Toy story 3 makes me feel guilty

Am I the only person that felt incredibly guilty when they saw Toy Story 3? I had the best toys growing up...thank you Mom and Dad. I was looking at pictures on my phone and I saw these and just had to post them, because I have the cutest nieces and nephews!

I was obsessed with American Girl dolls when I was little. I even made my mom make clothes for them, like a poodle skirt that can be seen below. I normally let my nieces and nephews play with whatever of my old toys they want, but my American Girl doll collection is only for special occasions. When my niece Emily showed up to the house with her doll I had to show her mine and all of my awesome stuff. I love the memory I have of how huge her eyes got when she saw it.
Or maybe I used this as a good excuse to play with my old doll Samantha


They were really excited to find out that my sister Suzanne has a similar collection that she might pull out and play with them next times she visits from South Carolina.

Thank you to my nieces and nephews for making me not feel as guilty from Toy Story 3, and always playing with my old toys, and my American girl doll collection under very close supervision.

Have you missed us? We have been insanely busy! Joe has been having interviews about every other weekend, so we have been having fun and doing a little bit of traveling. A few weekends ago he interviewed at a few places in Las Vegas. I am not the type of person that will turn down a trip to Las Vegas, so off we headed and we made a weekend of it!

When I think of Vegas I think SHOPPING! So we headed to Nike and I bought a new outfit to help me work on my fitness. Apparently the bright green appealed to me. I attempted to try running. I was able to jog a block on the strip, before I reached my maximum heart rate. Try to not be super impressed by my jogging skills.
A trip to Las Vegas is never complete without a trip to the Belagio gardens.

A highlight of our trip to Las Vegas is always getting together with one of my favorite friends from high school. Christy and I played on the volleyball team together in high school, she is amazing and has a great husband and two adorable children. Thanks for introducing us to a yummy new restaurant!
Another favorite thing to to in Las Vegas is to be able to go to the temple while we are there. People talk a lot of trash about how much smut is in Las Vegas and they end up avoiding the place. They are missing out because this temple is probably the most peaceful temple I have been to. It is always a highlight for us.

Joe has been super busy sending out resumes and interviewing. I am so proud of his hard work! Hopefully we will soon be able to let you know where we are headed after he graduates.

A little late, but an update

This past month has been awesome as far as my health. I feel like I have a new heart, which is good because it cost a pretty penny. Seriously best Christmas ever!

When I was still in the hospital the doctor told me that I could start walking on the treadmill when I felt up to it, and 3 weeks after the procedure I unfroze my gym membership and headed there to try it out. I was able to do the elliptical for 30 minutes which felt good. My pacemaker was set to go at 80, so the whole time I was on the elliptical machine my heart rate stayed at 80. I did not have that much oxygen in my bloodstream so I would have to take a break every 5 minutes. Seriously the very old lady next to me was totally showing me up.

Last week I got to meet with my amazing doctor for a check up. He was so impressed with my condition! Technology is amazing! He was able to put a little computer mouse looking thing over my heart and it transmits all the information about my heart, and it can tell him how it has been beating for any time since it was put in. The good news is that my heart rate never went crazy fast like it use to, and it never stopped! He was really surprised that it never raced, but he was so happy with it that he started to decrease one of my medications! My other doctor kept coming into the room and asking me if I really felt good, he must not have believed me the 1st, 2nd or 3rd time when I told him I was doing well.

The plan is that in another month I will go back and he will check my pacemaker again. If I still don't have any rapid heart rates where my heart is taking over for the pacemaker then I might be able to get off one of the medications. He said that he would then order an echo of my heart. He is worried that because of the extensive damage in my atrium (the top part of my heart) from all the ablations that the muscle isn't pumping blood through well. He is worried that if it isn't pumping well that blood will pool in the atrium and create a risk for blood clots. But if it is pumping well then I get to go off my blood thinner. If it is not pumping well, then I have to stay on the blood thinner for life. Blood thinners and pregnancy don't mix, so we are really hoping my heart muscle is strong and pumps. That was crappy news to hear. So please keep praying for my heart, we really really really want to have my atrium pumping like it should!

He was able to change the settings on my pacemaker so that I can exercise more. He said my pacemaker is so smart that it can be set to work like your smart heart. It will detect my increase in breathing, and stuff and increase my heart rate so more oxygenated blood can get to my body. Medicine is amazing! He said that when I felt up to it I could try jogging, but no running, and that I can only do short distances. I'm scared and I have not yet tried. Because of my current activity I seem to be running my battery out, and so far it is projected to last 7.5 years. My scar looks awesome, he did a great job stitching me up, but you will have to just take my word on that.

Ahhh recovery

Tuesday's procedure couldn't have gone more perfect. The doctor was worried that he wouldn't find good heart tissue to place one of the leads for my atrium but he said he found a small island of good tissue and was able to attach the lead. He was also able to find a good spot in the ventricle for the other lead. I was back up to my recovery room in a few hours. I woke up hours later and my pacemaker was working great.

The next morning I had a chest x-ray and someone from the pacemaker company came and tested my pacemaker. This guy who came and tested it left the room pretty quickly to go look at my x-rays' and I could tell things weren't right. He went to go talk to my doctor and show him the results. Pretty quickly one of the nurses came in and took my food and drinks away. I immediately knew what that meant. I could tell on her face the disappointment and it was hard for her to tell me that I was not allowed to eat because I needed surgery. Soon my doctor was in the room and told me that the lead for my ventricle had moved 2 cm and they needed to go back in and fix it immediately. Within a half hour I was asleep on the table. My doctor fixed it and stitched me up nicely. I was worried that I could have moved my arm too much, but he said something else could have caused it to move. We had to stay an extra day in the hospital. But the next morning I had the same tests on my heart and the pacemaker looked good, and in the right spot.

I get to keep my left arm at my side in a "swath" for a month, which makes getting ready for the day interesting. Joe has been great and has helped every minute along the way. He is also working on his beautician skills. He is trying really hard, but I'm going to the salon to get it washed and styled today.

So everything turned out well and my heart is cooperating. The doctors have been able to give me large amounts of medication to make it so that my heart does not race. We couldn't do this before because I would just pass out. We are hoping that my heart will calm down from the back to back surgery and that in time I will need less medication and that I will be able to get off the unsafe medication for a baby.

Thanks for your prayers!!! So far everything has been good!

Tomorrow is the big day!!!

Tomorrow is the big day! Sunday I walked through my last metal detector! Yep bright and early Tuesday morning we go in and I am getting a pacemaker! Joe and I are hoping and praying that this will be the answer and that I will wake up with a heart that beats to the same rhythm as everyone else.

Please keep us in your prayers. Not only my heart but Joe seems to have picked up the flu and is pretty miserable. I am hoping that he will be well enough to be by my side tomorrow.

Goodbye old friend

Saturday was possibly the saddest day of my life and I am not exaggerating. I know 2 of my friends who had the same car and loved it, so I know I'm not crazy for being too attached. I sold my Audi and bought a new to me car.We found the car we wanted to buy and when it came to talking trade in value and everything for the Audi I completely lost control of my emotions and started bawling uncontrollably at the dealership. The dealer even suggested to us to take the new car for the night and come back in the morning. I told him I didn't want to drive that car and that I wanted to drive the Audi. We backed out of the deal because I was not ready to say goodbye to my car even though I could tell it was dying a fast death. A week later we came back to the same dealership and I felt more ready, until again it came to saying goodbye. The tears started pouring out and I could not be stopped. I honestly have never cried so hard in my life. Is it really possible to get attached to a piece of metal? Yes

It was in this car were I was able to bond with my Dad as he drove me to my friends places when I was young.

This Audi was my first big purchase ever.

Good memories galore here in the Audi.

And perhaps my favorite memory of all is the thoughtful first Christmas gift from Joe. At the time the Audi had only a tape player and Joe thought it was ridiculous. So for our first Christmas dating he got an awesome CD player installed. It even had a connection to be able to use my I-pod.

Joe did promise me that someday he would buy me a new Audi to make more memories in.

Just writing this post about my Audi is making me cry. I hope I made the right decision to sell.

RIP Audi A4, you will be missed.

His new t-shift

I love Joe. He is so competitive and athletic. He has had many goals at BYU. The greatest goal was achieved when he got married to me. The second thing on his list was to win an intramural championship. He has been close so many times. When he was recently returned from his mission, he was on an intramural Flag Football team with Jason Deelstra, Tyler Unsicker, Dave Kimball, John Gochnour, his brother Tom, and some others. They played in the highest division and did very well. This was back in the day when the Daily Universe ranked the top intramural teams in the Daily Universe every Wednesday. Joe and his buddies would hang out in the Wilk and talk with people and tell them that they played on an intramural flag football team, that they were in the highest division, and were undefeated. They would then invite these people to come watch them play. The team played very well but lost in the semi-final game of the tournament. He made it to the semi-final game 3 other times but never won it all. This year he signed up a team for co-ed basketball. Their team name was Brothers and Sisters because a lot of the members of the team were related to each other. There was Joe, his brothers John, Tom, and sister Cheri. Mike and Teresa Wayment, Casey and Savannah Wassom, Tara Amos, and Hanna Picard. They played well all season and tonight they became intramural champions. Part of winning the tournament is receiving the coveted Intramural Championship T-shirt, which Joe proudly now has. I'm sure he won't ever take it off and I might have to cut it off in his sleep at some point. Here are the Preston Brothers and Sister.
Here is the Team in their matching Championship T-shirts.
Way to go you guys!!!