Life continues to be crazy with very little time to blog. On a fun note, I was able to spend a weekend with my childhood girlfriends. Although I didn't go very far from home, just down to Provo, it was nice to get away. Besides anyone who lives in Utah knows the significant difference between Salt Lake and Provo. I believe they are worlds apart! We were teased by the workers at the nail salon, who asked if we had been skiing or up in the mountains. See that's not really our style. We tend to prefer spending money, pampering ourselves, and eating junk food. We did pedicures, massages, watched a play and a movie, went out to eat, stayed in to eat, and went shopping. I forgot my camera, amongst other important things, but I borrowed this picture, which is the only one I have seen of all four of us.

Labels: Friends, The Fam

Yes I will use cheesy Christmas lines as titles. I cannot believe how much snow we are getting. I am so thankful that this snow has come on the weekends when I don't have to get up early and drive to work. The snow we've been getting has inspired me to get pictures taken of Micaela.











So pretty. She looks totally like Caleb.

Labels: Friends, The Fam

It feels like it's been forever since I was in Reno for Thanksgiving. We were in Reno for almost a week. Which is amazing as we hardly ever take week long vacations. We tend to stick to long weekends. You know I realize I always say "we never take vacations..." but in reality we go somewhere, even if it's just down to southern Utah, about every month. To top it off we have had two huge vacations just this year (Hawaii and D-land). So never mind, we vacation often! However, Caleb hasn't been to Reno since last January. For those who don't know, both of our families are from Reno and Caleb's family, with the exception of one brother, still live in Reno. Anyways, we went to Reno for Thanksgiving. I brought my camera and did not take one single picture. I could post for days about everything we did, but here are the highlights:

-Thanksgiving dinner with my parents at 1:00 and at Lacy's (C's sister) house at 4:00. Food was great at both places. My dad did an amazing turkey that only a man addicted to the Food Network could do. At Lacy and Jason's they had a spread better than most weddings I've attended, which included an appetizer table and a chocolate fountain. This is dangerous for young children who like chocolate and fountains and messes all over new clothes.

-Micaela was actually able to play with her cousin Ally, who is 3 months younger than her. In the past Ally and Micaela didn't really interact. Similar to the time a 1-year-old stole Micaela's toy and she ran crying to me, not realizing she was much bigger and could actually walk, which the one-year-old could not. Anyways, they played great together hiding from Uncle Eli by sitting in the dog's food and water in their new clothes.

-Went shopping! Of course I celebrated Black Friday. I saved $150. No I did not get up at the crack of dawn because I prefer to be well rested when blowing our bank account on clothes. I got many fabulous things that will be wrapped as Christmas presents.

-Ate sushi at Sushi Pier with John and Cari. This is the most divine sushi place on the mainland, Yes Hawaii does have better, but it's not a fair comparison. Oh and Caleb and I were such regulars when we lived in Reno that our picture is actually in their picture collage. John and C's friend Brandon also have their picture up, but mine and Caleb's is cuter.

-Watched American Gangster. It was ok, not as good as people said it was. It was nice to have a date night though.

-Watched a horrible football game with a horrible BYU fan, known as my father, who has the BYU fight song as his ring tone. Enough said.

-Went shopping again to ease the pain of the horrible football game. Bought more stuff.

-Ate Super Burrito and In-And-Out while Caleb complained about how Salt Lake has no good food joints. Required a chocolate shake to drown out his whining.

-Played cards almost every night with my parents. I won. I'm genetically programed to be good at cards. Unfortunately Caleb is not.

-Visited Caleb's sister Jessica at their new place to see our cute nieces who were absent from Thanksgiving dinner.

-Went to church. We took Micaela to nursery and introduced her to the leaders. One of them said "Oh Micaela, the Rands' grandbaby," to which Micaela raised her arms and said "ta da!" No joke. As if we were all blessed to be in presence of such greatness.

-Took Micaela to the Bee Movie. Ok Short rant. We went to an 11:30am showing on Monday morning. There were 4 families in the theatre. Three of these families had one or more toddlers. The other was a mother or grandmother with a boy about 8 or 9. One toddler boy was walking around the theatre, not bothering anyone. He came over to Micaela, who sat on the floor next to him. When the bees started flying he got really excited and began saying "Its a bee! A bee! A bee!" Of course Micaela became excited and repeated what he was saying. Then the lady with the older boy yelled at his mother saying "can you please keep your kid quiet so we can hear the movie!" Seriously we were right next to him and we could hear the movie just fine. It was a kids matinee movie with a bunch of toddlers, they may get excited and talk. The poor mother of the toddler boy was so upset she picked him up and left. The best part, later in the movie her son got bored and starting talking and we could all hear him! Of course Caleb wanted to say something, but I told him not to. It's just crazy how weird people can be about kids. They are not going to sit still for long periods of time, they get excited easily, they talk when they're not supposed to, and they obviously don't understand all of the social norms. Whatever.

-The night before we left we visited my friend Afton and met her new boyfriend. She actually cooked for us, which was slightly concerning. However, she made spaghetti and it was delicious. We had a blast as always.

-Drove home and at every little town Caleb asked if I wanted to live there. I responded, each and every time, no and don't ask me again.

Overall it was a great vacation. The only negative thing we experienced, besides the Bee movie witch, was on Thanksgiving. Caleb's sister Jessica had a miscarriage. She was due 4 days before I would have had my baby. This was very upsetting for everyone.
I just realized how long this post is. I will stop boring you all with my endless rant of vacation. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Welcome December, with your huge blizzard outside.

Labels: Friends, Just Me, Rant, The Fam

We have made it a personal goal to celebrate the holidays more, and I think we have done a fairly good job so far. I will probably never be the person who decorates her home for every holiday, but I am working towards being more festive. While Micaela attended a church Halloween party with my grandparents, Caleb and I took the night out to go to a costume party. You can never imagine the struggle it was to convince Caleb that you have to dress in a costume at a costume party. He was so convinced that we would be the only ones in costume...which did cross my mind as well, but thankfully everyone else was dressed up.

I think Caleb makes a convincing Captain Jack Sparrow. He can even do a pretty decent imitation.


The hosts, Susannah and Neil, or Zorro and the wife of Zorro


The costume prize winners, Martin and Chiho, or Dog the bounty hunter and his wife Beth







For Halloween we have also been doing more family things. We followed what appears to be a Utah tradition and went to a pumpkin patch.Micaela enjoyed the outing and was so overwhelmed by the mass quantities of pumpkins.

She was particularly disturbed by the "yucky" pumpkins that were rotting, and decided she would point out every one of them.

We were a little late on getting our pumpkins, but we got them and Caleb even carved them. He was instructed to pick out three, one that represented him, one for me, and one for Micaela

The tall thin one is him, the little baby one is Micaela and I am the short fat one with the sour expression.

Micaela even got to decorate her own pumpkin. Beautiful!

Labels: Friends, The Fam

This last weekend I embarked on a haunted adventure. I went with some friends out to eat and, in an effort to celebrate Halloween we went on a GhostTour. My first clue that something was a little creepy occurred during our wait for the Ghost Tour bus. We were told to wait at the Rio Grande in downtown Salt Lake. Being a bunch of girls who were dressed more for style than weather, we decided to go inside the Rio Grande cafe and wait in the warmth. We ended up in a deserted hallway that leads to the restrooms. Nancy decided to use the restroom, but instantly came back out because it was too creepy. So of course we all decided we had to see this bathroom. It looked like a bathroom in an insane asylum and we agreed that it would be wise to not empty our bladders in such a place.

Fast forward to the bus, which finally came and we loaded quickly.





The very first ghost story we hear is none other than the story of a young woman who was killed by a train at the Rio Grande and reportedly haunts the cafe's bathroom!

It gets worse. We take a pit stop at the Salt Lake cemetery and are told a legend about another ghost. I have my camera and decide to take pictures of the tombstone. Here is the picture.




Now is it just me or is there a white, floaty object in the picture? Apparently it is called an orb, defined as an object not visual to the naked eye, but captured on photos. The creepy photos continue...






To top the night off I had driven there by myself and parked in a deserted parking garage. I made everyone watch me leave the car and start my car, after checking the backseat of course. To help me feel less freaked I sang Brittany Spears all the way home. Of course, that may be even scarier than seeing a ghost.

Labels: Friends, Just Me

I have been away from the blogging world lately, due to an insanely busy few weeks. I spent last weekend attending the funeral of a dear family friend. I want to briefly say to Debbie's family, Amy, one of my best friends, and Chelsea, a fellow blogging buddy, that I am so sorry for you loss. Your mother was an amazing woman. I'm so glad I was able to know her and your family.

Labels: Friends

I had the best weekend. Here are the three best things about my weekend:

Good thing #1: I passed my board exam! I have been studying for the last three weeks and I finally got the test over with. I took the test early Friday morning. I was very nervous because I know quite a few people who didn't pass their first time, and my job offer was contingent upon me passing. The lady who worked at the testing center was so nice and relieved a little bit of my anxiety by complimenting me on my shoes. We quickly became friends. In fact, she even said she was proud of me when my results posted. The most important thing is that I passed and as I took the clinical exam as opposed to the masters exam, so I will never have to take another test again!

Good thing #2: Amy Lynn got married!


The last of my childhood "RITL" friends got married on Saturday morning at the Salt Lake temple. As everyone who was there knows, she looked absolutely beautiful.


When she walked out of the temple she hugged the kids and her sister, and then asked where we were! We were right there waiting for her, as BreAnn and I pushed past all the people so we could be in the front to watch her walk out of the temple. We then proceeded to follow her around and watch the photographer take pictures of her. Amy is so polite she asked the photographer if it would be alright to do a picture with just us RITL girls. As if the photographer would say no!

Another great thing about Amy getting married is that Meagan and BreAnn got to come and visit me. I hosted the couples Friday night with an ice cream cake made with cookie dough, which I obviously didn't make.


Amy thought it was funny that Caleb gave us half pieces because he wanted to make sure she could fit in her wedding dress the next day. He's well trained.

Good thing #3: I got a new purse! In between the wedding and the reception BreAnn and I did some downtown shopping and eating, what we do best. The next day we hit the outlet mall in Park City. BreAnn found a great handbag at an amazing discount at the Coach store. Before I even asked she said "yes you can get the same one!" The sales lady laughed at us, and I explained it was ok because we live in different states. Both of our husbands took the news surprisingly well and actually agreed that we got a good deal. Micaela went shopping with us (Caleb had to work) and she had a lot of fun walking around and playing with "Mate" (Nate, Bre's husband.) By the time the day was over and Bre and Nate left for the airport, Micaela was quite attached to them and sad to see them go.

It was great to see everyone this weekend. Once again I want to congratulate Amy and Justin for tying the knot! We wish you so much happiness!

Labels: Friends

Although I never thought this day would come, I am done with school!! I have been in school consecutively for 20 years, so I guess it's about time. My graduation was on Thursday. My family came to town, more to see Micaela than to attend my graduation. It's been a whole 5 days since we left Reno and they had to part with their little girl. I would say they spoil her, but it's gone so beyond that. I say she can't have any of my caffeinated soda, so my father sneaks her drinks from his. I say she can't play with markers, so my father hands them to her and opens the lids. I tell her not to go outside it's too cold, and my father goes outside with her... The worst part is that my father taught her to raise her hands and shout BYU, which she chose to do at my graduation!

The best part of the entire graduation was our processional into the theatre. After finding our seats I was searching around for my family, and I found them on the balcony. Micaela was randomly waving to people, and then she spotted me, I'm not quite sure how, and screamed "Hi Mama!" I had an intense feeling of accomplishment and generativity.

I applied to the grad program right before Micaela was born. My plan was to either go back to school or start a management training program at OSF, wait for Caleb to finish school, and then go back to school. I had worked so hard on the application, but I wasn't confident I would get accepted. When Micaela was one month old I was accepted. It then became a money issue. How could we afford this program? We had just had a baby, had gotten a new car, and moved to a bigger, more expensive place. Also they strongly recommended that students not be employed while attending grad school, because we would have intense classes and 20 hours a week of internship. I decided I would just work and wait until Caleb was in his career. Fortunately, that didn't sit well with me, and I called my mother. My mother discussed it with my father, and they both felt that I should go. They offered to pay my tuition, and help us out in other ways if we needed it. I want to thank them now for paying my tuition and allowing me the opportunity to go back to school. I also want to thank Caleb for working so hard to help support our family so my parents wouldn't have to:) Caleb has put a lot of his plans on hold so I could fulfill my goals. He never once made me feel like my career wasn't as important as his, or that there was no reason for me to go to school. He has supported me and held my hand through all of the anxiety I've felt. People have actually asked us when I am going to stop working. We laugh because we're both pretty sure we could win the lottery, and I would still work. Not to say that this is for everyone, but it's for me. I fill appreciative that I married a man who believes in me, and that I have parents who knew what I needed to do, and provided a way for me to do that. My parents have worked long and hard for their children to go to school, and I hope that one day I can provide the same opportunity for Micaela.

On that note I would like to share some good news. No, I am not pregnant. I got a job offer! Some of you may know that my internship offered me a position. There is so much I could say about the drama of that, but it's water under the bridge. I've decided not to accept that position. Which put me in a very scary place, searching for a job. Long story short, I interviewed for a job I really wanted and felt I didn't do very well. I actually cried after the interview, which isn't that uncommon because ever since Bre's wedding I have been very emotional! No, not pregnant. I was excited (and surprised) when they called me back for a second interview. It went very well, and they offered me the job. I accepted the offer yesterday. I still have to take my board exam, very scary, and receive my license, but in a month I will have a "real" job. Enough with the boring life story, here are some pictures.

Me and the wonderful Nancy. My favorite shopping and eating buddy, and one of the few people who understands retail therapy like me.


Me and Susannah, who made my WI class bearable, who is also a good shopper...sensing a theme?


Me and Angie would have been able to sit by each other if she didn't have to get married last year and change her name.


Trying to show off our little black dresses


The gang


Sarah and I didn't find each other until after the ceremonies, which was alright because I wanted her to meet my grandma from southern Utah. You know because everyone in southern Utah knows each other. They really did know some of the same people. While I'm expressing gratitude, this girl deserves some for keeping me sane at my internship. I honestly could not have gotten through this year in one piece without Sarah!


The family. (From L-R Grandma Rands, Grandpa Rands, Micaela, Kristi, Me, Katy, Justin, Mom, Stephanie, Dad, and Grandma Carter.)


My mom summed it up great when she told me she now had a relief society "good moment" to share: my daughter graduated with her masters, got a job offer the day before, and bought a new wardrobe of work clothes the day after. Life is good.

Labels: Friends, Just Me, The Fam

I'm obviously still wishing I were in Hawaii, because I feel compelled to share more pictures with you all. You can tell we don't vacation often enough!

Our fist day there we visited the Maui Ocean Center





One of our favorite things was a snorkeling cruise we took.

We saw these fish...

...And this sea turtle...

...And this is what our hair looked like afterwards.


After Bre's wedding we left Maui and went to Oahu. We visited Pearl Harbor, where I forgot to take my camera, and the Polynesian Cultural Center.


Caleb participated in a spear throwing contest, where he threw it closest to the mark 2 out of 3 times. It's a relief to know that if we ever have to spear hunt for food we may survive.

Amongst shopping and eating sushi almost every day, we also spent a little bit of time at the beach.

It was a great vacation, and just so you all know Bre and Nate were told they had to visit Hawaii every year on their anniversary. I'm thinking we might invite ourselves along too!

Labels: Friends, Just Me, The Fam

One of my best friends, BreAnn, recently got married in Maui, HI. Caleb and I were very fortunate to be able to attend this beautiful wedding. I blew off my last week of school, and we justified it by saying it was a birthday/end of school trip. Personally, I needed the trip to de-stress and spend some "kid-free" time with my husband. I took tons of pictures, but I know that you all (ok, maybe just Meg and Amy) are dying to specifically see wedding pics, and I took tons of those. Please remember that I have a very simple camera, and I didn't want to get in the way of the "real" photographer, so not all of these pictures are great.

The first picture of many, Bre getting ready in her hotel room.


Her hair, very pretty



BreAnn specifically asked me to post this picture. Can you guess why?


Bre and her dad walking from the hotel to the beach


Nicholas passed out leis and kissed all the girls (not the boys) on the cheek


This is Nate and the guy who married BreAnn (I don't know what his official title is), waiting for BreAnn, although she was not late! It was the guests that went to the wrong beach:)


This guy played the ukulele as Bre walked down, it was so pretty and that's when I started tearing up

I'm going to stop the play-by-play now...










After the actual ceremony Caleb made me put my camera away. So I didn't get any of the posed pictures, but I'm sure Bre will share those when they become available. We went to an amazing prime rib buffet, where I had two plates and three desserts, because calories don't count when you're on vacation. One of my favorite things about the buffet was that I got to sit right next to BreAnn at the head table. Oh I also played a crucial role in the wedding, when Bre needed to hand off her bouquet, I pushed Alyse to grab it, which was very important. Overall, it was a beautiful wedding. Congratulations guys!

Labels: Friends