I love 5 year-olds!

So, now that we have moved and are in a new ward, I was called to be a Primary teacher for 5 year-olds. I have always wanted to be in primary and work with the kids and these 5 year olds are great. Every Sunday, there are typically 6 kids: 5 girls and 1 boy. The girls are all very talkative. I used to think that there were a few quiet, reserved girls, but I have learned that they can all be loud. The things they talk about and how animated they get, makes me laugh. I have a hard time being upset that they aren't paying attention cause they are so funny. And, even with all the talking, they do actually hear most of what I try to teach.

Last sunday, Austin (the one boy) wanted to say the prayer, and what did he pray for? He was thankful for tv and video games and asked that we could have fun playing them. It was so hard not to laugh during his cute little prayer. All the girls will start to talk about their "babies" (their younger siblings). It all starts with one girl talking about her baby, and then like dominos, they all talk about them. Quincy, is the most animated about every thing. If I tell her to sit still/pay attention, she will give me this look that makes me want to laugh so hard.

5 year olds are great though, because they all want to help. They all want to pray, give a talk, hold a picture, etc. And I can't blame then for having short attention spans after being in church for a few hours. I'm ansy too. So every week we play games and color and they all show me how good they are at writing their names. I just want to take them home with me, but one hour is perfect, cause then their anxiousness stays cute and they smile at the end.

On a different note, Brad started his job as a physical therapy aid! He likes being able to finally do something, and even though his patients' ages aren't ideal (they are virtually all elderly and not all motivated) he gets to use what he studied in school. Plus they are moving into a brand-new facility (Hunter Hollow), that I got to tour last week. It is super nice and big, and does not smell like a decrepit nursing facility. Yay for work!

Moving...again

So 4 moves in 3 years. I guess that's a little excessive, especially since we aren't in the military. Lets review our different apartments, just for kicks.

1. Wymount prison cell. Yes that's what it felt like with the cinder block walls. But that pantry was huge and you could store everything in that apartment (there just wasn't any living space).

2. Old house. Emphasis on old. Lots of living space, no bathroom outlet, and no heating control. No bueno.

3. 300 S. Apartment. Liked this one. Looked nice, enough living space, and we made the storage space work.

4. Now, we have moved to Brad's parents house and are in the basement.

Why? Because the price is right. That really is what it comes down to. Health insurance is such a joke this next year (and I can't currently find the new cards in this moving mess...not good). Plus we have a car payment now. And I'm applying to nursing school. And all of Brad's possible jobs are up here in salt lake/davis county. Bad parts: We are in a cold basement, the closet feels microscopic, we share a kitchen, and my commute to work is ridiculous. (FYI: Brad's parents live in Kaysville).

So I'm working on focusing on the positives and enjoying being with family. I do love my in-laws. So that's nice, however, some of the way they do things...well it will be an adjustment. But for now, it really was the best option for us and we appreciate their help. So yipee for 1 hour commutes!

See ya BYU

PS: Brad has his Bachelors in Exercise Science!!! Yay. I'm so proud of him. Now he just has to find a job, he will walk in April, and we are both done with good ol BYU.

Ping, you qualify for a Miracle!

So, my work is changing our insurance to a high deductible plan. Yuck, that's like death to a diabetic. Luckily they gave us lots of deductible options, but still, to have to fork out $1500 before my insurance will pay for anything, well, it just sucks.

After learning this, I started to think about things to do to prepare. Work told us to save some money. And yes, we are also going to have an HSA which will help...but I need things immediately all the time. So since insurance unfortunately won't let me stockpile on insulin, test strips, and pump supplies, I started to think what

I could do.

That's when I realized that my pump's warranty is WAY expired. I called Animas (my insulin pump manufacturers) and they told me that the warranty actually expired in 2008. Holy cow! For those who know me well or have lived with me, then you would know that I have been through a few pumps (well 5) in 6 years. My first pump broke when I accidentely hit it against my bed frame. The second pump got water under the screen somehow (the pump is waterproof). The third pump had some malfunction so the screen was not working (huge freak out moment my freshman year, specially since I was away from home). My fourth pump, I think that was because the enter button stopped working. And my fifth pump, I think it had a bad crack in it. The last pump replacement was in 2008, I guess right before the warranty expired. So this last pump had lasted me for over 2 years!

And it's still going strong. Impressive for my track history.

However, with an expired warranty, that means the next time my pump breaks, I have to buy a whole new pump. And guess what, pumps aren't cheap. So that's when I decided that I needed to hurry and get a new pump before next year, when I would have to pay $1500 and then 20% (where right now I only pay 20%). So I kicked it into high gear. Problem was that I had less than 2 months to pick a pump, get authorization from my insurance, and get the pump. From previous posts, you all know how indecisive I am.

So long story short, after reading up about all these different pumps, looking at customer reviews, I decided to get the newest Anima

s pump, called the One Touch Ping. Since I got my pump 6 years ago, technology has evolved. Awesome right. So all pumps "talk" with a blood glucose meter. This means that when I check my blood sugar, my meter tells my pump what it is so my pump can automatically correct it. Cool beans. It's all to help make the pump more like what a normal working body does. Sweet, cept my insurance does not pay for the One Touch strips, but that's a different story.

So I picked a pump, insurance approved it, and I was told that I would be responsible for $1020. Well compared to the total cost of $8500 (which is more than my new Civic is worth), $1020 isn't too bad. But with our current circumstances of Christmas, Brad graduating and trying to find a job, my typical expenses, well $1020 is a lot o

f money. Then, my miracle came. I was told that Animas has a trade program, where my old pump model could qualify me for a $700 credit. So they ran the serial number, and I did! So instead of paying $1020, we only have to pay $320 for a brand new blue pump! That was the best news ever!

Well after my wonderfully long story, point is, I have a new pump, it is navy blue just like my civic, and it came with a new meter, and I am blessed to only have to pay $320. Miracles do happen. Brad and I are both very happy and now I just need to name my pump (after the first two pumps broke, I decided that naming them might help them to last longer :) I have had Alfred, Donald, and Herbert. So I dunno, Hugo sounds pretty good, but we will see.

I quit!

Well, I wish I could say that. Dang diabetes, it ruins everything.

I just had one of those days. One of the girls I worked with called in (second time this week someone has done that). What did that mean for me, that I had to do it all alone. Granted, Paige helped out, but when you aren't an MA, you can only do so much. Oh my goodness, it was madness. The patient questions kept stock piling on my desk and I literally was running down the hall. At one time I had to clean the EMG room, transfer data, room the next EMG and room a new patient and pull a DR report, all at the SAME time. It was madness. I can't move fast enough to do all that and Paige couldn't do it. I wanted to scream so bad. I should have gotten paid double for today cause one person cannot do 2 peoples jobs.

So my head hurts like no other, for the second time this week I didn't get a lunch, and I'm fed up with it all. This is madness and it needs to end. How many times do I need medical people to tell me i'm stressed.

At my dentist check up, the dentist told me that my teeth were great, but he saw evidence that i was grinding. He looked at me and told me that I didn't look like a person who would be stressed. I wanted to laugh.

Every massage, whatever girl was working my back would tell me, "I can't believe how tight your back is!"

The chiropractor kept asking me if anything at work or home involved heavy lifting that would aggravate my back cause I had a HUGE knot on my shoulder. I told him I didn't lift anything heavy, work was just stressful. "I'll say, this is a HUGE stress knot!"

My hair is falling out, my face is breaking out, and I dream about work. I'm tired, worn out, and my body can't handle it anymore. I just want to throw the towel in.

But I can't. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

On the up side, Mandy will be back Monday and I only have 7 more work days, then it's christmas vacay/craziness.

Happy Holidays

Welp, I have learned that having a dark colored car means it always looks dirty. I thought white was bad, but this is about the same, at least cause we park in the open and snow is white. Poor Honda.

As for exciting things, Brad and I have officially been married for 3 years! Yay! For our anniverary we went to the Anniversary Inn again (cause last year was so much fun). We stayed in the Bridal Veil Falls room. It was really pretty, unfortunately the camera was forgotten, so no pictures. I was a little concerned about the weather cause everyone was saying that it was going to be a big blizzard. I kinda freaked out and almost wanted to cancel the whole thing cause I didn't want to get stuck in SLC, especially since my little sister was in town staying with us for Thanksgiving. Luckily, Brad does not fear snow, so he laughed at me being ridiculous and we went. Of course, the "blizzard" turned out to be just light snow mixed with a lot of wind and was no big deal at all. But, we got to eat at an almost empty Tucanos because of it :)

The week of Thanksgiving was an adventure. My little sister, Robyn, came down from BYU-I to spend Thanksgiving with us. Awesome. So here is how the week went:

Monday: we saw Harry Potter in IMAX! That was awesome!

Tuesday: Brad and I went to Tucanos and the Anniversary Inn

Wednesday: I made pumpkin pie and cranberry sause, we all did a puzzle, and just hung out

Thursday: Thanksgiving. I learned that Thanksgiving is stressful because everything has to be cooked at relatively the SAME time. Frustrating for me. My first attempt at mashed potatos was not perfect, but it went okay and the ham was delicious! We also watched Toy Story 3 (while waiting for everything to cook) and then The Back Up Plan after dinner. Love Toy Story and did not love Back Up Plan.

Friday: Brad and Robyn woke up early and went Black Friday shopping. Brad and I went to breakfast while Robyn hung out with a friend. Then all three of us tried to get a few things (and I thought I was going to die in JCPennys. How, from being "trampeded". Yup I made a new word, it means trampled in a stampede. I thought it was pretty ingenious, even if it was a total mistake on my part. So needless to say, our shopping didn't last long, cause we went home to the refuge of a quiet apartment.

Saturday: We saw Tangeled! So cute! I love that Disney is reverting back to the old ways of movies! Yes, I mainly wanted to see it because Chuck (Zachari Levi) was in it, but the commericials also looked cute. The funny part was Brad listening to the BYU Utah game on his ipod while waiting for the movie to start. Boo to the refs, that's what I got to say. But whatever, blue is the best color ever and I love cougars. Plus, you gotta love it when a guy's nickname is Juice. Haha, can I just say that I'm so glad football is over! (I told Brad that I was glad this was the last year we were going to college football games and he didn't like that. He loves the game/atmosphere. Meanwhile, I have a hard time liking a game that takes 4 hours to watch 1 hour of play. Dumb. But I am glad that BYU's team really came together. It started out rough/really bad, but no one can deny the fact that BYU got better. K, I'm done.

Sunday: We drove Robyn up to SLC to catch her shuttle back to Idaho in the storm.

Yup, so we watched a lot of movies, did a few puzzles (3) and had a lot of fun. Now, I can listen to christmas music! Yay! I love Christmas, I just don't love living in the snow :(

Fence Sitting

So, I have always been an indecisive person. I have a hard time picking between things and making up my mind constantly. Just ask Brad. He will ask me what I want to eat and 98% of the time, I can't tell him and ask him to pick. So Brad has made it his mission in life to turn me into a decisive person (good luck!) Well, with this whole car crash fiasco, I have had a lot of decisions to make.

So with our car, as it was considered a total loss, State Farm told me that we could turn the car over to them and receive a check for the worth of our wonderful car, or we could keep the car and they would give us less money (as it would be considered a salvage vehicle). Big decision basically. Do we keep the car we love and fix it ourselves and hope the money we receive pays for everything...or do we turn the car over and buy a new one (resulting in a loan).

So we weighed the options. And had a few different collision repair places and got different opinions and assessments of the damage. We also started looking at different cars. Now our Escort is a 99 with just barely 100K miles on it. For the worth of our vehicle, the only cars available are old, beaten cars with at least 150k miles on then. Yuck. So thats when we started looking for a little more pricely vehicles (by we I mean Brad). Brad figured out that we could get a good car in the 5k - 6k range, compared to the 3.5k the insurance would give us for our car.

So then Brad left it to me. We drove nice cars, found a nice one, were approved for a loan with a low APR...but it was all my decision. My dad thought we should keep the car, Brad thought we should get a new one, but what did I want? Good question.

I love our Escort. Its been a good car, we have only had to fix minor things, and my grandpa gave it to us. So sentimental value is pretty high. However, I was a little worried about the cost of having to fix it and all sorts of issues that could happen if I got hit again. This is when Brad started calling me the fence sitter. After much thought, discussions, prayers, and mechanics telling us it would be better to just get a new car, I decided to give our car up. So we found a good little civic in our price range and decided to get it. So this morning, the plan was for Brad to turn in our car and buy the new car. Then I started talking about how much I would miss the ford and how comfy the seats are (which they are really comfy and not stiff). Needless to say, I got the look and Brad told me I needed to get off the fence and make a decision.

Well we turned our car in. So I did pick a side. And we have a nice new blue '03 Honda Civic with 101K miles on it. And we can have it all paid off in a year. We both feel good about it. But I will still miss the Escort. Afterall it was my first car given to me by my late grandpa. But hopefully this Honda will prove to be fabulous just like we think and I will learn to love it too. I just hate making decisions still :( Brad's favorite part of this whole story was when he called today to tell me to go in and sign the loan, and I said "Well, I will try and find someone to take me". It must be a deep psychological error of fence sitting, cause I had every intention of finding someone and I did cause I didn't want to have to walk home.