not a mommy! :)

Here is Matt trying to get Sarah to lay down. She was tired and really hyper. It was very entertaining!

Here are all 3 of them (Macy included) sleeping on the couch. Macy woke up just for the picture. PS. Matt was asleep way before Sarah was. I am the one that got her to sleep. I think he gave up and just decided to fall asleep himself. I love it!

The next day we had Matt's mom and Boyd (his step dad) over for breakfast on Mother's Day. I made a breakfast strata (fancy name for casserole) and we had a lot of fresh fruit. It was really nice to be able to spend time with both of our moms.

I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day!!!

Macy Update

2009-05-04T17:32:00.002-06:00

MACY DOESN'T HAVE CANCER!!

The vet called to say that the tumor was not cancer, and we got it all. YAY!!! Now I can sleep at night.

Macy Surgery....and Mr. Fox

2009-04-29T18:21:00.004-06:00

My baby had surgery today. For those of you that didn't know, Macy has had a tumor on her back for the past few years that has just kept getting bigger and bigger. It has really bothered me because I keep thinking that it is cancer. I have been very nervous about getting it looked at. I don't want her to have cancer, so I have just put it off for a while, but I couldn't put it off any longer.

I took her in yesterday to get her vaccinations updated, refill her heart guard medication, and have her lump looked at. The doctor took a biopsy of the tumor and didn't think it looked like cancer (whew!) but he suggested that we get it removed. I completely agreed because I hate feeling it on her back when I pet her, and I hate answering questions about what it is. So we took her in this morning to get her teeth cleaned, and to have her tumor removed. She is actually feeling pretty well. She isn't very happy that she can't lick her back, but she is dealing with it. The vet had put a cone around her neck so that she wouldn't lick her back, but they said that we can take it off while we are watching her. She couldn't even walk around with the cone on so we haven't made her wear it yet, but when we go to work and leave her she will have to wear it (poor thing).

Here are a few pictures of our cute Macy post surgery. I don't think she looks too bad.

Here is a close up. The incision is about 1 inches wide. Poor thing! At least it is gone. I post again when they get the results back telling us what it was. Cross your fingers that it is nothing.

On a side note, we have been watching a fox that lives behind our house in the wildlife preserve. I guess there are about 3 foxes out there, but we always see this one. He has been digging for mice pretty close to our house. Keep it up Mr. Fox. We don't want any mice in this house.

This last picture is of Macy. She was freaking out at the fox. Too funny!!

St. George Trip

2009-03-23T20:16:00.002-06:00

Matt and I were able to take a day off of work and travel down to St. George for the weekend. Deidra and Chris were in town for a few weeks and they came down to golf and spend some time with us. It was so much fun.
Deidra and Chris had their cute baby Andon, and Matt and I had our cute baby Macy. They both did a wonderful job traveling to St. George, and they became fast friends.We had a good time riding the scooters and shopping while the guys had a blast golfing at Sand Hollow Golf Course. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us stay at your house. We had a blast!!

Birthday/Valentines Day

2009-02-22T14:24:00.002-07:00

This year I had a wonderful birthday! Matt surprised me with roses two days before my birthday (which I already posted the gorgeous pictures of them), and then he spent the whole day with me on my birthday. We made breakfast (biscuits and gravy...yummy!) and then I opened presents. Matt gave me a gift card to Victoria's Secret. I desperately needed new bra's, and I have been complaining about that to him for a few months, so it was a perfect gift. After I opened my gifts we went to the mall to use my gift card.

Matt took me to dinner that night to my favorite restaurant, Market Street Grill. We had to wait 2 hours for a table, because it was Valentines day and the rest of the world was trying to eat at Market Street too, but we didn't care. I was probably the most fun we have had in a long time. We were both in such good moods that we didn't even care that we had to wait that long. Once we made it into the restaurant we ordered oysters and had a grand ole time. I even ordered dessert, which I never do, so that was a really fun treat!

I have a picture of us at the restaurant, but I haven't loaded it onto my camera yet, so I will add a picture later.

Thank you for all of your birthday wishes. I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day too. :)

Happy Early Birthday to Me!

2009-02-12T13:12:00.002-07:00

I just had the nicest surprise! Matt had 3 dozen roses delivered to me today for Valentines day and my birthday. He is a few days early which really surprised me. I love the roses!! They are gorgeous, and I just had to post a few pictures of them to brag about what a wonderful husband I have. He is such a great guy, and I am very lucky to have him for the rest of my life. I love you baby!

Nice....

2009-02-12T13:02:00.003-07:00

This is just too funny to keep to ourselves.

We have a small backyard that Macy has all to herself. Every couple of weeks Matt will go out and pick up after her, but because we have had so much snow this winter we have been really lazy and haven't picked up after her since the beginning of winter.

For the last few weeks I have been getting after Matt about going outside to pick up the poop. Macy won't go to the bathroom if there is too much poop around her, so I have felt really bad for her since the snow melted. Last Sunday Matt finally went out to do the dirty job of picking up after her, and this is the after picture. I love the look on Macy's face. She looks so proud of herself. It makes me laugh every time I look at it. Yes, that whole bag is FULL of Macy poop!! Sorry if you think this is gross, but I had to post this hilarious picture. Enjoy!

Questar Here He Comes!!

2009-02-08T12:25:00.003-07:00

Matt got a job!!! He starts work on Monday at Questar Gas. He will start as a meter reader and hopefully advance quickly into more permanent position. He was unemployed for exactly a month and a day. We are so excited that he got a job! Good job baby! I knew you could do it!

Sleepless in Seattle

2009-02-02T16:53:00.004-07:00

Matt and I just got back from vacationing in Seattle. My best friend Deidra and her husband Chris moved there last summer, so we were able to go and spend some quality time with them and their cute little baby Andon. It was such a fun and relaxing trip. Matt and I needed a nice, relaxing get-away after the month we have had. Thanks Dee for letting us come and crash at your house for the weekend! We had a blast!!

We went to a really neat Tai restaurant on Friday night called Indochine that was in Tacoma. It was the prettiest restaurant I have ever been to. Deidra and Chris love Tai food, and Matt and I had never been to a Tai restaurant, so it was a fun new experience. We didn't have a reservation when we got to the restaurant, so the only table they had available was in a private room that was set up for a party that wouldn't be arriving for more than an hour. We were the only people in the room, so we felt really special! Andon was a good sport through most of the meal, but when Deidra tried to feed him a bottle it leaked and he was SOAKING wet, so after that he wasn't very happy.

Matt went golfing on Saturday while Deidra and I hung out and did a little bit of shopping. Poor Chris ended up having to work all weekend, but we still had a blast hanging out with him at night.

Superbowl Sunday was a lot of fun! We made 7-layer dip and Chris's brother came over to watch the game with us. Matt is always really loud when we watch any sporting event, and I don't think Andon was used to seeing someone get so loud all of the sudden. It was funny because he would just be playing on the floor, and Matt would jump up and start clapping or yelling at the TV and Andon would stop everything and just stare at Matt. At least it didn't make him cry or anything....Matt can get really loud!!

I was so glad that I got to spend the weekend with Deidra and her cute family. While we were there we realized that it has been about 5 years since we have spent more than a few hours with Chris and Deidra. As soon as they were married they moved outside of Utah and we haven't ever been able to visit them. It was nice to know that we are the type of friends that can stay close after not being together for such a long time. Thanks for the vacation guys! We love you!!

The Updates

2009-01-28T09:53:00.004-07:00

Matt Update

Matt is still looking for a job. He had an interview last week with Questar Gas that sounds pretty promising. He has applied at a number of different places, but the economy isn't helping his situation at all. He has been keeping himself busy with school up at the U, but I can tell he is getting pretty bored. He is over being sad, and I think now he is just irritated. He is definitely a busy-body, and staying home 3 days a week is killing him!!

Mandy Update

I just finished up my last week and a half of school and I am now off track for 3 1/2 weeks! We finished our time on track with our 3rd grade patriotic program "Freedom Isn't Free." The kids did a wonderful job, and they worked so hard. It was really a neat program to be a part of, and the parents were all so excited that they cried tears of joy!

I have to say that January is the hardest month to teach. We are all tired from the holidays, and it kind of stinks that you have to go from all that excitement, back to your regular life. I am pleased to have a break for a few weeks, but I do have to say that if Matt and I are going to be home together all the time during these next 3 1/2 weeks,we will probably kill each other! Don't get me wrong, we are completely happy and in love, but you can only spend so much time together. Those of you that are married should understand what I mean. Matt is already tired of being home, and I am excited to be able to be home and do some of the things that I haven't been able to do because I have been too busy. Hopefully he will get a job soon and we won't drive each other nuts.

A Not So Happy New Year....

2009-01-14T18:53:00.002-07:00

We had such a wonderful year in 2008 that we should have seen it coming.....Matt was let go from his job at Fanzz on January 2nd. He had taken the whole week after Christmas off from work (to use up his left over vacation) and the day he went back to work they surprised him by laying him off. It was a HUGE shock to both of us, but we are dealing with the whole situation.

He was not the only person to get laid off, but it doesn't change how bad it stinks. I am just grateful that we have been smart in the past year and a half, and saved as much money as we could. We should be fine for a while, but as most of you know, teachers don't make a lot of money, so we are hoping that he will find a job soon. Keep us in your prayers!!

Christmas! (Sorry, it's a long one)

2008-12-28T16:46:00.011-07:00

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year and I have so much to post!!

I realize now that I have spent about an hour uploading all my pictures that I should've just done a slideshow, but it is too late now! Enjoy! :)

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year. It was so relaxing, and it really made me think about how blessed I am with being able to spend time with my wonderful family, and my husbands wonderful family!

We spent Christmas Eve at my mom and dad's house. All of my sisters and their families were able to come and spend Christmas together. We were only missing my brother and his family, hopefully next year they will be able to come. My mom always goes all out with her dinner, and it was awesome!!! She made prime rib, scalloped potatoes, salad, shrimp, and a lot more food that I can't even think of. It was yummy!!

Here is me and Brecken. He is such a good baby! I love to hold him. I told Lisa that if I could guarantee that we would have a sweet little baby like Brecken we would have kids right now. I don't think it is very likely! :)

Every year at my parents before we open gifts the kids and my dad put on a little skit of what happened on Christmas Eve with Mary and Joseph. It was so fun to see the kids get all dressed up, and listen to the Christmas story (read by my dad). It helps us remember what Christmas is all about and why we celebrate. Here are a few pictures of their skit. Too cute!My niece Addison played some Christmas songs on the piano. She is getting really good! Way to go Addi! I am so proud of you!
My niece Emma got a Teacher Barbie. I was so excited for her! She thought it was cool that I was a teacher, and now she has a barbie teacher. Too cute!! I would have loved that as a kid. Barbies rock!
We played Bingo for our gift exchange, and my sisters and I all fought over my mom's exchange gift. She didn't follow the $10 limit and put a huge makeup kit with full sized makeup from Lancome in the exchange, and Trish and I fought to the death, but she finally ended up winning. Congrats Trish! I'm not a sore loser! :)

These were our gifts that we got from the exchange.

I love that movie, and the hot chocolate machine rocks!! Thanks!

We scored big time with gifts this year! Matt got a new driver, and I got new skis. We got a bunch of North Carolina gear and a hot chocolate maker (totally cool!). Tami also made us a beautiful sign that says Goodwin. I can't wait to hang it up! Thanks Tam! We love you!! We both bought each other ski boots and took them out yesterday for a trial run. I LOVE my new skis!!! Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

This picture of Sarah tells it all.

We had so much fun that we were all pooped by the end of the night!!

On Christmas Day, Matt's Dad, Uncle Jack, Grandpa Goodwin, Mom and Boyd all came over to our house to have breakfast and open a few gifts. This is a little tradition we started last year which I love!! It makes things nice that we do everything with my family on Christmas Eve, and that way we get to spend the whole day on Christmas with Matt's family. We don't have to drive all around visiting everyone. It makes it much more relaxing.

Here is Matt before everyone showed up. These are just a few of his favorite gifts that he received from his loving wife. :)

Matt gave me a bunch of CD's, the new JK Rowlings book and a night gown. Love you baby!!

Macy got some new bones, and a new baby from Santa. She was very happy!!

Here are all the men at our house enjoying the yummy Christmas Strata and sweetrolls that I made for breakfast.
Matt, Jack, Grandpa, and Papa Ben.

Matt and his new ski boots.

After breakfast Matt and I went up to his mom and Boyd's to spend time with that side of the family. It was a lot of fun. His mom always has such yummy food out all day long, and of course I ate way too much! Gotta love the holidays.

We scored big time with gifts from Matt's family too!! Thanks Pam for the cute black coat (which I have been wanting really bad), and CSI, and clothes that you gave to Matt. Also, thanks Ben and Jack for the gift certificates! We can't wait to go shopping!! Thanks Tammie and kids for the gift certificates. We love you guys! Also, thanks Grandpa Goodwin for the money. I love being able to adopt Matt's Grandpa as my own. It isn't very much fun to be 25 and not have any Grandparents left. I am so blessed that I married into such a loving and amazing family!!!

Here is Matt's cute mom with the scarf that I made her for Christmas. It took me a few months, but I think it turned out really nice!! Hope you enjoy it!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-13T13:52:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

O Christmas Tree!

2008-12-07T12:00:00.005-07:00

I put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. I always have so much fun decorating our tree, it just makes everything feel so warm and like home. Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love the smells, the music, buying gifts, and getting together with friends and family. I can't wait!

Merry Christmas!

We also hung up curtains in our living room, so I will post the pictures of that as well. I love the curtains. It makes our living room feel like it is finished. It is amazing how much our house has changed since last year. It feels like home.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-12-07T11:30:00.004-07:00

This year for Thanksgiving everyone in my family got together at my mom's house. It was so much fun to see everyone and eat my mom's yummy food! She always does such a great job, and goes ALL OUT for the party. She even made little turkey place holders for all of the kids out of an apple, toothpicks, and gum drops. They were adorable!

Me and Lisa and baby Brecken. He is getting so big, and was a sweetheart all day!!

My and my niece Addison. She just got her hair cut, and wanted to look just like her Aunt Mandy. Too cute!! I loved it!

Matt and Addison. They were twiners in brown.

This is the only picture I took of part of the table. Tami is in the background doing what she does best.... picking. :)
My dad. What an awesome guy!

After dinner we all gathered downstairs and played Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Matt and I brought our games over and everyone got really into them, even the little girls. It was fun to play with everyone. We lost track of time and ended up staying until 9:30! It was a blast. Thanks Mom and Dad for everything! We are so thankful to have parents like you!

Here is Tyler, Addison, and Emery playing Rock Band. They were actually pretty good.

Twilight Premier!

2008-11-26T09:36:00.002-07:00

Last Thursday night at midnight me, Amy, and Rachelle joined the crazies at the District for the opening showing of Twilight. Thanks to my sister Trish and her friend that rented out an entire theater, we were able to see a lot of crazy fans that were all dressed up ready for a great time. I had parent teacher conferences that night and the next night, so I came to the movie ready for bed. I had already taken a shower and done my hair, and was ready to jump into bed the second I got home. Most of the other girls came ready to pick up a date, or ready to get their picture taken with a cardboard cutout of Edward on the "red carpet" that the movie theater had all ready for the excited girls.
It was a fun girls night, and I had a wonderful time. The movie was not my favorite, but I don't think a movie can ever truly live up to the books. These books have so much great detail in them, and so much emotion that it was hard to feel all the emotion in the movie. I thought the actors did a great job, and the actor that plays Edward is growing on me. He didn' t look like the person I had imagined in my head, but he is totally growing on me.

Thanks girls for making it a fun night out.

My Classroom

2008-11-16T11:08:00.006-07:00

It has been a while since I posted pictures of my classroom. Before we went off track we made paper mache globes, and I hung them from the ceiling. They look so good, so I had to post a few pictures of what it looks like currently. I wish I could post pictures of my cute kids, but I can post pictures of the work they do. Enjoy!

Go Utes!

2008-11-16T10:04:00.004-07:00

A few weekends ago my mom and dad invited Matt and I to the Utah "Black out" game. It was so much fun! We were freezing cold, but we bundled up with Utah gear (thanks to my husband) and Utah blankets. It was so cool to see all the people at the game dressed in Black. When the Utes won, everyone rushed the field. It was really an exciting game. Thanks mom and dad for the invite! We had a blast!!!

I Was Tagged!

2008-11-08T10:54:00.005-07:00

Tag...

1. How long have you been together? We've been married for 1 1/2 years (almost), but we have been together for almost 7 years. (yikes, the 7 year itch!!)

2. How long did we date? 5 1/2 years (I wanted to finish school before we got married, and it took me a little longer than it should have) :)

3. How old is he? 26

4. Who eats more? Matt....he is a piggy, and he doesn't gain a pound!!!

5. Who said, "I love you," first? Me.....I was head over heels!

6. Who is taller? Matt, by 3 inches, but we are pretty close to the same when I have my shoes on.

7. Who does the laundry? Me, but he will help fold the clothes when I ask

8. Who does the dishes? Matt does. We made a deal that if I do the cooking, he cleans up, and if he cooks, I clean (so he usually does the dishes)

9. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me

10. Who pays the bills? Me

11. Who mows the lawn? Our HOA - but when we have a house Matt will do it.

12. Who cooks dinner? Me.

13. Who is more stubborn? Me (says Matt, but I think it is pretty close) :)

14. Who kissed who first? Matt kissed me first....he asked me if he could before he did. Too cute!!

15. Who asked who out? Matt asked me out first

16. Who proposed? Matt, after a day of skiing at Solitude (where we had our first date)

17. Who is more sensitive? Me

18. Who has more siblings? Me (4, he has 2)

19. What were you doing ten years ago? Matt was a sophomore and I was in 9th grade. I had just gotten my braces off and Matt had a unibrow. (Ah, memories!)

20. Five things on my to-do list:
1. Organize our spare bedrooms
2. Clean out our garage
3. Work out more
4. Eat more healthy
5. Stay caught up on my school work

21. Things I would do if I was suddenly made a billionaire - Buy a nice big home, quit my job and make babies, pay for Matt's schooling, go back to school and get my Masters, maybe a little lypo :)

22. Three of my bad habits:
1. I am very particular, and I HAVE to do things myself.
2. PROCRASTINATION
3. "Out of sight, out of mind" - I will shove things where ever they will fit, and as long as I can't see them it doesn't bother me....it drives Matt CRAZY!!

23. Five places I have lived:
1. Sandy
2. Sugarhouse
3. Midvale
4. Sandy again (different place)
5. South Jordan

24. Five jobs I have had:
1. Solarium Tan and Travel - gotta love the tanning salon where I worked for like 5 years!!
2. Interstate Hydraulics - this job put me through school (thanks dad!)
3. Willow Canyon Elementary - my first year of teaching 3rd grade
4. Falcon Ridge Elementary - my current teaching position (3rd grade)
5. to be continued..... (hopefully not for a long time)

That's it!! I have only had 4 jobs!!

I tag....Amy, Bree, and Kelly

Party Time!

2008-11-02T14:47:00.002-07:00

We had such a fun Halloween this year. We had a Halloween party with all of our friends at our house this year. It was my first large get together that I have ever thrown, and I had a great time! Everyone came dressed up and ready to have a blast. We bobbed for apples, had a pinata (spelling?), and played the donut on a string game. It was a blast! Thanks guys for coming. I hope we can do it again next year!

Halloween!!

2008-11-02T14:22:00.003-07:00

I have a few things to post about Halloween. I went to my Dad's company party Halloween afternoon. It is always fun to see all the creative costumes that people come up with. I had a blast!

These are my cute nieces, Stella and Sarah. I picked Sarah up from the babysitters and she was so excited to come to a Halloween party! It is so fun to see how excited little kids get!

This is Stella, me, and Susan (Bubbles). I used to work with Susan, and she was the funniest part of the whole party. She really committed to her costume. She didn't talk at all! She just made balloon animals, and used hand gestures to talk. It was hilarious!Tami and Sarah. Tami borrowed my Snow White costume at the last minute. She looked really cute though! She pulls off the princess-thing well! :)

This is my cousin Tiff and Rick and their kids. I loved how they were all matching! They have been planning their costumes for almost a year. What a cute idea!

I had a blast! Thanks for the invite!

Time to Paint!

2008-10-29T09:49:00.005-06:00

I have been talking about painting our living room for about 4 months, and since I am off track I finally had the time. I painted one accent wall in our living room, and one accent wall in a nook just off the kitchen. It took me 3 days to get it the perfect shade, and our house was completely torn apart for those 3 days! While I was painting the walls I also decided to spray paint our hutch that is in the nook. It used to be a dark green, and I painted it a dark brown. It looks so good! It is amazing how much a little paint can change the whole look of your house. I am loving it! Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

Here is a before picture that was taken sometime last year (with my hubby in a lovely position)

Here is the after picture. I love it!!

Here is a picture of our big mess!!! It was not pretty!

Here is our hutch and the nook that I painted.

Now that I am done painting this room I see why people say that it is addicting. I now want to paint our bedroom wall brown. We will see what happens, but as for right now we are both enjoying our new orange living room. Just in time for Halloween. :)

Fall Break in St. George

2008-10-24T11:19:00.003-06:00

Matt and I had a blast in St. George this last weekend. We headed down on Wednesday and stayed until Sunday night. It was such a fun and relaxing weekend. We were there with my parents, Trish and Tyler, and their 3 kids. We spent a lot of time just relaxing, shopping, swimming, and riding on my parents scooters. It is so much fun to be able to do whatever you want and not worry about school and what you have to do the next day. I loved it!

We went to Mesquite on Friday night. They were having a seafood buffet, and my family loves crab so we were all in heaven. We also went to In-and-Out Burger almost everyday that we were down there. That is the reason that I started running again. :)

Matt was really excited because he finally got me out on the golf course. We were able to play golf with my parents at the beautiful Sand Hollow course. I couldn't believe how pretty a golf course could be! It makes me realize why Matt loves golf so much. It really is a peaceful place to be. I had a great time. (I shot a 62 on 9 holes. Pretty terrible!!)

My mom and I had a blast watching my dad and Matt take their game very seriously! :) It was funny because My mom yelled "Thank You" to someone right when Matt was hitting his driver, and I took a picture of Matt right when he was in his backswing. He was losing his patience with us. :)

This course was made to resemble the old course in Scotland. My dad has played there a few times, so he kept us up to date on the similarities.

I had to post a picture of my swing. Matt told me that I had good follow-through. I was proud of myself because I can actually hit the ball now. That always make a day of golf WAY more fun.

I Was Tagged!

2008-10-11T11:15:00.003-06:00

1. Put your I-Tunes/music player/cd player on shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER WHAT!!! NO CHEATING!
4. After you've answered all the questions, tag three other people.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Just To See You Smile - Tim McGraw

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Everytime - Britney Spears

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Emotion - Destiny's Child

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Work Magic - Lloyd Banks

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
In This Skin - Jessica Simpson

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Piano Man - Billy Joel

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
Little Things - Bush (that is funny, but so not true)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
The Dreaming Tree - Dave Matthews Band

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT FREQUENTLY?
Survivor - Destiny's Child (very true....with 21 3rd graders all day long)

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
In My Place - Coldplay

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
My Love is Like...Wo - Mya (HAHAHA)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LOVE?
Pray Your Gods - Toad the Wet Sprocket (I don't get that one)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
If I Ever Lose My Faith In You - Sting

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Polly - Nirvana (Funny)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LOVE?
Angel - Shaggy (That works!)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
The Voice Within - Christina Aguilera (well, I am a little outspoken)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Slipped Away - Avril Lavigne (that works because the wedding day flew by!)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Son Of A Gun - Janet Jackson (too funny)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Let You Down - Dave Matthews Band (sad)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
I Love You - Martina McBride (who would've guessed!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Seed - Sublime

Use the song that comes up no cheating or its no fun!
I tag Kelly, Amy, and Deidra. Have fun girls!

In Touch with Nature

2008-10-04T14:16:00.008-06:00

It has been a long time since I last blogged, so I have a few things to post about.

Last weekend Matt and I decided to get in touch with our outdoorsy side and took a trip to Park City last weekend. We had to go and renew all of Matt's ski passes, so we took the scenic route and went up Guardsman Pass (I think that is what it is called). It was so much fun! I have never driven to Park City that way, so it was really neat to see a part of Utah that I haven't seen before. It was gorgeous! Once we got to Park City, we went to lunch at the Wasatch Brewery and walked around all the shops on Main Street. It was so nice to spend a whole Saturday with Matt. He usually is golfing on Saturday, so it was a really nice change. Thanks baby! I had a blast!

A couple of weekends ago we went up to the canyon with some friends for a BBQ. It was so much fun to do something outdoors. Jason and Emily made the plans, and Kelly and Jon came up too. Jason worked the grill while the rest of us just ate. It was perfect! :) We had a blast, so I had to post some pictures from it.

The whole gang! (Emily & Jason, Kelly & Jon, Matt & Mandy)

Here are the boys building a fire. It looks like it is snowing, but it is just the ash floating through the air. Kind of cool!
All the girls. (Emily, Kelly, and Mandy)
A cute one of Jason and Emily.

Thanks guys! We had a blast!

It's a Boy!

2008-09-14T10:43:00.004-06:00

Lisa and Brian finally broke the Postma curse of only having either boys or girls. They welcomed little Breken into the world yesterday morning at 12:06 AM. He weighed 7 lbs 10 oz.

He is the sweetest little guy. Matt and I were able to watch him take his first bath. He was so cold and kept shaking his arms. Matt thought that was pretty funny. Emery was such a wonderful big sister and was able to help give her new baby brother a bath.

Lisa went into labor on Friday afternoon. When I went to visit her in the hospital on Friday she was only dialated to a 3 and they knew it would be a while before she had him. She was at the hospital from about 3:30 on Friday afternoon and didn't have him until 12:06 Saturday morning. It was a longer labor than she has ever had, but she is incredible! Once again she didn't have an epidural (spelling?) and when Matt and I went to see her on Saturday at around 10:30 she was up and walking around getting Breken ready for his bath. She is such a nurse! I have never seen someone who just gave birth not even 12 hours ago walk around. She is amazing!! I told Matt not to expect me to do that. I don't think I have a very high pain tolerance, and I will probably be screaming like a little baby. Hopefully I can take some pointers from my wonderwoman sister. I don't have all the pictures that I wanted to post of him yet, so I will post the rest when I get them. Enjoy looking at my newest nephew!

Swiss Days

2008-09-04T21:44:00.002-06:00

We had a wonderful Labor Day weekend spending time with my family in Midway. Matt and I got off work early on Friday- picked up Lisa, Stella and Macy -and made the drive up to Midway. Once we got there Lisa and I decided to head on over to Swiss Days before they closed up for the night. I did a lot of window shopping that night and Lisa picked up a few cute things for her girls.
On Saturday the guys went 4-wheeling and Golfing, so the girls headed on over to Swiss Days again. It was really hot, but a lot of fun! I bought a really cute watch and a cute decoration for our bedroom. It was a lot of fun to walk around all the shops and check out the neat things that they sell, but the best part was getting to spend time with my sisters and my mom. I feel like I hardly get to see my family at all since I started school again, so it was a nice weekend filled with family time. I feel like Matt and I didn't spend a whole lot of time together, but I was glad that we both had such a great time.
Sunday was a very relaxing day. I honestly don't think I left the house at all (except for walking Macy). Trish and I were the queens of playing Phase 10 and Sequence, and we tried our best to get everyone involved. At one point every single person was playing (Trish and Lisa's girls kept picking whose team they wanted to be on based on who was winning) even my mom and dad played a little.
It was a nice break from our busy lives. I can't wait until next year when we can do it all again! Thanks Mom and Dad for a wonderful weekend!

I DID IT!!

2008-08-11T16:15:00.001-06:00

On Saturday I ran in my first half marathon. It was definitely the hardest thing I have ever done! I am so proud of myself that I finished and I followed through with something that I set out to do.

I had to be in Provo at 5:00 A.M., so Matt and I left our house at 4:30 A.M.! The race started at 6:30, and there were a ton of runners ready to go. We were bussed up South Fork canyon to the start of the race. Matt was such a sweetheart and was there bright and early to support me. He walked with me to the bus, but that was as far as he could go.

My dad also came to support me, and he and Matt were there when I crossed the finish line.

I finished the race in 2 hours and 36 minutes. It was not the time that I had hoped for, but it was a relief just to finish the race. The last 3 miles were the hardest miles of the entire race, but I did it!I am still having a hard time walking, and it has been 2 days since the race. Matt keeps making fun of me when I 'waddle' down the stairs. I am starting to feel better today though, and I am already starting to think about what I am going to do next.

Time for a Change!

2008-08-01T11:29:00.000-06:00

Last night I got my hair cut, and I decided to chop it shorter than I have ever cut my hair before. I like it, but it is a big change. Matt was funny last night when he saw it because he didn't realize how short I was going to go, but he seemed to really like it. He is a huge fan of the blonde streaks that I put in it.

Here are a couple of pictures of my new do. I did an A-line cut, and I have to say that I feel like Posh Spice! :)

Hopefully I get used to not having any hair in the back. I went for a run this morning, and I couldn't put it in a ponytail. That will be a weird adjustment!! But it was time for a change. :)

Camping at Washington Lake

2008-07-21T18:16:00.000-06:00

Tami and Jerald invited Matt and I to go camping this last weekend up at Washington Lake. We had a blast!! Tami and Jerald were our lifesavers because Matt and I are retarded when it comes to camping and we didn't hardly bring anything. We loved being able to hang out with everyone and enjoy the great outdoors. Thanks Tami and Jerald for inviting us! We love you guys!

Trish and Tyler came up also, and it was fun to see them and get to hang out with their kids.

The guys all went 4-wheeling, and they were really tired and dirty when they got back.

Mom and Dad came up for the day on Saturday. My Mom was a trooper with her broken knee to come all the way there, and we were glad to see them.

Matt was having a blast playing with the kids. He thought he was one of them for a minute. Too funny!

Thanks for inviting us Tami and Jerald! We had a blast!

Here we go again....

2008-07-21T17:47:00.000-06:00

So it is almost that time of year again, and I have to start setting up my classroom. This year I moved to a brand new school, so it has been a lot of fun to decorate and organize all of my things that I accumulated over the last year. I have cupboards and countertops in my classroom this year, so everything feels totally different. I am loving it!!

Tami and Sarah came to help me put up my tree. I totally appreciated their help! I couldn't have done it without them!

Here are some pictures of my walls in my classroom. It is a lot more fun to decorate your second year of teaching because at least you have some idea of what you are doing.

My classroom theme is Frogs and Bugs....if it helps things make more sense to you while you look at the pictures.

The drawing on my whiteboard is from Emery and Stella. I was able to babysit them for a little bit while Lisa went to the doctors. They were great helpers!

Thanks to everyone who helped me. I'm not ready yet (far from it) but it is all coming together!

Memory Lane Tag

2008-07-16T10:14:00.000-06:00

Memory Lane.... the tag that gets everyone involved. I got this from my cousin Stephanie and I thought I would play the game.
Here's how you play:
1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember.
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory of you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

I Was Runnin'

2008-07-07T18:21:00.000-06:00

So, for some of you that may not know....I am planning on running in a Half Marathon this August, and I have been training for the last 7 weeks to get my butt in shape so that I don't die half way through the race! Thanks to Trish for talking me into doing this with her (I hope she is still planning on doing it). I am actually really glad that she suggested it to me, because it has given me a reason and motivation to get into shape.

It has been a long 7 weeks, but I am totally seeing improvement in my body and my stamina. Now, I don't want to fool any of you into thinking that I can run straight the whole time without walking at all, so I will be totally honest with you. When I am running, I usually run for about a mile or two, then I walk for a minute, then run again for a mile or two. I could probably keep going without walking, but the only thing that keeps me going is knowing that I have a walking break in a mile or so.

This last April, before I started training, I ran a 5K for my school's fund raiser and I was dragging!! Matt ran it with me, and he beat me by a good 10 minutes. I finished the race, huffing and puffing, at 43 minutes. Last weekend I ran a 5K in 31 minutes. I was very impressed with myself that I had improved so much in the last 3 months!

Yesterday I ran the longest distance that I have ever done!! I ran 7 miles, and I was still able to walk afterward! It was long and boring, but with the help of my trusty IPOD, I was rocking out to all my favorite artists for a little over an hour. I didn't run it very fast, and I averaged about 11 & 1/2 minutes a mile, but I was impressed with myself that I could actually run for 7 straight miles!!

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-05T12:18:00.001-06:00

We had so much fun celebrating the 4th of July with our friends Brad and Amy and their little boy Rylan. We went to dinner at Applebee's and then we went to Sandy Days. It was really fun, and they had awesome firworks there (or as Rylan calls them "Awesome Works")! I felt bad for poor little Rylan because he was really tired, and he wasn't too happy at Applebee's, but he loved the Awesome Works!!We loved watching the fireworks, eating snowcones, and just hanging out on the grass watching Rylan make friends with all the little girls that were around us. It was a blast!

Matt and Brad - they think they are pretty cool.

Amy and I getting ready for the fireworks.

They had a live band that was pretty good too.

Here is a video of Rylan jamming to the live music with the glow sticks that the people next to us gave him.

He was having a blast!

Happy Birthday Baby!

2008-06-27T14:36:00.001-06:00

Matt turned 26 on June 17th. It was a fun day (except for the fact that he had to go to work and I didn't) and we celebrated just the way that Matt would want to. I took him to get his favorite food - Sushi- and we managed to get a couple of free handrolls from the sushi bar because it was his birthday.

Matt also got the present that he has been wanting to buy for the last 6 months. I bought him Rock Band, and we have been jamming out at least a couple nights a week. He is really good at the drums, and I am getting pretty good on the guitar. We are both on 'Hard', so it makes things a little more challenging. I know that we are total geeks! I wanted Guitar Hero for Christmas, and he wanted Rock Band for his birthday. I guess after you get married you both become geeks!! It was a fun day! Happy Birthday Baby!!

Jackson Hole...here we come!

2008-06-27T11:29:00.000-06:00

We just got back from vacationing in Jackson Hole for a family reunion. It was a lot of fun to get to spend time with my family that I haven't seen in a long time. Almost everyone was there. Blair and Heidi and their boys couldn't make it, but all the girls were able to come.

While we were there we did a lot of fun activities. We went to Bubba's for ribs the first night. They were awesome! We drove into Teton Village on the second day and went up the tram to the top of the ski lift.
Matt and I also went on the bungie tramp thing that they had at Teton Village. It was pretty scary with how high you go up in the air, but we had a lot of fun. It was harder than I thought it was going to be! We also went to see the Bar J Wranglers while we were in Jackson. It was a fun night of old cowboy music, and good down home cookin'. I have always teased my brother-in-law Tyler about liking the Bar J Wranglers, but after seeing them live I have a new found respect for that kind of music. It was really a lot of fun, and if you have never seen them, you should plan a trip to Jackson just to see them.

While in Jackson Hole, all the girls (and Grandma, Grandpa, and Trish) rode the stage coach. Addison and Emery sat right on top of the coach. They had a ball!

We also got to ride the Alpine Slide they have at Jackson Hole ski resort. Almost everyone rode, even all the kids. The best part was that my dad's ski didn't work very well, so him and Stella got stuck on the trail right in front of Jerald. Too funny!

After spending about 3 days in Jackson Hole, we went into Yellowstone National Park. But before we even got to Yellowstone, we came up to a group of about 200 people and they were all looking at something. We thought it had to be a bear because there is never that many people gathered around buffalo or elk....and sure enough it was a bear. He was about 2 years old, and had just killed a young elk and was chowing down! It was neat to get to see a bear that close.

While in Yellowstone, we went to see Old Faithful. Matt told me that he had been there before, but hadn't ever seen it go off. Who goes to Old Faithful and doesn't wait the 50 minutes or so to watch it go off?!?! Well, we made sure that he saw it this time.

We crossed the Continental Divide a couple of times, so finally my mom made my dad stop the car so we could get our picture taken by the sign. I love it!

We also drove by a gorgeous waterfall. It was really hard to get a good picture by it because of the sun, but the video shows how pretty it was - even though it is sideways (sorry).

We had such an awesome time! My parents planned an amazing vacation for us all! I don't think we could have had a better time. Thanks Mom and Dad!! We love you guys!

1 Year later!

2008-06-15T09:27:00.000-06:00

Matt and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary last Sunday! We celebrated back where the whole thing started, Marketstreet Grill in Cottonwood. We had dinner and it was fun to see that a wedding was going on down on the patio right where we had our wedding. It was a wonderful night. Matt brought me flowers (gorgeous, but sorry I don't have a picture of them) and he gave me a sweet card. We ate our year old wedding cake, which turned out to be really yummy!!

It has been such a great year! I can't believe everything that has happened. Here is the list:
We went to Mexico on our honeymoon.
We bought a townhouse.
I started teaching school.
Matt fell and sliced up his finger at work. (8 stitches)
Matt went back to school.
I completed my first year of teaching.
Macy had 9 teeth pulled.
Our rude neighbors moved away. YEAH!!
I started training for a half marathon.
Matt has been playing a lot of golf. (of course)
Matt's car was totaled.
We bought a new Xterra.
I turned 25.
I got a new job at a brand new school.
Tami had a baby. (Sarah Mae)

I think that is about all the important things that happened during the time that we have been married. Crazy how time flies when you are having fun!

Here are some pictures from our first year of marriage. Enjoy!

Here we are opening our wedding presents.
Don't you love the paper over our windows! We had just moved into our house.

Here we are on our honeymoon

Out of school

2008-06-15T09:02:00.000-06:00

I know it has been a long time since I posted, but first I have to tell you why. We don't have internet at our house still. It is really hard to post pictures and tell you about us when we don't have internet at our house. We called Qwest and they basically told us that they will never be able to provide us with internet, so our search continues. Hopefully we will have it soon and I will be able to keep you updated on our incredible lives!

I finished school the first week of June! It was really sad to say goodbye to the kids, but it was exciting too. I worked really hard my first year, and I needed a break from all the stress of teaching. Next year I will be at a brand new school. It is a year round school, so I will have a lot more breaks than I had this last year. I can't wait! I could have used those breaks this last year as a first year teacher. I was very attached to my kids, and I still think about them everyday. It will be hard to start again with a new set of kids.

Matt is taking school this summer to try to speed things up a bit. He is almost finished with his second associate degree, then he might transfer up to the University. We will have to see what he decides when he gets there. Hopefully he will graduate and get a job that he loves!

Poor Macy!

2008-04-28T14:33:00.000-06:00

I know it has been forever since I updated my blog, but I have some sad news to share. Macy (our poor little puppy) had to go to the dentist to get her teeth cleaned. While she was there, the dentist pulled 9 teeth!! She had a major infection in her gums (which explained the terrible stench coming from her mouth) and she had to have stitches too. She is doing much better now since it has been a little over a week, but she is still feeling a little silly without teeth.
She no longer has any teeth in front (top and bottom), and she has begun slobbering a little because there aren't any teeth to catch the spit! So sad! Hopefully I can post pictures of her soon. She won't let me get a good look of the inside of her mouth, so I will have to wait a few more days.

This is a lesson to all of your children. BRUSH YOUR TEETH!!!

Easter Break

2008-03-24T19:08:00.000-06:00

So, I know I haven't updated the blog in a long time, but we haven't had internet at our house for a while. I guess it is actually time to purchase our own wireless router. (Opps!!)

We just got back from a trip to Seattle Washington! It was a blast seeing the Postma clan at Sam and Liz's wedding! Matt had a fun time catching a glimps of the March Madness everytime we passed a television.

Seattle is usually rainy, but Saturday was a perfect day! With the sun out and the weather at about 60 degrees we were able to go to Pikes Market Place and see the fish market, and we even walked to the Space Needle. Mom and I didn't wear the best shoes, but we made it and had a great time. I will post pictures soon!! Thanks Easter Bunny! It was an awesome trip!

The Search Is Over!

2008-02-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let all of you know that Matt found himself a Nissan Xterra. He bought it on Tuesday, and he loves it!! It is a 2005, Silver exterior and grey/black interior. It is really nice, and we couldn't have asked for a better deal. I will post pictures soon, I promise. Now we can make it to my parents house on Christmas Eve without having to call someone with a 4-wheel drive. :)

Wedding Pictures

2008-01-26T18:17:00.000-07:00

I had a few people request that I post some pictures from our wedding, so here they are. I don't have all the pictures from the photographer that I can post, but I do have a few. Some of these are from friends/family members cameras, but they all turned out great.

Enjoy!!

More Wedding Pictures

2008-01-26T18:10:00.000-07:00

Still Searching....

2008-01-26T17:26:00.000-07:00

So I just wanted to update you on the car search. Matt is having such a fun time in his rental minivan that he hasn't been able to find a car that lives up to his expectations. We are looking for an Xterra, but he wants a newer one for a really good price. We have been out all day 'negotiating' with my favorite people in the world, salesmen. Ugh!! That is all I can say!

I will keep you updated when we find Matt's dream car, and I will post pictures.

The Pictures

2008-01-21T19:57:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of the damage to Matt's car. He is still smiling, which makes me love him even more.

Update: the car is a total loss, and I think we are looking into buying a Nissan Xterra. Keep your fingers crossed that we can find a good deal.

So Much for the Long Weekend!!

2008-01-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

Matt and I were very excited for this long weekend, but things took a wrong turn on Friday evening when Matt was driving home from work. He was in an accident on the freeway. He was completely stopped in the fastlane on I-15 by the 215 interchange when a car slammed into the car behind him, then that car slammed into Matt, and Matt slammed into the car infront of him. Luckily the only thing that was damaged was the car (probably a total loss). Matt walked away, and wasn't even sore the next day. The whole trunk was smashed in almost up to the rear window. I took a few pictures of the accident with my cell phone, but we are going to the tow yard tomorrow to pick up a few last things from his car, and I will take better pictures and post them as soon as I can.

When scary things like this happen it really makes you evaluate your life. I don't know what I would have done if Matt would have been seriously injured in this accident. I am just really grateful that he is ok....and here right now.... singing Dave Matthews Band at the top of his lungs with his IPOD in. :) Gotta love him!!

Baby Sarah

2008-01-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

I had to post this picture of my newest niece Sarah, and her favorite aunt in the whole world. I am always the favorite!

She was born Dec. 7, 2007.

Our First Christmas!

2007-12-31T16:21:00.000-07:00

Well, Matt and I made it through our first Christmas as a married couple. We went to Matt's mom's house the Sunday before Christmas for her party. It was fun to get to spend time with his mom and Boyd, Nanny and his cousins. We then went to my mom's house on Christmas Eve. It was so much fun to see everyone and get to spend time with all my sisters and nieces and nephew (we missed you Blair and Heidi). We tried really hard to get everyone to play our new "Scene It - Squabble", but with all the kids running around, it seemed like it was me against all the boys. We still had a blast, and for once we all had a spot on my moms new HUGE couch.

It was a lot of fun to have Matt's family over to our house on Christmas day. It made things really easy and relaxed for us. We usually spend our Christmas running from house to house, and this was the first year that we really were able to enjoy ourselves. Matt had a blast watching me rock out on my new Guitar Hero, and I had a lot of fun watching him play with all of his new tools and cordless drill.

We couldn't have asked for a better Christmas. I hope next year will be just as great!

Our wedding

2007-10-28T20:18:00.001-06:00

Matt and I were married on June 8th, 2007. It was such a fun and exciting time in our lives. We also bought our first home a month before we were married, and we moved into it when we got home from our honeymoon. It really has been an exciting time of our lives.