2008 (In Review)

What a whirlwind of a year. I don't think Dave and I could have packed any more momentus, life changing events into the year if we had tried. Let's see if I can pick out just some of the highlights....

January
I was baptized and confirmed into the LDS church (what a great way to start out the year!).

February
Dave and I went ring shopping. Dave thought we were just going to go look. I thought that if I found what I was looking for we'd get them. So we got an engagement ring and a wedding band for me and a wedding band for Dave.

I got Lasik done. I can actually open my eyes under water (if I want) and go to bed and get up in the morning without worrying about contacts. I looked great in glasses though so I kind of miss that.

March
Dave made me wait a good long time before *finally* asking me to marry him. :) On March 21, Dave got down on bended knee (well, actually 2 bended knees) and asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes.

April
Pookie and I moved in with Dave (I know, naughty naughty), but it really was a good decision.

May
Dave and I graduated from the University of Utah. What an accomplishment for the both of us! The best part was that we graduated with the same degree so we were able to sit together during the ceremony and then walk one after the other. :)

I started a new job! And I still love it!

July
MARRIED! Mwahahahaha. Dave is all mine. :) And you all came to celebrate with us. Thank you for that.

For our honeymoon we spent a long weekend up at Snowbird. I love that place in the summertime- it is so beautiful. :)

September
Dave's birthday

October
Pookie's birthday

Dave, Pookie, and I take our first road trip together. We headed off to the Oregon Coast by way of Portland for a visit with the family.

November
Deb's Birthday

Five days before Deb's birthday we found out that we were going to have baby number 1!

Our first Thanksgiving together. We joined Dave's family for an awesome feast.

December

Our first Christmas together!

Over all it has been quite a year. What a blessing!

What happens in Vegas....

I'm so excited to say that I just booked a vacation for Dave and I to go to Vegas! We are going in a few weeks (just enough time to get excited but not so far away that it feels like it will never get here). A good friend of mine suggested getting some vacations in before the baby is born- these next few months are the only time that Dave and I will have for ourselves. Dave has never been to Vegas and I have been wanting to go on a road trip and Vegas is the perfect distance (6 hour drive- far enough to be different not so far that I never want to get in a car again).

Anyway, I am just so excited! :) There are so many things that I want to do with Dave- show him all the big casinos and watch the fountain at the Bellagio and the pirates at Treasure Island. And just relax! :) Oh yeah- and buffets. I am already excited for the Bellagio Buffet. :)

Christmas

Well Christmas has come and gone. And it was a great first Christmas for us. :) I think that Pookie had the most fun out of everyone. Most of our pictures are of Pookie enjoying her toys and unwrapping gifts. Next year it will be baby. Dave and I were too busy opening our presents and enjoying them to take pictures (we got a few in early).

My new blanket- this thing zips up and turns into a nice little wrap (complete with sleeves). I love this thing. And so does Dave. And Pookie for that matter.

Pookie was in fact helping to unwrap her presents. She would grab a piece of the paper with her teeth and pull. It was pretty cute, but pretty hard to get a picture of. She's unwrapping a box of Milkbones here. She also got some new balls for playing fetch and a rope (about as big as her) for chewing on.


Our Collection. :) Mwahahahahah. :)



Dave opening his stocking (obviously these pictures are not in chronological order).

Christmas Eve Dinner. We knew we would be celebrating Christmas dinner with Dave's family, so I wanted to do something special for just us. :) It was fun but we ended up eating too much of the appetizers and didn't have much room for dinner.

So Christmas was awesome! I got lots of cooking stuff- including a cookbook of my Grandma's (that she got when she was a teenager). Dave surprised me with a super awesome electric mixer so now I can make bread so much easier (if only I could have had it when I was making the rolls for Christmas Eve dinner). :) I love it! I am going to start making homemade bread all the time now. :)

And we got our first baby stuff! My mom sent us a washing pad (so cute!) and the cutest onesies! My favorites are the ones that say "I heart Mommy" and "I heart Daddy." :)

Dave got a lot of books and camping/emergency gear. He also got some more games so he spent the weekend working on those. :)

The rest of Christmas day was pretty lazy. Dave cooked and I sat back and relaxed. :) For dinner we went up to Xan's house and had some tasty Spanish food- Paella (the really good stuff) made by Dave's mom and Dave brought up Spanish Tortilla. Everything was so tasty! Julie brought her Karaoke machine up and everyone hopped on and sang (except for me- for good reason).

We had been told to expect a HUGE snow storm but nothing materialized all day (or even while we were celebrating at Xan's). However, the moment we got home the skies unleashed a huge amount of snow. It was so wonderful! Dave and I watched a movie that night and watched it snow. :) It was the perfect wrap up to our first Christmas together.

The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet and slow. I have been playing on my DS all weekend. :) And not doing housework like I should have. :) We have another 4 day weekend next weekend and I am so happy about that. But then comes the dreary- no holidays/no sun/no fun period for the next three months.

Christmas Eve

It's hard for me to imagine that it is Christma Eve... at least I have a half day today. And I don't have to come back to work until Monday. Once I get home I am going to start baking. I have some Christmas cookies (and last minute presents) that I want to deliver tonight. Well, more specifically, that I want Dave to deliver for me. :) (mwahhahahaha I love having a husband to run errands for me).

I am also going to prepare our Christmas eve dinner. We are doing a family dinner tomorrow so I want to be able to have a special dinner for just Dave and I this evening. We're going with the traditional Pond-Vogt dinner (Cornish Game Hens, mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, etc) menu. I am excited. I had to convince Dave that Cornish Game Hens were really just mini chickens and not some weird alterna-food. I love those mini chickens.

Yesterday disaster semi-struck. I realized late in the afternoon that I had sent a package out but had forgotten to include a present for one of the family members. So basically, everyone EXCEPT ONE person got a Christmas present from Dave and me (and in some cases, people got two presents). Oh my goodness I was so embarassed and felt so horrible. So now I am rushing to try to get a present done and in the mail. With the next few days off I am sure I can get it done and in the mail on Friday or Saturday (fingers crossed).

The pregnancy is going okay. I am not as tired as I used to be, which is a great change. However I have started getting Evening Sickness. Actually I feel pretty sick on and off throughout the day, but by dinner time I don't even want to think about food or even cooking. The good news is that Dave gets to work on his cooking skills. The bad news- my evenings are pretty crappy. I'll be happy when this stage passes too. :) Our next appointment is at the beginning of January (the wait for the second appointment hasn't been as bad as the wait for the first one). We'll meet the doctor and listen to the baby's heartbeat again. :)

Oh yeah... if anyone knows a way to send some Korean Barbecue from Hawaii to Utah (quickly) please let me know. I have been craving (very specifically) Peppa's Korean Barbecue- the Meat Jun and the (red) dipping sauce that goes with it.

Merry Christmas!

Well Christmas has arrived and once again this year I am humbled by the people I am surrounded with. I have realized that I am surrounded by generous, wonderful people who bring a whole lot of good to this world. You all have changed my life (for the better) and I am so grateful. Thank you for your friendship and love. :)

I hope that you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas.

Christmas Memories

Lately I have been reminiscing about Christmases while growing up (and in my "adult" life). I've learned the hard way that the only way to spend Christmas is with family- it makes all the difference in the world. :)

Here are some of the Christmas memories that stand out in my mind. They may not be my favorite memories, but they add to my appreciation of Christmas with loved ones. (Caution: my memories may be different from what actually happened, but because this is the way I remember them- this is they way they are being told):

In the 3rd Grade I decided that I wanted a white Christmas and started praying/wishing for one. I remember that the day school let out for the holiday break (we were taking our cat to the vet), it started snowing. And it kept snowing. It was amazing. We had snow on Christmas. I don't know if the technical description for a "White Christmas" is that it has to snow on Christmas Day, but there was a lot of snow on the ground and that was good enough for me. That was also the year that our pond froze and we skated around on top of it. That was fun.

My parents had Santa come on Christmas Eve- it was amazing! He handed out our gifts and we got to eat cookies with him (I think).

I remember the last Christmas where there was all six of us kids. I think it was the first Christmas in the Brookside house (it was so long ago). I loved having Lara (Leanne), Molly, and Matt with us. It was always a treat for us little kids when the big kids came to visit. :)

I remember the first Christmas I spent alone (in Utah- after going away to college). It added to my appreciation for every Christmas after that I was able to spend with family.

Last year I flew down to California to spend Christmas with my mom, dad, my sister Molly and her family (and also Mickey Mouse). Mom and I walked along the beach in the morning and we saw dolphins playing in the waves. It was the first time I had ever seen dolphins in the ocean like that. A few days later we went to Disneyland and saw their Christmas Parade. We also saw Cinderella's Castle covered in snow and The Haunted Mansion done up like the Nightmare Before Christmas.

I remember Christmas at my Grandma Pond's house. Grandma had this little statuette of the three kings that would play "We Three Kings." I always had to wind that up when we were decorating the Christmas Tree- or watching the Christmas tree get decorated.

I remember my Dad's apartment by Peacock Lane. I specifically remember this one Christmas where we all bundled up and walked over to the grocery store lot to pick out a Christmas Tree. It wasn't a special tree, but this memory just stands out in my head. And then we all dragged the tree (thanks Dad!) back to the apartment and decorated.

In conjunction with that memory- we would bundle up and walk through Peacock Lane which was right behind the apartment building. Peacock Lane was a street of houses where each of the houses would put up lights or displays and there were horse drawn carriages and hot chocolate vendors. People would line up to drive down the road and we had the advantage because we lived close enough to walk through.

This isn't really a Christmas memory, but it is a winter one so I'll include it. There was one year that the ponds in Westmoreland Park (by my Grandma Pond's house) froze over and everyone was skating on them. My Dad bundled us up and took us out there. The thing that I remember the most was when my dad would bundle us up he would have us wear his socks. And these socks were so big on us that they would cover us right up to our thighs. :)

A Christmas tradition that was started after my mom and dad (Tom) got married was that we would go cut down our own Christmas tree at one of the many Christmas Tree farms in Oregon. The one we went to had a train that we would ride out to the middle of the farm. We'd hop off and start searching for a tree. Once a tree was chosen, Dad would cut it down and drag it back to the train where we'd load it up and put in on the car. I remember that we always left the tree farm with a candy cane. :)

There is also the first Christmas I spent in Hawaii after moving back in 2004. We woke up and walked along the beach in Kailua. I can still feel the sun on my face that morning. :) I remember being so grateful for being there and being with my family.

And finally- I remember the Christmas Buns that my mom would make on Christmas morning. We would wait year round for these tasty treats. :)

And this year. Well, this year is the first Christmas that I'll spend with Dave. We're going to be able to create our own family traditions from now on. It kinda makes me tear up (stupid hormones). :)

I wish you all joy and happiness during these holidays and in the coming year. You are all in our thoughts this Christmas. :)

Spilled the Beans

I was going to try to surprise Dave this Christmas with just a small present. So far Dave has already figured out everything that I have picked up for him (even his stocking stuffers!) I figured this would be one last chance to try to sneak something in.

Yesterday afternoon we arrived home and there was a package waiting by our door- Dave's present. I tried to scoop it up without Dave noticing (I don't honestly know what I expected- how was he not going to notice this good size box that had suddenly appeared in my hands?). Dave was curious and I tried to hide the box so that he couldn't even try to guess what it could be all the while saying it wasn't for him, that it was mine.

Anyway, so I hid I the box of goodies (after opening it and double checking that everything had arrived) and Dave threatened to to sneak a peek. This morning when I woke up I noticed that the door going to the room I had hidden the box in was open- and that it had opened sometime during the night. So I stalked into the bedroom and accused Dave of sneaking a peak at his books. And I realized a moment too late that I had spilled the beans. I hoped against hope that Dave wouldn't catch on to the magic word but he did.

And so it is another Christmas where I was unable to surprise Dave. Oh well- maybe next year.

Christmas Decorations amid the snow.

I finally took pictures of my Christmas Decorations! Whoo hoo! Okay- kind of. Not shown are some garlands that I have draped on the table and in the kitchen. Also, we have Christmas lights up around the sliding glass door and in the living room.

This weekend was a super-lazy one for me. Except for early on Saturday morning and late Sunday evening I did not leave the house. A big storm blew in over Friday night... early Saturday morning it started snowing and did not let up for a good portion of the day. (We got more snow on Sunday too). Over all, I would say we probably got about 6-8 inches of snow. Now imagine trying to walk a dog about 10 inches tall in that stuff. :) Once Pookie figured out that it was snowing out, she refused to leave the stairs.

Anyway, I spent Saturday baking Christmas cookies. The only batch that turned out well was the chocolate chip cookies. I got a bunk recipe for Chocolate Crinkles so they were all pretty crappy (Note to everyone: Do NOT use the Joy of Baking recipe for Chocolate Crinkles- they are little dough balls of nastiness). I have to do more baking this week (Snickerdoodles and real chocolate crinkles).

Sunday, I moved from the bed to the couch and that was pretty much it. I napped on and off all day- Pookie was a lazy dog and curled up next to me. She's a good little cuddler.

Last night we went to a Christmas Program with our friends the Woodburys. It was such a good time. :) I love that family.

Anyway, back to work this week. I can't believe that Christmas is next week! What happened to the time? :)

THE BIG NEWS!

Well, I have been holding out on you guys, at least superficially.... most of you already know, but I'm pregnant. :)

This morning was an exciting one for Dave and I... we had our first doctor's appointment. After going over medical history and all of those health questions (as well as my own questions for them), the nurse determined that she thought it would be a good idea for me to get an ultrasound done- to make sure the baby was doing okay. (This was quite alarming for us!) But on the other hand (after a few deep breaths), it was kinda cool that we got to do an ultrasound so early- normally we would have had to wait for a few more months. I guess we weren't even scheduled to hear the heartbeat for the first time until our next appointment- next month!

Anyway, so for your viewing pleasure are some really crappy pictures of pictures of our soon to be baby! Baby is roughly 8 weeks, 2 days old now with a tentative due date of July 18, 2009 (our first anniversary is July 19, 2009).

Baby. :)

The pattern below it is the heart beat (approximatley 180 beats per minute).

Blurry Baby.

Christmas Cards and Presents

Okay, so I think I am almost there- I think cards and packages are going out tomorrow. I hope. I have them somewhat created and most are addressed too. Now I just need to get Dave to sign them and then have him take them to the post office. The cards aren't as fancy as I had imagined them in my head (probably a good thing), and in most cases I used premade cards (I feel kind of dirty saying that).

Anyway... I feel better now that I have those at least started....

Slacker (on the photo thing)

So I carry my camera with me everywhere I go. You know- just in case I see something cool. Like this one time I saw elephants walking along the street outside of my office (at work). That really did happen (the circus was in town and apparently they still transport animals via train). Anyway, I tried to take pictures of the elephants but by the time I could, they were too far away.

So I was going to spice up my blog today by just posting a random picture from my camera- even if it isn't very current. But then I realized that I have pretty much posted all the good pictures already. I have pictures going all the way back to September on my camera (I'm not very good about uploading pix to my computer apparently). So tonight I'm going to make an effort to find something good to take a picture of just so I can put it on the blog. More than likely I'll finally remember to take pictures of my Christmas decorations (including the wreath I made).

That's pretty much it. I got my oil changed today and I feel pretty good about. Otherwise I am tired- Pookie woke me up last night and it took me 2 hours to get back to sleep. 16 Days to Christmas. Significantly less days to the mailing deadline (I'm working on it).

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Well it is finally snowing again! It's only been a month.... :) I was worried that we wouldn't get any snow before Christmas but here we go. We've got some melty stuff going on right now (lots of snow flakes, but not so much sticking). We are getting another big storm this weekend though. :) Just in time for Dave and I to hang out at home and relax.

The weekend was a good one. We went to the baptism and blessing (I was all emotional). It was good to sit down and talk with family and just relax. Sunday was a pretty lazy day as well. I am trying to get the last of my Christmas presents ready. I have been seriously slacking on the Christmas cards. YIKES! I hope I can get my act together.

Friday!

This week actually feels like it went by pretty quickly. :) I don't know how that happened but okay. This weekend is going to be pretty quiet. I am going to try to clean our carpets tomorrow and just do some major house cleaning. That's the mood that I am in right now (we'll see what kind of mood I am in tomorrow).

Tomorrow our nephew, Jake, is getting baptized. His little sister Sophia is getting blessed. We ventured out to find Jake a baptism gift (we got him these pictures you put in your scriptures to sort of illustrate the stories). There was some book signing at the store so our 5 minute leisurely trip actually turned out to be anything but. I hate crowds so much. Anyway, It's going to be a good family day tomorrow. After that I think I am going to make Dave take me to see the lights at Temple Square (I was after him to take me last year but that didn't happen).

I've started reading the Chronicles of Narnia again. I love that series. :) If you haven't read them, I highly recommend them.

:)

Something in the water...

It's Thursday and I am loving it. Christmas is less than a month away (three weeks away!) and it doesn't feel much like Christmas- it is dry and sunny and not that cold. I am almost looking forward to snow!

Dave managed to get me to go the gym last night (it has been way too long since I last went and now I am lazy). It was great though- I feel so much more energetic today. I walked around the indoor track (thank goodness for that) for about 40 minutes and it's made all the difference. I even went home afterwards and cleaned up the house a little bit (I have been really lazy lately).

Anyway, life has been wonderful lately. It has been an interesting week. Two of my close friends called me within a few hours of each other to let me know that they are having babies. WOW! It seems like everyone is having babies right now!

I'll admit that I am lazy

Sorry guys- I have totally dropped the ball on this whole "blogging" thing. I remember promising to write every day. In the past month I have hardly written at all.

Right so let's move on to the updates....

I quit working at Michaels. It is no more. It just finally got to be too much for me- the straw that broke the camels back. I think a few weeks of rest and recuperation and I'll be back up to speed. The only bad thing about this is that Dave says that now that I have all this free time I have to start going back to the gym. :( So much for just being lazy.

Thanksgiving went great. I made a whole lot of desserts and no one really ate them (not a surprise- especially after a tasty Thanksgiving meal). I have a pumpkin pie and a cheesecake sitting in my fridge right now. I don't think they'll be eaten.

Dave and I are ready for the holidays. I have the house decorated and lights put up. And Dave and I have our Christmas shopping all done. The presents are even all wrapped up. :) I'm pretty proud of that. We have a 1.5 foot tall fake tree that we have the presents propped up against (all of this is on our dining room table). I think next year we're going to have to get a real tree or get a bigger fake tree. At least Pookie can't chew on the tree this year.

And there we go- all the updates I have for you guys. Still no snow around here. It's actually been pretty warm. I was hoping for some snow before Christmas (it's the prettiest when it's Christmas).

This next weekend Dave is going to take me out to see the lights at Temple Square. I am so excited. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well I wont have a chance to post tomorrow so I thought I'd better send my Thanksgiving wishes to you all today. :) I hope that you all have family and/or friends to spend the holiday with and that you have the chance to relax and enjoy yourself and think about all the things you are thankful for.

As for me- I am patiently waiting for the chance to go home. Tonight I am finally going to see the movie Twilight. I'm excited. After that I am going to go home, turn on some holiday music and start baking. I am going to be making cheesecake, pumpkin pie, and apple crisp to go with our dinner tomorrow. And because the only thing that looks good to me anymore is salad, I'll be doing that and veggies w/ dip.

I am really looking forward to this holiday season. Tomorrow Dave and I will be going up to his sister's house to celebrate with his family. There are going to be about 20 of us there. It has been a long time since I have spent a Thanksgiving with that many people. I am going to enjoy it.

After Thanksgiving it is open season on Christmas decorations, so I will be coming home and working on those. :)

Other than that, life is just swell. :)

Wishing you all the best. :) Happy Thanksgiving!

Giving

There's a quote that I read somewhere that has stuck with me... it goes something like "The American people love to donate a turkey during the holidays- even if there isn't an oven for it to be baked in." Okay, that's a really horrible paraphrase, but I wasn't able to find the quote online because any time I entered "turkey" into the search string I got recipes and Thanksgiving horror stories. So you get my paraphrase.

Anyway, the point is that we all love to donate around the holidays but we often think only about donating specific things- and not necessarily the most needed thing at the time. I think the rest of the quote goes on to talk about how a jar of peanut butter or school supplies in August could go a lot further than a Turkey at Thanksgiving, but that's beside the point I am about to try to make. Back to the point....

I'd like to suggest some alternatives to the ubiquitous turkey donation... (if you already donated a turkey- kudos to you! You've probably just made a family's holiday complete). I'm going to guess that the needs of people around the country are pretty similar... here's a wish list for some of the homeless here in Salt Lake City...

*Sleeping Bags
*Blankets
*Backpacks
*Hand Warmers
*Gloves
*Coasts, Jackets, Hoodies
*Underwear (for men and women)
*Socks
*Hats and Scarves
*Deoderant (for men and women)
*Lighters or matches
*Batteries
*Toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss
*Tents
*Tarps
*Flashlights
*Bus Tokens
*Fast Food Certificates
*Baby Clothes
*Diapers and Diaper Wipes
*P-38's (Military Issue Can Openers)

Sometimes it's the small things that make all the difference- the ability to clean up or having a fresh pair of underwear and/or socks to change into. Maybe this will give you something new to think about- in addition to that turkey. And remember- canned or dried food items are always welcome as well.

Wishing you all the best.

Birthday

Well it has been a good day. :) My boss took me out to a yummy lunch and tonight Dave is cooking me dinner- an authentic Spanish dish. :) I am so excited. Thank you all for your best wishes. :)

Some of the ladies at work decorated my office for me

Halfway through the week

I am already ready to have this week over with. It's just a slow quiet week and the hours pass so slowly at work. Yikes. I just really want to run off and have an adventure somewhere.

Exciting weekend

Well this weekend was pretty exciting.

Saturday, Dave, his mom, his brother, and I went to the Lion House for lunch and then went to this museum exhibit called "Body Worlds." The Lion House was awesomely good food. :) I would go back there any day. Body Worlds (http://www.bodyworlds.com/en.html) is a whole bunch of real dead people that have been plasticized or whatever and are put on exhibit to help show people different aspects of the body. Sounds incredibly morbid yeah? I wasn't sure I wanted to go but it wasn't too bad. It didn't really feel like I was looking at a whole bunch of dead people. I'm sure I would have felt differently about the exhibit if it felt like I was looking at corpses. It was fun to have Dave's brother, Chris, with us because he would reminisce about his own days in med school and explain the intricacies of what we were seeing. That was an awesome touch. And thank you Chris for the wonderful day! It was so much fun to hang out with you. :)

Yesterday (Sunday) was much more exciting, but that's a story for another time. It was good to hang out with Dave's family- they are feeling more and more like home for me. :) Other than that another weekend has gone by so quickly. This week should be a good one. My birthday is coming up too. :)