took a note

The Garrards have an inside joke about mom and how she "took a note." I was not there. It was long before my time but I have heard about it on more than one occasion and they all think it is a pretty funny story. It involves mom walking out of church and somehow falling in the parking lot and someone saying something really funny. So falling is now referred to as "taking a note."

I took a note today. A bad note. A really embarrassing note.

It has been raining all day here in Vegas. This doesn't happen very often but since the entire stake has been fasting for "moisture" we are being blessed with rain. It is nice. I like the rain and it is much needed. Well, I pulled into the gas station today to get some gas. I got out and was walking around the car to the pump when I slipped on what I think was a combination of oil and water and down I went. It took me a second to realize that I had fallen and I quickly got up. I fell right on my hands and knees. I even made that hand slapping sound because the ground was wet. To make matters worse, my pant leg was soaking wet and covered in mud. I was pretty embarrassed. I am sure it was a sight to see! I acted like I was OK and like it was a normal everyday occurrence for me. I hurried and got my gas and drove away. I felt fine and still do minus that my knee is a little sore

I hope that now that I have successfully taken "a note" that I am more of a real Garrard.

A surprise.

I planned a surprise for Nate today. I was really excited. I told Zoee what it was and he tried to get her to tell him but she had my back and all she would say was "surprise." It was really cute.

I took him this morning to get a 3D ultrasound of Gus. (Thanks to my dad!) It was really cool to see him and it made me feel better about having a boy because I thought he was so cute. He has the same chubby little cheeks as Zoee and the lady said he had lots of hair.

I am so excited to see him and hold him.

Meet Gus...

Gobble Gobble

Not a lot has been going on lately. We are just hanging out. I felt like I haven't blogged for awhile so I thought I would do a quick post.

I can't believe what happened on the Bachelor this week. I was really shocked but after watching the recap last night, I feel better about things and think Brad Womack is a great guy for doing what he did. I think he was looking at the big picture and that is why he did what he did. That's commendable. Why I care so much? I don't know.

I have been getting hooked on Craigslist. Goodness, that site is awesome. It's like a giant garage sale right at your computer desk. I sold some things on there this week and it was kind of a rush when people call and want to buy your stuff. It's nice getting money for your junk too. I found some great things on there yesterday for Zoee for Christmas. I hit the jackpot. This lady had so much stuff and it was all cheap and in GREAT condition so I picked up the last of Zoee's Christmas. We set a limit of only 100 dollars to spend on Zoee and we have staying within that budget by buying a few toys at Nate's work (with his discount) and looking on Craigslist. It's great.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and Nate has to work. He has to work during the day at Bass (I have no idea why they are open and think it is really stupid!) and he works at Mix during the night. I doubt we will see each other much but it's ok. I keep telling myself that it's ok, life won't always be like this and Nate won't always have crappy jobs. My mom has told me several times that my dad worked on lots of the holidays and they still survived. It's just what has to be done I guess. Beth and Howard did invite me over for dinner and I am sure I will make it over there sometime during the day depending on when Zoee naps. I really wanted to go eat at Taco Maker but I just called them and they will be closed. Taco Maker is one of my favorite places to eat and there is only one in Vegas and it is on the strip so I never go down there. I avoid the strip if possible but figured it was worth it to go on Thanksgiving because their bean burritos are a little bit of heaven.

I guess that's about it. Nate had a really funny dream last night. He had a dream that he kept getting sick every couple days and finally figured it out that I had been putting stuff in his food to poison him. I laughed and reassured him that I am not trying to kill him...at least not until his life insurance kicks in. I mean I wouldn't trade a couple hundred grand for the love of my life...right?

Hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving!!

I Love.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

New friends

It's 4 in the afternoon and I feel really tired but know that I shouldn't sleep so I am going to blog.

I went and got my nails done yesterday. I really like them and the lady that did them was super nice and we had a good conversation. I am the kind of person that looks at that kind of stuff. If I go to an appointment I expect the person to talk to me. I will go back to someone if they were friendly and made conversation with me. That is a big deal to me unlike my husband who is totally fine with going to get his hair cut and not having to say one word to the lady. I am different. By the time I left, I knew how long she had been married, all her kids, names, some things she likes and dislikes and she knew the same about me. She thought Nate and I had a great "story" and had lots of questions about how it was being a member of the church and getting pregnant before marriage. It was good and sort of therapeutic. I think she is a new friend.

I made muffins yesterday and took them around to a few people in the ward. I told Nate that I am bound and determined to make some friends (outside of my family) that I can hang out with down here. I have really tried hard to be outgoing and active in all all the church stuff so that I could meet new people and make new friends. There were two girls that really caught my eye. Stephanie and Sabrina. Stephanie is pregnant with her first baby and probably close to my age. Sabrina in probably a few years older than me and has a little boy who is a few months older than Zoee. They have always been so nice at church so I decided to take the treats to them. Stephanie wasn't home but Sabrina was and I ended up staying and hanging out at her house for more than an hour. It was nice. The kids played and we just talked. She is really sweet. I was super excited that I made another friend!

Last but not least, we got new neighbors. We heard them unloading some stuff this morning at 2:30 am which totally bugged me because they were not quiet at all. I went to the store early this morning and when I came back they were outside and I noticed their license plates were from Arkansas so of course I had to introduce myself. They were so nice and we talked a little. I told them Nate and I both lived in Arkansas for a while and found out their hometown was actually in our mission. I welcomed them to Vegas and told them to be prepared for the summer. They are an older couple, probably in their 40's but they are nice and it feels good to have someone wave at me when I pull in my drive way.

So there you have it. Just when I set the goal to make new friends, I had the opportunity to meet and talk to 4 new people and it makes me happy.

My day off.

I had been feeling kinda blah the last few days and I felt like a lot of it was because I needed a break. I needed to get out and go do something by myself without the two year old. I felt like I needed some alone time or some adult conversation. I love Zoee more than anything but I was tired. I was tired of trying to potty train, tired of watching Playhouse Disney, tired of cleaning up spilt milk and tired of refiling a juice cup and cutting up chicken nuggets. I felt really bad talking to Nate about it because this is what I wanted. This is what I chose and he works SO hard to give it to me so I felt really bad telling him I needed a break.

He was so good about it though and he said I could go do whatever I wanted today. Well, he put a few restriction on me but pretty much left it open for me to have the day to myself. I got up with Zoee at 7:30 and brought her back to bed with us because I didn't want to get up yet. We all laid in bed till about 8 and then Nate got up with her and took her down stairs to give her some breakfast. He closed the door and let me sleep for another hour! It was so nice. Zoee came in about 9 and climbed into bed with me. I was pretty much awake at that point and just decided to get out of bed. We all played and laid around for a little while and then I got ready to go. I didn't know what I was going to do, Nate just told me I had to be back by 4 so he could go to work. He got Zoee dressed and did her hair and they left to go some where and I was on my own.

I kinda drove around in a daze not really knowing what to do with my time. I didn't really need to do anything so I called to see if I could get my nails done. The girl could not get me in today so we scheduled an appointment for tomorrow. I am super excited. I drove to Toys R' Us and walked around looking for a few Christmas things for Zoee. I think I stayed there for more than an hour just looking at all the fun stuff I would like to get for her. After that I went to the bookstore and sat in a chair and read. I read a few children's books that looked cute and then I almost read the entire new Post Secret book. (I wanted to save some because I have that on my Christmas list) It was really nice to just relax and be able to shop without chasing Zoee around the store or having to stop several times to stop her from doing something. I ended up going home around 2 because I was hungry.

It was a good day. It was nice and much needed. I am so thankful for my husband who does so much for me. He is seriously one of the most caring generous people I know. He would do anything to make me happy and that means so much to me. I feel selfish most of the time and wish I could be a better wife to him. He is so amazing and I need to be more like him.

He also brought me this flower last night to help brighten my day. He put it in a jar of water and everything. He is so sweet.

Thanks Baby for all you do for me. You are the best!

69. That's a good number.

Wow. I started the 60's today. That is crazy.

I just got done hanging out with Erin and Daniel for our weekly "bachelor party." It was some good eats and great conversation tonight. Hanging out with them puts me in a better mood. I have been in a rotten mood all day today and tonight really helped. I am bummed Erin will be missing next week.

There hasn't really been a lot going on lately. Mostly just the same old stuff. I was going to blog about my glucose test last week but I never did. I failed the first one and had to go back for the three hour test. It was really boring to just sit in the waiting room for three hours and kinda sucked having my blood drawn every hour. It was a long weekend as I anticipated the results. They called today and said I passed just fine. No gestational diabetes for me. Wheeww. I was nervous that I would fail the second one and have to test my blood everyday and do insulin shots. I was relieved when she called this morning. (Sorry about yours Linds, I really am!)

Zoee and I went for a bike ride today. It was nice. Zoee was excited when we got the bike cart out of the garage and couldn't wait to go for a ride. It was a good day for a bike ride. We went to the sunset lights tonight. (thanks Sarah for telling me about it) It was really cool to see and Zoee loved looking at all the lights. I even let her get out of her seat and sit in the front with me as we drove through the park. She loved sitting in the "big seat." It was fun.

Nate put in for some time off during Christmas so we might actually be able to go home to Huntsville for some of the holidays. That would be really nice. I really want to be there for the annual ginger bread house making contest. I have some ideas and think I could take the title this year.

So really nothing is going on. I guess no news is good news. I will post if anything new or exciting happens.

Have a good night.

Friday Night Lights

(This is Nate here) So I traded shifts with a guy I work with at Mix and all he had was an on call shift. Which means that since I gave him my shift, I got his on call; I didn't get called in tonight which also means that this is the first friday night I've had off in a long, long time. I really can't remember the last time i was off on a friday night. Anyway, I talked to Teresa cause Stac wanted me to call her and tell her what I've been thinking for Stac to do for Thanksgiving. She told me I had to blog and at least put more pictures of Zoee up.

So tonight, with our friday together, here's what we did:

We went to one of Zoee's newest and most favorite places, the library, to get her a couple more dvd's. When you're poor and can't rent movies (and so you get stuck watching the SAME dvd's each and every day every day!!) having free access to more movies than she'll ever watch has been so awesome! She loves finding something and watching it at least a couple times for the whole week we have it. And did i mention, it's free??

(Not pictured: A stop at Metro Pizza. So here's me driving. OF course I always look like that when I drive.)

We were heading to our next stop and passed by Metro Pizza. The temptation was too much to resist. We stopped to eat only to find out that the hostess was so frazzled by being so busy she couldn't even tell us about how long of a wait there was gonna be. Seriously?? you couldn't even just throw a number out there?? C'mon.

This is where we were actually heading when we left the house. We told Zoee that if she'd just stop playing and put her shoes on so we could get out of the house, then we'd get her a donut. For those who are wondering, there are NO Winchell's on the whole south end of Vegas. We looked, we called, we even stopped on Warm Springs where there's a Winchell's sign (!!) but when you go in all it is is a Subway with a counter of Winchell donuts they sell. Dangit. Long story short, we drove all the way over to my old stomping grounds and went to the Winchells on Trop and Mtn Vista. Ghetto.

(that's Zoee's finger. She's been into taking control of the camera lately. That'll have to be another post itself.)

K. So we filled up on donuts and have plenty for breakfast tomorrow. we Got 14 donuts for $7 and 2 chocolate milks for $3. It's tough to beat a $10 family feeding and get 2 meals out of it. We're gonna have to resort to this more often!! So after we filled up on donuts and chocolate milk we were heading home when Zoee reminded us that mom had told her we'd go watch the planes land. So we went to that strip on Sunset and sat in the back of the truck and watched the planes for a good half hour or so. Zoee was so excited for every plane that came in and would say bye-bye to the ones taking off. It's just amazing to me to sit and watch her experience something so simple for the first time; it's times like that when I realize how lucky I really am to have these girls in my life. I love them both so much!! Here are a few pictures.

And that was our friday night date. Fun, nearly free, and lots of time together. Can't shake a stick at it. I love my girls so much and I hope someday they'll know how much I love them. They mean everything to me.

Not so Grate!

I don't know why I am posting this. I need to give a little background just so you can understand why I freaked out.

When I was younger (maybe 7 or 8) I was grating cheese. My hand slipped and I totally grated my own skin. It wasn't just a little bit, it was like a huge chunk of skin. It was bleeding like crazy and hurt really bad. I don't know why but I ended up at my neighbors house where she put some of this pink medicine on it and it stung like hell!! Maybe it was just cause I was a kid but I remember it hurting so bad all I could do was cry. I can still remember what the bottle looked like and what it smelled like. I can still remember what it felt like and it sucked!


Well, to this day, I can not grate cheese. I make Nate do it and if he is not home I will go without or I will cut a few pieces and sit and cut them into small thin strips before I will pick up a cheese grater. I can't even watch people do it. I cringe whenever I see it done and even if I just look at the cheese grater. I avoid washing the grater for days because that would require me to touch it.
It is a really awful memory. I think I need therapy.

So I get this email from my friend today and innocently open it. Here is what I found. I think I had chills up my spine for a few hours. I cringe every time I think about it. It's the most awful thing I have ever seen...and I am serious!

Just rambling...

Ok, so I finished the first Edward book and started the 2nd one last night. I got a lot more reading done in Utah because I never really had to watch Zoee. It has taken me a little longer to finish it since I have been back but it's ok cause it is so dang good.

We went to lunch with the fam today. (Thanks so much Sarah!!) It was good to hang out with them and like always, we had some great conversation. I remember always hoping that I would have great in-laws and I am so lucky that I got some of the greatest ones. I seriously love being with them. My two sister in laws are great and are just like the sisters I never really had growing up. (I do have Kaylee but she was so much younger than me) It's great to have them and to be such good friends with them. I am excited for the bachelor party tonight.

After we went to lunch we stopped by some model houses on the way home. Mostly just to look and dream of what money can buy. There were some huge houses and it was fun to walk through them and try to imagine our life in one of them. Nate kept saying maybe someday but for now I am perfectly happy with the house we have now. It's just fine for our little family.

I go to the doctor tomorrow. I will be 30 weeks. Holy crap! That's like far... like 10 weeks left or maybe 8 or 9! I can't believe it. It is nuts. I am really getting pregnant and people are starting to make comments about my pregnant belly. It is weird and a little awkward. What do you say when they say things about it? I have had a lot of pain from the pressure of the baby and was told to put an ice pack on my crotch to help reduce the swelling. I never swelled with Zoee but it has been a lot with Gus Gus. Luckily things in that area have been feeling better these last few days after I got some medical advice. I have been getting fat fingers and feet the last little while too. Today my fingers were really swollen after we had been walking through all those houses. I showed Nate and he later went to grab my hand to hold and he said, "I want to hold your fat hand." It's a good thing I wasn't emotional cause I probably would have cried but I laughed instead. Sweet husband.

Zoee has really been into picking out her own clothes lately. She wanted to wear a skirt today and her dress up shoes so we let her. It's not worth fighting over it. She looked cute even though she was clomping around the restaurant with those clompy plastic shoes. She is so funny and makes me laugh everyday. This is what she wanted to wear the other day.




Overalls minus the shirt AND underwear! she did not have a diaper on. She did not want to wear a diaper. (Dad, I think she is struggling with her identity. She doesn't know if she wants to be a farmer or a Vegas show girl yet) She sure is cute.

Well, that's about all I have to say. This post was mostly just rambling. Nothing too exciting in our life to post about. Nate will probably be sending his application up to Weber County this week. They had an add in the paper for the next academy so we thought we should apply and just see what happens. I hope NLV calls before Weber County because I think I would rather be here. (sorry momma and dad!)

Love you all.
I will post if anything exciting happens.
Peace.

our little artist

Zoee has really been into cutting with scissors lately. I finally bought her a small pair so she would not cut her fingers off. This was the mess she made today.

HaLlOwEeN!

We had a great Halloween. Thanks to Sarah and Tyler for inviting us over for chili and trick or treating. Nate took the night off so he could go with us. That made the night much more fun. The pre trick or treating party was fun and the chili was delicious then we were off to collect the goods. We loaded Zoee in the wagon and went around Sarah's neighborhood. We only went for about an hour and a half but it was plenty of time to get some treats. Zoee was a monkey and she looked adorable. Next year we will have two kids and that just seems weird.

My sweet husband

I think I have the greatest, most thoughtful husband out there.

I told Nate a few weeks ago that I wanted to decorate our front porch like I saw on Mel's blog. It was really cute with a hay bale and some pumpkins. He laughed at me and thought it was pretty weird that I wanted to put a bale of hay on my porch with some dead corn husks. I would have just done it but I had no idea where to get all that in Vegas. I kinda forgot about the idea and it was no big deal.

Well, when I got home from Huntsville on Tuesday, this is what I found.

He went and bought all the stuff and decorated the porch for me! He even went to Micheal's and Home Goods all by himself and picked the stuff out. I was really impressed and it meant so much to me. He is really so thoughtful!

Utah

My trip home was good but I didn't take many pictures. I found myself saying "this would be a great picture, I should get my camera" but I never did. I hate when I am that lazy! I did get a few of the girls night out which was my main reason for going up. It was really good to see everyone and catch up on where we are at in our lives now. I was a bit bummed that no one slept over because I wish we could have had more time to talk and laugh but it was still fun. Hopefully we can do it again sometime with our husbands. That would be lots of fun. Here are few pics of the girls.

The entire gang

Lisa, Me, Tia, Kate, Michelle, Carla, Hallee and Linds

Hallee, Me, Tia, Carla



Me and Linds...the two pregs.



Lisa



Tia and Linds



Kate and Michelle




Zoee got to visit Greema's preschool when she was up there. It was the Halloween party and they had lots of fun. They made scray spiders and Zoee was so proud to be a school with the big kids!

Edward Cullen VS. blogging

My friend asked me yesterday if I thought reading about Edward Cullen was more important than blogging. I said yes. Really, I have just been busy since I have been back in town and haven't had time to blog. It's not that I don't care about my blog like Nate said or that I have been laying on the couch reading, I just haven't had the time. Hopefully this along with Nate's post will hold all of you blog addicts over until I get to the juicy good posts about home and my trip.

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME:(first pet & current car) Peachy Malibu....sounds hot.
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME:(fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)Rocky Road pumpkin chocolate chip
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME:(first initial of first name, first three letters ofyour last name)
S-GAR
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME:(favorite color, favorite animal)Red Kitten...sounds more kinky if you ask me!
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME:(middle name, city where you were born)Boring...don't have a middle name so I would just be named Ogden
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME:(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)GARST
7. SUPERHERO NAME:(”The” + your 2nd favorite color, your favorite drink)The Red Crystal Light
8. NASCAR NAME:(the first names of your grandfathers)Jesse Dwayne
9. STRIPPER NAME:(the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent,favorite candy)Lilac Kit Kat
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:(mother’s & father’s middle names )Dee...mom doesn't have a middle name
11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)Andserson Ankorage
12. SPY NAME/BOND GIRL: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)Fall Tulip
13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)Grape T-Shirt-y
14. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)Pancake Aspen
15. YOUR ROCK STAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”)The Digital scrapbook Rain Tour