Dibb and Britt

Bon Appetit

2012-02-09T10:23:00.001-07:00

Stella has started saying

"Mmmmmmm"

when she really loves something.

It makes us laugh.

Blondie

2012-02-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

So Glad I Get to Be a Stay-at-Home Mommy

2012-02-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

Learning to be a stay at home mom was a BIG change for me

I am NOT a home-body.

In fact, I go quite crazy staying at home

But I LOVE LOVE LOVE being with this girl all day everyday

She's the best!

Seeing her learn and grow makes me SO happy ;)

Waiting for the Tub to Fill Up

2012-02-01T07:00:00.002-07:00

Isn't that the cutest little bum you've ever seen?

A Big Week

2012-01-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

She's Walking!!!!!

Last Sunday Stella took

not 2...3...4...5...

but 6 steps.

She can now do up to 8 in a row.

And she finally started to get her first tooth!

Consequently, we've been a little extra teary and drooly this week.

(P.S. she thinks this "stretching the face game" is hilarious)

Ocho Meses

2012-01-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

Wow, I really need to blog more.

Stella turned 8 months old on Monday.

Here's some new things she's up to lately....

She often puts her finger in her mouth

She doesn't really suck it

It's just more of a thinking pose.

We got rid of the baby tub

(a long time ago--can't remember when)

Stella likes her baths and her bath toys

Stella is going to start walking any day now.

She has taken one step on her own several times

But I don't think it counts until you do several consecutive steps.

I actually thought she was gonna start walking this weekend

Because Andrew and I left her for the first time

and I was sure

she was was gonna walk and we'd miss it.

But she didn't.

She's a tad timid about walking--

which is a completely new thing for us

up until this Stella has had NO hesitancy.

She is still super tiny

(10 to 25 percentile in everything)

And her feet are tiny too

even though the angle of the pic makes them look huge

She still wears 3-6 month old clothes...

Andrew says Stella is a mommy's girl

But she says dada about 100 times more than mama each day

She also says:

baba

and I swear she said Gama to my mom yesterday

These pictures were taken on her actual 8 month birthday

When she wears her hair in a pony she looks so old. :(

Playing with her toys

And her new favorite thing.

Waving hi and bye.

SOOOOO freakin cute!!!!

(She has been clapping and giving high 5 for a while now too).

Last Day of 2011

2011-12-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

just a few pics to end the year...

in her jammies and new winter coat

a new hat and dog for christmas

"keep your distance santa"

"ok, I'm done!"

we had a wonderful Christmas!

and we got an awesome new camera

because ours was dead....so dead

(hence the lack of Christmas pictures)

so hopefully we'll figure out how to use the camera

and be back in blogging business.

we're ready to ring in the new year tonight!

Here we go 2012!!!!

For Grandma Dibb (who can't wait any longer)

2011-12-16T22:29:00.002-07:00

Well, it's been a month since I posted last.

Which means today Stella is 7 months old.

7 Months...Can you believe it?

Grandma and Grandpa Dibb are on a mission in Bolivia

and they say it's been way too far between posts.

But I have a good excuse,

We MoVeD!!!

Yes, we rented our condo and moved

into G&G's house while they are on the mission

(or until Andrew gets into school....which I hope is sooner.)

Moving was CRAZY!!

The worst part was we lost Stella's hardware for her crib

So we can't put it back together.

Parts have been ordered....just taking forever to get here.

Other than Stella's room we are pretty settled in.

And we finally have the internet (and TV) after a 3 week drought.

So without further ado....I present to you

Stella's 6 Month Pics

There are a few more on the right side panel of our blog.
I'm in love with these pics and in major love with this girl!!!

Photography by my awesome friend Kari at Treasure Layne.

Happy 1/2 Birthday!!!!

2011-11-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

Happy 6 Months Stella!!!!

I cannot believe our baby is 6 months old today!

Oh how we love her!!!

This is Stella climbing up our filing cabinet.

Apparently crawling gets old after a week or two

and so you move right on to climbing up the furniture and standing.

She's been doing this for the last week.

For the first few days she would fuss everytime she fell

which is often....come on she's just turning 6 months today.

I was getting frustrated with the fussiness

and so I tried to explain to her that she doesn't need to do this yet :)

She hasn't stopped doing it

in fact she does it more

but at least she stopped crying EVERY time she falls.

Now she just does when its a good fall.

Happy Happy Half-Birthday to my

freaking determind little stinker!!!!

It's Official

2011-11-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

Stella is 25 weeks old now!!

(5.5 months for those that struggle with weeks)

She can officially crawl---

not just army crawl...the real thing

She can officially sit up

Stella can officially NOT HOLD STILL.

To say she is active is a huge understatment.

She is all over the place.

She if very hard to hold because

she twists and turns and rolls and dives off your lap.

She gets into everything!!

Nothing entertains her for more than 7 mintues...

seriously I will take ANY suggestions

I've tried:

baby einstein dvds

bouncers

swings

all kinds of toys

jumpers

play pens

car seats

She doesn't like any of them

She hates to be strapped down

because she wants to go go go!

She is such a happy baby

and I love that she is so smart

and a part of me loves that she is so active and fun

but another part of me

(the part that wants to take shower)

would love to find a small solution to the craziness!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T12:26:00.000-06:00

Happy Halloween!!!

We were Cruella Devil, Jasper (the dog catcher),

and the cutest little dalmatian you've ever seen.

Our Halloween party pals

Um...you had to be there.

But for those who were there...

Best "Frousins"

2011-10-28T07:15:00.002-06:00

A friend of mine calls her

best friends/cousins

her "frousins".

I like it!

Jersey and Stella will be best frousins

Jersey and Stella really do love each other.

Look at them stare a each other in these pics.

So cute!

Both in purple dresses playing in Stella's crib.

Right after I took this picture

Jersey dropped Stella and said
"Let me see it"

Good thing she doesn't have far to fall

and she fell on her mattress.

haha

To all those mothers of two or more out there....

trying to get two kids to look at the camera and smile is ~~tough~~

pretty much impossible.

My Little Laundry Helper

2011-10-26T10:57:00.000-06:00

Where's Stella?

2011-10-15T09:38:00.000-06:00

PEEK-A-BOO

A favorite game around our house.

It gets Stella laughing really hard.

Cereal

2011-10-12T09:16:00.000-06:00

Her first taste of cereal...

It's good!!

Four Months

2011-10-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

Stella turned 4 months old

on September 16th.
(So she is technically 4 1/2 months old right now)

We went to the doctor on the 21st
for a check up.
I always intend to take a pic at the actual doctor's office
but it has yet to happen.
There is a lot going on there.

Her stats:
Weight: 13 lbs 1 oz---33%
Height: 24 inches---36%
Head: 16 inches---37%

I NEVER imagined I'd have a baby in the 30th percentile.
The Todd Ballantyne family is always in the 99th percentile.
I guess Stella might be more Dibb than Ballantyne.

And guess what else?!?!
Stella army crawls all over the place.
Very soon she is going to be crawling for real.
Ahhhh!!!!
It.goes.by.toooooo.fast.

Rivalry

2011-09-30T23:45:00.005-06:00

We have a friendly rivalry with our neighbors

This year it's pretty embarassing to even talk about

But these babies are so cute we'll do it anyway.

The Frisch's got us good this year but sneaking

a U of U decal onto to our back window

the afternoon of the big game.

Pretty sure Andrew was

FREAKING

out as soon as he noticed.

He couldn't stop staring in the rear view mirror at it.

He had to pull over and get it off before we could go far.

Here is some close ups of our little cougarette.

She had her first cold when these where taken.

These pics also make her hair look light....but it's not.

Splish Splash

2011-09-27T06:00:00.001-06:00

I was taking a bath!

Camera Shy

2011-09-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

Here is some proof of Stella's camera shyness.

I tried so hard to get a smile.

Okay, enough trying for today.

Condo For Sale

2011-09-22T05:00:00.000-06:00

Since pretty much everything

(and I mean everything)

has changed in our life in the past few months

We decided to make another change too.

For more pics and info go to here.

New Tricks

2011-09-20T14:14:00.000-06:00

This past month

Stella's been busy learning

all sorts of new fun tricks.

She discovered her toes

and boy do they taste good!

Apparently they also make a good nap buddy.

Four weeks ago Stella learned to roll over.

I put her down for tummy time

and then she just whipped right over

A couple hours later that day

she learned to go from her back to tummy too.

She's a pro.

Stella has loved to stand since she was SO young.

I'd tell you how old, but you'd just think I was lying.

I definitely won't be surprised if she is an early walker.

Everything goes straight into her mouth.

We keep thinking she might be teething

but so far no sign of teeth.

Just lots of drool and chewing on stuff.

Smile!!

2011-09-07T20:58:00.000-06:00

I need to upload some more pics to my computer

but in the mean time,

I'll share this little gem with you.

Stella is a happy baby

but when we pull the camera out

she never wants to smile.

This was the first time we could catch a smile on camera

and ironically, she is sitting in her LEAST favorite place.

Bosom Friends

2011-08-29T07:16:00.002-06:00

If you are familiar with Anne of Green Gables...

then you will recognize the term Bosom Friends.

I have a Bosom Friend.

Her name is Becca.

She and I both had baby girls this summer.

Cutie pie, Jane, was born just 6 weeks after Stella.

This was their play date a couple weeks ago.

Now don't forget Ash's darling little Anna.

She is going to be the "mother"

when these little girls play house in a couple years.

And she didn't want to be left out of the pictures.

Ash will also have another baby girl this fall.

Proud Big Sister

2011-08-25T08:52:00.002-06:00

I have to take a second to brag

about my baby sister.

Brooke just turned 15 and is starting

her sophomore year at AFHS.

Brooke is such a GOOD girl

and amazingly SWEET

and FUN and SMART

and she is soooo beautiful!!

(All 6 feet of her)

These pics were taken because

she is the studio dancer of the year at her studio.

Seriously, she's gonna be a heartbreaker.

Pictures courtesy of Treasure Layne Photography.

3 Months Old

2011-08-23T09:50:00.001-06:00

Stella is 3 months old as of last Tuesday the 16th.

This pic was taken that day.
She is growing up SOOO fast.
Lately, everyone comments
"Doesn't she look so much older?"
Yep. She sure does.

Here's some things that she is doing now:

She holds toys now and brings them to her mouth.
She has found her voice.
And she can be loud...it's so cute.
She laughs and smiles a lot
She almost rolls over
(from her back to her tummy)
she gets about 75% of the way and then rolls back
She gets excited when she sees her bottle
She still HATES her car seat.
She is learning so much everyday.
And she still is the cutest little thing you ever did see.

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission

2011-08-15T07:26:00.000-06:00

Andrew's parents got their mission call!!

They have been called to serve for 18 months

in the Bolivia, La Paz Mission

Dale, Andrew's dad, actually served his mission

in Peru/Bolivia

AND

Andrew served his mission in Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Andrew's parents came and picked him up from his mission

and they toured all over Bolivia and Peru.

Now Dale and Linda get to go back there.

There mission is in the mountains

Andrew's was in the jungle.

We are so excited for them!!!

They leave in October

and will be back in April 2013...

just before Stella's 2nd birthday.

Bear World

2011-08-12T10:25:00.000-06:00

On the way back from Yellowstone

we stopped at Bear World in Rexburg

They have SOOO many bears.

Here's the grizzly

Here's some of the black bears

that are right next to your car

I think we saw over 30 black bears

definitely beat the 2 we saw at the actual Yellowstone

There are other animals too.

Wolves

Elk

Deer

Moose

And a petting zoo with lots of birds,

that of course I cannot touch....(i HATE birds)

They had 6 cubs born in January and they were right next to you

They look so cute

Stella loved it too.

Y~E~L~L~O~W~S~T~O~N~E

2011-08-07T09:01:00.002-06:00

In July

we went to Yellowstone with

{most of}

Andrew's family.

Andrew's brother, Brian, and his family

were visiting from Australia

Some of our nieces and nephews

(and Brian)

in front of one of them many geysers we saw

A bit of the wildlife

Stella was an awesome camper

Some of the kids

got to hide food for the grizzly bears

at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center

More cute kids!

P.S. Our camera is the process of breaking so please ignore the blurriness of our pics for a bit.

Bridal Veil Falls

2011-08-03T08:45:00.000-06:00

About a week ago

we decided to walk the

Bridal Veil Falls/Provo River Trail

Getting Ready for the Hike

My parents came

so did my sister, Brooke, and

my cousin, Jessica, who is visiting from Arizona

It's a fun trail

and a great summer night activity

It definitely was a lot busier

than I ever remember though

First Airplane Ride

2011-07-22T19:38:00.001-06:00

Stella's first airplane ride

to Arizona for my cousin's wedding.

She slept the whole way down

and was awake and awesome on the way back.

Only down fall was the massive poop she took on the way home.

Have you ever changed a poopy diaper

on an airplane restroom's changing table?

AWKWARD

Guess Who?

2011-07-19T10:35:00.001-06:00

Guess who graduated and has already landed a new job????

Stella's Blessing Day

2011-07-15T19:33:00.001-06:00

Stella was blessed on July 3rd by her daddy.

First Cry

2011-06-30T16:53:00.000-06:00

I think this pic of Stella's first cry

is so sweet and cute!!

She didn't cry for several mins

after her birth because

she had swallowed meconium

and the respiratory team
had to do some work on her.
When she finally cried it was such a relief.

Newborn Pictures

2011-06-24T13:53:00.000-06:00

Here's a few of Stella's newborn pictures.

Check out her photographer here.

Thanks Kari!!

This Week

2011-06-12T16:55:00.000-06:00

Stella feeling sleepy and cuddling with Mom.

Daddy's wrapped around her little finger.

Pretty in Purple

And a shot of my stitches :)

Stay tuned...

Stella's newborn pictures are up next!

Getting Settled At Home

2011-05-28T16:59:00.001-06:00

These first couple weeks

have been a bit of an adjustment

But we are head over heals

for our little girly!

We love visitors and are lucky that Jersey lives just next door.

You should hear Jersey say Stella...it's so freakin cute.

Stella's first bath at home.

She's not so fond of it.

Stella loves to have her hands up by her face.

We compared this to her ultrasound pics

and her hands were always up by her face there too.

Sleeping...a big part of her day.

Stella's umbilical cord came off when she was just 5 days old.

She had a little dry blood still in there.

But that came out today.

She's already growing so much!

Our Baby Girl

2011-05-19T16:38:00.001-06:00

Meet our baby girl....

Stella Dibb

Born: Monday, May 16th

1:35 pm

7 lbs 11 oz

Blogger will not allow me to upload any more pics... :(

But we can't get enough of our little Stella.

Updates

2011-05-03T10:12:00.000-06:00

Andrew is pretty much done with school.

He has 8 weeks left

with a couple med school pre-requisites

and some stupid elective credits.

But before you know it...he'll be completely done!

We're so excited!!

This fall will be his first

in a LONG time without school.

So he's already dreaming nightly

of his hunting adventures.

He's hoping for another dead head

to join Ernie.

Who BTW now resides in a storage unit--

not the baby's room.

YIPEE!!!

He left our house over

the 2nd floor balcony...

can you picture it??

Andrew, Jordan, and Jon and me (el prego lady)

taking this monster off our 2nd story balcony.

You should have seen the looks on people's faces.

Priceless...

P.S. If you are interested in things like this.... went to doc for my 37 week appointment. Was 1 cm and 75% effaced :) --ahead of most women at that point. Then went for my 38 week appointment. STILL THE SAME. Depressing. Doc said I probably won't inch my way closer since I was so far at my first check. I'll probably just stay where I'm at until I go into labor. Which is hopefully soon---but with the Ballantyne curse I'm not so sure.

What's She Gonna Look Like???

2011-04-27T15:33:00.000-06:00

For about 9 months now,

We've been wondering

What will this baby girl look like?

Andrew

is convinced that our baby girl

will look just like me.

me at 6 weeks

me and my mom

me and my little sis

I've tried to convince him

that she will probably be more of a mix.

But he stands firm.

(I don't have any baby pics

of Andrew on the computer and

I'm too lazy to dig them out of storage

and scan them.

So just imagine what he looked like)

I think she'll be a mix.

But regardless, we can't wait to see her.

cRaZy DrEaMs

2011-04-24T14:08:00.000-06:00

Not sure why when you are pregnant

you have the CrAZieST dreams in the world.

But it’s sooo true.

I’ve had a million crazy dreams.

Most of the time they have something to do

with being pregnant and/or the baby

but sometimes they are just wacky random dreams.

Regardless, they give Andrew and me a good laugh the next morning.

Here’s some of my CrAZinEsS--

I’m married and pregnant. But in high school. Locked in a bathroom stall sitting on motorcycle, puking all over myself while witnessing a murder and missing my calculus test.

All my family is gathered around talking about what the baby will look like and someone grabs a giant spotlight and shines it on my belly. Miraculously the light makes it so I can literally see through my skin and see the baby inside of me. She is all covered in the “cheese” as expected but I can see all of her features perfectly so I start tell everyone what she looks like.

There's so much more...

Do you ever wake up and say

why the heck would I dream that?

What were your crazy pregnancy dreams about?

A New Calling

2011-04-18T13:38:00.000-06:00

Andrew and I got a new summer calling!

I’m still a Relief Society teacher,

so this will just be in addition to that for me.

Our new calling is...

ward gardening specialists.

Haha!!
I know what you are thinking,

didn’t you guys just garden for the first time EVER last year?

The answer is yes.

But apparently in our ward that makes us a specialist.

So we’ll be gardening again this year.

I’m assuming Andrew will be doing the planting

since I’m like 9 months prego and planting season is not too far away.

But I guess I’ll have a great place

to walk to this summer with the babes.

Here to another year of gardening!

Couponing & Building Our Food Storage

2011-04-12T10:18:00.000-06:00

I’ve always been into using coupons, discount codes, shopping the clearance section, etc. I like budgeting and I try hard to spend less that we make, save for rainy days, have no debt. For years, Andrew and I have talked about improving our food storage. “Food storage” to me (at least at this point) is like the everyday things we eat and use. Not things like wheat...because that's way to overwhelming. Besides still living in our condo and not having much room to store things, I’ve always been so overwhelmed with where do I start?

I finally decided to start with baby items because it’s fun to buy anything for the baby right now and I also came across and UNREAL deal how to get formula to next to nothing…..literally.

So after researching a bunch of stuff, I’ve become somewhat of a crazy coupon lady. (Like the ladies on Extreme Couponing on TLC are a 10 and I’m a 3). But I can’t believe how much money we waste on things! It’s a process and I’m still learning more but I’m proud to say that our baby storage freaking rocks and our personal food storage is off to a good start with no budget increases for us.

These are some of my favorite baby deals:

Similac Formula: Spent under $70—Retail Value of $475+

Diapers and Wipes: Yeah, there is a lot. There's much more than you see in this pic. I get diapers anywhere from 25-75% off.

This is a little look at some of our stash. I've also started getting a bunch of free formula from Enfamil and Good Start. So if you use either of those brands....let me know. I may have a gift for you. Otherwise, I'm going to be taking a trip to the women's shelter to donate some formula.

Positive Pregnancy Tests!

2011-04-08T07:04:00.001-06:00

On April Fool's Day

my cousin's wife, Page,

decided to punk my cousin

and convince him she was pregnant!

I helped her out

by peeing on her pregnancy test for her.

Apparently the joke went off really well.

She's supposed to be blogging all the details shortly.

So watch for an update here.

March Madness

2011-04-06T13:03:00.000-06:00

Andrew loves basketball in all forms.

So March has over filled with basketball games around our place.
Even though this year was full of upsets and neither of our brackets did that hot….

I want it to be know that

I beat Andrew AGAIN with my bracket picks.

Yeah me!!

Jimmer was amazingly fun to watch this year.

Time for an Update

2011-04-04T15:44:00.000-06:00

Andrew says it’s been WAY TOO long since I updated the blog. I agree. But as I told him, nothing has really been going on around here. Despite my pessimism I guess I can find something to blog about so that everyone knows we are still alive.

These are the upcoming blogs that I'm working on....stay tuned. Oh, I promise some pictures too. This blog has gotten very boring lately.

Visiting Teaching

March Madness

Positive Pregnancy Tests

Couponing/Food Storage

cRaZY Pregnancy Dreams

New Callings...gotta wait a week and make sure there is no one opposed :)

School Update

Nuskin Storage

Cute Baby Clothes

And, the Baby's Room...if we ever get it set up.

Did I just promise 10 posts before the baby comes???

Wow, better get started right away.

Visiting Teaching

For a long time, I was a very bad visiting teacher. I have lots of excuses (I’ll spare you them) but the truth is, I just didn’t try very hard to do it. Last year, after reading lots of talks about the importance of visiting teaching, I decided that I really should try to be a better visiting teacher. So it kinda became my resolution last year that I’ve continued into this year. I’m proud to report that I’ve been getting better and better at doing my visiting teaching almost perfectly (meaning I go every month—not that I prepare the best lessons or do the best things for the ladies I visit teach). But I contact the girls, make it to their house almost every month, take them little gifts, and do seriously have concern for them.

Some things I’ve learned from visiting teaching:

1. It’s really not that hard or time consuming to do it.

2. Your excuses are really just that….excuses.

3. Having a great partner helps a lot (mine is my sister—lucky me!)

4. It doesn’t matter who you visit teach, you really can become friends with anyone and enjoy visiting with them each month

5. We all need a little bit more church in our lives so the mid-week little thoughts are great reminders of what we should be doing.

6. And most importantly, it makes life a little bit less about me and more about others.

Now, go do your visiting teaching.

The Pregnancy Ticker

2011-02-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

Check out my pregnancy ticker on the right side of my blog!

I've been hesitant to put one of these up for two reasons.

First, I hear that it can make the pregnancy drag....especially when you're getting close but not there yet (like day 50-60). So hopefully this doesn't happen. If it just randomly disappears one day... you'll know why.

Second, I'm pretty positive that this baby will be late and my sister, Lindsay, says that's it's pretty depressing when you countdown gets to zero and then you STILL haven't had the baby yet. So maybe I should set it for a week after my due date.....huh

Why this baby will probably be late:

It's in my genes to go really over due with your baby. Get this....

I was supposed to be born January 19th.....I was born February 1st. I can't imagine thinking you are going to have a January baby and February comes and you're still pregnant.

My sister Lindsay was supposed to be born June 1st and was induced and and born June 9th.

My sister Brooke was supposed to be born July 15th and was born July 30th. Yes, 15 days!!!!

Luckily, they only let you go about a week over nowadays. So I'm sure I'll be like Lindsay...the ticker will hit zero and then a week later the baby will finally come.

My in-laws thought I would have the baby a little early so they booked a trip three days AFTER my due date. When Andrew told his mom that our family history says otherwise, she was all worried because now she thinks she's going to miss it all.

But we've waited 5 and 1/2 years for this girly so we'll take her whenever she decides to come.

Where Will We End Up?

2011-01-26T08:00:00.002-07:00

Andrew is back enrolled at two schools

Finishing up his last prerequisites and classes.

He's changed his mind about his career choice

many

times

{part of the reason why he's been in school so long}

But to clear up any confusion

His latest plan is to be a Physician's Assistant {PA}

He's actually been set on this idea for a while now.

In exciting news...

he's started applying to PA schools.

There is only one school in Utah

and I have a hard time

seeing Andrew wearing

RED

not

BLUE.

So most likely we'll be headed out of state for two years

Here's a list of places we might end up:

Las Vegas

Arizona

Michigan

New Hampshire

Boston

Upstate New York

Lubbock, Texas

Virginia

Ahhh!! Pretty crazy huh.

He's an underdog right now

because not all of his classes are done

But we'll see.

It's fun to imagine the possibilities.

Back Tracking

2011-01-22T10:23:00.001-07:00

I haven't been feeling well for honestly.... 24 weeks now.

So that might explain my lack of blogging.

But we are alive and kicking.

So here's some quick back tracking...

Christmas 2010

We had a great Christmas with our families!

We're very grateful for them all the wonderful presents they gave us.

We did a GREAT Sub for Santa this year.

The family was so humble and grateful.

They sent us a tear jerking story of Christmas morning at their house.

It made our Christmas.

The next week we went...

Snowmobiling in West Yellowstone

Our camera wouldn't work

because it was -25 degrees Fahrenheit.

Nothing works well when it's that cold.

Snowmobiling was super fun though!

I went the first day, which was outside of the park.

One day was enough bouncing for this pregnant lady.

So I missed the day in the park.

Bummer....but we're going back this summer for a Dibb reunion

so I'll get my wildlife/geyser fix then.

For some pictures click my sister's blog here.

Favorite Quotes from the Ultrasound

2010-12-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

"Your baby gets the award for the most stubborn and naughty baby"

"There are two awful positions for a baby to be in for an ultrasound...your baby knows both of the positions"

"Everything is perfect"

"I need a crow bar to pry your babies legs open"

and......

last

but

not

least

Surprised? About 90% of people we talked to thought we'd have a boy. But, nope. Girls out number the boys in the Dibb family and girls are all the exist in the Ballantyne family. So what else would we have? I thought it was a boy for a while, then I went through a month stage where I thought it was a girl. Then everyone started guessing boy so I went back to a boy guess. Andrew went into the ultrasound thinking it was a girl, because he just knew that if that many people guessed boy--it would be a girl to shock them.

So we have a very stubborn and naughty baby girl (we're not confused as to which parent she inherited that from) and a extremely modest baby who just will not uncross her legs for anything (hopefully it stays like that until she's 30).

We're super excited!! And oh my gosh, is the shopping going to fun or what?

This is the week....

2010-12-19T07:00:00.001-07:00

What's your guess?

Christmas Shopping

2010-12-02T06:53:00.001-07:00

I know:

some people hate Christmas shopping

but I love it

hate the crowds and long lines

but I love to buy gifts for people that I love

I love:

the hunt for a great gift at a good price

wrapping up the present

giving presents to people and seeing them happy

sub-for-santa

Let the fun begin!!

So Much to Be Grateful For

2010-11-30T07:24:00.001-07:00

This whole month

I've been feeling really grateful.

I'm MOST grateful for:

this guy

the peanut in my belly

testimony

temples

great parents

sisters

the best inlaws

nieces and nephews

jobs

eduation

friends

I'm also really grateful for:

our home

paid days off work

living close to family

modern appliances

callings

drs

computers

Seriously, this doesn't even scrate the surface.

We have SOO much to be thankful for!!

We are very, very lucky people and

we all should spend more time on our knees

being truly grateful for all we have.

Black Friday & Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T11:23:00.000-07:00

Andrew thinks the best thing to do on

Black Friday

is to go hunting.

I'm glad I'm where it's warm.

Tonight we're gonna go watch

Jazz vs. Lakers

on my parents big screen.

Yesterday, we spent Thanksgiving with the Dibb's.

I made the turkey.

I was nervous all week because

you can't mess up the turkey!!

Luckily, it turned out good.

I actually was able to enjoy some Thanksgiving dinner.

But then regretted it last night and today.

I'm 16 weeks....

shouldn't I be feeling better by now?

I wanted to maybe go shopping this afternoon,

but it doesn't look like that is gonna happen.

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Please, Think Before You Speak

2010-11-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

I dare say we’ve all made the mistake a time or two of saying something before we think about what we saying. Then immediately after you say it you are hit with a load of regret—did I really just say that?!?!

Luckily, this morning it wasn’t me that had the socially awkward plunder. But, lucky for me….I did get to witness someone else’s idiotness. The set up is me answering the phone at work:

Me: Good morning, AFT this is Brittani
Caller: Hey, do you guys have someone there by the name of Feces?

Me: (Thinking this some kind of lame joke) Feces?
Caller: Yeah, Feces.

Me: (A little more concerned because I can tell this person is serious) Um…really? Feces?
Caller: Yes.

At this point I knew the caller was serious and I wanted to yell into the phone,

“No idiot! No one here is named Poo!” Instead, I just stutter in awe.

Me: Uh….uh….
Caller: I’m guessing the answer is no?

Me: Yes, the answer is no. No one here is named Feces.

We moved on from that and I ended up helping the guy with the information he needed. Then at the very end of the conversation, based on information in the file I was helping him on, I was able to figure out what the guy was confusing. He was actually looking for a man named Casey that worked at a completely different title company.

But seriously, who in their right mind thinks someone could actually be named Feces? I know baby names are getting really unique nowadays…but Feces?!?!? Come on.

{specifics}

2010-10-30T07:00:00.001-06:00

Wow!!

Thanks for the comments and support!

We are SOOO excited to be having a baby

and we love that others are excited too.

Here are the specifics...

for those that care.

I'm 12 weeks

Due: Friday the 13th of May, should we be suspicious??

We got pregnant our first round of clomid.

Which we feel very lucky about
Clomid made me really sick.

And, so does pregnancy!!

I've been darn sick.

Throwing up

Nauseous 24/7

Very tired

The whole caboodle.

Zofran is my friend.

I'm so sick on the pill

I can't imagine what it would be like without it.

My mom is great to remind me
that this is what we've been praying for!

And it truely is.

We are only having ONE baby.

We had a little scare that there might be two in there.

Because

I measured a little big the first time he checked me down there
There are twins in my family
I had been on fertility drugs

So, the dr recommended we have an ultrasound

to "rule out twins"

And....
there is only one in there.

He also checked me out on the ultra sound.

Everything looks good.

I do have a cyst on my right ovary though.

Which he is said he likes to see,

because it gives me lots of extra progesterone.

BUT, makes me more sick.

It's the type of cyst
that usually disappears by 20 weeks.

Hopefully, that happens.

If it sticks around longer and gets big

it could be painful

And lastly,

I don't have any intuitions on the sex of the baby.

I've always kinda thought I was a boy mom

So if I had to guess I'd say boy.

But not because of mother's intuition.

Just a pure guess.

But my family only makes girls.

So we will see.

A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words...

2010-10-21T20:32:00.000-06:00

and this is our favorite pic of all time!!!!

Preparing my Lesson

2010-10-15T21:48:00.000-06:00

I recently got called to be a Relief Society teacher.

I had this calling once before--in a singles ward.

I guess I need more practice.

The best thing about being a teacher

is that it forces YOU to study.

Beverly Hills 90210

2010-10-08T12:38:00.000-06:00

I was too young to watch this show when it was popular

But boy I have heard of it

And I remember that my aunts LOVED it

So last night while working Nu Skin's Convention

It was pretty exciting when he walked in........

Ian Ziering is a Nu Skin distributor!!

Funny huh?

He came in with a tour bus from California

Body guard and all.

I didn't have my camera

Although, not sure I could have made it past

the oober eager Asian distributors

who were swarming him for pics.

He was very patient with them.

My first observation of him was that he

"isn't very tall"

But I actually thought he was more cute in person

Than I had thought from pics/movies/etc.

He did come to my register

and I did get to help him check out his products

and make small talk with him.

He was pretty nice.

All in all, we were a little less annoyed

that a big group showed up right before closing.

Because we got to meet a celebrity.

Diploma

2010-09-30T08:00:00.002-06:00

Never posted this...but now I'm gonna.

Gotta remember the day

I got myself out of that mess they call school.

Up next, Andrew.

He's SOOO close.

Can't wait!

Can you say...

2010-09-27T19:55:00.000-06:00

Overgrown?

Meet the Yao Ming of pickling cucumbers.

I love pickles.

But

HOLY COW

this is too much pickle.

My Sister's A Hero!!

2010-09-22T09:43:00.000-06:00

Everyone should go to KSL

And watch the video and read the article

About my little sister Brooke.

She helped to save a girl's life at the Jr. High last week

This spotlight doesn't share all the good details

but it was a very intense situation

and Brooke made some critical decisions under stress.

Her teachers and principals have been calling

and telling us what a hero she was.

She's awesome!! Go Brooke!

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-12T15:31:00.000-06:00

This was my outfit over labor day weekend.

Apparently it's absolutely necessary

that everyone wears full camo on the archery hunt.

Yes, I'm a GOOD wife.

The trip started off pretty good,

but not long after getting to the very top of the mountain

We got a flat tire.

Not a good time to find out that your husband

doesn't have a spare tire or jack.

I kept saying,

"And you call yourself and Eagle Scout...

You are NOT prepared at all"

Luckily this is 2010

And if you get to open areas

You have cell phone service even in the mountains

We waited a long time

for Kevin and Heidi to come rescue us.

Eventually they came

and took off the tire

and took us down the mountain.

Andrew was pissed he missed peak hunting

And even more pissed because

he had to spend the next morning fixing the tire

and NOT hunting.

Don't feel too bad for him.

I'm certain he'll go hunting

PLENTY more times this year.

Clomid Update

2010-08-28T21:55:00.000-06:00

A few words about clomid

• thankful

• hopeful

• no side effects, at first

then

• fatigue

• more fatigue

• headaches

• body aches

• hot flashes

• cramps

• nausea

Lindsay summed it up well when she said, so basically you feel like you're pregnant--but you're not.
On top of it all, I've had this werid summer cold for the past 10 days or so. Which I've refused to take cold medicine for because I'm dealing with enough side effects. I don't need more drugs in me. Andrew swears the cold is actually more clomid side effects because usually when I have a cold I give it to him--and he's felt nothing.

Consequently, I have hardly got anything accomplished the last few weeks. I have a lot of great intentions for my school-free life. :) But I have no energy to do them. I believe that everything happens when it's supposed to happen. It's not our plan or time frame...as much as we'd like it to be right? So I guess maybe this is another reason why we've had to try so long for a baby--so my life is a little less busy and I can be lazy everyday after work. Really---by 2 PM everyday I'm pooped. Ready to go home and sleep.

What's in a {NICK} name?

2010-08-26T08:26:00.000-06:00

I think nicknames are so fun!

I guess I love nick names because there are always funny stories behind them.

And I'm a sucker for a funny story.
Our family members have some funny nicknames

Bean

my uncle Paul ate a lot of beans and then went to the movies

and I guess you can probably guess the rest

bottom line:

whole family and row behind left and went to the back of the theater

Tag

another uncle, Mike, has this weird habit

of rubbing the tags on his shirt he is wearing
or better yet, if you sit next to him-he might rub the tag on your shirt

Boo

Andrew's bro Brian was apparently quite the whiner once upon a time

he doesn't whine too much now--but the name is still there

Bosom

Becca {Bingham} Greenwood and I

used to love to watch Anne of Green Gables

so we started joking that we were bosom friends

now we still call each other Bosom

when my mom wants to know what's up with Becca, she says

"What's new with Bosom"

Dibb

all of Andrew's friends call him Dibb

and most of my family calls him that too

I called him Dibb {or "quiet boy"} until we got engaged

then I had to train myself to call him Andrew

just after we got engaged

my aunt Leslie called my mom and asked

"What's Dibb's last name?"

my mom said

"Dibb"

Leslie said

"Dibb Dibb"

my mom laughed and said

"Nope, Andrew Dibb"

Leslie replied

"Wow! I had no idea"

What's your nickname or your favorite nicknames for other people?

What are the funny stories behind them?

our garden

2010-08-23T07:45:00.001-06:00

Our garden is thriving!!

It's actually been really fun gardening this year.

I say that like we've done it before--nope 1st try.

It really hasn't been that much work either.

Initially you need the better part of a day

But since then it really is minimal work.

It's really fun to see how big your plants get.

And it's awesome when you have fruit to pick.

When we went to Palisades Lake with my family a couple weeks ago

My mom and dad made fajitas for about 60 people

And our garden provided all the peppers.

We've definitely learned some things this year.

And we should probably write them down,

So next year we can remember

Our successes and failures.

I recommend you all try gardening.

It sounds like such an "old people" thing to do

But it's fun.

And you definitely get more than you pay for.

draaaaaaaaggggggging

2010-08-19T14:48:00.001-06:00

Does anybody else feel like this week is dragging?

I swear each day at work has felt like 2.

So since it's Thursday--I feel like it's about the 8th day of work this week.

To make things worse...

Last night I went with my friends to see

Wow! What a boring movie.

Seriously......soooooooooo long and slow and lame and boring.

I love Julia Roberts.

So despite the fact that everyone hated the book

And despite the fact that I've heard nothing {good} about this movie

I was still optiminstic.

Worst mistake ever!!!!!!

Each location in the movie (NYC, Italy, India, and Bali)

Felt like it's own movie.

It really felt like an 8 hour movie.

Do NOT waste $8.25 like me!

Do NOT even waste $1 to redbox it!!!

I am SERIOUS!

Hopefully tomorrow picks up a bit.

If it weren't for Andrew.....

2010-08-09T08:38:00.001-06:00

.....my cell phone would ALWAYS be dead--or at home under my pillow.

.....I'd only get the mail once every 10 days.

......I'd eat cold cereal or watermelon for dinner in the summer.

.......I would only go to Cabela's once a year not once a month.

......our garden definitely wouldn't be growing so well.

......I'd honk at a lot more people on the roads.

.......Ernie the Elk would not be staring at me while I type this post.

........I still probably wouldn't have eaten seafood.

.........I would not have allergies (I never had allergies in my life until I met him--who gets them pretty bad--I'm positive he gave my allergies).

........I wouldn't have a current fishing licence, hunter's safety, and hunting tag.
.......I'd be a lonely, sad gal.

Ewwwwwwwww!!!

2010-08-06T08:03:00.000-06:00

Bear Lake Raspberry Jam

Delicious right?

My sister-in-law brought us back this jam from Bear Lake

We've been loving it

Jars about half gone

The other night I made myself some toast

And spread raspberry jam all over it

Out of the corner of my eye I notice a "dark patch"

I thought it must have been a big chunk of raspberry

I sat down and lifted the toast to my mouth

Took a bite

Then as I pulled the toast away from my mouth

I saw.....

ANTENNAS!!!!!!!

Which were attached to the "dark patch"

Not a glob of berry---an earwig.

Mr. Earwig perished in a sea of raspberry jam.

Surprisingly, I didn't scream, gag, dry-heave, or cry

My eyes were the size of golf ball though

I pretty calmly showed Andrew my find

He laughed

I was in too much shock and disgust to laugh

I got up

Threw away the toast

Threw away the jar of jam

Thought about throwing away my knife that I spread the jam with

But instead just put it in the dishwasher

Then I had to shake it off

Try and get that image out of my mind

But.....it's still haunting me

Every time I close my eyes

Remember the first time you saw Jaws

How long it took to go back in the water........

Well, it might take me a while to eat raspberry jam again.

guily pleasure

2010-08-03T10:52:00.000-06:00

I watch this cheeseball fest religiously.

It's a guilty pleasure.

Last Night: Best Finale Ever!!

Finally Feels Like Summer

2010-07-27T09:27:00.000-06:00

We've been so busy with school and work this summer that I feel like we've been missing out on summer fun. But last weekend we went to Jackson Hole and went river running on the Snake. Last night we had FHE with my family and Kelsie's family at my parents' house. We had a bbq and a good old fashioned water fight. Now it's finally starting to feel like summer.

Mormon Census

2010-07-22T23:47:00.000-06:00

We got a kick out of this....one of them is bound to make you laugh out loud.

1. Name: __________
2. Descendant of: A) Adam and Eve B) Cain and Abel   C) Laman and Lemuel   D) Laurel and Hardy
3. Tribe:________
4: Number of occupants in home:
Nursery __
Jr. Primary__
Sr. Primary __
Young Women __
Young Men __
Relief Society __
Elder __
Dearly Departed __
High Priest __
5. Occupation:   A) Amway dealer B) Shaklee dealer   C) Nonie juice dealer    D) Nu Skin dealer
6, Automobile:    A) Station Wagon   B) Van    C) Suburban   D) School Bus    E) Double Decker
7. Favorite place to eat the night before Fast Sunday    A) Chuck-a-Rama    B) Home Town Buffet   C) Sumo Sam's All You Can Eat Feeding Trough
8. Hero:   A) Nephi   B) Abinadi   C) Samuel the Lamanite   D) Steve Young    E) Johnny Lingo
9. Which of the following do you bring to church?    A) Scriptures   B) Daytimers   C) Pen/Pencil   D) Lifesavers   E) Tic Tacs   F) Game Boy   G) Big Gulp   H) Cooler   I) Sony Walkman   J) TV Watch   K) All of the above
10. Do you prepare your lessons: A) A month in advance B) A week in advance C) While in the bathtub   D) While on the toilet   E) During Sacrament Meeting   F) During the closing prayer of Sacrament Meeting   G) During the opening prayer of the class you're teaching H) Just wing it
11. Do you think pews should be permanently equipped with Big Gulp holders: __yes __no
12. How many years has your family sat in the same place for Sacrament Meeting? A) 10-20 yrs   B) 20-30 yrs   C) 30-40 yrs   D) Over 3 generations
13. How much time does it take for you to fall asleep during a high council talk? A) 1/100,000,000th of a second   B) 1/999,999,999th of a second   C) 1/999,999,998th of a second
14. What day of the month do you go home/visiting teaching? A) 31st   B) 31st   C) 31st   D) 31st
15. How many church basketball fight were you in last year? A) 1-10   B) 10-20   C) 20-30   D) You'll have to ask my lawyer
16. Which of the following has been your most effective FHE? A) Arguing about getting along   B) Having an opening and closing prayer with dinner   C) Gathering around the television to watch "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"
17. How many times a year do you make:
__Jello Salad
__Funeral Potatoes
__Cabbage and Top Ramen salad
__ Turkey, cashews, and grape-stuffed croissants
18. how many water-filled two-liter bottles do you own? A) 1-2 thousand   B) 2-3 thousand   C) 3-4 thousand   D) Enough to fill the Great Salt Lake
19. Which of the following do you feel is the most secure facility in the nation: A) Alcatraz B) Fort Knox C) Ward Libraries
20. How many aerodynamic, mechanical and structural engineers do you hire annually insure you'll win the pinewood derby?
21. Keeping the Word of Wisdom in mind, how much of the following do you consume:
Chocolate ___ pounds daily X 365 days annually
Cola ___ pounds daily X 365 days annually
22. If you had to choose between witnessing the Second Coming or attending a BYU/U of U football game, which would you chose?

Clomid

2010-07-10T10:14:00.000-06:00

Hard to think that these little babies....

Might finally get us one of these little babies.

But we'll give it a shot.

aQuaRiUM fuN!

2010-07-06T22:42:00.000-06:00

A few weekends ago I tended my niece and nephew.

Darian was dying to go to the aquarium.

She even offered to pay (so cute--but of course I didn't let her pay).

The last aquarium I went to was in Maui--so this one didn't quite meet my expectations.

But it was a fun "Utah Version" of an aquarium.

Darian wanted a picture by EVERYTHING in the whole place.

Come to find out in 90% of the pics

she's got her eyes closed or isn't looking at the camera.

I recommend you don't go on a Saturday at 2 PM.

We had to drive around the parking lot for 20 minutes waiting for a spot.

But when we came out at 4 PM---the parking lot was almost empty.

So if you're gonna go--go from 4-6.

There's a ton of parking spots and

you won't have to chase a 2 1/2 year old

over-under-around-and through the massive crowds.

October 31st

2010-06-25T08:00:00.001-06:00

In the history of Dibb and Britt,

October 31st is a special day.

October 31, 2000

Andrew & I met when he came to my house

with my cousin Bryce and we all watched

The Mummy, ate candy, and played pool.

October 31, 2004

Andrew & I decided to dated exclusively

instead of just casually.

October 31, 2005

We got engaged at Memory Grove in SLC

I can't wait to see what's in store for us

on the October 31's of the future.

Dad's Day 2010

2010-06-22T00:10:00.000-06:00

We definitely count ourselves as two of the luckiest people in the world, because we have these two men as our dads. We can't find the words to describe how much we love, respect, and honor them. They are both amazing examples to us and worthy priesthood holders who bless our lives in more ways than we can imagine.

In case we aren't blessed enough, we happen to have another generation of men who love and adore us. Happy Father's day to Grandpa VerDon and Grandpa Reed!! We love you both.

Lastly, a shout out to my Grandpa Don. He passed away in January so this is my first Father's Day without him. His passing was sudden, so I didn't get the chance to say goodbye. But I'm so grateful that over the last several years we were able to spend a lot of time with him. He was the sweetest man and I hope he's looking down on me now--with tears in my eyes-- as I tell you all of you how much I love him.

I'm sure there are many out there who wish to have even one of the excellent fathers that we have. Somehow we are lucky enough to have the 5 mentioned here and others how have gone before. But we don't take it for granted. We know how blessed we are!! Happy Dad's Day!!!

Congrats Nick!

2010-06-15T11:55:00.000-06:00

Our nephew Nick graduated fropm PG High this year.

Isn't it funny that we have a nephew who is graduated and going to college?

It makes me feel old.

May 24th

2010-05-24T10:10:00.000-06:00

What the crap????

Our poor poor vegtables!!

It's my mom's bday tomorrow

I was going to buy her flowers to plant in the garden

But due to her recent surgery

and due to the weather today.......

Now I'm thinking maybe I should get her something else.

To prevent this....

27 Years

2010-05-20T00:00:00.001-06:00

May 19, 2010

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!!

Too bad you had to spend it in the hospital while Mom had an emergency appendectomy.

Well, it will definitely be a memorable one.

Get better quick Mom.

veggie tales

2010-05-18T22:15:00.000-06:00

Since we've lived in a condo our whole married life

We haven't attempted the vegtable garden thing

But this year
Our stake presidency decided to do garden plots
On some land by our chruch that is owned by our last bishop

We signed up for one

Knowing nothing about veggie gardening

But we talked to Andrew's dad (a farm boy)

And decided to give it a shot

I read online that in Utah

You should have most things planted by May 15th

(one day after we got assigned our plot)

So we woke up early on Saturday the 15th

And got our garden all planted

If all goes well we will have carrots, red onions,

2 kinds of peppers, 3 kinds of tomatoes

pickling cucumbers, and lots of peas!!

Andrew was most excited about planting corn

But apparently the die hard gardeners of our stake

Don't want any corn growers

Because they think the corn will shade their veggies

So we opted not to plant corn

And not to be the hated gardeners of the stake

I'm most excited about the cucumbers!!!!

I want to grow LOTS so I can make pickles with Granny B.

If I fail, I know she will have tons of cucumbers in her garden.

But if I succeed....I could have bottles and bottles

Of my VERY OWN pickles.

Andrew keeps planning to sabotage my cucumber plants.

Because he HATES pickles with a passion.

grow veggies grow!!!

Laugh at Life

2010-05-10T15:04:00.000-06:00

Our computer is still in the shop getting fixed,

so I have to keep posting pictureless enteries.

Seriously how did we live without computers before?????

I had to pay $100 to save my photos

plus pay for the computer repair.

So please don't make the same mistake as me.....

Back up your photos that are saved on your computer!!!!!

In other random Monday news...

For the past year,

I've had to fill up my car with gas every 100 miles

To keep it running.

With my schedule that puts me at the gas station

AT LEAST

every other day.

I've only driven off once without the gas cap.

Luckily a new one is only like $10.

We have a St. George get-a-way planned.

I'm pretty sure it's far longer than 100 miles to St. George.

What Happens...

2010-05-03T08:00:00.001-06:00

When you make a 13 year old change a poopy diaper in the back seat of a car?

Here is how she got to this point:

While the boys were at Priesthood Session,
Mom took the ladies shopping for an Easter dress. Yeah!!
Shopping took a while and then we ended up eating
at Carabas from about 9:15-10:00 PM.

As we get ready to leave, Lindsay realizes that Jersey has pooped--a major stinky poop. She ferociously searches her diaper bag, only to realize she is out of diapers.

We still have a 20 minute ride home--far too long to make her sit in the mess.

We frantically search the restaurant for any mothers with babies to try and bum a diaper off them. But none can be found. So I come up with the suggestion that Lindsay use the cloth napkins from the dinner table for a cloth diaper....this was about our only option.

But we decided to instead hurry down the hill to Wal-Mart. We dropped Lindsay off and she ran in to buy some diapers while Mom, Brooke, Jersey and I waited in Tahoe in the parking lot. There we sat enjoying the Saturday night culture of Wal-Mart.

Doesn't take long and we see a lady looks like she just walked off of Bret Michael's Rock of Love. She needed to be featured on http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/. So I dug in my purse for my camera and what do you know...Little Red Riding Hood skips by with a poka-dot dress and long red cape.

Classic 10:30 PM Wal-Mart right??

After I missed both glorious photo-ops--Jersey is getting pretty fussy so Mom says to Brooke,

"Why don't you take her out of the car seat,

lay her down across the seat,

and at least get the dirty diaper off her."

Brooke disgustedly said, "Yeah right!"

Since Mom is such a good Grandma she continued to try and persuade Brooke to get that dirty diaper off.

Eventually she wore Brooke down.

Brooke took Jersey out and laid her across the back seat.

Poor Brooke. It was a BIG poop.
She kept dry heaving so hard and loud.
Mom just kept saying "Poor Jersey get that stinky thing off of her!"
I was laughing so hard at Brooke gagging that I was crying.
Lindsay missed it all.
It was a great girls night.

Confessions of a Nerd

2010-04-30T08:00:00.002-06:00

The nerd conventions

of my life.

In Jr. High Jenna and I had to compete in the history fair.

Theme: Turning Points in History

Our Topic: Rock'n'Roll

Who knew? We won the regional history fair.

Then went on to the state history fair.

Won that too.

Then off to Washington D.C.

to compete in the biggest nerd convention/national history fair.

We didn't win that one.

So we're not the biggest nerds in the nation--just the state.

Side note: You haven't truly experienced a nerd convention until you go to a national history fair dance. For real, we went one night. We told our moms to come with us. Haha!!! We just wanted to check it out. We walked in got a cookie, and by the time we were done eating our cookie we were ready to go. Steve Erkel dancing X 1000=national history fair dance.

In high school, Becca, Ash, and I

won the regional science fair.

We were supposed to go to BYU

to meet with some professor

to perfect our project

because then we would have been a shoe-in to win the

state science fair.

We didn't really feel like it.

So we just took our project to state as is.

We still won 2nd place.

Now I'm 4 credits away from being done with college.

Did I make it through without a nerd convention?????

Nope.

Introducing Beta Gamma Sigma

An award for only the top 10% of senior business students

At certain accredited universities.

I got it.

Beta Gamma Sigma sounds like a nerd sorority to me.

Andrew and I went to the "induction ceremony" on Friday.

We didn't think it was a big deal, but then as Andrew put it.....

"All the sudden there were people & family members everywhere

whipping out their professional cameras and taking pics."

We didn't even think to take a camera with us.

We hung around log enough for me to

take my PLEDGE

and then to walk across the stage and receive

my medal,

my key,

and my certificate.

Then we skipped out on their cheap refreshments.

And went to Outback.

Now THAT's a celebration.

Yeah me!

Hopefully adding Beta Gamma Sigma to my resume

will provide me with some benefits.

Because otherwise, I'm just a nerd.

up.to.date.info

2010-04-28T13:28:00.001-06:00

Our computer crashed!!!

The week of finals....

I'm just really hoping

we can find a way to save the last 5 years worth of pics

that I have ONLY on that computer.

In the mean time,

we are staying up WAY TOO late every night

watching these.

But we love it!

We would probably do better on our tests

if we weren't watching

the playoffs while we study.

But oh well.

AND what is the deal with this "I wear no pants" commercial???

Funny once...on Superbowl Sunday.

Played every commercial break during the playoffs...not so funny.

Very very very tired.

2010-04-08T11:57:00.000-06:00

UNREAL

how tired I am lately.

I'm physically,

mentally,

emotionally

exhausted!!!!!

My limbs are always a little tingley

My eyes only open a little crack

I have bags under the ideas

And stress zits keep appearing

Too much school

Too much work

Too much other stuff.

There isn't a word to describe my how pooped I am.

Due to the cronic fatigue

I'm starting to make a real fool of myself.

Because I'm just so out of it.

In the last two days.....

I've FREAKED out at a guy (mentioned here) and completely lost my cool

It was WELL deserved.

I said some very funny/harshly true things.

And sadly, I don't even feel sorry about it

He'll rebound quickly.

If only the butt crack were his only problem.

Everything that comes out of his mouth

drives me and the rest of our group CRAZY!!!

Everything is his way or the highway.

And his way is wrong.

I've wasted at least 9 hours of my life this semester

Listening to him ramble about nonsense

While we should be working on our project.

The stress/annoyance has been building

And it popped on Tuesday night

Luckily everyone in my group is glad I did it

Maybe we'll get the project done now.

And today.....I had an individual presentation in my 8 am class.

I was up very late (as always) last night

Getting ready for the presentation

I woke up got ready,

drove to school,

and did the presentation.

Thankfully

I left my jacket on when I was doing my presentation.

Because after I finished

I sat down in my seat

And took off my jacket.

About 25 minutes later

I look at my sleeve

and noticed.......

That my shirt was completely inside out!

Yep.

beautiful blog award

2010-04-05T22:29:00.000-06:00

here are the rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award and insert a link to their blog.

2. Pass on the award to seven others who you think have a beautiful blog.

3. Add the "beautiful blog" button to your page.

4. Contact the other bloggers and let them know they have been chosen for this award.

5. Say seven things about yourself.

My cousin Nicole gave me the beautiful blog award.

I don't know what she was thinking other than I was probably overdue for a post.

Read her blog. She's a better blogger than me.

http://nicoleschaefer89.blogspot.com/

So here it goes.

1. I've been driving the same car since I was 16 years old.

2. I've had lazer hair removal on my armpits.

3. I know a lot of useless trivia about celebrities.

4. I'm double jointed in a lot of body parts and I can practically spin my legs and arms around in a full circle.

5. I love to sleep.

6. I'm a little OCD about where things go in my house. I can notice really tiny things that Andrew has tweeked, touched, or turned the wrong way etc.

7. I'm not the inventor of, but I AM the PERFECTOR of: The Great White Pig Shark. Although I pretty much retired him a few years ago.

Now these are the 7 others that must do this---My motivation is those of you that are overdue for an update, plus your blogs are beautiful. :)

1. Tasha

2. Jenna

3. Kadee

4. Kim A.

5. Brindley

6. Kelsie (you're not that overdue but I just want you to do it)

7. Lindsay (I know Nicole picked you too so now you HAVE to do it)

Tuesday Night Plumber's Crack

2010-03-25T19:51:00.005-06:00

Tuesdays are long

Start with an hour an half of Information Systems

Then I go put in a full day's work

And I end up back at UVU

For a 3 hour Lean Management class.

By the time I get to that class,

I'm very pooped.

The class is pretty boring.

The professor is really nice though,

So it's kinda a wash.

There is something, however,

That makes every Tuesday a bad day.

What is it???

The Tuesday Night Plumber's Crack

There's a man in the class...easy 350 lbs.

Somehow no matter where I choose to sit.

He always sits right in front of me or right near me.

EVERY week this guy has a plumber's crack.

And it's not a small one either.

*Seriously---8 inches of buttocks clevage*

It hurts my eyes.

The sideways smile.

Can he not feel that his pants

are only covering up half his arse???

He HAS to able to feel the breeze???

Ewh..how sick that his naked butt touches our chairs!!

SICK--please pass the hand sanitizer.

I try so hard not to look.

But it's just one of those diasters

That no matter how horrific it is

You still look at it.

It really haunts me.

The coin slot.

And makes me sick to my stomache.

But everywhere I turn

THERE IT IS.

The whole class is in agreement with me.

I suggested we draw straws

And the loser has to tell him

That he's blinding us.

I had a very similar problem once in high school choir.

But that's a post in itself.

And I don't know if I want to confess to that now.

But both times there were

OBVIOUS solutions to this problem

A) Buy a longer shirt

B) Buy bigger pants

C) Buy a bodysuit --the kind that snap at the crotch

If they're too poor to buy new clothes...then

C) Bring a blanket to class and wrap it around yourself

D) Wear your backpack throughout the entire class.

Anything would be appreciated. Yuck!!

4 more weeks of

The Tuesday Night Plumber's Crack

Will I/Can I survive it?

Granny's Pickles

2010-03-18T21:32:00.006-06:00

Best thing about today...

Is a whole jar of Granny B's homemade pickles just for me!!

I'm not sharing...so don't bother asking for one.

Most of you won't understand this.

But my entire family's mouth is pukering up in delight right now.

Some are likely drooling.

Words can NOT describe.

I've eaten two.

I'm thinking about a 3rd.

But I want them to last.

I'm torn.

Thanks for the pickles Grandma!!

It was fun to visit you last night.

P.S. I'm having a pickle party with Grandma this year.

Someone MUST learn the secret family recipe.

{just a tip}

2010-03-14T21:46:00.004-06:00

Thought I'd share this TIP with y'all.

Andrew and I went on a date on Saturday.

Nothing special--we just went to Wingers for a bite to eat.

When we got our bill, I noticed something strange......

On the bottom of the receipt it said

"For your convenience you may use this tip calculator"

What's strange about that you ask?

The amounts.

What they were saying was a 15% tip.....

was actually a 33% tip.

What they were saying was a 18% tip....

was actually a 37% tip.

What they were saying was a 20% tip....

was actually a 40% tip.

For real.

I double checked like 4 times to make sure I wasn't crazy.

Nope. Wingers is crazy....

or they're trying to take advantage of people who are bad at math.

I usually consider myself a nice tipper.

But according to Wingers' standard.....

I'm not a good tipper.

Moral of the story...

I know economic times are rough....

but don't rely on the restaurant for calculating your tip...

They might be trying to pull something on you.

what'd we do last weekend?

2010-03-04T22:14:00.006-07:00

Last weekend, Kelsie and Ethan came up from Texas.
We finally got to meet their baby girl, Abigail.

Kelsie's trying to give birth to all her kids in different states.

So far Brooklyn was born in Idaho, Abby in Texas,

and I'm pretty sure she's not preggers already...
so I bet they'll move again before baby #3 arrives. :)

The four of us stayed up WAY TOO late talking on Friday night.
The stories just kept getting funnier
and werider the later it got.

It was so fun to be with our friends.

On Sunday, we went to Grantsville for our other friends.

Goss and Kadee were blessing their baby boy Brigsen.

We don't see them as much as we'd like either.

Because Tooele county is far!!!

(Well far enough that it's hard to just stop by)

The blessing & luncheon were great.

This weekend I'm going to a baby shower and

Brian and Mindy are blessing their little boy Zander.

Wow, there must have been something in the water this time last year......

Quick Get.a.way

2010-03-02T21:07:00.003-07:00

A couple weekends ago we went on the shortest trip ever.

We went to see my cousin Chris.

He was leaving for his mission.

We left at 8 AM on Saturday...

drove 6 hours to Boise...

As soon as we got to there...

we checked into our hotel...

changed our clothes...

went to the temple with the fam...

came back and got the kids...

went to dinner...

came back to the hotel...

got in our jammies...

my mom, Brooke, and I watched the Miss America pageant til 1 AM...

went to bed...

woke up in the morning and checked out of the hotel...

went to hear Chris speak...

went straight to Chris' house to set-up, eat, and clean-up the luncheon...

and then drove 7 hours home...

It was a 36 hour trip....

With 13 hours in the car....

But it was SOOOOO worth it....

Because Chris gave an AMAZING talk!!!

laughed.cried.uplifted.touched.strengthened

I can't believe Chris is old enough to go on a mission!

I love it!!!

I've always had a special place in my heart for missionary work.

Chris is going to be an awesome missionary.

We will miss him but we know he is where he is supposed to be.

So that makes for 3 current Elder Ballantynes.

Justin-Korea. Jason-Germay/Austria. Chris-Cali.

The field is white and the Ballantyne's are ready to harvest.

There's a toothbrush IN my lint trap

2010-02-22T09:45:00.007-07:00

For real----I really have a toothbrush in the lint trap hole of my dryer .

There are A LOT of sad things happening lately and so I think I’ll post a funny Brittani story…hopefully it will bring a smile or two.

The other day I was in one of MY cleaning modes—you know--- where I’m on my hands and knees scrubbing every inch of my house.

I made my way to the laundry room, where I pulled out the washer and dryer and cleaned them both completely. I’d wiped down all the laundry room walls and base boards, mopped the floor, cleaned out every bit of lint from the dryer's lint trap and the only thing left to do was clean inside the washer. Well not the bowl part—it’s clean, but the part on top that gets detergent and fabric softener spills on it.

I decided to use a cleaning toothbrush to get EVERY last bit of the spills….and then it happened.

I’m not sure how it happened….it all happened so fast….but one minute I’m speedily scrubbing….and next thing I know….the toothbrush leaps from my hand, flies across the washer and onto the dryer, and proceeds to slide to it’s grave in the lint trap.

Oh crap!! What do I do? I don’t want to tell Andrew what I did because he’s sure to give me that look of you did what?

So first I tried to stick my hand down the lint trap…..I didn’t get very far.

Then I tried to shake and tilt the dryer to try and get the toothbrush to shimmy out. Really. What was I thinking? That if I wiggled it enough it would just shimmy up the one foot long trap and come slithering out into my hand. Well it didn’t.

So then I got my brightest idea of all and tried to use my vacuum suction handle to suck the toothbrush up. Yah, it didn’t work either. Maybe if I had a better vacuum….well probably not. It was wishful thinking.

I called Andrew in and told him what I had done. He just looked at me in awe and shook his head. Then when I explained how I'd been trying to do to get it out and I said that all my attempts had failed. He laughed and said, "I could of told you that."

Now every time I turn on my dryer I pray the bristles don’t catch fire from the heat….haha

So I guess when we sell the condo, we are selling the washer and dryer with it. Then I won't have to think about the toothbrush that rests in peace in my lint trap.

v.a.l.e.n.t.i.n.e.s.

2010-02-14T09:39:00.003-07:00

happy valentine's day babe!

see...the giraffe wants to kiss you too.

and happy b-day to the valentine's boy....

for those of you that know my dad, this pic needs no explaining.

for those of you that don't know my dad....he's not crazy.....

well--not TOTALLY crazy! :)

love both of these boys!!!!

miracles do happen

2010-02-12T10:28:00.004-07:00

WOW! is this

http://stakerzxposed.blogspot.com/

the most incredible thing you've heard in a while????

I'm assuming you've all heard about this by now.

But if not, make sure to read it.

It all starts on her February 1st post.

You will have to scroll back and go to the "older posts" link to get to it.

It's well worth it. It will bring tears to your eyes.

You will read the lengthy post and then, believe me, you will read all the other ones too.

It really is a reminder of what is important in life. I'm so happy for these people.

I don't know them, but after reading these posts I kinda feel like I do know them.

What a faith builder!! Ah...miracles.

One of my pet peeves....

2010-02-07T22:22:00.002-07:00

Okay, I was going to post some pics and share some family news but blogger is NOT cooperating with uploading pics. So I'll save that for later. Instead I'll tell a funny pet peeve of mine that repeatedly happened last week.
----------------------------------------------------
So when I'm at work I'm in charge of answering the phones. This situation comes up ALL the time. It ALWAYS goes EXACTLY like this every time.

Situation--

You see a missed call on your phone from an unknown number and there is no voicemail...what do you do?

A) just ignore it and figure they would have left a message or will call back if it is really important
B) assume it was a wrong number
C) call the number back and have this conversation with the receptionist,

"Affiliated First this is Brittani"
"Um, I had a missed call from this number........"

(At this point-- I am like, oh great here we go.)

"Well, like I said, this is a business. We have lots of people working here. Did they leave you a voicemail?"
"No"

(At this point--I am hoping that the person on the other line is getting the message through my tone that this is weird that they called back and even weirder that they are still on the line talking to me.)

"Huh, are you doing title work and expecting a call from us"
"No"

(They still don't get it. They just stay on the line. Now I am PRAYING that they will finally realize they shouldn't have called back....obviously it was a wrong number if someone called you and didn't leave a message. But of course they DON'T get it so I have to suggest this.)

"Well, I guess I can buzz everyone that works here and ask them if they called you. What is you name?"
"Joe Shmoe"

"Great! Hold while I go find everyone that works here and see if they happened to call you Joe Shmoe."

(Now I KNOW that no one intentionally called this person. Still I have to buzz/go find everyone in the entire office and ask them if they called Joe Shmoe. None of them ever did.)

"Joe Shmoe, I have asked everyone that works here and no one seems to have called you."
"Um, okay."
"Sorry, I guess our employees aren't perfect and sometimes they misdial. Bye"

Okay, am I crazy or are people crazy?!?!?! Do you call back unknown numbers that don't leave voicemails?!?!?! If you did, would you make it go all the way to the point of making me find EVERYONE that works in our office?!?!?!

He’s back!

2010-01-27T22:01:00.003-07:00

If you're wondering how my Monday mentioned here ended. Well let me just tell you…it ended with the return of this creature originally mentioned here.

When I walked around the corner and caught a glimpse of Andrew and Ernie the Elk…. I almost peed my pants. I was scared. I put my hands over my mouth and said "It's HUGE! It's HUGE!!! It's HUGE!!!!" I didn't even want to go into the room. You seriously can't believe how massive this thing is. Andrew is in heaven. He loves it. I think Ernie is so scary and wherever I go he's always staring at me.

As you can see from the pedestal that Ernie is resting on, he is taller than the garage. So the reason he's on the floor in our house is because he's taller than our ceiling. I have no idea what we are going to do with this thing until we can buy a house with a room, the man cave, where Ernie can live and I don't have to look at him everyday. The room is going to have to have 12 foot ceilings.

Oh man, I wish you could imagine how I feel at this very moment, trying to blog but at all times keeping the corner of my eye on Ernie because he's so lifelike I swear he's going to move. And if he does move I am going to have a conniption!!! I'll be coming to your house for a sleepover.

Wow, I must be the world's best wife.....a NERVOUS wife that is. This is seriously going to take some getting used to.

It must be Monday...

2010-01-25T09:44:00.006-07:00

Last night before we went to bed, one of our neighbors set off the panic button on their car and managed to let it honk ferociously for at least 5 minutes before they turned it off. Little did I know at the time....that this would continue to happen ALL night long. Seriously over and over and over again we were woken up all the live long night by this car's panic attack. Rough night ...can't imagine why this kept happening but I hope the problem is solved by tonight. Otherwise I'll be sleeping in earplugs with 10 pillows on top of my head instead of just 3 like last night.

Speaking of car problems, when we got up at 6 a.m. this morning so Andrew could go to class, we go out to the truck to find out that it's apparently locked in the E-brake position. E-brake is off, car starts, but it doesn't move.....(this is my non-car-girl diagnosis). We spend some time trying to roll it out of the stall and then give up and Andrew ends up taking my car and dropping me off at work carless.

Then I get to work and go into the bathroom to blow my nose. I get a little bit of toilet paper and walk away to blow my nose. Then all of the sudden I say, "What is that noise?" Come to find out the ENTIRE roll of TP has just completed unrolled into a humungo pile on the floor and I get to spend the next 10 minutes rolling it back up.

And I've still got the majority of the day to go...including finishing work and then going to calculus for 3 hours tonight. I'm sure my troubles are not over...I'll try to hang in there.

oh baby!!!

2010-01-20T08:27:00.004-07:00

congratulations

kelsie and ethan and brooklyn!!!

baby abigail may was born

monday, jan 18th at 1:12 p.m.

6 lbs 5 oz

19 in.

she looks just like her big sis!!

wish we lived closer and could see this little pumpkin

a wedding and 2 funerals

2010-01-13T10:04:00.006-07:00

Long story that I don't feel like sharing but I just want to make a quick mention of........we went to Arizona last weekend for my cousin Melissa's wedding.

Our grandpa ended up passing away the day of the wedding. It was a difficult weekend but we are so happy for Melissa and David and we are very sad to loose our gramps who we loved so much!!

He was an amaznig man and will be greatly missed. We're so glad to know that he is with our grandma now and that we will see him someday. Lindsay, Nicole, and I are going to be sharing "Memories of Grandpa" at the funeral on Friday and so we've been thinking a lot about what a great man he was and all the memories we have together.

Here is the link to his obituary: http://ads.heraldextra.com/articles/2010/01/12/obituaries/353426.txt

We also had a death on my dad's side of the family. The day after my Grandpa Schaefer passed, my dad's uncle/grandma's brother died. He was also a great man too!

http://ads.heraldextra.com/articles/2010/01/13/obituaries/353472.txt

Sad week at our house.

{we're tired}

2010-01-11T23:06:00.013-07:00

last semester between andrew and I:

38 credits

10 A's

3 B's

2 full-time jobs

1 part-time job

countless hours of homework

and yes i really did an entire college algebra class in 4 days--4 tests, 4 days

didn't make for much of a christmas break

during our 3 day of freedom after all this was done

we decided to escape away

we went to......SLC

big trip, i know

but anything is better than what i just previously described

we stayed here:

we worked out here:

we visited here:

i did some damage here:

we went to the movies both nights and saw

and

and some loser from draper named todd was supposed to meet us at the delta center on saturday so we could buy tickets to see these guys

and he totally flaked last minute.

so never ever buy anything on ksl.com from a todd from draper

then the jazz lost terribly so we were okay that we didn't spend all the dough on tickets

we went and got massages instead (that's a funny story on it own)

well, until we have the time for a real vacay this will have to do.

it was fun to just be with my hubs

now we're already a week into the next semester

here we go again!

today on the blog

2010-01-06T22:27:00.003-07:00

i get rid of my christmas background and move on to valentines

just put a new pic on the blog that is black and white

and it makes us look like we have dots/freckles all over our faces

andrew is begging me to come to bed

so i'll have to change the funny pic another day

and maybe i'll blog about something new and excting that day too