Happy in Love Day!!!

I know that a lot of people hate Valentine's day, and I think that a big part of that is because (especially at BYU) there is a lot of pressure to be dating and married and in love. However, my mom has always been wonderful at celebrating all of the little holidays with us. For Valentines we usually had a nice dinner at home, got new pink or red shirts to wear to school, and came home to our beds made and chocolate or candy of some sort. Sometimes she even bought each of us a rose. My mom worked full time when I was growing up, so her being able to take the time to make our beds when we weren't at home was a big deal, at least to me.
Now that I have Jared, Valentines day is still wonderful. Jared dreads the holiday and doesn't like cards or gifts, so this year when we got a flyer in the mail for Hale Centre Theatre and I mentioned that I liked the play that was there at the time, he jumped on the idea. On Valentines day we slept in (as far as my parent's dog would let us, that is). Then we went to Hale and saw Cash On Delivery, a funny British comedy about a man who is cheating the Social Security Department of Britain and is trying to get out of it but can't. Of course, everything is crazy and just gets worse from there - hilarious. Afterwards, we went to the mall to pick up a few random items. While there, Jared bought me a chocolate covered strawberry from Godiva. One is about the size of my fist and very yummy - and all of the chocolate that Phred will currently let me eat in one day:) Then we decided to go to McGrath's Fish House for dinner and that was very delicious, too. It was a great day, Phred and I were feeling good, and I got to spend it with just me and my honey.
Speaking of Phred, our next doctor's appointment is next Wednesday. I'm not entirely sure that I like the office, although I do like the dr that I go to. It's almost impossible to get ahold of them since they don't monitor their answering machine and they are closed from noon on Thursdays until Monday morning. I don't feel right calling the on call dr about a simple question, but I'm also not a fan of having to wait four days to talk to someone if I have a concern. Also, I never received a call back about my blood tests, and I got a few more done than just the standard slew because the dr had a few extra concerns about my thyroid. I guess that means that everything is okay....? Oh, well. Phred and I are doing well. I am finally to the point where I'm not exhausted all the time. Phred still makes me nauseous if I haven't eaten much, but that's understandable. I have stopped expanding for a little bit, which is good because Phred popped out so fast in the beginning that I've been in maternity clothes since the 8 week mark. We still have no ideas as to Phred's gender, but we hope that he/she won't be shy at the end of March and we'll be able to share with everyone Phred's real name :)
Anyway, we are back in town and getting caught up on housework that we've not done since we were gone so much. This Sunday is my grandpa's birthday party, though, so we'll make it to Sacrament then we'll have to leave and head up to Salt Lake again. A whole month without going to our Relief Society....sigh. Hopefully March will be less eventful.

Catching Up

I very much need to update this blog, so here goes...
Christmas was wonderful, we got to spend this year with my parents. I bought Jared a Wii, for which he claims to be mad at me but loves to play Strikers (and soon to be Brawl) with his brothers over the internet connection. Jared continues to make me smile all the time, from the little gifts to putting up with me when I can't sleep well and take it out (literally) on him. We were so excited to spend our New Year together in our home. We spent much of our time cleaning out our back bedroom. There was a super sale at Shopko and we were able to purchase a book shelf and several totes to store various items. It's amazing to find that we do have carpet back there after all!
For Martin Luther King, Jr. Day we went up to Boise to spend some time with Jared's family. Mom, Chris and I went to see August Rush. I love this movie! It's a great story about music and family, and it's clean and it has a wonderful soundtrack. I'm tempted to schedule a ward activity around watching it, I love it so much. While in Idaho, I got a call from my parents letting me know that our family dog had died. I was sad, but Soukie was old and sick and it was time for her to go. My parents have since bought a new dog, Elroy, who is a puppy and a handful.
Jared and I were so excited to spend Valentine's day together. We had plans to go to dinner and maybe a movie or bowling or something. Instead, I pulled a muscle in my back and was out of commission for the whole week! I all but missed the Valentine's dance at my school, and I missed the pajama party we had been planning for months. Oh, well, at least now I can move. And the time at home gave me the opportunity to catch up on my scrapbooking.
Basically life is just moving along, and I'm enjoying it. I love spending time with my husband, and I love the great friends we've made. I woke up last Saturday, March 1, to Jared calling me from the front room letting me know that my guinea pig, Raven, had had her babies. I now have three little pigs squeaking about in my classroom and being thoroughly adored by all of my students. Raven is old and I was worried about her, so I'm very glad that she survived the delivery. Hopefully I'll be more on top of things in the future, I love you all.