Twins

One day when we were in California my dad and Will wore matching shirts.

Isn't that just precious?

Harry Potter and Pie Thanksgiving

If I had to sum up our Thanksgiving this year in two terms, it would be Harry Potter and Pie (Sounds like Courtney heaven right? It was.)

We headed down to Ramona, California last Friday with just my mom and dad. We had a beautiful condo up in the mountains above San Diego and enjoyed a very relaxing weekend. Besides a little venture out to church on Sunday and a trip to Julian (a nearby mining town, famous for it's fabulous pies) on Monday, we rarely left the condo. Mostly we read books, watched TV and movies, the men watched sports, and we all just relaxed. It was fabulous.

Then came Tuesday and the arrival of Will and Heidi. They barely made it out of Utah before the big blizzard hit, we were just grateful they made it! Upon there arrival, Will announced the one thing he really, really wanted to do on this vacation was to see Harry Potter 7. So after lunch at a famous Diner in San Diego, some shopping (for the girls) and touring the aircraft carrier in port (for the boys), we all met up to see the first installment of the world wide phenomenon Harry Potter movie. It did not disappoint. Harry Potter was followed by dinner at the Fish Market right in the harbor of San Diego. Of course I ordered one of the few things on the menu that didn't have fish in it, but everyone else thoroughly enjoyed their fish dinners.




I think it was at dinner that Will proposed the idea that we watch ALL the Harry Potter movies over this break. It was a little cold and rainy and not ideal beach weather, so it sounded like a pretty good idea. The next day they raided a blockbuster and rented 5 previous Harry Potter movies (we skipped #1). The bulk on the next few days was spent deep in the world of Hogwarts. I think Will was the only one who watched every minute of every movie, although the rest of us came pretty close.

There were a few breaks in the Harry Potter madness for a little football watching

And Pie Eating. We ate pie almost every day. I think it may have just satisfied my pregnancy craving for good. Seriously though, Julian pies are amazing. The consensus was they are the best store-bought pies any of us has ever eaten (because nothing tops my Mom's homemade pies).

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner in our condo. Heidi started off the traditional 'go around the table and say what you are thankful for this year' with stating, "I'm thankful for Harry Potter." Classic Heidi.
After dinner we played games. Once again, we learned that "girls against boys" in a trivia game where sports is a possible category isn't a great idea. Us girls held our own, but the boys beat us in the end.
We had a fabulous time in California. The trip was relaxing and fun and just so great to all be together. Of course we missed Nate, several trivia type questions came up in casual conversation throughout the trip that Nate would of course know the answer to, reminding us of his absence, but we are all thankful that he's serving the Lord. I love having a holiday set aside just to reflect on our blessings, because we truly have so much to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving

Today's thankful post is dedicated to my wonderful parents. I love them; they are two of the most caring and kind people I know. They balance extremely busy lives with family responsibilities, working full-time, busy church-callings and still have time to serve other people. They are amazing examples to me and Ben and I love them dearly.

These also might be the most excited grandparents-to-be I have ever seen. They've made quite the contribution to Chase's wardrobe, not to mention the beautiful crib they bought for him and the pack n' play. My dad is still looking for some type of carseat base that fits on the back of a tractor so he can take Chase to the farm with him. I'm so excited to see them hold their first grandchild (and I really hope Chase lives up to all the hype!)

This Thanksgiving has been especially wonderful, as my parents have hosted us in San Diego, California for a week of relaxing and fun with the family (an update with pictures to come).

I haven't blogged every day about things I've been thankful for, but I've at least hit 50%. It's been good for me to reflect on all the big and little blessings in my life. Happy Thanksgiving!

BYU

As my time at BYU is rapidly coming to a close, I am thankful for the education I have received here. For the most part, I have enjoyed the rigorous academic environment. I love the beautifully landscaped campus. I have had some really excellent professors. I have made many wonderful friends. I met and married my amazing husband (who, by the way, got up at 5:30 this morning to make me breakfast because I was tossing and turning and getting nauseous. The pancake was delicious babe!)

I'm a little overwhelmed when I think about how little I knew when I started college four and a half years ago. I have learned so much, mostly about my religion and nursing (by nature of my major), but have also taken some eye opening science, history, political science and humanities classes. I have learned to live on my own, cook, balance a budget, maintain a good home environment, and balance school work, family time, church callings, a job, and the occasional fun activity. I'm so thankful for the opportunity I've had here and I'm SO EXCITED to move on to the next phase in life!

Pie

I haven't done so great with my Thankful posts this week, I'll probably hop on that bandwagon again soon though. Today is less of a thankful post, but just a funny quirk I want to remember about my pregnancy.

I crave pie. Every day.

In the last couple of weeks, I have participated in eating four different pies. (Ben and an assortment of family and friends helped to eat these pies too, I didn't devour the whole thing myself. Although I probably could have.)

Two pumpkin, one lemon cream, and one cherry

The cherry pie was the best. My mom made it. She makes the best pies. EVER.

This love of pie is nothing new to me (unlike my new found love of steak). We served pie at our wedding reception. I usually have pie, instead of cake, on my birthday. Wanting pie every day is something new.

Ben loves pregnancy cravings. (That was not sarcastic) He says I finally feel like he does every single day. He's loving that fact that I've been making pie on a weekly basis. I'm glad he's gleaning some pleasure from all this.

I think having a January baby was a good idea. I'm spending my third trimester celebrating my favorite holidays with my favorite people. And eating lots of pie.

Pregnancy

30 weeks

32 weeks

Today I am thankful for this pregnancy. I think my cousin Tiffany said it best, "Being pregnant is like having a little bit of heaven inside you." Although pregnancy is accompanied by a lot of aches and discomfort, it's still a wonderful experience. I love feeling this baby move and kick and the excitement of knowing in a few more weeks he'll be here and I get to be his mom.

My Sibs

I am thankful for her...

and him...

and him...

I am thankful for two brothers and a sister who are some of my best friends,
who can make me laugh,
and who I know are always there for me.

Our Soldiers

In honor of Veterans Day today, I have to say I'm thankful for all those men and women who have fought and continue to fight to preserve this great country. These men and women are heroes to me.

Last spring I had the awesome experience to go to Washington DC with BYU's nursing program to study veterans health. I loved learning more about our vets, and learned what great sacrifices they go through and about their individual health care needs. It was truly eye-opening. Besides the healthcare aspect, I loved the chance I had to see all the monuments in DC. Each monument is so beautiful in it's own way. The picture below is the Iwo Jima memorial at Arlington Cemetery.

When we visited this memorial we were met with a man who actually fought at Iwo Jima. He told us his story, which was amazing. His parting message to us has stuck with me, and filled me with an even greater appreciation for the sacrifice these men made:

"Have a great life. That's why we did it."

Thank you to all those who have served our country!
Happy Veterans Day!

In-laws

I know I have blogged a lot about my family and all the fun we have with them, but I don't want to neglect the other side of our family. Ben's parents live in Virginia, so we don't see them often, but I am thankful for them. I'm thankful that they raised such a wonderful son for me to marry. I'm thankful for their support of me and Ben. Below is a picture of a beautiful bouquet of mini roses I got from them last May, the week we told them about our baby on the way. This was the week that morning sickness really hit. It was a frustrating, nauseating time. Every time I saw these beautiful flowers on my table it gave my spirit a little lift. It was the perfect boost I needed to get through the next few weeks. The picture doesn't do them justice, they were gorgeous in real life and stayed beautiful for a good two weeks! (The box next to them was full of chocolate, which I was unable to enjoy at the time, but Ben sure enjoyed them. He deserved a little luxury too for having to deal with his sick wife.)

Awesome Aunts

I am thankful that Ben and I get to be part of such an awesome, supportive extended family. Today's thankful post is about three of my awesome aunts:

Here is my mom with her sisters in Coronado last February.
Meet Karen, Georgia and Sue.

I love them all dearly.

Karen is basically in charge of the whole family. When I was little she helped fill the void left when my Grandma died by having all of the little cousins over for special sleepovers at her house. Once Kelly and I got our own sleepover, complete with swimming at the Ogden Country Club, seeing the movie Casper (which we thought was hilarious) and going out to ice cream. Eventually she got her own slew of grandchildren to spoil, but she still supported me in various school/church/life events. She is very generous and caring (and has an immaculate house at all times).

Sue is the next sister in line. She is fun and quirky and so extremely thoughtful. My whole life she's always lived on the other side of the country, but she always sends her nieces and nephews birthday cards with cute, funny little notes in them. She is also responsible for starting our White girls trip tradition with the infamous trip to Graceland she engineered back in 2001. She flew across the country to come to my wedding. Her love knows no geographical distance.

Last, but definitely not least, is my aunt Georgia. She is fun, energetic and spunky. She opened her home to me, and several friends, during clinical rotations in Salt Lake. She'd make us dinner the night before clinical and breakfast in the morning before we left for our long clinical shifts. I can attest that she's an amazing cook.

For those of you who know my Mom and how great she is, you can see that it runs in the family. I'm trying to follow in the footsteps of all these great women. I feel truly blessed to have them in my life.

Jobs

Today I'm thankful for jobs! Ben and I have both been very blessed this last year. Today was my last day working my LPN job at the nursing home and rehab facility. I am thankful I have had this job, and I'm thankful that I'm done now. I learned a lot about nursing and nursing in stressful situations.

Ben has had a great job on BYU campus for the last year and a half. He works in a computer lab, 20 hours a week. For the majority of that time he can study. He has always taken extremely challenging workloads with his classes in school and wouldn't have been able to do it all if he had a different job. This job has been a wonderful blessing.

Our Calling

Today I am thankful for our calling. A year ago, Ben and I were called to serve in a singles ward. Ben is the first counselor in the bishopric, I teach temple prep during Sunday School. When we were first called I was less than excited about the calling. I loved our married ward, I was serving as Primary President at the time and I loved it. The transition was kind of hard at first, but it has honestly been such an amazing experience. The members of this ward are amazing. They are involved in fun things all the time and are friends with one another and support one another. I can't say enough good things about Bishop Stokes. Ben and I have both learned a lot from him. I don't think I've ever seen a more dedicated and loving bishop. I sat in sacrament meeting today and reflected about what a privilege it has been serving in the 130th ward. I'm so grateful that we got this opportunity.

Perspective

Today I am thankful for perspective. This week I've been thinking about this exact same week four years ago, and I'm grateful for the experiences I've had and lessons I've learned since then. Let me describe this same week, four years ago. I was a freshman at BYU living in the dorms.

Wednesday: I had an interview for study abroad in London. I knew it was a long shot because I was so young and they generally accepted upperclassmen, but I really wanted to go. I knew the program was competitive, but I figured if I started trying to get in early I would get to go at some point, even if it wasn't that year. The interview did not go as well as I'd hoped. I got confused about where I was supposed to wait for the interview and ended up missing my time slot completely. They still agreed to interview me, but I left feeling like I probably wouldn't get in. It wasn't the end of my world, but I was a little disappointed.

The day got worse from there. Later that night, my roommate Lauren got a call from her dad. This was one of those phone calls no one ever wants to get. Her parents were at Primary Childrens Hospital with her 17 year old brother. They had just discovered he had a large tumor growing on his heart and it was starting to cut off blood flow to his brain. It was not easily operable and they were undergoing tests to try to figure out what the next course of action should be as this was an extremely time sensitive situation and treatment was needed to start immediately. She was understandably upset. We were up really really late that night. I felt a little lost, not knowing what I could do to help her and her family. All I could really do was pray.

Thursday: In order to try to cheer up Lauren and get her mind on other things, all my roommates decided to take her to dinner. We all piled in my car and went to Costa Vida for dinner. It was fun and just a good break for everyone. Then we left the restaurant, my car was GONE. It had been towed. It was then that I learned if you eat at Costa Vida, you are not allowed to park in the Burger King parking lot that is adjacent to Costa Vida. (There were probably 20 open spots still, why they felt the need to tow my car I still don't know. To this day, I refuse to support their business). I called my friend Caitlyn, who brought Keely along to come pick us up. After dropping everyone else off at the dorms, we went in search of the impound lot. Keely made me laugh the whole time. I had to pay $121 to get my car back, which felt like a lot of money at the time. Oh well, again, this night we went to bed very very late.

Friday: I drove Lauren up to Primary Childrens so she could spend the weekend with her family there. As I was leaving I hit a traffic jam. The traffic jam threw me over the edge. I cried the whole drive back to Provo. I went into my dorm room and fell asleep, completely exhausted and overwhelmed by everything that had happened that week.

Now I fast forward four years. As it turns out, I got accepted to the study abroad program and later that spring I spent two wonderful months studying in London. I met amazing life-long friends and had great adventures. I ended up getting married the next summer, so that spring really was my only chance to go on study abroad. Everything worked out just perfectly.

My bank account is none the worse for spending that $121 to get my car out of impound. I am extremely careful now when I park anywhere in Provo, knowing that you must park in the specific slots for the store/restaurant you are supporting. In the long run, $121 isn't that much money.

Lauren's little brother is alive and well. In a few weeks he'll be returning home from honorably serving a two year mission in Florida.

It still drives me crazy to not know what the future has in store. I still worry about where Ben and I will be living next year, if Chase will be born healthy and at term, if I'll be able to handle being a mom, and the list goes on and on. However, I am comforted that I know this isn't all up to me. I know that my Heavenly Father has a plan for me. I know He knows the big picture. Things that seem like a big deal now will seem much smaller from the distance of the future. As my Grandpa White used to always say, "Things have a way of working out." I truly believe this; somehow things always work out for the best. I'm thankful for this perspective.

Capstone

Today I am thankful that I had a wonderful Capstone experience. As of 10:00 this morning, I have officially completed my required 210 clinical hours of Capstone clinical. I was so lucky to get placed at Utah Valley this semester on Labor and Delivery. I got paired with the best preceptor and I loved working on that unit. And honestly, I'm thankful that I'm done now. Waking up at 5 am for 12 hour shifts is getting hard (although I do still have a few days of work left, so I'm not completely out of the woods on this one) and I'm glad I'll have a little break now.

A husband who can cook

Disclaimer: My mom bought that apron for me. It's mostly a joke when Ben wears it. Although a family friend suggested we get a little velcro deal to go on it so it says, "It's not easy being married to a princess"

Today I am thankful for my husband, but more specifically the fact that he cooks! Ben is a amazing cook. He makes the best biscuits, pancakes, omelets (I'd say breakfast is a specialty of his) and makes lots of yummy things for the grill. He makes delicious steak marinades without even using a recipe, just throwing in this and that until it ends up delicious. He's also made lots of yummy desserts, including pumpkin cheesecake, banana cream pie, and my favorite oatmeal raisin cookies.

I came to appreciate his cooking gifts even more when I got pregnant. The first four months were pretty miserable. I was nauseous around the clock. Eating something would usually help me, but making myself make something to eat when I was already so sick seemed impossible. (I'm sure if the alternative was starving I could have pulled myself together enough to do it) To top it all off, I started working pretty much full time at the nursing home the same week the morning sickness started full swing. Ben completely took over all the cooking and grocery shopping. For two months I don't think I cooked one thing in our kitchen. Ben planned out creative, healthy meals and managed to get some nutrition to me and the babe during those hard months.

We discovered through trial and error that if I ate something high in protein, the nausea would be relieved for a good 45 minutes. Pretty much every morning, Ben would get up 20 minutes before I had to be up (which was 5:00 am somedays for 6:00 am shifts) and make me scrambled eggs and toast, pour me a glass of milk and then bring it to me so I could eat it still lying down. This way I could get something in my stomach before I had to get up. What can I say? The man's a saint.

Jana

Today I'm thankful for my friend Jana. Jana and I first started to be friends when I was three and we lived in Boise. Our moms were good friends and since we were both lacking a sister (this was pre-Heidi) we adopted each other as pretend sisters. Now I have Heidi, and Jana still doesn't have a sister (although she does have a cute sister-in-law), so we still claim her as our best friend/sister/cousin (sometimes we say we're cousins instead of sisters, just depends on the day).

I'm thankful for Jana because she's very smart, clever, witty and creative. She just has good ideas and funny comebacks all the time. She makes me laugh every time I talk to her. She is also an amazing example to me. She is the world's best mom to her little boys. She is so patient with them and they love her. I'm so glad she is willing to claim me as a pretend sister.

An awesome doctor and healthy baby

Today I'm thankful for my awesome doctor and a healthy baby boy. Yesterday we went to Kaysville for Sunday dinner (we do that quite a bit) and had our 30 week doctor appointment. My doctor is that awesome, he arranged for us to come in on Sunday since we'd be in the area anyway. He opened up the office just for us, and we brought my Mom along so she could see her little grandbaby. Our doctor does an ultrasound every time I go, and this time he did a long one to show my mom everything about this little boy. I love that my doctor always has time to answer my questions and I feel like he's very thorough. I just feel like Chase and I are in good hands!

After being part of many pre-term deliveries at clinical this semester, I am truly grateful for every day this little boy stays cookin' inside of me. I'm grateful that he seems to be progressing normally and everything looks good. I love feeling him move and kick all the time and imagining what he'll be like. Can't wait to meet this boy in 9 more weeks!