TBT: My Maternity Pictures

Remember that one time I was pregnant?  I had grand plans to have a beautiful maternity session in my 3rd trimester, but unfortunately I was put on bedrest long before that was a possibility.  Luckily, as I was getting ready for the fancy (silly) tea party my mom's family has every year, I decided to have Blake snap a few pictures for me.  I was only 22 weeks at the time, but little did I know just 3 weeks later I'd be on bed rest and in 8 weeks I'd have babies. So, here are a few of my favorites.  I really miss that belly sometimes.

Coming soon: Newborn pictures and family pictures!

One Year Ago: The Big Move

One year ago today, we said goodbye to life in Hawaii! 

We woke up early to pack our last few belongings in our suitcases, sweep the floors one last time, and give the place a once-over to make sure everything looked perfect.  I had spent the last two weeks painstakingly packing, deep cleaning, repairing holes in walls, and a million other things to make sure that the apartment looked better than how we found it.  Blake helped where he could (mostly moving furniture out and some repairs), but was extremely busy with work, so most of it was left to me.  I was proud of my work.  Before we knew it, it was time for the rental company to come do their walkthrough.

I was nervous as I waited outside for Blake to finish.  I spent my time playing with our mongoose, Squeaker, for the last time.  Our next-door (actually, more like behind and next door?) neighbors had taken quite a liking to him, so they agreed to take him on after we left.  He lived outside and didn't really need to be fed, so we really didn't change anything for him when we left.  I like to think he misses us a little bit though...

When Blake was done with the walk through, he told me that the lady was not too happy about what she saw.  I was floored.  It looked so much better than when we had moved in.  In fact, we even fixed things that were broken and holes that were in the walls when we moved in.  I was upset and angry, and let tears fall down my cheeks as I thought of all of the work I had put into making that place look amazing.  If I was having any reservations about leaving Hawaii (not likely), they were definitely gone now.

"I hate Hawaii," I told Blake.

"Yeah, look at those jerks, making you cry on your last day here."

The only thing to do when you are feeling a huge lack of faith in the humanity of Hawaii is to go to Uncle Clay's House of Pure Aloha for some shave ice.  It is really the only place I felt like we really got a glimpse of what aloha is all about.  Uncle Clay likes to get to know everyone who comes to his store and he just radiates the aloha spirit.  Everyone who works there is always super friendly and nice.  Not to mention their shave ice is made with natural flavors and is thus divine.  It was a good way to end our Hawaiian life and begin a new adventure.

We made our way to the airport and saw a rainbow in the sky, as if Hawaii was telling us goodbye.

"Goodbye, and good riddance!" we said in return.

Then onto the airplane and leaving it all behind forever. What an incredible time we had in Hawaii.  It was one of the most difficult experiences I have ever had, but we learned a lot and got to experience so many things we never would have if we had stayed in Utah.  Our life in Hawaii is such a distant memory now, but it will always have a little place in my heart, even though I would never move back there again.  We might bring our kids there someday, we'll just have to wait and see.

If you want to see the part of the story where we arrive in Utah, read it here: http://blakeamanda.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-christmas-eve-surprise.html

TBT: 5 Years Ago (Tomorrow)

I'm going to skip ahead for a minute in our little love story because tomorrow is the anniversary of a momentous occasion.

It was August 15, 2009.  That morning I woke up and got ready as always.  Blake had gotten home from his summer working in Arizona the day before, and I was eager to see him.  Although we weren't actually engaged yet, I had already put money down on our reception location a month or so earlier.  We were serious about this thing.  Blake had bought a ring for me in Arizona and was having his aunt and uncle who are jewelers put a diamond on it since the ring was an anniversary band.  Blake told me that morning that the ring was ready and so we should go pick it up from them in Ogden.  I thought it was weird that he wanted to bring me along to pick it up, but he does strange things sometimes so I went along with it.  The funny thing is that we had our engagements scheduled later that day, so I knew he was going to propose before that evening.   

Blake arrived at my parent's house and we left together for Ogden.  He asked me if we could make a quick stop on the way there, and I said that was okay.  He pulled into the parking lot at Union Station, the place where most of our dates happened. 

"How about we take a walk around," he said.  We walked past the train tracks and all around the outside of the building.  Finally, he led us toward the trains and then right by the blue 2002 Olympics train car.

"Remember this spot?" he asked me.

"It's where we had our first kiss."

"Maybe we should try that again." 

When I opened my eyes afterwards, he knelt down and held out my ring, diamond and all

"Amanda, I love you.  Will you marry me?"

"Yes!"  And then the hugging and kissing and being super happy commenced, and the "officially engaged" period began.

Re-enactment later that day

5 years later and I'm still in love with this ring.  And my husband too.

TBT: The Tragic Tale of the Chick and the Mongoose

I'm going to be completely honest here.  While living in Hawaii was an incredible experience, it was also one of the hardest times of my life.  There were some parts of our life there that were amazing and some that were difficult.  Because of the struggles I was having I didn't really write down much about our time there.  I'd like to add in some Hawaii stories to my Throwback Thursday posts so that I have a record of those.  I won't get into anything too deep, but rather just tell some fun or entertaining (or, in today's case, rather sad) anecdotes.  Today, I bring you the Tragic Tale of the Chick and the Mongoose.

I was at work the day that the groundskeeper came up to Blake with a baby chick he'd found abandoned, knowing of our love for cute little animals.  There are tons of wild chickens on Oahu, and lots of them hang out at the park outside the gates for Hanauma Bay.  We kept him in a big cardboard box throughout the day, but tried to let him out as much as possible because he was very upset about being in the box.

Another animal that lives at Hanauma Bay in large numbers is the mongoose.  Tourists love the mongoose.  They would always ask 'What are those squirrel things?' or 'Was that a ferret?' and we would tell them the story about how mongoose came to be in the Hawaiian islands.  Clear back in the 1800s, this island was covered with sugar cane fields.  The fields were often infested with rats.  Someone decided it would be a good idea to import mongoose to eat the rats, but they obviously didn't think it through too well.  Mongoose are diurnal and rats and nocturnal, meaning they were never awake at the same time.  Many years later, we have a huge population of mongoose that eat the eggs and young of many native bird species.  Oops.  Mongoose are sneaky, smart, and clever.  One of the rangers told me a funny story once.  A tourist had just bought an (overpriced) hot dog from the concession stand.  He was sitting on the rock wall and put his hot dog down next to him.  He was talking to someone else and was completely distracted when a mongoose climbed up the back of the rock wall and slid the hot dog right out of the bun and bolting.  The man then lifted up his hot dog to eat it and saw that his hot dog was gone! 

So, here I am with a baby chick that I am guarding very closely because I know the mongoose dart out of the bushes near our workstation all the time.  The little innocent baby wanders closer to the bushes, and so I reach down to pick him up.  Just before my hand reaches him, I see a flash of brown fur and the chick is gone.  I hear the terrifying screeches of a few mongoose fighting over a meal.  I spend a few seconds in shock and then begin to cry.  I feel guilty for not protecting the chick well enough and so sad that he had to die that way.  I cry longer than your average person would cry about nature taking its course in the animal kingdom.  What can I say, I am just a big softie when it comes to animals, especially baby chicks. 

It wasn't too long after that revenge was taken on accident.  While driving one of the jeeps out of Hanauma Bay, Blake saw a mongoose running across the road.  This really isn't that rare, and they always scurry out of the way.  For whatever reason, this one made a dumb decision and ran the wrong way, right under one of Blake's tires.  He saw it in his rear-view mirror and pulled over to see if the mongoose was okay.  Spoiler: it wasn't.  He took a nasty picture of the dying mongoose with a pool of blood around his head which I will not put up on this blog for all of your sakes.  We always joked about killing the mongoose because they were a pest around the park, but Blake felt bad for actually running one over.  We considered it karma for the life of that little chick and the balance of the universe was restored once again. 

TBT: Our First Date

If you haven't read the post on how we met yet, go do that now.  I'll wait.

After Blake asking me to go swing dancing two or three times and me not being able to go, I finally found the opportunity one week in March.  I still didn't know if this was a date or not, but when he came to my house to pick me up and no one else was in the car I was hopeful.  The Ogden Wednesday night swing dancing was usually at Union Station, but this time it was held at Weber State.  We walked into the ballroom, and I was met with a big crowd of people and one of those bull riding machines, which seemed so random.  Neither of us participated in the bull riding that night.  So we mingled about the room and found our own little spot on the dance floor.  I remember thoughts racing through my head, one after another.

Oh my gosh, I'm taller than him.  Don't stand up too tall, you'll exaggerate it. 

He is a pretty good dancer.

I am a pretty BAD dancer.  He is probably so embarassed for me.

I probably look so stupid right now, trying to dance.

Why did I agree to go to swing dancing?  I am like the most awkward person ever.

Think short. Think short.

We spent time walking through the halls and talking when we needed a break from dancing.  Somehow, I made it through the night without seeming to make a total fool of myself, and even having a bit of fun.  Then he dropped me off at home and we said goodnight.

I was smitten.  Every time I thought of him I couldn't help but smile.  When I told my friends about the date they could tell by my face how much I liked him.  Luckily for me, he wasn't disappointed in my height or dancing skills.  Sure, it wasn't love at first sight, but it might have been love at first date. 

TBT: The First Time Blake and I Met, or, How Chris Ripplinger Changed Our Destiny

It was almost dark outside when I finally left work to head to my night class at Weber State's Davis Campus, which was only about a mile away.  Due to the February snow it took me much longer than it should have to get to there.  I walked in and looked around to find the perfect seat where I wouldn't have to sit too close to anyone.  I liked to have space for my computer and notebook.  A few minutes after I selected my seat, I saw a familiar face.  It was a guy from my single's ward named Chris, who I knew from the ward choir where he sang and I played the piano.  I'd seen him a few times in this class and said hi, but this time he asked me to come and sit with him and his friend. 

I had spent the better part of a year healing my heart from a past relationship and breakup, and while I felt hopeful, I was not expecting anything in my life to change at that time.  I wish I could say that the first time I saw Blake it was love at first sight and I knew we would be together forever, but I didn't.  He was just an attractive guy that happened to know this other guy that I knew.  So I sat by Blake, and talked a little bit.  When class started I did my best to pay attention, but my professor's almost imperceptible African accent always sent my mind adrift.  I laugh to recall how long it took me to realize that 'mah-kett' meant market.  I decided to look at pictures of my pets, because that always made me smile. 

"Hey, you like fish?  That's pretty cool.  I used to have a fish tank," Blake said.  I told him that I did, and probably rambled off the names that I had carefully picked out for my fish.  Emerson, Pistachio, Winter, Volta (and more, at this time I think I had about 8 fish tanks.  Crazy Cat Fish Lady anyone?)  Strangely, my somewhat odd choice of obsession didn't scare him off.  In fact, he later told me that he thought I was out of his league, which I find to be ridiculous.  After class, Blake asked me if I'd like to go swing dancing with him and his friends in two days on that Wednesday, which I wasn't sure if that meant a date or just going as a group.  I already had plans so I had to decline. 

He would ask me to go a few more times.  Stay tuned for my next Throwback Thursday post to see if I ever said yes.  *wink*

TBT: Waterfall Canyon

I've decided to do something new on my blog.  I'm going to start making 'Throwback Thursday' posts whenever I feel like it.  No guarantees this will happen every Thursday.  I am a notoriously bad journal writer, and so Throwback Thursday posts will be a way for me to write down any memories or stories I want to remember. 

Last Saturday Blake and I went on a hike up Waterfall Canyon in Ogden with my brother Aaron and his girlfriend. 

Bad lighting... sorry

We had to replicate the photo that we took our first time there

Which was the first time that we went back since the time we hiked it when we were dating.

We decided to go to the single's ward activity to hike Waterfall Canyon back in the spring of 2009.  We showed up bright and early for the hike, and were greeted there by... one person.  The guy who was in charge of the hike.  So, the three of us embarked on the hike.  We were in the newly-in-love, Blake's-about-to-leave-for-the-summer stage of our relationship, so I imagine it was NOT enjoyable at all for the other guy.  But it made a fun memory for us that I treasured that summer.