Wednesday, April 1, 2015
General Conference April 2015
My husband is pretty amazing. Everyone that knows him already knows that there isn't anything he cannot do. Lately he has been learning more about how to program and build websites. Well in all of his "spare" time he has made a website for the young men in our ward. As he was telling me about it I decided that I would post it on the blog because I feel that it could be useful to anyone who wanted to use it. He made a website dedicated to general conference. One time he decided to write down all of the invitations given to us by the prophet and apostles. I couldn't believe how many of them there were by the end of conference. When we are watching conference from home it seems so easy to doze off or become passively engaging. This is just one way to help stay focused. I know we can receive divine revelations if we are actively seeking them. I know he is still working on the site a little bit but you can create a log in now and be prepared! Here is the link:
Introducing Kate Elise
On January 27th we added the newest member to our family! At 7 lbs 8 ounces, Kate Elise was the prettiest thing I had ever seen! It was such an amazing experience as well as a spiritual one. Yes, it was extremely challenging, but very much worth it. I still can't believe how fast they make your heart melt. I remember hearing her first little cry and seeing the look on Michael's face the first time he held her. I have a new understanding of what love means. I now also have a deeper appreciation for what my parents did for me. Here are some pictures of her when she was about three days old.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
2014 Recap: Our Most Eventful Year
I am truly the worst at blogging/journal writing. It is something I always want to do but I am obviously not great at making the time for it. It has been a whole year since my last post and not to mention this past year was the most crazy and exciting year of our marriage yet!
The first exciting thing that happened was how I got talked into grad school. My boss was so sweet and wanted to recruit me so that I can become a Deaf-Blind Teacher Specialist. It didn't take very much convincing because I was in love with my job and the children that I get to work with and I was ready to progress with my career. At this point I was still considering becoming an ASL interpreter and passed part of my test thus far, however I was not 100% confident that it was what I wanted to do. In order to obtain this new position, I needed to be accepted into this new Masters program. Within two weeks I took the GRE, gathered letters of recommendation, and applied to the program. Then... I got accepted at the University of Utah! I didn't realize at the time how much of a blessing this would be for me and our family. Now I am currently in my third semester working towards a combined masters degree. They both fall under special education with a Deaf-Blind endorsement and a Deaf and Hard of Hearing endorsement.
The next exciting thing that happened was that we found a house! After over a year of looking we finally bought a home in a beautiful area in Utah with the perk of being close enough to the ski resorts for Michael. The house needed a whole lot of love but we decided we had a lot of love to give. It has been a challenging and rewarding experience. For the past six months we have been working nights and weekends to make it ours not to mention we hope to make a little money from all of the hard work:) It is still a work in progress but we have accomplished quite a bit so far. Here are just a few pictures for a preview. There is many more to come.
Soon after (about a month after moving into the new house) more great news came... we found out that our little family was going to grow by one more! I was so excited I couldn't believe it. I took three pregnancy tests because I wanted it to be true so badly. I wish I was a cuter wife and would have been creative with telling Michael, but I couldn't wait to tell him, so I just threw it at him right when he walked through the door. It is kind of ironic that for awhile Michael and I were talking about how we needed some change in our lives and were ready to progress and then within three months all of these new events happened... story of my life. The first trimester of pregnancy was pretty rough but I think I was just so happy to be pregnant I didn't care all that much. As soon as I made it to the second trimester all of that sickness disappeared and life felt much better. The third trimester is becoming harder mentally and physically now that I am so close to the end. I cannot believe how fast the whole pregnancy has gone by. Now my due date is in two days. January 20th to be exact. It is hard not knowing when she is going to come. I keep having nightmares on where and when my water might break.
Oh and don't worry there is more... Soon after that, I got offered this new Deaf-Blind Teacher Specialist position. I was in shock. I was not expecting that position to open up for at least another six months. Of course it opened up right after starting my masters, buying a house in need of major remodeling, and then finding out about having our first baby. Michael and I had many conversations about this offer and said many prayers and I finally felt confident that I should take it and move forward. I will write a whole separate blog post on how we came to this decision but now after working in this position for about 7 months I am confident that it was the right one.
As soon as you thought the news was over.. Michael is starting a company with his friend Tyler. We are excited and nervous and all of the above. His past few years at Constatine Technologies has treated us really well but it was time that he needed to move on. He was ready to progress more and if any of you know Michael he does not settle. I have known for a long time that he would want to start his own company because he is such a hard worker and he is definitely the brains in the relationship. The new company is called AdMind. It will be fun to see how this works out and how it will grow. He is still in transition working at Constatine Technologies and now a few mornings a week and nights at AdMind. He just continues to amaze me. I have complete faith in him that he will succeed in whatever he wants to. I can't wait to see his growth in the future. Oh how I love that kid.
Okay, that is really it for now. We like to see how many things we can have going at once:) No but really this past year has been so fun and exciting and so far the new year looks the same! Bring on 2015.
The first exciting thing that happened was how I got talked into grad school. My boss was so sweet and wanted to recruit me so that I can become a Deaf-Blind Teacher Specialist. It didn't take very much convincing because I was in love with my job and the children that I get to work with and I was ready to progress with my career. At this point I was still considering becoming an ASL interpreter and passed part of my test thus far, however I was not 100% confident that it was what I wanted to do. In order to obtain this new position, I needed to be accepted into this new Masters program. Within two weeks I took the GRE, gathered letters of recommendation, and applied to the program. Then... I got accepted at the University of Utah! I didn't realize at the time how much of a blessing this would be for me and our family. Now I am currently in my third semester working towards a combined masters degree. They both fall under special education with a Deaf-Blind endorsement and a Deaf and Hard of Hearing endorsement.
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| My acceptance letter! Whoot whoot. |
Michael's cute surprise gift for me
The next exciting thing that happened was that we found a house! After over a year of looking we finally bought a home in a beautiful area in Utah with the perk of being close enough to the ski resorts for Michael. The house needed a whole lot of love but we decided we had a lot of love to give. It has been a challenging and rewarding experience. For the past six months we have been working nights and weekends to make it ours not to mention we hope to make a little money from all of the hard work:) It is still a work in progress but we have accomplished quite a bit so far. Here are just a few pictures for a preview. There is many more to come.
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| After painting and floors. All the doors are on now after the pic. |
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| Before |
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| Michael is having a little too much fun sanding the floors. |
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| All of the outlets/switches are now white instead of that ugly uellow. |
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| After we did the floors,painted, and molding. The decor is still lacking. |
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| Before |
 Okay, terrible pic but we cabinets are now white with stainless steel appliances. I need to take more recent ones but you get the idea. I will do real side by side ones once we are really finished. |
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| Before |
Soon after (about a month after moving into the new house) more great news came... we found out that our little family was going to grow by one more! I was so excited I couldn't believe it. I took three pregnancy tests because I wanted it to be true so badly. I wish I was a cuter wife and would have been creative with telling Michael, but I couldn't wait to tell him, so I just threw it at him right when he walked through the door. It is kind of ironic that for awhile Michael and I were talking about how we needed some change in our lives and were ready to progress and then within three months all of these new events happened... story of my life. The first trimester of pregnancy was pretty rough but I think I was just so happy to be pregnant I didn't care all that much. As soon as I made it to the second trimester all of that sickness disappeared and life felt much better. The third trimester is becoming harder mentally and physically now that I am so close to the end. I cannot believe how fast the whole pregnancy has gone by. Now my due date is in two days. January 20th to be exact. It is hard not knowing when she is going to come. I keep having nightmares on where and when my water might break.
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| About 37 weeks |
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| Week 20 found out it was a girl! My dream come true. Daddy's first words "Uh-oh, I am in trouble." |
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| Baby shower at the Query's: Brittany, Liz, Me, Liz, and Lou |
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| Love this new ward: Me and Sarah = baby shower #2 |
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| Shower #3: The Query Cousins.. So creative! |
Oh and don't worry there is more... Soon after that, I got offered this new Deaf-Blind Teacher Specialist position. I was in shock. I was not expecting that position to open up for at least another six months. Of course it opened up right after starting my masters, buying a house in need of major remodeling, and then finding out about having our first baby. Michael and I had many conversations about this offer and said many prayers and I finally felt confident that I should take it and move forward. I will write a whole separate blog post on how we came to this decision but now after working in this position for about 7 months I am confident that it was the right one.
As soon as you thought the news was over.. Michael is starting a company with his friend Tyler. We are excited and nervous and all of the above. His past few years at Constatine Technologies has treated us really well but it was time that he needed to move on. He was ready to progress more and if any of you know Michael he does not settle. I have known for a long time that he would want to start his own company because he is such a hard worker and he is definitely the brains in the relationship. The new company is called AdMind. It will be fun to see how this works out and how it will grow. He is still in transition working at Constatine Technologies and now a few mornings a week and nights at AdMind. He just continues to amaze me. I have complete faith in him that he will succeed in whatever he wants to. I can't wait to see his growth in the future. Oh how I love that kid.
Okay, that is really it for now. We like to see how many things we can have going at once:) No but really this past year has been so fun and exciting and so far the new year looks the same! Bring on 2015.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Ghosts are in the Air
Can you believe it is Halloween already! Since, Michael and I have been together, I don't think that we have ever really done anything for Halloween. We decided to spice things up this year. We were going to have a party and actually wear costumes. Imagine that!
I tried so hard to convince Michael to allow me to turn him into Avatar for the party. When that movie came out I cannot tell you how many people told him he looked like Avatar. I thought it was pretty funny but he did not. So, instead he was a scarecrow. But I will not give up. Hopefully next year you will see a post with a 6'2 blue guy that looks like the main character in Avatar. As for my costume. Well... I decided to find the cheapest and best costume. After much searching I ended up buying a kids Angry Bird costume that I happened to fit into. It was like 16 dollars so why not.
My friend Liz was in charge of the games and we decided we would play traditional Halloween games like eat a doughnut on a string. We had a blast. The decorations didn't turn out half bad either if I do say so myself.
I tried so hard to convince Michael to allow me to turn him into Avatar for the party. When that movie came out I cannot tell you how many people told him he looked like Avatar. I thought it was pretty funny but he did not. So, instead he was a scarecrow. But I will not give up. Hopefully next year you will see a post with a 6'2 blue guy that looks like the main character in Avatar. As for my costume. Well... I decided to find the cheapest and best costume. After much searching I ended up buying a kids Angry Bird costume that I happened to fit into. It was like 16 dollars so why not.
My friend Liz was in charge of the games and we decided we would play traditional Halloween games like eat a doughnut on a string. We had a blast. The decorations didn't turn out half bad either if I do say so myself.
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| Me and Liz. Date night carving pumpkins with the hubbies. |
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| Bat- Linda Query Dory- Michael Cheshire Cat- Me |
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| A trophy for the costume winner. |
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| Costume contest WINNER!!! |
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| Costume contest runner up!! |
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| Games...games... and more games. |
Ragnar 2013
This is an old event from the summer! I am trying to catch up on all my posts and I am just a tad behind. But this event is definitely an accomplishment worthy of a blog post.
So, in the beginning of the year Michael and I jumped on the opportunity to sign up for the Wasatch Back Ragnar run. It is such a popular event here in Utah. The relay race fills up in a matter of a few days. This year we were one of the few selected to pre-register to save our team a spot. Six months later and with two weeks of training the race day arrived pretty quickly. I was assigned, not by choice, one of the hardest runs of the race. Don't worry everyone.. somehow I survived not to mention I ran some of my fastest miles. I guess that's what happens when you let your muscles rest by not training. haha just kidding that was a bad plan. No one else should ever do that.
Our team consisted of friends and family. There is a total of 12 people on the team and we ran a total of 197.4 miles. Your race consists of two vans and you drive to different spots where you attempt to sleep on the ground or in the car. The hardest part of the race was not the running itself but the lack of sleep.
My legs consisted of 7.3 miles uphill, 5.5 miles around a lake, and 7.9 miles downhill. Michael's legs consisted of 3.2 miles easy, 11.6 miles in the middle of the night, and a 4.4 ridiculous straight uphill climb.
At the end of the run everyone gets to run in together across the finish line. However I was the second to last runner and when I finished my last run I noticed that Michael was laying on the ground sick. He was really pale and I decided we needed to get him to a first aid tent. An IV and two liters of water later he was finally getting some color coming back to his face. Needless to say the two of us missed running in with our team, but we were proud that we both finished the race.
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| Our Van: Desiree, Me, Michael, Alex, Brett, Linda |
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| Michael was the only one who slept at all. Everyone else is faking it. |
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
The Girls Weekend Getaway
Oh Chicago... How I love you. There is just something to be said about big cities. I just love the way they make me feel, so small standing next to a series of 1,000 foot tall buildings yet it is so empowering. I always feel like I could conquer the world.
So, my awesome friend Liz called me up one day and asked me how I would like to go to Chicago for 200 bucks round trip. I didn't even need to think twice about my answer. And a few months later off we went. I made a list below of the top 10 things I enjoyed most in Chicago that if ever the changes arise, you must do.
Top 10 Chicago Must Do's
1. The original Unos Pizzera and order deep dish
2. The Willis or Sears Tower
3. The Architectural Tour
4. Pilates in Millinneum Park (free in the summer)
5. A museum.. take your pick they are all big
6. The bean (also in Millinneum Park)
7. The Magnificent Mile.. shop til you drop
8. The beach
9. Navy Pier
10. Free dance classes at the park (free in the summer)
Something that I should mention is that instead of staying at a hotel we tried something else out. Apparently, there are people all over that rent out basements to people who travel! We tried a place that had hundreds of review so that we knew it would be safe. It was soo much cheaper and we got to stay right down town in front of a bus stop. I was a little apprehensive at the idea at first but overall I had a pleasant experience. This was such a great trip thanks to my friend Liz who loves finding the best traveling deals.
Can you spot our names on
the wall of the restaurant?
Friday, August 23, 2013
Oh How It Feels So Good
His research has been on skin grafts for kidney dialysis and that is about all that I could tell you about it. I didn't understand much of his presentation, but I could tell that he knew the research well and I knew he presented it like a champ. His committee said he passed with flying colors! I am so proud of him. He is the hardest worker I have ever met and I am so grateful and blessed because of it. I can learn a lot from him.
After it was over Michael's mom, Linda, took us out to eat. We celebrated by eating at the restaurant called The Pie that sits on campus. It is such a yummy pizza place and we ordered for like 10 people even though there was just the 3 of us. I will probably regret it during my workout tomorrow but it was awesome today. Michael chose that place because he had many late nights even nights where he slept on campus and The Pie was the place that provided the fuel. We should probably tip them well for helping him make it through college too! The restaurant is in this cool basement and everyone writes their names on the community walls so, we wrote Michael's name and the year he graduated on the speaker box. What a great place to top off his college career.
I'm also taking the chance to post my graduation pictures because I have not yet written about how I graduated also this year. I received my BA in Deaf Studies from Utah Valley University.
I think we both shared some similar feelings about graduating. For both of us these were bitter sweet moments. We were both so excited to be done yet the friends and memories that have been created at our schools are still close to our hearts. I love and appreciate the education that these schools have given us and for the doors that have been opened which has allowed us to meet amazing people. We have also been provided with opportunities in life that were more than worth the hard work and the sleepless nights.
So, in conclusion I just have to say that what I learned about myself in college and the experiences I have had are worth every penny and every second spent to receive my degree. I am so proud of Michael and for the choices he has made in his life to make school a priority and for making the choice to love learning and to continue growing and progressing. Go Utes and Go Wolverines!
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| The speaker box at the Pie has been updated. |
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| Food for ten. |
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| Kenzie, Me, Heather, Mackenzie |
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| A small glimpse of the amazing people I met through the journey. |
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| April 2013 |
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