Just two more weeks....

I've always liked having something to look forward to. I feel like I need a countdown or the days just drag on and on. Usually we have vacations that we count down to, but our vacations have taken a backseat to the pregnancy! Since a 9 month countdown is a bit much for me to want to take on, I've just been taking little bits of it. Such as: Just two more weeks till my 3rd appointment, where I get to make my next appointment for my official ultrasound to get the gender! I am so excited!

Whatever the gender, we'll be happy. Sure I'd prefer a girl, but any baby would make me happy, I just want happy and healthy (and preferably a good sleeper and eater and not a screamer....but I'm not too picky right?).

In any case, just wanted to share my excitement! Just two more weeks till I get to make my appointment!

The Greatest Sound!

One of the best sounds I've ever heard!!!

Is this thing on?

If there was an award for worst blogger, inconsistent blogger, or just plain laziest blogger, I would get it. I really wish I could be more consistent (since I'm sure EVERYONE wants to know what the Petersen family is up to!)

A few updates on what we've been doing:

August-September

I went to Boston for work, for 1 week. It was fabulous; I love all the old colonial houses and the windy roads. I only wish Josh had been there with me! Upon returning to Utah I got on a flight to Florida, literally within 2 hours, for our cruise! We took the red eye, so we got to Tampa around 9 am, the day before our cruise. We went to Busch Gardens, and rode a few rides before a bad thunderstorm hit and we got soaking wet. Since we had an entire afternoon and we were already wet, we took the time to go see some of the animals in the park before going to our hotel for a nap. On returning to the hotel, I went through my suitcase that Josh packed for me (since I was in Boston). Turns out, there were no pants or shorts and it was now 10 pm!!! Luckily the Macy's across the street was having a big sale and they were open till midnight. I bought 5 pairs of shorts/capris for less than $30. I was pretty happy. On the cruise we met a few mormons from Orem! We hung out with them a lot, dinners and shows and games. We also went cave tubing, scuba diving, and swimming with dolphins.

When our cruise was over I was supposed to go to Sacramento for a week for work. Josh was meeting me out there at the end of the trip for a weekend in San Francisco. The day before Josh came out; I was asked if I could come back again next week...and the week after that. So I extended my trip and after a great Labor Day weekend in San Fran, Josh went home without me. All in all, I stayed in California till the first week of October! I came home most weekends still and then Josh came out the last weekend and we went to Lake Tahoe for a little getaway. I really enjoyed the work I did while I was out in CA and became pretty attached to some of the employees I was training. It was a great experience, but being away from home for 2 months was a bit much.

October - November

I work with Medicare, so my busiest time of the year is AEP (Annual Election period), when everyone on Medicare can change their plans. I worked nearly every day from Oct 15-Dec 7, around 10-12 hours most days. I like the overtime and the extra sales opportunity, but being that busy sure wears you out. During this time we aren't really able to do a whole lot, so we don't have much in the way of stories, except Vegas.

I had Thanksgiving Day off and my boss was kind enough to get me the Friday and Saturday after off as well. Josh and I flew to Colorado Springs on Wednesday night for thanksgiving with my mom and brother, Dylan. Then on Friday morning we flew to Denver where mom and I would continue to Vegas and Josh would go home. Mom was working the flight to Denver and to Vegas, so she was already on board doing her job, while I waited. The gate agent started boarding and so I bought a drink right next to the gate, I was barely gone for a moment and upon return, the door was closed and the agent said I could get on the plane now. There was another gentleman that came up with the same predicament. I immediately started pleading, she barely started boarding, there was no final announcement, and what was I supposed to do? I'm not going to lie, I broke down and I was crying. Freaking out. The gate agent went to take the paperwork to the flight crew and left us. Luckily a lady nearby saw the whole thing and went to talk to a different gate agent. This new gate agent went down the jet bridge to talk to the original gate agent and they finally let us on the flight. It was absolutely one of the craziest scariest experiences!! But we made it and we had a blast! We saw Jersey Boys and Blue Man Group. Jersey Boys is AMAZING!

Monday, Nov 28, Josh's birthday, I got in a pretty bad car accident; our new 4 runner was totaled. We're STILL (as of today) fighting with AAA over the claim. It's been a nightmare.

December

Busy month! We had to make up for all that hard work! Josh, my mom and I went to Disneyland December 10. We flew out Friday afternoon, played Saturday, and then came home on Sunday. We had a fantastic time! It was Josh's first trip to Disneyland! We got to go on all the good rides, and if you go, check out Toy Story Mania and the World of Color show!!!

For Christmas, Josh and I flew to Wisconsin. There we met up with my mom and brothers; we stayed at my grandmas and visited as many people as possible!

January

And we're caught up again. 2012 is going to be a good year for the Petersen family, because we're going to make it a good year. We replaced our 4 Runner, switched our insurance to a company that isn't retarded. And we're both working again! It's going to be an interesting year, but we're excited to take it on!

And now we're back! Just in time to leave...

Hey everyone! I guess I have a serious problem updating the blog. There's no excuse. I'm on here daily looking at my blog lists. Dreaming of a day I'll have time to be crafty and thrifty. I just never make the effort to update my own blog. Perhaps the other blogs intimidate me... but probably not.

So what have we been up to? Well, sit back, relax, and check it out. We start from where we left off...

March

I went to get my hair done by my wonderful friend Brianne. While there, her sister (who is interning for 101.5 The Eagle) told her that she had 2 extra tickets for the Reba and George Strait concert that night. Well, Brianne's husband, Ryan, just happened to be out of town, so she invited me to join her!! George Strait is my absolute favorite artist and so I jumped at the opportunity. It was an AMAZING show! Reba was fantastic and did a lot of older songs (I like her older stuff) mixed with some good new ones. And George, just wonderful.

April

Josh and I had our anniversary! 3 years! I still can't believe it. Some days it feels like just yesterday, while other days it seems like forever (in a good way). We were having some car trouble (not mechanical), so bathroom issues, and just having a difficult time deciding what to do. We bought a car a couple weeks earlier and the dealership apparently is running with a lot of new people. There were a few financing issues and the wanted to raise our down payment and we just didn't want to do it. So after owning a beautiful newer car for two weeks, we had to return it. The day we found this out, we also discovered that our upstairs bathtub was leaking to the point that the ceiling below was leaking. Great. When it rains it pours right? For now, josh just decides to cap off the leaks for the night and deal with it tomorrow because as of right now, it's Friday and this is cutting into my anniversary weekend! Saturday AM we drove down to switch back to our "old" car. When we got there the manager gave us his apologies and said he'd still like to try to help us but the banks are closed today. Being a smart girl I pulled out the tears and cried him my sob story of how my anniversary weekend was ruined because everything is going wrong! So he said we can keep the car till Monday and don't worry about the miles. Well, when we got to the car, I said "Let's go to St. George." Josh wasn't sure if I was serious, but he went along with it. We didn't bother driving back home for anything, because we were already in Orem. We just drove. On the way we booked a hotel room. We stopped in Scipio and saw a zebra in the new petting zoo. Then when we got there we went to Kohl's and bought some clothes for the next day and Walmart for some toiletries. It was one of the best trips ever! Just an over-nighter, but it was good to get away.

Then, we got home back to reality. Josh had Monday off, so he started taking stuff apart in the bathroom. The main problem was that the faucet was dripping, in order to replace it, we'd have to tear out part of the wall behind the facet. The tub/shower that we had was a one piece, so we'd have to replace the entire set up. And we've always hated the tile, so we may as well take that up to while we're at it. And then the vanity can be repainted since it's so boring. And we may as well do the shower how we want to now, while we're at it. Long story short, we decided to demo the entire bathroom and redo it. It looks and sounds a lot easier than it is... at least for us. What we always seem to forget, is how busy we are!  This photo is after putting the new tub in the room, not where it's supposed to be, just there.

Our friends Alyssa and Hugh invited us to a military ball! It was so much fun! We got big poofy dresses and danced the night away! My feet hurt so good by the end of the night, but it was worth it.

May

I surprised my Grandma for Mother's Day with a last minute flight to Wisconsin! I got there around midnight so I got a hotel room for the night (no one knew I was there!) and showed up at her restaurant around 6:30 am, just a little while after opening. She was so surprised, it was so great! I wish I could have gotten pictures or video.

June

We got our bathroom done! I know I know.. Just over a month and a half later... but it looks AMAZING. I wish I had more before pictures but at the time, I wasn't really thinking of a glamorous remodel, I just wanted my bathroom back.

Then my mom flew out and we drove to Wendover to go to a Rick Springfield concert! We ended up in the third row, right in front of him. Being the awesome daughter that I am, I even got Rick to sign his autobiography on stage in the middle of the show for my mom!!! Shortly after that he came down in the audience and sang with my mom for a few moments. Needless to say, this is the best Rick experience either of us have had and I think she's still on Cloud 9 from it!

Josh and I built a retaining wall in front of our house to add some curb appeal, it turned out really great!!

July

Hey we're almost caught up! Josh and I have both been working like crazy. I don't know how we manage to stay awake sometimes. So we planned a cruise for August. We'll be leaving to go to the Caribbean for a week and we're really excited. A few days after booking the cruise, I got a temporary promotion to do training and so I'm going to be doing some traveling for work. This means that Aug 14-Aug 19 I'll be in Boston. I'll leave Boston at 5:15 pm and get to Salt Lake 10:40 pm, just in time for a flight to Tampa at 12:50 am, hopefully nothing is delayed! We'll get back from our cruise on Aug 28 at 10:30 pm, and then I leave for Sacramento at 8:30 am the next morning. Josh will fly out to Sacramento on Friday Sept 2 and we'll spend Labor Day weekend in San Fransisco, returning Monday! So pretty much I will be gone for 3 weeks!!!! I am so nervous but so excited. Had I known about this promotion, I would have postponed the cruise.

We just had a Petersen Family reunion lat weekend, that was a blast and a half. There were 125 people there. Uncle Denny installed a zip line, we set up a HUGE water slide, the boys had a skeet shooting contest, I taught some line dancing at a barn dance, we had a pig roast, big fireworks, a family softball game, and so much more!

  

Alright! Now that should bring you up to speed with the Petersen family!

Hey remember us?

Long time no update! Sorry about the delay folks, I look at the blog daily and I think, "I should really update this...tomorrow."  In any case, here I am. I have lots of photos, so buckle up!

Our last post was mostly about our excitement regarding our Florida trip. It was so much fun! Our condo was literally on the beach, just as we planned. The water was perfect and the entire setting was amazing. We went to Busch Gardens, Seaworld, and other fun spots.

Then Christmas came around and my grandma and mom came to Utah to help celebrate! Not only was this the first Christmas for us to host, it was also the first major holiday in our house! It was so fun to decorate and be Christmasy!

We have done so many remodeling projects!! We sanded and stained our kitchen cabinets, (photos to come), and gave the dining room a new look as well. We bought a new sectional for our basement and wall mounted the tv, so we have lots of room and comfort. We still have a 20 mile long honeydo list, but it's so neat to see all the transformations!

My birthday was last week, so we planned a trip out to Vegas for the weekend. It was so fun! We saw Phantom of the Opera, played craps, and explored. Mom, grandma and I even did ziplining on Freemont Street.